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Keith grabbed onto Lance’s collar and pulled him into an empty room and hid him. The Galran soldiers were overwhelming the both of them. It was hard enough trying to fight the few they were expecting, but one of the bastards called for backup.
“Dude, what the fu-” Lance started but was quickly cut off by Keith forcing his hand over Lance’s mouth.
“You need to be quiet,” Keith whispered. “We don’t need them to find us right now. We need to lay low until they clear out or the others come. There’s too many for us, so we’ll just be overwhelmed again.”
Lance glared from under Keith’s hand and then nodded his agreement after rolling his eyes. Keith sighed and then removed his hand from Lance’s mouth.
More Galran men ran past the door and were rather loud. Keith pulled Lance to a far back corner and put his bayard away before sitting down. He motioned for Lance to do the same.
“Lance,” he said softly after the other sat down, “I need you to write a message to the others explaining our situation.”
“Why do I have to?”
“My left hand is damaged. Not much I can do with just one hand.”
“Other than drag me into a dark room and force me to shut up?”
“Please, Lance. Not now.”
Lance gazed at him and his eyes softened after a moment. “Alright, leader.”
Keith didn’t like being called the leader, but he made an exception for Lance because there was no stopping him from doing so. He only became leader because of Shiro’s disappearance. It stung like hell to have that reminder every time Lance called him the leader, but it also felt good to lead and be in charge. It was just fucking confusing.
“Alright, it’s sent,” Lance muttered. “Let me see your hand.”
Keith flinched at that, brought out of his thoughts by Lance’s voice. He immediately hid his hand away which earned him a sharp glare.
“Let me see your hand,” he demanded again. “I’m not gonna hurt you, Keith. You should know that.”
Should I? He’d been so confused in these past months with Lance being his second-in-command. Lance would seem to warm up to him, but then it would end when he felt the need to bring up that rivalry bullshit. It was so confusing. Everything was just a mess.
“Keith, buddy, leader?” Lance tried while waving a hand in front of his face.
Keith looked at him. What does this all mean? You’re my most trusted partner. Space ranger partners, as Lance kindly put it one day. But what does it all mean? Lance was good and knew how to lead. He should be the leader instead. He knows the others so much better than I do. He’s so much friendlier and knows his way with words. He’s really attractive too and has a nice aura about him. Wait.
Keith felt pressure on his left hand and jerked it away. He fixed his gaze on Lance with wide eyes. Lance flinched at his reaction to reaching for his hand.
Keith just… stared.
Lance had always been so pretty to him. Beautiful tan skin with freckles covering nearly every surface. The most lovely shade of blue eyes. Hair that sometimes got curly when Lance didn't straighten it. Smooth skin that was clearly well taken care of. Keith had always known he’d been gay, but it was never this obvious to him as when he stared at Lance. He was just so damn pretty.
What does Lance think of me?
Keith turned to face him more directly. His gray eyes bore into Lance’s blue.
“Leader, you’re scaring me. Please say something,” he whispered.
“What am I to you?” is what Keith wanted to blurt out, but he knew the answer all too well. He was just Lance’s leader, his rival, just a partner in this hellish space war neither of them wanted to be in. Just… a fellow human stuck out in the middle of space with him. Just a replacement for Shiro. Just a boy from the Garrison that got kicked out. Just some long-haired desert dude.
Keith’s eyes dug into Lance’s own. He noticed how scared the other looked. God, he hadn’t been paying attention, too caught up in his mindlessness. He jerked his gaze away and huffed softly.
“I’m fine, Lance. We can worry about my injury later.”
“No, we’re not. Give me your damn hand and let me at least see how bad it is. We’re gonna be stuck in here for a while anyway.”
Keith turned his eyes back to Lance. A while? He had to be stuck all alone in a dark room with Lance for a while?
“I think you should’ve been the leader,” Keith wanted to say, but he didn’t. He didn't want to show weakness, especially not with the situation they were in. Showing weakness right now wouldn’t prove worth it and would probably cause the other boy to panic.
Keith reluctantly let Lance have his hand to inspect. He curled into himself with the rest of his body while his hand was being closely looked at.
Why did the Black Lion have to choose me? Lance is so much better for the role of leader. Lance is so much better than me. He’s good at everything he does.
Keith looked up at Lance. What is this feeling? Jealousy? No, not really. But, wow, he’s so pretty and caring. I’m glad he’s by my side. Wait. Do I… like Lance? Oh, God. This is definitely not the time or place to be realizing this. This is not good at all.
“Your hand looks good, boss. Just a gash,” Lance said suddenly which dragged Keith out of his thoughts. “I think it’ll heal fine when we get back and get treatment.”
Keith nodded and smiled a bit.
“Wait, are you hurt too?” he asked after a pause.
“Nothing out of the norm. Just a few scratches here and there. No gashes like you,” he replied.
“Good, I don’t want you to be hurt,” Keith whispered without thinking.
Fuck.
“Aw, does Keith care for me~?” Lance asked with a smug look.
Keith just barely nodded and looked away.
Of course I do. You mean so much more to me than you could ever know. I wish the timing was more appropriate. I wish I could just tell you right now.
Keith looked up at the door.
“I’m glad they haven’t found us,” Lance said after a while. “I don’t know what’s taking the others so long, but as long as we’re not found, this isn’t so bad. Right, leader?”
Keith internally winced at that last part but nodded. “You’d think they’d be searching rooms in case we tried to do something like this.”
Lance’s helmet lit up with a message. “Oh, Pidge said they’re on the way soon. We should probably get ready to book it.”
Keith nodded emotionlessly and stood up. He pulled out his — Shiro’s — bayard and readied his sword.
Guess I’ll tell him when we’re not in a life or death situation.