Work Text:
Keith was never one for parties. He hated everything about them. They were too crowded, too loud, everyone was too drunk, too touchy. No one knew what personal space was once the alcohol broke out, at least, in his experience.
But this was different and he wasn’t allowed to skip it. Voltron had been formally invited to a party of celebration, thrown ‘specially’ for them.
Keith tried to reason with Allura by explaining that no one would even notice if he was missing, so he could just stay on the castle. She was having none of that.
She doubled down, talking about how ‘imperative’ it was that he made an appearance, as if he was important.
“I just don’t understand. Between Shiro and Lance, no one if going to notice me anyways. Shiro’s the leader and Lance is-” He stopped himself before he could say anything too revealing of his true feelings. “Lance is Lance. If there’s a party, he’s front and center, all eyes on him. No one is going to notice me.”
“You’ve been personally requested. So yes, Keith, they’ll notice.”
“What? Requested by who?” Allura had hesitated and Keith noticed immediately. “By who, Princess?”
Allura smiled and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well actually, you’re not too far off with that guess. The, uh, the King of that planet has requested that you make time to speak with his daughter.”
The King?
Everyone had the table had gone quiet. They weren’t talking before, trying to not interrupt, but now there wasn’t even the sound of utensils against plates.
“What does the Princess want with Keith?”
“Lance.” Shiro was giving him a warning to not start an argument.
Allura shrugged innocently. “He didn’t say what they wanted. Keith will just have to find out for himself.”
Keith scoffed. As if he wanted to spend his night sucking up to some overly privileged Princess and her daddy all night. “This is bullshit.”
“Keith-” Now he was the one getting the warning.
“Whatever.” He stood from the table abruptly and made his exit. He hadn’t gotten to eat much of his breakfast, but it was fine, he had lost his appetite anyways.
Keith went straight to the training deck after that. He pulled his hair back and put it in a bun at the base of his neck. A few strands fell out here and there, but he couldn’t be bothered to fix it.
He began the training simulator, activating his Bayard, and making easy work of the bots.
The bots got harder as he progressed through the levels, but he was used to that by now. His highest record was the level before the last and Keith was determined to completely beat it one day. He couldn’t wait to see Coran and Allura’s face as he asks them to upgrade it because the first one was too easy (it isn’t, but he’ll tease them anyways). He was so close.
He moved quickly, rolling, dodging, and slicing through the bots. It was only slightly difficult at this point but Keith was still all too familiar with this level. The bots changed how they moved, so you couldn’t memorize their attack, but still they were easy to predict once you’ve fought against them as many time as Keith has.
Eventually, Keith made his way to last level. He was exhausted at this point and his shirt was clinging to him from sweat. Still, he was determined. He would kill this thing today, he had decided.
He moved quickly, despite his body screaming at him. He was too tired to be rolling around anymore, but he still managed to dodge without too much of a problem.
The bots managed to get a couple hits on him and it frustrated him to no end. His mind was still moving as fast as ever and was easily predicting the bots movements, but his body wasn’t moving fast enough. He was getting hit with attacks he had seen coming and it made him want to scream.
So he pushed himself to move faster. Limbs threatening to fall off but he didn’t listen to them. There was sweat falling in his eyes, stinging, but he couldn’t afford the time to wipe it away. His vision blurred, giving up on himself, but he pushed anyways. His eyes closed at some point and he had to rely on the movements of the air to predict the attacks.
His skin tingled, goosebumps raising on the back of his neck, and he listened. He turned around quickly, slicing through air relentlessly until his bayard finally made contact with the metal. He heard the bots fall, defeated, and quickly turned for the next attack. He waited, but the air was still. There wasn’t any movement around him.
He had done it.
“Simulation complete. All levels have been beaten.”
Keith had barely registered the computers voice before falling to his knees and letting his bayard retract.
“Holy shit. You beat it.”
Keith didn’t open his eyes, couldn’t without them stinging, but he knew that voice belonged to Lance.
Keith didn’t waste his breath on answering, panting heavily. He almost couldn’t believe it himself. He had been working on beating it since they first got to castle, and now he had finally done it.
The air moved next to him again and he reacted instinctually, grabbing the arm that was headed for his face.
He heard a breath hitch, even over the sound of his own panting, and then, “Keith, hey, it’s just me.”
He let his grip loosen before dropping his hand completely.
“This is probably going to be cold, okay?”
Keith wasn’t sure what the hell he was talking about but he nodded anyways. They were long past their hatred for eachother and Keith knew he could trust him.
Slowly, there was a hand on his chin, moving his face to look up even though he couldn’t see. Then there was cold water being poured on his face and the fabric of Lance’s shirt wiping it away quickly.
“Once more, but try to open your eyes just slightly when you feel the water.”
Keith obeyed, waiting for the water and then cracking his eyes. The stinging dissipated and Lance dried his face again.
“That better?”
Keith blinked his eyes open and waited for them to re-focus before nodding. His breath slowly came back to him so he was panting less now.
Lance was smiling at him. Not his usually smirk, or a cocky grin, but a genuine smile.
“You fucking beat it Keith!”
Keith couldn’t help but smile back. Lance knew how long Keith had been working towards this goal and he sounded proud.
“H-how..” Keith tested his voice, but it was still strained. He didn’t sound the best, a bit groggy and broken, but he still pushed through it. “How long.. were you standing there?”
Lance shrugged, as if he wasn’t sure, but then answered anyways. “Pretty much the whole time? Mm.. yeah the whole time.”
He left breakfast right after me?
“You didn’t eat?”
“You didn’t either.”
Keith shook his head at that. It was fair, but still. “You need to eat.”
“Whatever, just drop it, okay?” It wasn’t until Lance dropped his hand from Keith’s cheek, that he realized it had remained there this whole time. Even after his eyes were cleaned off. “Here.” Lance was handing Keith his water bottle. Keith gladly accepted it, and took a drink. “You’ll have to get the training footage later and show everyone. I can’t believe you were fighting with your eyes closed. Seriously, Kogane, are you trying to raise the standards for the rest of us?”
Keith smiled, albeit a bit cocky. “As if you could ever.”
Lance snorted. “Well obviously not, I have a gun Keith.”
“No, idiot. I’m not talking about your bayard, just some hand to hand sparing. I could teach you. It could be useful in case you’re ever in a bind.”
“Sure, okay, that could be fun. But not today. You need a shower and we have a party to go to.”
Keith groaned at that. “Please don’t remind me. I don’t want to do all of that bullshit.”
Lance laughed and then held a hand out to help Keith up. “What? Flirting with a Princess all night to appease her planet is bullshit?”
“Yes.”
Lance wrapped Keith’s arm around his shoulder and helped him walk. “Well.. it’s just one night and then it’ll be over, right?”
Keith nodded and then let himself lean more into Lance.
The party was in an hour now and Keith was having some problems with the outfit Allura wanted him to wear. He thought he looked utterly ridiculous.
After his shower, he had returned to his room to find a bag placed neatly on his bed. Inside was a black tux with a red bow tie and pocket square. Never in his life has Keith had to wear a tux and he didn’t want to wear one now.
At past parties, the team just wore their combat suits, representing Voltron. And that was fine with Keith. He liked his fight suit, he was used to it by now, but a tux was ridiculous.
With a groan of annoyance, Keith reluctantly got dressed. The tux fit fine, though he was unsure how Aura knew his measurements, but still Keith didn’t like the way it felt. Maybe it was the fabric or just the way it hugged his body in certain parts, but he was hating it.
Apparently Keith’s normal boots weren’t good enough because Allura had even gone through the trouble of getting him a pair of dress shoes. He groaned some more, but put them on nonetheless.
He didn’t feel like himself at all and he hated that. He felt like a fake, like he was trying to be someone he’s not.
He dug through his dresser until he found a pair of his fingerless gloves, slipping them on. He clenched and unclenched his fists, only feeling a little better.
He opened a different drawer, finding his ankle strap and couple of his small knives. He put them on, under his pant leg, and then sighed. He felt better with his stuff on, but he still hated the tux.
With his un-done bow tie in hand, Keith finally left his room. He now only had 20 minutes before the party.
Apparently he had been the last one ready, having taken forever to hate on his outfit, because when he made his way to the hangar, everyone else was already there. They were all also wearing Tuxedos, which made Keith feel slightly better about himself. Alurra was wearing a dress different from her usual one but Keith didn’t pay much attention because Lance was approaching him.
“Need some help?”
Keith didn’t really process what was said, too busy admiring the way Lance looked in his tux. It fit him like a fucking glove and somehow looked sinched at his waist. His hair was slicked back, a style that Keith hadn’t seen before, but he was loving it.
“Hm? Keith?”
Keith’s eyes snapped back to his. “Sorry, what?”
Lance frowned slightly and took the bow tie from Keith’s hand. Gently, he wrapped it around Keith collar and started tying it. “You okay?”
“No. I hate this outfit, feels weird, and I don’t want to go to this stupid party.”
Lance nodded, as if he understood. “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. You go to the party, find the Princess, and talk for.. mm an hour? And then I will come and get you, fake an emergency, and we’ll leave, okay?” Lance finished the bow and let his hands fall slightly, resting on Keith’s chest. “Sound good?”
They were so close now, faces less than 5 inches apart. Keith could feel himself leaning in slightly. Lance’s eyes widened, but he made no move to pull away.
“Lance.. I-”
Both boys flinched as there was suddenly a high pitched gasp. “Keith! What are you wearing??”
Lance pulled back and stepped to the side, allowing Allura to come into view.
“I’m wearing the stupid tux that you gave me.”
She shook her head disappointingly. “Not that, that!” She motioned to his gloves. “Take them off.”
Keith brought his hands closer to his own chest, rubbing at the gloves nervously. “What? No.”
“Allura, he’s fine-” Lance tried to reason. And hearing him defend Keith made his head spin.
“They totally ruin the outfit, go take them off.”
“They don’t ruin anything, they’re black and blend in. You can barely even notice them.”
Why was Lance sticking up for him? He didn’t do that often. Why did he care about Keith’s stupid gloves? Or.. did he notice how much Keith cared about his stupid gloves?
“I can see them pretty plain and clear! He has to make a good impression on the Princess.”
“I don’t care about what the Princess thinks. Or what you think, for that matter.” Keith stated, frustrated that Allura didn’t seem to care about what he wanted.
“Okay, let’s stop before we say things we’ll regret.” Shiro interrupted, trying to be the voice of reason. “Allura, Keith has agreed to wear the tux and talk to the Princess, which is already out of his level of comfortability, can’t he just keep the gloves?”
Allura sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. “Yes.. I apologize Keith. I just don’t understand the significance of wearing them. Do you think they look good with the tux?”
“Well..” Keith could see Lance look at him in his peripheral. “I don’t think they necessarily look bad, but no, how they look isn’t what matters to me. They just make me feel more comfortable.”
Allura eyes shined as she looked back up. “Oh! I get it, like how Pidge wanted to wear a tux with you guys instead of matching my dress.”
“Uh.. yeah, like that. Okay can we go now?”
“…Can I braid your hair first?”
Keith paused at that. He had just showered so his hair shouldn’t be dirty. “What’s wrong with my hair..?”
Allura opened her mouth to respond but Lance beat her to it. “Nothing, aside from the mullet.” He shot Keith a playful smirk. “Let her braid it? And then we can go get this over with.”
Keith nodded and then took a seat nearby. He was almost too tall still but Allura made it work and began braiding his hair. Everyone had gathered to watch and Keith could feel the blush on his face. Lance was blushing too. Keith could see the light pink across his cheeks as he tried to keep his head still. Though he wasn’t sure why he was blushing, Keith still liked the look of it.
Allura braided with efficiency, like she had done it a million times, and she was finished rather quickly.
“Looking good, Keith!” Hunk praised with a smile.
Keith appreciated the support but the braid was yet another thing that he wasn’t used to. Without thinking, he raised a hand to feel the bumps of the pattern.
“Ah ah! Don’t touch, okay? You’ll mess it up.” Allura warned, but with a playful smile.
There wasn’t a mirror anywhere close by so Keith spared a glance at Lance for honest approval. He nodded, without comment, but that was enough.
“Okay! Whooo’s ready to party!”
Allura’s unwavering enthusiasm over nothing never ceased to amaze Keith. It was annoying but needed in some situations.
The castle landed soon after and the team exited the hangar; And although Keith was in no way excited to attend this party, he couldn’t deny how beautiful the planet was. It had two big moons with a singular sun so for 20 hours of the day, it was stuck in the pretty lighting of right after a sunset where the sky was dark and clear of clouds but also just light enough that you could see everything clearly, without needing a flashlight.
The other 4 hours of the day were absolute hell. Both moons tucked away and the sun so bright and hot. Keith decided he would avoid those hours like the plague.
Keith smiled as he looked at the moons. The party was timed perfectly.
“God, isn’t it beautiful?”
Keith tore his eyes from the sight, just to meet one better. Lance was staring up at the moon too.
“Sorry?”
Lance smiled. “The moons. They’re beautiful, right?”
Keith couldn’t take his eyes off of Lance, but he agreed anyways. “Yeah.” You are, he wanted to say. He almost did. He almost gave in and let the words slip right off his tongue, before a hand landed on his shoulder and grounded him to reality.
“Ready to go in?” It was Shiro asking the question, and finally Lance wasn’t looking at the moons, and Keith wasn’t looking at Lance.
Keith nodded measily and shrugged the hand off his shoulder as he started walking. He didn’t want to be grounded in reality. He wanted to lose himself in the beauty that was Lance. The beauty the was two feet behind him and he could turn around and look at. He didn’t. He kept walking as if nothing was wrong. As if he wasn’t contemplating ruining everything by grabbing him by his tux and kissing him senseless.
Upon entering the planet’s gala, Keith was immediately smacked in the face by loud music and a crowd of people dancing. The room looked packed, as if every alien on the planet was attending. Instinctually, Keith immediately turned around to walk away, but Lance placed his hand on his shoulder and casually spun him back around. “Nope. C’mon Keith.” He left his arm slung across Keith’s shoulders as they entered. Keith didn’t shrug it off.
“I don’t want to be here Lance. I want to go home.”
Lance kept them walking, off to the side of the room near a table of beverages. “Earth?”
Keith scoffed, but with no actual offense. “I don’t have a home on Earth. I meant the castle- the ship- I want to go polish Red.”
Lance’s grip on his shoulder tightened. “Red is fine Keith, you cleaned her yesterday, and- well I’m sorry about Earth.”
At that, Keith did shrug off his arm. “Don’t do that. Don’t apologize for something that isn’t your fault. I don’t need pity.”
“It’s not pity. I-“ He sighed out a breath. “Okay let’s talk about something else. Why do you hate partying so much?”
Keith scoffed and folded his arms crossed his chest. “Are you kidding? They’re everything I despise. Big crowds, loud noises, lots of touching- it’s hell.”
Lance hummed, as if he was considering his words. “I can understand that. But parties can also be fun. Letting go, drinking, dancing, just letting loose. Sometimes it can be a nice distraction from life.”
“Maybe a party of just friends. Maybe if we were all drinking at the castle.” Keith’s eyes scanned the large room, taking note of a few particular aliens. “But not here. Not anywhere with strange lifeforms. I’m not drinking a single thing and I’m definitely not dancing with one of them.”
Lance smirked, looking to the crowd to avoid his eyes. “Would you dance with me? If we partied at the castle? Just us paladins.”
Keith hesitated- not to think of his answer- but to decided whether he wanted Lance to hear it. He sighed. “I’d dance with you at the castle,” he softened his voice, almost hoping Lance wouldn’t hear him. “Or here. Anywhere really.”
Lance turned to him, wearing a soft expression with a hint of surprise. “Keith-“
“Keith! There you are!” Allura came bouncing happily. She grabbed Keith’s hand and he momentarily let her. “You disappeared! But that’s okay, I found the Princess and she’s very excited to speak with you.” She began dragging him away.
Keith missed the rest of Lance’s sentence. And he missed the look of jealous that crossed his face.
Allura continued to pull him through the crowd. She had a tight hold on his hand but Keith actually appreciated that for once. He would hate to get lost among the sea of people; That was probably his worst nightmare. He squeezed her hand back.
They pushed through the last of the crowd and reached an opening. There stood the king with a young girl on his arm. Objectively, she was pretty. She was tall, taller than Allura but not taller than Keith, and she had long, curly, brunette hair. Her dress was cut at her thighs, low cut at the top, and it was blue. Keith didn’t care about any other details. He could pick her out in a lineup and that’s the line he drew for every stranger when it came to details.
“Princess! This is Keith. He’s our swordsman and the paladin of the red lion.”
The woman bowed in greeting, which Keith wasn’t sure if he needed to copy. “Keith.” He stupidly stated his name, as if Allura hadn’t just introduced him. He reached a hand out, which was a huge step for Keith, but the Princess only eyed it, awkwardly.
“I am unsure what to do with that.”
Keith mentally facepalmed at his idiocy. “Sorry, just an Earth custom.” He dropped his hand.
Allura let go of his other hand and politely excused herself as she left. Great. So now Keith was alone.
The princess approached him and hooked her arm with his, her hand groping at his bicep. “It’s a great pleasure to finally meet you, Keith. I’m Princess Fyla and I’ve heard wonderful things about you.” She began walking and the King made no comment.
Keith didn’t protest the walking, like he wanted to, and he didn’t rip his arm away, like he desperately wanted to. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”
She smiled brightly as they reached a table. It was different from the one he was at with Lance, It looked fancier.
“May I offer you a drink, Keith?”
Keith did not trust a single alien in this building and he definitely didn’t trust any of their offered beverages. “No, but thank you.”
She frowned and eyed the drinks before eventually moving on. They began walking again. “So tell me about yourself, Keith. I’d like to get to know you better.”
Keith hated that idea. He didn’t want anyone to know anything about him. “Um, there’s not really much to tell.”
“Oh come on now! There’s gotta be something.”
Keith sighed. “Um, I don’t know, I like birds.” He lied. “But I don’t know if you even know what that is.”
She smiled and nodded. “We have birds.”
“Sure.” Keith agreed plainly.
The conversation was painful, so painful, but Keith persevered. He told her a bunch of random facts about himself, all of which he lied about, and answered all of her questions. She was nosy, and invasive, and Keith hated feeling open to someone, even if he was just telling lies. He hated that she thought he was opening up to her, like she had earned the right to know anything about him.
They continued walking, the building was fucking huge, but Keith was glad that the noise had died down as they entered an empty hallway.
“You’re a very interesting person, Keith.”
Keith smiled, a genuine smile, because he realized he was finally good at lying. Lance used to tease him about it; About how terrible he was at hiding his emotions. He said his face was too expressive. It felt good to hear, because that meant Lance knew him. Anyone else would argue that Keith was hard to read and always wore a deadpanned expression. But not Lance. Lance could read him like an open book, and Keith let him, most of the time.
“Um interesting isn’t exactly the word I would use, but thanks.”
She smiled brightly. “Well what word would you use?”
Gay. Frustrated. Annoyed. Take your pick.
“I don’t know, actually. I guess interesting is good enough.”
She smiled, fondly. Her hand groped at his bicep again. “Well, I also think you’re very handsome.”
Keith gave a curt nod. “Thank you.”
“So what’s it like being in Voltron? Do you enjoy it?”
And for the first time since they started talking, Keith actually felt the desire to be honest. A smile formed on his face without permission. “Yeah, actually. To be honest, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else anymore. There’s the Blades, I guess, but Voltron has become like my family, you know? Shiro is actually my family but Hunk and Pidge feel like siblings too. Hunk always makes sure everyone is fed and is always looking out for us emotionally. Whereas Pidge is just a little shit head. She’s always teasing me and making terrible jokes, but Lance said that’s just what little sisters do- or uh, shit. Little siblings do? I’m not sure how they’re feeling today.” Keith knew he should probably just leave it at that, but he couldn’t help himself. “And Coran sometimes feels like our crazy uncle or maybe grandpa. He’s always telling these really boring stories, but they bring him joy, so we let him. I don’t really understand what he’s talking about half the time, but it’s better than silence. And I don’t really know what it feels like to have a mom, but if I had one, I imagine she’d probably act like Allura does. Shiro’s our leader but Allura is always the one calling the shots, and she scolds us when we do something wrong.”
Before he had time to question his words, the princess was encouraging him forward. “And Lance?”
Keith smiled fondly. “Lance. Lance is just.. Lance. So unapologetically Lance. That alone is probably the most perfect description I can give you, but.. Lance is the heart of team. He unknowingly keeps everyone going and brings a certain moral to the group. He’s our sharpshooter. I’ve never seen him miss- actually,” Keith couldn’t stop the laugh that slipped out of his mouth. “He once came out of a concussion induced coma and made a life-saving shot, while half deliriously. Then he passed back out immediately after. He’s- god- he’s perfect. In every sense of the word.”
The walking paused and Keith noticed they were standing in front of a door. “The way you speak of your family is admirable Keith.”
Keith was about to brush it off, say it’s nothing, but she was kissing him before he could. Forced, but not necessarily rough, lips pressed against his. Keith was frozen, every trace of his previous smile was lost and he felt like throwing up. His heartbeat jumped to an almost fatal rate and his fingers itched to move. He wanted to push her off- shove her to the ground- but he couldn’t.
He was a guy. A very strong, guy. He’s a swordsman, a paladin of Voltron- he’s killed men before. But for some reason, here, under her lips, he was frozen. Unable to control his body the way he wanted to and that freaked him out more than anything.
Then she pulled back. “Okay Keith, I’ve decided you’re worthy.”
Keith finally took his arm back, his step faltering as he tried to take a step back. “S-s-” He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say. He panted slightly, trying to reset his breath, his adrenaline still pumping.
She grabbed his hand, excitedly. “No, don’t apologize! This is a fantastic thing, Keith!”
Keith watched as her hand slid up his arm slowly. “W-what?”
Her smile grew as she batted her eyelashes and her other hand moved to rub against Keith’s chest. “You’ll get the honor of de-flowering the Princess!”
“Excuse me?” Keith ripped his arm from hers and his glove came off with the motion, staying in her hand. Fuck. What the fuck.
“On my planet, the king chooses the greatest warrior known to de-flower and marry the Princess. I am the current Princess and you, Keith, are the best warrior we know!”
Keith couldn’t help but let his face contort in disgust as he took another step back. “Marry!? I-I’m not marrying you. I don’t even know you.” Would she force him to do this too? Like she forced the kiss? Keith couldn’t breathe.
She smiled, unfazed by his protest or his obvious panic. Her hands reached out again, landing on Keith’s chest again, and moving up and down.
“You’ll get to know me more throughout our marriage! Perhaps a drink would help, yes?”
Keith had enough. He was about three seconds away from pulling out his fucking knife. “I am not-“
“Keith!!” Keith turned around to see Lance jogging up to him. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere man.” Lance slowed, eyeing Keith up in down as he tried to read the situation. “Hey, what’s going on?”
Keith wanted to hide behind him or grab his hand and run away. The princess grabbed his arm again before he could.
“Oh paladin of Voltron! Keith has just de-flowered the Princess and will now commence in a ceremony of our marriage!”
WHAT? Is she fucking insane? There’s no way Lance would believe that, right?
But then Keith watched as his face completely fell and something that resembled hurt flashed across it. “You- what?”
And Keith panicked. “N-no, I didn’t!” He shoved Fyla off of him and took a few steps closer to Lance. “I swear I didn’t. Lance-“
But then Fyla opened her big fat, lying, mouth. “Oh, Keith, when you said to keep it a secret, I didn’t know you meant from the fellow paladins as well. I humbly apologize.”
And Keith couldn’t help but glare at her angrily as his heart rate spiked to a million. “What the fuck are you doing? Why are you doing this to me?”
“K-Keith.” And Keith turned around to see Lance with the most devastating look he had ever had the displeasure of seeing written all over his face. There were tears in his eyes and Keith didn’t understand why he was so upset but he hated that he was.
He moved to step closer to him but Lance actually took a step back. “Lance, she’s lying, I didn’t- I would never- you know how much I didn’t even want to be here.” There were tears forming in his own eyes and he fought them back as he whipped back around to yell at Fyla. “Tell him you’re lying. Tell him!”
She flinched, and so did Lance, but neither of them spoke. Keith wanted to bang his head against the wall, he wanted to pull his knife and-.
The tears fell, rolling down his cheek, and Keith felt like he stuck between a rock and a hard place. “Lance. Please.”
Lance moved, like he had been frozen and was now finally thawed. He wiped at his own tears aggressively and then nodded. “It’s fine. Whatever. It’s fine. Are you ready to go Keith? It’s been an hour.”
“W-what do you mean it’s whatever? You- you believe me, don’t you?”
Lance hesitated. He hesitated and Keith felt more tears fall. “I want to, and I’ve never seen you cry before.. b-but.. she has your glove, and you never take those off unless you’re naked.”
“Are you serious?” Yes, Keith only took them off to shower, but Lance’s theory didn’t even make sense. If Keith did have sex, his gloves would probably stay on unless the other person took them off. Unless Lance took them off.
“Keith, her lipstick is on your mouth.”
With wide eyes and a racing heart, Keith wiped at his mouth aggressively. His sleeve came away with a bright red streak across it. And with that, Keith did draw his knife. And he pointed it right at Fyla. And she screamed, because of course she did. “Tell him.”
“Woah- Keith, put the-“
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”
And Keith turned, again, to see Shiro, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge running up to them.
“Lance you disappeared and-“
“Keith what are you doing-“
And Keith snapped. All of his frustration and annoyance and anger, all of it, was suddenly Allura’s fault.
He kept his knife pointed where it was, he would never threaten Allura, but he raised his voice at her. “Did you know?! Did you know about the sex and ceremony? How could you put me in that position!?”
Allura froze in her steps and her face completely fell. “What are you talking about?”
Keith’s eyes fell to the floor and his heart wouldn’t stop pounding in his chest. “I’m going crazy. I’m actually going insane- this has to be a bad dream.”
A hand grabbed his and he flinched but then his eyes locked on Lance’s and he willingly handed over his knife. “I get it now, okay? I’m sorry, just try to calm down.”
Shiro’s voice boomed in the empty hallway and he didn’t even have to raise his voice. “Keith. What’s going on?”
Keith acknowledged that Shiro was talking to him but his eyes didn’t leave Lance. Lance who was still holding his hand, the knife resting gently between them. “She wanted me to have sex with her, and when I said no, she told Lance that we did it anyways. A-and.. she kissed me.”
Allura screeched and her heels clicked as she approached Fyla. “You conniving little- you said you wanted to hold a ceremony to honor him for his bravery.”
“I-it is! Marrying the princess is the highest ceremony of honor that we have!”
Allura let out a noise a frustration and then turned her back on her. “We’re leaving. At once, come on, move it.”
Pidge and Hunk scrambled, moving quickly to follow her.
Shiro followed but hung back, waiting for Lance and Keith.
Lance took the knife completely and let Keith’s hand fall out of his. Then, with one hand, he wiped away his tears for him. “You ready to go home?” Keith nodded, wordlessly, and Lance turned to face the princess. “Glove.” He held his hand out demandingly.
Fyla hesitated and then handed it to him.
“Let’s go.” And Lance grabbed his hand and led him through the hallway.
Allura waited in the main room for the rest of them, and then led the group out. She ignored every alien that tried to stop them and pushed her way through.
They boarded the hangar and Keith wasn’t sure what he wanted to do first. He wanted to kiss Lance. He wanted to apologize for yelling at Allura. But most importantly, he decided, he wanted to get the fuck out of that stupid tux.
He focused on that instead, clawing at his bow tie, and ripping it off his neck. He threw it to the floor then worked on the buttons of his vest.
“Keith,” It was Allura. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. They said they wanted to honor you- to celebrate your accomplishments- I didn’t-“
Keith didn’t spare her a glance as he finally shucked off his vest, dropping it to the floor in a newly-formed pile, he wasn’t even sure if he could actually hear what she saying.
“Keith-“
God why couldn’t he breathe? The fucking vest was off. He pulled out his hair tie, dropping it, before ruffling his hair free of the braid.
The shoes were kicked off next and then his hands were grabbed before he could unbutton his shirt.
Lance was there. Lance was always there.
And now he was holding his hand and slipping his glove back on. He looked Kieth in his eyes, studying his face, before slowly letting go. Then, he squatted down and rolled up Keith’s pant leg before returning his knife to the sheath that laid there.
When he stood, he had a smile on his face. Not a smirk, or his usual cocky grin, a genuine smile. “You’re okay. Right? You okay?”
To avoid kissing him right then and there, Keith threw his attention to Allura instead. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”
Allura looked surprised. “What? No, Keith, you have no reason to be apologizing right now. I’m sorry for-“
His attention was back on Lance because Lance had grabbed his hand again. And he was still looking at him with that smile.
“Lance-“
“Hey, we’re going to fall in for the night, okay? Keith, can we talk tomorrow?”
He sent a nod Shiro’s way and watched as they all left the hangar. Pidge tried to linger behind but Hunk pulled them along.
“Lance, you know I would never do that, right? Just sleep with some random alien?”
Lance’s smile fell but the hold on his hand tightened.
“I’m sorry about that, I-I just kind of panicked and obviously that didn’t make things any easier for you so-“
“Lance.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you panic? Why would you care if I had slept with her?”
Lance’s eyes widened slightly, and his hold loosened, but he didn’t slip away completely. Lance’s eyes bounced between his own, trying to read him, and Keith let him.
Smiling slightly, Lance countered with his own questions. “Why did you care that I know the truth? Why are you so adamant about me knowing you would never do that?”
Keith shrugged and the truth rolled off his tongue with ease. “I didn’t want you to think I liked her. Your turn.”
Lance smiled, brightly. “No not my turn, that was only a half-answer. Why didn’t you want me to think that?”
Keith sighed, hesitating. He didn’t want to be the first to admit to it, even if he was pretty sure that Lance felt the same way. “I swear, Lance, if you start avoiding me after this-“
“I won’t.”
With a newfound confidence, Keith raised his other hand to hold Lance’s cheek. “I like you-“
And he didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Lance was pressing his lips against his.