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The fire crackled in front of Lance, and lit up the dark circle of their campsite. A strange, alien forest loomed beyond them with who-knows what in it. They didn’t have the castle’s archives to warn them about things like that anymore. Not that it was always accurate, given that the castle had been 10, 601 years old. It survived that long, only to end up sacrificed to save the universe. It had a good run.
Lance still missed it though. It had been a slice of home away from home in a sense. It provided a bit of security and familiarity.
This was so different.
At least they were able to settle down and actually stop for once. It was a unanimous agreement when they came across a world with an atmosphere that was like Earth’s.
Lance poked at the fire with an odd, vibrant blue stick. Camping out was great, but it meant they had to take shifts being on watch. Krolia tried to take several shifts, but Lance insisted that he wanted a bit of quiet time. She understood that more than most.
That might have been a bad idea, in retrospect. There was something about the crackle of the fire, and what sounded a lot like crickets, that reminded him a little too much of home . It might just him though.
He was the dumb one, after all.
“Hey man.”
Lance had to clap his hand over his mouth to stop the yelp that rose up in him. He twisted around, and glared at Keith. The other's lips tilted up with the barest bit of amusement as he approached. He sat beside him on the log that they dragged over near the fire earlier. Once they were sure it wasn’t sentient. It happened once.
Once Keith sat down, Lance made sure to give him the most unimpressed look he could muster. “I’m going to put a bell on you. I know you’re part space-cat, but who gave you the right to be so sneaky?” He could remember a time when the easiest way to find Keith was to follow the explosions.
After a quick glance back to where Krolia rested with Kosmo, Keith looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Krolia’s not even a fluffy Galra.”
“True,” Lance agreed. “She’s like the most humanoid one we’ve seen outside of Lotor. Is she even full Galra?” She reminded Lance of Acxa too, but he didn’t want to think of her at the moment. Yeah, it was good that she was on their side, but she was smart, strong, talented, and everything he failed to be. That he wanted to be.
“This isn’t why I came here,” Keith said with a quick shake of his head. He twisted so that he could stare at Lance, and narrowed his eyes. “Besides, you're supposed to pay attention. You’re on guard duty. Should get you up for some extra training early.”
Right, that was true, wasn’t it? Lance bit his lip and looked down for a moment before he plastered a smile on his face. “Aww come on, man. Give me some slack. I am the dumb one, right?” He laughed, not loud enough to wake anyone else. “Is it your turn for watch?”
Keith’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, but—”
“Great!” Lance stood and stretched. “I’m going to try and get some sleep. Beauty like this takes effort, you know?”
“Lance.”
There was something about the way Keith said his name that made him freeze. He looked back down at the Black Paladin, who gave him a pointed look. Without even being asked , Lance sank back down to sit beside him and waited.
Indigo eyes slid away from his face, and focused on some random point beyond his head. Lance continued to stare at Keith. “I wanted to, you know…apologize.”
Okay. This was new. “For what?” Lance’s mind went to that moment where Keith, dressed in that horrid Blade of Marmora uniform, turned his back on them and walked through the door . The moment he left them.
“The stupid game show.”
That made him blink. He hadn't expected that at all. Lance raised an eyebrow. “What?” What did Keith think he had to apologize for?
Keith shifted and crossed his arms in front of him. “For what I said. You know. Why I picked you. That was…what you said was really nice and then I—I’m sorry.”
Oh, was that it? Lance wasn’t going to lie, he felt a little hurt and disappointed when he heard Keith’s words. At first, he was ecstatic over the fact that Keith chose him of all people. The acceptance came pretty fast, because he couldn’t blame Keith in the least. “Dude, it’s fine.”
“What?” Keith narrowed his eyes. “No it’s not. I was a jerk, and I’m supposed to be the leader, but those stupid cameras, and you just —”
“Look,” Lance interrupted. “I get it. I’ve been a jerk too. Look back at everything. I was the idiot that thought we were rivals when you didn’t even know who I was.” He looked away. “And I never apologized to you. So I guess that makes me the bigger jerk.”
“We’re not competing over who was the bigger jerk, Lance,” Keith groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before he met his eyes again. “Look, I wanted to apologize cause you were having a hard time and I added to it.”
“I get it,” Lance stressed. “I wouldn’t want to be stuck with me for eternity either. I mean, how did I forget Rolo’s name?” He groaned at the thought.
“No, you don’t get it.” Keith growled. It was amazing that they managed to keep their voices down so that no one else woke up at this point. “God, I want to go back and find Bob and punch him right in the face. He was such a jerk.”
“He’s an inter-dimensional god that knows everything. He must know some things.”
“Well, he was wrong about you.” Keith pouted, and hell if that wasn’t adorable.
Focus Lance. “I mean, not really ? You guys point out that stuff all the time.” He tried to shrug it off.
“I—well—I…” Keith groaned, hands curled into fists as he looked at Lance with fierce eyes. “No one can make fun of you but me!”
The Red Paladin blinked once, and then twice, before he squeaked out, “What?” Kosmo’s ears flickered towards them.
“Look, Lance. When I…I’m teasing you because you’re—you’re a great person, you know? And we’re friends? And I know Shiro and Adam used to tease and make fun of one another all the time, but it was okay, because they knew the other and didn’t push the wrong things, and they weren’t trying to hurt one another and were just having fun and I just —I kind of actually wanted to fight Bob, you know ? Cause that’s not cool and I—I—dammit.” Keith cheeks turned so pink that it almost obscured the scar he still refused to talk about.
Lance could feel his own face as it heated. His heart beat rapidly as he said, “Yeah, friends can do that as long as they know when to stop. I shoulda stopped with you too back then.”
Keith shook his head. “Lance, it’s different now. Isn’t it?”
It was different. Anyway you looked at it. Everything was different. “Yeah.” He met Keith’s gaze, and started to talk before he could stop himself. “No one can make fun of you except for me either. Even if your hair’s awful.” He tacked on a smile at the end, even though he was internally screaming.
A small smile appeared on Keith’s features. “I guess that’s okay.”
“Good, because if anyone does, I’ll…do something…”
“Talk their ear off?”
“Listen here!” Hunk snorted and rolled in his sleep. It startled both of them. Right, their friends surrounded them, and some had pretty sensitive hearing.
Lance met Keith’s gaze, and had to suppress his laughter. Keith's shoulders shook as he seemed to face the same problem.
“Go get some sleep,” Keith said, his voice soft when he caught Lance's yawn. “And don’t worry. Bob was wrong. You’re one of the smartest idiots I know.”
“I can feel the love,” Lance said. He slumped down and leaned on Keith instead. It wasn’t exactly comfortable in their armour, but that was okay. “I’d rather stay here.”
Keith hesitated before his hand came up, and settled against Lance’s head. “You don’t have to.”
“Well, we do have to discuss the fact that you think I’m a great person.” Lance laughed at Keith groaned.
“Forget I said anything.”
“Nope.” Lance smiled as he stayed close to Keith. Bob’s words still echoed in the back of his mind, but it wasn't as bad. Keith didn't mean to hurt his feelings, and would fight for him if he had to. Lance could take some teasing from him, because Keith was right. They were friends, and they did know what buttons to press and avoid now, for the most part.
That made him feel warm inside as he drifted off, snuggled up against Keith. Maybe, just maybe, this is what he had been missing all along.