Hitting the ground with a thud, Lance questioned, once again, why he'd agreed to this. He assumed Allura wouldn't have gone much easier on him, but he'd prefer her encouraging words over Keith's smug remarks.

"I win... again.." Keith muttered, standing up straighter to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Yep.." the blue paladin said, his voice strained as he tried to make the pain in his gut subside. Finally, he sat up, glowering at Keith for not even offering him a hand. "Can't you actually help me?"

"I am helping you." The mullet-haired boy looked genuinely confused. "You'd understand my strategy eventually if you were paying attention."

Lance frowned. "Kicking my ass repeatedly isn't teaching me!" he retorted, getting to his feet to face his teammate again. Scratching the back of his neck, that was hot with sweat, the paladin sighed. "I think I'm done for the day.."

Keith furrowed his brows. "We've only done three rounds!" he objected. "Come on, one more!"

It was odd to hear Keith beg for anything, so the teen shook his head, collecting his bayard off the floor and readying himself. "Come on, then."

The taller of the pair quirked a brow. "You come at me," he instructed. "I'll show you how to deflect a forward attack."

Brows inching up in surprise, Lance gave him a nod and unleashed his bayard, the red broadsword appearing in a flash as he hurled himself at Keith with a battle cry.

Smirking, Keith stepped to the side, out of Lance's way and turned in time to catch Lance's second attack, a hard over-swing. His own sword appeared and caught the red sword. With a heave, Keith shoved the sword down toward Lance's side.

Lance grit his teeth, striking out a foot toward one of his opponents, attempting to knock it from under him. However, his gaze must've gave away his tactic as Keith lurched forward, kicking the foot that was holding Lance up, causing him to fall, the bayard leaving his hand.

The mullet-head beamed down at Lance, who huffed in annoyance. "That's it! I'm done!" he yelled exasperatedly, holding his hands up in surrender.

Keith crouched down to his level. "Don't let your eyes give away what you're aiming to do." he told him, tilting his head to peer at the shorter boy.

"I knew you were going to try and unbalance me because you looked at my stance." He stood up, but he offered Lance a hand. "It would've been a good move. I was extremely vulnerable, but you gave yourself away."

Lance watched Keith curiously as he spoke. He was really going to help him up? Giving a nod, he took the other male's hand and pulled himself up with help from the latter. "I kinda figured, heh.." he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck again.

Keith offered a patient smile as he watched Lance retrieve his bayard again. "You're welcome to leave now if you want." he laughed. "I won't hold you here anymore."

The blue paladin thought for a moment. He was a fair distance away from Keith. Enough that he could walk back, or run back. Keeping his eyes on his bayard, he thought. If he ran, Keith could react, but if Lance simply walked back, the red paladin wouldn't expect a thing!

Turning to face him, he flashed a cheeky smile as he trotted back over to him. "I think you got a scratch on my bayard," he complained mockingly, eyeing it.

Frowning, he took it from Lance and examined it. "That's weird. I don't see a- AH!" he gave a yell as Lance snagged the bayard back from him and kicked a foot from under the raven-haired boy, causing him to tumble backward.

Forming his sword, he pointed the tip at Keith. "Gotcha!" he cheered, looking a bit too smug. The red paladin tried to look annoyed, but the pride in his teammate's eyes caused him to shake his head with a smirk. He didn't guess Lance could see that as the paladin reached for him, murmuring an apology. "Hey, sorry about tha-"

Keith, without thinking, yanked Lance's arm, pulling the boy down with him, all while flipping them over so Keith was pinning him. "Never let your guard down." he told Lance with a smirk.

Lance felt warmth spread across his cheeks and pouted up at the taller male. "You just can't let me win at anything, can you?" he complained, thumping his head back against the ground, refusing to look Keith in the eye.

The older boy shrugged, blushing himself at the red that dusted Lance's cheeks and looked away, though he didn't move off him. "Oh, come on! You win at lots of stuff." he protested, crossing his arms.

Lance stuck his tongue out at the paladin above him. "Whatever! Can you let me up now?"

"Dunno.. Are you gonna try to overpower me again?"

The blue paladin quirked a brow, frowning sarcastically at Keith. "Don't tempt me."

Chuckling, Keith lifted his weight off Lance but the blue paladin took the oppurtunity to flip them.. again. "Ha!"

Keith scowled. "What did I just say?"

Lance smirked. "And what was my response?"

"How did I tempt you?"

"You gave me a chance. Now, I win. Admit it."

Squinting up at him, Keith grumbled. "Fine."

"Fine what?" Lance teased, leaning closer by supporting his weight with his hands on the floor by Keith's shoulders, making him squirm nervously.

"You win..." he mumbled, barely audible.

"I'm sorry?"

"Shut up."

Lance sighed, sitting back. "Just because I heard you the first time," he agreed, sliding off Keith and offering him a hand.

Keith took it.