Chapter Text
Lance kept his right eye closed, gun shouldered and index finger fiddling with the trigger. The comms were silent, the occasional grunt from Shiro or Keith sounding every now and then. The Galra soldiers below them were talking or something, but the team had decided to take them out. And what better way to do that than with their number one sharpshooter?
That's what Keith said, at least. Lance hoped the rest of the team agreed. He didn't wanna be a seventh wheel. That feeling sucked. Lance shook his head. That didn't matter right now, he needed to focus. Lance took in a deep breath.
And he pulled his finger back.
With a click and the familiar sound of a laser firing, Lance's gun fired. The laser hit the Galra in the chest. Lance didn't have time to gloat before he had to shoot the other Galra.
Cheers erupted throughout the comms.
"Well done, Lance!" Shiro praised. "We were right to trust you with the job!" It felt good, praise coming from Shiro himself.
"Way to go, buddy! I would high-five you, but I think I'll stay in my cockpit for now." The nervousness in Hunk's voice was unmistakable, but it honestly never left his tone. Lance laughed. "Thanks."
Pidge just gave some approving yells. She didn't necessarily say anything. She just...shouted. "Pidge, can you try speaking English instead?" Being the stubborn girl she was, Pidge began to talk fluently in Italian. Lance scoffed, making a mental note to annoy her in Spanish later.
Then Keith. When Keith's voice was made audible, a smile automatically crossed Lance's face. "Hey, well done, Lance. I'm proud of you." Lance couldn't stop grinning as he pulled himself back into the blue lion's cockpit. "Thanks, darlin'." Stuttering was heard in response, and everyone laughed.
"Alright, Lance. Save all your lovey-dovey teasing for when we get back. The castle is parked on a planet a few doboshes from here. Let's go, everyone." When the black lion kicked into movement and veered away from the Galra outpost, the other lions followed.
They ended up flying with Lance and Keith on Shiro's left and Hunk and Pidge on Shiro's right. Pidge was blabbing about how she couldn't wait to tell Matt about Lance's great aim - only so Matt could challenge him, though. Everyone was high-spirited and lighthearted as they all flew their lions into the separate hangars. Well, we assume they were all happy. Keith didn't say a word the whole way back.
~
"Good job, paladins! Especially you, Lance. I hear you made quite the shot today," Allura's smile reached from ear to ear. It genuinely made Lance blush.
"Okay, who told her before I could brag about it?" More smiles and earnest chuckles. Lance earned a shrug when he looked at Shiro. Allura laughed.
"Well, I was connected to your comms. I could hear everything you were saying, so maybe that was it," Allura smiled. Lance chuckled. "I guess so."
Allura continued with all her fancy congratulatory talk, but Lance wasn't interested. It seemed he wasn't the only one who wasn't interested, either. When Lance's blue eyes boredly trailed over to his boyfriend, he noticed Keith wasn't really listening, either. The first opportunity he got, Lance grabbed Keith's wrist and dragged him away from the bridge.
Once they were in the bedroom hallway, Lance turned around and smiled. "Sorry, but you gotta admit we were both finding that boring." Lance folded his arms, smiling when he got a small chuckle out of Keith.
"Yeah. That's Allura for you." The sparkle in Keith's navy eyes only lasted for a little before they grew distant again. Lance frowned.
"Dude, what's wrong? You've been acting weird ever since the end of the mission. Don't think I didn't notice you were ignoring us whenever you could." Lance spoke indignantly, folding his arms. Keith sighed - he'd been caught.
"I was debating whether or not to give you something. It's very important to me, and, y'know, I feel like we've been together long enough..." This made Lance's suspicions grow. He was pretty sure he knew what it was, but didn't wanna take any risks.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's okay. I'm your boyfriend, aren't I?" Lance rested his hand on Keith's shoulder, and the two exchanged a small smile.
"Wait here," Keith murmured softly. He disappeared down the hallway and into his room.
Lance waited and waited. It had been about twenty doboshes and he was getting impatient. As he was about to go see what was taking Keith so long, the black-haired boy emerged from his room. Lance blinked, moving his gaze from his face to his hands. Keith was gently cupping something in his hands. Lance couldn't see what it was, but his heart raced. He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. He couldn't take that kind of responsibility.
Keith approached Lance and paused. It took him a few ticks, but he finally took a deep breath.
"Lance, I like you. I really like you. I don't know if I can say I love you, because that's a really big thing for me since I'm an orphan and all...but it can turn into love. So, to show how much I like and trust you, I want to give you this." Keith's hands opened, and a small, heart-shaped ruby rested in his palms. Lance's heart sank.
He wasn't ready for this. He'd never even been in possession of another person's core stone. What made Keith think he'd be able to take care of it? But he knew if he rejected the offer it would break Keith's heart. So he smiled and reached forward, taking the ruby heart from Keith. The shorter boy's face lit up.
"I...I don't know what to say. Nobody's ever given me their core stone before...thank you. I'll take care of it." Keith smiled and Lance slipped the ruby into his jacket pocket before wrapping Keith in a hug. Hopefully he wouldn't have to explain that his own core stone, a sapphire heart, had been broken before and was actually still fixing itself. Thankfully, Keith didn't mention it.
"It's porcelain."
"No way!"
Lance pulled away in shock. "You've never experienced heartbreak?"
"Not in love. I never met my parents so I can't exactly be sad over them, and when Shiro was gone I was just upset, not heartbroken."
Lance gulped. "I understand. I'll take care of it." Lance embraced Keith again.
This was too big. Too big of a responsibility. A porcelain heart, given to him when he was a newbie to the core stones? Something was going to go wrong, he could tell.