The team had just returned to the Castle of Lions from a mission.

They'd successfully dismantled and scattered a small Galra fleet stationed near Puig without a problem. They hadn't even needed to consider forming Voltron to do so. The entire operation had been executed perfectly.

Well. Almost perfectly. But there are always a couple of bugs to work out on missions. Nothing they can't handle. No big deal.

So when Keith storms out of the Red Lion and stomps across the bay into the Blue Lion before Lance is even out of his seat with that furious look on his face, Lance knows he's in trouble. He's just not sure exactly what for.

Keith slams the button on the console and the door of the cockpit slides closed with a hiss. "What the hell was that?"

Lance stumbles out of his seat in a mix of surprise and panic as Keith advances, backing away with his hands held up in what he hopes is a placating manner. "Whoa, I don't know what you're so mad about, but—" Keith keeps coming until Lance bumps against the control panel and he thinks he might possibly need his hands for self-defense. "Okay, hey—"

"You disobeyed Shiro's direct orders," Keith snaps, thrusting a finger in Lance's face. "He told you to focus on sabotaging the cannons."

"I—" Lance's stomach jumps at their sudden close proximity, and he finds himself practically leaning halfway over the panel behind him as Keith glares at him. "I did! I froze them all over—"

Keith's eyes narrow, his hand falling back to his side as he clenches his fists. "Not before you broke out of formation while we were attacking the cruiser."

Lance blinks. Oh. Okay, so he may have possibly broken out of formation while they were attacking the cruiser. But for good reason, so he still doesn't know why Keith is so angry. "Dude, all those fighters came out of nowhere and they were clearly targeting you because you were doing the most damage. You didn't see them, I was just trying to—"

"I was fine, Lance," Keith scowls. "I don't need protection."

Lance frowns. "I didn't say you did." Keith just keeps scowling, so Lance slips out from where he's trapped between Keith and the control panel. "Anyway, you're welcome," he says pointedly as he starts for the door of the cockpit. "Sorry for watching your back, I guess."

"Lance." Keith grabs his wrist and Lance stops, turning and looking down at where Keith's fingers are wrapped around him, then back up at Keith with a frown.

"Let go, Keith."

"You nearly got hit," he says angrily. "That cannon would've hit you if Hunk hadn't pushed you out of the way in time."

Lance wrenches his arm out of Keith's grasp and Keith lets him, however reluctantly. "Well, he did, and it didn't hit me, so I'm fine."

"That's not the point," Keith growls.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Lance throws his hands in the air. "Is that what you want me to say? Jeez, sorry for disobeying Shiro's orders and leaving the cannons for two seconds to take care of the swarm of fighters on your tail. Honestly, what's the big deal?"

"You almost died!" Keith cries. "You were distracted, you were being reckless—what if you'd been hit? We wouldn't be able to form Voltron—"

Lance feels his stomach drop slightly with something that feels a bit like disappointment, and he scoffs. "Oh. So that's all this is about."

Keith's expression falters slightly, and he frowns. "What?"

"You only care about what happens to me because you can't form Voltron without me."

"Wh—that's—" Keith stammers, like he's been caught off guard. Then his gaze hardens, and he takes a breath. "No. You're wrong."

"Really?" Lance crosses his arms, unconvinced. "Why else, then?" Keith just sort of stares at him, working his jaw like he might have something else to say. Lance waits. Keith remains silent. Lance rolls his eyes and huffs, turning to leave.

"Lance," Keith follows him. "Wait."

Lance whips around just before he reaches the door. "You know, just so you're aware, the reason I broke out of formation to hit those fighters was because—"

And then Keith kisses him. He grabs the front of Lance's armor, ignores the way his eyes widen and he squeaks in surprise, pulls him forward, and kisses him.

He tries not to think too much about it, but Lance is a little embarrassed by how quickly he dissolves, closing his eyes and yielding to Keith's lips and touch. His hands hover uncertainly by his sides for only a split second before they find Keith's shoulders, and then the sides of his face. And despite the previous intensity of Keith's anger, and the rough way that Keith had abruptly jerked him forward, everything else about him is surprisingly—soft. His lips, definitely. The way his hand comes to rest on Lance's chest. And, how he practically sighs into Lance's mouth when Lance's fingers slip through the hair at the base of his neck.

Lance feels like they were just starting to get the hang of it when Keith pulls back suddenly, panting slightly, his eyes wide and maybe a little bit panicked, like he definitely didn't mean to do what he just did and he's just now realizing it. "Sorry," he gasps. "Sorry, I—"

"It's okay," Lance breathes, then takes Keith by the back of his neck, and Keith meets him again halfway.

They both stumble backward into the door, Lance's fingers tangled in Keith's hair, one of Keith's hands reaching up to cradle his jaw while the other reaches forward to steady them before Lance can accidentally smack his head back against the metal.

It's all sort of awkward, and uncomfortable and a little sloppy until Keith tilts his head just right and does something really nice with his jaw and Lance feels himself quite literally melting into the kiss. Keith gasps a little when Lance tightens his grip in his hair, but then he's tilting his head again for a better angle and his nose brushes against Lance's cheek and Lance thinks he might be drowning—metaphorically, this time.

They fall into a sort of rhythm, then. Keith is the one actually doing most of the work, which is okay, because Lance is a little too dazed and his mind a bit too scattered for him to contribute much, other than make small noises of appreciation when Keith does something really nice in particular. The metal pressing against his back is cold, but other than that he's burning—he's burning, where Keith's fingers touch his cheek, where Keith's lips press to his mouth, where Keith's breath brushes against his skin.

It's all very overwhelming. The urgency and earnestness in Keith's motions make Lance wonder how long Keith has been waiting to do this. He wonders how long he's been waiting to do this.

Lance plants his hands on Keith's chest and pushes him back after a moment, breathless and kind of flustered. Keith lets him, although he huffs and his brow furrows questioningly. "As I was saying," Lance starts, his breath still catching in his throat. "The reason I broke out of formation to hit those fighters was because I was trying to keep them from hitting you—"

Keith kisses him again. Lance lets him.

"So," Lance mumbles against Keith's lips after another moment. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but we should probably come out of the Lion before the rest of the team starts to wonder what we're doing in here."

"Probably," Keith agrees, then presses his lips to the corner of Lance's mouth, and Lance forgets what he was just worrying about.

Not until Shiro's voice comes through on the comms do they finally break apart, their eyes widening as they stare at each other in a bit of a panic. "I really hope the reason you two haven't come out of the bay isn't because you've killed each other. Keith, if I come into the Blue Lion and find Lance dead on the floor—"

Lance fumbles for the button on the console next to them as Keith pushes himself away, his cheeks reddening instantly. "I'm fine, Shiro," Lance chokes out. "We're fine, everything's fine, he was just—we were—uh—"

"Just meet us on the bridge," Shiro continues, oblivious. "The princess wants to brief us on our latest standing against the Empire."

"Okay," Lance says weakly. "Coming." The line disconnects, and he lets out a breath of relief.

Keith clears his throat awkwardly. "We should, uh—go, I guess."

"Yep," Lance nods quickly, hitting the button to open the door.

He takes a breath and Keith clears his throat again, and then they step out of the cockpit. Lance glances around the bay as they both walk down the ramp, stopping when he realizes that everyone else has already left.

"Hey, Keith." Keith turns, and Lance pulls him back up into one last kiss. His cheeks are red again when Lance pulls away and he stifles a laugh, since only a moment ago Keith was the one who had him pinned against the freaking door. Lance bites his lip and smiles. "Okay."

"Okay," Keith repeats, a little dazed.

Lance grabs his arm and tugs him forward as they descend the rest of the ramp and start for the bridge, walking together, side-by-side. He glances sideways at Keith.

"Hunk's gonna freak."

"Yeah."

"Pidge was probably waiting for this to happen."

"Mhm."

Lance pauses. "Shiro?"

Keith coughs. "He already knew."

"Great." Lance reaches for Keith's hand and tangles their fingers together, and Keith fails to hide his smile. "This'll be fun."

When they walk onto the bridge, five pairs of curious eyes turn toward them. Hunk's mouth drops open as he stares, Allura and Coran both look like they're trying to solve a difficult math equation, and Shiro almost chokes trying to contain his laughter.

Pidge doesn't even blink. "It's about time," she mutters.

Then she turns back to the glowing star system in front of them, Keith's face flushes, and Lance just laughs.