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Onsen date

After they were late from both breakfast and the first team exercise, Allura made them undergo the most rigorous day they had ever spent in space. Apart from a ten minutes lunch break, she did not even let them sit down until the clock hit seven o'clock.

It was not like they could not spend time together during the day, but somehow Keith was always with someone. Pidge, Shiro, Coran; there was not a single minute when Lance could have found him alone. He was extra jumpy anyways: whenever Lance came close to him or talked to him or even just looked at him he stopped whatever he was doing, his voice broke, he averted his gaze. He somehow managed to do it subtly, but he could not hide what he was thinking about from the blue paladin.

Keeping their secret became a hundred times more difficult.

In the afternoon, the castle reached a planet where, after offering a helping hand with rebuilding a town with the strength of Voltron, they were given a place to sleep at and a tour around the forest and the hot springs it was apparently famous of. The next day was spent with the same task, but this time they did not use their lions. The houses were built of wood and stone and thus they could repair fifty in a matter of twelve hours, but it was a tiring work nonetheless.

Around seven o'clock, they were invited to a feast that seemed to be mundane for the locals but not for paladins on goo diet: if there was not a hundred types of different dishes then there was none at all, accompanied by a dozen kind of wine and beer (though their consumption was strictly forbidden by the princess). It was past eleven when the gathering finally ended and almost everyone went to bed—except for Keith, because when was the last time he did the same thing as everyone else?

When the town finally went to sleep, he sneaked out to one of the hot spring resorts they fixed yesterday. It was cleverly built: it was perfectly enclosed but the pool was bordered by wide, flat rocks, suitable to be rest against or to sit on. On the opposite side, an ivy-mantled, wooden wall guarded the guests' privacy but neither tall enough nor having a roof to block out the view. There was a lavender-like scent coming from somewhere even though there was not a single flower growing there.

After a brief shower, Keith tied up his hair and immersed himself in the hot water—a bit too fast at first, he almost slipped in surprise. Once he found a comfortable spot to sit down on and lean against the rocks, he looked up to the sky. There were considerably less stars in this galaxy but this planet had two moons instead; and for some reason he found it incredibly fascinating. However, his interest in such heavenly matters did not last long. He swiped left and right in the water, then lifted his hand to see how it pours out through his fingers. He noticed that it felt heavier than usual, but then he kind of got lost in the sensation itself.

The last time he was in a pool was during the pilot training in the Garrison where they had to learn how to leave their ship should they land in a sea: and it was the first one, too, for he never had the money to attend the school trips to the beach. It was incredibly embarrassing to learn to swim in the Garrison at the age of fifteen, but he would have never ever imagined he would associate being in water with fun.

He smiled in disbelief as he raised both of his cupped hands and let the water fall back in one splash. He repeated it a few times, trying to hold more and more before it slipped away. The slight, buzzing feeling under his thighs, the refreshing hotness enveloping him, the curiously entertaining sound the water made whenever he moved it, it was all so... so pleasant he could not help himself but laugh at it.

After such a hard days work, Lance had planned on going straight to bed. That idea was promptly thrown out the window when he noticed Keith was nowhere to be found.

The red paladin had been impossible to catch alone ever since... that night... Lance knew exactly why it was - he still managed to fluster himself with memories of it too, after all - but that didn't mean he wasn't determined to hunt Keith down, especially on this planet with optimal onsen date opportunities.

Just as he'd suspected, the hot springs they'd repaired the day before had lights shining brightly among the sleeping village.

Gotcha.

Using his top notch and super stealthy ninja abilities, Lance snuck through the facility in silence, only the sound of running water and light splashing echoing throughout as he undressed and washed up in record speed, sneaking out from behind the wall with nothing but a towel around his waist.

Kinda like Keith back then...

Ah, there he goes, blushing profusely all over again.

Speaking of Keith, now that he was able to look around the building, he got a good look of the other's back whilst he played around in the water. That's right. Played. Keith was playing. And laughing. All wet, with his skin tinged pink due to the heat. And his hair was in a fucking ponytail--

Honestly, how could a guy (other than Lance, of course) be so cute and hot at the same time? It's totally unfair! Not to mention Keith was off being this adorable without him. This was an important event that Lance definitely should have been invited to! He needed to get a grip on himself, preferably one that wasn't just him clutching at his chest in an attempt to calm the adoration pumping through his veins.

He took another moment or two to compose himself - and also maybe to just watch Keith a little longer - before standing straight with what he hoped was an unruffled expression on his face, clearing his throat with a weak smirk.

"Havin' fun?"

Busted.

He could not understand how he did not hear Lance walking up to him, the guy had even taken a shower. Was Keith this preoccupied with splashing water here and there? Wow, what a stupid game, what a stupid and embarrassing game to enjoy. He could already feel his cheeks burning, but thanks to the hot pool, there was no visible trace of his fluster.

He turned around to face Lance—Lance's legs, to be more precise. Oh, boy. He had a towel around his knees, that meant that he would have nothing above his waist, right? His heart was already flapping like an alarmed bird's wings, finally they were alone, but again, they were alone... He was not sure he could handle the happiness that came with this simple fact. It was such a good feeling it was almost scary.

He swallowed before he glanced up to him. Jesus Christ. That smirk should be announced first so he could prepare himself for it, not just thrown at him like this! No, no, Keith, keep it together. You remember what cornered preys do? That's right, they fight back. That's what you have to do.

Alright. Alright. Be uh, how do they call it. Hot?

He turned around his entire upper body towards the blue paladin and leaned ahead to rest his left forearm and right elbow on the rock. He put his chin in his right palm and with a sly smile he squinted up at him.

"Not as much as I'd have with you."

A single drop of sweat rolled down on his forehead. Shit, that was lukewarm at best...

Maybe it was something to do with both their current states of undress, or maybe it was because Lance was already weak in the knees from the scenario he'd walked in on; either way, his heart still skipped a few embarrassing beats at Keith's flirting attempt. Honestly, he's gotta give himself props for not falling over - if he's lucky, the red paladin will write off the deepening flush on his cheeks as an effect of the hot spring heat, rather than the heat of his words...

None of that, however, stopped his smirk from trembling with restraint before quickly caving and turning into a full on grin, followed by the kind of giggle he couldn't hold back every time Keith put on a flirtatious persona. This guy is unbelievably precious.

It didn't take him long to compose himself (at least, as best as he could in this situation), smile turning lopsided once more while he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and bent down to get closer to the angel in front of him. "That can be arranged if you're not gonna hog the pool~"

Shit, shit, shit shit shit alright, it's cool, keep it together, you expected Lance to flirt back, didn't you? His smile trembled and he sunk back a little bit. He was only an inch away from pushing himself up on the rock, close the distance between them and kiss him, but he did not want to look that eager, he did not want to embarrass himself even more. It was enough for today that he had seen him playing in the water like some newborn duck.

He chewed on his lower lip before glancing away.

"How come you aren't asleep?" he asked, turning his back on him to lean against the stones. He rested both of his forearm behind himself and closing his eyes he sighed deeply. The air was sure heavy and yet there was something refreshing in it. Was it that strange flower scent he had been smelling ever since he arrived?

"You worked a lot." Probably even more than him, his tone of voice suggested.

A triumphant huff followed as soon as Keith turned away, and Lance indulged himself in a second of inward gloating. Once that was out of the way, he figured with the red paladin's back to him, now would be the time to dive in with some discretion, right? His towel was already on the floor, so hopefully the answer was yes.

"So did you," he pointed out, sliding into the water as fast and smooth as he could manage while he had the chance. When he recovered from the initial shock of going from warm air to hot wetness at a merciless pace, he turned to Keith with a casual grin, as if this wasn't making his heart beat a thousand times per second.

"Besides, how could I sleep when I knew I was missing out on your one man pool party?"

He forced himself to look in front of him until he heard Lance entering the pool. Safe. God bless this water for not being as transparent as it was on Earth, he felt so awfully naked. Not that he should have hid his body, even Lance told him he was in a good shape, but still...

He glanced at him for a mere second before turning his gaze away from that celestial grin. He graciously skipped the part where Lance pointed out the fault in his logic and replied to the second half.

"How did you know I'm here?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder in a slight fluster. Was not Lance just having a lucky guess? He could not have known him this much.

"Well--" Pausing for a brief moment, he settled to sit on one of the underwater rocks next to Keith-- "this is pretty much the most interesting thing to do on this planet. Since you weren't training, I figured you'd be out here?" He conveniently left out the fact he hadn't even checked the training deck; the truth is, he kind of just... followed his gut? Maybe his hot spring date dreams were what guided him in the right direction - who knows.

"What are you doing out here so late anyways? Everyone else already went to bed." His hand swished around the water absentmindedly as he spoke; it wasn't quite the same as earth's, but it still managed to soothe his tired muscles so he wasn't going to complain.

So he was either training or doing the second most interesting thing, huh? Well... It was true he did not have many hobbies ever since they were stuck in space and that he spent most of his time either on bettering his body or trying to learn more about the Galra.

He was predictable after all. Unlike Lance: if the blue paladin was gone somewhere, he was probably the last person who was able to find him.

"Relaxing." A huff followed his quiet words with a lopsided smile. "Shocking, I know."

He let his head drop back as he looked up to the two moons. His lips slightly shook with unspoken words as if he was hesitating whether he should say them or not.

Suddenly he lowered himself in the water until nothing but his head from chin up was above it. He squinted at him with curiosity in his eyes.

"Do you think the others still don't know about this?"

He couldn't help but breathe out a quiet chuckle through his nose at Keith's answer. Part of Lance really wishes he still had his mobile phone out here in space, if only so he could be extra cheesy and make Keith is home screen; the face he was making right now would be perfect.

Leaning back with his left elbow resting against one of the rocks bordering the pool, he looked up to the dual moons, humming in consideration before lightly scratching the side of his face.

"I don't really know--" he provided helpfully, furrowing his brows while he tried to think of any evidence that would suggest the others had figured it out.

"I mean, Pidge and Hunk have been pretty whisper-y lately, plus they keep giving me funny looks... I think they've got a bet going or something." The last part came out with a tinge of amusement in his tone. He paused, then turned to Keith with what he hoped was a comforting smile."If anyone does know, they haven't said anything about it."

A beat passes by where his gaze fell to the gap between them as he chewed on the inside of his lip, shifting his eyes back to Keith's just as fast as they'd left. "Are you worried?"

Whisper-y? That was not a good sign. He tried to crack his knuckles underwater but it did not really work or at least he did not hear any sound. And as for the question, he replied in his usual matter-of-fact tone of voice, with his usual bluntness when it came to the blue paladin.

"No, I just don't want them to butt in. I want to keep you to myself."

He looked in the opposite direction of Lance. Well, this did sound like he was...

"Okay, maybe a bit worried."

He cupped his hands together and splashed some water on his neck, followed up by a rub. He turned his eyes back on Lance.

"Does this bother you?"

Wow, okay.

Tapping into his totally legitimate ninja abilities from before, his right hand raised up to scratch at his other cheek, inconspicuously trying to hide the crimson shade of his face and the goofy smile threatening to take over his lips as he turned to the side. What the heck, give a guy some warning!

"N-no--!" he sputtered, slightly ruining the completely perfect and functional and not at all obvious hand cover up. Really though, it was way past unfair to ask him a question after saying something like that out of nowhere.

He did not really understand his reaction, but he understood his words. Placing his right hand between them he leaned closer and, since he turned away his face, pressed a small kiss on his jawline.

He squinted at him with a faint smile and tilted his head a bit.

"I'm happy to hear that."

Despite his calm words, his heart was racing at a dizzying speed, throbbing violently in his throat. Wow, Lance's skin was so warm... Even if his lips got him at a bony part, he could not miss how damn soft his face was; Keith could have called his nighttime routine stupid all he wanted but it undoubtedly worked. It did not only make his skin nice to the touch, but it made his cheeks glow with some kind of light he had never seen on a guy before, one that always tempted him to cup them and pull them into a kiss, to run down his fingers on his equally perfect neck and...

He did not even notice he was plain staring at Lance's face now with eyes wide and shining with adorement; he was a bit too preoccupied with trying to contain his admiration for that.

As soon as the kiss landed on his jaw, his gaze was back on Keith and wider than ever; not even his hand could hide the spread of red consuming his complexion now. This isn't fair, this isn't fair, this isn't fair--

There should be a law about looking at someone that way; Lance is pretty sure it could easily kill him - hell, he thinks it's already killing him! Keith can't just smile at him with that stupidly cute tilt of the head and eyes full of--... of... His cheeks grew at least seventy shades darker. This was playing down right dirty, and Lance wasn't gonna stand for it!

His eyes squinted right back at the red paladin as he nibbled on his bottom lip once again, brows twitching with the confliction of staying furrowed or pushing up to make his expression that much more pathetic. Jesus, he almost wanted to apologize for all the times he's stared relentlessly at Keith, his heart was beating way too fast to be considered healthy. Usually Lance relished in being the centre of attention, but this kind of attention was just-- He wanted to have it on him forever and hide away completely, all at the same time.

His hand dropped into the water with a small splash. Before his brain could even catch up, Lance's eyes were scrunched closed and his lips were against Keith's with a familiarly delectable pressure.

He wasn't sure how he expected this to help calm the storm of butterflies raging in his chest - if anything, it made them rowdier - but whatever triggered the magnetism he had towards Keith's mouth, Lance was eternally grateful for it.

The kiss didn't last particularly long; the blue paladin only rocked into it for a few glorious moments before breaking away to inhale some air (his jaw was trembling already, what the heck), but damn if he didn't savour it. His shoulders rose and sunk with the momentum, hitching up as he practically leapt forward like a starved dog, and falling slowly as he tasted each lip as thoroughly as physically possible. He should probably be at least a little concerned at quite how much satisfaction washed through him every time they kissed, however, he was already hopelessly addicted to every aspect of Keith's mouth, so there really wasn't much use in dwelling on it. Ahh, he already wanted more--

For a second he was unsure whether it was him or Lance who closed the distance, but in terms of effects it did not matter much. He did not have the chance to kiss him these past two days and considering their last time together, he was more than simply missing him. It was partly his fault though, he kind of avoided him as he was afraid he messed up something that night and approaching him again in private would be awkward, but in the end it was just the same... If not better, knowing that Lance was holding back this entire time.

Once he shifted closer and slightly pushed back the blue paladin by joining the kiss in eagerness, he let himself get lost in the sensation. Even though he got much more from him already, moments like these were still invaluable... They were moments that Lance gave to him, and to him alone. A different kind of heat started to pool up in the pit of his stomach. It urged him to put his other hand in-between them as well and lean closer to the blue paladin, arching his back, and to chase down the lips breaking away way too soon... But his left palm failed to found the rocky bottom and instead bumped into a thigh alarmingly naked.

"Sorry," he gasped, as he was still struggling with catching his breath. His eyes flew open and he pushed himself back to where he was sitting. Alright, they seriously were not here for that kind of thing, and he seriously did not want Lance to think that Keith had nothing on his mind about him other than that...

'Shit, but now I am thinking about it...'

He forced back a whine down his throat as he straightened his posture and tried to recollect himself. He could not look at Lance: he was, again, just one big, flustered mess, a hundred percent clueless loser who wanted to have nothing but the blue paladin around him.

Aah, but it was driving him crazy, there was no way he could be sitting there in peace after he tasted a little piece of heaven. He wanted to hug him!! They were in a pool and there were no clothes on them whatsoever, but he just wanted to drag him on his lap and to keep him tight, to bury his face in his neck and smell his skin...

His hands were twitching in the water and by this time his face was probably a visual synonym for an active furnace. Just when would he learn to control his imagination? Probably never, he chuckled to himself in disbelief, it would be better if he had dug himself a grave already and thrown himself in it. He tried to lean back against the rocks again and he let out a long sigh that surprisingly did not have his soul escaping him. However, it had everything he had to say instead...

Yeah, well, there goes their conversation.

If it weren't for the fact that he was completely naked with only a murky cloak of water obscuring his more tender areas, the hitch in his breath probably wouldn't have been quite as jarring. However, it turns out when someone grabs your bare thigh underwater, it is, in fact, very jarring. He may have had a flash of fear that there happened to be some kind of alien fish in the water or something, but the truth of the matter was thankfully much less terrifying - though, that didn't mean he wasn't still blushing with the power of the sun. He wanted to say that it was fine - the boyfriend title means you're kind of... allowed to do such things - the fact it was an accident made it especially forgivable! But then Keith was moving away, and suddenly a much more pressing issue came to light. Oh no. No, nope, no you don't-- It's been been two whole days since the floodgates of Lance's affection were completely destroyed, and he's already been forced back into his Keith-free diet. This reoccurring pattern was going to be the death of him; doing something big only to be deprived to the edge of insanity the day after wasn't the kind of routine he was willing to let settle. He wouldn't stand for it! Not anymore. Fueled by determination (and maybe a little selfishness), he shuffled closer, left hand dunking into the water for him to lean on while his right lifted to the side of Keith's face, pulling it towards him. God, how is he so cute-- He paused for a second or two, silently offering the other the chance to pull away as Lance squinted at him. Given that Keith didn't move; he went in for the kill, catching the red paladins lips with his own yet again. His hand went from grabbing to caressing, loosely cupping Keith's cheek before his fingers ventured to the back of his head, lightly playing with the small pony tail that had never quite left his thoughts. Definitely cute. He let it last longer than before, trying to give himself the illusion of 'getting his fill' when, really, he knew there was no limit to how much he wanted to kiss Keith; his desire was endless. Lance's toes wiggled in the water as he fell even further into the press of their lips - he couldn't tell if the overwhelming heat was from the hot springs or Keith, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was a combination of both. Though his mouth moved eagerly, his tongue stayed out of the picture - public baths weren't exactly prime makeout locations, after all - but when he did finally pull back for some much needed air and to calm his racing heart, he didn't hesitate to lick his own lips. "Sorry," he grinned teasingly, followed by a huff, hand sliding down to rest on the junction of his neck (in a very coincidental place). He slipped back to his original spot on the rocks soon after, looking up to the stars as if to hide the fact he'd just given himself a terrible fluster, despite his original intentions. Nailed it.

There was no way he would pull away from Lance, though he was sure taken aback at first. He blinked at him dumbfounded as the water rolled down from the blue paladin's hand onto his jawline. Wow, was he going to... He closed his eyes and hummed happily into the kiss. Yeah, he was going to. Alright, bathing was hands down a fun thing to do. He thought he would pass an hour here alone and in peace, thinking about what he had done in the past few weeks and what he should keep of that and what he should let go of; but this change of plans was more than welcomed, it just made everything a hundred times better. This time his hands did not venture anywhere: learning from his previous mistake he used them to support himself and just focused on his mouth instead. He loved being kissed by Lance, because he did not have to do much: the blue paladin was so eager he just had to keep up with it. It was, in a way (or more like in every way), dizzying to face the amount of want Lance was keeping deep inside: he knew he just saw a tiny part of it, but it made it even more exciting to imagine the rest of it. Even though the other one was leading, he was not passive at all. A few seconds after the initial shock he pressed back into the kiss and with the little freedom he had, he made sure to adore every inch of his lips from side to side. There was no way he would remain calm and relaxed when the guy of his dreams threw him into this constant struggle of wanting to give, but at the same time, wanting to take; he wanted to show him how much he mattered to him with every muscle in his body, but again, consuming him as a whole. He opened his mouth more and more, hungrier with each touch they exchanged, but he did not fail to notice that Lance wanted to keep it like that: however difficult it was to keep his tongue to himself, he had to respect his decision. But when he broke away and smirked at him like that, his lovestruck stupor faded away in an instant and he furrowed his eyebrows with irritation, cheeks glowing with honest, crimson fluster. Wow, he can't be laughing at him. He pushed himself away from the edge and turned to the blue paladin. From that point, his body moved before he realized what he was doing: his hands cupped the water just below the surface and with a strong and quick swing he splashed it right onto Lance's face, attacking him from both sides. Just to make sure not only his face and hair got wet from it, he repeated this move once more, this time trying to get some water into his mouth should he open it for complaining. That'll definitely teach him!!

Keith's movement had caught his attention, but not fast enough. He turned to look at him, just in time to receive a face full of water, eyes scrunching closed and head ducking in delayed defense. Before his exclamation of 'what the heck' could get out, the attack was repeated without mercy. Now thoroughly drenched, Lance let the water drip down his face for the second time, spitting the liquid out of his mouth with a blank expression, limbs completely still. "Okay." It was said simply and calm, but then Lance was looking at Keith with brows furrowed in resolve and a challenging grin. "It's on!" he practically cheered, kicking his body away from the waters edge and gliding forward immediately after. Keith definitely made a mistake; while Lance hadn't really expected to put his water fight expertise to good use in space, he sure was glad he had it - even if it did take countless defeats from his siblings and friends to achieve (curse Hunk and his bucket hands). He didn't give Keith much time to process his words; as soon as he swam close enough, his right arm was sticking out, sitting half way in the water's surface, and then his whole body was rotating, taking the water with it. A classic move. The force of his arm and it's speed caused the water to surge forward in a large, handmade wave - straight in Keith's direction. Or, more specifically; his face.

Why did he believe for a second that this really taught Lance a lesson? Once the blue paladin moved towards him, he kicked himself backwards, keeping his distance from him. He squinted at him in suspicion, but his eyes soon grew wide upon his attack: he did not expect him using his entire arm at all. Pressing his forearms and wrists together he formed a shield in front of his face, but a second too late: half of the splash had already hit him, and though he closed his mouth, it still soaked his hair and rendered him blind. He did not spend time with wiping his eyes or blinking: he repeated his offense from before, targeting Lance solely based on his memories and hearing - and changing the direction should he haved moved. When he was done with launching the two projectiles, he simply ducked into the water, disappearing from Lance's line of sight.

Luckily, Lance was already prepared for a counterattack. Once he'd recovered the energy it took to make the wave, he was on the move again. He dodged the first splash easily, but the second hit him dead on, forcing him to stop and raise his forearm to shield his face. Despite still getting wet, the block protected his eyes well enough so that he could open them as soon as his arm was down. Looking around, a very important development hit him - Keith was straight up gone. He's gotta be underwater somewhere, there wasn't anywhere else for him to go; Lance spun around the spot, squinting as he tried to at least spot the red paladin's silhouette. The murky water was both a blessing and a curse, he felt like a sitting duck waiting for a surprise attack. 'Where the heck is he?!'

Keith was not messing around: he knew the water is transparent enough to spot his silhouette once Lance was actively searching for him, so he only disappeared for the element of surprise. He did not even try to swim around him. Leaping from the very same spot he crouched down at, he launched himself at Lance and tackled him with a hug. Given he succeeded, he hugged him around his shoulders, and with all his weight he tried to throw him off balance to bring him underwater. With his remaining power he rolled Lance over so he could easily go up for air.

There he is-- His eyes widened and slammed shut in a matter of seconds. Realistically speaking, Lance should have expected this - maybe he kind of did - but alas, the appearance was surprise enough, and he was left with two possible options to deal with a wet Keith coming straight at him: 1. Dodge and let him fall. 2. Try to catch him. Curse his chivalrous tendencies. Lance fell backwards with a large splash, pushed down even faster by Keith's weight, water rushing right up his nostrils as he - quite literally - got dunked on. With at least a little foresight, he'd managed to close his mouth before it got filled with the questionable liquid, but in doing so, he sacrificed the opportunity to store a breath away. He tried pulling his attacker up with him to the surface for air, gasping dramatically as soon as he breached it. It took him a moment to gather his bearings, wiping stubborn droplets from his eyes and breathing the sting out of his nose, but once he recovered, he couldn't help the laughter from bubbling out of his chest.

He was not set on drowning there, so Lance could pull him up easily. He put down his feet: the water was only slightly deeper here in the middle, but it still swallowed the two paladins up to their shoulders. After he coughed up some unnecessary water from his system, he joined Lance with a low, but honest chuckle. God, how much he loved his laughter: he could not hold back his happy smile from widening as he was looking at his face all perked up. He swept the wet bangs out of Lance's forehead, followed by a gentle caress on his temples down to his cheeks. There, he hesitated for a second. They were playing around, he reminded himself, he should have contained all these feelings bubbling in his stomach and keep them there safe. It was not even a good idea given how soaked they were and how uncomfortable it would be and how he could not even get to counterargument number two before he was kissing him again. It sure was not the same with his mouth being all slippery and sloppy, but it did not stop him from cupping his face and tasting him anyways. He huffed in satisfaction as he claimed him again, and pushed him back a bit in eagerness. His thumb brushed against his cheeks and ventured down his lips, where, after he released him from the kiss with a sigh, he slipped it between them. Grazing across his lower teeth he pressed his finger on his eye-tooth to slightly force his mouth open. So that's what bit him two days ago, he stared at it in awe, it was so... sharp... He did not realize he was holding back his breath, but he probably had to anyways, because all that pooled up excitement in his chest was threatening to burst out in a god knows what way.

His laughter settled down into a wide grin the longer he looked at Keith, only getting larger at his damp touch. It did shrink down in favour of returning the kiss, eyes sliding shut as he tilted his head into the other's palm. It was definitely wetter than he was used to, but any kiss that involved Keith's lips was automatically perfect. A pleased sigh escaped through his nose, however, before he could well and truly melt into the sensations, his favourite mouth was pulling away for some inexplicable reason, and his eyes were squinting open in protest. Then the reason suddenly became very explicable, and he was staring wide eyed with a flush ten times hotter. His jaw gave easily to the exploring digit, which could mostly be accounted to the shock and fluster. Gosh, had it always been this hard to breathe? Keith was just looking and pressing on his tooth and yet, Lance's jaw was already trembling a little while a storm started up in his chest. A few seconds passed before Lance did anything, but even without his brain's permission, his mouth went from hanging loose to biting down lightly on the intruder. Essentially, he trapped Keith's thumb gently between his teeth; as his gaze softened, his tongue joined the party with a slow lick across the tip. It tasted just like the water, but somehow, it was a thousand times better on Keith's skin.

His breathing hitched and he involuntarily straightened his back at the turn of the events. His experiment was going truly fascinating so far: the pressure of the weak bite sent a warm tingle down his spine, not to mention the oh-so-missed tongue finally showing itself. The other hand on Lance's shoulder grasped at him in anticipation. If he found such a small lick this alluring, then, he wondered, what else that mouth could do? What if, let's say, it was not his thumb there, but... 'Oh my god.' It became painful to look him in the eyes at once with such thoughts on his mind. There was... There was no way Lance would have thought about that!! It was again his own stupid ideas stemming from his stupid adventures to nope town that got him into this situation, just why did he put his finger there? What was he thinking about before he did this, what was his original plan? And just what would it be like if instead of a lick Lance would try sucking at— 'What——' Alright, alright this was definitely going into the wrong direction. The little voice in the back of his mind was now screaming at him with full volume to just stop it: it was already a huge luck that the blue paladin was not weirded out by his recklessness, let alone worded his disgust; Keith really should not have pushed this any further. Lance was a truly patient and wonderful person who was incredibly tolerant towards all his curious transgressions, he should not abuse this fact but appreciate it instead. He was definitely appreciating it, but, just purely on a theoretical level, would he do it if— "Lance," he whined in a low voice, pleading with him accompanied by a blush unmistakebly different from the spring's heat. His eyes were stirred with confusion and fluster: he was not taken aback by what Lance had been doing, but more like, what his own head was doing. If he had let go of his thumb, then he pulled it out, though his hand did not leave his face - it was kind of frozen there, just like his whole posture. Did he say any of his thoughts out loud???

Wow, okay, that definitely had his stomach doing flips. It can't be legal to say someone's name like that, it has the potential to kill a man - but damn what a great death it would be. Though not his favourite, this was going pretty high up on the list of 'best way's Keith has said my name'; part of him (and by part I mean most) wanted to drag out more sounds like that, more renditions of his name in Keith's stupidly perfect voice, more whines that came hand-in-hand with a sweet blush across the red paladin's cheeks-- But looking in his eyes and remembering the situation... Right, yeah, that was probably kind of a weird thing to do, now would be a good time to stop. He relinquished his loose hold on Keith's thumb, letting it pull away before planting an apologetic peck to the pad of it. "Sorry," he breathed out, smiling sheepishly. Even weirder than what he'd just done, his mouth felt lonely, his tongue missed the taste of Keith already. Lance is a weak man with little restraint, he couldn't just leave it there. One hand that was submerged in the water came to slide up the back of the palm on his face, fingers worming their way in between Keith's as he tugged it away just a fraction. He held their hands in the air and leant in, closing the far too big gap between them once more, pressing his lips against Keith's in as gentle a pace as he could keep with all the energy buzzing under his skin. Nice.

He did not quite understand why Lance was apologizing: if anyone, it should be Keith to feel sorry for his actions. He was not given much time to dwell on it though, for his hand was soon stolen and so was his breath. The blue paladin did not lie, smiled Keith around halfway, when he said he wanted to be on his mouth all the time... He was a hundred times more worked up, and yet it was easy to melt into the kiss. He would not, he could not refuse such a kind affection ever, regardless how he felt. However, it started to bother him how wet they were: his free hand snuck up to Lance's hair and tried to run his fingers through it, but the familiar feeling was missing, it was not the same. It was him, but not quite. How annoying. After he broke away, he drew back to the edge of the pool, dragging the other along; even though Lance was the one holding his hand, he somehow knew - or at least expected him - to not to let go of. Once they reached the shallow waters again, he sat down on a rock, cross-legged, and let the pool swallow him up to his shoulders; then, he turned Lance around and pulled him on his lap. He enfolded his arms around his stomach and hugged him tight; he nuzzled the nape of his neck lovingly before burying his face against it. What a shame, he sighed, that the sweet scent of his hair was washed out by the hot spring's heavy atmosphere; but it did not take away from the fact that it was him, or more precisely, him in his embrace. For the first time this night the lack of clothes did not trouble him: sure, their position was... questionable... But the hot water seemed to dull his lower half enough for this problem to remain but a mere nuisance, not worthy to mind when he was able to have Lance to himself alone. He fell silent: his mind was still full of the memories of his kisses and laughter, and even with eyes closed all he could see was his smirk and genuine smile. Apart from occasionally nudging his nape with his nose and his lips - like a cat unsure how to express his adoration - he stayed still; he did not move his hands, he did not want to, what if Lance escaped? Not even five minutes passed since he promised himself not to pull any more selfish stunts and yet here he was, keeping him tight and firm, with his conscience being reduced to the only sentence 'well, he gotta put up with this for now.'

It was always a tragedy when they stopped kissing, but Keith's expectations were correct; Lance let himself be pulled along by the red paladin, not needing or wanting to let go any time this century. Unfortunately, Keith seemed to other ideas, releasing his hand and sitting down at the water's edge. The act was innocent enough, however, he was proven wrong when suddenly he was sat on a very naked lap with his own very naked ass. "Oh--" he said eloquently, staring wide eyed at the water in front of him as the situation sunk in. Oh. He could feel himself blushed from head to toe in a matter of seconds, cheeks producing a temperature only normal for a furnace as his head whipped to the right; an attempt to try and hide in his own shoulder. His hands zipped up to rest on the arms wrapped around his waist, consumed by the confliction of both the need to pull them off and the desire to hold them down. God, he's not sure how much of his own contradictions he can take in one day. Surely, experiencing this level of heat all at once can't be healthy, he worried he might pass out or something lame like that. It probably wouldn't be a very romantic end to this date. Note for future reference: blushing in hot springs is dangerous and Keith needs to stop nuzzling the back of his neck-- Scratch that, Keith needs to never stop nuzzling the back of his neck; turns out his mouth feels just as lovely on Lance's nape as it does on his lips. It's been a hot minute since he's participated in vertical spooning; he never would have expected his next time to be with his nude ex-rival in an alien onsen. At this point, his heart and thoughts are just a constant stream of screaming, he doesn't know what else he can do other than sit obediently and try not to die. Easier said than done. He let a few moments of silence pass by, but he couldn't stand it for long. He was too high-strung from the abundance of skin-on-skin contact - as diluted by the water as it was - he needed something else to focus on. When in need, his brain always came to rescue with well thought out and intelligent observations. "M-man, it'd be great if we had pool noodles here--"

He leaned back against the rock, pulling Lance with himself and, finally stopping nuzzling his neck (did he hear his first prayer?) he rested his chin on his shoulder. "A... What? What is—" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. But wow, why did his voice came out so silent? He cleared his throat before trying again. "What is a pool noodle? Is it... food?" He tilted his head a bit, trying to look at his face.

Lance probably found Keith leaning his chin on his shoulder much cuter than necessary, but he was a little busy inwardly clutching his chest to really care - the red paladin's cluelessness to the magic of pool noodles only made it worse. "Wh- No! Dude, you don't know what a pool noodle is?!" His tone sounded almost scandalized; madness, a sin, for Keith to have never experienced the joy of pool noodles-- Maybe the castle have some fancy alien ones stashed away somewhere... He'll have to ask Coran about it later. "They're like, these styrofoam tube things that float in the water," he explained, hands already lifted and spread wide apart to help Keith imagine what they are. His plan to distract himself was working out well. "One time, me and my sister made a raft out of a bunch of them and we sailed around the pool like budget pirates!" The last part came out in a chuckle, his expression practically lighting up at the memory. "She did try to throw me overboard though..."

He raised his shoulders in an apologetic way, there was no way he knew anything about them. Why would he? He had never ever been to a pool, let alone own toys designed for it. "Sounds like fun," he chuckled, closing his eyes for a few seconds. It must have been amazing to be pirates, for a while he wanted to be one too - too bad there was no water whatsoever around his house, so he had to let go of that dream. "Was this your younger sister? Uh, the... Uh, Mariana?" There were two girls in his family as far as he could remember, a younger and an older one; they had never really brought up this topic in private before, but Lance kept telling everyone stories about his siblings and his parents. Those times, Keith rarely asked questions: instead, he remained silent and paid a close attention to his words, somehow ending up with memorizing a lot of facts and - seemingly unnecessary - details. Like details about Mariana. "The one playing the violin?"

"It was," he hummed quietly, leaning back slightly into Keith with a small smile. His eyes widened a little when he heard the correct name; he's sure he hasn't told the red paladin much about his sister, and whenever he talked to the others about her he didn't seem to be all that interested... Apparently he was mistaken, he even remembered she plays the violin! Jeez, that's-... 'Sweet...' "Y-yeah, that's her," he managed, fluster back at full force once more. He's definitely being ridiculous, it's not even that big of a deal! Yet, it still plastered a goofy grin on his face, and Lance is glad Keith can't see it properly. "I think she's a demon child, but it's probably my fault for spoiling her so much when she was younger-"

"Well, you aren't a saint either," he shrugged with a theatrical sigh, followed up by a smile soon afterwards. He raised his head and nuzzled his hair as Lance leaned into him, silently approving of his decision. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing how much he should keep asking about his family, and from which point would it qualify as prying into his life: but instead of overthinking it, he decided to go with his guts. "She didn't enroll in the Garrison, did she?" He could not remember Lance mentioning her age (only that there was not much between them) and what she studied, but he would have surely bragged about her if she had decided to follow his footsteps.

"Rude," he gasped in offense, hand coming up to shield his wounded heart. Lance is a sweet and innocent angel, Keith doesn't know what he's talking about.

His betrayed expression faded away soon enough - he can't stay fake-mad at someone as cute as Keith - taken over by a little grin when paladin behind him nuzzled his hair.

"Nah, she's still too young for that. I don't think she would anyway, she's more into sport than space," he shrugged while his arms went back to resting on the ones around his waist - though, the confliction from before was long gone. "I was the only space baby in my family."

"You were? You are," he corrected him with a happy, low hum. He rested his chin on his shoulder again and with his index finger, he drew little circles on his abdomen.

"I think Coran wanted this to be a surprise, but..."

He fell silent for a few seconds. Wow, his nose was twitching, he really did not want to—

"Ah-choo!"

God bless his reflexes for turning his face away in time - he was almost sure Lance did not find people sneezing into his ear too hot.

He sniffled for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"I was checking the maps and I realized that we've been travelling towards the Milky Way." He pressed the back of his right hand against his nose to see if it was running. In a stifled voice, he continued. "We are like... Two weeks from there. Maybe less."

Right, still is. Even if his family probably thinks he's dead, he's still...

Never mind. He relaxed into Keith's touch, watching the water ripple around them as his foot swayed side to side under it. A surprise? What kind of--

The sudden noise made him jump a little - and by a little, I mean a lot. He was eternally grateful Keith didn't sneeze on his shoulder, he's had enough bodily fluids on there this week, he's cool with passing up on a second helping. Still though, was it weird he also found the other's sneezes kind of cute? Yeah, definitely. Wait, he's speaking again, focus on that instead of the sniffles---

His eyes lit up while the words sunk in.

"Are you serious?" he asked quietly, turning his head as far as he could, as if seeing Keith's face will reveal it to be a joke. Of course it wouldn't be a joke, why would he even joke about that?? Disbelief thrown aside, the optimism those words brought found their way to the surface.

"D-... do you think we'll get to visit?" Hope was clear in his tone, though, it's unlikely Keith knew the answer.

"Yeah," he replied casually. It did not even occur to him how rude this question was, of course Lance did not believe him at first. It was over a year now they had left Earth and they have never approached it close enough for a visit. This time, however, their route was clear and it definitely went through the Milky Way.

"Do you think the princess could stop any of you?" he asked with a chuckle, and looked him in the eyes. "We got a lions who can reach edge of a solar system in less than a minute; not to mention that only we can control them."

He let his head drop back as he looked up to the sky. Earth, huh... He got use to meeting various alien races and different kinds of planets so much that Earth looked like a dull, rotten place compared to the rest of the universe they had explored so far. Sure, not as bad as the Galra Empire, but still...

He lowered his gaze to the back of Lance's head again, ran up his palm on his back and almost completely unaware of his actions, he started washing his shoulder that peaked out of the hot water.

Oh. That was somehow nice to do. He broke the hug to use his other hand, too, so he could tend to both sides of his neck - occassionally grasping at his shoulders to give them a quick massage.

"You should start preparing what you'll tell them."

"I guess you're right," he grinned before turning to look back into the water. Going home... A mixture of feelings stirred around in his chest, a whole recipe of positives and negatives; they could go home!

The excitement took the forefront of his emotions first. Just the thought of visiting his family made his smile grow wider; he'd get to see them all again, talk to them all again, hug them all again! He could tell them all about the crazy stuff he's been up to in space, hear about all the crazy stuff they've been up to on earth! He could tell them about Keith and the others! They could all go on their annual trip to Varadero beach together! He could sit in the rain until his mom yells at him about catching a cold! He'll see his cat and dog! And kiss their fluffy little faces! God, it'll be so great, he'll be home, it'll be just like before--

...

But it wont be like before, will it?

A pang of nerves sliced through his joy like it was nothing; the half-massage half-back wash was perfectly timed, soothing him just as his shoulders tensed at his own somber realization. He hummed at each rub of his sore muscles, letting his eyes become hooded as he considered Keith's words thoroughly.

What will he tell them? He's been gone for over a year, it's not like he can just mosey on in like nothing ever happened; he's basically coming back from the dead!... How is he even going to get them to believe his story? Hell, he can barely even believe it himself!

A quiet sigh spilled out of him as he started playing with his fingers under the water. It would be nice if going home was as easy as it used to be - where the worst thing he had to explain was why he hadn't packed all his clothes while dumping his laundry onto the mountaneous pile. He's not just coming back from the Garrison for the holidays, he's returning after - quite literally - disappearing off the face of the earth!--

Ah, jeez, this is a real downer he's pulled on himself.

He wants to go home. He wants to go home so badly, but... can he? Can he really just show up out of the blue like 'hey, I'm back from my amazing space adventure for a little bit, I hope you didn't get rid of all my stuff!'? Well, probably not like that... He's always sucked with this kind of stuff, this will be too hard, he's sure of it.

"Maybe a postcard will work?" he mumbles, followed by another pleased hum when Keith rubs him in just the right spot.

But it'll be worth it.

He expected Lance to be enthusiastic about this a hundred times more than he looked like. He almost felt like he slumped on his lap under all that inexplicable negativity that weighed him down: what's the matter with him?

"You're joking, right?"

A postcard? He could not be serious. Lance was probably the most eager paladin to visit Earth, would he really be content with sending a single sheet of paper?

"You should plan what you say like... You shouldn't tell them about Zarkon draining entire planets for energy. Or that the Galra had already visited Earth. I mean..." He sighed with frustration. He should take his own advice, really. "Tell them about what we're doing, just don't make them panic."

In the meantime, noticing that his massage was welcomed, his hands glided down on his back and started to knead small circles between his shoulder blades. He worked his way up to his shoulder again, trying to make his muscles as relaxed as they could get. He was still afraid of straining him, the girl in the Garrison once hurt him like that, but he got braver than last time: his grasps were stronger and he covered more skin; using both of his thumbs he rubbed the nape of his neck up until his hairline and a bit to the sides. For a moment he stopped as he stared at his hands in surprise.

Wow, he seriously had something for this area.

"I guess you're right," he huffed out with a weary laugh. Don't make them panic; yeah, he could do that. Probably. "I bet they'll panic anyway. My mom was already worried about me going to the Garrison, I don't think she'll be too jazzed about me living in space."

Maybe she was right to be worried, all things considered.

His eyes slid shut on a pleased sigh, head falling back slightly as Keith massaged up his neck. Even with the worry building up in his gut, it was hard to feel anything but good when Keith's hands were straight up performing magic on his back and shoulders. He's over thinking it, he knows that; they'll probably just be happy to have him back, it'll be fine.

What isn't fine, however, is Keith stopping, and Lance made sure it was known with a small protesting whine.

"Yeah, I can imagine," he replied with a lopsided smile. The army was not the safest career choice, especially the space exploration branch where the technology was still mainly on a theoretical level only...

The whine froze him up, woah, was it that good? Pride tugged at his side and a grin spread on his face. He returned kneading his shoulders and hummed.

"I can do your whole back later, if you want to."

"You can do my whole everything later," he breathed, just a few seconds before his brain could stop him from saying it out loud. Suddenly, he was very alert again, warmth flooding his cheeks instantly. Not to worry, he's always been great at not sounding desperate. "I-I mean- yeah, sure, sound cool--"

Smooth.

He can't really be blamed though, Keith's massages were good, and Lance might be a little too into having Keith's hands rubbing him all over-- but that's besides the point. Time to move on from that embarrassment.

"Y-you should let me give you one too! I've never really done it fully, but I've been told I give a mean foot massage~" his eyebrows were waggling even though the red paladin wouldn't be able to see them - his tone of voice probably gave him away. Speaking of massages; he perked up once again at a very important related memory.

"Oh, man! Back home I had this fancy massage oil from Thailand, I never got a chance to use it before, we could take it when we visit!"

He did not understand him again. His whole everything? Like a whole... body massage? That sounded really tiresome and what about his arms or stomach, he would not feel anything there for sure... But then, why did he become flustered? Lance only changed the topic suddenly when he said something—

Oh.

'Wow, this guy.' His hands stopped yet again and he furrowed his eyebrows as he tried his best not to visualize that 'later'. The worst part was that he did not need 'later', he had ideas even now how he would...

But he wouldn't!!!

His throat suddenly felt very dry and very tense and Lance talking about massage oils did not help at all.

'You know what, screw it.'

If he was feeling jumpy, then Lance had to feel jumpy too. After all, he must have done it on purpose!!

He took advantage of the fact that the blue paladin did not see him horribly flustered: he nuzzled his neck right below his ear and sneaked his hands under his shoulders and slipped them on his - by now almost dry - collarbones.

"You can't flirt like this anymore, huh," he whispered. There will be consequences, he wanted to add, but his throat simply closed on him. It would be great if Lance did not feel his hands shaking, but there was no way he would miss that - they were on his naked skin.

God, why could he never give up on a challenge?

He almost forgot about his slip up (if he was talented at anything, it was recovering from his own embarrassment at an exceptional speed), but then Keith had to go and do this--

There was no stopping the slight shiver from tumbling down his spine - a common occurrence with Keith whispers, it seems. The nuzzling didn't help, nor did the water now dripping onto his collarbones from Keith's hands. His every muscle was frozen in place, the fading blush was burning at full force, he wanted to say something to prove the other wrong, but his vocals were betraying him. This is rigged.

Keith was right, he can't flirt like this; but Lance is anything but a quitter.

He grabbed one of the trembling hands from his collarbone, dragging it up a little higher while he leaned forward, inching closer until he could press a small kiss to the back of Keith's palm.

'That'll show him--'

"O-Okay, you can."

A full-fledged wildfire - probably the most accurate description of his face by now. He thought Lance was just big on his words, but look at the guy, he was... He was a hundred percent aware of how weak he was for him!! How was this fair? It was not fair at all.

He rested his face on his shoulder, his mouth against his skin. Sure, they were in the water but if Lance did something now, Keith was not ready to take responsibility. Why was he sitting on his lap? Oh right, he dragged him there. A bloody great move. He should give himself a prize, in the form of a slap.

Still, it stung to lose against him like this. He was not sure what counted as winning, but it must not have included shaking and trying to discard thoughts that became messier with each sniff of his scent.

He raised his head a bit.

"We should go back soon," he hummed and pressed a small kiss on his shoulder. For a second he stopped; and on a completely different, almost spaced out tone, he muttered to himself: "Still so unbelievable..." But he left that without an explanation, and dropping his hands he waited for Lance to get off his lap.

Victory!

That's right, Keith may be the definition of hot but Lance is the romance master, no one can beat him in the art of seduction, even when he's weak! The cockiest smirk he could muster with cheeks as red as his spread across his lips, he was about to turn around to gloat, but then Keith's mouth was on his shoulder and he was pretty sure his mind blanked.

Alright, okay, maybe he wasn't as strong and undefeatable as he originally thought, but Keith doesn't know that yet and that's what counts. The intentional kiss was a killing blow, it took everything in Lance's power not to hide his burning face under his hands.

Right, they had been here a while; he shifted a little further off Keith's lap, but before the red paladin was completely free, his last words reached Lance's lagging brain and he paused.

"Wait, what's unbelievable?"

'Oh shit, did I say that out loud?'

He licked his lower lip before he could come up with an answer.

"Nothing," he replied in a hurried way and pressing his palms on Lance's back, he nudged him to get off from him; and if he still did not move, then he simply started to push him off.

"Mooove."

Nothing?

'Yeah right--'

He couldn't really resist being pushed off, but as soon as his feet reached the bottom of the pool he spun around to corner the other against the edge. Brows furrowed, eyes squinted and lips pursed, Lance leaned in to stare Keith down. His red cheeks may make him seem a little less intimidating, but that didn't hold back his questions.

"'Nothing' isn't gonna cut it. What's unbelievable, Keith? You know, other than my abundance of charm~"

He tried to lean back as the other was leaning in, but there was no place to retreat to. But wow, did not he like it when Lance said his name with that tone...

"Nothing!" he repeated it louder, as if the increased volume would convince the blue paladin. "Just leave the pool already—!!"

Usually, Lance wouldn't really care this much about what someone mumbled at random, but with how unwilling Keith is to elaborate, it's only making the blue paladin all the more determined to find out.

He leaned in even closer, squinted even harder, their noses were almost touching and he would be lying if he said it wasn't making his stomach do flips, but he needed to know--

"Tell me, Keith." his voice was low, almost a loud whisper; he isn't getting away that easy!

"I don't want to!" he replied with an almost angry expression on his face, why was Lance this close, why was Lance this hot, god, he was panicking. He put his two hands on the edge behind himself, palms down - he was about to push himself up and leave the pool, he was strong enough to do that.

"Get out or I get out first—!"

"No--!" His immediate reaction was to grab Keith's waist, holding it down and pinning it to the wall behind him. Probably not the best plan to go with, but hopefully he's strong enough to keep the other from pulling himself out of the water.

If not... this could really kill him.

"Just answer the question!!--" he yelled, the hint of a frustrated whine strung into it.

Did he just—

And did he just yell at him?

Well, Lance probably did not know when to give up, but Keith sure did not want to hurt him. Was he already hurt? The blue paladin yelled at him almost the same way after the picnic, right before he stormed off with that unforgettable expression on his face.

For god’s sake, he groaned in thought.

"I just still can't believe," he started louder than he wanted to, but then pursed his lips and turned his face away with a stubborn look. He could feel Lance staring at him. His borderline fierce gaze fell back at him.

"That we... That I, could just, hold you like that," his shaky voice rumbled quietly, though his glare was as powerful as ever. "That I can do these... things to you. Not just thinking about—it..."

It was not exactly what he wanted to say, but it was getting more and more embarrassing as he went on, why could not he learn to speak before—

Well, that... wasn't what he was expecting.

"Oh..." was all he could say after a short pause, when the words finally registered in his brain. If he thought his cheeks were hot before, it was nothing compared to this. He'd stopped squinting long ago; now he was staring wide eyed before turning his face away to the side, hands losing their grip on Keith's waist as one came up to hide what it could with the back of his palm.

It was hot - way too hot - and another stupid grin was threatening to stretch across his lips. Who gave Keith the right to be so cute? Precious? Adorable? Sweet? Hot? It's not fair, not at all, he can't just say things like that-- Though, Lance is the one that made him say it... Jesus, okay, his other hand joined the mix now, both of them covering as much of his face as he could reach.

"O-oh---" Can't he say anything else? Was his brain really too overcooked to come up with something other than 'oh'? Of course it was, his skin was burning hotter than lava, there's no hope for comprehensible sentences in this situation! But he can't just... leave Keith hanging! He's gotta say something else!

"M-me too--!" his words were muffled by his palms, but they were still eligible. "I can't believe it either---" He also can't really breathe either; this was all his fault, though. He deserves it.

"S-sorry--"

"Pfft."

Lance could not do this. He could not just go and become downright stunned with fluster when he was the one forcing him to say such things. This was not how it worked, no, he had to face the consequences for making him this uncomfortable.

"Pfffft. Me too? That's it?" He looked up to the sky, with a shade of disbelief on his burning cheeks. "You're ready to seduce half of the universe and then you go 'me too'?"

Wow, okay. His hands parted and fell, just so they were covering the sides of his face so he could glare effectively at this jerk-

"What am I supposed to say?!" he huffed, louder than necessary, but not loud enough to free him of his woes. "I can barely even believe you actually love me too, let alone that you want to hold me in any way that isn't a chokehold!"

Yelling this stuff out loud wasn't doing much to cure his chronic blushing, but hell, if he could stop himself he would.

"I've been waiting to do this kind of stuff since the Garrison and I still don't know what to do now that I have you all to myself! Excuse me for losing my charming way with words when the only person flirting has ever mattered with says things like that--" Over-sharing alert, ABORT, ABORT-- His glare was more of a flustered pout by now, and his yelling devolved into a weak and shaky groan as he spun around, back now facing the red paladin.

He's already sacrificed enough of his dignity for today, Keith really doesn't need to see his face melt off with grumpy embarrassment.

He was not supposed to say anything, he just wanted to rile him up - at which he succeeded by the way, and now he could not help himself but chuckle at him in the meanest way possible.

Damn right he deserved it!! But...

Oh...

His flirting never mattered to him, when he was... Oh. Well, that. You see. He did not expect that. He pressed his lips together while the other paladin finished his rant. It... It felt really good...

Why did it feel this good? He felt like his chest was on the verge of bursting, his heart beated a hundred a minute - but this time it was not fueled by fluster. It was warm and thrilling: it lighted up his face just the same way when he was about to pilot a ship; self-confident and glowing with a grin.

He slid his palms forward to put his forearms on the rock and slightly leaned back on them, straightening his back.

"Well, I have ideas what to do with you, but we have to get out of the water for that."

But as usual, he clearly did not know how he sounded.

Maybe turning around so fast was a bad idea; he wobbled a little on his feet as a wave of dizziness crashed into him. Ah, jeez, he better not---

'What did Keith just say?!'

Eyes wide once again, he swung his body around at a breakneck pace to look at the other in disbelief, the temperature of his cheeks rising to impossible heights, and... Oh God. What is that pose. Why is he doing that pose. Lance wants to take a picture or something, hang it on the bottom of Keith's mattress so he can look at it every night before he sleeps. It's too hot, too hot, too hot--

He definitely moved too quickly this time, the world was spinning like crazy, vision splitting into two as his eyelids fluttered and suddenly he was falling forward into Keith's outrageously perfect body and--

'God dammit.'

It all went black.

He blinked at him in surprise as no reply came, but he moved in an instant when Lance fell towards him. He caught him by his shoulders without realizing what had happened: the only thing he registered was that the blue paladin lost his balance.

"Lance?" he asked him, but when he was left without an answer, he repeated his name. "Lance??"

Pushing him away a bit he looked at him in the face.

"Oh, shit."

He was almost sure this only happened in those Jane Austen novels he had - of course - never read, that it was just the easy way out for the authors to handle certain situations... However, he did not let the panic sink in, he received field training in the Garrison, he knew what to do.

After wrapping his right arm around Lance, he pulled themselves out of the pool. There, he grabbed the nearest towel and putting it on his lap he was about to move him again... Until he noticed how naked Lance was.

'Fuck, that's not important now...' He tried to convince himself, but well, it was kind of important, considering that he had never seen... it... before...

'Even though we did...'

Well, he did see it now.

'Jesus.'

He stood up almost too quickly - it would have been hilarious if he passed out too - and dropped his towel on Lance's thighs, covering him up. With a few, long steps he retrieved the other towel and returning to his original place he seated himself again, with his feet dangling over the water.

The blue paladin would faint again for sure if he regained his consciousness only to realize that he was stark naked, he sighed; and to be honest, he was more of at ease like this, too.

When he noticed that he more or less came to his senses, he dragged his head carefully on his lap and caressed his cheek, lightly patting at it. At the same time, he was on alert not to let him sit up in panic, should he try a sudden move like that.

"How do you feel? Does it hurt somewhere?"

It wasn't long before his eyes were blinking open again, being roused to full focus by the patting on his cheek. Man, since when was he lying down?

"What...?" he mumbled, mostly confused as he squinted at his surroundings. Well, first things first, there's Keith's wonderful face; must mean that's his hand too. He was still a little out of it, a dopey smile overtook his expression and he nuzzled weakly into the other's palm.

The floor was much softer than he would have expected from the hot springs, although, it was really only soft on his head which was kind of weird...

...

'Wait.'

His eyes flung wide open, and he would have sat straight up if not for the red paladin's impeccable reflexes. He's laying on Keith's lap. On Keith's lap. And they're both very naked, the only barrier between skin and skin being a towel. What the heck, did he die or something?!

His expectations were met: Lance did want to sit up, but he was on alert and prevented it in time. He was not a hundred percent unpredictable after all, was he.

"Calm down, you've just passed out," he said in a quieted voice. His head must be dizzy and in a complete mess, he did not want to hurt it with words too loud.

"Does it hurt somewhere?" he repeated his question, in case he missed it the last time. "Or do you feel weak somewhere?"

Of course he passed out. Only Lance would be lame enough to K.O on an alien onsen date; what else would anyone expect? It took a moment for him to react to all of Keith's words since his head was still a jumble, but once he did, it was clear this memory was getting locked away in the pit of shame later.

"Oh my god-" he whined, the sound soon turning into a groan that he caught with his hands as they covered his face yet again. This was pretty high up on the 'worst-case scenarios' list, and even with how hot the bath was, he didn't think he would actually faint. He can't help but wonder; did his mom know she was raising an idiot?

"It does hurt," he spoke lifelessly, voice muffled by his palms. "In my pride."

"Hey, it's okay, the water was hot..." he replied with a smile. It did not even occur to him that he was part of the reason of his fainting.

"Besides that, you can't resist now. I want to try something."

His smile widened into a grin as he raised his other hand too. He slipped all ten fingers into Lance's hair and, drawing small circles on the sides of his head, he started massaging his scalp.

Hair pets sure felt amazing, but he wondered if the two could be combined.

His hands slid down far enough to uncover his eyes, just so he could shoot Keith an unconvinced look. Even if his smile could cure all diseases, this guy had no clue.

Luckily for Keith, Lance didn't even want to resist - which he totally could. You know, if he wanted. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he was weak to Keith's everything. Not at all. These massages were dangerous though.

"What is up with your hands?" he sighed out quietly. His eyes had fallen shut, but his brows were still furrowed stubbornly; he's gotta thank the girl that introduced Keith to massages, she ignited a hidden talent that Lance was happy to benefit from, even if he did feel the urge to study up on massage techniques.

He squinted at him in suspicion, but his worries were soon proven to be futile. His hands did not stop even for a second: even though he worked through the entire day, he suddenly did not feel tired, not at all. When it came to Lance, he had separate energy resources to use.

"I just want to have my hands on you all the time," he chuckled and tilting his head he looked down to his face. "Does it bother you?" His massage came to a halt, but only for a few seconds; then he soon resumed doing it.

Despite his hands still covering his face from the cheeks downward, the way Lance's eyes flung open again probably hinted pretty clearly at the red hue spreading over his face. Wow.

"No-..." he grumbled after a moment of silent squinting, as if that would make his heart beat any slower. Tearing his gaze away from Keith's, his eyes shifted to the side as he both lamented and celebrated the red paladin's sweetness. Honestly, tilting his head like that was cheating and Lance is never gonna get to move his hands because he's never going to stop blushing.

Unless...

"I mean, who could blame you? I'm pretty irresistible~" With his signature flirt face, he wielded dual finger guns aimed at Keith.

As oblivious as ever, he did not notice Lance's flirt attempt.

"Yeah, you are." he nodded with such a matter-of-factness in his voice as if Lance just told him the time. One of his hands strayed away to stroke across his forehead. Man, how was he this lucky...

"Uhm, this probably isn't the best time to bring it up..." he started, introducing a topic that surely did not fit the current mood.

His smile faded out and he lifted his gaze to the pool. Oh, he should not have said that. But then again, Lance made it quite clear that he did not let go of any unfinished sentences...

"But uh..."

He let out a heavy sigh and chewed on the inside of his mouth for a bit. Okay, he can do this. He can do this. He did a hundred times more difficult tasks before this. These are just words, he had to articulate them—

"Is there anything you... want to ask about me?"

Why was his face burning? Maybe he was not blushing, just on the inside, just feeling horribly awkward. He did not want to talk about himself, but it was... It was about time, right? Lance tried to ask about him during the first days, but he straight told him he would not share anything.

Wow, that sounded incredibly selfish, now that he thought about it. Would Lance forget his words if he massaged his scalp strong enough? Can he just squeeze the memory out of his head?? He looked down at him. Maybe...??

His finger guns shook, seductive smirk frozen in place (though, looking considerably less seductive with a flush as bright as his), before falling down completely to land on his stomach. Defeated again, Lance accepted his fate - along with the affection to his forehead.

At least he's dying in the lap of a God, that's something. He decided it would be better to focus on what Keith was saying and the magic being worked on his scalp, rather than lamenting his own inability to stay cool around the coolest person he knows.

Tragically, the red paladin's words didn't help his cool status rise.

A very unique warmth flooded his chest; not the kind he gets when they kiss, or touch - or do anything really - but the kind that tugs at the corner of his lips, one that softens his gaze and makes him want to hold Keith's hand for the rest of eternity. So, basically, a really gay kind of warmth.

Ever since the picnic date's ending, Lance hadn't really expected to get answers out of the other any time soon (if ever), he'd just begrudgingly accepted the walls Keith built up and prepared for the long winded task of chipping away at them with his theoretical plastic spoon. So the fact that Keith was offering even a tiny nugget of the information he guarded so closely really... meant a lot to Lance.

All of that brings him to the question at hand: what should he ask Keith?

Well, he probably shouldn't dive right in with something deep, but what was considered 'too deep' in this situation? He's never really had this kind of conversation come up before, if he had known he would've googled 'questions to ask your crush' or something before he got stranded in space--

Ah, well, when in doubt, just go with the first thing that comes to mind--!

"How did you shower in the desert?"

Genius.

That... That question was not half as bad as he expected it to be. Wow, maybe talking about himself was not that difficult after all - Lance was seemingly uninterested in matters he considered to be... sensitive.

"I had a well nearby and used a bucket to wash up."

He did not want to ask why was he asking about his showering habits, but well, if this was what he was curious about, who was to deny him this piece of information?

"How is your skin so perfect when all you had was a bucket?!" It probably wasn't smart of him to shut off his brain-to-mouth filter, but this was a very important - and very unfair - conundrum. "I was in your shack for, like, one day and my pores were on the verge of death!"

He felt betrayed by mother nature, and it showed through his over dramatic pout. After all the work he puts into his skin, Keith manages to stay practically flawless with little to no effort. Rigged.

How was he supposed to know?!

"Uh, no idea. I didn't even shower every day," he shrugged, stopping the massaging for now. Maybe Lance needed all those stuff because he was overdoing it? Or... "I guess it's just..."

He suddenly squinted at him.

"Is this really what you're curious about?"

He stared at Keith in disbelief; who knew he was dating a barbarian.

Well, he did, when he first found out Keith sometimes slept in his boots. Savagery.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in anything else - the truth is, he's interested in everything, but he can't exactly ask Keith for that, it would be tiring and long and probably not appropriate for two naked dudes in a public bath.

"You could tell me about each and every spec of sand that got in your mullet and I'd still listen," he shrugged with a relaxed smile. "What did you do out there though? The desert, I mean. Like, did you pick up some hobbies or was it all just alien robot lion hunting?"

He let out a long sigh at his answer. There could not be a single person who was interested in sand...

"Just the alien robot lion hunting," he replied, repeating the exact same words. "I couldn't really afford to have hobbies there. I needed food and fuel for my bike."

He looked at the pool, but for some reason his face was unreadable: it was not like he was hiding his emotions, it was more like he did not have any for that period of time.

"Were you really moved to the fighter pilot branch around that?" he asked, glancing down at him. He did not want to only talk about himself, he considered himself an awful storyteller.

Lance didn't really expect the tables to be turned on him - at least, not so soon - so he couldn't help the hint of surprise in his voice.

"Uh, yeah-! Since I was the top cargo pilot, when you left I got your place by default," he replied simply. That was the short story of it, the longer one involved a lot more pestering of higher ups and instructors to recommend him for the free spot, but that wasn't necessary to mention.

"Why did you decide to go to the Garrison?" He was quick to put the spotlight back on Keith, not even realizing the other's question was a sort of distraction.

When he left... His words left a bitter taste in his mouth and though he thought his face would not give him away, his smile twitched to the side.

"Ah, I see," he nodded. He found it strange that a cargo pilot would immediately take a fighter pilot's place, since their ships worked so differently... But as with many other things, he did not understand nor he agreed with the Garrison's administration.

"I, uh..."

His thoughts were on so different matters by now that he could not answer his question immediately. He cleared his throat to save time before opening his mouth again.

"I got a hoverbike when I was small and I could drive it... really well," he shrugged: Lance experienced his piloting firsthand, he did not have to elaborate on it. "And I didn't have anything I wanted to do. The Garrison had some flyers going around in my town and they had this programme. Something like a preparational course for talented kids, aged ten to fourteen. It just looked like a challenge to me," he huffed as if all this talking was starting to tire him out.

"You had to sign a contract with the army that once you finished it, you'd have to complete the Garrison training - and then you have to join the army. I didn't really care about that, and my parents agreed on it too, so I went for it. I passed the entrance test and you know about the rest."

He looked down at him with an apologetic smile.

"Not too exciting, huh?"

A troubled crease formed between his brows; Keith was telling this story so casually, yet it sounded to Lance like he'd basically signed away his life before he even reached fifteen... Sure, the military isn't pure and perfect with sprinkles of rainbow sunshine everywhere, but recruiting kids to join them when they aren't even old enough to drive is pretty dodgy. Well, he already knew the Garrison wasn't the most morally acceptable place when he found out about the Kerberos cover up, but still. "Your parents... They were your adoptive parents, right? Did you like them?" Because Lance sure didn't. This may have been delving into some risky territory, he didn't want to ask things too personal too quickly, but he's been curious about the people who 'raised' Keith since his trip down memory lane with the red lion.

His first question froze the blood in his veins and the surprise widened his eyes as he glanced down at him. How did he... Well, Keith did tell him that he was an orphan, but he did not say this much... Wait, was it Shiro? It must have been him. But how much did he share with Lance? How much did Shiro know in the first place? He took a deep breath before answering. 'It could be just a lucky guess.' "Yeah..." he replied with a spaced out look in his eyes but they soon focused at Lance again. "They were usually busy with work, but they always gave me something. And they let me do whatever I wanted." They were never there for me. A sly smile spread across his unwavering face and he squinted at the blue paladin. "I had a freedom your kid self couldn't even dream of."

The unconvinced expression didn't soften in the slightest, only deepened; something felt off about what Keith was saying, or, maybe the way he was saying it. The first look he made didn't help the case, but whatever it was, Lance couldn't quite put his finger on it, nor could he shake the unnerving feeling that settled in his gut. Yeah, he definitely didn't like the Collingwoods. Despite his uncertainty, Lance wasn't sure he should push; this isn't the same as before, he didn't want to be overbearing about things like this. His suspecting squint continued, but he offered a small smile to Keith's. "Oh yeah? What kind of stuff did you get up to?"

He tilted his head left and right, deep in thought. What did he get up to? God, he did not want to remember them. The way he glanced down at Lance was vastly different from his smile, it was not spaced out anymore, it was... searching for something, looking for positive memories from that time. His hand started caressing the blue paladin's hair, but soon stopped when he felt the memory of Mrs. Collingwood's touch on his own. It was so soft, so loving, she was so nice to him, she was... She was such a liar... "Silence." He answered the question rather literally, with his smile turning small and distant. How could he condemn Mrs. Collingwood for her actions if he himself was hiding the truth? "I woke up to silence." "But as I got older, I started to like it. Our lot was huge, the closest neighbour was of a ten minutes walk, so I could blast the TV on full volume or go on a ride at midnight. I got a hoverbike when I was ten," he grinned at him. "I spent almost third of my money on fuel." "Ah, I couldn't wait to go home from school back then," he sighed with a nostalgic smile as he leaned back on his palms and looked ahead. "I just wanted to hear the buzzing of the engine," he raised his right hand and cut a line into the air, "and rush into the nearby valley. It had so steep slopes they gave up on building roads there. Those were my favourite."

Even with his earlier negative convictions, he couldn't help but stare stupidly at Keith's movements with a silly grin. That hand movement was cuter than any hand movement Lance had every seen, and he'll be damned if his heart doesn't flutter every single time a smile paints the red paladin's features. His own feet started fidgeting in their place at the energy; he smirked up wide at the other leaning backwards. "I bet you were a cute kid~" He knows Keith was a cute kid. "Did you have a tiny little mullet then too?" He pinched his finger and thumb in front of his eye, barely holding back the laughter in his voice.

His eye twitched at his words, but that smirk... He turned his gaze away and drew a deep breath. Wow, it would help a lot if his heart decided against giving a drum concert in there, he kind of needed some oxygen in his brain now. "I doubt I was 'cute'. I got into trouble way too often for that," he mumbled and pursed his lips. With his right hand he ruffled Lance's hair and pressed his palm against his forehead, slightly pushing his chin upwards. "And get off my hair already."

Hopefully, the newly returning blush on his face was subtle enough to be pinned down to the hot spring heat; but deep down, Lance knew he wasn't that lucky. Who gave Keith the right to do that, right here, practically completely naked with Lance on his lap and his hair in a pony tail-- It's completely illegal, Lance is going to die from a heart explosion. Before the bomb in his chest had time to go off, he grabbed the hand on his head and tugged it back to where he was once twiddling his own thumbs. He started playing with Keith's hand between his, running his fingers over every knuckle and the back of his palm. "I don't think puberty just makes people as cute as you, you've gotta have been the cutest little rebel!" His smirk only widened, eyebrows waggling teasingly. "Especially with a mini mullet~"

He lost his only weapon - his right hand - to him. Oh no, how will he make him shut up about this whole cuteness ordeal? Not that the attention it received was unwelcomed, but it made him so weak he almost forgot to prove him wrong. "Trust me I wasn't cute. I only showered when I was getting itchy." He stared at his own hand: somewhere along the line he unknowingly interlocked his fingers with Lance's. Wow, it's... His palm, it's really warm. And soft. Definitely too soft for a paladin. He pressed the back of his hand against Lance's cheek. Yep, it was warm too. And dry!! Finally there was no slippery feeling to it. He wanted to kiss him so badly, especially the corner of his mouth, it always made him smile and he loved to feel his lips curving upwards... "If you're feeling better, we should get going. It's getting late." 'I have no self-discipline.' Even if he had tried to deny it, he knew it all too well why he himself was eager to leave. Everything was great there: the air was warm, the ground was not uncomfortable at all, the water had a nice flowery scent to it, and yet he could not arch his back enough to reach Lance from there. That was a huge downside to their current situation, one he was not willing to put up with. He should probably calm down first though, he sighed at himself. His pulse was in the skies, what if he stood up and fainted?

"That's still cute in its own, gross way," he mumbled defiantly; maybe he really did have a problem... Keith's cuteness aside, their fingers were now laced and his level of fluster was no doubt caught out by the red paladin. That definitely wasn't fair, his face was getting even hotter-- He perked up visibly at Keith's words, though, he did try to stifle it a little by sinking further into his lap. It's not that laying on Keith's almost bare thighs wasn't great - like, really great - but it really limited the amount of affection Lance could hand out, and that in of itself was a sin. Having the other so close and yet so far was a hard thing to settle with, so no one can blame him for nodding with an eager grin. "Yeah!-- Yeah, I'm fine, great, perfect, let's go-" A little over enthusiastic, but he was excited to kiss Keith again! He regretfully released the other's hand and sat up, probably faster than someone who just fainted should do. Thankfully, he didn't fall right back down; instead, he was left slightly dizzy and faced with the realization that he was, in fact, incredibly naked with no water to protect him. He turned back toward Keith with cheeks dusted pink and a sheepish smile, only getting distracted by his legs for a moment (improvement!!). "Could you, uh-... look away or- help me up?--"

As Lance sat up he could not stop his gaze sinking. It was not even a conscious move, his attention was just caught by something he had not seen it before and so he had to check it out. 'Oh jesus christ.' He really should not have looked there and it did not help him either that however hard he tried, he could not think of anything else but 'what a nice ass'. Definitely not cute. Wait, was he trying to be cute?? "Yeah, sure, yeah," he nodded kind of zoned out as he turned his face away, wow, this amount of fluster was sure unhealthy. But as always, he wanted to react to embarrassment with offense - maybe if Lance was feeling more uncomfortable than him it would ease his own situation. On the other hand, it would be terribly mean to him... He glanced up to the sky with a shaky jaw. Resist it. Resist it. "Not like I," he suddenly drew a deep breath, but it sadly did not stop the flow of his words, "haven't seen it already though, I was the one dragging you here—" He bit his lower lip. Shit, he was even grinning—

His eyes widened, smile falling as the meaning behind Keith's words registered in his brain, a look of incredulous horror setting into every muscle of his face. "Oh my god," he said, disbelief evident in his frozen expression. The freeze soon melted though, because suddenly a red that rivals the colour of Keith's lion was recolouring the entirety of Lance's head and shoulders. He saw it--... His head turned back to stare down at his own lap, covered by a towel that - yep - he definitely didn't put there himself. Biting his lip, he desperately held the internal screaming back from becoming external. "Oh my god--" Keith even had the nerve to grin, the asshole! The beautiful, beautiful asshole! Lance has been exposed! His modesty compromised! His boyfriend saw his wang in it's most natural state, there's no being saved from this-- "I'm gonna pass out again. I hope I pass out again," he muttered to himself, hands raising to cradle his defeated head, just about ready to lie down and wait for death to come for him. 'No!' "You!--" he practically yelled, whipping his torse back to face Keith again with an arm stretched out and a harshly pointed finger, a trembling squint and weak determination ruling his features; there's no way he'll accept this! He's gonna fight back!! "Show me yours too!--"

Holy shit, Lance was so adorable he had to stare at him. Of course if this situation was reversed he would be the one blushing to death, but it did not matter now: he could freely bask in his embarrassment. He wondered if the blue paladin enjoyed their time together at all, he was way too often flustered compared to him - but screw that, he will tell him if he was overdoing it. However, when Lance pointed at him, he drew his head back a bit as if his eyes were about to be poked out. He should do... What?! No way, no way, it did not work like that!! He can't just stand up and swing it around just because he asked for it! His right hand grabbed his own towel, before the blue paladin decided to snatch it away. There will be absolutely no dick revelations, not under his watch. He opened his mouth to voice his opinion too, but instead, he leaned ahead and bit down on Lance's finger. Almost choking on a chuckle, his grin widened; and his tongue accidentally brushed the tip of his finger as he said: "Nope."

Tearing his hand away like it had been burned, a small whine escaped his throat's defenses for a split second. Keith is the worst; the absolute worst. One day, he's going to kill Lance like this, and it will be super dramatic and sad and he'll regret being so terrible-- His flustered gaze dropped to his slightly shaky hand, he could still almost feel the tongue that it touched. Betrayal, complete treachery, so unfair. Only one idea came to Lance's frantic mind, and though questionable it may be, there wasn't anything else he could think of. Brows creasing further, he looked up, straight into Keith's eyes, and brought his assaulted finger to his own mouth. Without even waiting a second, his lips parted and he licked the tip of the digit clean. "S-show me, Keith." he said, low and serious, even through his trembling jaw and the imminent feeling he's about to start crying tears of blood. He tried to school his expression to stay stern, but his infinitely red cheeks probably lessened the effect; this was the definition of a double-edged sword.

His clutch eased on the towel, but his fingers curled into a tight fist again; he pushed the back of his hand against his mouth, in hopes of hiding his burning cheeks as well. He averted his gaze and kept his breath in. Even though he was against stripping himself with all his might, it was... It was impossible to say no to this, what's... what's this... He looked back at him, locking eyes with him. Oh god, he was still staring at him. What was he supposed to do?? Just simply throw away the towel? Say 'sure, go ahead'? Stand up and run away? Drown himself in the pool? All these options seemed to be absurd, though the last one was getting to be more and more tempting as the seconds passed by. He forced himself to swallow, even though his dry throat was not cooperative at all. It was his only success at calming himself down, because he could not help his shaking at all. "I-I-I, uh..." He squinted at him, trying to fake some anger or frustration at Lance, but he was unable to do so - just like saying no. Glancing away, he mumbled. "I-It's nothing special——"

Considering the fact that he started it, Keith really had no right to be so cute after that; yet here he was, almost dragging Lance into a trance with his every movement. "It felt pretty special--" he muttered, before the failure he calls his brain filter could stop him. He recoiled immediately from his own words, swallowing down any other terrible things that threatened to come from his mouth. Jesus, why did he think an onsen date would be a good idea-- "I mean--- I-- J-just show me already--" he sputtered quickly, desperately willing his face to cool down and his heart to stop racing. It didn't work.

Did he just?? Say?? That?? He looked at him in utter disbelief. This was not Lance, this could not be Lance, what the heck, what the heck. Dropping his hand back to his waist, he almost jumped on his feet - it must have been some kind of martial artist technique to stand up from this position, but he somehow pulled it off. He kept the towel in place, then, while talking, he tied a quick knot on it. "It doesn't work like that!!" he shouted at him almost terrified. Lance's words were incredibly dangerous, what if he did show it to him but it decided to greet him too??? He started walking backwards, keeping a very close watch on the blue paladin. "Just let's go already!!!"

For a moment, Lance sat dumbfounded at the impossible way Keith just stood up, but it wasn't long before he spun his legs around to the direction the other was walking in. The ground scratched his butt a little, however, at least now he could get up without giving Keith a full view of his naked ass. He pushed himself up, one hand firmly holding his towel in place, tying it haphazardly around his waist as he hurried to follow the red paladin. "You can't just sneak a peek of Lance Jr. for free, Keith, that's not how this works!!" he yelled, power walking up to him with his right hand pointing accusingly whilst the other held the towel to his hip.

He was stopped in his tracks by the blue paladin's words. "Lance Jr.? Do you call it--" He could not even finish his second question before bursting out in a laughter. He could not be serious, was he talking to it too? Given how chatty Lance was, he could very well imagine it. His head was spinning with all these rapidly changing emotions, but instead of finding a hold on the wall, he put his palm on his stomach. However, as he was still backing away from Lance, he did not realize he had already reached the door - and, after a rather unlucky step he tripped over its threshold.

Lance froze in place when the realisation of what he just said hit him like a truck. It was only for a second or two, until he was walking faster, trying and failing to sputter some kind of defence as his flush darkened even further. "I-it's not that funny!!" he shouted in the end, gaining on Keith with a glare plastering his face. He was only a few steps away when the red paladin fell, but that gap was quickly closed as Lance ran the two steps forward to grab one of his arms. It was more of an instinctual thing, to try and save him without hesitation; unfortunately, moving so fast without thinking didn't give Lance much time to control his balance, causing him to lean too far forward, only to end up being pulled down with Keith once he caught him. His knees were definitely gonna have some bruises later, but that was the least of his worries. Of course, because this was Lance, and the universe was determined to make him suffer, he landed right on top of Keith. In fact, he nearly face planted into his chest, narrowly avoiding crushing his nose by turning to the side a second before impact. This onsen date was a terrible idea.

His head was too heavy to register what had happened. He could feel Lance's fingers on him, but the only thing he could do was to put down his other forearm to avoid falling on his back. It was still painful since he grazed his elbow on the wooden floor, but at least his spine was intact. The blue paladin's weight pushed out all the air of his lungs, so he spent the first fifteen seconds with catching his breath. He groaned in frustration: man, just how clumsy he can get? Speaking of which... 'Wow, just how clumsy he can get,' he huffed, but instead of saying it out loud, he cupped the back of Lance's head with his hurt hand and closed his eyes. It felt so great to have his face against his bare chest despite the small, pulsing pain of his wrist and arm. He could feel his breath on his skin, his warmth against his heat - god, he missed that. For some mysterious reason, suddenly he was in no rush to leave this place anymore. 'No, no, we should get going.' Right. Getting going, it was his original plan, one very simple plan, that was why they left the room in the first place. He could carry it out any time, even so, Lance could carry it out any time, so it really must have been an easy task. He sighed. Yup, it was high time to get up. How to do it, though - oh right, let's get up on three. A slow exhale: and start counting. One... One... One... One... ... Alright, how about just... just five more minutes...?

His right hand hung loosely from Keith's forearm while his left was slumped on the floor, laying uselessly where he'd used it to save the other from part of his weight. It sure did hurt. The ache in his knees was making itself known faster than Lance had hoped; the fact he was still leaning on them probably didn't help, but he was suddenly up close and personal with Keith's magnificent chest and couldn't find the will to care about it anymore. "Sorry," he muttered weakly, a little muffled with his cheek still smushed against the other. He should really get up, they were supposed to be leaving after all... The original purpose of their retreat became less and less important; all Lance could focus on was the sound of Keith's heartbeat and the hand on his head. Surely sleep could wait a few minutes longer... He turned his head to rest his chin on the red paladin's chest (which, by the way, is just as perfect as it was two days ago), looking straight up at him. Even at an angle like this, Keith was still so damn gorgeous-- It really wasn't fair at all; Lance couldn't help but squint at him as if that would somehow change the fact Keith has beauty worthy of a god. His constant desire to kiss the other was hitting him at full force, lips even twitching slightly with anticipation. Who did this guy sell his soul to to become so kissable? Lance would kiss anything his lips could reach if he wasn't sure Keith would get sick of it! Hell, he would kiss his chest right now - if he could! ... He could totally kiss Keith's chest right now-- No, wait, wouldn't that be weird? Probably, yeah, he shouldn't do that. But, wow, would you look at that, he's doing it anyway! Dammit Lance- His lips pressed gently against Keith's sternum, lifting up soon after, but only to lay another one right above it. He trailed little pecks across his chest, stretching his neck to reach his collar bones. It's a real shame his neck wasn't longer, but then again, it probably wouldn't be that hot if it were.

He gasped at the sensation, did Lance really... For a moment he thought he fell on him on purpose, but he discarded this idea - let's be honest, the blue paladin was not cunning enough to pull such a stunt. Well, accident or not, it was a sensation most welcomed so he shut his eyes in an instant to focus all his attention on the lips trailing up on his chest. The skin there was much more sensitive than he imagined: sure, Lance caressed him there two days ago, but it was nothing compared to being kissed by; that's why he kept his breath in as if a careless exhale would disperse the moment. He only let it out when - regretfully - the journey stopped at his collarbones. Hoooly shit, it would be really embarrassing to get worked up here. He chewed at his bottom lip. While he was thrilled by this turn of events, it was also incredibly unfair that he could not kiss him back. However, it was an injustice he was not about to tolerate: his hand left Lance's head and, joined by the other one on his right side and after putting his elbows down, he lifted him by his armpits. A guy should not be this light, he wondered, he could move him so easily... He pulled him carefully so their towels would not join the adventure, but high and quick enough to soon face him. Holding him above with little to no effort, he touched their noses together and stared into his eyes. Damn, Lance could look at him with at least a thousand different ways - as if nothing, not even the blue hue was permament in his eyes - and Keith was sure he will never learn all of them. But they were looking at him and him alone... A little lost there quite a few seconds had passed before he lifted his chin to brush their lips together and whisper into them, afraid of his voice being too shaky to be heard. "Kiss me here, please."

It seems like Keith was getting very talented at ripping surprised squeaks from Lance, but this is a skill he wasn't sure he could survive. All in what felt like two seconds, Lance was suddenly hovering above the red paladin, and his heart was thumping in his ears as his perfect lips brushed against his. It was in this moment he confirmed his past wonderings: Keith could definitely bench press him - with ease. Holding Keith's gaze was both the easiest and most difficult thing to do. He didn't break the contact - a louder part of him couldn't tear away from his entrancing eyes - but the stare helped his burning cheeks none. He can't just do that. He can't just lift Lance like he's a bunch of grapes and then say things like that! It's unfair! Completely against the rules! Lance's face is going to melt off-- He swallowed thickly. A stronger man would take this chance to tease, play it coy and make him beg for it or something; but Lance is not a strong man. In fact, Lance is the weakest man when it comes to Keith. The man who would happily punch himself in the face if Keith asked for it. One that could never dream of denying Keith a kiss. "Gladly," he whispered - almost breathlessly - before diving in. His eyes fluttered closed as soon as his lips met Keith's softly, the previously lifeless hand following it's clockwork instinct and sliding through the side of the other's hair. Considering how much he rags on his mullet, Lance could stroke his fingers between each strand for days; just like he would never tire of pressing his mouth against Keith's. With each kiss, it gets harder and harder to keep it chaste; he tried tilting his head to sate his hunger - thinking that getting closer would calm him down - but it only made it worse, every roll of their lips getting a little more impatient than the last, leaving his tongue itching to taste-- It should be fine to let it, right? Just a bit? They aren't really in a public bath anymore; just two dudes making out near some hot springs! In nothing but towels! ... Whatever. A second longer of rocking and his mouth parted on a weak sigh, tongue simply brushing against Keith's lower lip before closing once more, acting as an invitation of sorts, leaving the decision to the paladin below him with underlying hope.

The moment he felt Lance's tongue on his lips he met it with his own; finally, he sighed through his nose. Unlike the blue paladin, he did not even intend to keep this chaste, why would he hold himself back when he agreed to it? Lance wanted to do it, he wanted to do it, there was absolutely nothing against a full-blown make out. Well, maybe the choice of place, but that somehow was not on his mind now. He let Lance lead the kiss - he loved how he did it, it was slower and more tender, yet it somehow felt more powerful and dizzying... Running his fingers through his hair he cupped his head with both hands, not even giving him the option to pull away. It soon became quite clear that the bottom was not his position at all, his entire body twitched with the urge to simply flip themselves around - but being kissed like that pleased him enough to stay put and obedient, and let him do whatever he wanted. At least until they broke away for air. His left hand soon glided down to his shoulder as the other one gently pulled his head away. Once he bared enough of his neck, with a hot huff he pressed a strong kiss on it; and at the same time, his hand travelled further down and splayed its fingers between his shoulder blades. A second and a third kiss followed impatiently, pushing Lance's jaw upwards with his nose each time, and his fingertips dug into his back as if he was holding Lance down - which he was, for some reason, indeed doing; the muscles on his arms tensed forcefully ready to keep him in place should he move; and without a single warning, he bit into his neck. With a wide, satisfied grin he opened his eyes and drawing a deep breath through his teeth, he sucked at the skin.

There probably won't ever come a kiss where Lance isn't sad it ended, but he certainly accepts it a whole lot quicker when Keith's mouth moves on to work wonders on his neck. A small sigh found it's way into the air as his eyes opened halfway; maybe he was still a little dazed from the kiss, his cheeks were so warm he doesn't even remember what it feels like to not be blushing anymore. His back arched slightly into the pressure between his shoulder blades; he's gotta admit, Keith's chest is one of the nicer places Lance has been pinned to. Although, the others were mostly dirty floors, so it wasn't really a fair competition, but it would take a lot to beat this. Lance was pretty content running his hand through the red paladin's mullet, just basking in the affection being shown to one of his weakest points - and he would have continued being content with that, if not for a set of teeth sinking into his skin. He choked on a groan, fingers tightening in Keith's hair before he bit down on his own bottom lip to stifle an overly pleased hum. Now this definitely wasn't appropriate for a public bath house, and yet, his concept of modesty had long been thrown out into space. Though, the second he felt suction, his eyes flung open on a sharp intake. "Holy--" he breathed, staring wide and helpless at the ground under them. A hickey. Keith was giving him a hickey. Does this guy realize what he's doing? What it's doing to Lance? He'd always thought it would be pretty hot to be bitten by a sexy vampire lady or something, but this was better. Much better. It also involved less blood loss, so that's always a plus. He shifted a leg forward in an attempt to gain some kind of grounding, but all it achieved was pushing Keith's further apart and it did nothing to calm the dizzying heat of his cheeks. He had no chance to prepare heart for this, every breath he took grew shakier than the last; Keith is cruel and unfair and all Lance could really do was sit there and pray he could stay cool and collected in this dire situation. He really didn't like the odds.

He sure did not know what he had been doing to him, but that stifled groan was all he wanted to hear. Beautiful; Lance was so beautiful, all these noises that he - for some weird reason - always tried to quiet were so beautiful he wanted to bask in them all night long. The hand that pulled the blue paladin's head away sneaked down to the nape of his neck and grasped at it. However impossible it was, he wanted to pull him closer, he wanted more of his skin on his, to feel his pulse as his own. After a few seconds, he let go of him with a sigh and kissed the slightly discolored skin. He could not really see it well from this close, but he might have overdone it a bit... The sudden wave of remorse sobered him enough to notice the knee pushing his legs apart, wait a minute, that's a ten out of ten idea Lance is having there and Keith would be surely down for it, but still, they can't do that here... "I wanted to ask you something," he huffed quickly as he let his head drop back on the floor and he looked up to the ceiling. He had to talk, he had to crush the moment. Though, to be honest, it was quite difficult to forget all those marvelous muscles under his fingers: unknowingly, he kept drawing small circles into them. He turned his head towards Lance to press their faces together and opened his mouth to continue... But no sound came out of it. Alright, let's try again, he sniffed in irritation. After taking a deep breath, he kept the air in - only to sigh it out, defeated by his own cowardice. "Shit, this is harder than I thought..."

Despite being grateful for the mercy the red paladin had shown by finishing up, Lance couldn't deny that he sort of missed Keith's mouth on him; that wasn't a very news worthy fact anymore, though. He let out a silent sigh as he worked to compose himself and calm his racing pulse, keeping his face angled to the side in an attempt to cling to some of his dignity. Keith had a question, it seemed, so he let his gaze flick towards the other as he waited for him to elaborate, continuing to absentmindedly stroke his fingers through his hair. Their faces were pushed together but the words still weren't flowing, so rather than fussing over the fact he would absolutely be able to feel his burning cheeks, Lance waited patiently for him to continue. Or at least, he tried. His last words had Lance pulling back enough to see his face, concern bubbling slowly in his gut as he looked down at the paladin below him. "What is it?" he asked, with slightly furrowed brows but a mostly curious gaze.

Alright, Lance pulling away and looking him in the face surely did not help to make the words flow. He glanced up at him and swallowed. He could do it. Come on, he said ten times more embarrassing things today! "So, last time you were a bit... busy... and couldn't really answer it..." "......" Well, who would have known that beating around the bush would just make his situation even worse: by his fifth word, his stomach curled up in a small, painful ball, buzzing with all kinds of anxiety that was so not him. "When I asked you that, how you - goddamn it," he groaned and closed his eyes. "The next time when... if - we do - it; how you would like me to, uh, do... it." He opened his eyes to stare at the wall. What were the odds the building decided to collapse on them? 'Jesus Christ did I turn him off for a lifetime—' ...Maybe if he looked hard enough at it, it would crumble!! He tried to focus on this very important architectural question, but panic started to settle in. He did not even dare to glimpse the expression of Lance's face, he did not want to see him disgusted or, even worse, disillusioned—

Lance's mind went blank. 'How he would...' If he thought he was burning before, then his skin must be straight up lava by now; was he the one producing the steam around here or what- "I-I, uh--... It's-- um----" Apparently, it only takes about eight words to destroy Lance's ability to form a proper sentence. In his defense, he was a little preoccupied with remembering what it means to breathe at the moment. His eyes shifted back to the ground in hopes of regaining his brain functions, Keith's face was only making him blush and stutter-- Their current situation had never hit him harder. "I-I dunno I-- don't really have... a preference??-- I mean, if--- if it's you it, uh-- um---..." Turns out even the floor couldn't save him from his own stammering. How is he supposed to respond this question?? How is anyone supposed to respond this question???? Lance was dying at just the thought--- "I don't--.. I don't mind---" He silently prays to any superior being in the universe that this answer is enough.

He could not blame Lance for his stammering, if this situation was reversed - just like ten or fifteen minutes ago - he would act like the same. That did not mean, however, that he was content with such a neutral answer. "But I mind it," he replied, turning his gaze back at him. Oh, he was not looking at him either, nice. He paused for a few seconds and pressed his palm against Lance's back. "It's not about a preference, it's... uh..." A sudden idea hit him, and his widening, albeit bashful grin sure did not look promising for the blue paladin. His right hand cupped Lance's face, trying to make an eye-contact with him. "Hey, you said you had fantasies about me?" There was no chance Keith would ever forget that. "Tell me one!"

Suddenly, every fantasy Lance had stored away in his brain flashed before his eyes, making this conundrum at least a thousand times worse. His jaw trembled under Keith's gaze; this was some kind of torture or something! His mouth opened and closed as he scrambled to gather words that weren't completely embarrassing, which was a difficult task when the person of your affections was asking about your private thoughts with a grin like that-- "C-can we have this conversation when we aren't naked and on the floor?--" he almost pleaded, voice cracking a little by the end. He tried pushing himself up against Keith's hold on his back, quite ready to be swallowed up by the ground and dropped straight into alien hell.

Were they on the floor? He kind of forgot that, even though his back was starting to hurt. "Ah, yeah, sure," he nodded, but before Lance could have escaped, holding the blue paladin by his back he sat up with him - effectively putting him on his lap by doing so. Since the towels were quite restricting, Keith sat on his heels and pushed Lance's legs to the right side to get them out of the way. He left his hand on his knees and gently tugged at the towel, while his other hand moved to the back of his head to pull him closer. He kissed him without a second thought: even if Lance was distressed and Keith knew he should have given up on this whole thing, it did not mean he would give him a break. He pressed their lips together almost too eagerly, kissing him on and below the mouth and in its corner - he just could not get enough of adoring him, he wondered if he could ever properly do so. His fingers splayed on his thigh whatever purchase he could make there and with a content huff he nuzzled his cheek. "Well, you aren't on the floor anymore." "I'm all ears," he grinned at him, but knowing all too well how much his kisses pacified him, he quickly peppered his jawline with some more - and also to cover up a small theft down there, namely a grab at his unbelievably strong and perfectly palm-fitting thigh of his, that he could not resist.

Lance had almost let the waves of relief wash over him when Keith agreed; but of course, he's never that lucky, now their position was even worse and Keith was being even more unfair. Needless to say, he melted into the kiss - though, not without a defeated whine at the back of his throat. Keith's kisses were his Achilles heel and the jerk knew it. That didn't stop him from kissing back, not at all; even with a very noticeable hand on his thigh, he couldn't help but be carried away by the red paladins lips. He huffed childishly, despite the ever looming question still setting his cheeks aflame. This isn't what he meant and the fact hasn't changed that he just can't say that kind of thing, no matter how many pecks Keith presses against his jaw or times he grabs his thigh, good lord---- A thought ran through his head; as the only kind of defense he could muster in times like this, Lance ran with it. Leaning back slightly, he squinted, staring Keith straight in the eyes before offering a weak challenging smirk. "I'll tell you if you tell me."

He blinked twice as Lance looked him in the eyes. If he told him? How would he know what Lance - oh. He meant - he meant his ones. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What did he fantasize about him before? No, the right question was: what did he want to do with him that they had not done so far? Tilting his head deep in thought he let go of his head and scratched his own neck. "You kind of made all of them come true already," he mumbled, but he knew Lance would not be content with such an answer. "But if I really wanted something..." His eyes widened as he remembered something. Right. That. He turned his face away as he felt the heat creeping up on his cheeks. "I-I'm not really sure what works and what doesn't, so..."

Keith was right; Lance wasn't going to be satisfied with cute answers like that, even if they did make his heart flutter. He squinted harder, as if that would make his blush less noticeable. Since he was pretty focused on the red paladin's face, it was impossible to miss the fact that something ran through his thoughts - an idea that caused him to turn away and blush. "Wh--... You can't expect a tour through my fantasies with that!" he huffed loudly, grabbing the side of Keith's face and tugging it back towards him. Does he really think Lance will let him off easily after this?? Lips pursed and eyes determined, he leaned in slightly to stare him down. "I need detailed instructions on how to rock your world, Keith!"

When did this whole thing became about him? He wanted to know details about Lance's fantasies, not sharing his own... whatevers he had! "Uhh, well, it's weird but," he started, slightly tilting his head into the palm that was holding it. "I wanted to tell you anyways..." He pressed his hand on his own mouth and scratched his free cheek. Wow, alright, this was really difficult to say. Averting his gaze yet again, his fingers curled into a fist and he pressed it against his lips, muffling his already quiet words. "When we sleep and you hug me from behind, I... cannot, really, focus on sleeping."

Hot damn, Keith is cute. He's cute, so cute, maddeningly cute-- But, right, that isn't the focus of the current conversation - not that Lance is following along with it as well as he'd like to anyway. His head tilted to the side in confusion; when he hugs him from behind... Like, spooning? That's keeping Keith up? But... "Why??" he asked, brows crinkling in the centre as he tried to put two and two together. It wasn't working out.

What did he mean by 'why,' Lance should be the one enlightening him! Maybe it was weird after all. Or was the blue paladin curious about the exact details, like - oh well, there is only one way to find it out. "Fuck if I know!" A gesture with his hand accompanied his words, unfolding his fist into a discarding wave. For a few seconds he even stared at the other, but he soon looked away again as his index finger drew little circles in the air. "It's just, I can feel..." "The..." "Your..." He licked his lips before sucking them in. Is he really elaborating on this? His hand froze and he let out a long, silent sigh. How should he phrase it, he can't just say it out loud, he would die, Lance would die, Voltron would die if he did that. But if he kept it too vague, then Lance would surely miss it and then his situation would become ten times worse. He took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. Alright, he just had to say it straight, no beating around the bush, just be on point, Keith. "..." "Thighs." Almost.

Despite nodding along with each of the red paladin's words, he was left with even more questions than before. A small voice at the back of his brain was telling him he was being seriously dumb about this, and yet, it wasn't showing him why so frankly, it can shut up. "My... My thighs????" His expression was no less confused, but his eyes did drop to squint as his own thighs, as if that would somehow provide an answer for him. So Keith had a thing for his thighs?? Well, that would explain the grabbing and the... the kissing-- It's not like Lance couldn't understand an appreciation for thighs - hell, he's spent plenty of time appreciating Keiths - but his thighs aren't really anything to write home about, nor do they seem amazing enough to keep someone up...... "I don't get it," he said, straight to his lap, still searching for instructions on how to crack the code. Maybe they're better when he's laid down??

The troubled frown on his own face smoothed out into an almost jovial expression as his mind gave up on accepting reality and let itself sunk into the sweet state of denial. There was no use of existing in this world anymore, his very being was reduced to a bunch of, now disposable atoms. His shoulders rose as he sucked in yet another deep breath, and he followed the blue paladin's gaze down to his thighs. Lance did not get it. Lance. Did not. Get it. "There’s a dick there!!" he said a bit louder than necessary and, spreading both of his hands he straightened his back in utter disbelief.

Oh. "Oh," he said, out loud this time. It's almost as if his cheeks couldn't be cold anymore, he's in a permanent state of mild to intense blushing and it's all Keith's fault. The worst part is, he's still not one hundred percent sure what he means-- "W-well, I mean--... I-... Sorry?--" Was that the right thing to say? For keeping him up with the presence of his dick?? Although, Keith is the one that starts the spooning activities, so is Lance really to blame?

Sorry? Sorry. He slightly opened his mouth but not even for a second he wanted to speak up. The churning sensation in his chest ordered him otherwise: it advised him to stay silent. 'What the fuck,' he asked himself quietly. The moment he felt this kind of excitement first, he found it weird; he thought about it later and it still seemed to be abnormal. And then he decided to tell Lance about it and - and he apologized. He apologized for riling him up with stuff like that. Seriously, just what else did Keith expect? That the blue paladin would, for some miraculous reason, pat his shoulder and prove him wrong? That it was absolutely okay, what okay, the hottest thing in space? Every sign pointed at this outcome and yet he chose not to pay attention to it, that if he just kept being reckless like he had been so far, then he would get away with everything. Was it always this cold down there? "Yeah, it's fine," he replied with a small, nervous smile and he dropped his hands to the floor. "I can still sleep, so, don't worry about that." Feeling that the conversation would not really branch out from this point, he put his palms on the floor. "Could we get up? I'm freezing here."

Oh. Oh no. That look wasn't good. Those words weren't good. He's not asking the question, he's trying to leave. Lance went wrong there, he can feel it in the pit of his gut. "Wait, no, I--" His hands fell too Keith's shoulders, as if that would hold him down while he scrambled his brain for the right words for fix whatever he'd done. Slight panic began to set in; he can let it end like this, not after what happened last time something went unresolved, he has to say something-- Fuck. He'd just apologized for this guys kink, he can't excuse that away! This is what happens when someone as oblivious as him is put into sensitive conversations, what is he supposed to say?!? "It's--" Christ, he's stuttering - stalling - the desperate look on his face no doubt gives away how much of a train wreck he is. Maybe honesty is the answer; hell, it's the only answer he's got. "Sorry, I---" stop with the sorry--- "I'm.. still not really sure what you mean---... With the- hug thing??"

Busted. And he was not only busted, but he made Lance panic. If anything could hurt more than rejection, it would be this; it reminded him of their picnic date where he upset the blue paladin with something and he had to run after him to fix it. He remembered his nervousness from that time: and he did not want the other to experience it. Though he dreaded the possibility of Lance pulling away after telling him such a weird thing, he wiped his right hand in his towel (should he have picked up any kind of dirt from the floor) and with a small caress he cupped Lance's cheek. Given that he was not avoiding his touch, he leaned in for a short kiss too before talking. "Chill, I've just changed my mind," he mumbled with their noses touching then and now. "Let's get some clothes on, we can talk on the way." He could not just leave him like this, he was not a princess to only mind himself, he had to man up! Sure, he dodged Lance's question altogether: there was no way he would answer that - if it was that strange that it needed explanation, then he surely did not want to elaborate on it. But he wanted to put his my mind at ease right now, more than anything. His ridiculous fears of making Lance disgusted or weirded out by him could wait, though they still lingered there, the all too empty feeling in his chest did not fade away.

While the kiss did calm his panicking, it didn't wipe away the feeling of dread that hung around in his chest. Chilling would be great right now, but it was highly unlikely. He lifted his hand to land over Keith's, swiping his thump over whatever of his flesh it landed on as he leaned in to touch foreheads for a second. "Okay," he nodded, before pulling away completely and moving to stand. His face was mostly neutral, but once he was upright, he offered his hand to help Keith up. His jaw was tense, brain thinking at a mile a minute. One thing's for sure - he had to put his idiocy aside and figure out what Keith meant.

A sigh of relief almost escaped him when Lance returned his touch - god, maybe he was not freaked out by him a hundred percent. He accepted the offered hand without a second thought and stood up quickly, only to grab his towel at the very last second. His heart skipped a beat. Shit, that was close. "I wonder if the others are asleep," he said, trying to change the topic for both of their sakes. He could do this, an awkward, heavy silence was the last thing they needed. "I've never seen Allura or Coran asleep." He had just started walking towards the changing room, but he had to stop and furrow his eyebrows. "Do Alteans sleep at all?"

Lance was too deep in his own head to register any movements other than Keith starting to walk, which he followed. "They were asleep for ten thousand years when we found them," he offered idly. Even with his mind chugging away, he was physically unable to leave a conversation hanging. "I know Allura has a big fancy bedroom, but I don't think I've seen her use it since the Balmera healing thing..." "Maybe they run on batteries or something." He couldn't stop a small amused smile at the idea of the aliens swapping out each others batteries. No, he's putting too much thought into this, what did Keith mean before--

There was a point in what Lance said, though deep down he doubted that hibernation counted as sleeping. But again, who knew? Hibernation was not a thing back on Earth, they only had theories about it. "You haven't seen her using it? That sounded creepy," he snickered, turning his grinning face away. This is working!! "I hope you aren't stalking her too much, Coran can get really protective."

Until then, Lance had kept his gaze mostly towards the floor, but this accusation required his full attention! "I'm not stalking her! I just happen to walk by her room a lot!--" he defended, though that probably didn't seem any less creepy, so he quickly added, "She's got a stash of space moisturiser, I break in to steal it sometimes---" Admitting to theft probably wasn't the angle he should have taken, and yet, it was the one he took nonetheless. With a huff, he dropped his sights back to the ground, staring even more intently to regain his focus. Focus!!!

He raised his eyebrows further and further the more Lance talked. Clenching his teeth together he pressed the back of his palm on his mouth to stifle his chuckle. His shoulders shook nonetheless, and he had to turn his face away too. Amazing. They were out in space to destroy a more than ten thousand years old empire, and his teammate was stealing moisturiser from their alien princess. The changing room was not that far: as soon as Keith entered it, he stepped to the wooden locker he left his clothes in. Alright, time to get... changed... With his daytime clothes in his hands, he squinted at the locker. Okay, but how? He wanted to glance back over his shoulder, but what if Lance noticed that? Wow, he sure did not think this through. He leaned into the box, seemingly searching for something that fell out of his pockets. Think. Think.

He shot Keith a petty glare from the corner of his eye - stupid Keith and his stupid(ly amazing) laugh. This is an important matter! Once the floor became that of the changing room, Lance went straight to his clothes. He was pretty much on autopilot, stepping into his underwear and pulling it up under his towel, still squinting at the ground. He continued dressing without a word. Maybe he needed to reevaluate the facts; clearly, glaring a hole into the ground isn't working. So, when they cuddle, Keith finds it hard to focus on sleeping, because he can feel Lance Jr. against him. Right. Okay. He understands the trouble there. But where's the kink in that?!? It's just sle-- Ssssss... Oh. Oh. "I'm an idiot," he whispered, at some point having stopped with his shirt only over his arms to stare at the floor, eyes widened with his obvious realization. An idiot, a big idiot, how did he not get that?! Idiot!!

Since Lance was making some noise, Keith assumed he was busy was with changing clothes: and so, he just took off his towel and dressed up as if he was alone. Worst case scenario: Lance saw his butt. Big deal, now he remembered it: he saw it in the Garrison before.

As soon as he was done, he closed the locker and towel-dried his hair. He felt ten times better: with his stomach full and body clean, he really could not have asked for more. He was not particularly sleepy either, though he did want to go to bed to think about what he had done and what he should do different the next time - and, maybe because he wanted to hide a bit from Lance, too. However, his eagerness vanished when he saw the blue paladin being frozen in his move. "Lance? Is everything okay?"

His head whipped up to face Keith, enlightenment consuming his expression. "I'm an idiot!" he said louder, stating the obvious. How could he possibly be this oblivious?! Sure, he'd spent most of his... 'research' times in the hetero homelands, but he'd still strayed into that before-- He took a second to compose himself; unfortunately, a second was all his brain needed to let the meaning fully sink in, and suddenly his face was just as hot as before. "I just got what you were talking about--"

Jesus Christ, will he ever drop the topic? Discomfort returned to his features and he averted his gaze before looking at him again. "Yeah, uh." Wow, Lance was sure blushing. He raised both of his hands in front of him, palms towards the other paladin. "Look, if it weirds you out this much, we can like, not sleep like that anymore... I can hug you or, we don't, at all..." Or whatever, just let this go already!!

Ah, that wasn't a good expression on Keith; what's even worse are the words coming from him. "What? No! It's not--" Okay, he was definitely being too loud, reel it in boy-- "It doesn't weird me out! I'm just--- Man I'm dumb--" That last bit was said the floor again. Even he didn't expect this level of idiocy from himself. Good job, Lance. He pulled his shirt over his head in record speed before turning his eyes back to Keith with a pointed finger. "And I definitely don't want to stop cuddling."

He tilted his head in confusion. If Lance did not make much sense so far, now he surely did not make any. After a few seconds of hesitation he opened his mouth. "Why are you dumb?" he asked in his usual blunt way. "I don't understand." His eyes followed his movements and seeing the shirt hiding that amazing upper body filled him with regret. He should have made him talk more, maybe he would have forgotten to put it on if he was busy with keeping up the conversation...

"Because it was so obvious but I didn't get it--" he huffed, more at himself than anything. To think, the master of seduction, Lance McClain, didn't get why Keith was hot and bothered by a sausage between his buns. Ridiculous. "It took me way too long to figure out, I'm ashamed." He was suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to pray to the porn gods for forgiveness, but that probably wouldn't help his idiot status, so he held off. For now.

"Figure out what?!!" he asked louder than necessary, spreading his arms in frustration. He was seriously getting worked up over this whatever Lance was holding back from him. Why could not the guy just straight tell him what he missed and what - most definitely - Keith missed?!

Did the situations get switched or something? Why was Keith asking questions?! Didn't he understand his own kink?! "T-that you-... you--" How does he say this? Why is he saying this? He's blushing too much, he isn't supposed to be the one explaining! "Want to be-... held?" Nailed it.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about what Lance had said. He wanted to be... held? That was it? Simply be in his arms? He got excited because he held him like that? But that kind of excitement usually came with more urges, that... "That doesn't seem to be right..." he muttered to himself. "A hug..." He paused for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Whatever, it's... Let's forget it," he waved with his hand, then turned on his heels and headed to the door. What Lance had 'understood' made even less sense than what he thought before. This was just strange, simply strange, it did not worth talking about.

Right, of course Keith wouldn't get that, what was he thinking-- He slumped a little, but before the red paladin could turn around, Lance grabbed one of his wrists. If he's gonna make him say it then he'll-... he'll say it-- "It's not a hug--!" Alright, here we go, he can say it-- "Well, I mean-- it kind of is? But also, it's not-" That's not saying it, Lance, come on-- Never would he have guessed that one day he'd be explaining this to someone, yet here he is; red faced and stuttering. He's gonna die. "It's-- it's like what straight people do but, you know-..." He nodded his head backwards, even though he knew that wasn't very helpful. "F-from the back--"

He listened in silence, focusing all his attention on the blue paladin's words. Whatever it was, it was difficult to say, so he did not want to miss it when he finally sput it out. However, when he did, Keith did not understand it at first. He blinked at him dumbfounded. How would they do what straight people did if he did not have a - a girl's part? Just where would... Holy shit. "Holy shit," he repeated out loud, his face setting ablaze in less than a second. He was... He was getting excited because of - he pursed his lips as his imagination did some eager freelance work and presented the situation to him. His free hand pressed hard against his mouth and nose as a weak try to hide his scorching face. Just the thought of Lance hovering above him with his breath on his neck and doing something... something like that... He could not even look him in the eyes, he would probably never be able to do ever again in this lifetime. His heart beated so fast he was already feeling dizzy or was he just more than ready to pass out? It would be a great excuse to leave. And to top it, Lance needed a lot of time to figure it out so he must have never thought about it before! He was truly cursed with this matter. "Alright, I got it," he whispered, almost inaudible thanks to the grip on his own face. "Got it."

Wait, did Keith... Did he really not know?! Oh God, he was so flustered, Lance felt kind of bad, but on top of the guilt, shock trickled in. Keith is a bottom and he didn't even know it-- He looked embarrassed - traumatized, even - Lance scrambled to find words to defuse the situation before one of them explodes like a blushing volcano. What would make him feel better if someone just explained gay sex to him and he realized he was into it?? Well, that situation never really came up, the internet was what told him he was into it, so he didn't need to feel better about his fluster-- Alright, okay, back up plan, sympathizing usually works, right? Right. "H-hey, dude, d-don't worry about it, it's not a big deal!-- I mean, I've also---" Maybe this wasn't the best way to go, was his blood boiling under his cheeks or something??-- "I've also-- thought about it--" Yes, definitely, he's going to die.

His tense grip dropped from his face. "You did?!" he asked with an unusually high-pitched voice. "You did, okay. Nice. Great," he nodded to himself. Maybe his luck was not that terrible after all. "Maybe it's not that... weird then," he mumbled. The more he tried to dismiss his thoughts about it, the more tangled he found himself in them. How will he ever sleep again? And the fact that the blue paladin considered it before too, the possibility that such a hint would create... "You know, we should--" he swallowed, pausing longer than necessary. Why did his throat go so dry? He really needed it now, he had to finish this sentence. "We-- should really go back." Jesus, he almost said what really was on his mind--!

Woah, seems like it worked! At the cost of his face going up like a forest fire, but it worked!! A small, relieved smile made it's way to his face; maybe this success could make up for his stupidity before, or at least, make it easier to forget. "Y-yeah, right--!" he nodded quickly, moving to pick up his jacket and slide into it. They should really consider having less late night dates, especially when they have to be up early in the morning. Though, Lance had a sinking feeling that sleep wouldn't come easy tonight - curse his overactive imagination.

He nodded too for seemingly no reason at all and left the room after Lance. The thoughts that kept him busy were a problematic case: he could not answer his own questions, but then again, he could not just ask him about them. Lance did not have to know just how clueless he was, he wanted to keep at least a little bit of dignity. That kind of determination was quickly forgotten when he saw the exit door. On its other side a silent, small street awaited them with the house a few meters away where their team was sleeping. He saw as the blue paladin was reaching for the doorknob, in an almost slow motion, oh no, he was not ready to return to reality yet-- His hand moved before his mind caught up with his own actions. He grabbed Lance's wrist and looked at his face, shit, what was he doing? Thinking about how perfect - how even more perfect - his skin was after the bath had little to do with their departure. Moreover, he was the one urging them to leave, just why could not he make up his mind?! ... "Five," he sighed in defeat and with two long steps he tried to force Lance to retreat until he had him against the door; and where he could put his hands on his shoulders to lean in close. He grasped at them as he finished his sentence. "Just five more minutes." The very same words from that morning after, that resulted in missing a breakfast and pissing off the princess, not to mention netting them a day long, rigorous training - and though Keith clearly did not notice the repetition, his eyes looked at Lance guilty; guilty of being this weak-willed and wishy-washy, but also full of adoration and amazement, with a dark shade of unmasked, instinctive want.

Just as he was about ready to reserve himself to an embarrassing and sleepless night, a hand was holding his own back from opening the door. Turning his head to glance at the knob blocker, and then up to Keith's face, he shot the other a quizzical look. There wasn't any time to ask questions, because soon enough he was sandwiched between Keith and the door - admittedly, it wasn't a bad sandwich to be in, but the reasoning behind it was no more clearer than before. Even with the smile quickly spreading across his face, he was slightly confused by the sudden turn of events. Wasn't Keith the one trying to leave in the first place? Why was he asking for five more minutes? Oh well, it's not like Lance had a problem with it, especially when he was looking at him like that. He wrapped his arms around the red paladin's waist, holding his hands together and resting them at his lower back. "Sounds good to me," he murmured, pulling Keith in a little closer to pepper a few kisses across his cheeks. Call him a sap, but moments like these are the kind that send his heart fluttering like a manic bird. He had to be careful this close to Keith, he was always on the verge of becoming an over-affectionate cat; constantly overcome with the urge to nuzzle, and kiss, and hug him so tight that his senses pick up nothing but Keith-- Apparently, he's not as careful as he should be; just as he finished the thought, he found himself buried nose deep in the crook of the other's neck, breathing in his scent like it was his first whiff of heaven. Not an inaccurate comparison, that.

He closed his eyes when he felt Lance's lips on his cheeks: he will never get tired of this, that's for sure. When the blue paladin buried his face in his neck, he dropped his right hand to his waist and placing it on the small of his back he pulled him closer. His left hand slipped between the wall and Lance, and grabbed his shoulder from behind - not only holding him but also kind of clinging onto him. This was nice. This was really nice. Even if he was on the edge with the urge of kissing, he did not force it: he could not really reach Lance's neck from there, and he did not want to move him either. He pressed his face against his hair, softly nuzzling it before simply resting his cheeks there. The more his scent filled his mind, the more peaceful it became: his breathing evened out, his posture stilled but not stiffened. He stood there like that for almost a minute before he whispered something, almost just sighing his words. "I wish you knew how great you are," he huffed with an incredulous smile on his lips. "I... I--You," he stuttered, looking for words but clearly not finding them. "You give me warm--the warmth--it's so warm," confusion took over him, apparently he himself did not really understand what he was saying. "It's so warm when I hold you," his hug tightened. What the hell he was talking about and more importantly, why? "I've never felt this before--" Okay, time to stop, now he was the one oversharing things! He will regret this tomorrow no doubt, wake up already!! This also must be terribly awkward for Lance, he did not ask for a sad bedtime story!! He did not want to hear any of this, he just stayed for a few minutes of affection, nothing more, don't ruin it. Be considerate, Keith-- "F-Forget it," he shook his head as much as he could without breaking the contact and scrunched his eyes closed. "I'm tired, just tired."

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