I think I’ve said this before, but Keith and Lance 100% get so frustrated with each other that physically fight each other . They literally cannot talk things out. The minute one of them has a problem with the other, it’s on. It starts as a petty jab or sarcastic comment and spirals so fast it’s almost impressive.
They're fighting because they can’t talk, because it’s the only way they know how to let out all the feelings they’ve let build up. Keith’s sharp and fast, Lance is scrappy and relentless, and it doesn’t help that they both hit hard.
It’s never a clean fight either. It gets ugly, bruises blooming across jaws and ribs, bloody noses, someone always ends up with a split lip. Sometimes they don’t even remember who threw the first punch. They’re rolling on the floor, fists in fabric, teeth gritted, one of them pinned while the other’s snarling some sort of insult.
Keith fights like he’s trying not to feel. Like if he hits hard enough, he won’t have to deal with the ache in his chest. But it doesn’t work. The frustration builds and builds until it spills over. His teeth clenched, shoulders shaking. He usually ends up on top of Lance, fists clenched but frozen, because if he throws another punch he’s going to start crying, and he hates it. He hates how much Lance gets under his skin like this, hates how much it matters.
And Lance? He knows when Keith’s losing it, even if he’s too stubborn to say or do anything about it. He’ll go still under Keith’s grip, staring up at him like he’s trying to figure out what the hell they’re even doing. Like he’s not sure if he wants to keep fighting or just pull Keith down and hold him there until the storm passes.
That’s usually when someone steps in. They don’t talk about it afterward. They patch themselves up in silence, the boys refusing to meet each other’s eyes.
But like clockwork, everything is back to normal. No apology, no acknowledgment of what just happened. Lance is back to teasing and Keith rolling his eyes, it’s like the fight never happened at all.
Because pretending it's fine is easier than dealing with whatever this is. If they stopped to really talk about it, about how much they care, how much they feel…. it would unravel them. They argue, they fight, they ignore, It’s a cycle they don’t know how to stop. Maybe they don’t even want to.
