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Chapter Text

So Keith had come back from his final mission with the Blades. His last mission had been to extract an agent from a bad situation and while Kolivan had told him the name of said agent and shown a picture, it wasn’t until Keith was face to face with Krolia did he realize exactly who she was.

Admittedly, they were also trying to fight for their lives so, he was using that as the excuse for not connecting the dots. He had a hard time with facial recognition, lay off.

But now he was back, with his mom. And after filling Kolivan in on what happened, Voltron was now on their way to see what was going on with this Altean Colony that was rumored to exist. Needless to say, Lance was stressed. He had just recently been … promoted? Appointed? Chosen? He was Black Paladin, now. Head Honcho. Top Dog. Big Wolf on Campus. And it wasn’t all what it was cracked up to be. Everyone was starting to listen to him, realizing that he wasn’t just a Goofball. It helped having Keith back him up, even if Shiro…

The less he thought about Shiro the better his health, let’s leave it at that.

So, yeah. Sure. Keith and his mom were… not really talking, but they were acknowledging each other’s presence. Krolia seemed to be under the impression that just showing up with an awkward smile and a “sorry, son. I stepped out for a mission nineteen years ago and got caught up in an intergalactic war-sized traffic accident but I’m back” would make it okay. It didn’t.
Keith was wary, and would actively avoid being alone with her for any period of time, going so far as to just abruptly turn around and leave a room if she was the only one in there. Krolia had gone under the assumption that since Lance was Black Paladin that she could go to him for guidance, and… Lance just told her to give him space. (no pun intended)

So he was having to deal with that. He had to deal with talking with Allura when he could pull her away from making goo-goo eyes at Lotor. And he had to deal with Shiro giving not-so-subtle glares at him from dark corners of the room like some kind of 80’s villain. He had to also deal with Hunk and Pidge causing their usual amount of chaos, and while Coran was ecstatic that Lance had become the Black Paladin (and Lance admits fully that the older Altean was helpful in relieving a lot of stress, as his door was always open to sit down and vent), there was one person who… wasn’t helping.

Now, Keith wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was supportive. A good right-hand guy. He was always there, especially when Shiro opened his mouth to try and poke holes in Lance’s logic (admittedly, there were a few times he overlooked things, but Shiro was always so nasty about it… what was his deal these days?). But he was also… Keith.
Smart, strong, supportive, stunning Keith.

Yeah, Lance had a crush on Keith. He’s pretty sure everyone on the Castle would know if they all weren’t so engrossed in their own nonsense. Coran was the only one, as Lance had confided in him one night when he was feeling particularly insomniatic and the confession had slipped out mid-ramble.

Keith was smiling at him. And laughing. And was enjoying being around him. And Lance’s poor bi heart couldn’t take it.

So it was all these things rolled into one colossal ball of Stress that caused it. He had been pacing down the hall, running his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself down, ease his heart and mind, and Keith had rounded the corner, jumping when he saw him. “Lance? Are- are you okay?”

Lance turned, eyes wide as his heart skipped. “Keith!” he cleared his throat, trying to ignore how his voice cracked. “Uh, I mean. Keith. Hi, you… uh, what- what are you doing here?” He saw Keith avert his eyes, shoulders hunching up to his ears. “Krolia?” Lance guessed. The shorter boy nodded.
“I went to go get something from the fridge and she was in the kitchen.” was all he got. Before Lance could latch onto it and run from his own problems, Keith threw down his Reverse card. “What about you? Are you okay?”

Dammit.

“Oh, psh, yeah. I’m… I’m good. Awesome. Great! Fantastic!” Lance was laying it on too thick, and knew he was busted when Keith raised an unimpressed eye. “Okay, I’m… just stressing myself out over nothing.”

“If it’s winding you up this much, it’s not nothing.” Keith stepped closer, which was not what Lance needed. “You- you know, you can like… talk to me? I’m not the best at that kind of thing, but,” the dark haired boy made a vague motion with his arms and hands, gesturing to himself towards the end. “Eh?” he looked adorably uncertain if what he just mimed made any sense, and Lance wanted to laugh.

Instead the Ball of Stress tipped and started rolling, crushing all in its wake. He groaned, shoving his hands against his face, tilting his head back. He missed Keith jumping, taking a cautious step back. “Lance?” he asked, worry lacing his words.

“God, can you just… not?!” Lance started rambling. “I swear, what is with you? I’m trying so hard to figure shit out then you come and just... “
“Just what?” Keith was going on the defensive, hackles raising and eyes narrowing. “I just was talking to you.”
“Exactly!” the taller boy threw his hands down, raising an accusatory finger at the dark haired boy. “Seriously, where do you get off being… you?!”
“Excuse me?!” Keith’s face was a mix of indignant anger and utter confusion.
“I can’t fucking… I just…” Lance screeched, marching forward, his body on autopilot. Keith took a few more steps back, hands raising as Lance grabbed him by the shoulders, pinning him up against a wall.
“What the fu-”

And Lance kissed him. He kissed him square on the lips. It wasn’t a kiss to be proud of, but it was a kiss. A hard press of lips, noses slammed awkwardly against each other. He was kissing him.

He was kissing Keith.

Lance pulled back like he’d been burned, missing how Keith followed, stumbling as Lance backed fully away from him. He had a dazed look on his face, face a bright, burning red.
“Fuck, I love you.” Lance breathed out, and saw Keith’s face turn darker.
“What?” he squeaked, and Lance ran. He ran so far away.

Okay, it was to the other side of the Castle, but that was pretty far. And he hid there, convinced Keith was going to murder him. Kick his ass so hard he’d be farting when he burped. He was fucked. So fucked. So utter, royally fucked.

(when Keith did manage to find him later that night, he did tackle Lance to the floor and he did punch Lance. Softly. On the lips. With his lips. Because “I love you too, you fucking dumbass”.)

Chapter Text

“Sir. Sir, please return to your seat.” Keith knocked louder on the door of the bathroom. He heard a muffled curse, and a few moments after (Keith was about to knock again), the door opened. A rather frazzled looking man blinked, his dark skin looking pale, tie loose. Keith doesn’t remember seeing him in any of the seats he’s been working.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, rubbing the side of his face.
“Are you alright?” Keith furrowed his brow, trying to look less annoyed and more concerned. He knew he had a face that looked like he couldn’t give less of a shit, but… sure this guy was attractive as hell. Maybe he wanted to make at least his flight a happy one.

“Yeah,” the other man laughed, running his fingers through his hair. “I don’t usually get motion sick. I think it’s just nerves.” he shifted his weight, slightly.
“Would you like me to help escort you back to your seat?” He didn’t have to. No. But, uh, maybe Keith wanted to get as close as was socially acceptable to this gorgeous man. He’s (very pleasantly) surprised when the man agrees and allows Keith closer.

“My sister is getting married,” the lovely man said, smiling warmly as he and Keith slowly began to make their way up the aisle. “I’ve never met the guy she’s getting hitched to, but she is like, the picture of calm and serene.” he laughed quietly, “I think she used her twin powers to give me all her anxiety.”

Keith looked over to him and smiled. “Well, congratulations to her.” he said, realizing that the reason he hadn’t seen this guy while he was working was because this man was leading them up to First Class. It was a small plane, and not many people had booked the flight, but he had been vaguely aware of small group having booked First Class. (why had he gone all the way to Business Class to use the restroom, when First Class had one much closer?)

He was also aware of why he had gone to alert passengers to return to their seats when the plane shuddered below them. He had just opened the curtain, allowing the other man to step through when he felt his balance falter. He stumbled, reaching over for a seat backing just as the other man reached for him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Whoa!” The two blinked, looking up at each other. The other man smiled, laughing softly. “Careful there.” he began to pull Keith up, just as another bout of turbulence hit and knocked Keith forward. There was a quiet oof as the man hit the wall, and a stunned, awkward silence as Keith’s mouth hit his.

Both of their faces were blooming red as Keith quickly pushed back, aware of a few small giggles behind him and cleared his throat. “Um, sorry…” he moved, reaching over to try and steady himself on the seats as the plane jerked again.
“S’okay,” the other man managed to croak, before coughing awkwardly. “I…. should go to my seat.”
“Yes. Yep. Please- please return to your seat. We shouldn’t- uh, have much more turbulence.”

“Are you going to be okay heading back?” the man asked, not moving. His legs were wobbling and Keith was impressed he hadn’t been knocked over yet.
“Yeah, I’m used to this.” Keith shrugged, feeling himself tip over as more turbulence hit and landed in the seat he had been leaning on with a sudden squeak. The taller man laughed.
“Maybe you could just… stay here? It’s not going to last long.”

And that was unprofessional. Keith needed to head back to the rest of the crew. He couldn’t leave Romelle high and dry.
“Sure, that… that might not be a bad idea.” he said, instead. And was graced with the man’s face breaking out into a wider smile as he moved, scooting Keith over one seat and sat down next to him.
“By the way,” the man said, the two rocking together as the plane moved around them. “The name’s Lance.”

“I’m Keith.” and he hoped the turbulence would last a long while as the two fell into an easy conversation.

Chapter Text

He always showed up at the same time. Three o’Clock, Keith stepped into the small cafe, Azul, and always ordered the same thing, “A small caramel latte, soy milk, and a cinnamon muffin, please.”
And every time, Lance would smile at him, give a playful wink, and would drop a new line. “How about a stud muffin, instead?”

And Keith would laugh, cheeks flushed a cute shade of pink and glasses sliding down his nose that he’d adorably adjust back up.

It’s been two months, and through these small interactions, Lance had fallen for this wonderful, beautiful stranger. Keith had just shown up one day, being awkward and nervous, but the Lancey charm works on everyone - even if it maybe took a while to pull a smile. And, oh, what a smile it was.

“So, do I get to learn today where you’re from?” Lance was turning, working on making Keith’s drink, the soft hum of the radio the perfect background noise in the small cafe. He peeked over his shoulder, and saw Keith glance away, awkwardly fiddling with one of his fingerless gloves.
“Um,” that gave Lance pause, and the shorter boy began to sway slightly, looking around. The cafe was empty, Lance knew Hunk was in the back working on one more batch of baked goods, and Allura had gone on her last break to visit her girlfriend next door.

That was the funny thing about Keith, he showed up one day, and Lance swears he’s seen him before, but can’t really put his finger on where. He’d asked if they’d gone to the same school at some point, but all he’s gotten is that Keith is from a different country. Not even what country he’s from. But he knows it’s A, small and B, across the ocean. Judging from Keith’s looks, he’s managed to guess he’s some form of Asian, and Keith had admitted he has some Korean from his father’s side.

“Hey, are you alright?” Lance came back over to the counter, setting Keith’s drink and muffin down.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Keith bit his lip, looking back over to Lance. His eyes were soft, and Lance felt his heart leap as it always did when those beautiful eyes fell on him. “I just…”

The small bell above the cafe door chimed, causing both boys to jump, Keith turning around, eyes wide. “Shiro.”
“There you are.” the man who had just entered was, uh, huge. A large scar falling across his face, but while he looked intimidating, he spoke to Keith like he was a brother, and was about done with all of his shit. “Do you know how long it took to figure out where you’ve been disappearing to?”

Keith pouted, and Lance resisted the urge to coo at how cute it made him look. “I don’t need your constant supervision.” he crossed his arms. “I’m not a child.”
“You certainly act like it.” Shiro scoffed, ignoring the grumble that Keith replied with. After that, he began to look around, stepping up to the counter.

“Um, welcome to Azul..?” Lance spoke slowly, eyes looking between Keith and Shiro. Keith was looking more and more nervous and uncomfortable, eyes wide as he seemed to be trying to silently tell the taller man something without opening his mouth. Shiro seemed to ignore him. “Would you… like to order something?” He motioned to the small display case and the board behind him listing all the drinks.
“This place is so small.” Shiro said, instead of ordering. “Why in the world would you want to come here?”
“Because I like it here?” Keith grumbled bitterly, picking up his latte and took a sip from it, a smile finally gracing his lips once more.

Shiro blinked, looking between Keith and the cup, then over to Lance. His eyes narrowed and Lance felt his back straighten, feeling like a kid again and being scolded by a teacher. “Are you-”
“Shiro, enough.” Keith glared, shoulders squared, his tone leaving no room for argument. And to Lance’s surprise, Shiro listened. “You went looking for me, you’ve found me. Now leave or order something then leave.”

Lance blinked, Keith’s body posture rattling a memory in his head. Something he saw on TV? A show? A movie? A news broadcast?...

It clicked and Lance’s eyes widened, jaw dropping as he wound up speaking before he could stop himself. “Holy shit, you’re that prince!” Keith’s eyes widened and he dropped his latte. He turned to look at Lance, raising his hands.
“What? What! No, I- no! No, I’m not… whu-why would I be the Prince of Marmora?” he groaned, covering his face in his hands. “Wait, no, fuck- no.” He turned to look at Shiro, glaring at him. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault?” Shiro was openly laughing, arms crossed over his chest. “And how, my prince, is it my fault?”
“Because before everything was fine!” Keith turned to look back at Lance, who had yet to pick his jaw up off the ground. “Oh, God, no. Lance, I’m… I’m sorry.”

That snapped Lance out of his shock. “Wait, sorry? For what?”
“For… not telling you sooner?” it was Keith’s turn to look confused. “I mean, I’ll admit it’s not the … best disguise, I’m literally pulling a Clark Kent, but it works. I just really wanted to look around town and not be treated like some… novelty. And then you… you didn’t. And I wanted to tell you sooner, but I just…” Keith looked down, “I’m sorry.”

Lance stared at him, saw how hunched and nervous he looked. “Hey, I’m, I’m not mad, okay? Shocked? Yes. But I’m not going to like, fucking yell at you or throw you out of this place.” he smiled, “You’re a valued customer here, after all.” he winked and was relieved when Keith blushed and managed to smile slightly.

“Valued, huh?” Keith teased back. “And, exactly how valued am I?”
Lance blinked, heart leaping in his chest as Keith leaned over the counter, pushing himself right into Lance’s personal space. He was vaguely aware of Shiro clearing his throat, but both boys ignored him.
“Well, you’ve become quite the regular around here.” Lance said, “And, maybe before you dropped this ball of ‘Oh, hey, I’m a prince’ on me, I was going to ask you. Out.” he paused, “On a date?”

Keith blinked, face turning that gorgeous shade of pink. “Oh.” was all he said.
“Yeah.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.
“And, what about now?” Keith looked into his eyes, hands coming up to rest on the counter top. “Now that… you know I’m a prince?”

“Now?” Lance licked his lips slightly, before looking down and gently picked up one of Keith’s hands. “Now, I… still would like to ask you out, but now I feel like I might have to break my budget a little bit?”
Keith smiled, laughing softly. “You won’t.” he assured him, giving Lance’s hand a squeeze.

“Then, would you like to go out? With me. We can go see a movie.” He watched as Keith beamed, nodding.
“Sure.”

Lance smiled, laughing as he lifted Keith’s hand, planting a kiss against the exposed knuckles, earning him another beautiful blush.

Chapter Text

It was cold. Too cold. Why the hell was Keith here, again? He shivered as a cool breeze went past, just below what was usual for an early fall morning and tugged his jacket tighter around him as he sat on the cold, metal bleachers.

Below him, he smiled, seeing the small group start to walk on the field for practice. That's right, that was why he was here. Lance stood at the side, stretching with the rest of the team, all smiling and joking.

Keith was a very supportive boyfriend. He would have to remind Lance of his benevolence for getting out of a warm, comfy bed. He trembled and wrapped his arms tighter around as one of Lance's teammates saw him and nudged him. A quick gesture and now Lance's gaze was on him.

Keith really wished that he’d grabbed a blanket, but in his defense, it hadn’t felt too bad. It was just here out in the open where the wind was blowing without being blocked by anything. And his stupid, wonderful boyfriend didn’t look the least bit cold.

Rude. Very rude. He should be more considerate.

But seeing Lance going back to stretching, leaning down and touching his toes, bending back and reaching for the sky. Maybe this wasn’t too bad. He could definitely convince Lance to go get some hot chocolate after practice.

He realized he was still staring when Lance raised his hand and waved to him. Keith raised his hand in return, before he lowered it to his lips, pressing a kiss to his fingers before blowing it over to Lance. He was rewarded by a large, goofy smile as Lance made an exaggerated show of reaching up and catching it, holding it close. And a bonus was when Lance blew a kiss back to Keith in return.

Keith closed his hand around it, and maybe he felt warmer as he held the kiss close to his chest and watched his boyfriend start practice.

Chapter Text

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow-”
“Just hold still!” Keith frowned, eyebrows furrowed as he gently applied the alcohol soaked cotton ball against one of the scrapes on Lance’s face. He was a wonderful skater, really, but he had gotten distracted by the “most adorable cat, Keith, it was so fluffy!” and wound up catching a wheel against a bit of forgotten sidewalk chalk and eating shit on the pavement.

His injuries weren’t terrible, just a few scrapes and bruises, mostly on his hands and legs, but his face had also taken a bit of damage. Keith had helped him inside and began doctoring him up in their bathroom while Hunk offered to make Lance his favorite soup.
Pidge had just laughed when Lance told them what happened.

Keith finished with the cotton ball and began to carefully apply Band-aids to the problem areas: one on each of Lance’s knees and then one across the bridge of his nose. Lance scrunched up his face and pouted, eyes going crossways as he looked down at the offending object. “This sucks.” he grumbled. “I don’t look cool anymore.”

“You never looked cool, sweetheart.” Keith teased, beginning to put everything away, smiling as Lance gave a loud squawk.
“Wow! The nerve! The audacity! Here I am, injured and in pain, and this is how my boyfriend treats me? I’m hurt. Broken.” He slumped sliding further into the empty bathtub, covering his face. “My own boyfriend, betraying me in my time of need!”
Keith snorted somewhere above Lance and he heard the medicine cabinet close.

“Come on, you.” Lance moved his hand, looking up as Keith smiled, holding out a hand for him. With his help, Lance pulled himself out of the tub but was still pouting about the tease. Keith rolled his eyes and leaned up, kissing Lance’s nose, right on top of the bandage. “I’m sorry. You’re very cool, darling.”

Lance smiled, immediately dropping his fake distress. “I am.” he wrapped his arms around Keith and buried his face into his boyfriend’s neck, blowing a raspberry against the skin. Keith shrieked, laughing as he squirmed, trying to get away.

Outside of the bathroom, Pidge rolled her eyes and grumbled out a, “gross, affection.” Hunk just smiled, ladling up the soup into separate bowls as he heard a commotion, a loud thud and twin groans of pain as both Keith and Lance fell over and back into the tub, tangled up and still giggling.

Chapter Text

Keith grumbled, stretching out under the warm sheets and pulled himself closer to the warm body beside him. He felt arms tighten around his waist, pulling him close and gave a soft, content sigh, almost a purr, as long fingers gently massaged his lower back and hips.
“Whu-timez’it?” he mumbled, face burying into Lance’s shoulder, back arching slightly into the very welcomed massage.

“Dunno,” came a slightly more awake response. How had he been awake? He pressed against one spot, and Keith whined, body trembling in pleasure. “Right there?” He nodded and Lance chucked, focusing on working that one spot. The two laid together, soft and warm, thankful and ignoring anything going on outside their own small bubble of happiness.

Keith nuzzled into him, sighing happily as his fingers gently brushed along Lance’s collarbones and chest, blindly tracing out the bite marks and hickeys that littered his boyfriend’s body. He opened his eyes, seeing a soft glint reflect off his finger.

Not boyfriend. Fiance. The thought made him giddy, and he snuggled in closer, causing Lance to snort out a laugh. “What’s got you being all clingy this morning?” he asked, teasingly.
“M’happy.” Keith closed his eyes again, brushing his nose against his fiance’s cheek. “M’gonna marry you.” He felt Lance’s heart skip below his hand as he laid it against his chest.

“You are.” Lance agreed, like he wasn’t there when he’d asked Keith last night. He hugged him closer, pressing Keith fully to his body and Keith smiled, laughing as he clung to Lance, their legs intertwining as they made sure there were no gaps between them. “I love you.” he whispered in the soft, quiet space.
“I love you, too.” Keith tucked himself close, opening his eyes slowly, and felt Lance shiver as his eyelashes lightly ghosted just below his chin. He closed them again, letting them flutter against his skin again, and felt Lance squeeze him tighter.

The two laid in bed for another hour, before they agreed to get out of bed so they could make breakfast. Keith may or may not have stared at the ring on his finger the entire time.

Chapter Text

Lance sat hunched over his desk, eyes narrowed as he tapped his pen. He really needed to focus on this essay, but… he just couldn’t. Couldn’t pull himself to read the book, his eyes glazing over until he was just staring at a single word for five minutes.

It was fine, this wasn’t due until next week, but he had so much other stuff he had to do, wanted to do. This should have been an easy thing to knock out. A quick three page essay, and then he could put it away and not think about it until he had to turn it in.

He groaned for about the tenth time in two hours and lowered his head, running his fingers through his hair. He heard movement behind him, a soft quiet ting of a bell and felt a hand brush against his shoulders.
“Maybe you should just take a break.” Keith said, leaning close to him. “Obviously, you’re not going to be able to do anything tonight.”
“But I was so ready! I had it planned out, and I was pumped! I was hyped!” Lance raised his head, looking over to his familiar, watched as Keith smiled softly to him, ears twitching.

“It happens.” Keith was gentle as he carefully moved his hand to try and coax the witch up from the chair. “Come on, stand up and stretch. We can go get something to eat and cuddle in bed.”

That all sounded… really nice. Lance sighed again and set his pen down, allowing his familiar to pull him up, but immediately slumped down into his body, causing the cat boy to let out a grunt under the sudden weight. Keith smiled, purring as he nuzzled into Lance, wrapping his arms around him. “Are you hungry?” he asked, and Lance grunted in an I don’t know way.

They stumbled, Lance refusing to pull away from Keith, and the two soon found themselves flopping down on the bed, Keith pulling Lance closer to him and running his fingers through the witch’s hair. It felt nice and relaxed Lance as he closed his eyes, wrapping his arms and legs around his familiar, clinging tightly.

Honestly, the break was helping. Stress and worry that he hadn’t realized he’d been building up was slowly melting away with each gentle stroke through his hair and the light scratching against his scalp. He smiled, nuzzling into his boyfriend before falling still, content to listen to Keith’s steady breathing and feeling his heartbeat under his hand.

He let his eyes slowly fall closed, a yawn surprising him by pulling out of his chest, causing his familiar to laugh quietly. Lance retaliated by squeezing him just a bit tighter. As he slowly lost the battle to stay awake, he felt Keith squirm under him and a pair of lips pressed against his cheek.
“Sleep well,” Keith whispered, his tail slowly moving to brush against one of Lance’s legs.

And Lance did.

Chapter Text

It was annoying, really. Both Keith and Lance were half-Galran, half-Human, Keith on his mother’s side, Lance on his father’s. Both of them had grown up with their Galran parents, looking far too alien to stay on Earth, even if it was for varying reasons.
Keith and his pale purple skin, a single stripe of darker purple across his right cheek, and pointed ears and teeth, and Lance for his darker skinned fur and markings and just as pointed ears. Their sclera was traditional Galra yellow, but their irises were colored purple (for Keith) and blue (Lance).

They met when they were still kits, they were about the same age, growing at an even, matched pace. And Keith wasn’t short! He maybe was just an inch or so below average Galran height, but his shorter stature made him a key part of Blade missions that needed stealth and grace. He could more easily blend into dark areas and could squeeze into smaller spaces that the enemy might not look, so sure no one could fit in such a cramped cubby.
And of course, when he had to, he was excellent at close combat, easily disarming foes and, well, once literally disarming an enemy. It was pretty bad-ass, if he said so himself.

Lance, on the other hand, had continued to grow when Keith stopped. At first it was fine, Lance had teased him a little when it had just been a couple inches, but… then it grew to a foot. A foot! Keith glared, and Lance held his hands up, denying he had anything to do with his body wanting to continue to grow and that he had any say in his sudden stupidly massive growth spurt.
Krolia had told her son that he may have one more in him, but Keith was pretty sure she was just saying that to calm him down. It had been years since Lance shot up like a rocket, and Keith maybe only grew another inch. Maybe. (he didn’t, but he wanted to believe it so badly that he stretched and strained his back to try and make himself appear taller)

Lance was much better at ranged combat, a long rifle being his weapon of choice and he was damn good with it, easily sniping targets that other Galra had problems with hitting. He wasn’t terrible at close combat, either, his long limbs giving him a surprising amount of grace as he punched and kicked and full body slammed enemies into the ground.
It was… nice. Seeing all those lean muscles put to use. Very nice.

Even nicer when, after a successful mission the two had been separated on, Lance using those muscles to lift his small boyfriend into his arms and into a hug.
And other things, but, uh, you know.

But Lance was just tall. He towered over Keith and it wasn’t fair. Without meaning to, Lance would grab things that Keith was reaching for with ease and hand it to him, trying to be nice (he was nice). But dammit, Keith was almost able to reach it (he wasn’t).

But Lance was on another mission, and Keith was in their room, growling and grumbling as he stood up on the tippiest of his tip-toes, arm stretched as far as it would go, fingers splayed as he tried in vain to reach the top of their bookshelf. Lance didn’t mean to put things so far out of reach, knowing Keith was always grumpy about it, but sometimes he did it without thinking. And this time, he put a book up that Keith had been reading out of reach. And not just out of reach. Keith was very sure he was nowhere close to reaching it.
He was heavily debating climbing the shelf, or grabbing a chair or something to stand on, but his face burned at the thought of it. No one would see him, of course, but he still felt embarrassed at the knowledge that he wasn’t going to be able to reach it otherwise.

Instead of doing the sensible thing of getting a chair, he began to jump, short little hops as he hoped the extra height would be enough.
It wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to give up, bracing his other hand on one of the shelves to try and anchor himself higher with his hops. He felt his fingers touch the spine of the book and his heart leapt excitedly in his chest as he continued to jump, hoping that he’d be able to reach it with the next jump.
The next jump.

Next one for sure.

He didn’t hear the door behind him swish open, too focused on trying to grab his book, nor did he hear the quiet footsteps behind him. He startled when a hand settled on his waist, stalling him in his next jump that for 100% certainty would have gotten his book down, and another arm reaching up, easily and effortlessly, taking the book down. Keith spun around, and looked up, seeing Lance smiling far too wide as he held the book up. “Did you want this one?” he asked, his voice sincere in wanting to have gotten the correct item.

“Yes.” Keith huffed, crossing his arms and pouted. Lance laughed, pulling Keith closer and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I hate you, you know that?”

“I’m well aware.” Lance replied, before wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist, and lifted him up, causing the shorter Galra to squeak and after a few spins, he was laughing and clinging to his boyfriend.
Keith guessed the height difference wasn’t that annoying. Sometimes.

Chapter Text

The rain outside gave a gentle background noise as the two curled together on the couch. Keith smiled, sighing softly as he leaned back, resting his head against Lance’s shoulder as he slowly took a sip of the hot cocoa his boyfriend had made. In front of him, he watched his nephew, Ren, happily playing Animal Crossing, tongue stuck out in concentration as he swam through the water, moping when he only pulled up more Sea Grapes.

Lance’s arm was warm as it wrapped around his waist, keeping him close as the two stayed in contented silence, only speaking when Ren gasped and looked over his shoulder, pointing to the screen when he managed to fish up something “really cool” from the ocean floor. This time it was a mantis shrimp that Ren had been chasing after for the past minute or so.

“Very nice.” Keith said, smiling over to him, Lance raising his own mug of hot cocoa.
“Congrats, Ren!” he called out, the young four year old grinning happily before going back to swimming.

Keith tipped his head back, looking up to his boyfriend, who was taking a drink from his own mug. “We should do this more often.” he said, bringing his own mug closer, enjoying the warmth of it.
“What, babysit your nephew together?” Lance asked, smiling as he lightly traced patterns along Keith’s side, causing the dark haired man to twitch and giggle at the barely there tickle.

“Well, that too.” Keith managed to say, holding his drink up in an attempt to keep it from spilling. “I was talking about just relaxing together like this.” Lance’s hand stilled, tightening around him.

“I’d like that.” Lance moved his head, pressing a kiss to the side of Keith’s head, just above the temple.
“Ren would probably really like it if you babysat him with me more often, though.” Keith added, half-teasing.
“Well, I suppose I could do that, too.” Lance laughed, nuzzling into his boyfriend, both men turning to look as Ren cried out, excitedly, waving his hand over to two.

“I found a PEARL!” he cried out happily.

The two men congratulated Ren, the small child looking prouder than ever.
Outside, the rain continued to fall.

Chapter Text

The water was cool as it lapped around his tail while Keith carefully checked over his scales, cleaning and polishing them. He normally never took much care or interest in his looks, and if anyone in his family or shoal saw him, they’d be concerned. Which was why he was so far away from them right now, up in the Air Breathers territory, and looking over himself. There were scars that littered his body, he couldn’t do much about them. Peering over, he could make out his reflection in the water, the long cut on his cheek standing out stark pink against his pale skin, stretching down under his chin and along his neck. A run-in with a sawfish that he had gotten too close to while hunting. Everyone in his shoal had been worried, but none of them seemed to notice how Keith would touch it, marking out the large scar. Keith didn’t care about his looks.

But he did. A little. He knew he looked pretty, gorgeous red and white scales and long, delicate fins. Keith was a very pretty mer, and when he’d gotten attacked, that small part of him that cared about his appearance felt distraught. No one commented on it, because no one thought he cared.
But he cared. And he didn’t realize how much he cared when Lance had brought it up.

Lance had shown up one day, travelling on his own in search of a place to settle down. Keith’s shoal had offered to take him in until he was ready to go back out and explore. And Lance had taken to talking with Keith, teasing him about any and everything he could. But never about the large scar. He always seemed to shy away from it, but Keith saw the way Lance’s eyes would linger on it. It had caused him to snap one day, demanding what Lance was staring at.

And Lance had touched the scar. Had asked what happened. Had listened, then apologised. “If it makes you feel better,” Lance had added on, “I still think you look pretty.”

And Keith’s heart had fluttered madly, face blooming red and he shot off, covering his blush.

But Lance had called him pretty. Said his scar didn’t make him unattractive. So, maybe he wanted to make himself even prettier. Take a bit extra time in cleaning his scales, making them shine and glitter like sea glass. Make himself look pretty enough that maybe Lance would take him with him when he left the shoal.

It was such an absurd thought, but Keith had latched onto it tight, realizing how badly he wanted that to happen.

Keith startled, hearing the water behind him splash and turned around, his heart pounding more when he saw the blue scaled mer looking up to him, eyes reflecting the ocean and the sky. “You’re hard to track down sometimes.” Lance said, smiling as he easily climbed up onto the rock Keith was resting on, his own tail splashing up water. Keith blushed, pouting as he looked away.
“No one ever looks for me up here.” Keith said, fingers twitching against his scales.
“They clearly aren’t looking hard enough.” Lance relaxed, laying back and trailing his fingers along the surface of the water. “It’s so quiet here.”

The waves slowly crashed against the rocks in response as Keith kept his head lowered, seeing all the flaws he hadn’t been able to fix in his scales. He hunched his shoulders up closer to his ears, feeling himself blush in shame. Lance took notice, and sat up. “Hey, you alright?” he asked, reaching out a hand, lightly touching Keith’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Keith didn’t look over, and Lance lightly tugged on his shoulder, gently coaxing him to face him.
“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to. I know I’m not part of the shoal or anything.” he said, smiling softly. “But I am a pretty good listener.”

And while Keith stared into those large blue eyes, he found himself speaking, “I wanted to look pretty for you.” he dropped his head back down, avoiding the blush on Lance’s cheeks. “But, I don’t usually-” he gestured towards his tail. “I found more things than I thought were wrong. I’ve been trying to look nice, so when… when you- You’re going to leave one day.” Keith’s voice fell quieter, “And I wanted you to take me with you.”

There was silence between them, and when it started to reach being too much, Lance had moved his hand, fingers gently turning Keith’s head towards his own. “Do you want to leave with me?” he asked.
Keith swallowed, nodding. “Yes.”
“Then,” Lance leaned over, brushing his nose against Keith’s face, breath ghosting along the scar. “Will you leave with me, Keith?”

Keith’s pulse increased, gills fluttering lightly. “Yes.” his own voice was breathy, not entirely sure he wasn’t imagining all this.
Lance moved his head, lips lightly tracing along the scar, before he pressed a soft kiss against it, right above his neck gills. Keith shivered, trilling quietly.

“Let’s leave. Together.” Lance spoke into his neck. And Keith nodded, arms coming up and wrapping around Lance.
“Yes.”

Chapter Text

The planet they were on was beautiful. Clear, clean lavender water lapped against blue sand. The sky above them was a soft coral and orange as the twin suns hung high in the sky. And the Paladins all deserved a break, and Earth was still so far away. And Lance didn’t really need much convincing to land.

The group broke up into groups, looking for food, checking the atmosphere, checking for poisons or toxins. The entire planet was paradise. It was why everyone was splashing, relaxing and swinging from the long, whip-like branches of the trees, a strange looking combination of Weeping Willows and Palm Trees, with bright red, blue and purple flowers growing from the vine-like branches.

The ocean-life was fascinating, small tiny things that looked like crabs but with multiple more limbs that liked to teleport about a foot through the small tidepools. Massive sting-ray like fish that rose from the water, high enough that they blotted out one of the suns as they arched and curved, their wings fluttering, bodies sparkling like the night sky before they gracefully melted back into the water, barely a splash in their wake. Even large things that Lance will continue to claim were sharks, their large fins breaking through the surface along with their heads. One stared right at him as he was out swimming, and they had a connection.

But now the suns were setting. The group sat together, smiling and talking while they ate a few of the island’s fruits, each paladin happily commenting on their favorites. Lance sat with his back towards the group, gazing out at the sunset. Sunsets? Suns-set? Suns-Sets?
“I almost don’t want to leave.” he said, hearing someone walking behind him, recognizing them from their quiet footsteps. Keith knelt down behind him, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

“It is really beautiful here.” the dark haired boy agreed, hooking his chin over Lance’s shoulder.

“The sunset from my home is more beautiful.” the black paladin looked over, smiling bright as Keith seemed to pull closer to him. “I’ll show you when we get home.”

“Yeah?” Keith finally pulled his gaze from the scene before them, and Lance was struck with a thought.

No sunset would be more beautiful than Keith.

Keith’s face bloomed bright red and Lance realized he’d said his thought out loud. He laughed as Keith buried his face, hiding his heated cheeks into Lance’s shoulder. “It’s true.” Lance said, turning to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. Keith only gave a quiet whine in response.

He held his blushing boyfriend a bit before he felt Keith raise his head and press a kiss to the lobe of Lance’s ear.
“I was thinking the same thing about you.” he whispered, causing Lance to blush now.

While Keith was laughing, Lance took advantage of his boyfriend’s distracted state and stood up, looping his arms under Keith’s legs. He felt the shorter boy’s legs wrap around his hips. He saw Keith look into Lance’s eyes, dark lashes slowly fluttering as he tipped his head forward into a kiss he thought was coming.

The rest of the group heard a loud yelp and turned, seeing Lance running into the ocean with Keith, the red paladin laughing as he clung to the taller boy before they both fell into the water with a loud splash.

Chapter Text

Lance looked up from his book, hearing a package being opened. He blinked, and watched as his roommate took out a chocolate-covered stick and placed it into his mouth, slowly eating it as he studied.

“What are you eating?” Lance asked, drawing Keith’s attention over, the stick moving slightly as it slowly was drawn into his mouth and eaten fully.
“Pocky.” he moved, picking up the red box beside him and held it out. “Want one?”

Lance peered down to the package, seeing more sticks inside and reached over. He pulled back a broken piece. Keith laughed, and Lance pouted, popping it into his mouth and ate it, proving his point.
What that point was, he wasn’t sure, but dammit Lance was going to prove it.

Keith moved, picking out another stick, this one intact, and held it out to Lance. “Here.”

And now, that he saw the full thing, Lance felt himself blush. He remembered hearing something about a game. He pushed the memory away and reached over, taking it. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”

The two sat in silence as they continued to study. Keith gently drumming his pen against his book, Lance slowly eating his own Pocky stick.
“You know,” Keith kept his head down, and Lance didn’t look up. “There… there’s a game some people play with Pocky.”

Lance looked up, face red as he stared at his roommate. “Yeah?” Lance’s voice cracked, but if Keith noticed he didn’t mention it.
“Two people, um, take a stick of Pocky,” as he spoke, Keith reached into the box and pulled out another piece, holding it up. He kept his gaze on it, not daring to look at Lance, his own face tinted pink. “One of them puts it in their mouth, and the other puts it in theirs. And then they… start eating it, seeing who can eat the most before it’s gone.”

Lance blinked, his brain helpfully supplying what Keith didn’t say.
Before they kiss.

“Did.. I mean, are you bringing this up because you want to play?” Lance asked, slowly, watching as Keith’s face turned darker.
“O-only if you want to.” And finally, the dark haired boy looked over. They stared at each other, as if either of them moved, the other would spook.

“Sure.” Lance was proud of himself for being able to speak.
“Cool.” Keith swallowed thickly, licking at his lips. Lance couldn’t help but watch.

Keith held the Pocky up to his mouth, pulling just enough to be able to be held between his lips and leaned closer. Both boys blushed deeper as Lance scooted over and took the other end into his mouth. They were looking into each other’s eyes as they both slowly inched their way towards the middle, eating away at the Pocky.

Lance’s heart was pounding in his chest when the two boys barely an inch a part. Keith’s nose was lightly brushing against his own and, out of habit, Lance had tipped his head to the side. He watched as Keith’s head mimicked his own, and they both leaned closer, inching forward until their lips pressed together.

Lance closed his eyes, feeling his face heat up as they sat like that. Awkwardly just pressing their lips together before he felt Keith pull away. When he opened his eyes, Keith was bright red and looking off to the side.
“So, who won?” Lance asked, dumbly, noticing a bit of chocolate was clinging to Keith’s bottom lip.
“Uh,” Keith blinked, and Lance was worried at how dark red the boy’s face was becoming. “I… I don’t know..?”

“Maybe we should do best two out of three?” Lance smiled, and saw as realization slowly dawned on Keith’s face, the tenseness in his body falling away.
“Yeah. Two out of three.”

Both boys finished the box of Pocky quickly, their studies forgotten in lieu of learning each other’s mouths.

Chapter Text

Lance peeked into the kitchen, smiling when he saw Keith rocking back and forth as he made breakfast, his phone beside him on low as it played a soft, almost jazzy song. He slowly walked up behind him, wrapping his arms loosely curled around his boyfriend’s waist, easing into the slow sway with him. Bacon and sausage sizzled and snapped as Keith leaned back into the taller boy as he began to slowly hum along to the music.

Lance kept close as Keith finished cooking, setting things off the pan to keep them from burning as the song changed to one a bit more upbeat. Lance smiled, stepping back and held onto Keith’s hand, tugging him forward. Keith laughed, following along as he was pulled into dancing with the taller boy, both of them happily spinning around before Lance began to sing along

“There may be trouble ahead, but while there’s moonlight and music and love and romance,” He twirled Keith, who laughed through the spin, “Let’s face the music and dance.”

Keith giggled, falling back into place as he picked up the second verse, leaning up on his tiptoes to brush his nose against Lance’s. “Before the fiddlers have fled, before they ask us to pay the bill and while we still have the chance,” he was swung out, barely missing the small dining table, “Let’s face the music and dance.”

“Soon,” Lance crooned, pulling Keith close again, the two falling into a slow waltz-like swing, “We’ll be without the moon, humming a different tune until then.”

“There may be teardrops to shed, so while there’s moonlight and music and love and romance,” Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s shoulders, pressing himself close. “Let’s face the music and dance.”

The two continued to sway, humming along to the beat as the song continued to play, Lance turning and dipping Keith down low. The both smiled bright and warm as Keith gently pulled Lance down closer and into a kiss as the last melody of the song played.

Chapter Text

Keith’s uncle passed away.

It wasn’t “technically” his uncle, since he had been adopted into the Shirogane family, but the man had been the first one he’d opened up to. The first one who got Keith to talk. He had been the one who Keith would call when something happened, good, bad or otherwise. He was who Keith first came out to, and who he went to when he needed advice.

Keith felt a strong, deep connection to the man, and to be told when he came home from school, not called when it happened. Not when his uncle had gone into the hospital a week prior. Not when his health had declined. When his uncle had passed away and there was no chance for him to say goodbye. It hit him hard.

So he’d left. Ran right back out of the house while his parents and older brother called out after him, dropping the umbrella he’d been holding. He’d ran and stumbled until he found himself in a familiar place and curled up under the gazebo where he and his uncle had so many conversations. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs, and cried while the rain continued to pour outside, the sky lighting up with occasional thunder.

He didn’t know how long he was outside. Long enough for the sun to have set behind heavy rain clouds. Long enough for his stomach to twist painfully with the need to eat. But when he thought about going back, about going to see them again, his heart twisted as he remembered they didn’t tell him anything, and so he stubbornly stayed put. He didn’t know how many more tears were left in him, they had stopped being a constant flow, rattling, ugly sobs heaving out of his chest as he let himself feel. But they never quite ceased all together. They would slowly move down his sore cheeks, staining his skin as they prickled until Keith wiped them away. Just a few at a time, shaking him as he watched rain drip from the edge of the roof and into a puddle. He managed to make out a voice through the rain thudding around him and he raised his head, straining his ears as he saw a figure down the road. As they got closer, he realized it was Lance.

“Keith!” Lance raced forward, hair wet from rain, clothes soaked as he raced through the puddles and mud as he made his way over and under the shelter of the gazebo. “Jeez, man, we’ve been looking all over for you!”

“We?” Keith’s voice was raw, croaking out the word as he feebly made an attempt to try and hide he’d been crying.

“Everyone. Pidge, Hunk, Allura. Romelle. Shiro. Your parents.” the Cuban saw the way Keith hiked his shoulders up, glaring down at the ground at the mention of the last two. “Keith-”

“They didn’t tell me.” he whispered, wrapping his arms around himself. Lance fell silent as he watched Keith shift, like he was trying to shrink and hide away.

Lance walked over, sitting down next to Keith. The two sat together, watching as the rain continued to fall.
“My parents didn’t tell me when my grandfather died.” Lance said carefully, causing Keith to look over. “I was off at summer camp, making macaroni art and learning how to shoot arrows.” He adjusted. “I was only ten, but they didn’t tell me at all. Not in the entire month I was there. He got sick a little after I left, but they didn’t mention it to me. And by the time they knew he wasn’t going to make it, no one wanted to tell me. I guess they hoped that he’d be able to hold on, but he died three days before I got back. We had his funeral a couple days after I came back.

“I was mad, but.. I kind of see where they were coming from.” Lance looked back towards Keith, smiling gently. “I’m certain they wanted to tell you, but they weren’t sure how. And then it got too late to tell you.”

“They still should have told me!” Keith yelled, fresh tears coming to his eyes. “They should have fucking told me when he got sick! O-or at least when he didn’t start getting better! I…” a sob choked him off and he moved his hand, trying to push away his tears. “I didn’t… I-I didn’t get to say bye. I haven’t seen him since last year, and now I won’t-” he whimpered, pulling his knees back up and hugged them tight.

Lance moved closer, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “Do you think he’d want to see you crying?” he asked after a while. Keith blinked, jerking back and glared at Lance.
“What?” he growled, anger quickly replacing his sorrow.

“I mean-” Lance quickly held up his hands, “would he want you crying like this, or would he want you to not worry?”
Keith narrowed his eyes, “I’m pretty sure he’d be okay with me grieving, Lance.” he said, feeling his hands curling into fists.
“Grieving, yes. But would he want you to be mad at the Shiroganes? At Shiro?” And at that, Keith began to relax, slowly. “Would he have wanted you to run out in a thunderstorm, potentially getting yourself hurt, and worrying everyone?” Keith’s shoulders slumped and he looked away. “Would he want you trying to beat the snot out of your most handsome friend, who is just trying to comfort you?” Keith raised an eyebrow, but a small smile managed to pull it’s way onto his face.

“I’m not saying you can’t be sad, but I’m pretty sure your uncle would have wanted you to keep being you. The same you he cared about.” Lance reached over, letting his hand rest on Keith’s shoulder. “Besides, he’s still going to be with you. You’ll have your memories.”

And that was cheesy as fuck, but they brought more tears to Keith’s eyes. “Dammit,” he reached up, trying to wipe them away, but froze as Lance beat him to it, his thumb gently brushing them away. The two stared at each other, Lance’s hand still lightly cupping Keith’s cheek.

Keith felt himself lean forward, hesitantly, and Lance followed, their eyes slowly closing as they kissed. They kept close together, Lance keeping his arm around Keith’s shoulders as the black haired boy cried the last few tears. By the time they both stood up, hand in hand, the rain had eased up. It hadn’t stopped fully, but it was lighter.

Keith would be okay. Lance would be there for him, and so would his friends. And his family.

Chapter Text

It was an accident. At first.

Lance had invited Keith over to his island to sell turnips (Lance actually calling Keith, excitedly telling him that his store was buying them at 600 bells a piece) and the two were sitting together as Keith sold his turnips to Timmy and Tommy. After that, the two had settled together, Keith heading to Lance’s garden, having noticed that Lance managed to cross-breed blue roses. He had gotten a couple to plant back on his own island, when he saw it.
A Golden Stag Beetle.

After confirming that Lance had one in his museum, Keith set to work on catching it. Unfortunately, Audie had been nearby, but Keith had maneuvered around her so he could get a clear shot at the bug, without her getting in the way. Or so he thought. Lance had leaned over to watch as Keith let the net swing down - and bonked Audie on the head.
“Keith!” Lance glared, and Keith panicked, trying to catch the beetle again, but it had already flown away and he wound up hitting the poor fox a second time. “Leave Audie alone!”

“I’m sorry!” Keith groaned, “I didn’t mean to!”

“Uh-huh…” Lance narrowed his eyes.

A few days later, Lance was visiting Keith’s island, dropping off things that he’d bought that he didn’t want to send over one at a time. As Keith was collecting the items, he perked up when he saw Coco exiting her house. He focused on gathering the last of the items, vaguely aware of Lance taking out his net. He wasn’t paying attention, until he saw his boyfriend walk over to Coco - and smack her with the net. “Hey!” Keith had reached for his phone, but saw Lance had just posted a response.
“Audie sends her regards.”

After that, it was on.

The two would go over to the other’s island, running around and smacking villagers with nets, shoving them around. Meringue was the next target on Lance’s island, the poor rhino getting unceremoniously pushed from one end of the island to the other.
On Keith’s island, Lucky never saw the barrage of net swats that Lance assaulted on the poor pup’s head before Keith chased him away.

Agent S got a couple smacks, while Kid Cat was lucky that Lance couldn’t push him into the ocean like he’d been planning. The two kept it up, neither one yielding until one day Keith realized that he still had a plot of land to sell. He opened it up and after a while, checked to see who was moving in.

He immediately called Lance.
“Truce.” he said, and Lance raised an eyebrow.
“You’re admitting defeat?” Lance asked, adjusting his phone to cradle it against his shoulder as he made dinner.
“I’m calling a truce.” Keith repeated. “Brocolo is moving onto my island.”

There was a pause as Lance made sure his food wasn’t burning.
“I’ll be there when he’s moved in.”
“I’ll send you a message.”

Operation: Mouse Trap was put in motion. Keith built up a fence around Brocolo’s house, and on the days that he spawned outside already, he called Lance and they both followed him around, bullying and pushing the mouse around. Keith would log on and every day, would smack and hit Brocolo with his nets when he saw him, refusing to talk to him in an attempt to get him to move out.

Finally the day came. He and Lance were sitting together and Keith saw Brocolo deep in thought. It was a risky move, but he walked over and spoke, crying out in joy when the blue mouse expressed a desire to move. “Get off my island!” Keith laughed, and Lance grinned, cheering along with Keith. The two threw their arms around each other as they celebrated their victory. Lance leaned up, pressing a kiss to Keith as best he could with the black haired boy laughing and smiling as much as he was.

In the chaos, neither noticed Keith accidentally asked Brocolo to stay.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t espionage. Not really. Technically they were on opposite sides, but that was just the way the teams had been made. Lance looked around as he walked through the woods to where he was supposed to be meeting his boyfriend, glancing over his shoulder in case he was being followed.
Not that it would matter. He was a counselor, just like Keith. They didn’t have a curfew.

Still, he was quiet as he snuck around, finally meeting at the docks, where the black haired boy was already sitting, legs swinging as he overlooked the water. Lance smiled, stepping out into the open, quietly calling out to him.

“Took you long enough,” Keith turned, smiling back at him, no malice in his words. “I thought you might have decided not to show.”
“Nah, I live for this star-crossed lovers thing.” Lance teased, sitting down next to his boyfriend. “You know, as long as neither of us actually wind up dying.”

Keith laughed, playfully nudging his shoulder against Lance’s. “I promise to be gentle.” he teased back, batting his eyelashes at Lance, who laughed louder than he probably should be for how late it was. But no one else should have been around, and when no one else showed up trying to tell them to go back to their cabins, he wrapped his arm around his boyfriend, pulling him close. They sat together, content in each other’s presence, slowly swinging their feet, letting the tips of their shoes lightly graze along the water. Lance was the first to pull back, taking his shoes and socks off so he could let his feet slip into the water properly. After a while, Keith’s feet joined his and the two leaned against one another once more.

“Sucks that we got put on different teams, though.” Keith said after a while. “I was hoping you and I would get paired up against Zethrid and Ezor.”
“They would have wiped the floor with us.” Lance said, seriously. “At least with Zethrid I think I have a chance at winning.” at that, Keith snorted.
“No, Ezor and I have got the two of you beat.” he said, grinning as Lance pulled back, looking offended.

“How about we make a bet out of it?” Lance leaned closer to Keith.
“Name it.” Keith brushed a bit of hair from his face as the wind picked up, whipping it around. Lance reached out to help, tucking a strand behind Keith’s ear.
“Winner, that will be me,” Keith snorted again, but allowed his boyfriend to continue, “gets out of cooking dinner for a week when we get back home.”
Keith hummed as he thought, “Alright.” he said, “But when I win,” Lance scoffed, “I get unlimited foot rubs for a week.”

Lance blinked before narrowing his eyes. “I’m onto your game, Keith.” Keith shrugged, feigning innocent. “Fine. Deal?” he held out a hand, and Keith reached over, taking it.
“Deal.”

“Shall we seal it with a kiss?” Lance asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and Keith smiled, laughing softly as he leaned forward.
The two kissed before resuming their romantic night of watching the stars, undisturbed by anyone until they both agreed to head back to their cabins to rest.

Chapter Text

The lights were turned off, their movie long since forgotten. The bowl of popcorn abandoned on the coffee table as the two pressed closer together, moaning into each other’s mouths.

Lance moved his hands, reaching and groping and pawing at everything he could touch, causing Keith to arch closer, whining and keening into his mouth as he moved closer, soon falling into Lance’s lap, his legs straddling either side. He ran his fingers through short brown hair, nails lightly scratching Lance’s scalp before he tugged, earning a groan from Lance whose hands planted firmly on Keith’s hips, pressing bruises into the pale skin.

They broke for air, panting heavily as they breathed in each other, eyes dark and hooded, lips shiny with spit and hearts pounding, blood rushing for more. And they crashed together again, Lance sliding his hand up Keith’s shirt, earning new, fresher moans.

Lance’s tongue slid into Keith’s mouth, the black haired boy opening his mouth wider for him, tilting his head to the side. Keith’s moans were muffled as his hips canted forward, but Lance quickly placed his hands back on his boyfriend’s hips, halting them. He was rewarded with a whine, but the kiss remained unbroken for a while longer as Lance’s tongue explored Keith’s mouth, mapping out and claiming every inch he could reach.

Only when they needed air did Lance pull back, opening his eyes and was rewarded with Keith looking close to tears, breathing heavily as a thin trail of saliva connected their mouths. Keith ran his tongue along his lips and broke it.
“Please,” he whispered, hands moving to gently paw and tug on Lance’s shirt. “Please, I need you.” He jutted his bottom lip, eyes glassy as a single tear caught on his eyelash.

Lance reached up, wiping it away. “Okay, angel.” he whispered. “Let’s get you in the bedroom and you can have me.”
Keith leaned forward, capturing Lance’s lips and his tongue slid into Lance’s mouth as the taller boy stood up, carefully adjusting his boyfriend in his arms as he carefully walked back to their bedroom, not even bothering to close the door behind them.

Chapter Text

Keith pulled closer, nuzzling into his boyfriend. Lance laughed quietly, tightening his arms around him, resting his chin on top of the shorter boy's head, focusing on the game he was playing. The two had spent the entire day just lounging and doing their own things, before Keith had felt the need to crawl into his boyfriend’s lap and cling, which Lance always welcomed.

He loved a clingy Keith. He had been rare, but slowly, as their relationship deepened, Lance realized that under the touch-starved, awkward exterior, there was a needy, attention hungry guy who basked in getting touched. A simple head pat had been too much before, but now Keith would quietly lay his head in his boyfriend’s lap, and Lance would run his fingers through long black hair, playing with and braiding it like it was second nature while continuing to hold whatever conversation he’d been having before.

He relaxed as Keith turned his head, and lightly blew air against Lance’s neck, causing the Cuban to tense up, a choked off laugh managing to pull from his chest. “Stop that.” he grumbled.
“What?” Keith asked, sounding far too innocent.
“You know what.” the taller boy refocused on his game. It wasn’t much longer before he felt a pair of lips brush against his neck, causing him to squeak and scrunch his shoulders up. He glared as Keith laughed, and Lance set his game down.
“Oh, you want to play that game?” Lance growled out, and Keith only had a second to realize he was in a bad position before Lance’s hands moved and dug into his sides. Keith yelped, laughing as he tried to pull away from the tickle assault, and Lance moved his head to Keith’s neck, blowing a raspberry into the sensitive skin. Keith snorted, before surging forward and left soft nips to Lance’s neck, his teeth gently grazing over the dark skin. The two laughed more, trading kisses and soft bites to too sensitive skin, before they relaxed against each other. Keith turned his head, pressing one last kiss to Lance’s shoulder, gently biting into the flesh before laid his head back down and Lance picked up and resumed his game.

Chapter Text

Lance couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed. Really, he had expected everyone to see him off, all of the friends he’d made that year staying with his uncle. After everything they’d done, the battles, the struggles, the bonding.

And most everyone was there. Hunk, Pidge, Romelle, Allura. Shiro and Coran. His uncle and young niece, Amelie. Even Axca, Ezor and Zethrid were there. Everyone was there.
Except Keith.

He had been hoping to see him, hoping to say goodbye. They’d grown closer, culminating in almost sharing a kiss during the festival two weeks ago. After that, though, Keith had seemed to… avoid him? He didn’t show up the last time the group got together, but everyone assumed that his family’s inn was busy. But he also didn’t reply to any of Lance’s messages.

And now he wasn’t here to see him off. To say goodbye. It hurt, but Lance pulled on a smile, hugging everyone that was there, even while Romelle looked around, concerned.
“It’s too bad Keith couldn’t be here.” she said, when it was her turn to hug Lance goodbye. “I’m sure that he’s just running late. The inn has been pretty crowded, but I don’t think he’d miss seeing you off.”

“It’s fine.” Lance said, pulling back. “Tell him I said bye for me?”
“Of course.” the blonde smiled, stepping back. Everyone looked up as the speaker system sounded, calling out that it was time to board the train. The train that would take Lance from this small, quiet town and to a larger city with a plane that would fly him home.
“I’m going to miss you all.” Lance reached down, picking up his suitcase, tugging his bag onto his shoulder.

“Don’t forget to call us!” Hunk said, tearing up like everyone knew he would.
“And text!” Pidge added, her own eyes looking watery and glassy.
“We’ll be sure to keep in touch.” Allura said, reaching up to wipe underneath her eyes, Coran placing a warm hand on her shoulder, comforting his niece.

Lance raised his hand, waving as he turned to start boarding the train.

“Lance!” the Cuban turned, eyes wide as he saw Keith standing at the entrance of the station, panting and flushed red. His hair looked like he’d been running his fingers through it, and Lance only had a moment to drop his bag as Keith raced forward and threw himself into Lance’s arms.
“Keith, I-”

And then Keith had grabbed onto Lance’s shirt, pulling him forward and into a searing kiss. And Lance was frozen for a moment, face burning as he tried desperately to put together what was happening. Soon, he was reaching out, pulling back just enough to turn Keith’s face to make the kiss more comfortable. Everything had melted around them, leaving just the two of them in a small pocket of the world. When they broke to breathe, Keith had begun to cry, silently.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I’m… I didn’t- I didn’t…” he swallowed, adjusting his grip on Lance’s shirt. “I don’t want you to go.”

And Lance felt the tug on his heart, wanting to stay. Wanting to take Keith with him.
The announcer gave the last call to board, and they were brought back to the reality that they were in. He raised his hand, brushing his thumb to clear away the tears.
“I promise, I’ll call you. Every day.” he smiled, letting his forehead rest against Keith’s.
“You better.” came the quiet response. Keith swallowed, biting his lip until Lance tipped his head forward and kissed him once more.

He slowly pulled back, Keith’s grip loosening enough for Lance to break free. He reached for his bags, his gaze wavering between Keith and the rest of their friends (which, wow, he just realized they all had just seen that).
Everyone was on the verge of tears (in Hunk’s case, more tears), but everyone was smiling at him. Lance looked back towards Keith, and raised his hand, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Keith leaned into it, and a small smile managed to pull across his face.
“That’s better,” Lance whispered. “I’ll miss you.” He then raised his voice, “I’ll keep in contact with you all!”

And Lance boarded the train, leaning out of the window when he got to his seat, and waved back to his friends, the bonds that he’d made in a short year.
He was already planning on convincing his parents to return next year.

Chapter Text

It had been a stupid slip-up. Akira hadn’t been paying attention as he set to work on sabotaging the latest shipment of robots. They were supposed to be alone, and this wasn’t going to take long. But they weren’t alone. And Akira nearly wound up getting shot in the head.

Instead, Leandro had shoved his boyfriend out of the way and fired at the droid that had appeared behind them, getting shot in the stomach. Rey had gotten a frantic sounding Akira yelling at her and Mickey to come get them. Akira’s hands were soaked in Leandro’s blood as he kept pressure on the wound, sobbing and pleading to anyone that would listen to let his boyfriend live.

Back at their hideout, Akira was still covered in blood, and was wrapped up in Leandro’s jacket, hunkered down on the floor while waiting for any news on his boyfriend. Rey looked over to him, her laptop lying abandoned beside her.
“He’s going to be okay,” she said, adjusting her glasses.
“You don’t know that.” Akira kept his gaze down, tugging at the too long sleeves. The blood had long since dried, and his gloves were most definitely ruined. He didn’t want to take them off.
“Mickey and Astir are both the same blood-type, and Rolan is a trained medic.” Rey reasoned. “He’s going to be fine.”

Akira pulled his knees up tighter and wrapped his arms around his legs. “What if he’s not?”
“Akira-”
“If he dies, I swear I’ll kill Xander, myself.” Akira swallowed, his face raw as fresh tears sprang from his eyes. “I’ll murder him with my own hands.”
Rey looked over at him, before slowly scooting closer and held out a hand, not quite touching her friend. When she received a small nod, she placed her hand on his knee.
“We’ll both get him.” she promised. “I’ll track down where he’s at, and I’ll make sure no one sees you. I’ll even drive you there, myself, if I have to.”
“You couldn’t reach the pedals.” Akira mumbled, and a small, fragile smile broke across his face as Rey pulled her hand back and punched him in the shoulder.
“Keep it up. I know where to hide your body so no one finds you.”

A throat cleared and the two looked over. Rolan was standing there, his moustache twitching faintly as he smiled down at the two. Akira scrambled to stand up, gripping tightly to Leandro’s jacket. “How’s Leo?” he asked, eyes wide and glassy again. “I-is he okay? Did-”
Rolan held up his hand, his smile warm and comforting. “Let him rest. But he’s stable.”

Leandro groaned, a dull pain in his stomach and his head throbbing. He shifted as he opened his eyes, scanning the room. He was in the medical bay. He blinked, slowly remembering what happened and why he was in the medical bay.
And from the look of things, they used quite a bit of resources. Damn, they’d have to go and get more.

A soft snore pulled his attention and he smiled, seeing Akira curled up in a chair next to him, wearing his jacket. He reached over, his fingers brushing against his boyfriend’s arm and the dark haired boy slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times before his eyes widened. “You’re awake.” he whispered, quickly standing up, grabbing Leandro’s hand and pulled himself onto the bed. “How are you feeling? Are you okay?” He blinked back tears and Leandro moved his other hand, mindful of the iv that was attached to that arm, and brushed away his boyfriend’s tears. “I hate you so much, you asshole.” Akira sniffed, leaning into the touch. “I was going to kill you if you died.”
“That would have been pretty impressive.” Leandro said, voice feeling rough. “How long have I been out?”
“A couple days. You were kind of conscious, but not really?” Akira nuzzled into his boyfriend’s hand. “You mostly slept.”
“I’m sorry.” Leandro adjusted the hand that Akira was holding, linking his fingers between his boyfriend’s.
“Rolan wanted me to go get him when you woke up.”
“Can it wait?” Leandro looked up to his boyfriend. “You tell him, and everyone else will show up.”

Akira smiled, slowly climbing further into bed, laying next to his boyfriend. “Yeah. It can wait.” he whispered, leaning forward and brushed his lips against Leandro’s. The two cuddled together, eventually falling back asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Chapter Text

Lance was very good at what he did, and he was an excellent rogue. All in all, the mission was pretty easy, up until the evil witch Honerva cast her spell just as Hunk fired a blast at her.
The spell had hit Lance, and Honerva was dead, unable to tell the group why Lance had gone down and wasn’t waking up. Keith was taking it the hardest, refusing to let Shiro help as he gently gathered Lance in his arms and carried him out.

Pidge hadn’t been able to find anything wrong, Cure Wounds did nothing but patch up the small cuts and bruises on their rogue’s body. All in all, it was very concerning, which was why they brought Lance back to Allura, the small Fae transforming her body to match their party’s height.
“What happened?” she asked, raising her hands and began to detect magic.

“Honerva,” Shiro said, frowning as Keith hovered around the Fae, and shooed him away. “We managed to defeat her, but she cast some spell and it hit him.” Allura hummed softly as she cast a new spell, then drew back her hands.
“Well, good news, it’s a curse.” she said softly, smiling to the group.
“How is that good?!” Hunk asked, throwing his hands up. “He’s cursed! We- we have to do something!”
“It’s good, because it should be fairly easy to cure.” Allura laughed. “I have most of the ingredients we’ll need. Would you go out and gather two Juniberry flowers? I’ll need the petals to complete it.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Pidge blinked, eyes wide behind her spectacles.
“Well, there is one more thing, but that won’t be a problem and will have to be done after I finish the potion.” She waved her hand to the group. “Go on, shoo.” her eyes fell on Lance, and Keith who had managed to gravitate back towards the fallen rogue. “Keith, would you stay and help me?”
“Me?” Keith jumped, jerking back. “Wouldn’t you want Pidge? Or Hunk?” he motioned to the cleric and mage, who were also looking confused.
“No, you won’t have to do much. But you seem like you’d rather stay.” her eyes held a knowing glint that made Keith flush, before he nodded.

“Alright.” he murmured, giving one last look to Lance, before following Allura back into her home, the other three setting off to gather the ingredients that were needed to revive their friend.

The sun was near setting by the time the group were gathered around as Allura finished the potion, gently pouring it into a small glass vial. “Alright, it’s done.” she handed it over to Keith, who held it, looking at the soft lavender liquid inside. “He’ll be just fine.”

“Didn’t you say there was something else needed?” Shiro asked, “Do we need to get you something else?”
“Oh, no.” Allura smiled, laughing softly. “Lance just needs to have the potion given to him, and then he needs a kiss from the one who loves him.”
“Oh.” Hunk blinked, “Wait, what?!”
“So, you’re going to cure him.” Pidge nodded, “Good.”

“Me?” Allura blinked, before laughing. “Oh, no no! I love Lance, but not in that way.” she waved her hand. “He needs… oh, there’s no way to say this without it sounding cliche, but he needs true love’s kiss.”
“How are we supposed to find Lance’s true love?!” Hunk threw his hands up into the air, nearly hitting Shiro with his staff. “Lance could die before then!”
“Allura, can you at least try?” Shiro asked. “If it doesn’t work, we can at least clear you off the list.”

The Fae stared at the three before her, realizing they were serious and laughed as she shook her head. “Lance will be fine.” she said, before pointing over their shoulders. The three looked, and watched as Keith knelt down beside Lance, carefully cradling his head up and slowly fed him the potion.
“Keith, wait!” Pidge called out, panicking. “He needs-”

Keith then lowered his head, pressing a soft kiss to the rogue’s lips.

Everyone was silent, watching as Keith pulled his head back and in a short amount of time, Lance’s eyes opened and he groaned.
“Wha’ hap’und?” his eyes focused on Keith, before he began to smile. “Well, hello gorgeous.”
“Hey, yourself.” Keith smiled, laughing as he leaned down, pressing another kiss to the rogue’s lips. “You got cursed.”
“Lucky me, I got a prince to rescue me.” Lance playfully batted his eyes, causing Keith to laugh again.
“Ex-prince.” the dark haired man said.
“Still counts.” The two stood up, Lance leaning into Keith as he was still trying to get his bearings. “Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a behemoth.” His gaze moved, seeing the rest of the group and smiled, raising his hand. “Hey guys!”

Those two words seemed to knock the group back to reality and the three swarmed, demanding answers.
“What is going on?”
“Why did Keith’s kiss wake up Lance?”
“Why are you two acting like you’re dating?!”

Lance and Keith blinked, looking to one another, before back to the group. “We… we are dating.” Lance said.
“You didn’t tell us?!” Pidge glared, pointing a finger at the two.
“It was none of your business?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

That just seemed to make the three grow louder. Allura smiled, laughing softly as she cast magic to shrink the group. “Let’s continue this chat inside. I made cookies and tea.”

Lance and Keith followed, hand in hand.
Pidge, Hunk and Shiro trailed behind, still demanding answers.

Chapter Text

“What time is it?”
Tired eyes flicked over to the clock, and Lance groaned. “Four fifty-seven.” he said, reaching for an energy drink, passing it over to his boyfriend.
“AM?” Keith asked, taking the can and opened it, taking a long swig from it.
“AM.” Lance opened his own can.

“Three more minutes and it’s open.” Keith said, checking the group chat. “Pidge and Hunk are up.”
“Pidge has been up since two days ago, I bet you. Hunk probably actually slept and set an alarm.” Lance yawned, rubbing his eyes.
“We probably should have, too, instead of trying to stay up since this- yesterday morning. No one has the fortitude of Pidge.” Keith stretched, feeling his back pop.
“We were fools, but two more minutes we’ll be fools who are the first to get to play Voltron.” Lance smiled, pointing to his computer. The screen showing the new MMO screen. “You ready?”

“Totally.” Keith smiled, leaning closer to his own computer. “Probably should start up the call.” he muttered, already grabbing his headphones. Lance groaned, but followed suit. He leaned over, pressing a kiss to the corner of his boyfriend’s mouth.
“You’re lucky you’re pretty.” Keith snorted, smiling back towards the other boy.
“That makes no sense in this context.” he teased, putting on the headphones.
“You’re still pretty.” Lance adjusted his mic, and pressed to start the call for the friends group. “And don’t use big words until this caffeine kicks in.”

Keith laughed as their other friends joined the call.

Chapter Text

Keith groaned as he entered the apartment, closing the door behind him. He hated working retail. Hated.

He kicked off his shoes and began to slowly make his way towards the bedroom, but slowed down when he saw something sitting cling wrapped on the table. Stepping over, he smiled, seeing a plate of lasagna and a note left beside it.

Eat before you come to bed, angel.

And so Keith sat down and ate, feeling better as the microwaved home cooked meal warmed him. Once the plate was washed and put away, Keith made it to the bedroom and saw Lance already asleep in bed, cocooned in the blankets.
He changed, huffing as his leg got caught in his pants leg and nearly fell over, but managed to catch himself with a thunk against the wall. He groaned, and Lance shifted, but didn’t wake up.

After Keith was in more comfortable clothing, and knowing that he could turn the alarm on his phone off and sleep in tomorrow, he crawled into bed and began trying to extract some of the blankets from around his boyfriend. Lance grunted, burrowing deeper, and Keith let out a whine.
“Lance, give.” he didn’t care that he sounded like a child. It worked, and Lance rolled over, allowing Keith to be able to tug a corner free and the dark haired man slid under.

Lance opened his eyes, sleepily, and smiled, reaching out an arm to pull his boyfriend closer. “Did you eat?” he asked, nuzzling into him. Keith gave a deep sigh, relaxing into the Cuban’s arms.
“Yeah,” he mumbled, leaning his head over, brushing his nose against his boyfriend’s.
“Good. I’m glad.” Lance gently pressed a kiss against his boyfriend’s lips, soft and chaste. “G’night, angel.”
Keith smiled, feeling himself falling asleep. “Night.” he whispered back.

The two fell asleep, curled close together.

Chapter Text

The park was empty as the group of friends took over, smiling and laughing quietly. Smuggled beer and stolen cigarettes soon littered the ground as they settled in, leaning on and playing among the equipment. Lance and Keith found themselves at the monkey bars, the taller boy scrambling to sit on top of them while Keith laughed, taking to just sitting on the top railing of the ladder.

Lance smiled as he looked down to his boyfriend, swinging his legs around. “We’re graduating this year.” he said, suddenly, bottle of cheap beer hanging between his long fingers.
Keith looked up, exhaling smoke, “Yeah, we are.” he said, smiling as he leaned his head against the side of the rails. Behind him, he heard Hunk yelling about feeling sick while the rest of their friends pushed the lone tire swing around, Pidge demanding that it go faster.

“We’re going to be adults,” Lance went on, “We- in the eyes of our great state, we are adults once we take that piece of paper and shake our teachers hands.”
“Shuffled off into the really-real world,” Keith reached up with his free hand, and Lance passed over the bottle. “With all the knowledge we’ll need to survive. Like long division and the chemical make-up of water.” He tipped his head back while Lance snorted, taking a drink.
“We’ll have to get jobs. Go to college. File our taxes.” the Cuban blinked, “Fuck, how do you file taxes?”
“Beats the hell out of me.” Keith handed the bottle back. “We’ll figure it out, though.”

Lance turned, looking down at his boyfriend and smiled. “Yeah.” He drank the last of the beer, letting the bottle fall into the sand below him and hooked his legs around the edge of the monkey bars, flipping himself upside down. “We’re a really good team.”
Keith laughed, looking to the other boy, fondly, as Lance laughed as well. He moved, hopping off his make-shift seat and stood in front of his boyfriend, kissing his lips.

Chapter Text

Lance broke through the water, laughing as he waved at his friend, “I’m okay!” he yelled out. He felt something brush against his leg, and ignored it.
“You sure?” Hunk called out in return. “You were under for a while.”

Another brush and Lance kicked his leg out and away from the object. “All good! No worries.” Lance laughed. He watched as Hunk nodded. “I’ll meet you back at shore!”
“Don’t stay out here too long!” and he started back to shore. With his back turned towards the Cuban, Lance felt a hand wrap around his leg and had just enough warning to take in a large breath of air before he was pulled under.

He squirmed, opening his eyes to the sting of salt water, and glared at the dark haired boy before him, who was smiling a fangy grin. Pretty red scales dotted along his cheeks and torso and if Lance looked lower he’d see the long, red tail that started around the boy’s hips, right where his navel was. As it was, Lance was instead distracted when the mermaid surged forward and playfully brushed his nose against Lance’s before the Cuban pulled himself back up for air.
“Keith!” Lance coughed, rubbing at his face. A moment later, the mer slowly peeked his head up, large violet eyes staring at the human. “You can’t do that! Hunk almost caught you.”

Keith frowned, swimming closer to Lance. “Sorry,” he murmured, hands reaching up to hold onto Lance’s surfboard along with the Cuban. “You looked so cool, though!”
Lance smiled after a moment, “Yeah, I know.” he winked, laughing as Keith’s tail lashed out, splashing him with water.

“You have to go back.” Keith said, laying his head against the surfboard, crossing his arms in front of him.
“In a bit.” Lance agreed, “I can stay for a while longer.” He reached out a hand, and smiled when the mer took it, their fingers slowly linking together. The first time they’d held hands like that, the webbing between Keith’s fingers had been a strange feeling, but now Lance barely noticed it.

Keith gave a gentle tug, and Lance took a proper breath, and the two fell into the water. Keith smiled, playfully tugging and spinning with Lance, the Cuban smiling and staying close to the mer. He watched as Keith drew closer and closed his eyes, feeling a pair of lips brush against his own.
Lance broke the surface again shortly after, promising his boyfriend that he’d return the next day. Keith watched, smiling fondly as he watched the human paddle back to shore, falling back under the surface and spun around happily, excitedly waiting for the next time he could see him again.

Chapter Text

The first time Lance had bought him a flower, Keith had turned a bright crimson, gently taking the rose from his new boyfriend. During their date, Keith admitted that he’d never gotten flowers before, but it was not an unwelcomed gesture.
Lance made it his mission to bring Keith a flower for every date, and smiled at the care and gentleness that Keith would treat them, seeing them in small glasses of water. He didn’t even tease Keith when he saw a book about taking care of flowers when he came over one day, sitting on the bookshelf between all the mysteries, romance and graphic novels.

So on their one year wedding anniversary, Lance absolutely wanted to make this special. So he bought the largest bouquet of flowers he could afford, tied together with a pretty blue ribbon. He stepped into their house, closing the door quietly behind him. “Keith?” he called out. He walked into the kitchen, setting down the bag from their favorite take-out restaurant and turned back to head down the hall. “Keith? Baby, are you awake?” he stepped closer towards their bedroom, seeing it was open just a crack and gently pushed it open.

He blinked, blushing as he took in the sight of his husband laying in bed, laid out seductively and wrapped up in silk and lace. Keith smiled, arching one of his stockinged legs as he tilted his head to the side. “Hi, darling.” he purred out, eyelids lowering. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

And bless him, Lance was in love. But his mouth opened before he could stop himself. “I brought food and I thought we could cuddle on the couch.”

And Keith’s lustful expression disappeared as he blinked, blushing. “Oh.” he glanced over to the side, raising a hand and brushing a bit of hair out of his face. “Um, I-I just…”

“Not that I don’t absolutely want this,” Lance motioned to Keith. “I do. I absolutely, one hundred and twenty million percent wnt this.” He began to smile, a laugh bubbling out. “Man, I think we had different ideas for surprises today.”
“Very different.” Keith agreed, smiling as well, chuckling. He moved, standing up from the bed, wrapping his arms around himself.

“How about food first,” Lance pointed behind him, “then dessert?” at that, he pointed to Keith, grinning wider as Keith snorted out a laugh.
“Sure,” Lance watched his husband walk over, his eyes roaming Keith’s face, and realized that his lips were painted red.

It was a realization that came just as Keith leaned up and kissed him, deeply. Lance wrapped his arms around him, the two melting into the kiss. Keith pulled back, smiling in satisfaction at the lipstick smudged against Lance’s lips. “Let’s go eat, good lookin’.”

Chapter Text

Lance grunted under the weight of the large casket, already weak from the last fight. Keith looked over, worried, as the saboteur grunted. “You hurt?” he asked, hesitantly stepping closer.
“I’ll be okay,” Lance smiled, setting the large casket down to try and catch his second wind. He froze, hearing a footstep behind them and quickly moved in front of Keith, shielding him as an arrow shot forward and into his shoulder. He yelled out, stumbling backwards. He was aware of Keith beside him, saying his name. Aware of a different Keith before him. Eyes cold and disgusted, wielding the crossbow that shot him. His world spun, and there was his Keith, looking worried, lovely.
“Run,” Lance breathed, his footsteps faltering. He tried to catch himself on the railing, but lost his footing, and fell into the body of water below them.

“Lance!” Keith hurried forward, before the other stopped him.
“Don’t you move another step.” this Keith, clad in blue, raised the crossbow at him. Blue Keith glared hard. “You could have avoided all this, but you insisted on being used as the tool you were made for.” Keith froze, swallowing thickly as the two white haired boys stared each other down. “If you insist on being a tool, I’ll dispose of you as one.”

The crossbow was raised, but the Blue Keith hesitated, faltering as he looked. Giving Keith ample time to quietly charge up a spell. “Go, which pounds and crushes, The Slugger!” the energy shot forward from his weapon, slamming into Blue Keith. He grunted as he was blasted backwards, hitting the railing and falling unconscious.

Keith trembled, breathing heavily before he quickly got to work. He raced forward, grunting as he hefted the casket up and over the railing, throwing it down into the water. As it fell, he climbed up onto the rails, clinging tightly to his weapon and took a deep breath, jumping in after it, and Lance.
The water was cold, but Keith forced his eyes open, searching for who he was after, and once he saw him, he swam forward towards Lance’s sinking body. As he got closer, he saw Lance’s eyes were still open, though hazy. He reached forward, grasping onto him, pulling himself close.

Keith was relieved to see the small reaction to the grip as Lance’s head turned faintly towards him. Keith pulled himself closer, pressing his lips to Lance’s, quietly casting the spell to surround them in an air bubble.

Lance gasped, coughing weakly as he took in the much needed breath. Keith smiled, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “Rescue success!” he said as they floated back towards the surface.
“What… what are you doing?” Lance asked, once he felt like his lungs weren’t going to give out. “I’m a saboteur.” Keith blinked, confusion painting his features. “I’m just a tool, you shouldn’t be risking your life for a tool-”
“You’re not!” Keith cut him off, gripping his arms tight. “Lance, you’re not. Not tool.” more tears were forming, though these were more of desperation and sadness, rather than happiness. Lance blinked, smiling as he raised his hand and brushed the tears away.
“Alright.” he whispered, letting his hand rest against Keith’s cheek. “I guess, if you insist so much.”

The two looked at each other, Keith smiling softly once more and the two leaned closer, sharing another kiss. Overhead, someone called out for them, their friends relieved that they were still alive.

Chapter Text

Keith frowned, slumping back in his chair, feeling his eyes glazing over. He didn’t enjoy watching baseball, and he was only here because his stupid brother’s stupid boyfriend was paying for it. And they were beside him, arm in arm, enjoying themselves. A quick glance over, and they were quietly talking to one another and definitely not paying attention either. Why are they here if no one is watching or paying attention to the game?

Must be nice to have money to burn.

Keith pulled his gaze back to the game as the people around him screamed and cheered, and saw one of the people on the field running, someone out in the outfield reaching up and missing the ball. Someone crossed homebase. That was a point, right? He watched Angels in the Outfield when he was younger. That’s about his biggest exposure to the sport.

Keith was zoning out, again, mind wandering to what he could be doing, and enjoying. Playing a game. Reading. Painting. Playing with his dog. Taking a pop quiz from that asshat Iverson’s class. He was just imagining starting a riot in the guy’s class, lighting the quizzes on fire while his classmates all were arming themselves with rulers and chairs and starting a war cry while Iverson was locked in the closet when he heard Adam bust up laughing. It was enough to startle him back to reality and looked over. Shiro was covering his face and Adam was leaning into him. When he saw Keith’s puzzled expression, he pointed over to where there was a large screen. Where it usually was showing images of the game, it now had hearts and pink bubbles, swirling pink text reading KiSS CaM was in the corner. And front and center, was him. And his brother.

Keith blinked a few times. “Um, no?” he shook his head before pointing over to Adam. “Him. Pick him!” The camera seemed to jerk, before sliding over and Adam was laughing harder, nudging at Shiro until his boyfriend’s head rose and planted a kiss to one very red cheek. The crowd around them cheered and applauded and Keith rolled his eyes, propping his head in his hand, ready to zone out once more.

“You just not in the business to kiss strangers?” a voice, instead, jostled him from being able to imagine himself anywhere but here, and he turned his head. The guy beside him was attractive. Keith had made a note of that when he and the other two had arrived and were picking their seats. Keith maybe chose to sit where he did just because he wanted to be closer to this guy so he could look at him from time to time.
“No, I just don’t think they really want me kissing my brother the way they want a kiss to happen.” Keith replied, and the guy beside him began laughing loudly.

The two had began talking, and Keith was actually enjoying himself, now. He hadn’t planned on talking to this guy but if that’s what it took to get through the rest of this sports thing then so be it. He flirted, and was pretty happy when the guy beside him flirted back.

At some point, the guy (who Keith had learned was named Lance), looked up at the screen. “Oh, no,” he muttered, and Keith followed his gaze.
Lance and the woman beside him was on screen. As Lance turned to the woman, she was already reaching into her purse and taking out a fairly large sign that read “I’M GAY, TRY AGAIN” Lance and Keith both began to laugh.

The laughing stopped when the camera panned over, and Keith was back on screen. The two blushed, They looked at each other and Keith was very aware that Shiro and Adam were laughing behind him.
“We, uh, don’t have to.” Lance said, nervously, trying to laugh it off. “Like, just tell them no and not make… this… awkward.” Keith blinked before frowning.
“It… won’t be awkward?” Unless he read their flirting wrong. Oh, god, was Lance even flirting earlier?
“You won’t think it’s awkward?” Lance paused, staring back at him.
“This conversation is more awkward, Lance.” Keith pouted, pushing away his anxieties. “Are you going to kiss me or are we just going to argue about this until they find someone else?”

Lance blinked, blushing deeper, “I’d like option A, please.” He was cut off from any more rambling by Keith tugging at his shirt and into a kiss.
They probably could have stopped after the camera moved on, but they didn’t. Not until they needed to breathe.
And after that they might not have stayed for the rest of the game, preferring to have their date somewhere they could actually enjoy themselves.

Chapter Text

Keith gazed out of the window, his eyes wide in wonder as the ferris wheel slowly rolled higher. Beside him, Lance was laughing, holding onto the large purple hippopotamus plush that he’d won for the boy, since Keith had apparently desperately needed it upon seeing it (Keith was slowly gaining a collection of plushes and Lance wasn’t about to stop it, far too in love with the look his boyfriend had when he was gifted one).
It was also nice just to see his boyfriend looking excited about everything, experiencing being a human for the first time.
“Easy, Starshine,” Lance said, fondly, “you’re rocking the cart.” Keith blinked, turning to look back at Lance.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” he blushed, carefully moving to sit back down, though still was looking out the window. “We’re just so high up, though.”

“You came from the stars,” Lance pointed out, handing the hippo back over to his boyfriend, who held it close to his chest.
“Well, yes, but we were so high up we didn’t see much.” Keith explained, looking back over to him, smiling brightly. “But here, I can see everything!” he turned to look back out the window, squeezing his plush tighter. Lance moved closer, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend, keeping him close.
“Well, you can see the rest of the fair,” he agreed, looking out the window with him. The lights were turning on below them as the sun was setting. He had offered to take them home, but Keith had wanted to go on one last ride.

Lance can’t say he regrets agreeing to go on the ferris wheel.

The cart slowed down to a stop, and Keith leaned into him, his gaze moving out towards the stars that were beginning to dot across the sky, twinkling into existence. Lance let his head rest against his boyfriend’s. “Do you ever want to go back?” he asked, softly, breaking the silence as the cart moved again, moving up higher. Keith shook his head, staying close.
“No. It was nice, up there. But I couldn’t bring you.” He pulled back, looking towards his boyfriend. Lance felt himself gazing into Keith’s eyes, seeing the soft reflection of stars that always seemed present in the deep pools of violet. It had been what drew him to Keith when he first met him.

And as the cart slowly moved, cresting at the top, and with the fair they met what felt like forever ago (but it was only a month. Keith had been with Lance for only a short month, and Lance feels like Keith had been with him forever), Lance felt himself lean closer to his boyfriend. And Keith’s eyes brightened, his smile growing more beautiful as he leaned in as well.

The ferris wheel stopped, allowing the perfect view of the fair. Lance and Keith instead enjoyed the view inside the cart as they shared a soft, gentle kiss and enjoyed the company of each other. Outside, the stars burned as bright as their love.

Chapter Text

The sun was warm as it barely crested over the horizon when Keith rolled over in bed, his arm reaching out for the warm body he was so used to. He felt cold sheets, instead. He opened his eyes, frowning in concern before remembering what day it was.
Nerves spiked as he laid in bed, gripping the sheets tightly. He was getting married today. Married to the man he loved.

Keith had fought in an intergalactic war, fought the man he saw as his brother. Nearly died so many times it wasn’t even funny. Brought down a genocidal empire bent on taking over the whole galaxy. He had battled psychopaths, murderers, had dealt with enemies who tried to turn his mind on his teammates, his family. He had fought death head on, looked deep into the abyss and saw that the other side was filled with peace at the end of a long, uneven and broken path.

And now he lay in bed, his mind racing with anxieties over the simple thought of marrying Lance.

The two had given it time, let themselves and each other settle into their new lives, Keith helping run the Blade of Marmora, Lance being an instructor at the Garrison, smiling bright and warm as he taught a new generation of children about space travel, being able to give life lessons he learned and tell fantastic tales of his own adventures. Really, everyone had managed to settle into their new lives.

Hunk had retired from being an engineer, wanting a life of calm happiness and opened up a modest bakery back home, Shay by his side. Pidge went on to help with space exploration, creating new codes that would help astronauts.
Shiro had become a school teacher. He, Adam and Matt all also became advocates for children, each proudly displaying their prosthetics, showing that just because they were different didn’t mean they couldn’t do everything they loved and wanted to do. Shiro and Adam had even gotten married two years after they won the war.

Allura and Romelle had gone off into space, keeping in touch with the Paladins on Earth. The two would send images, recordings and video chat with their friends, excitedly speaking about all the wonderful places they had been to. Everyone had been so happy when they appeared and announced they had entered a relationship, Pidge pumping her fists into the air while loudly proclaiming “Lesbians in Spaaaaace!!!”

And Coran had stayed behind on Earth, fascinated with the ecosystem. The animals, especially. One video of him excitedly encountering a Grizzly Bear and surviving with laughter as he “play wrestled” with the large beast had earned him fame after Lance had uploaded it to share with his friends. Now, Coran had camera crews follow him as he traveled the Earth, determined to meet every last creature (his latest video was of him hugging a mountain lion, who looked equal parts confused and annoyed as the Altean excitedly prattled on about how soft the fur was before letting it go with a gently pat on the head. The lion then took a swipe at the ginger, who chortled as sharp, deadly claws tore into the sleeve of his shirt).

Everyone had settled into their new lives. And now, Keith was about to enter a new chapter in his life, one that would tie him and Lance together forever. And his heart pounded in his chest. He sat up, looking around the room. His closet was wide open, and he saw the white tuxedo that had been chosen. His gaze cast over to the table beside him, where a single blue rose corsage was sitting in its box. He moved to carefully pick it up, remembering when Lance had given it to him (or rather, when Veronica had given it to him in Lance’s stead. Keith didn’t buy into the “you can’t see the person you’re marrying before you get married”, but Lance had been adamant, citing an aunt’s failed wedding because she saw her husband the night before). He smiled, remembering her talking about how Lance asked him to wear it. He looked back over to his closet.
He had done so much, gone through so much in his life. He could handle a wedding.
He could do this.

Lance couldn’t do this. He had woken up, feeling calm and collected, but as the day wore on and the time of his and Keith’s wedding drew closer, he was panicking. His mind was conjuring up every possibility that could go wrong. It would rain (Lance checked the weather, and it was clear blue skies, perfect for an outdoor wedding). Catering would be a disaster (Hunk was in charge, and if Lance couldn’t count on Hunk then what the hell was he doing asking the man to make his wedding cake?). No one would show up (Everyone was there yesterday. Everyone was excited when they stopped by and talked with him). Keith would bail. He would realize that he could do better than Lance and would leave him at the altar.
It was absurd. He and Keith had been together for seven years. He knew that wouldn’t happen. It was stupid to think that he would walk down the aisle and Keith wouldn’t be there. That he’d wait, and Shiro would come down and tell Lance that Keith had left, leaving a note that said why he couldn’t marry Lance.

But that’s what was going on in his head. And he ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up as he sat down on his bed, trying to calm his breathing down. He needed a distraction. He needed to stop thinking about it. He needed a kick in the ass for even thinking that was a possibility.

A gentle knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. “Come in!” he called out, pulling his hands back.
His twin carefully looked inside, her long brown hair braided and pulled over her shoulder, already wearing her soft lavender dress. She frowned, crossing her arms as she stepped inside. “What is it this time?” she asked, gently as she stepped over to her brother, reaching out to help fix his hair.
“Something dumb,” Lance admitted, keeping still as she worked. When she flicked his ear, silently demanding he answer her, he sighed. “Keith not wanting to marry me.”

And she stopped. Then flicked his ear again, harder. “Ow!!” he winced, pulling back as she flicked at it again.
“You. Are. So. Stupid.” she said with each flick, and Lance whined, swatting her hand away. She placed her hands on her hips, glaring down at him.
“I know! I told you it was dumb!” Lance glared up at her. She sighed, and sat down beside him.

“Lance, he loves you.” she reached her hand over, her palm up. Lance placed his hand in hers, allowing her to squeeze it. “Everything I’ve seen, every time you two are together, he looks like you hung the moon. He looks like he’d reach out and take down every last star in the sky if you asked him.” She smiled warmly and Lance felt his face flush with heat.

“Yeah, probably. Even if I joked about it, he’d probably start trying to figure out how much rope that would be to lasso a star.” He smiled, the image of his soon-to-be-husband tying up a large length of rope helping to calm him down.

“Either that, or he’d call you dumb.” his sister teased, and Lance laughed, the image replacing itself with Keith looking adorably confused as he explained to Lance why that wouldn’t be possible.

“Feel better?” she asked, looking at her brother. Lance nodded, taking a deep breath.
“Yeah. Thanks, sis.” he squeezed her hand in return.
“Good, because I came up here to tell you it’s time.” she laughed as Lance’s smile dropped and he yelled, quickly jumping up and running around the room, making sure everything was ready.

Keith stepped down the aisle, surrounded by their friends and family, feeling Shiro give him a soft, encouraging pat on his shoulder before he stepped aside.
Lance was soon escorted down, his mother at his side before she too took her leave.
The two smiled at each other, gently taking each other’s hands. Each dressed in white, Keith sporting a blue rose, and Lance proudly wearing a red rose. Their friends decorated in soft shades of purple. Everything felt like a blur, everything felt like it was in slow motion. Both paid attention, completely enraptured as the officiant quietly spoke, neither really retained what was being said. They looked into each other’s eyes, surrounded by their loved ones, and completely alone as they each said aloud their vows, tears welling up in their eyes.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.

“You may now kiss your husband.”

And Lance pulled Keith close, the dark haired man laughing as he kissed his husband, the sounds of their friends and family cheering them on a dull roar below the moment, a quiet sound compared to the sound of blood rushing, pumping in their veins and roaring in their ears as their hearts pounded in excitement. As they broke the kiss, the two smiled, pressing their heads together, before Keith leaned up, pressing a second, softer kiss to his husband’s lips.

For better, or worse, they made a pretty great team.