The day was drawing to a close. Though it was hard to tell how time passed in the depths of space, as there wasn't much of a sunset, everyone on the castleship was beginning to feel the weight of the day as fatigue took its toll. Keith watched as Allura, Hunk and Coran all bid their goodnights and headed off to their dorms. Pidge, too, with dark circles under her eyes, finally caved.
Keith himself didn't feel particularly tired. He never did. He prided himself on how quick his reflexes remained, even without sleep. Though it probably wasn't healthy, he didn't sleep longer than two or three hours a day, if even.
Keith reluctantly turned his attention to Lance. The blue paladin was gazing forlornly out the window into the starry sky. Keith could tell that he was missing home again, as every time one of the others had turned in for the night, Lance gave a mere grunt of acknowledgement.
Keith studied the other boy with careful consideration. His short brown hair was a mess, and the look of sorrow etched on his face was undeniable. His brown eyes were fixed on the stars as they slowly drifted by.
Lately, Lance had...changed. Not behaviourally. He hadn't changed anything about himself or his personality. But to Keith he seemed more relatable, and as much as he hated to admit it, more attractive.
Keith had always known that Lance was good-looking, but he hadn't really noticed it until recently. Right after the explosion, he guessed. As soon as he discovered that Lance was more than just a loud, slightly insensitive moron, his image in Keith's eyes had shifted. He had begun to look at Lance's form. The curl of his eyelashes. The muscles that made up his back. His thighs. In some cases, his ass. Random shit like that. Keith was convinced that he was slowly going insane.
Keith was jolted out of his thoughts when he noticed Lance looking at him quizzically. "You okay there, buddy?"
How long had he been staring?! He hoped his face wasn't red. His face was probably very red. It felt red. "Yeah," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "Just spacing out."
Lance smiled. Keith felt a surge of irritation. There was another one: his teeth.
"'Spacing out'?!" Lance said, grinning like a madman.
Keith glared at him. "I hate you."
"Relax, Kogane," Keith felt a tug at his stomach when Lance said his name. Even his last name? What the fuck?! "It was just a joke."
Keith said nothing, only looked down at his lap. The resulting silence stretched out for what felt like an eternity. Lance, unsurprisingly, was the one to break it.
"Hey, Keith?" he asked, sounding completely sincere for once. "Would you consider us to be friends?"
Keith was completely taken aback. Of all the things he thought Lance could've said, that was the very last thing he expected. He was so shocked he didn't even notice that he hadn't answered.
"Keith?" Lance said again, snapping him out of his daze.
"I thought you hated me!" Keith cried.
"I never hated you!" Lance said, sounding unusually defensive. "I just...to tell the truth, I've always been kind of jealous of you."
Keith smiled. "That much is obvious."
Lance glared at him. "Hey! I'm trying to be serious and have a moment here! You're the one who's always going on about that bonding moment."
"The one you're convinced never happened." Keith said.
Lance was quiet for a few moments after that. "Nah," he said finally. "I remember it. I just never wanted to say as much."
Keith felt his face grow hot. "Y-you do?" He asked.
"Dude, I was fully conscious! How could I not?" Lance's eyes were fixed on Keith, making him shuffle uncomfortably.
Keith looked down. "...to answer your question, Lance, yeah." He looked up and met the blue paladin's eyes. "I'd say we are friends."
Were Lance's cheeks turning pink, or was it just Keith's imagination? "Cool." He said, the tiniest bit of emotion in his tone, though what emotion, Keith couldn't tell.
"So we can stop with the rivalry bullshit?" Keith asked.
Lance grinned. "Nah. If we didn't, everyone else would get suspicious."
"Suspicious of what? That we're friends?"
There was no mistaking Lance's blush this time. "Yeah. Friends."
Keith felt another tug in his stomach, more intense than the others.
"Besides," Lance continued. "Teasing you is one of the finer things life has to offer. How could I give that up?"
Keith chuckled despite himself.
Once again, silence filled the room.
"Welp," Lance said at last, standing, "I should probably get some sleep. You too, Keith," he added, glancing directly at him now.
Keith shook his head. "No. I'm not tired."
Lance smiled. "Seriously, man. You need to sleep. You're killing yourself."
"You done lecturing me, or what?" Keith asked incredulously.
"Fine. But this discussion isn't over!" Lance cried.
"Whatever, 'Mom'." Keith teased.
Lance headed down the corridor, stopping when he got to the doorway. "Goodnight, buddy." He said, and disappeared down the hall.
Keith sat there for a while, and counted himself lucky that no one else was in the room to see him grinning like an imbecile.