Chapter Text
When Lance came to, the cold was still clinging onto his body too tightly for him to catch himself.
Luckily, he didn't have to.
Strong, warm arms caught him around the torso, washing him with the familiar scent of peppermint and a flash of ginger dancing before his bleary eyes.
Coran.
Lance relaxed into the hug, relishing Coran's relieved sigh and the way his grip tightened - as if Lance could slip away at any moment. The Altean was warm so it didn't take long for the chill in Lance's bones to seep away and his senses to slowly come back to him. It had been similar the first time he had been in a pod, the cold inevitably took away the limbs' cooperation and the senses would lay dormant as they waited for the body to warm up.
He blinked a couple of times, letting his eyes take their time adjusting to the harsh, clinical lights of the med bay. Looking over Coran's shoulder and past the shock of ginger hair, he could make out the wide automatic door that barred his exit, the familiar sight only causing him to sink further into the embrace.
He was home. They were safe. The others had come for them.
His fingers tingled, nerves burning in reaction to the sudden change in temperature, as he pulled away from Coran, shakily standing back on his own two feet. He took a moment to enjoy the sensation of feeling unrestrained again, able to move and contort himself however he wished. The sudden longing to jump into some yoga or a dance routine nagged at him.
Next to Coran, Allura was stood barely a foot away, watching anxiously from the side lines. He smiled to her tiredly as his gaze swept around the room again, certain he missed something.
The two Alteans were the only ones there.
Where was Keith?
And why had Hunk and Pidge not waited for him to come out?
His smile faltered. They hadn't waited for him the previous times he had been in a pod but they had at least managed to stay in the same room. Had something happened to them?
Allura stepped forwards, smoothing a hand over him shoulder with something he couldn't quite recognise in her face. She had rarely talked to him without the formal mask she wore so to see this much emotion on her face felt uncanny.
Was this even real?
"Lance." She squeezed his shoulder and he could feel Coran lingering at the other side of him, "I am terribly relieved you have recovered, equally relieved that we managed to recover you in time."
Lance tried his best smile but it came out looking shaky and uncertain, "It can't be that terrible, Princess."
Allura's face scrunched up into that melancholy, concerned expression she usually reserved for Shiro and Coran, "You-" She choked on her words before stumbling on, "Your condition when we retrieved you was... distressing." Her voice hitched and Coran rubbed her shoulder, signally that he would carry on.
"You had a number of shallow incision wounds among older, more mild burns which would have been alarming to begin with -not to mention the number of older, untreated injuries I had not been made aware of - " He fixed Lance with a disapproving look and Lance tried his best to just smile it off, hoping he would forget it, "But nothing a healing pod would not be guaranteed to solve. The problem lay in your quintessence levels." Coran was looked at something past him in the middle distance, "You were suffering from near-extreme quintessence deficiency which dangerously stalled your healing process and your immune system. You were at high risk of dying from both an illness and blood loss from even such mild wounds. Your body didn't have the energy to heal itself on its own." Coran finally looked back at him, his free hand coming to rest in his hair. He took a slow breath, "The healing pods only quicken the healing process - it cannot lend you the energy to-" He stopped to breath again, gesturing at Allura, "The Princess transferred some of her quintessence to you and from there the pod managed to do the rest of the work."
Lance nodded slowly, biting the inside of his cheek out of habit. Allura withdrew her hand, this time her eyes were shimmering with pride, "The process was something, I was not certain I was capable of, however, the Blue Lion helped me through it," She held his hand, squeezing it happily, "You may no longer be the Blue Paladin, but the Blue Lion will always care deeply about you."
He relaxed, squeezing her hand back and smiling at them, "How long was I out?"
They exchanged a cautious glance and Coran did some finger counting, "I believe it was almost two movements - that's two of your 'weeks' on Earth!"
He jumped a little, stepping backwards as the smile fell from his face. That was almost longer than the time he'd been in a coma. No wonder no one else was here. Who would spend two weeks just waiting outside his pod? They had so many more interesting and better things to do.
Allura talked calmly, her hands clasped in front of her, "We decided it would be most ideal for the team to await you in another room in order to prevent you from becoming too overwhelmed."
Lance bit his lip, wanting to argue but refrained and merely nodded, "That seems... rational."
Coran drew him back with an arm around his shoulder, "Regarding your previous condition, we believed it would be best if it were only us Alteans, my lad. I'm sorry you did not get to see your friends sooner."
Lance shook his head clutching onto the hand, "Nah, you guys are my friends too. I'm just as happy to see you."
Coran laughed, "You spoil me, number 3." They walked together slowly at the pace Coran set for them. Coran was in the centre of their little procession with Lance and Allura on either side.
The air in the castle was calm and deceivingly fresh. Although there was no breeze or draft, Lance savoured the way in danced across his face. Lance distantly wandered if it would have been like this if Altea had not fallen and he lived among his Altean family members. Would Allura have accepted him as family back then? Would she now?
He looked across at Allura and watched an unmasked, thoughtful expression take over her features. When had she finally decided to let her guard down around them like this? She cleared her throat, catching his eye, "Lance, there is something I must discuss with you - in private - but we must save it for later, after you have had some food."
Lance examined her face, looking for any clues, but it had reverted back its guarded state, shutting him out once again, "Of course, Princess."
The moment the trio stepped through the door, Lance was ambushed and dragged away from the two Alteans into a far tighter hug than before. He could recognise Hunk's hugs anytime and he practically fell into it when he began to feel the familiar sensation of his bones being crushed as he was clutched to his friend's chest. A second pair of smaller arms wrapped around his waist from behind, squishing him between them both.
He waited in anticipation for a third pair to join in, expecting the touch to be hesitant at first before developing into something firmer and fierce but nothing came. Maybe Keith was just hanging back - he wasn't always the fondest of initiating physical contact.
Once he had adjusted to the feeling of their arms around him, he realised just how much they were shaking. Ripples of sobs wracked their bodies, shaking his own in an uneven rhythm between them. Wet patches where quickly becoming obvious on his back and shoulder. Pidge usually always cried quietly or while belting out emotive speeches - although the second part she didn't know he knew about - but he and Hunk had know each other a good couple of years longer. Their personalities caused them to get along easily quickly so they'd shared more than a few heartfelt crying sessions together.
Hunk preferred to be a quiet crier as well but he had never been raised to keep his emotions bottled up so he never usually took too much prompting to reveal what was bothering him.
However, neither of them were saying anything other than his name, muttering it over and over again into the fabric of the pod suit.
He brought a hand up, patting Hunk's chest and reaching up to his shoulder, he couldn't bring himself to pull his face away from the hug, "Hunk, hermano..." A throaty sob spilled from his older friend's mouth and he tightened his grip around him, drawing a yelp from Lance. He tried to reach behind him to pat Pidge's hair but a small hand met him half way and squeezed it so hard he thought it might fall off.
"Please don't go away again." Pidge's voice was horrifyingly small and scratchy, sounding far too scared to come from the fierce little Paladin but Lance understood. He never wanted to make her sound like this again.
He pulled his arm back, taking her hand with him and pulling her further into the hug. He knew they wanted him to talk to them, to be the normal reassurance he usually was, but he couldn't form any words. His throat felt like it was closing in on itself and he made no effort to hide the tears falling freely into Hunk's shirt. He had missed his friends so much.
After what felt like an eternity wrapped up in each other, the group pulled apart, never straying too far from him. Ensuring they stayed close enough to be able to grab him again at a moment's notice.
Lance's legs were weak and shaky, and his stomach gnawed at him desperately in its emptiness but he was only now giving it any mind. After so long living on the barest rations, he had learnt to just ignore the hunger but now, looking over the dozens of delectable platters of food covering the dining table, he was starting to feel a bit sick. His stomach longed to eat everything before him but he could already feel the aftereffects.
Pidge was still holding his hand and pulled him over to the table, leading him to his usual seat. He slipped into it without a word but glanced silently at the empty seat beside him with a mixture of fear and disappointment.
Keith wasn't there.
The plate in front of him was already being filled with food and a fork pushed into his hand. Allura and Coran took their seats around the head of the table, happily slipping into the conversation Hunk and Pidge had already spurred up.
"Shay said she'll come and drop by in a couple weeks - the Balmerans are developing their own spacecrafts now! Isn't that great?!"
"Yeah, I can't wait to see how they've decided to go about it - maybe we can use some of their methods to upgrade the castle."
Lance's mouth opened and closed, gaping as he struggled to find the words to talk.
"Absolutely not! The castle may be thousands of decapheobes old but, I promise you, it is not in need of any upgrades."
"Erm-" He tried to speak up but Hunk just pushed the hand holding his fork closer to his plate, urging him to eat.
He couldn't breathe. His pulse roared in his ears and his hand clenched and unclenched around the fork as he struggled to get a word in while the conversation continued smoothly around him.
He needed to know where Keith was.
Hunk pushed his fork back to his plate again, "Lance, you need to eat."
The conversation quieted a bit around him, their gazes all zeroing in on him. He swallowed uncomfortably, he wasn't used to this much attention - not from them.
He put the fork down with a soft clink, willing his hands to stop trembling, "Is Keith-" His voice was trembling as well, "Where's Keith?"
The group went quiet. Pidge looked down at her food avoiding his gaze while the other three all looked at each other with the same silent, concerned look the Alteans had given each other in the med bay.
Lance looked between them all frantically. He knew he wasn't breathing anymore and his nails could easily be drawing blood with how hard he was digging them into his skin but none of that mattered right now. He needed to know where Keith was. He couldn't imagine a reality where Keith wasn't with him. He had to be here.
Allura placed her cutlery down carefully, looking away from the other two and directly at Lance. Her eyes held a soft reassurance in them beneath a calmness Lance couldn't understand, "Keith required a pod as well but he emerged after only a quintant. He is perfectly fine."
Lance looked between them suspiciously, "Then where-"
"Keith's avoiding you."
Pidge stirred her food with a spoon, keeping her gaze down to the table. His other friends were watching quietly but he didn't look at them - focused entirely on Pidge.
She took a quick bite before talking again, "Keith's been keeping to himself a lot - not that it'd be unusual for him - and he spent the first week spending most of his time outside your pod but as soon as we found out when you were coming out- He looked like he was going to be sick." She still wouldn't look at him but he heard could still easily make out the anger in her tone, "We tried to get him to come - at least for the food - but he-" She sighed, "Well he obviously didn't come so what does it matter!"
Lance didn't answer. He looked down at his food in silence as the others watched him in concern. His brain couldn't catch up to what was happening besides the fear and guilt still wracking his body. Did he do something wrong? Did Keith hate him now?
He swallowed a bit of the food, it no longer tasted as appetising as it looked with the bitter taste in his mouth. Lance nodded, not looking at any of them, and shoved on a smile.
Hunk could always read him like a book when Lance didn't have a mask on. He steered the group back into a new conversation, drawing the attention away from Lance.
Lance smiled up at him, sinking back into his seat and trying to force his emotions back under control. He made a mental note to properly thank him later.
Hunk and Pidge hugged him a couple more times, making sure they'd adequately squashed his insides, before they scurried off to clean up all the dinner stuff. There was sure to be a lot of left over food but Lance would happily eat it in place of food goo.
Allura and Coran wasted no time in leading him away to the bridge. They walked in a silence abnormal for Coran and unexpected of Lance but it felt strangely comfortable.
Things were quiet as they looked out at the stars from around Allura's pedestal. Lance may have been growing sick of them before but, after his time in captivity without even a glimpse of them, he couldn't think of anything more mesmerising.
Allura broke the silence after what almost felt like an hour, "When I was captured by Zarkon all those phoebes ago, you found me after not even a whole quintant. While it is true that Shiro has already been missing for far longer, we have never allowed a team member to remain in captivity for that long before. For that, I sincerely apologise."
He looked at her for a second before turning back to the stars, "I don't hold anything against you, Princess. Me and Keith- I'm still whole. No harm done." Ignoring all the trauma he still had, that is.
Coran decided to speak next, "We were able to track you down using the quintessence traces you had left with us on the castle."
Lance frowned, "How come we haven't done that with Shiro?"
Coran cleared his throat, "I apologise, it wasn't my place to reveal something like that about you but I believed it was necessary at the time."
Lance looked between them both with a growing feeling of dread in his stomach, "What does- What did you do?"
Allura caught his eye, holding his gaze, "Tracking a person's quintessence with merely faint traces would require the person in question to have incredibly high amounts of quintessence to begin - at the least, it would need to be higher than that of an average Altean."
She paused, breaking out a smile, "Human's do not usually have such high volumes of quintessence so when I began tracking yours after taking notice of how high it was, I grew concerned."
"Near hysterical." Coran chuckled nervously from beside her. He coughed and continued in her place, "I managed to calm the Princess down but only with a full explanation to ensure we didn't make any rash decisions."
Unsure of the expression he should have on his face, Lance nodded slowly, "Do the others know?"
The Princess giggled and stroked a figure over his upper cheekbone, causing him to shiver, "I am certain they would have noticed by now, regardless."
Stumbling backwards half a step, he gawked, bringing his fingers up to trace the area and feeling the raised pads of Altean markings. While Lance poked and prodded at the marks, Coran fiddled with a dashboard and brought up a camera-like application, giving him a full view of his face. Lance stilled, hand falling away from his face as he gazed at himself. His ears were slightly pointier, beginning to more closely to resemble Altean ears rather than the human ones he was so used to, and his hair had noticeable white streaks in it with the untouched brown strands lightening at the tips.
He looked at Allura slowly and then back at Coran, "How much did you tell them?"
Hands wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him into a gentle embrace, "Enough to know you are my family." Lance watched as his eyes widened in the camera's screen before looking down and falling into his cousin's embrace. Allura continued, her voice muffled in his shoulder but still as strong as he always knew her to be, "I have longed for my family since the moment I realised I would end up in the pod. When I awoke to you all, a ragtag half-team of barely-even-soldiers, I truly believed we were doomed. Back then, I would have given anything just to be back with my family again, even if we merely would have died at Zarkon's hands millennia ago. But now I realise just how lucky we came to be waking up to you five. You all became our family in time but to know now that neither me nor Coran will be the last of our kind - it means more than any gift you could ever give us." She pulled away, revealing her tear streaked face and flattening her hands over both of his cheeks, "You mean more than we could ever ask for."
Coran's hand was warm on his shoulder as he brought attention to himself, "Speaking of gifts, we have something to offer you." He took his arm away and brought them both into view, offering up a golden circlet similar to Allura's with a matching sapphire sparkling in the centre.
Lance looked up to Allura, as if asking for permission. She nodded, beaming and sobbing quietly as Coran lowered to circlet onto his head. The ginger beamed at him proudly, smoothing it into place. It felt like an uncomfortable weight, sitting precariously on his forehead, until Allura rushed forward to adjust it around his hair into a more comfortable position.
They stood like that for a few minutes as Allura's tears dried and a smile bled into Lance's expression.
'You mean more than we could ever ask for.'
Lance's eyes stung as he held back tears and all the different outcomes of the revelation of him being Altean rushed through his mind. Allura didn't hate him. She thought of him as family - accepted him as family. Despite everything they had already said and done, Lance's mind was still having trouble processing it, "But - I'm a hybrid? Half Alteans weren't-" He struggled to form the words as him mind stumbled over the facts.
Allura nodded, her smile sobering a bit, "Altean hybrids were never treated with the most respect on Altea. This was never something I was proud of. Like most races, we Alteans were not always a space faring race so, naturally, when we first made contact with other sentient life forms, people were cautious and that caution bled into mistreatment when our species began to mix."
"With the ranging levels of quintessence that came in Alteans - particularly hybrids - a new caution came about. Hybrids would often not mature past infancy as a result and a stigma against half breeds was born. The ones that lived would either be weak and frail from a lack of quintessence or contain such a large abundance that they could rival alchemists with hundreds of decapheobes of experience."
She took Lance's hand again, tracing the blood vessels and lowering her gaze, "They were... scared of people like me?" Allura squeezed his hand and nodded.
Suddenly, she inhaled sharply and looked back up at him, "Speaking of alchemy, have you ever done something like that before?"
He cocked his head to the side, scrunching up his eyebrows, "Alchemy? I've... never used any magical powers before if that's what you're asking. Are you saying I could?"
Allura mirrored his expression and spoke slowly, she was doing that with him a lot lately, "You don't remember? Perhaps it was without your knowledge." It almost sounded as if she was talking to herself.
"What are you talking about?"
Allura chewed her lip, "Can you recall the... fight you had with Keith just before we rescued you? Keith told us only the bare minimum."
Lance nodded, the worry from before back and gnawing at him again, "Well, they separated us for a- a day, or was it only a few hours? How long were we gone."
"Nearly a movement."
"Okay. Cool, that is not fun to think about." He blinked both his eyes shut harshly before opening them again, "After a while, they took me to this really big room and Keith was there." He sucked in a breath, "We fought and- I-I don't think he recognised me, 'Llura."
Allura hummed, pushing past the last point, "And then? How did your fight conclude?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure. Keith's a lot better with a sword than me so it was only ever a matter of time. At some point, he cornered me and then... everything goes fuzzy." Allura listened thoughtfully, a slight tug at the corners of her mouth appeared when he finished, giving the impression he had just confirmed a theory of some sort. "Allura, what does this mean?"
She sighed somewhat happily and her hand fell back to her side from where it had been toying with her lip, "When Keith was in the healing pod, we detected traces of corrupt quintessence in his bloodstream. The corruption of one's quintessence can cause amnesia, primal and instinctive behaviour and dramatic shifts in character - to name a few affects."
"So, they corrupted his quintessence?" The concern gnawed at him again, "Is it gone? Is it still affecting him?"
Coran rubbed his back again, "He's fine, lad. If anything, I would say number 4 is acting quite in character." Lance looked at him dubiously and Coran sighed, "It is likely he is acting out of guilt or something similar."
"But he didn't do anything wrong." Lance knew he sounded pitiful. His voice was shaking and quiet and tears had already sprung eagerly back to his eyes.
He knew they were right though. Keith had always been cautious with his friendships. Attacking one of his closest friends (was that all they were?) wasn't something he would treat lightly in retrospect.
Allura carried on, "On top of that, we also found traces of your quintessence within him."
Lance blushed, he didn't want to think of any part of him being inside of Keith right now, "Is that bad? Did my quintessence corrupt him?"
Allura shook her head, beaming a bit too eagerly for Lance's liking, "No, not at all. In practise, it was similar to how I used my quintessence on the Balmera." Lance bit his lip, pouting when he found he still wasn't quite following. Allura had both her hands on his shoulders, clutching him excitedly, "Lance, your quintessence purified Keith. You gave him control over himself again." Lance's eyes shone as he took it in, "You saved him and yourself, Lance. Using alchemy for the first time, no less."
Lance leant back against the pedestal, not saying anything and looking at the ground in a daze. The hand on his shoulder was back and Coran was leaning in again to get a look at him, "Are you feeling alright, lad?"
He swallowed, closing his eyes and inclining his head ever so slightly, "...Yeah. Sorry, just...taking it all in."
Allura drew him in for a hug again. He distantly noted that he probably would have to get used to all this physical affection pretty quickly now that they all seemed so desperate to initiate it, "We can talk more anytime you want, Lance. You are my friend and my teammate but before that you are family and family always comes first."
Lance nuzzled into her collar, mumbling, "I'm just worried about Keith. We were getting along so well and now I'm scared that everything's been messed up. He didn't even want to see me when I came out the pod."
Coran softly joined in on the hug, letting him lean on them as he fell into their embraces, "I am certain he will come around. It may seem like a good idea to give him space for now but waiting may give him the impression that you truly hold some sort of grudge against him." Lance nodded, keeping the advice in mind as he let them hold him between them, feeling safe for the first time in long while.
The circlet had gone back to being an uncomfortable weight on his forehead - way too noticeable to stop him from becoming self conscious - causing Lance to fiddle with it non-stop since he had left the other Alteans. He had only really gotten a glimpse of what it looked like on him earlier so, he determined, the sooner he got to his room the sooner he could figure out whether or not it suited him. He blew a stubborn strand of hair out of his face. If it didn't, he would probably just end up wearing it anyway. He had never been the best at handling potentially unwanted gifts.
However, he smiled, he did want this gift. The thought behind it would be enough to bring a smile to his face for years to come. He had spent months worrying about Allura accepting him. In the end, it had both felt like it had taken too far long to be resolved and that it was over far too quickly. Either way, he was just glad that part was over with. He was more than ready to move on from that chapter of his life.
"Argh!" His head slammed into something hard. He was sure he had kept clear of the walls - no matter how much his thoughts were wandering.
Stumbling backwards, he just barely caught his circlet as it tipped off his head. A hand reached out, grasping at his forearms to keep him upright before suddenly pulling them back as if the touch burned them.
He looked back up as his feet found stable ground again, blue eyes meeting violet. Lance smiled warmly, excitement bubbling already merely at the glance, "Oh, hey Keith! We were just talking about you!"
Keith looked away, not taking the bait and turning away to avoid eye contact. With his gaze gone, Lance frowned. He had wanted to delay their confrontation to give himself some time to gather his thoughts but he couldn't back down now.
Keith shifted, his eyes burning a hole into the ground between them. He sighed and turned away, making to leave, "...It's good to see you're okay, Lance."
Lance choked on his words, stumbling for something to say as Keith walked away down the corridor. He took a slow step forward and then another, grabbing onto the Korean's arm and pulling him back. Keith let out a little gasp and stopped, allowing Lance to rush forward and hug him from behind.
Keith was already in his usual outfit - although given how long he had been out and about it really shouldn't have surprised him - and Lance was still in the sticky pod suit - not the look he wanted for their reunion. Lance's face rubbed against the leather, following how Keith's back arched against the touch. They stood together as Keith slowly relaxed into the embrace. Lance sighed, fingers scratching against the fabric, "Stay with me tonight? We don't have to talk or anything... I don't think I'll be able to sleep otherwise."
He felt Keith flinch beneath his fingers and his breath faltered for a moment but he didn't say anything. Lance looked up in time to notice the barest inclination of his head as he pulled away and lead the rest of the way towards Lance's room.
Keith hadn't said anything to him on the entire walk over. Even when they made it into Lance's room, he just sat on the bed, fiddling with his jacket and pointedly looking away from him. Lance had quickly excused himself for a shower, giving himself some time to mull everything over and finally get out of the uncomfortable pod suit.
In the bathroom, Lance stepped up into the shower after peeling the pod suit off and relished the feeling of the water rolling down his skin.
Altean showers weren't exactly like any human shower Lance had ever come across but they still hit the spot. He hadn't realised how much he missed the feeling of water running down his body.
He let the water soak his hair before pulling his face away again. It was much closer to the feeling of rain - still far too artificial to be convincing - but he still couldn't stomach the feeling of water clogging his nose and mouth. That could wait for another time.
His gaze wandered over to the neglected products around his sink. He hadn't used them for so long, he had imagined cobwebs beginning to coat them in his stead however they stood almost sparkling as he looked at them. Maybe Coran had cleaned? Lance had been so caught up in everything he hadn't realised how much he missed the comfort of his old routine. Smiling to himself, he picked up some of the bath products and stepped out of the water to apply them. It couldn't hurt to treat himself after everything.
Rubbing the toner into the skin, he leant against the tiles and looked over his body. Apparently the marks on his cheeks hadn't been the only ones to appear. Little raised blue symbols had shown up on his hips in thin, sharp strokes along with a thicker, mirroring set on both shoulders. His breath hitched as he brushed over them, a little spark of a sensation he couldn't quite place shooting out from them. When he stepped back into the water, the droplets travelling down his spine elicited the same feeling. There must be another set there he couldn't see.
After the shower, he was stood in front of the long mirror in front of his sink, fiddling with his marks and now-damp hair again. He still wasn't quite sure about the look. It was so alien compared to what he was used to. Although for a moment, he had initially been struck with how good he looked but that had inevitably faded the longer he looked.
Huffing, he puffed off the sink, looking around for some clothes. His eyes landed on the discarded pod suit and he felt his eyes twitch. He hadn't brought anything in there with him.
Wrapping himself in the fluffy, long towel he had left draped over a side the last time he had been in here, he poked his head out of the door, "Keith-" He was met with an uncharacteristically high shriek, making him avert his gaze and withdraw his head slightly, "Um, can I-" The soft sound of clothes thumping against the wall near his head made him open his eyes again. He scurried to pick up the clothes and practically fell back into the bathroom, laughing.
After a moment, he could make out Keith laughing on the other side of the door as well and, after that, the smile refused to fall off his face.
He changed into the loose, soft pair of shorts and t-shirt Keith had given him and knocked on the door, "Keith? You dressed?" He didn't wait for an answer and came in.
Keith was settled on the end of his bed in a red tank top and boxers but what really held Lance's brain up was the dash of red across his cheeks, dusting over the wide smile he wore. Keith didn't look away either, instead, he looked straight at him - the smile clearly reaching his eyes.
Lance sat next to him, managing to hold Keith's gaze as he watched him, examining his features with an interest Lance couldn't quite handle being directed at him. The Cuban smiled shyly, averting his eyes for a moment before looking straight back at him, sure he had his own identical copy of Keith's blush mirrored on his own cheeks, "What? See something you like?" He asked, equal parts shy and amused at the same time.
Keith stroked the mark on his right cheek and Lance's eyes fluttered shut as he shivered, "You look good like this." When Lance opened his eyes again, Keith was watching him with an intense look in his eyes - he couldn't tell if it was wondering or worshipping.
"I didn't before?" Lance couldn't quite shove down the tiny prick of insecure hurt at that but Keith dispelled it with a shake of his head. But Lance didn't miss how the smile dimmed slightly.
"You already know how I feel."
He looked away and suddenly pulled his hand back, inching away across the bed and apologising quietly.
Lance frowned and crawled closer on the bed, "What on Earth are you apologising for?"
Keith crossed his legs and looked down at the bedsheets, "I... put you in a pretty bad position back there. You shouldn't have had to deal with me like that."
Crossing his arms, Lance straightened his back but spoke gentler than before, "You don't have anything to apologise for. You weren't in control of yourself."
"But I should have been." Keith knitted his brows together, "I'm the leader now so I'm supposed to be someone everyone can rely on, someone that can keep everyone safe but I can't do that." He swallowed thickly, "I can't even protect you from myself, how can Black- How could Shiro-"
Lance flopped onto him, wrapping them both together again and rubbing Keith's back, "We do rely on you, Keith. And none of us are worried that trust is misplaced. You weren't in control of your actions back there but none of us would have been, no one would be in that situation. Not even Shiro." Keith's hand joined his at their sides, "I meant what I said before Keith. You really are becoming a better leader. You didn't make any mistakes but we can still fix this if we work together." He squeezed Keith's hand and he squeezed back, the smile hesitatingly returning to Lance's face.
Lance swallowed, biting his lip as he pondered something, "Anyway, what did you mean before? About me already knowing how you feel?"
Keith stilled next to him, voice barely a whisper, "You don't... remember?"
Lance pulled away, looking at him inquisitively, "Keith? Talk to me."
Keith looked away but Lance could see it as something hardened in his gaze and he breathed out slowly before turning back to him, "Well, while we were... When I got taken away to see the druids, there were those guards, remember?" Lance nodded, the memory wasn't something he was going to forget easily, "When I told you to close your eyes, I..." He swallowed and took another deep breath, "I told you I loved you."
Lance froze, he wasn't sure what he had expected to hear but this wasn't it.
Keith loved him.
His crush (that felt like far too light of away to describe it) liked him back.
Had he imagined it?
He replayed the moment and blinked.
No.
He hadn't imagined it. That's what Keith had said.
"Please tell me you remember. Please, this isn't funny. Don't make this another 'bonding moment.'"
Lance snapped back to the conversation, barely taking in what Keith was saying, "No. Wait. I really don't remember the bonding moment, Keith. We've been over this."
Keith paused and nodded, fumbling with his words, "Yeah, I know. Sorry."
"And stop apologising for Christ's sake. I don't know why but I don't remember you saying that-"
Keith blushed and rubbed his neck, "I did whisper it..."
Lance sent him a half-assed glare, "But, I love you too, Keith."
Keith smiled back at him, relaxing into the pillows and Lance bit his cheek, "Wait, is it too early for us to say that? Aren't we supposed to like... wait a bit into our relationship to say that? Is it too strong too soon?"
Keith pulled him towards that beaming smile, the two of the curling up together between the wall and the pillows at the headboard, "I don't think it really matters. It's our relationship so it shouldn't really matter how we do things as long as we're both happy."
'Our relationship.'
Lance beamed and pressed a soft kiss to his partner's cheek, "I like the sound of that."
They split apart for a second as Lance pulled back from the kiss. They stared each other in the aftermath, Lance a blushing mess and Keith gazing up at him with the most adoring look Lance had ever seen. Lance stared at him, already feeling like tearing up as Keith surged up and kissed his forehead, pulling him back down against him to lie amongst the pillows once again.