[52] That is most interesting

                                    

                                          
Lance collapsed onto the old (rather funky smelling) mattress in the doctor's quarters with a loud groan. Technically it was Kelaan's room, but Lance had long since stopped sleeping in Blue, the distance far to great to make in an emergency. 
                          
And with no emergency as of current, Lance thought he deserved a rest. His feet ached, his blue-braced ankle in particular causing a load of grief. He fell backwards to lie down, wrinkling his nose at the smell. 
                          
He missed the Castle's automatic laundry system. 
                          
Lance reached down to loosen his brace, flexing the joint back and forth in an attempt to dull the ache. As he did so, he let his eyes wander to the photo he had stuck on the ceiling above the bed. 
                          
It was a selfie Pidge had taken of team Voltron just after they had completed their first successful mission, Arusians celebrating in the background. He hadn't realised at the time, but Pidge had her backpack on, intending to leave soon after. That plan had fallen through with the Galra attacking, obviously. 
                          
She had grown impatient with how long everyone was taking to get ready, and snapped the photo, glasses half obscuring her expression with the flash. 
                          
Allura was beside Pidge, soft smile as she ducked down to her height, white curls framing her face like a cloud. Hunk was just behind the pair, holding up a peace sign as he smiled sheepishly.
                          
Lance himself had an arm slung around Keith, attempting to get a fistbump out of him. But Lance had forgotten that Keith had lived in the middle of nowhere for over a year and had to explain it. He was in the middle of doing so in the photo, Keith's brow furrowed as he listened. Shiro was on Keith's other side, watching Lance with clear amusement on his face. 
                          
And Coran? Coran took up an entire corner of the shot, only one eye and half his moustache in frame. He had been marvelling at the primitive Earth device when Pidge took the photo, and Lance loved it so much he immediately asked for a copy. Pidge has given it to him as soon as he got out of the healing pod, and he had kept it in Blue ever since. 
                          
That was, until he had moved it to here. Lance let his eyes trace over every line and curve of the photo, the way Allura's hair fell, the way Hunk's dimples showed in the corners of his mouth. Coran's visible eye alight with curiosity, the Arusian pulling a face in the background, effectively photo-bombing them. The way Shiro folded his right arm over his left, head titled a smidge as he smiled. The way Keith's whole face shone with barely contained laughter. 
                          
That last bit didn't make sense. 
                          
Lance scrambled into a sitting position in an effort to get closer to the photo. Yep - Keith was visibly holding back a laugh as Lance wildly gestured, a glimmer of mirth visible even from Lance's distance to the picture. He focussed on photo-Shiro, who also seemed amused at the events. If Lance recalled correctly, Shiro had begun to say something immediately after the photo was taken, but Keith had shushed him. 
                          
"That bastard..." Lance muttered, falling backwards again. Keith knew what a fist-bump was. He thought it was funny that Lance believed him. And Shiro had thought it was funny too. He'd have to bring it up later. 
                          
Shiro was currently resting, the minor operation to attach the ports for his new limbs successful. He had requested that Matt be there the entire time, and Lance was happy to allow it. 
                          
Matt had been vital in keeping Shiro calm right from the start, reassuring him that the needle Lance needed to inject him with was simply a numbing solution, and not going to put him under. Lance understood that even though he had promised, Shiro had been through a lot with the Galra with nobody as support, and the only way to keep his trust was to go through with his promises. 
                          
Not that Lance would ever want to break a promise. 
                          
He let his eyes slip shut with a weary sigh. Shiro would still have to go through some rehabilitation and training. Lance was sure that the Galra's version was to throw them into an arena and 'figure it out'. That wasn't going to fly here - not under Lance's care. He was going to be with Shiro every step of the way, and he was certain Matt would be as well. 
                          
"You sound exhausted, Paladin Lance."
                          
Lance's eyes shot open, and he nearly fell off the bed in his effort to sit up. 
                          
"Kelaan!" He grinned, rushing over to help her with her bags. "You're back!"
                          
Kelaan had taken advantage of a reprieve in her illness to visit her home planet, and potentially do more research on the disease. Though judging by the way Kelaan stood, face tired and shoulders bowed, she hadn't found all too much. 
                          
Lance's heart cracked, but he didn't let his smile falter. Instead, he placed Kelaan's bags at the foot of the bed and pulled a small vial out of his pocket. "So I've been doing some research," he started, holding the vial up. It held a tiny sample of the plant found on Paciatl - Lance had already forgotten the name - something he had gotten in return for bringing the Skisch home. 
                          
"Have you?" Kelaan had already stopped paying full attention, instead getting right into unpacking. Lance pressed on. 
                          
"This plant - whitt-wi- something - accelerates the production of cells by producing excess energy for growth, provided its been boiled first."
                          
Kelaan nodded absently, attempting to undo a broken clasp. "That is most interesting."
                          
Lance hummed, setting the vial gently down on the bed, taking note of where it was so he wouldn't flop on it later. "I'm hoping to maybe figure out what exactly causes these effects, and reverse engineer it to slow down growth."
                          
He spun on his heel as he voiced all this, lost in the thoughts cluttering his head. "If we slow cell production down, we may have a chance to remove cancerous tumours before the body has a chance to make new ones. Of course, the disease is in the bloodstream and clots, so there are a lot of risks in trying anything, and it won't be a permanent soluti—" he broke off as Kelaan wrapped him in a tight embrace. 
                          
Lance froze for a moment, before returning the gesture, stooping down so he could rest his face on her shoulder. She shook slightly, breaths uneven as she gave a few sobs. "Thank you," she said quietly, and Lance had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from breaking down into tears as well. "Thank you."
                          
They stayed like that for a while, Lance carving each and every detail in his mind so he wouldn't forget. This moment was precious - Kelaan was precious. 
                          
And Lance would try his hardest to keep her with him.