Okay! *pops kitsune knuckles* picture if you will. Shiro and Pidge are hanging out in a field of bioluminescent wildflowers under a beautiful night sky. Pidge, being the smart cookie she is starts pointing out the constellations and star systems in the sky, her eyes shining beautifully in wonderment. Shiro smiles warmly at her and just wraps her up in his arms and sets her on his lap, holding her. Shiro is happy that Pidge is happy. Kinda silly and sappy, i know. BACK TO THE VOID!
is this for the making me flustered thing becAUSE IT WORKED OKAY YOU GET AN 55% BECAUSE I AM A SUCKER AND GITUVRHJKFDN JUST SWEET MOMENTS LIKE THIS MAKE ME M E L T!23UIRKGJHR
Shiro and Pidge being ihuvgf cute and having a sweet platonic bond is too much but not enough at the same time
keith kogane has not called nor phoned you in two weeks. two weeks. that’s long enough to leave you believing he is not planning on getting in contact ever again - you have been added to the long list of people with whom keith has cut off and abandoned because he can’t handle getting close to people.
fair enough. you played it off as if you didn’t care, shrugging any time anyone asked you where keith was, how keith was, why keith had suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. you knew keith well - this was just what he did. his past didn’t let him have tight relationships with people, and you hadn’t been fool enough to think you could be the exception.
nonetheless, his sudden disappearance wasn’t enough to stop you from picking up the phone at four in the morning.
“keith?” your voice is groggy. you deepen it a little bit in your attempts to make him feel bad for waking you up at the crack of dawn. outside, even the birds are asking what the hell you’re doing up at this ungodly hour.
“y/n.” keith doesn’t sound groggy. you want to punch him. “are you awake?”
“no.”
“i need a favour.”
“and i need a million pounds.” you pause. “and milk. i used the last of it last night.”
“i’m serious. where are you right now?”
you frown. “my house. why?”
he inhales deeply, takes a moment to reply. it’s this space of silence that has you realising perhaps this isn’t a joke, perhaps keith really is in trouble. slowly, you sit up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as your brain immediately fumbles through the long list of possible reasons behind keith’s unexpected phone call.
“are you alright?” you ask.
“i need you to come pick me up from the police station.”
you pause. well, in truth, his confession isn’t as shocking as you’d originally thought it would be - keith could have honestly been calling you from the grave, asking you to go and pick up his discarded corpse, and you wouldn’t have been surprised. this seems light.
“right...,” you drawl. “do i even want to ask?”
“you can ask questions when you get here. and please hurry - the police men keep looking at me.”
“they will do if you’re in custody. that’s their job.”
“are you coming or not?”
you sigh. “you owe me one.”
“i know i do. i always owe you one.” before you can question this statement, the gruff voice of a stranger echoes through the phone, ordering keith to cut it short. keith - being keith - doesn’t even bother saying goodbye before he swiftly hangs up, leaving you a puzzled mess.
you shake your head, stuffing your phone in your pockets. you murmur to yourself as you pull on your sweatpants and an old, oversized hoodie, swearing this will be the last time you ever do anything for him, swearing he doesn’t have a hold on you, promising yourself that you fell out of love with him ages ago.
---
he’s standing there like a lost puppy. you burst out laughing.
you roll down the passenger side window just so he and the police officer can hear you cackling in the drivers seat. keith catches a glimpse of you and immediately blushes bright red, but he has nowhere else to go. he’s accompanied by a police man outside the station, the two of them standing in the rain. the police man holds an umbrella, but keith is standing outside of it because he’s keith and god forbid he rely on any person of authority for anything.
so, he’s drenched, and he’s pouting, and his black hair is falling in his eyes. his hands are bound by a pair of handcuffs. honestly, you’ve never seen him look so pathetic.
you park the car in front of the station and hastily scramble out, pressing the back of your hand to your mouth in any attempt to stifle the laughter that you have already exposed upon pulling up to the scene. the police man sees you and starts forward, and you know you should feel all types of intimidated, but you can’t keep your eyes off keith. he’s glaring at you through his hair, and when you get close enough to see him clearly, he mouths the words “shut up” in your direction.
you turn to the police man. “officer.”
“you’re here for kogane?” he asks.
“i am indeed. terribly sorry if he’s been a bother.”
the police man hums, taking a folded sheet of paper out of the belt around his waist. he unfolds it and thrusts it in your direction, immediately pointing to the first question: relation to detainee.
you snicker. “detainee. oh keith, this is real.”
“please answer the question,” the officer demands.
“my partner.” keith’s voice zaps through the air, and suddenly the rain is quiet. your head snaps up, eyes zoning in on where he stands; he’s staring at the police officer, but you don’t fail to notice the way he awkwardly rings his hands in front of him. “y/n is my partner, alright? we live together.”
the officer taps the page. “then write that down.”
you do so, hands suddenly trembling though you’re not sure whether it’s because of the pouring rain or something else entirely. you fill in the rest of the collection sheet, stating your name and occupation and age and all the stuff that seems most irrelevant, considering you have no plans to be back here any time soon.
and then keith is uncuffed, and the two of you are clambering into your too-small and too-warm car, and keith is going silent all over again.
usually, you’re good at filling in silence. there’s definitely not a shortage of things to talk about, considering you’ve just picked him up from the police station for a reason you are still unsure about.
however, you keep remembering the lie he’d told to the officer, replaying it over and over in your head, trying desperately to figure out if he was just saving his own ass or not.
keith leans his head against the window and mumbles, “i told kosmo to pounce on a group of boys who were throwing rocks at my kitchen window.”
you choke on air. “keith.”
“turns out one of them was, like, fifteen, and he got his mum to call the police.”
“kosmo didn’t do it, did he? they’ll put him down if he hurt anyone.”
keith shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “no, but they heard me telling him to, so they freaked. i’ve been in there for, like, four hours.”
“now i think you deserved it.”
keith scoffs. “sorry if i woke you up. you were the only person i could think of.”
you raise a brow. outside, the rain batters against the window and the sun is just starting to peak over the horizon. it’s still too dark to turn your headlights off, but it’s light enough that, when you glance over, you can watch keith nibbling his bottom lip as unspoken thoughts wisp through his head. he has on such a keith expression, and you wonder if you ever actually left his side at all.
“i’m also sorry for - you know - disappearing off the face of the earth like that.”
to this, you say nothing. part of you wants to say it’s okay, but the wiser part of you knows that isn’t true - it’s not okay. keith’s mistrust of people isn’t okay. the fact that he thinks it’s okay to just ditch anyone who shows even an ounce of evidence that they want to stick around isn’t okay, and you won’t be the idiot to get it into his head that it’s fine.
you tap your fingers against the steering wheel.
keith bites his lip, glancing at you. “are you mad at me?”
“you sound like a five year old.”
he lowers his voice. “you angry?”
you snicker, glancing at him. at the sound of your amusement, a fleeting smile crosses his lips, and before either of you can really understand what’s happening, you’re laughing. full laughs. laughter you only shared a few times, because keith never got like this. and maybe it was just the sleep deprivation, or maybe he really was happy right now, but you weren’t going to question it. not right now.
keith hiccups himself back to reality, shaking his head so little droplets of water splatter against your arm. you pull your elbow into your side, sending him a cheeky glare that he simply rolls his eyes at.
and then you ask the question that’s been playing on your brain for the entire drive, because keith is happy and maybe happy keith will be easier to talk to than sad, gazing-out-the-window keith.
“why did you tell that police officer i was your partner?”
keith tenses. suddenly, it’s like the laughter never happened. never before have you seen someone’s giddy smile fade so quickly, replaced by his usual look of shield, shield, shield, don’t talk to me.
he scratches the back of his neck, turning his gaze back towards the window. outside, the dirt road passes beneath you, and a farm house goes by. “i don’t think friends are allowed to sign a detainee out. i didn’t want to take any risks.”
you narrow your eyes. “i’m pretty sure a detainee can be lifted by anyone. it doesn’t-”
“i didn’t want to risk it-”
“yeah, well, that’s a stupid ass excuse, because you’ve been arrested before and you would know-”
“alright, so many i kind of told the officer that you were my partner and you’d be picking me up.” he groans as if this sentence has exasperated him. “i don’t even know why i did it - it just came out, and then i couldn’t back out of it because he’s a fucking police officer.”
you grip the wheel a little tighter, unsure how to respond. there’s a million things you want to say, a million things you want to confess, like how you melt every time keith looks into the sun and you can look at the violet of his eyes without the added storm of anger and discomfort that always seems to cloud over them; or how you’ve been in love with him for months and he’s never noticed because haha surprise! keith kogane has no feelings and he’s completely oblivious to everything around him, and you have never stood a chance with him before, and-
“it’s not that bad of a cover up.” keith’s voice is a mumble, barely audible over the sound of your heartbeat and the slash of rain against the windows. he shrugs, awkwardly glancing over at you. “he believed it. i think we make a good looking couple.”
you choke again. you wish you could convey surprise in a more attractive manner, but you can’t always get what you wish for. “that’s a very bold statement to make.”
keith shrugs, looking out the window again. “it’s my opinion. make of it what you will.”
“i will.” you pause. “i think we make a good looking couple, too.”
keith stiffens. “good. we’re on the same page then.”
“are we?”
keith reaches over, and your heart stops in your chest when he takes one of your hands from the wheel, placing your hand flat against his thigh. you cannot turn to look at him, and it’s torture, but you bask in the feel of his fingers tracing a feather light trail along your palm, up each of your fingers before gliding back into the middle of your palm, where he rubs a tiny circle into the flesh. he then clasps his own hand against your own and twines his fingers with yours, as if that’s where it’s always meant to be.
it fits perfectly. strangely, so does the entire situation - it just fits, like this is a puzzle piece of your life and keith has just found it hidden under a table or something, and he’s just slotted it right into the story that is your existence and now the big picture is complete and everything just makes sense, and-
“please concentrate on the road,” keith whispers.
you flick your eyes to him for only a brief second, but it’s long enough to catch him staring at you. he has a playful little smirk on his face.
you pry your hand from his grip and slap it back on the wheel. “you’re the distraction.”
“in a good way?”
you swallow. “kind of. depends if we crash or not.”
keith hums, settling back against the car door, not once breaking his eyes from your face. he idly plays with his fingers when he says, “so i guess now isn’t a good time to kiss you, is it?”
“oh god, you didn’t just say that. that’s so gross. that’s so cheesy. you know what, give me a second. i’m turning the car around and we’re going right back to the police station, so officer friendly can-”
“you babble when you get nervous. are you nervous?”
you inhale, pursing your lips. after a minute, you say, “please don’t kiss me while i’m driving. you can wait till we get out the car.”
keith chuckles. “i think i can hold off for that long. but step on it a little bit, yeah? we’re on back roads. i think we’re safe to speed a little bit.”
you roll your eyes, stepping on the accelerator a little more nonetheless. “this is why you get arrested, keith.”
(I don’t know the context for this, I just needed to think of a warmup today. XD)
He looked like a lion in a cage, restless, teeth bared in a frustrated snarl. Lance watched him from behind the one-way mirror, drawn to the tension in his jaw, the flash of fury in his violet eyes, like lightning in a storm cloud. Perhaps more a tiger, for the violent stripe curving across his right cheek. Who was he? Was he imprisoned here for the same reason Lance was? Did he know that he had a cellmate behind the wall, or was Lance a secret never to be shared?
He wished he could still speak. He could try to talk to this tiger of a man, at least tell him he wasn’t alone, if nothing else. Perhaps learn more about him, and share about himself.
Blue Roses |Bad Boy! Keith x Flower Shop Worker! Lance|
Pairing: Lance McClain x Keith Kogane
Genre: Fluff, slight smut
Warnings: just some making out and slight dirty talk
Summary: Lance works at a flower shop in which his grandma is the owner of. He’s there every day without a single complaint, loving to be around the flowers and helping people show the ones they love them with a simple gesture such as flowers. He wished someone would show their affection towards him with flowers but it seemed that day would never come. One day though, a mysterious stranger shows up in his shop looking beyond handsome. Turns out the stranger liked him and they had a bonding moment. Now, the story of their love growing and flourishing must be told.
Part: 5/?
okay, so let me let you in on a little secret
Keith and Lance?
TOTAL WRECKS
they’re so very, very nervous and excited
they couldn’t eat breakfast or lunch from how excited they were
Lance wouldn’t shut up in the gc with Pidge and Hunk to Pidge’s dismay
Keith kept texting Shiro and Adam questions about dating and going on dates; luckily for him, both of them thought it was so cute how nervous he is
eventually, the time came
Keith had to go pick lance up
he texted Lance for his address and took a deep breath when Lance sent it
Keith looked over the route there and realized he didn’t live that far away, ten mins away at most
he walked out of his apartment and got his motorcycle from the parking garage
he then zoomed off to Lance's place
it was probably the fastest he’d ever driven
when he got there, he quickly pulled his phone out to let Lance know he was there
when Lance came out, the air left both of their lungs
Keith had done it
he was wearing his leather jacket, no band-aids covering his wounds, AND his hair was pulled back into a small bun
if Lance could, he would’ve combusted right there just like he said he would
Lance's face was covered in a blush
okay, but Keith was having the same issue
Lance was looking pretty gosh darn good himself
he wore a blue button-up that made his eyes pop from where Keith was parked several feet away
the blush made his tan skin look so smooth, only making him even more handsome
by the time Lance reached Keith, the boys finally remembered how to breathe
Keith could now see that Lance wasn’t wearing any makeup to hide the freckles dusting his cheeks
Keith wanted to kiss every. single. one.
“Hi,” Lance squeaked nervously
“Hey,” Keith breathed out
it was then that Lance noticed that Keith had his piercings in
Jesus Christ
Keith really was trying to kill him
he had many piercings on the ear that was facing Lance, a lip piercing, an eyebrow piercing and holy christ what if he had a tongue piercing???
Lance inhaled shakily as he shook his head
“Christ, Kogane. You really pulled through,” Lance would say to break the silence that followed after their in awe shy greeting
Keith chuckles in that deep way of his as he shrugs, offering Lance his helmet
“I’m here to please, babe,” Keith replies in a flirty tone, remembering their texts from this morning
Lance’s blush gets worse, much to Keith’s pleasure, as he lightly hits Keith’s buff arm
Keith only chuckles and motions for Lance to get on
“Hop on, lover boy”
Lance whines in his head at how cute Keith is, climbing on behind him
Lance starts to question where his helmet is and when Keith tells him that he only has one helmet, Lance immediately goes to give it back to him but of course, Keith tells him that Lance’s safety comes first
before Lance can argue with him, Keith is telling him to hold on tight and taking off
Lance wraps his arms tight around Keith’s waist, letting out a girly scream
Keith laughs and slows down a bit to not give Lance a heart attack
Lance’s grip loosens but was still tighter than it needed to be
His face was buried in Keith’s back by his shoulder, giving him a freebie to take in Keith’s scent
besides the obvious answer of leather, he smelt like a car garage. you know, motor oil, grease, gasoline. it must be his jacket that he wears to work
that smell was faint though
what Lance really smelt was his cologne
it smelt like Axe body spray but not like an annoying amount that makes you gag
Lance was so focused on Keith that he hadn’t realized that they stopped
“As much as I’d love to have your arms stay wrapped around me, we have a reservation and I’d rather not lose it”
Lance snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of Keith’s voice, quickly getting off
he almost falls off but he manages to save himself
and that blush was back again
“Sorry,” he says quickly while looking at the ground
Keith finishes parking his bike before getting off and smiling at Lance
“Don’t be”
Keith starts walking towards the door and Lance quickly follows after him
Keith laughs a bit as he stops, turning to look at Lance
Lance blush goes scarlet as he looks at Keith with panicked eyes
“What? What’s wrong?” Lance spews out
Keith chuckles and steps closer to Lance, making his heart beat wildly
“You might not want to wear this inside,” Keith says softly before knocking his fist against Lance’s head where the helmet was
Lance’s ears go red out of embarrassment, glad the helmet was hiding them
Why was Lance acting so flustered? He was supposed to be doing that to Keith!
Keith chuckles and takes the helmet off for him, kissing his forehead once it was off
Lance’s eyes widen, knowing he was as red as a tomato
Keith comes back over to him when he’s done, holding in his coos at how cute Lance looks
Lance’s hair was an absolute mess now and Keith knew if he figured it out, he’d complain about it
Keith hums when he reaches him, reaching up to fix his helmet hair
Lance just stares at his face, eyes studying how handsome he is
Keith finally looks into Lance’s eyes when he finishes with his hair, freezing at Lance’s gaze
they were so close
like
close
before either of them could decide what to do about their closeness, a car’s horn goes off and scares them
they move away from each other before shuffling inside
they take their seats and start to chat about random things
they were both relieved that it wasn’t awkward
when they order their food, Lance orders a lot
when the waiter leaves and Keith jokingly comments on it, Lance’s reply was that he warned Keith that he’s a pig
Keith then tells him that he’s the best looking pig he’s ever seen then
they both laugh and then start to talk again
after eating their food, they decide that they would go to the park
they go outside and they feel that the air was a bit chillier now that the sun has gone down
Lance shivers but doesn’t say anything
Keith hums as he takes his jacket off and throws it over onto Lance’s head
“Here,” he says simply
Lance wouldn’t show it but he was ecstatic
He quickly slips it on and lets out a happy hum, it being warm and smelling like Keith
“How cliché,” Lance jokes
“Want to walk to the park?” Keith asks in response, not embarrassed one bit about being ‘cliché’
Lance nods his head and flashes his signature smile, starting to walk to the park
Keith walks alongside him for a bit, having an internal debate
does he hold his hand? wrap his arm around him? is it too soon for this stuff?
but they like sucked faces just like yesterday so ??????
unbeknownst to Keith, Lance was having the same internal war
he gave him his jacket so it wouldn’t be weird to hold his hand, right?
they both decided to grow a pair at the same time and move their hands to grab the other’s
they ended up wacking their hands together and jumping at the sudden, abrupt contact
they chuckle and look at each other, smiling as they grab each other’s hand properly this time
Keith gives Lance’s hand a squeeze and Lance swings their hands a bit
both of their faces are red once more
when they reach the park, Lance instantly heads for the swings
he sits down and instead of Keith sitting next to him like Lance thought he would, he goes behind Lance and starts to gently push him
Lance smiles like a goon as he swings his legs
eventually, they decide to stop
Lance stops swinging and Keith sits beside him on the other swing
they hold hands again and stare up into the sky to stargaze
they stay at the park for hours, moving from the swings, to the slide, to the monkey bars, and even to the grass
they talked about everything imaginable, everything from something simple like their favorite colors all the way to if aliens exist
that last one ended up being very lengthy
when Lance let out a yawn, Keith decided he should get him home
he leads him back to his motorcycle and when Lance offers to give him his jacket back, Keith declines
“You’ll get cold,” Keith explains
Lance pouts and responds with, “But you’re sitting in front of me. You’ll get cold”
it apparently wasn’t up for discussion, just like the helmet situation
Keith just got onto his motorcycle without another word but with a reassuring smile
Lance gets on eventually and Keith takes him home
Lance gets off the motorcycle once they reach his house, turning to stare at Keith
he bites his lip and looks away when Keith just stares at him
he wanted to kiss Keith but wasn’t sure if it was okay
“So, uh...goodnight,” Keith says awkwardly, having the same question as Lance
Lance tries to hide his disappointment with a smile and nodding his head
“Right. Goodnight. Thanks for tonight. Text me when you get home so I know you didn’t die in a fiery crash,” he says cheerfully as he takes off the helmet and slides it onto Keith’s head
Keith thanks Lance and tells him he will be careful
Lance starts to walk towards his place when Keith’s voice stops him
“Lance, you forgot something”
Lance’s brows furrow as he turns back around, walking back over towards him
“I did? What?”
before he could contemplate further on what he could’ve forgotten, Keith’s lips were gently meeting his
Lance was surprised by this kiss just like the first time
he also noticed that this kiss was different than the first one
the first one was hot, passionate
this one was soft and slow
Lance hums and wraps his arms around Keith while the other place’s his hands on Lance’s waist
Lance couldn’t help but smile a bit into the kiss
they pull away after a couple seconds, their faces still very close together
they stare into each other’s eyes, not wanting to let go of the other
“You know, that kiss was very good, don’t get me wrong, but I think I like the first one we shared better,” Lance says somewhat playfully
Keith smirks before slamming his lips back against Lance’s
now this was what Lance liked
he liked feeling Keith’s tongue fighting against his, kissing so hard that their teeth clash occasionally, and-
wait a second
Keith does have a tongue piercing
before Lance could stop himself, he was moaning
Lance instantly regretted it when Keith pulls away
Lance blushes darker than he has all night, his heart absolutely dropping
“I am so sorry! I-It just slipped out! I felt your piercing and I-”
Lance is cut off by Keith chuckling
okay, so now Lance was absolutely mortified
this is it
he’s going to die right here
he wasn’t even able to think of another way he would’ve liked to go out before he felt Keith cradling his face
“Lance, baby, calm down,” Keith says and oh god, his voice was deeper now
JeSUs CHrIsT
God really must have it out for Lance
“Hey, I said calm down. Why do you look like your panicking more?” Keith says playfully with a deep chuckle
God, even his chuckle was sexy
Lance clears his throat and looks away, still scared out of his wits that he just ruined everything
Keith hums as he turns Lance to look at him again
“Ah, I see. You think I didn’t like your moan?” Keith asks as if he’s just now piecing it together
Lance bites his lip hard and nods his head despite the fact he wanted to deny it
Keith shakes his head and uses his thumb to take Lance’s lip from his teeth
“Don’t bite your lip. That’s my job. Now, use your words, baby”
Lance was sure he just jizzed his pants
is this real? this was too good to be true. is he being pranked? Lance forced himself to not look around for cameras
“Y-Yes...” Lance stutters out quietly
Keiths hums and looks at him like he’s proud of him
is he proud of him?
“You got it all wrong, baby. I pulled away for a completely different reason”
Lance thought he was going to stop there and not tell him more when Keith’s head is suddenly beside his
“I stopped because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from going further. I mean, c’mon, baby. How can you moan like that and not expect me to-”
Keith cuts himself off and takes a deep breath, letting it go against Lance’s ear and making Lance shiver
“Within do time,” he whispers into Lance’s ear
he pecks right below his ear and pulls away to look at Lance
so uh
Lance.exe has stopped working
Lance stands there as still as a statue
well, other than his shaking from how turned on hard his heart was beating and rushing adrenaline through his veins
Lance stares at Keith like a fish out of water, silently gaping at him
Keith smirks at him and chuckles lowly, using his fingers to close Lance’s mouth he then gives him a short, sweet kiss
“I’ll text you when I get home, yeah?” Keith says to try and get some sort of response from Lance
Keith only chuckles when Lance blushes even more, if possible, his brain finally starting to function again
he apparently still couldn’t talk though
Keith only chuckles before kissing Lance one more time and leaving
Lance stands there for a long time before finally going inside
as he was walking to his room, he realizes he still has Keith’s jacket
Lance squeals quietly like a happy girl, spinning around
he runs to his room and launches himself onto his bed, squeezing his pillow and grinning like a fool
Keith was just as happy as Lance
he smiled the whole way home
even when he got home, he was still smiling like a fool
another request filled, albeit probably super, super late?? anywho, it’s more of Lance with his ears and tail exposed!!! i hope you all, and the requester themselves, enjoy!!
Keith pushed around the food on his plate with a frown, appetite nowhere to be found. He couldn’t focus on his lunch, not when his mind was filled with images of a barely awake Lance. The rabbit could not keep his eyes open in first period, head constantly jerking up whenever he let it droop slightly. It was worrying to watch for Keith was certain his head would meet the desk before he knew it. Yet Lance managed to get through the class unharmed, much to Keith’s relief. It didn’t erase all of his worries, though.
“Keith, are you just going to play around with your pasta?” Shiro asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Keith set his plastic fork down and pushed his tray aside. “I’m not really hungry today.”
“You’ve been acting weird since first period,” Pidge pointed out, talking around the food in her mouth. “All quiet and unresponsive. And now you’re not hungry? Did something happen?”
Keith pursed his lips, flip-flopping between keeping quiet and confiding. It wasn’t like it was a life-changing secret, he was just embarrassed about worrying so much. Lance wasn’t ill or anything—just tired. And he was allowed to be tired because he was normal and normal people got tired all the time. But he seemed exhausted, his mind tried to reason and justify his concern.
“Keith?” Allura called softly, and Keith was reminded that everyone was now staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, slight frowns, and distressed scents.
“I gotta go,” he announced, jumping to his feet. He ignored his friends’ growing distraught as he threw away his full tray of food and strode out of the cafeteria. Maybe if he walked around campus, he could get this unnecessary worry off of his chest. Yet, as soon as he stepped into the hall, he nearly bulldozed over Lance with his determined strides. The sudden surprise made him yelp, ears and tail appearing out of shock as he stumbled backwards.
Keith watched as Lance slowly registered what happened, blinking wearily at him. The rabbit smiled sleepily once he finally caught up and said, “Hey, Keith. What’cha doing out here?”
Ignoring his initial purpose for leaving the cafeteria, Keith confessed, “Looking for you.” He bit back a smile at the confusion that crept onto Lance’s face, head cocking to the side in question. Keith didn’t offer an explanation, impulsively reaching for Lance’s hand and tugging him away from the cafeteria.
“W-Where are we going?” Lance stuttered, struggling to keep up with Keith’s purposeful steps.
“Somewhere quiet. Empty.” Keith turned a corner. “Just the two of us.”
“But I haven’t ate yet.”
“You haven’t slept either.”
Silence fell unto them as Keith came to a classroom that was always empty, always unlocked. He’s hid away in it more than he could remember for many different reasons. And he was the only one to know about it. Twisting the knob and pulling the door open, Keith ushered Lance in first before he followed, closing the door shut gently behind them. He randomly chose an empty seat to fall into, while Lance stood awkwardly near the entrance. Keith stared at him with raised eyebrows.
“Why are we in here?” Lance asked.
“Because you’re in dire need of a nap. And you can eat in here, too,” Keith explained, kicking out the chair across from him as invitation. His tail wagged leisurely when Lance accepted it, pleased as he scooted the seat closer to the desk after settling down. He watched with rapt attention as Lance silently took out his lunch and nibbled on the healthy ingredients. All he saw was green, green, green, and his nose wrinkled at the concept of becoming full off of just that.
“Are you just going to watch me eat, like a stalker?” Lance spoke, probably trying to tease, but the slight pink of his cheeks ruined his chances.
Still, Keith’s ears drooped embarrassingly. He turned his head towards a random spot in the room, away from Lance and his healthy lunch. “Sorry.”
Lance laughed softly, and Keith’s ears twitched, swiveled, zoned in on the sound and committed it to memory. “You don’t have to look away. I’m not that hungry anyway.” Keith tentatively turned back to face Lance, watching the rabbit put up the food he barely touched. Was he that tired? That he couldn’t even eat?
Lance folded his arms on top of the desk and laid his chin on them. His eyes were barely staying open. “I didn’t think anyone would say anything. About me being more tired than usual.”
Keith snorted. “What kind of future mate would that have made me if I didn’t do something?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Lance yawned, eyes fluttering closed for only a few seconds before slowly opening back up.
“You don’t have to stay up,” Keith said softly. “I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll stay awake for the both of us so we don’t end up late to class.” That was all the reassurance Lance needed as he finally let his eyes slip close for good, shifting his head to rest his cheek on his makeshift pillow. His breathing didn’t take long to even out, impressing Keith with how fast he went. He was definitely exhausted. Keith allowed himself to stare, knowing that Lance wasn’t aware now. Feeling bold, he reached out a hesitant hand, shakily carding his fingers through Lance’s hair.
A deep exhale and shift into his touch was all he needed to keep going.
The gentle petting only seemed to relax Lance further. To the point that he let his guard all the way down, long chestnut brown ears appearing to pool around his face on the desk. Keith paused, eyes wide as he took in the rare sight of Lance’s cute, chew-able ears. His tail sliced through the air eagerly, and he had to stop himself from jumping out of his seat to see the tail that, no doubt, accompanied the ears. I’m fine with just this, he thought as his fingers caressed Lance’s soft fur.
“Wish you’d relax more often,” Keith mumbled out loud. “At least around me. Can’t believe you’re hiding these.” He gave a gentle tug to one before stopping abruptly, an idea forming in his mind. His own words fueled him to fish out his phone, unlocking it and thumbing through to his camera. Who knew when he’d see Lance like this again? He made sure his sound and flash were off before taking the picture, not wanting to disturb Lance’s sleep. Petting the rabbit’s ears and hair once more, Keith set the picture as his new lock screen like the whipped Alpha he was. He pocketed his phone, focusing all his attention on Lance for the rest of the lunch period, smiling softly.
(When he woke Lance up for class, he was blessed with the cranky rabbit using his ears to cover his face, like a blanket. And when he finally got him up and moving, he was able to see his snow-white tail wiggle absentmindedly.
Maybe he’d tell Lance about his little slip, coo over how cute he was with his ears and tail. But that would be a story for another time, a time far away.)
I feel like hurting people today, so HAVE SOME ANGST.
--
He'd never been here without Shiro before. It was weird. But he needed to do this.
"I'm--" he stopped abruptly. Did he need to say it out loud? Maybe he should just... Say it in his head? He shuffled his feet. Maybe he should kneel? But that felt kind of like praying. Which was even weirder.
He groaned and dropped onto the grass. "You would be laughing at me right now. Not out loud. Never out loud." He rolled his eyes. "That like... Look. I think you taught him that dad look. Or maybe Colleen..."
He trailed off again and closed his eyes. He should not be this nervous.
"I'm going to ask Shiro to marry me, and I wanted to... Not ask permission? Because you can't answer. But. I felt like I should... Tell you. Because you were -- are -- important to him..."
Why was he so nervous. He was literally talking to a rock.
Headstone. But same thing, right?
"I know you guys broke it off, before. But, well I think it's important... I love him. And I'll take care of him. I promise, Adam...."
He set a hand on the stone and looked over his shoulder. "Was that...?"
Oh my God I had so much fun writing this. It ended up breaking 3k so I hope you like it. THANK YOU for this prompt!!
–x–x–x–x–x–x–x
The music was loud, beating away in Lance’s chest like a drum. He loved it; loved the way it felt like a second heartbeat, loved how fuzzy his head felt. He was leaning against the wall of Hunk’s basement, red solo cup in hand. His head was thrown back with laughter and Hunk was standing across from him, a flush painting his cheeks the softest shade of pink. Pidge was next to him, sly grin on her face as she watched Lance laugh like her silly pun was the funniest thing he’d ever heard in his life. This was what he needed. Midterms had just ended and it had been hell week to say the least— Lance had taken five midterms in two days and his brain was officially mush.
“This party is going great, Hunk.” Pidge said as she waited for Lance to calm his tipsy self back down. It was true, the basement was filled with nearly fifty people milling about, playing pong and just generally having fun. It was the most successful party they’d had to date.” But I can think of one thing to make it better.”
“You’re gonna say truth or dare!” Lance accused, thrusting a finger towards Pidge.
Pidge had been trying to get them to agree to truth or dare since the start of the year and every time Hunk and Lance had refused. Lance wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but he knew Pidge had a plan and he did not want to walk right into what was an obviously set trap. “Of course I am.”
Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was because midterms had just wrecked them all, but Hunk met Lance’s gaze, gave a slight shrug and finally said “I’ll play.”
Lance looked back at him for a long moment. When he agreed, it was definitely because of the alcohol. Pidge was one his best friends, though, so he figured it couldn’t go too wrong. Still, the way Pidge’s grin spread all the way across her face made him a little nervous. He lifted his cup to his mouth and took another swig. He’d never liked the taste of beer but at this point he couldn’t really taste it anymore. Plus, they called it liquid courage for a reason.
“Finally!” Pidge set her bottle down on the nearby table and clapped her hands together happily. “Okay! Are you guys ready?”
“Is it literally just going to be the three of us?” Hunk asked.
At the same time, Lance rolled his eyes, exclaiming “I don’t know what you’re up to but this is so suspicious!”
“Fine, fine!” Pidge waved a hand in dismissal, turning away from them briefly to call to another group of people standing nearby. “Hey! You guys wanna play truth or dare? We’re just about to start!”
The group rushed over in excitement and Lance could immediately understand why. It was his sister, Veronica, and her group of friends. Lance liked them for the most part, but there was one person is particular he hated. He was constantly asking Veronica why she was friends with Griffin and she insisted that he wasn’t that bad once you got to know him but Lance remained unconvinced.
“Can we play, too?” Lance turned to see his RA, Shiro, with his boyfriend, Adam. Technically Lance wasn’t supposed to be friends with his RA but Shiro was really cool and laid back and he laughed at all of Lance’s jokes. And since the party wasn’t in the dorms, Lance had thought it would be okay to invite him.
“Of course! The more the merrier!” Pidge stepped closer to Hunk, making room for them to join the circle.
Lance glanced around at their odd group and felt a swell of happiness in his chest. Suddenly he didn’t care what was about to happen because he was surrounded by some of his favorite people. He leaned to his right, pressing into his sister, and smiled to himself when she pressed back, dropping her head onto his shoulder.
“Okay, rules! You get to pick truth or dare. If you pick truth and refuse to answer, you are given a dare that you have to do. And if you pick dare and refuse, you get truth and have to answer that. Everyone cool with that?” There was a murmur in response of agreement.” Okay, Hunk you start us off and then we’ll go clockwise.”
“Right.” Hunk looked around the circle, taking time to really stare at each person. Lance wasn’t sure why, this was Hunk after all. He was going to ask something completely benign and harmless no matter who he chose. “Adam, truth or dare?”
“It’s early enough in the game that I can choose Truth without being too lame. So, truth.” Everyone chuckled at his response.
It took a few moments and a long drink on Hunk’s part before he asked, “If you had to date anyone in this circle besides Shiro, who would it be?”
Surprised by his boldness, Lance shot Hunk a proud smile. Adam hummed as he thought, looking around the circle himself. Lance sipped at his drink.
Finally, Adam answered. “Lance, probably.”
“Hell yeah!” Lance cried, throwing a fist in the air in triumph. “I’m a ladies man and a mans man! And everybody man!” Veronica nudged him but everyone laughed. He pointed dramatically at Shiro, “Better watch your back!”
Shiro laughed, taking Adam’s hand and threading their fingers together. “Somehow I’m not worried about it. I am worried about your ego though, it’s getting a little big over there.”
“A little big?” Hunk stepped forward so he could see Shiro around Pidge. “Have you met Lance before? It’s always been huge!”
“Hey!” Lance cried indignantly.
“Okay, okay, my turn.” Pidge settled everyone down and then pretended to think of who to choose. It was clear that she knew ahead of time by the mischievous look in her eyes. “Lance, truth or dare?”
Lance was distinctly unsurprised to have Pidge pick him and answered with a simple “Truth.”
The smile that Pidge gave him in response indicated that he had just given her exactly the answer she wanted. Not even the alcohol or the slight fogginess in his head could stifle the dread that came with that look. “Who do you have a crush on?”
Suddenly Lance wished nobody else had joined their game. Pidge knew he had a crush on someone, but he’d been adamantly refusing to tell her who. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, it was more that he didn’t want to admit it to himself. Still, as soon as she asked her question he got a flash of violet eyes and a dark mullet that he would know anywhere. Immediately his drunk brain moved from that to flushed cheeks and soft looking lips that he’d dreamed about kissing so many times. He’d memorized Keith so well that he could trace the sharp angle of his jaw completely in his mind. Involuntarily, Lance’s eyes focused past Pidge’s shoulders to where Keith was on the other side of the room, talking to Hunk’s crush, Shay.
“I don't—” Lance cleared his throat, hoping to make him voice sound a little steadier as he looked back at Pidge. “I don’t have a crush on anyone.”
“If you refuse to answer, you have to do a dare.” Pidge reminded him.
“I’m not refusing! I just answered! The answer is nobody!” Lance swallowed, suddenly feeling too hot.
“Then why are you blushing so much?” Adam asked with a grin.
Shiro chimed in, too. “Seriously, give it up. We all know there’s someone.”
“No there isn’t!”
“One more chance to tell us or I get to give you a dare!” Pidge warned.
Lance could only imagine what dare Pidge would come up with for him, but somehow it still wasn’t as terrifying as the prospect of admitting his crush on Keith. It wasn’t that the others wouldn’t understand, because literally everyone had a crush on Keith. He was just one of the masses, no different than everyone else, pining uselessly over someone he’d never have a chance with. Plus. he and Keith had just become lab partners in Chemistry and things were going okay. Lance didn’t want to ruin that by word getting around about his hopeless crush.
With a defeated sigh, Lance met Pidge’s gaze. “Give me a dare.”
To his surprise, Pidge didn’t look disappointed. He had expected her to be upset at missing her chance but, instead, she looked even more pleased than she had before. It was a moment before Pidge gave her dare that Lance realized that Pidge knew exactly who he had a crush on, she just wanted him to admit it. He felt his world crash around him as she said. “I dare you to give Keith a kiss.”
“No, no way, absolutely not.” Lance was shaking his head so fast it made him dizzy. “I will absolutely not give Keith a kiss.”
“Sorry Lance,” it was Veronica, her hand suddenly clasping his shoulder. “But you agreed to the rules at the beginning. You can’t refuse your dare.”
Next to her, Griffin was laughing, practically doubled over on himself. “Kogane is gonna kick the shit out of you, man. “
The world was spinning around Lance and it wasn’t the alcohol. He could feel his hands trembling. This couldn’t possibly get any worse. And yet, still, he knew Veronica was right. He had agreed to the rules, agreed to do a dare if he didn’t want to answer his truth. Something in the back of his mind was ringing, telling him that this was why he’d refused to play this game with Pidge so many times in the past.
“I never said you have to kiss him on the lips,” Pidge amended. “Just that you have to kiss him at all. It can be anywhere.”
Lance wanted to die. He wanted to shrivel up into a little ball and disappear from existence forever. Instead, he steeled himself against what he was about to do. Ignoring everyone around him and his thundering heart, Lance chugged the rest of his beer and set the cup down on the table nearby. He took a deep breath and tried to tell himself that this was okay. He could just blame it on Pidge, or on being drunk. He could blame it reasonably on a lot of things other than his crush. Keith was a cool guy, he would understand when Lance explained it away in class on Monday.
“I hope you’re happy about this.” He said to Pidge.
As he started to march across the room, he heard Pidge laugh, “Oh, I am.”
The lights in the basement were low and yet he could see Keith clearly as he approached. He could see the casual ease with which Keith stood, one hand shoved deep in the pocket of his jeans. Lance paused a few steps away, struggling with all of his might to maintain his nerve and just go through with it. He could get revenge on Pidge later. He watched Keith talk to Shay for a moment, trying not to wish he was the one making Keith laugh. Again his focus drifted down to Keith’s lips. He thought about being bold and kissing him square on the mouth, but he knew he’d never have the guts to do it, no matter how badly he wanted to. Instead he was going to go for a simple peck on the cheek and then retreat to the other side of the room as fast as he possibly could.
Before he could chicken out, Lance took a deep breath and started moving again. He approached Keith as quick as he could, heart thundering in his chest so loudly it was all he could hear. He was three steps away from Keith. Two. One.
“Hey Lance!” Shay said as he leaned in to plant the kiss on Keith’s cheek. He figured no preamble was better. He didn’t want to stand here and stutter out an explanation for why he was kissing Keith on the cheek, he just wanted it to be done. He also didn’t want to give Keith the chance to send him away because he knew deep down that Pidge wouldn’t accept that and he’d have to try again which would be mortifying.
Except, maybe a preamble would have been better. Because Keith turned to look at Lance as Shay greeted him, as Lance was leaning in to kiss his cheek. He turned all the way around just at the right moment and suddenly Lance was no longer giving Keith a peck on the cheek but instead was kissing him full on the mouth. The world came to a screeching halt around Lance and the moment of their kiss seemed to stretch on and on and on and on for eternity.
After what felt like years or maybe even centuries, Lance pulled back from Keith.
“What… the hell?” Keith was looking at him, lips parted in wonder.
Lance tried not to reach up and touch his own lips. Tried not to think about what it had felt like to have Keith’s lips under him. He definitely tried not to acknowledge the fact that Keith tasted like some fruity alcohol drink. Lance had never liked those but damn it was immediately his new favorite flavor. He wanted to taste it again, and again, and five hundred more times after that. He took a steadying breath, trying to focus on Keith and the question he’d asked and not on the way his lips were tilting up at the corner in a slight smirk.
“I, uh,” Lance shook his head, snapping his attention back up to Keith’s eyes. Not that it was significantly better, because Keith’s eyes were gorgeous and enchanting. “I was dared to kiss you. I was planning on just a cheek kiss but, uh, well… that didn’t happen.”
Everyone in the world had heard of sobering moments and suddenly Lance found himself in one. Staring at Keith, waiting for his response, pushed all of the haze out of Lance’s brain. Instead of the fog, his brain was filled with an alarm telling him to get out before Keith had a chance to kick his ass. But he couldn’t move, he didn’t want to move. Not away from Keith, at least. He’d be happy to move closer.
“You were dared to kiss me?” Keith was clearly looking over his shoulder at what Lance could only assume was his group of friends. He raised an eyebrow before focusing back on Lance. “That’s why you did it?”
There was an undertone of… Lance couldn’t name it. He watched as Keith took a step closer to him, and then another. He glanced down to Keith’s hands to find them empty, no solo cup in sight. Lance looked back up and held his breath as Keith came yet another step closer, their chests brushing.
“You didn’t do it because you… wanted to?” Keith’s gaze was fiercely unwavering.
Lance swallowed, certain his entire body was on fire. He could feel his soul leaving his body. “What makes you think I want to?”
“Well, for starters,” Keith leaned a little closer, dropping his voice so only Lance could hear it. Suddenly this was the most intimate moment of Lance’s life and he forgot the rest of the party existed. He could still feel the bass of the music thumping in his chest with his heart and he just prayed that it would keep him alive if his heart failed. “You keep glancing at my lips.”
As if cued, Lance lowered his gaze to Keith’s lips again, cursing himself for being so blatant. For getting caught. “That might be true,” He breathed so quietly he wasn’t sure that Keith heard it. He wanted Keith to hear it, but he also didn’t.
“And what if I wanted to kiss you?” Keith prompted, his lips forming a full smirk now.
“I’d say you were drunk.”
“I’m not,” Keith assured a moment before gripping the collar of Lance’s shirt and pulling him down into a fierce kiss, slipping a hand around his waist and pulling their bodies flush together.
Lance was absolutely certain he had died and gone to heaven but he didn’t care. He threaded his fingers into Keith’s mullet, tugging gently on the strands and marveling at the shaky breath Keith let out against his lips in response. His other hand traveled up and down Keith’s back, feeling his muscles moving under his shirt as he held Lance firmly, nipping at his lip. Lance succumbed, leaning all of weight into Keith. Lance could still taste the fruity alcohol and somehow managed to love it even more than before.
Kissing Keith the first time, though accidental, had been great. But kissing him now, with him kissing back, fingers insistent upon his hips, was so much greater. Every nerve ending in Lance’s body was singing as Keith continued to kiss him insistently, like it was something he’d been wanting to do for ages. Lance tugged gently on his hair again and Keith let out a low groan in the back of his throat. Lance never wanted to ever pull away.
But he had to. Because he had to breathe. If he didn’t breathe, he’d die. And if he died, he wouldn’t be able to kiss Keith again.
“That was…” Lance wasn’t even sure how to finish that sentence. Wasn’t sure he wanted to finish that sentence. He didn’t want anything to end right now.
“Just so you know,” Keith’s lips were flushed from kissing, a pink that matched the blush on his cheeks. Lance reached up and ran his knuckles gently along his cheeks, watching as the color darkened below his fingers. “You’re literally welcome to do that any time.”
“Really?”
Keith laughed and the sound lit a new flame inside Lance’s soul, making him feel alive. “I knew you were oblivious but damn, I didn’t think you were this oblivious.”
“Hey!” Lance defended, stepping back and crossing his arms.
Keith didn’t let go of his hips as he moved, keeping them connected. “Lance, seriously? I went out of my way to trade lab partners so I could have you. I’ve been dropping hints for months.”
“You have?”
With a fond shake of the head, Keith leaned in and gave him another sweet kiss. “Yes. I have. And clearly you have not been picking up on them. But you did kiss me back, so I’m hoping…?”
“That I feel the same?” Lance completed for him, smiling and letting his arms drop to his sides. “I do.”
He let Keith pull him in to a hug then, trying not to shiver as he planted a kiss on the side of Lance’s neck. They stayed that way for a moment and as they did, the world seemed to expand around Lance again. He became aware of the weight of all the stares on him, but he didn’t care. Because this was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“So, why don’t you take me back to the people who made this happen so I can thank them?” Keith teased with a smile. “At least someone was observant enough to make this happen.”
Lance shoved him but immediately reached for him, pulling him back to his side. “Fine. Shay, you should come, too. I know there’s someone over there who’d love to have you around.”
With a smile, Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, trying not to faint as Keith intertwined their fingers and led them over to the group, trying not to blush as everyone hooted, hollered and clapped as they approached.
