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It started as a simple bet. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were sitting in Vrepit Sal’s saloon, Vrepit Saloon, after a day of work. The friends were teasing and joking, as they usually did, over drinks, when Pidge got a look in their eyes that usually indicated they were getting up to no good.
“Lance, I bet you 10 dollars to go speak to… Kogane.” They said.
“Why Kogane?”
“Why not Kogane? Speak to her for 10 dollars. Or are you too chicken?” Pidge teased.
“Guys - maybe we shouldn’t be betting each other to talk to people, just a thought.”
“Y’know, Hunk, for anyone else I’d agree with you and be chivalrous and all that but this is Kogane we’re talking about. The guy’s my rival! And I’m no chicken. You’re on Pidge.” Lance said, determined. He stood, dusting off his jeans with a swipe of his hand and adjusting his navy blue vest.
Keith Kogane was well-known in Arus. Nearly all who walked the dirt roads of the town knew of him, his fierce temper, and fondness for knives. And now Lance was walking right towards her.
Keith hadn’t done anything to Lance, per se. He was just constantly trying to one-up Lance. She always had to have a better horse than Lance, always had to ride faster, herd more cattle, and have a more successful farm. The only thing he didn’t seem to beat Lance at was raising chickens (and GOOD! Lance’s girls were beautiful if they did say so themself). Plus, on top of everything, Keith was attractive enough to make Lance’s head spin and it was a damn shame since Keith wanted nothing to do with Lance. So Keith was their rival. They needed an outlet.
They sauntered over to where Keith was seated at the bar, boots clicking on the hardwood floor. She looked unfairly attractive in the grimy lighting of the saloon, the inky darkness of her hair shining as it flowed down to his shoulders. Keith didn’t notice Lance standing beside her until he pointedly cleared his throat. Startled by the sound, she looked up, eyes wide in confusion. Recognition passed in her gaze and he sighed.
“Well, hello to you too, Kogane.”
“What do you want, McClain?” He asked, voice gruff.
“To say hello, of course! Why else would I come over here?”
“To terrorize me with your… antics.”
“Well I can assure you, I do anything but terrorize. I charm! Amuse, even. Not that you know what that is.”
“What what is?”
“To be charming, as I am.”
“Lance McClain, if you were half as charming as you claim to be, you would’ve charmed your way to the big city the day you washed up here. Clearly, that hasn’t happened, as you’re here and have decided to haunt me for the rest of my days, so please , leave me alone.” Lance winced at her words.
“Okay okay okay, that one actually stung. I’m sorry for annoying you,” Lance said sincerely. “Can I just - start over?”
“Start over?”
“Yeah, just reset this conversation?”
“Why would I just - forget this all happened?”
“Because from the goodness of your heart, you decided to forgive me for being a complete ass. Please?” Lance pleaded, really putting it on thick with fluttering their blue eyes in Keith’s direction.
A pause.
“Fine. Just one more shot,” Keith mumbled, “and make it quick. Unlike you, I do enjoy my quiet time.”
“You won’t regret it!” Lance promised. Keith grumbled something in reply that Lance couldn’t quite catch.
He turned around and walked a few paces away before returning to Keith’s side. “Hey there, Keith, how are you on this fine evening?” He snorted in response, his almost permanent scowl upturning at Lance’s antics.
“I’m alright, I guess,” She shrugged. After a moment, she asked, “Uh, how are you?”
“I’m great, now that I’m chatting with you.” Keith rolled his eyes. “No, honestly!” Lance protested.
“Really?”
“Yes! Keith, I’m not sure if you know this, but you are fascinating. You never talk to me, so you can’t blame me for being a little curious.”
“I guess that makes sense…?”
“It does! And it’s rather nice to be here with you now.”
“I suppose I uh… don’t mind talking to you either.”
Lance felt their cheeks flush at the half-hearted compliment. He wanted to slap the red off of his face. Why was he blushing at the slightest of kind words from the other? Their attraction to Keith was getting ridiculous at this point.
“I knew I would win you over eventually!” Lance cheered. Suddenly, out of the corner of their eye, they say Pidge waving them back over. “Oh, I guess I’m being summoned. Keith, I’ll see you around?” Keith nodded quickly as Lance walked back to their friends.
He sat in the booth with a sigh. Pidge slid them a ten-dollar bill, which Lance swiftly slid back.
“I don’t need it.”
“Have you finally realized that Keith isn’t nearly as bad as you imagine him to be and maybe you two could get along despite your one-sided feud against her that you made up because you have a crush?” Hunk asked.
Lance sighed dramatically, sinking into the booth, “Yes, Hunk,” Another sigh, “I’ve discovered that Keith isn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined her to be and she’s actually kinda cool and cute and funny and I need to get over a crush now instead of a rivalry.”
Hunk tutted, patting Lance’s shoulder. “You poor thing. Pidge, use that $10 to get us another round.”
“Aye aye!” They stood up, quick to follow Hunk’s orders.
“Oh Hunk, I’m doomed!” Lance groaned into Hunk’s arms.
“I know, mijo, I know.” Hunk patted his back gently.
Since then, Lance had been hooked on Keith Kogane, something that would’ve previously been a nightmare scenario for them. However, now they certainly felt differently. Past-Lance just didn’t seem to see how beautiful Keith was, so screw him for that. However, he had finally opened his eyes to see the cowboy in all of his glory. And what glory that was . Currently, Lance was watching her sit atop a horse from the edge of her land, looking effortlessly stunning while riding and training. His hair was tied back, displaying the sharpness of her jaw and neck in a way that made Lance’s breath leave his body. His pale skin was glistening with sweat, but not in a way that made them any less attracted to her. She was focused on her task, training the horse, not noticing the onlooker at all. At least, not until Lance called out to him.
“Kogane!” He shouted, their voice reverberating across the fields. Keith looked around, confused, for a moment before his gaze landed on the brunette.
“What do you want, McClain?” She shouted back.
“Wanted to say hi, can I come in?” He asked, gesturing to the farm gate.
Keith rolled his eyes, “Fine. Only for a few minutes. I’m too busy for your shenanigans right now.”
Lance whooped his glee, guiding his horse, Blue, inside the farm gate and to Keith’s side.
“So, how are you?”
“I was doing just fine working with Red until you showed up,” Keith shot back.
“Rude!”
“Anyways, you didn’t just come over to say ‘hi’. What do you really want from me?”
“I just wanted to tell you that you look mighty handsome straddling that horse.”
He was taken aback for a moment, “Well I ride them for a living, it’s just what I do?”
“I know but, wouldn’t you rather be straddling something else?” Lance said in his most flirtatious tone.
“Uh no? Red’s my favorite horse for a reason?” She cocked her head to the side, confused.
Lance felt disappointment flood their veins but swiftly covered it up with an awkward chuckle. “No yeah, obviously! Well, I’ll see you around, Keith!” They said, quickly making their way out of the fields and back on the road, too embarrassed to even think. Keith looked around, even more confused by Lance’s quick exit. Had she done something wrong? He didn’t think so… Why was Lance acting so odd?
“Senora Ezmeralda, please stop causing issues with Isabela. You know she doesn’t approve of drama, yet you insist on causing it whenever you decide to sit on her eggs, dear.” Lance scolded his hen, carefully lifting her from one nest to the other in the roost, “You just have to be patient with her nonsense, Isa. I know it’s not easy,” He tutted, looking at his other hen, “She just has some love for your eggs, mi vida, yes she does.” He cooed.
“Not everyone speaks to their chickens so kindly,” Keith said suddenly, causing Lance to jump and hit his head on the roof of the coop. He laughed at the brunette’s antics, his soft chuckle filling the space between them.
“Keith?!” Lance asked, surprised, “What are you doing here?”
“I was going to say hi while you were busy, as you always do for me.” She said with a small smirk on her face.
Lance sighed, exasperated, “Well, you’ve done it! Caught me in the act of speaking to my girls! Is it a crime?” He raised his hands in innocence.
“Not at all! It’s kinda funny, actually. And cute. Do you always speak to them like that?”
Lance’s face heated at the compliment. Was it that cute ? “Yeah, I do. No point in talking to them like they can’t understand, because they absolutely do. They’re intelligent birds. They deserve to have that intelligence honored.”
“I suppose you’re right. They are smart girls.”
Lance puffed out his chest proudly, “They are ! No one ever realizes how intelligent they are sometimes. They have such complicated feelings and relationships, whenever I go out to the coop, I feel like I’m watching a play. They’re also very affectionate. If you extend your hand, I’m certain they’ll bump their heads into it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, just like this,” Lance showed her how to extend her hand, just holding it low to the ground at around the chicken’s height. Keith shrugged and followed suit, holding his hand close to the ground. Soon, a few of Lance’s hens curiously approached the new person. Ezmeralda, always full of spunk compared to her sisters, bumped her head into Keith’s palm, allowing herself to be pet.
“You see?” Lance pet the chicken, Maria, that approached him as well. Keith just responded with a bright laugh. The laugh made Lance’s head practically spin with joy. Who knew such a light and pure sound could come out of Keith? And how was such a laugh so attractive? If the sound of Keith’s laugh wasn’t enough, the image of Keith crouching down and mumbling sweet words to his hen definitely did. Attractive and kind to his girls? Lance might not ever get over his crush at this rate.
After a while, Keith stood, wiping off his hands on his jeans. “That was nice actually.” He said softly, giving Lance a small grin.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
“Thank you, Lance.”
“You’re welcome,” A moment passed before Lance blurted out, “You’re welcome to come back any time if you’d like! To pet them, I mean.”
Keith considered that for a second before nodding. “I might just take you up on that. See you soon, Ezmeralda. And you too, Lance.” He waved before heading off of the farm, in the direction of where Red was tied up on the fence. Lance waved back, feeling like they were slowly filling up with more and more feelings for Keith.
Nothing would happen. Lance would just have to get over this in his own time, he supposed.
It finally happened one day while Lance was pestering Keith. Today, he managed to get Keith to teach them how to lasso. It was a hopeless case.
“Just aim it for here!” She pointed to the crate they were using as target practice.
“I’m trying! I just need one more shot.”
“Okay fine!” Keith exclaimed, exasperated at this point. “One more.”
Lance stepped closer to the barn behind him, taking a breath before swinging the rope. He closed his eyes as he felt the lasso land around something, simply going with their gut and pulling in the object.
Suddenly, a warm body was on top of theirs, pushing them against the barn wall. They opened their eyes to see a disgruntled Keith Kogane lassoed into their arms. Their heart rate skyrocketed at their proximity, and his cheeks turned red as they were nose-to-nose.
“Y’know, for a self-proclaimed sharpshooter, you have terrible aim.” She grumbled.
“Maybe…” Lance swallowed down their nerves, “Maybe this is where I wanted to aim.” They admitted.
Keith’s face went from confused to skeptical before finally settling on something Lance couldn’t quite read. Then, suddenly, slightly chapped lips were crashing onto his. Lance fumbled for a second before kissing Keith back, hands going to fiddle with the ends of his hair. Keith made a, frankly, adorable noise at Lance’s hands in her hair that had them melting into the kiss even further.
After a minute of them kissing, Lance pulled away to breathe. Keith panted against his lips, catching her breath as well.
“Guess I finally roped you in.” Lance winked at the other.
Keith promptly stepped away with a scoff, dropping the lasso holding them together, and pushing Lance into the nearest hay bale.
“I thought we had a moment!” Lance protested from within the bale, his arms struggling in the air as they searched for a way out.
“Moment OVER, McClain!”
“But, mi amor!” Lance called after him.
Keith froze at the pet name, contemplating it for a moment.
“No more stupid lines or puns or come-ons and fine.”
“What about-”
“None of whatever you’re thinking, either. Just,” Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and pulled them out, “kiss me, you idiot.” He said, rolling his eyes affectionately.
Keith leans in, kissing him once again before immediately pulling away, sputtering.
“HOW DO YOU HAVE HAY IN YOUR MOUTH?!”
“You pushed me in here! What did you expect? You should’ve anticipated this!”
“Well, maybe you should have anticipated me pushing you into the hay and should have closed your mouth,” Keith said, tone matter-of-fact.
“But Keith,” Lance whined, just wanting to kiss the other again, “You are just so gosh darn, jaw droppin’, stunning that I simply forgot to close my mouth, as I lost my ability to do so the second you approached me.”
“You are so full of shit, McClain,” Keith pulled Lance in for another kiss. “But I will allow that one, darlin’.”
Lance was smiling too hard to even kiss Keith properly as they fell back into each other.