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Lance really enjoyed the little nights out that he and his family at camp would have.
It was basically tradition: every month, on a random Saturday, they would meet up in a random cabin (usually Poseidon’s) to tell each other what was new in their lives and remember what was old. At first it had only been the Seven, Lance, Nico, and Reyna. Then Will and Nico started dating and he had joined in too. And then Thalia had started taking days off to come along a few times, and Hunk was invited as well-
And eventually they stopped seeing each other, after everything that happened.
(The fact that the seat that Leo had started occupying had once belonged to Jason hadn’t helped anyone)
With the older demigods starting college, Thalia and Reyna becoming hunters and Lance and Hunk starting their years at the Garrison, those hang outs eventually came to an end.
Now, years later, after Lance and Hunk had come back from space, there they were yet once again. Having a movie night in Cabin Three.
Percy and Annabeth were laying on the former’s bed, cuddled up in a way that should’ve been uncomfortable for anyone else in the room, but was now just mildly nauseating.
Leo was sitting on the floor, his back to the foot of the bed, with a very tired and very snoring Thalia resting her head on his shoulder. Grover was sitting next to him, sharing some tacos with the son of Hephaestus.
(Lance wasn’t really sure how Leo and Thalia had gotten so close in the last years, but apparently it had started during Apollo’s trials.)
Will and Nico were being just as disgustingly sweet as Percy and Annabeth (on Lance’s bed, may he add, which was just disrespectful and extremely cruel, and he would’ve had to sanitise everything after to eliminate the smell of love and sunshine and brooding).
They were quietly tossing popcorn at each other and bickering silently, but with big grins of their faces.
(They hadn’t been able to get anyone else to come: Piper was basically on the other side of the world and didn’t want to have anything to do with Camp anymore, Reyna was reconnecting with her half-brother Shiro, Hunk was with his mortal side of the family and Frank and Hazel were busy at Camp Jupiter.)
And Lance… he was sprawled across his bed, his head in Nico’s lap, taking the popcorns that Will handed him (because he was now their practice kid or something, apparently). From time to time he’d pinch Nico’s stomach just to rile him up.
Which inevitably worked out, because the older guy kicked his side (not as gently as Lance wished it’d been) and hissed at him.
(Yeah, hissed. Lance wasn’t pretty damn sure the guys was a cat.)
“If you don’t stop that I’ll kill you the second time.”
Lance was only shocked for a moment. Sure, he had died for a moment while in space, and he had been almost certain that Nico had known, considering how he had been extra caring after he’d come back. But he also didn’t entirely believe it because he would’ve mentioned it by now, no?
Well, now it was being mentioned.
So Lance really hoped that this was gonna stay between them, but as usual Will Solace listened to Nico’s every word, which meant that too.
”What do you mean “for the second time”?” He asked, and not as quietly as Nico, because Percy turned towards them confused.
The son of Hades paled, and so did the younger son of Poseidon.
”Oh, I was just messing around, you know” Nico smiled, reassuringly.
But Will was a doctor, he knew when people were straight up lying to him.
And he was also Nico’s boyfriend, so he knew when Nico was straight up lying to him.
”No, you weren’t. What do you mean “for the second time”?” He insisted.
Lance and Nico exchanged nervous glances, and Percy sat up so suddenly that Annabeth was startled.
”Lance?” He inquired. His little brother also sat up, staring at the sheets.
”It’s nothing, I’m fine…” he muttered.
Leo and Grover dropped the taco they were eating. Annabeth gasped and also sat up. Thalia slowly started waking up. Will pursued his lips, worried.
”What the hell does that mean?? You died?!” Percy almost yelled.
Most people in the room flinched, because they knew what the son of Poseidon was like when he got really mad.
”I told you, it’s nothing! It happened in space, but Allura brought me back to life, like it happened with Leo, so I’m okay!” Lance insisted; because he never backed down from a fight, not since he’d come back from space.
“You died. You died and you say you’re okay because some alien space princess saved your life with magic.” Percy said, his tone dangerously neutral.
”…well when you say it like that-“
”HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY IT??”
Annabeth placed a calming hand on her fiancé’s arm, but Percy looked way too freaked out to even acknowledge it.
”And why didn’t you tell me anything, huh?” He demanded, turning towards Nico. The son of Hades seemed to become smaller under Percy’s glare.
”I wasn’t sure- I mean, it was kind of like when Leo died, but it was also way weaker, so I couldn’t be too sure of it. I thought maybe it was just a bad feeling…” he defended.
”But it did happen.” Percy stated, turning back to his brother. Lance seemed to lose his patience.
“Okay, dude, seriously, what do you want from me? Even if I’d told you, it wouldn’t change anything. It happened when I was trillion of light years away or something, and it was years ago, nothing you can do about that now by getting pissy.”
Percy knew that. He knew that being mad now was irrational. But a part of him couldn’t help but think that five years ago, Lance would’ve told him anyway. That five years ago, Lance told him everything, even multiple times, and now he found out crucial details about his life only when they were mentioned by others.
He settled back against the bed. Everyone else was staring at him like he was a bomb ready to explode, but all the fight had left him.
Slowly everyone settled back in their positions, but now a tense, awkward silence filled the room.
~*~
As soon as the movie ended, everyone was quick to leave and head back to their own cabins. The last to linger was Annabeth, who pressed a reassuring kiss to Percy’s head and shot a sympathetic look to Lance.
The two brothers were left alone, both staring at the ceiling.
”…You would’ve told me anyway, before you left for space” Percy muttered after a while, and Lance tensed slightly.
Because yes, he would’ve. He used to tell Percy everything.
”I mean, I think I’ve heard you rant about that Kogane guy at least twice a day for years, and then suddenly you come back and now you’re- whatever you are, and I don’t even know how that happened, and you won’t tell me”
Because I don’t want to drag you into another war, even if it’s over.
”And I get it, you’re growing up, you need your spaces. But… I miss my baby brother, I guess”
Lance felt his eyes tearing up.
”…I kept a journal for awhile, of all the things I wanted to tell you” he whispered.
Percy turned towards him, looking slightly surprised, but Lance kept his eyes on the ceiling.
”I wanted to tell you all, but… at some point it became less “space wonders” and more “how many bodies did I leave behind today”, you know?”
Percy felt his throat close up. He hated the thought that Lance, his little brother, had had to see all those horrors, and he hadn’t been there to protect him from them.
He knew the feeling well, over years of quests and wars he had seen it all. But he hated that the once always cheerful Lance was now reduced to this broken, tired man.
“And… I didn’t want to write it down, it made it too real. And I also didn’t want to tell you about it-“
”I want to know. If talking about it makes you feel better I want to know.”
Lance’s head snapped towards Percy.
They stared at each other for a long while, before Lance slid off his bed and into Percy’s.
It was familiar, yet weird, because last time that had happened Lance was a scrawny seventeen year old, not this twenty years old, muscled man. But Percy had once said he’d stay hugging Lance forever, and he meant it all.
Lance told him everything. About meeting Poseidon the night before Shiro crashed back on Earth. About the cave with the Blue Lion that had reacted to him. About the Galras and the Alteans and all the other aliens he had met. About the Castle of Lions and Voltron. About Prince Lotor and his little manipulation game. About all the near death experiences that had left him scarred, both outside and inside.
About the one time it hadn’t been near death, but just death, and he’d been so scared of not seeing all the people he loved and hadn’t managed to say goodbye to again.
But he didn’t just talk about the bad things, he also spoke about the good ones.
He told him of the Paladins, of the way they had slowly became a family over the years. He told him of Coran’s fatherly love and his silly stories, that had reminded him of Chiron for so long. He told him of the way Hunk had slowly grown more confident, but had stayed just as kind, like Frank Zhang. He told him of Pidge, who had turned out to be a girl and was a real genius, rivalling even Annabeth. He told him of Shiro, of his leadership and his tendency to easily get injured and disappear, pretty much like a black haired Jason Grace. He told him of Princess Allura, regal and strict, but also so warm to others and always ready to help anyone in need, just like Reyna.
And finally he told him of Keith Kogane. Of how slowly their pretence rivalry had grown to become a partnership, then a friendship, and finally something more that he hadn’t been able to determine yet.
(And Percy was careful not to note how much Keith resembled Nico, because he knew his little brother was insistent on the son of Hades not being his type.)
They fell asleep like that, with stories of space and aliens and magic to lull their dreams. A soft, sea breeze watching over them, reassuring, and making them understand that they were home, they were safe, the horrors were over.
They were there for each other from now on, forever.