Chapter Four

Lance wiped a layer of sweat off his shirt and was about to toss his shirt to the grass when he heard the unmistakable roar of Black Lion. He looked up in time to see it flying low overhead as it arched from the launch pad in the tower of the castle over the lake into high atmosphere of Arus. His hands clenched, he felt the broken skin on his knuckles stretch and break more as he tightened them again, his teeth gritting together as he watched Black become nothing but a dark dot in the sky.

Keith was showing off his ride to the new boyfriend. "Son of a bitch," Lance said, getting himself looks from the Arusian merchants and farmers he was helping out, and their children. He didn't care though, he tossed the shirt onto the grass, noting where it landed by the lake for gathering it up later. Moved over to where he'd left his hammer and settled in back to work at pounding together the foundation for a simple square shaped booth front, that would have shelves on side and front on the other. He'd already managed to help out in making two, what was six or seven more, he was in a good mood for hammering. Which meant he was in a foul mood and every nail either had Keith's inscrutable face on its head, or Granger's damn lackadaisical smile.

"He's not cute," Larmina's voice said, appearing out of nowhere. She picked another piece of wood, formed a hammer with her voltcom and started to pound herself.

"What are doing out here?" Lance asked, not wanting to talk about Granger with her, though he appreciated the opinion.

"Avoiding Nanny," Larmina said.

Lance snorted. "You're wearing a dress to dinner."

"You're sitting across from Keith's new boyfriend."

Lance slammed the hammer to hard and split the wood.

"Oh," Larmina said. "Okay, no joking about that then."

"Allura's wrong, you are learning to read social cues," Lance muttered, going to work pulling out all the other nails he'd hammered in.

"I mean it, I think with his stupid hair he looks like a sheep."

Lance laughed. "Thanks."

"And he looks easy to knock down, I bet I could take him in a fight."

"He knows how to handle himself," Lance muttered, not liking the fact all.

"How do you know?"

"For one thing he runs a seedy bar, he's Den contact, I know a lot about him...I have fucking file on him. I did not however know Keith was..." Lance rolled his eyes. "I didn't want know that but even if I did I wouldn't have thought he'd ever invite anyone here."

"I thought you two were married when I was little, it was weird when suddenly you were acting all single."

Lance huffed. "Well we fought like we were married."

"Not at the end."

"At the end I didn't even know what we were really fighting about. He thought I was sleeping with Farla."

Larmina's eyes lit up. "Is she coming this year, for the annual Lyran Martial Art Course. I think she should Daniel and Vince through the paces of her 101 class, teach those ninnies how out of the league they really are with hand to hand."

Lance looked up from the nail he was fighting with and eyed her. "You want another session with Farla?"

"Yes!" Larmina was nearly bouncing.

"Then you better get up extra early tomorrow morning for one on one flight training, me in Red, you in Blue. Got it?"

Larmina sighed. "Lance..."

"Larmina, I get you bring the hand to hand, but you need to be better at flying, you have to at least at your Aunt aren't at in the least."

"Just how good is Auntie Allura?"

Lance grinned. "I taught her, how good do you think she is?"

Larmina sighed. "What are you saying I have to be as good as you?"

"No. You have to be good as everyone else. Which is as good as me, Keith, Allura, Pidge and Hunk. Or Vince in a Sim. Vince needs to get less nervous in actual flight. Daniel's the best of you but he's got a lot to learn."

"You're bribing me, what if I ask for Farla lessons for Christmas?"

"I already bought everyone their gifts, kiddo."

Black lion roared in the sky, they both looked up, Lance frowned. It was wobbly on its feet on the air, coming in towards the castle way too fast and way toward the left. "He's letting him fly Him?" he mumbled.

"He sucks worse than me."

"Said he got kicked out flight school."

"Ugh, he's not good enough for Keith, you should tell him to get lost."

Lance pulled the last nail of the wood piece he'd split, pulled it out and tossed it away. One eye still on Black, noticing that at the last minute Keith took over and righted the lion for a correct landing in the castle. He shook his head and looked at Larmina. "I don't have the right."

"How so, you and Keith like belong to each other, everyone knows that."

"Lady Larmina, there you are, what do you think you are doing getting dirty, working with your hands. You could hurt yourself. Commander McClain where is your shirt!"

"Hi Nanny," the both said in unison. Larmina sighed.

"Dinner is in two hours, Lady Larmina, come with me I will run your bath and help you choose a dress. Commander McClain, put your clothing back on this instant."

"Bye, kiddo," Lance said, pulling the work Larmina had done over and taking over where she left off.

Larmina sighed, stood up but before she walked over to let Nanny corral her back into the castle she, leaned down and kissed Lance on the cheek. "I told him I thought you were way cuter, he knows where I stand. And I bet he knows that means that is where Auntie Allura stands. See you."

"Ach, kissing a half clothed man, Larmina, proper manners!"

Lance chuckled, rolled his eyes and wished Allura and Larmina wanting him with Keith was enough to make it happen. If only they had the power to make a Christmas Miracle happen for him he thought. He fell into a rhythm of nailing and compiling pieces of wood together and in another forty minutes he another full front of a booth made. He hoisted it upright where he'd made it, close to the lake and started to look around for the guy he was supposed to tell he'd finished.

Instead he found himself looking into depths of Keith's blue eyes, but Keith wasn't alone, Granger was there with his arm around Keith's shoulders with a lazy grin of hello on his face. "Hey, Lance. We meet again, it's hot day for hammering."

"Yeah," Lance said knowing he was covered in sweat, and grass and even sand from the lake's beach which got up in the grass no matter how hard they tried to keep it out. "They needed the extra hands this year, more and more people signed up for booths, needed about twenty new stands built."

"Arus, great planet. Everyone working hard, from the ground up," Granger tightened his hold on Keith. "I see why you find the people here so noble."

Noble. Keith would describe Arus as a planet of nobles, people with honor and grace. Lance caught Keith's gaze again and Keith averted his and remained quiet. Lance felt awkwardness settle over him, he was standing in front them with nothing to do or say. He did have something to do, he remembered. He looked around. "Keith, you've seem Regory Whimspotter, I need to let him know I got another booth ready, and ask him where I'm supposed to drag it and the other two for safekeeping." He idly pointed to the other two booths he'd finished helping a few other with earlier, noting he was the only idiot still out in the setting sun at this point.

"You're the only one out here, Lance," Keith said, his voice sounding odd to Lance's ears. Lance took it to mean Keith wanted him gone.

"Uh, yeah," Lance looked around. "Maybe Allura knows what I should do with them," he said, looking around trying to remember where he'd put his voltcom.

"Where the hell is your voltcom?"

Lance rolled his eyes at the chastisement in Keith's tone, he swore Keith sounded like a mix between their two mothers from when they'd been friends during their adolescents and he'd been a corrupting influence on: "Keith's never been in so much trouble before, Lance really brings out the bad in him..." If he'd had a dollar for every time he heard one of Keith's parents say that.

"Lance? Haven't we been through this recently? You're voltcom is sensitive machinery, not to mention has the key to Red lion. We can't be leaving these things behind or laying around. If Allura hadn't left hers the other day Sven wouldn't have had such an easy time taking off with Blue..."

"I get it, Keith," Lance muttered. "But it was slipping off, from the sweat and then when it started sparking from the sweat... I took it... AH!" He nodded to himself remembering where he put it and he ran over to the second booth he'd made. Reached into the shelf, then felt around for it because he'd put on invisible mode. He pulled it out, put it on, then made it visible. "See put it in stealth mode so no one would know it was there but me."

"You forgot it was there," Keith shouted.

"I remembered."

Keith groaned.

"Lighten up, Keith," Lance and Granger said in unison.

Lance gritted his teeth, Granger grinned at Lance, than ran a hand down Keith's back. "Come on, it's fine. That thing looks bulky as all get out to me, I would've taking it off too. It's fine... and it's a festival week and what a little under a week until Christmas? You said yourself this wasn't a vacation week, but a low level work time, right?"

Keith shrugged. "Yeah."

Granger grinned and leaned in to kiss Keith.

Lance looked away before lip contact. He turned toward the lake, grinding his teeth together, clenching and unclenching his hands to feel the pull of the broken skin. Then he turned his back to them and took off walking towards the cave where Blue Lion was kept. It was a five minute walk but he made it under two minutes, he'd moved so swiftly and he tapped on his voltcom to directly call Allura.

Allura answered, but mostly Lance saw her struggling to keep a hold of a squirmy Sven Jr. He had to grin as the kid squirmed and babbled nothing words, and grabbed at her circlet. "Hi," was all she manage to say.

"Where do I put the booths?"

Allura laughed. "Regory, said he tried to get your attention but you were lost in your pounding," she said, then she frowned. "Did it help?"

"No. Just saw them, I guess they went for a lake stroll."

"Oh."

"Anyway, the booths," Lance said to change the subject.

Allura looked at him, he hoped what she could see of him via the holograph on her voltcom was getting his silent message across. She nodded. "Stables."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Nanny wants everyone in formal wear for dinner."

"What?" Lance said.

"Sorry, but uh, there is a Prince in the Castle. She's insisting."

"A prince? Who? What the hell Allura, how do I not know about a Prince being in the Castle before Nanny? Does Keith know about this?"

Allura sighed. "It's just Bandor. But she's insisting."

Lance groaned.

"I'm hoping we can find out this guys real name," she held Sven Jr. up. "Yes, yes, little man, you have a real name down't you. It's not Sven, Jr. Noooo."

"If I wasn't predominately in it for dick, that would make me want to make babies with you."

Allura looked back at him, blushed and sighed. "I don't know what's worse, that you really those words as a compliment, or that it didn't occur to me until two seconds after feel pleased that it was really too crass."

"You're just used to me, babe," Lance said. "Could, you uh, tell me if Keith's left the lake yet?"

Allura's smile faltered and she nodded. "Rora, could you please watch the baby for a moment?" she asked handing her assistant Sven Jr. She then walked into the control room and clicked on a computer at the main console. Lance could see the screen she was looking at and saw the GPS from Keith's voltcom walking back into the castle.

"Whew, thanks."

"You're welcome... Lance..."

"Allura, just don't..." Lance said knowing she was going to try make him feel better about Keith, or tell him to make a play for Keith, or something. Nothing was easy as other people made it sound.

"I just, love you both," she said.

Lance shrugged and closed off their communication; if he had to be in formal wear at dinner, he had to get morning if was going to pull off passing Nanny's inspection.

~~.~~

Granger was giggling, Keith found it cute and a bit bizarre to watch a grown man doubled over giggling. "Oh my God, your face when that woman told you there was a Prince in the Castle and you must be in formal wear. How you started shouting, and yelling about not being informed and Lance playing carpenter, Pidge and Hunk listening to christmas music. then the old lady just pokes you the chest and says. 'Ach, it's Bandor' and your face goes redder and you deflate like a balloon..." Granger flopped onto the couch, laughter bubbling up, making him double over. "Oh, too funny."

Keith rolled his eyes, he had gotten quite a tirade going but Nanny had never had the patience for them. Knowing Bandor was coming to the Castle was a good sign, it was the first they'd heard from anyone from Pollux, since seeing Sven and putting out feelers. Pollux had seemed abandoned, they didn't know why or what had happened. All they knew was that even Sven's family was missing and Sven was alone, and they had the baby. He hoped there was news on Romelle.

"Whoa, you went serious...on a dime you do that," Granger said.

Keith shrugged. "Bandor is a friend, he's family, actually. Our friend Sven there have been tragedies and we have his son, we don't know where his wife is. Bandor is her brother, they are distantly related to Allura. More that the planet Pollux is distantly related to Arus."

Granger nodded. "Yeah, I've heard the stories. Sound like myths, but then so does Voltron. Someday maybe people will think your a mythological character, or something. And I'll be known as your boyfriend - that guy no one agrees on how he looked: old craggy russian or young sharp spy..."

Keith rolled his eyes at the idea of being a myth, it was a crazy thought, he was a man and nothing more. "We should change, if we're going to make it to dinner in time," he said and walked over to the couch Granger was still sprawled on, legs open in a v and arms stretched out on either side of him. Keith held out a hand and waited for Granger to place his own right hand into it.

Granger didn't move though, instead he got his own serious face. "Uh, I have a serious question of my own."

Keith nodded.

"Sit will you, you're making me tense, standing there all ramrod straight."

Keith felt like they were running late but Granger was his guest and he knew they weren't running late at all - it was only his penchant for liking to be ready early and fully prepared that had him feeling antsy about the dinner. Plus he was nervous about his family liking Granger, and the addition of Bandor made everything that much more stressful. He sat down to Granger's left and immediately Granger's hand was playing with the ends of his hair that set against the skin at the back of his neck. A small soft, repetitive stroke that was calming and nice, he liked how Granger used his hands to calm. He closed his eyes and leaned into to the feeling for a second.

"See, relaxing sitting is, isn't it?"

Keith nodded. "What has you so serious?"

"I just, uh..Is Lance homophobic?"

Keith blinked, he studied Granger's face and it had the look Keith had come to expect when they were alone together. Open, not vulnerable but open and honest. Not the calculating look he used with costumers, not the careless smile he used on everyone else, or in public but the real Granger. The good guy, with intellect and a heart, so he wasn't pulling Keith's leg or messing with him here.

"I'm taking from your silence, that the question was out of left field? So, uh has just never seen you with a guy before. I mean a guy like him, who probably has a lot of women..."

Right, the Lance McClain ladies man reputation. No one knew where it came from, because Lance hadn't dated anyone but Keith during their days at the Academy. Girls followed him around, he broke hearts, but Keith had too. They'd both befriended a lot of women, Lance had become close to Farla, close enough Keith had thought for the brief second he was justified in the ludicrous assumption of cheating. Keith rubbed his temples with his hands. It was stupid to try to figure the roots of the legend of Lance and the ladies. He hated that reputation. "Uh, no, no he's seen me with a man before..." Keith muttered, thinking he has a mirror fetish, narcissistic bastard.

"Huh, then it's that he doesn't like me?"

"Lance doesn't trust easily," Keith said.

Granger gave Keith a long hard look. "Reminds me of someone," he said. "You took forever to trust me and I was nursing you back to health."

"For all I knew you were working for Doom, or Wade. I had to figure out the situation before I made a judgement call on if I trusted you. also helping me out benefited you."

Granger shrugged. "More ways than one," he said.

Keith nodded.

"So was that why you were so quiet?"

"Huh?" Keith asked, lost in Granger's fingers now stroking down the skin at the back of his neck, then back up in a light pattern that almost tickled but not quite.

"Down at the lake, with your friend, you went quiet, even for you. I thought maybe you were embarrassed he was being homophobic or something. But was it because he was being so distrusting?"

If only, Keith thought. If had been about any of those things, or even about the fact that Lance seemed obviously jealous of Granger and part of Keith had felt victorious about it adding to his shame. No he'd gone quiet because Lance had looked glorious, sweating in the setting golding sun of Arus, the tips of the K, T, H of his name visible because Lance like them all was in peak physical shape and he'd always been lanky, so he was nothing but lean muscle, and there was nothing to keep his jeans from fallen down a little far but a loose belt he'd pulled through the loops. Keith hadn't been able to stop staring at Lance's stomach, the black ink he could see, knowing what was there, below unseen, remembering how many times he'd licked it and kissed it and then gone lower...

"Keith?"

Granger's voice was ice water, like it'd been by the lake, and thankfully Granger had kept talking and Lance hadn't worn his voltcom and pissed Keith off enough to go into commander mode. He had no rights to ogle Lance, especially when he'd decided to move forward and onward.

"You're quiet again?"

"Sorry," Keith said, pushing away images of Lance, naked in front of, hands in his hair, pushing him where Keith's telling him Keith's wants to go. Keith moves his hands to Granger's shoulders and moveds forward, kissing him firm and hard. Soon they're making out on the couch, Granger over him, pressed him into the cushions, Keithr ran his hands under clothing and over it. He made sounds about their being to much clothing and how they had no time for this.

Granger broke away from kissing Keith's chest, leaning up on his arms and Keith growled. "Get back to the kissing."

"You keep reminding me about the time, why don't we go take a shower?" Granger said.

Keith rolled his eyes and checked the time on his wrist. "Shower, good idea," he muttered, pushing Granger off of him. "I'll get it set up," he said and walked away. He felt Granger behind him, watching him walk away instead of hurrying to follow him. Keith always felt weird about being admired when he knew it was going on. Lance always made a point to tell him when it was happen, to point it out and then to make sure the admirer knew Keith saw them. When he Lance weren't dating, Lance would then help Keith get the admirer's number, or let them down easy, and if they were dating the admire would soon know Keith was taken.

Keith sighed as he turned on the water in his shower. "Stop thinking about him and your past..." he trailed off shaking his head. Maybe that was too much to ask of himself. Lance was more than half his life. It was a lot of Christmases, Lance was his first kiss, his first time, his first break up and his first getting back together. Lance was his first best friend, Lance was the first person not to disappear when things got tough. Keith sighed, he couldn't undo it, he couldn't forget it, but he had to move on from it because otherwise...

"Hey, you know you need to be more naked for this to work," Granger said.

Keith looked up, realized the bathroom was nicely warm from the water because he was looking at a very naked Granger through a thin cloud of steam. He turned the water a bit toward the cooler side so they didn't burn themselves. "I do," Keith laughed and he started to unbutton his pants.

Granger's hands stopped him, then he kissed him and Keith kissed him back and soon his pants were pooled at his feet. He kicked them off and they both stepped under the water. Granger slid the shower door closed. Keith turned to grab his shampoo, having the urge to shampoo Granger's hair, when it happened.

"What the fucking hell?" Granger yelled.

Keith didn't pick up the shampoo because he knew the second Granger yelled what it was about. He couldn't believe he'd managed to space out about the tattoo. It wasn't exactly something one forgets about, the way his bathroom was set up with mirrors on both walls he even saw it every day, though the letter's of Lance's name and the word Mine were reversed.