Seeing in the Dark

by Write4love

Summary:

“Kosmo, no! It’s bedtime. Keith, control your dog!”

“Shh, I’m sleeping,” Keith replied, wide-awake and staring straight at Lance.

“Keith!” Lance whined but Keith was no help. “What the Black Lion sees in you, I’ll never know.” Kosmo gave one last good yank to Lance’s sleeve, pulling his pajama shirt clean off. Lance instantly covered his now bare chest. “Kosmo, you dirty dog! It’s at least three dates before you get me shirtless.”

Even though Lance felt very exposed suddenly being half naked in front of Keith, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when Keith was laughing like that.

Lance leaned forward to push Kosmo off the bed, but froze when Keith’s laughter abruptly stopped. After a tick of silence, Keith sat up and asked carefully, “What’s that?”

Lance looked over his shoulder and saw Keith’s eyes pinned to his back. “Oh, that. That would be from the Omega Shield.”

 

OR

When Kosmo decides he wants to sleep with Lance, he teleports Keith along with him, forcing the boys to share a bed. Lance isn't sure where they stand, seeing as Keith's been distant ever since he returned from the Blades; but everything changes when nightmares ensue.

Notes:

I told myself I was done writing Voltron because I haven't watched it in so long and don't know these characters anymore, but I can't get Klance out of my head. Also, I miss getting AO3 comments (both hinged and unhinged alike). I got a comment on an old fic from someone with a wolf profile picture that was so insane yet sweet that it forced me to come out of retirement. So if you like this you can thank Mr. Wolf.

We're so back. Klance is canon to me, babes. And for you too, if you so choose to join me in the tale that follows.

Chapter 1

It wasn’t that Lance didn’t want to go to sleep, it was just that he couldn’t seem to turn his mind off. With Lotor betraying them, Keith appearing out of nowhere with a mom and an Altean, the Castle of Lions being destroyed, and heading back to Earth—it was all bouncing around in Lance’s brain like a DVD screensaver that infuriatingly never touched the corner. 

He’d been tossing and turning on the cot in the back of Red trying to find the right position; and just when he was finally comfortable, he heard it: the unmistakable noise of a magical space wolf teleporting. 

Lance had no time to brace himself before he was being smothered by a mass of fur and slobber. 

“Kosmo!” he whispered in the dark, rolling over until they were face-to-face, but Kosmo looked up at him with those big round eyes and Lance immediately caved. He couldn’t stay mad at the wolf. “What? Is Keith asleep already so you needed to find a new victim to pet you?”

Kosmo barked in response, which Lance took as a yes. He reached out to give the wolf a few good scratches behind the ears, which his grateful recipient thanked him for with some slobbery kisses. Once Kosmo was satisfied he circled around on the bed a few times then plopped down, using Lance’s body as a pillow. 

Lance scoffed. The audacity of this wolf. No wonder he and Keith bonded. 

Lance gave Kosmo a pat on the butt. “As sweet as it is that you want to sleep here, I think Keith will worry if he wakes up and you’re gone.”

The wolf looked back at him, as if contemplating his words, then disappeared.

Lance rolled back over. “At least someone listens to me.” 

He had but two ticks of peace before he heard the cosmic wolf teleporting back into his Lion, along with the surprised grunt of the wolf’s owner. 

Lance maneuvered out of the way just in time before Keith and Kosmo both crashed onto his bed in a heap. 

“Kosmo!” Lance practically shrieked. 

Keith at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Kosmo, on the other hand, didn’t look sorry one bit. He smacked Lance in the face a few times with his wagging tail before laying down and going right to sleep. 

Lance sighed, though his breath caught in his throat when he looked over at Keith. Even in the darkness, Lance could see those amethyst eyes clear as day. Not to mention this was the closest they’d been since his leader’s hectic return from the Space Whale; and the two of them hadn’t had a real conversation since the whole “I don’t have time for this, Lance” incident. Which was fine. Really.

After a few moments it seemed to dawn on Keith that he was now in Lance’s bed. He shuffled back like a mad man until his feet were firmly on the floor. It was very un-leader-of-Voltron-like. Which Lance enjoyed. Moments like this humanized the supposed Best Pilot of Their Generation. 

Keith cleared his throat. “I … um, sorry. Kosmo just—sorry.” 

Now that his team leader was standing, Lance could get a better look at him. He was still in his black flight suit. No doubt so he could quickly throw his armor on over it in case they were attacked in the night. But most of all, he looked tired. 

Lance propped himself up on his elbow. “Checking in, sir?”

“Can you be serious right now?”

“Okay. Seriously, you look terrible.”

Keith shot Lance an indignant look. “I was keeping watch and fell asleep in my pilot’s chair.”

  “Tsk, tsk, Keith. That’s not leading by example.” Lance couldn’t help the teasing tone in his voice. It felt like forever since the two of them had one of their classic back and forths. “Not when you’re the one who told the team to get as much rest as they could.”

“Whatever,” Keith shot back, not willing to play along. Lance pouted. Apparently two years on a Space Whale sucks all the fun out of a guy. “I’m heading back to my Lion now.”

“Great.” A wicked smile spread across Lance’s face. “How?”

Keith opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it. Kosmo was fast asleep and wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Keith looked around, realizing what stood between him and his Lion was the cold vacuum of space—and he definitely left his helmet in his other Lion. 

“Have you connected the dots yet?” 

“This isn’t funny, Lance.” Keith smacked a hand over his face. “I don’t—”

“Have time for this?’

And there it was. Lance hadn’t meant to drag that out into the open, but he just couldn’t stop himself. 

Keith crossed his arms. “Don’t you just have all the answers tonight?”

“And I’m about to have another one. Just sleep here.” Lance let his head fall back onto his pillow. “Besides, isn’t that what a Right Hand Man is supposed to do? Have the answers when his leader is being a dumb-dumb?”

Lance was met with silence. He honestly missed when Keith would just bicker with him. It was a lot easier than … whatever this was. 

“Yeah,” Keith said, so soft that Lance almost missed it. Then he began to lower himself to the ground.

“On the bed,” Lance ordered. 

Keith hesitated. “Are you sure that—”

“Yes.”

The cots in the Lions weren’t the biggest, and Lance was already sharing his with a quiznaking wolf, but Kosmo had Lance pinned up against the wall so there was plenty of room for Keith on the rest of the mattress. 

Keith gingerly laid down on his back and pulled the blanket up to his chest. He kept his eyes glued to the ceiling, not even glancing at Lance as he said, “I’m sorry about that, by the way. The whole ‘I don’t have time for this’ thing.”  He swallowed. “It was a very stressful situation.” 

Lance hated how he could hear the sincerity in Keith’s voice—but that’s how well he knew his leader—he knew all of Keith’s ticks, right down to the timbre of his voice when he’s being genuine. And just hearing it again reminded Lance just how much he missed Keith while he was with the Blades. 

The silence would’ve been deafening if it weren’t for Kosmo snoring between them. 

Finally, Lance replied, “I know.” And he meant it. He understood the intense situation they were in at the time, and the brush-off wouldn’t have bothered Lance that much if Keith had given him some semblance of normalcy afterward. But instead, Keith’s been treating him like he’s just another soldier instead of his teammate, his … his friend. 

Lance rolled away from Keith to face the wall, then added, “But thank you for saying that.”

Lance could’ve sworn he felt Keith’s body relax into the mattress more, and he wondered if this was Kosmo’s plan all along. Though he couldn’t deny that it worked, seeing as he felt a weight lift off his chest too. 

Lance could’ve fallen asleep with a smile on his face right then and there, but because he’s made it his life’s mission to keep Keith on his toes (and he has several missed months to make up for) he decided to whip around and steal all the covers off of Keith’s body.

“Hey,” Keith hissed as he snatched the covers back. “I have a mom now so I could tell on you.” 

And then something truly terrible happened: Lance laughed at what Keith said. Out loud. 

It reverberated up the wall and throughout the Red Lion, so there was no denying it. And even worse, Keith seemed to enjoy that he’d made Lance laugh. That jerk. 

Although Lance couldn’t bring himself to feel truly guilty about it. He had done worse things when it came to Keith. Worst of all, perhaps, is that at this point he would recognize Keith anywhere. Even if Lance lost his hearing and sight he would know Keith just by the vibration of his voice, the feel of his hand, even the ghost of his breath—the pull of Lance’s heart was one hell of a GPS, that was for sure. 

“Go to sleep Lance,” Keith murmured, and Lance could hear the smile in his voice. It was deeply upsetting.

But Lance was asleep in seconds, nevertheless. 

 

 

🚀🚀🚀 

 

 

Lance woke with a start. He instantly knew something was wrong, and it wasn’t the fact that there was a giant wolf drooling on him. He rolled over to find Keith all sweaty and twitching in his sleep. Definitely a nightmare. 

Lance wasn’t surprised—they were fighting in a war, they all had nightmares—but he’d never seen Keith look so vulnerable. So helpless. 

Lance placed a hand over the fist Keith had clenched on his chest. “Keith, hey.” He tried to keep his voice calm as he spoke. “It’s not real. It’s just a dream”

He scooched closer (as close as the sound asleep wolf sandwiched between them would allow) and whispered right in his leader’s ear. “Keith.”

Keith’s eyes shot open.

“You were having a nightmare, but you’re in the Red Lion and you’re safe,” Lance soothed over Keith’s ragged breaths.

He could feel his fearless leader’s heart hammering in his chest, but Lance just gripped his hand tighter.

“Right,” Keith breathed, staring at the ceiling. “Nightmare.”

“Well, you were either having a nightmare or a really great sex dream.”

“Lance.” 

Lance’s voice dropped to a sultry whisper. “I wouldn’t blame you if it was about Hunk.”

“Lance!” Keith’s head whipped to the side to meet Lance’s gaze. His eyes burned with a fury, but he couldn’t hide the laugh that escaped his lips. There was no trace of the scared boy that laid next to Lance a moment ago, so mission accomplished. 

Lance watched as Keith caught his breath. It always seemed like Keith was born for the battlefield. To fight and win. But sometimes Lance wondered if that’s only because Keith’s been fighting battles his whole life. Maybe he didn’t become a hardened soldier because he wanted to, but because he had no other choice. 

“Do you … want to talk about it?” Lance searched Keith’s eyes for any inkling of what was going on in that head of his. “Or no?”

Keith looked at Lance, then down at his hand which was still gripping the one on Keith’s chest. Lance thought about pulling away, but in a surprising turn of events, Keith laced their fingers together. 

“I dreamed that I was on a mission with the Blades,” Keith began as he rubbed his fingers softly between Lance’s knuckles. “I got injured, so they left me for dead. I begged for them to turn back for me, that if they did I would prove myself useful. But they refused.” 

Lance didn’t know what was more concerning: the fact that the Blades really operated by those rules or the fact that Keith thought he only deserved to live if he was useful. 

“Well”—Lance propped his head up on his elbow and leaned over Keith, just to make sure his words got through that thick mullet—“No one on this team is leaving you to die. Not even me, and I want you dead more than anyone.”

Keith stared up at him from the pillow, a ghost of a smirk appearing on his face. “That’s interesting, because you’ve saved my butt more times than I can count.”

“That’s because I want to be the one to finish you off. No one else is stealing my glory.”

And there it was. Keith laughed. His first genuine laugh of the evening. His first genuine laugh of many, if Lance had anything to say about it. 

It was too dark to fully see Keith’s features, but Lance had watched him laugh enough times to fill in the blanks. He knew how Keith’s eyes crinkled, how his mouth pulled into a lopsided grin, and how his chin tilted up.

Keith caught Lance gaping at him, but he merely smiled at Lance in response—though their nice moment was quickly ruined by Kosmo stirring and stretching his paw right into Lance’s face.

“Oh, now you’re awake,” Lance scolded. “We could’ve used an emotional support wolf a few doboshes ago!” 

Kosmo let one of his ears droop as he nuzzled against Lance. It was a cheap trick but it worked. Lance simply couldn’t be angry at this adorable creature. 

Lance gave him a boop on the snout, which Kosmo incorrectly interpreted to mean “play time.” Suddenly the wolf was nipping at Lance’s sleeve and playing tug-of-war with it.

“Kosmo, no! It’s bedtime. Keith, control your dog!”

“Shh, I’m sleeping,” Keith replied, wide-awake and staring straight at Lance.

“Keith!” Lance whined but Keith was no help. “What the Black Lion sees in you, I’ll never know.” Kosmo gave one last good yank to Lance’s sleeve, pulling his pajama shirt clean off. Lance instantly covered his now bare chest. “Kosmo, you dirty dog! It’s at least three dates before you get me shirtless.” 

Even though Lance felt very exposed suddenly being half naked in front of Keith, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when Keith was laughing like that. Yes, Keith was laughing at him, but he’d decided long ago that even Keith’s negative attention was better than no attention at all—hence, the rivalry. 

Kosmo rubbed his victory in Lance’s face by rolling in the pajama shirt at the end of the bed. Lance leaned forward to push Kosmo off, but froze when Keith’s laughter abruptly stopped. 

After a tick of silence, Keith sat up and asked carefully, “What’s that?”

Lance looked over his shoulder and saw Keith’s eyes pinned to his back. Lance shrugged. “You’ve seen my back scar from Sendak before. You’re the one who undressed me that night to check my wounds.” Lance patted Kosmo on the head. “Like father like son, I guess.” 

“It was an emergency.”

“Yeah, an emergency where you couldn’t wait to get my clothes off.” Lance leaned toward Keith and wiggled his eyebrows. “Scoundrel.” 

Keith smacked Lance’s bare chest, the tiniest little laugh escaping through his nose. “Yeah, yeah, I remember. That night changed a lot of things.”

“Like how hot you find me?”

“Like how we became a team,” Keith corrected. “And ... how we almost lost you.” He lifted his hand and gently grazed Lance’s back. “But this is something different. Now you have a lightning shaped scar over the one from Sendak.”

Lance hadn’t looked back there in a long time, but he knew exactly what Keith was talking about. His hand subconsciously reached toward the scar, accidentally brushing against Keith’s fingers. They both pulled away. 

“Oh, that.” Lance repositioned himself on the bed so he could lean back against the wall. “That would be from the Omega Shield.” 

Keith stared at him blankly, and Lance realized he would have to elaborate, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

“Basically, it was a messy mission. We were trying to fix this Omega Shield, Haggar attacked Shiro’s clone mind, Allura wasn’t paying attention, I pushed her out of the way and got hit with a huge bolt of electricity, she healed me, Voltron saved the day. Yay.” 

“Yay indeed,” Keith said in the most deadpan voice possible. “Lance, that could’ve killed you!”

Lance suddenly became very interested in what Kosmo was doing. 

“That could’ve killed you, right?”

Lance met Keith’s eyes.

“Oh quiznak it killed you, didn’t it?”

“Just for a couple of doboshes.”

Keith’s head fell to his hands.

Lance had spent many nights talking through the Omega Shield incident with Coran, and for the most part he was in a much better place. But seeing Keith get upset about it made all these weird feelings flood in. The same feelings he desperately tried to push away the night Sendak almost killed him—where all he wanted to do was hold Keith’s hand before he died. 

“Come on, Keith. Don’t be jealous,” Lance joked. It was a sad attempt to keep things lighthearted, but it was the only way to keep himself from saying something sappy like we are a good team and then look lovingly into Keith’s eyes. “So what if I have a cool—ah!”

Keith launched himself forward, wrapping Lance into a hug. Lance didn’t even question it. He hugged back instantly. Things had been strenuous lately, so he really needed this. Plus, Keith was weirdly good at giving hugs (not that Lance would ever tell him that).

Lance chuckled into Keith’s shoulder. “I thought I was supposed to be comforting you tonight.”

“The only thing that can comfort me right now is if my team”—Keith slid his hand up to cradle the back of Lance’s head—“if my Right Hand Man is alive and well.” 

“I’m alive,” Lance breathed out. He looked over at Kosmo, who was curling up in his lap in an attempt to join their hug. “And I’m very well.”

After a beat of silence Keith finally relented. “Okay.” He drummed his fingers along Lance’s back scars and forced himself to chuckle. “Sounds like we both have some pretty good nightmare fuel.” 

Lance pulled out of the embrace so he could look his leader in the eyes. “Listen, Keith, as someone who actually has died on a mission, I won’t let the same happen to anyone else. Especially you.”

“Well that’s … sort of comforting.” Keith narrowed his eyes. “In a depressing way.” 

Lance shook his shoulders. “Stop. I’m consoling you.”

“I must’ve dropped out before the Garrison consoling unit. Is this what they taught you?”

“And you know what else?” Lance went on, ignoring Keith’s tease; although it was very difficult for him to ignore that confrontational spark in Keith’s eye. Something that, unfortunately, Lance missed very much. “Anyone on Team Voltron would come back for you. I mean, Allura saved me at the Omega Shield even though I annoy her every day.” 

Keith gasped. “You’re annoying other people? I thought we were exclusive.”

“It didn’t mean anything, I swear!” Lance laughed, relishing in the fact that Keith was letting loose with him. “Besides, it’s not my fault you’re both so fun to annoy. Allura’s more like you than you think. That’s why she did such a good job being you in the Voltron Show.”

“I couldn’t even tell the difference.”

Lance blinked. “You watched the Voltron Show?”

“Oh, the whole Blade watched the Voltron Show.” Keith smirked at him in a way that Lance did not appreciate. Slowly, Keith reclined back onto the bed, watching Lance with a smug look as he went. There was a brief moment of silence and then, “We all liked your aerial routine, by the way.”

“Okay, goodnight!” 

 

 

🚀🚀🚀

 

 

In the morning, Keith and Kosmo were already gone when Lance woke up. The Paladins spent the rest of the day traveling through space until, at long last, they finally came across a planet where they could park for the night. 

Coran led an expedition into a town and triumphantly returned from the market with some high-tech tents. Apparently they were equipped with oxygen tanks so the Paladins could take a break from sleeping in their lions.  

Coran handed Lance his tent, though it didn’t look like any tent he’d gone camping with before. It was just a slab of metal. “Uh, Coran? How am I supposed to sleep in this?”

“Easy, my boy!” Coran practically sang as he took the metal sheet from Lance. Coran placed it on the ground and hit the middle, causing the thing to pop up into a triangular tent. Now that was more like it. 

“Whoa!” Lance gasped. The tent looked a lot like the ones back on Earth (aside from the fact that it was made of alien tech). It wasn’t very tall, it was only meant to sleep in, but it did have clear glass on the top so you could look up at the stars. 

“Hey, Coran?” Keith called from where he was struggling to turn his own metal slab into a tent. “Can you help me too?”

Coran’s mood instantly soured. “I don’t have time for this, Keith.”

Keith shrunk into himself, and Lance had to use all his willpower to not laugh. Lance may have complained to Coran about that whole incident, and Coran took it personally. Though, as the Right Hand of Voltron he would try to regain his leader’s favor with their mustached patron. 

“I know he was kind of rude when he first arrived back,” Lance whispered, “but he was under a lot of pressure.” 

“So?” Coran replied at full volume. “As the Castle mechanic, medic, culture expert and team cheerleader I’m under pressure all the time but you don’t see me taking it out on the team!”

Lance thought for a moment. “Good point, carry on.”

Keith let out an indignant scoff.

Despite Coran’s refusal to help in the name of defending Lance’s honor, Lance couldn’t help but take pity on his poor leader. He started making his way over to help—he was pretty sure he could copy what Coran had done—but on his way he was intercepted by Allura.

“Hi, Lance!” she said cheerfully

“Hey, Princess,” he replied, noting how Keith was watching them like a hawk over her shoulder.

“Hunk noticed you were sad that all your skincare products were destroyed with the rest of the Castle, so he bought you new ones at the market.” Lance noticed she was carrying a bunch of brightly colored bottles in her arms, which she promptly shoved into his. “Don’t worry, I remembered which Altean products you liked and made sure Hunk got you the good stuff.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “The good stuff?”

Allura’s effervescent smile brightened (if that was even possible). “The good stuff!”

“Allura!” Lance pulled her into a hug. He really missed his nightly skincare routine. He used to do it with his sisters, and maintaining it in space gave him a piece of home. Not to mention it made his skin gorgeous. “Where’s Hunk?” 

“He and Pidge found some alien computers, and I wasn’t sure how many vargas that was going to take, so I brought these back by myself.” 

“Well”—Lance released Allura from her hug, then immediately pulled her into another one—“give that hug to him for me then.” 

“Will do,” she giggled, giving Lance a pat on the cheek. 

Lance dared to look over at Keith again, who was very clearly watching, but quickly turned back to his sad, flat tent when Lance caught his eye. 

Back in their early days of Voltron, Keith used to eye Lance whenever he spoke with the Princess, which made him think there was something romantic going on between Keith and Allura. Then one day they visited a planet with a rainbow, which Shiro pointed at and said, “Look Keith, they must know you’re here.” After that a lot of things about Keith started making more sense. But Lance never did figure out what those weird looks were for. Or why he was shooting them a look now. 

Allura caught Lance staring and followed his eye line to Keith. She shot their leader a wave, and Keith forced himself to give a curt wave back. When he was done he let his hand slam down on the tent slab, miraculously right on the sweet spot. The tent popped up and knocked Keith flat on his back. Lance and Allura could only watch with equal parts fascination and confusion at how he managed to do that to himself.

“Nice work with the tent, Keith!” Coran commended as he dropped an ice pack into their leader’s lap. Keith just laid there staring at the sky.

Thank god there were no Galra on the planet because Shiro’s laughter could be heard for miles. 

 

 

🚀🚀🚀

 

 

That night, Lance laid in his tent, staring up at the stars above him. He knows he’s been stuck in space for some time now, but he just never gets sick of the universe’s beauty.

A knock on his metal tent door pulled him from his revelry. But Lance could see through the glass roof the outline of a person with a very particular haircut, so he pushed the door open with his foot. 

Keith wasted no time crawling in and making himself right at home in Lance’s pillows and blankets. And of course, with Keith always comes Kosmo, who curled up as close to Lance as possible on the other side. 

Lance just laid there and accepted it. At this point, this might as well happen. 

Once Keith was all settled and comfortable Lance finally spoke. “I didn’t realize I would be hosting guests this evening, otherwise I would’ve pulled out the silk sheets.”

Even in the darkness Lance could see Keith roll his eyes. “My tent has a faulty oxygen monitor and I was afraid the tank would cut out in the night.”

“I thought the air was safe to breath on this planet?”

“Only for a varga or so,” Keith replied as he smacked his pillow to get the indent just right.

Lance couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Man, Coran gave you a faulty tent? You gotta get back on his good side.”

“I’m working on it,” Keith said in a pained voice, as if losing Coran’s approval was a fate worse than fighting Zarkon alone. “Anyway, I figured since we shared so well last night that it wouldn’t be a problem doing it again.” 

Keith rolled so close to Lance that his leader’s nose brushed the skin on his cheek. It was much closer than Lance thought Keith would ever want to be to another human being. 

“Also, unfortunately for me, Kosmo missed you,” Keith added. 

“Well,” Lance said, voice cracking much more than it should have, “Lucky for you, I grew up in a big family so I don’t mind sharing.”

This answer seemed to satisfy Keith, as he fell asleep almost immediately after that—his breaths evening out as they caressed Lance’s cheek (which was getting redder by the second). On the other side of Lance’s body, Kosmo was also buried into the Blue Paladin’s side. At this rate, Lance wasn’t sure he’d ever fall asleep. 

He looked up through the glass at the constellations above. He wondered how out of all the infinite galaxies in the entire universe he was lucky enough to grow up on the same planet as Keith Kogane. When he was a kid, Lance used to look up at the stars and dream of all the adventures he’d have among them. Now that dream was a reality, and yet the greatest adventure of his life was lying right next to him. 

 

 

🚀🚀🚀

 

 

No.

No please.

This couldn’t be happening.

Not when Lance had promised.

No. No. No. No. No.

“No!” 

The cry that tore through Lance’s throat was enough to rip him right out of his nightmare. His eyes frantically scanned his tent, only to be met with darkness, like the darkness that threatened to swallow him whole in his dream. 

But then, those eyes. Those amethyst eyes were like a light in the dark. 

Keith was leaning over him, he might’ve even been saying something but Lance couldn’t hear over the blood rushing in his ears. Keith’s hands were braced on either side of Lance’s head, so he grabbed Keith’s wrists in an attempt to ground himself. 

“Bad dream?”

Lance huffed out a laugh. “I can’t let you have all the fun, now can I, Samurai?”

“Of course not, Sharpshooter,” Keith replied, in a voice so fond Lance almost didn’t believe it belonged to his leader.

Lance gripped Keith’s wrists tighter. Keith was real. He was here. He was being uncharacteristically soft with Lance. And he was alive. They were both still miraculously alive. Lance tried to blink away the tears, but he couldn’t help it. One slipped down his face.

“Hey, no, no, no, no. It’s okay.” Keith placed a hand on Lance’s cheek. 

Lance would’ve laughed if he wasn’t already crying. The distress in Keith’s voice was endearing. He was no good with tears, but he was trying his best to be comforting. And for Lance, of all people. 

“Was it a dream about the Omega Shield?” Keith asked in a hushed tone. Then he swallowed, his face falling a little as he looked down at his hand still caressing Lance’s face. He pulled it away and shifted back to his own side of the tent. Staring at his palm like Lance’s face may have stung it. Keith cleared his throat. “Or was it … was it about Allura? You couldn’t save her?” 

“I couldn’t save you.”

Lance rolled over and grabbed Keith’s arm, burying his face in the side of Keith’s shoulder. He didn’t care if he was acting stupid. In his dream, he watched Keith die in his arms. Lance couldn’t save him. Even after he’d promised Keith last night he wouldn’t let that happen. 

“I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you … I don’t want to lose you ever,” Lance whispered against Keith’s skin.  

Keith remained silent as Lance clung to his arm like a lifeline, and it occurred to Lance that he was probably making his leader uncomfortable. Keith didn’t like to be touched and Lance was well aware of this, so he untangled himself from Keith’s arm. 

“Sorry,” Lance mumbled.

But for the second night in a row, Keith pulled Lance into a surprise hug. “I didn’t know you felt that way,” Keith gasped. 

The hug was over almost as soon as it began, and Lance would be lying if he said he didn’t wish it was longer. Though judging from the look on Keith’s face, it was fair to say he felt the same.

Keith rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t know you felt that way … about me.” 

Lance shook his head. Keith was brilliant in a lot of areas: a top-tier pilot, an incredible leader, and a fiercely loyal friend, but god was he oblivious. Lance clasped Keith’s shoulder. “Keith, my man, let’s just say if the Blades had let you die, Zarkon wouldn’t have been Kolivan’s only problem.” 

Keith’s whole face lit up at that. Even in the dark of the tent it was blindingly bright. Lance wondered if part of the reason he was so obsessed with the stars was because the best ones were in Keith’s eyes. 

“I worry about you too, you know,” Keith said, leaning back on his elbows. “Sometimes you get quiet.”

Lance cocked his head. “I thought you preferred it when I’m quiet.” 

“Not at all,” Keith said plain and simple. “Especially when we’re on missions. If you’re not babbling over the comms or telling some stupid joke to calm everyone’s nerves, then you’re at least telling us what you see from above while sniping.” Keith’s eyes hardened. “You only get quiet if you have to concentrate really hard or if you’re hurt. And when I can’t hear your voice in my ears I’m always trying to convince myself it’s the first one while being terrified that it’s the second.”

Lance let those words rattle around in his brain for a second. Keith was paying that much attention to him? And he cared? Lance had no choice but to wrap Keith in a hug. (Keith was beating him in hug-initiation by two, after all, and it was a well known fact that Lance hated losing to Keith.) 

Keith reciprocated in kind, pulling him in so hard that Lance toppled down right onto Keith’s chest. They were pressed so close, surely Keith could feel Lance’s heart beating uncontrollably. Or maybe that was Keith’s heart drumming against Lance’s chest? It was hard to tell the difference right now.

Keith started running his hands up and down Lance’s back in a way that felt almost ... loving. Lance was so confused. Maybe the wrong Keith came back from the Quantum Abyss? Like how they had the wrong Shiro for a little while? It was the only possible answer for why Keith was being so weirdly affectionate. 

The feeling of Keith’s chest rising and falling beneath Lance’s head calmed him, but he couldn’t get that dream out of his head. He was sick of talking about nightmares and dying. He wanted to talk about the future. No matter how far fetched it seemed that they’d even live to see it. 

“What do you think you’ll do”—Lance aimlessly reached a finger out and curled it around a strand of Keith’s hair—“after we win and we’re celebrated war heroes or whatever?”

Keith hummed, and it vibrated through Lance’s body. “When the war’s over I’d want to stay in space. Maybe help with cleanup. Some sort of humanitarian effort.” Keith laughed. “Though can it be a humanitarian effort if the people I’m helping aren’t humans?”

Lance laughed too, though it was halfhearted. For the first time in his life, he started to resent the stars. They were taking Keith away from him. 

“So I guess we’ll never see you again then?” Lance joked, though he wondered if Keith could hear the strain in his voice. He probably could seeing as he was being Mr. Attentive these past two days.

“No, I’ll definitely want a home base on Earth.” Keith thought for a moment, then added, “Maybe somewhere near Varadero Beach so I can see you. Assuming, of course, you get a place near your family.”

Lance’s heart did a flip at hearing that. “Really?”

“Well, you always say Varadero’s the best place on Earth,” Keith explained quickly, his head jolting up from his pillow. It made Lance wonder just how long he’d been thinking about this. “And if we really are ‘celebrated war heroes’ like you said, then I can afford a house right on the beach.” He let his head fall back against the pillow. “I’ll probably also get a small apartment near the Garrison so I can see Shiro from time to time too. Although, he’s on thin ice after the tent incident today.” 

“You know”—Lance folded his hands on Keith’s chest so he could rest his chin on them—“if you’re not even going to be home half the time, you might as well just have a designated room in my house at Varadero instead. That way I can keep your room clean and ready for when you return.” 

Lance had meant it to be a joke, but for some reason when he said it out loud it made perfect sense. 

“At that point we should just share a room so you don’t have an extra one to tidy.” Keith smirked. “Plus, I think we’ve proven we’re so good at sharing now.” 

Either the joke went right over Keith’s head and he was being dead serious (which was highly plausible) or he joined an improv troop in the Quantum Abyss and was really good at saying “yes, and…” to build off of Lance’s joke. Both options were terrifying in their own way. 

Lance decided it was probably best he went to sleep before the two of them started joking about adopting children together. He pushed himself off of Keith’s chest and sat back on his knees, only to find his side of the tent was already occupied. Apparently Kosmo had taken full advantage of Lance’s absence and moved in. Legs stretched out and everything.  

Lance let out an offended gasp. Keith, obviously, was no help. He just laid there and chuckled. 

“Kosmo,” Lance chastised as he tried to move the unwanted guest out of his spot, but every time he pushed Kosmo found a way to take up even more space. “Keith!”

“How is this my fault?” Keith asked through his laughter.

“Control. Your. Dog.”

“He’s a wolf.”

“More like a bear,” Lance whined, his attempts to move Kosmo proven utterly futile. “Is it possible he got bigger between last night and now?”

“He’s a magical teleporting space wolf I found in a Quantum Abyss, of course it’s possible. Just sleep over here.” 

Lance whipped his head around to glare at Keith, who was looking a little too smug about this whole situation, which pissed Lance off even more. But he had no other choice, so he laid back down beside Keith. 

“Having nightmares in my dreams, living nightmares outside of my dreams,” Lance grumbled as he tried to get comfortable. 

Keith chuckled softly. Maybe Lance should’ve let him suffocate in the faulty tent. 

“Come on, it’s not that bad,” Keith offered unhelpfully, as he made zero effort to move over for Lance.

Lance was resigned to squeezing in on his side between his stupid leader and his stupid wolf. 

He huffed out a sigh. “You better not die on your future adventures in space, otherwise you’ll leave behind one very unhappy roommate who is definitely not taking care of your furry son all by himself.”

“Why don’t you just come with me, then?” Keith said plainly.

Lance was stunned into silence (and silencing him was no easy feat). 

It was the way Keith said it. As if it was simple. As if the obvious solution was for Lance to be his—his space ranger partner or something.

Lance pushed himself up so he could look into Keith’s eyes, but there wasn’t even a hint of teasing in them. He was serious. 

Slowly, Lance smiled. “If you’d like that.” 

“I would,” Keith breathed out, barely a whisper.

Lance looked at his leader, and it all clicked into place. For Lance, it had been a long few months since they saw each other; but for Keith, he’d been gone for two quiznaking years. And he’d missed Lance. 

Lance couldn’t believe he was seeing Keith better in the dark than he ever did in the daylight. He was starting to understand why Keith was being so hesitant around him, yet at the same time couldn’t stop touching him—because Keith wanted to be close with him. He just didn’t know how to express it.

With reddening cheeks, Lance lowered himself back into his tiny sliver of the tent floor. “It makes sense really,” he mumbled as his eyelids grew heavy. “Iverson told me not to follow in your footsteps, and naturally I make it a point to do the opposite of whatever he says, so I’d follow you anywhere, Keith.” 

“Not follow, I’d want you right by my side. As equals.” 

Lance smiled at that. “It has a nice ring to it. Lance and Keith, neck and neck, side by side.” 

Lance could barely stay awake. He was so tired that he didn’t even care when Kosmo stretched his paws and pushed Lance into Keith’s chest. Keith didn’t seem to care either. He readjusted his arm to pull Lance closer and started combing his fingers through Lance’s hair. Even with his eyes closed, Lance could still feel those amethyst eyes watching him intently. 

He could’ve sworn as he was drifting off that he heard Keith whisper, “Good boy, Kosmo.” 

 

 

🚀🚀🚀

 

 

Keith was once again gone by morning—although, despite the extra space, Lance still awoke to find Kosmo fully sleeping on top of him. 

The two of them emerged to help breakdown the camp, only to be met with Coran, who was recollecting their strange alien tents. 

“Good morning, boys!” He said cheerfully as he gave Kosmo a pat on the head.

“Hey, Coran,” Lance greeted. “I know you’re giving Keith the cold shoulder right now, but can you please fix his tent? He said it has a faulty oxygen monitor.”

“No it doesn’t,” Coran replied as he inspected Lance’s—well, Kosmo’s at this point—tent. “I checked the monitors last night and this morning just to make sure. His air is working fine.” 

Coran didn’t even spare the Blue Paladin a glance before easily collapsing the tent back into a neat metal slab and moving on to the next one. 

Lance was left with his mouth hanging wide open. Keith. That little—

Lance chuckled to himself. “Well, well, Kosmo. Looks like you’re not the only sly dog around here.”

Chapter 2

After another tedious day of space travel in their Lions, the Paladins were invited to land on some technological planet. The robotic aliens that inhabited it were well aware of Pidge and Hunk’s advancements in technology and were foaming at the mouth to meet them. 

Normally, Lance would be grateful for a sit-down dinner and a real bed to sleep in, but after the events of the last two nights, his mind was somewhere else.

He was unusually quiet during dinner, which awarded him a few worried glances from the rest of the team, but he waved them all off. He was fine. Just lost in thought.

Afterward, the aliens begged Pidge and Hunk to tinker around in one of their labs, and somehow Lance got dragged along. 

Lance sat at a workbench next to Hunk, who was trying to translate an instruction manual for one of the various machines around them. Meanwhile, Pidge was sitting in swivel chair messing around with an unassuming sphere that probably contained the secrets of the universe. 

It was pretty silent in the lab. The nerds were too enraptured in all the space tech for talking, but if Lance kept this to himself any longer his head was going to explode.

Lance cleared his throat. “So, uh, Keith and I sort of agreed to move in together last night.”

It somehow got even more silent in the lab. Hunk slowly lowered his manual. “Oh?”

“And Keith sort of suggested that we share a bedroom too.”

Pidge’s chair swiveled around to face him “Oh?”

“Just for economical purposes!”

Pidge shook her head. “Oh, Lance.”

I know!” Lance whined. “How do I fix this?”

Hunk pursed his lips. “Have you put a down payment on the house yet?”

“No.”

“Great then just talk to him.”

“But talking to him is what got me into this mess!”

“That’s true.” Hunk scratched his chin. 

This truly was a mess if even the two smartest people Lance knew didn’t have an answer. Although, when it came to love maybe Hunk was just as clueless as Lance seeing as he once referred to Shay as the “best shaped rock he’d ever met.” And yet, they were still dating, so Hunk must’ve done something right. 

Lance rubbed his temples.“What do you guys suggest I do?”

Pidge adjusted her glasses, sincerely mulling it over. “Kill him?”

“No,” Hunk chastised. 

“Fine. Tell him how you feel then.”

“No.”

Pidge threw her hands up in the air. “Then what do you suggest, Hunk?”

“Just kiss him already!” Hunk clasped his hands together and smiled dreamily. “Shay and I have been dying to go on a double date with you two.”

Lance scoffed. “How long have you been telling Shay about me and Keith?”

“How long ago did we meet Shay?”

“Since day one?” 

“Not day one,” Hunk corrected. “That day was stressful and you were dying … But day two we had some downtime.” 

Lance slammed his head on the metal workbench. He hoped it killed him. Or at least knocked him out so he had a good excuse to leave this conversation. 

“As much as Hunk’s reasoning is … flawed,” Pidge said as she sidled up beside Lance. “Kissing is statistically proven to reduce stress, so it’s not a terrible idea.”

For a moment there, that logic almost made sense to Lance. But then Hunk and Pidge started singing “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid and he wanted to die again. They nailed the harmonies though.

Lance was saved from his musical themed nightmare when Shiro came bursting into the lab, forcing Pidge and Hunk to stop singing. Lance has said it before and he’ll say it again: Shiro is his hero.

As Shiro approached though, he looked very stiff and awkward. “Oh hey Lance,” he said in the least casual way possible. “There’s something I need you to see by the Red Lion. And only Lance can do this. Alone … by himself.” 

Lance shared a look with Hunk and Pidge. It was obvious Shiro and Keith had just had a similar conversation about last night (probably with less singing though) and now Shiro was trying to trick Lance into talking with Keith. But, man, was Shiro bad at acting. 

Lance cocked his head. “Did you leave your ability to lie in the Astral Plane?”

“Just go talk to Keith, please.” Now it was Shiro’s turn to drop his head onto the workbench. Hunk and Pidge both gave him a comforting pat.

 

 

🚀🚀🚀

 

 

As requested, Lance made his way to the hangar where the Red Lion was docked. Although, he may have arrived a little too early seeing as Keith, Krolia, and Romelle were all laying red and blue flowers around the Lion’s paws. 

Lance forced himself not to laugh. “Should I come back later?”

Keith whipped around to face him. “Oh for quiznaks sake, Shiro had one job!”

Romelle threw the rest of her flowers on the ground and grabbed Krolia, making a beeline for the door, though when she passed Lance she gave him a quick thumbs up. “Good luck!” she whispered. Krolia looked like she was going to say something encouraging too, but was tugged away by Romelle before she could. 

Lance looked at Keith, who was romantically standing under their shared Lion surrounded by their colors—although the magic was a tad spoiled since Lance saw behind the scenes. And due to this fact Keith was also scowling.

But Lance just went with it. He placed a hand over his heart, pretending he was seeing it for the first time. “Aw Keith! Did you do this all yourself?”

“Oh, shut up.” Keith rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was evident.

“You’re off to a great start here, buddy.”

“Can you just”—Keith smacked a hand over his face—“come in again?” He gritted his teeth. “Please?”

The smug smile on Lance’s face only grew at Keith’s ridiculous request, but he complied nevertheless. After all, what was a Paladin if not a servant of the people? So Lance backed out of the room, then reopened the hangar doors, and walked in again as if he hadn’t already seen the surprise (and doing a far better acting job than Shiro had before).

Lance feigned a gasp. “Keith! You did all this for me? With zero help?”

Keith looked like he wanted to punch Lance. But also sort of like he wanted to kiss him? “Listen,” Keith laughed. “Lance, I love you.” 

Lance stopped dead in his tracks. He was not expecting his leader to be so direct.

Keith went on, “I want to survive this war so you can come back into space with me and do our humanitarian or alienitarian or whatever—I just want you there! I want to explore the stars with you. I want you to watch my back so you don’t become Kosmo’s sole guardian … no matter how much Kosmo may want that.” Keith’s face melted into a soft smile. “No one’s got my back out there better than you. Please, just let me love you.” He picked a flower up off the ground and held it out. “I want to love you.” 

Once again, Keith had done the impossible by almost rendering Lance speechless. But he swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke anyway. “Keith, I want to explore the stars with you too … especially the ones you’re going to see tonight after I’m done with you.”

Lance couldn’t stop himself from making a dumb joke. It earned him a smack on the shoulder from Keith, but Lance caught his hand and just held it. 

“I love you too, Keith.” 

In response, Keith pumped his fist. Literally pumped his fist like he just won a sports game. It was, unfortunately, very endearing to Lance. 

“I miss you so much when you’re gone,” Lance continued. “Just the sound of your footsteps—which I recognize now, by the way—is enough to brighten my day. It's embarrassing, but lying next to you these past two nights has had me waxing poetic.”

“Are you joking?” Keith smiled that crooked smile Lance loved. “Lying next to you with the starlight reflecting off your face almost had me proposing.” 

“Why don’t we start with a kiss, Kogane?”

Keith, like with most things, took zero time to think before acting. The moment the words left Lance’s mouth, Keith was pulling him in by the waist and going for it. But just as their lips touched, Keith pulled back. 

“Just to be clear, you’re not with Allura, right?” 

Lance snorted. “No.”

“Good, because sharing a bed with you is one thing, but sharing you? I’d sooner side with Zarkon.”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh at that. A full on, throw your head back belly laugh. Keith Kogane being genuinely funny was not on his space bingo card, but then again, neither was Keith loving him back. 

Keith’s eyes were practically glowing as they watched Lance laugh at his joke. Then he pulled Lance in again and kissed him for real. Each move was slow and thoughtful. Nothing like the impulsive Red Paladin Lance was used to. The fact that Keith was taking his time to make his Right Hand Man feel good had butterflies erupting in Lance’s stomach. If they weren’t kissing Lance would be swooning. 

Keith pulled back and leaned their foreheads together, placing a hand on Lance’s cheek. “I was so afraid when I saw you with Allura yesterday that I’d missed my chance,” he breathed. 

“Sadly, Allura and I mostly bonded over the fact that she was heartbroken over Lotor and I was heartbroken over you.” Lance leaned into Keith’s touch. “And at this point, I think for me it will always be you.” 

Lance turned his head to place a chaste kiss on the palm of Keith’s hand. It made Keith blush something fierce. (He was, surprisingly, a big sap. Although Lance always had his suspicions about that, so all this was very vindicating for him.)

Keith’s face hardened, as if he was determined to win their War of Wooing. “Yeah well, I had two years to think about it, and I came to the conclusion that you’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

With that, Keith pulled Lance into a very romantic dip.

For a moment, Lance was stunned. But then all he could do was smile like a dope. 

“Did you practice that move in the Quantum Abyss with your doggy or your mommy?” Lance teased. He couldn’t help it, even if he was in love with Keith, Lance will always tease him.

“I will drop you,” Keith shot back.

“No you won’t.”

Keith sighed. “No, I won’t.”

Lance laced his fingers behind Keith’s neck and just admired him. The hotshot pilot from the Garrison was doing big romantic gestures and melting at Lance’s every word. It felt like a dream. But it was real. In his dreams, Lance always woke up before they kiss. Not that he dreams about kissing Keith … often. 

Lance tugged at the back of Keith’s neck, guiding his face down until their lips met. Keith happily complied, humming into the kiss and pulling Lance even closer. The fact that Keith was still fully holding Lance’s weight in the dip was impressive to say the least—as if he needed another reason to be hot.

Lance’s competitive nature took over. He wanted to give Keith another reason to find him hot, so Lance bit his leader’s lip. Which yielded satisfying results as it pulled a gasp from Keith. 

The two of them were so lost in their make out session that they barely noticed as the hangar doors hissed open. Lance forced himself to stop so he could see who it was, whereas Keith couldn’t have cared less that they’d been walked in on. He even let out a whine when Lance turned away.

It was Shiro who walked in through the sliding doors. “Just wanted to make sure you two didn’t kill one anoth—”

He froze when he saw the intimate moment he was interrupting. Shiro immediately turned to leave, but at that moment the doors slid shut so he just walked face first into them. Lance had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Keith did not offer Shiro the same grace and laughed outright. 

Shiro stared at the door for a few moments, then spun around and tried to play it off. “Oh, hey guys!”

He went to wave at them with his metal arm, which was gone, so only the nub of his shoulder moved. He suddenly realized his mistake and waved with the other hand instead. A very normal interaction. 

“Glad to see you’re”—Shiro swallowed— “co-piloting well.”

Lance almost choked at that. “Co-piloting?” 

Keith looked disappointed, but not surprised. “Can you believe this man bagged Adam? The hottest professor at the Garrison?”

Shiro stared blankly at Keith and Lance’s compromising position for a moment and frowned. “When you two get married I want to be Lance’s Best Man. He’s nicer.” Then he turned and hit the button to open the doors. He waited until they fully slid open to avoid further accidents, then gingerly stepped through.

“Bye, Shiro!” Lance called after him. “Always a pleasure.” 

“Just go back to kissing,” Shiro replied, defeated. 

The doors hissed closed behind him and they were alone again.

Lance stepped out of Keith’s dip, opting for the less romantic option of just standing beside him. He would’ve loved to see how long Keith could hold him like that, but Lance’s back was starting to hurt. Keith, though, was not ready to let go, making sure to keep one hand on Lance’s body at all times while he moved. 

“So”—Lance smiled at Keith. Keith smiled right back—“I love you and you love me. Now what?”

“Well for starters, you’re sleeping in my room tonight.” Keith squeezed the hand pressed firmly to Lance’s hip. “Otherwise, Kosmo will miss you.”

“Oh, so it’s Kosmo who wants me in your bed?”

“Exactly.” That playful glint appeared Keith’s eyes. “It’s definitely not me who wants you in my bed tonight.” He pulled Lance in by the waist. “And maybe every night after that too.” 

Lance kind of liked the sound of that. So there was only one thing left to ask. “What do you say, Keith?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows. “Will you be my co-pilot?”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh. Keith, on the other hand, looked back at him with full seriousness. Those amethyst eyes burning with a passion reserved only for Lance. 

“It has a nice ring to it.” Keith smirked, gently cupping Lance’s chin. “Lance and Keith, neck and neck, hand in hand.”

Notes:

(Don't worry, Coran forgives Keith after he promises Coran can be the flower girl at his and Lance's wedding.)

Thanks for reading this far. As always, it's a pleasure to share the Klance visions that plague me with you.

For anyone who enjoyed this, I'm linking below a few of my favorite fics / fics that inspired this one by other amazing writers on AO3. Think of it like at the end of a Netflix movie when they suggest similar titles. Enjoy! (However, if it's 3 am please add them to your reading list and go to bed now.)

Nightmares - by Trashness
https://archiveofourown.org/works/7813126

Things We've Never Said - by casastella
https://archiveofourown.org/works/16598132

The Dark, Wide Open - by taylortot
https://archiveofourown.org/works/44639812

Tell Me Again, Do You Love Me? - by hiuythn
https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120222