Prologue
"Are you sleeping with her?"
Lance ended the communication with Lyra and swiveled in his chair and stared at Keith, eyes wide. "What?"
"Answer me?"
"Where..."
"I'm sick of this Lance. You're fucking around with her every chance you get aren't you. Whenever you go to Lyra, it's been going on since those damn flowers."
"Farla and I..."
"Say it, Lance, say it."
"No," Lance yelled, standing up, pressing into Keith's space, using his three inch height advantage and pushing Keith up against the door to Lance's room. "I'm not going to say it because this insanity, Keith. There is nothing go on with me and Farla."
"Bullshit. You're always talking with her, sneaking around behind my back. You haven't had time for anything lately. We barely see each other."
"And that's my fault! You're the one always in your office, doing paperwork, or off chaperoning Allura somewhere, playing the public boyfriend letting Arus believe she's going to marry the Commander of Voltron Force. I'm not accusing you of sleeping around, if anyone should be.."
Keith's fist blackened his left eye then making Lance stagger back, his legs hitting the computer chair and almost causing him to fall. "Then what the hell is up with you and Farla, why all the secret communications, why all the encrypted messages? Did you think I wouldn't figure it out, Lance!"
"Jesus, Keith this is... I can't tell you but come on I wouldn't..."
"You wouldn't? You wouldn't what cheat on me? Yeah that's never happened?"
Lance stared at Keith. "What are talking about when we were sixteen? Because for fucksake Keith you cheated on me then too if I recall right."
"You first."
"You out of fucking spite!"
"I can't, I can't look at your right now," Keith yelled and hit the button that opened the door. He walked out.
Lance stared, watched his door close automatically on its own after a minute, and ran a hand over his face. What the hell had happened? He'd been on his computer, trying to do what he could to help out Farla with some Garrison red tape and the advice of a friend in regards to the Garrison soldier she'd fallen for and was planning to marry. She'd been asking him for help for a few weeks now, the Garrison was threatening to take away her girlfriends rank, or re-deploy her. The book had no rules against the fraternization with the locals on the planet they were stationed at. In fact on Earth Lance had seen it happen a million times and that was the hardline he'd been taking with the Garrison on Farla and Lydia's behalf for the last few weeks. To have Keith barge in and accuse him of having some long term affair with Farla? It was asinine, Farla was like Allura to him, a best friend, a sister he never had, he'd die for her, he loved her but to be with her? He didn't know where this had come from, yeah he'd had to say no to Keith a few times on meeting him for a quickie but it was more than Keith had been saying no to him because Keith had to do paperwork, or accompany Allura somewhere.
Keith's public relationship with Allura was way more grating than his private relationship with Farla. Also for Keith to throw his high school cheating in his face... And yeah okay maybe he shouldn't have pointed Keith went out and cheated on him just to get back at him. But he was didn't know why they'd been fighting about cheating in the first place.
Two Weeks Later
Lance wouldn't talk to him, and Keith didn't know what to do about it. Keith felt justified in his fears and his worry. Lance and he hadn't had sex in months, they kept missing each other, they'd been arguing about stupid things for over three months. Not only professionally, which is where the bulk of their arguments happened, because Lance's out of the box thinking was usually too reckless, to impatient to take seriously but he expected people to listen to him anyway. No it'd been privately too and maybe it'd been the lack of time together, alone, to touch and reconnect on a personal and spiritual level.
They'd always argued, they'd argued since the day met at eleven years old and became an unlikely duo. No one saw their friendship coming. The quiet, bookish Kogane kid and the wild, jump off the roofs of the tallest buildings McClain kid. But Lance was smart and Keith, Keith had a daredevil streak too, it'd needed a push that was all. Lance pushed and Keith tempered and they fight sure but they worked. And they'd been there for each other when they both started to feel things for boys the society around them was saying they shouldn't, well the majority anyway... and then they both wondered if they were really supposed to like each other or if was because they were who the other had. So they went seperate ways then back to each other again high school. Until the cheating fiasco... and Keith shuddered because Lance had felt guilty as hell for letting that college boy put the moves on him and responding, it'd been why he'd come clean to Keith. What had he don't gotten pissed off, mean, spiteful and gone and slept with the guy he knew would Lance the most?
And now he was wondering if he was doing another thing that would hurt Lance the most? It came up all the time in their professional fights. Do you trust me or not? Trust me? Keith don't you trust me? And Lance was giving him that look all week, all the time, before he averted his brown eyes and walked in the other direction. How dare you not trust me, Keith.
But Keith couldn't get things out of his head. The way he'd seen Lance with Farla, arm around her shoulders, making her smile and blush at the same time with a bit of wink and smirk. Farla calling him at all hours of the day and night. The encrypted communications, the trips to Lyra whenever Lance felt it was safe to leave Arus for the hours it'd take to go, visit and get back. And then there was the request to go to Earth and him saying he couldn't say why and Keith knew it was about her. Her. And he wouldn't tell him. Didn't Lance trust him? And if he wasn't saying than it wasn't good... they weren't on the same page, they were locking eyes and making promises to meet up in the closet lion, they weren't together. Lance had to be cheating...At least Keith had been sure until he asked. Now he was less sure but he still wondered and Lance wasn't denying the accusation but he wasn't answering either.
Keith would give it time, sometimes that was the best way to deal with Lance when his pride was hurt. Besides, things were getting busy with Doom. They were getting more and more intelligence on Slave planets, from Sven. They were doing more rescue operation, Doom was attacking Arus less. They were looming towards an end of the war, they could all taste it...Another two weeks passed and he and Lance locked their gazes over a strategy table and agreed to table everything until after they defeated Zarkon and Lotor for good.
Five Years Later and a few months after Wade has been taken down...
Allura paused at the door to the simulation room, frowning when she saw Keith inside pummeling the crap out of Lotor. She walked into the room and turned off the simulation, biting the inside of her cheek not to laugh when the action caused Keith to kick wildly at air, over rotate and fall onto his butt with a oof as the air rushed out of him. He made a noise akin to a growl as he jumped back to his feet and turned toward the controls, his expression flattening out to one of surprise and respect when he saw her.
"Allura," he said with a slight bow.
She couldn't help but smile at his formality. No matter how long they'd been friends, best friends in her estimation she knew she'd never get him to forget her title, to not treat her someone above him in station and rank. It was an honor code that was built within him, a respect of rules and standards that was a part of his nature just as much as his lightning quick reflexes and ability to make tough decisions under pressure.
"Why are you up so late, pummeling SimuLotor?"
Keith sighed, bent his head and walked over to the table that had the towels on it. Grabbing one he wiped off his hands of sweat. Allura waited and wished she was more patient. She'd grown better at faking it over the years but she'd never been patient. It was something of herself she saw in Larmina, only she was sure Larmina was worse than she ever had been... Though Lance said the same about Daniel's recklessness. Were they right or hoping? She sighed. "Keith?"
"I've been having trouble sleeping, that's all. Why are you up so late?"
"Late night conference call with my Aunt Orla, Intraplanetary politics, nothing exciting. In fact I almost fell asleep a few times during the communication, thankfully I didn't. Aunt Orla would've been appalled."
Keith smiled but Allura could tell it was surface smile, it was the motion of the action because he knew it was the right thing to do. "Keith what is it? I thought you were feeling at home, finally."
He nodded. "I am, I have been. I think the team has a good chain of command, almost. You and Lance still do as you please too often but what else is new. The cadets also could learn to follow more than act out...but yeah I feel like things are in place again with the team, and I'm warming up to the Cadets."
Allura waited.
"I still feel bit behind with the guys," Keith finally said. "Hunk's got this whole knew training regiment, it's hardcore, and there is his hunkyard. Pidge he's got secrets, things of his own that he doesn't share with us, apparently now. That kid used to tell the rest of us everything, you know..." Keith trailed off.
Allura nodded. "We've all changed, you have too. You're quieter, I never knew that possible."
Keith met her eyes and he nodded. "I've done things I'm not all that proud of while I was gone, Allura."
She crossed the room and touched his arm. "Keith, we all did. We all had too. Lance.. he had to kiss Wade's ass, practically everyday. The communications I would get afterward so Lance could purge the guilt and the ill feelings."
Keith turned around again and walked over to the window, looked outside at Arus' twin moons. "Almost time for the Autumn Moon Festival."
"And almost time for your Christmas, we still celebrate it every year in this Castle. Only Daniel and Vince are going home for Christmas. Chip is coming here to be with Pidge, Hunk's staying here since he went home for America's Thanksgiving..." Allura trailed off. "Lance never goes home for any holiday neither do you...have..."
"No." It was hard, clipped, a command.
Allura flinched. "Keith, you two left things..."
"No," Keith repeated and he turned. "It's...we left things."
"So what, the two of you are where you are now. Professional and you only worry about your friendships with me, Hunk and Pidge?"
"I didn't say that," Keith muttered.
"You've been working hard, Keith. Same as always, as I remember. Paperwork is piling up again, since we took down Wade. You need a break. You should take the Summer Festival and your Christmas week off. Do somethings for yourself..." she trailed off and gave him a pointed look.
Keith ran his hands through his hair, looked back out at the moons. "I'll think about it."
"Well make a choice soon, the Festival starts next week and in the middle of that is Christmas," Allura said. "I've already done my shopping, have you?"
Keith groaned.
Allura laughed. "Go to bed, Commander."
"Is that a royal order?"
"Is that the only way to get you to listen?"
Keith shook his head. Allura doubted him but she decided to give him the leeway. "Think about what I said, Keith," she said, meaning him and Lance, as she stepped away.
Keith went to looking back out the window and thought. Something I want for myself. Something I can have...
Chapter One
Lance heaved Vince's suitcase into the shuttle leaving for earth, exerting muscle strength one shouldn't have to use to lift a suitcase. "Vince, what are you bringing home?"
"Well, I thought during the down time of my two weeks at home, I should brush up on my Ancient Arusian languages, there are five different dialects, my Ancient Arusian history, there is a wealth of history, especially the history of Voltron in regards to Arus and I feel it's a field of study very important for me to be at the top of my game on. Also some things that Pidge and I have been working on in regards to Haggarium..."
Lance held up his hand. "I got it, you're bringing all your work home with you. You're reminding me of Keith."
"Really?" Vince said, sounding more than thrilled.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Keith always took all his textbooks home on vacation too. Even read and studied them as much as I tried to keep him too busy not too," Lance shook his head.
"I will be distracting him, sir," Daniel said with a smile. "I plan to grab the shuttle to his place every chance I get, so he and I can have as much fun as possible without you guys watching our every move!"
Lance grinned at Daniel. "Enjoy it while it lasts kid, it's only fourteen days, then you're back here. I'm thinking up ways to keep you three on your toes," he grinned.
"Man," Daniel muttered.
The pilot of the shuttle to earth yelled. "Five minutes to till take off."
"Okay, you two get on board, don't cause the pilot any trouble, and stay out of trouble on Earth."
"How can we get in trouble," Daniel said. "You've made us leave our voltcoms."
Lance leveled Daniel with a look.
Daniel shrugged. "What, I'm not that bad!"
Lance laughed. "Right, and I'm an Angel." He slapped Daniel on the shoulder, then watched him and Vince walk onto the shuttle. The door closed behind them and Lance felt a load lift off his shoulders. A Daniel sized load of relentless worry and responsibility that caused him nightmares of crashed lions, and Lotor with a trophy of the reckless speedsters head. With Vince or Larmina dead too because they'd tagged along against their better judgement.
The shuttle disappeared into the brightness of the sun and Lance let out a whistle, and started to hum Deck the Halls. Turning around he started to head back to the Castle, when someone called out to him. "Uh, Commander McClain?"
Lance turned, surprised to be called by his Galaxy Alliance rank by anyone on Arus, here it was usually Lance, or hey you. They were informal on Arus, from when they'd first arrived with minimal contact with the Garrison. "Yeah," Lance said finding himself looking at a guy about his height and build.
"Yeah, uh, hi. I can see the Castle it looks to be right there but I can't seem to find a doorway to get into it. I'm meeting Keith, he invited me for Christmas...but yeah. He might be thinking I stood him up, because though my shuttle arrived on time, I keep somehow screwing up finding the door." The guy gave a smile at the end of his speech, a confident lazy smile as he shifted the weight of the duffle bag that was slung over his left shoulder.
"Who the hell are you?" Lance said checking the guy out. In shape, casual clothing, jeans, a t-shirt, dirty-blonde hair that was shaggy around the edges but stopped just short of being too long. He carried himself like someone who knew how to fight though and he was watching the people around with eyes that saw more than he let on... Lance knew the look, he used it the same one all the damn time.
"Ilya Granger," he said. "I'm sure you've about me. I've about you, well all of you." He held out his hand.
Granger? This was Granger, Ilya Granger? The guy Keith said saved his life in a bar fight, then took him in, stitched him up and turned out to be a great ally with his ear on the pulse of the seedier side of things. This was the guy who'd introduced Keith to Manset? Lance had pictured someone older, with a Russian accent who liked like he belonged in a James Bond movie. Not a guy who looked like he could be James Bond only with a bland boring Mid-western or Californian American everyday voice.
"Huh," Lance said, ignoring Granger's hand. "He invited you for Christmas?"
"Yeah, kind was unexpected, but...well yeah, I wasn't going to turn it down," there was a wink in Granger's tone that didn't surface on his face but Lance heard it all right. Lance swallowed over a sudden hard lump in his throat. He felt sick to his stomach.
He and Keith hadn't...He hadn't been a monk, and yeah Keith had been gone for years. They'd been - broken up, he supposed, they'd never said it but they sure as hell hadn't been together either. Both of them stupid and both of them too proud to make any sort of first move.
They'd been butting heads when Keith showed back up about who was in charge of the team. That was mostly him, he'd gotten used to being the one Allura, Pidge and Hunk looked too to lead them. He'd liked it, he'd like being the one they relied on and he'd felt good being able to pull them through the hard times. And it'd been hard, not easy and he hadn't had Keith to help him, not even good memories to rely on because everything had been so messed up. They'd been going through professional motions only when the shit hit the fan with Wade.
Granger had been name that came up a lot on Keith's intel reports. He'd gone to him to lie low more than once. He'd counted on Granger for contact information, illegal documents that looked like the real thing. Granger was one of Keith's most trusted contacts when he was out there stalking Black Lion as they'd called it, while the rest of them ran the Den, and played good Alliance soliders for Wade.
And Keith had invited him to the Castle for Christmas. Lance didn't like it, at all, it felt... wrong, rude, and like he should have been told. They hadn't talked, they had never talked about anything and didn't that mean there was still a chance for them... That was how he'd always thought about it anyway. Guess that was stupid, leave it to Keith to think something different, to spin it in his own head like something else completely.
How had they'd gone from best friends, to lovers, to best friends and lovers to practically married to not even on the same page at all... Where the fuck had they gone wrong? Why the hell hadn't he gone into Keith's room the first night Keith had been back. He'd stood out in the hallway for over and hour, hand overing over the keypad considering it, thinking it and he'd ended up walking away.
Then things got so busy, with the cadets, Wade, haggarium, Lotor and Maahox. Lance kept telling himself, we'll have a chance, we'll have time... Maybe we should focus on Voltron Force dynamics first and then us. We've been slowly getting the groove back with him, me and Allura doing some sort of three way leadership thing, balancing it out. He and I, I can corner him soon enough about us. Lance knew he'd have to be the one to corner Keith, it was how it usually went if he wanted to know what Keith was thinking - except that one day he got accused of cheating when he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Though, looking back on it, he'd been not telling Keith about what he was helping Farla with on purpose, keeping the secret so Keith would be jealous of his time. He'd wanted to get back at Keith for picking work over him so often in the weeks prior. He'd been mad at being pushed aside for a public appearance with Allura, and hours of paperwork one too many times. He wouldn't have been breaking Farla's trust by telling Keith what was going on, but he'd chosen to decide he would've been if he told anyone, even Keith.
Hindsight was a bitch and this guy was grating.
"Hell I almost took this left three times, but I thought it go right down to the lake, not in toward the Castle. Directions never my strong point, why I got kicked out of piloting school."
Lance snorted. "So what do you do exactly... I mean besides make a good ally for a guy on the run from the Alliance?"
Granger shrugged, gave Lance that lazy cocky smile again. "I run a great bar. It gets you contacts, that's all."
"Right."
"And I believe in the little guy, you know what Voltron defends. Never liked Wade."
Lance had to nod.
"So, uh, look...about Keith?"
Lance waited, already thinking about saying something along the lines of: Stay away, he's taken, he's mine, and he has the tattoo on his ass to prove it. Maybe you've seen it? Shit, have you seen it? Lance clenched his fists and his jaw.
"He's always been really hard to read, but uh I got the sense you've known him a long time. He mentioned once something the two of you did when you were thirteen? So long time right?"
"Yeah, been friends since we were eleven," Lance said, thinking. Mine.
"Right. So when he called me up on subspace in the middle of the night, three days ago, and said he decided to let himself have something he wanted that he could have... I am reading him right, right? He always seemed to pull back, but I'm thinking he's finally ready for something?" Granger grinned but Lance picked up the insecurity this time under the lazy confidence. He knew it well, because Keith was hard to read. Damn bastard.
"He said that?" Lance said.
"Yeah."
Lance shrugged. "Like you said, guy's hard to read, and he and I, haven't been speaking the same language in a long time..." Lance pushed open the door the castle harder than he needed too and when he stood inside he saw the stairs that would lead up to the control room where he knew Keith was with Allura. Then straight ahead was the hallway leading to weight room and where the punching bag was, Lance rolled his shoulders. "He'll be in the control room. Right up those stairs, first door to the left."
"Yeah, thanks, man."
"Whatever," Lance muttered and he walked down the hall.
~~.~~
Allura looked up from the report she was reading about the summer harvests in nearby villages, expecting Lance to be walking in to tell them how shipping off Daniel and Vince home for Christmas had gone. Instead she found herself staring into the green eyes of a stranger. "Uh, hello?" she said.
"Hey beautiful," he said, giving the room a lazy look. "I was told Keith would be here."
"He left for a quick moment," Allura said, studying the man in front of her, thinking he looked vaguely familiar, or felt vaguely familiar. "Who are you?"
"Ilya Granger."
"Oh," Allura's eyes widened. Somehow she'd always thought Keith's contact Granger was darker, dirtier, that he matched the seedy bars of the life style he was part of and that he didn't look like a guy ready for the beach, wearing sandals with his jeans. "I didn't know Keith had invited you to the Castle. I'm Princess Allura," she placed the tablet she had in her hands on the console and reached out her hand in greeting.
"Shit, I mean, oh crap...shit," Granger stammered. "Sorry, Keith'll never forgive me for being so informal with you there, earlier. One thing to be informal with McClain but not with a Princess. I mean Keith has these rules of respect and things," he took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
Allura laughed. "We're rather informal around here...you met Lance?"
"He helped me find the door. I have a poor sense of direction. Why I own seedy bars and don't fly a fractal," he said. "I'm surprised Keith didn't tell you he invited me for uh, you're Moon festival?"
"Autumnal Moon Festival, we celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of Autumn, while the twin moons are at their brightest. It nicely coincides with Earth's Christmas."
"Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't inform you, he invited me to stay."
Allura was surprised herself, inwardly anyway because there was only one reason Keith wouldn't inform her of a guest coming to the Castle. It would be because the guest wouldn't need a room of their own and the idea of Keith inviting this man to the Castle to be with him. She'd been leading him to finally deal with Lance, not invite someone else into the Castle. She kept the surprise off of her face, however, and wondered how she'd read Keith so wrong. She'd known they all changed but she hadn't thought things had changed that much, she'd caught him looking at Lance and Lance looking at him. They were still in love, she was sure of it.
Yet here was Ilya Granger.
"The Castle is his home, he doesn't have to run guests by me," Allura explained.
"Okay, mind if I drop this somewhere?" he asked, indicating his duffle bag with a shrug.
"You can put it on the floor over here by the console," Allura said. "You said you were talking with Lance?"
"Yeah. ran by my invite with him, actually, him being Keith's oldest friend. Known Keith almost four years now but he's like this shadow you know, always slipping away from me at the last second. He blew me away with the invite, wanted to know if I read it right, or if I'm delusional. McClain wasn't helpful, something about speaking different languages?"
Allura forced a smile, wondering if things couldn't possibly go more wrong really. Keith invites someone, obviously intending for them to stay with him in his room and the guy asks Lance if that is the intention on arriving. "I, uh, I need to talk to Lance, do you know which way he went?"
"He went straight after sending me up the stairs."
"Oh," she nodded, realizing that meant that Lance was probably making his knuckles bloody in the old gym, downstairs. "Thank you," she was about to leave when the doors opened and Keith walked in.
"Lance back yet from dropping off Daniel and Vince, I want to go over the security for the Castle for the next three weeks, I want to finish up prep for the festival and Christmas activities..."
Allura sighed inwardly and turned toward Keith, who had his head ducked down looking at his own computer tablet. "I'm sure you do considering your guest."
"My guest?" Keith asked, looking up and then he spotted Granger.
"Hey, man. I know, I know, I'm not due yet, but I caught an earlier shuttle. I saw the opportunity and yeah, I thought I'd surprise you. It's only two days, I didn't think it'd be a big deal..."
Allura stifled a laugh, thinking of course he's early. Keith would have told her, he didn't owe her an explanation but before the expected arrival Keith would've told her about expecting Granger. She studied Keith's reaction to his guest, being in the control room. A faint pink seemed to appear on Keith's sharp cheekbones, his dark blue eyes moved up and down Granger's lanky form; Allura followed Keith's movement once again feeling that there was something familiar about Granger. Had Keith sent them his statistics at someone point? A full dossier? He had on some contacts and hadn't on others, she couldn't remember if Granger was one of them. She'd had an impression in her mind to go with the name. One that hadn't matched up, so what was with the familiarity.
"No, uh, wow, no the early arrival is fine. Hey,"
"Hey," Granger said.
"Uh, Allura this is Ilya Granger."
"We introduced ourselves, Keith," Allura said, then she decided to test this out further. "Should, I have the staff make up a roo..."
"No," Keith said.
"Okay," she said, feeling disappointed in that answer. She leveled Keith with a look, mentally sending the name Lance at him. Keith held her gaze for a full second and then he moved his look back to Granger.
"If that's okay with you?" he said, the faint pink on his cheeks darkening.
"That's fine with me," Granger said his face breaking out in a lazy but confident smile that bothered Allura.
"Well, uh, then I better go deal with that thing, I need to deal with with Lance."
"Hey, yeah, thank him for me again...showing me how to get into the castle, to here.." Granger said.
"You met Lance?" Keith asked his voice sounding sharp.
"Yeah, gotta say for someone you described as your childhood chum, he seemed a bit not in the know about your intentions, man?" Granger said.
"My intentions?" Keith asked.
Granger shrugged. "You know me, I opened my mouth, asked about my chances. Even asked the Princess here..."
Allura watched the exchange with interest.
"Uh...where is Lance?" Keith asked.
"I think he went to the old gym, after pointing Granger here," she said. "I have some business with..."
"It can wait, he and I have some things to discuss," Keith muttered and his body was half way out the control room door when he paused and added as an after thought. "Allura, you could show Granger to my room?"
Allura stared at him, Keith stared back a stubborn glint in his blue eyes and she nodded. "Come on, it's this way," she said leading Granger towards another door out of the control room. "Keith, wants to get security details done and over with so he can spend more down time with you, I'm guessing," she said, glancing at the security brief Keith had dropped on the console by her harvest reports, as Granger leaned down picked up his bag.
"Sure, whatever, lead the way beautiful... I mean Princess," Granger said.
"Allura is fine."
"Allura, then," Granger said with a smile.
Chapter Two
He'd had lightness on his shoulders for two minutes, Daniel left and Granger moved right on in. Lance hit the punching bag, his knuckles scrapping against the weight of it with every hit. His voltcom and his red gloves were on the table by the door to gym. With each hit he was seeing Granger's lazy stupid smile and how he'd all but said he was here to fuck Keith. Left hook, right, left, and his hands were starting to go numb but that the only part of him that was.
What the hell was Keith thinking? Invite someone to the Castle, no warning, nothing...yeah they never talked about things but they were still something, weren't they? They still laughed, got along more than just fucking co-workers. They had way too much history to not have the lines all confused and messed up. Even with no damn communication between them and acting like they'd both just forgotten they'd been together for years before they weren't together any longer at all.
"Right, we both chose to pretend we have fucking relationship amnesia," Lance grunted out under his breath with another round of punches against the bag.
"Lance?"
Lance closed his eyes, he had to imagining it, Keith's voice behind him. He kept hitting the bag, but then a firm grip was on his left arm, keeping him from connecting the punch. Familiar breath and smell overwhelming him as Keith hissed. "You're bleeding, you fucking bastard."
Lance pushed out of Keith's hold and turned around. "Like you care?" he said, looking down at his knuckles amazed at how ripped apart he'd managed to tear up his skin in such a short amount of time. "What are you doing down here, you have company."
Keith ran a hand through his hair, his hand awkward when it hit the empty space at the back of his neck, for a second before it landed on the back of his neck. Lance kept waiting for him decide grow out the mullet again, or just grow his hair long. So. he could hide behind it like he didn't already have the perfect poker face. "I was going to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"That I invited Granger to stay with me."
Lance snorted, he didn't want to think about it. "Why bother?
Keith sighed. "It's polite."
"Polite?" Lance laughed. "Oh, so the first time you were going to acknowledge we were ever anything but old friends and colleagues was going to be about being polite?"
Keith's eyes narrowed, Lance saw the cheek muscles twitch almost imperceptibly, but not to Lance's eyes. He'd been studying Keith for every little nuance, any little clue about what he was thinking or feeling since he was sixteen and first realized he wanted to spend hours mapping Keith's body with his mouth. He knew he'd just pissed off Keith and good, because he was pissed off.
"You haven't rushed to acknowledge a damn thing either."
Lance sighed, the million times he almost did on his tongue but they were almost and what good would almost do in the telling? "I though Ilya Granger be some old russian fart," Lance heard himself say and was he letting Keith off the hook, what the fuck?
Keith laughed and shook his head. "No, not so much."
"Yeah, I saw. He looks like some hot beach bum."
Keith ducked his head looking away.
"I don't like him."
Keith looked up then, mouth opening, "You don't even know him."
"Has he seen it yet?"
"What?"
Lance rolled his eyes. "Keith, the tattoo."
A slight red flush tinged the skin high on Keith's cheeks. He rolled his eyes and he shook his head. "No."
"What are you going to say?"
"What do you say?"
"Never slept with a guy I invited over for a Christmas holiday with the family Keith. They know going in I'm probably thinking about the guy whose name is emblazoned over my cock."
Keith's expression went soft and Lance felt like his heart was hammering too fast. He stepped forward into Keith's space. "I don't invite anyone here," Lance said. "Ever, Keith."
Keith's tongue came out and licked his lips, his eyes fell to Lance's mouth and a hand fell onto Lance's hip and Keith fingers dug into his skin through his uniform. Lance closed his eyes, it felt so familiar but it been so long it felt odd as well. Almost like they'd never touched before at all like this. Lance felt like his heart might be beating too fast, he felt more afraid than he had the few times in the line of fire when he thought he might die but he wasn't going to miss the chance to kiss Keith again. He started to lean down but then he was pushed away.
"No, shit..." Keith shook his head. "I made a choice," Keith muttered, turning around and stood for a minute, Lance counted to six and in that time he went from hearing Keith's breath to not hearing it at all. "Get your hands looked at, Lance, you're dripping blood on the floor," he gritted out then he walked out of the room.
