Chapter Text
Needless to say living with demons wasn’t exactly easy, but it was an interesting change for Keith and Pidge. They ate regularly, no thanks to Lance, and they had hot running water for once. Things were nice, and the company was nice too. Keith didn’t want to admit it but he was getting a little bit comfortable even if he was just sleeping on the couch.
“Yo, samurai.” Lance joked as he plopped onto the couch beside Keith, who was cleaning his blade. “What do you say me and you hit the town tonight, Hunk mentioned a place that we could potentially find out some info on Pidge’s brother.”
“You think it’s a good idea for a hunter to go to some sort of demon club thing?” Keith asked raising an eyebrow.
“I’m not exactly welcome either, so we gotta be stealthy. Maybe we could even wear some costumes, besides I need backup I can’t just go alone!” He whined.
“Alright, fine but we leave the second anything happens I’m not looking for a whole bar of demons to want my ass, I’m already on the hitlist.”
“Tell me about it.” Lance snickered, sending Keith a small smile. “We’ll head out at 7, be ready and bring the blade just in case, that thing works miracles.”
~~~~~~
“You look ridiculous,” Keith groaned, looking at Lance who had a pair of goggles on his head and a long coat. “I’m sure they won’t know who you are, but you’ll stick out.”
“You’re the one wearing a black cape?” Lance shrieked as he pulled off the goggles. “Fine I’ll be right back.”
Keith shrugged off the black cape he had on and sat down, putting his head in his hands. Lance was something else, he really hoped this went well., the last thing he wanted was a whole bar of demons to be after them. After a few moments Keith heard Lance walk down the stairs, and when he turned around his breath hitched in his throat. Lance was wearing a leather jacket, with black jeans and a v-neck. He felt his face heat up and turned away, before he felt some clothes drop onto his lap, he looked back to see Lance giving him a small grin. He prayed that the clothes Lance picked out weren’t bad.
10 minutes later, and Keith was actually shocked. He looked himself up and down in the mirror and the red flannel jacket and jeans Lance had handed him was a weird change, but it didn’t look bad. He walked out of the bathroom, and he could’ve sworn he saw Lance cough up the water he was drinking from the corner of his eye.
“Okay, I think we are ready to go.” Lance struggled a little to get out, due to his choking a little earlier.
As they finally got up to the bar Keith parked out front and looked to Lance who was playing with his jacket. He looked a little nervous, but it was kind of cute.
“Okay, so how are we doing this?” Keith asked, breaking Lance from his haze. “Maybe we should bring up Matt in conversation and see if anyone speaks up.”
“Oh, uh yeah that could work.” Keith leaned forward a bit, and tried to get a look at Lance’s face. He could see a tint of red on his cheeks and Keith felt himself getting goosebumps. Was Lance blushing.
“Hey are you, okay?” Keith asked, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “You seem kind of off. “
“Me, never.” Lance perked up, a little louder than needed. “I’m fine let’s do this.”
Keith tilted his head a little when Lance basically ran out of the car, but shrugged. Maybe Lance was nervous to be around so many other demons. It was well known in the hunter circle that this was a demon infested bar, so they usually stayed away, unless they had a death wish.
Keith followed Lance into the bar, and when they both sat down he felt himself tense up. Not only was he at a bar, alone, with lance. But he was surrounded by demons. There really was no way to stay calm in this situation. Soon he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked over to Lance who had a concerned look on his face. He could probably tell that Keith was stressed. Being a hunter didn’t take away his fear of demons, it would always be there. He just knew how to kill them.
“We’re doing fine,” Lance whispered, squeezing his shoulder a bit. Keith gave a small smile, and ordered himself a drink. He would need some alcohol in his system to get through this night.
“So I guess they finally sent the little rat to purgatory.”
“They must of got bored with him.”
“Who the Matt kid?”
Keith’s head whipped around, and he could feel his heart pounding. Matt. Did they mean Pidge’s brother? They had to right?
“Who did they send to purgatory?” Keith looked to Lance who had butted in. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but if Matt was in purgatory… there was no way he was alive.
“Well, the king. He had kidnapped this kid a while ago. I guess he had demon blood or something. So they wanted to make him stronger, but he never cooperated.” Keith couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. The king of hell? Demon blood?
“The king?” Lance asked, his tone a bit shaky. “Why would he kidnap some kid?”
“Probably trying to find a replacement for his shitty son that decided to betray him.” The men laughed. “Not sure why he would choose a shitty human though.”
Keith felt his blood tense, but in an instant he felt Lance grabbing his arm and pulling him out. When they were outside Keith tried to ask Lance what was going on, but he simply just pulled harder until they were at the car. Keith didn’t know what was going on.
“Lance…”
“We got the information, let’s go.”
“Lance.. We need more, we should have…”
“He’s probably dead anyways.” Lance hissed, turning away from Keith. “My father wouldn’t let someone live.”
Keith froze. Did Lance just say father? Keith had a lot of questions, but for now he was just in a state of shock.
“My father is the King, he wouldn’t let someone live. He’s cruel. It’s safe to say that Matt is dead.” Lance wasn’t facing Keith, but he could see that Lance was playing with his jacket again. With a sigh he placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, finally getting him to turn and Keith felt his breath hitch when he saw tears streaming down Lance’s face.
“He took Matt to replace me… I… What are we gonna tell Pidge.. She’ll think it’s my fault.. She’ll hate me.” Keith’s eyes went wide and he squeezed Lance’s shoulder a bit. “I… I should have just stayed. I wanted to leave hell because I didn’t want to hurt people. But he won’t stop until he finds someone suitable to replace me.”
“Lance, hey.” Keith finally spoke leaning in a little closer. “Just take a deep breath, we won’t tell Pidge about this. All we have to mention is Purgatory.”
“If he’s in purgatory there is no way he’s alive Keith.” Lance admitted. “Most full blooded demons don’t even survive.”
“I don’t care, I need closure at least.”
“Keith, you aren’t going to Purgatory.” Lance spoke, his voice stern.
“I have to.”
“You’ll die.” Lance whispered. “Pidge can’t lose you too.”
“Lance I can’t just let them live without knowing.” Keith sighed and laid back into his seat. “If I don’t go they will.”
“I’m going with you then.” Lance finally got out. “You need someone who knows how to get around.”
“You’ve been to Purgatory?” Keith asked, looking to Lance who was looking away once again. Keith was beginning to realize that he knew nothing about Lance. He had no clue that Lance was the prince of hell, or that he had been to Purgatory. Lance was a closed book, but Keith wanted to open him up, he wanted to know more.
“It’s worse than hell.” Lance sighed, looking a Keith with tired eyes. “Purgatory is where demons go to die, and my father had sent me there after I had betrayed him, but I knew how to open a portal to this world. My father probably thinks I’m dead.”
“Lance..” Keith didn’t even know what to say. He saw Lance as this demon who was all jokes, but he had issues. Lance had a far more tragic past than Keith could probably ever know. “Could you even handle going back?”
“No, but I will to help you.” Lance gave a half smile and Keith could feel his heart beating in his chest. Lance was nothing like the king of hell, or other demons.
“You’re nothing like him, your father I mean.” Keith spoke as he started up the car. “You’re so much more than he will ever be.” He looked over and saw that Lance’s eyes had blown wide open. He gave a small smile and saw Lance return it from the corner of his eye. He needed Lance to know that he was different from the rest. He was special.
“I…” Keith could see that Lance was shocked, his eyes were blown wide open and he had his mouth parted. He felt his cheeks flush when Lance turned away and held a hand over his mouth. He had glad that the dark was hiding any tint that was visible on his face.
“You’re a good person, Lance.” Keith finally spoke again, this time slower and a little more cautious. His face was on fire as he stared at the back of Lance’s head. He could see his shoulders shaking and he nearly jumped when he heard a whimper. Lance had been crying before, but this was different. This was wrong. It wasn’t like him at all. Keith felt something well up in his chest, and before he could think things through he leaned over and tugged Lance into his arms. The contact was stiff at first, but soon he felt Lance exhale the breath he was holding and relax in his arms. Keith kept a hand around Lance’s shoulder as the other snaked around his waist. He could feel Lance shaking still, and the wetness spreading through his jacket but he didn’t mind. Lance didn’t deserve to be unhappy. He may be a demon, but he had proved himself to Keith. He proved he was not like the rest.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone, there was a lot of things I had to do.. That I was forced to do.” Lance spoke, shaking a little more. Keith tensed a little but soon relaxed and brought a hand up to stroke Lance’s hair. He had never been good at dealing with people, but when he was young his mother would stroke his hair and it would calm him down. “I’m a monster, and nothing will change that.”
Keith signed and leaned his head into Lance’s causing him to go stiff. His face was still burning but he was more relaxed. He was more focused on helping Lance than his own feelings and their proximity.
“You aren’t a monster for things you had no control over, you are obviously a changed person.” Keith spoke softly still playing with Lance’s hair. He felt his heart beating in his chest because he was still acutely aware of the intimacy they were sharing, but he tried to ignore it. Lance needed him right now, and he was going to be there for him with no distractions.
~~~~~
Lance's eyes watered more with every word that Keith spoke. The only person who had ever spoken to Lance like this was Hunk, but this was different. Hunk never made Lance’s face feel like it was on fire, nor did his words bring tears. Keith was a hunter. He killed demons, and he hated Lance’s kind. But here he was, holding him in his arms and comforting him. Lance knew that Keith was probably going against every fibre of his being by doing this, but he was anyways and that’s what shocked Lance. Keith was interesting, and he knew that this was the start to something bad.
There was no way that Lance could be falling for a hunter. Sure it was fun to tease him. But that was it, it was all teasing wasn’t it? Lance was starting to feel unsure. He thought back to the almost kiss they had shared and his face fired up again. This was bad, and being in Keith’s arms was only making it worse. After a few moments he finally pushed himself out of Keith’s grip and wiped his face. He was already feeling more relaxed despite the beating of his heart. Maybe he was just feeling this way because Keith was being nice to him, but when he finally met his eyes and saw the concern and worry he felt his stomach turn. He decided then that he really didn’t like to see Keith upset, so he put on the best smile he could and fixed himself up. He didn’t want Keith to worry about his problems.
“Let’s head home then.” Lance got out, leaning back into the seat. “I’m starved.” He could see Keith tilt his head in the corner of his eye, but he was soon looking straight ahead as he put the car into reverse and pulled out. Lance wasn’t going to be a burden to Keith or bug him with his problems. Lance would do what he always did and shove it down.
That always worked, right?