I think it’s best this one doesn’t have a summary... I’m so sorry
Thanks @elsiemcclay for being a great beta, and for thinking up the title because I suck at titles! This is a shorter-than-usual one-shot before the next YT AU thing, which will probably be followed with angst.
Lance skidded to a stop, looking with terrified eyes across the dining hall towards the red paladin staring back at him.
Keith's expression was stone cold, betraying no emotion.
Lance raised his shaking hands into the air, dropping his gun on the floor. Keith already had his own weapon aimed and ready.
“K-Keith,” Lance said, trying for a smile. “Please, put the gun down. You don't have to do this. Let's just talk it out!”
“There's nothing to talk about Lance,” Keith's finger moved to the trigger. “You know I have no choice.”
“But you do!” Lance pleaded, wringing his hands. “We're a good team, remember? We should be working together! I... Keith, I love you!”
“Sorry, Lance,” Keith replied, sounding bored as he fired the gun. A splatter of red instantly coated the blue paladin's armor as he fell to the floor.
“I'm getting better at aiming this thing,” Keith mused, as he reloaded the gun. “Now where's—”
“You.”
Keith turned back around only to see Hunk standing over Lance's body. And he was furious.
“What have you done?” Hunk demanded, pointing his own rifle at Keith.
“Yes!” Lance cheered from the floor, pumping a fist into the air. “Avenge me, Hunk!”
Hunk frowned down at his friend. “Lance, you're supposed to be dead.”
“Oh, right.” He slumped back onto the floor, failing at hiding his grin.
A snort from behind Keith had all their heads turning. “You guys are such dorks,” Pidge laughed. “This is just a training drill, not a Shakespeare play.”
“Who the quiznak is Shakespeare?”
“Oh my god, Lance, do you seriously not—”
“I was making a joke!” Lance sat up fully. “And besides, this is an exercise to test our aim, and I'm the sharpshooter! Am I not supposed to take this seriously just because the rest of you suck?”
“Says the only one of us covered in paint here,” Keith observed with a smirk.
Lance glared at him, then aimed his own paintball gun up at Keith. “Fuck you,” he fired, sending a splash of blue paint directly into his chest.
“You're not allowed to do that!” Keith protested. “You're already out!”
“To hell with the rules!” Lance all but shouted. “I told you I loved you, and you /still/ shot me!”
“Lance, I already knew that,” Keith told him, rolling his eyes.
Lance scoffed. “Who are you, Han Solo?”
“A Star Wars reference?” Keith raised an eyebrow. “Really, Lance?”
“I'm just surprised you got it, mister 'I lived in the desert for months.'”
“You can't use your relationship to get out of us destroying you guys,” Pidge interrupted their bickering, planting a hand on her hip. “Keith and I fucking own this drill!”
“We agreed Altean profanities only,” Hunk scolded. “Remember the last time Allura overheard Pidge calling us bitches? She used it for weeks!”
Pidge winced. “Sorry about that, again.”
“Don't worry, Pidge, we still love you and your terrible potty-mouth,” Lance assured her, ruffling the green paladin's hair.
She shot her gun at him with a growl, sending more red paint directly into his face.
“Ow! Hey, we agreed no faces! That's breaking the rules!” Lance shouted angrily as he tried to blink paint out of his eyes.
“You already broke the rules,” Keith reminded him, aiming for Lance again. Before he could, Hunk sent a barrage of blue paint at the two shorter paladins.
They all looked at each other for a moment.
“This is war!” Pidge cried, and dove underneath the table.
Allura sighed. “Don't you think we should stop them? The kitchen is getting awfully messy.”
Shiro and the princess watched the four younger paladins on the camera feeds from the control room. The two paintball teams made for a short, friendly exercise had dissolved into all-out chaos. All of them were covered nearly head to toe in a mixture of red and blue splatters, and they showed no signs of stopping.
“Let them have their fun,” Shiro decided, eying Allura with a smile. “They're still young.”
“True, but they act so immature. We're only older by a few years, you know,” Allura reminded him, before getting that mischievous gleam in her eyes he'd only seen once or twice before. “You know, there are two more paintball guns that Coran has stashed in the armory.”
Shiro's grin was immediate. “I think maybe I should work on my aim, too. What about you, Princess?”
She nodded, already standing to lead the way. “Definitely.”
