Keith awoke to Lance booting him off the bed.
He imitated an apology, batting his eyes innocently, "Oh, did I do that~? My bad," Lance met Keith's gaze with a cross look, "Good morning. Sleep well? You went to be so suddenly, you must have been tired," venom dripped from his tone.
"More or less," Keith says cautiously. Lance huffed, steam practically coming from his nose as he got off the bed to get dressed. Despite being inside, he put on his jacket and zipped it all the way to his chin, hiding his neck from Keith's view like a kind of punishment.
A little disappointed but understanding, Keith ate his breakfast quietly. When they were done, he pushed for conversation. "So um- have any weird dreams last night?"
"I dreamt that there was a mullet in front of me… so I set it on fire," Lance tells him with little remorse.
"...Okayyy," Keith scratches his head and carried on. Lance barely gave him a glance as they got dressed and headed out, refusing to hold his hand when they walked out of their apartment.
Of course, Lance didn't need to always hold his hand- but it was just kind of their thing. They always did it from a force of habit and it felt kind of lonely when they weren't.
He was never normally a hand holder before he came here anyway, so it was strange how accustomed he had grown to it.
To try and make up for the loss, he stuffs his hands into his pockets, but it isn't the same. Lance's hands were soft, assuring and warm and- why was he so obsessed with this? He could go one day without holding Lance's hand, couldn't he?
Was this being possessive again?
He couldn't tell.
Deciding he had to try and focus on something else other than Lance, his mind wandered elsewhere. Swords. Fighting. That stupid Rashra. The team.
He thought of the color of the ocean- so deeply blue that it swallows you whole. And you willingly let it- desperate for its attention.
Chestnut brown, soft and curly.
Carmel skin that is so smooth you think you must be imagining it's gentle touch-
Keith hit himself when he realized his train of thought hadn't left Lance at all.
"Um…" Lance spoke up quietly next to him, "Can you not randomly punch yourself in public? You scared the crap out of me."
Keith lowered his hands, "Oh, sorry."
Lance shrugs, not sure what else could be said on the topic. At least their Coeihn friend was able to break the silence when the spotted him.
Dravla was tapping his foot impatiently when they arrived at the bottom step, "Could you two move any slower?" he whines.
"What's the rush? Don't you get to skip work since you are Keith's probation officer or something?" Lance inquired.
"Well yeah but- I need to get home," he says quickly, trying to nudge them out the door so they could get a move on.
"What's at home?" Keith asks.
"Tellru,"
"I haven't seen her around much," Lance recalled, "I heard she's been busy,"
"She has and she's been gone for 2 days straight and I haven't seen her once in that time so they sent her home so she wouldn't be in too much pain- so let's gooooooo," he pleads with them quickly, "I feel like my legs are about to give out,"
"You do?" Lance was confused. "Are you in pain? Are you hurt?" Lance and Keith try to examine him, but he refuses to let them stop walking, pushing them towards the Kever station.
"I'll be fine if I get home, jeez. Haven't you ever heard of Equivalent bonds?" he grumbled. When neither of the humans even blinked in response, Dravla frowned. "...You do know about Equivalent bonds, right?"
"Um… you uh-" Lance shrugs, "I thought it was like getting married,"
"You mentioned Marriage before. So humans don't have equivalents?"
"We don't really call each other equivalents, but when two people love each other and are um- lovers, they get married," Lance explains again as the Kever crawls into the station. Very uncaring for the giant bug now having been here so long, they step on without complaint. Sitting down on one of the rows, Dravla stares at the two, almost disapprovingly.
"Yet, somehow, despite this explanation, you tell me you are both not married?"
Lance purses his lips a little, hoping he didn't look embarrassed, "We're not," he takes a side glance to Keith, adding in, "We're not lovers, after all,"
Keith lets that settle in, the anxiety in his stomach only growing worse. He wanted to speak up and disagree with Lance- or at least tell him that they could be that- if Lance wanted- but that's the thing, he knew Lance did.
If last night proved anything, it was that Lance cared about Keith, and was willing to take this relationship to the next step.
But Keith ruined that.
"Are you sure?" Dravla pushes,
"Oh yeah. Keith made it very clear," Lance nods, his smile painfully bright, but his voice tight.
"What does that mean?" Dravla raises his eyebrow
"Nothing," Lance looks away
"Lance-" Keith tries to explain, his words dying out in his throat. Sitting in an awkward silence for a few minutes, Dravla clears his throat.
"Huh, how bizarre. I guess I never really thought about how different other races could be. You also mentioned that some have sex before they get, as you say, married? How do you not grow an equivalent bond with those people?"
"I still don't really get what you mean by bond," Lance admits.
"When you bond- you know? Um…" Dravla struggles to explain. To his culture, everyone already knew this, so there was never really a need to explain it that often. "When two Coeihns come together for equivalency, we fall into a kind of heat," he says simply, "This heat goes on for several days…and you don't really need to know the details of this heat because I feel that it should be obvious about what happens during that time,"
"Yeah," The two paladins nod meekly, glad he didn't decide to elaborate.
"But, when the heat is done, the bond is formed between the two people. Coeihns mate for life, and once we find an Equivalent, we never get another one ever again. The bond is- um… it affects your body and mind? If you did not care for each other already before the Equivalency, then the bond will assure your feelings."
"...Can you use baby words, because I'm still not getting it," Keith confessed
Dravla sighs, "The bond makes the other your equivalent. Equivalents become the most important thing in your entire life. You can't live without them." he smiles, "You live for them. That is why you must treat your equivalency with the utmost care because once you're an equivalent, you can't ever break that bond. This bond is so strong that- that you can't be away from your own equivalent for too long. It… hurts, to be away from them."
"It hurts?" Lance blinked once before saying, "You're in pain from not seeing Tellru for this long?"
Dravla nods, his hand lifting to his chest, "I feel like my skin is being peeled off my body… I can't feel my toes and my fingers are numb…" he laughs dryly, "Tellru already calls me very needy, so I feel this way after only being away from her for an hour. It's kind of troublesome when we both have worked all day."
"Whoa…" Lance says in almost wonder, "I never noticed anything like that. S-So what happens if you are away from each other for two long?"
"We don't die if that is what you are worried about. But… it feels like we are. I've never experienced any pain that is worse than being away from Tellru for too long..." he looks away sadly. "When an equivalent dies, usually the other does too. Obviously, I've never experienced it, but it's been said that you feel the death of your equivalent no matter where you are. I can't even…" he voice breaks a little, "I can't even imagine losing Tellru."
"All Coeihns die when they lose their equivalent?" Keith shakes his head, eyes wide.
"Not all. Sometimes other ties can keep that Coeihn going even after their equivalent's death. If say, the equivalents had children. Their love for their children could give them the will to keep living, but they would spend the rest of their life in pain. Every day would be a struggle just to breath and stay alive…" Dravla turns his head to look out into the distance. "Humans don't feel this?"
"No," they shake their heads.
"That sounds like both a blessing and a shame," he chuckles.
"I had no idea," Lance says quietly. The idea of caring about someone so much that it physically caused you pain to be apart from them was beautiful and yet so terrifying. Lance always missed his family and a day didn't go by that he didn't think of them or even the team- But to love someone that much that losing them literally kills you…
He exhaled deeply, taking that concept in. "You must… You must really love Tellru,"
Dravla glances at him, eyes full of love, "Yes, I do," he rose to his feet when the Kever began to pull into the station at the lower districts. Leaping off, they started down the road to Dravla's house.
When they got close enough Dravla burst into a sprint. Keith and Lance ran to keep up with him, watching him leap over the fence in front of his house. Booking it for the door, he slammed into it and fell inside. He called for Tellru and she came running. With large smiles, they embraced.
Like two lovers who had been separated for years instead of hours, they clung to each other, burying their faces into their shoulders. From the stairs, Ruru watched them with a little smile on her face.
When Dravla sniffled, Tellru laughed fondly, ("Come now Dravla, you should have only just started to feel the Bond's effect- don't tell me you've been hurting this whole time?")
("Love, I don't think I even breath when we're not together,")
She kisses him, swooning at his words.
"I don't know what they're saying, but I get the feel it's cute," Lance muses. Watching the two kiss and pull away, arms over each other's shoulders, he waves, "Hey, Tellru,"
"Hello, Lance. Keith," she greets, "How are you two?"
"We're fine,"
"I heard about what happened with Rashra. I apologize for him taking your possession, Keith," she frowns, "I'm not sure where he took it, but I'll try my best to recover it for you,"
"You don't have to do that," Keith tells her, "I don't want you to get into trouble for me,"
"It is no problem. If things go bad, I can explain to Manny the situation. He would understand that you are half Galra,"
"Thanks,"
Smiling, Tellru perks up, "Oh, here- you two have to see this," she motions for them to follow her into her study. "I'm working on a special outfit for the both of you; for special occasions like parties," she showed them only the shirts, and Lance was already in love.
"Look at this design," he gawks, "I want to wear this all the time! Forget the parties!"
Keith wasn't as big as a fan, simply because it was more elegant compared to his preferred tastes, but appreciated the effort, "It is beautiful, Tellru,"
"When will these bad boys be done?" Lance asks her.
"Perhaps in a few days? I've become very inspired since meeting you two. I appreciate you wearing the clothes I give you so often," she smiles, thrilled.
"I would say I only wear them because I have nothing else to wear, but that is a lie. I adore these clothes," Lance motions to his jacket. "You have an eye for fashion." She had already given them around four outfits before, and she was already making a fifth? This girl worked fast! "I would seriously reconsider your career and try to make clothes for a living- these are so good,"
Touched at the compliment, she grins, "Thank you, Lance." she gasps, "That reminds me- Ruru! Go grab the thing the doctor brought by,"
"Oh yeah!" Dravla pats Lance's shoulder, "You're going to love this," Ruru returned a moment later with a little box, holding it out to Lance excitedly Curious, Lance takes the box.
"Is this for me?"
"The doctor prescribed them for you- to help with your eyes," Tellru explains.
Opening the box, Lance doubles back, "No way," he gasps.
"What?" Keith inquires, unable to see.
Lance is cackling, turning away to put something on his face. "Tada!" he turns back, a round set of blue glasses placed on his nose. Keith gawks at him, not expecting Coeihns to actually have such a thing.
"Glasses!" he points to them.
Lance is jumping up and down a little in joy, "Everything is so clear again! Keith! I can actually see your nose from here!" he points to him, thrilled. Keith stares- mesmerized by how different the glasses seem to make Lance's features.
His eyes seemed a little bigger, rounder and shiny. It added this line of cute that Keith didn't realize he appreciated till Lance started prancing around, showing off the glasses proudly.
"They look great on you, Lance,' Dravla and Tellru watch from behind, smiling little smiles at his enthusiasm.
"Look at that! Look at that nose, Keith!" he pinches the red paladin's nose. Keith chuckles a little, trying to bat his hand away. "Little little nose,"
"Stop," Keith says, smiling from ear to ear. "Can you see all of us?"
"As clear as day. Thank you Dravla, Tellru," he says to them, sounding a little choked up.
"You're welcome," they nod.
Grinning, Lance throws his arms over Keith's shoulders to hug him, "I feel a song coming on!" he declares, so overjoyed.
"What?" Keith stumbled back a little, not expecting his sudden weight.
"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see the Keef in front of me~~" Sharing a little laugh, Lance lifts himself upward to plant a loving kiss on Keith's lips. As he did this, his mind flashed to the night before. His body goes rigid as a foreign and very unsettling worry festers in his heart.
Keith wanted this… right?
Despite how much as he cherished the feeling of Keith's mouth on his own, he pulls away, daring a peek at the red paladin's expression. It matched his own; wide, fearful, and unsure- his thoughts most likely in the same place as Lance's.
If that was the case though, why did Keith pull away from him yesterday? Why did he just leave Lance with endless questions and worries?
Distraught, Lance steps back and turns away from Keith. He says in a dejected tone, "Thank you for the glasses, Tellru. Dravla,"
Keith lowered his hands grimacing at his feet.
Taking a second to eye the two young paladins, Tellru frowns and tilts her head, "Are you two alright?"
"Hmm?" they ask.
"You seem a little distant today," she motions between them.
Blinking once, Lance mumbled "Are we?" he grumbles, "Hadn't noticed."
"Well I did- you two were like this on the Kever too," Dravla points out. "Do you- want to talk about it?"
"No," Lance folds his arms.
Keith, on the other hand, glanced at his feet sheepishly, "Actually um- I was wondering if I could talk to Dravla for a second?" Everyone in the room isn't sure what he wants and raises their eyebrows at him, "I need to ask you something… privately," he ignores the odd stare from Lance.
"Oh uh- sure thing?" he shrugs. "We need some groceries anyway, so you and I can head over there." he pauses, "You cool with leaving Lance here alone?"
"I wouldn't be alone, I'm with Tellru," Lance rolls his eyes, "I don't need Keith to be constantly with me."
"No, no of course not," Keith tells him quickly, never wanting to make Lance feel cornered ever again, "I'm fine with going by myself and you staying here. You can even leave if you want- go where ever you want…"
Staring at him, Lance blinks once, then his gaze softens. Touched at how much Keith was trying with this, despite not looking too comfortable with going away from him, he chuckles, "I'll see you when you get back," unable to stay mad at this sweet paladin for too long, he steps towards him and kisses his cheek.
Keith touches the spot gingerly, wide-eyed and mesmerized. Dravla is snorting at them, "Come along," he nudges Keith down the hall and out the door. Pushing Keith till they got down the road, he lets go of his shoulders to walk beside him. "So? What did you want to talk about?"
Keith hesitates, not really expecting to get to this conversation so soon, "It's um… Dravla," Keith swallows thickly, every fiber of his being telling him that this was a mistake.
"Yes, I'm listening?"
The need for answers was too much. Despite wanting to drop the question he says, "Can I ask you something?"
"I already said you could,"
"It is a weird question," he warns
"I've heard some weird things. What do you wanna know?"
"I want to know-" he inhales, collecting his courage, "I wanna know about sex,"
Dravla goes still, his gaze flickering to meet Keith's. He stands there for a while, amongst the crowds of Coeihns, taking in his words, determining if he heard him correctly. When the smaller human blushes a brilliant crimson, Dravla knows he heard the right sentence.
Slowly he repeats, "About sex,"
"Y-Yeah,"
"...You want me to give you the talk?" Dravla snapped into realization, horrified, "I didn't think I'd have to do this till Ruru was getting close to adulthood!"
"No! I know what sex is, okay? I know how it is done between a man and a woman. I just don't know… how it is done between t-two guys. Or the details of it..." forcing himself, he adds, "I don't know what it means to… t-to stretch your partner out. What do you do other than kissing? What is weird and what isn't weird to touch?"
Dravla was covering his ears, "Stop. Stop talking."
"You are the only one I can ask about this," Keith insists, "I'm not happy about this either, you know!" in fact, he was mortified. It wasn't too late to just turn away and tell Dravla to forget it.
But the night before kept flashing into his mind. He had wanted to do more with Lance. So much more. Not to mention, he had upset him! Lance had wanted to do more too and he just- he ran away from it like a coward.
He had to fix this and learn- and like hell, he was going to Tellru about this. Dravla was the only male figure he could look to for advice on this so… here is he.
"I need to learn," Keith states
"You need to? Why would you-" he pauses. Leaning towards him a bit, his looked Keith up and down, as if trying to see something invisible. "Wait a minute…"
"What?" Keith huffed.
"Ooh?" he smirked, clapping a little, "Why this sudden curiosity, if I may ask?"
"You may not ask,"
"Ahh I see." he says like Keith's statement explained it all, "Lance has experience unlike you so you want to make sure you efficiently please him~"
Keith chokes, shocked that he caught on, "That isn't what I said at all!"
"But I think it is what you meant~
"Shut up!"
"It's normal, Keith," Dravla insists, "Everyone wants to be able to satisfy their partner." He pauses, "So- does any of this have to do with how Lance and you have been acting today?"
Keith lowers his gaze, "I- kind of… Yeah."
"What happened?"
He doesn't know how to answer for a long time, "I ran away…"
"What does that mean?"
"Lance wanted to… to go further than just kissing."
"Oh my gosh," Dravla covers his mouth, excited, "And?"
"Like I said- I ran away."
Dravla gasps, like a child who just watched a friend take their pudding cup, "No. No!" He grips his shoulders, "Why would you do that?"
"I don't know!" Keith snaps, pulling away. "I just did. I got- I dunno, I got nervous cause I didn't know anything!"
"You don't run away just because you are nervous! You go slow if you are nervous! Augh! I can't believe this!" Dravla wails in sadness. He freezes, determination boiling in his eyes, "We need to fix this."
"Yeah, we do," Keith agrees, cautious to the Coeihns odd look.
"There there, young one. I, the great Dravla, will guide you through your path into intimacy,"
"No," Keith shakes his head, sounding irritated, "Forget it. This was a mistake asking you,"
"Too late~ You already did so," he motions for Keith to follow," C'mon," When Keith refuses to move, Dravla drags him upward and tucks him under his arm.
"Put me down!"
"Nope~"
"Where are we even going?! You said we were going shopping!"
"Shopping is put on hold! This takes priority! To a learning facility!" Dravla proclaimed, charging into the crowd.
(00-Lance—00)
"Soooo," Tellru cooes as Ruru makes little pigtails with Lance's hair. "Something happen?"
"Yes," Lance sighs.
"Details,"
Lance groans a little, tossing his head back, "Ruru is here,"
"She probably won't understand. Just don't go into detail,"
Shrugging a little, he agrees, "Okay. It happened last night-" he freezes when Tellru suddenly sniffs him.
Blinking, she huffs and goes back to her seat, disappointed. When she doesn't even comment on the strange action, he stares at her till she looks at him. "What?"
"Why did you just sniff me?" he frowned.
"Oh…I was seeing if you have officially become equivalents, but you don't have his scent on you,"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Lance huffs.
"It means Keith is still pure and you two aren't true equivalents yet," she explains. "When two people become equivalents, the scent of that person becomes a part of your natural smell. Though I can smell a little of Keith on you, that is only common since you two spend so much time together,"
Lance found that curious, "Ohh, so then you smell like Dravla and Dravla smells like you,"
"It is how you know we aren't pure's anymore and are equivalents," she pauses, "It is also how I knew you weren't pure anymore. You smell like someone else."
Lance went still, "...I do?" he whispers weakly. "H-...How much? Do I smell a lot like them?" he heart was kicking into overdrive. He didn't want to think that he still- that after all this time he would still smell like that guy…
Tellru seems to sense his distress and lifts her hand to calm him, "Only a little. It is faint, I assure you. If you were to become the equivalent of anyone else, preferably Keith please, then the other scent would disappear."
Relaxing back into his chair, Lance nods, "Oh… o-okay,"
Tilting her head, Tellru frowns, "The person who claimed you- you did not love them?"
"No," he mumbles, "Not at all." with a voice almost too quiet for her to hear him, he says, "I hate them…"
"Lance," Tellru takes his hand, "I… I'm so sorry."
Lance wasn't sure why he seemed to be able to talk to Dravla and Tellru about this. He never even talked to his own parents about what happened during that night back at Garrison. When Keith had brought it up Lance flat out changed the topic then and there to avoid it.
What was different about Tellru and Dravla?
"It's okay…"
"Is that what is bothering you about last night? Did Keith try and claim you and you- got scared?"
Lance tenses, "Oh- n-no. Actually, it is the opposite. He didn't try to uh- claim me… He went to sleep…" he ends the sentence feeling very annoyed.
Tellru covers her mouth, "But you wanted him too?" she sounded like a giddy schoolgirl.
Starting to regret this topic change with the sparkle in her eye he hesitantly nods, "Yeah,"
She is clapping, pumping her fist into the air and cheering, "This is wonderful news!" she freezes, "Why didn't he claim you?" she started to sound pissed, "Did you run away from it? That little bug! Ooh, the next time I see him-"
Lance grabs her arm, "Tellru, no it's okay." he starts to laugh, enjoying how much she seemed to get into this. "I think… I dunno. Maybe he got scared? Or maybe he doesn't feel the same way…" he lowers his gaze."
"No," Tellru grips his shoulders, "He probably got scared," and she corrects," Out of any likely reason, that was probably it. Dravla got nervous our first time too. That is okay. Everyone gets nervous. But- he shouldn't have turned away from you." she glances to the front door, recalling how Keith wished to talk to Dravla privately. "How much does Keith know about claiming? Does your race discuss these things or are you left to figure it out for yourself?"
"Well- we talk about the safeties with it. And you can learn a lot about it online I guess? I doubt Keith knew anything about it before we got here,"
"Then he was unsure of what to do," Tellru takes a guess. Smiling, she chuckles to herself, "Well, I'm sure Dravla can help him."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lance tilts his head.
"Nothing," she waves it off. "I have the rest of the day off. Would you like to help me garden?"
"Sure," he nods, still puzzled.
(00—Lance –00)
"Kill me now…" Keith pleaded as he was placed on a chair and table. Without wasting a second, Dravla fetched him a paper and quill pen.
"I expect you to take notes," he says. To Keith's horror, Dravla had dragged him to a school. Barging into the building, he approached one of the teachers he knew and inquired to borrow one of the empty rooms for a little while too, as he said, educate Keith in the means of pleasuring his equivalent.
The Coeihn had blushed a little, nodded, and even offered Dravla one of their teaching gowns. It reminded Keith of a graduation gown and even had a similar style hat to go with it. Dravla wore it with pride, striding around the room gracefully like some prideful college professor.
"Welcome class!" he grinned, despite Keith being the only one in there. "Let's get started. Now-" he took a piece of chalk from the board. Drawing a poor stick figure, he labeled it "Lance". "This is our topic today. In this lesson, we shall go over the major points of pleasure on the body as well as tactics for the job."
"Dravla-" Keith frowns.
"Ah! Raise your hand young man," Dravla chucked the chalk at him. Hitting his forehead, Keith grunted. Grumbling, he raised his hand. Dravla purposively took his time to call on him.
"Oh, yes, Keith? You have a question?"
"Is this really necessary?" he demanded.
"Yes." Dravla nods. "For several reasons. You asked me, first off, so you have to listen to my answer. And secondly, I saw how Lance seemed to be this morning. I don't know the details, other than you were nervous, but I get the distinct feeling that the reason you were this way and why you ended up not following through was because you didn't know what to do. Am I wrong?"
Keith glances away, "...No," he sighs.
"And do you want to have a repeat of that?"
"No," he says, louder.
"Then shut up and take notes."
Sighing, Keith picked up the quill, examined it, and dipped it into the ink. Not use to using this kind of writing tool, he tried his best to write down what Dravla began to say. It took only three minutes before he started blushing into his palm. Dravla kept going though, hitting Keith in the hand with the ruler when he would stop writing.
He should have just winged it.
(000- Lance -000)
"Ruru, I don't think burying the full fruit is going to help a tree grow," Lance tells her, "You need to take the seed out of the fruit and then bury it,"
Having already buried five different types of fruit within the soil, the young child blinks at him. "Oh…" she starts to dig it up with her palm. Pulling out the fruit, she jabbed her fingers into it and scooped out the seed. Lance opened his mouth when she stuck the seed in her mouth to eat, and put the fruit right back into the ground.
She had already swallowed when he spoke up. "You don't- never mind,"
Following Ruru back to the front of the house with the rest of the seeds, Lance was curious to see a few children standing by the gates. Ruru straightened at the sight of them, frowning. Folding her arms, she says something.
The kids look a little sheepish and point to him.
Ruru wrapped her arms around Lance's arm, hugging it. She stuck her tongue at the kids.
"What did they say?" he asks.
"They want to meet you," she tells him. "But they are meanies. Always mean to Ruru."
"Oh," Lance frowns, glancing at the children. "Well… perhaps this is your chance to become friends with them instead?" he offers. Ruru tilts her head at him.
"Friends?"
"How about we try?"
Thinking about it, she nods hesitantly. They shuffle over to the gate and step out. The kids seem excited to meet Lance, all of them knowing the story of the Blue champion.
"Can you translate for me?" Lance inquires. Ruru nods, talking to the children in Lance's place.
They chatted, played, and at one point, Ruru even managed a smile. Grateful that she seemed to eventually relax around the others, Lance stepped back to let them talk. Despite them previously teasing her, she seemed able to grow accustomed to their antics rather quickly.
She even showed them her braces and how they worked, explaining how if she wished to, she could use them as secret weapons since most people would not consider them a threat.
The children were in awe, asking they show her how she uses them. She tugged out one of the extra bars to show them, twirling it between her fingers.
Lance laughed when she struck a dramatic pose. Several of the children around him did the same. It was a pleasant sound, like singing bells. It echoed- then was abruptly cut off by the sound of a high-pitched screech.
The kids lifted their hands to their horns, whining at the noise. Lance wasn't sure what it was either but found it was coming from above. Lifting his head, he spotted something falling from the sky. It emerged from the cloud, like a silver cylinder.
Many Coeihns paused to stare at it, unsure of what it was. The faster it fell, the larger the noise got.
Lance felt something turn in his stomach. He wasn't positive, but something felt wrong about it. He had encountered a moment like this before, back at the castle with Coran when they first became paladins.
He had felt this feeling in his gut then too. Like a warning to the disaster about to come.
With a gasp, he turned and screams, "Get down!" he lunges for Ruru and a few of the kids.
A second later, a pause of silence, then an explosion erupted from the cylinder close to the district wall.
He screamed.
(000-Keith-000)
"And that concludes our lesson," Dravla lowers his ruler, "Any questions?"
Keith finishes scribbling a few last notes on his paper and examines it. Oddly enough, despite how embarrassing it was, he had learned a lot. He felt a lot more comfortable now that he could talk to someone about this.
"No, I'm good."
"So what are we going to do next time Lance offers to let you claim him?" he cooes.
Keith blushes and looks away, "C-Claim him?"
"Correct. And if you still feel nervous about it, what do you do?"
"I tell him instead of turning away. I work it out with him and find something that makes us both comfortable."
"Good!" Dravla claps in praise, ruffling his hair. "My young pupil has come so far," he sniffles.
Keith hits his hand away, unable to stop himself from smiling, "Yeah well… thank you, Dravla."
"You humans, so complicated," Dravla teases.
"We are not," he pauses, "Maybe a little…?"
"A little is an understatement,"
"Shut up-"
Both of them were startled when the ground shook slightly, the lights swinging wildly above them. "What was that?" Keith demanded.
Dravla wasn't sure and turned to the door. Just as he reached it, something started to blare above.
An alarm of some sort. Dravla went pale, turning to Keith with wide eyes. The red paladin wasn't sure what was happening but could see Dravla go tense, shooting around to grab his blade that he left on the desk
"Dravla?!" he demanded.
"The alarm has been sound. We are under attack!"
"Attack?!" Keith yelled.
Rushing out, Keith scrambled after him. They pushed through the panicked teachers and students, struggling to get past them as they rushed to their safety zones. Bursting out through the front door, it didn't take long for them to see the billow of smoke emanating from the kingdom wall. An entire section had been blown to smithereens.
It wasn't exactly at it, but it was definitely close the Tellru and Dravla's house… close to Lance.
Dravla was dumbfounded, the devastation of the explosion so large. "I've never…" he had never seen a weapon quite like it. How had it made its way into the city?
"Dravla. We gotta go!" Keith called to him. Snapping out of his shock, the taller man nodded.
"We must find Tellru and the others." they book it down the road. It was hard to get past citizens since they were all coming from the opposite way from the blast of the explosion.
Explosion.
The word felt sick and twisted.
He had dealt with those before. He's made explosions before when he first rescued Shiro. His life had been filled with them.
He never feared them till the day Sendak attacked. Lance had almost died. Fear held onto him tightly that day, refusing to let go until lance stepped out of a cryo pod a full two days later.
Now Lance was out there, with more of these things going on.
The closer they got, the more they started to hear screams. Soldiers were there- but none wore the armor Keith often saw the guard wearing. They were attacking the citizens!
Dravla didn't hesitate to engage them, slamming his blade into a few and knocking them down. Tearing off the gown he wore, he pierced the chest of another soldier. Keith followed his lead, not knowing who these men were but understanding they couldn't be food.
"Who are these guys?" Keith demanded.
"Traveks! Our enemies of the North," Dravla says with venom seeping from her tone, "(They are lowlife murderous scum who should rot back to hell where they came from!") he slammed his foot into the chest of one, spinning around it before slamming the end of his blade against his stomach. He fell, unmoving. "Come, we must hurry to locate Lance, Tellru, and Ruru," As they ran he called to the citizens "(Quickly! To the upper districts!" he commanded them. The soldiers must have been coming in from the large gap the explosion had made within the wall.
It sounded too convenient to not have been planned.
They had to hurry and get to Lance before too many of the soldiers got within.
(0000-Lance-0000)
Lance's head was throbbing when he awoke. Jostled awake by small hands, he blinked wearily. The children, they were shaking him and screaming, begging him to get up.
Snapping awake, he sat up with a gasp. That's right, there was a bomb!
"Ruru?!" the second she came into view he hugged her. "Are you alright?"
She nods into his chest, tightening her grip on his shirt.
"Lala,"
"It's okay," he hushed her, "We're- we're all okay. Are any of you hurt?" he asks the children. They blink at him, puzzled. Ruru translates for him.
Most shake their head no, and the others lift they arms to show a few scraps and bruises, but nothing serious. Thank goodness.
Stumbling to his feet, he takes a good look around.
The city was burning.
Of course, the bomb seemed to have only hit one section of the lower districts, but the after effect seemed to be causing just as much damage.
"What just happened?" he murmured, not understanding who could do such a horrible thing. It didn't take long to receive an answer as a few armored bearing men stalked around the corner. The armor was different then what most Coeihns wore, and the very sight of it caused the children to scream.
"Traveks!" the children cowered behind him. Lance recalled that name. Tellru had mentioned it a few times before. They were enemies- the people Coeihns were at war with. They must have had something to do with that bomb.
They turned towards them, lifting their weapons.
More grateful than ever for the glasses, he pulled out his Bayard.
Missing how clear the world was around him, he closed one of his eyes and aimed.
An inhale, then an exhale. Three shots, three fallen soldiers.
They hit the ground before they even knew what him them. The children were in awe of him, admiring him quietly.
"We have to move," he says. "Ruru, your parents must have told you what to do during something like this, right?" he kneels down to her. A culture in war always made plans for situations like this. "Where are you supposed to go?"
She looks behind her. "Up," she motions towards the hills. The upper districts, closer to the Kingdom.
"Then let's head there and try to meet up with the others somewhere around it," Lance tells her. "Come on," he motions for the children to follow. They didn't hesitate, stumbling after him and sticking close to his side.
It took time with all of them, but they slowly began to make their way through the rubble and chaos.
Taking their time to assure none of the kids got hurt, Lance felt Ruru tug on his sleeve.
"Keef," she says softly.
Lance froze, "You see Keith?"
"N-No, but… Keef's," she is pointing to something. Not sure what she meant, he could see her motioning to the rubble in the distance. There were so many things to look at within the destruction that he wasn't sure what she was talking about.
"What?" he asks, "What do you see?"
"Keef's blink,"
"Blink?"
"Blink," she says
"What is a blink?"
She sounds frustrated and afraid, and it was evident in her voice, "Blink!" she stresses.
"I don't know what you are trying to say, sweetpea," Lance sighs, "I'm sorry I don't- what is a blink?" he tries again, hoping to sound calm
"Blink!"
"Blinking is this," he blinks to show her. She slaps her forehead.
"Bl… Bli.. Bla… sharp! Sharp point!' she aims for a different explanation. "Swing! Swoosh!"
"What?"
'Stab!"
"Stab?" he processes the words slowly
"Stab stab!" she thrusts her hand forward. Lance doesn't understand when Ruru suddenly turned to another child and jabs him in the gut. He falls over with a gag, clutching his stomach.
"Ruru!" he scolds, "This is not the time for that!"
"Stab stab!" she yells back at him. "Stab slice! Slice Keef! Keef's slice there!" she points ahead again, ready to just run ahead.
Then it hits him, "Blade?" he demands. Her gasp and smile confirms it, "Keith's blade?"
"Blade!" she cheers.
"Where?! Where is it?!" Lance looked ahead. Now that he knew what to look for, it didn't take long to spot it. It was tossed to the floor, surrounded by rubble and other belongings.
"Lucky!" Lance cheered, taking a small detour to collect it. He wasn't even sure how it was over here, but picking up, he knew it was definitely Keith's. Perhaps this area had been some sort of storage to hold evidence or something- or maybe it was Rashra's house?
Either way, it didn't matter, he got the blade back, and he knew exactly where to put it.
Keith had left the holster with him- mainly because Lance really liked wearing his belt.
Don't judge him.
With a grin, he lifted it back to where it belonged. "Keith is going to freak when I show it to him," he grinned. "Okay Ruru, let's-" A screeching cut them off. This one was faster, following by a second closer. The children screamed and ducked down, watching in horror as another section of the wall was torn apart.
This time, through the smoke, Lance could see the perpetrator of the bombs above. Peeking through the clouds, it was some sort of strange looking ship.
"Kid's we have to-!" Hearing the cracking sound of rubble, Lance gasped. He could feel the shift of earth before it fell. Caused by the explosions behind them, the ground was giving out on itself and he acted out of instinct.
"Ruru!" Since she was closest, he shoved her, tossing her just enough of a distance away to the other children before the ground gave out below them. She and the children called out for him when he fell.
(-000 KEITH 000-)
Dravla and Keith had to duck for cover when the second explosion went off. This time, the ship that was dropping the bombs had revealed itself.
"I've never seen a ship like that before," Dravla says, "Is that really a Travek ship?"
Keith wasn't sure, but something about it seemed similar in design. Not sure what it reminded him off, he couldn't focus on it long.
He had to find Lance. Things were just getting worse out here.
"Is there any faster way to your house?" he demands.
"Even if we get there I can't guarantee Tellru and the others are going to be there," Dravla huffs as they run down the road. "In these situations, all Coeihns know to evacuate to somewhere safe. For all we know, Lance and the others could be heading there-" he leaped over a fallen pole, "But just in case, I need to check the house to make sure they didn't get caught inside."
Keith understood that and followed after him. Rounded the corner, they paused at the sight of several fallen Travek soldiers. Assuming reinforcements from the guards had arrived, Keith's jaw dropped when a familiar looking Coeihn slammed into a Travek in a brutal takedown.
Hitting the ground hard, none other then Tellru slammed her elbow into the Travek's face, knocking him out cold.
"Tellru!" Dravla was in tears from both relief and adoration. "My beautiful warrior!" he skipped to her.
Lifting her head, she brushed the sweat off her chin and smiled, "Dravla!" she barreled into him when he got close enough, "Are you hurt?! Is Ruru with you?!"
"I thought she was with you!" he falls back into his panic.
"She was but- we were gardening and she went with Lance to play out in the streets. There was too much chaos- I don't know where they went," she tells him.
Keith clicks his teeth, jumping up some debris to look out. His heart was hammering, his own hands trembling.
He had to find Lance.
"Let's keep looking. Ruru knows to go to the upper districts in these situations but Lance doesn't, he might still be around here looking for us,' Dravla suggested. Glad to get his feet moving, Keith didn't hesitate to run ahead.
They had searched for what felt like an eternity- pausing only once to lift their heads at the sound of a beam being fired.
For the first time since arriving, Keith was able to witness the large defense system the Coeihns installed behind the Kingdom's castle. The Gun- one large enough to Voltron to hold, had turned, aiming for the ship above that had continuously dropped bombs onto of the city.
Hitting the target spot on, the haul of the ship erupted into flames and shot downward. Barely managed to pass the city walls, they could see the imploding flames towards the forests outside the kingdom.
Dravla and Tellru were cheering, but the celebration didn't last long. Travek soldiers were still managing to pour in through the cracks and crevices- but now that the ship was gone, the soldiers seemed able to focus on it, and put their strength into barricading the outside forces.
They still hadn't found Lance though!
Keith didn't care about the Traveks, or the wall- he just wanted to find Lance!
"Hey!" Tellru's call pulled him from his worried. "There!" she pointed ahead. A chunk of unstable land had fallen from the explosion, making a large crater between the remaining parts of the city. The destruction was sickening, but she had managed to spot something from across the way.
Children were gathered towards the other end of the crater, looking over the edge and calling down into it.
It wasn't hard to spot Ruru within the group.
"Ruru!" Dravla gasps. "What is she doing over there?! RURU!" he called over. She snapped her gaze up, squinting around to see him. When she did, she started jumping up and down. "Ruru get away from there!" they called to her, "It's dangerous!"
She shakes her head, calling back, "Lala!" Her face was desperate with worry and she started pointing downward. Not sure what she meant, they looked a little into the crater.
Keith sucked in a breath when he saw him.
Lance. He had fallen in.
"Lance!" his voice cracked at the pitch in which he yelled his name. The blue paladin didn't stir.
He had been lucky enough to be caught by a chunk of a fallen roof before plummeting to the caverns below and was laying across it, unconscious. Of course, the impact with the roof couldn't have been comfortable, but at least he hadn't fallen to where they couldn't get him.
"We have to get over there!" Keith bellowed. Dravla nodded in agreement, looking for the shortest way.
"Look!" he pointed to a beam. It was small, but it seemed to connect the two sections, cutting straight across.
"That looks unstable," Tellru shook her head.
"It's the fastest way," Dravla sighs, "But yes, all our weight would make it collapse. One at a time," he suggested.
"I'll go first," Keith steps forward.
"Keith," Tellru disagrees, "It could fall,"
"I'm the lightest," he snaps at her quickly, desperate to get a move on, "If anyone has the best chance of getting over there fast, it's me,"
The two Coeihns shared a worried glance and hesitantly nod, "Okay, be careful," stepping aside, they watch him climb up.
Lifting his arms up to balance himself, he slowly began the crossing. Tellru watched with baited breath, gasping each time Keith would wobble, almost toppling over. Each time he would catch himself, his gaze set with determination.
Then, halfway across, he could feel a spring cutting loose and the entire beam shook violently.
"RUN!"
He didn't need to hear Tellru's call to get his feet to start moving. Booking it across the last chunk, he had to dive at the last moment before it fell, crumbling down to the pit below.
Reaching out his arm, he managed to snag the edge of the cliff side, pulling himself up. Turning, he could see Tellru and Dravla. Despite looking pale, they were relieved he had made it and were cheering for him.
"We'll find another way around!" Dravla called to him, "You go get Lance! If you can't make your way down to him, wait for us to get there!"
"Okay!"
"Be careful!" Tellru was already turning, running down the path to make the long way around.
Getting to his feet, Keith scrambled down the crumbling path to the group of children. "Ruru!" she jumped into his arms, tugging on them insistently and pointing downward, "I know. I know." he says quickly, putting her down, "I'll get him," he looks over the edge.
Keith felt his heart stop at the sight of Lance's form no longer along the roof.
Did he fall? Did he slide off? Did he-
A grunt came from below. Falling to his knees, he peered down. To his relief, Lance was there and conscious. He had been attempting to climb his way up.
"Lance!"
His body trembled at the call of his name, and he gasped, "K-Keith?" he lifted his gaze up to meet his. A smile broke across his face, "Keith!" he says, his voice softening to tender relief. He starts to laugh, "Man, what a day, huh? I think I have a curse on me or something. I always seem to be in some sort of mess,"
"Are you okay?" Keith started to climb over the side a little, towards the small platform a little below.
"I'm fine… just sore," Lance was clinging to the side, rock climbing with his bare hands. He had gotten a decent distance up, but maybe Keith could pull him up the rest of the way? "I'm glad…" he gasps a little for air, "I'm glad to see you,"
"Yeah," Keith nods, his voice gentle, "Me too." he frowns when he can't see anything else for him to lower himself on. He was stuck on the platform. Inching as far down as he could, he says, "You gotta grab my hand. I can't go any lower than this,"
"Oh uh…" Lance was half way up some sort of metal fence, struggling to keep himself from slipping. Keith wasn't too far away though at this point, so he could make it… right?
Not too comfortable only holding on with one hand, he slowly unhooks his fingers and lifted them. The second he tried the uneven fence wall he was clinging to moved. It was starting to collapse.
Lance screamed and brought his hands back to it, holding on tight, "I can't!"
"Yes, you can. You can, lance," Keith says in a panic, "You gotta try!" they didn't have much time before that wall was going to give
Lance slowly, with wobbly fingers, lifted his palm. With his poor luck, when he looked up, the sun got in his eyes. With his already poor sight, the light of the sun made it virtually impossible to see the red paladin above him. He couldn't find Keith's hand, "I don't- where are you?" he hated that he was in this mess. Hating that this was happening. Hating that he was so useless and helpless and just- "Keith!" he wailed when the platform shook again. He was petrified.
"I'm here!" Keith's voice wavered with a similar fear Lance felt boiling in his stomach, "I'm right here Lance, but you gotta grab me!"
The ground was shifting, ready to give and fall. He had to move now or he wouldn't be making it out of this.
Taking the chance, he pushed himself upward and threw out his arm. With the small leap, a hand wrapped around his wrist.
Not expecting all of Lance's weight, Keith grunted and almost tumbled over the edge. "H-Hold on!" he grimaced, pulling with all his might to lift Lance up towards him. When he was close enough, Lance was able to use his feet to throw himself over the last chunk of it, straight into Keith's arms.
Though the children could only see a little from where they were, they were cheering above, embracing and leaping about.
Their voice drowned out to Lance's ears from the pounding of his heart.
"J-Jeez…" With wet and heaving gasps, Lance sobbed into Keith's chest. "You did it," he gasps, still reeling from the fear. "You-"
Keith's mouth is on his in an instant.
Arms hooked around his waist, Lance's around his shoulder, they kiss till Lance swore he was going to pass out. It's the fear, Lance assumed. And the adrenaline. That whole notion of, I was this close to death and I'm really glad to be alive so just kiss me, emotional response.
The urgency in Keith kiss tells Lance that he feels the same.
"This is the final straw…" Keith pulls away to say, swooping down to claim Lance's bottom lip between his teeth. Lance gasps a little, his body trembling from a heavy sweat. His arms felt too much like jelly right now from clinging to that cliff to grip Keith's shoulders too tightly.
"W-What is?" Lance inquires weakly, his body flushed from either overexertion or arousal- he should really just flip a coin to decide.
"I just can't leave you alone, ever. You always seem to get caught up in danger when you do,"
"I don't decide that," he mumbled, "If I could stop it I would-" Keith gripped Lance under his knees, suddenly lifting him Keith forced Lance to wraps his legs around his hips.
Lance yelped a little at the action, flustered at the position, "P-Put me down," he shivered
"No. Let me hold you like this for a while…"
"Keith-"
"Just a little while longer," he whispers can't say no when he uses that kind of tone, "...Okay," they kiss again. It was almost kind of ridiculous- like a crude joke. They were just making out around all this devastation and ruin, completely unaware of everything going on around them.
Lance can't say no when he uses that kind of tone, "...Okay," they kiss again. It was almost kind of ridiculous- like a crude joke. They were just making out around all this devastation and ruin, completely unaware of everything going on around them.
They were only drawn out from it when something like a shoe was tossed down at them. "Are you two serious?!" Dravla bellowed, "Right now?! You are doing this, right now?!" Apparently, they had made their way around the crater. "I can't believe you two!"
"I'm not with him!" Tellru calls over his shoulder, "I am perfectly okay with you two continuing this! Just ignore us and go back to what you were doing!"
"Everything is on fire!' Dravla threw his arms up, "Have any of you ever heard of priorities?! I know I just told you to take the chance when it arrived next- but there is a time and a place for this, Keith!"
Pursing his lips, embarrassed, Lance clears his throat, "We should uh- we should get out of here,"
"Right," Keith agrees, placing Lance back on the ground. Together, they scaled the remaining chunk of the crater, making their way back to the group.
"Lance," Tellru embraced him, "I'm glad you are okay. You scared me to death,"
"Sorry," he says. "I'm glad you're okay too,"
"We should make our way to the upper district. Our soldiers are already driving out the Travek forces, but it is best to get these children to safety first,"
In agreement, they made their way through the debris to the hills. The Upper districts were packed, everyone squished together.
When they arrived, Dravla turned, "The King- I have to-"
"Go,' Tellru kisses him, "But come back to us."
Smiling at her, he knelt down to kiss Ruru's head. "I'll be back soon," he assures them, running off. Lance watches his run off, sighing a little bit to himself.
He wished he could have done more to help the Coeihns, or even just manage to get the children here safely, but in the end, Keith had to come save him. Again.
Either way, they huddled into the upper district, waiting for news from the King, or even just his messenger.
Two to three hours later, Lance feeling exhausted, a messenger had arrived to announce the battle had been won and the Travek's had been chased from their homes.
Coeihns cheered, saying some odd chant.
The battle was over and won, leaving the Kingdom with the task to rebuild. Lance and Keith helped the best they could, but Dravla and Tellru told them to go home and rest.
For four days they remained locked away in their apartment. Most of everything was just clean up now, but Dravla warned that with the chaos, someone might try something, like another assassination attempt on Lance's life, so he thought it was best that they stay where it is safe.
Keith was in full agreement, making sure to stick close to Lance at all times. Though, that wasn't too hard within the apartment.
Plus…
Keith was carrying Lance around, refusing to let him down for even a second.
Lance wanted to yell at him- tell him he was being clingy or over protective. But he couldn't… he was clinging to Keith just as tightly, legs wrapped firmly around his waist.
He liked this. He never tell Pidge or hunk about this by any means, but knowing he could simply enjoy being held by Keith was comforting
He like an infant though- but… Keith never got really got tired, and when he did he would just sit down with Lance resting on his lap for a few seconds. Then he would just stand right back up to walk around the room and talk to him.
He could just- just carry Lance around without breaking a sweat.
Lance felt weirder out by himself for finding this extremely hot!
But also… also heartbreaking?
Did that make sense…?
Lance wanted to cry at how gentle Keith's touches were. How warm his embrace felt to his skin- how gentle voice was against his ear.
"K..Keith…" he whispered brokenly, "Put me down…"
Keith glances at him in surprise. Lance had been so quiet for a while that Keith had assumed he had fallen asleep.
"Lance?"
"I'm going to bed- put me down…"
Keith doesn't, and instead nuzzles against him, "You sound upset,' he notes quietly,
"I… I'm not,"
"Lance." Keith tries to get Lance to look at him, "Talk to me,"
"I have nothing to say,"
"That is a first."
Lance frowns, pissed of, "Can you just leave me alone?"
Not expecting him to get angry or defensive, Keith frowns, "What is with you? Why are you acting like this?" he demanded
"I'm not acting like anything!"
"Yes, you are!" Keith freezes, "Wait… am I doing it again?" his eyes grow too wide for Lance to handle, "Am I getting too possessive?"
"What?" Lance doubles back, "No… No that isn't it. I… I like this," he mumbles through a blush, "I like you carrying me around like this- okay? I'm just tired- Let go of me," he tried to shake Keith's grip on him. The red paladin refused.
"Are you sure that's it?" Keith whispers, "You said we would talk about these things, Lance…You said you trust me,"
Lance's voice wavers, "I-I do,"
"I'm here to listen, Lance,"
Unwelcome tears pooled in Lance's eyes, his emotions getting the better of him. Months of fear and worry were pushing to the surface, threatening to break him, "What if-" he choked, "God…"
"Tell me," Keith took his hand and kissed his knuckles, "Tell me."
"Keith-" his fingers trailed upward, curling into Keith's mullet, "What if I can't ever see again?" he felt close to some sort of breaking point. His voice hurt… his eyes hurt… everything hurt. "What if I can't ever pilot again? I can't pilot if I everything is blurry-" he would be useless to everyone then. He already is really useless! They would need to find a new paladin for Voltron and leave him behind. Keith would leave him behind.
"You will see again,"
"But what if I don't?! What if we can't fix this? What- I can't-" he sobbed when Keith lifted his arms up from his knees to his back, cradling him. He was murmuring gentle hushes into his ear, rocking them both slightly.
"It will be okay. It will be okay." He chanted. Lance clung to every word. "Pidge has glasses- and she pilots."
"She takes them off when she pilots," Lance disagrees brokenly. "A-And what about the team? What if we don't ever see them again? Or earth? M-My family… they probably think I'm dead!"
Startled, Keith opens and closes his mouth, caught off guard. Not sure what to say for a while, he eventually asks, "You never mentioned this before… how long have you been thinking about all of this?"
Lance lifted his hand to brush at his eyes, "I dunno…" his croaked, "Since the day we left, I guess?"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't want to complain- we all missed home,"
"Lance," Keith moved them to the bed. He sits them both into the middle of the mattress, allowing Lance to hold him cling to him as he caressed his back, "You have to tell me how you feel or I'll never know," he tells him, "Just because everyone else might be feeling what you feel doesn't mean your feelings are any less important. You can't just bottle them up inside… You can tell me these things, Lance,"
Lance hides his face into the crook of his neck, sniffing from time to time "I know I just… I never really wanted you to see me… like this."
"I'm glad you showed me this." Keith kisses his brow, "I'm glad you are trusting me to see this…" he presses his forehead to Lance's, "I'm… I want-" Lance lifts his head when Keith cuts off, meeting a steady gaze.
Caught in his eyes, Lance blinks once, then twice, "…What?" he inquires. "What were you going to say?"
"It's hard to just- to just put into words," Keith admits softly, "Lance, I want everything you have to offer… And I don't even know what that might fully entail or how much you want from me but I- I want this. You-" Keith is tugged forward, lips pressed firmly to his.
Not sure how to thank him otherwise, or say how much he wanted to hear those words, Lance put everything he had into this single gesture. If Keith hadn't been sucked into the portal with him… if he had been alone- Lance would have lost it on day one.
And to know that Keith was just as nervous about this as he was- it gave him a little courage to follow this, not matter where it lead to.
When they pause to breath, he gasps, "I want- yeah, I want you too… a lot…" the grinding of their teeth sliding together is unpleasant, but has them both quivering.
Keith was responding to the kiss without missing a beat, cradling Lance's head in his hands.
Feeling heavy the two fell to their sides, sprawling themselves out across the bed. Clinging to each other, Lance couldn't bare to pull away from Keith for longer than 2 seconds to breath. He was getting dizzy.
Tongue against tongue, Keith shifted a little, pressing closer. "Lance…" he pulled the blue paladin on top of him.
The two chuckled when their noses bumped against Lance's glasses. "I should take these off,"
Keith nods in agreement, lifting his hands to remove the spectacles for him. Pausing to admire Lance's wider eyes with them on, he slowly plucked them off and placed them to the side.
Assuring they wouldn't get broken, he lifted his arms back up and wrapped them around Lance's neck, tugging him down for a searing kiss.
Making out for a few minutes, Lance pulled away with a little gasp. A little fearful of the night before, he announces, "I want to… keep going, if that is okay with you."
Keith didn't hesitate to nod this time. After his talk with Dravla, he didn't feel as nervous anymore. He felt confident in what he or Lance would do next.
Thrilled with his consent, Lance nervously inquires, "C-Can I try something?"
"Try something? Like what?" Keith blinked hazily.
"If you don't like it I'll stop,"
Not sure what he meant, but knowing he trusted Lance with whatever he was planning on doing, Keith nodded, "Yeah,"
Nodding a few times, Lance's hands traveled to Keith's shoulders. Squeezing them, he slowly lowered his palms, pressing them into Keith's shirt to feel the skin below.
Keith took a shaky breath as Lance's wandering hand brushed over his chest. "Lance…"
He hummed in response when he found one of Keith's nipples. The startled gasp from Keith when he rubbed it was adorable.
"W-Where do you think… you're touching…?" Keith says through his gasps as if he was trying to fight the pleasing sensation it brought. Because surely, it shouldn't have felt as good as this….
"You don't know the names of these?" Lance inquires,
"C-course I do," Keith's grunt of annoyance keened a little when Lance kissed along his collarbone. "It's my chest…"
"You gotta be more specific," Lance slides his fingers into the loose sides of the tank top, trailing his bare fingers over the sensitive buds curiously, appreciating the mewl that slipped from Keith's lips.
"You know where I mean," Keith can't pull off the glare. "Those,"
"They are called nipples, Keith," Lance wiggles his finger at him. Taking a moment to simply focus on the action, he sheepishly glanced upward to eye the red paladin from above, "How does it feel?" He rolled them under his thumbs. Keith bit his lower lip and averted his gaze.
"I don't know… weird," he pants, unsure himself why he felt so out of breath, "Like a purple nurple but… different."
"Good different?"
"I don't know,"
"Have you ever-?" Lance cut himself off, licking his chapped lips, "Never mind."
"What?" Keith squirmed a little, his voice quiet "What were you going to say?"
Lance didn't want to ruin the moment, but every ounce of his soul wanted to know, "Have you ever touched yourself like this?" with both hands he brushed his thumbs across the little buds.
In response, the red paladin curved his spine off the mattress at the unexpected action, chest heaving. "O-Of course not- hah...!" the very idea sounded strange to him.
When would he have time to try any of this? Back in Garrison his soul focus was only improving his piloting skills. After he left it was just about finding the blue lion. Then fighting Zarkon. When would he have had time to try something like… like this?
It felt strange- foreign… but Lance's hands were so warm it sent pleasant chills up his spine.
"Oh…" Lance couldn't form any other words other than that. To know that this- that he was- to be the first to do this to Keith- to draw these sinful noises from his lips. "God…" Lance kissed him fiercely. Why hadn't he done all of this sooner? How far exactly was Keith willing to let him go anyway? Because honestly, if this continued, he could not promise that Keith would be pure by tomorrow.
Feeling Lance's delicate fingers sliding down to grip his hips Keith felt a wave of unknown pleasure seeping through him when the blue paladin kissed his chest- mouthing it through his shirt.
Sly fingers slip below his shirt, trailing upward. The swirls in his stomach tightened and Keith opened his mouth groan, feeling like he was tipping over some edge. "Lance-"
There was a knock on the door. Neither had ever felt caught so red handed in their entire life. It made their blood run cold.
Flustered and entangled together, the two panicked and ended up rolling off the bed. "Hold on!" Lance called, scrambling over Keith's body to head towards the door. He fell flat on his face when he tripped over Keith's shoe.
Quiznack! Quiznack! He was hard dammit!
How the hell was he going to answer the door like this?!
REVIEW REPLIES~ (I TOTALLY FORGOT TO DO THIS IN THE LAST CHAPTER! I"M SO SORRY! ;-;)
Pinkdoughnuts: Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That means so much to me. Honestly, I see a lot of Keith and Lance's relationship in fanfics is just them having sex- and while I know that is a huge part of a sexual relationship, I didn't want that to be the full focus in this story. I want them to actually fall in love- and for you to say you definitely see that just makes me so happy. Thank you!
WindrissQuinn: Oh my gosh / You are too amazing and sweet, thank you! I was actually really nervous how people would react to the world, but I'm so glad you enjoy it! I think it is important to make a strong background, but not lose focus on the main characters- SO THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Guest: PIECES OF BUBBLEGUM ICE CREAM INDEED! XD
Darkness of the Dragon: You were hoping they 'accidentally" stabbed him in the neck? XD I don't think anyone can accidentally do that XD haha It's actually funny though, total spoiler here... but Rashra will get stabbed in the neck eventually. (And this was thought up before you even sent this review so I thought it was quite funny to read this! XD) "he's like a rash that won't go away" That may or may not be the reason I named him RASHra XD XD XDXD That is a good question though! This story will basically end when Team Voltron finds Keith and Lance. So in a general 10 more chapters or so. Maybe 11 or something. XD But yeah, once this chapter is done, there will be a sequel to explain what happened to the team during this and how they react to Lance and Keith's new relationship :3
Phoenix51: Oh my gosh, thank you Ahhhh you are all so sweet!
ammstar11: I'm not sure if the Coeihn of the last chapter will come back for a rematch, honestly. Especially after this chapter. But a certain Rashra might come back to challenge Lance, or something. Who knows *innocent whistling* Clearly I'm just crazy
Hidansbab530: No it's okay to dislike Rashra! And who knows, he might die at some point XD But thank you so much! If you actually go back to the previous chapters, the one who said "Ass" in front of the kids was actually Lance XD It was during the chapter where they go to see her play and he said it in front of Harri, and then later Harri told ruru what Lance said XD
Serina the Seer/ Eleanor (Cause you two had the same question): Oooh 0.0 That is a good question. I'm not sure what would happen if Keith got taken 0.0 Honestly, it probably wouldn't be to kill him. They would take Lance to kill him because they don't like how he is a citizen/ Keith could be taken as an equivalent for someone else. For Keith, he would be taken because someone want's him as their equivalent. So... that is a horrible though, but they might take him to try and force him into equivalency. :( Lance would got nuts. Holy hell just thinking about it makes me shiver. Great question though!
Guest: Oh thank you! :D I'm so glad I got to answer you question. I think it definitely helped add some depth to the story :)
Greentcat42: Thank you!
BlueAnimeBat17: Ahhh, thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked this chapter! :D I definitely adore lover's spats then happy resolves~
Ashlielle: THEY GONNA DO IT IN 2 CHAPTERS! XD XD (Kind of...) It was your birthday! Oh my gosh, Happy birthday! I'm so glad I was able to help you smile! Thank you for the cookie!
Ewink18: Ahh / Oh my gosh, thank you for the mental kisses. Those are sweet. I'm so glad you enjoy this story so much
MickeyTRN: AHHH! XD Oh my gosh this made me laugh so much! You goof! DOn't lose sleep over this! XD