It was hard not to blush with the princess standing right above him, the lights hit her and made her look like some kind of warrior goddess or--sappy as it sounded-- an angel. Thankfully, Lance managed. He quickly pushed himself upright and held out a hand for his bayard. "Alright, since you know so much about using this sword...would you mind sticking around a while to teach me?"
He thought Allura would have to consider it a bit, but she answered right away, smiling as she handed back his weapon. "Of course!" Either it was Lance's imagination or her hand lingered for just a tic too long as they brushed against eachother. Still, he barely had time to consider it when she took her own bayard from its holster and transformed it into a staff. "Your stance should be stronger, more rooted to the ground so that you can easily parry oncoming attacks." She stepped back, poised to strike on the balls of her feet.
Lance considered her words carefully as he got into position. Feet shoulder-width apart-- no, wider than that. He needed a low center of gravity-- knees slightly bent, hands clasped securely on the hilt of his sword. "Okay," he nodded, "I'm ready. Do your worst."
A smirk flashed across her face and Lance felt his heart quicken. "I won't do more than you can handle." He was about to come up with a quip in reply, but Allura launched into action before he got the chance.
She was fast, striking him from all directions at any moment. He managed to block most of them with his sword or shield, but some would slip through regardless, leaving a sudden burst of pain and the promise of a future welt in their wake. Still, though he couldn't block her hits, Allura failed to stagger him...until she caught him off guard with a leg-sweep, sending him flailing indignantly onto his back.
"It's a good start," Allura said, panting slightly. She bent down over him and held out her hand, "You have good balance, but you need to be able to move as well. Let's try again."

Their training session lasted for another varga, and though it felt like Allura was dancing circles around him as Lance adjusted to this new fighting style, she seemed to be impressed every time they finished a match. They had agreed before starting that this would be their last match. Admittedly, Lance was less focused now on learning and more on winning, so when he saw Allura leave an opening, he did what she had been doing this whole time: go in for the kill.
Allura realized too late that he had the upper hand. She tried to turn his own weight against him, but succeeded only in knocking both of them off balance. She fell back onto the floor with a startled grunt. Lance managed to catch himself at the last second, just barely stopping them from colliding with eachother face-first.
"I think...you win this time." Allura said, breathing heavily. Lance beamed with pride and for a second the idea occurred to her to give him a kiss. He was close enough. She'd only need to sit up a little... Suddenly, Lance realized the position they were in. A blush creeped all the way up to his ears as he pushed himself up again.
"S-sorry about that. I uh, I didn't plan for--"
"It's quite alright!" Allura assured him as she sat up. "Just...one of the hazards of combat training."
Lance laughed awkwardly, "Well aside from that, how'd I do?"
Allura was quiet, as if she was considering her words carefully. "It's...really quite amazing how much potential your lion and your bayard can sense in you. Training with you now, I think I can see it too. You're becoming quite the paladin, Lance." She smiled at him in a way that was so beautiful and earnest that he felt like he was looking right into the sun.
He wanted to brush off her glowing praise with a joke but, again, failed to find the words. Instead, he offered a nervous excuse of being gross and sweaty and headed off to the showers, his thoughts a mess of pride, nerves, and still reeling over the end of their last match.