#wolfwisp

***Lance grumbled. And he sighed. Then he grumbled some more. The paladins were making their way back to the castle after Allura had decided to send them on a pre-breakfast training exercise.

Keith lagged behind watching Lance’s dramatics. He didn’t even bother rolling his eyes anymore, because honestly, how many times could he roll them before they disappeared into his skull permanently? Lance was a never ending source of annoyance, and not worth losing one’s vision over.

“That’s it,” Lance announced, pulling off his helmet once they were in the common room. He collapsed onto the couch, somehow making the action look graceful; Keith held back another eye roll. “That’s the last time anyone wakes me up this early. In fact, from now on, no one wakes me up, period.”

“What if Zarkon attacks us and we need Voltron but you’re asleep?” Hunk asked, amused.

“The only time anybody should wake me up is if an international galactic emergency is happening.”

Hunk nodded sagely, while Pidge snorted.

Keith couldn’t help himself. “We’d probably be better off fighting without you.”

Lance turned around and shot him a nasty look. They made their way to breakfast bickering.

***

“We need Voltron!” Allura’s voice rang out clear over the intercoms. The castle’s sensors had picked up an incoming Galra monster. And Lance was nowhere to be found.

“Keith, go get him,” Shiro ordered, already on his way to the hangars. “In the meantime, Hunk, Pidge, and I will be ready in our lions in case this monster arrives sooner than anticipated.” Coran’s estimate had been off for their first ever battle, and Shiro didn’t take chances anymore.

“Allura and I are manning the castle’s defenses,” Coran called out.

Keith hurried toward Lance’s room, exasperated. They were defenders of the universe, dammit. How could Lance sleep through this? He slammed his hand on the keypad, and the door swished open. Keith was prepared to barge in and smack Lance on the head to wake him up. But he took one look at the prone form before him, and paused.

Lance was so… serene when he slept. Keith crept forward, much stealthier on his feet now. Lance slept neatly on his back, with a blanket over his legs and a lime green paste on his face. Jesus, did he make that face mask out of food goo? Well what the hell was Keith supposed to do now? Just shake him awake? When he had literally never seen him this peaceful? Keith hesitated a bit before stepping closer to the bed. They needed Voltron though. Keith’s mind drifted to yesterday’s conversation, and Lance not wanting to be awoken. Regardless of what he’d said to Lance yesterday, they did need him. A lock of Lance’s hair was caught in the face mask by his eye, and it must have been bothering him, because his eye was twitching slightly. Keith reflexively reached out and brushed it back with a finger. In response, Lance huffed in his sleep. Keith’s hand lingered in Lance’s hair. As much as he really didn’t want to disturb this scene, Keith needed the blue paladin right now, not a sleeping Lance. But it still didn’t feel quite right to startle him; Keith told himself this was because he wasn’t interested in being kicked when Lance jerked awake. He could ease him up gradually. That was a thing right?

Keith moved his hand from Lance’s hair to his shoulder, and shook gently. Lance’s brow furrowed a bit, but he didn’t wake up. Whatever. They had a few minutes. “Lance,” he called, voice low.

“Lemmesleep, mamá,” Lance mumbled.

He tried again. “Dude, wake up.”

This time Lance turned his head toward Keith, still with closed eyes. “Thought I said not to wakemeup,” he slurred. Lance was too sleepy to sound upset though, and Keith felt the corners of his lips curving up in a fond smile.

“It’s actually an intergalactic emergency this time,” Keith said softly, but Lance had already dozed off again. He sighed and reached over to shake Lance’s other shoulder. Lance muttered in his sleep, took Keith’s hand, and turned over, settling deeper into his sheets. “Oof!” Keith nearly fell on top of him, catching himself with his other hand on the bed. He was hovering over Lance now, his breath tickling strands of soft brown hair, one hand stuck between Lance’s under the pillow. Keith couldn’t move if he wanted to.

Lance chose that moment to stretch his leg out, which connected with Keith’s knee, causing him to lose his balance. With another “oof,” Keith fell onto the bed, right on top of Lance.That, of course, woke him right up.

“What the quiznak!” Lance sputtered, bolting upright, eye-mask going askew. Keith barely had time to panic before Lance’s arms shot out and shoved him. He toppled to the floor with a crash. Lance yanked the eye-mask off and looked at his assailant. “Keith?”

Cursing the moment he’d decided to be nice, Keith stood up. “Shiro sent me to come get you,” he practically shouted in Lance’s general direction, without looking at him. He completely missed the blush starting to dust Lance’s cheeks, or the way his eyes lingered on his scowl, which was really more of a pout. “We need Voltron.” With that, he bolted out of the room.

***

The monster thoroughly handled, and his composure regained, Lance approached Keith gingerly. “So. Are we going to talk about–”

“No.”

“But dude, we–”

“Not a word.”

“But you were–”

Keith stepped up close, his eyes centimeters from the tip of Lance’s nose. Looking up to stare Lance in the eyes, Keith fixed him with his sternest glare. “Not. A. Word.” He stalked off to his room.