It was a nice night, calm. No missions for them yet, so it was relaxed. A perfect night for a game Keith guessed. When you put five very bored paladins together, some things happen. Just like this kind of game. Which, Keith really had no clue started honestly. Or who even really thought this was a good idea. A group exercise and a 'get to know you' game all in one. All Keith knew, was that was bull, and the game was just strange and humiliating at times. Oh, what was this exact game?

Truth or Dare.

Basically, to Keith's understanding, the game was 'do a sexual or humiliating thing, or tell us who you like'. With other things squished in to make it not seem so obvious what information they really wanted. Just stupid random things, whether it was to make you uncomfortable, or make you do or say some plain weird things that would never be spoke of again in any circumstance.

So, it's what Lance would call Vegas. What happens in the Truth or Dare circle, stays in the circle.

Sitting in together on the floor all the paladins, Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Keith, and finally Lance. Allura and Coran were just idly observing and during their own work or entertainment while they kept an eye on the young adults. And so far, the game was going fine. Random things happened, like Hunk having to give Pidge a piggyback ride. Keith having to run around the whole facility two times. Dodging the occasional paladins who were stalking him to make sure he ran the whole way and not take any short cuts. Shiro had to stand on his head for so long that he almost passed out. And the things that were forced out of people will never be brought up again under any circumstances. Kinks, are shamed and will forever stay in the closet. Speaking of closets.

Keith watched passively as Pidge gave a sly smirk, he knew what the look in her eyes meant, he was wondering just who was going to be humiliated now. Pidge pointed directly at Lance, who grinned widely as the damning words were spoken. Keith thought it was a little odd, but all of the options he'd picked had been dares. All of those dares were done with absolutely no hesitation. It was awe-inspiring, disgusting, and even a little bit impressive. Honestly speaking, unlike Lance, there was no way in hell that Keith would even let his face get within a foot of the bathroom floor, and there was Lance. Got a dare of licking it. And he freaking did it. He was going to get sick. When that did happen, all Keith was going to say was 'I told you so'. Maybe get him some cold medication after he admitted fault.

"Truth or Dare Lance." Lance rolled his eyes, giving a mischievous grin of his own.

"I thought you were smart Pidge? Do you eve have to ask me anymore? Dare, come at me bro." Pidge grinned widely to match Lance's own smile. Spinning a random pen in her hands, she pointed accusingly at him again.

"Take the person you hate the most, and lock yourself in the nearest broom closet with them for a whole hour." Keith rolled his eyes, almost ready to get up and start walking to the closet himself. Ready to get it over with as soon as possible, because no matter how Keith thought of Lance. Sitting in a stuffy, dark, broom closet, was a pass time he wouldn't even do willingly with his favorite person in the world. Though, Lance wasn't a terrible person to be stuck with. Better than Hunk, seeing as Hunk was a nice guy, but of a much taller and bigger form than Keith. The only thing that stopped Keith from standing up however was Lance. Who's face remained stiff like stone, but his eyes held panic at first, until it smoothed over to a blank, dull, blue grey. Unlike the usually fun and joke loving light in his eyes. Lance got up stiffly, and started walking across the circle towards Keith, making the red paladin a little unsettled, especially with that blank look in his eyes. Keith shifted, until the tan, Cuban male was nearly in front of him. Keith held his breath.

But Lance just walked right past him, brushed past him like nothing. Not even a glance back. Just walking straight ahead, blue eyes forward, brown hair shifting with the movement and breeze from the vents. His tan skin was barely visible from his tan and gold jacket and jeans. Feet padding away with small thumps until he was so far away no one could see him or hear the soft footfalls. Shiro had tried to call out to him, maybe stop him. But Lance was never one to hesitant or change his mind. So, it was already too late to go after him by the time he disappeared behind the door. The remaining four just sat and stared for a short while, before Hunk cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Um, Shiro. Truth or dare?" His voice was steady, but it was easy to tell that he was distracted by Lance's sudden disappearance. Just like it was obvious that he wasn't the only one as Shiro didn't even respond to the question at first, only giving a soft 'huh?' as his name processed in his mind.

It was pretty clear the mood was dead and the game was quickly falling apart with Lance's sudden disappearance from the main room. Leaving only an off feeling and a strange silence to replace the light fun. No more licking disgusting floors and laughing at the poor bastard who was dared to do it. Not even any stupid jokes that made everyone groan and call Lance annoying. The game was dead and people were beginning to separate and go off on their own for the night as they realized that. Keith however, was still bothered. Knowing that he should probably just ignore it and go to his own residence for the night, he found himself hesitating and contemplating it in his mind. Then briskly walking past his own room and straight to the room of a certain idiotic male. Finding not even a sigh of life in the blue paladin's room to Keith's disappointment. The black haired male bit back a sigh and walked out. Checking the various places in the facility.

Nothing in the kitchen. The commonplaces were completely empty and dark, even the library, still nothing. Though, in Keith's mind the library had been a long shot. After nearly an hour of searching in every place Keith could think of looking he was ready to give up as he checked the main room one last time before walking away. About to give up and guess that the tan male just wanted some alone time for some reason, Keith stopped as he heard a soft noise. Like a snore or a sigh. That definitely wasn't his. Keith turned on his heel and looked around the hallway. There wasn't anything here though, nothing really. Except an old broom closet.

Broom closet.

The closest closet to the main room.

Where they were playing before Lance left.

It didn't sound right to Keith, to even think of that being a possible thing, but, being thorough was a sign of a job well done. And Keith was anything but half-assed with anything he'd ever committed to do. So, against everything he knew about Lance and his stupid joking ways. He opened the broom closet door silently. Eyes widening in surprise as he saw the exact paladin he had been looking for. Lance's back was against the farthest wall, in the corner. His legs were loosely bent against his chest, propped up by his shoe clad feet. His arms were splayed against his stomach and his head was lulled to the side. His hair falling messily around his head as if he were constantly running his fingers through it. And with further examination, Keith found his eyes to be closed in his sleep. Puffy and red as if he'd been…

Keith didn't like the mental image of Keith sitting in the dark and crying. He didn't like to think of that, Lance, sitting here for the full hour as the rest of them sat in the main room together. Falling asleep in the closet. Not dragging anyone with him, when he was supposed to bring the person he hated the most-

…

Remembering that part of the dare almost made seeing Lance like this so much worse, because Lance never didn't listen to a dare. And if he brought the person he hated most into the closet with him; and there was only him in the closet. It spoke volumes that just made it even more depressing to think over. Keith could say that he hated the revelation more than seeing the tear tracks on Lance's cheeks. A hard level of hatred to beat.

Looking over his shoulder, Keith checked the hallway, before looking back at the usually happy and upbeat paladin and reaching in towards him. Looping one of his arms underneath the boy's legs, and cautiously wedging the other one between Lance's back and the wall to get a decent hold on him before lifting him up slowly, and pulling his unconscious body out of the small broom closet. Being mindful not to bang the other's head on the door frame as he silently closed the closet door with his foot after them.

Trying his best not to wake the other up as he leaned the brown-haired male's head against his shoulder as Keith carried him. Tightening his grip on the male, Keith took small and smooth steps as he headed towards the other's room. A frown set deeply on his lips as he let his thoughts wander on the way there. He didn't know how to feel. Or explain how he was feeling. It was like his heart was in his stomach. He was lightheaded and wanted to collapse to the ground and empty out his stomach. Maybe it's lodge his heart back into place.

But, he wasn't going to do that. Not now, not while he was carrying Lance at least. After he had put the other male down it might be free game. It was still painful and sad though, even if he wasn't acting on the feeling. Keith hated the emotion with a passion. He preferred hearing the blue paladin tell some stupid punchline, or a story that made everyone groan and roll their eyes. Even if they were terrible jokes at least it made the blue paladin look like himself. Being depressed and hiding in a closet with self-hatred wasn't him. Not Lance.

Was it?

Shaking off the thoughts, Keith ignored them. Instead focusing on taking long strides and making it to the blue paladin's room without hitting the Cuban male's head or dropping him. Which was a successful feat, until it came to actually getting them in the door. Being as they were both grown ass men, one in a princess hold, trying to get through a small doorway that was very likely not as wide as Lance's height, even if he was curled up.

Though, Keith wasn't a quitter, and five minutes later, both males were in Lance's room after a lot of maneuvering a limp paladin and inching forward without hitting anything, being too loud, or stepping on a stray object in the room. But eventually Keith was able to flop the other male down onto his bed. The covers were still messily sprawled across the bed, so it was easy to pull them over the sleeping male before Keith stepped away to observe Lance once more, before Keith reached down with a gloved hand and rubbed the tear stains from Lance's red cheeks and puffy eyes. Keith retracted his hand shortly after. Paranoid of the other walking up as Keith turned away and inched out the door again. Pausing only once to look back before he shut the door to leave the other paladin alone in his room.

"You aren't supposed to cry Lance."

And Keith walked away.