He wasn't sure when the habit started; it could have been when he was old enough to realize that the noises in the house wouldn't stop just because he was feeling a little under the weather. The first time, he found himself crawling in the space between the couch and wall, dragging a blanket with him; vainly trying to block out the sounds of music blaring from the kitchen and his siblings fighting over some sort of game. For some reason he found his headache alleviate and he let out a sigh as the warmth from the blanket traveled through his bones. Slowly he found himself following his strange habit whenever he became ill. By the time he moved to the Garrison, he had healed up in every single part of the house. Small spaces between furniture, under tables and counters, even going so far as to curl up in empty cabinets. Although it didn't seem to do much for his actual aliments, he was more comfortable and able to rest more than if he just laid down in bed. His family got used to the teen's strange habit after encountering him a number of times and accepted his weird superstition. However, he didn't stop even when he moved away to the Garrison. The very first time he got sick at the Garrison, he crawled under his desk without hesitation a blanket trailing behind him; disregarding the strange look he was getting from his then roommate. He wasn't surprised that a week and a half later he switched out of their room and was replaced with Hunk, not that he was complaining. You'd be kind of weirded out if your roommate started sleeping under his desk for no apparent reason too. It wasn't exactly like he was trying to hide his little quirk, but its not really something you bring up during a conversation or an icebreaker game; Hey, I'm Lance and I like to cram myself into small spaces when I'm sick. No. It doesn't work like that. Which is why he wasn't exactly surprised when he was woken up out of his nap by the panicked voices of his friends. They, however, had a different view on the whole situation.

The first to notice was Hunk, who was in the kitchen once again trying to bake cookies. He knew now to stay away from the scaultrite and focus on the ingredients that Coran helpfully laid out for him. He pulled out the tray and set them aside to cool, already excited about the smell of vanilla wafting off of them. He cleaned up as he waited for the desserts to cool hoping they tasted as well as they smelled. Biting into one his eyes popped open in shock, he quickly scooped up the tray and ran out of the kitchen towards the paladin rooms.

"Lance! You'll never believe what I made! Cookies that taste just like flan!" He shouted excitedly pounding on Lance's door. He expected Lance to immediately be out the door demanding a taste but was met with complete silence. A frown crossed his face and he knocked again, calmly this time.

"Lance? Are you in there?" He asked. After another reply of silence, he scanned his hand and walked inside the room. He quirked an eyebrow at the distinct lack of blue paladin and walked out again. He made his way back to the kitchen to put down the cookies before wandering the halls looking for the boy. He grew more and more worried when he was unable to find him in any of his regular hang out places. He stopped walking when he heard fighting coming from the training room. He stepped in seeing Shiro and Keith sparring; he was slightly disappointed when Lance wasn't in sight, but felt better knowing that he wasn't actually alone.

"Hey Hunk," Shiro smiled wiping the sweat off his forehead. He noticed the worried look on his face and came closer. "Whats wrong?"

"Um, have you guys seen Lance?" He asked looking between the two of them. They glanced at each other, Keith shrugging his shoulders before looking back at Hunk.

"Nope, haven't seen him all day," Shiro replied.

"You haven't either?" He asked incredulously.

"Hunk, calm down he probably just wanted some alone time," Keith suggested.

"Not when he knows that I'm cooking!" Hunk cried. "He always wants to taste first!"

Shiro placed his hands on the panicking paladin's shoulders.

"If you're this worried, we'll help you look for him," he stated calmly. Hunk took and deep breath and let it out, nodding his head in agreement.

"Okay, where have you looked already?" Keith asked.

"The kitchen, the dining hall, the cryopod room, the holodeck, the ballroom, his room, the lounge, all the hallways, the airlocks, the library, and the pool," Hunk replied counting off on his fingers.

"Well then all that's left is the hangers and the bridge," Shiro said as they left the room. "I think its more likely that he'd be with Blue, don't you think?" They both nodded their heads in agreement and followed the leader. Upon entering they spotted Pidge working on her laptop and approached her, she looked up at them quirking a brow.

"Is this some sort of weird intervention?" she asked.

"Have you seen Lance anywhere?" Hunk asked ignoring her question. She rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her computer.

"Nope, haven't seen him," she chirped typing away. That received group of wide eyes and quick glances. She noticed and looked at them again.

"What? Whats wrong?"

"We can't find Lance," Keith answered crossing his arms in front of him.

"We still have the bridge to look for him," Shiro reminded them. Pidge shut her laptop and followed them up. There were looks of disappointment and obvious worry when they walked through and only saw Coran and Allura as per usual. They looked up to greet them before they noticed the looks on their faces.

"Paladins, is everything okay?" Allura asked striding towards them.

"Have you or Coran seen Lance?" Pidge asked finally getting a grasp on the situation. They both shook their heads no.

"Oh God, we lost him!" Hunk cried throwing his hands in the air.

"We gotta find him!" Pidge yelled raking her hands through her hair.

"Let's take another look around the Castle," Shiro suggested acting calmer than the others but still looking concerned with the situation.

"Let's go," Keith added already heading towards the door. They ran down the hallways, opening doors, and ripping apart rooms trying to find the lost paladin. Calm organized searching turned into frantic, desperate calls of his name. Ideas that they had been infiltrated and the blue boy was taken from them ran wild in their minds; it wouldn't be that far off in their situation.

"LANCE!" Hunk screamed tears were now rolling down his face. Similar cries of distress came from the others; their hands cupped to maximize their voices. They made it back to the quarters and looked desperately through each of their rooms yelling his name while they were doing so. They met back in the hallway with devastated looks on their faces.

"Anything?" Shiro asked quietly. They all shook their heads, eyes concentrated on the floor. There was silence for a brief moment before a small metallic clang caught their attention. They looked to the side and saw the cover of the air vent slightly pushed out, another clang and it pushed out a little further. Immediately Shiro ripped the cover off, hand raised ready to strike if needed. He gasped as he was met with Lance's sweaty, flushed face. He blearily looked up into Shiro's face in confusion and looked behind him at the shocked group.

"Whass goin on?" He slurred to the leader. He blinked as he was lifted from the vent into a tight hug.

"We were so worried Lance," Shiro muffled into his hair.

"What do you mean?" He asked still confused. Hunk let loose a strangled scream as he took Lance from Shiro's in an all-encompassing hug. Everyone else trickled over wiping their tears away and giving the boy smiles.

"We didn't know what happened to you, we couldn't find you anywhere," Pidge explained wrapping her arms around Lance's dangling legs. Lance's eyes widened in realization and he looked at the group; lots of red puffy eyes, and ragged hair and clothes.

"I'm so sorry guys," Lance breathed out. "This is all my fault,"

"As long as you're okay Lance, its fine," Shiro reassured him.

"Why were you in the vent anyway?" Keith asked looking at the discarded cover sitting on the ground several metres away.

"Oh, I just like to be in smaller spaces when I don't feel well," he admitted rubbing the back of his neck. "It makes me feel more comfortable,"

"You're unwell?" Coran asked.

"I've just got a bit of a fever, and I'm a little nauseous," he replied looking down at the ground.

"I vote movie night," Pidge said after a few moments of silence, raising her hand in the air.

"Seconded," Hunk added.

"Thirded?" Keith said hesitantly.

"I guess that's that then," Shiro shrugged. They walked to the lounge and waited for Pidge to hook up their laptop in silence. They smiled when Pidge pulled up Moana and settled into their seats. Shiro looked down when he felt something nudging his arm. He smiled and ruffled Lance's hair when he comfortably squeezed himself in the space between Shiro and the armrest of the couch. Lance rested his head on Shiro's Galra arm and sighed at the chill coming off of it.

"Goodnight Lance," Shiro whispered as the blue paladin drifted away.