Note: Okay, so this is basically Chapter Three, just from Lance's point of view. There was still a lot of loose ends to tie up, so I wrote this. Hope you don't hate it too much! (:

Chapter Five

Hot, sweaty, and slightly buzzed, Lance was probably not the prettiest sight to see. Even with his flawless makeup and gorgeous dress. As it turned out, it was really hard to dance in stilettos, his feet ached, and while the Exuls probably couldn't tell anything was wrong, he was making an absolute fool of himself in front of the other paladins.

It only got worse when a waiter offered him a drink. He'd stopped drinking as soon as he realised what was in it (getting drunk while crossdressing was not a good idea) but the damage had been done. He was far from tipsy, but not exactly sober.

With all this in mind, it was quite a surprise when the Exul Prince asked him to dance.

Lance had hesitated for a moment, glancing back to where the rest of the team stood at the far wall. He'd been trying to pull Keith away from Shiro to at least join in some of the party activities, but the red paladin stubbornly refused to be anything but a wallflower.

He wasn't making any progress, so he might as well have a little fun for himself, right?

"I never did catch your name," Tikroz said, placing a hand at Lance's waist and swaying to the beat of the music.

"It's Veronica," Lance lied, saying the first name that came to mind.

"A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman." Tikroz complemented with a charming smile, and damn, as much as Lance flirted with others, he wasn't used to it being reciprocated. It was nice, being complimented for something other than fighting against the Galra.

"Your name is pretty too," Lance responded, though he really didn't know if it was by Exul standards or not. It had to be okay if they named their Prince it, right?

Tikroz's deep, amber colored eyes gleamed brightly at the compliment, "Thank you! It is the name of a flower here on Exultan. It only blooms in our wet season, every two rotations, but it is the most colorful plant on the entire planet."

Lance had no idea how long a rotation was on this planet, but he assumed that it was comparable to an Earth year.

"That's cool," he hummed, letting the Prince spin him for a moment before returning to their swaying motion, "Veronica is the name of a flower on Earth, it's usually purple and really pretty. Though, it's pretty common, not like your flower."

Tikroz raised an eyebrow, "Earth is the name of your home planet, correct?"

Lance nodded, not sure what Tikroz was getting at.

"Tell me about this Earth."

And that was all he needed to say to get Lance going.

He chattered about the blue skies and warm beaches, about the rain and grass and how he much he missed it. He told Tikroz about animals and cultures and languages until the music changed, and Tikroz started talking about his planet in return. He told Lance about their sunsets and mountains, their art and architecture. He got excited when he told Lance about their annual Sand Festival, when the Royal Family would roam the streets and dine with their citizens. By the wistful look on his face, Lance could tell that Tikroz truly loved his people.

They became so wrapped up in the conversation that Lance forgot to pay attention to what he was doing with his feet, and the heel to his stiletto suddenly slipped out from under him. If Tikroz hadn't had his hands around Lance's waist, he probably would have toppled to the floor. As it was, he made an embarrassing squeak of surprise as his ankle collapsed and he slammed into Tikroz's chest.

"Ow! Sorry, oh my god, sorry!"

"Are you alright?" Tikroz asked, moving his arms to Lance's shoulders to steady him.

"Yeah, I'm good," Lance gasped out breathlessly, "Just not used to these shoes."

Tikroz frowned, looking around the room, "There are many people here. Why don't we go somewhere less crowded?"

Lance just nodded, still trying to regain his balance, and allowed Tikroz to lead him out of the ballroom and into an outer corridor.

"Thanks," Lance mumbled, still dizzy from his near fall.

Tikroz grinned, "It is rather impressive that you can walk on those at all."

"Yeah, well, after this I think I'll give these bad boy's a rest."

Tikroz just stared at him with an expression of confused amusement that reminded Lance of Keith sometimes when he said something particularly ridiculous. Then, to Lance's surprise, the Prince blurted out, "Can I kiss you?"

Before Lance could really think through what he was doing, he had flung himself at Tikroz, and oh god, it had been so long since he had kissed a guy- kissed anyone, really. He'd forgotten how good it felt, how nice it was to have someone to listen his ramblings and chase away the loneliness that had settled in his chest when they left Earth.

Tikroz pushed Lance's back to the cool sandstone wall, and Lance threaded his fingers through that stupid pretty hair. How the hell did he keep it so soft in such a dry climate? Lance would definitely need to ask him where he got his hair products.

After they finished making out, of course.

"Oh my god."

The world crashed back down around them at the sound of Pidge's ever familiar voice, and Lance's heart sank into his stomach.

"Fuck off, Pidge." He gasped between breaths.

"Allura's gonna have an aneurysm when she finds out!"

Lance flipped her off, but knew she was right. Hell, Allura wasn't the only one who would have an aneurysm, the entire team would probably freak out. None of them had any idea that he was bi. He was only out to Hunk.

"I'm gonna go gouge my eyes out."

Lance and Tikroz broke apart as soon as Pidge was gone, both panting heavily.

"I'm sorry," Tikroz swallowed nervously, "That was improper, wasn't it. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Lance shook his head, "No, it's not your fault, I shouldn't have… I was just…" he trailed off, not really knowing what he had been planning to say.

"Lonely?" Tikroz suggested, and Lance blanched. "Please, I know a lonely kiss when I feel one, Veronica. I'm not the one you want to be kissing, am I?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw the way you looked at the Red Paladin. You do not have to lie."

Lance's cheeks were practically on fire, "Keith? Wha- I'm not- he's just-"

Tikroz smirked knowingly, and Lance sighed.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just figuring things out."

"You should tell him how you feel."

"You think so?"

"Of course."

There was a pause, the music from the ballroom echoing through the empty hall.

"We should get you back to your team," Tikroz finally said, taking a step towards the ballroom door, "and I should return to my father."

"Yeah," Lance agreed, following him, "Sorry again. This is just a big mess."

"It was a pleasure dancing with you, Veronica," a mischievous smile slipped across Tikroz's face, "Or whatever your real name is."

Lance faltered. He was so stupid. Of course Tikroz would find out, what with all the dancing and kissing.

"I… I can explain,"

Tikroz shook his head and gave Lance a wink. He trailed a reassuring hand across Lance's shoulder as they re-entered the ballroom, then disappeared back into the crowd.

And Lance couldn't help but grin.

Note:Tikroz is actually a pretty decent dude. I know a lot of you were really nervous about him, and tbh so was I for a little while.

I kinda wrote this at one in the morning, and while I definitely edited and revised, it might still be a little rough around the edges.

THANK YOU all so much for all the support! I will hopefully be writing more stories in the future! You guys are all so great!

Please leave a review if you liked it!