A rly random short where Keith is oblivious, Lance is kinda cool for a second, and they’re both pining dorks.
(con...) Keith could feel Lance’s eyes locked on him, and the longer they remained, the more his muscles tensed and his grip tightened. Soon, he began to fidget, nervously biting at his lower lip and shifting in his position. He only managed to still when Lance responded, suddenly tightening his grip and squeezing. Surprised, Keith looked up. He sucked in a breath as he finally met Lance’s eyes, goose bumps spreading up his arms and a shiver running down his spine. Unable to turn away, Keith found himself staring into a blue that was so surprisingly clear and steady that he couldn’t quite read it.
Lance had always surprised him, so you’d imagine that Keith would be used to this by now. Yet, every time they were together, Lance still somehow managed to completely sweep him off of his feet like a wave washing ashore, pooling around his ankles and pulling him under. Everything underwater was new territory to Keith, and as always, he found himself struggling to swim under the weight of it all. And, as always, just as he felt as though he might drown, Lance found him, gripped his waist, and pulled him afloat
“Uh…” Keith’s voice broke the silence. It came out high-pitched and uncertain, cutting the air between them like a knife. “S-sorry…” He attempted to pull his hands back, to somehow undo what he had started. But Lance held tight.
“For what?” Lance’s voice was calm and quiet. It pooled between them, the effect almost soothing. Almost.
“Well… I…” His eyes darted from Lance’s eyes to their joined hands, and back up again. “I just… you know… I wasn’t thinking and I just sort of… grabbed onto you?” He could feel sweat begin to bead around his temple as he spoke, the redness in his cheeks refusing to fade. “You… uhm… don’t have to keep holding my hands.”
“But… I think I want to.” Lance squeezed again, a small smile tugging at his lips. His eyes lit up as he spoke, and he leaned in a little closer. “Also, it’s kind of fun watching you get all flustered like this.” Keith sputtered, and Lance laughed. “The great Keith Kogane, best fighter pilot of our generation. I’ve seen you fly through an asteroid belt and fight countless Galra head on… and yet this is what scares you?” His eyes turned light and playful, his voice amused.
“It’s easy to fight the Galra!” Keith sputtered, finally finding his words. “They’re easy to predict, I always know what they’re going to do next. But you… you-”
“I’m hard to predict?”
Fuck. “Well… I… uh…” Keith tripped over his words. As he struggled to recover, he failed to notice the mischievous grin that spread across Lance’s face.
“So… you wouldn’t be expecting it if I did this?” Lance leaned in suddenly, closing the gap between them and planting a kiss to Keith’s forehead. He pulled back just enough to flash Keith a grin.
“What- what are you-!” Keith thought he might combust on the spot. In a fit of laughter, Lance loosened his grip on their interlocked fingers, allowing Keith to pull their hands apart. He quickly scrambled back a few feet; face blushing hot and hand shooting upward to cover his forehead.
“Awh, Keith!” Lance protested between laughs, reaching out to him with a mock frown on his face.
“Don’t ‘awh, Keith’ me!” Keith remained in his spot, indignant. “Stop… stop joking around!”
“Who says I’m joking?” Lance’s hands fell to his sides, and his smile faded into something unreadable. He took a step forward.
Keith took a step back. “Why wouldn’t you be joking? We’re rivals,” Keith gulped. “You’d never… want to hold my hand.”
Lance paused and let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Does it really feel like we’re still rivals, Keith?” He spoke after settling into a more relaxed position, crossing his arms and raising a brow. “I don’t think we’ve been rivals for awhile now.”
“I-what?” Keith blanked. “What are you saying?”
Lance’s expression was almost pained as he beheld Keith’s dumbfounded expression. “Ugh - Keith!” Lance sounded almost exasperated as he pressed a palm to his forehead and ran a hand messy through his hair. “You can’t be that dense.”
“Uh…” Keith had barely uttered a word before Lance was approaching him with a purpose. He crossed the distance between them in seconds, giving Keith no time to pull away or react. He stopped mere inches away from Keith, and dipped down so that they were eye level.
“Would a rival do this?” He spoke against Keith’s jaw, voice low and quiet, before planting a soft kiss right under his ear. Keith sucked in a breath, head spinning with just how close Lance had gotten. “Or this?”
One of Lance’s hands reached between them and gingerly grabbed onto Keith’s wrist, drawing his arm up. Without taking his eyes from Keith’s, Lance dipped to press his lips against the underside of Keith’s wrist. Lance kept their eyes locked for a few moments after, trying to decipher Keith’s reaction. When all Keith did was blink in shock, a warm smile spread across his lips. “A rival would probably have told me to stop by now, too.” At the sound of Lance’s voice, Keith seemed to come back into his body. He quickly yanked his hand away from Lance’s grasp and rubbed at his wrist subconsciously, as if to somehow put out the fire that Lance’s lips had spread there.
“I still don’t… get it?” Keith felt a shiver run up his spine, carrying his blood with it. It splotched the skin of his neck and reignited the simmering embers of his blush, littering his cheeks in messy patches of red.
Lance laughed, face warm. “Of course you don’t, Red.” He walked over to Keith’s side and placed a hand on the top of his head. Within seconds he was ruffling Keith’s hair, sparing none of it as he flattened his palm and pushed. He rubbed messy and playful, soon dragging Keith in close and pressing a noogie to his scalp. Keith yelped and fidgeted, but a small laugh escaped his lips. Lance released him within moments, letting Keith go and heading toward the door. “Let’s just say…” Keith watched him as he turned around, peeking at Keith over his shoulder. “The next time you wanna hold hands, you don’t have to apologize.”
Keith’s heart hammered wild as Lance shot him a wink from over his shoulder before heading out of the room, leaving him gaping in the silence that followed. In the misty aftermath of the storm Lance had raged across his coast, Keith could feel the sun peeking between the clouds as he clutched at the fabric above his beating heart.