#vld drabble

On the outside, it would seem like Keith’s new appearance was just extra firing material for his little jests and jabs. But when it was just the two of them, lounging in the comfort of each other in their private rooms, it was different.

Lance complimented Keith, teased him. Lance would call the tail wrapping around his waist cute, the way his ears twitched adorable. When he took to braiding the other man’s hair, he made sure Keith knew it was softer than ever and fun to play with.

(And he had to admit that the teeth were kind of a turn on).

Every night, to no fault, Lance did this in some way. And he didn’t mind that he didn’t get the same thing in response. He learnt long ago that what Keith did was small gestures and awkward compliments that normally had him blushing more than Lance.

Apart from some odd jobs, it was a couple of weeks before the paladins had their next big mission.

It was a rescue mission and they took Matt with them. So, everyone split into pairs in an attempt to secure the ship and get the captive rebels out.

It seemed like an easy enough mission. Except for the fact that their maps were incorrect and their scanners weren’t working properly. Meaning the wrong pair went to the wrong place.

Keith was currently stuck in the cockpit, fighting his way through many enemies with his bayard and BoM sword. Lance was there too, staying mainly behind cover while he blasted the enemy, looking out for Keith.

They were doing fairly well.

“Guys, we got ‘em.” Matt announced over their coms, signalling it was time to get the hell out of there.

“We’re on our way,” Lance replied, moving closer to the exit. “Keith!” He called out, trying to get the others attention, fully aware of the small handful of enemies coming their way again.

Turning slightly, Keith paused before rushing to the exit to make sure Lance also had a clear path.

He couldn’t get his legs to move fast enough.

One of the fallen enemies still had some fight left in them, yanking Lance’s feet from under him, causing him to fall onto one of the control panels before hitting the floor. Lance was left breathless, his head pounding.

Groaning, he lifted his blaster, ending the fool before he pounded.

Unlucky for him, the body collapsed onto him, successfully winding him further.

Keith, who was quickly filled with anger and worry, hurried to get Lance out of there as quick as he could.

The rest of the team was worried of course. Even more so when Keith refused to let go of Lance, going as far as to take him back to the ship in the Black Lion.

Red followed behind like a lost puppy.

When they got to the ships medical section, Keith and everyone else was shooed away and sent to bed while Coran dealt with the injuries.

Keith begrudgingly left and had an excruciatingly long and restless night.

When morning came (well, the closest thing you could get to it on a ship in space) Keith grumpily made his way to the kitchen only to find the coffee maker with only dreads left in it.

With his mood even more sour than when he initially woke up, he trudged into their lounge area to find everyone already there, chatting happily. He didn’t have time to focus on anything else as his ears picked up on a very specific voice.

“Good morning grumpy.”

The rest of the paladins quieted down as they watched Keith light up and all but race his way to the spot next to Lance. Their bodies sat flush against each other, Keith awkwardly craning his neck so that he could shove his face into the crook of Lances’ neck.

With something mumbled against his neck, Lance smiled brightly, linking their hands together contentedly.

“So, Lance-buddy…” Hunk started to say.

“Are you two going to elaborate on this?” Pidge interrupted Hunk, asking the question bluntly because they knew no one else would.

    “keith?” your voice is groggy. you deepen it a little bit in your attempts to make him feel bad for waking you up at the crack of dawn. outside, even the birds are asking what the hell you’re doing up at this ungodly hour.

    “y/n.” keith doesn’t sound groggy. you want to punch him. “are you awake?”

   “no.”

   “i need a favour.”

   “and i need a million pounds.” you pause. “and milk. i used the last of it last night.”

   “i’m serious. where are you right now?”

   you frown. “my house. why?” 

   he inhales deeply, takes a moment to reply. it’s this space of silence that has you realising perhaps this isn’t a joke, perhaps keith really is in trouble. slowly, you sit up, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as your brain immediately fumbles through the long list of possible reasons behind keith’s unexpected phone call.

    “are you alright?” you ask.

    “i need you to come pick me up from the police station.”

    you pause. well, in truth, his confession isn’t as shocking as you’d originally thought it would be - keith could have honestly been calling you from the grave, asking you to go and pick up his discarded corpse, and you wouldn’t have been surprised. this seems light.

    “right...,” you drawl. “do i even want to ask?”

   “you can ask questions when you get here. and please hurry - the police men keep looking at me.”

   “they will do if you’re in custody. that’s their job.”

   “are you coming or not?”

   you sigh. “you owe me one.”

   “i know i do. i always owe you one.” before you can question this statement, the gruff voice of a stranger echoes through the phone, ordering keith to cut it short. keith - being keith - doesn’t even bother saying goodbye before he swiftly hangs up, leaving you a puzzled mess.

    you shake your head, stuffing your phone in your pockets. you murmur to yourself as you pull on your sweatpants and an old, oversized hoodie, swearing this will be the last time you ever do anything for him, swearing he doesn’t have a hold on you, promising yourself that you fell out of love with him ages ago.

    ---

     he’s standing there like a lost puppy. you burst out laughing.

    you roll down the passenger side window just so he and the police officer can hear you cackling in the drivers seat. keith catches a glimpse of you and immediately blushes bright red, but he has nowhere else to go. he’s accompanied by a police man outside the station, the two of them standing in the rain. the police man holds an umbrella, but keith is standing outside of it because he’s keith and god forbid he rely on any person of authority for anything.

   so, he’s drenched, and he’s pouting, and his black hair is falling in his eyes. his hands are bound by a pair of handcuffs. honestly, you’ve never seen him look so pathetic.

     you park the car in front of the station and hastily scramble out, pressing the back of your hand to your mouth in any attempt to stifle the laughter that you have already exposed upon pulling up to the scene. the police man sees you and starts forward, and you know you should feel all types of intimidated, but you can’t keep your eyes off keith. he’s glaring at you through his hair, and when you get close enough to see him clearly, he mouths the words “shut up” in your direction.

   you turn to the police man. “officer.”

   “you’re here for kogane?” he asks.

   “i am indeed. terribly sorry if he’s been a bother.”

   the police man hums, taking a folded sheet of paper out of the belt around his waist. he unfolds it and thrusts it in your direction, immediately pointing to the first question: relation to detainee.

    you snicker. “detainee. oh keith, this is real.”

   “please answer the question,” the officer demands.

   “my partner.” keith’s voice zaps through the air, and suddenly the rain is quiet. your head snaps up, eyes zoning in on where he stands; he’s staring at the police officer, but you don’t fail to notice the way he awkwardly rings his hands in front of him. “y/n is my partner, alright? we live together.”

    the officer taps the page. “then write that down.”

   you do so, hands suddenly trembling though you’re not sure whether it’s because of the pouring rain or something else entirely. you fill in the rest of the collection sheet, stating your name and occupation and age and all the stuff that seems most irrelevant, considering you have no plans to be back here any time soon.

    and then keith is uncuffed, and the two of you are clambering into your too-small and too-warm car, and keith is going silent all over again.

    usually, you’re good at filling in silence. there’s definitely not a shortage of things to talk about, considering you’ve just picked him up from the police station for a reason you are still unsure about.

    however, you keep remembering the lie he’d told to the officer, replaying it over and over in your head, trying desperately to figure out if he was just saving his own ass or not.

    keith leans his head against the window and mumbles, “i told kosmo to pounce on a group of boys who were throwing rocks at my kitchen window.”

    you choke on air. “keith.”

   “turns out one of them was, like, fifteen, and he got his mum to call the police.”

   “kosmo didn’t do it, did he? they’ll put him down if he hurt anyone.”

   keith shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “no, but they heard me telling him to, so they freaked. i’ve been in there for, like, four hours.”

   “now i think you deserved it.”

   keith scoffs. “sorry if i woke you up. you were the only person i could think of.”

    you raise a brow. outside, the rain batters against the window and the sun is just starting to peak over the horizon. it’s still too dark to turn your headlights off, but it’s light enough that, when you glance over, you can watch keith nibbling his bottom lip as unspoken thoughts wisp through his head. he has on such a keith expression, and you wonder if you ever actually left his side at all.

    “i’m also sorry for - you know - disappearing off the face of the earth like that.”

   to this, you say nothing. part of you wants to say it’s okay, but the wiser part of you knows that isn’t true - it’s not okay. keith’s mistrust of people isn’t okay. the fact that he thinks it’s okay to just ditch anyone who shows even an ounce of evidence that they want to stick around isn’t okay, and you won’t be the idiot to get it into his head that it’s fine.

    you tap your fingers against the steering wheel.

    keith bites his lip, glancing at you. “are you mad at me?”

   “you sound like a five year old.”

    he lowers his voice. “you angry?”

    you snicker, glancing at him. at the sound of your amusement, a fleeting smile crosses his lips, and before either of you can really understand what’s happening, you’re laughing. full laughs. laughter you only shared a few times, because keith never got like this. and maybe it was just the sleep deprivation, or maybe he really was happy right now, but you weren’t going to question it. not right now.

    keith hiccups himself back to reality, shaking his head so little droplets of water splatter against your arm. you pull your elbow into your side, sending him a cheeky glare that he simply rolls his eyes at.

    and then you ask the question that’s been playing on your brain for the entire drive, because keith is happy and maybe happy keith will be easier to talk to than sad, gazing-out-the-window keith. 

   “why did you tell that police officer i was your partner?”

   keith tenses. suddenly, it’s like the laughter never happened. never before have you seen someone’s giddy smile fade so quickly, replaced by his usual look of shield, shield, shield, don’t talk to me.

    he scratches the back of his neck, turning his gaze back towards the window. outside, the dirt road passes beneath you, and a farm house goes by. “i don’t think friends are allowed to sign a detainee out. i didn’t want to take any risks.”

   you narrow your eyes. “i’m pretty sure a detainee can be lifted by anyone. it doesn’t-”

    “i didn’t want to risk it-”

   “yeah, well, that’s a stupid ass excuse, because you’ve been arrested before and you would know-”

    “alright, so many i kind of told the officer that you were my partner and you’d be picking me up.” he groans as if this sentence has exasperated him. “i don’t even know why i did it - it just came out, and then i couldn’t back out of it because he’s a fucking police officer.”

   you grip the wheel a little tighter, unsure how to respond. there’s a million things you want to say, a million things you want to confess, like how you melt every time keith looks into the sun and you can look at the violet of his eyes without the added storm of anger and discomfort that always seems to cloud over them; or how you’ve been in love with him for months and he’s never noticed because haha surprise! keith kogane has no feelings and he’s completely oblivious to everything around him, and you have never stood a chance with him before, and-

    “it’s not that bad of a cover up.” keith’s voice is a mumble, barely audible over the sound of your heartbeat and the slash of rain against the windows. he shrugs, awkwardly glancing over at you. “he believed it. i think we make a good looking couple.”

    you choke again. you wish you could convey surprise in a more attractive manner, but you can’t always get what you wish for. “that’s a very bold statement to make.”

    keith shrugs, looking out the window again. “it’s my opinion. make of it what you will.”

    “i will.” you pause. “i think we make a good looking couple, too.”

    keith stiffens. “good. we’re on the same page then.”

   “are we?”

    keith reaches over, and your heart stops in your chest when he takes one of your hands from the wheel, placing your hand flat against his thigh. you cannot turn to look at him, and it’s torture, but you bask in the feel of his fingers tracing a feather light trail along your palm, up each of your fingers before gliding back into the middle of your palm, where he rubs a tiny circle into the flesh. he then clasps his own hand against your own and twines his fingers with yours, as if that’s where it’s always meant to be.

    it fits perfectly. strangely, so does the entire situation - it just fits, like this is a puzzle piece of your life and keith has just found it hidden under a table or something, and he’s just slotted it right into the story that is your existence and now the big picture is complete and everything just makes sense, and-

    “please concentrate on the road,” keith whispers. 

   you flick your eyes to him for only a brief second, but it’s long enough to catch him staring at you. he has a playful little smirk on his face.

    you pry your hand from his grip and slap it back on the wheel. “you’re the distraction.”

   “in a good way?”

   you swallow. “kind of. depends if we crash or not.”

    keith hums, settling back against the car door, not once breaking his eyes from your face. he idly plays with his fingers when he says, “so i guess now isn’t a good time to kiss you, is it?”

   “oh god, you didn’t just say that. that’s so gross. that’s so cheesy. you know what, give me a second. i’m turning the car around and we’re going right back to the police station, so officer friendly can-”

   “you babble when you get nervous. are you nervous?”

    you inhale, pursing your lips. after a minute, you say, “please don’t kiss me while i’m driving. you can wait till we get out the car.”

    keith chuckles. “i think i can hold off for that long. but step on it a little bit, yeah? we’re on back roads. i think we’re safe to speed a little bit.”

okay, so let me let you in on a little secret 

Keith and Lance?

TOTAL WRECKS 

they’re so very, very nervous and excited 

they couldn’t eat breakfast or lunch from how excited they were 

Lance wouldn’t shut up in the gc with Pidge and Hunk to Pidge’s dismay

Keith kept texting Shiro and Adam questions about dating and going on dates; luckily for him, both of them thought it was so cute how nervous he is 

eventually, the time came 

Keith had to go pick lance up 

he texted Lance for his address and took a deep breath when Lance sent it 

Keith looked over the route there and realized he didn’t live that far away, ten mins away at most 

he walked out of his apartment and got his motorcycle from the parking garage

he then zoomed off to Lance's place

it was probably the fastest he’d ever driven 

when he got there, he quickly pulled his phone out to let Lance know he was there

when Lance came out, the air left both of their lungs 

Keith had done it

he was wearing his leather jacket, no band-aids covering his wounds, AND his hair was pulled back into a small bun

if Lance could, he would’ve combusted right there just like he said he would 

Lance's face was covered in a blush 

okay, but Keith was having the same issue 

Lance was looking pretty gosh darn good himself 

he wore a blue button-up that made his eyes pop from where Keith was parked several feet away

the blush made his tan skin look so smooth, only making him even more handsome

by the time Lance reached Keith, the boys finally remembered how to breathe

Keith could now see that Lance wasn’t wearing any makeup to hide the freckles dusting his cheeks

Keith wanted to kiss every. single. one.

“Hi,” Lance squeaked nervously 

“Hey,” Keith breathed out 

it was then that Lance noticed that Keith had his piercings in 

Jesus Christ

Keith really was trying to kill him 

he had many piercings on the ear that was facing Lance, a lip piercing, an eyebrow piercing and holy christ what if he had a tongue piercing???

Lance inhaled shakily as he shook his head

“Christ, Kogane. You really pulled through,” Lance would say to break the silence that followed after their in awe shy greeting 

Keith chuckles in that deep way of his as he shrugs, offering Lance his helmet 

“I’m here to please, babe,” Keith replies in a flirty tone, remembering their texts from this morning

Lance’s blush gets worse, much to Keith’s pleasure, as he lightly hits Keith’s buff arm 

Keith only chuckles and motions for Lance to get on 

“Hop on, lover boy” 

Lance whines in his head at how cute Keith is, climbing on behind him 

Lance starts to question where his helmet is and when Keith tells him that he only has one helmet, Lance immediately goes to give it back to him but of course, Keith tells him that Lance’s safety comes first

before Lance can argue with him, Keith is telling him to hold on tight and taking off 

Lance wraps his arms tight around Keith’s waist, letting out a girly scream

Keith laughs and slows down a bit to not give Lance a heart attack

Lance’s grip loosens but was still tighter than it needed to be

His face was buried in Keith’s back by his shoulder, giving him a freebie to take in Keith’s scent

besides the obvious answer of leather, he smelt like a car garage. you know, motor oil, grease, gasoline. it must be his jacket that he wears to work 

that smell was faint though 

what Lance really smelt was his cologne 

it smelt like Axe body spray but not like an annoying amount that makes you gag

Lance was so focused on Keith that he hadn’t realized that they stopped

“As much as I’d love to have your arms stay wrapped around me, we have a reservation and I’d rather not lose it”

Lance snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of Keith’s voice, quickly getting off

he almost falls off but he manages to save himself 

and that blush was back again

“Sorry,” he says quickly while looking at the ground

Keith finishes parking his bike before getting off and smiling at Lance

“Don’t be”

Keith starts walking towards the door and Lance quickly follows after him

Keith laughs a bit as he stops, turning to look at Lance

Lance blush goes scarlet as he looks at Keith with panicked eyes

“What? What’s wrong?” Lance spews out 

Keith chuckles and steps closer to Lance, making his heart beat wildly 

“You might not want to wear this inside,” Keith says softly before knocking his fist against Lance’s head where the helmet was 

Lance’s ears go red out of embarrassment, glad the helmet was hiding them 

Why was Lance acting so flustered? He was supposed to be doing that to Keith!

Keith chuckles and takes the helmet off for him, kissing his forehead once it was off

Lance’s eyes widen, knowing he was as red as a tomato 

Keith comes back over to him when he’s done, holding in his coos at how cute Lance looks

Lance’s hair was an absolute mess now and Keith knew if he figured it out, he’d complain about it 

Keith hums when he reaches him, reaching up to fix his helmet hair 

Lance just stares at his face, eyes studying how handsome he is

Keith finally looks into Lance’s eyes when he finishes with his hair, freezing at Lance’s gaze

they were so close

like 

close 

before either of them could decide what to do about their closeness, a car’s horn goes off and scares them

they move away from each other before shuffling inside

they take their seats and start to chat about random things

they were both relieved that it wasn’t awkward 

when they order their food, Lance orders a lot

when the waiter leaves and Keith jokingly comments on it, Lance’s reply was that he warned Keith that he’s a pig

Keith then tells him that he’s the best looking pig he’s ever seen then 

they both laugh and then start to talk again 

after eating their food, they decide that they would go to the park 

they go outside and they feel that the air was a bit chillier now that the sun has gone down 

Lance shivers but doesn’t say anything 

Keith hums as he takes his jacket off and throws it over onto Lance’s head

“Here,” he says simply 

Lance wouldn’t show it but he was ecstatic 

He quickly slips it on and lets out a happy hum, it being warm and smelling like Keith 

“How cliché,” Lance jokes

“Want to walk to the park?” Keith asks in response, not embarrassed one bit about being ‘cliché’

Lance nods his head and flashes his signature smile, starting to walk to the park 

Keith walks alongside him for a bit, having an internal debate 

does he hold his hand? wrap his arm around him? is it too soon for this stuff?

but they like sucked faces just like yesterday so ??????

unbeknownst to Keith, Lance was having the same internal war

he gave him his jacket so it wouldn’t be weird to hold his hand, right?

they both decided to grow a pair at the same time and move their hands to grab the other’s

they ended up wacking their hands together and jumping at the sudden, abrupt contact 

they chuckle and look at each other, smiling as they grab each other’s hand properly this time 

Keith gives Lance’s hand a squeeze and Lance swings their hands a bit 

both of their faces are red once more

when they reach the park, Lance instantly heads for the swings 

he sits down and instead of Keith sitting next to him like Lance thought he would, he goes behind Lance and starts to gently push him 

Lance smiles like a goon as he swings his legs

eventually, they decide to stop

Lance stops swinging and Keith sits beside him on the other swing 

they hold hands again and stare up into the sky to stargaze

they stay at the park for hours, moving from the swings, to the slide, to the monkey bars, and even to the grass

they talked about everything imaginable, everything from something simple like their favorite colors all the way to if aliens exist

that last one ended up being very lengthy

when Lance let out a yawn, Keith decided he should get him home

he leads him back to his motorcycle and when Lance offers to give him his jacket back, Keith declines 

“You’ll get cold,” Keith explains 

Lance pouts and responds with, “But you’re sitting in front of me. You’ll get cold”

it apparently wasn’t up for discussion, just like the helmet situation

Keith just got onto his motorcycle without another word but with a reassuring smile

Lance gets on eventually and Keith takes him home 

Lance gets off the motorcycle once they reach his house, turning to stare at Keith

he bites his lip and looks away when Keith just stares at him 

he wanted to kiss Keith but wasn’t sure if it was okay 

“So, uh...goodnight,” Keith says awkwardly, having the same question as Lance

Lance tries to hide his disappointment with a smile and nodding his head 

“Right. Goodnight. Thanks for tonight. Text me when you get home so I know you didn’t die in a fiery crash,” he says cheerfully as he takes off the helmet and slides it onto Keith’s head 

Keith thanks Lance and tells him he will be careful 

Lance starts to walk towards his place when Keith’s voice stops him 

“Lance, you forgot something”

Lance’s brows furrow as he turns back around, walking back over towards him 

“I did? What?” 

before he could contemplate further on what he could’ve forgotten, Keith’s lips were gently meeting his 

Lance was surprised by this kiss just like the first time 

he also noticed that this kiss was different than the first one 

the first one was hot, passionate 

this one was soft and slow 

Lance hums and wraps his arms around Keith while the other place’s his hands on Lance’s waist

Lance couldn’t help but smile a bit into the kiss 

they pull away after a couple seconds, their faces still very close together 

they stare into each other’s eyes, not wanting to let go of the other 

“You know, that kiss was very good, don’t get me wrong, but I think I like the first one we shared better,” Lance says somewhat playfully 

Keith smirks before slamming his lips back against Lance’s 

now this was what Lance liked

he liked feeling Keith’s tongue fighting against his, kissing so hard that their teeth clash occasionally, and-

wait a second 

Keith does have a tongue piercing  

before Lance could stop himself, he was moaning 

Lance instantly regretted it when Keith pulls away 

Lance blushes darker than he has all night, his heart absolutely dropping 

“I am so sorry! I-It just slipped out! I felt your piercing and I-”

Lance is cut off by Keith chuckling 

okay, so now Lance was absolutely mortified 

this is it 

he’s going to die right here

he wasn’t even able to think of another way he would’ve liked to go out before he felt Keith cradling his face 

“Lance, baby, calm down,” Keith says and oh god, his voice was deeper now 

JeSUs CHrIsT

God really must have it out for Lance

“Hey, I said calm down. Why do you look like your panicking more?” Keith says playfully with a deep chuckle 

God, even his chuckle was sexy 

Lance clears his throat and looks away, still scared out of his wits that he just ruined everything 

Keith hums as he turns Lance to look at him again 

“Ah, I see. You think I didn’t like your moan?” Keith asks as if he’s just now piecing it together 

Lance bites his lip hard and nods his head despite the fact he wanted to deny it 

Keith shakes his head and uses his thumb to take Lance’s lip from his teeth 

“Don’t bite your lip. That’s my job. Now, use your words, baby”

Lance was sure he just jizzed his pants 

is this real? this was too good to be true. is he being pranked? Lance forced himself to not look around for cameras 

“Y-Yes...” Lance stutters out quietly 

Keiths hums and looks at him like he’s proud of him 

is he proud of him?

“You got it all wrong, baby. I pulled away for a completely different reason”

Lance thought he was going to stop there and not tell him more when Keith’s head is suddenly beside his 

“I stopped because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from going further. I mean, c’mon, baby. How can you moan like that and not expect me to-” 

Keith cuts himself off and takes a deep breath, letting it go against Lance’s ear and making Lance shiver

“Within do time,” he whispers into Lance’s ear 

he pecks right below his ear and pulls away to look at Lance

so uh 

Lance.exe has stopped working 

Lance stands there as still as a statue 

well, other than his shaking from how turned on hard his heart was beating and rushing adrenaline through his veins 

Lance stares at Keith like a fish out of water, silently gaping at him 

Keith smirks at him and chuckles lowly, using his fingers to close Lance’s mouth he then gives him a short, sweet kiss 

“I’ll text you when I get home, yeah?” Keith says to try and get some sort of response from Lance

Keith only chuckles when Lance blushes even more, if possible, his brain finally starting to function again 

he apparently still couldn’t talk though 

Keith only chuckles before kissing Lance one more time and leaving 

Lance stands there for a long time before finally going inside 

as he was walking to his room, he realizes he still has Keith’s jacket

Lance squeals quietly like a happy girl, spinning around 

he runs to his room and launches himself onto his bed, squeezing his pillow and grinning like a fool 

Keith was just as happy as Lance

he smiled the whole way home 

even when he got home, he was still smiling like a fool

jeez, these boys were already smitten