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Being alone, in any kind of capacity, used to make Lance uncomfortable – as one of the younger children in a large family, and a twin at that, he was always surrounded by people. Taking care of others slowly became second nature to him, and he never truly found himself alone when he was at home.
At the Garrison, he wasn’t alone per say, but he didn’t have the comfort of being surrounded by those who loved and cared about what he had to say. Hunk, his best friend since childhood, became him roommate, and when he found himself lonely, they spent their nights sneaking into the kitchens for snacks or gossiping late into the morning hours.
Space had been horrible for him, especially towards the beginning when he was so uncertain of his place within the team. Hunk remained his constant, when he wasn’t off with Pidge doing tech stuff that Lance couldn’t sit still long enough to understand. Pidge provided occasional – if not annoying – support and their presence was comforting late in the night when Lance wandered his way into their laboratory-like bedroom.
He hadn’t been entirely sure about how to feel about Coran, or Allura. Despite how he acted when he first caught Allura coming out of the pod, he was nervous around such new people. Not to mention, he was now in the same ship as his hero, the guy he looked up to since he was old enough to know he wanted to pilot. Yet, Shiro felt untouchable, nearly above all of them, and wherever he went, Keith usually followed. He wasn’t sure what all of them thought of him, nor how to truly feel about all of them.
He found himself sitting in the observatory-like room a lot when he couldn’t sleep, staring out into space as they drifted. He had people all around him; two who were definitely his friends, four who could become friends. Loneliness settled deep into his stomach whenever he found himself breaking off from the rest of the team, his eyes aching with the urge to cry.
Eventually – he wasn’t too sure on the time frame exactly – he became comfortable again, and he slowly felt like he was surrounded by people who cared about him again. His own little family away from his large family – just more space-y and troublesome.
But then, the war finally ended and he was able to reunite with his large family, surrounded by the love that ran in his blood and closest to his heart. His smaller family, his paladins, scattered to the winds doing the things they wanted to do. They all kept in contact one way or another; they did have a group chat, all of them and Coran and Allura – although the Alteans were slowly becoming used to Earth technology versus Altean.
Pidge loved to text memes in the middle of the night, amidst their ramblings; Hunk preferred to check in as much as possible, sending photos of food and his surroundings; Shiro texted every once in a while, but he truly preferred to call and chat for a few hours; Coran and Allura didn’t really talk much other than odd butt-texts and confused stickers; Keith couldn’t text often, due to being in space with the Blades, so he sent letters as often as he could. Lance himself texted just as much as Hunk, checking in on everyone and updating them on the family farm.
He felt their lack of presence like a gaping hole, feeling – for the first time – alone while also being surrounded by family and love.
When they had first came back to Earth, Lance had lived at home for a while, happy to be close to his parents and help where he was needed. But weeks of constantly waking his family up with his screaming from his night terrors and one horrific encounter where he nearly choked Rachel when she tried to wake him from one of them, he finally decided he needed to live on his own.
It was a new concept; since he was young, he always figured he’d live at home. He was a mama’s boy, and Rachel was a daddy’s girl when they were younger, and it honestly hadn’t been a thought to be separated from his twin or his family at all. He had always figured that the two of them would live with their parents long after their other siblings had left the home.
Yet, here he stood, in the doorway to his new house. It was a small cottage, a few miles up from his family’s farm actually. When he’d mentioned his idea to his mother, she’d immediately began the search for something nearby.
This was it.
A slightly weathered down cottage, off the main road with a dirt driveway and a lawn that had potential to become a good gardening area. The inside was musky; old hardwood floors that creaked as he edged into the main living area. The wallpaper was faded and sun-bleached in places, and he was glad that his mother had found something like this for him. He loved the idea of building his home from the ground up, while gaining the ability to heal.
“How’s it look?” Hunk asked, peeking in from the doorway behind Lance. He turned with a small smile on his face, beckoning his best friend inside. It was just the two of them – the other paladins had offered their time, but Hunk was the only one available today to help Lance deep clean the place before they moved anything in.
“It’s got potential,” Lance said, roving his eyes over the details of his new home. “Wanna go see how the kitchen looks?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Hunk shoved his way past him playfully. “I’ve already got ideas of what equipment you need to replace what with.”
Lance smiled, following after the larger man.
This would be good for him.
This was horrendous for him.
Tears dripped down his face as he sat huddled in bed, his bed covers pooled around his waist. Thunder rumbled outside of his bedroom window, and he tried his best to block the noise out and focus on his breath.
One, two, three, four…
Hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
Exhale, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…
Repeat.
He held a hand to his chest, fingers digging into his collarbone as he focused on the actual feeling of breath coming in and out of his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and rocked himself gently from side to side.
At least I hadn’t woken anyone up, he thought to himself bitterly. Or tried to choke out my sister again.
Another peal of thunder made him jerk a bit, but he was slowly coming back to himself with his breathing exercises. He sniffled, swiping at his tears with the back of his hands. He pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his head on his knees as he cleared his throat against his tears. His throat felt scratchy, and he knew that he’d been screaming before he woke up.
He screamed again as Kosmo unexpectedly teleported right next to his bed.
“Fuck!” Lance breathed out, tipping his body sideways onto his bed. Kosmo took that as an invitation and suddenly a large mass of fur and space wolf was on top of him, licking at the side of his neck and face. “Kosmo, what the actual fuck?”
Kosmo made a rumbling under her breath and she pulled away from Lance enough for the man to sit back up. The wolf perched back on her haunches, her mouth hanging open in an almost-smile that made Lance give a small smile and scratch at the scruff of her muzzle. Tied around Kosmo’s neck was a rolled-up piece of paper, bunched together by some thin twine.
Keith had written him.
“His timing is impeccable as always,” Lance muttered with a dry smirk. Petting Kosmo’s head and muzzle with one hand, he pulled the twine off her neck and over her head. Lance pulled away from the space wolf to unwind the twine.
Dear Lance,
Hunk told me that you’d gotten settled into the new house. I know it’s been a month or two since you got there, but I’m happy for you. I hope you got settled okay, and that the place is comfortable for you.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to help you move in; Kolivan had me on an undercover mission and it only just ended. I’m actually on my way to sleep after that hellish briefing so hopefully I’m not waking you up.
Lance rolled his eyes affectionately. Leave it to Keith to feel guilty for not being there, even though he was on a spy mission.
I got you a housewarming gift, but I didn’t really want to send it with Kosmo. Is it alright if I visit you sometime soon? I can bring your gift then. I can also make up for not being there when you moved in, and work on that fence that your mother is worried about.
“My mother wrote him?” Lance muttered, absent-mindedly patting at Kosmo’s head as she bullied her way into Lance’s lap. The wolf huffed and closed her eyes as Lance went back to the letter.
It’d be nice to spend some time together too, of course. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to just shoot the shit, huh? I have a good chunk of free time now that I’m done with that mission and I’d planned to come and visit Earth. Why not start with my right-hand man? Just let me know if you’ve got the time.
- Keith
Lance traced a finger over that name, feeling the indentation from pen on paper. Keith had confided in him after one of his first letters, that he preferred pen and paper to the holo-grams that everyone else sent, or their group chat. He always thought that it was more personal when you took the time to write down your thoughts to someone important to you. Lance smiled to himself.
“You gonna wait while I write him back?” Lance murmured, leaning down to press a kiss to Kosmo’s head. The wolf cracked an eye open and huffed again, curling up into more of a ball in the mussed-up bedding as Lance stood and made his way out.
The cottage was coming along nicely; so far, he’d cleaned it from top to bottom and moved all of his furniture in. Luckily, having saved the entire Earth from an impending alien war gave good money after all was said and done. He’d already gotten the floors redone – the wood cleaned, treated and re-waxed. The old sun-bleached wallpaper had been torn down and replaced with a good coat of primer and white paint, prepped for Lance to figure out his next step later.
The two bedrooms had been a great surprise – he loved the extra space to do things with. He’d made one of them his bedroom, of course, and turned the other into his office. He didn’t do much in that room, but it was nice to have a designated area to do bill-work instead of his kitchen table like his parents always had done.
He shuffled down the hall, past his office and into the kitchen. His throat still ached from screaming during his night terror, and he wanted some type of soothing for it. Setting Keith’s letter on the counter, where he heard it curl back up once he wasn’t flattening it, he flicked on the lights in the kitchen and grabbed his teapot off of the stovetop.
The nice thing about the cottage was that it had come with its own water system – a fairly good well-system that hadn’t needed much repair once he got all the way settled in.
Autopilot took over as he made himself some tea, steeping it and stepping away to get the rest of his ingredients – honey, brown sugar, and his milk carton. He leaned against the sink as the water boiled in its pot, leaning his head down to rest his chin on his chest. Exhaustion pulled at the edges of his consciousness, but he wanted to drink his tea, and write Keith back.
He also couldn’t have a giant space wolf in his house for too long, regardless of how cute she was.
Water whistling finally, he flicked the stovetop off, the flame extinguishing. He finished up his drink, and put away all the small things. Grabbing Keith’s letter, he grabbed his mug with his other hand before flicking the light off and making his way back down the hall to nudge the office door open.
He shuffled through the dark to his desk, gently setting the things in his hands down, so that he could switch his desk lamp on. Plopping down into the armchair he was using as a desk chair, he pulled out the pretty matching paper and envelopes that he’d bought earlier that month. He grabbed the closest pen and set to answering his letter.
Dear Keith,
Thank you! It’s been going good so far. The money the Garrison gives us for being ‘veterans’ has been put to good use on this place. Moving in was a fiasco, of course. When isn’t it when more than one of us are involved? Shiro barely fits into my doorways, which I find fucking hilarious dude. You should’ve seen it. Next time we all get together, I think I’ll host just to get back at him for early drills while we were on the castle.
You don’t have to apologize for doing your job, dude. You literally are still saving the world – the fuck you apologizing for.
You didn’t have to get me anything! Why’d you get me something? You should spend your GAC on yourself, not little old me. Unless it’s something ridiculously funny… please give me a gag gift. I would love to see your type of gag gift humor dude.
He chuckled to himself, glancing at his calendar on the wall to see when he was truly free from his family responsibilities and his own plans. He wanted to be able to give Keith his attention without being pulled in two different directions while he was here with him. Sipping at his tea and enjoying the way the warmth soothed his throat, he wondered what type of stuff they could do.
You can come anytime past the 12th? I help my parents out on the farm, but they’ve been pushing for me to work on my own stuff instead of worrying about them. You can stay as long as you’d like. It would be nice to see someone other than family – everyone’s been so busy the last couple weeks that I feel like a spinster that never leaves her home.
I really hope you’re not pushing yourself too hard with the Blades – you said that you’d try to do less risky stuff, don’t forget. I’ll hold you to it. Hope to see you soon, Keith.
- Lance
He folded the paper as neatly as he could, pressing it into its matching envelope and pressing a sticker to the lip of the envelope to seal it. He made his way back to his bedroom with his mug and his letter, flicking the office light off as he left.
Kosmo lifted her head when he entered, her tail wagging as Lance approached her with a grin. He sipped at his tea before placing it down on his side table. He leaned down to press another kiss to Kosmo’s head, before letting the wolf gingerly take the letter in her mouth. He patted her head, making kissing noises.
Listen, a dog is still a dog – space genes aside.
“Give him a big old tackle for me, okay baby?” Kosmo made a chuffing noise, before she blipped out of Lance’s room and space. Lance plopped back into his bed, tugging his covers over his body as he settled in.
Hopefully, he’d be able to sleep through the night before Kosmo came back to jump scare him again.
Lance was actually halfway through making breakfast, hot pan in hand as he transferred his scrambled eggs to his plate, when Kosmo showed back up. He shrieked, his hands jerking but thankfully, nothing fell or burned him. He made sure his eggs were all settled on the plate before he put the pan back on the stovetop and turned to give Kosmo a light glare.
“Y’know,” he started, picking up a sausage from his plate and feeding it to the large space wolf, “You’re timing is just as shit as your dad’s.”
Kosmo eagerly ate up the sausage, ignoring Lance’s comment. Lance rolled his eyes and shook his head at the wolf, before bending to pull the threaded letter off of the wolf’s neck.
“Let’s see what Keith-y boy said back,” Lance mused to himself as he grabbed his plate and took a seat at his small dining table. He unrolled the letter, tracing his fingers over the imprint of pen on paper.
Dear Lance,
I’m glad you’re putting your own touch on the place. I can’t believe Shiro’s too big for the doorways – it’s almost like the man is close to seven foot tall. Unbelievable.
(Please host; I want him to suffer just the tiniest bit.)
Lance snorted, taking a bite of his eggs and doing his best to ignore the way Kosmo sat and begged next to him at the table.
I’m apologizing because you’re important to me. I hate missing the milestones that you guys keep making. Being there in person is so different than hearing about it through letters or over video calls.
Of course I got you something! This is a big change for you, and you deserve to have a gift in celebration of that. Don’t make that face – you know exactly what one I’m talking about. You never allow yourself to fully appreciate your achievements.
The next gift I get you will absolutely be a gag gift. Just remember you brought this on yourself.
Lance rolled his eyes fondly, brushing a hand over Kosmo’s head before passing her another sausage. Everyone on the team – himself included – had started to see a therapist shortly after the end of the war. Crazily enough, Keith had come the furthest of all of them. He constantly reminded Lance that mental health wasn’t a competition, but he also had an issue with allowing himself to appreciate his achievements. So, pot meet Keith Kogane, in all his advice and actions.
I can come by on the 13th, although I probably wouldn’t get in til late because of how far I am from Earth right now. Would you rather I come on the 14th, earlier in the day? Careful there, sharpshooter, because I just might stay forever. You know I miss you –
There’s a scribble interrupting the words next, and then Keith’s handwriting continues on –
guys. I might not have a definite home on Earth but the team will always be my real home. We’ll have to make sure that we go out and do stuff then, or else you might start writing some poetry.
I’m doing my best to not – you know I don’t make promises lightly, especially not to you.
- Love, Keith
Lance re-read that last line with a small smile, his ears heating up despite himself.
It wasn’t often that Keith was open with his affection; the most any of the team usually got were half hugs and a comforting hand on their arm. It always made Lance’s whole being nearly vibrate whenever the man even remotely showed him that Lance had a place in his heart and in his life.
Lance had known for a while that he had some form of feelings for Keith – he knew he was very cool and almost arrogantly hot at the Garrison. Seeing him again while they had been saving Shiro had been like a hit to the gut, because wow.
He wouldn’t go as far as to say that he’d been in love with Keith after that, but he’d definitely been inching into crush territory with every moment they spent together while on the castle ship. If Lance had to truly pinpoint when exactly he realized he had more feelings for Keith than a simple crush was the Lion switch, when he’d become Keith’s right-hand man.
Then, after Keith had returned from the Blade, two years older and so much more handsome than Lance had remembered, Lance knew.
Keith was it for him – whether as a life-long secret love or by his side as a partner.
Lance snorted at himself, shaking his head as he set the letter off to the side and focused back on his plate.
As if Keith would ever want to be his partner in any type of romantic sense.
Dear Keith,
(I’ll host if you come and cook for us all; you know your food is usually too spicy for him too. Double the suffering for beating our asses in training.)
I understand, but you don’t owe anyone an apology. We know you want to be here in person, and we always want you here in person.
That’s sweet, thank you. You know I’m trying to do better with appreciating myself. I look forward to seeing what you’ve got for me.
I also look forward to that gag gift. Make it damn good, Kogane.
You can come either day, honestly. If you come by late, I’ll probably be up. I don’t really sleep very well so I kind of haunt the house at night. Surprise me!
We miss you too Keith, very much. I know I’m only speaking for myself, but I’m sure that we will always be home for you. You’re also home for us.
Is that a joke I read? Who are you and what have you done with the real Keith??
I’ll see you whenever you get here. Don’t jump scare me too bad.
- Love, Lance
Time seemed to drag in slow motion until the thirteenth arrived; he found himself mentally ticking down the days whenever he noticed the change of date. The entire day of the twelfth, all he could think about was how many hours left he had until he could see Keith in the flesh again.
After he’d finished helping out over at his parents’ place, he found himself just wandering the cottage, nitpicking over how things looked. He’d already washed the dishes from the week, scrubbed down any surfaces he could think of to scrub, and he even put up a new shower liner that he’d been putting off for weeks.
He could barely sleep the night of the twelfth, shifting his body every few minutes, trying to get any position to stick and pull him under. His mind kept wandering to when Keith would show up; would he be early tomorrow? Will he be late and come in to Lance half-dozing on the couch, waiting for him? Or would he show up just in time to share a nice breakfast together in the morning sunlight?
He finally drifted off around two a.m., pillow underneath his shoulder blades as he reclined his head and shoulders off the elevated surface. Faint memories of Keith clouded his dream and he woke up feeling giddy and warm.
It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that Lance realized one critical error – he had no bed for Keith to sleep on.
The couch wasn’t comfortable at all – it was some brand-new small thing that Pidge had helped him pick out. They ensured Lance that once it was properly broken in, it would be more comfortable, but it certainly wasn’t going to be comfortable for their six foot something Galra brick house of a friend. The thing was barely a two-seater; it couldn’t even hold two people in it together. So far, only Pidge and Allura seemed capable of fitting on it side by side comfortably.
Hunk had joked that it would lead to many lap-sitting opportunities for the boys, and Lance had cackled himself into a coughing fit at the time.
Now he sat on his ridiculously small couch, his head in his hands as he cursed himself.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty, he could almost hear Veronica in the back of his head and he huffed, standing up to head into his bedroom to search his closet.
A half hour and a very sweaty pajama shirt later, Lance stood before the mess he’d created tearing his closet apart in search of a futon, a sleeping bag, anything that he could sleep in so Keith could have the bed alone.
Lance inhaled sharply.
Either way, Keith would be sleeping in his bed.
With or without Lance beside him, depending on how his friend would accept the situation. Lance’s mama did not raise him to let a guest sleep on the floor, no matter who the guest was to him. It could be Honerva in the flesh and his mama would still make Lance give her the bed.
Actually, he would really hope his mama wouldn’t be that serious about it.
The point was that Lance would have the man of his literal dreams in his bed; underneath his sheets, his face on his pillowcases, his scent absorbing into Lance’s bedding.
Lance let out a small yell, turning to observe the messy bedding that he’d left carelessly strewn across the bed when he’d awoken so warm and fuzzy that very morning.
“For fuck’s sake,” Lance grumbled at himself as he stripped the bed and waded through the closet stuff on the floor towards his washer in the back mudroom. Angrily stuffing everything inside, he tossed in his detergent tablet and set the washer on to cycle.
He braced himself on the appliance for a moment, leaning his head down towards his chest as he evened out his breathing and tried to let the shaking of the washer soothe his irritation.
It would be fine, he reasoned with himself as he calmly made his way back to the bedroom to pick up his spilt open closet mess and remake the bed with fresh linens and comforter. He’d slept next to Keith before; when they’d go to galas after saving people and they’d fall asleep in the same bed with Hunk and Pidge, curled up tight and snoring drunkenly. They’d slept next to each other when they’d stop on planets while they were stuck in the lions, the luxurious memory of beds calling to Lance every waking moment he was conscious.
But then he remembered how it felt to wake up curled up next to Keith after a gala, his head aching from the alcohol they’d all dumbly consumed. Hunk usually slept on the farthest side of the bed, his body facing the door and practically shielding the other three. Pidge usually slept towards the top of the bed, their face covered by one, two, sometimes three pillows because they liked the pressure for some odd reason.
Keith and Lance would wind up pressed up against each other, trying to not fall off the edge of the bed in their sleep or get kicked in the head by a hungover gremlin. Sometimes Lance would wake up before Keith, his head resting near the other boy’s shoulder, and he’d just watch his eyelashes flutter in his sleep and his chest rise slowly with each inhale.
Those were moments he cherished – his family, warm, asleep and safe in the same bed and the love of his actual life snoring softly in his sleep.
But this… this would be Keith and Lance, alone. Alone in Lance’s house, in a queen bed that sometimes felt like it barely contained Lance, let alone his larger friend.
Lance flattened his comforter onto the bed and double-checked the room to see if it was all good. With that, he rolled his eyes at himself and tossed his body back into bed.
He needed a nap.
That nap turned into sleeping the rest of the day away.
Lance woke to a soft snuffling near him, and he hummed sleepily, moving closer to the warm body that was lying next to him. A head gently thunked into his own, and he could feel slow breaths over his forehead.
His eyes flew open with a quiet gasp.
Keith laid sleeping next to him, a worn tee shirt riding up his stomach and his sweatpants already curling up one of his legs. Lance felt his breathing slow from its quickened panic and he raised his head cautiously.
He could see Keith’s suitcase set off to the side of the room, closed with his Blade uniform carelessly tossed on top of it. Kosmo laid in the doorway to the bedroom, the front half of her body out in the hallway and her back end sprawled out on the rug that Lance had bought to cover most of the cold hardwood floor of the bedroom.
Glancing back at Keith, Lance found himself smiling in fond exasperation. Of course, Keith wouldn’t bother waking him up once he’d gotten in. The man was probably bone tired from his flight here, and he probably barely changed before climbing into bed next to Lance.
Lance had worked himself up into a panic earlier about nothing.
The comforter was up around Lance, settled comfortably at his waist. Rolling his eyes at Keith, he took the side closest to the other man and tossed it over his body. Keith shifted in his sleep as Lance tucked the blanket around his body, gently tugging his tee shirt back down.
A hand came up to catch Lance’s and the man gasped as he raised his eyes to see a pair of sleepy purple irises looking back at him. Keith smiled softly at him, his eyes fluttering as he scooched closer to Lance, letting go of his hand to wrap an arm around his waist.
Lance felt like he was on fire – his face, his body, his mind. This hadn’t happened in a long time. Well, not Keith waking up because Lance moved even so slightly; the man slept so lightly unless he was drunk or hadn’t slept for days.
Keith hadn’t held him in his sleep in nearly a year or so – the last time had been when they’d camped out on watch together on one planet, and woke up freezing with their arms wrapped around each other and both their sleeping bags wrapped around them.
This was so different.
Keith sighed deeply, and settled his face against Lance’s, his breathing shifting the curls that rested on his forehead. At a loss of what to do, Lance simply laid his hand over Keith’s arm and focused on breathing so he wouldn’t faint.
“Dearest,” Keith sighed out a whisper, so quietly that for a second Lance thought he’d just started snuffling again in his sleep before his brain processed the words. “Love you.”
“Huh?” Lance shifted, trying to see if the man was truly awake. But, Keith was having none of it and he was pulled tighter to his friend, one of Keith’s legs shifting to toss over Lance’s. “Keith?”
“Shhh,” Keith murmured, wrapping both of his arms around Lance before shifting his head to rest in the crook of Lance’s neck. After that, it seemed that the man was fully unconscious once more, his snores snuffling back to life against Lance’s skin.
Lance pouted, settling back down to try and sleep. “You’re going to kill me one day, you ass.”
The next time Lance woke up, it was to sunlight gently streaming in through his bedroom window. Groggy, he sat up slowly.
The only thing that clued him in that last night wasn’t a dream and that Keith was here, actually in his house, was his suitcase – now unzipped and open – with clothes haphazardly within. Lance scoffed at it, rolling his eyes with fond exasperation.
Assuming that Keith must’ve taken Kosmo out for their morning run, Lance got up and made the bed, fluffing the pillows up for the next night just like his mama had taught him. Completing that task, he tugged his clothes from the previous day off and tossed them into his hamper. Part of his legs had imprints from falling asleep in jeans and he shook his head at himself.
Leave it to him to sleep for nearly a day, he mused as he changed into fresh sweats and swiped on his deodorant before tossing a tee shirt on. Yawning – still? He must’ve slept forever! – he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face before he started his day for real.
As he was finishing those tasks and drying his face with his face towel, he heard the jingle of the bells Pidge had put on his front door so no one with the house key would accidentally jump scare Lance and wind up with a gun to the temple. Smiling to himself, he stayed in the bathroom, picking his face moisturizer up so he could finish his skin care.
He could hear Keith murmuring softly to Kosmo, not knowing that Lance was already up and in the bathroom. Listening, he heard the man make his way from the entry way to his kitchen, where Lance heard his cupboards opening and closing before his stovetop was ticking on.
Lance paused for a moment, his hands still on his cheeks. Keith was starting breakfast – maybe just for himself but Lance knew he’d probably make enough to feed Lance too and choose something they’d both like.
Lance felt his chest melt, the warm gooey feeling he associated with loving Keith making his face flush a little as he finished his moisturizer and screwed the top back onto the jar. He lingered in the bathroom, listening as Keith spoke lowly to Kosmo over the sound of butter crackling in a pan.
This was the type of stuff that had really hooked Lance in – the thoughtfulness, the calm underneath the storm that was Keith. He knew the different facets of their paladins; made it his mission to do so actually. But with Keith, he knew that man like the back of his own hand. He knew that man’s weaknesses and his strengths; what metal he preferred for jewelry; what candy bar he favored during a quick pitstop to a convenience store.
Lance startled when he heard Kosmo teleport in front of him. Huffing, he patted her head, before leaning down to press a kiss to the bridge of her snout.
“Good morning, baby girl.” Lance cooed, scratching right behind her ear. She started thumping one of her hind legs on the ground in response, leaning heavily against the hand doing the scratching. Lance giggled, giving her a final kiss before he straightened back up, his spine cracking a bit. “Let’s go see what your dad’s up to, huh?”
Kosmo trotted beside him, her nails clicking against the ground. Lance paused in the doorway to the kitchen, breathing deeply as he took in the sight before him.
Keith was in normal everyday clothes – a simple tee and jeans, one socked foot idly scratching the back of his calf. On the counters sat a few grocery bags, and he could hear the coffee machine, but not smell it, which meant Keith must’ve just started it.
Lance felt his heart squeeze in his chest.
“You didn’t even wake me when you got in last night,” Lance teased, pouting as he walked further into the kitchen and lifted himself to sit on the counter next to the stove. Keith grinned at him, shrugging his shoulders before he went back to what he was doing. “Don’t just shrug at me, asshole. You’re lucky I didn’t kick your ass when I woke up to a body next to me.”
“You wouldn’t have,” Keith said in a matter-of-fact tone, glancing over at Lance. “You woke up for a bit when I got in, so technically you knew I was there.”
Lance scowled lightly, “No the fuck I did not; I don’t even remember waking up until you were snoring like a chainsaw in my ear.”
“You did.” Keith put the pan he was using onto a different burner, switching the flame off with his other hand. He bit his lip and Lance had to close his eyes for a moment to collect himself at that sight. “You really don’t remember?”
“No…?” Lance opened his eyes to meet Keith’s gaze. He arched a brow at the other man, trying to get him to go on. “Did I do something embarrassing?”
Kosmo chose that moment to come up behind Keith and nudge him in the butt with her snout. Keith let out a startled laugh that had Lance biting back his own laugh. He turned and bent to push Kosmo away, ruffling his hand through the fur at the collar of her neck.
“You called me papi,” Keith said softly, his eyes still trained on Kosmo. Lance’s breath froze in his chest. He dragged his gaze to blatantly stare at the man in front of him.
“I did what?”
Keith patted Kosmo’s head and the dog trotted off, before blipping out of sight – presumably to go outside. Lance felt his stomach start to churn as Keith stood upright and turned to face him.
“You called me papi,” Keith repeated himself, shifting his weight onto his left hip. His arms crossed over his chest like they always did when he was unsure of his standing with someone. “I came in, and was in the middle of getting into my pajamas… and you woke up and asked me how my flight was, so I told you.
Then as I was getting into the bed, you reached out for me and told me that you were happy to see me, and told me to – ” Keith giggled here, his head tilting down towards his shoulder. Lance felt his cheeks heat up as he sat on the counter and stared at this man. “ – you told me to come hold you and when I laughed and got in – into the bed – you kissed my chest and called me papi.”
Lance felt like he was going to die.
“I kissed your chest?” He raised his hands to hide his face, the flush on his face surely traveling down his neck. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
There was silence for a moment and then he heard Keith shuffle closer to him, and he felt large warm hands rest on his waist. He startled, dropping his hands into his lap as he gaped at Keith.
The other man smiled softly, his eyes warm. There was no type of anger or disgust in his expression. “You kissed me on my chest, right above my heart.”
Lance felt his face melt into a pout and he whined, “What the fuuuuuuuuuuck?”
“I thought it was cute.”
“You – !” Lance slapped said chest with his hand, making Keith laugh and try to squirm his way closer. “You thought it was cute?! What do you even mean?!”
“I love you, Lance.”
Lance stared at him with wide eyes, his hand smoothing over Keith’s collar. The other man smiled, a fang peeking out over his bottom lip. Lance scowled again, his hand tightening on Keith’s collar, and he watched the man’s face morph into a slightly panicked expression.
“Keith…”
“Lance?”
“How long have you loved me?” Lance’s eyes narrowed as he pulled Keith closer by his collar. He felt Keith gulp against the fingers that rested against his throat.
“Probably since the bonding moment.” Purple eyes stayed trained on Lance’s, but he could feel how nervous Keith was just by being next to him. “It felt more serious after the space whale.”
“What?” No wonder Keith had been so offended that Lance pretended to not remember that moment. He’d definitely have to apologize for that later.
“I saw you in the visions,” Keith’s hands twitched where they rested on Lance’s waist still. Lance loosened his grip on his collar, smoothing his hand back over the now-wrinkled fabric. “Past and future visions – it was always you.”
“I love you too,” Lance told him, and Keith laughed in relief, leaning in closer. Lance pressed his palm flat against Keith’s chest to stop him for a moment. “You also said some things last night. You told me you loved me in your sleep and called me your dearest.”
Keith chuckled, taking Lance’s hand off his chest and pressing a kiss to the center of his palm. “Yeah, sounds about right.”
Lance scoffed lightly, before cupping said hand to Keith’s cheek. The other man gave him a soft smile, pressing on the back of his hand so their skin was pressed more firmly together. “So, what does this mean for us, Keith?”
“What do you want it to mean?” Keith’s voice was quiet. “I know it’s been hard for you since the end of the war, and I don’t want to rush you into anything you don’t feel ready for.”
Lance’s chest ached with affection as Keith held his gaze steadily. They’d both come so far since the end of the war, and he was so proud of the man that stood before him. “I’d like it to mean that we’re boyfriends now. Is that what you would like?”
“Yes, I’d like that very much,” Keith murmured, his hand leaving the back of Lance’s to cup the back of Lance’s neck. “Now, c’mere.”
Lance smiled, pushing his hand from Keith’s cheek to twine his fingers into his hair. Eyelids low, Lance tilted his head up, shivering when he felt Keith’s warm breath ghost over his chin before his lips were solid against Lance’s.
Humming softly, Keith tilted his head to press closer, the hand on Lance’s neck sliding up to cup the other man’s head and maneuver him how he pleased. Warmth ran up Lance’s spine as Keith’s other hand slid from his hip underneath Lance’s tee to rest on his lower back.
“Keith,” Lance whispered as they parted for breath. He kept his eyes closed, leaning forward to rest his head on Keith’s shoulder. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Keith wrapped his arms around Lance fully, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. Lance slipped his hands up Keith’s tee, gliding his palms up and down the warm skin there.
They stayed there like that for a while, just breathing each other’s presence in. Lance felt like his chest would cave in with how much his heart felt like it ached and squeezed with the sweet way Keith started carding his fingers through Lance’s hair.
It wasn’t until they started hearing loud licking that they broke apart. Keith whipped around in Lance’s hold to see Kosmo licking into the pan of breakfast that he’d left on the stove. Letting out a yelp, the man lurched forward to bat at the space wolf while Lance giggled, leaning back on his hands on the countertop.
He couldn’t even be mad about the ensuing mess that happened as Kosmo jerked out of Keith’s range, dragging the pan full of egg onto the floor to clatter and splatter everywhere.
He finally had his man.
My dearest, Lance
I’ll be home in the next 24 hours.
Briefing just finished and Kolivan has given me the okay to head home. I just gotta shower and then I’ll be headed to my pod.
Can we order in and have a date night in when I get there? I’ve missed you so much.
I love you,
Keith
My love,
Fly safely and please make sure autopilot is engaged if you need to take a nap!! I will NOT be letting you get lost for an additional day like you did the one time on the way back from visiting your mom.
Of course we can, papi. I’ll order that wine that you like so much so you can have some and relax with me. I’ve missed you so much too. The bed has been so empty without you in it to keep me warm.
Hurry home to me. I love you,
Lance