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Lance, Keith was beginning to realize, wielded a sort of chaotic willpower that he could never quite pin down. One day he would be amiable and easy-going, and on those such days, Keith thought he understood Lance pretty well. And yet the very next day, Lance could be volatile and hot-headed, and particularly unpredictable. One days like those, Keith felt adrift, completely lost as to what might be going through Lance’s head. One thing that seemed to be consistent, however, was the fact that once Lance set his sights on something, he would do everything in his power to see it come to fruition. How badly he wanted it might waver from moment to moment, but ultimately, given time, Lance would achieve his goals.
Like now, for instance. The team had accomplished their mission here on Earth, and it was time for them to return to the heart of the fight, sooner rather than later, for the sake of the morale of the coalition if nothing else. But here Lance stood in front of Keith, eyes wide and pleading, having just told Keith that he thinks the team should take one day, just one, to go to the beach and relax, have some fun. Now, normally Keith would shut him down outright--they don’t have time to fool around while there’s still a war going on, even if they were far removed from it at the moment. But in his determination to have a beach day, Lance thought ahead.
Behind him stood the rest of the team, including Romelle and Krolia, looking just as eager as Lance. How he’d managed to corner and convince every single person was a mystery to Keith, but he could guess. Coran, Allura, Romelle, and Krolia, being the aliens of the team, were undoubtedly curious about the beach and the ocean, and Lance had no doubt hyped it up to the fullest extent, and perhaps a little more. Hunk and Shiro likely thought it would be good for the health and wellness of the team to have a little rest and relaxation before diving headfirst back into the heat of an intergalactic war. And Pidge… Keith was certain that Lance must’ve bribed her, although with what he couldn’t be certain. Or perhaps Keith had simply overestimated Pidge’s dislike of the outdoors.
Regardless, the entire team looked to be in favor of the idea, and waited eagerly for Keith’s decision. They deferred to him by virtue of his position as the leader, but Keith was very well aware of the fact that he would not escape unscathed if he said no. At best, they would ignore him and go to the beach anyways. And so, realizing the futile nature of the situation, Keith sighed, shoulders slouching.
“Fine,” he huffed, and jumped back when Lance whooped loudly, jumping with sheer joy.
“Alright, in that case, we need supplies!” Lance said, whipping around and practically skipping towards his lion. “Hunk, come with me!”
“I’m coming too!” Pidge demanded, Lance’s enthusiasm having clearly infected her as well.
“Uh, did I say Pidge? No, I said Hunk,” Lance said, although he didn’t stop Pidge from following anyways. They continued to argue back and forth, with Hunk making weak attempts at peace as they all hurried to their lions.
What they thought they were going to get without any sort of Earth currency, Keith had no clue, but he figured they would sort it out, one way or another. No need to point that out to them just now. As such, it was an incredible shock to Keith when they returned a few hours later with armfuls of various beach-related things. At least two coolers of food and drinks, inflatable toys, buckets and shovels, towels, and several kinds of sunscreen.
“Is all this really necessary?” Keith asked as soon as he confirmed that they hadn’t robbed some poor convenience store.
“Absolutely!” Lance insisted, and Keith immediately wished he hadn’t asked, because Lance took that as a signal to go through each item and explain just why it was so vital to a perfect beach day experience.
An hour later, the idea of a beach day already had Keith exhausted. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of taking a small break, but the beach wouldn’t have been his first choice of a place to go to relax. See, here’s the thing: Keith grew up in the desert. He’d gone swimming often enough, in pools, and once or twice in a lake, but he’d never, not once in his life, ever gone to the ocean. And, having seen it from above while flying in his lion, Keith didn’t see what the big deal was. As far as he was concerned, it was just a big, over-glorified lake, with an occasional strip of sand bordering it.
If he thought about it, the ocean wasn’t all that different from the sky--a big, vast expanse in which other, more interesting things existed. Of course, of the two, Keith knew which one he preferred. Still, he didn’t give it much thought, even as he went to bed that night, knowing they would be going to the beach the next day. His main thought was that, at the very least, he could just find some shade to sit in and relax. All things considered, he was looking forward to having a day solely for relaxing, despite his insistence that they had more important things to do.
Keith, having taken seriously the idea that everyone wanted it to be a laid back, relaxing sort of day, had been looking forward to sleeping in a little, even if he was normally an early riser. He made the mistake of underestimating Lance’s enthusiasm, however, only to be rudely awoken by it an hour earlier than he would’ve normally woken up. Now, it was a well known fact that Lance was not a morning person, and would sleep in anytime the opportunity presented itself. So when Lance pounded at his door, demanding he wake up immediately, Keith thought something was terribly, horribly wrong.
“What’s wrong,” Lance began dramatically. “Is that everyone is up and getting ready to go except you, sleepy head.”
“...huh?” Keith squinted at Lance; it was still dark outside.
“To go to the beach?” Lance reminded him, when it appeared that Keith’s mind was still too sleep addled to process anything. “Come on, Keith, we have to get going, chop-chop!”
Without another word, Lance marched away, leaving Keith to take deep breaths so as to refrain from strangling Lance. Why in the world did they have to be up this early to go to the beach? The nearest beach wasn’t even that long of a flight, Keith grumbled as he went to get ready anyways. They could easily wait until the sun was up, at least, before they got going. Of course, it seemed Lance had other ideas as to how a beach day should go.
When Keith finally made his way out to the lions, everyone was already there, Lance tapping his foot impatiently. Keith made the mistake of thinking they were going to leave as soon as he joined them. Not so. After loudly complaining that it had only taken Keith forever to join them, Lance insisted that they check and double check all their needed supplies for their super awesome fantastic beach day of fun (as he called it), because they weren’t leaving that beach until it was time to leave for the day.
“Jeez, Lance, this isn’t a military operation,” Pidge grumbled as she stifled a yawn.
“You’re right,” Lance agreed. “It’s much more important than that.”
As Lance conducted what was basically an inventory inspection on items that he himself had gotten the day before (the image of the red lion parked in front of a grocery store was almost enough to soothe Keith’s irritated mood), Keith tried to enjoy the relative peace of the early morning. To the east the sky was starting to take on a dusty pink hue--opposite that, some stars were still visible. Were it not for Lance’s frantic energy buzzing throughout the air, Keith might’ve enjoyed the early hour.
Finally, just as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, Lance proclaimed that they were ready to leave. Pidge and Hunk grumbled loudly, being of the opinion that if they woke up so early they should’ve been able to leave sooner. Keith silently agreed with them as he made his way into the black lion, Shiro and Krolia following close behind. Lance took point in leading them all to the beach, and set a surprisingly lax pace, in spite of his excitement.
“Lance is really excited about this,” Shiro commented.
“No kidding,” Keith replied in a dry tone.
“You’re not?” Shiro asked in a tone that implied he already knew the answer.
“For the beach? No,” Keith said. “Why would I be?”
“Well, you’ve never been to the ocean, right?” Shiro asked.
“I’ve seen it from above, it’s nothing special,” Keith said.
Shiro chuckled, while Krolia chimed in, “It might be different, seeing it up close. Lance seemed to think it was pretty special when he told me about it.”
“Of course Lance would think it’s special, he practically grew up on the beach,” Keith scoffed.
“True,” Shiro granted. “But I think it’s nice that he wants to share that with all of us, even if it’s not the beach he grew up on. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s being shared at all that makes it so important to him.”
Keith went quiet at that, not having thought about it that way. Home was a pretty nebulous concept for him, attached more to people than places. But if he had a chance to show everyone the desert sky at night, bundled in thick blankets and passing around warm drinks--even if it wasn’t the same desert he lived in with his dad, he still thinks he’d be pretty excited to share that with everyone. Then again, stargazing probably wasn’t the same after spending months upon months in space, so maybe not.
The beach they’d agreed to visit was a little less than an hour away by lion, but Lance was once again doing his own thing, and setting an easy pace that had almost everyone nodding off at the controls. They flew low, the scenery below still distinct, and Keith was grateful for the sentience of the lions as he found himself distracted by the lush greenery bathed in the early morning light. He found himself considering, he really hadn’t seen much of the Earth, had he? He’d been to countless other planets and seen more of them than he’d seen of Earth. Perhaps, when all was said and done, he could come back and see more of it, even if he ultimately decided not to stay.
After a while, Keith spotted the ocean up ahead. Despite Shiro and Krolia’s assurances that it would be different from a new perspective, it still looked much the same to Keith. Lance spotted it too, and with a great whoop that startled everyone from their sleepy haze, he kicked his lion into full speed, leaving everyone else struggling to catch up. Keith laughed as he chase after Lance, remembering the thrill it was to fly red. If Shiro and Krolia hadn’t been in the black lion with him, he might’ve pushed black to catch up with red, if only to hear Lance lose his mind over it.
He landed shortly after Lance did, and Keith’s first thought was that, oh no, they’d been right, it was different up close like this. First of all, the sand here was loose and slippery, a far cry from desert sands that were mostly hard and not unlike dirt. And second of all, while Keith had seen pictures and videos of the rolling waves found at beaches, it was quite something else to see it in person. It was… not at all like the sky.
The sky, from the Earth, was like a canvas. A dynamic one, but still more like an object than anything else. The ocean was a living, breathing entity, the thrumming energy of it filling Keith with a silent sense of awe. He looked over at Lance, expecting him to be jumping across the sands with sheer ecstasy. Instead, he found Lance standing just under red, appreciating the ocean in silence, if only for a moment.
No, Keith thought, appreciation wasn’t the right word for this. Appreciation didn’t wake someone up before dawn, nor did it make a normally laid back person nitpick at small details. Keith turned back to the ocean, observing the crashing and tumbling of the small waves, how they pushed and pulled, sometimes peaceful, sometimes not--and he saw Lance. He saw Lance in the water that reached up the sands, in the deeper waters that rolled gently, and when a breeze brushed past him, cool against his skin and tasting of salt, that too made him think of Lance.
It wasn’t just appreciation, Keith realized. This was something that was deeply, intrinsically part of Lance. And he was baring it open, for the whole team to see, just as Shiro had suggested was the case. Something about seeing it for himself, however, made Keith feel warm inside, a stark contrast the the chilly morning air.
Once the others touched down, Lance snapped out of his reverie and into action. All the necessary items were loaded out of the lions and onto the beach, needing to be arranged just so for optimal beach enjoyment, according to Lance. Towels were laid out, an umbrella opened (“No, Pidge, we’re not using the lions for shade, we’re getting the full beach experience,” Lance had said), and everyone, particularly those with fair skin, lined up to receive a thorough dousing of sunscreen. Keith didn’t like the sunscreen at all--it smelled weird and felt weird on his skin. He hoped a quick swim would dispel the feeling.
Once that was all done, Lance gave everything a once over with a critical eye. Seeming satisfied, he grinned, and loudly proclaimed that their beach day could finally begin. Everyone cheered, more out of relief from being free of Lance’s nitpicking than excitement at actually being on the beach. Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk made a beeline for the coolers, while Coran, Allura, Romelle, and Krolia began to explore a nearby tidepool, having been told by Lance that such a place contains countless kinds of marine wildlife.
Lance, meanwhile, met Keith with a suspiciously mischievous look.
“Race you to the water!” he shouted before bolting down the beach.
Now, Keith was very well aware that he could’ve let Lance run all the way to the water, realizing only afterwards that Keith never accepted his challenge, thus making his victory a hollow one. But Keith was never one to back down from a challenge, especially one coming from Lance. So he dug his heels into the sand and sprinted after Lance, who very unfairly had a headstart on him. It was difficult to run in the sand, and Lance had a longer stride than him, but Keith was already determined to win.
He leaned forward and pushed with everything he had, and smirked when he found himself gaining on, and eventually passing Lance. They made it to the surf-dampened sand just as the water was receding, so Keith kept going, determined to solidify his victory, and plunged his forward foot directly into the water without hesitation--and let out an uncharacteristic screech when he found the water to be icy cold. He recoiled immediately and ran out of reach of the oncoming surf, hopping awkwardly in a desperate attempt to dispel the chill.
Lance, in the meantime, was doubled over with laughter, having stopped just short of the water, and Keith realized he’d been had. Scowling, he turned to go back to their spot, silently considering how he might exact his revenge.
“Aw, c’mon, Keith,” Lance called after him, laughter subsiding. “You have to admit, it’s a pretty good wake up call.”
Keith turned back to Lance, an especially wicked idea forming in his head already. Lance must’ve seen a gleam of it in Keith’s expression, because he stopped laughing completely and made to run away, but Keith reacted quickly. He grabbed Lance around the waist and hoisted him into the air, charging straight back into the water. Lance started shrieking shrilly, trying to escape from Keith’s grasp, but to no avail. Lance may’ve had him in speed, but when it came to strength, Keith came out on top--Lance’s fate was sealed.
Alas, that meant some suffering on Keith’s part. He hissed as he trudged into the water until it was up to his knees. Lance was now trying to cling to Keith, but Keith had grabbed him from behind, making it nearly impossible to get a good hold. Without further preamble, Keith tossed Lance into the water, revelling in the scream that Lance let out just before hitting the water. Thusly avenged, it was Keith’s turn to laugh as he made to leave the water.
As soon as he had his back turned, however, Lance emerged from the water, spitting and shivering.
“Oh no you don’t!” Keith heard Lance shout just before he felt his arms around his waist, which then pulled him backwards and under the surf before he could so much as protest.
Keith almost gasped at the shock of cold that met him, and thrashed wildly to escape Lance’s grip. Lance let him go after only a second, and Keith stood up, only to be immediately knocked over by an oncoming wave that he hadn’t accounted for. Lance was laughing at him again, and he absolutely couldn’t let that stand. He spun around, hand cupped in the water, and sent a splash of water directly into Lance’s face.
Lance sputtered, and then wasted no time in launching an immediate counter-attack. Soon enough the piercing cold was forgotten in favor of an all out splash war. Keith was at a disadvantage, as he kept forgetting to account for the incoming waves and fell over several more times. Lance, on the other hand, moved with the motion of the ocean as though he were born into it, his laughter rolling with the waves everytime Keith succumbed to them. Keith laughed too, having too much fun to even pretend to be unamused.
Neither were willing to concede, so the splash war didn’t end until Shiro came to insist they eat something. In tandem, they tried to splash Shiro as well, but he was, literally and figuratively, a few steps ahead of them, and neatly avoided being splashed.
“I’ll remember that,” he assured both of them. “But seriously, you guys should come eat.”
With a few finals splashes, both Keith and Lance trying to have the last word (so to speak), they left the ocean and realized once more just how cold the water was. They raced back to the towels and wrapped themselves tightly, teeth chattering all the while. Lance made a point to flick water on as many people as possible, chasing down those who resisted. Afterwards, he dug through the cooler with all the food and scarfed down several packs of fruit snacks (“Lance, that’s a terrible breakfast,” Hunk told him. “Ah, but it’s still breakfast,” Lance countered), and then hurried to join Coran in the tide pools (Krolia had taken a break for food, and Allura and Romelle were busying themselves collecting sea shells).
Keith took the time to eat a better breakfast, afterwards being reminded by Hunk to not go swimming for at least half a varga. That was fine by him, as it was far too cold to really go swimming right now. Shiro reclined next to him, apparently intent on the “relax” part of this excursion.
“So, what do you think?” Shiro asked him.
Keith huffed, though not entirely ill-naturedly. “It’s… definitely not what I expected.”
Shiro chuckled. “Told you so.”
Keith tossed a handful of sand at Shiro, who only laughed more. Then he too laid himself back on the warm towels, exhausted from the short but intense battle with Lance in the water combined with the early hour. Keith was normally the type to find peace in complete silence, but the rhythmic shushing of the ocean waves was surprisingly soothing, even punctuated by occasional seagull cries and accompanied by the distant sound of Lance explaining to Coran how a starfish (which wasn’t actually a fish) could regrow a limb if it was severed. Keith smiled as he closed his eyes, and dreamed of sea stars in the sky.
When he next awoke, Keith was no longer cold. In fact, it was almost a little too warm for him. And it felt like something heavy was pressing down on his entire body, almost like a hug, but all over his entire body. He opened his eyes and blinked at the blinding sunlight; he must’ve slept for several hours, given the height of the sun in the sky. He lifted his head and tried to sit up, only to find the reason for the oppressive heaviness blanketing his entire body: as he’d slept, Keith had been almost completely buried in sand.
Nearby, he heard Pidge and Hunk giggling wildly.
“Very funny you guys,” he said, smiling despite his dry tone.
Discovering that he was awake, Pidge and Hunk dissolved into fits of loud laughter, and Keith was certain he heard the click of a camera. He let his head fall back, enjoying the cocoon of warmth for a moment. He must’ve been really tired if they had managed to pile this much sand on him without him waking up.
“Oh, hey, welcome to the club,” he heard Shiro say from beside him. He turned to see Shiro only buried from the waist down, the sand fashioned artfully into the tail of a mermaid, and snorted.
“You make a great merman,” Keith told him.
“Thanks, I thought so too,” Shiro agreed, and from his tone Keith knew that Pidge and Hunk had been added to his revenge list the same as himself and Lance. “Keeps me warm, anyways.”
“Too warm for me,” Keith decided, having had his fill.
Pidge and Hunk, apparently recording, narrated Keith getting up as though he were a magnificent creature emerging from a cocoon. He couldn’t help but grin and roll his eyes as he tried to brush all the sand off his skin. Closer to the water, the rest of the group was engaged in building sand castles, a few already completed and artfully decorated with some of the seashells Allura and Romelle had collected. Currently, they all seemed to be working on a sand replica of the Castle of Lions, recognizable only by the arrangement of the otherwise featureless piles of sand. Lance ran over with two more bucketfuls of wet sand, looking flushed and exhilarated. How he managed to keep going without rest was a mystery to Keith.
Meanwhile Keith realized that beach sand had at least one thing in common with desert sand, and that was that it was stubborn, getting into places he’d rather it not be and clinging insistently. The only thing for it then, he decided, was a nice swim in the ocean, which was just as well, because the open air was now hot, and the cool of the ocean sounded very welcoming.
The icy bite of the water was still a shock, but a more welcome one. Keith waded in slowly, bracing himself for the oncoming waves. Earlier, he’d only gone knee deep, submerging only when he fell over. Now, he moved in further, and when the water was up to his chest, he found himself having to jump with every wave, but it was a gentle thing, requiring the barest of effort. It was actually pretty relaxing, Keith decided as he moved forward to brave deeper waters. He stopped only when his toes just barely brushed the sandy bottom, and enjoyed, for a few moments, the peace of the rhythmic motion.
The sound of Lance’s voice broke the peace though, and it sounded urgent, so Keith turned around, thinking that perhaps Coran had found a crab and the crab had found Coran’s finger. But it was not Coran that Lance was yelling at, but Keith himself. He was gesturing wildly, waving his arms side to side, but Keith couldn’t make out what he meant by it. He looked around, confused. Was there a shark in the water or something?
Keith realized a moment too late that the water had gone suspiciously calm, when a powerful current opposite the direction of what he’d been following caught him and swept him under the waves. He didn’t panic immediately; he may’ve grown up in the desert, but he wasn’t a poor swimmer. He kicked himself back up to the surface, only to have a wave break in his face. He coughed and sputtered, nose and eyes burning, and looked back to shore--which was now much farther than he wanted it to be.
Steeling himself, Keith started to swim back to shore, but another strong surge swept him back out towards the open sea, where another wave pushed him back under the water. When he came up for air again, he felt out of breath, desperately kicking towards the ever shrinking shore to no avail. Every time he tried to push himself back to land, the opposing current pushed back twice as hard. At one point he tumbled head over heels, in such a dizzying manner as to make him confused for a panicked moment as to which way was up and which was down.
Just as he was really starting to panic, thinking that the ocean was really truly a living creature intent on killing him, Lance was there, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the side, rather than back towards the shore. Keith followed weakly, gasping for breath and barely able to keep himself moving. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the current disappeared, and they were back in the waves that helped push them back towards the shore, where the rest of the team waited anxiously. Once they made it to shallower waters, Lance released his grip on Keith’s arm, but stayed close.
As soon as he was close enough, there were multiple calls of, “Keith! Are you okay?” to which he replied, “Yes, I’m fine.”
“What happened?” Krolia asked, concern evident in her tone. “One moment you were fine and the next you were… well…”
“I don’t know,” Keith admitted, feeling much the same way his mother did. One moment everything had been calm and under control, and the next he legitimately thought he might be in danger of drowning.
Lance answered both of them. “You got caught in a riptide. I tried to warn you, but you were too far out already, I guess.”
“Ah,” was all Keith had to say to that as he flopped back onto the sand, still trying to catch his breath.
“They’re actually called rip currents,” Hunk corrected, to which Lance replied that riptide sounded much cooler.
“Anyways, riptides are actually pretty harmless--” Lance started to explain to the others.
“Oh, sure, that seemed harmless to me,” Keith snapped.
“Harmless if you don’t try to swim against them,” Lance snapped back, with a pointed look at Keith. “If you find yourself in a strong current that’s taking you away from the shore, you just swim to the side until you’re out of it, easy-peasy.”
It took a little more explaining to convince everyone, particularly the aliens of the team, that riptides were nothing to fear so long as you didn’t panic, which only made Keith feel worse. Trust him to have panicked over something that could’ve been so easily escaped. And now everyone was fussing over Keith, as though something horrible had just happened to him, and he really just wished they’d all leave him alone, as he was fine and didn’t need them babying him. Thankfully, he was better at not saying such things anymore, but it was a close thing. Eventually, everyone felt satisfied that Keith was one hundred percent intact, and slowly returned to their prior activities.
Save for Lance, who sat beside him without saying a word. What he was still doing near Keith, Keith couldn’t figure out. It wasn’t like Keith was in danger anymore, and it wasn’t like the ocean was going to reach up and pull him back in (at least, he was pretty sure nothing like that would happen).
“I got caught in a riptide when I was a kid,” Lance said suddenly, voice only just audible above the waves. “And I’d grown up knowing all about them. I even saw people get caught up in riptides, so it’s not like I didn’t know what they looked like. And I knew what to do if I ever got caught in one.”
Here Lance paused, drawing his knees up to his chest.
“I thought I did, anyways,” he continued. “One day I was just playing in the water, in more shallow water than what you were in, and it just came out of nowhere. It was completely different from what I thought it was, and even though I knew what was happening--I panicked. I tried to swim against the current, but it kept pushing me back. If it hadn’t been for one of my older brothers, I probably would’ve drowned.”
He turned to look at Keith. “What I’m saying is, you don’t have to feel bad about what happened. Frankly it’s amazing you didn’t drown even though you didn’t know the first thing about riptides.”
Keith blinked, once again taken aback by Lance’s constantly shifting nature. Normally he seemed so self-absorbed and even pompous, it was easy to forget that he was actually quite caring. It only happened in moments like this though, when Keith was at a low point--when he needed it most, he realized.
“Thanks,” he said quietly. “And thanks for getting me out of there.”
“No problem,” Lance replied, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Didn’t want to have to give you mouth to mouth anyways.”
Keith snorted as he sat up. “Why would you be the one giving me mouth to mouth?”
“Uh, cause I’m pretty sure I’m the only one on this beach right now that’s CPR certified,” Lance said.
“You don’t think Shiro’s CPR certified?” Keith asked, disbelieving.
“Of course I think he was CPR certified at one point, but do you really think his certifications haven’t expired by now?” Lance shot back.
“That wouldn’t matter to Shiro,” Keith argued.
“Oh, really?” Lance challenged. He twisted around to look over his shoulder and call out to Shiro, “Hey, Shiro, hypothetical question!”
Shiro looked up from where he was helping Pidge and Hunk build some sort of sand fortress, expression questioning.
“Hypothetically, if someone needed mouth to mouth, and it was a choice between you or someone that was CPR certified to save them, would you do it yourself or let the CPR certified person do it?” Lance asked. Keith rolled his eyes. Trust Lance to go the extra mile to prove himself right.
Shiro considered the question for a moment, then answered, “I’d probably let the CPR certified person do it, and help if they needed.”
“Ha!” Lance puffed, whipping back around to rub it in Keith’s face, leaving Shiro more confused than ever. “See? If you needed mouth to mouth, your life would be in my hands!”
“Hm, not exactly reassuring,” Keith teased, trying not to let his smirk show.
Lance floundered at that, sputtering, “Hey, hey, I’ll have you know I was, and still am, an excellent lifeguard! In fact, mouth to mouth from me would probably improve your quality of life!”
Keith wasn’t sure what prompted the next words that came out of his mouth, because it certainly wasn’t his own conscious will. Perhaps he’d swallowed too much salt water, or he’d gotten too much sun. Or perhaps, just maybe, it was that weird little wiggle in his chest that made him feel pleased that he’d gotten to Lance, and wanted to do it again.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lance’s eyes went wide and his smile fell, and Keith wished he could pluck words out of the air and take them back. That riptide was looking more and more appealing the more time that passed that Keith didn’t back pedal.
“Kidding!” Keith finally choked out. “I’m kidding, obviously!”
“Oh,” Lance breathed, smiling again. “Of course--who would’ve thought, you? Joking? It’s a beach day miracle.”
“Yeah,” Keith replied, taking a steadying breath.
“Of course,” Lance began, getting that wicked gleam in his eyes again. “I could always demonstrate for you, just so you know how to do it. After all, it’s dangerous to have this many people on the beach with only one lifeguard.”
“What, you’re certified to make other people lifeguards?” Keith challenged, heart stuttering.
He felt like he was in the riptide all over again, confused and struggling. Don’t swim against it, Lance had said. Don’t panic, Keith told himself. It was just Lance, anyways. Lance, who was grinning that mischief-making grin of his that made Keith’s instincts scream, that told him something was afoot and that he shouldn’t fall for it. Don’t swim against it, Lance’s voice echoed in his head. So he didn’t.
“Maybe,” Lance mused, voice low. “If they’ve got what it takes.”
Keith couldn’t help but notice how close Lance was now, close enough that Keith could see the faint smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose, how his smile was just a little lopsided, and how his eyes were somehow as blue as the ocean itself, and just as lively. Keith vaguely wondered if the light-headed feeling he was getting was from nearly drowning earlier, or perhaps the heat of the sun was too much.
“Oh?” Keith prompted lamely, at a loss for words.
“Yeah,” Lance replied. “Think you’ve got what it takes?”
It was strange, Keith thought as he surged forward. Lance was so much like the ocean, like water. Ever-changing and flexible, but also wild and lively. A force of nature to be reckoned with, the currents of his will unpredictable and chaotic. And yet through it all, he seemed to always know just how to stoke the flames of competition in Keith. What had been a moment before a simmering bed of embers, potent and ready, was now a roaring wildfire, threatening to burn Keith from the inside out. Or maybe, Keith thought distantly as he came to a slow awareness of what he was doing, it was the sun bearing down heavily on him, in the process of burning him and his pale skin to a crisp.
Whatever it was, Keith decided, it was nothing compared to the heat of Lance’s lips against his. It was only for an instant, punctuated by the crashing of a wave in front of them, but long enough that Keith thought he could taste the sea salt on Lance’s lips. The surf reached up to kiss their toes, and as the water receded, so too did Keith.
Lance looked stunned, and Keith worried that he’d read everything wrong and made a huge mistake. He hoped he hadn’t, not only because he didn’t want to jeopardize his hard won friendship with Lance, but also because he knew he would be thinking of this later, reliving it again (and again), and he preferred to not feel guilty about doing that. Troubled by the silence, Keith opened his mouth to apologize, to explain, to do whatever it took to salvage their friendship, when Lance cut him off.
“That,” he started abruptly, and Keith held his breath, waiting for what he was now sure would be an inevitable freak-out. “Was the worst mouth to mouth ever.”
Taken aback, Keith bristled and prepared to retaliate with something scathing, hoping it meant that Lance hadn’t read to much into what just happened, that they could just slip back into what they were, when Lance continued, “But for a kiss it was pretty damn good.”