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Lance woke up with a groan. Today was Keith day to pick a term. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
Lance got up and got ready to face the world (this just meant he threw on his jeans and brushed his hair and teeth). He opened the door and nearly ran into Keith, who had been waiting outside.
"Whoa!" Lance said, backing up. Keith blinked at him. His hand was raised, as if to knock, but Lance had beat him to it.
"Uh, morning," Keith said, lowering his hand.
"Morning," Lance responded, recovering from the momentary surprise. "What's up?"
"Oh, well," Keith said, face a bit pink. "I've been up for awhile, and I thought of the next term."
"Ok?" Lance asked.
"The term for today," Keith said. "Is honey."
"Honey," Lance repeated. He shrugged. "Not the worst one you could have picked." Keith frowned.
"What's wrong with it?" he asked, defensive. Lance smirked.
"Nothing, honey," he said smoothly. He gave Keith a wink and walked off towards the kitchen, not noticing Keith's beet-red face.
*****
"Keith, honey, you need to pay attention," Lance whispered. The Paladins were in the middle of a meeting with Allura and Keith kept nodding his head, like he was about to fall asleep. At Lance's whisper, his head snapped up.
"I'm fine," he hissed. Lance gave him a look.
"No, you're not honey," he said. Keith turned pink, but Lance ignored that, studying Keith's eyes. There were clear bags underneath them. "Did you sleep at all?" Keith hesitated, before shrugging.
"A few hours, maybe," he said. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. Lance and Keith looked up. Allura frowned back.
"Care to share?" she said. Lance grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, Princess," he said. "I don't think Keith is feeling well right now." Allura's face softened.
"Then he is excused," she said. Keith didn't even argue, knowing that he had only gotten about three hours of sleep the night before. Nightmares tended to plague him once in a while, but last night was truly bad.
"I'll make sure he gets to his room okay," Lance said. "Come on, honey." Keith's face turned pink again. He didn't know why this stupid game was affecting him so much, but he couldn't help blushing at every pet name Lance used.
Lance led Keith back to his room, Keith stumbling a bit, clearly exhausted.
"Oh, honey," Lance said, voice soft. "Why didn't you sleep?"
"Nightmares," Keith said, voice starting to slur. They finally made it to his room. Once inside, Keith collapsed on the bed. Lance made himself comfortable on the floor.
"I'll stay for a bit," he said. Keith just hummed in confirmation, already drifting off. Lance smiled. "Sweet dreams, honey."
****
Keith woke up a few hours later. The castle was dark, which meant the others had probably gone to bed. Well, except Lance.
The boy was slumped at the end of Keith's bed, fast asleep. Keith took a moment to watch as Lance's chest rose and fell, how his eyes moved beneath his lids as he dreamed. Keith sighed. Lance didn't look comfortable, but he didn't want to wake him. Keith didn't want him to leave once he realized he'd fallen asleep here.
Instead, Keith carefully climbed off his bed, taking a blanket with him. He gently draped it over Lance, pulling a pillow down to place next to him. He slowly moved the other boy so he was laying down, trying hard not to wake him. Satisfied that Lance was still asleep and considerably more comfortable looking, Keith got back into bed.
"You get to miss this one night," Keith whispered to himself. "You're too cute to stay mad at for long. Goodnight Lance."