Work Text:
The clock on the bedside table gave off a soft green glow as the numbers changed from 1:49 to 1:50.
Great.
Another night spent up well past midnight.
Lance couldn’t sleep. His bare chest was too warm, and his feet were too cold. The blankets weren’t fitting over his body quite right. He wanted to move, to get up and stretch, but there was a heaviness that kept him in place.
It was the weight of a boy with black hair and bright eyes, his chest rising and falling unevenly against Lance’s own.
Keith had been spending the night with Lance for the past week or so, and normally he was able to sleep just fine. But a few days ago he had been kept awake for most of the night by a nagging feeling of something being…off, and it looked like tonight wouldn’t be any different.
Lance wasn’t quite sure what it was. He had never been one for deep contemplation of such matters. He was a simpler man. And yet, here he was, wide awake with this beautiful boyfriend draped across his body and feeling like something was wrong.
Crazy, right?
Keith shifted slightly as Lance let a loud sigh, not realizing the exhale would wake him from his slumber.
“You ok?”
Whoops.
Keith’s voice was groggy from sleep, which ticked off Lance in the slightest. He had already been reprimanded several times over the past week by the team for dozing on the job, but he couldn’t help himself. He was exhausted. How come Keith gets the full nights rest? It’s not like he needs beauty sleep.
“Yeah. Fine.” Lance hadn’t meant to sound as curt as he did, but he was tired, and grouchy, and he hated having weird feelings this late (early?) at night.
Keith looked away, and slowly (was he hesitating?) settled back into his original sleeping position on Lance. It wasn’t Keith’s fault. Lance knew that. In fact, he relished having Keith stay over in his bed. They didn’t do anything besides kiss, which was fine with Lance. He mostly enjoyed the company Keith provided.
But with the lingering unidentified feelings floating around in his head so late at night, Lance was beginning to wonder if maybe Keith should resume sleeping in his own quarters.
The red paladin shifted slightly again, his breathing more shallow than before, and Lance felt a pang of guilt for his snappy attitude earlier.
And the worst boyfriend award goes to…he didn’t get to finish his thought. Keith lurched forward suddenly, grabbing Lance’s face in both hands. Without a word he planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth.
Lance’s initial surprise was quickly overcome as the kiss transitioned into a deeper, more passionate experience; their bodies fitting into place as their mouths opened in greeting.
Keith broke apart just as Lance’s tongue flicked the inside of his mouth, leaving him perplexed, if a little miffed.
“What are yo-” Lance was silenced as Keith shifted again and began planting smaller kisses along Lance’s jaw and neck. He continued his trek downwards, reaching the sensitive area just above the collarbone, and latched on, swirling his tongue lightly over the area before beginning to suck.
Is he giving me a hickey?!
Lance was too shocked to formulate a proper thought beyond that. A low groan escaped his lips as Keith continued his unusual behaviour, his hands now tracing patterns across Lance’s bare chest, the touch just light enough to make it tickle, a tease, before he would apply more pressure to the area, almost like a scratch. The sensation was oddly pleasurable and made Lance ache in more ways than one.
“Keith-”
Not bothering to look up, Keith slid his way down Lance’s body, leaving a trail of kisses, before reaching just below the bellybutton. He hesitated slightly before reaching for the drawstring of Lance’s pajamas, but Lance was quicker.
Snatching at Keith’s shoulders, Lance hoisted him upwards and moved forward, ignoring the pleas from his body to not interrupt, so that they were both sitting upright on the bed.
“Keith what is going on?”
His boyfriend finally looked at him, and for a few seconds everything was still. Then the tears happened.
Large, wet droplets cascaded down Keith’s cheeks, his mouth contorting into a frown as he fought, and failed, to keep them contained. He quickly brought his hands up to cover his face and turned away from Lance with a sob.
“I just…I was worried tha-…I don’t wan-” Keith broke off as a fresh wave of tears made their way down his face, followed by several gasps of air as he fought hyperventilation.
Lance hadn’t been expecting tears, but somehow, this reaction made more sense to him. He reached out and placed a hand on Keith’s back, moving it in slow circles to soothe his partner.
“Keith…I need you to explain what’s going on.” Lance spoke in a soft whisper. Growing up in a large family meant dealing with crying siblings all the time. He had learned early on that by lowering your own voice, the person crying would subconsciously feel calmer, and be able to control their emotions a bit better.
It worked, and after a few minutes Keith was able to control his breathing enough to form a coherent sentence.
“I sometimes worry that you’ll stop liking me. That because you’re bisexual you’ll find a girl who can do things for you that I can’t…and I wanted to give you a part of me I hadn’t given anyone and try to secure you as mine…but,” he took a shaky breath, “but, I’m scared. And I figured you were mad at me because I’ve been hesitant and-” Lance silenced him by leaning forward and touching his forehead to Keith’s. His eyes were closed, so as to prevent his own heart from breaking as he watched this boy struggle with these upsetting thoughts. Thoughts he had unknowingly placed there.
After a few moments he spoke, keeping their foreheads pressed together.
“Keith. That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Keith jerked his head back, tears still streaming down his cheeks, and a look of horror plastered on his face. His mouth opened in an attempt to say something in retort but Lance stopped him by pressing a finger to his lips.
“Let me finish.” He removed his finger and leaned back. “It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard because it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Being bisexual doesn’t mean I spend a specified amount of time liking one gender before my mind changes its preference. I don’t only like girls and then switch to only liking boys. It just means that I can like both genders, that I do like both genders. That’s it. I’m not going to stop loving you anytime soon in favour for the opposite gender. It doesn’t work like that, at least, not for me. I chose you remember? You have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry if I made you think otherwise.” Lance had been staring at his hands when he spoke those words, and when he looked back over at Keith his heart dropped.
His boyfriend’s mouth was hanging open, his eyes red and wide with shock, and his eyebrows had climbed up his forehead to hide behind his thick bangs. He looked stricken, and it made Lance’s gut twist in worry.
“Keith…are you ok?”
Keith blinked a few times before replying.
“You said you loved me.”
Lance was taken aback.
“No I didn’t.”
The corners of Keith’s mouth twitched up into a crooked smile.
“Yeah…you did. You said “I’m not going to stop loving you anytime soon’”.
Lance paled. “I-I didn’t-I meant ‘I like you’-that-you-” but it was too late. Keith was laughing. Actually laughing! His face was tear stained and blotchy from crying, his hair disheveled and his clothing askew. This boy was probably more of a mess than anyone had ever seen, and Lance had never felt happier.
Was this what had been plaguing his mind?
Was it….love?
Something in his brain clicked and it felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were coming together to form an image of the boy in front of him.
Keith in the morning with bedhead and groggy eyes.
Keith clutching his stomach as he laughed, his head thrown back in glee.
Keith, with his rosy cheeks and slight dimples that only came out when he truly smiled, the look that always made Lance blush and his heart flutter.
So it was love.
Love for this boy who was currently laughing at his face. But it didn’t matter because Lance was laughing now too.
He grabbed Keith’s hands and pulled them up to his mouth, placing a kiss on his delicate fingers.
“Ok fine. So I kinda love you. Big deal.” But it was Keith’s turn to silence him.
He moved forward and closed the space between them, planting a firm kiss on Lance’s lips. The touch of lips quickly deepened, and Lance’s last coherent thought was “tastes salty” before his mind filled with fuzz and his body burned wherever is made contact with Keith’s.
The two finally broke apart, and that special dimpled smile broke out on Keith’s face as he took in Lance’s dazed expression.
“I kinda love you too.”
Lance snapped back to reality.
“Really?”
Keith chuckled; “No. I think you misheard.”
“Too late pretty boy, my hearing is as sharp as that fancy sword of yours. So you minus well give up and say it again.”
“Nope. Sorry. One time thing. Coupon has been redeemed.” Keith was grinning now, dimples in full force. It was the kind of beam that was contagious, and Lance could feel his own face brighten.
“Coupon eh?” He leaned forward as if to kiss Keith again, but held back at the last second. He spoke in a husky whisper. “And how might a man acquire more?”
He could feel Keith’s face heating up and laughed at his expression, before pulling him back down onto the bed to rest on his chest once again.
“I win by the way.”
“What?” Keith pushed the hair from his eyes and reached his arms up to cradle the back of Lance’s neck, his fingertips brushing the baby hairs on his neck, making Lance shiver slightly under the touch. Lance forced himself to focus.
“I said it first. So…I win.” He plastered his famous crooked grin on his face, the one he knew made Keith blush.
And another point to me he thought as he watched Keith’s ears and cheeks redden.
“That’s not how that works you know. If anything, I win because I held out longer. Coming first isn’t always a good thing.”
“Speaking of which,” Lance saw Keith’s face darken further at the sexual innuendo. “I don’t want you to feel pressured or forced into anything you aren’t comfortable with. We have all the time in the world to get there. I mean, hopefully you don’t take all the time in the world, because I’m not sure how I’ll look as an old man. Probably fantastic but that’s beside the point. I just feel, personally, that I would perform much better with my youthful stamina and muscular bod-” Keith shut him up with another kiss, just a light peck on the lips, but it was enough.
“Thank you Lance. That means more to me than you know.”
“Anything for you my love.” He had meant to say it this time, just to see how the word felt on his lips.
Wonderful.
Amazing.
Even better now that he knew Keith felt the same, who was blushing furiously but smiling all the same.
“Goodnight Lance.” And with that Keith was asleep, his arms wrapped loosely around Lance’s neck.
Love.
It was more than Lance had ever imagined. It was warmth in places he didn’t know existed. It was light in the darkest corners of his heart. It was fear of the unknown in the back of his mind.
But it was also very simple.
It was the weight of a boy with black hair and bright eyes draped across his body, the steady rise and fall of his chest as their hearts beat in unison.
With that in mind, Lance closed his eyes and fell asleep; resting fitfully as his heart dreamt of love.