Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe we’ve been put on cleaning duty while all the adults are off doing the easy diplomatic work, probably eating at a banquet thrown just for them. I don’t know the exact date because we’re in space, but I’m pretty sure I’ve turned eighteen by now. Keith is only older than me by a few measly months.” Lance rattled on, uncaring to whether the other people in the room were actually listening to his rant. He bounced a ball off the wall, catching it angrily and squeezing it tight in his fist.

He sighed. “You know, I was Keith’s right-hand man the entire time Shiro was gone and now the second the big guy is back, I’m some sub-par back-up again? I deserve to be there with the rest of them.”

“Actually, your birthdays are nearly a year apart.” Hunk commented rather unhelpfully. When Lance shot a glare in his direction, it was to find his friend concentrated heavily on the old gadget he’d found while cleaning, tinkering with it with his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth. Lance sighed, unable to stay irked with Hunk for long.

“Yeah, well, what difference does it make when Keith doesn’t act his age to begin with?” Lance argued petulantly, fully aware that he was acting like a child but unable to stop. He had no idea how else to combat this issue, it’d been burning in the back of his mind for days and he was about ready to burst if he didn’t talk about it with someone. It was more than a simple annoyance with how easily he’d been brushed aside, it didn’t actually have anything to do with the jealousy he was trying to play it off as, it wasn’t that he saw it as a challenge to be one of the team leaders. He didn’t want revenge, he wasn’t after a competition for once in his life… he was hurt .

Somewhere along the way while Shiro was out of the picture, he’d grown pretty close to Keith. They relied on each other, trusted each other, came to each other for advice. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, it was something that Lance cherished when he was stuck in space with so few people to connect with. Then the rug was ripped out from under him and he was expected to just go back to being alone? After learning what it was like to have someone to lean on, he wasn’t sure if he could stand on his own the same as before, and definitely not as well as he had with a partner.

“What are you talking about? Keith acts like an old man.” Hunk argued, reluctantly picking up the duster from the floor and going back to cleaning up the surrounding storage area. Lance whined, throwing his hands up into the air.

“No, he acts like a child. An old man would know to give the things in his life closure and to talk about his feelings, so he doesn’t die regretting never having spoken up about the things that mattered to h-”

“Stop talking about Keith in weird metaphors, I beg of you. Just say you miss his mullet and be done with it.” Pidge interrupted from the floor, where they were rooting through a box and attempting to sort the alien materials inside. Lance sighed, crawling over to the pile of boxes and grabbing one for himself. If he couldn’t talk about it, then he’d just distract himself from it like he had been.

He wasn’t sure exactly how many boxes he went through like that, but eventually he reached one that wasn’t covered in dust. It was in the back, so it should have been one of the dustiest, but it was clean as a whistle. It was almost like someone had hidden it there… and recently, too.

Lance, never one to leave a mystery unsolved, pounced on the opportunity to dig up dirt on his teammates somehow. He wrenched the box open, gasping quietly. “Lance? What’d you find?”

“Check it out.” Lance whistled, grabbing the cartridge on the top of the pile and eyeing it closely. He flipped it over, lighting up when he saw there was a label. He couldn’t read the Altean symbols, he only knew enough to be able to tell that Coran’s name was written across it. He was an excellent deducer though, the absolute deduciest, so it was a matter of seconds before he realized what exactly he was holding in his hands.

He looked over at Pidge, whose question had gone unanswered up until that point. “Remember when Coran asked each of us to record those weird videos to document our time as the paladins of Voltron? I think I just found the copies of the footage.”

“Woah.” Hunk exclaimed from the other side of the room, brushing himself off as he hurried over with Pidge in tow. They kneeled on either side of Lance, peering curiously over his shoulder as he uncovered all seven cartridges. He grinned as he looked at the one that bore his own name.

Hunk reached for his own. “I can’t even remember what I said in mine, it all flew by in such a rush.”

“We had no time to think about what we were gonna say before being shoved in front of the camera, but you know who did?” Pidge piped up, shuffling around to look them both in the eye. They snickered, grabbing Coran’s tape off the floor and holding it up proudly. “Coran’s video is probably so rehearsed, just like the scultrite collection tutorial that we only got to see bits and pieces of. Think about it, guys, that gave us joke material for months !”

“You’re right.” Hunk agreed, eager to sign himself up for anything that had blackmail involved. He gathered up every single cartridge in his arms, turning to Lance expectantly. “We should watch it.”

“Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?” Lance chuckled nervously, backpedaling on everything he’d thought before about wanting to dig up dirt. There was something very different about stumbling across something embarrassing unintentionally and intentionally violating someone’s privacy to watch a video that was never intended for your eyes.

Pidge and Hunk didn’t look impressed. Lance shrugged. “What? I’m not saying we shouldn’t , just making sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Let’s do it.” Hunk concluded, rising to his feet and carrying all of the video cartridges with him as he walked. “If we happen upon some blackmail material, that’s Coran’s fault for leaving us here to do all these chores and not cleaning up after himself.”

“Yeah!” Pidge agreed enthusiastically, clapping him on the back as they ran ahead. “I’ll go set up the projector!”

Lance trailed after them, smiling softly as he kept pace with Hunk and listened to his friend ramble on about all the things he was expecting Coran to say. They weren’t wrong, it was bound to be interesting with how theatrical Coran could get about these things.

It wasn’t all that much later that the three of them were snuggled up in the lounge, a bowl of something similar to popcorn that Hunk had made settled in the middle of their group. Lance leaned his head on Hunk’s chest, watching as the projector whirred to life and Coran appeared on the wall in front of them.

It was a matter of seconds before they were all in hysterics, any of Lance’s residual guilt vanishing as he laughed his ass off. He rolled around, doubling over and clutching his stomach as Pidge pretended to twirl their mustache. Lance spoke up in an excellent Coran impression, an accent he’d been working on for months.

“ Hello , future space explorers and defenders of the universe,” Lance paused for dramatic effect, then burst out into a shout so loud the entire castle could surely hear it echoing. He kept his accent effortlessly in place the entire time. “I, Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, am the commander flight-master extraordinaire!”

“A spot-on impression, the judges are giving you tens across the board!” Pidge giggled from where they were laying draped across Hunk’s lap. They eagerly clapped their hands together, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Thank-you, thank-you, th-” Lance laughed, giving a series of bows to celebrate his performance. He realized when the laughter abruptly died off though, freezing as he watched Hunk lean toward the projector with someone else’s vlog in hand. Lance gulped. “What are you doing?”

“I thought we were going to watch all of them?”

“Well, I don’t know about that .” Lance chuckled, the sound pitchy and unlike himself as his nerves amounted. He couldn’t help but feel bad about doing this without the other’s permission. He’d filmed a vlog too, he knew for a fact that he’d gotten unexpectedly emotional when asked to share about himself without anyone’s judgment on him. He’d talked about his family, how hard it was to be a soldier when all he wanted to be was a brother, a son. He also spent a good amount of time talking about Allura, but that wasn't even comparable to the amount he'd spent rambling on about Keith and venting about how much he'd valued him as a partner. Things got real, if he was being honest. He hadn’t intended for anyone to ever see it, he’d used it as an outlet .

Lance tugged the blanket up over his head, peering under the edge of it. “Coran’s is obviously rehearsed, the rest of us kinda had to improvise. It probably won’t be as funny to watch.”

“Well, no, but we might get even more blackmail material.” Pidge argued softly, looking at Lance from behind the rims of their glasses like he’d grown a third head. Lance shifted awkwardly, looking to where Hunk had frozen with the cartridge in his hand, hesitating to put it in. “You chicken?”

“Of course not!” Lance burst out defensively. He crossed his arms over his chest, sulking slightly as he clambered up onto the couch by himself, out of the little blanket nest they’d built together on the floor in front of it. He sat alone, sinking into the cushions. “As a matter of fact, let’s watch Keith’s first. I bet he probably malfunctioned when Coran asked him to talk about himself. That jerk’s as bland as white bread, what would he even say ?”

“He’d probably talk about what it’s like becoming a leader when you aren’t prepared for-” Hunk started to offer, but Lance wasn’t hearing any of it. He had to justify what they were doing as a joke so he didn’t feel so bad about it.

“Pfft, “ Oh, I’m Keith, I have a mullet and don’t know how to express basic emotion ”, what a vlog that’ll be for future generations to learn from.” Lance wheezed obnoxiously. “It’ll be a tutorial on how not to have healthy coping mechanisms, maybe. A how-to video on how to sabotage all your relationships when you’re a part of a team that’s supposed to mutually rely on each other. A turn-yourself-into-an-asshole DIY video by universal expert: Keith Kogane.”

“Lance.” Pidge spoke evenly, though their exasperation showed through with just the single syllable. He paled, looking toward them with a quirked eyebrow.

“What?”

“For someone as bland as white bread, you sure have a lot to say about him.” There was something suggestive in their tone, like they were accusing him of something. Lance didn’t like it one bit.

He’d had his sneaky suspicions that Pidge might have been reading into his relationship with Keith a little more than necessary. That was their thing, Hunk pried in the obvious ways by finding diaries or pouting his best puppy-dog pout to get the information he wanted directly, and Pidge just watched with those judgy little eyes and somehow read minds. Lance was convinced they could at this point, they’d caught onto too many of his private emotions for him to think otherwise.

The Keith thing was confusing, though. He couldn’t tell if they were misinterpreting how he felt or if they were seeing something about his own feelings that he was failing to. Things with Keith had been difficult to understand for months now. It was such a jumbled up mess at this point that he didn’t know what to make of it.

For a while, a long while, he’d thought that maybe he could be with Keith. The guy was stubborn as a mule, terribly difficult to get along with, he had a mullet for god’s sake, but… there was something endearing about his fierceness, his loyalty to the cause. Then he’d gone and done something utterly unforgivable like lashing out at Coran of all people and Lance had backtracked, wondering what he’d ever seen in the boy. Then he’d do something courageous and daring again, would throw his life on the line to protect their team, and… fuck, it was an endless game of back and forth.

There were things about Keith that Lance adored so very much, but the moment they showed through Keith seemed to revert into himself and throw up walls to keep people from seeing even a shred of good in him. Lance wasn’t asking for much, he wasn’t asking the guy to justify being in love with him or anything, he just wanted him to be slightly tolerable so Lance could figure it out on his own time.

What did he want? He had no idea. He knew that the physical attraction was there, he wasn’t blind enough to not find Keith incredibly hot. He had no idea what to make of his romantic feelings though, they flickered on and off so frequently each time Keith would backtrack in their relationship and blame him for it somehow. It was probably a teenager-stuck-in-space-and-horny thing, it had to be.

“Well, yeah, he pisses me off.” Lance finished off belatedly, unsurprised when Pidge just rolled their eyes at him. He turned to Hunk, gesturing dismissively. “Whatever. Hunk, press play.”

The video flickered to life and Lance held his breath, watching as Keith appeared. He looked noticeably disgruntled, just as Lance had predicted. He knew firsthand how fucking terrible Keith was at talking about himself and how he felt.

“I’m Keith, the pilot of the black lion… what should I say? I’m a paladin, I fly the black lion.” Keith choked out awkwardly, looking like he wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room and never once look back. “I-I said that already. See?! That’s why I’m bad at this! What else am I supposed to tell you?! Okay, uh, I guess… I’m part Galra.”

After that, Keith begrudgingly launched into reminiscing about how he’d told the team and the reaction he’d warranted. Lance listened carefully, watching the visible uneasiness in Keith’s face as he recalled the story, like it pained him to think about.

“Yikes, this is painfully awkward to watch.” Pidge spoke up suddenly, sounding disappointed. “You were right, Lance, this isn’t nearly as funny as Coran’s, maybe we should just turn it o-”

Lance shushed them, shoving a hand into their face without taking his eyes off the screen for even a second. Keith had taken his knife out now and was absentmindedly fiddling with it.

“I guess being part Galra is a big deal.” Keith admitted, his voice a mere whisper as he continued. “It may explain why I was never really good at… connecting with people.”

“Is he serious ?” Lance snapped, throwing his hands up in frustration. “How is it that he can be confused about his struggles connecting with people when he’s literally waving a knife around? Does he not realize how that might come off as the slightest, teeniest bit intimidating? Like, it’s hard enough to approach someone who looks murderous half the time, but when he’s playing with a murder weapon like it’s a stress ball?! God, he’s such an idiot .”

Lance was sitting up now, leaning forward to the edge of his seat as he desperately listened to Keith’s every word as he recounted all of his worst social embarrassments. Lance was surprised to find he was among them. He’d never thought that Keith cared about what kind of impression he gave Lance.

Not only did he make the list, he was also the one that Keith dwelled on. He grew visibly emotional, going into more detail than he had with any other story, anger flickering in his eyes in a way that Lance couldn’t tell who it was directed at. Was he angry with Lance or himself?

“I still don’t understand why I wouldn’t just say “Voltron”. I-It’s so much faster. One person says it, right? Done. I say Voltron, and then the chant is over! It doesn’t have to be complicated!” Keith hissed in obvious annoyance, pressing his fingertips to his temple as if the subject gave him a headache. His voice raised as he spoke, gesturing wildly before dropping his fists down against the table. He leaned closer to the camera, eyes filled with fiery anger.

He paused immediately after he finished shouting though, eyes widening. He leaned back into his seat and sighed, eyes falling lightly shut. “I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I guess, I’ve a bit of a temper… so. ”

Keith went on to recount the times he’d let his temper get the better of him, cringing inwardly as he brought each one up. He seemed so disappointed in himself, Lance blinked dumbly in disbelief as he watched Keith grow more visibly uncomfortable with each story he told. Lance couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, the alienated look in Keith’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Hunk and Pidge had long since given up watching the cringy content being projected and had instead turned to Lance. They were munching on their not-popcorn quietly, in awe by how invested Lance was in the vlog. Hunk elbowed Pidge in the side.

“I think we’re having a breakthrough.” He whispered to them, an excited little squeal leaving his lips at the thought. He sat up straighter, clearing his throat in an attempt to make his best friend actually look at him. “Hey, Lance, it seems like he’s put an awful lot of thought into that interaction with you.”

“Maybe you should try and show him the chant again sometime, a little one-on-one tutorial.” Pidge spoke up as well, wiggling their eyebrows. Lance didn’t even glance at either of them. Pidge scowled, growing more determined as their voice dropped into a sensual whisper. “Just you, and Keith, all alone .”

“Ha! He admits he has a temper!” Lance burst out suddenly, a smile spreading across his face. He didn’t look like someone planning terrible blackmail though, he looked oddly… sated. It was almost like he’d been waiting to hear Keith admit to this for a long time. 

“Hunk.” Pidge groaned, resisting the urge to smack Lance upside the head for being such an oblivious idiot. Hunk simply shook his head, patting Pidge’s thigh.

“Give him a minute, ye of little faith.”

“I don’t know why I’m... that way.” The Keith being projected said, his voice sounding so incredibly small that even Hunk and Pidge looked back to listen to what he was saying. Everyone was frowning the moment they saw Keith’s downcast eyes, the slight shaking of his hands.

“What does he mean ?!” Lance exclaimed in annoyance, tipping his head back and groaning. “You’re that way because you make the active decision every morning when you wake up to shove the universe’s biggest stick straight up your a-”

For once, Lance cut himself off when he heard Keith’s voice filtering through the speakers again. Keith seemed pensive, his eyebrows pinched tightly together as he stared directly into the camera lens. He inhaled softly.

“Maybe… I’m naturally untrusting because my mom left me?” Keith tried, looking downward and wringing his hands together. He curled in on himself, looking lost. “And so, instead of accepting people into my life, I push them away before they reject me .”

“Wait, what?” Pidge mumbled, staring in awed silence at the projection as Keith leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He brought his hand up to his face, distractedly running his thumb over his forefinger as if to ground himself. His frown deepened.

“... I guess I have some walls up.” Keith admitted it so weakly that it was obvious how unfamiliar the words were in his mouth. He sat there zoned-out for all of five seconds before pressing the hand across his face instead, dragging it down his nose and slowly revealing more of his troubled expression to the camera. He looked like an emotional wreck, nothing like the robot he normally pretended to be.

And Lance couldn’t do anything but… stare. His heart was lodged somewhere in his throat, his face burning hot with a blush, jaw slack with shock, and blue eyes so impossibly wide with disbelief that they were beginning to hurt. This was an entirely different side of Keith than anything he’d ever seen, it was difficult to believe what was right in front of him.

“Holy shit.” Pidge breathed, voice shaking.

“I-I’m outta here!” Keith shouted suddenly, rising to his feet without hesitation. He turned and walked off camera, grumbling on as he left despite the way his voice cracked terribly. “Get me outta here. I’m outta here! I said I wouldn’t cry!”

The vlog ended after that, the projection flickering out to black and bathing the room in darkness. Hunk glanced toward the lightswitch thoughtfully, wondering how they were going to go about reacting to that. A second’s glimpse in Lance’s direction showed him just how awed the blue paladin was, emotions swirling so heavy through his eyes that dark circles were already beginning to form beneath them. Regret gnawed away at Hunk’s stomach. That had been a major invasion of privacy.

Were they going to talk about it? Should they even talk about it?

“Well, that was…” Pidge started to say, trailing off to look between the others. Hunk gave them a stiff shrug and Lance ignored them entirely, continuing to stare ahead. Suddenly, the crackle of the comms overhead stuttering to life drew everyone’s attention upward.

“Paladins, report to the dining room!” Coran’s voice blasted through the speakers much louder than usual, eager to tell the paladins of the night’s events, no doubt. It was followed by the vague shuffle next to the mic that everyone had come to recognize as Coran twirling his mustache too-close to the intricate technology. “We may have brought you home some… leftovers !”

There was still awkwardness in the air around them, but a rumble from Pidge’s stomach made it clear where their priorities were at. They rose to their feet, walking past Hunk and settling their hand on his shoulder as they passed. Hunk stood as well, swallowing harshly as he stared down at Lance in his dazed state.

“Lance? You coming?” Hunk asked, shifting from one foot to the other, stalling for time as the seconds ticked by without answer. Hunk sighed, stepping closer to Lance and settling a hand in his hair. He stroked it back soothingly, clearing his throat pointedly. “Buddy?”

“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec.” Lance exclaimed, gesturing dismissively. He didn’t really look like he had any intentions of going anywhere anytime soon, but Hunk didn’t dare to press it when Lance looked so very contemplative. It was rare to see such a pensive look on Lance’s face, generally his friend tried to avoid thinking too deeply about anything.

Keith had always been a special exception though, Lance fixated on him like no other, it got to the point that his obsession with Keith was less something to distract himself with and more something to ground him when he needed familiarity. They were good for each other like that. The rest of the team had been waiting a long time for them to realize the support was mutual, that they meant the exact same thing to each other, wanted the same.

Hunk sighed and turned to leave, hurrying to catch up with Pidge before they disappeared from sight. He would have been blind not to pick up on the shift in the atmosphere, from something sad to something scarily determined. He had no idea what Lance was planning, didn’t dare to hope that maybe they were witnessing a confession in the making .

Upon walking onto the dining room, Hunk’s focus immediately wavered to the food spread out across the table like a banquet. It was difficult to believe that what they were looking at was leftovers, every plate was so well-stocked and beautifully arranged. He darted toward the most colorful one, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

Pidge hung back, eyeing the others curiously. Shiro and Keith were leaning against the wall and talking about something, Coran and Allura were sat at the table taking turns trying different foods that they’d probably been acting too diplomatic to gorge on at the event. The atmosphere was welcoming enough, but knowing that an overly emotional Lance would come barging in here any moment, Pidge opted for a chair at the back of the table where they had a view of everyone in the room. They weren’t about to miss this for the world.

Meanwhile, Lance was still settled on the floor of the lounge, knees hugged to his chest. He had no idea how to approach the situation, but he was determined not to sweep it under the rug. He wanted to be there for Keith, like he’d done in so many different ways while being his right-hand man. It crossed Lance’s mind that maybe Keith didn’t need comforting now that Shiro was back to fit that role, but he shook that thought off quickly. He couldn’t afford to let his insecurities talk him out of helping Keith this time.

He started toward the dining room with a nervously fast gait, nearly stumbling over himself multiple times on the way there. He rounded the corner into the room and stopped dead in his tracks, eyes finding Keith in the room almost immediately. Seeing Keith’s closed-off and confident slouch against the wall just contradicted what Lance had just watched even more, but knowing that this was all an act for the first time since they’d met… it made approaching him just the slightest bit easier.

Keith looked up suddenly, eyes widening when they met with Lance’s focused ones. He quickly closed off his expression though, kicking his boot against the floor.

“Nice of you to bless us with your presence.” Keith snorted, the corners of his lips upturned in what probably could have been mistaken for a smile on anyone else. Lance figured that maybe it was Keith’s smile, but it had always seemed more like a sneer, always taunting or teasing when it appeared. Lance wanted to know what Keith’s real, toothy, genuine smile looked like. He’d certainly seen enough of what Keith’s pain looked like written out across his features.

Lance crossed the room hastily, feet moving him forward before his brain had time to think. Keith pushed off from the wall to stand firmly on his feet, no doubt taking Lance barreling toward him as some sort of threat. “What corner of the castle were you holed up in to avoid doing chores this time?”

“Shut-up.” Lance stuttered out stupidly, stumbling forward before he could stop himself and throwing his arms around Keith’s middle. He pulled the shorter boy into a bone-crushing hug, holding him so tightly to his chest that he could feel the rise and fall of each hurried breath Keith drew.

“Oh dear.” Allura sighed, drawn from her conversation with the others by the strange interaction. Lance dutifully ignored her, gripping onto Keith’s shirt in fistfuls to steady himself. He felt embarrassingly close to tears himself, the more he thought back on how small and vulnerable Keith had looked in that video earlier. He buried his face into Keith’s shoulder. “What did you guys do to Lance?”

“Uhh…” Keith trailed off, clearly thrown for a loop. He settled a hand in the middle of Lance’s back between his shoulder blades, patting him cautiously like one might an unfamiliar stray dog. Distantly, he could hear Pidge cackling in the background like they were witnessing something utterly hilarious. Keith didn’t find it funny so much as severely uncomfortable.

Keith looked up pleadingly, eyeing Shiro hopefully until the leader nodded.

“Lance,” Shiro spoke up carefully, making it known that he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the situation either. He stepped closer, clasping Lance’s shoulder loosely. Lance tensed against Keith and for a split second, Keith almost felt guilty about having him pried away. His motives were admittedly unclear, but it’s not like he could intend a hug as a bad thing. “Keith likes his space, remember?”

Lance leaned back, arms dropping from where they’d been coiled around Keith like the gangly snake limbs they were. Keith stood frozen in place, too cautious to even tense a muscle as Lance looked guiltily up at Shiro. Regret was plain to read across his features and it only confused Keith more. Lance was never so quick to be held accountable for his actions, he always tried to argue or deflect. This time he just… frowned, like he was frustrated with himself more than the person scolding him.

“Uh, sorry.” He managed, running a hand hurriedly through his hair. He turned away from Shiro, looking back to Keith as if to apologize again, before suddenly looking down at the floor. “I’m going to my room.”

“Without having any food?” Coran asked curiously, his amusement fading into concern as Lance simply turned and left without answering him. Lance never ignored Coran, or anyone really. That was beyond odd for him. “Is he alright?”

“Inhaled too much space dust while cleaning, I guess?” Hunk suggested between bites of a neon orange casserole of some type, looking around the room to gauge everyone’s reactions. “He was fine a minute ago.”

“Should I talk to him?” Shiro asked loudly, staring after Lance with a thoughtful expression. Keith opened his mouth to protest that, some sixth sense reminding him that it was never a good idea to chase after Lance when he retired to his room unexpectedly. He’d tried a few times while they were at their closest during Shiro’s absence, and though the door was never answered when he knocked, he’d heard the choked noises coming from the other side.

The first time, he’d sat outside Lance’s door in concern for hours until Hunk had come along with a tray of food. He’d offered up a knowing smile and told Keith that he had it under control, that he shouldn’t worry. How the hell was Keith supposed to not worry about that?! Lance was crying. What kind of leader would he be to just walk away and leave him like that? What kind of… friend would he be?

Of course, he was out over his head and he had no idea what he was doing, so he’d given in with little argument and left it to the professionals. Hunk looked like he knew what he was doing. That was alarming in itself, considering it implied Hunk had done this many times before.

As if on cue, before Keith even had the chance to get a word of protest out, Hunk rose to the task of protecting Lance like it was his job.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, I’ll go check it out once I’m done here.” Hunk explained dismissively, waving his fork through the air. Keith slowly closed his mouth, knowing that his protest wouldn’t have been anywhere near that casual. Shiro accepted it at face value, walking over to join Allura while Keith sheepishly slid into the seat next to Hunk. “Sorry on his behalf, Keith.”

He looked up, staring over at Hunk in confusion. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize that the apology was on Lance’s behalf. An apology for a hug. Sure, the team had gotten it into their heads that Keith was totally touch-repulsed, but surely they didn’t think he was such an asshole that they’d have to apologize for showing affection?

He… appreciated the hug, even. It wasn’t necessarily something he was used to and the fact it was Lance had made everything a thousand times more intimidating, but he didn’t want an apology for it. He wanted to thank him, if anything. The times when the team approached Keith and even tried to be affectionate with him at this point were far and few between, automatically assuming they’d annoy him.

That wasn’t the case, not at all, but it’d gone on far too long for Keith to try and correct them.

“Oh, um, it’s fine.” He managed weakly, absentmindedly reaching out to grab something to shove on his plate to use as a distraction. He’d been thinking on this too heavily, all because of one impulsive move on Lance’s part. Figures, Lance’s impulsiveness was usually what set him off the rails in one way or another.

“You know how Lance is, feels everything to the extreme.” Hunk explained quietly, shoveling another biteful of food into his mouth. Keith nodded slowly, biting down onto his bread-like food he’d acquired and pulling a face at the bland taste.

He did know, he was painstakingly aware of just how extremely Lance embraced his emotions. At first it had come across as something annoying and a hindrance to the cause, the way the blue paladin was always doing the most he possibly could be. After a few months working as a team, it became less annoying and more a familiar theme in Keith’s life that he could count on. It was something to fill the silence, something consistent to rely on, something reassuring when Keith himself didn’t know how to feel.

And then after Shiro’s disappearance when Keith had grown closer to Lance specifically, Keith’s perspective had shifted even further until he found Lance’s outrageous amount of passion toward everything… endearing. It was still annoying and overwhelming, but when Lance pulled the team aside after a battle to sob about how glad he was they were alright or when he went off on tangents about his family back home... it didn’t feel like something distant and unrelatable to Keith.

Keith understood, for the first time in his life. He felt the exact same way about the team after spending so much time next to Lance and watching him feel so strongly. God, it was dizzying learning from Lance and trying to keep up with the intensity of the new emotions that came with all of the relationships in his life. He grew closer to everyone while Shiro was gone, but Lance in particular had always been there for him, always supported him, always been next to him…

Was it pathetic to miss someone that he still spent every single day next to? They were confined to one ship out in space together, it wasn’t like Lance was missing the same way Shiro had been. And yet, the relief that Keith felt when Lance marched right up to him and closed that minimal distant left between them with that hug… it was that same staggering wave of emotion as when he’d gotten Shiro back.

God, he had it so bad.

--

Lance groaned, burrowing further into the pile of blankets on his bed and thus further into the hole of self-pity he’d dug. Nearly an hour had passed since the incident and he’d been left alone to wallow in it, the frustration he felt toward himself for acting so thoughtlessly tearing him apart. He’d done the opposite of what he’d set out to do, which was make Keith happy.

Keith didn’t like physical touch, what special kind of idiot was Lance to try and give him comfort in the form of a hug? This wasn’t Hunk or Pidge he was dealing with, this was the elusive and unapproachable Keith Kogane. He had to use words , big ones, he had to be intellectual and composed. Those weren’t necessarily his strong suits, but it was clear that his usual emotional self would only drive Keith further away.

Shiro had scolded him as if he didn’t already know all of this, but the truth was that Lance knew it as well as anyone else. He hadn’t even been expecting Keith to appreciate the hug, not really. He just didn’t know what else to do, physical affection had always been the go-to form of comfort for him. He wasn’t always so good with words, so he’d selfishly defaulted to what he knew, even if he knew it wouldn’t work the same for Keith.

Lance wasn’t sure how much time passed like that, but eventually there came a knock on his door. He’d long ago reached a point where he could recognize who was on the other side of his door by the pattern of their knock. No one else knew this save for Hunk, so when an unfamiliar weird, choppy knock sounded on his door… he knew what was going on immediately.

“Hunk, I know it’s you even when you try and disguise your knock.” Lance called out, trying to sound unimpressed but unable to hold the tone when he was speaking to his best friend. He poked his head out from beneath the covers, eyeing the door curiously.

He heard Hunk’s long, disappointed sigh sound from the other side.

“Are you gonna let me in?” Hunk asked pleadingly, thankfully realizing that there was no use trying to hold onto his disguise any longer. Lance bit his lip contemplatively, swiping at his cheeks to make sure any earlier tears had long since evaporated.

“Do I have to?” Lance asked, though he was already getting to his feet and padding barefoot across the floor.

“Yes?” Hunk tried experimentally, like he wasn’t even sure whether he had the right to give such a demand. Lance snickered, slamming his hand against the button and watching as the doors slid open to reveal a nervous Hunk standing on the other side. He seemed visibly relieved to see Lance was at the very least stable.

Lance rolled his eyes, turning to return to his bed.

“Alright, lay it on me.”

“Lance, what the hell was that just now?” Hunk chuckled awkwardly, stepping inside and allowing the doors to close behind him. Lance groaned, burying his face into the pillow.

“A hug.”

“Let me rephrase, what were you thinking just now when you decided to hug the least huggable member of our team?” Hunk pressed on, placing a hand in the center of Lance’s back and beginning to rub it in sure, slow circles. “I love hugs, I’m a hug guy, but one does not simply touch Keith without any preamble or consent beforehand. He’s like a cat in that sense, he spooks easily. Even Shiro doesn’t approach him that carelessly.”

“Hunk, you saw that vlog too, he needed a hug.” Lance whined into the pillow, words slightly muffled even to his own ears. Hunk understood it effortlessly enough, having been in this position many times before.

“It doesn’t matter what he needs if he doesn’t even want it yet.” Hunk explained gently, coaxing Lance into sitting up next to him. Lance sniffled a little bit, blinking back tears rapidly. He refused to cry over this again, even he wasn’t that pathetic.

He leaned his head on Hunk’s shoulder, tossing his legs over the edge of the bed and knocking his foot against Hunk’s much larger one. “You have to let him come to you when he’s ready and when he trusts you.”

Lance nodded knowingly, uncertain how else to explain that he already knew all of this. Hunk seemed to understand though, or at the very least wanted Lance to feel like he wasn’t alone in his point of view, given he wrapped an arm around Lance’s weary shoulders and pulled him closer.

“I had no idea.” Lance breathed out absentmindedly, images of Keith’s pained expression still haunting every corner of his mind. “I mean, obviously I figured he came from a pretty messed up family situation, but doesn’t everyone? I just… didn’t know it affected him so much… that it still affects him.”

“Lance, it’s not your fault he’s hurting.”

“No, but it is at least partially my fault that he’d rather open up to an inanimate object in a vlog than one of the people he’s supposed to rely on most. I could have been there for him. We’re a team!” Lance argued vehemently, shrugging Hunk’s embrace away and jumping to his feet. He began to pace back and forth across the room, running his hands through his hair rough enough to tug at the strands.

He couldn’t believe this had been going on all along and he’d only just noticed. Keith deserved better.

Lance came to an abrupt stop in front of Hunk, turning to him with a wobble to his bottom lip that was all too telling. Hunk sighed, opening his arms so Lance could clamber into his lap. “I-I thought he was an asshole because he thought he was better than everyone else, it never occurred to me that it might be the opposite. I’ve always seen him as so irritatingly untouchable because he couldn’t be bothered to care about people, not because he cared too much. I didn’t know it was a defense mechanism. How was I supposed to know?!”

“You weren’t , that’s the whole point.”

“Why not?” Lance groaned, hands curling into fists at his sides. He was so angry with himself for not doing better, for not being there for Keith when he so obviously should have been. He should have seen it coming, but he was totally oblivious and it made this blindside him so much more.

“The same reason you don’t announce your insecurities at the dinner table every night.” Hunk explained, patting Lance’s knee. “You think Keith wants the whole world to know what he views as his greatest weaknesses? You think he wants to open himself up to feeling even more vulnerable when he’s already afraid of rejection?”

Lance stiffened, leaning back against Hunk’s chest without any of the adrenaline from before. He could feel the fight draining out of him, replaced by simple disappointment in himself. A familiar feeling, though that didn’t make it any more comfortable.

“You think he thinks that lowly of us? That we’d look at him any differently for showing he’s human?”

“I don’t know, Lance.”

“We looked at him differently about the Galra thing, clearly that resonated with him more than we thought it did.” Lance whispered, speaking more for his own sake than that of the conversation they were having. He curled in on himself. “I’ve said such horrible things to him. What’s wrong with me?”

“Hey,” Hunk spoke softly, spotting Lance’s downward spiral into self-hatred faster than anyone else ever could have. He cupped Lance’s chin, forcing blue eyes to meet his own. Lance glared up at him, but Hunk persisted. “what I do know is that insecurities have a tendency to warp a person’s point of view. We could tell him a million times over how much he means to us now, but it’s not guaranteed to change how he looks at himself or the world. It’s a personal journey, that’s why I try not to feel bad when I can’t talk you out of your self-worth issues with logic . It’s not a logic thing, it’s an emotion thing.”

“Then how do I help him?”

“The best you can do is be there for him, tell him what he needs to hear over and over again no matter how little it seems to change things, and listen when he’s ready to talk.” Hunk explained evenly, like he was the expert on the matter. Perhaps he was, given how many times he’d helped Lance with all of his problems. “You can’t… fix him, Lance. I can tell that’s what’s going through your head right now and you’d be better off to just give it up now. You can’t fix him because he isn’t broken. He’s a whole person exactly as he is and he’s managing, he doesn’t need anything. I’m sure he’d be better off with some reassurance and a support system, but-”

“So, what? I’m supposed to comfort him through crippling abandonment issues the same way I’d comfort someone through a bad day?” Lance snorted, the thought of taking Keith out for ice cream and coddling him seemingly hilarious in his emotionally exhausted state. Hunk rolled his eyes, giving Lance a playful shove off of his lap. Lance collapsed onto the mattress, limbs sprawled out in every direction.

“I mean, objectively it seems pretty stupid every time I offer you food and hugs to help with the fact you feel like you don’t have a purpose, but… it makes you feel better, doesn’t it? Makes it a little bit easier to deal with the other stuff?” Hunk prompted, nudging his foot against Lance’s calf. Lance shrugged away from the touch, too caught up in his thoughts all of the sudden to be entirely aware of it. What Hunk was saying made a lot of sense actually, it did help him.

Realizing that he was starting to get through to Lance, Hunk started to smile. “He needs a friend, Lance, that’s all. I happen to know you make an excellent one of those, just so you know.”

Lance scooted up the bed, resting his head back against the pillow and staring up toward the ceiling. He inhaled shakily, nervously winding his fingers together over his stomach. It sounded too good to be true, that he could grow closer to Keith and hopefully help him feel better all in one.

“You sure? It’s really that simple?”

“Simple?” Hunk scoffed dryly, staring at Lance like he’d grown another head. “You think getting past those guarded walls he’s built up around himself is gonna be simple ?”

And, okay, maybe Hunk had a point there. Lance had spent months at Keith’s side while they’d worked together to lead the team and get Shiro back, he’d been around Keith more than anyone else for nearly half a year and still… he hardly knew anything about the guy. He knew how he planned things, he knew how he fought, he knew how deeply it mattered to him that missions went by without issue… but all of the things Lance had regarded as progress before today seemed so vapid now that he’d watched that video. There was so much more to Keith than he knew.

He wanted to know everything.

Lance sat up when he heard a knock at the door, exchanging a look with Hunk. He clambered out of bed, looking over his shoulder as he crossed the room.

“I’ve been told once or twice that my charming personality is… irresistible . If anyone can get through to him, it’s gonna be me.” Lance insisted, a fierce amount of determination building up in his chest. It didn’t matter that Keith had Shiro back now, it was clear he needed someone else. Lance was going to be that person.

The doors slid open to reveal a bored-looking Pidge and Lance immediately turned away, wordlessly inviting them inside. While Pidge walked over to the bed to sit next to Hunk, Lance headed to his desk to rummage through a drawer of writing supplies. “I’m gonna befriend Keith so hard , he won’t even see it coming!”

“You’re gonna do what to Keith so hard he’s gonna be coming?” Pidge gasped, throwing a hand over their heart and pretending to be scandalized. Hunk punched them hard in the arm. “Ow!”

“Did you say something?” Lance asked, backing away from the drawer with a handful of pencils and a notebook in his hands. Hunk shook his head hurriedly, stomping on Pidge’s foot when they attempted to repeat themselves. Lance was making too much progress to allow a snarky comment to revert him back into no-homo rival mode.

“Nope, not a word.” Hunk assured him, watching as he settled on the floor and began scribbling into the book in front of him. He was indifferent toward the people in his room completely. Pidge looked deeply unsettled by how concentrated he was on his work.

“Oh no. Lance got his writing utensils out, this must be serious.” They whispered quietly, turning to Hunk and lifting their eyebrows toward their hairline. “What did I just walk in on?”

“Pidge, what do you know about Keith?” Lance spoke up suddenly, holding the notebook to his chest as he looked hopefully between the two of them. He looked nothing like the drained person he’d been when Hunk had first walked into the room, he was back to his usual bubbly Lance-self, but somehow even better. This was the first time in forever that Hunk thought that maybe, maybe Lance was going to get caught up in his own web of lies and realize why this was so important to him.

Hell, everyone on the ship had clued into his crush except for Keith. It was about time he stopped bathing in the river of denial he’d dug for himself.

Lance shook the book in his hands expectantly, waiting for an answer. “I’m going to write down every important fact about Keith in this notebook for future reference.”

“Hunk?” Pidge drawled slowly, confusion clear in their voice as they turned worriedly toward the yellow paladin. Hunk snickered, shaking his head dismissively. For once, he was going to support Lance’s extreme approach to anything remotely emotional.

“He’s a man on a mission, Pidge.” Hunk spoke fondly, shooting them a knowing look. “I’d just give him the info if I were you.”

Pidge sighed heavily, though the corners of their lips were beginning to quirk up with the same excitement Hunk was struggling to keep at bay. They slid onto the floor next to Lance, folding their legs and beginning to list of all of the random info about Keith they had to offer. Lance looked thrilled, hurriedly making notes of every single thing Pidge told him.

A few minutes passed by and a pattern was quickly detected in the info Pidge had to offer, Lance’s thrill giving way to annoyance.

“What do you mean that’s all you know about him?!” Lance hissed, slapping a hand to his forehead in defeat already. “This info barely fills half a page and most of it is about his knife!”

“Don’t yell at me ! That’s all he ever talks about!” Pidge yelled back, kicking Lance in the knee. He huffed out air from between his teeth, collapsing onto his side and cradling his injury. Hunk leaned forward and attempted to stifle laughter, staring down at Lance’s crumpled form where it’d landed in a heap between his feet.

“ Still think it’s gonna be simple?”

Chapter Text

Keith had spent enough time on the field to be able to tell when he was being followed. He could feel it in the air, the tension that seemed to drape around him when someone’s eyes were glued to him just a little bit too closely. Not to mention, in this particular instance, his pursuer was utterly terrible at being discreet. He heard the door click shut not-quite-quietly-enough and he heard the shuffle of sluggish footsteps crossing the room, all over the constant panting and whirring in the room as he concentrated on battling a training simulator bot.

When he eventually won, he was quick to risk a glance toward the sidelines. He wasn’t surprised in the slightest to find Lance settled on the bench.

Well, he was slightly surprised, given it was early enough in the morning that the rest of the castle was probably just now rising and stumbling toward the kitchen. Keith usually liked to get his training done before anyone else was awake to interrupt him, meaning Lance must have purposely sought him out and woken up earlier than usual to do it.

He’d been expecting Lance to act at least a little bit weird after their hug yesterday, but this was pushing it just a bit.

“End session.” Keith called out, panting as he pushed his hair back from where it’d fallen in his eyes. He staggered over to the bench, shooting a glare in Lance’s direction when the stalker refused to even make eye contact and own up to what he’d been doing. Keith grabbed his water bottle, tipping it back and taking a heavy swig.

Meanwhile, he eyed Lance as he drank. This was his first time seeing Lance since that strange hug yesterday and he still felt flustered. He’d dwelled on it into the early hours of the morning, the warmth of another body pressed against his, the gentle vanilla smell that teased him every time he got just close enough to Lance.

He wasn’t sure if the blue paladin was here to apologize or initiate something equally as embarrassing, so Keith was left feeling antsy. He didn’t like antsy, so he was quick to cover it up with angry.

He tossed the empty bottle down, turning to Lance coldly. “What are you doing here?”

“Just hanging out.” Lance responded casually, stretching his legs further out across the bench, leaving no room for Keith to sit even if he’d wanted to. Lance cracked an eye open, peering tiredly up at Keith before offering a small smile. Keith hissed like he’d been physically wounded at the corresponding butterflies that fluttered through his chest. Damn it, Lance. “You can go back to what you were doing, don’t mind me.”

“I do mind you.” Keith argued, turning and starting out of the room. He was content to leave it at that, if not a little bit guilty about brushing Lance off so hurriedly. It was never that he didn’t want to spend time with Lance, he just couldn’t trust himself to. Those butterflies had already made an appearance once today and he wasn’t too keen on inviting them back.

He reached the kitchen and was surprised to find it was already empty, no sign that anyone had been there at all. He dug out an easy breakfast meal and trudged back to the table, freezing a few feet away from it when he found the seat next to his usual one was already occupied. It was pretty rare that the team switched up from routine to sit in a different seat, meaning he already knew who was sitting there as he approached from behind.

He placed his plate down on the table, leaning ominously over the back of Lance’s chair. “Why are you following me?”

Lance tipped his head back, staring up at him with the most annoyingly endearing wry little grin plastered across his face. He winked up at Keith and that was it. Keith caved, anger depleting as he sunk into his seat and tried his best not to look in Lance’s direction ever again.

“Can’t I spend time with one of my trusty teammates just for the fun of it?”

“Fun? Are you having fun right now? Watching me eat food goo?” Keith huffed, shuffling another bite into his mouth. He was smiling despite himself though, something that he couldn’t chase away no matter how he tried. It was a barely-there tilt of his lips, but Lance would surely see it.

“Well, not exactly, this isn’t the ideal way to spend time together, but-”

“What is ?” Keith interrupted, spoon hanging from his lips as he squinted over at Lance. There was something mighty suspicious about how tolerable Lance was being, clearly on his best behavior, but for what? Normally, in such a sleep-deprived state, he would have started ten fights by now. “Are you trying to do that thing where you talk me into doing something really stupid because you’re bored and no one else will entertain you? I’m not having another lion nose-dive competition to appease you, I don’t-”

“I’m not trying to talk you into anything.” Lance insisted hurriedly, reaching over to punch Keith’s shoulder with a little bit too much force. He was doing that nervous laugh, the stupid one that came up every time he tried to talk to a pretty girl or suggested a ridiculous plan to the team, the laugh that meant he was in way over his head. “I told you, I just want to spend time with you.”

“You’re up to something.” Keith grumbled bitterly, sinking down to appear smaller in his chair.  Figuring out that Lance was plotting something was easy enough, but the blue paladin was far too creative for Keith to guess what he was planning exactly. He was still a sitting duck in that sense. He knew something was coming, but he had no idea what .

“Nah, my intentions are as good as gold.” Lance argued, leaning back in his chair and nearly sending it toppling over backward. He caught himself on the edge of the table, thankfully, and Keith was left to awkwardly unhook the ankle he’d wrapped around the base in an effort to soften Lance’s fall.

“Gold is worthless in space, Lance.” Keith deadpanned, drumming his fingers against the table, his appetite long ago soured now that he had something to fixate on. “It’s a common metal on most planets.”

“You’re a common metal on most planets.” Lance grit out through his teeth. Keith shot him a glare and promptly rose to his feet, determined not to fall into the same game of cat and mouse he always fell victim to with Lance. He wasn’t going to spend the entire day wrapped up in this guessing games, either Lance could be honest or- “Keith! Don’t go!”

“What do you want ?” Keith growled, spinning around and slamming a hand down against the table, leaning over Lance threateningly. The other boy quivered, smiling sheepishly up at him.

“L-Let’s do something together.” Lance suggested, looking all too hopeful and invested in how Keith would answer. Keith snorted, huffing the hair out of his face.

“You just said you weren’t trying to get me to do-”

“No, your choice.” Lance explained hurriedly, sitting up taller in his seat. He reached out, settling an arm just above Keith’s arm, hovering there like he was too scared to actually touch him. Keith stared at the almost-contact for an embarrassing amount of time before Lance continued. “What do you want to do?”

And, fuck, was it ever easy to play right into it when Lance phrased it so openly. Keith could think of a hundred and one things he wanted to do with Lance right in that very moment, varying dramatically in how appropriate they were.

He cursed himself, turning away and starting out of the room again. He moved slower this time though, the fight smoothed out of his tense shoulders, and Lance didn’t hesitate to jog after him. He’d be lying if he said he minded.

“Are you high? Did you inhale too many cleaning product fumes yesterday?” Keith asked, turning to watch as Lance fell into step beside him. Lance shook his head, jumping ahead to walk backward ahead of the other boy.

“You like knives, right? Let’s go to the knife store!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands up excitably. A quiet stifled laugh and smirk later, Keith shook his head.

“There are no knife stores in the middle of space, idiot.”

“Actually, we’re stopping by a market planet today, I asked Allura to last night.” Lance argued pointedly, jabbing a finger into Keith’s chest so he would stop moving and look him in the eye. Keith furrowed his eyebrows, well-aware that it was near impossible to convince Allura to take a break or go off the path she’d chosen. Lance must have done some serious begging for this day off, and he wanted to waste it by spending time with Keith? It didn’t add up.

Lance grinned widely when he realized he had Keith’s attention, shaking his shoulders. “It’s an entire planet composed of little street stalls and home-run shops. There’s also a carnival, so maybe you’ll get to see one of those sword-swallowers ! That’d be cool, huh?”

Keith blinked dazedly, studying the excited twitch to Lance’s lips, the brightness in his eyes. Ah, what the hell, for whatever reason Lance seemed pretty excited about this and just this one maybe Keith would just allow himself to go into something blind. He rolled his eyes, shrugging Lance’s hands away.

“You do realize that knives and swords aren’t my only interests in life, right?” Keith snorted, shoving past Lance and start down the hall. He quickly realized Lance wasn’t following though and turned around after just a few steps, quirking an eyebrow at the defeated expression on Lance’s face. Okay, maybe he hadn’t been clear enough.

Keith cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot  to the other. “You’re paying.”

Lance lit up instantly, eyes widening with recognition and goofy grin kicking in tenfold. Keith scoffed, turning around and smiling to himself when he heard Lance rush to catch up with him.

“Of course, everything’s my treat today!” Lance all but yelled, running ahead and snaking an arm around Keith’s waist so quickly he nearly fell flat on his face. As it was, even with Lance holding him up, Keith felt his knees going uncharacteristically jelly-like.

Lance didn’t seem to notice, simply kept trying to tug Keith ahead like he couldn’t wait another second. He was oblivious to the blush spreading heavily across Keith’s face as he stumbled to keep pace on his shaky new-born fawn legs.. “Let’s go get ready, come on!”

Lance tugged him along until they reached the blue paladin’s room, to which he quickly excused himself and disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared. Keith stood outside his door, staring dazedly at the paneling and wondering if he’d somehow imagined all of that happening. He shook that thought away, trudging down the hall. He didn’t reach his room though, instead veering off-course and hammering his fist against another door.

“Keith?” Pidge called, sounding tired. Keith tapped his foot against the floor as he waited for them to answer. Eventually, the doors slid open to reveal a sleep-mussed and grumpy Pidge. They glared at him for waking them up so early.

“Pidge.” Keith spoke breathlessly, surprised by how timid he sounded to his own ears. Pidge squinted at him and silently stepped aside, inviting him in. He landed on their bed in ten seconds flat.

“Keith? This is weird even for you.” Pidge chuckled awkwardly, walking over and kicking at his foot. “Is there something wrong?”

“You tell me.” Keith snapped, looking up at Pidge and immediately regretting his harsh tone. He took a deep breath, speaking more evenly. “What the hell kinda bet did Lance lose? Why is he clinging to me?”

“No idea.” Pidge answered without hesitation, turning away and settling down at their desk, booting up their laptop indifferently. Keith narrowed his eyes, studying their rigid posture. They must have noticed something was off too, they always noticed stuff like this. Keith had come to Pidge on numerous occasions begging them to explain strange behaviors of their fellow paladin and they’d always pulled through, why were they acting so aloof this time?

“When was the last time Coran performed a physical on him? Maybe he’s concussed… or he realized he has a terminal illness and is trying to make up for all the terrible things he said to me… maybe he inhaled a weird alien chemical that makes him nice!” Keith listed off his best theories so far, hoping they’d take to one and try to build on it. Instead, Pidge turned around and allowed their glasses to slide down the bridge of their nose, staring skeptically toward him.

“Have you considered that maybe he just… wants to spend time with you?”

“Ha!” Keith snorted, clutching his stomach as he awaited impending laughter. Except Pidge didn’t start laughing, leaving his grip to tighten even more as he tried to fight off the flighty feeling in his belly. He shifted, tilting his head to the side. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, I mean, you guys haven’t been as close since we found Shiro.” Pidge commented knowingly, turning back to their screen. “It’s not that hard to believe that maybe he misses having you around all the time.”

“I find it very hard to believe.” Keith spluttered, finding the entire concept difficult to process. Here he’d been missing the close relationship he’d had with Lance like crazy, thinking it was just a temporary thing meant to burn out once things went back to normal. The idea that maybe Lance missed him too, would want it to be a not-so-temporary thing, it was ludicrous. It was a nice thought though, he could give Pidge that much.

“Come on, he was your right-hand man, you bonded .” Pidge argued, holding a middle finger up and pointing it in his direction. Keith glowered at them.

“Shut-up.” Keith would have said more, perhaps thrown a pillow or something, but a gentle knock sounded at the door in that exact moment. He swallowed harshly, sitting up straighter.

“Keith? You in there?” Lance called gently, knocking again. Keith jumped to his feet, walking over to lean against the back of Pidge’s chair and whisper.

“I think he’s plotting my murder, Pidge.” They groaned, looking up at him with an unimpressed stare.

“Listen to me, Lance doesn’t have any ulterior motives. He literally just wants to spend the day with you, I swear.” Pidge promised, holding a hand over their heart. “For once in your life, just… go with the flow.”

“You know something, don’t you?”

“Come in, Lance.” Pidge called, blatantly ignoring Keith’s question. Lance toppled into the room hurriedly, grinning when his eyes landed on Keith.

“Hey.” He greeted, a quietly-spoken word directed so clearly just toward Keith that it was overwhelming, he had to lean heavier on Pidge’s chair for support. Lance turned to Pidge then, nodding. “What are you guys doing?”

“I invited Pidge to come with us.” Keith blurted, deciding to test just how easy it would be to throw a wrench in Lance’s plans. Surely if he was plotting something evil, he wouldn’t want anyone else to be there for it. No, he’d definitely call it off now, there was no way he’d-

“Oh, good!” Lance beamed, walking over to ruffle Pidge’s messy hair. Keith gaped at the back of his head.

“You’re not… annoyed?”

“Why would I be?” Lance laughed, looking between Keith and Pidge slowly. “Today’s about you, you can invite anyone you want along.”

“What the fuck.” Keith mouthed the moment Lance turned away, so deeply confused it was making his head ache.

“Sorry, Keith, I can’t come anyway.” Pidge spoke up suddenly, tapping away on their keyboard. “Hunk and I are very busy today.”

“Doing what ?” Keith demanded to know, obviously disbelieving that Pidge had anything else going on. In any other circumstance, they’d be dying to go explore a new planet, especially a merchant one where they could buy new technologies. Something fishy was definitely happening here.

“We’ve got a project we’re working on, don’t really wanna reveal any details until it’s finished.” Pidge explained, or rather didn’t explain at all, turning to smile up at them. “You two have fun though, alright?”

“Too bad.” Lance grumbled, sounding genuinely disappointed. He turned to Keith, patting him on the arm in passing as he started toward the door. “You ready to go? Allura’s says we’re landing in the next fifteen minutes, so you might wanna get a shower and all that.”

“Pidge.” Keith whispered pleadingly, clamping a hand down on Pidge’s shoulder so tightly it had to have been bruising. They shifted uncomfortably, squinting up at him.

“ Keith .” They growled back, making it plainly clear just how likely he was to get his way. He allowed his grip to go slack, turning hesitantly toward Lance. A whole day spent in the presence of his crush, the one he could hardly manage to be in the same room as for more than ten minutes at a time. It was both his dreams and nightmares come alive.

“What?” Lance asked dumbly, looking between them. Keith shook his head, dismissing it as he trudged after Lance toward the door. He crankily grabbed Lance’s wrist, speed-walking away before he had to see Pidge’s devious smirk. They were definitely plotting something, but he had no idea whether Lance was in on it or not. Damn it.

He didn’t even think about the fact he and Lance were practically holding hands until he looked up again, halfway to the lion hangars by the time they ran into anyone else in the halls. A tired Shiro cast a suspicious look between them, eyes lingering on their hands. Keith jumped away from Lance like he’d been burned, giving Shiro a hurried nod before scurrying away even faster.

Lance caught up to him as he was about to jump onto the zipline, which meant Keith had no excuse not to stop and look back when his name was called. He turned around, staring guiltily at Lance’s panting form as he realized the other must have ran to keep up with him.

“Sorry.” Keith blurted out, unsure what to say. Lance looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed together, then shook his head.

“Don’t be, I get it.” He laughed, straightening up from where he’d doubled over to catch his breath. He stretched his arms above his head.  “Look, I know I’m not your first choice of friends on this ship, I get that. I can see how uneasy you are about this, I’m not blind. I just wanted to spend some time with you and get to know each other better. I mean, you say that knives aren’t the only thing you care about, but I have no idea what else you do care about. I feel like a pretty shitty friend.”

“You don’t have to know everything about me to be a good friend.” Keith mumbled dumbly, his words not entirely working to his favor when Lance’s were blasting on repeat in his mind. Pidge was right, there were no ulterior motives, Lance genuinely wanted to spend time with him and get to know him better.

Lance must have missed him.

Keith had to sink his teeth into his bottom lip to keep from smiling, though he was sure his eyes were gonna give it away if he didn’t look away real soon. It was so difficult not to stare though, the times when Lance was serious and genuine with him were far and few. Moments like this one were the whole reason Keith had fallen for him to begin with.

“Well, no, but I want to.” Lance spoke under his breath, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. He spoke up louder after though, looking up to meet Keith’s wide eyes. “I want to know you. I really like what I’ve seen so far.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll go with you.” Keith bit out, turning around stiffly and reaching up for the zipline, not wanting Lance to catch even a glimpse of his face as it heated up to temperatures previously unknown. What kind of dumb straightforward compliment was that? Would it kill Lance to be subtle for once in his life?

--

Lance stepped out of the red lion, looking overhead to ensure the castle was floating not far overhead and would be guarding the lions while they were gone. Chances were Allura would get antsy and zap them back up then have someone else come to pick them up after the sun set. Lance didn’t really care, it didn’t matter what happened from here on out because he’d already accomplished the hardest task: convincing Keith to accompany him.

He pranced down the ramp, watching with a wide smile as Keith landed the black lion. He gave Red a final farewell pat, then ran over to Keith as fast as his legs could carry him. He made it in time to watch as Keith trudged down the ramp, eyes studying the vibrant colors of the planet around them.

“Check it out, Keith! See that city over there?” Lance yelled, gesturing him down to the ground rather impatiently. Keith sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and walking down to meet Lance. Immediately, Lance was grabbing his sleeve and dragging him down the hill they’d landed on. He pointed out multiple dumb things as they walked, from the local foliage to buildings in the distance.

He led them both out of the woods a few minutes later, squealing excitedly when distant carnival music came into earshot. “Woah, this place is insane!”

“Mm.” Keith hummed, turning and noticing the sea of tents and sales booths set up to their right. This was exactly Pidge’s kind of place, not so much his. He could see the crowds from here, could only imagine the overpriced traveling merchant wares. He didn’t have the heart  to tell Lance though, not when blue eyes were boring into the side of his face and studying his reaction so intently.

“Pretty cool, right ?”

“It’s okay.” Keith smirked, flipping his bangs out of his eyes. Lance shoved him, though it was hardly effective when he responded by stepping closer and eliminating the minimal distance he’d put between them.

“Okay, hard to please, that’s fine.” Lance grumbled, cracking his knuckles. He grabbed Keith’s sleeve, dragging him toward the tents. “Let’s go hunt down some knives, Stabby McGee.”

“Don’t call me that.” Keith groaned in exasperation, shaking his head as Lance tugged him away.

The crowds weren’t quite as packed as Keith had previously assumed, but it was enough to make him uncomfortable. Too many strangers in one place, he had no way of telling what any of their intentions were, what any of them were currently thinking about him. He found himself walking impossibly closer to Lance, practically plastered to the blue paladin’s side, but Lance didn’t complain about it once.

They browsed the flea market-type environment lazily. Lance would point things out occasionally and Keith would make a comment on how overpriced or useless it was. They bought a few small trinkets to bring back to the other paladins, including something overly shiny for Allura. Nothing caught Keith’s eye though, despite Lance’s frequent insistence that he’d buy him anything he wanted.

Lance really was being too nice today, it wasn’t normal.

“Huh? How’s this?” Lance exclaimed suddenly, nearly yanking Keith’s arm out of its socket as he pulled him toward a building on the outskirts of the sales tents. Keith wasn’t even sure how he’d seen what the shop was for from such a distance, but sure enough, as they approached Keith’s eyes widened with recognition.

This time he was left pulling Lance along, eagerly pressing his hands to the glass so he could peer in despite the sun reflecting off its surface. He studied the display of knives and swords, made from all types of colorful metals with inscriptions and details applied to every single one. He was naturally skeptical though, pouting as he finally turned back to Lance.

“They don’t have any prices on them.” He explained, turning to leave. No prices generally meant ridiculous prices, at least in this type of situation. Lance stayed rooted to the spot though, refusing to budge.

“We can go inside.” Lance prompted, smiling over at Keith. God, he seemed so in his element here, surrounding by people with the midday sun beaming down on his skin. Keith found himself dumbly nodding in acknowledgement, unaware that Lance would mistake it for agreement and pull him closer to the shop again. “We’ve got the whole day, we’re not in any rush.”

Keith didn’t protest this time, simply followed Lance up the steps and into the shop. Immediately, he was bombarded with racks and displays of knives, as well as walls covered in swords. He grinned, breaking away from Lance’s hold without hesitation to stumble toward the first one that caught his attention.

Meanwhile, Lance lingered back, grinning stupidly to himself as he watched Keith’s face properly light up into a smile for the first time today. It was his real smile too, the one that made his cheeks dimple and eyes crinkle. Lance leaned back against one of the few walls that wasn’t covered in weapons, finding that his chest seemed to swell as he watched Keith wander around with that amazed look on his face.

Who knew that watching someone pick out a favorite murder weapon could be so… so cute .

“Can I take a closer look at one of the swords in the display window?” Keith asked the salesman suddenly, leaning on the counter that was just a little bit too high for him to properly make a transaction over. Lance pushed off from the wall, walking over to lean over Keith’s shoulder and watch as he examined the sword handed to him.

It was a bright ruby-red type samurai situation, complete with some kind of dark black inlay of dramatic patterns along the blade. It would have been ridiculously flashy and obnoxious if it were anyone else holding it, but against the pale of Keith’s knuckles it just seemed to work. Lance glanced up to Keith’s face, studying the focused pinch of his brows, the slight pout to his lips.

“It’s nice.” Lance breathed, regretting it immediately when Keith tensed up against his chest, the both of them suddenly becoming aware of just how close they were. Keith shook his head, stepping away and placing the sword back on the counter.

“It’s ridiculously overpriced, let’s go.” He ordered, stomping toward the exit like the sore loser he was, making it all too obvious how much he’d caught himself wanting the sword. This was Lance’s moment then, apparently this was the exact thing he’d been saving his allowances up for since being thrown into Coran’s chore chart.

“We’ll take it!” Lance exclaimed, slamming a handful of cash onto the counter, not even taking the time to double-check it added up to the right price. The shop-keep skimmed the wad before nodding, beginning to wrap the sword up for transport.

Keith stumbled back over to Lance’s side, gaping at the entire interaction like he’d lost the ability of speech. Lance elbowed him in the side, sticking his tongue out at him. Keith blinked, dumbfounded expression shifting into a glare.

He all but wrestled Lance out of the shop then, despite the blue paladin’s neverending offers to buy him something else as they went. He must have pointed out twenty knives during the short trip from the counter to the door, but Keith wasn’t looking at any of them. It wasn’t until they were outside that Lance actually looked over at him, his playful smile fading in an instant when he realized Keith’s face was nearly as red as the sword they’d just bought.

“Are you pleased with yourself?” Keith grumbled, tying the holster the shopkeep had gifted him around his back so he could slide the sword into it. Lance was just now realizing that maybe buying a giant sword first thing was slightly impractical. “You just wasted over half of your funds at our first st-”

“You like it?” Lance asked, cutting Keith off. The other boy glared at him for a long moment before crossing his arms and shrugging.

“Yeah.”

“Then it wasn’t a waste.” Lance concluded, spinning around and starting back in the direction they’d originally come from. “Come on, mullet man, we’ve got places to be.”

“You just said we weren’t in any rush!”

“Well, now we have to waste time taking that thing back to the lions!” Lance argued, lingering just before disappearing back into the aisles between the tents, mindful to wait until Keith was next to him again. He was no expert at reading people, however much he liked to pretend so, but Keith had never struck him as much of a crowd guy. His theory had just been proven earlier when Keith clung to him like a lost little duckling in the sea of people.

Sure, he was a lost little duckling with a sword strapped to him now, but that didn’t make it any less cute as Keith sidled up close to him just like before. Lance grinned, leading the way.

Half an hour later, Lance had realized how annoying backtracking truly was and was growing annoyed with the amount of time they’d wasted doing so. He was complaining loudly and frequently now, but for once Keith didn’t comment on it or try to shut him up. Maybe he was still feeling bashful about Lance buying such an expensive gift for him? Either way, Lance took the silence to his advantage and veered straight toward the carnival before Keith could gather his wits about him enough to complain.

See, this may have been a slightly self-indulgent destination of Lance’s choosing. He’d always been ridiculously fond of the carnival that had come through his hometown of Varadero when he was younger, and now he wanted to re-experience that while giving someone else the chance to for the first time. He wasn’t entirely sure what Keith would think of it, but worst-case scenario they’d seek out that sword-swallower and ignore the rides altogether.

“Is this the carnival?” Keith spoke up belatedly, as Lance shoveled money toward the gatekeeper and grabbed handfuls of tickets in response. He turned back to Keith, about to hand him some tickets out of his collection, but before he got the chance Keith was buying his own. Okay, fine, Lance wouldn’t complain even though he was growing quite fond of that bashful look Keith wore whenever Lance spent money on him.

“Yeah!” He answered, leading Keith down the path and veering through the food stalls and trucks. He was headed straight toward the area were all the rides were, from merry-go-rounds to roller coasters, he was ready. However, a thought struck him belatedly and he remembered that his companion might not be quite so ready.

He turned back to Keith, quirking an eyebrow. “How do you feel about alien roller coasters?”

“Uh…” Keith trailed off as his eyes followed Lance’s point toward the looming roller coaster just ahead, one that veered all over that area of the amusement park. He swallowed noticeably, turning back to Lance almost hesitantly. “Can we start small?”

“Daredevil Keith Kogane wants to start small?” Lance gasped, throwing an arm over his eyes in poorly-portrayed shock. He straightened back up quickly though, not wanting Keith to feel bad about being nervous. He headed toward one of the tamer rides first, noticing immediately that most the people riding them were definitely half their age and a quarter of their size.

The only thing that looked non-threatening and occupied by adults was the tunnel of love, but Lance was not about to get into that mess. Instead, he opted for the over-glorified swing set that would spin them around. “You got it, buddy.”

“I’ve never been to anything like this before.” Keith commented, stumbling after Lance and sticking close as they headed through all the fair-goers. Lance hummed as he noticed a mother carefully leading her child around by the hand, clearly worried about the kid getting lost. He stepped back to walk beside Keith rather than lead him, hesitating for a moment before grabbing his hand.

It didn’t feel like such an innocent concern when Lance did it, but his intentions were just to keep Keith from getting lost, that’s all.

Keith stared down at their hands, eyes wide like Lance had just violated him. Lance chuckled nervously, immediately trying to shift the mood into something less serious. The thing about that though, was that Lance was terrible about performing under pressure.

“So this is your first time, huh?” Lance asked, wiggling his eyebrows even as his mind screamed at him to quit while he was ahead. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle with you.”

He expected Keith to hit him, best case scenario. Worst case scenario he was imagining Keith would stomp back to the castle all on his own and any hope at securing a friendship with the guy would be long lost. Turns out, Lance wasn’t exactly an expert at surveying the likeliness of outcomes, he was no Slav anyway.

So, how was he supposed to prepare himself for that dusty little blush that graced Keith’s cheeks as the other looked up at him in shock? God, how was he supposed to be anything but blindsided by the way Keith sheepishly looked away, biting his lip and shaking his head fondly. He didn’t look angry in the slightest, he looked almost… flustered.

“Fuck off.” Keith spat, squeezing his hand around Lance’s fingers. The breath knocked out of him, Lance did exactly that. He was completely fucked off for the foreseeable future, unable to speak a word or form an expression as he pulled Keith toward the ferris wheel with the weight of a thousand anchors suddenly settled on his chest.

Turns out, Keith was quite a fan of the ferris wheel. So much so, that he dragged Lance back onto it two more times before Lance had to forcibly drag him toward another ride. Lance may have gone slightly pliant after that flirting fiasco, but he came back to his senses before Keith could waste their entire day on the ferris wheel like a lameass. No way, they were going on at least one coaster, even if Lance had to cradle Keith the whole way like a five year old.

“Why do we have to try another one? I like that one just fine.” Keith pouted, grumbling as Lance pulled him away from his new obsession. Lance exhaled heavily, staring back at him pleadingly.

“What if you like this one better?”

“I won’t.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re stubborn and determined not to let me prove you wrong.” Lance argued, dragging Keith toward the smallest roller coaster out of the three around the park. Keith stared up at it skeptically, practically sneering. “Trust me, you’re gonna like this.”

“Fine, I’d better.” Keith sighed, standing in the line-up next to Lance. On the surface, he seemed calm and composed, a little bit annoyed about being there if anything, but Lance noticed something when he allowed his gaze to drop. He smiled hesitantly, staring at where Keith was rubbing his thumb along the outside of his fist, the same nervous tick from his paladin vlog.

Lance grabbed his hand again, this time knowing there was no excuse about losing Keith in the crowd when they were standing between velvet ropes. Keith glanced up, but he didn’t pull away, just searched Lance’s eyes for answers. Lance looked away, clearing his throat.

“Now, if you get scared it’s totally normal to scream, I’ll probably scream.” He assured Keith, nodding toward the cart that whirled past on the tracks, full of screaming aliens. “Roller coasters are all about the thrill of going so fast that you feel like you’re gonna die any second. That’s why I think you would like it, Mr. Red Lion.”

“You pilot Red now.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that she chose you originally and you’re the fastest-reacting paladin on the team.” Lance responded easily, not even thinking about how willingly he was dishing out compliments to his supposed rival.

“Stop.”

“Stop what? Complimenting you?” Lance laughed, looking over at him in confusion. “You were the top pilot of your class, Keith. You’re amazing at what you do, I’m just giving credit where it’s due.”

“Well, stop it.” Keith snapped, breathing a relieved sigh when the line ahead of them started to move. He looked back at Lance, at their interlocked fingers, and then started to drag him ahead.

It wasn’t all that long until they were being buckled into their seats, Keith’s knuckles stark-white where they gripped the support beam in front of them. Lance chuckled, reaching over to squeeze his hand reassuringly. He left his touch light, giving Keith plenty of time to swat it away. This was slightly more obvious than any of the other fleeting touches they’d shared today, he wouldn’t blame Keith if he reacted negatively.

He didn’t though, simply relaxed his grip slightly and breathed a shaky breath out.

“If I die on a roller coaster when the universe needs me to save it, my ghost is going to give you absolute hell, McClain.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Lance responded easily, laughing excitedly when the ride lurched ahead and they start to slowly ascend the first hill.

Three dramatic drops later and Lance was screaming every other turn, the ride going so fast his eyes were tearing up at the wind whipping his face. Keith was in a similar state next to him, tears gathering in his wet eyes and hair blowing haphazardly in every which direction. They were both smiling like fools though, grinning so hard their jaws ached. “This is fun!”

“Were you not expecting it to be?!” Lance yelled back, trying to be heard over the wind and the other riders in their cart. Keith shook his head, smirking over at Lance. “Jerk!”

“Woo!” Keith yelled, throwing his hands up over his head as they began to drop again. Lance paled and began to scream, gripping the support beam for dear life as they toppled toward the planet’s surface all over again.

“Ahhh!”

“You scream like a little girl!” Keith yelled, giggling wildly as the ride started to slow to a halt. He doubled over the beam, laughing so hard he seemed to wheeze for air. Lance blinked away the wetness in his eyes, turning to Keith as he shouted.

“What did you just say to me, Kogane?!” He’d probably been planning on saying more, but he couldn’t really remember when his gaze landed on Keith’s bubbly state next to him. Keith laughed wildly, leaning into Lance’s side for support when the person monitoring the ride lifted the beam in front of them.

Lance chuckled, shooting an apologetic smile to the alien as he helped the cackling Keith to his feet and led him toward the exit. He’d never heard Keith laugh so much. He definitely looked happier than Lance had ever seen him. Lance sighed contently, surprised when Keith continued to lean into his side even as his laughter died out.  “Wow, that was-’

“Amazing!” Keith exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

“So, final review? Better than the ferris wheel?”

“Hmm…” Keith hummed, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. “Nope.”

“You’re just saying that to-”

“No, I’m not.” Keith shook his head, turning to Lance with a chuckle. He opened his mouth, hesitating when he registered how close they were. He didn’t back away though, simply stayed where he was long enough for Lance to clue in to the tension between them as well, and then quietly continued. “I really like that one. This one was more fun and I definitely want to go on it again right now , but that one felt more special. Maybe because it was my first experience like that? I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Lance breathed, wondering if Keith could feel the exhale against his lips with how close they were right now. Lance looked back to the roller coaster, heart racing in his chest. “You wanna go again?”

“Hell yeah.” Keith responded determinedly, eyes zeroing in on the ride. Lance laughed, leading the way back to the entrance.

Turns out, Lance was unknowingly contributing to the making of a monster. How was he supposed to know that dragging Keith onto one roller coaster meant they’d spend the next few hours alternating between the most intense rides in the park? Lance was green-faced and queasy while Keith was bouncing eagerly ahead of him, so filled with adrenaline it seemed to leak out of him.

“Let’s try that one now!” Keith suggested loudly, pointing toward some kind-of upside-down contraption that Lance wouldn’t be caught dead inside. He liked the thrill, but he didn’t have a death wish.

“Oh God, I’ve made a terrible mistake.” He groaned, doubling over. Keith jerked on their locked hands, trying to drag him ahead for a solid ten seconds before realizing that Lance was in a state. “Keith, I’m glad you’re having a good time, but if you drag me back onto that roller coaster I will pull a Hunk and puke all over the place.”

“Ugh.” Keith groaned, kneeling in front of him so they could make eye contact. Lance smiled sheepishly down at him, surprised to see how much concern was in the eyes peering up at him. Lance blinked, smile fading into something much shyer. Keith reached up, smoothing his thumb over Lance’s cheek. “Okay, we can take a break, I wanna go check out the games anyway.”

“Keith, I’m pretty sure they’re all rigged if this place is anything like Earth.” Lance commented, but Keith wasn’t listening to him whatsoever. It was generally a lesson one had to learn for themselves anyway. So Lance allowed Keith to approach one of the terrible dart-throwing games, expecting the worst.

Keith got a prize on his first try. Lance cried out in outrage. “How did you do that?”

“You gonna go again? Risk your small prize to upgrade to a bigger one?” The gamerunner asked, leaning over the counter with a sneer. Keith nodded.

“Yeah.” Keith said, sounding determined. Lance laughed, clapping him on the back. His head was still spinning slightly, so he eyed a nearby bench and made his decision.

“I’m going to go sit over there, okay? Don’t get lost.” Lance exclaimed, walking over and collapsing onto the bench ungracefully. He leaned back, focusing on taking deep breath, his eyes falling closed. He sat there for a long while, waiting for Keith to wander back to him.

A weight settled next to him probably half an hour later and he cracked an eye open, glancing to the other end of the bench. His eyes widened when he saw a garbage bag filled with stuffed toys and similar prizes.

“Lance.” Keith deadpanned. Lance looked up, finding Keith standing in front of him, hands on his hips.

“What?”

“I’m out of tickets.” Keith explained, pulling the pockets of his jeans out to make a point. Lance sat up, finding he felt considerably better. He turned toward the pile of prizes next to him, spotting a few things that he wouldn’t mind snagging for his room.

“You won all of that?”

“Yeah.” Keith answered gruffly.

“That’s amazing, Keith.” Lance laughed, reaching into the bag and pulling out a tiny shark-like plushie. He held it up, grinning. “These are cool.”

“I guess.” Keith grumbled in response, sounding not-at-all impressed. Lance sighed loudly, leaning forward and staring up at Keith with bored eyes.

“Alright, spit it out, what’s with the pout?”

“I found the coolest prize at the last stall and I ran out of tickets trying to win it.” Keith whined, raking his hands through his messy hair.

And, well, okay, Lance hadn’t expected the complaint to be quite so cute. Damn, Keith was on a roll today with this being cute shit, it was a little unsettling. There were girls that Lance had actively tried to get with that he didn’t find cute this often. Shit, come to think of it, Lance had been being awfully touchy-feely with Keith lately… maybe that crush thing was coming back into play.

Not now, Lance.

“Well, I suppose I could spare some change.” Lance spoke up, digging most of his remaining tickets out and handing them to Keith. Keith looked hesitant about accepting another donation, but his eagerness seemed to win out as he snatched them up.

“You don’t mind?” Keith asked, even though he was hurriedly pocketing the tickets and clearly had no intentions of giving them back. Lance laughed, shaking his head. “Thanks, I’ll be right back.”

Keith wasn’t joking either, he was right back just a few short minutes later. He stomped over to the bench, arms crossed over his chest, and angrily shoved a couple small prizes into his bag of treasures with a scowl so deep it was blatantly obvious he hadn’t won what he wanted to. Lance laughed, placing the bag on the other side of himself and sliding closer to Keith.

“Don’t tell me.”

“I shot the target and it just bounced right off! It makes no sense!” Keith exploded, voice raising enough that it caught the attention of some nearby people. Lance ignored them, focusing solely on Keith. He reached over, patting his thigh.

“Calm down, hothead.” Lance laughed, getting to his feet. He gestured to the prizes, rolling his shoulders and smirking. “Gather these up and come with me, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Oh, I bet you will.” Keith snarked, slinging the garbage bag over his shoulder all the same as he sulked after Lance. “What are you gonna do? Try and flirt with the worker so she’ll take pity on you? Bribe her with your body?”

In the end, Keith had to lead Lance rather than the other way around. Lance’s ego didn’t back down whatsoever though, considering the way he lumbered up to the booth and pushed his sleeves up his arms to expose his biceps. Keith rolled his eyes, leaning against the counter while Lance surveyed the game. It was a simple target game, but given that Keith had hit the bullseye straight-on without winning anything… there had to be some kind of method to it.

He leaned down, eyeing the edge of the targets and noticing that the lip over each of them made it nearly impossible to shoot the upper half of the target. Interesting. A weak spot?

“It’s one shot for two tickets,” the owner of the game spoke, addressing the both of them, “or three shots for five tickets.”

“I’ll only need one.” Lance spoke confidently, though he was trembling inside hoping his suspicion was true. After sliding the tickets across the table, he grabbed the small pellet-gun and leaned down to look at the targets from an upward angle.

“It’s harder than it looks, Lance.” Keith sighed, kneeling next to him to try and figure out what the hell kind of game Lance was playing at.

“Hey, have a little faith, they don’t call me the sharpshooter for nothing.” Lance spoke out of the corner of his mouth, closing one eye to stare through the focus on the gun.

“They don’t call you the sharpshooter, no one does.” Keith argued, leaning closer to him to get a better view of what was happening. Lance smirked, turning to wink at him as soon as he pulled the trigger.

“You’re gonna start after this, babe.” He drawled, listening to the quiet thud of the bullet hitting the target, then the immediately following rip as it flew right through the un-penetrable material.

“Winner! Winner! Winner!” The mechanics overhead shouted repeatedly, lights flashing all around the booth. Lance smirked, wondering if he was the first one to ever figure out the weak spot. He turned to Keith, flexing his arms.

“Ready to kiss the ground I walk on or what?”

“Lance!” Keith shouted happily, clapping his hands together excitedly. He looked up, studying the rows of prizes with a smile so big it was practically blinding. “I can’t believe you did that!”

“I know, I know, I’m pretty unbelievable.” Lance chuckled smugly, brushing the non-existent dust from his shirt. He turned to address the gamerunner, even managed to open his mouth, before his jaw was slammed back shut so harshly his brain seemed to rattle as Keith hugged him. Not just any hug, oh no, a full-on tackle hug that had him throwing his arms around Lance’s shoulders and kicking his feet up as he clung to him.

Lance staggered backward, hands settling on Keith’s hips and trying to keep them both upright.

“Thank-you!” Keith laughed, hands sliding across Lance’s back until finally he simply lowered himself back down to the ground. He didn’t back away far though, just enough to look Lance in the eye and smile at him like he’d just handed over the stars rather than a cheap carnival game prize.

“I-It’s no trouble, really.” Lance stuttered out, suddenly very certain that his crush from before was back in full-force. Actually, it’d probably never left, no way was there any moment in this reality since meeting Keith that Lance couldn’t see how obviously and beautifully perfect the other boy was for him. Oh geez.

“Alright, you won the grand prize, take your pick out of any of the things hanging overhead.” The alien running the game grumbled, clearly unpleased that their rigged operation had been bested. Lance laughed, nudging Keith.

“That’s you, dude.” Keith looked over at him, eyes sparkling.

“That one!” He shouted, pointing toward something absolutely huge and… pink. Lance watched curiously as the alien fished it down with a hook and handed it over, eyes widening as Keith immediately engulfed the giant plushie in a hug. Oh, wow, that was… catch Lance out here swooning with forty alien eyes all glued to him at once.

“A giant, pink… hippo?” Lance guessed, just barely able to see the face settled against Keith’s shoulder. The shorter boy nodded hurriedly though, spinning it around so he could give the hippo a piggy-back instead, making eye contact with Lance again. “You just hugged me to the edge of suffocation over a hippo plushie as tall as Pidge?”

“Yes!” Keith exclaimed without any shame whatsoever. Lance wordlessly offered to carry all of the prizes Keith had snubbed, walking alongside him dazedly as he carried the hippo around like it was somehow more valuable than the sword Lance had splurged on for him earlier.

Eventually, Keith caught on to Lance’s staring and looked over to meet his gaze. For a terrifying moment Lance was worried that Keith might think he was being judged, but instead he just gave a quiet wistful sigh and turned back to the path ahead of them. “You said you wanted to know more about me? My favorite animal has been a hippo for as long as I can remember.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Keith spoke, pausing when he undoubtedly realized what a not-answer that was. Lance laughed, leading him over to a picnic table. He tried not to coo when Keith settled the hippo next to him at the table like it was an actual friend. “I used to have a stuffed animal of one as a kid. I don’t even know where I got it, I was bouncing around a lot back then, but that little guy went with me everywhere . I took a spell when I was six where I refused to talk to anyone unless I did it through my hippo.”

“What? Like a puppet?” Lance snorted, shaking his head at the image of a tiny Keith speaking through his stuffed toys. It was so vulnerable and small, so unlike the Keith that stormed battlefields swinging his swords. Lance smiled, reminded once again why he’d decided to have this outing today in the first place, to get to know this other side of Keith. “Do you still have it?”

“Nah, I lost it at some point.” Keith explained, kicking Lance’s foot under the table. You’d bet your bottom dollar that Lance kicked him right back, resulting in a distracted game of footsies out of sight as the conversation continued. “I mean, I was a teenager by then, so not a big deal.”

“Right.” Lance nodding, making it clear that he was unconvinced as he watched Keith cling to this new hippo plushie like a lifeline. It had definitely been a big deal when Keith lost the original one, no matter how old he’d been.

“I still have a soft spot for them though.” Keith commented distractedly, kicking Lance’s foot particularly hard to get his attention. Lance opened his mouth to shout at him, but decided not to when he saw the playful way Keith was smiling at him. Was he… flirting? “Thank-you, Lance.”

“Don’t mention it.” Lance chuckled nervously, jumping to his feet so fast he knocked his knees against the underside of the table. He looked around, pointing out a food stall. “Food, right? You want some of it? Hungry?”

Smooth, Lance, effortlessly smooth.

Keith seemed amused if nothing else, hiding his smile behind his hand even though his eyes gave it all away on him. “Yeah, sure.”

“What do you want?” Lance asked, finding it a little difficult to draw a breath when Keith was looking at him like that. Keith tilted his head to the side, eyeing the options written along the side of the stall with disinterest. He turned back to Lance, quirking an eyebrow.

“Surprise me, let’s test how well you know me now.”

“I don’t know you at all!” Lance hissed in outrage. Keith didn’t look like he was going to budge on the matter though, so Lance trudged up to the stall. He eyed the options, failing to recognize any of them.

“Order?” The person behind the counter asked, looking focused. Lance shifted, looking over his shoulder and noticing a group of alien girls eating at their picnic table. He grinned, pointing out what looked to be a bowl full of curly fries.

“Uh, whatever that is.” He explained, grinning at the server. He waited a short while before retrieving his food after paying, and then headed back to Keith with it held over his head like a trophy. He placed it down in the middle of the table, waiting for Keith’s reaction. “Enjoy a whopping bowl of not-quite-fries.”

“Playing it safe?” Keith scoffed, grabbing a not-quite-fry and eating it. “Everyone likes fries, Lance.”

“I don’t wanna get you sick or something.” Lance grumbled, planning on saying more before a hand settled on his shoulder. He looked up, seeing the group of alien girls from earlier surrounding him. He lifted an eyebrow, turning to face them properly.

“Excuse me, but could you show us where the wheel is?” One of them asked, leaning closer. Keith watched the exchange closely, fingers drumming against the tabletop as he awaited the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before Lance realized this girl was blatantly flirting with him, trying to drag him away somewhere. Then he’d expect Keith to come with or stay here all alone.

Damn, just when Keith was getting used to having Lance all to himself, thinking he might like to have him just like this for the foreseeable future.

“Uh, I'm kind of busy right now, but I can give you directions?” Lance suggested brightly, flashing a smile over at Keith. That was… unexpected. “It’s right around the corner of that building, you can’t miss it.”

“Great, thanks.” The girl replied, sounding all too disappointed as she sulked away with her friends in tow. Lance turned back to their food, grabbing a fry to bite into.

“You like them?” He asked suddenly, nudging Keith’s foot. Keith blinked, still staring after the girls as they left, feeling just the slightest bit smug that Lance had picked him .

“Hm?”

“The fries.” Lance clarified, waving one in Keith’s face. Keith swatted it away, before laughing and grabbing one out of the bowl anyway.

“Yeah, they’re good.”

“I passed the knowing-Keith test, then?” Lance prompted, leaning across the table so they were much closer, so Keith could see the way his pupils dilated as they made eye contact. Keith swallowed harshly, shoving him away and back into his respective seat.

“Don’t get cocky on me now.” Keith teased, sticking his tongue out. Lance leaned forward, settling his chin in his hands.

“I’ll get cocky on you whenever I want.” He responded easily, almost too easily. Keith went fuschia and Lance’s eyes widened with realization too-late, the innuendo hitting him like an oncoming train. Oh, oh no, Keith looked murderous. “Uh… that didn’t come out how I meant-”

“Shut-up.” Keith mumbled, looking down at the table and hiding his smile behind a scowl. Idiot.

--

“Keith, come on, I promised Allura we’d be heading back to the ship when the sun started to set.”

“You’re just a big baby when it comes to heights.” Keith countered, spinning around and giving his best set of puppy-dog eyes to Lance. The will to protest was already depleting, Lance’s heart feeling light in his chest, like he might fly away. “Please?”

“Fine.” Lance caved, allowing Keith to drag him back to the damn ferris wheel once again. He settled into the line, Keith’s fingers snug between his own, Keith’s animated chatter next to him making him relax into the setting. Truth was, he’d had his fill of looking out over the carnival from the top of the ferris wheel, maybe he did have a fear of heights just a little bit, but Keith made it an enjoyable experience every single time anyway.

“This must be the tenth time I’ve seen you two today.” The person monitoring the ride greeted them, helping them into their seat. While Keith had placed the hippo between them every ride they’d been on since getting it, ridiculously protective of the damn thing, this time he slid closer to Lance and sat in the middle instead.

Lance tensed, lifting an arm almost cautiously and watching as Keith leaned into the space he’d made without a word. The ride wasn’t all that bad, Keith commented on something different he could see every time they reached the top, his head resting heavier and heavier on Lance’s chest each time they’d go around.

When the ride lurched to a side stop just before they reached the top for the fifth time, Keith sat up in total outrage.

“Ugh, is it over already? I swear it gets shorter every time!” He yelled, probably trying to make sure the person running the ride heard. Lance stared over at him, watched as the ride shifted again as another couple was let out and they lifted higher, up to the top. Keith’s anger faded in an instant, eyes widening as he looked out across their view.

And Lance… Lance knew it was a beautiful view. Despite his deal with the height they were at, he’d looked out across the shining lights and lakes reflecting starlight enough times tonight to know that it was one of the most gorgeous things he’d ever have the chance to commit to memory. This was his last chance to get a good look at it, to really memorize this night for what it was.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to look away from Keith, as Keith looked out over the lakes and his eyes went glassy and soft, his lips curling into a little smile. Lance traced the outline of Keith’s face instead, committing every inch of it to memory for what was probably the millionth time, and what would definitely not be the last time.

God, did he ever want to kiss him.

“What?” Keith asked, making Lance become suddenly aware of the fact the ride had moved again and at some point Keith had lost his view of the planet enough to look back at Lance instead. He’d caught Lance staring, shit.

“Nothing.” Lance lied, terribly.

“Clearly it was something.” Keith argued, looking self-conscious as he swiped his sleeve over his cheek, hesitant. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, you’re fine, Keith.” Lance laughed, shaking his head. Keith shot him a look and Lance rolled his eyes, deciding to change the subject. He reached out, running his hand over Keith’s knuckles, exposed just above his gloves. “You look cold.”

“Oh, I guess.” Keith mumbled, shifting his not-at-all practical jacket down so it would cover his middle better. “It’s kinda chilly now that the sun isn’t out.”

“Here.” Lance offered, wiggling out of his jacket. He handed it to Keith, smiling openly even as the cold nipped at his bare skin. Keith shot him a skeptical look, like he realized what an idiot Lance was being by offering his jacket to someone already wearing one, but he accepted it anyway. Lance watched proudly as Keith shoved his arms through the oversized jacket, snuggling into it like he belonged there. As far as Lance was concerned, he most definitely did.

“Thanks.” Keith hummed, leaning closer again and resting his head on Lance’s shoulder. “You know something?”

“What?” Lance asked, cautiously wrapping an arm around the other boy’s shoulders and pulling him impossibly closer.

“I kinda hope it breaks down so we can stay up here.” And just as quickly as Lance had pulled him closer, Lance was pushing him away with a screech of disgust.

“Are you insane?!”

“I knew you were scared of heights!” Keith accused, pointing a finger directly into Lance’s face. Lance swatted his hand away, all of his fears brought back to the forefront of his mind at the though of the ride breaking down, leaving them like this.

“Don’t act like I didn’t notice you tensing up every time a clown walked by!” Lance snapped back, glaring Keith down. Keith glared right back, until their composure broke and they both started to laugh.

“Clowns are scary!” Keith whined, shoving Lance gently, before grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him closer still.

“You’re ridiculous.” Lance scoffed, poking Keith in the chest. He leaned back, opening his arms. “Come here?”

“What, finally gonna return the favor and cradle me in your arms?” Keith scoffed, though he was all but clambering into Lance’s lap moments later, given the limited space they had to work with. Lance laughed, running his hands through Keith’s hair, gently smoothing out the knots from a long day out in the wind.

He leaned closer, nuzzling his face into Keith’s hair.

“Is it just me or does this feel like a bonding moment to you?” He whispered, biting back a smirk. He expected Keith to groan, to be at least a little bit annoyed given how much he usually reacted when Lance joked about remembering their bonding moment, but this time he just shrugged. He relaxed against Lance’s chest, sighing contently.

“Something like that, maybe.” He whispered back, burying his face into Lance’s neck. Lance gulped, holding him closer. Maybe Keith was onto something about the ride breaking down and letting them have this moment forever…

As all good things do, it did end eventually. Their seat reached the bottom and the alien helped them to their feet, Lance expecting Keith to scramble away now. He didn’t though, instead clinging onto Lance’s side and the hippo both at once somehow.

“Enjoy your night!” The person running the ride called out to them, watching as Keith lugged his hippo around and Lance gathered up the rest of their prizes from where they’d left them. They started out in the general direction of the hill they’d left their lions on, leaning into each other and chatting warmly.

“Okay, no, get your eyes off of that concession stand.” Lance laughed, tugging Keith away from yet another death by cotton candy. “You’ve had enough sugar to kill a diabetic, you’re done. We’re going back now.”

“You’re such a bore.” Keith protested, trying to look intimidating as he glared over at Lance, despite the giant pink hippo riding on his back. Lance rolled his eyes.

“You didn’t even wanna come today, you’re the real bore.”

They reached the sea of sales tents not long after and Lance led the way, holding Keith extra close as they veered through the crowds that had cleared out drastically since earlier in the day. They stopped a couple times to check out things Keith had been too bashful to look into when they’d first come across them this morning.

They were nearly in the clear, about to emerge from the crowd and head back into the woods their lions were in the middle of, when Keith suddenly tugged Lance abruptly to the side. Lance stumbled into the dark space between two tents, not unlike an alleyway.

He was expecting Keith to lean in close and talk about a threat coming their way, like he had so many times before when he yanked Lance into a secluded place during battle. This time though, he looked even more nervous than when there were soldiers stomping toward them by the hundreds.

“Lance, can you promise me something?” Keith asked, looking incredibly small. Lance glanced around, trying to figure out what was bothering him. He stepped closer, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Yeah, of course.” Lance assured him, offering a small smile. “Anything.”

“Be honest with me.” Keith spoke evenly, locking eyes with him. “Why are you doing all of this? It’s not that I’m not having fun, this has been the best day I’ve had in months, but… I still don’t get your motivation here. You don’t get anything out of this, it doesn’t make sense .”

“I get to see you smile.” Lance argued, shaking his head in protest immediately. Keith groaned, gently slapping him upside the end.

“Lance.” Keith pleaded, begging him to lay his curiosity to rest. He needed to know why Lance was doing this. He couldn’t go back to the castle without knowing they were both on the same page. He couldn’t go on pretending things were the same as they were before Shiro had gone missing. Things had changed, but he was finally starting to think it might be for the better.

Then Lance had to go and open his big dumb mouth, looking incredibly guilty. Keith’s hopes were sent plummeting to the floor.

“Promise not to be mad?” Lance asked, biting his lip. “When we were cleaning, we stumbled across the tapes for all those vlogs Coran had us film.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.” Lance laughed, not sounding amused in the slightest. “I only wanted to watch Coran’s to make fun of him a little bit, but then yours ended up in the player and… it just messed me up a little bit. I’ve never seen you like that before.”

The gears that had been turning and whirring in Keith’s mind all night came to an abrupt stop, replaced by an aching emptiness. He blinked rapidly, giving out his own humorless laugh as he turned away from Lance, everything suddenly falling into place. Of course Lance wasn’t doing this just because he wanted to spend time with him, just because he enjoyed it. He felt obligated because Keith was the poor orphan with mommy issues.

“So this has been a pity outing, okay.” Keith confirmed aloud, mostly for his own benefit. “Oh wow, all of this makes sense now, geez.”

“It’s not a pity outing.”Lance all but growled, grabbing Keith’s arm before he could take off running back to his lion. He struggled against Lance’s grip all the same though, blinking back tears and refusing to look up long enough for Lance to notice as much.

“That’s what my social worker used to say every time they took me out to ice cream to break bad news to me, it’s what Shiro said when he took me out to the movies the night before leaving on the Kerberos mission, it’s-”

“It’s not a pity outing!” Lance snapped, grip on Keith’s arm tightening to almost painful. Keith gasped, whipping his head up to bite out an insult, something no doubt venomous and cruel and… defensive. He felt cornered and weak, like an idiot who had fallen for a beautiful lie and was now paying the price.

Lance gripped his jaw the moment he looked up though, refusing to let him look away, his hold gentle but insistent. “I don’t pity you, I’m impressed by you and how well you’re handling all that you’ve got going on. I just want you to know that you have someone to turn to if it ever does get to be too much for you. You’re doing your own thing and it works for you, but I’m here if you ever need me to be.”

“So it’s a suck-up outing, where you take me out and make sure I’m in a good mood before lecturing me on how badly I’m handling my life.” Keith concluded, nodding angrily. “Shiro took me on a lot of those, too.”

“No! Stop trying to turn this into something that’s against you! It’s not any of those things.” Lance yelled in exasperation, raking his hands through his hair. “It’s just two friends, mutually caring for each other, and enjoying their time together. I missed spending time with you, isn’t that enough?!”

“We could have done that back at the castle, you didn’t have to spend a year’s worth of your allowance to be my friend!” Keith shouted back, hands landing on his hips. He tossed his hippo onto the ground, fire burning in his eyes. “Liar!”

Lance grit his teeth, tugging on his own hair and trying his best not to play into their usual dynamic. He couldn’t help it though, Keith always did this just when things were starting to go good between them. A quick lash-out and suddenly all of their progress was gone again, Lance was left wondering why he’d ever felt that happiness in the first place. He was so damn defensive, every second of every day, it was impossible to get close to him!

He turned to Keith, shouting the first things that came to mind.

“Fine! It’s a date! We’re on a big fat date and I’m spending all of my money to impress you!” Lance shouted at him, stepping closer and getting all up in his space. “Does that make you happy? Or are you gonna assume the worst and accuse me of just trying to get into your pants?!”

It was at this close proximity that Lance got to watch as Keith’s expression shifted from something vicious and cold, back into that same doe-eyed confused loser from before. Keith blinked up at him, slowly shaking his head.

“W-What?” He managed weakly, shrugging his shoulders. “This isn’t a date .”

“What part of it isn’t a date?” Lance asked, forcing himself to calm down and use an even tone. Maybe this time would be different, maybe he’d be able to talk some sense into Keith before everything went down the drain. “You’re wearing my jacket, you’re carrying a giant stuffed animal I won for you , and I’ve spent the entire day using my best lines on you. It’s a date if you want it to be a date.”

Keith stared at him for a long moment, opening his mouth only to close it again without saying a single word. He turned to leave, then promptly turned back, holding up a hand to silence Lance who’d had no intentions of speaking to begin with.

“Do you want it to be a date?” Keith asked, lifting a single eyebrow.

“I’m f-flexible, I don’t care what this is.” Lance stuttered out, the adrenaline draining from his body and helping him realize just what he’d suggested during the heat of the moment. Fuck, that was going to be so embarrassing if Keith didn’t feel the same. It was time to backtrack fast, give an easy out. “Listen, the only thing I wanted to get out of this was the chance to see you look happy. After watching that vlog, I realized that I can count the amount of times I’ve seen you laugh or smile on two hands. I don’t pity you, I don’t look down on you, I don’t want anything from you... I just wanna be there for you.”

Keith’s expression shifted into something unreadable, emotions flickering through his eyes so fast that Lance couldn’t recognize any of them. He stood his ground though, refusing to go back on what he said just now. He stood in front of Keith, his posture open despite knowing he was inviting even more hurt if Keith turned it back against him.

Eventually, the unreadable look in Keith’s eyes gave way to something much more universal, and tears began to slide down his cheeks in heavy streaks. He shoved Lance back a step and Lance assumed the worst, that an actual physical fight was about to happen between them, before Keith barreled forward and collapsed into his chest.

“You’re an idiot.” Keith growled, hitting Lance’s chest so lightly that it didn’t hurt in the slightest. Lance snorted, reaching between them to grab Keith’s fist and keep it from hitting him anymore, instead gently prying it open and holding his hand.

“You say that, but I’m pretty sure those are happy tears, so either you’re lying or you’ve got a thing for idiots.” Lance responded breathily, squeezing Keith’s hand. Keith looked up at him, smiling through his tears and giving a wet laugh. He swiped the sleeves of Lance’s jacket across his face, getting rid of most the tears all at once before leaning forward.

Lance’s eyes widened just as Keith’s fell shut, hands winding through Lance’s shirt and gripping it tight as their lips met. Lance forced his eyes clothed, trying to enjoy the moment even as his heart lodged itself somewhere in his throat, racing so fast he found it difficult to remember to breathe.

It wasn’t even much of a kiss, it was mostly Keith slamming his close-mouthed lips against Lance’s open shocked ones, clearly inexperienced in whatever he was trying to initiate here. It took Lance a minute to catch up enough to attempt kissing him back and by then Keith was self-consciously leaning away.

“Was that okay?” Keith asked, sounding nervous. Lance reached up between them, ghosting his fingertips across his lips that felt fuzzy. Actually, all of him felt fuzzy, as he quickly realized.

“You kissed me.”

“You said you were flexible, I just assumed-”

“You kissed me!” Lance repeated, this time shouting it loud enough that some people outside of the alley paused to stare down at them. He shook his head, brushing the layer of disbelief off and gaping at Keith in shock. “You like me?”

“I mean, I guess, you’re not the most intolerable person in the universe or anything-”

“Do you kiss everyone that isn’t the most intolerable person in the universe?” Lance countered, squealing excitedly when Keith simply shrugged, resigned to his fate. He was admitting to it, confessing in his own awkward Keith-like way. “You like me. You’ve been playing hard to get this whole time.”

“I’m not playing anything, that’s just who I am.” Keith grumbled, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. Try as he may to seem angry now, Lance knew him well enough to see through the act. He was only acting defensive because he was scared of how Lance would react. “Was it okay? We don’t have to-”

“Come here.” Lance whispered, opening his arms. Keith cast a wary glance around, then stepped closer into Lance’s hold. He was expecting a normal hug, maybe even another kiss if he got lucky. Keith was not expecting for lanky limbs to wrap around him in a constricting hug and lift him straight off the ground, spinning him around like a ragdoll.

“Lance!” Keith squealed, thrashing around angrily. Well, he was trying to seem angry, but he couldn’t possibly chase the smile from his face now that everything was suddenly going so much better. He eventually started to giggle, leaning against Lance for all of his support. “Put me down! People are staring!”

“You have the prettiest smile.” Lance swooned aloud, staring up at Keith with a soft, awed gaze. He lowered Keith down just slightly, so the red paladin could wrap his legs around Lance’s hips. Keith settled against him easily, his face aflame with a blush.

“Shut-up.” Keith grumbled, hand settling in Lance’s hair and carding through it. Lance practically purred, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes.

“How about you make me this time, Samurai?” Lance countered, eyes fluttering open to stare down at Keith with a suggestive glint. Keith smirked, leaning up as Lance met him halfway, their lips meeting with far more ease this time. Lance led the kiss, holding Keith closer as their mouths moved together, slow and exploring, oh so tentative.

Lance was almost certain he’d just earned the title of Keith’s first kiss, something no one would hear the end of until approximately never.

When they broke apart, it was only for Lance to spin them around and lead Keith backward until he was backed against the nearest building. His back was pressed to the bricks and Lance’s mouth was on him again in a second. First Lance was kissing his mouth so hot and fast that Keith’s head spun, then nipping and sucking at Keith’s neck until his knees went weak, and finally pressing a close-mouthed chaste kiss to Keith’s exposed collarbone. “I can’t believe we didn’t do this sooner.”

“Mm.” Keith sighed, gripping Lance’s hair and pushing him back to his neck. Lance snickered, nipping at one of the places that’d had Keith squirming in front of him before.

“From now on, I’m going to spend all my free-time trying to make you smile.” Lance concluded aloud, straightening up to smile goofily down at Keith. Keith chuckled, grinning up at him.

“Oh God, no.” He groaned, swatting Lance playfully away. Ignoring that entirely, Lance leaned in again to place sloppy kisses all over Keith’s face.

“Nope, I know how much you love me now, you can’t scare me off that easily.” Lance continued wickedly, pressing his lips to the corner of Keith’s, debating if they had enough time for another proper kiss before Allura would come hunt them down. Eh, they could afford to make time for it.

Lance leaned back, biting his lip. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I sure hope not.” Keith responded quietly, gripping the back of Lance’s neck and pulling him down for another kiss.

It was a kiss that would quickly bleed into another, and maybe another after that, until eventually Pidge and Hunk would come looking for them and then even after finding them… decide to leave them be. It was overdue anyway, Keith and Lance had been fighting this for so long, it only made sense to let them have their moment now.