the magic of gardens (a langst minific)
since im currently working on my rebel!lance au and torn apart (and maybe some more of lachesism!lance ;) ), i thought I’d give you guys some langst and fluff since I haven’t written anything in a while!
If there was one thing that was obvious to Lance during his time in space, it was how lifeless it was. Of course it wasn’t always that way, the paladins were often wormhole-ing from one galaxy to another and seeing a multitude of different planets every day. Yet there were also those moments where it was just the castle and the vastness of space, leaving them without any planet to anchor to.
It was in those moments that Lance truly missed his home, not only for his family, but for the life that always bloomed on Earth. Back home, Lance had had a garden, both outside and in his bedroom. The plants ranged from succulents to flowers to even vegetables, filling Lance’s room to the brim with life.
That’s when it started, Lance would have to say, a day like any other filled with boring missions. The team had been visiting a planet by the name of Gaji, specifically its markets for supplies for the castle. Lance being Lance, had wandered off, hoisting his bag over his shoulder in search of something cool and discovered a little shop at the end of the row, where a small alien sat surrounded by plants. The alien itself was a soft lavender with three eyes, each peering at Lance with curiosity. “Are you interested in buying some plants?” The merchant asked, gesturing around the shop, “Anything specific?” Lance shook his head and peered around the small shop, looking at all the odd plants that were scattered around. Some glowed, while others moved, each unique in their own way.
“May I ask where you got all these plants? I haven’t seen any of these on Gaji?” Lance said instead, interested.
The merchant laughed, sounding almost like a bird chirp, at his words,”Oh no, these are plants I’ve discovered while traveling. I have my own garden and I like to sell any plants I already have or do not need anymore.”
“You have a garden? Is it here on Gaji? How do you manage it? I used to have one too back on my home planet, sorry if I’m asking too much!” Lance replied excitedly, he never had thought to start his own garden out in space.
“Oh no you’re fine, I enjoy talking about my garden, ask as many questions as you’d like! You remind me of an old friend, they too loved nature. And yes, it is here on Gaji towards the mountains so it can receive direct light from our sun. My family mostly manages it for me while I’m away, however I also have some droids who help out as well!” He explained, pointing to a small robot on a nearby shelf.
“That’s so cool! How do you collect the plants? Especially these larger ones?” Lance asked.
“Oh that’s simple, have you ever heard of Bev? No? Well, he’s an inventor who created these small boxes that expand and then shrink to carry whatever you need. I’m not exactly sure of the science behind it, but it helps me with the business! Oh and please take a seat! You must be getting tired simply standing there, would you like a cup of lepaz as well? It’s a de-stresser tea, the plants can tell you’re a bit stressed.” He ushered Lance into a soft cushion before disappearing behind a door and emerging with two mugs and some cookies, or rather space cookies.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do all this! I haven’t even learned your name yet!” Lance exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Oh no, it is custom with my people to provide support, especially to those who appreciate nature! My name is Zad, and I’ve heard tales of you, Blue Paladin. Now may I ask some questions as well? Is it true you battled a sea monster with only your wits and saved a whole planet?” Zad handed him his mug and the two talked for hours about the universe and plants in the cozy little shop. For the first time in months, Lance felt completely relaxed.
Before he knew it, he was getting a call over the comms to return back to the castle, ruining his good mood.
“Sorry Zad, I have to get going back to the castle now,” Lance sighed, placing his mug on the floor.
Zad smiled and stood up, gesturing for Lance to as well. “It was nice to meet you Blue Paladin, please accept this communicator as a away for us to keep in touch! And back to my first question before you go, are you interested in any of these plants? I’m sure you’d be a great caretaker!”
Lance happily accepted the small communicator, ignoring the second beep alerting him to head back to the castle before responding,”I sadly don’t have any money on me, our team leader was carrying it before I wandered off. I really have to go now though, I’ll make sure to keep in touch!”
Lance was all but running out of the shop as his helmet beeped a third time, but was interrupted by a loud, “Wait!”
Zad ran up to him, holding a small cube in his hand, “Take this then, it has all you need to start up your own garden.” Lance was about to retort that he couldn’t possibly accept such a gift when his helmet beeped once again, this time with a short and angry message from Allura, leaving him with no option but to accept and sprint back to the castle.
The lecture he received once he returned hadn’t been a fun one, that’s for sure.
“You can’t keep wandering off like that Lance! You could have gotten seriously hurt, I expected better from you,” Shiro reprimanded as soon as he was onboard, practically fuming. He had to pinch the bridge of his nose and take a deep breath before continuing, “Just… just act as a Paladin all right? I know you’re tired and the market was cool, but we have to be the responsible ones and that means not jeopardizing a mission to go sight-seeing okay?” Lance could only nod, keeping his eyes trained on the floor as he trudged back to his room quietly. He’d face the rest of the team tomorrow.
Once he reached his room he immediately went and changed, going through his nightly routine as well. It wasn’t until he was putting on his face mask when he remembered the small cube Zad had given him. He went and pulled it out the bag he had brought with him, admiring the intricate designs that covered the cube. There was a small button on the cube and without thinking Lance immediately pushed, which was a mistake.
Items began pouring out of the box; boxes of soil, fertilizer, tea boxes, and plants began to cover his floor. Zad had said he gave him enough to start a garden but he hadn’t thought it was this much! It was going to be a long night.
Lance barely got any sleep after having to organize all the supplies he had been given, which now covered half his room even after being put into stacks. He almost face planted into his food goo during breakfast, which didn’t go unnoticed.
Coran had pulled him aside before training asking him if he felt alright, twisting his moustache in worry.
Lance ran his fingers through his hair,”Well um, I’m feeling fine I just stayed up a bit a late due to an…accident.”
“An accident?! Are you alright? Should I go start a healing pod, you know how-”
“Its fine! I was given a gift the other day at the market and it kinda exploded all over my room? So it kinda resembles a garden shop at the moment with all the supplies that’s in there,” Lance mumbled, “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could put all of that right? I can’t use half of my room currently, which is a small problem.” Coran was speechless for a moment before a huge grin overtook his face.
“A garden you say? I have just the thing. But first, let’s get you out of training, yeah? You look a bit rugged and I think this will do you some good!” Coran winked at him, heading back into the dining room to alert the team that Lance would be helping him with some castle repairs for the rest of the day, which Shiro begrudgingly agreed to.
The pair then quickly went to Lance’s room where they locked the door to keep their job away from prying eyes.
“Now, I haven’t properly been able to alert you all of the functions of your rooms, which is quite a shame! You see, if you press this panel here, it opens up a small chamber! And if you press this one, it opens a wardrobe, and this one opens a-” Coran rambled, opening up a small room that had both an upper level and a lower level. It was lined with shelves and great lighting, exactly what Lance needed. “-and then the panel closed on his foot! Hah! On Altea…Lance, are you alright my boy?”
Lance hadn’t even realized he was crying, lifting a hand to touch the tears rolling down his face. He reached over and hugged Coran,”This is perfect Coran, thank you so much.” He wiped the tears away before grinning excitedly, “Now lets fill this baby up! This is going to be the coolest thing ever!”
By the end of the day, most of the bottom section had been filled with plants and Lance’s room was empty once again. Zad had given him a total of fifteen plants, each differing in size and type. His favorite had to be one that resembled a succulent, that glowed a soft blue and had shiny blue leaves.
At dinner that night, Lance was about to tell the team about his cool new garden when he remembered that they were all angry at him still. That certainly put a damper on his happy mood. He couldn’t tell them about the garden now, not when they were angry, it would make them think he didn’t take this seriously. So he kept it a secret, promising himself to tell them when the time was right.
As the days turned to weeks, Lance found that instead of telling the team about his garden, he simply continued to add to it. He carried the cube with him on scouting missions to fill with any cool plants he might find along the way. This resulted in him filling up the entire bottom layer, the shelves full to the brim with plants. In a way, it was therapeutic, having something so simple to take care of and keep his mind off of the war he was fighting every day. He would often call up Zad on the communicator while he was in the room, talking to him about his garden and asking for any tips on certain plants. Zad had even went as far as to teach him a bit about plant magic, showing him the basics of the web of life that made up the world. It was relaxing, and even the team began to see a shift in him as well. In Pidge’s words, he was more “chill”.
It even helped him with his bond with Blue, as Zad had suggested he tried out meditation (which Lance had originally thought was lame) and he saw huge improvements in the way he could communicate with his lion. Her words came out sharper and he could speak to her over greater distances.
All thanks to these little plants.
Of course, this was Lance however, and nothing ever went his way.
He was just placing a new flower he found on the planet they previously visited, when a voice startled him and ended with the plant hitting the floor.
“What. The. Hell.” Lance turned around to see Keith standing in the doorway, awe clearly displayed on his face.
“Keith! What are you doing here? Why didn’t you knock?!” Lance yelled, “Goddamit, I broke its pot. Are you good little guy?”
Keith only stared at the room in front of him, that was honestly one of the prettiest things he had ever seen. From the soft lanterns that floated around to all the glowing plants, it looked like something straight out of a disney movie.
“How did you even…when did this happen?” Keith asked, staying in the doorway in fear of ruining the almost magical atmosphere of the room.
Lance sighed, making his way down to the bottom level where Keith was,”Um, a while ago when we went to that market on Gaji? There was a plant shop there with this cool dude named Zad, who is a gardening god by the way, gave me a bunch of plants after we had this like huge discussion. Then Coran helped me set this up.” Lance smiled proudly at his garden, peeling off his gardening gloves. “Um, why did you come into my room anyway?”
“Oh um, I wanted to see if you wanted to spar but you seem busy so I’ll just go..” Keith said, slowly making his way back into Lance’s room.
“Well now that you know about this, feel free to stay! I’ve got this awesome tea, or at least resembles a tea, that you should try! And-” Lance was interrupted by a song ringing, filling up the room, “One sec!”
Keith awkwardly stood there while Lance spoke to ‘Rad Zad’, not knowing whether he should stay or leave. Finally when Lance was done he turned to Keith. “Sorry about that, I just wanted to tell you I’ve got this cool fire plant thing that you would like!”
The two ended up spending the rest of the afternoon exploring Lance’s garden, sipping on lepaz and enjoying a moment of magic in the midst of the madness.
