"Lance, you're my best friend but if you don't shut up and let me rest right now I will kick you in the teeth." Keith's tone is biting, eyes closed and clearly exhausted. Lance feels as though he's been punched in the gut, his internal reaction so strong it's almost visceral, but in a good way.
Best friend. He hears the phrase bouncing around in his mind on loop. I'm Keith's best friend.
This feels like a fragile gift, as though he's been handed a small, vulnerable animal and must proceed with caution or risk hurting it and making it bolt away. Keith cracks his eyes open at Lance's stunned silence, obviously not expecting Lance to actually go quiet despite what he had asked of him. A tiny frown graces his features at Lance's dumbfounded expression. "What?" Keith demands, confused.
"Do you mean that? I'm your best friend?"
"Yeah," Keith responds immediately, sounding defensive and a little self-conscious "Why is that hard to believe?"
"I mean, what about Shiro?" There must be something in Lance's tone that prompts Keith to continue, where as usually he'd shut himself off with harsh words and anger, some hint of insecurity that allows him to show some of his own vulnerability.
"Shiro's practically my brother. He's… always been there for me, supported me, taken care of me. I consider you all my family really. I guess I just think of you in a kind of different way to that."
"Like how?" Keith must be just overtired enough to share his feelings without protest, as he doesn't seem to hesitate before pouring his heart out.
"I've never really had a friend like you before. I've never really had many friends before, period. You made it all feel so easy, drew me into the group without even trying. You call me out and speak your mind, but you make sure I don't sell myself short either. And you've always got my back, on the battlefield and off of it. I would have been a goner ten times over by now if you hadn't been there to back me up. I care about you, a lot. So, yeah, you're my best friend." There's a determined glint in his eye, his shoulders steeled but gaze trained pointedly at the floor instead of at Lance. "Even if I'm not yours." He mutters, almost as an afterthought.
In all his time is space, finding out aliens were real, meeting aliens, piloting a giant flying robot lion, defending the galaxy against an evil empire, finding out mermaids were real, meeting hundreds of new races he hadn't even begun to comprehend in his imagination back on earth, nothing has amazed him so completely as the revelation that is Keith's best friend. Angry, closed-off Keith, the Keith he thought hated him until not so long ago, the Keith he had always tried to better than as a measure of his self-worth. The Keith that was also unfalteringly loyal, determined, brave, a skilled fighter, who would never leave a man behind no matter the risk to himself.
He could barely process it all, left with a distinct feeling that he didn't deserve this precious gift. Before he had even consciously considered it, he found he had crossed the distance between them, tugging Keith into a fierce hug and hanging on as though his life depended on it. He heard Keith's surprised little gasp, quickly followed by him relaxing into the embrace, bringing his own arms up around Lance in response and pushing his head more firmly into his shoulder. It lasted longer than was probably considered normal for a hug, and yet Lance couldn't bring himself to pull away. Keith seemed content in the silence too, as he made no move to step back himself.
"I promise you, Keith Kogane, I'm gonna be the best friend you ever had." He announces dramatically into Keith's hair.
"You kinda already are. That's the whole point." Keith chuckles, the tips of his ears going pink.
The doors whoosh open and instinctively the boys spring apart, the moment broken. Shiro walks in, greeting them both and filling them in on today's training plan, either not having seen the embrace or choosing to ignore it. Lance can't help but feel some sort of childish triumph. Suck it, Shiro. I'm Keith's best friend, not you.
He feels as though he should make it more clear how much he appreciates Keith in return. He deserves to know how Lance feels, and that he's just as valuable to Lance as he apparently is to the other boy. I'll tell him. Soon he promises to himself. For now, they go on as usual. Petty arguments that end in laughter and smiles, shared looks across the training room, comments and heated gazes with maybe just a hint of something more underneath them. They're a team. They're best friends. And that's enough for now.