Not there.
Nope.
Not here.
Definitely no.
Not there either.
Lance was running across the castleship like a maniac in search of the stupid Mullethead. It wasn't odd for the Blue Paladin to look for him. They still had their ridiculous rivalry, but they'd become friends overtime and after that...even more.
But then the incident happened.
And now here he was on a scavenger hunt for Keith.
Everyone else was at a loss too on where he'd gone, especially after Pidge tried checking the cameras with utmost confidence of finding him that was immediately shattered when he didn't turn up on any of the screens. Shiro assured that he was still onboard, since his lion was still in the bay and none of the smaller pods were missing.
Allura being the Space Mom that paired so well with Space Dad, quickly sent everyone to find the Red Paladin, against the Black Paladin's suggestion of leaving him be.
It'd been hours since her orders were sent out and not much progress was made. Pidge managed to access a model of the castle, but unfortunately without further modifications, it really couldn't show the blind spots of the cameras to narrow down the possible hideouts.
AUGH! KEITH WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS SO DAMN HARD!
Lance knew quite a couple of hiding places himself that he'd go to when he wanted to cry from missing his family, but so far he didn't find Keith in any of them. Where could you be? He thought as he hurriedly paced down the corridor of an area hardly anyone came through, since it was usually a detour to the control room.
It's then that he recalls a random storage room around here he used to use before his current favorite hiding spot, aaaaaaaand that he passed it before consequently making the effort to walk backwards to it. Nah, he couldn't be here. The place was found out a while back, which is why I stopped-His train of thoughts derails upon opening the door to the cause of the scavenger hunt.
...
Um...reverse psychology?
The Red Paladin has his knees draw up close to his chest with their head resting in between and his arms folded around it. A depressing sight to see.
Keith narrowly notices Lance standing there and looks up with a mixed expression of confusion, sadness, and frustration before it turns to outrage. "GO AWAY!"
The Blue Paladin casually crosses his arms. "No."
"Lance, I'm not interested. Just go away."
"What so you can keep sulking like an dumbass?!"
That did it.
It felt like time had stopped when he felt Keith tackle into him. Lance was surprised at how weak the hit was compared to usual as they toppled to the ground. The two rolled around for several seconds as they frantically hit each like five year olds, but since his rival was mentally unstable and physically weak from his emotions, it didn't take long for the Blue Paladin to pin his arms behind him and keep their legs from moving by intertwining his own with them.
"Urgh! Let me go you jackass!"
"Not anytime soon."
"You're such a pain in the ass!"
"If that's what I have to be to get through to you then so be it."
"Augh!" growls Keith as he tries to headbutt the Idiot, who dodges. "Keith, seriously. You're wasting your efforts at this point. Just talk to me."
"I don't need help jackass."
"Like I'm gonna-" He cut off when Lance noticed him bow his head slowly and fighting not to...tremble? He hurriedly releases him from the hold and moves over to where he's directly facing Keith. Slowly he delicately cups the Red Paladin's face in his hands and raises his head gently. "Even if you look Galra now, the things that make you YOU remain. I can still tell that you're struggling not to cry by how you're biting your bottom lip and that you've been saying random insults to everyone to push them away out of fear of hurting them," he says as Keith finally gets the courage to look at him. "Even if you have eyes like the enemy, I can easily see how soft they are and not Galra, but Keith. And Keith alone."
"I know my being surprised didn't help, but I never once blamed you," he admitted as he watches Keith hopelessly cry, tears seeping over the Blue Paladin's hands. "I hate it though! I hate myself! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I-"
Keith suddenly felt himself be pulled towards Lance, his head landing on his chest before being cradled like a child. "Even if that's the case, I will always be here to love you."
There was no going back now, he was sobbing, which made talking difficult but he managed. "I-I-I.." he starts as he sniffles, "I don't..." then takes in a shaky breath, "..deserve you Lance."
"Of course you do, or I wouldn't be here."
"Chee-...sy...bastard..." he states in between sniffles.
"Admit it. You looooove it. You love ME."
Keith smiles and looks up at Lance. "I do."