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Keith shifted, feeling warm and comfortable in bed for the first time since he could remember. It was probably early, as he always woke up before everyone else on the ship. A steady beat in his ear told him he'd probably fallen asleep with some headphones in again. Funnily enough, he couldn't hear any tune or words, just the beat, slow and steady. He didn't think much of it and let himself drift off back to sleep.

Lance thought he was dying. He'd woken up in his room, same as always. Except there was something very unusual in bed with him. Or rather, someone. Keith was curled up to his side, head on his chest and face a serene, angelic calm that you could hardly ever glimpse in his waking. It took Lance a good two minutes of silent panic before he remembered the cuffs. He let his head fall back against his pillow, not wanting to wake Keith by trying to get up. If he was being honest with himself, it was nice sharing a bed with someone as cuddly and cute and Keith.

Woah what? Lance's face flushed. Did he really just think that? Lance had been weighing the possibility of his Bisexuality, having had moments of question around a certain boy. But maybe, he thought, that was all for Keith? He glanced down at the older boy, who's dark locks were spread across his chest. His lips were slightly parted, soft breaths escaping almost silently to fan across Lance's body.

Cute. The word wizzed through his mind again. This time he caught it midair to interrogate it. Did he really think Keith was cute? Like, yeah, he'd always been fit and attractive, in a skinny, emo, Keithy way. But since he'd come back to the team Lance had only seen a stronger, older Keith whom had acted like a stranger with him. No more we're the days of their close friendship, and it seemed to Lance that he had to start all over with this new Keith. It had hurt, really, not being able to give Keith a hug when he'd gotten back. He'd taken one look at the Keith on the screen and instantly recognized the differences. His hair was longer, he was stronger, more filled out and broadened. And when he'd stepped out of that pod a couple inches taller than Lance, well, that was when he began to suspect this wasn't his Keith.

Lance frowned. Had Keith ever really been his Keith? It seemed like once they'd finally broken down some walls, Keith had disappeared with the Blade of Marmora and come back with even more defenses up. Now they were something close to acquaintances, maybe leaning more towards friendly rivals with Lance's help. And they were freaking handcuffed together and they didn't even know why. And it especially didn't help that Keith had come back two years older and really attractive. Lance took a deep breath. He decided to save the headache for later and turned to hold Keith closer to him before falling back into darkness.

Lance's eyes flew open as he felt a body jerk next to him in a coughing fit. Keith was in his bed, coughing, sounding like a barking seal. "Hey woah, you ok?" Lance helped Keith into a sitting position before patting his back. His rough coughs subsided quickly, much to Lance's relief. "Are you ok now?" He asked, genuinely worried.

"I'm fine." Keith said, but he wouldn't meet Lance's eye. He noticed this, but didn't say anything, just frowned. Keith's face was a little bit red, but Lance guessed the fit had been the cause.

"Good. Can't have our samurai dying on us, now can we?" Lance tried to joke, earning a small twitch at Keith's mouth, the red on his face growing. Satisfied with Keith's reaction, Lance looked around his room. Nothing had been moved since the day before, not that there was much to move. Lance's room on the castle of lions had formerly held the game console and his bed with a change of pajamas, practically nothing since the console was only like 1/3 his. He shared it with Pidge, but she'd found the most money to pay for it with her sneaky little gremlin hands. Even the skincare products Lance would use were made from natural minerals and food that he'd scrounged up in space. The walls were a dark, empty grey, nothing like the pure white of the castle. This ship was eerie, dark, foreboding, and nothing like the light, happy atmosphere of their old home.

Lance turned back to Keith, who was trying to discreetly move away from Lance. He frowned. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked before he realized. Surprised expressions met, but the question had been asked and awaited an answer.

Keith sighed. "No, I just..." He looked at the blank grey wall across the room. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm really not good with people."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lance asked, his voice showing it wasn't accusatory, it was true confusion.

Keith took a deep breath. "Look, Lance. I really don't want to talk about it right now. It's not important, really. Let's just figure out how this morning is gonna go."

Lance studied Keith's profile for a moment before relenting. "Okay, first things first." Lance said, wrinkling his nose. "Showers."

It was awkward, to say the least. Lance had stepped into the shower while Keith had sat on the toilet lid and stared anywhere but to his right. There was a shuffle of trying to find a way to get Lance's shirt off so he could actually shower. Keith had suggested he rip the seam on the left shoulder so it didn't damage the shirt and Lance could actually get it off. Then it was an extremely awakward spance of time while they took turns showering. Yeah, other guys might not care if they walk around in front of other guys with their junk hangin out in a locker room, but neither were one of those guys.

Getting dressed had been... interesting. There was no way for either of them to put on a shirt, without having to squeeze their entire body through the sleeve of the shirts. So they were left shirtless for a while. Keith was less affected by the lack because he'd been in only his pajama pants the day before.

Lance was a bit uncomfortable at first, but soon got used to it. Just imagine you're at the beach, he told himself. Nobody wears shirts at the beach. After breakfast, Coran announced that they were making a stop at a nearby planet to restock and hopefully find shirts for Keith and Lance. That sent a light blush from their ears to their exposed shoulders, but they said nothing, just continued eating.

Several times, Keith nearly dropped his utensils. Lance gave him a questioning look. "My dominant hand is cuffed." Keith whispered, embarrassed. Lance just nodded.

"Ambidextrous. You can use your right hand if you want. I can try to keep my hand out of the way." Lance gave him a solemn look.

"Thanks, Lance, but I'll survive the meal with my left hand." He gave a small smile and bumped Lance's shoulder.

"Okay Mr. and Mr. McClain. We're headed down to the surface of the planet, and this is gonna be an important all day trip, so don't go wandering off alone." Pidge threatened, her name for the two sending red over their exposed bodies.

"Shut it you little gremlin." Lance muttered.

"Question." Keith said. "How are Lance and I going to get down there?"

Allura stepped forward. "I was just thinking the same thing. Keith, I believe it would be best for you to go with Lance in the red lion while Shiro pilots the black lion because both you and Lance have a strong bond with Red."

Keith exchanged looks with Lance and they both shrugged. "As long as Shiro feels well enough to pilot, I'm fine with that."

Shiro nodded to his brother. "Alrighty then." Coran clapped. "We'd better head out."