10. The Wings

One. Two

A swing under.

One. Two.

A twirl then one from the side.

One. Two. Three. Block. Four. Five. Dodge.

One. Two. And final blow!

Keith repeated the steps in his mind as he hacked up one of the already pitiful training mannequins . Straw flew out every time he swung at it with a blunted sword. At some point he had even managed to sever part of the mannequins left arm which made the swing of the contraption unpredictable, but that was fine. Predictability was boring. Keith could go through the steps without thinking with predictability. That would deter the point. He just wanted to fill his mind with practice. That was all he wanted to do since returning to the Crystal Castle the night before.

"Lord Keith!"

Keith stopped hearing his name being called. He looked up to see Shiro approaching him, one hand on his hip, the other resting on the hilt of his sword. He lifted a hand to his forehead and wiped away sweat that was collecting there and on his bangs.

"Your Highness," Keith greeted with a short bow.

Shiro frowned and looked Keith up and down then over at the mannequin . "You've totally destroyed it."

"I'll repair it," Keith assured.

The prince frowned. "I think it's beyond that now. You've been at this for over an hour."

"I can go longer."

Shiro sighed and reached out. He tugged at Keith's hair and straw fell out. "Look at you, you're a mess. I think it's time to stop."

"But, I have to train, too," Keith protested. "We don't know when the Galra will attack again. I don't want to be rusty."

"Well, then how about you train with me," Shiro offered with a grin. "Actually, I command you train with me. The other soldiers want a turn with the mannequins , too, but all your swinging and grunting and hissing has them scared."

Keith's ears perked up and he looked around. Indeed, the other soldiers in the mannequin practice area were giving him uneasy eyes while leaving the mannequins closest to Keith untouched. He felt a bit embarrassed by it all.

"Shall I clean up first?" Keith asked.

Shiro just turned and waved for Keith to follow. "Don't bother. It's fine to let that one get destroyed. They're probably going to try and copy what you were doing once we're not looking."

"Oh, did I look cool or something?"

Shiro laughed. "Does our number one Ko knight really have to ask?"

"I'm not number one," Keith protested. "I don't think we even qualify as Ko military anymore."

"Then our number one Red knight," Shiro said.

"Alright," Keith agreed. There were few Red riders in Altea anyways, it wasn't unreasonable that he would be number one among them.

Keith followed the prince off to an empty area between the training mannequin area and the short range archery boards. The thwack of soft tipped arrows close by and grunts as heavy swords were swung at straw and cloth set his mood as he got ready opposite of Shiro.

"It's been awhile since we've done this," Shiro said as he drew his sword and lit it in flames. "I'll use my usual sword, so if you get burned you might as well have gotten cut."

Keith grinned and held the blunted sword before him and let his fire blanket it as well. "Same goes for me then. I'd rather burn you than bruise you."

They came at each other with a hard clash of metal and a sizzling ignited. Keith could tell some of the soldiers had stopped their training to watch never having seen two Fire Masters sword fighting. Keith had seen it plenty of times, had done it more than that. The sizzling, the hotness of another's fire so close and so dangerous, it was a game he enjoyed. With each swing, Keith realized Shiro's flames were less and less a danger and it was the sharpness that would get to him first. Of course he would never beat the prince in front of others if not in an official match, but, perhaps, he could make Shiro submit. He had been able to control the Galra fire based cell bars. Perhaps he could control a Level 3 master's fire as well. When Shiro's sword came in contact with his once more, Keith pushed towards the prince and urged his fire to grab hold of Shiro's. When it did, he pulled it back and the flames on Shiro's sword came with him.

Instantly, Shiro pulled back and looked at Keith surprised before his eyes crinkled up and he laughed. "I should add onto the princess' level up pardon. That was amazing, Lord Keith. Have you been practicing?"

Amazing? Keith didn't know about that. "Not much, I just thought I'd try. It felt like I could."

Shiro laughed and moved over to Keith wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Really, just felt like you'd try? You've gotten more in contact with your fire. I bet it's all that new passion you've gotten."

Passion? Was Shiro referencing his crush on Lance or just the passion of war with the Galra Empire? Keith wasn't sure, but he was embarrassed when Shiro lifted his hand to his head and began to ruffle his hair like he always did in their private time.

Suddenly, something whizzed between their faces. It was followed by a person pushing between them forcibly. When Keith steadied himself and turned to see who it was, he saw Lance retrieving one of the soft tipped arrows the arches were currently practicing with. He turned to them only giving Keith a very quick and very mixed glance before grinning at Shiro.

"My apologies. Someone got distracted and let the arrow fly. You two probably shouldn't use all of that flashy fire so close to the archers. As Alteans, we're not really use to it, you know. It was pretty impressive and all, however," Lance said and slowly walked back between them heading up to the archery boards again waving the arrow in the air. "Very, very, impressive."

"He's right," Shiro said. "Swords are less likely to come flying at us if we're a distraction than arrows."

Keith narrowed his eyes after Lance. The arrow in his hand was tipped in blue. The usual soldiers had wine colored tipped ends to look like blood when they landed on the boards. Only knights had the color of their dragons. "Yeah, I guess."

"Do you want to go practice archery instead? You don't do that too often. I need to set up a practice battle with one of the generals," Shiro said.

It was a good idea. Keith did need more practice with a bow, but when he looked over at the archers, his eyes landed on Lance and he felt that ache return to his chest. He swallowed with some difficulty and straightened up. "I'll go work with the shields. I think they'll be the most important weapon we have against those guns."

Shiro tilted his head, but only studied Keith for a moment before nodding. "Just don't go bashing children over and over or else I'll have to come stop you again."

Another couple hours passed before a knight came up to Keith, tapped him on the shoulder, and took his shield away with a careful smile. It was a large Brown rider bulky enough to withstand the hits from the soldiers without having their temper rise. Keith hadn't meant to be an aggressive teacher, but when he focused on something, he went overboard. That was why he didn't want to focus on yesterday with Lance.

Rejection was fine. Rejection couldn't be helped. He was willing to be only friends with Lance and enjoy whatever the other was willing to give him until his feelings finally faded. That was possible, he was sure. Lance would probably find someone else and be happy with them and then Keith would be happy for him. And if it was just a crush then it couldn't last that long once it was crushed.

But, Lance hadn't rejected him, he had just run away. And he didn't look disgusted by Keith's confession. At least if he had Keith could have punched Lance for not respecting his feelings. Running away didn't tell Keith anything. He wasn't sure if he should be angry or if he should try and pick himself up.

Maybe he shouldn't have confessed. Then again, wouldn't that have been the same as being rejected without ever knowing? Keith didn't like not knowing, but were there times when it would have been better?

Keith walked over to Shiro instead and listened in to his conversation with one of the generals.

"I'm not sure how that would work," the general complained.

"Ah, I guess you don't have that tactic with ice. But, we do have masters in the soldier ranks, right?" Shiro asked.

"Of course, but how will covering our swords with ice help out?" the general asked.

"Keith, show him how we do it with fire," Shiro said.

Keith took out his sword and covered it with fire then made the fire grow tall at the end. "Fire is a bit lighter than ice, but we can elongate our attack range like this. If they can withstand the weight of the ice, you can swing down with a longer sword and have a larger attack range. And those who are a high enough level can even have their ice shoot out from their elongated sword on impact."

"You are right ice is heavier, but the Galra knight does have a point when it comes to the shattering. If we miss on the swing, we can always get them on the shatter," the general said. "I'll gather some knights and we can do a practice of that in the cage."

Keith followed Shiro towards the cage, an enclosed area of the training arena, for uncontrolled projectile tactics to be practiced. They waited there for a few minutes while the general gathered up Ice Masters and knights for the test.

"Do you want to participate?" Shiro asked.

"I'm not sure I'll do any good. I'll just melt everyone's ice before it can reach me," Keith said.

"Besides, I want him to watch my arrows for me. I'm going to shoot from my dragon," a voice said from behind them.

Keith turned and his heart almost leaped out of his chest at how close Lance was to him looking between Shiro and Keith suspiciously. "L-Lance?"

"Oh, certainly," Shiro said looking just as surprised.

Lance gave Shiro a tight smile before grabbing Keith's hand and tugging him away.

His hand. Keith stared at it. If Lance had rejected him, he wouldn't be thinking about it so much, but Lance hadn't said anything and here he was dragging Keith towards the archery boards, a full set of archery boards. One was absolutely covered in blue and in need of repainting. The full archery practice set hadn't been set up today. Lance wouldn't be able to do long range inside the arena walls Keith furrowed his brows and pulled his hand away angrily.

"Lance!"

The Blue rider stopped. His hand squeezed the air behind him and he slowly turned around with wide eyes before shrinking down.

"Why did you lie to the prince just now?"

"What, no I didn't," Lance protested and stood up straight crossing his arms.

"Your board is completely covered in blue. Also, Blue isn't anywhere near right now. Red went to have lunch with Black and I'm pretty sure your Blue chased right after them."

"He did not chase after them. My dragon definitely does not chase tail."

Keith raised a brow. "So he doesn't take after his rider then?"

"N-no...I…" Lance suddenly looked down, almost lost.

Keith didn't like seeing him like this. He was afraid he would run like he had yesterday in the orchard. He sighed. "Fine, what did you actually need me for?"

"I did need you for that, I just forgot Blue had left," Lance said. "I was going to have you help me put out the long range boards, too."

"There's no room for them," Keith pointed out.

Lance glanced around then sighed. "I forgot about that, too."

Of course he had because it was an on the spot lie so he hadn't thought through his plans.

"Anyways," Lance continued, "why are you hanging around Shiro so much today? You shouldn't slack off on your training."

"Well, for one I'm Shiro's Right Hand," Keith pointed out unsure what Lance was getting at.

"Yeah, and I'm Allura's. You don't see her hanging around here, right? That's because I have to train."

"I have been training," Keith said. "I broke a mannequin and almost gave a kid a concussion from how much I've been training. You even cut off some of my training with Shiro for whatever petty reason you had with that stray blue arrow."

Lance's eyes suddenly widened. Did he honestly think Keith wouldn't notice? Keith noticed a lot and he noticed a lot about Lance. He had realized that when confessing to Shiro about his feelings.

"I just...he was fluffing your hair and stuff. I didn't think it would look good for your guys' image if you got too close. Shiro's engaged after all," Lance said.

Keith frowned. "It's fine. I might be his protector, but he thinks of me like a little brother. Of course we're close."

Lance turned his head to the side and started muttering something. Keith barely caught it perking up his ears. "You like me, but you go to Shiro during practice."

"I thought you didn't want to be around me," Keith said.

Lance's eyes widened and he looked at Keith surprised then glared at his perked up ears. "Hey, don't do that!"

"Then say those things in your head. I'm not a mind reader. I wish I was though. I don't understand what you want from me right now."

"I just…" Lance started then let his words mutter off unintelligibly.

Keith sighed then crossed his arms and stood straighter. "We can hang out, Lance, that's fine. Yesterday, all you had to do was say you wanted to be my friend still. I don't mind staying as your friend. I like being around you, but not when you're working through some weird friend jealousy thing. I was trying to give you space so you didn't run away again, but you're not letting me do my job either."

"It's not some weird friend jealousy," Lance said.

"Well then I don't know why you're acting like this when I said it was fine," Keith said. "I only said it so there weren't any what ifs. I would rather get my feelings in check quickly. Being sad takes a lot of energy and it makes me angry. I'd rather get it over with."

Lance looked at Keith with his brows furrowed. "Wait, it sounds like you don't think anyone would ever say yes to you."

"Why would they?"

Lance's eyes widened. He looked uneasily stunned. Suddenly, his face softened into a frown and he turned away. "I...you...were right, I can't fly without Blue. I'll just head back early and do some mastery work in the tower."

"Wait, Lance!" Keith called out.

Lance stopped this time and turned waving one hand at Keith. "And you, just...just don't spend all your time at the Prince Commander's side, alright?" He then ran at a sprint towards the front gates.

Keith stared after him then turned his head up to the sky only to see the blue outline of Blue dashing towards them called over by Lance's insistence to get away. He grit his teeth and growled before turning around, ears flattened, and marched back towards Shiro who was watching the practice in the cage.

"Keith, you're on fire," Shiro pointed out.

"I know," Keith said and his flames flicked out. "He's insufferable! Why did I confess to an insufferable idiot?"

"You confessed? Did he reject you?" Shiro asked. "It doesn't seem like it. He's been staring at you the whole day. Even shot that arrow at us."

"You noticed it, too?" Keith asked surprised.

"Of course. I've been trying to leave him be today since he seemed out of it. If you confessed that might explain why."

"I don't know," Keith growled. "He didn't give me an answer, he ran away and keeps running away."

"Hmm, well, at least that means there's some hope," Shiro said.

Keith didn't want hope, he wanted an answer.

If there was one thing Keith had come to enjoy in Altea, that was a warm bath. The springs had been fun to go to in Ko-gane in the middle of the night or during the cooler months, but it was never as satisfying as when it was actually relieving from the biting cold. Leaving the warmth was always the hard part especially for a Fire Master. Keith held a towel and a small bucket in one arm while loosely wearing a robe and his breeches while headed out of his hall. He slowed down when he saw someone loitering at the end of it pacing back and forth. As he got closer, he noticed it was Lance and his ears perked up. He quickened his pace hoping to catch the Blue knight before he ran away again. There was no reason for him to be so close to Keith's quarters pacing unless he had something to say to Keith. A few more days had passed since their first training together after the confession and it had just been a repeat everyday except Keith hadn't been able to catch Lance. He was slippery, like water through Keith's grasp.

"Lance," Keith called.

Lance jumped a whole foot hearing his name called and looked up at Keith frightened then even more frightened when he saw who it was. "I, uh, Keith, hey. I just...yeah."

"You're pacing in front of my hall, Lance. Did you need something?" Keith asked.

Lanced looked Keith up and down, his brows furrowing as he studied the pail in Keith's arms. "Were you going somewhere?"

"I heard there was a hot tub on one of the lower levels," Keith said.

"Oh," Lance said and his shoulders slumped. Everything about him slumped. It looked like he had been deflated. "I guess I'll get out of your way then."

"Wait," Keith called out as Lance turned and started heading towards his hall. "I don't have to go right now."

Lance turned and waved a hand at Keith. "No, no, it wasn't anything important."

Keith reached out and grabbed Lance's arm to keep him from running away. Lance shook it off the second Keith touched him, but stopped his attempt to leave. He looked to the side and stuffed his hands into the pockets of a large coat. A large coat with very little blue on it mainly made up of wild animal hides and fur. He had his riding breeches on, but his boots were much thicker and he had a pack on his back along with a large sturdy bow.

"If there was somewhere you wanted me to go, I can go to the hot tub later," Keith assured. "It's not like I was going to spend all day there anyways."

Lance nodded and Keith could see him trying to rebuild a wall, perhaps it was confidence. He did seem reluctant to talk to Keith though he had been the one to come looking for him. "Right, well, if you want, I thought maybe you would like to go hunting with me. You know, since Shiro and Allura are stuck in the castle all day, we've got some free time."

"And you think I want to spend my free time with you?" Keith said trying to look serious.

Lance's eyes widened before his face reddened and he took a step back. "Oh, right, no no, it's not like I want to spend my free time with you either or anything. I just thought…"

Keith sighed. Lance was still being weird. "It was a joke. I'll go."

Lance pressed his lips in a frown and looked at Keith with squinted eyes. "You sure? Don't force yourself."

Keith shook his head then looked at Lance seriously. "Of course I want to go. I want to go with you. Will you wait for me to change?"

Lance's lips pursed into a different expression and he nodded.

Keith turned and hurried to his room. He felt jittery. Lance's nervousness was making him twice as nervous. He wasn't sure what this was about, but if Lance was willing to hang out with him again perhaps he could pry an answer out of the other knight as well. Just a 'No thanks, but let's be friends' was all Keith needed. He hoped Lance wouldn't assume he was off the hook just because he had invited Keith out.

Not having much in the way of hunting clothes, Keith dawned something warm and not flashy and grabbed his knives and a rarely used bow from his personal weapon stash before heading back to the hall. He was relieved to see Lance still pacing the end of it.

"What are we hunting?" Keith asked.

"Hmm, probably just jackalopes," Lance said. "Honey rodents if we come by any."

Keith nodded and followed Lance out of the castle. He was use to hunting vipers and dessert fowl. There was very little forests and the oases held mostly birds and other small game. Their jackalopes never got as big as he had heard the ones in Altea did, just smaller than a kirin.

Once outside the castle gates, they mounted their dragons. Keith followed Lance's lead out past the lake the castle was built on and to a frosted tipped forest with uneven terrain leaving plenty of spots for wildlife to hide.

"We can only get a few," Lance said. "I said we would bring in tonight's dinner, but they already sent out a smaller hunting party this morning."

Keith nodded. "I've not done a lot of hunting. We're more gatherers in Ko-gane."

Lance suddenly grinned and stood up straighter. "Oh, well lucky you I'm a great hunter being a sharpshooter and all."

Keith didn't doubt that, however he wanted things to go back to how they were between them so he raised an eyebrow at Lance. "Really, well I guess you'll have to prove that to me, huh?"

"Are you trying to challenge me, Lord Keith?" Lance asked eyes widening.

Keith smirked and shrugged pulling his bow off his back. "I might not have the strongest shot, but I've got a good aim myself and stealth."

"You can't just knife your way into a jackalope. Those things run faster than you can in those shoes," Lance said.

He was studying Keith, Keith could feel it. He didn't mind though, he wanted Lance to look at him, get comfortable with him.

"We will just have to see. First to three?" Keith offered.

"Deal," Lance said and a smile spread across his face. "But you have to stay close, I don't want to accidently shoot you. And whoever gets a honey rodent is an automatic winner."

Keith turned to Lance and held out his hand. "Agreed."

Lance hesitated in taking the offered hand. He studied Keith's hand then his face with lips pushed to one side before shifting his stance and placing his hand in Keith's, smile broad and almost as brilliant as Keith was use to. "Agreed."

Unless Keith got a honey rodent, he was confident he would lose. So, instead of going off on his own close by, he hid behind trees while following Lance and watched him hunt. It took a while before they saw anything. Though Keith saw it first, Lance was the one to get into position. He knelt down and pulled an arrow to his bow. He twisted it just slightly narrowed his eyes and let it go. The arrow landed in the hind leg of a five pointed jackalope. It made an awful sound and limply hopped away. Lance took chase, but Keith was faster removing a throwing knife from his pocket and throwing it with fire on the blade at the animal. It hit its neck and Keith was quick to hold the creature down and slide the metal across the rest of its neck.

"Hey, that was my kill," Lance protested as he joined.

"Really? I'm pretty sure I'm the one that killed it," Keith said and wiped his blade before sterilizing it with his fire.

Lance crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Keith. "You...I'm watching you."

"Are you really?" Keith asked and looked up blinking at Lance. He felt jittery doing it, but being so annoyed by Lance until recently, he wanted to tease the other a bit.

Lance seemed taken aback, his eyes going wide, but then he started to grin only to instantly force it down. He cleared his throat and turned away. "I'm going to have two before you even finish cleaning up that one."

Right. Keith found the cleaning up quite annoying. He did what he could and put the large creature in a bag before burying it in the snow near Red so it wouldn't spoil before going back out to find Lance. And as promised, Lance had one bag at his feet and had his bow drawn for another kill. Keith watched him, a smile growing on his face. If he wasn't wearing so many layers, Keith thought Lance's arms would look attractive as they held the bow steady and pulled back the taut string. Of course he had seen Lance as so, but that was during training. This was something natural, something sad and beautiful. It made Keith's chest swell and breath uneven. Maybe these feelings would not be as easy to quench as he thought, but even so…

Lance let the arrow go. It flew straight at the jackalope nailing it in the neck. The Blue knight ran over and finished the animal off before dragging it back to his previous kill. He looked up noticing Keith only as the other approached.

"Hey, Keith, did you see? I got two just like I promised," Lance said beaming.

"Yeah, yeah you sure did," Keith said, his voice leaving his mouth softer than he intended. "You looked really cool just then."

"Well yeah...wait, what?" Lance asked stopping in his cleaning process to look at Keith that was now only a few steps away.

Keith stopped and lowered his head a bit, ears twitching before swiveling flat against his headl. "I said...you looked really cool just now."

Lance's eyes widened and then sparked, his face going soft, words gentle. "Thanks, Keith."

"Ugh, why did we park our dragons so far?" Lance asked after they had buried the two jackalopes Lance had caught beneath the snow near Red, Blue circling above them not far off.

"So the animals wouldn't smell them," Keith reminded as he held out a stripped off tidbit of jackalope to his dragon.

Lance reached above his head and let out a groan. "Maybe three was a bit much, but I still want to catch a honey rodent."

"I've never seen one alive," Keith said. "The castle usually bought theirs off Builders."

Lance's eyes suddenly gained a shimmer and he moved closer to Keith. "Really? Then let's go track us one down. We'll find where their hiding spots are if we go from the sky."

Keith nodded and started for Red but then was pulled back as Lance grabbed onto his elbow. He turned his head surprised. Lance seemed surprised as well, but didn't let go of Keith's arm only forced his face to relax and started dragging Keith with him to Blue.

"I know your dragon is better for small places, but those red scales are a huge signal for any animals below. The sky is pretty blue today so Blue would be better. Besides, Red would never let me steert her, right?"

"You're going to let me take Blue's reigns?" Keith asked. He had done it once, but that had been in order to save Lance.

"Blue will let you," Lance assured and tugged Keith towards where the blue dragon had landed.

Keith grabbed onto the clasps on the saddle's straps and tugged himself up feeling hot when hands suddenly pressed on his bottom pushing him up. He looked behind him startled then glared at Lance once he was seated.

"You did that on purpose," Keith said. He didn't need help just because his own dragon was fairly small and easy to mount.

"Hmm, maybe," Lance said while staring at his hands, flexing his fingers as if grabbing something before looking up and grinning a Keith. "You've got a really round ass. Very squishy."

Keith's ears flattened and he looked away feeling Lance climb onto Blue behind him. He scooted up right against his back and wrapped his arms around Keith to grab onto the reigns of the saddle. He was close, too close. Keith could feel his warmth even through the layers of coats he wore. As Blue flew, they were jostled around and Keith found himself biting his lip every time Lance's crotch pressed against his lower back. There was no way Keith had hit puberty late. He had gone through awkward erections just like everyone else, though his experience had been dealt with annoyance. Keith wouldn't call the heat curling up in his lower stomach arousal, but something close.

When Blue curled its long serpentine body causing their world to go upside down, Lance let go of the reigns with one hand and pressed the hand against the warmth in Keith's stomach and held him close to his body. Keith wouldn't have fallen, but the small sign of protectiveness had his chest warming up as well. Lance being gentle was not unwelcome, but had he forgotten Keith's confession? Was he just pretending it didn't happen? Pretending it didn't happen didn't make Keith's feelings go away. And forgetting, though that didn't seem likely, just meant Keith would have to say it again. Not now though. Right now, Keith just wanted to feel this gentle warmth a little longer.

When they flew over the forest, they flew high, but Keith could see down into the trees enough to notice the change in elevations. Honey rodents would have caves and most of those were where the trees were the thickest, but if they were lucky, they would find one by a creek.

"There, water," Lance said.

"It's fast water. There's something swatting at fish," Keith said.

"It's a honey rodent. Awesome, their fat is sweet around this time. Blue, dive in closer in ten," Lance said. "Here, take the reigns, Keith."

Suddenly, the dragon's reigns were forced into one of Keith's hands as Lance pulled out his bow and placed an arrow to the string pulling taunt. Just as Lance had instructed, Blue started to dive towards the stream just as a second honey rodent dashed up, growling at the first, but the growl was quickly cut off by Lance's arrow. He sent two more flying as they swooped back up into the sky. The second one finished off the intruding honey rodent while the third just missed the first honey rodent who scampered away.

"You missed," Keith said. He was amazed with Lance's shooting ability though he shouldn't have been.

"I know, your ear poked me," Lance teased.

"Oh, sorry," Keith apologized and tried to make his ears stand flatter against his head.

"It's fine, the deal was only to three or a honey rodent and I did both," Lance said and tugged on one of Keith's ears, the one that was still trying to heal from the bullet hole. He barely felt the tug though.

Keith turned his head to glare at Lance as Blue steadied out into a soft glide around their kill. His forehead was bumped by Lance's and he parted his lips in a small gasp when his vision was suddenly filled with the expanse of Lance's blue eyes. They were unwavering, determined, like a solid wall of ice. No, not ice. Keith didn't find that they were blocking him from something, but enticing him to come closer like the gentle waves on the sands in the largest oasis back in Ko-gane. Keith remembered dipping his toes in those waves when he was very young holding a slim purple hand, perhaps even too young to walk properly. But, it wasn't just Lance's eyes, the air between them called Keith closer, Lance's breath warm and mixing with his own. Lance's hand moved once again around his waist while he lowered his bow with the other.

"The winner gets a prize," Lance whispered in a low tone that shook giving away the nervousness his eyes didn't show.

A prize? So Lance wanted something? Did he have to be so close to ask it? Keith felt the ridiculous rhythm his heart always played when Lance was far too close. Yet, there was no other reply at his lips but, "Yes."

It hadn't been a question, but Keith understood why Lance waited for his reply when the Blue rider's lips were suddenly on his.

Keith had never been officially kissed. Dares and jokes were left uncounted. They had made Keith think such touches more a sense of desperation than of something more similar to holding hands. Though Keith only had a second to think it, he thought he didn't mind the soft touch. It left his lips feeling tingly like fruit peeled a day unripe. But then it ripened as Lance pressed his lips harder and Keith felt a bruising sweetness before Lance pulled back barely enough to matter.

"Open your mouth a bit, Keith," Lance whispered, a tinge of that desperation Keith assumed would be with a kiss lacing his words.

Keith did open his mouth wider but only to ask why. However, Lance moved back in. His tongue slipped into Keith's mouth, a hot foreign appendage that he initially tried to fight, but the slide of his own tongue against Lance's sent that warm pool in his stomach a blaze. It made every nerve in his body vibrate, but not in a sense he was use to. He didn't want to get away, he wanted to be closer and found himself reaching for Lance, twisting his body, reigns falling from his grip, to grab at Lance's coat. His eyes had closed at some point, he was unsure when, his head tilted to the side by Lance's guidance of the kiss. Of course Lance had experience in this. Keith was glad of that, his mind felt muddy and hot. He felt vulnerable, but he was in hands he trusted and wanted to trust more. And so he tried to relax more into the kiss hoping if he gave a little Lance would meet him there because he wasn't sure why this was happening and he wouldn't know until it stopped. But, Keith didn't want it to stop.

Ah, so that's what that desperation felt like.

When Lance finally moved away, Keith thought he must be on fire from head to toe. He took in quick little breaths as he slowly regained himself and opened his eyes. He was meant with blue worried ones. Why were they worried?

"I...didn't do something you disliked, did I?" Lance asked and moved the hand that had been holding his bow to Keith's face lightly touching his hot skin. Keith could see the bow poking out from his back. He must have put it back while they were kissing. He really was quite amazing to do that blindly.

"I...liked it I think," Keith said and furrowed his brows. "But, why?"

Lance licked his lips. Keith followed the red organ, his heat twisting. Lance's lips were chapped by the cold, but he hadn't noticed during the kiss. There had been too many new sensations to notice something as insignificant as that.

"You wanted an answer," Lance said and moved his hand from Keith's face to meet the other one at his waist.

"That wasn't an answer."

"It was the start of one," Lance said and moved to place his head on top of Keith's. His sharp chin dug into Keith's head, but he didn't want to complain. This affectionate closeness, he liked it far too much.

"I want to start with an apology."

"You started with a kiss," Keith said.

"Well, then I want to follow up with an apology. I should not have run out on you like that in the orchard. I needed time to think about your confession and I should have told you that," Lance said. "It's not like you're the first to confess to me, but I've never had a confession by someone I was close to, someone I cared about. The fight we had made me realize I was just being stubborn. You're part of the Altean government now, but you're not Altean. There aren't many people I can trust in Altea so I wanted to keep you at a distance. I was already helping you more than I needed."

"I'm thankful for that," Keith said.

"I know you are. I had decided to consider you a friend, but then you confessed."

"I'm sorry if that troubled you. They are unfamiliar feelings and I wanted them out," Keith admitted.

Lance chuckled. "I figured as much. You're so innocent and honest. I knew that from the beginning. I also knew you were way beyond attractive. If we hadn't gotten close, even in a weird rivalry way, I probably would have taken that confession in a heartbeat. I just...I had to think about feelings. I already knew I got jealous when others were around you, but knowing you liked me and was still playing with others pissed me off."

"It's just Shiro," Keith defended.

"I know, but it's not like you two are real brothers like Allura and I are real siblings," Lance said.

"So?" Keith urged. He still hadn't heard it, a sorry or no thanks, though Keith was more feeling it would be along the lines of something he hadn't considered before.

Lance sighed and moved his head from Keith's. "You really do need a straight answer, don't you? I guess what I'm saying is I don't mind being lovers with you. However, I want to keep it quiet. This is a private matter and I keep all of my private matters private."

"We are part of the court, of course we'll keep it quiet," Keith said. His heart was beating as hard as Black's wings. "Though, are you sure? You can deny me, it's alright."

Lance's face contorted into a scowl. "That right there is what made up my mind. I don't know what makes your gorgeous ass think no one would want to be your lover, but I'm going to prove to you how very desirable you are physically and mentally."

"Then do I do the same?" Keith asked.

"If you want," Lance said and glanced away.

That made Keith frown and he let one of his hands travel down Lance's arm. "What else should I do? I wasn't expecting this outcome at all."

"Just be like we usually are, but I'll flirt with you more. I'll flirt with you seriously," Lance said.

"Oh goody," Keith teased. He felt a bubbling his his chest and a tug at his lips. He felt happy.

Lance turned his head back and narrowed his eyes, but he was grinning. "And I'll kiss you more."

"Kiss me now," Keith said. "I might decided I don't like kissing if you wait."

So many new feelings danced in his stomach and chest. He barely understood the words that were coming out of his own mouth.

"I'll do that then," Lance said and started to lean in only for his nose to bump Keith's as Blue made a sudden jolt and growled.

They both looked down. A dracolisk was approaching their kill.

Lance sighed and reached around Keith for the reigns. "I'll take my chances. When it comes to kissing, I think they're pretty good."