Hunk and Pidge had both left to explore other parts of the planet some time ago. It was just Keith and Lance now, lying on the grey sand of an alien beach, a sea of strange blue goop stretched out in front of them instead of clear water.
“This sucks,” Lance piped up after a while. Keith looked at him; he’d thought Lance had been asleep.
“What does?” Keith asked, looking back to the sea. They’d had an uneventful day, sure, but it hadn’t been particularly terrible.
“This,” Lance said, gesturing at the air, frustration thick in his voice. “It’s weird. It kinda reminds you of home, you know? But it’s off. I don’t even wanna touch this blue slime stuff. It just makes me miss the actual ocean.”
Home. The word used to ring empty in Keith’s head. It didn’t, anymore. His team was his family now, and home was wherever they were. He didn’t have the same sentimental attachment to Earth that Lance did; he wanted to save it, sure, because he liked Earth as a planet and it was full of people, but he’d never longed for it the way Lance did now.
“I wouldn’t know,” Keith said. “I’ve never lived near the ocean before.”
“But you’ve been to beaches, right?”
“A few times. Never just for the hell of it.” Keith shrugged. “I’ve flown over a lot of them, though.”
Lance squawked as if Keith had punched him in the stomach, sitting up with an affronted look on his face.
“What? Nonononono. That’s not cool man. I’ll have to take you when we get back.”
“Take me where?” Keith asked. A beach, his mind supplied, but he liked the way the sad set of Lance’s face morphed into excitement when he asked.
“Home, I’ll show you what the ocean is supposed to look like. The water goes so far out that you can’t tell where it ends and the sky begins, and when it’s a clear day there’s just this huge expanse of blue in front of you.” Lance paused, and Keith saw him send him a look from the corner of his eyes. “If you don’t mind dealing with my crazy family, that is.”
Keith thought of Lance’s huge family, of being surrounded by people who exuded the same warmth and gave easy smiles, and something painful twisted in his gut; almost like longing.
“I’d like that,” he murmured. Lance let out a relieved huff beside him, and when Keith turned his head to look at him, he was grinning.
When Lance stood some time later, muttering about dinner, he offered Keith a hand up. He didn’t let go as soon he could have after Keith reached out and let Lance pull him upright, and he gave Keith’s hand a firm squeeze before he did.
Keith’s heart stuttered in his chest. Without realising it, he began counting down the days to home.
