There was no response. Keith made no motion to turn around, and didn't seem to have heard Lance's call. Instead, he removed his mask and joined the conversation between the other two Blade members. Lance's heart raced when he saw his friend laughing and smiling. He hardly ever did either of those things when he had been living in the castle, so why did he seem so happy now?
Lance felt himself slow down for a moment. He had expected Keith to be alone, wandering quietly through the crowds and hoping for someone to approach him. Then Lance would take the opportunity and give Keith both the knife and the gift of his company, and his friend's face would light up with excitement at seeing Lance again. Keith's face glowed with a different kind of excitement now, however. The face of belonging and acceptance. Without Lance.
He came to a complete stop now, extraterrestrial consumers pushing past him and Keith drifting further and further away. With a sigh, the red paladin looked down sadly at the neatly-wrapped box in his hands. Keith didn't need this. He already had a perfectly good Blade of Marmora knife. And perfectly good Blade of Marmora friends, too.
Lance had been stupid to assume that Keith would miss his old team. That he would miss Lance. He clearly felt more comfortable working with the Blade, and was probably learning a lot more about himself and his alien heritage. He had no reason to desire the company of his old friends anymore.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, Lance thought, trying to comfort himself. But maybe I'm not. He clutched the box close to his chest and lowered his head. From the safety of his upturned hood, Lance gave a quiet sniffle, completely unnoticed by the crowd around him. A small tear trickled down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away with his sleeve. He cursed himself for being such a baby.
"Lance?" came a voice that rang clear among the crowd. Before the red paladin could react, he felt gentle arms embrace his neck in greeting. Soft black hair tickled his chin and nose, and he felt warm, comforting breath on his shoulder.
"Keith?" Lance whimpered quietly, genuinely caught off guard.
"I heard someone call my name and I thought I saw you in the crowd and-oh you have no idea how much I've missed your stupid face," Keith mumbled through Lance's shoulder, nuzzling against his neck. All negative thoughts dissipated from Lance's head and he wrapped his arms tightly around his friend.
"I missed you too, Mullet," he giggled affectionately. When the pair finally pulled away from the hug, Lance handed Keith the black box containing the glowing knife. "We don't really get to see you a whole lot anymore, and, Coran gave us some money to spend, and, well-I just...wanted to get you something so you can...remember me, I guess? I mean-I know we'll see eachother again and stuff, but-" he stammered, face growing hot as he realized just what he was saying. He hadn't spent a whole lot of time thinking this through.
Keith gently pulled at the end of the red ribbon until it came loose, then tugged off the lid and gazed, wide-eyed, at the beautiful, luminescent red blade that lay inside.
"Whoa," he whispered, awestruck by the weapon who's pulsating glow resembled that of a heartbeat. He picked it up and turned it around in his hand, observing it from every angle. He suddenly stopped for a moment, and Lance could tell a thought had crossed his mind. He seemed nervous.
"There's...something I wanted to give you too…" he muttered, cheeks flushing pink. Before Lance had the opportunity to ask what it was, soft lips brushed up against his cheek. The moment was fleeting and ended too soon, but it was the warmest, most comforting thing the red paladin had ever experienced.
When Keith pulled away and noticed Lance's shocked expression, he instantly lowered his head and raised his shoulders in embarrassment.
"I-I'm so sorry, I should have asked first, I-" Lance rubbed a thumb over Keith's soft cheek. He immediately stopped talking.
"No...it's sweet," Lance assured, flashing an encouraging smile. He planted a soothing kiss on Keith's forehead, and the tops of their hoods brushed against each other.
"Do you...do you wanna go somewhere? There are still a bunch of shops I haven't visited yet," Keith suggested after a few moments of quiet. Lance looked at the ground.
"I...don't have any money left...I spent it all on the knife…" Keith looked down at the knife in his hand, then at the suddenly bashful boy in front of him.
"Oh-Lance, you didn't need to waste all your Gak on me…" he chuckled. Lance smiled sheepishly.
"Well-uh-we could at least look around. Plus I have a bit of money so we could buy something if we really wanted to," Keith suggested. The red paladin nodded, signaling for him to lead the way. The pair's fingers interlaced as Keith pulled Lance through the crowd, both boys giggling as they weaved around browsing patrons.
Somewhere nearby, Pidge groaned as she handed Hunk her bag of Gak, the loser of a secret bet on how long it would take for the two paladins to recognize each other as more than rivals. However, despite their excitement about the newly-developing relationship between their friends, the green and yellow paladins did not pursue. They knew perfectly well that the pair would be out all night, and they needed to inform Allura and Coran that Keith and Lance would be staying in the marketplace just a little while longer.