Read part 1

Part 2 of an ping pong AU drabble series! Now we see Keith’s perspective.

Thanks for the support of part 1! Enjoy reading :)

Also posted on my Instagram

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Part 2: Keith

Lance McClain is an idiot. Keith has been painfully aware of this all through their matches, cannot help but roll his eyes at 90% of his antics. Keith doesn’t like people who don’t play seriously. If you’re going to do something, you do it well, with focus and respect. Lance laughs loudly, makes jokes, shoots finger guns and flirty lines as if this is all just another mindless distraction in his life, but…

He plays well. Hones his skill, learns and adapts during games and is obviously a fantastic Captain from how well loved he is by his team. They are a formidable force, and Keith knows he doesn’t have the loyalty Lance inspires.

He finds it curious, this dichotomy that is Lance. Plays the part of the joker but is full of real skill and drive, leaving Keith at a loss of how to deal with him. He’s also stunning to look at, and Keith has never been adept at hiding a crush or attraction; his face blushes, his words stammer and his heart clenches painfully at ridiculous moments. Thankfully, he mostly channels this into his hits, crashing the ball into the table at high speeds as if were his pesky emotions he could force out and away.

Unfortunately he cannot actually do that, so he simply blocks them out and tunes into Lance’s first serve of the afternoon games. He squashes down those impulses, the ones that want him to notice how Lance’s eyes seem a deeper shade in the fluorescent lights, his smile quirking ever so slightly more when he sees it’s Keith he’ll be facing first. For it’s just tricks, the lighting and his imagination pairing up to fool him. There’s nothing else behind it.

Lance waltzes up to the table, all confidence Keith knows but would never admit aloud he should have in spades, for Lance is impressive when he plays. But as Keith nears he does that damned thing.

He winks.

It should be cheesy and ridiculous but it’s not, it’s thrilling and puts him in a spotlight which he hates; to be done in and bowled over but such a classic move. But every time, every single time his heart flutters just a little bit.

“Well Mullet, I made this one just for you. I call it threading the needle,” Lance says, before standing slightly to the right and raising his arm up far too high for a serve. Keith instantly wants to slam his head against the nearest wall, for he knows what this means. He’s about to be subjected to one of Lance’s trick serves.

And this is why Lance is such a conundrum. These type of antics, where Lance throws the ball too high, curves his body in some strange shape and then smacks the paddle towards the ball, have no place in these games. They’re just pranks, laughs, bar plays to impress.

Except Keith can’t see the trajectory of the shot once it’s in play. And it lands perfectly in his blind spot, instantly scoring right on the edge of the table. A perfect shot. For Lance’s trick shots always land and Keith can never see them coming.

So he smiles to himself as Lance high fives his team. Lance McClain is an idiot. But for some reason, Keith quite likes it.

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Read more of my Klance on Ao3