Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Shit!"

Keith pulled back from the device he was tinkering with and sucked his thumb, nursing the burn. He glared at it and kicked the table it stood on, earning a panicked beeping from it.

"Stupid thing!"

He stomped over and sat on a a rolling chair, spinning a bit as he huffed in anger. In the corner, a taller boy lazily drank from a glass while his feet were propped on a table.

The loud of hum of intricate machinery could be heard.

"You've been doing this for hours, Keith."

He said, sipping from the glass.

"I wanna go home."

Keith blew some of his black hair out of his face and looked at the floor, defeated.

"They're real, Lance. I've seen them with my own two eyes."

Lance sighed and dropped his feet onto the floor.

"Look, I believe you. But the university doesn't. I'm just a geologist, I have no idea what's going on in that particle physicist head of yours."

He stood up, walking to the smaller boy before ruffling his hair.

"But it's late. We need to go home."

Keith looked vaguely in Lance's direction, his eyes glazed over in dejection.

"They're going to cut my funding, Lance. Where will I go? How will I work?"

His voice sounded hollow and dead. Lance walked to the wall and began pulling switches down. The hum of the machines slowly peetered out, and the lights dimmed.

"I don't know, Keith. But you need rest. Staying here forever like you've been doing isn't healthy."

Keith rolled his head, averting his gaze from Lance.

"I know."

Lance strode over and hooked his arms underneath Keith's, forcing him to stand up.

"You could say you're... a man possessed?"

Keith snorted and lightly punched Lance.

"Shut up, that's not funny!"

He said, although his smile said otherwise.

"What, I'm just sayin'! You haven't seen the sun in so long you..."

He paused, waiting for Keith to say,

"What? I what-"

"Look like a ghost!"

Lance interjected, causing Keith to burst out laughing before he recollected himself.

"Fine..."

He gasped, out of breath.

"Mind if I crash at your place?"

Lance shrugged.

"No more than usual."

Keith pulled on his jacket and fished his lab keys out of his pocket.

"Cool. Also, we should leave anyway. Lots of radiation in here."

Lance stiffened in shock.

"Wha- really?"

Keith snorted again.

"No, stupid. That was a joke."

And with that, they both left the lab, locking the door behind them.

Chapter Text

"So... what's your plan?"

Lance emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a pair of night pants and his hair an absolute mess from the hair dryer. Keith sat on the couch, wrapped in at least five blankets. He was enraptured by the latest episode of GhostFinders.

"I dunno..."

He said dismissively, not really paying Lance any attention.

"Keith, I'm gonna need you to let me in your blanket nest."

"Mm-hm."

Keith raised an arm, revealing a bare spot reserved specifically for Lance, who attempted to make himself comfortable in the mess of blankets.

"You're like a rat, Keith."

"Yeah."

Keith was still transfixed by his favorite show. On screen, the ghost team was attempting to communicate with the dead using a microphone.

"So... you like this show?"

"No, I hate it. That microphone isn't equipped to detect AVP."

Lance snuggled close to his boyfriend, who absentmindedly dropped his arm, sealing them both inside the blankets.

"AVP? What's that?"

Keith looked down at Lance, finally taking notice of him.

"AVP? That's, uh..."

He was not used to people asking him about ghosts. He and Lance had only met a few weeks ago, when they were placed in neighboring departments at the university.

"It stands for audible voice phenonema. Like moans and bumps and stuff. The microphone they have isn't calibrated for that kind of sensitivity."

Lance buried his head in Keith's side, saying,

"Like this?"

Then he proceeding to blow raspberries in Keith's side, making the smaller boy laugh and shake the entire nest.

"Stop it! Lance, you're tickling me!"

Lance stopped and looked up.

"That was spooky, huh? That-"

He blew a raspberry.

"- noise? So scary."

Keith laughed again, quieter this time. Then his laugh died out and was replaced with a solemn look. Lance frowned.

"Uh-oh. Not that face. I know that face."

Keith looked down.

"I just wished people believed me."

"I believe you, Keith."

Keith looked away from Lance, his trademark pout.

"But you haven't seen them with me. That's the important part."

Lance rolled his eyes.

"Look, we both have off tomorrow, right? We'll go to a haunted place to cheer you up. There's that old mansion over on South Elm? That's cool, right?"

Keith huffed.

"I guess."

Lance inched his face closer to Keith's.

"Come onnnn. Where's the smiley face? Come on?"

He was talking to Keith like he would a sad dog.

"Keittth? Show me the smiley face."

Keith's frown broke and he smiled, pushing Lance away who had at this point gotten within centimeters of his own.

"Okay, there! Happy?"

Lance settled back down and snuggled up.

"Yes, very."

Eventually, Lance fell asleep while Keith continued to watch his show.

Chapter Text

"And here you can see where Mr. Montague actually wrote his first book!"

The tour guide woman swept her hands in front of her before gesturing at a mahogany desk, seperated from the crowd by red velvet dividers. Lance and Keith had just started their tour, and Keith had not yet warmed up to the experience. It had been raining during their entire commute, and the cold winter air was not doing his mood any favors.

"You look like a wet cat."

Lance said, nudging his boyfriend. Keith growled quietly at the contact.

"I'm bored. There's no ghost stuff here. Not a single class 1 vapor, no ectoplasm, nothing!"

He whispered loudly, trying to not to disturb the tour group and the guide.

"We've seen three old couches, some portraits, and the ugliest stuffed dog in the world! But no ghosts!"

Lance nudged him harder.

"Hey, calm down. We can make our own ghosts when we get home."

Keith rolled his eyes.

"The only scary thing here is how much money we spent."

Lance snorted, causing the tour group to turn and look at him. He stood stiff and waited for them to turn away again, before leaning down to resume his talk.

"Maybe if stay, we'll hear the spooky stuff."

And then, as if on cue, the woman began speaking a bit louder to talk about the real tourist-grabbing part of the mansion.

"But be careful!"

She hunched over, and began speaking in a faux-ghost voice.

"Mr. Montague died young! And how, may you ask?"

She waited for effect, before drawing an ornate knife and holding it up.

"Murdered! By his own wife!"

The tour group gasped, including Lance with his exaggerated,

"Ahhh!"

Keith yawned, unimpressed. The guide continued brandishing the knife,, saying,

"And the faculty say that they've been visited by Mr. Montague's ghost!"

The audience gasped again and Keith rolled his eyes. But as the guide continued talking, he felt his eyes wander to the large ornate fixtures around the room. An old bookshelf housed hundred of old books, dominating the red and gold couches and chairs. The 'murder-desk' as Keith had decided to call it, was made of dark wood with imposing sharp edges. The rain pounded on the windows behind it. Lightning punctuated his thoughts about how bored he was.

"Keith?"

Keith shook his head, jolting from his reverie. Lance had poked him lightly.

"Keith, we're moving on in the tour."

He sounded concerned with how sullen his boyfriend was. Keith looked at the bookcase with interest.

If I'm gonna be here, might as well make the most of it.

"Go ahead, Lance. I'll catch up."

Lance looked at Keith, a little hurt.

"Are you sure?"

Keith nodded.

"I'm sure. I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, I promise."

Lance's eyes flicked up and down his boyfriend, then he rose.

"Okay. I'll see you in a bit."

He ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. He walked away, following the rest of the group. Keith waited until they turned a corner before looking back at the room.

Let's see what this bookshelf is hiding.

He deftly hopped over the divider and examined the books on the shelf.

"Hmmm..."

He muttered aloud.

"All of these are memoirs."

He sighed and banged his head against the shelf in boredom. But as he was preparing to hop the dividers again, the lights flickered, before turning off completely. He rolled his eyes yet again.

"Lance?"

He called out. He began walking past the desk, trying to look for his boyfriend.

"Lance I know that's you. I appreciate your attempt, but- OW!"

Keith clutched his head. His ears had just popped painfully. The temperature was also dropping very, very quickly.

"...Lance?"

He called out again, voice quivering.

"Lance, this isn't funny! There's something wrong with the A/C..."

He looked around for an exit, but the darkness gave nothing away.

"Listen, whoever this is, I'm not amused!"

Another sharp pain in his head made him close his eyes. But when he opened them, it was not Lance he saw. A man, dressed in an evening suit and made of blue electricity, floated in front of him. Keith's mouth dropped. He hadn't expected to see an actual ghost. 

I should be documenting this! Lance will be so pumped! 

"...can... can I help you?"

He asked, stammering. The man said nothing, but extended his hand towards Keith, blue energy crackling between his fingers. Keith backed up, but tripped over the dividers and became entagled in them.

"No, uh... I'm cool!"

He said, trying to diffuse the ghosts advances. But the man continued floating, and a low moan emerged from him as his mouth extended well past the natural point.

"Ah!"

Yelled Keith, backing up into wall, his body still entangled in the red velvet.

"Lance!! Lance, help!"

He looked around desperately for his boyfriend. The man was now fully horrifying, his jaw displaced and his eyes rolled back. The scream he was emitting was chilling Keith to the bone. His hand slowly reached for Keith still, and as it came close to his face he could feel the unnatural energy jumping to his cheek.

"Stop! Stop it!"

He struggled, but in his panic couldn't remove himself from the dividers. The hand was almost touching him, and he was in full on surivival mode.

"Ah! No! Wait!"

But as the finger touched his cheek, the lights came on. With another unearthly screech, the ghost dissolved into blue vapor and a clear, viscious fluid that completely coated Keith. He flinched at the light, breathing heavily.

"Keith! Keith, oh my God!"

Lance ran over, pulling at the dividers to free his boyfriend.

"What the hell was that? Why are you covered in..."

He sniffed Keith.

"...Crystal Pepsi?"

Keith was in shock, simply breathing and staring where the apparition had been.

"I... ghost... it..."

"Keith, stay with me buddy."

Lance had finished detangling him, and helped the shaken boy slowly stand up. His knees knocked together and his eyes stayed wide.

"Lance... I need... to get the lab."

The fluid that Keith was covered in dripped onto the floor, punctuating the otherwise silent room.

"Keith, was that an actual ghost? Like, a literal ghost?"

Keith simply nodded with a curt,

"Mm-hm."

He clung to Lance, who helped him walk down the stairs. Although he was terrified by his short encounter, he couldn't help but think,

I'm definitely going to write this down when I get home.

Chapter Text

"Lance, we're talking a class four apparition with ectoplasm extrusion!"

Keith yelled, frantically scribbling on a whiteboard.

"I was covered in it, man! It was..."

He turned, locking eyes with his dumbfounded boyfriend.

"Supernatural."

Lance stood up from his usual spot and approached Keith cautiously as he turned and continued to scribble equations and theoreoms all over the board.

"Keith, sweetie... you had a very stressful experience a few hours ago. You should sit down."

Keith did not stop writing, and simply said.

"I'm fine."

Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Keith... what's all of this?"

He looked at all of the numbers and letters scattered across the board's surface. Keith whirled around again, his eyes crazed.

"Well, I saw it right? I actually saw it! It touched me, Lance! I've seen wisps and heard voices before but this... this is different! So the next step..."

He spun the board around, and began drawing a diagram. Lance stared, genuinely concerned for his boyfriend's sanity.

"Did... did you swallow some of that Crystal Pepsi cuz you're going crazy, man."

"It's not Crystal Pepsi, it's ectoplasm. And yes, I did. It was disgusting."

He finished his drawing, revealing a simplistic gun-like design.

"The next step is we capture them! And then after that, containment."

Lance's eyebrows went up.

"...Keith, honey, please come lay down."

Lance attempted to steer him away from the board, but Keith shook off his hands.

"No, Lance! This is it! This is why I'm a physicist! For this!"

He gestured at the board.

"So I can do this! Catch ghosts!"

Lance looked at the floor sheepishly.

"Keith... I saw it too, but..."

Keith looked at Lance, his eyes big.

"What, Lance? But what?"

Lance touched the back of his neck nervously.

"The university... won't fund this."

Keith's eyes hardened.

"Fine. Let them not fund it. I'll do it on my own."

He turned back and continued scribbling.

"But, Keith..."

Keith didn't turn, he just kept drawing as if that would make Lance stop talking.

"I'm not ready for this either."

The marker stopped for a moment, then continued drawing.

"You almost died, man. I'm not ready for something like this. I didn't know that ghosts were this real, you know?"

"No, I don't know."

Keith said through clenched teeth.

"I thought you'd be excited."

"I am, Keith, I am. But I'm a geologist. I deal with rocks. This is... these are ghosts, Keith!! Spirits! Demons!"

Keith spun around, throwing the marker down to the ground.

"I know what they are!!!"

He was breathing hard. He felt betrayed by his boyfriend, the one person he thought would stick with him. A heavy silence hung in the air, punctuated by the humming of the machines. Lance was shocked at how loud Keith had become in such a short timespan. He backed off from the smaller boy.

"Keith..."

"I know what they are, Lance! I'm very aware!"

Keith sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

"Aw, Keith... don't do that."

Keith sniffed and crossed his arms.

"Do what?"

His voice was thick with tears.

"Don't cry, Keith. You know I hate it when you cry."

"I'm not crying!"

He yelled, even as the first tear fell.

"I'm just... frustrated!"

He sniffed more and turned back to the board, bending down to pick up the marker. He resumed drawing to hide his crying. Lance looked at him. He looked sad, his jacket and pants still wet from rain and ectoplasm. His scarf hung down his back, and his hair was loose and unkempt from the day's events. Lance sighed and said,

"So... how do you catch ghosts, exactly?"

He stopped drawing and flipped the board back to the gun design.

"You..."

Keith sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"You create a weapon that can affect a ghost's metaphysical form."

His voice was still muddy.

"You have to charge protons to the point where their energy can pierce a ghosts ectoplasm, which isn't easy."

He flipped the board back and placed his head against it.

"None of this is easy..."

Lance grabbed Keith's scarf and pulled him closer.

"Listen... you're exhausted."

Keith's head was now resting against Lance's chest.

"Yeah..."

He said, his voice muffled by Lance's jacket.

"You're covered in rain and Crystal Pepsi. We'll come back and figure this out tomorrow, okay?"

Keith looked up, his eyes wide. Lance's heart almost melted.

"Promise?"

Lance nodded.

"I promise."

Keith buried his head into Lance's shirt again.

"Then let's go home... I'm so hungry."