Chapter Text
He never could hit him. Each time Lance tried, Keith blocked him. It was infuriating. Nothing Lance did could break through his defence. Not here, anyway. Other places, maybe-- Lance had this odd feeling around him sometimes, like maybe he’d want to get Keith to open up to him… But the harsh kick to his side brought him back to this, their training session. Lance swung for Keith’s side in retaliation, hissing through his sharpened teeth, but all he hit was air.
Before he knew it, Lance was down on the mat, Keith’s legs clamped solidly around his head in a chokehold. A few ticks passed while Lance tried to squirm his way out of Keith’s hold, but he ended up having to tap out of it. Keith released him, still breathing heavily. Lance sat up and huffed, glancing at Keith.
“Do you always have to one-up me, man?” he hissed Keith’s way.
Keith shot him a look of skepticism and then rolled his eyes.
“That’s the last thing I’m trying to do, Lance. Besides, you need to work on your fighting anyway. You fight like you learned on the street against early-model sentries,” the younger man said, sitting up.
Lance kept his mouth shut; of course, Keith had hit the nail right on the head... Not that he’d let him know that.
Keith reached off of the mat to grab his canteen, taking a swig before offering some to Lance. Out of utter embarrassment, Lance just grabbed it from his hand. He noticed his rudeness and muttered a quick, “Thanks,” before taking a hasty drink of water.
...
Keith watched him drink, unbeknownst to the older man, and let his heart stutter. His galra disguise was still a little off, but Keith could appreciate his effort. The curl of his hair at the nape of his neck almost certainly outed his disguise, but Keith felt so… drawn to it. As if-- he would touch it of he wasn’t so aggravated by Lance half the time. Honestly, Lance probably thought worse of him, but Keith wouldn’t let it slip that he wasn’t too bothered by the Altean.
Before Keith could truly appreciate the view, Lance was done and handing back Keith’s canteen. Their fingers brushed and Keith flinched minutely, his heartbeat fluttering in his chest for no warranted reason. Lance paid his movements no mind, shy eyes not even looking at the Galran rebel.
“You know, I’m just… trying to help you,” Keith said, turning his eyes away from the altean man.
Lance let a scoff slip out of his mouth and he said, “Are you?”
Keith rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Lance’s.
“ Yes, you big idiot,” Keith laughed airily.
Lance shot him a hurt look, and Keith stopped abruptly.
“I mean-- I was kidding, Lance, I didn’t mean that seriously , honest,” Keith said, mind stumbling over his mistake. How could he have said that--
Lance’s expression softened and he offered a tiny smile. It fell as he looked away, but he didn’t say anything more about it.
“Let’s just keep sparring,” he said, standing.
Keith watched him stand, eyebrows raising when a hand was offered to him. He took it and Lance pulled him to his feet. A smirk found itself on Keith’s face and he nodded.
“Alright, if you’re in such a hurry to lose again…”
--
Lance was startled out of his thoughts by pounding on his door.
“Just a tick!” he barked, stomping over to the door.
When it slid open at his touch, his eyes widened and he backed up slightly.
“Uh-- Kolivan! Is it time already? For us to meet, I mean,” Lance asked, clearly ruffled.
“Is this a bad time…?” the gruff Galra asked skeptically.
“No-- no! I was just… in my head, sorry. You’re here to discuss Pidge’s plan?” Lance said as he motioned for Kolivan to enter.
“Yes. She told me you were willing to take the mission despite any misgivings you have for the captured.”
Lance nodded and closed the door behind him.
“I’ll let her know you’re here. She shouldn’t be too long,” he said, grabbing his communicator and sending Pidge a quick message.
The silence stretched between the two, and Lance fidgeted constantly. He felt compelled to tell Kolivan that he didn’t hate Keith, necessarily, and that he wanted him back among their ranks as much as he did, but somehow, it felt… wrong? It wasn’t the time for him to talk about himself, no. That could come later, after the whole plan had been worked out and they knew what they were doing. Lance hoped Kolivan knew he didn’t want Keith hurt, but the way Kolivan stared at his feet told him his anxiety surrounding this mission was immense.
“I… I know you wanna get him back, but I need to do this. Besides, they need you back here,” Lance spoke up after a tick too long of quiet.
Kolivan glanced up at Lance’s face and he sighed.
“You read people like an Altean,” the older Galra huffed.
Lance blinked and blurted, “ Huh? ”
Kolivan rolled his eyes.
“You know, you should work on that. Galra don’t usually analyze people unless they really care about them. Alteans were… open books, always wanting to help others… Your uncle was crazy about helping people,” he explained, waving his hand dismissively.
Lance swallowed hard and said, “I didn’t know you knew , Kolivan.”
Kolivan’s expression slipped into a smirk and he tapped a white claw against his jaw.
“Yeah, well, Keith told me. He speculated-- until he saw you that one time-- and as your teacher he felt I should know. That’s why I shifted your training,” he admitted.
Lance sort of stared at him, dumbfounded. What was he supposed to say to that? How had Keith found out? Lance frowned and turned his gaze to the wall, chewing his lip. Until he saw me…? A few ticks passed before realization washed over his expression.
--
It was late, and Lance was immensely tired. He’d spent a whole day training with Kolivan, and he was sure he could fall asleep just resting against some wall. He fumbled with the exit doors, feeling heavy and a little disoriented. When he realized he wasn’t going to get the door open, he just turned around and slumped against it, planning on just snoozing there until he could gather the coherence to get back home.
His plan was interrupted by the door swinging open and his body pitching backwards into the chill of the outside. Lance heard swearing as he rolled over, moving slow despite the disruption warranting a much more lively response. As he looked up, hands gripped his upper arms and yanked him to his feet. Lance blinked slowly at the person, eyesight bleary with utter exhaustion.
“Lance, what are you doing ?” the voice scolded, pushing him back into the heat of the building.
“Nappin’,” Lance mumbled, reaching up to rub away some sleepiness from his eyes.
“Augh, Lance, seriously? The doorway isn’t a place to rest,” the person huffed.
Lance could make out dark purple skin, feathery dark hair, and a glare that could kill.
“Mm. Just wanted to sleep a lil’ before I went home,” he shrugged, blinking away more of his haze.
The person-- who Lance was starting to think was Keith-- scoffed and shook their head.
“No, no, no, you--You’ve gotta stay here. It’s a long way back, and a quick nap isn’t gonna get you the energy you need. Come on, come with me,” they said, voice turning gentle towards the end.
Lance blinked a couple more times and then slurred, “You can’t be Keith, you’re being too nice.”
The person who most certainly was Keith just sighed. Now that he wasn’t a zombie, Lance could take all of him in even in a continuous state of mild sleepiness. He looked… different?
Keith rolled his eyes and pulled Lance along with him as he started walking.
“Whatever you say,” he shrugged.
They walked for a few doboshes before Lance fully understood what was going on.
“Wait! Keith, I’m really fine you don’t have to--” he blurted, though he was cut off by Keith telling him to be quiet.
Lance made a sound of protest and Keith whipped around, pressing his hand over Lance’s mouth.
“Lance, it is three in the morning and I need you to be really quiet. Kolivan will kill me if you don’t, so just… please, Lance ,” Keith breathed, his yellow-tinted gaze staring into Lance’s copycat eyes.
Lance was frozen. This was… weird. Well-- It felt weird. His heart thudded in his chest, though if he was honest, he could feel it all over his body. He felt hot, too, for some reason. He didn’t want to think about why, because if he did, he would notice that the hand over his mouth was part of the reason his heart quickened, and the other part was the intense eye contact he held with his… friend. Lance’s adam’s apple bobbed and he flicked his gaze over Keith’s face, pausing for a tick or two to watch Keith wet his lips.
Holy shit, he was tired.
Lance held up a thumbs-up, indicating that he was going to be quiet. Keith let a tiny smile sneak onto his face before he nodded and turned away, setting back on their quest to Keith’s quarters. When they got there, Keith shoved Lance inside and directed him to the couch. Lance had ragained his earlier sleepiness, so he just… sat in front of the couch and pulled off his shirt. Keith blinked at him and then huffed, “Really, Lance?”
Lance looked up at him and dropped his disguise out of utter carelessness.
Keith just… stood there, mouth falling open as if he was… surprised.
...
In the hazy purple light of Keith’s quarters, Lance looked almost ethereal, his Altean form covered in scars less noticeable in purple. A couple of scars wrapped over his arms, others sitting almost neatly along the underside of his pecs. There were a couple of gunshot scars, all puckered from healing a little strangely… Keith felt himself blink slowly at Lance as the older man drifted off leaning against the couch.
He couldn’t let him sleep like that. Not after… this. Keith crouched next to him and dared to trace the curve of Lance’s jawline. This was the real Lance. His altean features struck Keith as… well, beautiful, though he wouldn’t tell Lance that anytime soon. The markings underneath his eyes glinted slightly, and Keith felt the overwhelming urge to kiss them. He didn’t.
Keith scooped Lance up into his arms bridal style and laid him down on the couch, laying a cover over his smaller form.
--
Lance crossed his arms and grumbled, “That was an accident. He didn’t need to tell you.”
Kolivan huffed in amusement, but didn’t counter.
Lance opened his mouth to say more, but Pidge walked in right before any other excuses could tumble from his lips.
“Alright, Thace is just behind me. Let’s get planning!” she chirped.