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Lance was minding his own business.
“Ow - quiznack! ”
And then he wasn’t.
“Sorry!” Someone shouts from the distance behind him. Lance looks over his shoulder to see Keith running towards him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you.”
“Sounds fake,” Lance grumbles as he rubs the back of his head with a pout. Keith huffs at the reply as he finally reaches him.
“Don’t be so dramatic; it was an accident.” He says, letting out a small huff as he unties his jacket around his waist only to tie it back again tighter. The piece of clothing may not fit him anymore but he still brings him everywhere with him.
Lance had called him a dork because of that weeks ago. In the end, it had been counterproductive because it had come out more fond than he had intended.
“Sounds fake ,” Lance repeats with emphasis, now only to antagonize his friend. Keith doesn’t pick up the bait, though, offering a single arched eyebrow with an edge of amusement and Lance resigns himself. “Fine, I’m going to pretend it wasn't intentional the fact you threw an alien twig at me.”
Keith snorts, quickly covering his laughter with a fake cough when Lance raises one finger in mock threat. “Don’t push it, Kogane.”
“Right, right.” Keith snickers, raising both of his hands in playful surrender before he crouches and pats Lance on the shoulder. “Seriously, though, I’m sorry I hit you. I didn’t mean to.”
Damn Keith and his pretty eyes and his soft voice that sounds so deep and honest .
Lance never stands a chance against him, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s fine, dude.” Lance sighs, a smile growing on his lips as he nudges his teammate’s side. “What were you doing anyway?”
It’s almost like on cue; as soon as his words leave his lips, there’s a buzzing sound resembling a spark of electricity and then Lance huffs when there’s a sudden heavy weight on his lap making him fall backward on the ground.
“Cosmo.” Keith reprimands, glaring disapprovingly when the cosmic wolf just turns to face him while wagging his tail innocently. “Cosmo, no. Off Blue, now .”
The cosmic wolf makes a small sound, something that sounds oddly like a soft sad whine and Lance’s heart melts.
“Oh, noo,” Lance says, shifting awkwardly with a wolf on his lap until he’s free enough to wrap his arms around the alien. “No, it’s okay, buddy. You can stay on Blue.”
“Lance .” Keith reprimands him next but sighs when the brunet sends him a sheepish smile. “Ugh, you two are impossible.”
“Aw, the perfect duo, aren’t we, buddy?” Lance cooes, nuzzling his cheek against Cosmo’s muzzle and laughs when the wolf licks him in appreciation. “Yes, we are! Yes, we are!”
“You’re spoiling him,” Keith says as he shakes his head in annoyance but the smile on his lips betrays the strict tone he had aimed for, “and, to answer your question; I was trying to teach someone to fetch properly .”
Damn, those are a lot of emphases.
“Ah, that makes sense.” Lance hums, scratching aimlessly behind Cosmo’s ear as he throws his head back to catch Keith’s gaze upside down. “Okay but I bet the fault is on you and not on poor Cosmo.”
“Hey -”
“But since you’re desperate,” Lance continues calmly, waving Keith’s offended huff off with his free hand, “I will help you.”
“Oh, how kind of you.” This man and his sarcastic emphasis. Why does Lance love him, again?
Keith leans more into Lance’s vision then and the brunet swallows dryly at the sight of a soft playful smile on the former red paladin’s lips.
Ah, right, that’s why.
“Well?” Keith asks, arching an eyebrow in confusion when Lance doesn't move in the slightest. This would be a great moment for someone to slap Lance out of his trance.
Or for Keith to stop looking at Lance with such a warm gaze.
“Yeah, yeah.” Lance mumbles, patting Cosmo on the side and pushing him slightly to send the message. The cosmic wolf lifts himself off Lance calmly enough, licking the brunet’s cheek once Lance sits on the ground and earns a happy laugh as a prize.
“Okay, where’s the murder weapon?” Lance asks as he pushes himself off the ground, a small smile on his lips when Keith quickly reaches out for him to help him the rest of the way. “Thanks. So, murder weapon?”
“God, you’re such a drama queen.” Keith sighs, looking at the sky in exasperation before he chuckles and shakes his head. “The alien twig is behind you, you moron.”
Lance nods before he leans down and picks it up himself. He inspects it with interest, scratching the side of his chin in deep thought and his mouth twitches when Keith snorts a laugh next to him.
“Ah, le art of le fetchin’, uh? ”
“That’s not French.”
Lance ignores him. “What’s the problem, again?”
Keith rolls his eyes, doing a small gesture with his hand for Lance to give him the twig. Lance does so and crosses his arms as he watches Keith wave the twig right at Como’s face.
“Alright, come on, buddy, you got this,” Keith mumbles quietly, scratching under Cosmo’s muzzle as encouragement and Lance’s suppresses the urge to press his hand against his chest; damn, that was cute. “You know the drill; I throw and you fetch it to bring it back. Ready? And - go get it!”
Keith throws the twig and both of the teens stare at it until it lands soundlessly on the ground a few feet from them. They blink before looking down at the wolf between them in sync.
Cosmo limits himself to waggle his tail happily as he stares blankly at Keith and Lance barely has time to slap a hand over his mouth to mute his snort.
He does, however, ends up bending over as he shakes with his now muffled laughter.
Keith’s not amused. “You done? Are you done?”
Lance inhales sharply to try and get a hold of himself but ends up coughing in between when his laughter catches him off guard. He throws a weak thumbs up when Keith starts patting him on the back to prevent him from choking.
“I’m sorry I just,” Lance snorts, pulling himself back to stand straight and waves a hand near his eye to dry his tears. “Oh, boy, I’m sorry, it’s just - hah - really funny the lack of reaction, you know? Golden, I swear.”
“Har, har,” Keith mumbles but his lips soften at Lance’s sudden giggles. He’s quick to look away when the brunet looks back at him beaming. “Are you going to help or not?”
“Keith, buddy, my man,” Lance says, raising his hand up as if in question. “It’s really inspiring and brave what you're trying to accomplish here but I gotta ask though...”
Keith arches an eyebrow at him and Lance wets his lips. It does nothing to dim his grin. “Why are you trying to teach your alien cosmic wolf pet to fetch?”
“Isn’t that what...dogs do?” Keith asks slowly, shrugging his shoulders.
Lance grins, putting his hand over his hip. “Well, yeah but you have a cosmic alien wolf, buddy. They’re kind of different species and all that.”
“Ugh, I know, I know.” Keith sighs, sitting on top of the rock Lance had been leaning on earlier before he puts his elbows on top of his thighs. “God, it’s probably stupid I’m even trying, right?”
“What? No, it’s really not.” Lance chuckles warmly, quietly taking a seat next to Keith. “I was honestly just curious on your determination to teach him.”
“Well,” Keith says slowly, reaching out to stroke Cosmo’s fur as he talks. “I’m kind of new on this ‘having a pet’ thing. I never had a pet before Cosmo.”
“Really? Why’s that?” Lance asks quietly, ducking his head down a little to catch Keith’s eyes. He offers a small kind smile when Keith finally meets his own.
“I, uh - well, it really wasn’t a topic back at home with dad, since we lived in the desert, you know.” Keith starts softly, rubbing the side of his arm with a small smile. “He used to say the lizards were our pets but - hah - they weren’t in a cage or anything, they came and went constantly in the shack as they pleased.”
Keith chuckles as the memories flood his head. “It wasn’t until one night he came back from work and brought with him Spots; she was the town’s firefighters dog.”
“Original name.” Lance jokes lightly and Keith snickers.
“I know, right? Anyway, I was probably five when that happened and I was kind of scared of her because it was the first time I saw a dog but... I don’t know, she really was amazing.” Keith sighs softly, shaking his head in embarrassment. “God, I threw such a tantrum when dad had to take her back to the station the next day, hah.”
“Duty called.” Lance guesses and Keith nods.
“Yeah and after that, I was begging nonstop for a puppy. Dad was reluctant since I was pretty young and he worked a lot but I think he was coming around to the idea. I never knew for sure.”
Lance makes a small questioning sound next to him. “Why?”
Keith shrugs. “Well, he died before I could confirm it but I was pretty sure he was going to say yes,” he says quietly, smiling softly when Lance limits himself to bump him on the shoulder a comfort. “After that, a pet was the last thing on my mind as I moved from foster home to foster home until Shiro took me in.”
“Ah, and then came the Galaxy ‘no filthy pets in the halls’ Garrison, huh?”
Keith snaps his finger before he points it at Lance. “Bingo. So, yeah, that's the story on how I never had a pet besides wild desert lizards who would keep on stealing my socks.”
Keith jokes but Lance can see the faint edge of bitterness behind those simple words. It makes his own heart to ache.
“You must’ve felt lonely, huh?” Lance asks softly.
Keith stays quiet for a few ticks before he nods slowly. “It was pretty lonely, even before dad died since he worked so much. I don’t know, I just…”
He shrugs, letting his words to trail off as he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and Lance doesn’t even have the time comfort before someone else beats him to it.
Lance watches in silence as Cosmo slowly makes his way over to Keith. No running, sprinting or even teletransportation. He takes his time, making sure that Keith’s aware of his presence before he whines softly and reaches out to poke Keith in the cheek with his nose.
The older teen blinks in confusion before he snickers softly and nuzzles his face against Cosmo’s, mumbling something under his breath. Lance pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to see the subtly kiss Keith drops just a little above Cosmo’s eye but he did.
‘Be still,’ Lance tells himself as he watches the gentle expression of affection between a boy and his animal companion. ‘Be still, my heart.’
“Alright then,” Lance says, nodding at Keith with a smile as he reaches out and pats him on the shoulder. “Welcome to ‘I Have a Pet 101’, brought to you by the one and only: Lance ‘All Pets Whisperer’ McClain.”
Keith snorts loudly at the words. “Since when are you a pet whisperer? Isn’t it supposed to be ‘dog whisperer’ or ‘cat whisperer’?”
“Keith, buddy, my man.” Lance clicks his tone in fake disapproval. “I have a cow. I have a cow in space. If that doesn’t tell you I’m an all pets whisperer, I don’t know what will.”
Keith arches an eyebrow, grin turning playful as he aimlessly strokes Cosmo’s back. “Can you make a lizard do a backflip?”
“No, and neither can you, you desert worm.”
“I mean, I came close.”
“Sure you did,” Lance replies offhandedly as he stands up and waves Keith’s pout off with a grin. “But never mind that! Today we focus on cosmic wolves. Watch and learn.”
Keith nods, eyebrows already furrowing together they way they do whenever he’s concentrating. Lance wonders in the back of his head if he’s going to stick out the tip of his tongue next. Keith does that a lot.
Not that he notices. Most of the time.
Just focus on the wolf, McClain.
“Cosmo, hey! Come to Blue, buddy.” Lance calls as he walks a few steps away from Keith. He pats the side of his thigh as he whistles and beams proudly when the cosmic wolf looks back at him and jogs towards him with a curious wag of his tail. “Good boy! Now, you ready to teach Mullet a lesson?”
“Watch it,” Keith mumbles quietly but Lance doesn't need to look at him to know there’s a faint smile on his face. He knows that tone well enough by now.
Lance chuckles from his spot but his eyes never leave Cosmo’s. “Okay, buddy, this is simple…”
He goes off. Lance makes sure to keep his explanation short with small words and big hand gestures so that Cosmo would have an easier time following him. They run a few examples in between, every single one of them becoming easier for Cosmo to follow without effort.
It does the trick, Lance notices proudly, since Cosmo only seems to grow closer in intrigue and looks even more aware than before now that Lance mixes the teaching with small treats.
“Ah, ah.” Lance scolds softly, shaking his finger near the wolf’s face when Cosmo pokes his nose against his clenched hand. “No treat yet, buddy.”
Cosmo actually huffs at him in what Lance could almost call exasperation but he still backs off and waits patiently for Lance’s instructions.
Lance nods proudly at him and his grin only grows when he hears Keith mumbling under his breath behind his back. The brunet coos and scratches behind Cosmo’s ear with affection.
“That’s my boy.”
“Hey .”
Lance pauses and considers his next words. “That’s our boy?”
Keith makes a weird sound before he coughs.
“Whatever.”
Lance snorts but doesn’t turn around. Keith doesn’t need to see the blush that Lance feels already spreading through his face. Him and his big mouth.
“Okay, bud, you want the treat?” Lance asks then, opening his hand and shaking the small ball of goo Hunk managed to create from their spare supplies near Cosmo’s face.
Cosmo lets out an odd small bark before Lance nods back at him and then shakes the twig on his other hand and throws it.
Lance tries not to look too smug when Cosmo actually takes off to run after the twig, disappearing in mid-run only to reappear several feet away from them, already near the spot the twig landed and Keith gasps quietly behind him.
“That was amazing, buddy!” Lance praises as soon as Cosmos appears in front of him behind a spark of electricity. The brunet cheers as he throws the food treat in the air above him and laughs when Cosmo jumps enthusiastically to catch it.
Lance hums as he watches the cosmic wolf chew on his treat and nods as a greet when he hears Keith's faint footsteps stop on his right side.
“I stand corrected,” Keith mumbles softly as he pats Lance’s shoulder before he crouches next to Cosmo to pet it. “That was amazing, buddy.”
Cosmo seems to beam at the praise of his owner, making both men smile fondly. Lance crouches next, on the other side of Cosmo, and mimics Keith’s actions.
“You’ll get the hang of it, dude,” Lance says lifting his head to meet Keith’s eyes and his heart does a flip when he sees the pair already locked on him. “I’m, you know, always near if you want some tips? Kaltnecker is more of a ‘napping’ pet than anything. I love her but there’s only so much napping my body can take.”
Keith snickers, smile wide and happy as he shakes with laughter before he nods. “That would be awesome, actually.”
Lance opens his mouth to reply when suddenly there’s a small brush of fingers in the middle of Cosmo’s back and he chokes on his own spit when Keith doesn't pull away, if anything, sneaks his hand closer to his own.
“Cool,” Lance squeaks out and looks bewildered at his own voice. He clears his throat awkwardly as he looks away and uses his free hand to rub the back of his head. “That’s cool. Cool, cool, cool.”
“Yeah,” Keith says quietly, looking away in embarrassment but there’s a warm blush growing on the tips of his ears. It gives Lance’s hope. “Yeah, that’s cool.”