Keith is like a child.

I don't mean this in a bad or good way; it's just a fact. He's that kid who isn't a bully by purpose but is just too enveloped in his own little world to really think of anyone else.

When Keith had asked me if we were friends, despite explicitly stating a bit before that we weren't, I never answered. He annoyed me for two hours after that, but I never answered him.

I have no idea how long he stood there after I went to bed, frustrated that I wouldn't give him what he wanted. I guess he is just the kind of guy who needs closure to things to be happy. Not answering was very frustrating in his mind.

From what I can tell, instead of just going to bed, Keith stayed up for a long time, unable to sleep. He wanted an answer to his question because for some reason it was that important to him, so he took the matter of getting it into his own hands.

Do you know what it's like to wake up with freezing water being dumped over your head?

It's paralyzing.

I bolted upright with a scream, the cold seeping all the way to my bones. My ears shot up and tingled, burning like how they did whenever I was out in the snow too long during winter.

Sputtering some incoherent words, I rub the water out of my eyes. Keith was standing over me, the bucket handle hanging from his arm as he jotted something down in his notepad.

That stupid notepad he wrote in whenever I did something. Whenever something happened.

I have never felt such hatred towards an inanimate object before. I wanted to take it and throw it in a ditch, drown it in the ocean, send it off into space, burn it to ashes and spread its incriminating pieces over Keith's side of the room.

And what did Keith do? Stand there, staring down at me. His eyes that generally made my heart race made me feel cold.

Fuck him.

It would have been better if he had never discovered my secret. I would have at least been a normal nobody to him. Me, the biggest experimental freak show he had the chance to see.

"What the hell!" I roared at him, stumbling out of bed. My pajamas were soaked, making me shiver within the crisp air of our room. My teeth clattered too much for my words to make too much sense.

"You never answered."

"What?!" I demand, not understanding.

"My question I asked." he batted those dark eyelashes. Long and alluring, drawing you right into the cold pit of his chest. "You never answered."

My jaw falls open, "Are you-" my words start to mix, stumbling from my anger, "Are you serious!?"

He eyed me duly, "Your skin is turning blue." he notes.

Like how a mode ring changes color, my body faded to a heavy blue, matching the cold tingling of my skin. Small droplets of water stuck to the hair on my arms, which were upright from my goosebumps.

It was so cold. So fucking cold!

"Is that why you did that?" I had warned him a few nights ago not even to try it. Not to say my siblings hadn't done this to me before, but that was in good fun. That was a prank and a joke to mock their sibling.

Not to get an answer. Not to see the results of what my body would do and write it down like some logbook!

Keith shifts his weight. "You didn't answer my question." he looks me up and down, "Did you know chameleons are cold-blooded?" he says, getting off track like he always did. Because he was oblivious to my boiling rage. "You can blend in and change colors as they can, so I wonder whether or not you might be some subspecies of them. Perhaps your genes are correlated to theirs?" he turned, mumbling.

I brush my bangs out of my face, feeling like the water was already freezing over, sticking to my skin. "That doesn't make it okay to do that!"

"It's not a big deal, Lance." he shakes his head.

"Not a big deal?" My anger subsides for a moment. Only a moment. I'm dumbfounded.

How could someone be so dense? Be so oblivious to the feelings of others, especially when they seem like such an emotional person deep down? I couldn't fathom it.

"Not a big deal?!" I repeat, demanding Keith stand for his actions. Enough was enough. My patience had broken the second that bucket tipped and it was coming in hot. "Don't fuck with me Kogane!" Like a flash, my hair spiked white, my eyes nearly glowing in the darkness of our room.

Keith turns on the balls of his feet, eyes wide. Startled, he steps back when I move closer.

"I'm not some freak you can just poke and prod and treat like some lab rat! I kept this secret because I wanted to avoid people doing this to me!"

"I…" he shakes his head slowly, clutching his notepad to his chest. It pissed me off. I snatched it out of his hands and tossed it to the side, pressing closer. My height allowed me to loom over him, backing him up to the wall.

He looked so small suddenly, guiding my anger further, allowing it to come out with this sense of power. I was in control at this moment, and goddammit Keith was going to listen to me this time.

"Do you have any idea what it is like to wake up and realize that everything you knew was a lie? That on any given day, I could be taken away from my family, or-or worse!? Hell, I thought it was scary just trying to admit to a few friends that I was Bi! But that is the least of my problems!"

Keith was unmoving, the blood drained from his cheeks and his eyes uncharacteristically full.

"Do you even understand, Keith?" I choked, "I go to school every day, terrified! I can't even go out anymore without fearing I might just change in front of everyone. My life could be over in less than a second! Oh, but what do you care? You have no problem reminding me every single day that I'm different and bizarre. You just pin me up there with your monsters and mythical creatures like I'm not even a fucking person to you! Cause that's it, I'm not. And the worst of it, the only reason we even talk, the only reason I can even consider you as a friend, is because I'm a freak. Otherwise, you would have given me the cold shoulder like everyone else! You would never have even tried to get to know me. That is what sucks about this Keith! Because I like that you're my friend. But you don't!" I take a breath, the quiet of the room making my heart hurt.

I can't stand it and quickly fill it with my voice.

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? You are a friend to me! At least… At least you were." my voice chokes off at that last part.

"Lance…"

I don't let him speak, ranting on and on for who knows how long. Saying things I knew I would regret later. It felt right to finally say it though, so I didn't stop.

"Do you know that you are the first person I've ever told about this outside my family? I could hardly breathe when you figured out, but man Keith- the relief. I thought for a moment that maybe, maybe I found someone who could truly see me for me, and I was so excited. I was so happy, Keith. But that's the thing; you don't see me for me. You see this,"

I extend my arms out, making sure he saw my ears, every marking, every string of silver hair. "This is all you see and that- that hurts," I lower my arms and back away.

I felt so drained suddenly. I felt glad I said it all, but now I just felt empty. A glass with nothing in it.

Stepping away, leaving Keith braced to the wall, I turn around. I don't want to be here anymore.

Seeing me getting my shoes, Keith seemed to break from his shocked trance, "W-Where are you going?"

"Out."

I collect my jacket, toss on my hood and storm to the door. I pause, feeling Keith's stare.

He tenses when our eyes meet, like a child knowing they were going to get another scolding from a parent.

"Everyone here calls you an uncaring ass who doesn't give a shit about anything. I didn't think that. I thought you were just someone who lost a lot of things important to him. But you know, maybe they were right? Maybe that is exactly what you are, Kogane," without another word, I leave, slamming the door ruthlessly behind me.

I wonder the base for who knows how long till class starts again. I don't talk to Hunk when I sit down, and that seems to worry him.

"Are you okay?" he asks when the bells rang. I shrug but can't seem to say anything else. He walks me to my next class, trying to start up some light-hearted conversations to lift up my spirits. It works a little, and I find myself smiling by the third period.

Then I see Keith. He is walking down the hall, his eyes shifting left and right slowly. He is trying to be subtle about it, but I know he is looking for me.

When his eyes trail over me, he stops, like a deer in headlights.

I get closer, and he opens his mouth. I barely give him a blink before I'm shoving past him. The interaction didn't go unnoticed by the overly observant student body. It was the talk of the day that I dare ignore and lightly shove Keith Kogane.

How dare I~

At lunch, I met up with Hunk and Pidge. Hunk seemed to have gossiped to Pidge about my mood and they interrogated me promptly after.

"So what happened?"

"It's nothing guys."

"We're on a mission here, Lance." Pidge jabbed a finger at me. "We have to be top of our game here. So spill so we can help you through it." there is a trace of care there that I can't help but be drawn to.

"I had a fight with Keith. We just- a lot of stuff has happened and I finally blew up at him for all the things he does."

"Oh." Hunk nods knowingly. "I'm sorry, Lance."

"I'm not." Pidge snorted. "Someone needed to knock that guy off his high horse."

I chuckle a little, smiling at her, "Thanks. But now I just feel empty. And kind of bad? I wish I could take it all back just so I don't have to go back to the dorms and feel awkward when I see him. But I also don't want to take it back."

"Fights are usually like that." Hunk nods, "Maybe it's a good thing? Now that Keith knows how you feel he'll be more considerate."

I snort, "Doubt that, but here is to hoping I guess." I lift my milk. "We followed Matt yesterday. He met up with Shiro but we didn't really learn anything."

"Figured. He probably won't say anything to Shiro. We'll have to try and get an ear on him talking to another higher up. Won't be easy though." Pidge says.

"Right." we agree.

After a good lunch, I feel better about what happened with Keith. I'm grateful to have friends like these two.

"Gotta head to my next class." Hunk tells me.

"Me too." Pidge grabs their large backpack, "Meet up with you two later to go over more of the plan."

"Roger that. I'll see you both later." I wave to them. Moving to throw my lunch away I pause when I see a familiar looking notepad below a table. Having seen it from a distance, I kneeled next to the table to pick it up.

It was Keith's cryptid notepad.

It no doubt had things about me in here. How could that idiot just leave it lying around?

Half tempted to throw it away, I stop myself. Even if I was mad at him, I couldn't get rid of something he cherished so much.

Keeping it on my person instead, I read it in my next class. Since it was more of a study hall, I got away with it.

Keith was very detailed in his research; I'll give him that. From Bigfoot to the Kraken, he had it all. I seem to be his latest entry. I learned a lot about Keith from his little notepad.

For starters, his writing was beautiful. I felt like I was reading a novel with how clear and crisp the voice of the words were.

His penmanship was easy to read too, unlike my chicken scratch.

If that wasn't enough, Keith just proved he was a prodigy once again by his incredible artistic talents! This boy could draw, and it was very unfair! I guess his perfect appearance was cursed by his sour personality.

Oh look, he even drew a picture of me towards the back. It was in my natural form of course, but the details were spot on.

Lance McClain

Species: Unknown

Known to transform from Human to an elven looking creature of unknown origin. Hair becomes a brilliant silver with his ears sharpening to a point. Eyes remain an alluring ocean blue.

His birth parents and family are unknown. (Don't bring this up. He gets upset about it)

That seemed to be more to a note to himself than something for a book. I continued to read.

Recent discoveries show he can change his skin color. A chameleon-like trait, but it's uncertain how far this goes. Can he perhaps change how his very body looks? Grow smaller and taller?

I had never really tried that, honestly.

His transformation seems to draw off of his emotions. Being tender-hearted the change happens more often.

Very family oriented however despite everything. Most bodily functions follow human beings, such as the need to blink, breathe, sleep and eat. Has a very insistent urge to be clean but I think that is a matter of choice and not due to his genetics.

As of now, I am the only one to know his real true identity in the base. He answers all of my questions efficiently. Or does he just feel obligated to because I know his secret?

Attaches to others a lot.

Easy to talk to. I find myself saying more to him than I usually do to others.

Likes things like hair products, sappy movies, and some weird green face paint he puts on his face before bed. Something about his pores.

It smells awful, yet seems to make his skin shine. I attempted to apply some of it myself while he was out and it got in my eyes. It burned and was slimy. I'm never doing it again.

Oh, I totally knew he stole some of my face mask cream!

A lot of things after that seemed to be scratched out recently. Almost a whole page's worth! I flip the page to see if there is anything else. Below the black scratch out are a few words.

I seem to have angered him. This book alone is a big cause of it. I didn't realize.

He talks so easily with others despite claiming he struggles to. I wish I knew how to speak to him.

His eyes lose their shine when he is sad or angry.

I don't like that.

Closing the book, only now realizing it was probably a breach of privacy, I lean my head against my palm. Keith wrote his thoughts so clearly on paper but seemed to struggle to convey them out loud.

His words held a voice that I never really thought him having till now. He felt sincere and sweet.

That side of him only showed when he was off trying to hunt down a mythical creature.

Honestly, to me, I found his love for the unexplained to be very endearing. He was so passionate about something so strange, dressing up in ridiculous clothes, going nuts over silly articles- it was beyond cute to me.

What wasn't cute, was how I was compared on the same level as lizardmen and green Martians.

At least he seemed to realize and understand what I was talking about.

The question is whether he would change and learn from it.

-Keith-

When Shiro found Keith sitting towards the back of the school, knees tucked up to his chest and alone, he approached him cautiously.

"Keith?"

He looked up, as if expecting to see someone else, and partially disappointed to find out it was Shiro.

"Expecting someone else?" Shiro smiles. Keith looks away, shrugging meekly.

"Maybe."

"What are you doing out here alone?" Shiro takes a seat next to him.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

Keith sighs. "Just a lot happened today."

"Like?"

"I- just a lot? Bad sleep, bad class- I lost my notepad with all my stuff in it!" he growls, pissed about that. Shiro nods, knowing how important Keith's cryptid hunts were. He kept all his notes about them in that notepad.

"I'm sure it'll show up."

"Maybe. And if that isn't anything, then the thing with Lance-" he cuts off, shaking his head. "Nevermind."

"Lance?" Shiro frowns, fearing the worse, "Did he do something?"

"No. No, it wasn't him. It was me… I think," Keith sighs, "Forget it."

"You can tell me, Keith."

After a moment of hesitation, Keith says, "We had a fight."

"Lance and you?"

Keith nods, "Now he won't talk to me."

Keith hadn't dated that often, perhaps 3 or 4 times, but Shiro had come to realize that once Keith started to let something into his life, he quickly grew attached to whatever that was. It was his Achilles heel, so to speak.

Most never realized this, but Keith loved very easily,

He put up so many walls to avoid the heartbreak, which came too often to him. Keith had been doing this since he was younger, when they first adopted him. It took a very long time to open Keith's heart up to them, but when they did, they quickly realized just how deeply previous families and friends had hurt him.

Getting into high school, Keith was very influenced by movies of all genre, including books. These seemed to convince him that a partner, or lover, would fill that gap he had in his heart. After all, in books, the story typically ended with a happy ending and the two love interests finding peace with each other.

Keith yearned for that.

For someone to fill his gap.

As much as Shiro tried, he couldn't mend every wound and understood Keith's need to fill that loneliness in his heart.

However, his good looks and skill attracted several crowds, some not so good, and Keith had been hurt one too many times by others who sought him out purely for his popularity and not for who he truly was.

So, everyone had to understand just how shocking it was for Shiro to be approached by his brother by a problem he had caused. Keith was very respectful to whoever he dated, and while it was true he hadn't dated for a while, Shiro assumed that Keith would still do the same.

Lance seemed like a sweet boy and he hoped he wouldn't have to worry about what previous ex's did to Keith with Lance. But for them to fight already?

"What happened?"

"I dunno, he just- he said I wasn't really seeing him for him," Keith mutters, "Maybe I was," he shrugs, unsure. "I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. That was just how we were and he was-" Keith frowns. "Long story short, we got in a fight and he ran off, and we're roommates, so I have to see him sooner or later. The problem is, I don't know what to say when I do."

Shiro blinked. Keith had never had a problem with pissing someone off/arguing with them and seeing their face the next day. In fact, giving people the cold shoulder was almost his specialty.

Keith never often had to apologize either, genuinely believing in his words and following them through to the end. For this to bother him enough to admits this to Shiro- well, it made him realize that maybe his younger brother was truly growing up.

That he really cared for Lance.

"Perhaps the best thing then is to apologize. Just because you argue one time doesn't mean the relationship is over, Keith. Couples fight sometimes, and they can't always get along. That is okay."

"What?" Keith looked puzzled for a second. Realizing something a second later he cleared his throat, "I mean, yeah. Couples. Lance and me are a couple." he trails off, sounding unsure.

"You told me you were." Shiro reminded him.

Keith nods quickly, "Y-Yeah, I did. And we are!" he says quickly. "I know that couples fight too, but-" Keith folds his arms, "It's complicated."

Shiro chuckles, "Most things are."

Keith sighs, tired, "I'm not good with people."

"I noticed." Shiro pats his back, "That is okay. Just tell Lance how you feel, and listen to him on how he feels. Don't push him to tell you what he is thinking about, but listen when he does manage to say it."

Keith nods, "Okay. Thanks, Shiro."

"Of course." After a few minutes of cloud gazing, Shiro suddenly frowns. "Wait, you are dating Lance, but you are also roommates?"

Keith pauses, "Yes." he curses himself once again for telling Shiro this lie.

"Roommates. Dating. Dating roommate." Shiro repeats these words. Suddenly he grabs Keith's shoulders and turns him around. "Keith, we need to talk."

Keith blinked, "I thought we were?" confused to why Shiro was putting on his is "Protective brotherly" face, he tilted his head.

"Listen, I know since you are roommates, you might get some… urges. But you have to keep things Pg-13, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Keith frowned.

"B-But if you do um- you know, go there, you have to make sure you use protection! I want both of you to stay healthy and safe, and practicing safe sex is important-"

"WHOA!" Keith cut this conversation off and jumped to his feet. He pants, his cheeks red, "No. No no no. NO." he shakes his head, backing up. "We are not having this conversation."

"I know it's awkward but Keith-" when Shiro starts to get up Keith makes a break for the door.

"Not doing this!"

Later, when Keith returned to his room, he was both grateful and let down that Lance wasn't there. He seemed to have showered then headed out to hang out with Pidge and Hunk. He supposed he could go looking for them, but something on his bed distracted him.

It was his notepad with a note attached to it.

He rushed to grab it, hugging it close to his chest before reading what it said. Or at least attempting since it handwriting was hard to decipher.

Found this during Lunch. Keep better track of this!

It's important to you, isn't it?

-Lance-

Sitting down on his bed, Keith stared at the note for a long time. Lance could have easily tossed this since he was mad, and Keith probably would have deserved it.

Yet he kept it instead, returning it.

Plucking the letter off his notepad, he instead placed it inside at the very start of Lance's section within it; to hold onto and remember this moment.

Returning this was a sign of friendship to him. Something Keith didn't get to feel often with others. He cherished that.

When Lance returned later that night, Keith pretended to be asleep to avoid talking to him. He hadn't found the right words to say just yet and hoped Lance didn't mind waiting a bit for him to gather his thoughts and apologize appropriately.

When Lance turned off his lights, Keith peeked an eye open to stare at him.

To stare at everything.

He never realized it till now, but Lance had star lights hanging on his side of the rooms.

There were pictures of art hanging on the walls. A child drew a lot of them, most likely a younger sibling of his. There was even a weird giant butcher knife on his desk- he'd have to ask why Lance had that later.

How bizarre.

He had been living with Lance for weeks yet only know noticed these things. Hadn't seen them for what they were…

With that thought, he closed his eyes and went to bed, making sure to be quiet when he woke up the next morning, so Lance could have his full eight hours of sleep, just how he liked it.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERY BODY! I hope this year is a good year for all of you! A lot of cool things Game wise, show wise and movie wise is coming out, so I'm at least positive the entertainment world will be a blast this year!

In the next chapter: Keith and Lance are still on a thin line, but you can always rely on Keith to get Lance out of a tough spot when the Garrison student body start messing with him.

Review:

Starblood20: Oh my gosh thank you! I'm so glad you like the story!

Adrianna Agray: I'm so happy you think so! I'm definitely gonna take that Matt thing where I hope none of you readers expect it to go~ It'll be great!

Guest: My goal is to "shook" everyone XD Thank you for the review!

Lola: Merry christmas and a happy new year to you too!

Catlover2976: I mean, Keith had to have watched criminal minds, right? That just seems like a show Keith would totally watch XD

Nigil1017: Aww, thank you! Those torn emotions are what make my writing worth it! XD

Melancholy's Sunshine: Friend, you are always very close in your assumptions to what is going to happen in future chapters XD Of course Keith and Lance will eventually have to 'break up" but they could definitely get back together to make the relationship actually real :3

Resa's Pizza: I'm such a jerk to Lance ;-; Poor precious blue baby boy