Winter Tree: Roots
Hit the Fan
"Shit!" Lance heard Keith's cursing as he entered the otherwise empty gym, his gloved fist hitting the punching bag while his facial features scrunched up in anger. "Shit, shit, shit!"
"How many times are you going to say shit already?" Lance stated, letting himself slide down the wall. His lighter framed best friend simply responded by punching the bag with even more gusto, a strangled sound of anger coming out of Keith's mouth indicating things with Professor Atkinson as expected. Merely thinking about the situation made his stomach churn violently, yet there didn't seem anything he could do about the situation.
Instinctively, he reached into the pocket of his jacket, his fingers rubbing along the top of the box of cigarettes despite the fact he knew he couldn't smoke in the gym without getting caught, or in the very least getting Keith temporarily banned from one of the few places he found himself able to let off steam after one of Professor Atkinson's so-called tutorial sessions. One finger pressed into the top while Lance bit down on his bottom lip, remembering when he'd figured out the tutoring sessions actually weren't tutoring sessions.
Specifically, he'd originally found it hilarious that Keith actually went to the tutoring sessions only for Keith to adamantly remind him that Iverson gave him the ultimatum of passing without actually giving any explanation regarding what would happen if he ended up not passing one of his classes, but Professor Atkinson kindly did, in ways that Lance hadn't expected him to.
Pass or get kicked out of the program, but more specifically, nobody would bother fighting for Keith due to his disciplinary issues if he did in fact flunk out. The fact they as a team held an unblemished record in real-life missions wouldn't stop Keith from getting kicked out either, he'd remembered Professor Atkinson saying rather loudly as Keith left his office after one tutoring session, but Lance rarely if ever saw Keith so close to tears that he'd not noticed Keith adjusting his uniform.
Yet, he recollected the fact Keith was doing just that when he looked into some of the messages between Keith and that professor, having snatched up Keith's personal device on a whim one day in their shared dorm room. He thought it rather funny to read out loud even while holding Keith back, commenting that it would only be funnier if Hunk was there, only for him to later find himself glad Hunk wasn't there when he found himself strangling on the words which appeared in the messaging.
"I'm telling a teacher." Lance started towards the door of their dorm room, furious at the fact Professor Atkinson – well, it wasn't often he'd seen Keith near tears, yet he also knew Keith didn't swing that way.
"You can't."
"As if I'd let that fucking…"
"I'll be out on the streets if the garrison finds out! Relationships between commanding officers and subordinates are against the rules!" Which of course brought about the dilemma of actually telling, given the fact ending back on the streets was Keith's worst nightmare. Streets, Keith told him once, was better than ending up sent to juvi because none of the foster parents wanted a kid with a track record of behavioral issues, particularly anger issues.
"Then fucking break up with him, given the fact we both know you don't want to be screwing that ass hole in the first place."
"And have him fail me in his math class? You know as well as I that's just as bad as the garrison finding out about me screwing a commanding officer!"
"Have you eaten?" Lance asked, still fingering the cigarettes, knowing anger issues really didn't describe the reason Keith got into fights with the other cadets. Of course, anybody watching Keith punch the stuffing out of the punching bag in the gym would probably think otherwise, not that Lance cared beyond the fact he'd become accustomed to everyone making assumptions regarding everyone on their team. "You know that's a great way to make Hunk worry about you, right? Because…"
Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw someone move across the gym towards Keith. He sucked in a deep breath, wishing he'd paid attention like he normally did because normally he'd find himself able to move between anybody who might try picking a fight with Keith because they found him in one of these moods, but for some reason, he'd not even notice the person coming in. Lance opened his mouth, planning on shooting obscenities at the person for either going in for the punch, but more often than not using words which stung until Keith punched them.
"Hey! What…" Lance stopped speaking as their new history teacher and the mentor they did not want coming up behind Keith, hooking his arms underneath and pulling Keith backward, lifting him up slightly off his feet. This of course didn't prevent Keith from struggling.
"Keith. I need you to calm down."
"Fucking let me go, you piece of shit!"
"And what? Let you continue hurting yourself?" Lance's blue eyes blinked, confused regarding what their new teacher was getting at. The man glared at him. "And you McClain? You're completely okay with your friend here punching his fists to a bloody pulp." Which did happen a few times, not that any of the adults really cared, leaving him and Hunk – preferably the big guy with his gentle touch – to patch Keith up.
"I said let me go you fucking piece of shit!" Keith continued yelling, making Lance wince knowing full well Keith just cursed out a teacher multiple times, but the fact Keith was coming off a session with Atkinson meant just letting Keith do his thing and not explaining things to Hunk who would in fact do what he felt was the right thing when it wasn't.
"No. I'm not letting go. It's going to be okay."
"Fuck you!"
"Hey. It's just best to let…" Lance froze upon seeing the new teacher give him a death glare, one he'd only ever received from Keith. Sucking in his breath, the idea that this person might actually go toe to toe with Keith for a while didn't at all set well, but even the ones that did never managed to last more than a couple of weeks. A month was the longest. He watched the man put pressure on Keith's neck, then watch Keith's eyes begin to flutter, almost as if he were losing consciousness and then, he did. The man continued speaking to Keith in a calm tone, but once Keith was unconscious the man threw one of Keith's arms over his shoulder and started lifting him up from the ground he'd just lowered to him to. Lance's eyes blinked. "What the fuck just happened?"
"McClain, are you going to help me get Keith to the infirmary or not."
"Oh. So you're using his first name and not mine?"
"Lance, will you please help me."
"You've no business…"
"I'm his teacher and his mentor. That makes him losing his shit like this absolutely my business."