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Lance watched contently as Keith settled underneath the covers beside him. When he finally seemed comfortable, he turned to look at Lance and caught him staring.
"What are you looking at?" he teased.
"You're just..." Lance paused, as if considering his words. "Pretty."
Keith rolled his eyes and snorted. "Whatever."
"Don't 'whatever' me," Lance laughed, wrapping his arms around Keith from behind and resting his chin on top of Keith's head. He added, more softly, "You are."
Keith made a noncommittal noise, shrugging off the compliment. Lance shifted around on the bed so that he could see Keith's face better.
"Hey," he said, in a tone that suggested accusation. Whatever charge Keith was to have laid against him, however, was forgotten as Lance's face softened and he leaned forward to plant a kiss on Keith's cheek. He leaned back, fixing Keith with the same look of gentle appreciation, before pressing another kiss to his jaw, one just to the side of his mouth, and then several more scattered among his cheeks. Keith laughed as he was bombarded, crying out in mock indignation under Lance's assault. Lance placed a kiss on Keith's forehead, one on the tip of his nose, and, finally, one on his lips.
Keith's face when Lance leaned back to meet his eyes could only be described as thawed. He wore a dopey, unselfconscious grin that his eyes amiably matched.
"I love you," he murmured, softly enough that Lance had to remind himself that no, this wasn't just another dream. He wasn't making this up.
"I love you more."
Keith's smile quirked; of course he didn't miss the challenge there. "I love you even more than that," he retaliated.
To love doesn't mean to yield.
"I love you most."
Devotion and submission aren't synonymous.
"I love you more than most." Keith recognized the lift of Lance's brow for what it meant. You already used that one, it taunted. I'm winning.
Keith had never gone down without a fight.
As Lance dealt his winning blow, Keith met him word for word. "I love you times infinity," they finished in unison. Lance's eyes shined with unsounded laughter as their foreheads touched.
"I guess that's a tie," he whispered.
"I guess so," Keith agreed.
To meet your fair match is not necessarily to admit defeat. There's strength in compromise.