Chapter Text
Lance was officially done. For the past three hours he’d been trying to get some decent sleep, and all he’d managed to do was wake himself up even more. He’d flipped his pillows, changed his pajamas, counted sheep, told himself a dozen bedtime stories he remembered from growing up, he’d even tried sleeping with his head at the foot of the bed and his feet at the head. And still, sleep cruelly eluded him. With a frustrated groan, he sat up and kicked off his sheets. If he was going to be awake, at the very least he could get some food.
The hallways were dim, only lit with some small lights near the ground that glowed the bluish-white light that seemed native to Altean technology. Lance mindlessly traced a hand over the cool wall as he padded quietly through the Castle halls toward the kitchen. Upon getting there, he paused, seeing he wasn’t the only one still up. Sitting with his back and head leaned against the wall was Keith. Lance’s stomach dipped for a minute, and he thought about trying to slip back out, but even as he thought it he found himself continuing forward. Keith’s eyes slitted open as he drew closer and if Lance’s pulse sped up a bit at the sight of those pretty grey eyes on him, well, that only his business.
You see, Lance had had a crush on Keith ever since the Garrison. The first time he’d ever seen Keith fly in a simulation, all cool confidence and wicked reflexes, he’d been drawn in. A few classes spent studying the mullet instead of his grades and he’d been hooked. After asking around a bit, and maybe some mild Google stalking and Lance had been forced to admit to himself that he was crushing. After that, and maybe some of Hunk’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, he’d done all he could to gain Keith’s attention. But no matter how many times he joked in class or tried to outdo him in the simulations, he could never even get Keith to glance at him.
Then Keith had gotten kicked out of the Garrison and disappeared. Lance had tried to find out if he had any family, even another address, but Keith vanished off the map. Until that night, when Shiro had returned and their space adventure had begun. Lance had tried to forget his pointless, stupid crush and focus on becoming teammates with Keith, focus on being the best paladin he could be, but there was just something about that stupid mullet that made him want to touch it, see if it was as soft as it looked, see how Keith would react if he pulled on it, if he’d moan or-
“Lance? Why are you just standing there?” Keith mumbled in a rough, tired voice. Lance jolted out of his thoughts, even as his mouth reacted automatically.
“Because I’m trying to decide if poking you to make sure you’re still alive would result in you using your knife to chop off my finger or not,” Lance blurted out, hoping desperately that the kitchen was dark enough to hide his blush. Either it was or Keith was too tired to notice, because all he did was mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “Don’t be ridiculous” and scooted over so Lance could sit next to him. Lance carefully settled on the floor then glanced over at Keith. His eyes were open, but for possibly the first time since Lance had ever known him, they weren’t on high alert, taking in every detail the room had to offer. Instead, they were half open and staring aimlessly at the doorway. He had heavy bags beneath them and generally looked like he was only barely alive.
“Keith? Uh, when was the last time you slept?”
Keith seemed to think about this for a minute, then shrugged, his shoulder brushing Lance’s as he did so. “Dunno.”
Ignoring the lovely tingle he felt from the brief contact, Lance raised his eyebrows and scooted around so he was looking at Keith’s profile. From this angle, he could see how long Keith’s eyelashes were, how his long bangs brushed his eyelids lightly. He gripped his knees to keep from combing them back, and to refocus himself.
“You don’t know? You realize that, like, really bad Keith? And that the human body kinda needs sleep? To survive and stuff? Hello, are you even listening Keith?”
Keith tilted his head toward Lance, but still kept it leaned against the wall, as though he lacked the energy to hold it up by himself. His eyes were fully opened for the first time since Lance had come in and they were locked onto Lance’s. There was a strange look in his eyes, his pupils blown wide and dark, and the way he was looking at Lance was causing more than a couple butterflies to flutter around in his stomach. Honestly, it was more like a stampede was having a rave in there. He nervously licked his lips and could have sworn he saw Keith’s eyes follow the movement, but before he could be sure, Keith blinked and looked down, his gaze resting on Lance’s hands. One of Keith’s fingers lightly traced over Lance’s tightly clenched hands, causing it to tighten even further over his knee, the knuckles standing out white and sharp.
“Why are you gripping your knees so hard?” Keith whispered, his voice raspy and low and making Lance want to kiss him more than he remembered wanting anything. Keith’s finger continued to trace his hand without looking at him, making his breaths stutter and and his voice desert him. He wanted those fingers all over him, in his hair, down his back, buried inside him, making him moan and scream and whimper, wanted to trace his own fingers all over Keith too, in that gorgeous black hair, over his beautiful face, all over that toned body hidden beneath those infuriatingly tight clothes.
“Are you going to answer me?” Keith asked, and Lance knew he heard some amusement buried in those words.
“Uh, I’m cold. PJs are kinda think, Alteans must run warmer than humans. And, uh, no pockets.” Lance blurted in typical-Lance fashion, proud of how his voice hardly shook at all despite his thoughts and Keith’s proximity.
Then Keith seemed to decide that tonight was a good night to kill him.
He moved his hand up, the leather of his stupidly sexy gloves gliding over Lance’s skin smoothly. He gripped Lance’s hand tightly and twisted his body around so they were face-to-face, their knees barely not touching. Keith’s free hand grabbed Lance’s and he brought them together so he could rub them both at the same time. Lance’s cheeks turned pink, and he might have let out a squeak of surprise before going limp under Keith’s ministrations. He hadn’t been lying about being cold, and Keith’s hands were so warm.
“You’re freezing,” Keith muttered, continuing to rub his hands soothingly.
“And you’re hot.” Lance shot back, then realizing the double meaning of his words, turned cherry red. Keith didn’t seem to notice though, and shrugged. He yawned, showing off almost unnaturally pearly white teeth.
“Yeah, I’ve always run warm. Maybe it’s a Galra thing.”
“Maybe….” Lance sighed as his eyes slipped shut. This felt so damn good. So relaxing and warm and soothing. Another sigh escaped him and he leaned forward a bit unconsciously as the soothing heat and sensation relaxed him. Lance felt something soft brush his forehead and fluttered his eyes open to see Keith’s face, just inches from his own. Their eyes locked on each other’s and Keith leaned a tiny bit more forward to lean his forehead against Lance’s. A small smile appeared on Keith’s lips and Lance could have melted at how adorable it made him look.
“Keith? Wh-what are we doing?” Lance whispered hesitantly, terrified to break the spell that had fallen over them, but also so confused. Keith hummed for a minute without looking at him.
“You know, I’ve decided something,” he said quietly, but still holding onto Lance’s hands and smiling at him so softly it hurt.
“What? What’d you decide?”
“This is a dream Lance. I’m sleeping, finally, and dreaming. Because I remember, I was hoping to see you, hoping you’d come down….and then you did. It was like magic, you just came when I needed you to. And that could only happen in a dream.”