HELP KEITH

<center><astart>HELP KEITH</astart> <bstart>by <a href="http://kyoukainokanata.tumblr.com">mar</a> for <a href="http://colibriprince.tumblr.com">ari</a></bstart> </center> <bbstart>Play as the Red Paladin aboard the Castle of Lions on one of his rare days off.</bbstart> <tw-story>[[START PLAYING]]</tw-story>

Turning a corner, you spot one of ALLURA's SPACE MICE trotting along from another direction. It stops at your heels and rests on its hind legs, sniffing at you. You've never really paid attention to them before. <tw-story>[["What's up, buddy?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Step over it.]]</tw-story>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/jMRkkfG.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> The Castle rumbles beneath your feet on your way to the TRAINING DECK. SHIRO says it's turbulence, but even you know how unlikely that is in space. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/h6rpkYy.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/jMRkkfG.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> The rest of the paladins have broken off for the next few hours to wade out the flight errors. CORAN, PIDGE, and HUNK are down in the depths of the Castle utilizing their all-important expertise while SHIRO and ALLURA are discussing battle plans in the CONTROL ROOM. And LANCE... well, that's not really a subject you want to dwell on. Free time is rare as it is, and you want to savor it for as long as you can. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/xuDVtRY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

It only looks up at you. An ear twitches. Not as stimulating of a conversation as you might've expected. <tw-story>[["Nice weather we're having."]]</tw-story> <center><tw-story>[["Eat any good space-cheese recently?"]]</tw-story></center> <tw-story>[["What if we're somehow related?"]]</tw-story>

You carefully make your way around the mouse. It's not as if it could understand anyway. Sure, it was cute, but... [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/2VlVBHV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

The mouse moves its whiskers. Suddenly, it sprints backwards and stops only a few feet away, as if expecting you to follow. It's really cute. You suppose training can wait. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/A4VKXY3.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/gdeADrT.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> In the end, you make it to the TRAINING DECK unscathed. Its perpetually lighted luminescent ceiling always manages to excite you. Despite your affinity for melee weapons, you decide to put away your bayard today and focus on hand-to-hand, something you usually work with SHIRO. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/qSGCYZM.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You feel a little stupid following a mouse so blindly, and after another countless turn into another never ending Altean hallway, you decide to call it quits. A mouse is a mouse. It's probably just looking for food. What are you even doing? Are you that bored? [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/01G22xr.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>???: Jeez!</chat> You stagger backwards while the other party groans. The owner's voice is familiar--natural when bunking in a gigantic spaceship with only seven other people aboard--and devastatingly so. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TGAeryY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: What the heck's your problem, man?</chat> LANCE cradles the back of his neck experimentally, one eye shut closed as if there was something in it. <tw-story>[["Sorry! Because of mouse!"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["What the heck's yours?"]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: ... Huh? Whatever, just watch it next time.</chat> He's wearing his Altean bedroom clothes, making it look like LANCE has only just awoken from some millenia-long slumber. His Blue Lion slippers stare dead-eyed, boring a hole in your head. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TEHyRkT.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: I don't have a problem! You're the one who just dived outta nowhere! Crazy mullet boy! What if I died? I could sue you! Well, maybe not in space, but I'd find a way to space sue you!</chat> <tw-story>[["You didn't die."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Go space sue your face."]]</tw-story>

LANCE's face contorts in pure anger. You feel yourself flare up, too. Seconds with this boy and you're already at such a heated pace. He's wearing his Altean bedroom clothes, making it look like LANCE has only just awoken from some millenia-long slumber. His Blue Lion slippers stare dead-eyed, boring a hole in your head. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TEHyRkT.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/6HqblEt.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> You finally realize that you're in an area of the Castle you haven't ventured in yet. The lights are slightly dimmer here, as if the energy was rerouted into more important areas of the ship. The halls here feel more narrow than they are. It's surreal to see LANCE somewhere like this, so far away from the others. <tw-story>[["What are you doing here?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Nice jammies."]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: What are you doing here?</chat> He looks at you suspiciously, but you can't ignore the fact that he's being particulalry suspicious himself. <tw-story>[["I asked first."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["There was this mouse..."]]</tw-story>

At this, he double-takes at his own clothes, then looks up, practically sheepish. LANCE's face takes on a light flush. <chat>LANCE: Well, it's... comfortable. And... since when were you the fashion police, anyway?</chat> <tw-story>[["It's cute."]]</tw-story> <center><tw-story>[["You should be more prepared."]]</tw-story></center>

You trail it down a left turn, readying for a snatch-n-grab attack, when it slips through the grate of a side vent. You're so absorbed in the action that the sudden impact into something solid catches you off guard. CRASH! [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/xyb6XdA.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

Since it's only just routine exercise, you don't see a need to strain yourself. THE GLADIATOR appears, transitioning from its stand-by mode, and readies itself. It makes the first move, leaping at you. <tw-story>[[Dodge.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Take the hit.]]</tw-story>

You've been set on clearing this level for weeks now. One more level to prove yourself. It'll be a challenge, but you ate those for breakfast. THE GLADIATOR rises from its resting place. Unlike you, it takes no readying stance. When it moves, it's quick. <tw-story>[[Try to dodge.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Attempt blocking.]]</tw-story>

You dodge out of the way, and because your body has practically memorized the speed at which THE GLADIATOR moves at this level, it doesn't even graze you. THE GLADIATOR swiftly recovers and readies its fist for an uppercut. <tw-story>[[Grab it.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Sweep kick.]]</tw-story>

You block the hit in time, shifting your body forward as to balance yourself. You're used to this strength and have mastered its weaknesses. THE GLADIATOR swiftly recovers and readies its fist for an uppercut. <tw-story>[[Grab it.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Sweep kick.]]</tw-story>

Just in time, you're able to grab the arm before impact and thrust it back like a weight. THE GLADIATOR tumbles back and in those moments you rush up and pin it back onto the floor. A couple more rounds of this keeps you on your toes. Fighting is good for you because you don't think of anything else while you do. It's not a surpise when you win thirty minutes later. THE GLADIATOR transitions into stand-by mode. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/bOkDTMp.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

Dodging its fist, you crouch down with swift ease and give a deciding sweeping kick. It lands on its back and you make sure it stays down. A couple more rounds of this keeps you on your toes. Fighting is good for you because you don't think of anything else while you do. It's not a surpise when you win thirty minutes later. THE GLADIATOR transitions into stand-by mode. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/bOkDTMp.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: Look, just 'cause we live in the same dumb ship and pilot the same cool robot and breath each others' air 24/7--doesn't mean I owe you an explanation for everything I do!</chat> <tw-story>[["Fine. Whatever."]]</tw-story> <center><tw-story>[["It was just a question, Lance."]]</tw-story>

As you tell him about ALLURA's mouse, LANCE's anger starts to iron out into something like humor. <chat>LANCE: You talked to a mouse? You followed a mouse? Like Alice in Wonderland?</chat> <tw-story>[["Right. Well, what about you? How'd you get here?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["That was a rabbit!"]]</tw-story>

Stricken in silence, you watch as LANCE retreats deeper into the maze-like hallways, a flame flickering out of existence. You try not to let it bother you. After all, you've stopped trying to figure LANCE out months ago. But you can't help thinking, even for just a single moment, maybe you should've... [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/srdwZvq.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You expect your questions to clam him up again considering how defensive he's been, but LANCE only bites the inside of his cheek, thinking. <chat>LANCE: It's not anything as exciting as mouse-following, that's for sure. Um, Keith. You're not busy, are you?</chat> <tw-story>[["What is it?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["I was planning on training."]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: Oh, it was? Dude, out of all pop culture references you could've possibly known, a cartoon movie is what you choose to be a stickler for?</chat> <tw-story>[["What movie? You mean book?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Right. Well, what about you? How'd you get here?"]]</tw-story>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>HAPPY ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> Congratulations! You got the <important>Happy Ending</important>! Keith is now much closer to his friends than he was before! Friendship is awesome. The boy may also consider showering daily now, so it's a truly happy end for all. There are three legitmate endings to this story: <important>Happy</important>, <important>Lonely</important>, and <important>In Love</important>! Luckily for you, this is one of them! Thanks for giving me the time of day! Please <a href="http://kyoukainokanata.tumblr.com/ask">contact me</a> for any questions! I don't know anything though. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>LONELY ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> You got Keith's <important>Lonely Ending</important>. You're enabling his emoism, but maybe he likes it that way. There are three legitmate endings to this story: <important>Happy</important>, <important>Lonely</important>, and <important>In Love</important>! Thanks for giving me the time of day! Please <a href="http://kyoukainokanata.tumblr.com/ask">contact me</a> for any questions! I don't know anything though. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<chat>LANCE: Just mind your own business, mullet boy. I'm not in the mood, so can you and your bad haircut just leave me alone already?</chat> Although LANCE is simply being LANCE, something about the way he speaks is particularly venemous. You don't even recall talking to him at all today before now, so his spoiled mood couldn't possibly have anything to do with you. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/lbHYkSL.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/gdeADrT.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> But SHIRO isn't here right now, so you settle for the THE GLADIATOR--the gleaming robot with a certain degree of artificial intelligence that had nearly killed you, once upon a time. Now it's nothing but your sparring buddy. Hopefully. <tw-story>[["Gladiator, level three."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Give me level five!"]]</tw-story>

You step to the right to dodge, but THE GLADIATOR's speed is unmatchable. You're hit with a monumental force that causes you to fall back. There are only seconds left to think before the AI forms a fist and rushes for another attack. <tw-story>[[Stop the blow.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Counterattack.]]</tw-story>

As THE GLADIATOR approaches, you do your best to block the oncoming hit. To your dismay, its strength on this level is two times as stronger as the last levels and the impact jerks you onto your back. There are only seconds left to think before the AI forms a fist and rushes for another attack. <tw-story>[[Stop the blow.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Counterattack.]]</tw-story>

You manuever into a defensive position, but not even your best emulation of the Yellow Lion on the field can match THE GLADIATOR's level five offense. The rest of the fight mirrors this, and after half an hour of being thrown down on the mat, you call out the command and stop the training session. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/xyRzi9e.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You should have learned your lesson from before; THE GLADIATOR does not wait for you to recover in time to strike back before its initial attack hits its target. You keel over in pain. The rest of the fight mirrors this, and after half an hour of being thrown down on the mat, you call out the command and stop the training session. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/xyRzi9e.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: C-cute? Are you--you're making fun of me. Just mind your own business, mullet boy. I'm not in the mood, so can you and your bad haircut just leave me alone already?</chat> Although LANCE is simply being LANCE, something about the way he speaks is particularly venemous. You don't even recall talking to him at all today before now, so his spoiled mood couldn't have possibly have anything to do with you. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/lbHYkSL.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: I'm sorry, didn't know I was talking to the Princess! Just mind your own business, mullet boy. Go back to whatever the heck you were doing and leave me alone, okay?</chat> Although LANCE is simply being LANCE, something about the way he speaks is particularly venemous. You don't even recall talking to him at all today before now, so his spoiled mood couldn't have possibly have anything to do with you. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/lbHYkSL.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE's discretion is wildly out of character, as if someone had plucked that bit from your personality and embedded it in the other boy instead. It's overwhelming to witness, seeing a trait you hate about yourself projected onto someone that isn't you. <tw-story>[["Sorry. Didn't mean it like that."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Stay quiet.]]</tw-story>

You regret the words as it leaves your mouth. LANCE's face, once hopeful, crumbles into disappointment. It doesn't stay that way for long; LANCE immediately recovers, and it's as if that single slip of emotion hadn't happened at all. <chat>LANCE: Ha! Training. Right. I am so surprised. Not. You need a life, man. Guess I gotta get outta your way, then, Mr. Fightsalot. Invite me to you and that gladiator's wedding, yeah?</chat> [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/2VlVBHV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

At this, LANCE grows bashful. He rubs the back of his neck, eyes shifted to the floor. <chat>LANCE: So there's this room... Coran told me about it months ago... I--I guess it's better to just show you.</chat> [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/NA5rSHC.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE looks at you with something like pity in his eyes. <chat>LANCE: You poor thing.</chat> <tw-story>[["Right. Well, what about you? How'd you get here?"]]</tw-story>

Eventually, any thoughts of mice and men are shaken off as you try to focus on your original goal. It takes some time, but you finally weave your way out of the mysterious wing of the Castle and make it to familiar ground. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/2VlVBHV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You don't take a shower and continue on with the day. <ending>[[NASTY ENDING]]</ending>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>NASTY ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> WHY WOULDN'T YOU TAKE A SHOWER?! HE'S SWEATY AND GROSS! The game is called HELP Keith, not Allow Keith to Neglect His Hygiene. I am... disgusted. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<center><astart>ROUTES CHEATS</astart> <bbstart> OFFICIAL ENDINGS <important>In Love</important> ↪ follow mouse → be honest with Lance → save him from accident <important>Lonely</important> ↪ don't follow mouse/refuse to follow Lance → go to room instead of anywhere else <important>Happy</important> ↪ don't follow mouse/refuse to follow Lance → go and help the rest of the paladins UNOFFICIAL ENDINGS <important>Nasty</important> ↪ after training, choose not to take a shower <important>Accident</important> ↪ if you choose not to save Lance <important>Hated</important> ↪ if you keep making him angry <important>Pining</important> ↪ you don't confess >in love or >hate (minor) if u dont save lance >accident (minor) dont follow mouse training deck >nasty (minor) or continue on to next choice control >happy or >lonely choose to help >happy choose opposite >lonely medical >happy or >injury (minor) - lance gets hit by one of the mem chambers loose panels. its an old or >pining (minor) bedroom >lonely </bbstart>

He begins to trek down the halls with the ease of someone who's been here countless times, and you follow him blindly, not stopping to question him in fear of scaring him off. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/RmKyRFF.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You've built up a nervous batch of anticipation after a few minutes of silent walking. You're about to prod him about a wild goose chase when he stops just outside a door you had never seen in a hallway you had never been in. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/iDzg4ry.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

A few moments are spent lying down on the mat, evening your breaths. In hindsight, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to excert so much effort for a fight that ended in mere minutes. At the very least, it's taught you humility. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TtzehlO.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

Your bodysuit sticks to your body, another layer of skin. You don't have to smell yourself to know it's time for a shower. The closest thing the TRAINING DECK has in resemblance to a lockerroom is an attachment off to the side of the entrance packed with stalls that emitted steamy mist rather than liquid. It does the job well enough, though, so it's not something you can complain about. <tw-story>[[Take a shower.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Don't take a shower.]]</tw-story>

Your victories give you a lighthearted sense of contentment. You're in greater spirits now; simply because of something as superficial as winning fights with a sparring bot on an average level. This is still one of the only things you feel in complete control over. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/TtzehlO.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/oKSKtja.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> The mist exits the dispensers like a giant cloud of cotton candy. Even now, the alienness of every subtle detail manages to derail you. You've always been able to disregard it, taking it all in stride, simply because that's what's easiest. But unlike the green goop on your plate during dinner, your own alienness is the one thing you cannot swallow without further resistance. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WxjruzX.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/PCkFu5w.gif" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Eerily, the halls are just as inconsistent in lighting. You consider checking in with SHIRO and ALLURA to make sure everything's alright. However, the guilt would bury you if a situation occurs and an unexpected concussion drags down the team. <tw-story>[[Check the CONTROL ROOM.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Visit the MEDICAL WING.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Go back to your room.]]</tw-story>

Despite all this, there is a part of you that simply wants to sleep off the rest of the day and catch some R&R--something you tend to neglect daily. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/31cOJd0.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/45zwVPu.gif" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Mid-wash, a bout of turbulence wracks the room in a sudden wave and you nearly stumble just before latching onto the head of the mist dispenser. It doesn't stop you, however, from banging your head on the wall as you scramble, and you grit out a curse. There's no blood, but for a moment the pain is pounding. Just your luck. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/G8h8GSY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ODbFQEN.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> You've never been fond of the MEDICAL WING, but, by far, you'd rather spend time in here than in the hell-cycle that was a cryopod. You want to keep the scars, if only to remember. Now you're familiar enough with the room that you know what strange substances to use and what to avoid. For concussions, you screw open a neon pink vial from a table and mainline it in one shot. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/X92AsGj.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

Ignoring the dull ache in your skull, you head towards the CONTROL ROOM. There haven't been any more aftershocks since the one in the lockerroom, but even so you stay alert; nothing else can catch you off guard. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/NuRUAB2.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

The lights are still flickering unsteadily post-shower, most likely the Castle system reeling from the quake. You wonder if the situation's much more dire than SHIRO had made it sound. Then again, if that were the case, ALLURA's voice would already be commanding them via intercom by now. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/jypj8Q9.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>HATED ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> You chose options that made Lance hate you. And not in a fun way. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>PINING ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> Because you opted not to tell Lance how Keith felt, he continues to bury his feelings, stamping away any inkling of emotion. Eventually, it begins to devour him from the inside out. The pain melds into nothingness, and Keith vows to never fall in love again. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>ACCIDENT ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> Lancey Lance did that [got hurt]! How could you let Keith let this happen? Do I need to retitle this "Help Lance" to get it through your thick skull? Press restart already. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/uKLhlEW.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Your room is bare of any personal effects save for the necessities. After all, you're not as sentimental as most. As you lay your head on the pillow, so soft it's almost unbearable, for once you think that life might have been easier if you were. <ending>[[LONELY ENDING]]</ending>

<chat>LANCE: Sure you didn't.</chat> <tw-story>[["Alright, what's your freaking problem?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Sigh.]]</tw-story>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Tt7YTc4.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> You reach the CONTROL ROOM in time to hear the tail-end of an argument between ALLURA and SHIRO, who seem to be the only ones in the entire room. Without the rest of the team to populate it, the CONTROL ROOM is massive and fearsome. Moreso when its Altean princess has her voice raised, not shouting, on a topic that has her more than heated. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QSRxT1E.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: This is it.</chat> With ease, he hovers his hand over a scanner on the wall and the door slides open with a whir. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/FKqO6HR.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ch5tEr6.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> It's gigantic. The entire place could fit fifteen desert shacks. There's an O-shaped wall that borders the room about 6-feet high. You look up, and it's as if the ceiling never ends. In the middle is what you assume to be a Balmeran crystal-powered virtual simulator, emitting blue light across every surface like spindly veins on a spiderweb. You turn to LANCE, whose shoulders had lost its tension at entering--a Pavlovian reaction. <tw-story>[["Where are we?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Lance, is this...?]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: Remember back when Sendak caused that whole ship malfunction thing and Allura's dad's AI went buckwild and nearly killed us all? Fun times. Well, this is the memory chamber that held him.</chat> <tw-story>[["Why are we here?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["You use this?"]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: Yeah, it's Allura's memory chamber from the whole Sendak-Castle-haunting mess. I'm the only one that uses it nowadays. I guess after seeing your dad's corrupted AI turn dark side on you, coming back here loses its flavor.</chat> <tw-story>[["Why are we here?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["You use this?"]]</tw-story>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Q4ZhEoA.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> LANCE approaches the center module, and without even lifting a finger, a flash rents your vision. As you blink against the brightness, your eyes adjust to--a bedroom? Someone's bedroom. It's cozy and small, littered with clothes and magazines. There's a small table at the corner with an open holomanual of spacecrafts, and the holograms light up the room in a serene glow. The window lets in a tease of a sunset, and outside you can hear the soft murmur of laughter. Earth. <chat>LANCE: No AIs. That was Allura's one rule. So though it's a bummer I can't see any of my family, most of the time--this is enough.</chat> <tw-story>[["Lance, I didn't know..."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Are you sure this is safe?"]]</tw-story>

At second glance, the holomanual turns out to be one made for children. The descriptions are at an elementary-level, and the model looks to be a few updates older than the ones the Garrison had provided during your own years. <chat>LANCE: Oh, right, that. I got it as a birthday gift when I turned nine. But you know, I didn't really care about space or ships back then. I mostly used it as a nightlight. It's crazy how things end up so differently than when you were a kid, huh?</chat> <tw-story>[[Look outside window.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Sit on bed.]]</tw-story>

You sit on the bed. The springs creak when you move, and you have to push away a hoodie off the base just to have somewhere to settle. <chat>LANCE: Hey, be careful with that! Most of those are vintage! The early 10s styles were ahead of its time. Man, I was born in the wrong generation.</chat> <tw-story>[[Peer out the window.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Examine the holomanual.]]</tw-story>

When you look out the window, you're hit with a salty gust of wind that tousles your hair. There's a beach of sand right outside Lance's backyard, and at the horizon is a thin line of blue. The ocean is sparkling. <chat>LANCE: If I concentrate hard enough, sometimes I can even hear the seagulls.</chat> <tw-story>[[Walk to hologram.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Walk to bed.]]</tw-story>

<chat>ALLURA: Did I not just say thirty-six doboshes ago that rerouting the pipes would only cause more disturbance? Yet you refused to listen and now it has only gotten worse!</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/EjqTJXj.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: Hunk says it isn't good to hole myself up here all the time. But it's hard. If I lie on the bed and close my eyes it's like I... like I never left.</chat> Lance blushes, shrugging it off. You don't know why, but it occurs to you now that this is the most intimate thing Lance has ever confided in you. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/nXKQYZi.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: I mean, besides the whole system being over ten-thousand years old? As safe as life. Hunk says it isn't good to hole myself up here all the time. But it's hard. If I lie on the bed and close my eyes it's like I... like I never left.</chat> Lance blushes, shrugging it off. You don't know why, but it occurs to you now that this is the most intimate thing Lance has ever confided in you. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/nXKQYZi.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Q4ZhEoA.png" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> <chat>LANCE: It's pretty realistic, huh? Go on, I know you wanna put out some feelers.</chat> <tw-story>[[Check hologram.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Examine bed.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[View window.]]</tw-story>

When you look out the window, you're hit with a salty gust of wind that tousles your hair. There's a beach of sand right outside LANCE's backyard, and at the horizon is a thin line of blue. The ocean is sparkling. <chat>LANCE: If I concentrate hard enough, sometimes I can even hear the seagulls.</chat> <tw-story>[[Bed.]]</tw-story>

You sit on the bed. The springs creak when you move, and you have to push away a hoodie off the base just to have somewhere to settle. <chat>LANCE: Hey, be careful with that! Most of those are vintage! The early 10s styles were ahead of its time. Man, I was born in the wrong generation.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/KkxwPVl.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

At second glance, the holomanual turns out to be one made for children. The descriptions are at an elementary-level, and the model looks to be a few updates older than the ones the Garrison had provided during your own years. <chat>LANCE: Oh, right, that. I got it as a birthday gift when I turned nine. But you know, I didn't really care about space or ships back then. I mostly used it as a nightlight. It's crazy how things end up so differently than when you were a kid, huh?</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/KkxwPVl.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

Satisfied with the mini tour, you return to LANCE's side. He's grinning, his whole mood having flipped completely already. <chat>LANCE: Pretty neat, right? It's not even just here. I can go anywhere I want. Last week I spent a whole night just at the shoreline. I coulda sworn I had to clean off sand bits off my butt the next day.</chat> <tw-story>[["You come here often?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["You must really miss it."]]</tw-story>

He bursts into rambunctious laughter. <chat>LANCE: You trying to pick me up, Mullet? With such a serious face, too. You're a riot and a half. And I do, by the way. Come here often.</chat> <tw-story>[["Is that a good idea?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["I--I didn't mean it like that!"]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: Sure, I do. Don't get me wrong. It's been cool piloting a sentinent lion, and I love Blue with all my heart, it's just... it always feels like there's a part of me I left behind on Earth. I know that sounds dumb and I know it's not healthy to keep coming back here, but I don't know what else to do.</chat> He lowers himself onto his bed. His hands are closed in fists, resting on his thighs. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Yol3INl.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE sighs and brings up a hand to rub at his head, a completely boyish and LANCE-like gesture. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Yol3INl.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: Ha-ha! Don't be shy, I know I'm cute. But if you keep blushing like that in front of other people you might be my rival in more than piloting.</chat> LANCE says it with such blasé, you almost don't register it. Is he...? You can't help the flush from spreading even more. <tw-story>[["You're--um, changing the subject."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Sh-shut up!"]]</tw-story>

He's laughing and you can't help laughing too, even if it's at your expense, because there's something so infectious about LANCE's joy and attentions that makes you feel like you've never experienced loneliness. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Yol3INl.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

He manages to gather himself and meets your eyes. <chat>LANCE: Earlier, when you bumped into me, I didn't mean to take it out on you. It's just... It's been so long. Too long. I woke up earlier and the first thing I thought was, "What's Mama making for breakfast?" And that's the worst of it, not knowing. We're so far away. Do you ever miss home, Keith?</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/7ggPpXW.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE balls a fist, as if he wishes he could direct it at you. He should know better. You've bested him at hand-to-hand countless times. But then he lowers his hand and gazes at you with steely eyes. It makes you feel lesser than nothing. <chat>LANCE: Right. My problem? My problem is that I regret ever thinking that you can function like a normal human being.</chat> Why do you always have to say stupid stuff without thinking ahead? [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/KC7L1ev.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You sigh, conceding the battle. LANCE gives you a frown, but soon it irons out into something like a pout. <chat>LANCE: I'm being a jerk, aren't I?</chat> <tw-story>[["Don't be so self-aware, it's scary."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Maybe a little."]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: What?! Wow. It actually physically hurts to have been told that by the least self-aware person in the entire universe. Ouch. And here I was about to spill my guts to you, and in return I get hypocrisy? Unheard of! Unorthodox!</chat> You roll your eyes. You want him to spit it out already. <tw-story>[["What is it?"]]</tw-story>

He serves you the stink eye, but it holds less weight than it should've. You offer your own version, and LANCE breaks first. His brow softens and he runs a hand through his hair. <chat>LANCE: It's weird to talk about.</chat> <tw-story>[["What is it?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Then don't talk about it."]]</tw-story>

LANCE balls a fist, quaking. But despite his instability, he gazes at you with steely eyes. It makes you feel lesser than nothing. <chat>LANCE: Right. Sorry. How could I forget decent human empathy hasn't been programmed into your system? I'll leave you be.</chat> Why do you always have to say stupid stuff without thinking ahead? [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/KC7L1ev.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

When LANCE leaves, you feel as though something as heavy as wrought iron has made your stomach into its home. If Lance didn't hate you before, he does now. <ending>[[HATED ENDING]]</ending>

Double-click this passage to edit it.

There's a sliver of a moment when you think LANCE might turn away--his body readjusts and he pulls his robe tighter. In the end, however, his small, sad smile reaches you, and he is only a hand's length away. If you wanted, you could touch him. <chat>LANCE: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. We see new stars and galaxies all the time now, and they're never not breathtaking. But I'd kill to see the Big Dipper again. Orion. Those belong to us.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/c511Pnk.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE startles, then shakes his head embarrassedly. <chat>LANCE: You're right, it's stupid.</chat> <tw-story>[["It is. You've got bigger things to worry about than being homesick."]]</tw-story>

Home is a concept you once knew by heart. You've found it in other things, now--in Red, in the team, in the smile you had just witnessed. But home for you had never been a place, and you're beginning to understand that Lance doesn't mean one either. <tw-story>[["The last year I spent on Earth, I spent alone. It was cold at night in the desert. But it'd be nice, I think, to see the stars again the way we used to see them."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Not really."]]</tw-story>

Frozen, LANCE stares at you for a moment, as if trying to process your words. Then he stands and puts his hand up, and the world around you dissolves into the sterlie, empty memory chamber--gone was the nostalgia. And LANCE has closed off. <chat>LANCE: You know, I actually thought... Never mind. Whatever. You can find your own way out.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/e85ecIY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

When LANCE leaves, you feel as though something as heavy as wrought iron has made your stomach into its home. If Lance didn't hate you before, he does now. <ending>[[HATED ENDING]]</ending>

It's disgusting, and in your reflection off the rim of an interface you see it glow a little as you swallow it down your throat. It's strange. Alien. But it gets the job done and you feel a little less lightheaded. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/RMb72mZ.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You sit on one of the table scanners to allow the medicine to settle. As you wait, you practice your breathing--meditating the way SHIRO always advised you to do when you had the time. Amidst your calm, the entryway slides open, catching your attention. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/9bLTRaQ.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

It's LANCE. That's LANCE coming in, looking disheveled and solemn. He cups the base of his head and there's a stripe of a dark stain against his Blue Lion nightcoat. When he sees you, he stops in his tracks. You watch the array of emotion that passes through his face: surprise, embarrassment, annoyance. <tw-story>[["What happened?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Ignore him.]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: None of your business, Mullet. I just--ugh! Where's the freakin' stop-the-hurt potions when you need them?</chat> If there was anyone who hated the cryopods more than you, it was the current Blue Paladin himself. <tw-story>[["The pink one on that table. Drink that."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["They're not potions."]]</tw-story>

He doesn't seem to be in a responsive mood, so you ignore him as he passes through. The air gets thick and hard to maneuver through, and that's when you decide to leave him be. Since you're better now, all you want is to be left alone. A nap sounds appealing more and more. [[<img src="http://i.imgur.com/31cOJd0.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

He's suspicious of your help but seems to be in too much distress to actually kick up a fuss, and you watch in awkward silence as he drinks the vial in one go, same as you, and his entire face lights up in a healing glow. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/YCwsTvY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: You know what I mean. Alien magic. Oh, I remember these. The hurt-begone potion.</chat> He takes one of the same pink vials off the table you had. You watch in awkward silence as he drinks the vial in one go in a mirror image of the action you had executed, and LANCE's entire face lights up in a healing glow. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/YCwsTvY.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<chat>LANCE: Gross! Eugh, that deserves a quiznack. Anyway, I do feel a lot better. Thanks. D'you know where the bandages are?</chat> You don't, but you both bumble your way around the medbay trying to find them. Maybe Alteans are too advanced for something mundane like minor injuries. <tw-story>[["Is that it?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Maybe they've got spray-ons instead."]]</tw-story>

<chat>LANCE: Well, I definitely don't want to call Mr. Gorgeous Man in here just to confirm. Oh, wait, I think I found--what's that say? Haven't brushed off my ultra secret Altean reading skills just yet, but I'm pretty sure this is a bandage.</chat> LANCE procures something that resembles it, and with some fumbling manages to apply it onto his head. But he can't get a tight knot the way it should be. <tw-story>[[Help him.]]</tw-story>

You reach over and secure the bandage to his head, all the while wondering what had LANCE done to do such damage to himself out of battle. Except you expect weaseling out an answer may take more than the tact you were never born with. <tw-story>[["I hit my head in the shower. I had to make sure I didn't have a concussion."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["You're not usually this careless."]]</tw-story>

You point to a tiny roll of something that was possibly gauze in one of the cabinets. He shrugs, and with some fumbling manages to apply it onto his head. But he can't get a tight knot the way it should be. <tw-story>[[Help him.]]</tw-story>

Eyes widening, LANCE offers his astonishment: <chat>LANCE: What!? Cheese and crackers, Keith! That's so lame!</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QAQ7Yu8.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

The way LANCE laughs comes out brittle, harsh. <chat>LANCE: I don't know how to take that.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QAQ7Yu8.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You double-down and lean on the nearest countertop, and almost automatically, LANCE follows suit. <chat>LANCE: You're a good guy, Keith. Sorry if I acted like a jerk before. It's just been a tough day. Wanna call it a truce?</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/25NXbIk.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You tell him, completely knowing, that you have to be enemies first in order to make a truce. The smile you get for that could melt a glacier, and in you it feeds a dying fire. You and LANCE hang around the MEDICAL WING for a while, tossing jokes and messing around with the more unknown equipment lying around. You're glad LANCE is safe. You only wish you were there to have prevented whatever had gotten him injured. By the end of your games, LANCE vocalizes how much he's glad to have you in this team. <ending>[[HAPPY ENDING]]</ending>

SHIRO has his Instructor Shirogane face on, frowning like he knew he was right but didn't quite know how to put it. <chat>SHIRO: Of course there are going to be aftershocks with a ship this big. There's no avoiding it. But I told Coran what I thought was the right call. I actually taught multiple courses on space turbulence on Earth, so I think I know what I'm taking about.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ivR9MVV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You stand a few feet behind them, trying to think of a way to approach without getting on their bad sides. <tw-story>[["Anything I can do to help?"]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Something wrong with the ship?"]]</tw-story>

Both of them whip around to you in unison, and it makes you feel like you're in trouble for something, which is wrong because you know you haven't done a thing. <chat>SHIRO: Keith. Don't worry. We're just passing through a large mass cloud of ionized gas right now, so the turbulence is our biggest trouble.</chat> He pointedly looks at ALLURA, who rolls her eyes--a befitting act for a princess. <tw-story>[["Alfven waves. Sure."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Turbulence isn't that bad. It regulates star formations, detects radiation. But then again, I did hit my head in the shower."]]</tw-story>

Both of them whip around to you in unison, and it makes you feel like you're in trouble for something, which is wrong because you know you haven't done a thing. <chat>SHIRO: Keith. Nothing to worry about. We're just passing through a large mass cloud of ionized gas right now, so the turbulence is our biggest trouble.</chat> He pointedly looks at ALLURA, who rolls her eyes--a befitting act for a princess. <tw-story>[["Alfven waves. Sure."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Turbulence isn't that bad. It regulates star formations, detects radiation. But then again, I did hit my head in the shower."]]</tw-story>

<chat>SHIRO: That's right. Alfven waves cause turbulence in astrophysical systems when they travel up and down through the magnetic fields in ionized gases. Hunk and Pidge are down helping Coran reinforce the Castle as best as they can.</chat> You know all this already. He's explaining it for ALLURA's benefit, despite her stubborness. Luckily, SHIRO has loads of experience with stubborn teenagers on his hands. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Vllg75i.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

SHIRO raises an eyebrow. <chat>SHIRO: And here you are, having neglected to check for a concussion, I bet. You're going to kill yourself if you go on like this, Keith.</chat> <tw-story>[["Awesome."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Yeah, a concussion is more likely to kill me than the giant purple aliens we're at war with."]]</tw-story>

The two of you spend some time talking about things you missed from Earth, like rain and movies and burgers. After that last one, you remind him what Kaltenecker's good for, which earns you a playful shove. It gets hard for you to scrounge up good memories as time goes on. LANCE seems to notice, so he spearheads the conversation with Garrison shenanigans--the type he'd only share without SHIRO in hearing range. And you don't remember the last time you had laughed so much to the point of aching cheeks, of interrupting mid-sentence to giggle at nothing in particular. Around you, LANCE's virtual room dims with the sunset, time falling at your feet as if it were melting away. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/iINkGE5.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

In the middle of another laughter stand-off, a quake breaks you into surprise. Both you and LANCE fall on your bottoms, quick as lightning, and you realize that what had felt like a natural setting sun before was actually the room glitching back to real life, slower and slower. BOOM! CRASH! You hear this in the distance, though you can't narrow down from which direction. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/AI0pYLL.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/aDcig2C.gif" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Blinking wildly, LANCE holds an arm above his line of sight just to block the MEMORY CHAMBER's flashing lights. <chat>LANCE: What's going--</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/CPRDhSw.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/aDcig2C.gif" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Instinctively, you whip your head to the first sign of movement. There, at the highest point of the ceiling, is a panel on the verge of ripping away from its place and falling a large distance downwards. You don't have to estimate the angle in which it might fall, because it's directly above where you stand, slightly to the right of you... <tw-story>[[Pull LANCE away.]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Do nothing.]]</tw-story>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/aDcig2C.gif" style="width: 300px; height: 194px; margin: 10px 0px;"> Your first instinct, of course, is to pull LANCE away from the line of impact. You grip his wrist and jerk him towards you, but because of impulse you don't manage your strength well and he ends up toppling over, bringing you down with him. Seconds later, the panel crashes down to the same spot LANCE had just been. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/BknbcDD.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You choose not do do anything and watch helplessly as the debris hits LANCE over the head, incapacitating him. The walk to the MEDICAL WING is long and arduous and fills you with such shame you say nothing at all. <ending>[[ACCIDENT ENDING]]</ending>

LANCE barks out a laugh, unbelieving. <chat>LANCE: Holy--! I can't believe that just... Keith, man, that was... thank you.</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/5OU2cQs.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

You're lying side-by-side, and in this glow you're reminded of another moment in time between you, forgotten or not. You look at LANCE, purplish and adrenaline-pumping and flush with relief--and you realize with a start that you're in love with this boy. And it's not something that jumpstarts flight-or-fight or stops your bloodflow, but instead rises some strange, unfelt feeling that makes you want to brush the sweat-matted bangs off of LANCE's forehead just so that you can see the blue of his eyes. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/UdJdXIU.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

LANCE rolls his eyes at your practicality, but nonetheless is amiable when you both make your way to the CONTROL ROOM, nudging shoulders despite the wide hallways. You think you might regret something. <ending>[[PINING ENDING]]</ending>

The emotion overtakes you, and you begin to say the things that had been boiling over in you for a long time now, continuing even when LANCE's smile dissolves into something more indiscernable. You've never been one for words, but this time you know what you want to tell him. Just when you thought you couldn't pull the brakes on it, your mouth stutters to a pause. In his boyish glory, LANCE stares, a finger unconsciously running up and down the wrist that you had grabbed in the earlier frenzy. You can't remember if you told him you loved him, in that speech. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/4jS34gu.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

It is a calm that fills you up like water that crowds your skin when you wade in it, like quicksand without the fear or struggle. You feel like you could let it take you. LANCE has noticed you noticing and looks at you questioningly, a small smile still stationed on his lips. <tw-story>[["We should... probably go to Shiro and see what's up with the ship."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[[Confess.]]</tw-story>

<center><astart>FIN.</astart> <bstart>IN LOVE ENDING</bstart></center> <bbstart> Congratulations! You got the <important>In Love Ending</important>! You saved Lance from the accident and confessed! So brave of you! I don't know what happens next but I'm sure it's filled with plenty of happiness and more death-defying adventures, because that's just what they be like. There are three legitmate endings to this story: <important>Happy</important>, <important>Lonely</important>, and <important>In Love</important>! Luckily for you, this is one of them! Thanks for giving me the time of day! Please <a href="http://kyoukainokanata.tumblr.com/ask">contact me</a> for any questions! I don't know anything though. <center><bstart>[[restart]]</bstart> </center>

LANCE is hoarse when he speaks, as if he were the one to have spoken instead. <chat>LANCE: No fair, Keith. You're not allowed to be so... Did you mean all that? Me? You're in love with me? That's so unfair. I wanted to be the one to do it. You and your stupid reckless mullet. I shoulda been the one to tell you first. Dumb Keith. Why do you always have to win?</chat> [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/JEKPGsH.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

When he presses his mouth against yours, it's fast and light and he retreats too fast--so you lean over and try again. Your lips are chapped and you think you hear an alarm over the malfuncting memory chamber, but in that moment it feels as if you're touching down on a familiar planet, weary and worn, the only home you've ever known. <ending>[[IN LOVE ENDING]]</ending>

<chat>ALLURA: What's important now is to make sure the Castle endures the cloud without further damage to the internal systems. Might I remind you that this ship is over ten thousand years old?</chat> <tw-story>[["So are you, but you work just fine."]]</tw-story> <tw-story>[["Turbulence isn't that bad. It regulates star formations, detects radiation. But then again, I did hit my head in the shower."]]</tw-story>

SHIRO coughs suddenly, but you know him well enough to know he's disguising a laugh. ALLURA seems to know him just as well, because she crosses her arms in disapproval. <chat>ALLURA: If you're quite done, I feel as though there is a more pressing matter to discuss. Keith, I'm sorry I'm in such a mood. It's just that your Black Paladin can be such a--what did Pidge say before? A doo-doo head.</chat> His coughing trick fails him and SHIRO guffaws without restraint. You can't help a titter yourself. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/xXiPLaV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

SHIRO coughs suddenly, but you know him well enough to know he's disguising a laugh. ALLURA seems to know him just as well, because she crosses her arms in disapproval. <chat>ALLURA: If you're quite done, I feel as though there is a more pressing matter to discuss. Keith, I'm sorry I'm in such a mood. It's just that your Black Paladin can sometimes be such a--what did Pidge say before? A doo-doo head.</chat> His coughing trick fails him and SHIRO guffaws without restraint. You can't help a titter yourself. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/xXiPLaV.png" style="width: 15px; height: 10px; position: absolute; margin: 0px 290px;">]]

For the rest of the day, you stay idle in the CONTROL ROOM, listening to SHIRO and ALLURA's light bantering until CORAN, PIDGE, and HUNK trail in, slick with Altean oils and grease that HUNK tries to smudge on you with a bear hug. Everyone laughs until you take your revenge and slather it on ALLURA, who screeches and smacks SHIRO's metal arm, since he was nearest. PIDGE cackles so loudly beside you, she may have just blown an eardrum. You feel warm at being included. It does something to your insides. <ending>[[HAPPY ENDING]]</ending>