Archive of Our Own ^beta

Keith was sick and tired of Lance’s stupid antics. Particularly, the flirting. It was just so annoying . Like, Lance was just constantly dropping lines, completely unself aware how embarrassing he was being, unaware of how the subjects of his verbal affections cringed away. It was even worse when they were into it because it only seemed to encourage him and it made Keith flush hotly all the way down to his toes. 

He wanted it to stop with a kind of ferocity that usually only manifested for him during battle. He wasn’t sure why the flirting was the thing that stuck out as most annoying about Lance when there was just so much about him that could easily be seen as more irritating. Afterall, Lance was loud, often crass, and invaded Keith’s personal space constantly. Lance was actually often targeting Keith for all sorts of things- competitions, races, insults, jokes. 

But if Keith was honest, none of that really bothered him. Sure, in the heat of the moment he would get all kinds of riled up, crashing into Lance and snapping, fighting, feuding, letting himself get pulled down to the level of a middle schooler. But really, that wasn’t so bad. In a way Keith kind of liked it. It made something inside of him feel seen that none of the guidance counselors or kids in his peer group were ever able to touch when they handled him with kid gloves. It was cool that Lance wanted to engage with the part of him that no one else ever dared poke, the sharp and explosive bits of him that were harshly disapproved of. 

But the flirting? Seeing that sly grin steal over Lance’s face, the way his eyes would go hooded, plain desire on his face. He always looked so slick, so smug, so mean. It did something to Keith, made his gut go knotted and hot. 

At least Allura always coldly turned him down whenever she was the target of these one-liners. It eased something in Keith to witness it. 

Sometimes though, other aliens were receptive to it and then Lance would get so thrilled he would seem to sparkle. Keith wasn’t sure if it ever went anywhere and he tried not to think about Lance maybe kissing random alien girls that have three magic tongues and spit laced with dopamine. It made him feel sick. It was just too… gross to imagine, right? So why was he preoccupied with it? 

*

“ What?!”

They were sitting in the common room being debriefed on their next mission. Keith was sitting next to Lance, and it was Lance who had just cried out. 

“No no no no.” Lance said, making big, dramatic ‘x’s in the air with his forearms. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! Keith is the one going undercover for this? No way!” 

Keith crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Of course Lance would take issue with the idea of Keith getting what Lance no doubt viewed as ‘special treatment.’ 

“He’s all bite and no bark!” Lance said, gesturing sharply at Keith. “Someone is gonna look at him wrong and he’s gonna pull his sword out and stab them!” 

No one reacted to this accusation of Lance’s, all of them having gotten used to his habit of (mostly) exaggerating when it comes to Keith’s faults. Allura, Shiro, and Coran mostly just stared blankly as Lance gained momentum in his rant. Hunk looked back and forth, already sweating, and Pidge didn’t even glance up from her screen. 

“This mission requires charisma! Flirting ! I am obviously the better choice!” Lance protested. 

At the mention of flirting, something pricked inside of Keith. He felt spiteful, sour over Lance being so sure he was charming, so certain that Keith wasn’t . How hard could it be? He had watched Lance do it a thousand times. He could probably break down the steps if he wanted, too. 

“Keith couldn’t flirt his way out of a paper bag!” Lance insisted, and some string long pulled on and frayed inside of Keith snapped. 

He opened his mouth. 

“I know as much about flirting as you know about piloting.” Keith said. He purposefully delivered the line as bored sounding as he could, phrased it in a way meant to be antagonistic on purpose because if he knew Lance- 

“Excuse you! I am a great pilot!” Lance rebutted, and Keith had to eat his triumphant grin. 

“Exactly.”  Keith said. 

“Exac-” Lance startled, thrown off kilter from where he was already ramping up for a fight, staring at Keith in something akin to shock, some small amount of fear at being disarmed flickering in his eyes, his mouth open. “Wait, what?” 

Perfect. Keith didn’t know any clever lines, but he knew the mechanics of flirting from watching Lance so often. Flatter the person, get behind their defenses, move in close- capture their heart. 

“You are a great pilot.” Keith said as earnestly as he could, making direct eye contact with Lance’s wide blue eyes. “The blue lion chose you.” 

Keith scooted closer on the couch, never letting his eyes leave Lance’s, trying to gain whatever ground he could in this before Lance was able to react. Right now, he was thankfully seemingly speechless. 

“Sometimes you’re a little unpredictable.” Keith said, not quite sure where that came from. “But maybe that’s what we need. And…” 

Keith reached out and put his hand on Lance’s thigh. The denim burned beneath his hand, but Lance looked down at his hand in shock, a blush beginning to creep across his face. 

Check. 

“You’re getting better all the time.” Keith said. “Sometimes, I think you’re gonna catch me.” 

Keith moved his other hand to Lance’s chin, tipping his face up from where he was still staring at the hand on his thigh. Lance’s face was looking sunburnt now, pretty and pink and caught off-guard. He remained frozen and still as Keith moved in, lips parted.

Checkmate.

“Sometimes I think…” Keith moved as close as he dared, which considering who he was as a person, was pretty damn close. He could practically feel Lance melt and with a thrill, Keith realized his flirting was working better then even he had expected. He wondered if Lance would let him kiss him right then, and looking into Lance’s hooded eyes and blushing face, Keith bet he would. He almost wanted to try. 

“...I really want you to…” Keith breathed against Lance’s mouth, and a petty part of him delighted in the way Lance shivered at the humid touch of his words. 

“Keith, what are you doing?!” Hunk finally interrupted, off put and more panicked then Keith felt he needed to be. 

Keith pulled away quick enough that he knew Lance would feel the cold rush of his absence. Keith certainly felt all the places he had been touching Lance go chill, goosebumps breaking out beneath his jacket. He turned to Hunk, and as droll and dry as he could manage he said:

“Imitating Lance.” He shrugged and gestured carelessly. 

Then he finally let the smallest shit eating smirk steal its way onto his face and cut his gaze to Lance who was looking- 

It was more than Keith had hoped. Lance’s mouth was pressed into a watery line, anger and embarrassment roiling behind his eyes wrestling with something else, something a little more- 

Lance couldn’t hold his gaze. Instead he stood up abruptly and glared at the ground. 

“Fine I admit it. He’s good.” Lance said. “He did learn from the best, right?” 

Lance tucked his hands into his pockets and started to leave. “Guess I’ll just be the sniper or whatever. Text me the details.” 

Lance sounded defeated, embarrassed. His shoulders hunched and he walked quickly out of the room. Watching his retreating back, Keith felt a little bad. He almost wanted to stop him and apologize- but as the memory of Lance melting at his touch, of his speechlessness and the nearly stolen kiss replayed in his mind, Keith realized something that felt electric and precious all at once. 

Lance can dish it out, but he really, really can’t take it. 

Keith smiled to himself as he formulated a nasty little plan in his head. 

*

It wasn’t that Keith wanted to flirt with Lance. 

But now that he knew how easy it was to make Lance’s knees go weak, the impulse was there. 

Plus, he wanted to get revenge for every moment that he had ever had to witness Lance be smarmy. His chest felt filled up with the knotted string of warring desires. He wasn’t quite sure what the end goal of flirting with Lance would be, but he hoped that by feeling so discomforted by Keith’s forwardness, that maybe Lance would stop his own. An eye for an eye, in a way. 

At least, that is what Keith told himself, despite the single small thread that ran through it all that pulsed red and gold and whispered something that sounded disgustingly like hope. But hope for what? Keith didn’t know, so Keith didn’t care. 

He always worked best when he was being brash anyways. 

The next chance he got was a few weeks after that first time. That mission had gone off without a hitch, and now they were in limbo waiting for the next thing to come along. Usually when things went too long quietly, Lance would get restless and extra competitive, challenging Keith to inane little competitions for no reason. 

This was one of those times. Really, it had started with Pidge. The three of them were in Pidge’s work lab. Keith and Lance had been recruited to help her with one of her projects, but having hit a wall with it, Pidge and Lance had begun chatting. Keith hung around because he didn’t have much else to do and for once training didn’t sound as appealing as eavesdropping on the others’ conversation. Somehow, it had culminated in a staring contest between Pidge and Lance and after not even a minute, Lance was crowing out a victory and Pidge was blinking painfully, rubbing her glasses on her shirt. 

“How about you, mullet?” Lance turned to Keith. “Think you can put that glare to good use?” 

“I hardly think a staring contest can be considered good use.” Keith replied, but an idea was already wriggling around in his brain. “But sure.” 

“Okay, sick.” Lance said with a smile. “Square up.” 

Keith stood across from Lance and noted that there was a small cabinet about Lance’s height not even a foot away from where he was standing. 

“Okay, okay.” Lance squeezed his eyes shut tight, screwing up his face in preparation. “On the count of three.” 

“Sounds good.” Keith said, lowly. He didn’t care about the competition but he was ready. As Lance counted down, Keith slowly leaned close so that when Lance opened his eyes their faces were only a few inches apart. 

Keith could see Lance startle, but then his eyes glinted and Keith could feel him dig in his heels. 

“Why are you so close?” Lance whispered. 

“Does it bother you?” Keith whispered back. 

“No.” Lance said, too quickly. “Cheap tricks like that won't win this for you.” 

“Okay.” Keith allowed. 

They lapsed into silence. Staring into Lance’s eye’s was surreal. It was like staring directly into Lance. His eyes were a darker blue then Keith recalled, a strange kind of blue that was closer to the navy night sky in hue then the clear waters of the ocean. There were lighter shades of blue stripped throughout, like a summer sky. Right next to his left pupil was a freckle of amber brown, like an island, or a sun. It lit Keith up, and he wanted to act. 

Patience yields focus 

Apparently, looking into Keith’s eyes this close was having as much of an effect on Lance. Shakily, like he was unsure that he was doing it, his hand came up to cover his mouth. Keith had to fight himself to keep his eyes from flicking down and tracking the motion, but he knew an opening in his enemies defenses when he saw one. 

He had to suppress a smile, but he could still feel it making his face smug. He tilted his head slow and lifted his chin, the way one might when adjusting for a kiss. Lance’s eyes widened a fraction and stepped back, away, looking for distance.

Keith followed and Lance got hastier, tripping,  practically fleeing.

Directly into the cabinet behind him. 

Keith did smirk now. He felt like a predator, and Lance was looking ripe for eating. 

Keith stayed leaned forward, staring into Lance’s eyes. He let his smile drop and his face go soft, marveling in the intimacy, projecting intent.

Lance was obviously having trouble handling it. He danced from foot to foot, a jittery little bounce and admission that he felt hunted, excited, nervous. If Keith could look anywhere except his eyes, he knew he would see a blush that crawled all the way down Lance’s neck. 

Keith straightened his head slow, just enough that he could use that little bit of height he had to work with and he pounced. 

He put his hands on the cabinet behind Lance’s head, and brought his body forward, a sudden rush, trapping Lance between his arms and still never dropping his gaze. Lance gasped. 

Their faces were still far enough apart that they could still look into each other’s eyes, but close enough that Keith could smell the cologne of Lance’s body, feel the puff of his breath. Lance’s other hand came up to cover his first hand. 

“You okay?” Keith whispered, croaky and teasing. 

Lance danced again and nodded once behind his hands, his eyes speaking of his stubbornness. Keith loved him for that, in that moment. 

“You seem nervous is all.” Keith said. “Scared I’m gonna…” 

And Keith tilted his head the other way, going in for the kill. 

Except at that moment, something fluttery and flat pushing in his face. 

“Okay, thats enough of that.” Pidge said, using a stack of papers in her hands to give her enough height to push Keith’s face away from Lance, effectively splitting them apart. Keith chuckled. 

“Ah!” Lance shouted. “I win! That totally counts as you breaking eye contact so I win! Anyways, I forgot that I told Coran I’d help him clean the healing pods, so bye!” 

And Lance ran out of the room so fast that Keith almost didn’t get to enjoy the view of his face as red as a traffic light. 

Keith smiled watching him go, feeling proud of himself. 

He turned away to be confronted with Pidge, hands on her hips, glaring up at him. 

“What are you doing?” She asked. 

“What do you mean?” He asked as innocently as he could. 

“Playing stupid doesn’t work for you.” She squinted her eyes at him. “You’re up to something.” 

“I’m really not.” Keith shrugged because really he wasn’t up to anything in particular. There was no grand purpose to flirting with Lance- it just. Was. 

“Well, whatever you’re doing.” She finally said. “Tread carefully.” 

*

The next time Keith had a chance, they were on the bridge. They were all working on writing out their individual reports for the last diplomatic meeting they had had with one of their potential allies- there had been a random ambush during the dinner, and they had gotten split up. Now, in the silence of the peaceful aftermath, there was nothing but the sounds of keys clicking as they all documented their individual perspectives. 

So of course, Lance had to break the quiet. 

“Ugh, I am ready for a break.” He said, leaning back in his chair. Keith looked up from his report to find his eyes tracking the slender, angular curve of Lance’s throat. 

“Do you think we could go to the mall again soon?” Lance asked. “I need to re-up on my face masks. All of this squinting at stupid screens is gonna give me crows feet.” 

Allura frowned at him. “We could perhaps manage it. How much money does everyone have?” 

And Keith watched as that smile, too thin and sharp in the corners, took over Lance’s face. It was the smile that he got before he did something he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Normally, Keith would sit back and watch it unfold, but this time he had a sneaking suspicion that this was the smile of a Lance about to get his flirt on. 

“Well, if I had a cent for every time you crossed my mind, princess, I would be a millionaire.” Lance said, smiling at her, proud of himself. 

She frowned. “What does smelling have anything to do with money?” 

Lance groaned. “My genius is unappreciated in my time.” 

Keith scoffed. Lance swiveled his head to glare at him. 

“What? Got something to say, drop out?” Lance said. “Mad that no one’s thinking about you?” 

Normally, the insult of drop out would sting, but Keith had perfect ammo already loaded up. 

“Well,” Keith shrugged one of his shoulders and did his best to keep his voice as even as possible, nonchalant. “If I had a cent for every time you crossed my mind, Lance. I’d have exactly one cent.” 

Lance started to squawk, taking the insult. Before he could interrupt, Keith turned his chair to look over at him. 

“Because after the first time I thought of you, you never left my mind.” 

And then Keith smiled, and turned to go back to his work as if nothing had happened. 

It only took a few minutes of typing for Keith to feel the burn of every eye in the room on him. 

He looked up. 

“What?” He asked. 

Lance was staring at him, eyes blinking rapidly. Shiro was gobsmacked. Allura was looking back and forth between them all, still confused over cents. Pidge was back to her suspicious squinting.

“Uh, Keith.” Hunk said, gently, like he was trying to let him down. “That sounded like a pick-up line.” 

“That’s because it was?” Keith said. Then, feeling bold in the face of his friend's incredulity, he turned back to Lance and winked, swift and secret. 

Lance sunk into his chair, his face red up to the roots of his hair. 

*

Trying to come up with new ideas for flirting with Lance did occupy more of Keith’s time then he cared to admit to himself, but the problem, really, was that he liked it and Keith had always had trouble denying himself anything that gave him a pump of adrenaline. There was something so delicious about making Lance blush, about seeing that he affected him so completely. Making Lance melt was addicting. 

Keith chose not to analyze that. 

He had just thought of a great pick-up line and had wrote it down to remember it when he was ambushed in the kitchen. 

“Sit down.” said Pidge.

Gathered around the table was Pidge, Shiro, Hunk. 

Keith sat. 

“What's going on?” Keith asked. He didn’t like the way that the three of them were staring at him solemn and serious. 

“We need to talk.” Shiro said. 

“‘Bout what?” Keith said, unsure if this was a fight or flee situation. 

“Why are you flirting with Lance?” burst out of Hunk’s mouth, like he had been holding it back for awhile. 

“Uh.” Keith looked to the ceiling. Really, how could he explain himself? 

“It’s not that it’s bad.” Shiro said, tapping the table to get Keith to refocus on them. “Just unusual behavior for you.” 

“No, it’s bad.” Pidge said. “It’s mean.” 

“Mean?” Keith said, looking at Pidge in confusion. 

“Not mean, Pidge!” Hunk said, elbowing her. “Just. Keith. Listen to me. If you’re doing this just to get under Lance’s skin, it’s working. So just maybe back off a little bit.” 

“Stop flirting with Lance?” Keith asked. The idea sat and fermented in his chest. He didn’t want to. He wanted to make Lance blush, wanted to make Lance shiver and have all of his attention. That want made him stubborn, made him irritated at them asking him to stop, to take away something he secretly, deeply loved. 

Keith crossed his arms. 

“Do you guys tell Lance to stop flirting with Allura?” He asked, mulish. “Or tell him to stop flirting with every alien he sees?” 

“Well, no.” Shiro said. “That’s harmless.” 

“Then why do I have to stop?” Keith asked, raising his voice. 

“Because you don’t mean it.” Shiro said. “You’re just trying to get Lance to shut up.” 

“You don’t know that!” left Keith’s mouth before he had time to think it over. 

The three other paladins paused. They looked Keith up and down, reassessing. 

“Pidge, Hunk. Could you leave us a moment?” Shiro asked and Keith wanted to roll his eyes. Great, now it’s Shiro Dad Hour. 

Pidge and Hunk left in a flurry of furious whispering and Shiro sat down across from Keith. 

“Hey buddy.” Shiro said. “I know this is tough for you but like. We gotta talk about it.” 

“I don’t want to.” Kieth said petulant, drawing invisible swirls on the surface of the table with his fingertip. 

“So you like Lance.” Shiro said. “It’s surprising but not anything we can’t handle.” 

“I don’t like Lance!” Keith snapped. “I was just…jealous I guess.” 

“Jealous?” Shiro prompted. 

And Keith exploded. 

“Yeah! He just flirts all the time with everyone! Even you!” Keith gestured wide with his hands at Shiro’s stupid broad chest. “Everywhere we go he has all these stupid pickup lines and is trying so hard to be cool and impress everyone and tries to be someone who he isn't! Who he is is fine, you know? It’s so annoying! Just stop trying to have ‘game’ or whatever! I like him just how he is. And he never..” 

Keith realized what he was about to say, but looking into the patient eyes of his brother-proxy, he decided to say it anyway. 

“He never flirts with me.” Keith admitted, feeling to his surprise a slight prickle behind his eyes. “Why not? Does he just think I’m ugly or something?” 

Keith tugged at his bangs. 

“Is it my hair?” 

Shiro laughed and scooped Keith up into a hug. “I don’t think Lance thinks you’re ugly, Keith.” 

They stayed there in a hug for more minutes then Keith could count. He felt his heart beat solid and sturdy inside of him, and wondered over how he totally had a crush on Lance what the fuck. 

“Welp, kiddo. If you actually like him, then the flirting is fine but it is a little intense. What made you start?” Shiro asked. 

“Well, I sort of realized he can’t handle being flirted with very well.” Keith said. “I thought I’d give him a taste of his own medicine.” 

“God, you teenagers.” Shiro wiped a hand down his face. “What if you just asked him out?” 

“I kind of think the flirting is fun.” Keith confided sheepishly. “He sort of…melts?” 

“Yep, I don’t need to hear more than that.” Shiro said with a shake of his head. “Just don’t take it too far, okay?” 

“No promises.” Keith said with a crooked smile. 

*

Keith thought about his conversation with Shiro and decided that he was going to keep flirting with Lance, but now with more honorable intentions. He wasn’t gonna try to push Lance too hard. He wanted to make Lance…like him. Maybe. At the very least, swoon a little bit and stop thinking about Keith like a rival. 

They were in the training room, just the two of them. Lance was wary of him and it didn’t make Keith feel good like it once would have. 

He was watching Lance shoot drones in a training sim. Keith had pretty much finished what he had wanted to do in the training room but Lance was mesmerizing. The focused pull of his eyebrows, the hint of a tongue in the corner of his mouth, the square way he held his shoulders and pulled his spine up straight, the fact that he was in a tank top and his arms were on display- since Keith was truly clear about how he felt for once, he really allowed himself to look for the first time. 

Lance wasn’t really handsome- his features were too slim, delicate, boyish. Most of the time Keith thought he was cute, the enthusiastic nature of his personality infecting his every moment. But here, now, when he was still and single-minded, Keith realized Lance was pretty, beautiful like the brush strokes of an impressionist painter. His choppy brunette hair, brown skin once polished to bronze by the sun and layered with flecks of oaken freckles, every bit of him. Keith wanted to know him suddenly and with a hunger. If Keith could have bit into his soul to learn the taste of it, he would have. Regardless, his mouth watered. 

Lance lowered his gun and sent it back to its storage. He began fiddling around with his water bottle and little bag he brought with him to train and Keith saw opportunity. 

He walked up next to Lance and shoulder checked him. 

Lance looked over to him with a frown, and just like Keith knew he would, shifted his weight to shoulder check him back. 

Keith stepped back, and when he wasn’t where Lance had thought, Lance’s momentum carried him too far, and he was falling. 

Keith caught him in his arms as if the fall was simply a part of a dance, a dip to the music. 

He looked down into Lance’s shocked face. 

“Damn.” Keith said. “You almost fell.” 

Keith thought the for me was rather implied. 

Lance blushed and said breathlessly “Okay, that one was smooth.” 

Keith smirked and brought Lance back up to his feet. 

“I’m glad you thought so.” Keith smiled at him, and he did his best to make it open and sincere. 

Lance’s brow furrowed and he looked down at the floor. 

“Hey, uh, Keith?” Lance asked, but whatever his question was going to be was lost as the castle ship's alarms started to blare and flash out the alarm. 

*

Keith hadn’t ever been drunk before. As first times went, he felt like this was pretty good. He knew he was drunk because he was clumsy, and he wasn’t ever clumsy. 

“It’s just craaazy because like, I can still totally think and pro-process things.” Keith said, slurring only slightly. “Like, my head is still working even though I feel super silly haha.” 

Keith let whoever was carrying him dump him onto the couch in the common room. 

Oh, right. They had left the party. 

Hunk was giggling. It was a great giggle, high pitched and loud. Hunk stumbled and sprawled out next to him on the couch. Lance tripped in after him. 

“Woah, you’ve got a great giggle Hunk.” Keith said and it felt a little bit like he had to fight his head to keep looking at Hunk. “Giggle giggle giggle.” 

Lance laughed, the sound coming up out of his mouth like a donkey’s bray, rough and calling and wonderful. Keith smiled at him and couldn’t stop his smile from being slopey and stupid and in love if he tried. 

“You speaking in word salad, Keith!” Lance said and maybe he was drunk too. 

“Do it again.” Pidge said and Keith couldn’t remember her being here but her tablet was out and Keith felt sure he was being recorded. 

“Giggle giggle.” Keith said. “Gig on my iggle til I haha.” 

Lance was rolling and Hunk was crying and Keith could have flew. 

“Letter salad, letter soup!” Lance declared like it meant anything at all. “Alphabet soup.” 

That sparked Keith’s memory and he thought of the thing he had written down weeks ago now. 

“I’d give you all twenty letters of the Alphabet, Lance.” Keith said and waited. Lance just stared at him with a wobbly smile. It was Pidge who cut in with: 

“There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet, Keith.” Pidge said with a snicker. 

Keith’s smile grew and he turned to Lance. 

“Oh, opps. I forgot U, R, A, Q, T.”  He counted out the five letters on his hand and held up his palm triumphantly. 

Lance laughed and reached out for his hand, threading their fingers together. Keith’s heart thumped. 

“That’s still only five, Keith!” Hunk said. “Drunk Keith can’t count!” 

“Ooooh.” Keith said and now his grin turned cheeky. In true Lance fashion, he shot Lance with a finger gun. “I’ll give you the D later.” 

Lance went red so fast that Keith wondered if he’d pass out. He looked so beautiful. 

Keith reached out with his other hand, the one not currently sweaty in Lance’s hold, to trace a finger across Lance’s cheekbone. 

“My favorite thing.” Keith sighed out, and the whole world felt dreamy and bright 

+1 

Lance was sitting on the paw of Blue, watching the sun rise on the planet they were currently docked on for supplies. Keith was happy to see him and jogged up to him, hopping up next to him. 

“Good Morning.” Keith said, and offered him one of the bagels he had in his hands. “Missed you at breakfast.” 

Lance grabbed the bagel and chucked it towards the horizon. 

“Uh.” Keith blinked after the bagel, the dot of it disappearing into the brightness of the sun.  

“Why are you torturing me?” Lance shouted at him and Keith was amazed to see that there were tears in his lovely eyes. 

“Bagels aren’t that bad.” Keith was confused. “There’s these weird not-sausages if you prefer.” 

“No!” Lance said, his face scrunching. “The flirting!” 

“Oh.” Keith said, and his jaw clicked shut. 

“Yeah, oh!” Lance was still shouting. “Look, I get that like, I was pretty obvious but you didn’t need to mock me so much.” 

“Mock you?” Keith tilted his head. “Wait, what are you talking about?” 

“Oh, drop the act!” Lance stood. “You found out about my stupid crush on you and decided ‘ hey wouldn’t it be funny if I flirted with him every goddamn day until he pops’ !” 

Keith shook his head as if to dislodge something and stood up. 

“Um,” He said, dumbly, but he couldn’t help it. The words ‘my stupid crush on you’ were echoing in his head. 

“I just didn’t think you were that mean.” Lance said. He hopped off of Blue’s paw and marched away. 

Keith knew he had to do something, but watching Lance’s retreating back -again- was making him panic. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard, and he felt like his perspective of the world had just shifted. 

He jumped off Blue’s paw and ran after Lance. 

“Lance, wait-” Keith called but Lance ignored him. “Lance!” 

Finally, Lance was within arms reach and Keith was out of breath. He needed Lance to understand him clearly, and Keith- he had never been a man with a silver tongue. He was a man of action, mostly. 

So Keith reached out and grabbed Lance by the back of his neck. He turned Lance and used his grip to crash Lance’s mouth into his. 

It was a painful kiss, too harsh and sudden and full of teeth. But Lance only froze a moment before his hands were in Keith’s hair and they were kissing each other hot and wet. 

With a smack, Keith pulled away and looked into Lance’s dazed, dizzy eyes. 

“I’m in love with you. Idiot.” Keith said. 

“Oh.” Lance said. 

They stared at each other as the gold light of the sun washed over them. 

“In that case.” Lance finally said. “Are your parent’s beavers? Cause damn.”