Later
Lance walked with Yorak to the dining hall with his arm around his fiancé's shoulder. Ready to tell the team the news together. Yorak was nervous, but Lance considered it the best news he had heard in a whole year.
Lance: Remember, if they've got something to say, I'll make sure I hear it just as loudly.
Yorak raised an eyebrow.
Yorak: How would that help? Both of us are still going to have to deal with them being mad at us.
Lance blew a raspberry.
Lance: I can handle some comments. I've gotten them plenty of times. I just wanna make sure they aren't putting all the blame on you.
Yorak's ears went down as he glanced away.
Yorak: Because I'm a galra...
Yorak glanced at his stomach.
Yorak: We'll both be galra...
Lance hugged him closer.
Lance: Don't worry. I promise we can handle this.
Yorak: You sure?
Lance nodded with a confident smile. As they got closer, they heard the team arguing about something.
Lance: Absolutely! Not sure what they're talking about now, but it'll be fine!
The pair walked in together. It didn't take long for one of them to notice they sat down. When they did, everyone was giving them looks.
Yorak sat closer to Lance as they ate in silence. Yorak being able to enjoy he food Hunk made without being worried about throwing it up. Even directing a smile at Hunk.
Yorak: Thanks, Hunk. I haven't had much to eat today, it's great like always.
Hunk's face went slightly red, and he smiled nervously.
Hunk: Oh, well... No problem! Have to make sure our teammates don't starve, right?
Yorak blinked. He was fairly certain that that was the first time anyone but Lance and Coran had called him a member of the team.
Allura cleared her throat.
Allura: Well, Shiro and I have arranged another bonding session in a few quintants. I was hoping it would be able to finally make things work a little better. But, with the progress we had the last times, and with current circumstances,
Yorak felt a chill run up his back as her tone turned icy cold for a moment.
Allura: I'm not sure just how much it'll work. In terms of building trust, I mean.
Lance looked around and narrowed his eyes. Pulling Yorak closer in a side hug.
Lance: What's with the sour looks? Did we break something on accident?
Allura glared.
Allura: Don't act so casual and joke about something so serious. Yorak, are you really in that condition?!
Yorak's ears went down. Feeling pinned by the stares of the other team members.
Yorak: Um, where'd you get that guess from?
Allura folded her arms.
Allura: Hunk heard you both talking earlier. After the mission that Yorak missed? Yorak, why wouldn't you tell us about Red rejecting you immediately?
Yorak looked at the table briefly. The smell of the goo made him a little nauseous.
Yorak: I'm sorry, I had to go with Coran during the mission to find out why Red rejected me because she only said it was health related.
Coran spoke up confidently.
Coran: Exactly, he went with me to the cryopod chamber, and that's where we found out.
Shiro: But what about later? Were you not comfortable telling us?
Yorak nodded slightly.
Allura: This isn't a good time to be too uncomfortable to say something so important. For all we know, Zarkon could attack us in five dobashes, and since Red won't let you pilot her, we wouldn't be prepared! If you had told us immediately, we could have had more time to plan out how this will work. How we would conduct missions with someone else piloting Red!
Yorak paused.
Yorak: I'm sorry. Shiro sounded really mad, Red went into autopilot before I could convince her otherwise, and then Coran came in. You looked angry already, I didn't... I'm sorry.
Allura rubbed her temples.
Allura: Well, if we weren't angry then, we certainly are now! Coran, what do you suggest we do in terms of having another paladin pilot Red in Yorak's absence?
Almost nobody liked the way that question sounded. Hunk flashed Yorak a empathetic look.
Coran: Well, he won't be gone forever. Lucky for us, the Galra carrying process, specifically for Marmoran Galra, only lasts four to five earth moths.
Shiro: Five months? How far...?
Yorak: Four to five months?! I didn't know it went so quickly!
Coran laughed nervously.
Coran: I'm sorry for not telling you that immediately, Yorak. And as it stands, Yorak only has two or three months to go before he can theoretically pilot again.
Pidge shrugged.
Pidge: Not a bad deal, actually. Who knows? Maybe there will be few to no distress calls during that time.
Everyone finally went quiet, before Lance spoke up.
Lance: So, Shiro? Can I ask you something?
Shiro nodded.
Shiro: Yes.
Lance: I actually have a few. One, how long have you guys known about this?
Allura: The whole quintant, almost.
Lance: That means you've had time to think about what this means going forward?
Both Allura and Shiro nodded, nervous as to where Lance was going with the topic.
Shiro: Of course. This is a big deal, after all.
Then, Lance said it. Making the whole room silent when the words were in the air.
Lance: So does that mean you'll let Yorak and me get married?
The words hung for a moment like a rope weighed down by a rock. Ready to drop what it was holding onto the ground below it.
Then, Shiro shook his head.
Shiro: Lance, how many times do I have to say this isn't the right time?
Lance: This is the perfect time! You said that Yorak and I needed to be serious about our relationship, here it is! What's the problem now?
Allura shouted.
Allura: The problem is that we don't know if that galra did it on purpose!
Yorak shrank back at Allura's icy glare. He wanted to run, but knew that would only cause him more trouble. Coran solved it.
Coran: Yorak, why don't we go check to see if everything's okay? We only know how long it's been. We should see if they're healthy.
Yorak swallowed and nodded, leaving the room quickly. Lance glaring at Allura and Shiro hard.
Lance: I knew it.
Shiro: I'm sorry?
Lance shouted.
Lance: I shouldn't have forced Yorak to come here! I should have known you would treat him this way! I knew him being galra was why you're being cruel to him.
Pidge looked over at them.
Pidge: Yeah, you weren't exactly subtle about that. I'm trying to get over missing Keith to be a good teammate to Yorak, but you're being stubborn! At least Hunk and I are trying!
Hunk: Plus, Yorak and Lance are happy! Yeah it was a surprise to hear this was happening, but I won't fault either of them for it. You heard how confused and worried Yorak was when Red rejected him.
Allura: He could have faked it. Besides, I didn't hear any of that. Red left on autopilot and we didn't hear him until we got back! Did you forget that a galra killed Keith? Lance, why were you so insistent on choosing a Blade of Marmora member?
Lance lowered his eyes.
Lance: Because they know how to balance solving a war without discriminating against one another. If we had a paladin that had skills in both spying and direct combat, we could have won the war already. Yorak has done nothing but try his hardest to be the best teammate for us. He's saved all our lives on multiple occasions, and gave everyone space when he knew we were still missing Keith.
Shiro: Lance, we can't be so certain just yet.
Lance: How would you have treated Keith if he was a galra?
Allura stammered.
Allura: That's different! Keith was born and raised on earth with humans. There was no time when he could have been trained to spy on us!
Lance: Well the same goes for Yorak! He was raised around a different species than himself as well. How is that different than Keith?
There was no reply.
Lance: I'm going to go check on Yorak.
Lance left the room, anger still radiating from his shoulders.
Pidge: I'm going to make sure he's okay, too.
Hunk: Yeah, I wouldn't want to hear my teammate say they see me as a traitor after spending over a year together.
The last two paladins left to see how Yorak was doing.