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To say that Lance had been a little more affectionate than usual is an understatement.
They had gotten back from a particularly hard mission, and when all the Paladin’s had gathered in the hanger, Lance let out an over-dramatic sob and he had launched himself onto Keith, peppering his face with kisses, crying out about how worried he had been about the other boy. Keith had only taken a second to realize what Lance was doing, and suddenly he had pushed hard against Lance’s chest, shoving him down to the floor. Lance had looked up at Keith, pouting, with tears in his eyes.
That was only the beginning.
Lance kept trying to act all lovey-dovey with Keith. Maybe it was a new tactic to annoy him, but overall, Keith was torn. Sometimes, he didn’t mind it. He had spent his entire life alone, shipped off from house to house, with no one to really give him the attention he so desperately craved, so the little touches and comments were nice. The way Lance’s hand would brush against his own, or the way Lance would place a hand on his back. Lance once came over and tried to sit on his lap during Dinner. Keith had hesitated for a moment, long enough to receive a confused look from Shiro, but Lance was pushed onto the floor in the end.
As much as he was enjoying the increased flirting, recently, it was starting to get overwhelming. Keith had been pushed up against the wall recently, with Lance trying to kiss at his neck. This had been in the middle of debriefing, and Keith had panicked. He had pushed Lance, sending him spiraling towards the ground. Lance looked up at him, and for a moment, he looked confused. It soon faded though, and the Blue paladin pushed himself to his feet.
“Why are you denying our love?”
Keith felt himself snap. He glared at Lance, poking his finger into his chest.
“You can’t deny what isn’t there, Lance!” He said loudly, and as Lance took a step back, Keith took a step forward. “There is no love. You’re just being weird, as per usual. You need to snap out of it!” He didn't mean what he said. It just sort of came out. Word vomit, really.
“But Keith-”
“No! I don’t love you, Lance! So just fuck off!” He was yelling now, red in the face. He knew he'd fucked up.
He stopped talking when he noticed the tears forming in Lance’s eyes. Lance glanced around at the other Paladins, before more or less sprinting from the room. Keith immediately felt bad. Shit. he’d made Lance cry. Allura was frowning at him, her arms crossed, but she didn’t seem angry.
After a long moment of silence, Coran cleared his throat.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
All eyes in the room looked at him.
“What’s worse?” Hunk’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“Do you remember that planet we went to a few suns ago? The one with all the spores?”
“Do you mean the planet we got our butts kicked on?” Pidge muttered, and Keith saw Shiro smile slightly.
“Precisely!” Coran said cheerily, and he pulled out a bottle of green liquid. He held it out to Keith, who didn’t take it.
“What is that?”
“When we were on the planet, we think that Lance may have inhaled one of those spores. That’s what’s making him act like a love sick teenager towards you!”
“Why is it targeting Keith? Why not any of us?” Shiro took a step forward, and Keith nodded. That was the question at the forefront of Keith’s mind.
“It takes already existing feelings and dramatically enhances them.”
The room fell into silence. Keith felt his entire face turn red.
“Oh.”
Coran held the vile out to Keith again, and after a moment, he took it.
“What do I do with this?”
“You have to get him to drink it. It’ll reverse the side effects of the spore.”
Keith grimaced. He had to get Lance to drink that thing, but Lance was probably off crying in a corner somewhere because Keith had denied his love.
This was going to be hard.
He had been close, actually. Lance wasn’t in a corner, he was sitting on Blue’s paw, his knees to his chest, and hiding his face as he cried. Keith frowned. He had reduced Lance to this. Even if feelings were enhanced, they were still there. Lance legitimately had a thing for Keith and Keith wasn’t upset. He was nervous. Terrified, even. he’d never had another person care for him so deeply. Well, there was Shiro, but he acted like more of a big brother than anything.
As he approached the blue lion and her crying paladin, he cleared his throat. Lance’s head shot up, and Keith saw embarrassment flash through his eyes. Lance sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Gross.
“Whatdya want?” He mumbled, looking away. Keith sighed, climbing onto the paw. He shifted himself around so he was sitting hip to hip with Lance, which seemed to make some of the sniffling become quieter. It was a long while before Keith spoke. He had to try something to get Lance to trust him enough.
“I don’t hate you, you know.”
Lance burst into a fresh set of tears, launching himself at Keith. Keith saw the other boy wrap his arms around his waist, and he saw Lance bury his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. Lance had the desperate urge to be held, so Keith did the one thing he knew he had to do.
He held him.
They fell quiet as Lance cried. Keith let him get it all out, keeping one hand on the back of his head, and the other hand was rubbing soft circles against the blue paladin’s back. He only pulled away when the sobs stopped, and Lance had gone quiet. Keith gave him a smile.
“Can you do me a favor, Lance?” His voice was softer and gentler than Keith ever thought it could be. Lance looked hesitant. Keith was running on autopilot at this point. He cupped Lance’s cheeks, brushing the tears away with his thumbs. Lance blushed.
“What’s the favour?”
Keith moved one of his hands, and pulled the vile out from his pocket. Lance immediately frowned, and he shook his head.
“It looks gross.” He mumbled, and suddenly Keith was being hugged again. He sighed, and ran his hand through Lance’s hair. He almost shuddered at the feeling of Lance’s breath on his neck, but he contained himself.
“Lance...if you drink this, I’ll kiss you.” Keith didn’t realize he had said it until after. Both boys froze, and Lance took a slow breath.
“Promise?”
Keith nodded. When Lance didn’t respond, Keith frowned.
“I promise, Lance.”
Reluctantly, Lance pulled out of Keith’s embrace. Keith pulled the cap off of the vile before he passed it to Lance, who proceeded to drink the slime as if it were a shot. Keith grimaced. It looked disgusting. Lance swallowed, then immediately began coughing. He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in though, because suddenly, when he glanced at Keith, the boy looked horrified. Keith let out a breath of relief. He was happy Lance was back to normal, but he would miss all the little touches. All the flirting.
“Feeling better?”
Lance simply nodded. Keith realized he wasn’t going to speak, so he stood up to leave. As he was about to jump down from the paw, Lance’s hand suddenly reached out and intertwined his fingers with Keith’s. Keith’s breath caught in his throat, and he glanced back at Lance. He looked nervous, and he was toying with his bottom lip.
“Yes, Lance?”
Lance cleared his throat.
“You promised.”
Keith went bright red. Shit. He had promised, hadn’t he? He took a deep breath, then knelt down. Keith was a man of his word, after all. To be perfectly honest, kissing Lance didn’t seem like a bad idea.
He leaned forward, and pressed a quick kiss to the other boy’s lips. He pulled away after a split second, but Lance didn’t seem to be satisfied. He reached forward, his arms wrapping around Keith’s neck to pull him forward. They were kissing again. Keith let his eyes fall shut.
Maybe he didn’t have to give up the touches and the affection after all.