Ever since the Galra took over the Castle of the Lions and left a not-so-pleasant gift behind, Lance had made sure to stay as far away from the airlock as possible. Coran and Pidge had guaranteed him that a reinfestation was unlikely to take them by surprise again, but one could never be too careful.

He'd gotten over his uneasiness around the healing pods, convincing himself that if anything they'd keep him alive longer. On the other hand, a giant gaping hole into space set him on edge no matter what mindset he put himself in.

So when Keith decided to play a nasty prank on Lance one day, it didn't end well.

It had all started after they'd just finished training.

Everyone was exhausted from their workout and on edge after their recent mission had gone haywire. Not even dinner was enough to raise their spirits.

Hunk scooped up a giant spoonful of space goo with utter exhaustion and disappointment. "Hey guys, I don't know how much longer I can take these training marathons."

Pidge had already given up on dinner, her plate abandoned and replaced by her scrunched up sweater, now turned into a makeshift pillow. "Same here," she mumbled without so much as lifting her head.

"Well, seeing as how everyone has worked together exceptionally well today, how's about you all take the rest of day for yourselves?" Allura offered.

"I think that's a great idea, Princess," said Shiro. Although he didn't say it aloud, the stress of the past week was heavy on his shoulders more so than other times.

With that announcement, those whose hunger wasn't enough to keep them preoccupied promptly left and went to bed. Keith and Lance stayed behind in the dining hall.

"You were slacking today, Kogane," said Lance. "Exhaustion getting to you already?"

Keith was about as worn down as the rest during training, but he prided himself in being able to keep pushing beyond his physical limits. Each jab from Lance was merely another reason to improve his stamina.

"Not really, but I'd say your aim today was adequate at best," he retorted. "On top of that, your clumsiness just made yourself a giant target."

"Well I doubt I was a bigger target than your mullet," said Lance.

Keith merely rolled his eyes. Would the mullet jokes ever end? Sometimes he wanted to cut it clean off just to see what Lance's reaction would be.

"Besides," Lance continued, "what use is a glorified knife stick when you can't even use it for long-range combat?"

"Have you ever heard the saying 'never bring a knife to a gunfight'? Well, in this case never bring a gun to a knife fight either. I'd probably find a way to beat your ass in both scenarios."

Lance's mouth was wide open. "Oh my God, I can't believe you just make a joke. Wait, that was a joke, right?"

"I'd say it's my own personal flavor of snarkiness," Keith said. "I can be fun when I want to, you know."

And cue Lance's mock gasp. "No way, Mullethead."

Again with the mullet jokes, goddamnit.

"Yes way," said Keith.

"Prove it."

"Um...with a joke or something?"

"What? No, that's way too easy," Lance said. He thought for a bit before the perfect idea popped into his head. "Pull a prank."

"What?" Keith asked, a bit taken aback.

"Pull a prank," he repeated. "Doesn't matter how or on who, but pull a prank."

"And I should do that because?"

"What, afraid it won't be enough to 'wow' me?" Lance challenged.

"Not at all."

Truth be told, Keith had never played a prank on anyone before. He didn't even know where to start. But Lance didn't know that.

Lance was the king of pranks, sweeping everyone in his family into April Fool's' antics every year. He knew the ins and outs of the element of surprise, had the creativity to keep everyone on edge, and was perceptive enough to know when to hold back.

He doubted Keith would risk failure and choose him as his target, but it never hurt to be on the safe side just in case. He'd find out about the prank victim eventually.

After spending some time hanging out in the living room, Lance decided to take the south hallway on his way out, just to make sure a certain Red Paladin wasn't following him.

He was halfway to his room when he heard footsteps.

And then the hallway lights went dark. As in, pitch dark. As in, can't-even-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face dark.

So this was his prank, huh. Give Lance a spook, make him look like an idiot, not very original.

"Haha Keith, very amusing," he called out to nowhere in particular.

"It's gonna take a little more than a blackout to take me by surprise."

He kept walking, though much slower than before. The rest of this hall was a straight path, wasn't it?

"Is this the punchline? Are you and Coran watching some infrared security footage or something while I walk aimlessly back to my room?"

Well, maybe Keith wasn't as much of killjoy as he thought. He'd never live this down afterwards, but it was a clever catch nonetheless.

Amidst the darkness, a small red light flickered to life on the floor at the turn of a corner.

Finally.

"Good job on the forced humiliation, Hothead. The single guide light is a nice touch, too, if I do say so myself. Way to bring it all home."

He kept walking, but a few more steps later he slammed into a-

Thud

Was that a wall?

He felt around and realized that no, it wasn't a wall. It was glass.

The castle lights powered back on just in time for Lance to see another glass door close behind him. Keith and Pidge were standing by the control panel, devilish grins slowly growing.

Nononononono

Lance had read about it somewhere.

Casadastraphobia (n.) - the fear of being sucked into the sky

It was oddly specific. An absurd fear for someone happily living their days on Earth. Irrational, even.

But Lance had spent the past few months in space. He was living in a giant alien castle, equipped with dozens of airlocks, floating slowly through the galaxy, where his newfound fear had all the rationality in the universe.

He knew his friends wouldn't really shoot him into space. But panic was quickly beginning to take over, and panic and reason weren't exactly the best of friends.

Before he knew it, Lance was already slamming his fists against the glass door with the urgency of a madman.

"Let me out!" he shouted.

He heard a lock activate itself, then the start of a countdown.

"Let me out, let me out, please!"

10...

On the other side of the door, Keith and Pidge exchanged puzzled looks. Pidge regained her senses and ran to the control panel, her fingers flitting across the screen.

9...

"Guys? Guys!" Lance kept banging on the door, his tiny prison illuminated only by the warning light. They couldn't hear him through the soundproof barrier, but they'd have to be blind to ignore Lance's panic.

8...

Keith shoved his way to the screen, taking his own try at pressing buttons. His eyes went back and forth between the controls and Lance, sweat dripping down his brows.

"This isn't funny anymore! Please Keith, the prank is done, let me out!"

7...

They yelled something at each other on the other side, but they were as mute to Lance as Lance was to them.

6...

Pidge ran through the hall, out of sight, as Keith kept trying to work the controls.

5...

"Keith! Please, please, I beg of you, let me out," he said. He stopped hitting the wall and rested his head on the cold glass. He stood there for a moment before slowly sliding his way down into a kneel.

4...

He sat there for what seemed like forever, face cupped in his hands as he cried.

3...

He stopped looking up.

2...

I'm going to die. I'm going to suffocate and die alone in space.

1…

It all happened to quickly.

The exterior door opened and began to force the chamber's air out.

Lance felt the pressure tug at his foot, dragging him from underneath. He yelled one last time and clawed his way across the floor as he floated, barely managing to latch onto a ledge on one of the walls.

Before he lost his grip, just as he felt lightheaded creeping in, the main door slowly creeped its way shut again. It pushed Lance back inside, his hands still holding onto the ledge for dear life.

The other door must've opened, because soon afterwards he was being hugged and talked to and prodded by what felt like at least a dozen people.

Lance kept his eyes closed, afraid that if he opened them he'd find himself floating in space. He was still crying.

The apologies from Keith and Pidge seemed endless.

Pidge was sorry for giving Keith the idea in the first place.

"We wanted to scare you but I never thought the airlock would automatically eject you. I'm so sorry, I should've looked for a quicker way to shut it down."

And Keith? Keith wouldn't even stay in the same room as Lance without breaking into an uncharacteristic storm of apologies.

"I promise I'll never try to pull another prank again, if that's what it will take for you to forgive me."

Lance had been forcibly shoved into an airlock for less than a minute. In that time he'd been absolutely terrified and convinced that he'd asphyxiate and die out in space.

However, he didn't hold it against his teammates. If he had to be brutally honest, he'd probably find a way to fuck up as bad as they had, maybe even worse, if the plan had been his. They didn't mean for it to go wrong.

"I don't think your pranking career is over just yet," Lance assured.

"But next time make sure there aren't any airlocks involved."

I am not dead! (Just really bad at managing time)

My other fic idea didn't really work out so I just decided to scrap it and move on. In lieu of that, I present to you a midnight one-shot with a vague, inconclusive ending because hurray for my inability to get my life together.

And for those curious, yes, casadastraphobia is apparently a real thing.