A/N: So it's just my theory that building the teludav took some time. Like days or weeks instead of a 20 minute episode. And in case it's not clear - since I've already twisted season 2 a bit to fit my own needs – that's where I am in the timeline.

And – just – thank you for all the nice comments you guys left on that last chapter. I'm really just thrilled that you guys are enjoying this story and really appreciative of everyone who's told me just how much.

"Tell him."

Keith watched Shiro turn towards him as Allura spoke. His own eyes narrowed as he watched his friend's eyes darken until they were practically black. They looked cold and dangerous. Keith's brows furrowed together in a full fledged frown. Those emotionless eyes didn't belong on Shiro's face. Shiro's eyes were always so understanding. And patient, especially with the awkward loner he'd recruited into the Garrison. In fact, if it wasn't for how incredibly talented Shiro was as a pilot and getting caught up in this whole defender of the universe thing, Keith is pretty sure Shiro would've made a fantastic kindergarten teacher.

"Shiro?" he finally asked when a length of time went by without Shiro opening his mouth.

Shiro's dark eyes snapped up to his own. "You don't belong here, Keith."

Keith took a step back, flinching as if he'd been struck.

"You didn't belong at the Garrison and you don't belong here, either. You're endangering us. We need you to leave."

"But I don't -," Keith shuddered. He was suddenly freezing but he resisted the urge to rub his hands along his arms in order to warm himself up. "Where am I supposed to go?" He hated how weak and small his voice sounded.

"We have a small escape pod ready for you," Allura stated plainly.

Keith began shaking his head. "Red -,"

"You are no longer her paladin," Shiro stated firmly.

"But she'll – she'll want to know where I am," Keith insisted.

"This is for the good of Voltron. She will understand."

The softness of Allura's voice in regards to his lion only angered him. Allura didn't know Red better than he did. Red was his! And he was hers!

"Where's the rest of the team? What do they think?"

Lance, Keith thought, surely Lance would be angered by this. Hunk and Pidge too, probably. They were all friends, right?

"We've sent them on a small mission," Shiro said. "They won't be back until after you leave, but Allura and I will discuss this with them. They'll understand as well."

Keith began shaking his head again. No, no, no, no. They can't be gone right now! He knew in his gut that if Lance was here, he would never let Keith leave. Maybe Shiro and Allura knew that too? Maybe that's why they sent him away?

He tried to open his mouth again to protest, but one second Shiro's metal hand was on his shoulder and in the next second he was propelling through space in an escape pod. The sudden change left him feeling dizzy. And as the castle became smaller and smaller in his viewfinder, he could feel panic growing in his chest.

He didn't have a home. He didn't have a family. And the one person he wanted to see had just been ripped away from him. What would Lance think when he returned and found Keith gone? Would he try to find him?

He pushed his senses out, doing his best to reach Red. She'd traveled far to find him in the past. Maybe this time? He shuddered after a few moments when he realized he couldn't feel her presence in his mind anymore. Apparently she agreed that she needed a new paladin. Someone worthy of her. Someone not Galra.

And if Red could toss him out so easily, when they'd had such a strong bond for so long, maybe that meant he was wasting his time on hopes that Lance would fight for him to be part of Voltron. Maybe Lance would return from his mission and happily go along with whatever the princess said. Do that little half shrug he does when he doesn't care one way or another about a choice that has been made for him, like when he's outvoted on movie night.

Keith startled out of his thoughts when the escape pod jerked to a stop. He fought with the useless controls, but the pod was no lion, and he was too caught up in a tractor beam to try to finagle his way free.

Too caught up in a tractor beam pulling him towards a Galra fighter ship.

His hand swiped for his bayard, and his heart sank when he realized he didn't have it anymore. It was like being kicked while he was down. He swallowed hard and pushed past the disappointment as the pod was pulled inside the ship. He reached behind him for his personal blade – and growled when he found that it was missing as well.

The pod was shaken sideways and he tumbled out of it, landing hard on the metal floor.

"Finally."

Keith heard the sharp voice and looked up to see Zarkon stalking towards him. He stood unsteadily on his feet as Zarkon stopped in front of him. He looked Keith over with a hard look.

"You're finally where you belong," Zarkon said and Keith could feel his skin crawl. "Come with me. You're going to tell me what I need to know in order to take down Voltron."

His hand reached out to grip Keith's shoulder.

And Keith finally shuddered hard enough to wake himself up.

He was panting and his chest hurt from the residual panic and heartache.

But he was face to face with Lance. Lance's own face was relaxed and soft in sleep. He still had his arms wrapped around Keith, keeping Keith pulled tightly to his chest as they rested. And Keith had never been so happy to see his dumb, handsome face.

It was a dream. It was a dream. It was a dream. He repeated it to himself. Maybe Allura wasn't thrilled with him right now, but she hadn't actually kicked him out of the castle. And Shiro would never allow it anyway. He knew that. Just like he knew Red wouldn't let them throw him away.

He could feel himself settling just by looking at Lance. And maybe the two of them had just started this thing between them – actually, he thought to himself - that wasn't true. They'd started this thing between them years ago. Acknowledge this thing was what they'd just managed to do recently. But either way, he felt lucky. Just so goddamn lucky to have Lance in his corner. Because he knew Lance wouldn't let the others kick him out either.

He tightened his own arms around Lance and instantly knew it wasn't enough. He'd had to refrain from even looking at Lance for too long over the last few years and now that he had him in his bed, he needed to be closer.

He pushed his dream away, unwilling to psychoanalyze it further right now. Instead, he nosed along Lance's jawline, pushing it upwards so he could dip down and press his lips against the sleeping paladin's throat. He was thinking about focusing on one area, just because he knew he'd really enjoy seeing such a mark on Lance's neck, when Lance stirred

"Is this the kind of wake up I can expect with you as a boyfriend?" Lance asked, his voice full of sleep.

Something inside Keith shuddered happily at the word boyfriend falling so easily out of Lance's mouth. But he didn't answer him, and instead just continued kissing his way across Lance's warm skin, pleased with the freedom to do so, as he listened to soft sighs leave Lance's mouth.

Keith had shed Lance's jacket at some point during their sleep, only because the heat of having Lance pressed against him was enough to roast him. Other than that, they'd both slept in their clothes, although when he glanced down, Keith could see that Lance's shirt had slid up, revealing an appealing strip of abdomen. He remembered how amazing Lance's fingers had felt against his own skin, and tentatively let his fingertips slide against the exposed tan skin.

Lance shuddered beneath his fingers. "Keith," Lance rasped. It was all he managed before Keith's mouth was on his again, hot and already familiar.

Keith's fingers slid up under his shirt and began to explore the smooth broad chest. Lance shuddered again at the touches and huddled himself closer to Keith, essentially sliding himself beneath Keith. Keith groaned in appreciation as he shifted to accommodate him.

"Your fingers are so warm Keith," Lance managed to say, breaking their lip contact and shifting further so that he could get one arm wrapped around Keith's middle while his other hand began to card through Keith's unruly hair. "Feel so good."

"So this is okay?" Keith whispered back. His scalp tingled from Lance's attention and he began pressing kisses to anywhere he could reach along Lance's jaw.

"Yes, Keith. You can touch me anywhere you want."

Keith found himself grinning into Lance's neck at that, and then didn't hesitate to slide his hand back down Lance's chest so that he could dip his fingers under the waistband of Lance's jeans. His fingers didn't go any further than that waistband, but it was enough to pull a whimper out of Lance's throat.

"Dios, Keith," Lance panted while his hips arched up towards the red paladin.

"You okay?" Keith's voice was on the edge of teasing and he smiled into Lance's neck once again.

"Good, great," Lance responded with an enthusiastic nod as he completely ignored Keith's teasing tone. "My boyfriend's hand is almost down my pants, so – ,"

Keith covered Lance's mouth once again with his own for a quick kiss before he sat up and swung himself around to straddle Lance's waist. He took a moment to stare fondly down at Lance. Lance was so much. So much enthusiasm. So much warmth. So many bright smiles. Even right now, when he was barely awake, Keith wasn't sure how Lance could be contained in this long, lanky body that Keith was currently sitting on. He was struck pleased once again that they were here, that they had reached a point where they could be open with each other instead of hiding behind insults and glares.

"Do you really want to call me your boyfriend?" Keith asked.

Lance licked his lips and took in the sight above him. Keith's hair was appropriately mussed and framing that pretty face in a way that made his mouth dry. Slightly more distracting however was Keith's ass sitting in his lap. He couldn't help himself as his hips shifted upward.

"I know you're saying words to me but I'm having a hard time focusing," Lance said, although he did understand what the little gasp he earned from Keith meant.

Keith bit down another gasp when Lance shifted under him again. Then he frowned down at him. "I pin you like this all the time."

"All the time might not be totally accurate."

Keith raised an eyebrow and smirked down at him.

"I'm pretty sure I pin you just as often as you pin me," Lance attempted.

Keith shifted once, just enough to grind his ass into Lance's lap in retaliation.

Lance gasped and shuddered. His hands landed on Keith's hips, although he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop him from doing that again, or full on encourage him to keep going.

He turned a small glare in Keith's direction. "Was there a reason for this pin?"

"You called me your boyfriend earlier."

"Oh, well, yeah." Lance's tone was suddenly unsure and he tightened his grip on Keith's hips to keep his hands from fidgeting. Suddenly the position they were in went from erotically suggestive to leaving him feeling a little too exposed under Keith's dark eyed gaze. "Well, unless I'm reading you sucking my face incorrectly -"

"I like kissing you."

Lance huffed at Keith's matter of fact tone and sat himself upright, putting himself at eye level with Keith still in his lap. "So you just want to keep kissing? But not like -," he cut himself off and ran a hand through his hair.

"What?"

"Be like – together outside this room?"

One of Keith's hands wrapped a hand around the back of Lance's neck and he let his fingers play with the hair that he could reach there. "I just wanted to make sure that's what you meant when you called me that," Keith finally said.

"It is." A wide smile spread across Lance's face. "So I can call you my boyfriend?"

Keith nodded with his own dimple filled smile and Lance's heart began to beat faster, especially when he noticed Keith's grin grow mischievous.

"Although, I bet there's all kinds of places we could be together that are outside of this room. I certainly wouldn't be opposed to pressing you up against some of the walls of this castle."

Lance sputtered. "You're going to kill me," he finally whispered. "Are you just going to say things like that now?"

Keith raised an innocent eyebrow at him in question.

"As if they're no big deal!" Lance exclaimed.

"You're the biggest flirt I've ever seen," Keith said dryly. "You say things all the time!"

"Okay, one, I am not really complaining about the things that come out of your mouth. Please continue that, yeah?" He dropped a quick kiss on Keith's mouth before his eyes darted away so that he could begin to intently study his fingers which were busy squeezing Keith's hips. "And two, the things I say are usually never serious. At least, no one has ever taken me seriously before."

There was a brief pause from Keith before he said, "Wait, no one?"

Lance offered a half-hearted shrug.

Keith hummed in thought for a moment, and then, while perched in Lance's lap, Keith Kogane said something that Lance McClain was always going to remember.

"Pretty sure it's cause you were meant for me."

Lance's mouth fell open and those bright blue eyes returned to Keith's face. "Dammit, Keith!"

Keith bit back a smile as he watched mock outrage cover Lance's face again.

"Out of the two of us, I'm supposed to be the romantic one, you sappy jerk."

Keith shrugged but grinned openly. He leaned himself forward, pressing his chest to Lance's chest, and shifted himself in Lance's lap before he pressed his mouth to Lance's. He could do this all day, he realized. Actually kissing Lance was so much better than any random thought he'd ever had in the past about what it might be like to kiss Lance. One of Lance's hands made its way into his hair again, an action that had him smiling into their kiss as he considered how often Lance complained about his hair.

And again, he needed more. He increased the intensity of the kiss by licking his way into Lance's mouth and twisting his tongue around Lance's tongue. His fingers tugged at the hair at the nape of Lance's neck before he shifted in order to grind himself down into Lance's lap once again.

"Keeeith," Lance groaned. God the heat he could feel in his gut.

His hands slid down Keith's back until he was happily cupping Keith's ass. He watched as Keith's head jerked back at the touch. And with Keith's pretty mouth suddenly dropped open and his face pinked up and his half-lidded eyes focused solely on Lance's face, Lance knew he'd never seen anything so amazing in his whole life.

"Keith, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you're – just – holy shit, just really pretty. Really fucking pretty."

Keith's eyes widened at the compliment, but there confusion there as well. "Why would I take that the wrong way? Unless, you don't mean it?"

"Oh, I mean it," Lance said, kissing the cute furrow that had developed between Keith's eyebrows as he asked the question. "I guess I just thought you might take it the wrong because it's me saying it, but -,"

"I like it because it's you saying it, Lance."

Lance cut off the self-deprecating comment he'd been about to make and leaned back slightly as he regarded Keith fondly. Keith's comments over the past few days, combined with Keith's persistent soft kisses against his mouth, had him feeling like something special. He found himself hoping that Keith was right.

"I'm beginning to feel like we've wasted a lot of time," Lance said in a low voice.

"You mean because you keep talking?"

Lance rolled his eyes.

"You mean because you came up with a dumb rivalry and have spent the last few years insulting me?"

"You've been just as insulting!"

"I do rise to the bait too easily." Keith's eyes darkened as he shifted in Lance's lap and wrapped both his arms around his neck. "You want to see what other Lance-related things I rise easily to?"

"Keeeeith." Lance flopped back down on the bed, pulling Keith with him, and eyed Keith happily. "What on Earth have I unleashed in you?"

Keith chuckled. "We're not on Earth."

"You're honestly going to kill me."

Keith kissed him again. Who knew teasing Lance could be so much fun?

"Wait," Lance said as Keith's mouth relocated to his neck. "When do we tell the others?"

Keith leaned back slightly and thought about it. "Maybe after the teludav mission?"

Lance nodded in agreement. "Keep the team distractions to a minimum?"

Keith hummed again and then said with a sigh and a voice full of disappointment, "Guess I'll stop trying to leave a noticeable mark on your neck."

"Dios, Keith."

A few hours after their lips had stopped moving against each other in favor of much needed additional sleep, they were awoken to the sound of the castle alarm blaring. They disentangled from each other, and sprinted together to the armor room where they began gearing up with the rest of the team.

"There is a Galra battle cruiser circling Olkarion," Allura's face appeared in a hologram on one side of the room. "We don't think they know our plan, but they cannot be allowed to stay. You must form Voltron and remove the threat."

"Understood," Shiro replied easily as he pulled on his helmet and took off for his own lion.

Lance finished pulling on his armor a few seconds before Keith. Then he stilled and watched Keith pull on his gloves and wondered what kind of goodbye would be appropriate right now. Kissing was definitely out with everyone else in the room. Hugging too, probably. What did that leave? Ruffling his hair? A high five? Nothing?

Keith pulled on his own helmet – taking away the hair ruffling option – and then knocked his fist into Lance's bicep and said a quick, "Go get em," before he turned and headed for his lion.

Lance watched him go for a moment, because damn that boy's ass was distracting, then he turned and sprinted for Blue, happy to have had something in the way of a goodbye.

"Form sword," Shiro called out over their comms and Keith happily activated the giant robot's sword. They dove for the ion canon, dodging smaller fire blasts before Keith swung and dismantled the giant weapon. He also slid the sword along the siding of the giant ship as they went by. Just for good measure.

It was going down, crashing into the woods of Olkarion, and the rest of the team could feel Pidge's mix of anger and remorse over the damage it was going to cause the forest.

"The Olkari will help the forest heal," Shiro offered as they turned away from the crashing ship to head back to the castle.

They separated from each and Lance caught sight of the red lion in his viewfinder. He felt his chest warm as he thought about having a private celebration with Keith later that night. Maybe they'd even -

"What are you so excited about, Lance?" Hunk asked.

Lance froze, even though no one could see him, as he realized his feelings were still being projected to the rest of the team.

"Uh, just happy, buddy," Lance said. He could practically feel Keith's smirk from here. "Just your average battle victory happiness."

"Cool, dude." Hunk's own happiness grew as well, reaching out to all of them, and Lance wondered if they could tell the difference between Hunk's pure and innocent happiness and his not so pure and innocent happiness.

"Hunk! Behind you!" Shiro's voice suddenly rang out.

Lance swung Blue around and spotted a few small Galra fighter ships aimed directly for Hunk, almost as if they didn't care if they were about to charge into the side of the yellow lion. He geared up his own weapon but he wasn't as fast as Keith and Red, who were by Yellow's side in an instant, knocking Yellow out of the way, and practically flipping backwards to also avoid being the target of the Galra's surprise attack.

Green had already been close to Yellow as well and Pidge, fueled by her anger about the damage to the planet below them, yelled out a quick, "Get some of this!" before hitting the button to activate her lion's newest modification. She aimed the magnified sonic blasts directly at the two ships. And they began to practically flail in the air before dropping to the planet below. It should've been a victory. Except she hadn't been expecting Red to jump into the line of trajectory in an attempt to blast the ships with fire power at that same moment.

Keith's sudden sharp pain from the blast reverberated back to the entire team. Everyone flinched and cried out. Pidge swore she even heard Red yelp in reaction to Keith's pain. Lance yelled Keith's name before he could even stop and remind himself that perhaps loud noises weren't a good idea. And while everyone continued to try to call out to Keith, Red was two steps ahead of them. She'd already turned and was sprinting back to the castle, much too fast for any of them to hope to catch up to.

Blue shot after her anyway, and Lance lowered his voice before he began to try to call out to Keith again.

"Keith. Keith, please. Please say something."

Lance could feel Pidge's regret. And Shiro and Hunk's worry. And when there was continued silence, Shiro's voice cut through the thick tension. "Red has the right idea. Keith will be fine."

Lance fought down his panic. If Keith's ears were busted again, he'd go back into a healing pod. He would be fine. Perfectly fine. Maybe his hearing would be affected at some point here, but Lance had a loud voice. See – see how well they were matched? Although, with Hunk and Pidge around, they could probably sort out some kind of hearing aid for –

"Lance?"

Lance perked up immediately when he heard Keith's voice come through a private line.

"Keith, holy shit. Are you okay? You know Hunk and Pidge are gonna want to apology hug it up when we get back. But, hey, maybe we can get some more space jelly and biscuits out of -,"

"Lance," Keith interjected.

Lance closed his mouth on his next words when he heard the distress in Keith's voice.

"Lance, listen," Keith continued. "When we get back to the castle, I – I'm going to go back to my room to rest. Alone. Okay?"

"Keith, bud, I know you hate the healing pods, but -,"

"No, Lance. I'm – I'm not hurt. Look, I'm conscious and I can hear you, right? I just want to be alone, okay?"

Lance deflated in his seat. He wavered between feeling hurt and wanting to do as Keith asked without making a huge deal out of it.

"Can you – can you just tell the others?"

Lance heard the way Keith's voice faltered and his protective instincts flared.

"I got you, Keith."

Keith's reply of thanks was so soft Lance barely heard it.

Lance was moping. He poked at his green space goo at the dinner table while he half listened to Shiro's long lecture against using weapons that can hurt team members.

He'd told the rest of the team that Keith claimed to be fine, and that he wanted to be alone. But the shock of Keith's pain they'd all felt earlier on top of his glaring absence from the dinner table had them all on edge.

"Maybe I should bring Keith some dinner?" Hunk suggested at some point after Shiro stopped talking.

"I'll do it," Lance volunteered. He stood and began to fill another bowl with goo. "I'm going to bed now anyway."

He ignored their questioning looks and headed towards the bedrooms. He hesitated outside Keith's door and waffled back and forth between knocking or not knocking. Finally he knocked twice and began talking before Keith could even have a chance to question him.

"It's just me, Keith. I, uh, I have your dinner. It's fine if you don't want to answer. I just wanted you to know that I'm leaving it out here, okay? So, uh, I'm gonna go to bed. But if you're hungry, food is here." He paused for a moment, secretly wishing Keith would interrupt his rambling by opening the door and pulling him inside the room.

Keith didn't.

"Okay, goodnight, Keith."

He set the food down on the floor before he slinked away to his own room down the hall. He slowly got himself ready for bed and then sank down on his mattress. His face fell into his hands.

And it didn't matter that Keith hadn't actually blamed him for anything, he couldn't fight off a feeling of guilt. A feeling like he'd suddenly done something wrong. He ran over recent events and wondered if he'd been pushy? Or clingy? Although, considering the way Keith had been happily situated in his lap earlier, he didn't think Keith was suddenly upset about their physical contact.

Unless, well unless Keith was having second thoughts about him. Like maybe Keith realized he was aligning himself with the most useless member of Voltron? A cargo pilot who just happened to be here by pure luck?

He lifted his face and stared at his door. He wanted to see Keith. Plus, Keith fit so nicely tucked into his side when they slept. And if Keith knew what his private thoughts were right now, Keith would likely reassure him. Right?

But he didn't stand. If Keith wanted to be alone, he'd let the grumpy paladin have his alone time. For tonight at least.

The next morning found Lance up early and planted outside Keith's door. The bowl of food he'd left was gone, and Lance hoped that meant that Keith had actually eaten.

He knocked as loud as he dared considering Pidge's room was close by.

"Keith. Come on man, come out. Come to breakfast with me."

"No."

"Are you sick?"

"Um, no."

Lance frowned. "That's…not convincing." He glanced up and down the hallway and lowered his voice even further. "Listen, if I did something wrong – I just – can you just tell me what it was?"

"Lance, no," Keith said immediately and with as much sincere force as he could muster through a door. "You haven't done anything wrong. Okay? I'm just staying in here today."

"Why?"

"Because Allura already hated me when I just looked like human Keith."

Lance sucked in a breath and he was instantly grateful for the door blocking his face from Keith's view, because he immediately pictured Keith as a full fledged Galra soldier. But then he swallowed slowly and reminded himself that it would still be Keith. Grumpy, stubborn, cuddly, dimple-filled Keith. And so he knocked on the door again.

He was met by silence. "Keith, come on. You're not human Keith or Galra Keith. Just – just, if you're not going to come out, will you please let me in?"

Another few moments of silence went by before the doors slid open and Lance stepped into the room quickly before Keith could change his mind. But all movement stopped when his eyes rose to meet Keith's face. He'd been expecting a giant Galra soldier with mean yellow eyes and sharp claws. He'd been preparing himself to just be brave. He hadn't prepared himself not to melt.

"Oh my God, Keeeeith," he whispered. "That. Is. Amazing."

Keith had been staring at the ground with his shoulders hunched and his hands clenched in fists when Lance had entered. His fingers slowly unfurled and his shoulders slowly lowered, but he still refused to meet Lance's eyes.

Refused until the next words flew out of Lance's mouth at least.

"Can I – can I touch?"

Keith's eyes, still purple Lance thankfully noted, flew up to Lance's face. "This is not amazing, Lance! And what do you mean, can you touch?"

Lance was sure his eyes couldn't get any wider than they were at this moment. Keith was still the same height, which meant Lance was still slightly taller than him, thank you very much. His skin was still as pale as ever without a trace of a purple tinge. There were no claws, also important to note. Lance briefly wondered if Galra had fangs and decided Galra dental anatomy would be something to think about later, or at least check out after he got a good look at what Keith's teeth currently looked like.

But holy fuck, sprouting out of Keith's crazy black hair were Galra ears. Fuzzy, purple Galra ears that were currently flicked back, displaying Keith's clear agitation. And if Lance thought Keith was adorable before all this, add in fuzzy kitten ears that displayed his emotions and Lance was sure he was going to perish on the spot from the cuteness.

Keith groaned in frustration then and spun around so he could sit on his bed before dropping his face into his hands. Lance followed his lead and plopped down on the bed beside him.

"Did they like, pop up on our mission yesterday?" Holy crow the ears perked up when Lance spoke. "Is this why you disappeared? Do you think it was a reaction from another sonic blast?"

Keith side-eyed Lance. Lance had sat himself just about as close as he could get on the bed. He didn't appear scared or freaked out or even worried. Keith supposed ears weren't really a thing to be scared of – it wasn't like he suddenly had claws – but the ears loudly screamed that Keith was Galra. Keith was part alien. Part enemy.

Keith lowered his hands and sat up straight before turning to Lance. "What are you doing?"

"Catching up," Lance said easily as he dropped his hands behind himself on the bed and then leaned into them while grinning at Keith. He couldn't help the pure joy he felt watching those ears move towards him whenever he spoke. "I missed you last night, ya know?"

It was said cheerfully, but Keith could see a layer of hurt in Lance's eyes and he cursed himself for being the cause of it.

"You really missed out this morning, too, cause I woke up with the best hair ever." Lance raised his eyebrows and pointed to his head of hair as he spoke. "I mean, zero bed head and it combed exactly the way I wanted it to on the first try. Just a fantastic hair day for Lance."

Keith frowned, unsure where Lance was going with this. Plus, Lance's hair looked the same way it did every day. Shaggy, but still soft enough to make Keith want to touch it.

"But you and your kitten ears -,"

"Kitten!" Keith growled.

" – have clearly one-upped me this morning on who woke up the cutest today."

Keith gaped at him. "You do realize why I have these, right?"

"Keith, I just – I mean – those may be the most adorable things I've ever seen."

"They're alien ears, Lance. They're not adorable. Why are you not freaked out about this?"

"Maybe because I'm secretly a furry."

Keith groaned and rubbed at both of his temples. "Even though I've never heard that word before, I have a terrible feeling I know what it means."

Lance laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm not really a furry."

"Then why are you so calm?"

"Maybe because I love kittens?"

Keith elbowed him. But he kept his eyes shifted towards the floor. And his ears were lowered.

Lance thanked whatever powers that be that led to Keith's Galra ears suddenly making an appearance. Not only did they make the red paladin look downright huggable, but Lance would take assistance in deciphering Keith's emotions any way he could get it.

Speaking of making the other paladin look huggable, Lance decided to take a chance and do just that. His arms wrapped around Keith's middle and he pulled Keith quickly into his chest. With how grumpy and sad Keith was, he half expected Keith to stiffen, or object, or push him away. Instead, Keith went willingly and curled into Lance like he was made to fit there. He tucked his face into the crook of Lance's neck and after another moment he reciprocated and wrapped an arm around Lance's upper back.

"Being part Galra has made you who you are, Keith, which means it's a good thing."

Keith pulled his face from Lance's neck in order to meet Lance's blue eyes directly.

"How can you say that?"

"Because I know you. And you – Keith – you're the best. And I'm not saying that as a prick who's trying to be your rival so you'll pay attention to me. I mean it. You're exactly who I want to be with everyday. Who I want to look at every day – dios – especially now."

Keith rolled his eyes, but then returned them to Lance's face. Lance was always so open. So easy to read. And Keith forced himself to keep eye contact as he saw the earnest truth in Lance's bright blue eyes.

Words, especially words right now to show Lance his appreciation, weren't his strong suit. So he pressed his lips to Lance's and practically sighed into the kiss when Lance kissed him back without hesitation. He'd missed Lance last night and could feel a strong regret for not confiding in him as soon as the ears had appeared after that blast in Red yesterday.

Because instead of confiding in Lance, he'd panicked. Images from his nightmare had returned full force because there was no denying or ignoring the fact that he was part Galra with purple fuzzy ears sticking out of his head. He'd been sure that one look at him would have the team hurling him out of the castle in an escape pod.

"You need to have more faith in us, babe," Lance managed to murmur into their kiss – and Keith had a brief moment where he wondered if Lance could actually read his mind - before Lance slid his tongue into Keith's mouth and gingerly ran it along the edges of Keith's teeth. Just - you know - confirming that he was fangless, before he began to enthusiastically twist his tongue with Keith's.

Keith groaned into the kiss and shifted so that he could pull Lance down onto the bed with him, while continuing to think about how grateful he was to have Lance help him through this. He had no idea how he would've managed to make it this far without Lance's calm and endearing understanding guiding him through.

Lance kept up with the kiss as he crawled on top of Keith. He was silently kicking himself for thinking that Keith would suddenly toss him aside. He should've given Keith more credit than that. Keith's hard exterior was a pretty damn good cover for the inner Keith who needed comfort and reassurance, perhaps even more than anyone else. And Lance would always be ready to prove that he had plenty to offer.

And with Keith arched under him, Lance figured he couldn't go too wrong, so he reached a hand up and tentatively traced one of Keith's pointy ears with his fingers. The ear flinched under his fingers, but he pressed his mouth harder against Keith's mouth with a small noise in his throat, a plea for Keith to trust him. And it seemed to work, as Keith's ear relaxed under his fingers. He continued to trace the ear for a few more moments, reveling in how soft it was, before he got brave again and scratched his fingers behind the ear.

And then it got so much better. Because Keith released a noise that sounded like a goddamn purr.

"Jesus, Keith," Lance gasped. He leaned his weight on an elbow so he could stare down at Keith. "If you're going to be this hot, plus have kitten ears, plus purr, while also being a badass paladin, then I'm going to go ahead and declare that I have the best boyfriend in the universe."

"Lance," Keith panted out with fond exasperation as he tried to pull Lance's face back down.

"No, I mean it, babe. Like the entire universe." He watched Keith's face turn a pretty pink color and his grin only widened. "You're a beautiful space cat, babe."

Keith poked him in the side and grinned when Lance flinched. "I don't know how I feel about babe as it is. Don't you dare call me a space cat."

Lance audibly sighed. "Look, Keithy, you gotta give me something. And since you don't like mullet -,"

"Who would?"

"- or space cadet -,"

Keith rolled his eyes.

"- and shortstack is probably out - ,"

"You're barely taller than me!"

"And I'm betting you'd murder me in my sleep if I tried to use something cutesy like honey pie or sweetums –,"

"I've never agreed with you more than this moment right here."

" – then you're going to have live with babe. And space cat. And I really like Keithy too. And I'm just giving you a fair warning that I'm sure more will come to me in the future."

Now it was Keith's turn to audibly sigh. "What's wrong with Keith?"

"I like Keith, too," Lance said with a devious smile. Being on top of Keith gave him a little bit of an advantage and as he shifted the leg he had between Keith's legs up so that he could rub one of his thighs against Keith's groin while leaning in close and moaning out "Keeeeith," directly into one of Keith's cute kitten ears.

Keith gasped. And shuddered. And still managed to openly glare at him when he pulled away.

"Fine," Keith murmured in his own low, dangerous tone. Although, he couldn't hold the look for long. Not since Lance had waltzed into his room and easily managed to erase all the bad feelings he'd been stewing in for the past several hours.