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Lance fixes his hair for what may be the hundredth time that hour. Glancing at the palms of his hands, he can barely make out the scribbles he's left for himself due to how sweaty they're getting.
While he’s been planning this for weeks, Lance can’t shake the feeling of nervousness that sinks into his bones like marrow. He needs a pep talk, but Pidge and Hunk are sick of hearing about his love life, and he’s too nervous to call Shiro.
Pulling out his phone, he dials a video call. Allura picks up in less than a ring.
"Did he say yes?" Allura demands, skipping a hello altogether, and Lance can't hide his eye roll.
“He’s not here yet,” he replies, leaning against the wall. “Unless…?”
Allura sighs. “No, Lance. Voltron does not give you telepathy.”
“Boo.”
He hears her flipping through paperwork. She's most likely sitting in her office. It’s been non-stop since her coronation, and Allura has never been known to take a break even after mending reality. The amount of Altean alchemy needed to do so was astronomical that even though it’s been two years, Allura’s cheeks still remain gaunt.
She tilts her head to the side, short hair brushing against her cheekbone. “Why are you so nervous? It’s quite clear your feelings aren’t unrequited.”
“It’s not that clear,” Lance argues, and Allura suits him with an unimpressed stare.
“I have intel that says otherwise,” she hums, inspecting her nailbeds passively. The scars from her quintessence poisoning wrap around her skin like lace.
“The space mice don’t count!”
“Fine, enjoy marinating in your own discomfort,” Allura relents, holding her hands up in a truce.
Lance isn’t one to back down from shooting his shot, but Keith is different.
After their break up, Allura had become Lance's closest friend aside from Hunk, but that new friendship came with an early tentative awkwardness. It’s not that their relationship was terrible, they were just young and not right for each other. Lance could deal with that. This time, if Keith doesn't feel the same, Lance isn’t sure if he’d survive the heartache.
“We can do a practice run,” Allura offers, looking hopeful. “I do have some experience playing Keith from the Voltron shows.”
Lance is already regretting this but knows better than to argue.
“Alright,” he says, taking a deep breath in through his nose and then out through his mouth. "Keith, there's something I need to tell you —"
“What?”
“Ack! ” Lance shrieks with a jump and twist. Throwing a punch on instinct, his fist hits a calloused palm. He looks up and sees Keith has walked through his front door.
“Lance?” Allura asks before Lance hangs up on her. It’s incredibly rude to hang up on the Queen of Altea, but he doesn’t have the focus to worry about that right now.
Keith stands in front of him, and Lance’s heart jumps into his throat. The sight of him is both breathtaking and terrifying. He's as handsome as always, though his hair's shaggier since his last visit.
"Woah! Relax, Lance," Keith scoffs, releasing Lance's fist. Lance misses the warmth immediately, but covers it by acting annoyed.
“How’d you get in here?”
“Spare key under the rug,” Keith shrugs. He spins the keyring of extra house keys around his index finger before tossing it for Lance to snatch in the air. “Did you just hang up on Allura?”
“Uh, maybe?” Lance blinks at his phone and Keith snorts.
"Smooth diplomacy skills."
He laughs and Lance stares at him, and suddenly it hits him with a rush that he has Keith alone. He’s been preparing for this moment for weeks. It wasn’t easy, either.
Lance had to casually drop as many hints as possible for Keith to visit the same weekend Veronica was on an ATLAS mission, Rachel and Marco were overseas, and his parents visiting extended family. When you share a house with a large family, weekends alone are rare. Practically impossible.
But now that Keith is actually here, all the butterflies from earlier flutter back up into his throat. Still, he tries to keep his cool.
“Did you come right from a mission?” Lance asks, hoping desperately to change the subject. Keith’s still in his uniform, and an aura of exhaustion follows him like cologne.
“We were closer to the Earth teleduv, and I didn't feel like making two trips. I could tell Kosmo was going stir crazy. He’s already off zooming around the farm,” Keith yawns as he drops his duffle bag on the floor. “What is it that you need to tell me?"
"Um," Lance stammers, eyes darting with nervousness. Keith raises an eyebrow expectantly, but the added pressure only makes him more anxious. "Well, it's just that...we...I mean I—"
The front door crashes open again. Lance is interrupted by Luis barreling through the front door, Nadia and Silvio in tow. They’re both nose-deep in a handheld video game.
“Lance! Good, you’re home!” Luis sighs in relief, before noticing Keith is also there. “Oh, hey, Keith.”
Keith waves a two-finger salute, his exhaustion manifesting into casual coolness. Lance’s family knows Keith so well that it’s no longer a surprise when he drops by for a last-minute visit. Although spending most of his time trapezing around the galaxy for humanitarian missions, his stays at the McClain Ranch are so frequent that Keith has a drawer of his own clothes in Lance’s dresser.
He watches Keith toss his bag back over his shoulder. "I'm gonna take a shower. Tell me later?"
Lance nods and Keith heads up the stairs. He hears the guest room door slam shut, and tries not to pout.
It’s supposed to be the weekend that he romantically confessed to Keith, but one look at his brother signals he's about to ask him a favor. A big one.
Luis pulls Lance into the kitchen by the elbow. Once it's clear they're out of earshot, his brother cuts to the chase. “Lisa and I won tickets to a show tonight, and it’s two towns away. We need you to watch the kids.”
“Luis, c’mon!” Lance whines. “I got guests!”
“Who?” Luis snorts, looking incredulous.
“Keith!”
“Keith? He’s not a guest. He’s always here. Mama even made him a Christmas stocking last year.”
Lance groans. None of his siblings can keep their mouths shut, so he hasn’t shared his plans. The last thing he needed was four different opinions about his love life.
“Look, if this were any other weekend, it'd be no problem. But Keith just finished a mission, and I told him he could crash here," Lance tries to explain with as little detail as possible. "I'd feel bad roping him into babysitting."
Luis looks away.
“Can’t they watch themselves?” Lance continues. “Mama used to leave us alone with you and Veronica all the time."
Luis lifts his eyes and keeps them locked with Lance, using their warmth to guide him through an unfamiliar cold horror. He parts his lips and whispers, “They’ve been scared of being alone since the Earth occupation.”
His words are vague, not explicit in the slightest, but he conveys their deeper meaning through his eyes, and Lance’s gaze doesn’t miss it. “Oh,” he says weakly as if all the strength saps away from him.
Their family didn’t talk about the invasion and how they were separated until Veronica found them. Silvio and Nadia were still so young. Lance forgets what a terrifying and traumatic experience it must’ve been to be alone during the literal end of the world.
“Yeah,” Luis whispers. “It’s one of the reasons Lisa and I haven’t had a chance to go out. You know how much they love you, and Keith is family.” The ease of the statement makes Lance’s cheeks burn. “Please, Lance?”
Lance’s face melts into a kinder expression for his brother. “Alright, I got ‘em for the weekend.”
“Thank you, Lancey!” Luis beams, pulling Lance in for a bear hug before exiting the kitchen to press a kiss to both his children’s heads. “They got a new video game, so they’ll probably keep themselves busy. Call us if they start acting out!”
Lance waves him off. “Don’t worry, hermano. Go have fun.”
By the time Keith comes back downstairs after his shower, Lance has Silvio and Nadia set up in the den. He’s pulled out the sofa bed as Silvio connects their handheld devices to the television.
“We babysitting tonight?” Keith asks, plopping down to sit beside Lance on the mattress. They’re close enough that Lance can feel the warmth from Keith’s shower lift off his skin. Lance nods and Keith yawns. “Cool.
Nadia bounces to where they’re sitting. “Keith, have you played Animal Crossing before?”
“No," he replies, brows creased with confusion. "Is that what you guys are setting up?”
She nods. “There’s an island of animals, and you gotta plant trees and build stuff for houses. Silvio is good at fishing, but I think it’s 'cause he cheats.”
“No, I don’t. You’re just bad at it,” Silvio argues, glaring at his sister before turning to Lance. “Tío Lance, tell Nadia I don’t cheat!”
“If you didn’t cheat, you wouldn’t need Tío to defend you!”
“You can’t even cheat in Animal Crossing, dummy!”
“You’re a dummy!”
“Nope, nuh-uh! This is what we're not gonna do tonight!" Lance calls, clotheslining Silvio before he lunged at his sister. “If you two start fighting, nobody’s playing anything, and I’m calling your parents. ¿Comprenden?”
" Si, Tío Lance."
Silvio begrudgingly goes back to setting up the game system with Nadia's help. Lance sinks back into the mattress and runs his hands over his face because dang it.
How was he supposed to woo Keith when they had to play referee for his niece and nephew?
“Sorry about babysitting,” Lance sighs, looking at Keith through his fingers. “My brother sprang them on me. I get it if you'd rather stay with Shiro instead.”
Keith's face twists into a skeptical frown. "Why would I do that? We've watched them plenty of times."
Lance sits up with a shrug. “I just figured you’re exhausted from your mission.” He taps the pads of his fingertips together and adds, "And video games aren't your thing."
"Says who?"
"Says everyone? You never played with us when we set up the Gameflux."
"Only because whatever Pidge built to adapt it to Altean tech broke at least twenty fire codes. I've played plenty of video games!"
Lance snorts. "Dude, I’ve never seen you touch a controller in all the years I've known you."
His teasing must strike a nerve because Keith turns to Nadia with fierce determination. "I want in on Crossing Animals."
"Animal Crossing ," Lance corrects, and Keith throws him an annoyed glare. “If you’re gonna play, at least know the title.”
Keith climbs off the sofa to sit next to Nadia, giving Lance the cold shoulder. Silvio has connected his console to the television, and now Lance can see the villager Keith controls. The game is oddly soothing until Keith ruins it by fishing.
“You’re pulling the lure too quickly!” Lance points to the screen where Keith tries and fails to bait a fish. “Lemme try.”
Keith throws an elbow out. “I got this!”
“You’re losing every fish!”
Lance feels a nudge in his side and turns to see Silvio hand him his controller. “Try mine. I’m sure you’d get more fish than Keith.”
Taking the controller, Lance lets it sink in how comfortable his nephew and niece are with Keith. Nadia has no problem sitting in his lap, and Silvio is directing Keith as he leads her player all over the island. Luis is right; Keith’s already family.
Lance tries not to let his heart flutter too much — just because he’s in love with the guy doesn’t mean he’ll go easy on him.
“If you do the fishing tournament, you can see who’s the better fisherman,” Nadia says, pointing at the screen. “Go to CJ.”
“Who’s that?” Keith demands before being distracted by Lance, whacking his villager with a butterfly net. He reaches up to pinch the real Lance hard on the thigh. “And can you freakin’ stop?”
Lance grins manically. “Yeah, but I don’t want to.”
“Lance!”
“I’ll set up the fishing tourney,” Silvio groans, snatching the controller from Lance. “You’re both taking forever cause you keep fighting,”
“No, we’re not!” Lance and Keith say in unison. There’s a certain nostalgia in teasing Keith. And it’s a lot easier than confessing his feelings.
When the excited-looking Beaver character starts the timer, Lance and Keith rush to their respective water bodies to fish. Unfortunately for Lance, Keith has learned how to use the butterfly net and keeps interrupting Lance's casts. Annoyed, he kicks down at the real Keith on the floor.
“Stop cheating!”
“I’m just getting revenge!”
“Tío Lance, c’mon!” Silvio whines. “They’re winning!”
“Not for long,” Lance grunts. After escaping from Keith’s clutches, he manages to find a shadow of a few fish in a river. Safely out of swatting distance, Lance catches two more fish before the buzzer rings. “Take that, cheater! We won.”
Keith glances up at him, throwing Lance a smirk that is so stupidly handsome that Lance becomes more annoyed. “Think so?”
Lance looks up and sees the excitable beaver cheering for Keith’s character. He managed to sneak an extra fish! The prize is a golden crown, and Nadia gasps.
“That’s worth 1.2 million bells!” she squeals, jumping to hug Keith tightly. “Thank you, Keith!”
“Boo,” Silvio huffs, turning to Lance with a pout. “You’re really bad at this.”
“Hey, I’m not bad! Keith's just sneaky!”
“Say whatever you need to make yourself feel better,” Keith grins at Lance's petulant pout. Keith stands up to stretch his back and Lance hears a pop. It makes his shirt ride up to reveal his navel, with a hint of a happy trail. Lance forces himself to look away. “It’s getting late. Wanna start dinner?”
Lance nods, and they wrap up the game to start cooking. It’s mostly quiet since Lance is still annoyed about losing the contest. He feels Keith elbow him lightly as he’s setting Silvio's plate. Lance swears he catches a blush bloom across the apples of Keith's cheeks.
“I...uh...didn’t mean to make you feel bad back there,” Keith says, though something unreadable flickers in his eyes. Lance’s heart thunders in his chest, but he waves Keith's concerns off with a laugh so forced it sounds nearly hysterical.
“Aww, mullet, are you being a sore winner?”
Keith huffs, walking out. “And right away, I regret it.”
Dinner goes off without a hitch, and it isn’t until he’s putting Nadia to bed in the den that Lance is confronted with his feelings again.
“Is Keith your partner?” she asks in that honest way only kids can.
"Yeah, I guess," Lance answers. "We led Voltron together and he's one of my best friends."
"Like how CJ is Flick's partner?"
"Who?"
"In Animal Crossing they're partners." Nadia yawns, curling up against her pillow. “They take care of each other. Does Keith take care of you?”
“He does," Lance nods, gently rubbing her back. "I take care of him too.”
“That’s nice" she sighs, already half-asleep. "You two make good partners.”
When Lance walks back into the living room, he's surprised to see that the television is still on and Keith is playing Animal Crossing again. The calming music and sound of the ocean waves are as soothing as the waves outside the farm.
Silently, he admires Keith as he undergoes the same fishing tournament again and again. Even from his perch in the back of the living room, Keith's frustration is palpable.
"What are you doing?" Lance finally asks, popping a seat next to Keith. He stares at him like a deer in the path of an 80-ton semi-truck.
"I felt bad about Silvio not getting a crown, so I've been playing this stupid game to win it," Keith huffs like he always does when he's embarrassed. "But none of these fish are listening to me!"
"They can't listen to you, they're not real," Lance reasons, leaning back against the edge of the sofa. The reflection of the television dances across Keith's face in the moonlight.
"You're not real," Keith mumbles. His thick brows furrow as his face twits into a pout that's so adorable Lance doesn't realize what's tumbling out of his mouth until it's too late.
"I love you," Lance sighs like it's the easiest thing in the world. Keith’s eyes widen, and Lance slaps a hand over his own mouth.
He should've known the build-up and preparation were unnecessary. Loving Keith is as easy as breathing. Too bad that confession is going to kill him.
“You love me?” Keith repeats.
“Dang it!" Lance’s head drops back onto the sofa, and he laughs up at the ceiling. Hysterical laughter that's probably terrifying Keith. "I've bit it back all night, but one look at you playing Animal Crossing makes me confess to you. God...”
Keith crawls forward until he’s hovering over Lance’s blushing face. The glow of the television and ambient music from the video game surround him. Then he drops his head and kisses him. Before he can talk himself out of it, Lance kisses him back. It’s soft, sweet, and full of fire.
Keith sighs against his lips. “I love you too. I was finally going to tell you earlier, but then you got mad at me for kicking your ass at Animal Crossing."
“Oh, I'm definitely still mad about that!" Lance laughs, holding Keith against him.
They relax into a full-body hug, the game paused between them. Something occurs to Lance.
"Nadia says the Beaver is dating the Lizard," he mumbles into Keith's shoulder, his face pressed against his shirt.
Keith leans sideways, balancing himself on his knees to glance at the game screen and then back to Lance.
"Huh," he hums, his tone one of genuine surprise. "Good for them."