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Now Lance isn't one to complain, but boy does he miss wormholes.
No offence to Red. He and the other lions are flying as fast as they can but the thing is, Earth is a tremendously long way away and even the Universe's most powerful band of psychic lion robots can only cover so much distance.
Turns out space really is infinite.
Lonely, too. Everyone checks in now and then through the comm system but Lance's only physical company is Kaltenecker the cow, who spends most of the trip with her back turned to him. He's been sending a steady slew of compliments her way but she's a classy lady with high standards and she apparently has not forgiven him for forcing her out of her nice room in the Castle and into his lion.
That she'd have gone down with the Castle if he'd let her stay is apparently irrelevant in her cow brain.
His only other constant source of company is, bizarrely enough, Keith.
The first time Keith opened communication with him, Lance figured it must be because he had something important and leaderly to say. He's the leader again now, right? Keith isn't the type for small talk and anyway, the distance between them feels stretched further than ever right now. They haven't reached the point of small talk.
Keith appears to disagree.
He seemed taken aback when Lance greeted him with a perfunctory, "Did something happen?" and has since made a point of checking in every hour or so with increasingly determined small talk.
As if he was never gone.
Right now, Keith's gesturing with one hand as he describes the space whale he and his mom and his dog freakin' lived on for two years. "-Sometimes I'd honestly forget it was a living thing, y'know, it was so huge and all covered in grass and things," he's saying, and Lance hears a muffled 'mmhm' of agreement from Krolia, somewhere in the background.
"The poor space whale. It had to live with you on its back for two years," Lance sighs.
“Ah, fuck you,” Keith snorts, one corner of his mouth betraying his amusement.
Lance gives a wounded gasp. "Krolia!" he calls, "Keith said a bad-language word! Scold your offspring!"
Krolia strides into the frame, hands on hips. "Talk nice to Lance or I'll tell him what I almost named you," she threatens and her tenacious warrior of a son actually shudders in response, lip curling in warning. Lance makes a mental note to see if he can’t wheedle that name out of her later for important Keith-teasing purposes.
Keith pushes her aside before she can reveal his secrets. His face fills the screen again. He's half-smiling, eyes crinkled at the corners, and Lance's heart executes a pathetic little flip-flop in response. He's going to need it to get ahold of itself if they intend to survive continued exposure to that smile.
“Alright,” says Keith, eyes glinting wickedly, “unfuck you.”
Lance’s heart may implode.
“I almost named him-” Krolia begins loudly.
"Wait, wait, I’ll be nice!” Keith insists. “What I meant to say was -"
But Lance never gets to hear the end of that sentence because quite suddenly a large, fluffy snout takes over the entire screen. Keith huffs indignantly. "Nugget! Off my lap! Your claws are digging in!"
Nugget. This man named his teleporting space wolf Nugget.
The snout draws back just a little, revealing the face of one very excited space wolf. Nugget's big pointy ears are fluffed up and they twitch when Lance chuckles at her. She opens her mouth as if smiling, tongue lolling out. Her body wiggles, extracting a pained yelp from Keith, and then she launches herself forward to lick enthusiastically at the screen. Lance sees far more of the inside of a cosmic wolf's mouth than he ever wanted to.
"Nugget! You're getting drool all over my console," Keith groans, and his arms appear in the frame as he wraps them 'round his wolf and heaves her to one side. Somewhere in the background, Krolia and Shiro are laughing. Nugget continues to fight against Keith's hold, apparently intent on getting to Lance. Her tail wags wildly. "You can see him when we land!" Keith tells her. "Go lick Shiro now, good girl."
She ignores him completely, only deigning to leave when Krolia helpfully lures her away with a sock. Keith makes a disgusted noise over the sloppy sound of Nugget chewing and Lance immediately deduces whose sock it was.
"Sorry about that," says Keith.
"Animals love me, what can I say," Lance brags. "Don't be jealous when your wolf inevitably decides I'm cooler than you."
Keith, who is wiping drool from his screen with his nose scrunched up, chuckles. "I seem to remember you calling me cool."
Oh. Nice, Keith. Was it necessary to bring that up?
"Nope. Nah. I have no memory of that. Didn't happen, dude."
Keith's grin turns sly. "No, no, I distinctly recall. Cool and grizzled, you said. And bigger."
"Nope. Your dumb hair must've been obscuring your ears," Lance denies, praying his blush isn’t as visible as it feels.
"Sorry, what was that, Lance? Did you just say I'm cool and grizzled? I think you did."
Lance scowls and does something very petty.
"I don't have time for this, Keith," he huffs, shutting the connection off.
Keith's startled face vanishes from his screen and Lance can't decide if he feels guilty or vindicated. A little of both, he thinks. He hopes Keith realises he was like, ninety-five percent joking.
-
It's quiet for a while after that. Lance watches clusters of stars drift by, pinpricks of cold light dotted against the empty canvas of the universe. He hums to fill the silence pressing against his ears. He thinks about re-establishing the connection with Keith.
He’d do it, only he's starting to feel the slightest hint of strain from Red. He's a stubborn one, this lion, and he doesn't seem to want to admit he's tiring out. Lance can tell they're going slower, even though Red persists in putting on bursts of speed just to prove he's fine.
He's about to call everyone and suggest a rest stop when Hunk opens a communication channel between them all.
"Hey, guys, listen," he says, "Yellow's not feelin' so good. Like, we're seriously slowing down here. I think we've been flying for too long?"
"Same here," Pidge chimes in.
"Blue is exhausted, too." Allura sounds exhausted herself. "Perhaps we should consider finding a place to land. Everyone?"
Lance pats Red's console. "See, you can admit you're exhausted now, too. Everyone else has," he tells him, and feels his pride give way to tiredness. It weighs down on Lance's shoulders like lead. "The Lions have been pushing themselves to their limits, guys. Time for a rest."
"Coran," says Keith, "where's the nearest place we can land?"
Coran, a literal space encyclopedia on legs, hums thoughtfully. "Let me see - Ah! We're near the planet Kyto! The atmosphere is Earthling-friendly, and they're part of the Coalition; we'll be welcome there. The Kytonians are tree-dwellers, known for their beautiful singing voices and their habit of sniffing armpits in greeting! Don't touch their trees, though. It's very rude."
"Well, now I wanna touch the trees," Pidge, chaos incarnate, grumbles.
"Nobody's touching the trees," calls Shiro, who Lance privately suspects is enjoying being the Dad Friend again.
"Wait, they're gonna sniff my pits? Do I have to sniff theirs back? Am I insulting them if I don't?" Hunk frets.
"Oh, yes! That would be a terrible insult!" says Coran cheerfully.
"Everyone sniff the pits," calls Shiro.
"Let's just land," groans Keith.
-
Planet Kyto is covered in vegetation. Soft, thick tufts of grass coat the planet's surface, coloured a misty lilac and swaying gently in the breeze. From a distance, they look kind of like candy floss. The clearing in which they land is ringed by bushes and stretches wide enough for all the lions to comfortably touch down. In the distance, Lance can make out a cluster of the trees they aren't permitted to touch. They're lush and broad, branches thick enough for several people to stand on, and their leaves are heart-shaped. Even without Coran whispering reminders, Lance would get the sense that they're sacred.
The Kytonians are humanoid with brightly-coloured tufts of hair. They have glassy, pupil-less black eyes, spindly fingers and gauzy wings. They make excited chirping sounds as they gather around the Paladins. Allura and Coran step forward to greet them - both raising their arms politely for a pit-sniffing - and Lance can hear them explaining the situation.
He tunes out of the conversation when he registers the feeling of a gaze upon him. He begins to turn, but -
An excited howl is the only warning he gets before he's bowled over, thudding to the ground with a startled 'oof!' and a heavy weight on his chest. A hot tongue laps at his cheek and gross dog-breath hits him full in the face. Lance groans. Nugget gazes delightedly down at him.
"Hi, girl," he wheezes. Nugget seems to take this as an invitation to lay down, sprawling atop Lance like a fluffy blanket. He's treated to mouthfuls of fur as she alternates between rubbing her face against his and sticking her cold nose into his neck. Lance, coming to the conclusion that he's stuck here 'til she gets bored, helplessly pets her sides. She’s so soft. "Good girl. Pretty girl."
He doesn't know what he's done to deserve such an exuberant greeting. Maybe wolves can just sense awesome people. That doesn't explain why she likes hanging around Keith so much, though.
Speaking of Keith, the man himself comes dashing over from his lion to rescue Lance. "Nugget, down! No, don't give me that look! We don't throw ourselves at Lance. That's bad!"
Lance, remembering something very unfortunate, begins to struggle. "Argh! Argh! She had your sock in her mouth! I had her mouth on my face! Nugget Kogane, this is unacceptable and I feel betrayed!"
She doesn't even have the good grace to look guilty about touching him with her Keith-sock mouth.
Keith (slightly red-faced) is motioning his space wolf to his side with increasingly frantic hand waves. Nugget peers at him, apparently unable to decide if she'd rather be a good girl or continue to affectionately crush Lance. Being a good girl must win out for now because a moment later, she's vanished in a starburst of blue sparks and Lance is a free man.
A gloved hand reaches down and Lance takes it without a second thought. Keith grips him tight and tugs him to his feet in one easy motion, and he doesn't immediately let go. Up close, the difference in his height is startling and it's a struggle to adjust. He thinks maybe Keith is realising the same thing; his eyes keep flicking down Lance's body and back up again.
Clearing his throat, Lance asks the first thing that comes to mind. "What kinda name is Nugget for a space wolf, anyway? Why not Dorito?"
Keith stares at him. "Dorito?"
"Her ears are shaped exactly like doritos, man. I don't know how you missed that." Lance squints at him. "So? What weird Keith-y reason do you have to justify Nugget?"
Keith shrugs, pairing the movement with a particularly lovely laugh. "I dunno. Krolia had been tellin' me about the time my dad took her to McDonalds. Was thinkin' about chicken nuggets. So, Nugget."
Lance takes a moment to contemplate his taste in boys. Why, of all the ones in the universe, is this the one that does funny things to his heart?
"Well,” he says, “thank you for that fascinating insight into the mind of Keith Kogane.”
His face must be doing something, probably broadcasting his debilitating crush at maximum volume, because Keith is watching him thoughtfully, brows furrowed, like he’s a puzzle to be figured out.
"You're welcome?" Keith ventures.
They're still holding hands. There’s a lot of reasons to consider letting go, but Lance doesn’t. "Wait, hold up - your dad took your alien mom to a McDonalds?"
"Yeah." Keith brushes wolf fur from Lance's armour with his free hand. "The staff thought she was cosplaying or something. Dad bought her a McFlurry and she wanted to know how they're made and now she somehow has it in her head that they just pop out of cows fully formed."
"Wow. So cows are mystifying to all aliens."
He waits for Keith to laugh at that, only to remember Keith wasn't there for the whole milkshake fiasco. Now he feels like a dick, cracking inside jokes Keith's excluded from. He extricates his hand from their weird extended holding session and rubs the back of his neck, self-consciousness bubbling up.
Keith makes this startled breath of a sound and withdraws his hand back to his side.
Allura, bless her soul, chooses that moment to sweep gracefully back to the group and announce that the Kytonians have happily agreed to let them stay. Since the planet's literally just all trees and no buildings, they can't provide any lodging, but the group collectively seems cool with camping outside for the night. Coran marches off to rifle through their cargo for sleeping bags and the others set about making a campfire.
-
They have a campfire crackling merrily away in no time. Everyone splits off to change out of their armour and into casual clothes, returning in time to find the Kytonians have appeared to offer fallen branches as seats. The branches were part of their sacred trees once and are apparently fine to touch now that they've fallen; the Kytonians seem pleased to offer them. There are, Lance notices, tears in their shiny eyes when they look at the paladins.
"What a horror, to have lost their home," he hears them murmuring sympathetically among themselves. His chest goes tight with a fresh wave of grief.
It's silly, he knows. They're going to Earth, to rebuild the Castle. He shouldn't feel that he's lost his home when in all actuality he's en route toward it. But all the same, he does.
A Kytonian appears at his side. Lance partakes in the expected pit-sniffing. (Not so bad if you get it over with quickly.)
"Would the Paladins like musical accompaniment to their meal?" the Kytonian asks.
Lance, who's decided everyone could use a pick-me-up, grins. "Oh, yeah. Do you guys do requests? I got a song I could teach you."
-
Evening sets in and the planet's twin moons rise, bathing the land in gentle silvery light. The leaves of the trees around them soak it up and, like a thousand lanterns, begin to glow. Not for the first time, Lance finds himself wondering what his family would think of this. He wishes he could show them. He'll be able to tell them all about it soon.
Hunk drops down next to him on his log. "There should be s'mores," he says by way of greeting. "I asked if there was anything like marshmallow here but I don't think they got what I meant. I just - I thought it'd be nice, y'know? Like a family camping trip."
Lance pats his broad shoulder. "I know, bud. I could totally devour a dozen s'mores right now."
Keith walks over and sits on his other side, mid-conversation with Shiro. Nugget, who's been padding along next to Keith, flicks her ears and stares between him and Lance. Her head tilts. She makes a low huff of a sound and, without warning, clambers up onto Lance's lap.
She's huge. There's absolutely not enough space for her. She settles her furry butt there anyway as if daring him to argue. Lance, who was not prepared to be crushed by a cosmic wolf twice in one day, almost wobbles backward off the log and has to be steadied by a mildly confused Hunk.
"Hi, pretty girl," he manages once he's upright. His legs are already going numb but he can't bring himself to mind. The wolf likes him. He’s been chosen as her perch. He feels super cool. "Who's the prettiest space wolf? Huh? It's you!"
She preens.
Keith and Shiro's conversation pauses and Lance catches Keith eyeing them with a strange smile, knowing and affectionate. Nugget senses his gaze and stares him dead in the eye, burrowing deeper onto Lance's lap. Keith shakes his head and mutters indistinctly under his breath.
Lance doesn't know what's going on and frankly, he isn't sure he wants to.
"Scritch her behind the ears," Keith tells him, rather than explaining. "She loves that." He goes to turn away, only to hesitate and meet Lance's eyes again. "I can't unsee the dorito ears thing now. I hope you're happy." With one final glance at the pair of them, he returns to his discussion with Shiro.
Lance gives scritches as instructed and is rewarded with loud wolf purrs. "Nugget Dorito Kogane," Lance murmurs to her, gleeful, and thinks he hears Keith choke. Nugget wags her tail.
She stays right there on his lap as the Kytonians return with their meal, which they insisted on providing. The food, which turns out to be freshly picked vegetables, pulses and makes ominous cheeping noises. Coran assures them all he's seventy percent certain it's edible for humans, particularly paladins with stomachs of steel from all that food goo.
Before they eat, Allura raises her glass. "To the Castle of Lions," she says in her unwavering voice.
Coran's expression goes misty. "To the Castle of Lions!"
The group echoes the sentiment.
Chatter starts up after that, and quiet bursts of laughter. After a while, a little group of Kytonians shows up. One steps forward to announce their wishes to sing for the paladins of Voltron, and is met with encouraging cheers. Lance hides a grin.
In beautiful voices, pitched soft and low and achingly sweet like a love ballad, their hosts begin to sing: "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I."
Hunk twitches. "Is this--?"
"A full commitment's what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy."
Pidge lets out an unholy cackle. "Who did this?"
"I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling. Gotta make you understand."
"Wait..." Shiro's eyes narrow.
"Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you..."
"Are we getting rickrolled by aliens?!" Hunk demands and that's it, that's all Lance can take.
He wheezes with laughter and everyone whirls on him.
"Lance!" Pidge, tears of laughter streaming from their eyes, salutes him. "Amazing, my man. Ten out of ten classic meme."
The Kytonians don't seem offended by all the laughter. If anything, they look proud to have lightened the mood; their chests puff out with delight.
"Oh!" Allura's eyes light up. She leans toward Lance. "This is one of those memes you told me about!"
"Lance." Shiro looks scandalised. "Have you been teaching Allura memes?"
"Hey, I was just spreading Earth culture, man."
But seriously, this is more like it. Everyone's laughing, like a weight's been eased from their shoulders. Allura's animatedly explaining memes to Romelle. Pidge and Hunk are singing along loudly, prompting an encore. Shiro's laughing louder than he has since he woke up in his new body. Lance digs into his weird cheeping vegetables, satisfied with his work. He can feel Keith eyeing him.
And then, softly, distractedly, as if not entirely aware of making the decision to speak, Keith says, "God, I missed you all."
And everyone just... goes quiet.
Hunk sniffles. Shiro lays his hand on Keith's shoulder. There are wobbly smiles all around.
Lance swallows past the sudden tightness in his throat and says it for them all. "We missed you, too."
It might just be the firelight, but he thinks Keith's cheeks go red.
-
When their bellies are full and the Kytonians are done serenading them, they douse the campfire and set up their sleeping bags in a loose cluster. Krolia insists she's staying awake to take the first watch and demands that they all get some rest. Lance, who's determinedly not thinking about his bed in the Castle of Lions or the comfortable safety of his bedroom or the way he's starting to feel adrift without it, can admit that he'll feel a lot better with Krolia watching over them all.
He unrolls his sleeping bag next to Hunk's, bending to run his fingers curiously over the inner fur. It's of Altean creation, self-heating and emitting a soft blue glow like a nightlight. He straightens up to point this out to Hunk, but when he turns back, his sleeping bag is... gone.
Dragged away, to be specific. By one very determined space wolf, who looks Lance right in the eye as she teleports off with it clutched in her mouth.
She zips away to the other side of their little campground, where she drops her stolen goods right next to Keith's sleeping bag. Directly next to it. Like, close enough that they're touching. Close enough that anyone sleeping in those bags would be practically cuddling. Nugget smiles her wolfy smile.
Luckily, Keith is yet to notice. He's a little ways away, back turned, talking to Krolia. This is fixable. This is not a disaster yet.
"Um," Lance begins, because this is getting really weird, right? Like, he's not just imagining it? This cosmic wolf is really, seriously acting strange around him. Lance doesn't see her trying to get anyone else to sleep next to Keith. "No offence, Nuggster, but I'm just gonna... maybe... move this back over there?"
His fingers close around the sleeping bag. Nugget whines and quite deliberately places a paw over it. Her eyes go all round and imploring.
"Aw, sweetie, why're you doin' this to me? I'm sure Keith doesn't want me up in his space like this!"
Nugget puts another paw on the sleeping bag, her whining increasing in volume, and Lance realises too late that he can't hear Keith and Krolia talking anymore.
He hears footsteps. His heart sinks. He pastes on a grin and spins to face Keith, who's approaching with his brows raised so high they've vanished into his hair.
"Hey!" Lance's voice cracks. His cheeks feel hot. He’d very much like the ground to swallow him up. "Uh, so... your wolf did some, uh... rearranging of my sleeping bag."
Keith doesn't seem to know how to react. His eyes are wide. His arms flop uselessly up and down at his sides. "Oh, my god. Nugget."
"I'll be outta your way in just a sec!" Lance tugs frantically at his sleeping bag. Nugget sits down on it.
"Unbelievable," mutters Keith, though bizarrely he doesn't look upset. Just... flustered. He's fiddling with his sleeves. He seems to think deeply for a moment, then takes a breath. "Y'know... she'll whine all night if she doesn't get her way."
He can't possibly be insinuating what Lance thinks he's insinuating.
"So, I should just," Lance swallows, "sleep there? Right next to you?"
His poor heart may not survive all-night proximity to Keith.
Keith shrugs. "I mean... I don't mind. Why would I?"
Why would he? Only because he's never actively sought out Lance's company like this before. Only because he's never invited Lance into his space before. Only because throughout their entire time together, Lance has been operating under the assumption that Keith tolerates him as a teammate but has no intention of getting close. This... this is close. This is offering to fall asleep together.
"Yeah," Lance echoes faintly, "why would you mind."
He just... he doesn't know what to make of any of this. From the second Keith showed back up, bigger and older and different, he's been afraid that whatever friendship they'd forged together was washed away by the time spent apart. Lance is something Keith's grown out of, he's sure. He's been ready for Keith to go back to being distant and untouchable and explosive as a star.
He isn't ready for this, for small talk and smiles and openness. It feels scarily like a fresh start.
He isn't ready for how much he wants it. He hesitates.
Keith removes his jacket and eases into his sleeping bag, never taking his eyes off Lance. His brows are drawn together, something like concern written into his expression. "Lance," he says softly. "You don't have to, okay? But you're welcome to."
Somehow, that decides him. (That, and the fact that Hunk is giving him a thumbs-up from across the clearing and it'd be really embarrassing to have to slink all the way back over there now.)
Heart pounding, Lance makes to crawl into his own sleeping bag. Nugget moves to let him in. She waits for him to lay down and then pads to a spot just above their heads, where she curls up with her tail wrapped around her and begins to groom Keith's hair.
Keith doesn't react, seeming to hold his breath 'til Lance has made himself comfortable. Then, tentatively, he smiles. The glow from the trees casts him in a soft silvery light. He's... really close, and he seems nervous, but he's making no move to get away. Lance quells the urge to wiggle some distance between them and lets himself give this a try.
"So," he ventures.
Keith shifts so he's laying on his side facing Lance and says, "Hey... I, um. I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"For the way I acted." His mouth pulls down at the corners. "When I first got back. I brushed you off. I didn't -- that wasn't what I meant to do, I was just... the situation was--"
With a start, Lance realises what Keith must be thinking. "No, no. I wasn't... I'm not actually upset about that, you know? Jeez," he says. "I know there were way more important things going on. There was hardly time for a teary-eyed reunion, right?"
Unconvinced, Keith grumbles. "I still shouldn't have..."
"Stop. It was an incredibly dire situation, man. If anything, I should’ve let you talk before I… well, y’know.” Had a momentary lapse in sanity, thoughtlessly strode toward him, lost all brain-to-mouth filter and called him cool and grizzled. “I promise I'm not mad. I didn't realise you were... hung up on that."
Keith shrugs. "Yeah." He doesn't elaborate, apparently latching onto something else Lance said. "It was a pretty underwhelming reunion, wasn't it?"
"Kinda," Lance confirms. "Lost out on a perfectly good excuse for a group hug."
Keith shuffles. "C'mere, then."
"What?"
"Hug," he mumbles, uncertain. Not group hug. Just hug. Just them.
Lance's breath catches. What is happening? "I -- you can't just have a do-over on the emotional reunion. That's cheating," he accuses.
Keith's expression sets, goes defiant. He half sits up and opens his arms. "I do what I want."
Lance huffs. "Man. You're so... so..." He doesn't finish. He sits up, too. He's a weak man and the opportunity to touch Keith is within his grasp. Of course he's taking it.
So, they do it. They reach out for each other and they hug. It's awkward, a tangle of arms and a wiggle of bodies trapped in sleeping bags. They fumble for a few moments, unaccustomed to each other and puzzling out where they fit together, and eventually they just sort of... drape their arms over each other and squash together. It's warm. He's hyper-aware of the press of Keith's hard muscles and the strength of the arms curled around him.
Lance presses his face into Keith's shoulder. He giggles nervously into it. "Look at us, hugging. This sure is a thing that’s happening."
He feels Keith laugh quietly into his hair. "Shut up and enjoy our reunion hug."
And he does. Enjoy it, that is. He's holding onto Keith Kogane, like he's slipped into one of his most secret dreams. There's everything to enjoy. His pathetic little heart is having the time of its life.
When they draw away, neither of them seems to know what to say. Lance kind of pats Keith's shoulder. They grin awkwardly at each other and lay back down. There's a happy wolfy sound from above their heads and they glance up to find Nugget practically bouncing with joy. She shuffles over and proceeds to groom Lance's hair with her tongue. It's shockingly soothing.
"Successful reunion?" asks Keith quietly.
"Ten out of ten reunion," Lance confirms in a voice just barely above a whisper.
Some expression crosses Keith's face, something that softens the line of his mouth and flickers warmth in the dark blue of his eyes. Lance can't read it but he drinks the sight in anyway.
"G'night, Lance," murmurs Keith.
Lance drags his gaze away, suddenly very aware that he's been staring. "G'night!"
The thing is, he thought he'd lay awake all night. He thought this would be tense and awkward, with Keith so close that Lance could reach out and touch him. Instead he finds himself drifting off to the sounds of Keith's even breaths and the quiet chatter of his little family around him.
-
At some point, a noise pulls Lance from sleep.
Keith's sitting up. Must be taking over the watch from Krolia. Sure enough, Krolia's footsteps approach and she murmurs that she's willing to guard for the entire night. Keith says something that sounds like a refusal.
Krolia relents. The pair are quiet for a moment.
"Nugget isn't being very subtle," she observes, amusement in her tone. Lance claws through layers of tiredness to hear better.
Keith makes a sound like 'mmmrgh'.
"Perhaps you’re being too subtle. When your father and I-"
"Don't start," Keith mutters. "I'm just - trying not to rush things. Can we not discuss this right now?"
Krolia laughs quietly. "Oh, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"It's bad enough that you and Nugget know. You're both menaces."
"There's nothing to be done about that." Krolia's tone gentles. "I won’t push. Forgive a mother for wanting to see her son happy."
A snort from Keith. "Go get some rest. And see if you can't convince that nuisance of a wolf to behave tomorrow."
Faintly, he hears Krolia wander away. Lance decides he'll sort through this tomorrow and lets himself drift back to sleep.
-
Mornings at the Castle of Lions often began with Coran or Allura's voice over the intercoms, announcing time to wake up. Gradually though, as the paladins grew accustomed to early starts, Allura would play soft Altean music through the speakers for a gentler awakening.
Today, Lance wakes up to near-silence.
The team are so used to beginning their mornings at the same time that they're all starting to awaken, too. Lance can hear Hunk yawning and Pidge's back cracking as they stretch. Across the clearing, Allura is trying to persuade Shiro out of his usual morning workout, but the man doesn't seem willing to let his own death and reincarnation get in the way of maintaining his rock-hard abs. Krolia is formally introducing herself to Kaltenecker.
Keith is nowhere to be seen.
Nugget, however, is present. She's a few paces away, digging purposefully at the ground with both front paws. Dirt splatters her nose.
Krolia, who is inspecting Kaltenecker's ears nearby, explains, "Nugget likes to bury Keith's socks sometimes. We don't know why."
"Oh," says Lance, and decides it's far too early to puzzle out the workings of a space wolf's mind. He sits up, running his fingers through his hair. "Where is Keith, anyway?"
Krolia shrugs. "Somewhere," she says vaguely. Her brows arch. "Perhaps you could take Nugget for a walk before she starts trying to bury sleeping bags. She likes walks."
And Lance swears Nugget's ears perk up faster than lightning.
-
Cosmic wolves, he learns, prefer to walk their humans. Nugget seems to know precisely where she wants to go and Lance is just along for the ride, meandering along behind her and keeping up a constant stream of chatter as they weave carefully between trees. Nugget sometimes glances back at him, head tilted, as if she's listening.
"Where're we goin', pretty girl?" he asks after some time, and gets a wag of the tail in response.
Nugget pads beneath a curtain of hanging willows. When Lance parts the willows to follow, a small clearing is revealed. Here, the branches of the trees almost obscure the sky and sunlight seeps through the gaps in a dappled pattern. Keith is laying on his back on the soft grass.
"Oh - sorry, man," Lance says quickly. "Didn't know you were here. I was just wandering with Nugget."
The wolf in question has already lain down on the ground and begun to groom her fur. Lance has a sneaking suspicion she intended them to end up here.
Keith sits up, looking relaxed. "It's okay. D'you wanna sit with me?"
"You sure? If you're taking some alone time, I don't wanna interrupt."
"I mean, I am, but..." Keith pats the grass at his side, looking so open and approachable that the thought of not staying with him is absurd. "We can have alone time together. If you wanna sit with me."
Lance sits. This makes twice in as many days that Keith's invited him into his space. He can feel his brain revving up to over-analyse it and hastily shuts it down.
"Is it strange to be around a lot of people again?" Lance guesses.
Keith lets out a slow breath. "Yeah. It's a lot. I'm so used to the quiet."
Lance has never really known quiet. He's always surrounded by family, by friends, by war. He's always immersed himself, instead of isolated. He needs the noise like Keith needs the quiet, he thinks. But maybe being quiet together isn't so bad.
"You had a lot of time to get used to it," says Lance.
"Yeah." Keith barks out a laugh. "First in the desert shack, then on the whale. I always seem to end up cut off from the world."
"You had Krolia this time, though. And Nugget." The wolf pants happily at the mention of her name. "You weren't alone."
"Mmhm." Keith twists the material of his shirt between his fingers. "Y'know what's weird? I wasn't lonely the first time, out in the desert. Not really. I missed Shiro like hell, but he was... gone. And... I didn't feel like I wanted people around. I felt like I needed to be out there on my own. But the second time..." He darts a look at Lance. "I felt it that time."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I guess because... I'd gotten to know you guys. I'd come to think of you all as part of my life. And when I was away, I thought about you all a lot and... I missed you. And I guess I felt lonely, even though I wasn't alone that time. That make sense?"
The relief that wells up is almost painful. "Yeah. Yeah. I get that. I'm glad."
"You are?"
"Uh! Not that you felt lonely, I'm not glad for that! Just... I... we were missing your dumb ass too, that's all." His cheeks are heating up. He turns his face away. "Didn't feel right without you there."
"You didn't have anyone to make fun of?" Keith teases.
"Uh-huh.” Lance tsks , affronted. “I had all these prime jokes saved up and you weren't there to be the butt of them, man."
Keith laughs, light and quiet, the sound hanging in the air. "I'm here now."
Lance's heart stutters. "You are."
Quiet falls after that, but it isn't awkward. They just exist together for a while, watching Nugget as she chases fallen leaves and deposits them in a little pile. Lance, for once, feels no particular urge to fill the silence. It's nice. Peaceful.
After a while, Keith says, "Do I look that different?"
"Hm?"
"You mentioned it once or twice."
Lance instinctively wants to bristle because he thought they'd dropped the whole 'grizzled' disaster, but Keith doesn't sound like he's teasing. He sounds open and curious. Lance lets his tensed shoulders relax. "You kinda do," he says honestly.
"Bad different?" Keith sounds like he's trying not to care too much about the answer.
Lance swallows. Bad different? No. Hell, no. Keith has always been attractive, but now everything about him feels sharpened and honed and more beautiful than ever. It's as if he's settled into his own body, as if every movement carries a new self-assured weight. Not to mention the hair falling across his face and the hard lines of muscle beneath his clothes and the broadness of his shoulders and the few extra inches of height that make his presence feel somehow enormous. And the way he smiles more often.
But Lance can't let that spill out of his mouth so he says, croakily, "No. Not bad different."
He swears he hears Keith's breath catch.
"I mean," Lance rushes on, feeling like he's said too much, "it's not just the way you look. You just feel different. Not bad different! Just... two years different."
"I do?" asks Keith slowly.
Lance taps his fingers against his thigh. "Well. Yeah. More grown up, I guess. Which happens after two years." He can't seem to stop mentioning the two years. "People change a lot."
Keith shifts, turning so he's facing Lance completely. His expression is quietly stricken. "I don't feel like I've changed that much." Lance opens his mouth to fumble out an answer but Keith quickly says, "I'm still me. Is that why-? I thought you were acting a little strange with me at first. Is that why?"
Lance's stomach flips. He opens and closes his mouth. "You just felt different," he repeats uselessly. "I had this horrible feeling like you'd grown out of me - I mean, of us! Of the paladins! Like you were older now and you'd done all this growing without us and..." He trails off, shakes his head. "Man, this conversation's gettin' super real, huh? Wonder if the others are wondering where we are."
"Lance." Keith rests a hand on Lance's arm, anchoring him. "I'm still me. I'd never stop caring about you, all of you."
"I know! I do know that. I promise. I don't think you're the kind of person who'd just forget us; of course you're not! I actually feel like you’re the kinda person who holds on real tight to the people he gets close to - but that’s - I mean, that’s not the point. It was just all these stupid irrational worries, y'know?” Lance snaps his mouth shut. He’s babbling.
“Hey. You can tell me, if you want to,” Keith encourages.
Lance swallows the urge to joke his way out of this. “Before... before you left..." They both tense a little. "Before you left, I think I was finally starting to feel close to you. Just a bit. And I was just kinda scared to lose that. I feel like I've been trying to keep up with you most of my life, and you finally outpaced me completely. I know that's a selfish thing to think, and you left 'cause you needed to and we all supported that! I just - agh. I dunno. I guess my brain keeps pointing out how different you are ‘cause I’m scared we can’t get along anymore."
Keith's grip on Lance's arm tightens. "You're not trying to keep up. We're right here together," he says, barely above a whisper. "You're not selfish for wanting to stay close. I want that, too. Like I said... when I was away, I missed you."
Lance gives a shaky chuckle but dares to shuffle closer, pushing just a little into Keith’s space. A thrill races through him when Keith shifts to accommodate him. "That's you being different right there, you know? Like... more open? Mature and stuff. Can you imagine us having a conversation like this before?"
Keith considers. "Yeah, actually. I think so. If we'd both pulled our heads out of our asses long enough to. I always wanted to talk like this."
"Always?"
"Well. Maybe not always." Keith's mouth hints at a smile. "At first, I didn't know what to make of you. But we got closer, didn't we? We had..."
"A bonding moment?" Lance finishes, offering the words and everything they mean like an olive branch.
Keith sucks in a breath. He searches Lance’s expression. "I - that. Yes." His brows raise, the question clear in his expression: you do remember?
Oh, Lance remembers. He remembers pain clawing at him, terror setting his nerves alight and squeezing the air from his lungs, and then Keith. Keith, safe and warm, staring down at him with a combination of pride and concern. Keith, cradling him against his chest. He remembers the relief chasing the fear away, and settling into those arms with an unshakable sense of trust. He remembers waking up and scrambling to stuff all his leaking emotions back where they belonged, terrified all over again of the things Keith was coming to mean to him.
He inclines his head, answering the unspoken question.
And then he asks, "So... after that, you wanted us to be able to talk like this?"
"I did. I do.” Keith’s voice sounds rough, like he’s struggling to pull the words out past the emotion clogging his throat. “Isn't it good that we're talking like this?"
Hesitant, Lance rests his hand atop Keith's. They both shiver. "Yeah. Honestly? I always wanted this, too." Confessing that feels like stripping away armour, baring vulnerability. He knows he sounds choppy, like he’s only vaguely remembering how to breathe. "I'm sorry if I... I mean, I probably came across like I didn't want us to... y'know, get along. I did. I do. This is good."
"So... maybe if I am a tiny bit different, it's not a bad thing?" Keith ventures, unmistakably hopeful.
"Of course it's not! I didn't mean for you to think it was bad. It's not. Just means we have to get used to each other again, right?"
Keith grins. "Hey... I promise I'm not that mature or different, man. I'm still a fucking mess. I'm still one hundred percent likely to make dumb decisions that you'll totally end up having to talk me out of. I'm still ready to fight just about anyone. It's not like I had any life experiences to mature me in those two years, you know? All I did was chill and try to teach Nugget to fetch sticks."
Lance finds himself laughing. "So you're still the same hothead? That's what you're tellin' me?"
"Cross my heart. Still the same idiot." Keith's laughing too, and his expression's warmer than Lance has ever seen it.
"Well. That's... that's good to know."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
When quiet falls this time, they're still watching each other, still leaning toward each other, still clasping hands. The air between them feels heavy with unspoken emotions, with this understanding that has solidified between them. With each breath, Lance feels the tight knot of doubts in his chest ease and begin to dissipate. In its place, something warm winds securely about his heart.
Keith's eyes aren't different at all, he finds as he looks into them. They're still sharp and unwavering, still lit from within like the glow of muted embers. Meeting them still feels like staring directly into an open flame and feeling the heat of it lick his skin. He used to falter in the face of it, certain it’d scorch him to cinders. He feels like he can let go of that fear now.
A single lock of overgrown dark hair partially obscures one of those eyes, and Lance finds himself reaching mindlessly out with the intent of brushing it aside. His hand pauses mere inches away, startled by a quiet sound: a shaky breath from Keith, who's holding himself so still he could be a statue. Lance searches his expression carefully, hand still outstretched. Slowly, deliberately, Keith tilts his head nearer. Lance closes the distance and sweeps the hair aside, fingers chasing it to comb through the strands and trace lower to the arch of Keith's cheek.
"It's gotten so long," he mutters.
Keith, who seems to be holding his breath, nods minutely. He's leaning his face into Lance's touch, and his lips are slightly parted.
"Should let me braid it," Lance mutters, running his fingers through the thickest part of Keith's fringe and brushing that off his face, too. Somehow, that brings the scar curving up his pale cheek into greater relief. Lance resists the impulse to smooth his fingertips over it.
"Nah," Keith breathes out, having apparently gone monosyllabic in the past few moments and defaulted to being contrary. His mouth twists wryly, like he's laughing internally at his own lack of words. Lance wonders if he's nervous.
Conversely, Lance only becomes more verbose when he's nervous. "Or we could tie it up in a bun. That'd be nice," he babbles, and leans bravely nearer to grasp the lengths of Keith's hair and twist them upward into a bun at the back of his head. Uneven strands fall messily back out. "Just to keep it outta your eyes. Don't want you crashing your lion just 'cause you couldn't see, y'know. That'd be embarrassing."
"You could just cut it. I hear you have a sword now," Keith suggests vaguely, shifting so that one strand of hair falls into his eyes again. The corner of his mouth skews upward.
Lance takes the thinly-veiled excuse to brush Keith's hair away again. "Jeez, that sounds like a crazy trust exercise. Trust your teammate to not behead you."
Keith leans impossibly closer. "I'd trust you to swing a sword at me," he says in this low voice, and inexplicably manages to make it sound romantic. Of course Keith would manage to incorporate sharp, pointy objects into his flirtation. (Because that's what he's doing, right? Flirting?)
"Oh, yeah?" Lance murmurs, mouth dry.
"Absolutely."
"I'd trust you not to stab me, too," he asserts, because he may as well roll with whatever flirtation gets Keith's motor revving.
It seems to work. It gets a slow smile, at least. Keith shifts like he's about to press his forehead against Lance's, but pauses at the last moment and gives him this look, inviting and soft. Like he's letting Lance decide whether he wants to close that distance. Lance tips his head forward, obliging. Keith's eyes flutter shut. His breath feels cool against Lance's cheek.
The entire world narrows down to his mouth, soft and tempting and right there. That's not a new occurrence. Lance is always drawn to Keith's mouth, fascinated by the curve of it and the way it quirks when he smiles or grits out a smartass comment. His lips are parted now, lower one slightly fuller than the upper and jutting out like he's inviting Lance closer. What would he taste like? What would he kiss like?
"Lance," Keith mumbles like he's tasting the name on his tongue, fingers fisting in the material of Lance's jacket. He seems somehow relaxed and rigid all at once, melting into the touch and yet holding himself in control. His eyes open just a slit and he watches Lance's mouth from beneath the heavy sweep of his lashes.
Feeling like he's tumbled into a dream, Lance draws Keith closer.
And then, because life doesn't enjoy letting Lance have nice things, there is a resounding crash in the woods nearby. Footsteps come thudding through the undergrowth and Hunk's voice calls, "BREAKFAST IS READY! If you guys are here! Pidge thought you were! I just hope neither of you have been eaten! If you're still alive, come get breakfast!"
Lance and Keith, still tangled up in each other, freeze and heave a unified sigh. Lance can literally feel the beautiful, blessed moment shattering. "Seriously?" he mumbles. Hunk continues yelling, dashing any hopes of scrambling the moment back together. Lance loves that man like a brother but this is not cool.
Keith grumbles something uncharitable under his breath about where Hunk can stick his breakfast. Lance feels inclined to agree. With great reluctance, they draw apart. Keith offers an unsteady smile. Lance feels robbed. He could've been kissing that mouth. Even Nugget seems offended on their behalf, and is making soft growly sounds at the interruption.
"So. Breakfast?" Lance huffs. He stands, feeling bizarrely shaky - like, over-energised shaky. The kind of shaky that comes with a flood of adrenaline.
Keith, looking pretty bright-eyed himself, mutters, "You realise breakfast is probably those vegetables again." He sounds like he'd rather stab the vegetables than eat them.
"Yeah," Lance agrees, "but we'll see if Kaltenecker will give us some milk to go with it. I wanna see if your mom freaks out like Allura and Coran did when I showed them how cows work. I never told you that story, did I?"
"No! Tell me."
So they meander back through the trees, and Lance tells Keith stories the whole way. Nugget leads the way, tail wagging as she goes.
-
Krolia, as it turns out, is made of stronger stuff than Allura and Coran. She demands a full cow explanation from Lance over breakfast, followed by a demonstration. Lance, who is still dangerously hopped up on adrenaline and Keith-proximity, loses his head and cracks a series of truly terrible jokes involving the words 'a-moo-sing' and 'udderly amazing'.
In a wild twist of fate, Krolia seems to find him funny and they wind up leaning against Kaltenecker and laughing together. Mercifully, Kaltenecker seems to have forgiven Lance for stuffing her into his Lion and only moos peacefully at him. Keith, sitting nearby, watches the entire thing with the air of a man wondering why he likes these weirdos.
Once Lance has imparted his wisdom, he meanders casually over to Keith and greets him with a nudge to the side. "Hey."
Keith nudges him back. "Hey. Spar with me."
"O-ho! So you really do wanna see my sword!" Lance wiggles his brows, mock-suggestive.
Keith chokes back a laugh. "Shut up. I actually do." And Lance can see he's serious: his eyes are lit up with that pre-fight anticipation.
They always used to struggle to spar together on an even level, what with their differing styles: Keith up close with blade and shield, and Lance fighting from afar with a sniper gun. They match now. The anticipation steals into Lance, too. He grins.
"Let's go, man."
The others, who apparently have nothing better to do than heckle from the sidelines, gather 'round to watch as Lance and Keith draw their weapons and face each other. Krolia is forced to keep a firm hold on Nugget, who keeps wiggling her butt like she's about to teleport into the middle of the fight and start licking faces.
"You guys aren't like, seriously bickering already, right?" Hunk asks, eyeing them concernedly.
Shiro, who apparently left the majority of his fucks in the astral plane, smiles airily and says, "Nah. This is just them flirting."
"Shiro," Keith hisses.
"What? Someone had to say it," says Shiro reasonably. Then, inexplicably, he gives Lance a one-handed finger-gun. Lance feels strangely like he's just been given Shiro's blessing.
"Let's just fight," Keith grumbles, and Lance can see the exact moment he goes into warrior mode. He sinks into a practiced fighting stance, Marmora blade held in front of him and free arm close to his chest. His eyes settle on Lance; they sweep over him, up and down, heated and laser-focused, calculating how best to take him apart. Lance straightens his back.
Having the full weight of that attention on him makes his skin tingle. He sucks in a calming breath and adjusts his stance, feet set wider apart and blade angled in front of him. He'll wait for Keith to attack; Keith's aggressive, impulsive. Lance is calm water, reacting only when disturbed.
Sure enough, Keith strikes. He darts forward. His blade swipes down, testing defences. Their swords meet with a muted clang. Lance's arm aches with the force of the blow. He digs in his feet, holds his ground and retaliates. Keith grunts and catches the attack. He licks his lips.
They're at each other after that.
They clash, hard and fast, pushing and challenging. Neither makes it easy for the other. Keith has the advantage of Blade training and bulk; Lance is quicker and accustomed to striking at weak spots. Keith hammers at Lance. His sword moves so fast, it's near-impossible to track. The flat of his blade batters Lance's wrist, aiming to disarm. Lance grits his teeth and strikes at Keith's side with his fist, drawing a gasp. They twist away from each other, eager to go again.
The way they circle each other isn't quite a dance, but something close. Slowly, the aggression eases and they're grinning as they go, meeting each other blow for blow and panting out quick laughs as their maneuvers are thwarted. They start finding excuses to touch one another: hips knocking into each other, arms brushing as they move, fingers wrapping 'round wrists as their swords push against each other.
Keith swings his sword one last time and Lance catches it with his own. Rather than dance away, Keith presses closer, face nearing Lance's over the cross of their blades. "You're good," he pants, looking delighted and unsurprised about it.
Sweat drips down Lance's neck. "You, too." A sneaky thought occurs to him. He bites his lip. "It's really hot," he whispers, for Keith's ears only.
Keith's eyes darken. "You're trying to distract me," he accuses, low and husky.
"Is it working?"
"No." His chest heaves with exertion. He makes no move to continue fighting.
Lance brushes Keith's hair from his face. "How 'bout now?"
"Maybe a little."
"Good."
Lance smiles - and swings a leg out to sweep Keith's feet from under him.
Unfortunately, at the exact same moment, Keith drops his sword and full-on tackles Lance to the ground. The impact rattles his spine but he fights back. The result is an uncoordinated tangle of limbs. Keith, through some quick rolling maneuvers, ends up sitting on Lance's hips. His hands curl 'round Lance's wrists. One hand holds a wrist to the ground, but the other - the other wasn't fast enough to stop Lance's sword pressing lightly to Keith's throat, kissing the skin. They're panting desperately, eyes locked. Lance's entire body feels on fire.
"Draw?" Keith rasps.
"Draw," Lance agrees, exhilarated.
They grin wildly at each other.
"Alright, it's a draw, you guys can get up now!" calls Pidge, and Lance abruptly remembers their audience.
Keith's eyes go wide. He scrambles to his feet, hand held out. Lance takes it, groaning as he straightens up. He hardly dares to look at the team.
"Uh... good fight, guys," says Shiro kindly.
"Yeah, nice use of all that totally platonic tension," comments Pidge.
Inexplicably, Lance finds himself grinning. He can't help it. "Shut up," he says, and sticks out his tongue at Pidge.
Nugget, who's been watching the sparring with unbridled enthusiasm, appears at Lance's side in a flurry of blue sparks and begins licking his wrist. It's slightly bruised from one of the hits he took. He catches Keith eyeing the darkened skin guiltily.
"Did you pack any of that cooling paste stuff from the Castle? We should get some on that wrist," says Keith as they step aside for Allura and Krolia to begin sparring. The first clash of their weapons rings out loud.
Lance, scritching Nugget's ears, shrugs at Keith's concerned look. "It's just a little bruise," he soothes.
Keith looks like he plans to be stubborn. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I knocked your ribs, too." He pets Nugget when she nudges him for attention. "I just wanna get a little paste onto the bruises."
"Alright, alright." Lance means to sound grumpy but it comes out fond. "I think I packed it into the Red Lion."
Nugget's ears twitch. She wiggles her butt.
Keith looks alarmed. "Wait,” he begins.
Too late. Nugget, who Lance is only now realising has been sneakily encouraging them both to hold onto her, teleports off with them both in tow. Lance's stomach lurches. He thinks he yelps. The world dissolves into cobalt flares and stitches itself back together. When Lance manages to slit his eyes open, he recognises the interior of the Red Lion.
Red rumbles warningly at the intrusion, but settles when he recognises Lance.
"Nugget, I swear," Keith mutters. "Lance, you okay? I know that's, uh, kind of a jarring experience."
"I'm great," says Lance, and stumbles dizzily into the wall. "Excellent. Superb."
Keith steadies him. "I can tell."
Nugget bounds into Lance's chair and curls up, tail wrapped around herself, facing away from them. Keith grumbles something at her about making herself useful and fetching the cooling paste, and is ignored. Nugget seems to have gone to sleep.
Keith guides Lance to one of the many boxes of assorted stuff from the Castle and Lance perches there, still slightly cross-eyed. Keith vanishes into the depths of the Lion to hunt the stupid medicinal crap down for himself, muttering under his breath as he digs between boxes. There's a victorious 'a-ha!' and he reappears, a large white tub in his hand.
"I think this is the one. It's either cooling paste or that stuff Coran uses to shine his mustache," he says, setting it beside Lance, who’s recovered from his dizziness.
"Well, if it's the second one, at least we'll be nice and shiny." Lance nods at Keith's side. "If we're gonna totally platonically rub lotion on each other, you gotta let me get your bruises too. I know I got in a couple of hits."
Lance was jokingly echoing Pidge, but Keith either doesn't hear the teasing or ignores it. He opens the tub with a pop, revealing thick pink paste. A sweet, fruity aroma perfumes the air. "It's not platonic for me," he says calmly, taking Lance's wrist in a gentle hold and stroking paste into the skin with his fingers.
Well. That’s very direct.
"It's not platonic for me either," Lance admits, swallowing his nerves. "It never has been."
Keith's breath stutters. His fingertips pause at Lance's pulse point, where he must be able to feel the thrumming beneath the skin. He steps closer, fitting between Lance's legs where they dangle from the box. He opens and shuts his mouth like he's searching for the right words. "I..." He sucks in a breath and hikes up his shirt on his left side, exposing a purplish bruise just below the ribs. "Here. You can do me, too."
Lance grins. "You know how that sounds, right?"
"Shush. I'm nervous, it makes me say dumb things."
"It's cute," Lance murmurs, gathering paste on his fingers. A fine tremor rolls up Keith’s spine when Lance touches him, just barely grazing the skin, carefully stroking lotion over the bruise.
"Cute," Keith scoffs, but seems too interested in watching Lance's hand on his skin to offer any real complaint. His gaze follows the slow circles Lance strokes. “You can do it harder.”
He likes being touched, Lance realises, watching his eyelids drop to half-mast in response to firmer rubs. But only by the people he invites to. Lance trails his hand to Keith’s hip and takes a gentle hold, thumb stroking over the ridge of it.
Keith wiggles his hand beneath Lance's shirt and spreads the pink stuff over his ribs, smiling at the shiver it causes. It doesn’t hurt. They only barely bruised each other. They’re just two guys finding reasons to stick their hands up each other’s shirts. Keith follows the curve of Lance’s side, just barely touching.
"So," says Keith, having apparently gathered enough of his wits to make words, "about that whole not-platonic thing we have going."
Lance grins. "Mhm. We totally like each other."
"We do."
"How... how long has that been goin' on for you?"
Keith’s smile, the one that deconstructs Lance’s thought process, makes a reappearance. "A while. You were always really cute. It was annoying as hell." Lance laughs, and Keith measures his expression before continuing thoughtfully. "And then you had to go and be strong and reliable and understanding and great and caring, too. Ugh.” He wrinkles his nose, pulling another laugh from Lance. “You were so into the whole 'rivals' thing that I didn't think you felt the same, though, so I guess I spent a while telling myself it was just a crush and I'd get over it. Tried to keep a little emotional distance. I'm glad I never got over it, though. You're way more than a crush. You're... so much more."
"Guess I hid my feelings a little too well," Lance grimaces. "You were this amazing, talented, cool guy and then on top of that, you became someone I could trust with my life. I never thought you'd look twice at me, man. Guess it was easier to act like I wanted to beat you than to admit I just wanted to be with you."
Keith captures his gaze and holds it. "No more pretenses for us. Total honesty."
"In the interest of total honesty," Lance says, "I'm gonna kiss you now."
"God, please do."
Lance surges forward and Keith is there to meet him.
Their lips collide and it's like the years worth of feelings simmering between them ignite. Keith tastes fresh and sharp and he kisses so fiercely that he divests Lance of all coherent thought within seconds. His teeth graze Lance's lower lip. He breathes in the pleased sound Lance makes and quite deliberately sucks that lip into his mouth, sliding his tongue over it and tugging with his teeth. It aches, but sweetly. Lance, reeling from the intensity, hitches his legs 'round Keith's hips and drags him closer. His fingers push into Keith's hair and tug, coaxing a low hum from his throat. Heat sweeps down Lance's spine in response; he wants to hear that sound over and over again.
Keith keeps running his hands over Lance's thighs and up his sides, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake and prompting breathy, appreciative noises from Lance. His fingers slide under the edge of Lance's shirt, mapping out the curve of his side and back. They pause at the very edge of the scar that lays there, a starburst of roughened skin from the explosion in the Castle. Lance's breath hitches. He shifts, inviting Keith to touch, and feels warmth shoot through him when gentle fingers skim across the outline of the scar. Keith sighs against Lance's lips and kisses him deeper, licking into his mouth and moaning softly when Lance reciprocates.
They’re going to have a situation if this keeps up. Lance feels frantic already, like he can’t get Keith close enough. Everything feels hot and instinct urges him on: more, more, more. He sinks his teeth into Keith’s lip, thrills racing through his system when Keith arches into him. His brain’s in serious danger of just… shutting down here.
Which he shouldn’t do, right? Because they’re in his Lion, moaning into each others’ mouths against a supply box. They should, uh… chill. Right?
"Wow," Lance whispers when he draws away, breathless. "This is, uh... wow. Like, really wow."
"Yeah," Keith mumbles. He presses their foreheads together, breathing hard. "I just wanna keep kissing you. Like, for hours. Days maybe."
That sounds like something Lance wants very much.
Unable to refuse the invitation, he finds Keith’s lips again, delivering light pecks to his top lip and then his lower one. Keith chases every kiss. They find a rhythm this time, slower and more exploratory, learning the taste and feel of each other in the exchange of languid kisses. They hold each other gentler now, replacing their earlier desperation with leisurely exchanges of touch. Lance has this soul-deep need to tell Keith, in any way he can, that he’s here. He’s not going anywhere. They have all the time they need to do this. Keith seems to understand; Lance feels the corners of his mouth lift, feels him deepen the kiss to an indulgent pace.
Keith's lips are reddened by the time they pull away for air and his eyes are dark, pupils blown out. There's something electrifying about knowing that Lance was the one to make him look like that. He tucks his face into the crook of Keith's neck and feels arms wrap securely around him. They lean against each other, breathing slow as their building heat dissipates into warm tingles.
"You my boyfriend?" Lance asks, muffled.
"Yeah," Keith says, squeezing Lance's waist. "You mine?"
"Yeah."
"Nice."
"Awesome."
"Excellent."
Lance's heart feels so full. He draws back, aching to see the look on his boyfriend’s face, and is thrilled by the fond expression he finds gazing back at him. He kisses the tip of Keith's nose, then the corner of his smile.
He's pretty certain he'd be content to stay here forever, being disgustingly lovey-dovey, but his attention is dragged rudely away from his boyfriend's pretty face by the sound of a wolf yapping. Nugget, as it turns out, has woken from her nap and is peering at the two of them from over the top of her seat with a look of pure delight.
"Keith," says Lance, "I adore that wolf with my entire soul but she's a real weirdo."
"You have no idea," Keith grins. "Nugget Dorito Kogane, stop being rude. I'm trying to have some time with my boyfriend."
Lance gasps. "You used the name! I'm feeling so many feelings!"
Keith laughs, bright and delighted. "I told you I was never gonna unsee those dorito ears."
Lance can't help it; he beckons the wolf over. "Awww, c'mere, my sweet Dorito princess!"
He may not have thought that through. Nugget teleports into thin air and lands squarely on Lance's lap, forcing herself between him and Keith, wagging her tail wildly and leaving him spluttering through mouthfuls of her fur. He suspects he may have to get used to it.
Nugget refuses to move after that, seemingly intent on bestowing slobbery kisses on both of their faces. Keith is grumpy about the interruption in their make-out time, but cheers up when Lance tells him they'll have plenty of time for more of that.
-
When they finally extricate themselves from Nugget, they leave the Red Lion to find the others playing a game of cards. Without looking up, Shiro calls, "Hope you got those bruises nice and taken care of, boys!"
Keith narrows his eyes.
"Yeah, you sure did take your time getting 'em thoroughly pasted up!" Hunk adds, far too innocently. Two seconds later he's throwing his hands up dramatically as Pidge takes all his cards. Lance considers that karma's way of biting him in the ass.
"Keep talkin' and you'll be gettin' some bruises to paste up," Lance threatens good-naturedly, far too delirious with happiness to be actually annoyed. Hunk grins broadly.
"Damn," mutters Keith, "I love when you talk like that."
And, oh. He hadn't even considered that they can flirt publicly now. They're boyfriends. Lance grabs Keith's hand and holds onto it as they sit down.
Krolia, budging up to make room for them, places a hand lightly on Keith's upper arm. They exchange a glance. She smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners, and nods approvingly. Then she reaches out to pat Lance's knee.
Lance isn't sure, but he thinks he maybe just aced the whole meeting the boyfriend's parent thing.
Speaking of the boyfriend thing. Keith clears his throat. "So anyway," he says to everyone, tipping his chin up, "Lance is my boyfriend now."
Shiro, who Lance thinks has just won the round of cards, looks unsurprised but proud. "Congrats, guys.”
Allura, passing by, squeezes their shoulders. “I’m so very happy for you both.”
"Oh, were you not already together? I assumed you were!" gasps Romelle.
"Don't worry about it," Pidge assures her. "There's no heterosexual explanation for those two. We've all been waiting for this."
There's loud agreement all round. Turns out the only person Lance managed to conceal his crush from was Keith.
He also discovers there's been an illicit betting ring going 'round for how long it'd take him and Keith to get together. Lance claims all the cash they bet because he's dating Keith and is therefore undisputedly the winner. He'll use it to buy Nugget something pretty.
And that's how they come out to the team: easily and casually, like the most natural thing in the world.
The Kytonians sing them love songs over dinner.
-
Later, much later, Lance gets the opportunity to ask the one thing he's been wondering this entire time.
Everyone else is asleep, but Lance and Keith are still awake and whispering softly to each other. They're curled together, elated by their new intimacy, and Lance (who has discovered Keith is very susceptible to bribes via kissing) is industriously braiding strands of his boyfriend’s hair. Every now and then, Keith kisses the inside of his wrist. Nugget watches over them sleepily.
"So, I have a question," says Lance.
Keith turns heavy-lidded eyes on him. "Ask away."
"I dunno how to put this, but like... was Nugget trained to set us up or something?" Keith only splutters, so Lance soldiers on. "I mean! She dragged my sleeping bag over to yours, right? And she kept leading me to you. And she zapped us into the Red Lion together. That's not normal wolf behaviour, right?"
Keith looks suddenly shifty. "I swear that wasn't my fault! I didn't train her to do it."
Lance kisses the furrow of his boyfriend's brow. "I'm sensing there is a story here, though."
"You're right. There is. I just don't know how you'll react." Keith's chewing his lip, so Lance kisses that too. Nobody could possibly blame him for the fact that he gets distracted with that for a couple of minutes.
When he comes up for air, Lance strokes his thumb over the slant of Keith's jaw. "If you're not ready to tell me, that's okay, you know?"
Keith seems to consider. "I am. I do want you to know. Just... I hope it doesn't freak you out, that's all."
"Dude, after everything space has thrown at us, I'd like to think I'm tough to freak out these days. Lay it on me," Lance encourages.
"You freak out all the time," Keith points out fondly.
"Only over dumb things! I am a dramatic soul and you must allow me my flair. Now tell me the thing."
Keith exchanges a glance with Nugget, who does not appear to be following the conversation but does deign to tilt her head inquisitively at him. "Alright," Keith says, and sucks in a deep breath. "So... you know how Krolia and I spent time in the Quantum Abyss, right? And time was a little funky there?"
Lance nods. "Uh-huh. You came back two years older. I recall."
"And grizzled. Don't forget grizzled."
"Shut it. Continue."
"Well, uh... when we were in there, we kind of... saw visions? Like... it showed us stuff from our lives. I can't explain it. Time was all wobbly and weird." Keith hesitates. "It showed me my dad. And... how he met Krolia."
Lance's breath leaves him in a quiet gasp. "Keith..." he murmurs, pressing their foreheads together.
Keith breathes with him for a few seconds, eyes closed. "Yeah. It was... indescribable." His eyes flutter open. "And that wasn't all. It showed us more than just the past. There was some future stuff, too. Just flashes. Really brief, and most of them weren't enough to make sense of, but..."
A vague suspicion is starting to form in Lance's mind. "But?" he prompts, soft and encouraging.
"But there was this one vision. A little clearer than the others. And it was... me and you. Together. Romantically. Like, really romantically."
"Us?" whispers Lance. "I promise I'm not freaking out, but that's - wow." It's a lot to get to grips with. His mind whirls.
"Yeah. I mean, I'd always known I liked you so it's not like it was a shock for me that we could be together but I just - I never thought... I didn't think you'd feel that way for me. And to see that, to watch myself kiss you and run my fingers through your hair, and to watch how happy we made each other - it was so much to process. I wasn't even totally sure I believed it at first. But - one of the other visions I had, it was of Sh-Shiro and the fight and after that really did happen, I - well, once I had some time to think, that was when I knew the vision of me and you had to be true, too and..." He's talking in a rush, eyes a little wild. "And I knew we'd... we had a chance to be together."
Lance is still struggling with the getting-to-grips-with-this thing. He’s trying his best, he really is. “So, the Quantum Abyss mouthed off about my crush on you? Dude. I told it that in confidence!” he jokes, already knowing it’s going to fall flat.
Sure enough, Keith only furrows his brow. “Lance,” he says imploringly.
Right. Not the time for jokes.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I just - this is a lot to process.” He takes a deep breath, times it with Keith’s breathing. “So… you knew we could be together. And you didn't say anything because you thought it'd be too weird to hear, right? You didn't wanna be the guy telling me my future. I understand that," Lance says, reasoning it all out as he speaks, and suddenly so much makes sense. How eager Keith's been to talk to him. How different his attitude has been now that he's stopped shielding himself from his feelings.
"That, and... I didn't wanna rush anything. If it was gonna happen, I wanted us to experience it in our own time, naturally. I wanted to be certain it was what you wanted, too. So I just... tried to spend time with you instead." Keith's looking faintly nervous still. "You're not mad?"
"No, no! Not at all. Of course I’m not! Don’t get me wrong, this is a quiznacking bizarre thing to hear, but I’m not mad about it. It just feels kinda surreal. And, yeah, it’s a little strange for me to know that you knew things I didn’t. But it’s okay, man.” He tugs gently at the braid he wove into Keith’s hair. “Not to toot my own horn, but did it comfort you at all? Knowing you’d be coming home to… uh. This?”
“Of course.” Keith splays a hand over Lance’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. “There were days I felt like I’d be stuck on that whale forever. Was nice, y’know, to think one day I’d be kissing you.”
“Can’t imagine how that must’ve felt. If it were me, I’d have been aching to grab you and kiss you the second I got back. But you were willing to wait for me to come to you on my own. I just... thank you. That's... Keith, that means a lot." Lance doesn’t know how to articulate it so he says it with a lingering kiss, feeling his heartbeat steady as Keith melts into him.
"I'd have waited as long as it took," promises Keith fervently. “I had so much time to think about it while I was away. So much time to sort all my feelings about you out. And I wanted you to have as much time as you needed, too.”
"Man. What'd I do to deserve you, huh?" Lance murmurs, unable to imagine how it must’ve felt for Keith to be nostalgic for something that hadn’t even happened yet. "So... where does the Nuggster come into this?"
Keith reaches out to pet Nugget's side. She shuffles nearer, bright eyes intent on them both. "She saw the vision, too."
"I... oh. I'm only just processing that she and your mother saw the vision of us kissing. Oh. Yikes." That'd explain Krolia's utter lack of surprise when they got together.
"Uh... yeah. Sorry? Imagine how I felt; I had to live with my mom afterward, knowing she'd seen that." Keith grimaces. "But anyway... Nugget saw the vision, too. She was right there next to me. And... she saw herself in the vision with us, curled up in bed with us. She’d been burying our socks. Her nose was all dirty but you kept kissing her face anyway.”
Lance can’t help but smile at the thought. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Keith’s voice is thick. “And when the vision ended, she looked so happy. I think right then, she just accepted you as part of the family. In her mind, it was probably like 'oh, okay; there's the other part of my pack'. And she started searching for you. Like, every day. She'd hunt all over the space whale and cry when you weren't there. I kept telling her, soon. Soon. And then whenever a vision of my past cropped up and you were in it, she'd get excited all over again."
Tears are literally pricking at the back of Lance’s eyes. He was not expecting to be be smacked this hard in the feels. His voice comes out all choked. "She saw me as family right away?"
"Yeah. She loved you right away. Wanted you around us all the time. She just had, uh,” Keith pauses, chuckles, “her own methods of doing that."
"So... I was right? Your space wolf really was setting us up?"
"She really was. Weren't you, girl?" He beckons Nugget and she crawls between them, wiggling 'til she's snug. She huffs contentedly, finally right where she wants to be. Keith strokes her ears. "She was waiting for you. For us all to be together."
Lance buries his face in Nugget's fur, overwhelmed. He knows how it feels to be cut off from family - and here’s this sweet girl, who’s been waiting not-so-patiently for him to be part of hers. He feels something slot into place in his heart.
"I'm here now, baby girl," he whispers. His hand finds Keith's and holds on. "We're all here together."