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His hand hovers over the empty marble surface and Keith just wants to scream.

That motherfucker.

He picks up the small yellow post-it on the middle, where his diamond is supposed to be, and his blood boils with fury.

Keith could kill him, honest to God, he could and he would throw the biggest party ever, but he can’t. He can’t because killing Blue will mean having the entire Altea Agency on his ass and Keith can do without the extra attention on him.

Keith just wanted to settle down on a motherfucking private island with a glass of lemonade, was that too much to ask?

‘Better luck next time, Red ~ <3’ it reads, handwriting playful and loopy.

Apparently, yes, it was a lot to ask.

He crumples the post-it with one hand before tugging it into his jeans’ back pocket. No point on leaving evidence of his presence on Blue’s robbery.

Robbery that was supposed to be motherfucking his , honestly, what the fu –

‘Patience yields focus,’ Keith thinks, cutting his own train of thoughts, and then he takes a deep breath, shoulders losing their tension at each exhale he releases.

He opens his eyes and turns around, tugging his blade back to its holder before climbing the walls to exit the museum.

Shiro looks up from his tablet to find Keith ripping to pieces the last piece of newspaper in their floor. He waits until Keith has settled down, panting hard and an angry flush on his face, and then he speaks up.

“Blue?” He asks casually, and that earns him another scream from his partner.

“Shiro! Shiro ! He stole my painting! The painting I have been eyeing for weeks now. I was going to steal it tonight and he fucking – ! Oh my god ! I’m going to kill him.”

Shiro stares flatly at him. “Keith, he’s from the Altea’s Agency, you know, our allies?”

“He keeps stealing from me!”

The older man rolls his eyes but grins at his friend. “Then you need to be faster, buddy.”

Keith glares at him, annoyed and angry, throwing the remaining paper of his newspaper towards Shiro. “That motherfucker has been on my ass for weeks now! You know, when I accepted this job, by your constant pushing, I didn’t expect an annoying shadow following me around and stealing my missions.”

“He can’t be your shadow is he’s a step in front of you.”

Keith ignores him. “ ’Neck and neck’ he said, what the hell does that even mean ?”

Shiro turns to him, looking confused. “Neck and neck? You have been back from the desert for two months and you already have a rival?”

“He’s not my rival!”

“The cub has a rival? So soon?” Another voice joins the conversation, both men turning around to meet another one of their co-workers, “Who is it?”

“Hi, Thace.” Shiro waves lazily.

The older man nods at him, “Shiro, hello, you still owe me that last week report.”

“Right, right.”

“So, back to the cub’s rival.”

“I don’t have a rival!” Keith snaps.

Shiro shrugs. “He’s called Blue. He’s from AA.”

Thace’s eyebrows lift up in surprise. “Ah, I have heard of him. Him and his occasional team is actually from your generation.”

“What?” Keith asks, hands finally lowering from the air and he pushes himself closer to this chair’s edge towards Thace, “What do you mean?”

“Back in the Garrison Academy, you know, where every student has to train under the program before they are selected or assigned into an Agency?”

“I know what the Garrison is!” Keith scoffs irritated.

Thace looks at him unimpressed. “Well, that guy, Blue, is from your generation and one of the top ones, if I may add.”

Keith blinks and scrunches his nose at his mentor, “Am I supposed to remember him? I didn’t even finish my program before I was tossed and shipped to the desert by Kolivan.”

“Hear, hear.” Shiro mumbles, taking a sip from his tea.

Thace shrugs with a smirk. “You got an undercover mission, a B classified mission , before you even graduated. That’s quite the achievement, kiddo.”

“That still doesn’t explain why this guy is on my shadow.”

“Technically –“

“Shiro, I swear to God –“  

The older man chuckles, ruffling Keith’s hair as if he was eighteen years old all over again, “Don’t think too hard, kiddo. I will have a talk with Allura and make sure your missions don’t intersect each other. Just focus on your own, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith grumbles.

“Good. Now, has anyone seen the newspaper?”

“Uh…”

“Keith ate it.”

“Dude.”

“I’m on the move. Black, do I have the go?” Keith mumbles low under his breath, fingers pressed against his ear-com as he kneels on the edge of the roof, eyes scanning the security guard’s moves.

“Hold it,” Shiro whispers slowly and Keith can hear the way his partner is tapping the surface of his computer from his side of the com, the tapping clearly matching the security guy’s steps.

Ten full ticks and then, as the guard closes the entrance’s door behind him, Keith gets his go.

He jumps, feet hitting the roof’s ground harshly but painlessly. He stands up, rolling his shoulders back before cracking his neck. Keith smirks to himself, proud that he didn’t need to use the grappling hook to get across between roofs.

There’s a whistle and Keith snaps his attention to the right, face turning into a deep scowl as he meets Blue’s familiar body shape from the corner of his eye.

“Aw, hell no.” Keith mumbles, taking a deep breath before turning and meeting Blue’s eyes, staring unamused as the man winks at him as a greeting.

“Why, hello there, Red!” Blue says cheerfully, waving his arm around in the air towards the dark sky, “Lovely evening, am I right?”

Keith limits himself to stare flatly at him, flipping him off without a word before turning around, heading towards the window to get inside the building.

“Oh, oh, silent treatment? Rude . Where are you going, anyways? Oh, could it be? Could it be that you are looking for Angelica’s Heart? One of the most valuable gems on the National Museum of our country? Could it possibly be the reason you are here?”

Keith doesn’t answer and keeps walking.

“Because -”

He’s at the edge of the window, the hatch already open and Keith can feel his insides boil already. Blue better not have –

“It’s not -”

Keith pushes his face forward, eyes scanning the room below him, and there’s only one thought running through his mind –

“Going to be there.”

That motherfucker.

Blue barely had time to groan in pain before Keith’s on him. His back hits the ground hard and he coughs a few times, letting out a small ‘ow’ as Keith growls menacingly above him.

“Return what you stole, Blue,” Keith snaps, foot pressing further down against the brunet’s arm, “before I break your arm.”

The little shit laughs. He fucking laughs .

“Sorry, Red,” He chuckles, eyebrow raised in challenge and smirk sharp, “but your heart is mine now.”

This motherfucker.

“Oh yeah, that’s so clever, Blue, har har,” Keith laughs drily, hand curling into a fist as he leans further down, hovering over the brunet’s face, scowl back on place, “Now, give me back my ruby.”

“Funny how they call a ruby a ‘ heart’ , right?”

“Second try: give me back my ruby.”

“I didn’t see your name on it.”

“What are you? Twelve?”

“On the scale from one to ten, yes .”

Keith inhales deeply, hand twitching and aching to grab his blade but he controls himself. “One last chance: give me back my ruby or I will kill you.”

Blue purses his lips, as if thinking it over, before he clicks his mouth and sticks out is tongue in mock.

“Nah.”

He will kill him. That’s it, no more holding back, he’s 100% going to kill him –

“ Red ,” Shiro’s voice makes its way back to his com and Keith’s shoulders tense up at the sharp tone on his partner’s voice, “The mission is over, turn back and report back to the base.”

“But –” Keith complains, eyes falling back to Blue’s frame, scoffing in annoyance when he sees the brunet is laying almost lazily on the floor, not minding in the least that Keith is basically pinning him down.

“ Now, Red .”

Keith grunts but nods nonetheless, mumbling a quick ‘understood’ before he pulls himself back and starts walking away from Blue.

“Yeah, okay, fun night, huh? See you next week, man! You know, if you actually get there in time! ”

So, okay, Keith returned to the base with one knife missing, and he might had had his ear chew off by Kolivan because of it, but the surprised yelp and pained grunt of Blue as the knife hit him straight on the shoulder made it worth it.

Here’s the thing: Keith might be sleep deprived and jetlagged but he knows what shit he owns, alright?

And he knows for damn sure that he left his 19th Century wrist clock on his coffee table.

Keith frowns, eyes narrowed suspiciously before his breath hitches and looks around him wildly before yelling out in annoyance and running towards his terrace, the only entrance to his apartment besides the front door.

“You come back here, right now, with my shit, you piece of shit !” Keith shouts, waving his fist in the air and leaning forward on his terrace’s handrail, “I will find you and I will kill you, you hear me!”

There’s a snort and a soft ‘ Oh my god ’ above him and Keith’s quick to look up, his dark eyes meeting Blue’s lighter ones.

“I can’t believe you just threatened me with a meme ,” Blue giggles, shaking his head in amusement, still hanging upside down from the apartment’s exterior pipes, “A motherfucking meme, oh my god .”

Keith stays silent, hand reaching for his blade and he groans internally when he remembers it’s on the other side of his room inside his apartment.

He limits himself to flip Blue off.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about and I don’t give a flying fuck,” Keith growls, trying to push himself higher to meet Blue’s face – tippy toes, he was basically on his tippy toes – “but I’m sick and tired of this game, get your own targets and your own shit.”

“Oh, but I do have my own target,” Blue remarks, a wide playful grin growing on his face, “and I gotta say, life just got interesting because of him since he came back.”

Him . Did he just –?

“Did you just fucking objectify me?” Keith snaps, scowling when the brunet only laughs.

“Okay, hate to hit and run, but I gotta go.” Blue shrugs, winking at Keith while finger gun pointing at him and then he’s falling.

Keith stares unimpressed as Blue’s body falls just besides him, praying and hoping that maybe he will hear a splash of that dumb head crashing against the pavement below them instead of a grappling hook shot.

There’s a laugh, the familiar sound of a grappling hook shooting and Keith limits himself to puff his cheeks in what could almost be a pout.

There’s always next time.

“Don’t you dare!” Keith shouts, pointing an accusing finger towards the frozen spy, “Blue, I see you! Don’t you fucking dare –!”

Blue turns his head slowly, blue eyes wide as if he was actually surprised Keith had caught him red handed for the first time in weeks, before a grin spreads over his face.

“What? Me? Daring to do something that might upset you, Red?” Blue coos, eyes big with fake innocence before he moved his finger closer to the crystal vase in front of him, “but I’m just admiring these pieces of art –”

Keith doesn’t hesitate.

“Nah-huh!” He snaps, grabbing the closest thing around him and throwing it towards his rival, “No! No way! Na-huh, bitch!”

“Ow, what the fuck – !” Blue shouts back in annoyance as soon as the flower vase hits his right arm before it falls and crashes on the floor loudly, “Dude, holy fuck ! That one hurt!”

“Good!” Keith cheers, narrowing his eyes and throwing another piece of crystal to Blue, who barely had the time to dodge the tiny empty jewelry box aimed to his head.

“You know what!” Blue shouts, frowning irritated, “Just for that, now I’m definitely gonna steal this piece of shit! Just to spite you! ”

“Your entire existence spites me !” Keith yells, grunting in frustration when Blue dodges yet another crystal.

“Oh, oh, yeah? You think you’re so smart, Red? Well, your mullet is an offence to the entire country!” Blue shouts back, grabbing his own crystal and throwing it with vigor towards Keith.

“At least I’m not a low-class spy who can’t get his own targets!”

Another crystal vase.

“You fucking say that to my motherfucking face, you dick!”

There goes a tiara.

“I fucking am? I’m shouting it!”

That glass wasn’t even important, so it’s okay.

“It’s mine!”

“No, it’s mine!”

“I got here first!”

“No, I did! I have been on the outpost for half the night now!”

“Well boo-fucking you!”

“Get off!”

“No, you get off!”

The painting in their hands cracks and both spies stare at the gaping hole in the middle of it before looking up at the ceiling.

“None of you are getting it because you just attracted the police, losers,” The small figure on top of the roof sighs, putting away her gun, “Blue, let’s go !”

“I had that, Green!” Blue huffs, rolling his eyes before grabbing the rope offered to him, his partners quickly pulling him up, “Whatever, you got lucky this time, Red!”

Keith limits himself to raise his hand and move it as if it was a mouth, sticking out his tongue in mock, “You got lucky this time, Red, bla, bla, bleh.”

“You motherfu –!”

Blue’s insult is cut off as his second partner, the one bigger than him in weight and height, picks him up like a bag of potatoes and swing him over his shoulder, an exasperated sigh on his lips.

Keith glares as Blue and Gold disappear from his sight before he shifts his gaze towards the last partner, the smallest one of the trio.

“You got three minutes, Red,” Green announces nonchalantly, pressing a few buttons on her wrist device before flashing him an amused grin, “I would have given you more but I thought you would enjoy the challenge.”

Keith blinks and realizes that the alarm in the museum is off when it had been on just a second ago. He hums, half impressed and half offended.

He grins back at her. “Psh, you gave me more than necessary, Green.”

Green laughs and waves at him as a goodbye.

“Looks like you’re in a tight spot right now, huh, Blue?”

“I would flip you off if, you know, if I could,” Blue grumbles, grunting as he tries to push himself forward before falling back down. “Dude, just...help me out? My head is hurting from being upside down.”

Keith hums, tapping his chin as if thinking about it.

“Okay,” Keith agrees nonchalantly before grinning, “but you gotta give me back the porcelain teapot, you know, the one that belonged to the fucking Queen of England.”

Blue gasps loudly. “Not Mrs. Potts!”

“That one is from France, you uncultured dipshit.”

Yeah, sure, okay, Keith helped his own rival out, but that’s just because there was a very important teapot on the table. That teapot was one of the most valuable items in the country and he will be dammed to miss this opportunity.

Sure, he could just kick Blue in the nuts, grab the teapot and call it a night. He doesn’t, though, because watching Blue fall to the ground comically after he cuts the rope holding him up is way funnier.

They dodge the police, cross the rooftops and then on the fifth neighborhood, Keith hold out his hands.

“Alright, a deal is a deal, man. Hand it over.”

Blue bites his lower lip before he pulls out his hand from his satchel, dropping small pieces of porcelain in Keith’s waiting hand.

“Yeah, so, I might had crushed it unexpectedly when I fell on the trap,” he smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck helplessly.

Keith clicks his tongue and smiles; wide and tight and Lance can only frown in confusion before he’s being push down the edge of the roof.

“Red! Dude! What the fu –! Oh my god !” Blue shouts, hands still in the air, looking wildly for something to hold on to before realizing it was in vain and taking out his grappling hook.

Keith watches, almost bored, as Blue swing himself to the other building’s roof. He leans against the edge of his own rooftop as Blue’s feet find the ground.

“You fucking asshole !”

Keith smirks, makes a poor imitation of Blue’s finger gun points move, wink included, before flipping him off.

“That one was for Mrs. Not Potts! ”

He laughs at Blue’s indignant squeak.

Another night, another stolen diamond.

Blue’s laughs echoes around him even after the jump and Keith scowls when he feels the corner of his mouth twitch upward.

“You stop that.” He whispers quietly under his breath to himself before rolling his eyes and turning around, heading the opposite from where Blue had disappeared to.

Okay, so, there goes another gem. Keith adds it to the list of the things Blue has stolen from him, for the record, you know, for the day he actually kills him he will narrate the entire list.

Keith regrets the day he decided to work with a small hand blade and not a gunshot because if he had a gunshot he could at least shot that ass and it will be the death of all his problems.

Well, one of them, because if he needs to shoot every single one of his problems, he would have to shoot Blue’s face too.

And his toned arms.

That jaw too.

Can’t forget the legs.

Keith pauses, shakes his head in bewildered by his thoughts before he takes out his own grappling hook.

Well, goddammit, might as well shoot himself if he goes down this road of thoughts.  

The entire bathroom is fogged with steam but Keith’s sure that he should have found his towel already.

The black-haired man groans, leaving the shower stall and stepping out, feet hitting the cold bathroom’s floor.

He looks around him and arches an eyebrow when he sees no white towel on sight.

“I could have sworn…” he mumbles before rolling his eyes and cursing under his breath, heading towards the door.

Keith walks down his apartment's hall, cracking his neck softly and sighing in content as he feels his muscles relax even more. He hums to himself aimlessly as he steps into his bedroom before he stops abruptly.

He waits; one, two, three ticks before –

“ Damn .”

The breathless whisper is enough for Keith to spin around, throwing one of his blades hard towards the origin of the sudden uninvited voice.

“Shit, gotta go, ok, bye, Red! Uh - I didn’t think you would actually – ! You know  – !  I um – Yeah anyways, your towel is really soft where do you get it? You know what? Never mind, I’m going now, because I see you have more knives. Look at that, not at all surprised and...and you are aiming your next one, okay, bye now!”

The second blade flies and Keith curses loudly when it only grazes Blue’s shoulder as the brunet dives towards the terrace.

“Son of a bi  – ! Did you really just steal my towel¡?”

That motherfucker.

Keith pants hard as the turns a sharp corner, bullet barely missing him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Shiro had warned him, he fucking had, saying that the sudden unregistered mission couldn’t be anything but a trap but Keith hadn’t listened.

‘You don’t have a green go for this mission, Keith,’ Shiro had said two days ago, ‘Not until we figure it out where it came from.’

It came from the Galra, Keith found out, but he really couldn't gloat about his discovery seeing as he was ambushed and attacked by said spies.

‘This is gonna cost me an ear with Shiro and Kolivan,’ Keith thinks, dodging one of the shots coming from behind him, hissing in pain when the gash on his right hip doesn’t agree with his sudden movement.

He was supposed to be on the other side of the city, stealing some diamond that came from all the way over from Russia, but no, he isn’t because Keith's a stubborn ass who wanted the unofficial mission and get himself killed by their enemies.

Whatever, Blue probably already stole it by now for sure.

He’s too entranced with his thoughts, which is something that Thace would scold him about, that he doesn’t notice the sudden body coming from his left and then his entire body crashes against the wall, yelling out in agony when his bad shoulder collides with the hard surface.

He slides down the wall slowly, biting his lip hard against his teeth as he glares at the Galra spy in front of him.

There’s a gun’s end staring right down at him and Keith can only sigh, dropping his shoulder but pushing himself as tall as he could in his lumped sitting position on the floor.

He glares up at the gun, eyes misty and wide but never wavering.

Keith hears a laugh from the Galra, as if they were amused, but he saves himself the energy to curse them. Instead, he closes his eyes and hopes that those who he considered family know that he had tried and that he had cared.

He closes his eyes and waits. For the first time in his life, he waits .

There’s a shot and that’s all Keith needs to know it’s over.

“Red, hey, are you with me? Red!” He hears someone hiss near him, familiar, almost comforting, and Keith can’t help but think ‘huh, death really is painless.’

Except it wasn’t.

“Keith!” Someone shouts and then there’s a sharp stinging pain in his left cheek, the one that isn't decorated with a gaping gash in the middle, and Keith snaps his eyes open, the end of a gun being replaced with a pair of big blue concern eyes. “Come on, man! Keith!”

That’s his name. How does Blue knows his name?

“Are you with me? Keith, answer me!” Blue tries again, this time patting his cheek as if to make him focus but Keith can only frown in confusion, eyes only shifting to the side to see the unmoving form of the Galra.

“Blue here, I got him. The East Wing has been neutralized, heading to the exit now. I will meet you outside, no, I got him , don't worry.”

Keith has no idea who he’s talking to but he doesn't care. He just keeps staring at Blue, eyelids fluttering quickly, his entire body shaking with exhaustion.

“ Hey ! No falling asleep on me! No way Jose! Red! Keith !”

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith mumbles quietly, falling forward, fully expecting for his face to meet the floor but instead, he’s pressed against a firm warm chest.

“Okay, alright, time to go then.” He hears Blue whisper and then he’s being carried, bridal style, his mind lazily recognizes.

It’s a good thing Keith’s half conscious, because he would throw a fit if he wasn't.

There’s noise and voices around him, the sounds of tires against the pavement along the faint sound of police sirens but Keith can’t seem to concentrate. Not when strong arms hold him close to their warmth, as if he was something precious, like one of the gems they are in charge of stealing.

Someone is calling for him, asking, maybe begging him to stay awake. He feels the sharp pain of something piercing his skin and he jerks abruptly, barely being able to move with the arms around him but there’s a soft humming on his ear and its distracts him enough from the pain until he can barely notice it.

He hasn’t realized that he had closed his eyes until the smell of vanilla hit his nose and he opens one eye, slowly and weakly to stare at his own living room.

Keith blinks, confusion clear on his face and then he looks up, eyes meeting Blue’s strong jaw and steady gaze. It feels almost surreal to see Blue so serious and without a smile.

It’s not long before Blue catch his stare and then a small smile appears on his face, making Keith’s stomach to flip.

“Hunk and Shiro already patched you up enough on the way here,” Blue fills him in, quietly and low, footsteps gentle as he walks towards the bedroom and Keith vaguely notices the way he’s still on his arms, strong and secure, “You still need to go to your base’s infirmary to make sure. Pidge made sure to completely erase your presence from tonight’s event and Allura’s working on the Galra as we speak. It’s done, so you just...just rest.”

Keith hums, not really understanding Blue’s words but still nodding as if he did. He pushes himself closer to Blue’s chest, his eyebrows furrowed together as memories fill his head and mix themselves. He feels like he’s back in the Garrison’s halls, back in the classrooms, the library, and training deck. There’s a faint memory of a loud young voice filling his mind followed by laughter, teasing and then –

“ Lance .”

Blue’s steps falter for a second before he continues, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath before dropping the injured spy on the bed carefully.

“You said my name,” Blue whispers, shock and surprised clear in his voice, “Keith, you – ?”

Keith hums, patting Lance on the shoulder with his good arm.

Lance smiles, small and wobbly but a smile nonetheless, “Ah, so you do remember me.”

Keith would roll his eyes, he honestly would, but he’s too comfortable and warmed that he doesn’t give a shit.

Although, he can still troll Lance.

His mouth twitches, eyes half lidded. “Heh, lousy thief .”

Lance snorts, “Yeah, sure, bring back the Academy’s nicknames, why not, Mullet .”

“Says the one...that never grew up from that one.” Keith slurs, words getting longer and quieter.

His vision is blurry but he can still see the way Lance shakes his head, and if Keith has to guess, there’s an amused smile on his face.

“Whatever you say, man,” Lance whispers and Keith feels a hand on his head, fingers passing through it tenderly, “Don’t go off schedule anymore, because this is the kind of stuff that happens when I’m not with you.”

“Lance and Keith, huh?” Keith whispers, and Lance hums.

“Neck and neck,” Lance adds just as softly, a small playful grin decorating his face, “but lately seems like surpassing you, Mr. Oh I Was Top Of The Garrison Before I Went Undercover Like A Hermit.”

Keith snorts and tries to lift his hand to flip Lance off.

He fails but he’s sure that Lance got the memo because he hears him laugh, but then the hand leaves, the warm dims and Keith’s eyes flutter open.

He sees Lance’s back walking away from him, heading towards open terrace and Keith’s voice gets caught up in his throat.

He tries. His hand shakes as he lifts it up from the mattress, reaching for Lance, reaching to pull him back; for a reason, for whatever reason, he needs to pull him back –

But his vision turns dark, black spots filling the edges, making Lance’s figure to disappear slowly and then he’s out like a light.

His hand falls back to the mattress motionless.

When Keith arrives, it’s the sight of Lance sitting on the roof that greets him; legs swinging on the air as he hums quietly under his breath.

Keith huffs and stomps his foot down annoyed when he catches the soft gleam of the emerald under Lance’s satchel.

“Took you long enough, Red.” Lance hums, not turning around to meet him and Keith resists the urge to choke him.

He does try though; raising both of his hands, still a few feet away from Lance and levels them to where Lance’s neck is before squeezing, hands only meeting air.

“Low-key hurt that you’re trying to imaginary choke me when I saved you three weeks ago.” Lance chuckles, throwing his head back to meet Keith’s glare and his grin only widens.

“I wouldn’t have to choke you if you stopped stealing most of my missions,” Keith snaps, taking a few steps before taking seat besides Lance, “I can’t believe you stole my first gig in three weeks.”

“Aw, but Red, that’s especially why I had to come!” Lance says, shrugging his shoulder, “I had to give you a warm welcome, ya’ know, which this is .”

Keith’s eyes widen as he catches Lance’s hands searching for something in his satchel. He waits and for some reason he feels excited as Lance pulls something out. Huh, maybe tonight he wouldn’t have to do any acrobatics and still go home with a gem, which is cool.

Lance takes his pale hand and drops something on it, making him to look down.

Keith swears he could kill him.

“A ring pop?” Keith deadpans, staring flatly at the candy, unwrapped candy, in his hand.

Lance grins. “It’s watermelon flavour!”

Keith clicks his tongue and smiles, wide and tight and Lance sees it coming before it even arrives.

“No, no, Red –!”

Keith throws the candy to his face, successfully colliding with his forehead and making the brunet to yelp in surprise.

“Dude! That thing costs two dollars!” Blue complains, rubbing his forehead with a pout, “ Jesus , at least you didn’t throw me off the ro – Fuck!”

It’s fine, he had his grappling hook.

Keith thinks.

“Kei –!”

Maybe?

He waits, hears a loud ‘ow’ and then pops his head to the edge, smirking when he sees Lance lying face down on the fire escape stairs.

“Are you alive?” He asks nonchalantly, leaning against the edge with his knee.

Keith hums when he hears some groaning.

He’s fine.

“He wasn’t supposed to be there, you know.”

Keith looks up from his blade and meets Shiro’s eyes at the entrance of the common room.

“What?”

“Blue,” Shiro nods, pushing himself from the door’s frame and walking towards the younger man, “That night you got ambushed. He got his own mission on the other side of town but instead he headed to your assigned mission and contacted me as soon as he realized you weren’t coming.”

“He...did?” Keith frowns, lips pursing like they always do when he’s thinking too hard and Shiro takes it upon himself to save him the energy.

Shiro slaps the back of his head.

“Dude,” Keith hisses annoyed but Shiro waves him off, a wide smirk in place as he narrows his eyes suspiciously at Keith’s blush.

Keith huffs, turning away from his partner and picking his blade once again, ignoring the way Shiro point at his own cheeks and puffs them before pointing at him, as if telling him something about his face.

Sure, he feels hot but...the AC is not on, so, yeah, whatever.

“ Whatever , that only means that I get to steal that gem next week –”

“Oh, no, the gem is long gone. He stole it the next night.”

“That motherfucker.”

“Hell no. You don’t get this one. You give me back what you just stole and walk away, right now! Blue! Blue, goddammit !”

Keith groans, following Lance to the edge of his terrace before climbing on the wall and ending on the roof of his building, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at Lance.

The brunet laughs and waves the ruby gently on his hand in Keith’s face. “Oh, what? You want this back? Dude, your own fault for stealing it from me last week, again . I thought he had already established that your heart was mine.”

Keith narrows his eyes in annoyance but his heart beats wildly inside him, his breathing hitches and he knows there’s no use on denying.

Lance may not know this, but Keith’s no longer referring to the Angelica’s heart ruby.

Lance’s tone is playful, like it always is; a teasing and mocking edge on every word that leaves his mouth, making Keith scowl at himself to even feel the sharp tug he feels inside him when he hears them. Keith’s done; he’s tired of this dance on the roof.

“Why should you have it in the first place?” Keith whispers, honest confusion filling his features, not even bothering to deny what was real, his eyes searching for something in Lance’s. He takes a step forward, shoulders dropped, “Why do you even want it?”

Lance’s eyes widen in surprise and shock and Keith almost feels bad for him for dropping the sudden bomb on him but he sees it. He sees the hesitation in those blue eyes. He sees the wobbly movement from Lance’s Adams apple and he sees the way Blue bites down his lower lip, as if holding himself back.

“ Lance .” Keith hisses, annoyed and frustrated.

Lance sighs, knowing that the gig was up as soon as his name left Keith’s lips. He drops his hand and jerks his head towards the edge of the building.

Keith’s follows him quietly and sits beside him; shoulders still tense and half turned, as if waiting to hear the answer and yet aching to run away from it.

‘Knowledge or death,’ Kolivan had told him once, back when he was a reckless teenager looking for answers that shouldn’t be found.

Tonight, Keith understand the meaning behind those words better than anyone, and he has accepted his choice.

“You know there’s this saying: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” Lance mumbles, rubbing his shoulder aimlessly and Keith ‘s stomach turns, guilty when he realizes it’s the same spot his blade had hit him on all those months ago.

Keith frowns, raising his hand and letting it hover over Lance’s shoulder. “That time when I – ?”

“Hm?” Lance hums, confused by his question before he follows his gaze and his eyes widen, “Oh man, no, hah, believe me, there’s no grudge for that.”

“But you said…an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?”

Lance nods, no resentment in his eyes as he turns to meet Keith’s gaze once again and finishes for him. “Yeah, and a heart for a heart, Keith.”

Keith’s breath hitches and he’s barely coming to terms with the meaning of Lance’s words before two hands are cupping his cheeks and suddenly Lance’s breath is on him.

“Can I …?” He breathes out, quietly as if there was a chance to wake the entire city if he spoke any louder, “Keith, can I –?“

Keith doesn’t allow him to finish. Instead, he launches forward, quick and hurried, and presses their lips together.

Keith melts .

Warm spreads over his body and he smiles into the kiss unconsciously, feeling proud of the small noise he gets from Lance when he bites down on the tanner man’s lower lip. He pushes himself forward, chest pressed against each other and Keith lets himself go.

He loses track of the time, there’s only Lance for him. Lance’s fingers stroking his cheek, cupping it gently and keeping him close. He feels them on the back of his neck, playing with the end of his hair and gripping it tight and Keith holds back a moan.

His own hands travel their own path on Lance. They go from his hair, to his ears, earning a soft giggle against his mouth, followed by the jaw, and all the way down to his waist, pulling with close with a sharp tug that makes the brunet gasp in surprise and Keith tries to suppress the grin that threatened to break the kiss, but he does hum in appreciation.

Time pass and before neither of them are aware of, they pull away when the need of air is desperate and Keith allows himself to stay still; eyes closed, forehead pressed against Lance’s and he breathes .

“Oh no, what is this?” He hears Lance mumbles playfully, making Keith to open his eyes to stare at him confused, “Angelica’s heart I stole from you? In your hands once again? Keith , how could you steal that from me?” Lance asks in mock offense, hand pressed against his chest.

Keith blinks and frowns, opening his mouth but then Lance’s eyes fall down to Keith’s open palm, making Keith to follow his gaze, and his breath hitches when he sees the ruby in his hand.

“I am betrayed,” Lance laments, mouth twitching in amusement when Keith snorts, “Well, damn, seems like I’m gonna have to steal it back from you, huh?”

Keith’s heart flutters at the words, feeling a sudden rush of affection towards the brunet, feeling thankful that Lance’s still giving him a chance to decide on his own.

Keith huffs, because his decision has been made way before he even realized he had made one. He shrugs his shoulders and replies casually, playing along. “I mean, you can try, Lance, but…”

He turns the ruby in with his fingers, inspecting it carefully and wondering how a small gem was able to get so much meaning.

“There’s no need.” Keith mumbles before locking eyes with Lance again, offering a gentle smile, “Seems like the ruby itself found its favorite thief.”

Lance pauses before he beams and laughs. He laughs and shakes his head in disbelief before he throws himself to Keith, arms around his neck.

Keith joins him, circling his arms around the brunet’s back and nuzzling on the crook of his neck, enjoying the faint smell of caramel in Lance’s clothes.

“But the next sapphire that we encounter is mine, you hear me?”

Lance snorts against his neck. “You just like the analogy of gems being hearts and you want one of them being my heart.”

“A heart for a heart.”

“Fair enough.”