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Keith had never enjoyed parties. Not back on earth and certainly not in space. Sure, it was interesting to see all of the different customs and ways that aliens celebrated. And okay, fine, he had enjoyed a few space parties. But those mostly involved sword fighting demonstrations and cool weapons. He liked to be a part of the action, sue him. But he certainly didn’t like all the dancing and chatting. He especially didn’t like her.
Her being the princess of the royal household of the planet… was it Goolu? Golu? Gulo? Whatever it was, she was the princess and she hadn’t left his side all night and she was starting to grind his gears, just a little.
Not that she wasn’t pretty (well, her green skin and multiple eyes left a lot to be desired) but he had never seen the appeal in a woman draping themselves over him. He didn’t enjoy it normally but he absolutely hated it as he shot Lance an apologetic look, his boyfriend pouting in return.
“Red paladin?” She drawled, letting her arm rest on Keith’s bicep, bringing his attention back to her. Keith sighed and tried to keep calm, focusing instead on the swelling and the dipping of the music being placed at the front of the room. Harming the princess would completely undo all of their work to liberate the planet and that was not the plan for tonight. The princess coughed slightly, breaking Keith out of his trance. “Red paladin,” She tried again. “Why do you stay so quiet?”
Keith shook his head and attempted a smile. “I don’t have much I want to say.” He resisted the urge to shake her hand off, lest he offended her.
“If that is so,” She drawled again, stepping closer and pushing Keith back into the wall, taking her hand off of his bicep and placed it on the other side of Keith's head, effectively caging him in. “Why don’t we head back to my lodgings and-”
“Nope! He is not going back with anyone!” A voice yelled above the music. Keith whipped his head to the side, breathing out a sigh of relief when he noticed a flash of blue.
Lance stomped over to the couple, scowling. He came to a stop beside Keith and crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at the princess. “He isn’t going anywhere.” He repeated fiercely.
“And why is that?” She sneered, moving even closer towards Keith.
Lance gasped and grabbed onto Keith, taking his arm and pulling him away from the wall, knocking the princess’ arm in the process.
The princess stared, shocked, as she watched Lance place a possessive hand on Keith’s waist, pulling him into his side.
“He isn’t going anywhere,” Lance said firmly, glaring at the princess. “Because he is spoken for.”
Keith watched in amazement as Lance scowled deeply, maintaining eye contact with the princess. As he stared at Lance, Keith came to the conclusion that he had never seen the blue paladin glare at someone that intensely before. The alien opened her mouth to say something before she was called to attention by the King himself. With a huff and a hiss directed towards Lance, she turned and stormed away, leaving the two paladins in her wake.
Keith breathed a sigh of relief and sagged against Lance. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before turning his head to smile up at Lance. “Thanks.” He said with a smile.
Lance turned to look at Keith, mouth set in a frown and eyebrows furrowed. “Are you okay?” He asked, completely ignoring Keith.
“I’m fine, Lance.” He nodded, pulling away from the half hug gently and holding his arms out slightly. “She didn’t leave a mark.”
Lance scoffed and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if she left a mark,” He muttered, pulling Keith close again and burying his head into his shoulder. “It matters that she was touching you at all.”
Keith felt his mouth fall open in shock. He froze for a moment, trying to take in what Lance had said before he was jerking away and holding Lance at arm's length. “You’re jealous.”
Lance’s face twisted into an emotion Keith had never seen before he was shaking his head viciously. “I’m not jealous.”
“Yes, you are,” Keith replied, unable to stop the smile from appearing on his face.
“What is there to be jealous of?” Lance asked defensively, turning his back on Keith and crossing his arms. “If you and the princess want to be all flirty flirty, then please go ahead.”
Keith shook his head, taking ahold of Lance’s hand, pulling on it slightly in a bid to get Lance to look at him again. “Come on, you know that’s not what happened.”
Lance huffed, adjusting the grip he had on Keith’s hand and pulled him out of the room and away from the party. He paused for a moment, assessing where he was before pulling Keith down a hallway.
***
Twisting and turning through the maze of corridors, Lance finally found an empty room that he was satisfied with.
He pulled Keith in and shut the door behind them, flicking the lock into place. Turning, he watched as Keith sat down on the bed, making himself comfortable with a little wiggle.
“Look, I might be jealous,” Lance admitted quietly, not making any move to get any closer to Keith. “And I might have overreacted a little when I saw her push you against the wall.”
“But why did you feel the need to be so possessive?” Keith asked, tilting his head, unsure.
“She was getting all up in your space, Keith. What was I meant to do? Just stand by and watch as she tries to get you to sleep with her?” Lance said sarcastically. He dropped his head, sighing and curling his arms around his stomach. “You’re mine,” He said quietly.
Keith nodded. “I understand what you mean,” He patted the space next to him before holding out his arms. “Come and sit with me.” He requested, face breaking out into a small smile when Lance took a step, and then another, and then plopped himself down into his boyfriend's arms.
“You’re mine and I didn’t know what to do when I saw her touch you,” Lance said, snuggling closer to Keith. “I’m the only one who's allowed to touch you.”
“Yes, you are,” Keith agreed easily, brushing some of Lance’s hair out of his eyes. “And that’s not going to change.”
“Why did you let her?” Lance asked quietly, avoiding eye contact.
Keith sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of Lance’s head. “I didn’t want to make a scene. She’s the princess of the planet, who knows what she would have done if I had flat out rejected her.”
“She would have left you the quiznack alone,” Lance muttered. “Or I would have had a fight with her.”
Keith chuckled, shaking his head a little. “I think the glaring did the trick.”
Lance let out a little giggle before pulling away and standing, starting to pace a little.
Keith watched him quietly, knowing that Lance needed time to think things through after a problem and he could think clearer when he was on the move.
After a small while of watching Lance, Keith stood as well and held out his hand to Lance, waiting until he caught sight of it before speaking. “What do you want to do?”
Lance huffed and took Keith’s hand in both of his, looking intently at the way the skin dimpled under his touch. “You need a manicure.” He said, smirking at Keith.
Keith sighed in exasperation before using his free hand to gently tilt Lance’s face so he could look him in the eye. “That didn’t answer my question now, did it?”
“I want her to stay away from you. And I want you to stay away from her. But I know that that is an unfair request to make. You saved the planet as well, you deserve to get the recognition from it.” Lance said quickly, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to make sense of his intentions.
“I couldn’t care less about the party, Lance,” Keith reached up to soothed the wrinkles out of Lance’s forehead. “I just want to make sure you’re comfortable.”
“But where would you be most comfortable?”
“Back on the castleship really. Away from all the noise… and people.” Keith said, pulling a face.
Lance couldn’t help but laugh at that, curling in on himself slightly. “That’s such a Keith thing.”
Keith shrugged, a small smile appearing at Lance's laughing. “I’d rather have dinner with the training bots than with a whole planet full of people.”
Lance huffed out a final laugh before resting his hands on Keith’s face. “I know you would.” He pulled Keith down, giving him a small kiss before pulling away to smile up at his boyfriend.
Keith couldn’t help chase Lance’s lips, scowling when Lance moved out of his reach.
Lance giggled, pecking his lips once more and grabbing onto both of Keith’s hands, holding them securely in his own. “Seriously though. What do you want to do?”
“I want to go back to the party,” Keith started, ignoring Lance’s expression of disgust. “And I want to spend all night making sure my boyfriend doesn’t fight the princess and I want a dance.”
Lance shook his head, smiling. “You ask a lot of one single man.”
“But he’ll do it for me… right?” Keith looked uncertain, biting his lip, hands twitching as if he was about to pull them away.
Tightening his grasp slightly, Lance nodded, expression becoming soft. “I’d do anything for you.” He said quietly, bringing up Keith’s hands to press a kiss against his knuckles.
A blush started to make its way up Keith’s face, and he smiled gently.
With a final kiss to both of Keith’s hands, Lance dropped them gently and turned back to the door, unlocking it. He opened it, peeking out before turning back to Keith. “The coast is clear.”
Shaking his head, Keith laughed quietly, brushing past Lance and back down the hallway that they had originally come from. After a few moments, he realised that Lance wasn’t behind him.
He turned to see his boyfriend, standing against the doorframe, checking him out and failing to be subtle about it. “Come and get it,” Keith called, laughing loudly as Lance swore and started to chase after him.
***
Returning back to the party put Keith on edge. The music sounded louder than it had been before and he felt an overwhelming urge to find the princess, just so he could keep an eye on her for the rest of the night.
Feeling his unease, Lance placed a hand on Keith’s back, leading him towards the edge of the room. He paused to grab a couple of drinks from a passing waiter, depositing them into Keith’s hands so he could direct him where to go.
Leaning against the wall, sipping on the sweet drink, Keith felt himself relaxing. He smiled gratefully at Lance, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead, before moving so that he was close to Lance’s ear. “Thank you.” He said, just loud enough to be heard.
“For what?” Lance asked, rolling his eyes and grinning. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You trusted me.” Keith replied, taking another sip of the drink in his hand. “You could have done anything after a situation like that and you trusted me.”
“Not all of us have trust issues, Keith.” Lance teased, laughing loudly as Keith gasped and pushed him in retaliation.
“I do not!” He protested, jabbing Lance in the side. “Not all of us trusts everyone we meet!”
“Now who’s the mean one?” Lance stuck his tongue out, giggling when Keith pretended to be offended.
“Alright then, no dance for you.” Keith said, turning away slightly, crossing his arms over his chest, being careful not to spill his drink.
“Shut up, you wanna dance with me.” Just as Lance said this, the music slowed considerably from the jaunty tune it had been before, to something that could represent a waltz of some kind.
Smirking, Lance put down his cup and held out a hand to Keith. “Would you dance with me, my love?”
Keith considered him for a moment before swiftly finishing off his drink and putting the empty cup down. He smiled as he gently slipped his hand into Lances. “I would be honoured.”
Beaming, Lance lead Keith to the dancefloor, pulling him close and started to sway them in time with the music.
“Aren’t I supposed to be leading?” Keith asked, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Since I’m the taller one?”
“Can you dance?”
“...No.” Keith admitted sheepishly.
“Then I shall lead us,” Lance said, leaning up to press a kiss to Keith’s nose. “Don’t you worry about a single thing.”
“I trust you.” Keith said, smiling and capturing Lance’s lips with his own in a real kiss.
“I know,” He said, smiling as he pulled away. “I love you.”
“I know.”
With the sun setting behind them, the pair swayed steadily. “You’re mine,” Lance whispered, nuzzling into Keith’s shoulder.
“And you’re mine.” And really, Keith wouldn’t have it any other way.