hi!! I read some of your fics, and they make me so giddy hueehehehhe. Could you maybe write a love triangle between keith, lance, and reader? yk, stuff like jealousy, tension, and fighting over reader? Thank u!!!😋
author’s note: thanks sm for the request! apologies for taking so long to get to it but i finally locked in for it. i’ll def make a part 2 for this bc the prompt is so fun and i MUST continue this for y’all’s sake too.
if they weren’t rivals before, they were definitely rivals now.
the tension had definitely thickened between lance and keith; it all started when you were somehow brought up into conversation. lance had openly gushed about you in front of keith. he didn’t think of it much—lance was always fawning over new people no matter where he went and keith was certain this (assumingely) small fixation on you would be forgotten over a week. but as time went on and the more lance would talk about how lovely you are or how pretty you look today, keith realized, oh, shit, lance actually likes you? he felt jealousy twist in his chest.
“just so you know—“ keith had paused in front of lance as they were coming out of their lions. it was always post-mission that keith felt some lingering adrenaline, and it was causing him to grow a little more defensive and cocky about the whole situation. “i like y/n, too. so, don’t get too confident,” he said flatly, raising a brow at lance before walking away.
lance scoffed. the audacity of this guy! for half a second, lance was almost convinced that keith was just saying that out of spite, just to stir something that he didn’t mean and testing his confidence, knowing that their relationship was filled with endless teasing. but the tone in his voice, and the unreadable look on the paladin’s face, told lance that keith was just as serious about you.
“hey, how is that fair?!” lance calls, running after keith to catch up with his pace. “i told you i liked them first and now you’re telling me to back off?”
“so, what? because you made it obvious that means you have dibs on y/n?” keith gives lance a look, pausing in his step to turn and fold his arms. “that’s not quite how it works. besides, i thought you were into…” keith gestured vaguely, trying to remember lance’s most recent person of interest. “point is—i want to take that shot with y/n.”
“and i’m just supposed to give up?” the other paladin shoots back, eyebrows furrowed. he hates how matter-of-factly keith talks, like this isn’t something lance can fight when he definitely can. the urge to grab keith’s shoulders was tempting, but lance held back. “i’m serious about y/n.”
“so am i.” keith takes a step forward, his helmet nearly bumping lance’s.
lance straightens up and they both start measuring each other with a narrowed eyes. it’s unclear if they’re about to start fighting, with the way they both clench their fists. they both know better, had matured since the day they saved shiro from the outskirts of the garrison, but there’s an unwavering and almost eerie tension between them now—somehow deeper than before.
the next few days are chaotic and it doesn’t go unnoticed as the others have to (unfortunately) witness the two go at each other’s throats. tripping each other in the hallway, shoving the other out of the way to get to talk to you first, racing one another to the dining table to sit beside you, sparring turning into petty cat fights, or glaring at one another from opposite dies of the room.
“i’ve had enough of this nonsense between these two!” allura exclaims one day, standing outside of your room. you raise a brow as she gestures towards the direction of the lounge room. she’s visibly annoyed and, quite frankly, it’s always terrifying to see the princess be frustrated. (she is not a force to be reckoned with in this kind of state.)
“y/n, please, for our sake, do something about those two boys,” she says, almost pleading.
raising a brow, you make your way over in hopes to resolve the issue—whatever it may be—or at the very least, simmer the weird tension. no one has told you about what has been going on between lance and keith, not even the source of the drama themselves. it’s always a nervous “uh…it’s nothing!” from lance or “everything is fine” from keith, when it’s obviously the contrary.
“what is going on between you two?” you ask the pair when you enter the room. it’s completely empty aside from them, assuming they’ve managed to shoo everyone else away with the way they’re staring at each other, sat on opposite sides of the couch. their arms are crossed, jaw set, up until your voice hits their ears. they turn to you, lighting up immediately.
“and don’t say it’s nothing,” you turn to lance, holding up a finger, “or everything is fine,” you turn to keith, “because you’re making it quite obvious to the whole team that there’s something wrong.”
the two hesitate glancing at each other for a moment before looking back at you. it’s a question of do we tell them? but also: do we really want to give ourselves away like this?
lance, heart practically hammering against his chest, opens his mouth first. “y/n, we—”
“lance, don’t—” keith says at the same time.
“—both…like you?” lance finishes, like it was a question. he cheeks turn into a subtle shade of red and he immediately avoids your eyes, unsure if he was thankful or dreading the fact that the truth was out.
keith’s the same, pink in the cheeks, brooding demeanor gone and replaced by a flustered one. the air in the room turns thick again, and now it’s not just between them now, but you, too.
“it’s true,” keith mutters, turned away. “we were fighting over who’d tell you first.”
your skin turns a little hot. you were expecting something stupid, not two confessions at the same time! looking between the two, you’re searching for any telltale signs that this may be a prank, but it doesn’t seem like it is.
