I'd just like to point out that this is a sports team au. They play soccer. Their mascot is the lions. I've had my klance voltron playlist playing for the last two hours, so yeah. I posted this on ao3 and it's gotten an okay response, so I thought I might as well post it here too. Enjoy I guess.
When Hunk found Lance sitting underneath the bleachers, head in hands, breathing like he'd been deprived of oxygen for years , he wasn't quite sure what to think.
It was right after a scrimmage-a very close scrimmage, in fact. One that had their half of the team pulling out all the stops in order to keep up with the half they were playing against.
And sure, it had ended in a tie, but they hadn't lost. And Lance was usually pretty enthusiastic whether they won or lost anyways. So Hunk really had no idea what to think about this whole thing.
He crouched in front of his best friend, something tightening in his chest. "You okay, buddy?"
Lance just shook his head, refusing to show even a part of his face to Hunk. "Noooo," he moaned, and Hunk was glad there was really no hint of upset. Frustration, though, was something he detected, and he honestly still had no idea what to make of that.
"What's wrong?" Hunk asked.
"It's Keith ," Lance bit out. "Stupid, stupid Keith."
Hunk didn't get it. Not really. As a goalie, Hunk didn't really come into contact with a lot of other players during a game. But Lance played midfield. And midfield was the position that squared off against more than half the other team sometimes. And today, today Lance had worked hard, practically sprinting around the entire field, trying to desperately catch up with the natural quickness of the other team.
What that meant was that he faced off against Keith a lot today. Keith played striker on the other team today-and he was a natural . Hunk knew that Lance was somewhat jealous of Keith's obvious natural talent, but that just pushed Lance to work harder, and that was what competition was about right?
But Hunk didn't really understand why Lance was freaking out about Keith under the bleachers twenty minutes after practice had ended. Almost all of the lights were already shut off, the field was cleaned up, and Coach Allura had dismissed the team.
So, frowning, Hunk asked, "What about Keith?"
Lance was silent, then. But after a moment, he let his hands slip into his lap, eyes staring downward, face red-which would have made sense if they hadn't already cooled down, but they had cooled down, so it really didn't-and lips pulled into a scowl.
"Do you think, uh, if I asked him on, like, a date or something like that- do you think he'd say yes?"
Hunk took a second to digest that. And when he did, his lips twitched into a smile. Lance was embarrassed . Because Hunk's best friend had a crush on Keith-Lance's self-declared rival, and Hunk was absolutely ecstatic for his best friend.
"Aww, Lance," he said, making Lance's head jerk up and take in Hunk's genuine smile. "I didn't know you liked Keith. If you want, I can help you plan something."
Lance looked hesitant, though, his face still three shades too red. "So, you think he'd say yes?"
"Uh duh? I think Pidge has been trying to set you two up for weeks ."
"Wait, what?"
Hunk chuckled nervously, hand going up to rub at the back of his neck because- whoops. "Don't tell Pidge I told you that."
Lance stared at him for about two seconds before he snorted. "Right whatever," he said, but he sounded insanely relieved, and Hunk was actually really glad he'd let that slip, even if Pidge was going to kill him for it. "Just...you gotta help me ask him or something," Lance muttered.
Hunk grinned. "Sure thing. You can do it after the away game tomorrow."
This was going to be great. Lance definitely deserved this after all the crap he'd been through, and Hunk was glad that Lance was finally able to put himself out there in something other than soccer for once.
"Alright," Lance said, nervousness coming off of him in waves. "Tomorrow then."
Hunk nodded, leading Lance out from underneath the bleachers, slinging an arm around his shoulders once they were free of the metal above their heads.
Well, if Hunk was going to help Lance ask Keith on a date, he might as well text Pidge. She was going to flip out.
If you wanna chat I'm lanceaboo on tumblr