Shiro had been orchestrating different activities to try to get the Paladins of Voltron, and the Blades of Marmora, to learn to trust each other and know each other. Up to this point, he had done a variety of socials (including a wild party held in the Castle of Lions, in which Coran was STILL finding food gunk in weird places) which had been doing good. Recently, however, he had not done anything. Keith was confused because Shiro had not been seen for almost a week. When he brought this up to Coran, the guy brushed him off telling him not to worry.
Keith, along with the Paladins, the Blade, Coran and Allura, finally knew why.
They flew down to a planet that had a city's worth of abandoned buildings surrounded by a forest. They landed in front of a huge building in the city with Shiro standing in front next to a huge pile of vests. The big group got themselves organized into their respective groups. Keith stood in the middle area, some unconscious feeling of belonging in both groups but not able to part with one over the other. Shiro waited for the large mass of creatures to quiet down; didn't take long since they were all curious as to what the hell Shiro had planned.
The black paladin looked over the crowd with a tired but triumphant look. He had a megaphone in his techno hand and raised when satisfied with the noise level.
"On earth we called this Laser Tag," Shiro began. Upon seeing some frightened and concerned faces, he immediately stated "Don't worry, it is not the type that hurts."
Shiro proceeded to explain about how everyone gets a vest, we will be splitting into two teams, blah blah blah. Keith knew how laser tag worked and he could figure out how it was changed for the group and setting they had. He zoned out, vaguely taking in the example Shiro was doing with Coran and the speech about everyone being a leader in their own way. He noticed Lance standing with his fellow paladins.
Lance looked excited to do the task. His fingers were tapping on the helmet being held at his hip. He kept combing his perfect hair. He had his usual big goofy grin and mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Lance, the boy he had been flirting with for, what seemed like to Keith was, forever. The Cuban was so busy caring for everyone and keeping lighthearted that he didn't notice Keith's subtle signs. Even though Keith could be tough on him and giving Lance corrections, Keith would make sure to give him compliments too. Keith knew that he should be giving Lance compliments outside of training but Keith just didn't know how. He didn't know what kind of comments he could make, how to word them, whether he could say them without losing his angsty, not caring demeanor.
Hearing Shiro say the boy's name drew Keith back to the present.
"Lance!"
Shiro was holding a sheet of paper. Coran had a bowl of papers in his hands, standing next to him. "You will be team captain."
Lance looked shocked and went up to stand next to Shiro. Coran dug his hand into the humongous bowl of names, swirled his hand around for suspense and dramatic effect, and then once satisfied he grabbed a paper. Shiro read over Coran's shoulder. He looked at Keith and smiled
Oh no
"Keith will be the opposing team leader."
The vests behind them turned ice blue and crimson red. Keith went and stood next to Coran. While keeping a neutral expression on the outside, Keith was squirrely on the inside.
"Who should pick first?" Coran asked.
"Lance. He needs every advantage he could get against me." Keith said nonchalantly.
"I happily accept. Mostly because if my team wins it will be because you didn't get first pick." Lance said, sarcasm hinted at the end of his comeback. Lance scanned the crowd for dramatics. He settled on the group of Paladins. Predictable, Keith thought.
"I pick my main man Hunk first."
Keith heart sunk a little as he heard Hunk mention under his breath how at the Garrison he was usually picked near the end. Keith scanned the crowd. The Blade had already chosen their sides. So his choices were Pidge, Allura, Shiro (apparently Coran is the referee). Allura could distract Lance since he had been pining after her, much to Keith's heartache. Pidge could do some sort of technology stuff to maybe get an advantage. Keith and Shiro were fairly close and therefore worked together. Keith then realized that Lance, Pidge, and Hunk had all been living and training at the Garrison for years and are kind of a power trio. Their closeness was a part of the reason he felt left out sometimes. He knew Pidge would have both the technological advantage and the surprise factor. The paladins figured he would choose Shiro. Keith smirked into the audience, made eye contact with Lance and Hunk smugly, and, keeping eye contact with the Yellow and Blue paladins, said into the megaphone "Pidge".
Lance and Hunk shared looks of shock and slight sadness. Pidge, on the other hand, ran up and offered Keith a high five. Keith reluctantly went along with it.
"Wow Keith, I was not expecting that! Thank you so much, I can't wait to figure out the vests and the laser guns."
Oh hell yes, Keith thought. He had made a good decision.
Lance picked Shiro and Allura joined Keith's team. Everyone suited up, were given a main base and a 30 dobashes to make a plan. The goals are to have the most people still 'alive', to have as a team the least amount of 'deaths', and to capture as many flags the other team has in their base as possible.
Keith had set Pidge up with a few vests to test for the thirty dobashes and was stating the plan to everyone. He told them to mostly go for their fellow Blade members, as the Blade were the majority. He told Allura to go for Hunk; once they get him out for a while, then Lance's team would lose their tech-wizard. Keith assigned one of the biggest Blade members to Shiro. He explained that as team captain, it would be great to take out the other team leader. Keith asked for suggestions or modifications. No one objected so they went to scout out the territory, leaving Pidge and Allura alone with Keith. Pidge was trying not to smile while working.
"What?" Keith annoyed, asked.
"I just find it hilarious that you're taking on Lance," Pidge said.
Did Pidge know? Was he obvious to people who weren't Lance?
"And why is that?" Keith demanded.
"He would much prefer you to take him in a different manner…." Pidge wasn't making eye contact with him and was suppressing a bunch of giggles.
Keith took a moment to freak out over this. One the inside he had butterflies and his mind was spinning. Outwardly he was pacing. He asked questions. How long? How did Pidge find out? Did Lance or anyone know about his crush? At the last one, Pidge and Allura exclaimed joy.
"So you like him back?!" Pidge asked.
"Yes, of course." Keith sighed, defeated.
Keith thought about what this meant; both for their relationship and for the laser tag game. He came up with a plan. He would find Lance, confess his love, and while Lance was distracted he would shoot him. Later, when Lance asks him if he meant it, Keith would tell him his true feelings for the Blue Paladin.
"Uh, Keith?" Pidge broke him away from his thoughts. He looked to the Green Paladin in response. "I found a way to track down where everyone is with your Team Captain vest. On the screen that shows your stats, it can display where your teammates are, where Lance's teammates are, and where your Loverboy Lance is located."
Keith smiled slyly.
"Perfect."
He shrugged on the jacket, readied his Laser gun, and set off to find Lance.
The tiny screen had Lance on the top floor of an abandoned skyscraper structure. Keith was able to get through the guards swiftly, silently, and nimbly. As per rules, the 'dead' players went to Coran to get another 'life' and did not alert Lance of Keith's whereabouts. Allura came along, but mostly as backup. She stood guard near the door while Keith ascended to where Lance was. Keith found Lance pacing around the pile of gems that Keith's team were supposed to collect. The door was closed, but it was one of the weird doors that split into separate mini doors. A person could open the top without opening the bottom portions of the door. Keith opened the top one, leaving the bottom portion to cover his body and laser jacket. Pidge had given him the laser gun they had been given and mostly was fiddling with the technology of the vest back in their building.
"Having fun?" Keith mused. He stifled a smirk at Lance's jump of surprise. Lance raised his laser gun and fired, his shot hitting the door and not Keith's body. Lance kept his gun up.
"Hey there, Captain Keith. Decided you couldn't resist coming to shoot me yourself?" Lance said.
"If I was into the game, I would have shot you by now. I, uh, want to talk about something."
Lance kept his gun up but his expression waivered. Was it worry? Confusion?
"Talk? We're in the middle of a laser tag fight!" Lance exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's just that, well... I can't get you alone anywhere else, and all this excitement has me feeling pretty confident…"
"And what's that?" Lance quizzically asked, not letting down his guard.
"Look, I'm not going to shoot you," Keith said, gesturing to Lance's still-raised gun. He slid Pidge's gun down the door, opening the bottom section, and kicked it toward Lance. Noticing Keith's serious tone and expression, Lance let his guard down; both physically and emotionally. He lowered his gun to a relaxed position by his side.
Now's your chance, Keith thought.
"I…. heard that you swung the, uh, same way as me…"
A look of realization crossed Lance's face.
"Keith, do you… Like me?" Lance sounded astounded.
Keith wasn't sure what to do. It was out there; he was not straight and he liked Lance. He nodded, directing his gaze away.
"I," Lance said softly after a small pause "Do not swing the same way, per se, if you are gay. I'm bi. But holy shit have I been harboring a crush on you for years."
Keith felt the stress leave his body, stress he didn't realize he had. Lance finally dropped his gun, ran over to the door so the two boys were face to face, stopped with about a metre between them.
"Can I kiss you?" Lance asked softly. Keith nodded, meeting the boy's eyes. He opened to door, letting himself in, closed the space between them, and felt blissful as their mouths made contact. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's torso about halfway up. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance's neck, pulling him in deeper. After the initial kiss, Lance separated.
"What are we going to tell the team?" He asked. "I mean, Hunk and Pidge already know about me. I hit on Hunk in our first week at the Garrison but Hunk is straight. They both knew about my crush on you. But what about Shiro, Coran, Allura?"
Keith thought about it. The three people in question had been to planets with other cultures and races and a variety of genders. He would be surprised if they were not cool with two Earth boys being in a relationship. He voiced this to Lance. Lance agreed and pulled Keith over to a wall so that Keith was pushing him into the wall. Lance asked against his lips if he could feel around. Keith consented, pulling one hand away from Lance to ready the Laser gun. Lance trailed his hand down Keith's front, sending chills up and down Keith's spine. Lance stopped kissing him when feeling the gun in the front.
"Do you have a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Lance smugly asked, not knowing the irony of the situation. Keith pushed him away, took out the gun, smirked.
"A gun."
He shot Lance. His chest lit up red and then a big blue 'X' appeared.
"You shot me!" Lance exclaimed, clearly not expecting that. He gave Keith a hurt look.
"Wait," his eyes watered, voice cracked. "Did you just pretend you liked me to do that?"
Keith panicked; he didn't think of it like that.
"No, Lance. I do like you."
He pulled Lance in. He asked the boy to kiss him again and Lance kissed him.
"Keith, we have to-" Allura called into the room in a panic, but stopped when entering the scene. She cheered but told Keith to hurry up.
"I'm glad you two are happy, but Keith, did you shoot him."
"Both with his laser gun and Cupid's arrow," Lance slyly said after the two boys had parted. Keith jogged and grabbed his guns, told Lance they will meet up later after the game, and left following Allura.
"...Wait, where did you get TWO laser guns?"
