Work Text:
Keith’s eyebags may be hanging lower that day but his excitement for Lance out performs his insomnia. As a result, his moves throughout training are slow and he’s pinned to the ground multiple times. It doesn’t help that he’s sparring with his mom either.
“Ugh,” he grunts as he is tackled to the floor yet again. Pain sears in his back from the numerous blows and his body yells for a break. Regularly, Keith would continue on, serving as a punishment for his imperfection earlier, but he doesn’t want to deal with Lance with an injured back.
“A little….break…please,” he manages to get out. Krolia releases her hold and gives Keith a hand up.
“A little distracted?” Krolia asks.
“You could say that,” he says as he dries himself off with a towel.
“Would Keith please report to the hangar, would Keith please report to the hangar,” the intercom repeats.
“Copy, heading there right now,” Keith answers into his watch. He turns to Krolia, “See you later.” When he gets out of Krolia’s sight, he runs down the long halls of the Blades of Marmora headquarters.
When Keith arrives at the hangar, it’s like Lance is a beacon because Keith spots him from a mile away. Five years, Keith thinks , five years since I last saw him. Lance faces away from Keith. But what if he’s changed , Keith worries. What if he’s met someone else? Keith clenches his fist.
Lance turns around to find Keith coming closer.
“KEITH!” Lance runs over and crushes Keith into a hug. Keith’s shoulders relax and soak in the touch. Everything is like it’s supposed to be , he thinks.
“Hi Lance,” Keith quietly smiles. They linger there for what others would use as evidence to theorize their relationship. But nothing is there, at least that’s what both men think.
Soon, Lance releases his arms and looks around. It’s a large hangar with multiple spacecrafts ranging from tiny supply shuttles to a three storey military carrier. The Blades of Marmora have come a long way since Lance first met them, before they had nothing but the three small spacecrafts, and now, well now they have this.
“Impressive,” Lance tells Keith.
“I guess,” Keith replies. This is normal for him, the hangar and the Blades, it’s what’s consistent in his day-to-day life, all Keith wants to do is focus on the one inconsistent thing standing right in front of him.
“Would you like to show me around?” Lance asks. Why didn’t I think of the first, Keith groans in his head. Lance has the special power to leave him without basic functioning abilities. Every single time.
“Oh yeah, sure, follow me. Are you hungry?” Keith asks.
“I’m famished!” Lance exclaims. “Let me tell you, the chef was no Hunk, so I didn’t eat anything on the way.” Keith shakes his head. “Hey! It was literally mu-”
WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP
The red lights and the siren attack Keith and Lance’s senses. Keith checks on Lance who adjusts to the alarm as ticks pass by. Weirdly, waves of nostalgia fill Lance’s eyes. Huh , Keith thinks.
“NEAREST AGENT TO THE HANGAR, PLEASE REPORT TO EMERGENCY, ” the speaker blares. Does the universe not want us to be together?
“Keith standing by,” he says into the communication device. He immediately receives the information needed on his wrist. Looks like they are going to take a little side trip. Great , Keith thinks in a positive yet concerned tone. He decisively grabs Lance’s hands, “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” Lance asks as he struggles to keep up with Keith.
“Somewhere called Narla.” Lance watches Keith unlock a ship.
“Is this your ship?” Lance questions in awe. Keith nods his head. The door opens and they walk in. Keith’s ship is lined with black walls and purple lights. In the front are a wide window and black leather pilot chairs. Lance whistles.
“Sweet ride,” he says as Keith climbs into his seat to turn on the ship. The lights around the ship brighten and Keith and Lance are lit in deep purple light.
“ WELCOME BACK KEITH ,” the ship says.
“Pidge built it for me last time she visited.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. Last time I heard that she’s working with ______.”
“ PLUGGING IN COORDINATES NOW………….LOADED. SYSTEMS READY, KEITH .”
“Thanks L,” Keith says. The front console opens up to reveal the wheel, Keith grabs on. He turns around to Lance, “are you going to sit down or stand there like a pole?”
“WHAT?! I’m not like a pole!”
“Well you're skinny like one.”
Lance sulks his way to the copilot seat and plops himself into the seat. “For your information, I’ve been eating plenty on Earth.”
“Whatever you say Lance.” They sit in comfortable silence for a while before Lance interrupts.
“We should get together again with everyone, like last time.”
“Yeah, that would be nice,” Keith says.
“And everyone should be there, including your mom and step dad,” Keith still cringes at Kolivan's title. “Allura saved the whole universe, so she should be celebrated by all.” Allura , Keith thinks, of course he hasn’t moved on. The team has moved on, so why can’t he? It’s been six years since it happened. Why can’t he recognize that I will help him?
"Keith?" Lance looks on concerned. How long was I thinking?
“No, yeah, I agree, she should be.” Lance smiles to his ears. Keith’s mind sighs, what were you thinking? You took 10 years to get over dad, so you know what it’s like. Plus, Allura made Lance happy, so I’m in debt to her, even if Lance thought she was the one. “Are you ready?”
“Sure am! Let’s go captain!”
“Captain?”
“Well I assumed you were the head of s-.”
“General,” Keith corrects.
“General of the ship?” Keith opens his mouth about to say something but Lance brings up a finger to his mouth. Light tints of red flash across Keith’s cheeks. Lance thinks for a tick, “yep, I’m right, it has no ring to it, captain.”
“Fine, I’ll go as Captain, but don’t tell anybody else. And PLEASE not Hunk.” Lance bring his right hand over his heart and twists the other behind his back,
“I promise, Captain” Keith looks unamused but underneath he’s excited for the name.
“And to set the record straight, I thought you were talking about the Blades of Mamor-”
“YOU’RE A GENERAL?!?!?”
“Mhm,” Keith smiles. Typically he would never brag about his position but riling up Lance is far better than being humble. “Announced just a week ago.”
“Congratulations Keith,” Lance hugs Keith, once again causing Keith’s face to burn. Another long hug, does this mean something?
“Ehem,” Lance immediately separates from the hug. “It’s an emergency call so we need to go now,” Keith awkwardly states. He also reprimands himself for forgetting the aim of the mission, maybe he’s not worthy of this general position. He inputs his pin into the dashboard and it quickly scans his hand before turning on the rocket boosters. Finally they lift off.
After 5 minutes, Keith commands L to jump to hyperspace. Thanks to Pidge wormholes are mostly a thing of the past, now there is HyperSpeed, it’s similar to hyperspace, but not as fast. But she specifically installed hyperspace for Keith as she knew he needed to be everywhere at times of crisis.
“We have about an hour before we get there, there’s a bed in the back if you want to take a nap,” Keith offers.
“Nah, I’m good,” Lance says.
Soon, Lance falls asleep in the copilot chair. Typical , smiles Keith. He reaches over Lance’s seat and puts on his seatbelt.
______________________________________
“APPROACHING DESTINATIO-”
“YAHHH,” Lance groans.
“Good morning,” Keith says.
Lance wipes his groggily eyes and tries to focus on the planet in front of him. A subtle pressure in his stomach captures his attention for a tick.
“Did you put the seatbelt on me?”
“Yes,” Keith shyly admits.
“So are you admitting that your piloting skills are not as good as mine?”
“No, Lance,” counters Keith. “I thought we got over this years ago.”
“NEVER! Not until you admit I’m the better pilot.”
“Fine, if this is what it takes,” Keith adjusts himself to look at Lance. “You are a better pilot.” Lance cannot keep the grin off his face. “Happy now?”
“Yes, very much so.” Keith's eyes linger on the brightened face, you're on a mission , Keith once again reprimands himself. Then he pulls the lever next to the wheel down,
“INITIATING LANDING SEQUENCE.”
Now more awake, Lance reexamines the planet as Keith lands the ship and reviews the readings of the atmosphere. Unlike most of the planets they have visited, it’s made of purplish rock with scattered orange sand patches. Ha. Sunset colors, that’s romantic, speaking of… he longingly looks at Keith. If only this mission had a different objective.
FALUMP (sound of a spaceship landing)
“You ready to go?” The question breaks Lance out of his daydream.
“Oh, um, yeah, let’s go!”
When they get outside, Lance continues to stare in awe. It’s even more beautiful up close and the purple almost matches Keith. Maybe Keith should be the king and I can be his king and he’ll rule the people here, and they are…they are….no one is here.
“Um Keith, are we in the right place?”
“Yes I’m pretty sure,” Keith checks his communication bracelet. “The signal seems to be coming from the city behind the hills,” he points.
“Okay,” Lance says. Underneath the surface, Lance’s stomach wrenches. Something seems off. Nevertheless, Lance follows Keith to the hill.
______________________
“Race you to the top!” Lance exclaims. What? Keith questions. This is a child’s game.
“We’re on a mission Lance,” he yells back.
“I can’t hear you when I’m winning!” Keith sighs and starts to sprint up the hill. In this case, the hare beats the tortoise.
“HOW?!?”
“Training,” Keith simply states.
"Pfft, that's so unfair, I've been living on a farm, nobody runs on a farm, the only thing I'm running is a tractor." Keith shrugs.
"I guess you have to come back then."
"I want to, trust me." Lance bites his tongue, is this so hard to admit? "That's one of the reasons why I came to visit you," Keith perks up. "I want to join the Blades of Marmora."
"So does that mean you are over Allura?" Keith carefully asks. Lance stares into the distance and stops blinking. It's obvious he's not looking at the town in front of them. Keith can hear him inhale a large breath.
"Yes," he shakeningly whispers. The invisible tug in Keith's heart tries to control his body to hug and sooth Lance. They did this once a millenia ago, where Keith let his heart guide his actions, but not today , Keith asserts, he might push you away again.
Instead, Keith puts his brain to use.
"I'm proud of you," Keith pats Lance on the back. The comforting words snap Lance into the present, tears crawling in his eyes.
"Thank you," he wipes his tears with his sleeve. Keith loses himself in those brown dull eyes. What did we come here for again? Keith's eyes open wide , the mission! Fuck fuck fuck, Keith disregards Lance and hastily walks off.
"Keith?" He hears Lance yell after him, but Keith keeps going to the town.
Soon appears in Keith's peripheral vision. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, we need to focus on the mission," Keith seriously states and not turning his head at all to acknowledge Lance.
"Oh, right, the mission," Lance's face drops.
_________________________________
A visitor would not describe the town as a tourist destination, though the views are phenomenal. There is a main street lined with shack-house combos and run down restaurants that serve low-quality food. Quite a romantic place indeed.
“Hello?” Lance shouts into the empty street, no response follows. It’s just like a ghost town in the wild west, there’s even a bush that runs across Keith and Lance’s feet. That’s totally normal, Lance thinks as his gut wrenching feeling flares up again. He looks up at Keith to find some sort of comfort but he’s studying the map on his communication bracelet. It makes the feeling sink deeper into Lance’s skin.
“It says the signal is coming from behind that restaurant,” Keith points to the restaurant at the end of the road with a sign in an alien language. He continues to walk while briefly glancing at his device to make sure they go in the right direction. At first, Lance stands where he is and tries to cover his gut wrenching feeling with a tablecloth. But a tablecloth is not thick, and the feeling seeps through it, settling in his stomach once again. He sighs and follows Keith toward the restaurant.
________________________________
When they get close to the restaurant, Keith and Lance can make out a faint voice calling for help. Keith nods at Lance, signalling they are going in the right direction. They make their way around the restaurant and to the back where a little shabby shack with a caved roof stands. Now the call for help is loud and clear.
“Help me! I’m trapped under this beam and no one is here,” a female voice cries for help. Keith approaches the door, ready to bust the door down. This is wrong, the whole place just seems off, Lance thinks. The voice in Lance’s head fills his body with paranoia and whittles away at his confidence in the mission. But if Keith believes there is someone under there, then Lance will always help him find them.
Keith kicks the door down and enters the shack, Lance obeys the tug in his heart and follows him in. It’s bigger than Lance thought it was when he first saw it, in fact, only half of the shack’s roof is caved in. With further investigation, Lance discovers the furniture covered in dust, and the walls too, meaning that the walls must have been exposed to the outside for a long time, meaning tha-
“No one is here,” Keith interrupts and directs Lance’s attention to the fallen beam. Keith holds up a recording device, similar to a walkman, replaying the same help message. “Lance something is wro-” A deafening noise rings in Keith and Lance’s ears.
“WHAT’S THAT?” Lance yells through the noise.
“IT’S MY SPACESHIP TAKING OFF,” Keith yells back
“WHAT?”
“IT’S MY SPACESHIP TAKING OFF!”
“WHAT?”
“Oh nevermind.”
When the ringing leaves Lance’s ears, he finally comprehends what Keith was saying.
“YOU LEFT YOUR SPACESHIP UNLOCKED??!?!” Lance angrily yells at Keith.
“I WAS DISTRACTED!”
“BY WHAT?”
“YOU!” The tense look drains from Lance’s face, instead sadness replaces it.
“Look, that’s not what I meant,” Keith says in an attempt to comfort Lance.
“Okay,” Lance mutters.
PHEWWWWWWWWW……..BOOOOOOOOOOOM
A large something crashes into the shack causing dirt from the unstable roof to fall through the cracks and down onto Keith and Lance’s head. The gut wrenching feeling comes back but tenfold. What’s going on around here, Lance panics.
“Uh, Keith, what’s happening?” Keith doesn’t say a word, he mindlessly searches through the information on his communications device until something useful pops up.
“It looks like Narla’s moon fell out of orbit and is now crashing into Narla. We have anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour before the planet is destroyed.” The pit of anxiety rises into Lance’s throat. It’s all my fault, Lance thinks. It’s all my fault because Keith got distracted and now we’re stuck on a dying planet. It’s all my fault because I should have made us turn back. It’s all my fault because I should have never visited the Blades of Marmora. It’s all my fault because I missed Keith. And it’s all my fault that Allura died. While Lance spirals even more, he doesn’t notice Keith typing on his bracelet and then patting his back.
“Hey,” Keith says, Lance turns to look at Keith. “I assure you, we will get out of this. I just sent out an alert to the whole galaxy, we’ll be alright.” Then Keith guides them out of the shack and back to the front of the restaurant. It doesn’t help the pit of anxiety rise in Lance’s throat, after all Keith was wrong about the person in the shack, and they rode in Keith’s lightning speed ship, which took an hour to get here, so who knows if anyone is going to save him.
Even so, a flame of hope burns through his body. If Keith believes they will survive, then they will survive.
With that flame and wanting to prove himself useful after blaming himself for all the occurring events, Lance suggests that they build a spaceship with the materials of the shacks nearby.
“It’s no use Lance, we'll be dead by the time it starts,” Keith objects.
“But….but…we need to get home.”
“Lance,” he holds Lance by the arms, “I’ve alerted everybody out there, if anyone sees it, they will come to rescue us. We can’t do anything to get off this planet in time, so the smartest thing to do is sit on top of the hill and try to survive as long as we can, then we might have a chance, okay?” Lance takes a deep breath,
“Okay.”
Now in survival mode, at least ‘till they get to the mountain, Keith forgets Lance’s feelings and begins his trek back to the hill. When he reaches the middle of the road his mind pesters him with a feeling of neglect. He groans. Lance. I left Lance behind. He turns around to see Lance frozen in place still next to the restaurant. Shit.
Keith rushes over to Lance. He initially wants to grab Lance’s hand and drag him to the hill, but the last time he showed this type of affection, Lance pulled away. So, he decides to grip Lance’s shoulders and look him straight in the eyes.
“Lance, we need to go,” he stresses. Lance shakes his head in agreement but his eyes remain unfocused and his mind remains in another place. With Keith’s help, Lance mindlessly walks towards the hill.
The walk is quiet. No one talks.
All Keith can direct his attention to is getting them to safety. It’s hard to guide Lance and comfort him at the same time as Lance bears a face of many emotions, fear and sadness being among them. But waiting on the hill is much better than being showered with rocks, so Keith trudges on.
At the top of the hill there are two rocks not even five feet apart from each other. Almost positioned like this was all planned.
When they sit down, Lance focuses on the ground and scratches his neck. He watched TV shows where the characters faced the end and confessed everything. There are so many things he wants to tell Keith but so little time and on his Lance’s behalf, not enough courage. This would have been easier if he could come up with a plan, but nothing comes to Lance’s brain. If it wasn’t for this world-ending event, he would never tell Keith because it would make it weird between the two of them and Lance needs Keith’s presence in his life. Then Lance remembers that in most of these shows, despite the characters almost dying, they survive. The flame of hope stirred in his heart earlier burns dimmer but it’s still there, he has a feeling someone can save him from confessing and this beautiful awful planet.
Meanwhile, Keith sits in the awkward silence picking the skin around his fingers. They got to the hill, so now what? The wheels in his brain churn to find a solution to Narla’s destruction and a way to break this awkward silence. It’s not possible to stop the collision, Keith’s brain concludes. So he turns his attention to Lance. Keith commands his brain to think and a part of him frowns, it was so easy to talk to Lance before, why is it so hard now?
The time and space you spent separated, his other part of his mind reminds him. That’s what I should talk about! Keith practically smacks his head, it’s a question one would always ask when being a part for a long time.
“How’s Earth?” Keith calmly asks.
“Oh you know, same old, same old. For now, it’s slowly recovering from the Galra attacks so that’s good I guess. I’ve been giving advice to the Garrison about how to improve its defense systems and training.” Keith nods and doesn’t say anything because knowing Lance he has more to say. “Everybody in the family helps out with the farm, even Veronica and Acxa when they come back from their missions on the Atlas.”
“Wait, Acxa helps out on the farm? But I thought you two weren’t on the best of terms?”
“It’s only because of Veronica.” Keith still looks confused. “….Acxa is Veronica’s girlfriend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they work on the bridge together, they’ve been together for like 2 years now.”
“Wow. Good for them. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Acxa.”
“When’s the last time you saw her?”
“When she saved me from Narti, she then asked me out. So I’m glad she m-“
“SHE ASKED YOU OUT????”
“I said no. She’s more of a sister to me. And plus, I’m gay.” Lance replies with widened eyes. He always hoped that Keith would be, you know, fruity, but hearing it come from his mouth makes everything real. Maybe Lance has a chance with Keit- Lance gasps as a huge piece of debris collides with Narla, causing the planet to violently shake. Anxiousness starts seeping into Lance’s brain. Nobody is going to make it, nobody is going to make it , he repeats in his head. He won’t have the rest of his lifetime to spend with Keith, the time he fantasized about ever since he met him on that fateful day. Why did he have to stay on Earth? Why couldn’t he just confess? Why did he date Allura when he knew Keith was the one? Wh-
“Are you okay Lance?” Keith gently takes hold of Lance’s shaking hand and rubs it. He looks on with worrying eyes. Lance’s eyes flick up to hold contact with Keith. They search for something that can be found in Keith’s eyes but he concludes it is a façade, after all, they are about to die.
He glances at the dirt. They are about to die , Lance reminds himself. He might as well, even if Keith doesn’t reciprocate his feelings.
“You know Keith, the only reason I came to visit was because of you,” Lance whispers. Keith arches his eyebrows, of course he would be visiting the Blades of Marmora for him, he doesn’t know anybody else.
Despite this, Keith says nothing, he just keeps stroking Lance’s hand. This gives Lance the courage to continue.
“I would have kept farming ’til the day I died if it wasn’t for you. But I kept remembering all of the fun times we had together, I,” Lance pauses, he questions himself, should he really be saying this?
Fuck it.
“I just really missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Keith immediately responds in a reassuring tone, making Lance look up. At least he’ll reciprocate that feeling, Lance thinks. He observes Keith with a sad smile.
Keith’s eyebrows crease as he takes in Lance’s state. His heart calls for him to crush Lance into a comforting hug but his mind screams at him to stop , it’s not what Lance wants , Keith convinces himself, he will push you away and you’re about to die, don’t do it. You don’t want to die alone.
Scared by his own thoughts, he decides that any physical contact with Lance will push him away. He then does the next to the dumbest thing, he releases his grip on Lance’s hands, leaving Lance startled by the lack of warmth. Lance opens his mouth as he’s about to protest, but rocks wait for no one. A shower of small pieces of debris, along with large, heavy rocks collide with the planet.
PLUNK
PLUNK
PLUNK
As a result, Keith and Lance are thrown 4 ft into the air.
They both fall awkwardly on their faces
Keith frantically runs over to Lance, “Are you okay?”
“Keith finally cares about me?” Lance tries to joke in the face of danger.
“Lance, I’m being serious.” Lance’s face drops. After that emotional chat, at least for Lance, he desperately wants to bring back the banter and forget the prowling apocalypse. Yet, he slightly smiles knowing that Keith cares about him, even after all these years.
“Yeah, I’m all good.” Lance answers. He can feel the eyes of Keith watching him as he picks himself up and wipes off the excess dust.
“A little help would’ve been nice,” Lance chuckles. It’s hard to notice in the purple light, but Lance somehow manages to see Keith blush a little. Maybe he has a chance.
Unbeknownst to Lance, Keith can’t help his face every time he hears that chuckle. He loves to see Lance enjoying life, even in the face of danger. In fact, it’s one of the driving life forces in his life and… and…and that life is about to come to an end. Keith snaps back into reality and the sound of collisions assaults his ears. He soon realizes that he must have taken too long to respond because Lance has a hand on his hip waiting for his remark. This makes Keith blush even more.
“I..I…I’m sorry,” Keith stammers. Lance smirks. He knows he is the only one, besides Shiro sometimes, that can leave Keith tongue-tied.
“Cat got your tongue?” Lance says as he continues his assault.
PHEWWWWWWWWW
Keith doesn’t have enough time to respond. He catches a glimpse of debris heading for Lance, he quickly takes out his shield, dives for Lance, and they both take cover.
Their chests rise against each other’s as the adrenaline slowly dries out. When Keith opens his eyes, he finds Lance’s face millimeters from his own and registers that his body is on top of Lance’s. They always managed to find themselves in this position but never in the way Keith imagined. Dirty images flood Keith’s brain.
Lance immediately notices the extra body laying on top of him. Reluctantly, he opens his eyes to see Keith staring at him, with, wait, is that lust in his eyes? Lance thinks. Does Keith see me in the same way? He clears his throat and the expression of lust on Keith’s face disappears. Maybe not.
With his head back in reality, Keith expertly scrambles off of Lance while still holding the shield above their heads. He ends up sitting down in front of Lance. Lance then picks himself up from the ground and faces Keith.
“Thanks,” Lance says in a disappointing tone. Keith can’t help but think about what he could be disappointed about. Perhaps me…on top of him? Keith wonders. Pft, he loves Allura, he wouldn’t want me in that way.
“You know what’s really funny?” Lance asks, interrupting Keith’s thoughts. He looks around at all the loose bits of the moon blasting into the side of Narla. He laughs like someone who can’t handle stress.
“What?” Keith worryingly replies.
Silence surrounds them as another humongous rock blasts into the side of Narla. But they are prepared this time and stay right where they are.
“What is it?” Keith asks for a second time.
“While I was reflecting on all those years on the farm, I realized I only pretended to love Allura.”
“I…I..” Keith searches for something to say. He pretended? But the lo- pretended? Keith can’t help but question more, he reviews all of Lance’s interactions with Allura like a professional athlete. But his endless pursuit of her and those looks that he gave her and the special dates and…and…and…
“Why?” Keith croaks. There is a long pause before Lance opens his mouth.
“…..I couldn’t,” Lance pauses. Should he be doing this?
Remember, fuck it. He tells himself. Lance takes a deep breath before continuing on, “….I couldn’t accept my feelings for you.”
“You liked me?” Keith quietly blurts out. Out of all the things he could say, he didn’t expect that to come from Lance’s mouth. Maybe, just maybe there is a chance they could get together.
“No.” Keith lowers his head, maybe it’s not going to work out . “I loved you and I still do.”
“I-“ Keith’s mind begins to swarm. After all these years of stolen glances, dreams, teasing, and non-stop thinking about Lance, his waiting has finally been worth it. He will no longer be alone. Lance loves him.
He looks up to find Lance’s sad longing stare. Keith smiles. Lance blushes and looks away as he scratches his neck. Is he still oblivious to Keith’s pining?
“I’m sorry if that’s weird, but we’re sort of at the end of the w-” Keith smashes his lips into Lance’s for a sloppy quick kiss. Lance gasps as he feels every ounce of love and desperation and longing from Keith. Every moment he has spent with Keith flashes across his closed eyes, but now in a new light. He never imagined that Keith could like him too.
When Keith pulls away from the kiss, he catches Lance’s eyes that scream “wow,” before Lance caresses Keith’s head and brings their lips together again. This time the kiss is neater and gentle, yet a hint of desperation hides behind it. They feel as if they are floating on clouds, getting higher and higher as the kiss continues. But in the back of their minds, their looming doom haunts them. So Keith memorizes all the creases of Lance’s full lips while Lance commits to memory Keith’s thin chapped lips. Nevertheless, they revel in each other’s presence.
I’m not lonely , Keith thinks. I finally have the man of my dreams . He smiles into the kiss thinking about their interactions beforehand, of course, Lance was still oblivious as ever.
When they part, both men are breathless. Keith lays his forehead on Lance’s and looks deep into his eyes. He needs to tell him something as well.
“I love you too,” Keith whispers.
“Really?” Lance chuckles. Keith leans back to roll his eyes.
“Yes, I’ve been dropping hints all these years but it never got through your thick skull.” He lightly taps the side of Lance’s head to further prove his point. “See? Thick skull.”
Lance can’t help but laugh and appreciate the other side of Keith. It’s the first side he fell in love with and he knows will never stop loving. Lance gives him a peck on the cheek, “didn’t stop you though,” He winks.
BOOM
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
A piece of the moon the size of a living room slams into the horizon, waves of rock explode from the impact and arrive at the feet of Keith and Lance. Lance scrambles to find the comfort of Keith’s hand. Keith squeezes his hand. If they sat two feet down the hill, then they would have been covered in the rockfall.
The end is getting nearer , Lance thinks, time to get it ALL out.
“So why did you never visit me on Earth?” Lance hesitantly asks. Keith takes a tick to respond.
“I guess it was for a selfish reason. If I had visited, it would remind me I couldn’t be with you.”
“That’s a valid reason,” Lance half laughs. Another living room-sized rock crashes into the town behind the pair. Once again they narrowly avoid the catastrophe that lies ahead of them. Both men gulp at the thought of the end.
“I’m just glad that you’re here right now,” Lance says.
“On a planet on the edge of extinction?” Keith sarcastically asks.
“You know what I mean,” Lance rolls his eyes.
Keith looks back at the horizon. The romantic colors tease him as rocks crash down and at any moment a large one could end it all. He didn’t think it would be like this.
“Me too. I always imagined us facing death together, I never thought it would be a reality,” Keith says.
“That’s sweet babe, but you imagined us being the only people on a planet facing an apocalypse?!” Lance exclaims in an attempt to keep the conversation light. Keith rolls his eyes again but keeps the sad smile on his face.
“No,” he replies, “I imagined us riding in our spaceship and watching a nebula as we passed at the same time.”
“Are you getting sentimental on me Red?” Lance quips with a smile on his face. Keith looks as though he might growl at Lance, but his love prevents him from lashing out at him. He knows there is no time to argue.
“OUR spaceship?!” Lance continues to question Keith with the intent to squeeze all of the last bits of sentimental Keith for his entertainment.
“Yes," Keith groans.
“You’re such a dork,” Lance teases. Keith’s face lights up, the many times Lance has called him a dork before was always in the context of dumbness, but this time it was in sweetness.
“I’m your dork,” Keith smirks.
CRAAAAAAAAAAACK!
The loud noise causes the couple to look up through the shield. Through the green tint, they can make out a piece of the moon the size of the empire state building coming towards Narla. Their chests tighten, grip tightens, and eyes widen. Keith peels his eyes off the rock first and looks to Lance. Lance’s chest quickly rises and falls, and Keith can hear him gasping for air.
“Hey,” Keith cups his face. Lance desperately leans into the touch. “You’re okay.” Lance gulps and nods his head. “You’re okay,” Keith repeats. This episode of emotions reminds him of the nightmares that have kept him up ever since he was little. He always wished someone could be there for him when he would awake screaming in the darkness, he’s glad he can provide that comfort now.
They stare into each others’ eyes as Lance’s breaths slow down. Lance brings his hand to cover Keith’s hand on his cheek, “thank you,” he whispers.
"Always," Keith says and kisses Lance's forehead.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM
Keith instinctively moves his hands to cover Lance's ears. Years and years of living together has taught Keith a few things and plus, his love WILL not go deaf before the end.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
He drops his hands and turns to survey the damage. It's almost like the water planet in Interstellar, but instead of an ocean it's a sea of rocks. And it's heading straight towards them.
This is it, Keith thinks. He takes a deep breath and looks up to the sky. The stars twinkle as they watch the apocalypse in their front row seats. If there is anybody else out there, he begs, please help .
In the far distance Keith can make out a moving object. He scrambles to point his communication device at the object. C'mon identify it alread y, he urges the bracelet, we don't have a lot of time . Right on cue the device beeps and a report is shown. Keith's eyes land on the text in bold: ASTEROID
SHIT , Keith thinks. Before, all would magically solve itself, but now, well now is a different time.
"It doesn't seem like anyone is coming to save us," Keith loudly whispers. When he hears nothing in return he automatically thinks Lance is having another fit. But what he finds brings butterflies to his stomach.
Lance sits there with dilated pupils gently staring at Keith. He smiles when Keith makes eye contact with him. The motion alone blocks the end of the world from Keith's mind. He loves me, Keith reminds himself because a part of him still can't believe it's true. He truly loves me.
He dives in for another kiss. It's a short and sweet chaste kiss but it's enough for Keith to return the favor of love.
Afterwards, they linger on each other's lips.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
All of this comfort in the middle of stress reminds Lance of the night he slept in Keith’s bed and Keith soothed his nightmares away. Terrified of his feelings, Lance left the bed before Keith ever woke up, abandoning him in those cold lonely sheets.
"I'm sorry," Lance whispers in an apologetic tone.
Keith's brain tells him to pull back and question him but his heart tells him to stay right where he is.
This time, Keith listens to his heart.
"I forgive you," Keith answers. Confusion takes over Lance's sorry eyes.
"But you don't even know what I'm sor-"
"It doesn't matter, I still love you." The effects in Lance's eyes are clear and quick as relief floods through them.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
Keith’s breath hitches from the dust infiltrating his lungs. The dust pierces the sides and decides to settle at the bottom. It’s like his lungs are an hourglass, and there is only so much time ‘till the bottom is full with sand. Naturally, his body triggers him to hack. But it doesn’t do him much good.
In front of him, Lance is struggling just as much. He’s hacking up as much dust as he can, but nothing comes out, only more goes in.
The dust also attacks their eyes causing them to blink a mile a minute. But nothing can stop the stinging and they resort to using their dusty hands to wipe it off.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
The dust storm from the rocks is as thick as a milkshake and more sand fills their lungs. Many thoughts swarm through Keith’s brain but the one that is the clearest is the thought of getting to Lance.
“Lance!” Keith gasps through the dust storm. More dust spilling into his lungs.
A tick goes by.
No response. He better not be playing a trick on me, Keith thinks.
“Lance!” Keith yells. He can feel the dust almost to his throat. Stop playing around Lance.
Another tick goes by.
No response again. Chills run down his spine at the realization that Lance might be dead. Without thinking of the consequences for himself, Keith desperately screams for Lance as he swarts the dust in front of him. The strategic side of his brain yells at him for giving up his only oxygen and using energy to move his arms, but his heart is set on finding Lance and he will do that whether he is dead or alive.
A loud struggling gasp for air comes from in front of him. Lance!
Keith practically lunges at Lance. He wraps his arm around him and squeezes him tight. Lance reciprocates the action to a lesser degree. The light hug makes Keith’s eyebrows quiver, he doesn’t have lo-, don’t say it! He yells at himself as the adrenaline cannot help Keith from freezing. To recenter himself, Keith thinks of a happy memory with Lance, which results in him running his hands across Lance’s face and finding his lips. Those beautiful lips… Keith desperately smushes his lips against Lance’s. It doesn’t matter if it’s neat or messy, he just needs Lance. And apparently, Lance thinks the same as he uses his last bits of energy to kiss him back.
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
RUMBLE
Despite the dust storm suffocating the air out of the sky, Keith and Lance’s mouths busy themselves with kissing. They both know nothing will save them. They both know that gasping for air won’t help them. And they both know that the last feeling they want is their lips on each other's.
PHEWWWWWWWWWWWW…..BUMP
A rock smashes into the side of Keith’s head. FUCK. He clings onto Lance’s arm, digging in deep to hold on. Through his closed eyelids, patterns that belong in a kaleidoscope circle his brain and his visions darken by the moment.
Yet, calmness surges through his body as he can still feel Lance's lips on his. This is not how he wanted to go but he's glad to go with Lance. His former 'enemy' and the love of his life. The blue to his red.
"I love you Lance," he mumbles into the kiss as he uses his last breath of air. His heart cries and pounds for oxygen, his lungs heavy with dust, his arms want to give out, and his lips threaten to pull away, but through it all, he can feel Lance smile.
"I love you too Keith."
And that's when their hourglass runs out of time.