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Lance leans in for one last kiss before the attendant whisks Keith away. The fighter pilot's steel gray eyes track Lance's every move so he makes sure his smile is wider than last month's videocall to his cousin Estrella's quinceañera.
Even with ten feet between them, Lance can see the beginnings of anxiety gripping Keith. It's in the 18-year-old's stance, the way his fingers are clutching around a phantom yoke. So, being the good boyfriend that he is, Lance makes a thumbs up, adding a cheesy over-the-top grin that's guaranteed to make Keith laugh. He's rewarded with an eye wrinkle and half a smile before Keith and the attendant disappear into the green room and out of sight. Suppressing a sigh, Lance makes his way back to the general admission crowd.
The legendary exploration squadron Alpha Flight Team Six have returned to the Garrison for a special week-long training demonstration. Every member of the crew - comprised of Team Leader Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane, Communications Expert Allura Arus, (Sexy) Pilot Keith Kogane and Techincal Engineer Jack "I'm An Asshole" Sendak - are leading informational sessions in the upcoming days, but the workshops won't start until after the welcoming ceremony - which is scheduled to begin in less than 10 minutes.
Lance pushes his way into the crowd, eyes shifting from one side of sparkling clean Hedrick Auditorium to the other. He promised Hunk and Pidge that he'd stand with them but in this sea of orange, white and gray, it's hard to tell one recruit from the next.
Big arms grab him tight, pulling against a full chest and a heavy stomach. "Lance!" Hunk's loud tenor cuts into his ears as the big guy gives Lance a full body squeeze, again. "We didn't think you'd make it buddy."
"Yeah," Pidge says, sliding up to the pair, a dark smirk on her face. "I bet Hunk that you'd be backstage with loverboy."
"Ahh!" The squawk flies out before Lance can even think to stop it. "Shut up, Half-Pint. Nobody is supposed to know."
He looks around, but thankfully none of the other cadets have turned to look their way. The only upside to having a reputation of being loud is people tend to ignore him when Lance is screaming. Or yelling. Or talking.
"Nobody is supposed to know what, Lance," Hunk's left eyebrow raises slightly as he speaks. It'd be impressive if Lance didn't know what it meant. "That you have a super secret boyfr-"
Lance wiggles a hand free and slaps it over Hunk's mouth. The engineer-in-training shows how disgusting he is by licking Lance's palm.
"Hunk!" Lance says flailing his hand around, pushing out of the hold Hunk's hug has transformed into. He's desperate to get the feel of the other teen's salvia off him. That's why it takes a little longer than usual for a retort to form. The clapback of the century is on his lips but before Lance can bring the sass, Commander Iverson takes the mic.
"Atten-hut!" He squints his eye as every Galaxy Garrison recruit snaps into the proper position. "The members of Alpha Flight Team Six have graciously agreed to teach you promising cadets how to be successful airmen. With over 300 completed missions, it is my pleasure to introduce the members of the most distinguished unit to leave these grounds."
The crowd's clapping is near deafening and Lance makes sure to woot rambunctiously, hoping Keith will hear his voice. Commander Iverson announces each member of AFTS as they make their way onto the stage, pushing apart the heavy, black curtains.
"Communications Specialist Lieutenant Colonel Allura Arus."
Queen of languages, Allura is the first to walk on stage. Her ivory hair is tied into tight French braid with nary a flyaway in sight. The large, dangling periwinkle earrings are against regulation but they match her specially violet-tinted uniform perfectly. Allura smiles softly and Lance swears he can feel everyone falling just a little bit in love with her - Pidge is practically salivating just from being in the same room as her idol.
"Senior Engineer Major Jack Sendak."
The next person to walk on stage is a scruffy looking nyeon (according to the all the stories Lance has heard). Sendak's hair is an offensively bright lilac that somehow clashes with Allura's outfit. He's out of uniform and wearing tight blue jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He's the epitome of cliche and Lance doesn't even try to fight the eye roll as most of the girls and guys in the room shout his stupid life motto. Vrepit sa.
Sendak's cocky grin dominates his face and the smug man just nods, like a god accepting his daily sacrifices from devoted followers.
"Fighter Pilot Corporal Keith Kogane."
The second-most handsome fighter pilot to ever grace the universe walks upstage a little too far, a little too fast. Keith's in uniform, his white jacket hanging snuggly on his trim form as his black cotton pants emphasize long legs. The red accents throughout the attire make the rosy blush dotting his cheeks all the more pronounced.
Lance makes sure his cheers are the loudest but it's stiff competition as everyone in the room aspires to be the kind of prodigy Keith is. Being the youngest fighter pilot to ever graduate from the Garrison inspires a benign-envy in most cadets.
Keith doesn't say anything either, just waves once before moving to stand with the rest of his crew slightly stage right.
"And lastly, Colonel Takashi Shirogane."
Shiro parts the curtain with a wide smile, a microphone in hand. "Hello everyone!" The team leader is in dress blacks, and although the silk-soft material shines in the overhead lights, it highlights the shape of his body perfectly. The bulging biceps, firm chest and thick quadriceps could make even the straightest of men look twice. "Who's ready for some fun?"
The crowd of students are mesmerized into an impeccable silence before
all hell breaks loose.
* * * *
The chow hall is filled to the brim as Lance swipes his student id card through the cash register. Lunch was slim pickings but he managed to nab the last avocado-pineapple salad. He wasn't lucky enough to grab any pudding, though. Instead, he got stuck with some weird green goop that the placard claims is jello. Whatever it is, Hunk will eat it.
Lance spots the big guy at a crowded table and makes his way over to where the engineer is avidly listening to Pidge's story.
"It was insane," she says as Lance squeezes into a spot next to her. He elbows the dude who rudely doesn't move to make room. "Lieutenant Colonel Arus fluently switched between seven different languages during her training session. She didn't even stumble over grammatical changes!"
Pidge's erratic gesturing is enough to splash Lance with spaghetti sauce. Wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, Lance turns and says, "You better be learning something. If we're gonna win the end of the year tournament, we all need to improve."
"Hey! I'm not the one skipping out on workshops."
"Lance?" Hunk says, shifting to give Lance his patented puppy eyes. "Are you ditching the seminars?"
"Only one!" Lance can tell he's in trouble by the downslope of Hunk's lips. He needs a distraction, and fast. "Here buddy! I got you jello." The fighter-pilot slides the mysterious green goo towards his best friend but, to his horror, finds that Hunk already has an unopened jello container next to a half eaten one.
"It doesn't taste good," Hunk offers in explanation. "Lance, I know you want to spend time with-"
"Ahhh ah," Lance interrupts. "I went to Shiro's talk on leadership and listening. I only skipped Sendak's because the guy's a-"
"No. " Apparently it's Hunk's time to interrupt. "No no no no. You may not like the man, but he's a genius when it comes to tech. And aerospace calculations. A genius who-"
"I know. I know." He cuts off Hunk. Because that's the thing. He does know that Sendak is a genius. Not only does the man have the accolades to prove his brilliance but Keith's told him plenty of stories of how Sendak's fast thinking and quick hands have gotten AFTS out of any number of sticky situations.
It's just, those stories are often told through clenched teeth and sprinkled with Korean swears throughout. Sendak may be a genius but Keith doesn't like him and although Lance has never met the man, he has to side with his boyfriend. Right?
There's a quick lull in the conversation that Lance is eager to fill. He's about to say whatever pops into his thoughts when the person next to him slams a pointy elbow into his ribs. "Watch it, man!"
The cadet turns, surely an apology ready, but once the boy sees Lance, his face contorts into a sneer. "Well, what 'da you know. It's Dead Last and his merry crew of failures."
Lance bristles at the nickname. He may have started at the Garrison as a cargo pilot but Lance had spent the first year as a student searching for a mentor. After finding an internet forum dedicated to fighter pilots, Lance had posted his story, begging for help. A month later, user REDLION had posted a rather brutal critique of his skills, but, thankfully, they also included tips and strategy on how to improve.
Countless messages morphed into phone calls, text messages. Then their relationship evolved into something better, something Lance wasn't 100 percent prepared for but not something he'd never willingly give up. But they had to keep it secret since Lance doesn't want anyone to think he didn't earn his skills.
Two years later, Lance has worked his way up to fighter class. He's not the worst pilot in the fleet anymore and keeping Keith a secret is second nature now. Keith, the wonderful man that he is, understands Lance's reluctance to be open about their relationship but has more than once not-so-subtly said he'd like to be public.
"Screw you Haxus!" It's not the best comeback but it's all Lance has.
"Ha!" The senior cadet says, thin lips curling into a cruel leer. "Like anyone would want to sully themselves with the likes of you."
It cuts deep. Deeper than Lance would ever admit. Surprisingly, Pidge comes to his rescue, "Anybody would be lucky to have Lance as a boyfriend."
Ralph Haxus snorts in disbelief. "Wanna bet on that?" The trio are silent for just a moment too long because Haxus' expression gets impossibly meaner. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
He shifts back to his meal, right elbow jamming into Lance again. But before he can turn, Lance sees the teen's plate and feels anger spread throughout his body faster than a wave crashes against the beach. Haxus has four untouched chocolate pudding cups on his plate, another two empty plastic bowls littering the table.
No wonder the cafeteria was out of pudding; the jerk must have taken them all.
Lance is not one to let an injustice of that magnitude go unchallenged, and as luck would have, he sees a way to win that bet enter the chow hall. "Oh you're on," Lance says, pulling Haxus by the shoulder so they're face-to-face again. "I'll bet you two pudding cups that I can get anyone in this place to kiss me within a minute of talking to them."
"Ha! Not without begging, you couldn't."
"Lance? Let's just leave," Hunk says trying to dissuade the situation.
The pilot doesn't dare look away from Haxus. "No way. I'm winning this bet."
"Oh yeah," the stupid smirk is back on Haxus' face. "And what do I get when I win."
"I'll do your extra duties for a month." It's a big risk. Haxus gets in trouble a lot and Commander Iverson is fond of assigning toilet cleaning as a punishment.
Haxus slides his hand through his greasy hair, ruffling his trademark curls. "You've got a deal, McClain. Go make out with Shelly Brooks."
Lance fights to keep himself from flinching. Brooks hates his guts. Ever since Lance tried to ask her on a date - which ended with him tripping and accidently smashing a box of chocolates against her pristine white uniform - she's had it out for him. There's no way he can get Shelly Brooks to even talk to him, let alone kiss him.
"Brooks," he says, trying to play it cool. If Haxus' growing shit-eating grin is any indication, he's failed. "Too easy, man. I was thinking someone challenging." He looks around the room as if to discover an interesting idea but Lance knows where his gaze is going to end. "Someone like Corporal Keith Kogane."
"Corporal Kogane!" Haxus laughs. "Never in your life would he want to be with someone like you, Dead Last."
"Double or nothing," Lance argues back.
"Two months without extra duties? Hell yeah." Haxus sticks out his hand and Lance is forced to shake it, feeling hair-grease slime coat his fingers.
"Lance? Are you sure about this?" Hunk's voice is quiet but Lance knows it's because he cares.
Too late to back out now, Lance nods once then stands. "Pidge, collect my winnings."
With that being said, he makes his way across the area to where Keith is sitting with Sendak and Allura. Lance feels his palms start to sweat as each step lands him closer and closer to this impossibly stupid idea that is sure to end badly. Thank the stars above that at least Shiro isn't there - Lance doesn't know what he'd do if his personal hero had to witness this disaster in the making.
He stops in front of where Alpha Flight Team Six are chatting, gaining their collection attention almost immediately. "Hello?" Allura starts, confusion clear in her voice.
Keith has the good graces to look around before he asks, "Lance?"
The nervous chuckle does nothing to help him, but Lance makes eye contact with his boyfriend before he speaks. "Heya babe. I made a stupid bet with someone that I could kiss you in under a minute of meeting you, so you can yell at me later but I'm coming in. Okay? Okay."
Lance, mindful of the ticking clock, doesn't wait for a response, just leans in and captures Keith's mouth. It's dry and rough; Keith clearly needs to hydrate more. The surprised gasp is enough of a reason to deepen the kiss, pushing into the older teen's space. Keith moans into the action, his strong nimble fingers flying into Lance's hair, pulling him inconceivably closer.
A velvety smooth tongue slips into Lance's mouth and now it's his turn to sigh into Keith's mouth. They break for air and even without opening his eyes, Lance can tell that everyone in the chow hall is focused completely on the pair.
The growing awkwardness only heights the foreboding sense of doom. It gets almost to the breaking point but Pidge plays hero once again.
"Whoo!!" She screams. "Give me that pudding!"
Keith's smile dances against Lance's lips and just for a moment, everything feels right in the world.