Work Text:
"Lance?" Keith spoke softly, keeping his voice as calm as possible as he entered stopped in the doorway of their shared kitchen. It was 3 in the morning and Lance was still sat in the same uncomfortable plastic chair at the table as he was when Keith left him 4 hours ago. He was frantically typing on his laptop, with large bags under his eyes - it was clear that he hadn't moved at all. "Lance?" Keith had to raise his voice slightly this, as it was clear Lance hadn't heard him the first time, but not too loud as to wake the others up in the dorm. The sudden sound made Lance jolt slightly, tearing his eyes away from the screen for the first time in hours, and halting his frantic typing pattern.
"Keith? Is that you?" Lance's voice was rough and scratchy from disuse as he squinted into the darkness to find the source of the voice. From his spot at the doorway, Keith had easy access to the light switch, so he reached his arm out slightly and flipped the switch. Lance visibly squinted and a deep groan resonated around the room, as one arm came to shield his eyes from the newfound light.
"What are you still doing up?" Keith moved over to the table and pulled out the chair across form Lance, "It's three in the morning."
"I could ask you exactly the same thing, Mullet." Lance smirked, as his arm reluctantly moved down from his eyes, and returned to the keyboard of his computer.
"I couldn't sleep." Keith eyed Lance with concern, as he seemed to ignore Keith's answer - his fingers moving to resume their typing - seemingly speeding up with each word that he typed. Keith knew he had to intervene. Leaning over, he started to shut the lid of the laptop, earning a yelp from Lance, and a glare to be shot his way.
"KEITH! What the hell?!" Lance whisper-shouted, well aware that Hunk, Shiro and Pidge all got equally antsy when they were woken up prior to their alarms. "This is important. Just go back to bed." Lance angrily fully reopened the lid to his laptop and tried to resume his work. However, Keith had gotten up out of his seat and moved to the seat next to Lance. He placed his hand over one of Lance's now solitary hands over the keyboard.
"Lance, you have to stop this. You're working yourself too hard, and it's not helping anyone. Least of all, you." Lance turned his head to look into Keith's eyes, and Keith could see that he was on the verge of tears. At least he's stopped typing, Keith thought, I'm making progress. Lance had been doing this for the past week and everyone had noticed - Pidge would always walk in to the kitchen at 6am to get her morning coffee, only to find Lance fast asleep at the table - head on a closed laptop.
"You don't get it Keith. You have always been able to blitz your way through anything. Even when we were 5 you were acing tests and getting full marks. Nothing has ever come easy to me. It never will. This is just what I have to do to even be keeping up with everyone else." A few tears escaped from Lance's eyes, and Keith was speechless. He had always assumed that Lance simply hated him - he always pushed him away and made fun of him for his hair - he had no idea that the Cuban boy's insecurities ran so deep. Keith moved his hand away from where he was gripping Lance's and turned his body to fully face him. Meeting Lance's - now questioning- bloodshot eyes, he spoke with as much determination as he could muster,
"Lance, you don't have to overwork yourself trying to compete with me. I'm not your competitor, I'm your friend. And, I want to help you. Look, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but believe me, this work pattern that you've gotten yourself into is not healthy. Trust me, Lance." Lance's eyebrows suddenly furrowed in confusion as he realised what Keith was saying.
"You mean, you thought that I never put any work into getting good grades?" Keith asked with a slight smirk
"Well...yeah. You always made it seem so effortless." Lance sighed as the corner's of his mouth turned up into an slight smile.
"Ahhh. That is why I got the part of Oliver Twist Freshman year of High School - I'm an amazing actor Lance." Keith joked, forcing a huffed laugh from the boy in front of him. "But seriously, you shouldn't think that I'm any better than you. I know you probably don't want it, but if you're struggling with the workload, I can help you." At that, Keith could see Lance tense up, as he turned his gaze back to his computer screen, clearly conflicted. Keith took that as a sign to leave, an stood from the chair, moving towards the doorway.
"Keith!" The quiet strangled cry from behind him made Keith's head whip round in anticipation, and Keith internally scolded himself for his eagerness. "Thank you. I know I've been a bit of a dick to you, and I'm sorry for that. But, you're still willing to help me. God, you're just too perfect for your own good." From Lance's face, Keith knew that the last part wasn't supposed to come out, and both boys blushed. Keith chuckled lightly, as he looked into Lance's eyes again - purple meeting blue - and spoke softly,
"You're welcome Lance."
****
"Okay, so, 'Fuck, Marry, Kill' with ... Donald Trump, Theresa May and Kim Jong-un" Pidge smirked, as she sat with her third coffee of the morning in her hands, leaning back into her chair with mischief plastered all over her expression. Shiro groaned from the seat at the table beside her,
"You had to make it political didn't you Pidge?"
"Well, they're public figures, they're kinda hard to avoid when you've been banned from using people that we actually know." Pidge shot a glare over at Lance, who was busy scoffing his face with multiple pancakes. He moved his gaze to meet Pidge's with a slightly apologetic expression which was definitely hard to take seriously with his cheeks filled with pancake. From the hob, Hunk spoke for the first time in the conversation,
"That one's easy. Kill Trump, Marry Theresa and Fuck Kim Jong-un." He continued his task of making pancakes, while everyone shared glances with each other.
"Interesting. I'm certainly glad that Trump was you murder victim" Allura stated, as she picked up her mug and finished her tea triumphantly. Shiro gave her a short glare, in an attempt not to turn this breakfast into another political debate.
"Okay, that's enough. No more 'Fuck Marry Kill' please. How about we get ready to go - we all have morning lecture in 20 minutes." Shiro spoke evenly - forever the mediator in this friendship. That was probably the reason that everyone called him Dad. Well, he hoped anyway.
"Wait! What about Keith?" Lance spoke up, sitting up fully and finishing the last few mouthfuls of Hunk's delicious pancakes.
"Yeah. There are 3 pancakes waiting here for him! I'm not letting them go to waste." Hunk said, holding up a plate and attempting to take off his apron with one hand.
"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about them going to waste, Hunk." Pidge laughed, as she put her mug in the sink and took the plate out of Hunk's hands.
"I'll go check on him." Lance suggested as he rushed out of the room at lightning speed, leaving everyone else to share confused glances and smirks.
"Okay, I think we're all thinking it, so I'm just gonna say it. What the fuck was that?" Pidge questioned with a pancake halfway to her mouth.
****
As they were all walking to the lecture hall, Pidge, Allura, Shiro and Hunk were all trapped in heated political debate, with Keith and Lance hanging back from the four slightly.
"About last night...look thank you for being there I guess. Now I'm beginning to realise that it might not have been the best life decision to keep puling all nighters." Lance sighed as he angled his body slightly to face Keith, and shooting him a small but sincere smile.
"It's fine, Lance. Honestly, it's quite nice to see that there is a bit more to you than just cocky unsuccessful playboy who dislikes my hair." Keith chuckled, as he returned Lance's previous smile.
"Urrmm...excuse you...I am very successful." Lance replied, placing his hand on his chest in mock surprise and hurt.
"Oh yeah...name one time that you've actually ended up dating someone who you were actively trying to 'woo'" Keith laughed, inadvertently glancing down at Lance's lips.
"Well...none currently. But, in the future..." Lance trailed off, sending a suggestive smirk Keith's way, making the latter blush lightly and look to the ground, a small smile forming on his lips. Keith mumbled something under his breath which Lance strained to hear, but was unable to make it out, as they approached the lecture hall on the campus. Hunk, Pidge, Allura and Shiro were waiting for them outside the entrance - they hadn't realised how far behind they'd become, but clearly the other four had been there for a little while.
"What was that?" Lance asked as he nudged Keith's elbow slightly in an attempt at (hopefully more than) friendly banter.
"I'll be outside the library at 4." Keith said with slightly more confidence than before, looking into Lance's sea blue eyes. "Y'know, if ya wanna start studying today, or something..." Keith started to trail off when he registered Lance's surprised expression. The two had rejoined the group and were about to enter the lecture hall, when Lance grabbed Keith's hand and turned him to fully face him.
"Thank you, Keith." Lance looked directly into Keith's eyes and for a moment, it didn't matter than their friends were all staring at them, or that they were already 10 minutes late. They kept looking into each other's eyes until a loud cough drew their gaze away and over to where Pidge was standing a few feet away.
"Hunk, hand it over." Pidge sing-songed as Hunk groaned and handed over a note. Neither Keith nor Lance could make out how much , but both were in shock about the scene before them.
"Let's all go inside, now shall we?" Shiro asked as he held the door open for all of them, and following after Keith and Lance. Shiro smiled and shook his head as he noted their still intertwined hands. After waking up and hearing the entirety of their exchange last night from the hallway, he realised that they would be good for each other. Very good indeed.