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“Really?”
He slumps against the wall in exhaustion, the day is still so fresh and new that the sun isn’t peeking out over the trees quite yet. The air has a harsh bite that nips at their ears and the tip of their nose with every rush of wind. His fingertips feel numb wrapped around his sword and he curses the aesthetic finger-less armored gloves.
True to his character, the lack of response does not deter him and he simply speaks again, “With all due respect Princess, why the hell are we training at the ass-crack of dawn?”
Allura shakes her head fondly and lands a swift roundhouse kick to the training dummy, nailing it right in the temple. It falls to the ground with a thud and she lands with both feet firmly in the grass, her fists poised and ready in case of a counter-attack. Lance can say, without a doubt, her opponent laying in front of her isn’t going to fight back. Hell, he wouldn’t fight back. She’s pretty terrifying for a princess.
Lance smirks, pushing himself off the wall and ignoring his screaming muscles, “Damn girl, I can’t complain about being cold after witnessing something so hot.” Lance laughs when she lightly punches his shoulder, much more gentle than she was with her ‘enemy’.
Allura ignores his lighthearted flirting and tosses him a bow, “I’ve told you. I need you in tip-top shape. We only have three weeks until winter harvest and you know these creatures are more active this time of year.”
Lance scrunches his nose in distaste at the feeling of the cheap training bow. When you train at the castle, nothing is necessarily cheap but Lance is spoiled. He’s used to his custom, hardwood, gorgeously carved and crafted bow. Lance tests this other one in his hand and sends Allura a pout, “This isn’t mine.” He walks over to the chest of weapons and slips the knife into its holder. Lance looks at the shelf next to it and grabs the arrows, slinging it over his body.
Allura simply smirks in response, waving her hand in the air passively and a few servants rush out to place down the targets before bowing and hurrying away. “What’s that? I thought you were the best. Surely you would be able to best me without your precious bow.”
Lance immediately stiffens at the challenging tone, just as the Princess knew he would. Allura takes her place in front of one of the targets and hides her triumphant grin as Lance stalks over to stand next to her. He grumbles under his breath as he grabs an arrow from the holder on his back.
“You know damn well I’m the best in the kingdom,” Lance huffs, putting the arrow in its place, pulling it back and readying his aim.
Allura sends him a teasing look, “Well, dear brother, I have a surprise for you.” She says that just as he let go and he whips his head around in surprise. The arrow flies a few feet over the target but Lance doesn’t seem to notice.
“ What?”
Allura grins and shoots her own arrow, hitting the target near the middle but still far from a bulls eye. She frowns slightly at the target before shaking her head and turning to look at Lance. “I have someone I would like you to meet. He’s a very skilled warrior and is very talented at sword-wielding.”
Lance’s face visibly contorts with a mixture of disgust and confusion, his brows furrowed and slanted down angrily in a way that turns his blue eyes into little slits. “Well, why do I have to meet him?”
Allura looks around, searching her servants for an unfamiliar face. Just to be careful, she dismisses them all with an elegant wave of her hand, making sure to give each one a nod and a sweet smile, thanking them each by name. She waits impatiently as the final one rounds the corner and she hears the wooden castle door shut. Allura grabs Lance’s arm and tugs him closer to the woods, glancing behind them with each step.
Lance wiggles his eyebrows, playfully bouncing the arm in Allura’s firm grip, “I didn’t know you liked it rough, Princess.”
Allura normally responds to such comments with an air of fondness, brushing them aside with the knowledge that Lance is joking. That being said, Lance’s uneasiness is perfectly reasonable when Allura instead responds with a serious look. “Lance, you know that your privacy is of utmost importance to me.”
Lance snorts and takes his grip from Allura’s arm, “Do all royal heirs pronounce ‘privacy’ like that because of the fancy accent or did you just say it like that to screw with me.” He feels a pang of guilt at Allura’s exasperated huff and he quickly adds, “I’m sorry. . . I know that and you’re being very sweet but you don’t have to go through this much trouble. I mean dismissing all the guards? Your adviser would have a cow if he knew you weren’t following the rules.”
Lance’s sincere tone makes the Princess smile and she easily falls back into her relentlessly diplomatic persona. He would never say it to her face, but Lance prefers the ‘real’ Allura. The emotional, competitive, short-tempered little girl he grew up with.
“I want to add him to my personal guard.”
That piques his interest. Allura rarely ever adds to her personal bodyguards. She always insists that she doesn’t need them. To hear her openly request that one be added? Blasphemy.
Allura’s bottom lip sticks out in a slight pout, unable to stop herself from pouting at Lance’s amused smile. “I don’t want to hear it, Lance. I actively take over the role of Queen of Altea Kingdom in a few short months. Coran insists that I up my protection before it becomes official.”
Lance nods, leaning against the trunk of a tree as the sun rises over the horizon. “If you have to have another dude, you want to pick him out yourself.”
“Precisely.”
Lance chuckles, “Okay but what does that have to do with me?”
Allura grins, “You’re my right hand, Lance. I want him to be thoroughly vetted and scoped out by you before I allow my life to be placed in his hands.”
Lance’s smirk only grows, much more amused by this than he should be, “You want my approval.”
Allura nods, “Essentially. . . yes, I do.” Lance seems to mull it over before his face seems to fall. Reading his mind like always, Allura frantically tries to ease his worries, “You are simply talking to him as my best friend. He never needs to know about your role as my monster catcher. I know how important it is to you that it remains a secret.”
Lance sighs and rubs his arm, “My parents were killed because everyone knew their identity. Werewolf hunters have big targets on their back and I can’t risk a monster finding out who I am.” Allura listens patiently as if she hasn’t heard this story a million times, nodding respectfully.
“Lance, I won’t let that happen.”
Lance brushes his hair from his forehead, grinning at himself in the mirror, “Please remind me to only ever wear this for the rest of my life forever.”
Allura rolls her eyes, handing Lance a bag that jingles when he takes it. He carefully tugs the strap over his shoulder. Lance doesn’t even need to ask what it’s for. His eyes sparkle with excitement and he gives Allura a huge grin, “Really?”
Allura nods, her hands clasp neatly in front of her as she floats towards the door with an unfair amount of grace. “I need you to pick up some new arrows. Be careful and don’t get a single spot on that outfit. You have to meet our guests as soon as you get back.”
She waves a stern finger at him but Lance just laughs in response, already flying past her and out the door. “Yeah, yeah, okay bye!” he calls out behind him, giving her a playful wink and a kiss.
Lance is still chuckling when he turns around just in time to run face-first into someone. The force of the hit sends him toppling backwards and he lands right on his royal ass. “Okay, ow ,” he huffs out as he rubs at his sore tailbone. “I’m not supposed to get this dirty,” he groans quietly to himself.
Lance pauses his annoyed grumbling and complaining when someone clears their throat, effectively getting his attention. He glances up to see a hand outstretched in a silent offering. Lance shakes his head, his pride refusing to let him accept help from the person he just ran into. “No, no. It’s okay, I got it.”
With one hand clutching the bag, Lance hoists himself off the ground with ease. He glances up at the boy standing in front of him awkwardly and he feels all the breath get knocked out of him. Holy shit. Lance can say that he is easily the most attractive boy he has ever seen in his entire life.
A dastardly smirk takes over his face and he looks the boy up and down before holding out his hand. “Well, hello there,” Lance says, using the most flirty voice he can muster after literally busting his ass in front of this gorgeous piece of ass.
The ass in question looks slightly taken aback and he looks down at Lance’s hand as if it might burn him. Seeing as though he has unending confidence as well as stubbornness, Lance is completely unfazed. He instead uses the hand to brush off his pants, hoping Allura doesn’t kill him later. Lance winks and jokes playfully, “We just met and I’m already falling for you.”
Lance fights back a smile as he watches the gears turn in this boy’s head. He looks back and forth between Lance and the floor before the realization hits, making his cheeks turn a nice pink. Unfortunately, the pink is accompanied by a scowl that shouldn’t make him as hurt as it does.
“Just. . . watch where you’re going.” Great. He has the voice of an angel. Lance tries to forget that deep raspy voice or the pang of hurt that the boy’s snappiness shoots through him.
Instead, Lance grasps onto the first safe emotion he can find. Anger.
Lance frowns, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “Nice to meet you too, asshole.” He watches in satisfaction as annoyance flashes over the boy’s face. Before he can respond, Lance continues smugly, “Now I’d love nothing more than to sit here and get snapped at by you and your dumb hair, but I actually have somewhere to be.”
The boy just growls at him. Like actually growls. Who the hell even does that? Lance just stalks past him, purposefully catching his shoulder with his own as he does. The boy storms off in the other direction and Lance huffs out a breath, making his way to his secret side exit.
Lance digs his fingernails into the skin on his palms until they bleed, fuming with anger the entire way out of the passageway. But, the farther he gets from the stranger, the more his anger starts to melt away. By the time he makes it into town, the cool autumn air calmed his boiling anger down into a simmering annoyance. The sound of a familiar voice calms him down so quickly that tears nearly spring to his eyes.
“It’s about damn time! It feels like I haven’t seen you in- what’s wrong?”
Lance flings his arms around Hunk’s neck and he hugs back immediately. Lance melts into one of Hunk’s world-famous hugs, smiling so hard that his cheeks start to hurt. “Hunk my buddy, it has been too long,” he says when they finally part.
When Lance doesn’t immediately respond to his question, Hunk decides not to push it. He gestures to the bag in Lance’s death grip, “Is that for me?” Lance nods and hands Hunk the bag, grinning when he opens it and dumps the contents onto his workbench. Even after all these years of living at the castle, the sight of all that gold still makes his heart pound.
Hunk shakes his head but he has a permanent smile on his lips, “Allura always insists on overpaying.”
Lance scoffs, personally offended by that statement, “Dude! You give almost every penny you have to people all over this kingdom. You feed everyone you can with the money Allura gives you. I think you deserve it.”
Hunk hides his face shyly, handing Lance the large bag of specialized silver arrows instead of responding. Lance grins and slings it over his shoulder. He knows that the praise embarrasses Hunk but he can’t help it. Lance only ever gets to see him when he is sent out for weapons, so every second counts.
“Speaking of feeding people. . .” Hunk says, pointing to another large box. Lance lights up and grabs the box, setting it down on the table.
Lance hops up on Hunk’s workbench and sets the bag next to him, “So I ran into some guy earlier and he pissed me off.” He glances at Hunk and frowns, “Thinking back on it, I really had no reason to get nearly as mad as I did.”
Hunk wipes off his hands with a rag and gives Lance his full attention, “Tell me about it.”
Lance hesitates to bother him with his dumb story but the insistent look in Hunk’s eyes makes him crumble. He quickly tells Hunk about the short interaction and Hunk just raises an eyebrow at him, amusement written all over his big, lovable face. “What?” Lance asks, bristling and his tone gets defensive.
“Nothing. . . It’s just funny. You just don’t react well to being rejected by someone you actually like.”
“Hunk, buddy, I get rejected all the time,” Lance deadpans.
“Yeah, by random people you flirt with simply because you want to.”
Lance’s shoulders slump forward and he runs his fingers through his hair. “Fine. . .” He sighs and rubs his arm, “He was really attractive. . . Until he started acting like an asshole for NO reason!”
Hunk offers lightly, “Y’know. . . not everyone enjoys being flirted with out of nowhere. . . especially from someone of the same gender?” Hunk waits patiently to see if Lance will come to the conclusion on his own, smiles when Lance seems to figure it out.
Lance straightens up so quickly he almost snaps his spine in half. Lance’s mouth falls open and his eyes widen, “Oh my god. . . Hunk. . . You’re so right. . .I don’t even know if he likes boys.” Hunk pats his back comfortingly when he drops his head into his hands and groans.
“There, there. . .”
Lance drops his hands into his lap. “I’m literally the worst. I should apologize-” he groans again, “-I don’t even know his name, how am I supposed to apologize?”
Hunk just fondly watches Lance go through this emotional roller coaster, “It’s okay, Lance. I’m sure the dude doesn’t hate you.”
Lance grabs the bag and hops off the bench, “Yeah, you’re right, but I gotta go I-” He stops at the wide-eyed look on Hunk’s face. Lance follows his eyes and feels his heart drop at the thick layer of ‘blacksmith filth’ on the butt of his pants.
Hunk watches Lance frantically wipe as much of it off as he possibly can, eyes wide and filled with fear.
“Allura is going to kill me.”
Lance yelps slightly when he feels Allura grab onto his arm and pull him roughly towards her private tea room.
“Where have you been?”* (note: read this in a Mrs. Weasley voice) she demands, clearly in a panic over this meeting. Since he knows this is important to her and it means she is on her way to becoming a queen, Lance decides to forgive her for her harsh behavior.
Lance just allows her to lead him along, “Sorry Princess, I got distracted talking to Hunk and then I had to drop off the. . . ‘package’. . . before the meeting so I don’t look suspicious holding a bunch of weapons.”
Allura comes to a halt outside the beautiful, carved door of the tea room, finally starting to relax again until the state of Lance’s pants catches her eye. Lance’s heart drops and braces himself for a panic-induced ‘stern talking to’ when he sees the frustration taking over Allura’s face.
“What happened?! I told you that those are sp-” her reprimand is interrupted by a soft voice.
“Forgive me for interrupting your highness, but I believe that was my fault.” Allura whips around to face him, automatically standing up straighter and attempting to appear more together than she was a second ago.
Lance cranes his neck around Allura to peek at the source of the voice. His heart nearly thuds out of his chest when he sees the boy from before, bowing before Allura. The boy’s raven-black hair falls forward and covers his face as he does so.
“Please, rise,” Allura says softly with a wave of her hand, gesturing for him to stand back up. A nice pink flush fills Allura’s dark cheeks, “My apologies. . . Snapping in the presence of guests, or in general, does not come across as very queen-like, does it?” Lance notes with amusement that Allura is much too embarrassed to ask the beautiful stranger how it could possibly be his fault.
The boy stands up straight and his eyes briefly flicker to where Lance is watching him. He focuses his attention fully on the Princess, much to Lance’s distaste. “You’re very. . . royal. . . Princess,” he tries, very unhelpful really. Lance can’t help but quietly snicker behind Allura, receiving two unamused looks from the pair having a conversation.
“Thank you, Keith-” she gestures to the door and a servant quickly opens it, “-It’s unfortunate that our first time being acquainted with one another had to start in such a way. However, he just seems to have that effect on people.” Allura sends Lance a fond smile before leading the way into the room, the two boys following after her. She sits down in her chair at the front of the room and Lance automatically sprawls out in his designated chair.
The boy, Keith, hesitates and looks around, picking the chair closest to Lance, “Oh, I noticed.”
Lance suddenly sits up, eyes nearly bulging out of his head, “No fucking way! Dude. It’s you? You’re the guy I’m supposed to be meeting? Hell no.” Lance ignores Allura’s whispered reminder to watch his language, his anger starting to slowly seep back in and he frowns over at Keith.
Keith seems equally surprised but much less angry, “ You are Lance?”
Allura looks between the two of them curiously, her poise slipping a bit and she leans forward, “How do you two know each other?” Lance knows from experience that she dislikes it when everyone else knows something she doesn’t. Scratch that. Allura hates being out of the loop. He learned that the hard way when he tried to plan her a surprise birthday party one year but she didn’t speak to him for days until he told her and ruined the surprise.
Lance glares over at Keith and starts to angrily tell his best friend about the hallway incident when Keith interrupts him before he can even say anything. Lance settles on just crossing his arms in annoyance and stewing quietly as Keith talks.
“Well. . . I don’t know him, really. . . We met in the courtyard outside. I wasn’t watching where I was going and I ran into him, knocking him into the dirt. Hence the stains,” Keith does an incredibly good job of looking guilty, despite the fact that everything coming out of his mouth is complete and utter bullshit.
Lance’s jaw drops slightly and he starts to argue but stops when the realization dawns on him. Keith is lying right through his teeth, directly to the princess, because he’s trying to save Lance’s ass. Literally. His ass. Y’know the one that’s covered in dirt? That one. Allura flickers her eyes to Lance and he quickly slams his mouth shut, letting Keith lie if he wants.
Keith glances over at him and Lance feels all of his anger melt away at the speed of light. Now that it’s gone, the guilt from earlier comes back full swing. That’s twice in a few hours that he’s been unnecessarily rude and angry towards Keith. Neither time was even Keith’s fault.
Keith flickers his gaze back to Allura when she responds to him. He looks surprised. As if he wasn’t expecting Lance to already be looking at him. How could he not? That scar that goes from his jaw and up through his cheek. Lance wants to kiss it. He wants to know where he got it. That gorgeous hair looks like it would be illegally soft. The way that big winter coat does nothing to hide the obvious muscles. Just as Lance starts to swoon and get lost in his daydreams, Keith’s careful voice knocks him out of it.
“Yes, well. . . she told me I would have to meet him. I’ve heard more about Lance than I heard about you, your highness.”
Whoa.
Allura chuckles, “I suppose that would make sense. Might I ask where she is?”
“Hey, Princess.”
Lance stands up out of his seat, excitement bubbling up inside him. He whirls around and grins at the short girl walking towards them. Lance leaps over his seat effortlessly and runs to pick her up in a hug. “Pidge! What the hell? I didn’t know you were coming, ya little gremlin,” he says with a laugh, ruffling her hair.
Pidge bats his hand away in annoyance but she doesn’t even try to hide the grin on her face. She straightens up her shirt and fixes her hair when Lance finally releases her. “I told Allura to keep it a surprise. I’m the one that recommended him for the job,” Pidge sits down across from Lance and he follows. “Keith lives with his brother, and my personal friend, Shiro.”
Lance nods along, using all of the self-control he has to not stare at said brother, “Right, right. Shiro.”
Shiro is one of Allura’s knights. Pidge explains that he has control over a good portion of the outer villages on the west side, tasked with the job of keeping them safe. Keith is not only his brother, but Shiro’s chosen right-hand man. Just like Lance. Allura’s eyes flicker over to him at that, clearly thinking along the same lines. Pidge and Allura talk back and forth for a while with Lance interjecting his thoughts occasionally.
“Keith. It was lovely to meet you but I must attend another meeting. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind staying here for a few days-” she gestures to Lance as she stands, an air of finality in her voice, “-and I will leave you in Lance’s care. Please, show Keith to his room.” Allura says the last part to the servant directly to her left. “And Pidge, you know where your room is, I’m sure.”
Pidge just nods eagerly and they all stand in uncomfortable silence as they watch Allura leave through the door to her bedchambers. The two look over at Lance as he stays seated stubbornly. Despite his ‘childish’ personality, even to Keith the newcomer, it’s obvious that Lance is very important. That’s why, even though she may know him well, Pidge still waits politely for Lance to dismiss them.
Lance eventually stands, “Go ahead to your rooms. Keith, be ready in a few ticks. I’m requesting your presence for an outing.” He nods at the servants and tries not to let his chest swell with pride at the slightly impressed look on Keith’s face.
Lance’s ego inflates nonetheless.
“-this isn’t a good idea.”
“Keith you need the money. . .”
Lance stops outside the door to Keith’s assigned (or maybe borrowed I guess) room, unable to pick up on the tail end of that statement. He scoots closer and listens in on the conversation as best as he can through the thick wooden door.
Keith sighs and Lance can hear him knock something to the floor. He better not be breaking anything.
“I can’t live in the castle. The best hunters in the kingdom live here,” Keith argues, a hint of panic laced in his tone. Lance shuffles closer until his ear is pressed against the door.
“Keith I’m telling you. I know the lead hunter and recruiter personally. It isn’t what you would think. Believe me, you’re safer here,” Pidge doesn’t seem at all concerned that she is going to lose the argument. In fact, she sounds incredibly sure of herself. But that’s pretty in character.
Lance bites down hard on his bottom lip to keep himself quiet, mind racing as he puts the pieces together. He holds his breath and strains to hear Keith’s quiet response.
“. . .do I have to do?”
“Simple. If you impress Lance, you got the job.” Lance doesn’t have to see her to know that Pidge is fighting back a smirk.
Keith grumbles and Lance pictures him with his eyebrows scrunched and a cute scowl making his frown lines more prominent. “Lance? Why him?”
Lance can hear Pidge’s amusement (and pride) from here. They’ve been friends for ages and Pidge knows how hard Lance has worked to be as important as he is. Being Allura’s best friend isn’t even the half of it. Lance single-handedly revamped the entire hunter program and has protected the castle his whole life. Not that she would ever tell him how proud she is.
“He’s Allura’s childhood best friend. Every decision goes through him first. My guess is, Allura put you in his hands because she wants his approval before she adds you in as her royal guard. Anyone Lance trusts, she trusts.”
Keith huffs, “Yeah I can tell. . . but I mean like. . . why does it have to be him?” Lance’s curiosity bubbles up dangerously alongside his confusion.
Pidge sounds just as confused as he is, “What. . .? What do you mean?”
Lance hears him shuffling around, likely scooting closer. He presses almost completely against the door, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“I mean. . . he’s just. . . so. . .” he forces out, sounding frustrated as he tries to find the right words.
“Annoying? Loud? Energetic? Frustrating?” Pidge supplies (rudely).
Keith huffs again, “No! He’s. . .” After what seems like the longest pause in history, Lance is able to catch a hesitant “better than me”.
Lance feels his heart shatter and he takes a step back from the door, feeling immensely guilty for eavesdropping.
Better? How am I better than him?
Lance knocks on the door before Pidge can respond. He looks down at his outfit one last time. He decided to change into some more casual clothes but making sure to layer up so he doesn’t get cold. Lance smiles to himself at the panicked commotion on the other side of the door.
Keith swings the door open, a faint blush on his face as he looks at Lance, who is casually leaning on his doorway. He seems to suddenly remember what Pidge told him and he starts to bow.
Lance laughs and frantically waves his hands at Keith, “Oh no no no you don’t have to do all that. I’m not a royal, just a. . .friend.”
Keith nods shyly and straightens his back, refusing to look Lance in the eyes. Lance just grins and grabs Keith’s sleeve and tugs him along, “Bye Pidge! See ya at dinner!”
The two stay in an uncomfortable silence the entire walk. Lance keeps his eyes trained forward but, much to his amusement, he keeps catching Keith staring at him. Keith isn’t even subtle about it. He turns his head a bit and everything. Keith only ever turns back around when Lance glances at him. When he does, Keith will turn away and act like nothing happened.
Keith gives him a questioning look when Lance tugs him along down a dead end hallway. Lance just grins and pulls the tapestry aside, dragging Keith through the hidden doorway. Lance ignores Keith’s questions as they venture through one of Lance’s secret tunnels. Finally, Lance pushes at one of the walls and it gives, putting the two smack dab in the middle of Allura’s secret garden.
Lance takes a deep breath of fresh air and turns to gauge Keith’s reaction. A swarm of butterflies erupt in his stomach and bubble up to his chest at the soft, awed smile on Keith’s lips.
“Is this. . .?” Keith trails off as he looks around, taking a few steps away from Lance. The latter simply nods without needing to ask what Keith is referring to. Keith looks back at Lance for permission before excitedly exploring.
Lance lags behind and follows slowly, letting Keith look around. He hears Keith’s breathless excitement a few feet ahead of him, “The princess’s secret garden. . . I always thought it was a legend. Impressive that she’s still young and already has legends about her that are floating around the kingdom.”
Lance can’t help but laugh, the sound echoing pleasantly around the secluded area. “Well they’re all true,” he pauses and seems to think for a moment. “Well. . . most of them are true. The ones I started, anyway,” Lance says casually, watching Keith turn around to narrow his eyes at him.
“I’m not a public face of the royal family. I go out into different towns to run errands for the princess all the time. I let a few things slip here and there. People don’t hear about Allura often, so every little new tidbit. . . they just eat it up,” Lance continues talking without being asked, honestly just happy to be talking to someone new.
Keith hesitates as he sits down on the bench under the huge, blossoming tree. He looks up at Lance and the sight nearly knocks him over. Lance’s breath catches in his throat as he takes in Keith’s appearance. The shade of the tree casts a small shadow on his face and, after only sitting under it for a moment, there are already gorgeous pink blossoms in his hair and on his clothes.
Oh god this was a terrible idea.
The private garden has always been Lance’s favorite spot in the entire kingdom. He thought that bringing Keith out here, with the nice atmosphere, it would make it easier for Lance to get to know him. It only just now hits Lance how romantic it looks and feels out here. His heart starts to pound nervously and a bit of panic starts to settle over him.
Lance glances back at Keith again and realizes that Keith is looking at him expectantly. Oh fuck, he said something, didn’t he?
“S-sorry, what was that?” Lance asks, his face heating up just the slightest bit.
Keith frowns slightly but repeats himself, “Is it true that uh. . . Sapphire works and lives here in the castle?”
Lance fights back his proud smile, “Well they’re the best hunter in the whole kingdom. Of course the Princess has the best employed here.” Lance’s pride drops significantly at the flash of fear passing over Keith’s face. The conversation he overheard comes rushing back to him. Oh.
“Right. . . Of course. . . That makes sense,” Keith says, a barely noticeable waver in his voice.
“He’s incredible. Sticks to himself though, you don’t have to worry about seeing him,” Lance lies, trying to ease Keith’s fear. He gestures to the servant by the door and has them bring over the bags and the blanket.
Lance stands and lets them set up and quietly goes to the other. He quickly writes out a quick note to Allura, ‘ Keith is a werewolf’ . Lance scribbles it in their secret code and has it sent to her right away. He sucks in a breath and walks back to their small clearing underneath the tree.
Lance gestures for Keith to sit on the blanket spread out on the ground. He plops down across from Keith and opens up the picnic basket, scattering all the food around the blanket in the space between them. Lance shoves a handful of grapes in his mouth, looking up at Keith, “So tell me about yourself.”
Keith raises an eyebrow at him in slight surprise but speaks anyway, “Well um. . . there’s not much to talk about. . . I mean you’re probably much more interesting.”
Lance’s heart pounds in his chest and he plops another grape in his mouth. He offers Keith one, “Even if I was, I’m still trying to learn about you. ”
“What if I’m trying to learn about you?”
The sudden, almost flirty response takes Lance aback. He struggles for a few moments to even formulate an answer. “Okay. . . u-um. . . That’s nice but uh, I’ve gotta tell Allura what I think and I can’t do that if I talk about myself the whole time,” he finally manages.
Keith carefully takes the grape from Lance’s outstretched hand, popping it into his mouth. Unlike Lance, he waits until he swallows before he starts talking. “Fair enough. . . what do you want to know?” he asks, the bright colorful background making his purple eyes sparkle.
Lance leans back on his elbows and looks up at the branches above them, thinking hard about the perfect first question.
“Okay. . . Would you forgive me?”
Keith blinks dumbly over at him but Lance stays leaned back, eyes trained on the falling blooms.
“Pardon me?”
Lance drops so he’s fully laying on his back as he looks up towards the sky. The light shining through the pink flowers and illuminating their area in patches of soft sunlight. He picks up a fallen flower and holds it up above his head, twisting and turning it so the light dances across the slightly reflective petals.
After a long silence, Lance works up the nerve to continue, “If I apologized. . . sincerely apologized. . . for the way I acted.” He waves the hand not holding the flower in the air as he lists, “For the flirting, the snapping, my overall unnecessary rudeness. . . would you forgive me?”
Lance holds his breath and tilts his head to look over at Keith. His heart stutters in his chest when Keith simply nods. Lance releases his breath with a sigh of relief and turns back to watch the wind blow the leaves, reaching over to grab more food to snack on.
Satisfied with that answer, Lance continues, “What do you like to do for fun?”
“Hunt or hang out with my brother.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Red. Yours?”
“This isn’t about me Keith-” Lance huffs at him but answers anyway, “-blue. What’s your favorite food?”
Keith suddenly gets defensive and Lance can practically hear Keith tense up. Lance tilts his head to look over at Keith but he is already looking away. Keith hunches his shoulders and a scowl makes its way back onto his face. Lance mourns the loss of the soft, vulnerable ‘almost smile’ he had worked so hard to put on that face.
Keith picks at some grass with his fingers, “This is stupid, Lance. I thought you were supposed to ask me questions to make sure I’m suited to protect the Princess.”
Lance hoists himself back up on his arms and tilts his head over at Keith, trying to wrangle control of his temper, “I don’t know what you think I should be asking you, but I’m a pretty good judge of character. Someone that isn’t willing to answer silly little questions about themselves is probably hiding something.” He tries his best to keep the annoyance out of his voice but it slips in anyway. Keith has such a way of making him mad so easily. Lance goes back to laying down, “If you can’t trust me enough to tell me about your favorite food, how should I trust you with my best friend?”
Keith finally plops down onto his back with a soft grunt. When he finally speaks, his voice is so soft that Lance almost doesn’t hear him. “. . .Sorry. I don’t. . . I don’t have one? I’ve um. . . lived with Shiro for a long time and I. . . we eat what we can. Before he got a job as a knight we had even less. My favorite food is whatever I can get. Not everyone gets to have fancy castle meals and rich food,” Lance can hear the bitterness in Keith’s voice and he shakes it off, frowning.
Lance sits up and grabs one of the special treats wrapped in a cloth napkin. Ignoring Keith’s look, he unwraps it and hands it to him. When Keith doesn’t take the soft pastry, Lance thrusts it into his hands, “Eat it.”
Keith looks at it warily but reluctantly takes a bite, some of the sugar falling off of it as he does so. He holds his hand under it to catch the crumbs and filling when it starts to ooze out. Lance laughs and watches excitedly as Keith tries it. Keith’s eyes flutter closed and the boy moans , a hand moving to cover his mouth as he chews.
Lance’s ignores the weird pang stirring his stomach at the noise and just smiles at him, “Do you like it? Hunk is teaching me how to make them.”
Keith’s eyes shoot open and he looks at Lance, “You. . . you made these?”
Lance nods and grabs a strange tin that he had not yet taken from the basket of food. It’s clearly old and recycled, not something you expect to see at the castle. He pops it open and shows Keith a selection of candy and treats. Lance sets it down between them and rubs his neck sheepishly, “So. . . Hunk sent these. . . And it’s totally okay for you to like his better, you aren’t going to hurt my feelings I know that Hunk is a better cook.”
Keith looks up at Lance for permission before reaching in and plopping one in his mouth. His eyes widen in surprise at the flavor. It melts in his mouth and practically makes him drool. Yet, it isn’t as sweet and rich as what Lance made. It’s obvious that this wasn’t made with expensive sugar, if much at all.
Lance rubs his arm, “I know that. . . I have a lot and not everyone does but. . . I still prefer Hunk’s food over the food from the castle kitchen any day.”
“Ice snacks.”
Lance looks up at the sudden outburst from Keith. He tilts his head to the side and Keith quickly averts his eyes, a blush spreading over his cheeks.
“I-I mean. . . um, my favorite. That’s, um. . yeah,” Keith forces out shyly. When he looks back to see Lance is still confused he explains nervously, “When I um. . My mom. . . She used to take us outside when it was really cold and the ground was nearly frozen solid. We would make little lines or shapes in the snow and we’d um. . . we used to fill them with ground up berries or, once or twice, wine. We let it freeze and then we would bring it inside and eat it with our hands by the fire.”
Lance’s heart starts beating harder at the shy smile on Keith’s face. His lips just barely tilted up but it warms Lance to the bone. Instantly he can tell that Keith is special.
Can Allura hire a werewolf? Or. . . would she?
Fuck.
Allura jumps in surprise at the sharp knocking on her door. She looks down at her silky lounging wear and feels her stomach leap up into her throat. The Princess can’t be seen like this.
“Oh! Um, p-pardon me but. . . Uh just a moment!” she stutters out as she rushes to her closet. Her heart drops when she hears the door open. Allura spins around to see who just marched into her room without her permission, dropping the garment she had been holding.
“Nice undies.”
“Excuse me, this is not underwear,” Allura corrects sternly, but her shoulders relax at the voice of her small friend.
Pidge strolls in and sits down on one of the massive arm chairs, spreading out very gracefully. “Sorry Princess, but it looks like underwear,” Pidge says with a shrug, biting into some pastry.
“Where did you get that?” Allura asks, brushing her long hair back into a bun.
“Kitchen. ‘Parently Lance made ‘em.”
Allura beams, “He did? Oh he told me he was going to try out a new recipe of Hunk’s! I love Lance, but I’m sure they aren’t as tasty as the original. He’s getting much better though!”
Pidge nods and takes another bite, melting in the seat at the soft chocolate filling her mouth. “Lance has outdone himself this time, Princess,” she says with her mouth full.
Allura sits down in the chair across from her and sighs, “I wonder how those two are doing.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, there is another knock at her door. Before she can even bat an eye, Pidge is up and out of her seat opening the door.
“Uh huh, alright thanks,” Pidge says, shutting the door behind the servant. She holds up a folded note to Allura with raised eyebrows, “They said its from Lance.”
Allura scrunches her nose and takes the note from Pidge’s hand, concerned. She opens it up, her lips moving slightly as she reads the note written in their secret code. She frowns and narrows her eyes at Pidge, “Keith is a werewolf?”
Pidge takes a small step back, hands raising in defense, “O-okay now, hold on Princess, just-”
Allura folds the note and sets it on her desk before crossing her arms and looking back at Pidge. “You know how I feel about their kind,” she spits out, her voice ice.
Pidge straightens up and glares at her, “Well you’d better not let Lance hear you say that. He’s working hard to make this kingdom safe and hating on all monsters is exactly what he’s trying to prevent. I’d hate for him to hear that his best friend is against him.” The slightly threatening tone suggests that Pidge is not above threatening the Princess.
Allura’s face falls and she lets her arms fall to her side, but her hands stay balled into fists. “Sorry. . . I sent Keith to Lance specifically for this reason. Werewolf or not, I trust Lance’s judgement.”
Pidge seems satisfied and sits back in her chair, “We all do.”
The room settles into a tense silence, the mood much more different than it was a mere few minutes ago. It isn’t long before the silence is interrupted.
Lance bursts into the room without even knocking. He is out of breath from running and he leans against the doorway. Lance’s eyes are wide and frantic, “Allura! You HAVE to-” Lance stops and takes in her appearance, raising an amused eyebrow. “Nice underwear Princess. If I knew you were undressing in here, you should’ve invited me,” he says in his playfully flirty tone.
Allura simply rolls her eyes but she sees someone tense behind Lance. Her face flames and she throws on her robe quickly, gesturing to the person behind Lance, “Are you forgetting something?”
Lance blinks and seems to remember what he’s doing here. Lance reaches behind him and brings Keith into the room, all while ignoring Keith’s flustered protests.
“Allura, you have to hire Keith.”