Work Text:
Lance was ninety nine point nine nine nine percent sure that Keith was aging like fine wine, and he was one hundred percent sure that he was fucked; although unfortunately not literally, nor by Keith.
Keith had been hot enough when they first started off on this wild space adventure called Voltron. It had been easier to ignore back then, especially when Lance’s frequent flirtation with the many lady aliens they encountered actually started working after enough trial and error...but despite Lance’s briefly distracting flings over the next four years, the dude continued to steal Lance’s breath away, although more often, and for new and increasingly ridiculous reasons.
Case in point: one time after a particularly long and hectic period of nonstop missions during their first year in space, Keith had wandered into the lounge with spectacularly messy bedhead as per usual, scratching his face and mumbling something about space coffee. But Lance had been unable to process anything except the fact that Keith had five o’clock shadow, qué carajo, since when could pretty boy Keith grow facial hair?!
Lance asked him as much and Keith furrowed his brow. “Lance, I usually shave almost every day,” he said, confused, and Lance’s world imploded.
“He’s half Galra, the guy’s bound to be hairy,” Pidge remarked from where she was sprawled out on the sofa. She was one to talk, Lance was pretty sure she was growing a small forest in her pits.
Keith snorted, but didn’t deny it, which made Lance’s world implode further. “You want some coffee, Lance?” he’d asked, ambling to the kitchen to make some definitely-not-actual-coffee-they-just-all-really-missed-coffee coffee.
“Sure,” Lance had squeaked, staring at the ceiling. Stubble. Keith. Stubble Keith. Okay. This was fine.
Oh, but that didn’t even begin to compare to the Braid Incident. There Lance had been, playing a perfect game of Killbot Phantasm 1, when Keith decided to walk on by with a braid in his hair. Lance almost dropped his controller – as it was, he made an aborted sort of choking sound. Keith paused, and raised an eyebrow at him, and oh god, yep, that was definitely a little braid tucked behind Keith’s hair, tied off with a teeny tiny purple bow.
“Lance? You good?” Keith asked, starting towards him with genuine concern.
Be cool, Espinosa, be cool . Lance paused the game and forced a smile. “Me? Oh, yeah, fantastic, all bueno, over here. How about you? Your hair looks...nice.”
“My...oh!” Keith touched the little braid self consciously and shot Lance a lopsided smile that plunged straight into his heart, ouch. “You think so? Allura let me borrow some bows. I like braiding hair, it gives me something to do with my hands.”
He wiggled his fingers playfully and Lance thought faintly, Oh, I’ll give you something to do with your hands . Lance didn’t realize he’d said it aloud until Keith cocked his head and said, “Huh? You need help with something?”
Lance opened his mouth, then closed it. Really, buddy? Almost twenty years old and he still couldn’t recognize when he was being flirted with? Unfortunately, like most things about Keith, it just made him even more endearing in Lance’s eyes. And, hey...if it meant Lance could say what he thought about Keith aloud and Keith wouldn’t be offended, maybe it wasn’t so bad.
“Nah, but thanks for asking,” Lance replied, tone light. “Keep rockin’ the braid, dude – it really suits you. It’s...cute.”
“Thank you, Lance!” Keith said.
After that, it kind of became a thing.
It being Lance blatantly flirting with Keith and everybody but Keith realizing it.
After the Braid Incident came the Martial Arts Situation several months later.
Keith and Lance had been put on a mission together on a planet with far too many caves, and long story short, they’d ended up cornered in a weird cavern full of alien glow worms with no weapons.
“Buddy,” Lance had whispered as the four large, growling, termite-esque aliens closed in on them, “I just want you to know, it’s been a good run, and I –”
Keith had drop kicked the nearest termite in the face. “Gnuh?” Lance said, stunned, though not as stunned as the termite, who was laying on the ground with its legs kicking weakly while Keith moved on to the other three with lightning speed and deadly accuracy; he’d definitely been teaching himself some moves over the years. It was incredible. Lance was in love with a certifiable badass.
In love. Well, shit. There it was. He’d been forced to witness Keith’s beautiful badass self for two years in close quarters in space, alright, cut him some slack.
When they got back to the castle ship, in one piece thanks to Keith, Lance could not stop gushing to the rest of the team about Keith’s secret karate skills.
“It’s taekwondo and a lot of improvisation,” Keith told him quietly, ducking his head and folding his arms. “And I’m really not that good. Those insect guys were pretty weak.”
Lance gasped at him. “Keith, don’t sell yourself short, that was awesome!”
“It sounds awesome,” Hunk offered, and Keith looked at him uncertainly, shuffling his feet. “Maybe you could show us on the training deck sometime?”
Keith’s eyes widened. “Really? You actually want me to?”
“Of course, Keith,” Shiro said, giving Lance a Look that quite clearly said, Don’t.
Lance’s brain to mouth filter, however, was not so good and never had been, and he blurted, “You could kick me in the face and I would thank you, Keith.” Shiro groaned into his hands and Pidge pretended to barf behind Keith.
Keith looked horrified. “I would never kick you in the face, Lance!” he exclaimed.
Lance sighed. “Too bad. You know, you should really wear shorts more often, I bet your legs are ripped.”
Shiro glared daggers at him. Oblivious, Keith said, “Shorts? But we’re in space, and it’s cold.”
“Think about it,” Lance said, winked, and walked away while mentally smacking himself. Still, though – Keith in shorts. Stubble Keith with a braid in shorts. Now, that was a concept.
Months later, space God delivered, and Keith wore shorts, and Lance hadn’t considered himself a devout Catholic since he was eight, but Lance immediately felt like he better go to confession as soon as Keith sauntered into the lounge in a pair of bright, fire-engine red, of course they were red , ay por Dios, Lance was going to die . But it was going to be while ogling Keith’s perfect ass and frankly sinful thighs, so Lance wasn’t too mad about it.
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Hunk said, jabbing Lance with an elbow. Hunk was soft and round everywhere, though, so it didn’t really hurt, and Lance just huffed and continued enjoying the view. Then Keith turned around, and Lance froze, because he had a braid in his hair, which was now past his shoulders, and his jaw was dark with stubble, and Lance had officially ascended. “You’re drooling,” Hunk informed him flatly.
“Well, duh, look at him!” Lance half-shrieked.
Keith heard (probably the entire ship heard), and peered at him quizzically. “Look at who?” he asked, and Lance gaped at him. Because, yeah, it had been fun to tease Keith while it lasted, but Keith was twenty-one and he sure wasn’t dumb; he had to know what he was doing to Lance at this point! Yet Keith looked genuinely bewildered. “Are...are you talking about me?”
“Keith,” Lance said slowly, “are you somehow totally unaware that I could bounce a penny off your butt, easy?”
“Oh my god,” Hunk said into the couch cushions. “ Lance .”
Keith blinked rapidly. “Wha...why would you bounce a penny off my butt?” he mused, brows drawn together. “There aren’t even any pennies here, everyone uses GAC.”
“You’re serious,” Lance said, and turned to Hunk, “oh man, he’s serious.” Hunk grunted in despairing affirmation.
Keith stood with his hands on his hips. “Are you making fun of me?” he demanded, and stuck a leg out. “I thought you were the one who said I should wear shorts in the first place!”
“Well, yeah, but you didn’t have to choose the shortest shorts this side of the Balmeran Cluster. I can pretty much see your junk, dude,” Lance said, because he could, and what he could see was...intriguing.
But Keith turned as red as his shorts and glared at him, and Lance knew he’d messed up. “I’ll wear what I want, asshole,” he snapped, and hurried off down the hall, shaking his head.
“Nice going,” Hunk said. “Maybe don’t slut-shame Keith, next time.”
“I wasn’t – he’s not – ugh. In my defense, why should I even try to flirt well with him?” Lance muttered. “He’s so out of my league it’s not even funny, even after three damn years. It’s actually...super depressing. I’m depressed and in love, Hunk.”
“Then stop being an asshole,” Hunk suggested, and he may have been round and soft but his words could be pretty brutal. And annoyingly right.
*
Soon after the Shorts Dilemma, Lance made Keith cupcakes. Or, rather, Hunk helped Lance make cupcakes, because he was the best best friend ever.
“What is this,” Keith said, eying the cupcakes suspiciously, and then Lance. “Did you poison them?”
Ouch. “Buddy, you’ve known me for three years, do you really think I would poison you?” Lance wheedled. Keith looked at him flatly. He was still mad. Okay, fine. “I’m sorry about the shorts thing,” Lance said. “Like, super sorry.”
“Uh-huh,” Keith said. “Sure you are.”
“I didn’t mean to, uh, slut-shame you,” Lance tried, and Keith’s face purpled.
“You’re calling me the slut?” Keith exclaimed. “Wow, hypocrite, much?”
Lance gaped at him. “I did not – wait, are you calling me a slut?!”
Keith lifted his chin. “Am I wrong? Let me see, while Allura, Shiro, and I were negotiating in the Hazren Quadrant, what were you doing?”
Lance spluttered. “Negotiating!”
“In Lady Evilyna’s bed?” Keith retorted fiercely. “And then Lady Arrum’s, and then Lady Selvyr’s –”
“Are you mad at me?” Lance snapped. “Or are you just mad because you haven’t been getting any?”
“Obviously I’m mad at you! This isn’t about sleeping with as many aliens as possible, Lance, it’s about restoring peace to the universe and bringing down the Galra Empire! Or have you forgotten that somewhere between the courtiers on Risss and the brothel on Selken?!”
Lance glared at him. “Listen, just because my flirting brings me solid results these days, doesn’t mean you gotta be on my case about it, Keith! If you wanna get laid too, I can totally give you some tips, you just gotta ask –”
Keith threw up his hands and sent the cupcakes flying everywhere. Lance took a step back, eyes wide as Keith stood up, hands curling into fists. “I do not,” he gritted out, “want to get laid. I want to do my job, and so should you.”
Lance looked at the scattered cupcakes in dismay. “Damn,” he mumbled. “Hunk and I spent a lot of time on those…”
Keith seemed to notice the mess suddenly, and winced, hastily kneeling to help pick them up. “I’m sorry,” he muttered when they’d managed to get all of the ruined pastries and wipe most of the frosting off the floor. “For Hunk’s sake, not yours.” Then he left.
*
The next time Hunk saw Lance, he hissed, “ What did you do?! ”
“Keith ruined your cupcakes and called me a slut,” Lance mumbled.
“More importantly, Keith just stabbed three training droids,” Allura said coolly from behind him, scaring the shit out of Lance. “Do you know how difficult those are to repair?”
“That isn’t my fault!” Lance said indignantly.
“Someone made Keith upset,” Allura retorted, “and I highly doubt it was the droids. I cannot believe the two of you are still squabbling after three and a half years as paladins. Really, it is incredibly immature and I will not allow it. You’d best make up quickly, before it affects the team.” She shook her head. “What brought this on in the first place, Lance?”
“Keith thinks I’m prioritizing getting laid over being a paladin,” Lance grumbled.
Allura pursed her lips. “Hm. Well, although I do not exactly approve of your extracurricular activities, I do not think they are affecting your performance as the Blue Paladin. Besides, the first Blue Paladin, Blaytz, had...similar proclivities.”
“Of course it’s not affecting my performance!” Lance huffed. “If anything, it makes it easier for me to concentrate and not get too stressed about, you know, the crushing responsibility of saving the Universe on our shoulders?”
“I never thought of it like that,” Allura admitted.
“We all have our coping mechanisms,” Hunk agreed. “Lance’s is getting laid, mine is cooking up new recipes, Pidge’s is her droid projects, Coran’s is the space mall, Shiro’s is exploring local cultures, yours is that one spa planet, and Keith’s is…”
There was a moment of silence.
“The Blade?” Allura offered hesitantly.
Lance scoffed. “The Blade’s brought Keith way more stress than peace, I mean, c’mon, Kolivan’s not exactly a therapist. Not to mention their crazy high mortality rates.”
Hunk winced. “Yeah, not the Blade. Then...what?”
“He spars a lot,” Lance said. “But I don’t know if that’s really a coping mechanism.”
“He’s gotta have something,” Hunk said. “Otherwise he’d have lost it by now. So when is Keith at his calmest…?”
“When he’s around us,” Allura said suddenly. “Keith’s coping mechanism is us .”
Lance blinked. Then he sank down into the nearest chair. “Jeez, way to make me feel like an even bigger dick.” He scratched his head unhappily. “What do I do?”
Hunk poked him. “What you’re best at,” he said, grinning. “Flirt with him.”
“And only him, if you can help it,” Allura added.
“But...but that’s what got him mad at me in the first place,” Lance pointed out.
Allura eyed him shrewdly. “Then court him ,” she said. “Properly.”
“Kindly,” Hunk added.
“He’s going to kill me,” Lance said.
*
Keith did not kill him. Keith did not seem to know what to do with him at all.
“More cupcakes?” Keith said, staring at Lance in his room as if he’d grown two heads. “How did you talk Hunk into helping you again?”
“I didn’t,” Lance said, setting the cupcakes down carefully on Keith’s desk to avoid another spill. “I made them myself. For you. As an apology, because I really am sorry.”
“Right,” Keith said, but he looked confused, not mad. “Er, well...thanks. I guess. And if this is about the shorts thing, I forgive you; I could care less what you think about my clothing choices.”
Lance’s heart clenched painfully. “Oh,” he said. “I mean, they did look really good on you, dude.”
Keith looked up, eyes big. “They did?”
Now Lance was the confused one. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Wear those on our next mission and all the ladies will be flocking to you.”
Keith’s expression shuttered abruptly. “Ugh,” he muttered. “Thanks for the cupcakes. Now please leave.”
Lance was in love with a beautiful badass who despised him, apparently.
*
That didn’t mean he didn’t stop trying, though.
“Hey, Keith, I thought the old Blade suits were hot, but this new version’s even better. You’re like a lean, mean, Galra machine!”
“Oh, so I’m mean, now?!”
It was a constant battle.
“Keith, I swear your eyes are getting more purple every year. Wonder if your Galra side is just gonna pop out someday? You’d have big, fluffy ears, I bet. That’d be adorable. And maybe you’d get even taller – ooh, that’ll be the day.”
“Don’t joke about that, Lance, even the idea of a physical transformation freaks me out.”
Lance was smooth, normally he was – but with Keith, he always seemed to stumble. Maybe because Keith never, ever took the hint.
“Keith, have you been working out, lately? Your biceps are huge –”
“I helped Shiro lift the ruins of a house on Versallay 27 off of a trapped refugee family yesterday, so yeah, I guess so.”
“...great.”
At least Keith didn’t seem to be mad at him anymore. Small mercies. Maybe that was due to the fact that Lance had stopped sleeping around so much. He hadn’t even noticed it until Hunk brought it up, and at that point Lance realized he’d been devoting so much time to “courting Keith,” as Allura put it, to so much as have flings with anyone else.
Lance didn’t like to do anything halfway, after all. So he got Keith gifts. Lots and lots of gifts. First the cupcakes, then pies, once Keith snippily informed Lance he liked those better (Keith had been speechless when Lance actually presented him with a pie, like he’d never expected Lance to really make it for him).
Then knives – he found one from every planet they visited, and soon Keith had such a large assortment to choose from that he started giving the knives away. That rubbed Lance the wrong way – they had been gifts! – but Keith wasn’t regifting them maliciously, he just didn’t know what to do with thirty plus knives. Lance wouldn’t know what to do with that many, either.
So he thought clothes would be more useful.
“Why,” Keith said when Lance presented him with something that looked an awful lot like a leather jacket. “We wear our paladin armor most of the time anyways –”
“You don’t want it?” Lance said.
“No, I…” Keith shook his head and took the jacket gingerly. “Thanks, Lance. Now, what do you want?”
“Want?” Lance folded his arms. “Can’t I just give gifts to a friend?”
“I think you have plenty of ‘friends’ to give your gifts to,” Keith sighed. “But thanks for thinking of me.”
Keith wasn’t mad at him, but he wasn’t happy, either.
It all reached a breaking point one day in the showers.
Keith stepped out from his cubicle with a towel low on his hips and Lance whistled. “Man, Keith, at this point you’re gonna steal Shiro’s Big Buff Jock spot on the team.”
“My what now?” Shiro said, muffled through the sound of water.
Keith rolled his eyes. “Lance is just being dumb, as usual.”
“I’m right and you know it,” Lance retorted. “What special space goo have you been eating to give you those guns?”
“There’s no special space goo, Lance, it’s called hard work,” Keith sighed.
“Ooh, burn,” Hunk said from his cubicle.
Keith furrowed his brow. “There was no burn, I was just saying –”
“Just flaunting your unfairly great body, uh-huh, we get it, Keith, no need to be shy.” Lance winked at him and Keith flushed.
“Oh, just fuck already, will you?” Pidge grumbled from her cubicle.
Keith bristled, pulled his towel tighter around himself, and stormed out.
Shiro turned his water off and heaved a sigh. “He left, didn’t he.”
Pidge poked her head out cautiously. “...Oops?”
“Just give him some space to cool off,” Hunk suggested.
“He seemed really mad,” Lance said in a small voice. “Is he really that angry about the thought of us fucking?”
“Don’t take it personally, Lance,” Shiro muttered, and grabbed a towel, hastily following Keith out.
*
Keith avoided Lance for the next week. Lance tried and failed not to feel awful about it.
*
Lance worked up the courage to approach Keith at a party soon after the liberation of Xeri B16. It was a fun party, the kind with colorful flashing lights, pounding bass, and more than enough nunvil to go around, and normally Lance would be taking full advantage of his hero status as Blue Paladin with the groups of Xerian girls making eyes at him. But for once, he didn’t even notice them. All he saw was Keith, sitting alone at the bar and sipping his drink slowly. He was wearing the jacket Lance had given him.
“Hey there, hot stuff,” Lance said, sidling up to him and leaning against the bar. “You’re awfully pretty to be all alone here, it’s a waste. Wanna dance with me?”
Keith looked up, his eyes dull, and said, “Are you flirting with me?”
Lance froze. Keith had finally acknowledged it. He smirked, trying to hide his surprise. “Have been for the past four years, but thanks for noticing,” he chuckled.
Keith frowned at him, then into his glass. “I noticed,” he said. “Have to be an idiot not to. And I’m not an idiot,” he added sharply.
Lance frowned right back. “Whoa, whoa, never said you were.”
Keith sighed, looking somber again. “Could’ve fooled me. You think I don’t know what you want?”
Lance gulped. “Uh...and what’s that, exactly?”
Keith scoffed, tossing back the rest of his drink and fixing Lance with a cool glare. “You flirt with everyone,” he snapped. “And what you want from them, and what you’re used to getting from them, is a one night stand, no strings attached, an easy fuck .” He stabbed a finger into Lance’s chest. “But you’re not gonna get that from me, so just stop trying already. Okay?”
Lance stared at him, hurt and stunned. “You...you think that’s all I want from you?” he eked out. “Dude, you’re...you’re one of my best friends, I would never –”
“Use me?” Keith snorted. “Sorry if I’m not won over by your harassment, Lance.”
“Harassment?” Lance repeated, horrified. “I never meant –”
“All you ever talk about these days is my body,” Keith retorted. “How hot my ass is, or how big my muscles are, and it makes me uncomfortable!”
Lance shrank back. “I’m...I’m sorry Keith, really, I didn’t realize...I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
Keith didn’t even appear to have heard him. “And, fine, I get it, you get your one night stands by telling them how hot they are, but you used to say things that were actually nice and complimentary! You used to flirt in a way that made me think you actually cared, because you made me feel good about myself, and so I started actually caring about you, because I thought it actually meant something. But then you went and became a...a damn womanizer, or whatever, and suddenly all of that went out the window, and you know what, Lance? I seriously considered just giving in, once or twice. Just letting you have the stupid one night stand because, hey, at least I would get something , and then maybe you would stop. Because I don’t like being harassed, Lance. But the worst part is, sometimes it still felt like you cared about me? And so I didn’t want you to stop. And so here we are, four years in space, and you still haven’t taken the hint, and I’m still head over heels for you, unfortunately.”
Lance stared at him, his mind snagging on the last bit. “Keith – I don’t –”
Keith’s hand tightened on his empty glass. “I know you don’t. Don’t say it, Lance.” There was a pleading note to his voice.
“Keith,” Lance whispered, touching his shoulder hesitantly. Keith’s head jerked up, and he stared up at him, brow furrowed. “Keith, I love you.”
Keith’s eyes widened. “You’re. You’re drunk, you…” His gaze flickered from Lance’s eyes to his mouth. “You’re not drunk.”
“I’m not drunk,” Lance said firmly, “and I love you, and I’m sorry , I’m so – mmph!”
Keith tugged him into a bruising kiss, and Lance fell forward with a little squeak against his lips, clutching frantically at Keith’s shirt and letting his eyes fall shut as Keith’s hand tightened on his jaw and his lips moved against Lance’s with four years worth of desperation. “Oh my god,” Lance managed when they parted to breathe and Keith’s knee pressed insistently at the seam of Lance’s pants, “I thought you said you didn’t want – a one night stand –”
“I don’t,” Keith panted, “I want you, right now .”
“You’re sending some mixed signals, here, buddy,” Lance wheezed when Keith’s arms snaked around his waist, a gloved hand palming at his ass. Xerian eyes were quickly turning towards them, and Lance could see the tabloid headlines already...and found he didn’t really care. “Do you wanna...find a room –”
“Mhm,” Keith said, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him off down the back hall – they were at some kind of hotel, and they each had a room to themselves, so Lance didn’t protest when Keith flung open the door to his room and hauled Lance inside. Then the door clicked shut and Lance found himself shoved up against it, with a very intense-looking Keith all up in his face.
“What,” Lance whispered, his heart pounding, “what is it, what are you –”
“This isn’t gonna be a one night stand,” Keith said. “Promise me that.”
“I...I promise,” Lance said, licking his lips. “It’s not a one night stand, Keith, it’s not.”
“What is it, then?” Keith demanded, and Lance really could not focus on much of anything with Keith’s shiny mouth right there.
“Something that should’ve happened ages ago,” Lance groaned, and Keith kissed him again, this time with a bit of teeth. Lance sagged against the door – Keith was a messy kisser, but a good kind of messy. “How do you – have you done this before?” Lance gasped when Keith’s mouth moved to trace down his neck, deft fingers popping the buttons of Lance’s shirt as he went.
“No,” Keith murmured, low and hot against his throat, “but I thought about doing it. A lot. To you.”
“What else – ah – did you think about doing?”
“Taking you on dates,” Keith said quietly, the intensity fading from his face, replaced by a sort of shyness. “Watching the stars and exploring planets with you. Cuddling with you. Doing whatever silly things couples do together, with you.”
“Keith,” Lance whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek, a lump in his throat.
Keith looked back at him, a line between his brows. “Lance.”
“I thought about all those things, too,” Lance told him, and Keith’s face crumpled. Lance embraced him tightly. “God, we’re so stupid. Mostly me. Pretty much all me.”
“You’re not stupid,” Keith assured him. “You’re just bad at flirting in a nonsexual way.”
“I can feel your boner,” Lance retorted. “And anyway, I am not! Sure, I was an ass, but I can be an incredible romantic, too.”
“Oh, yeah?” Keith said playfully, apparently unmoved by the boner comment. “Prove it. Hit me with your best shot, Sharpshooter.”
Lance swallowed. “You’re one of the smartest people I know, Keith. And I know a lot of smart people, so that’s saying something.”
Keith made a face. “Try again, this time without indirectly complimenting yourself, maybe?”
Lance’s eyes narrowed. “Your laughter is one of the best sounds in the entire Universe.”
Keith’s cheeks were pink. “Getting warmer,” he murmured.
Lance took a deep breath, and looked into Keith’s eyes, and said, “Every time I hear you laugh, I can’t help but smile, because you hardly ever laugh, but when you do it’s like seeing the sun come out. Keith, you’re so beautiful, and more than that you have so much...so much heart, it’s like, you just throw yourself into everything you set out to do; you have so much passion and you don’t hide it from anyone. And you never should, you know? You should never feel like you have to hide how much you care, how much you feel, how...how much you love.”
“I do,” Keith whispered, his fingers trembling slightly, “I do love you, Lance. So much.”
“Fuck,” Lance whispered back, overwhelmed, and this time when they kissed it was long and soft and tender and everything Lance had ever wanted, everything he’d never known how to express to Keith. And Lance realized he had really been missing out, because the warm, funny feeling in his chest was so much better than any of the things his flings had made him feel.
Keith had been rough and frantic at first, but the longer they kissed, the more Keith relaxed, and the more Lance realized he kind of owed Keith an apology, big time. Sorry wasn’t gonna cut it. Fortunately, Lance had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Keith grunted in surprise when Lance flipped their positions, pinning Keith to the door instead and breaking the kiss to grin at him. Keith blinked at him dazedly. “What…?”
“You’re right,” Lance told him in an undertone. “I’ve been a major league jerk to you, Keith.”
Keith frowned slightly. “I...Lance, don’t worry about it, you apologized, and I –”
“I think I can give you better than an apology,” Lance said, and sank to his knees in front of Keith, whose jaw was hanging wide open. “Because, yeah, I shouldn’t have said all those things about how you look, but...they’re true, Keith. You’re hot. Really, really hot. And you wanna know what else I thought about doing to you?”
Keith gulped. “W-what?”
“Sucking your cock,” Lance said cheekily, sliding his hand up Keith’s thigh and unzipping his pants slowly, Keith’s hips arching off the door as Lance eased his pants and briefs down. “More specifically – letting you fuck my mouth.”
“Jesus,” Keith breathed.
“The name’s Lance,” Lance reminded him, and Keith’s snort was lost in a moan when Lance wrapped a hand around his half-hard cock and started stroking. The red shorts hadn’t lied – Keith had a really nice junk. “If I’d have known you felt the same way, I would’ve done this years ago, but look on the bright side – lots of flings equals lots of experience.” Keith shuddered. “I know what I’m doing,” Lance said, and licked teasingly up the underside of his cock, which twitched in his grip, as beautifully sensitive and responsive as Keith himself.
It was probably a good thing they were doing this in a big party hotel instead of on the castle ship, because Keith was loud – he was already letting out soft, staccato gasps as Lance’s tongue circled the wide head of his cock, which dissolved into halting moans when Lance took him into his mouth, inch by inch. Nobody’s ever done this for him before, Lance thought to himself, and that made him moan, too, and Keith’s hips jolted forward, chasing the vibration.
“Sorry, sorry,” Keith gasped, but Lance just raised an eyebrow up at him, accepting the challenge, and sank down further, further, until his nose was buried in Keith’s pubic hair and the head of Keith’s cock was bumping into Lance’s throat. He’d learned his gag reflex was belated at best years ago, and though he knew his throat would be sore later...Lance thought it was well worth it for the look on Keith’s face and the satisfying weight of Keith’s cock on his tongue. Lance shot him a finger gun and Keith laughed, strangled, before tentatively rolling his hips.
Lance pet his hip encouragingly, swallowing around the head, and Keith groaned, thrusting harder than Lance had expected. Keith didn’t apologize, that time, and when Lance looked up at him, Keith’s eyes were dark and half-lidded, lips parted, and face flushed, though not in embarrassment. His hands moved to Lance’s head, and Lance’s lashes fluttered when dull nails scratched lightly through his hair, trailing over the undercut on the sides which he’d gotten a couple years back. Lance didn’t expect Keith to grab a fistful of the longer hair at the top and tug, just sharp enough for Lance to yelp in surprise.
“You look good like this, Lance,” Keith said, “with your mouth all stuffed full of my cock.”
Moaning helplessly at that, Lance fumbled to undo his own pants and get a hand on his aching cock, but Keith’s hand tightened in his hair, a warning. “No,” Keith growled, literally growled ohhh fuck. Was that a Galra thing or a Keith thing?
Lance didn’t know, but he did know that dirty talk was definitely a Keith thing, and luckily, it was also a Lance thing. It was one of Lance’s biggest weaknesses, actually, and he was almost mad that Keith was so good at it, considering he didn’t seem to get most innuendos. Right, so, note to self – no subtlety with Keith. Nope, Keith just told it like it was, no hints needed. And honestly it just made Lance love him even more.
“I wonder,” Keith said, voice rough and uneven, “if you could come just from blowing me. No hands, no nothing – just from my cock in your mouth. Down...down your throat. It is down your throat, isn’t it, Lance?”
Lance nodded shakily, sucking harder, hollowing his cheeks and making Keith’s spine arch, head thudding back against the door. “Mm, just – ahh – like that. You’re so good at this, Lance – how many times have you done this? Because, see, here I was – nngh – thinkin’ that you only liked girls, but come to think of it, I bet most alien girls aren’t like most Earth girls, huh?”
Clever, clever Keith. Lance winked up at him, uncaring of the spit running down his chin sloppily. He wanted to pull off and tell Keith he liked boys, too, but Keith’s grip didn’t allow Lance any movement, and he wasn’t complaining. There was something addicting about the burn from the lack of air, and Lance breathed in harshly through his nose, the scent of sweat and skin and male musk filling his senses dizzyingly.
Keith had eased into a rhythm, and Lance closed his eyes and took it, opening his mouth and throat to it, jaw relaxing as one of Keith’s hands moved to cup it, fingers splayed across Lance’s skin in five points of heat. Keith’s tone was awed as his thumb pressed into Lance’s cheek and he mumbled, “I can feel – I can feel my cock in your mouth, oh fuck, Lance, that’s so –”
Lance hummed happily when Keith came down his throat in a hot rush, swallowing all of it and suckling on Keith’s slowly softening length until Keith whined and released his hair, nudging him away. Keith’s cock fell from his lips, slick and shiny, and both of them stared at it for a second, then at each other. Lance wiped a hand across his mouth and smirked. “You forgive me, yet?”
Keith smirked right back, steadying himself against the door and shaking his head. “I think after a few more sessions of that, you’ll be totally in the clear.”
“Hmph,” Lance said, sitting back on his heels, smirk fading to a small smile. “Can’t say I’d mind doing that a few more times...maybe more than a few.” Keith shook his head fondly and offered Lance a hand, helping him back up to his feet. “Mm, a gentleman,” Lance purred, and then squawked when Keith pushed him down onto the bed with a single well-placed shove. Any and all protests dried up when Keith crawled over him, still naked from the waist down, which would have made anyone but Keith look silly.
As it was, Lance just laid back against the pillows and gave his seventeen-year-old self a mental highfive. We did it, kid. We really did it. Took our sweet time, but there he is, and okey dokey alrighty then he is taking our pants off .
“You’re touching my dick,” Lance informed him, because Keith looked sort of perplexed, like he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten here.
“I am,” Keith agreed, shakily. “Um. I…” He bit his lip, gaze sliding away, and then he sighed in obvious frustration, rolled off of Lance, and flopped onto the bed next to him.
“Keith?” Lance propped himself up on an elbow and eyed him worriedly. “You good?”
“No, I am not good,” Keith bit out, squeezing his eyes shut. “Lance, I am twenty-two years old and I have no clue what I’m doing, here.”
Oh. Lance blinked at him and said, “Well, I’m twenty-one years old and I know exactly what I’m doing, here, so I don’t see a problem.”
Eyes still shut, Keith flipped him off. “You’re being a jerk again,” he mumbled.
“I didn’t mean it in a jerky way,” Lance said, rolling onto his stomach with minor difficulty and resting his chin on Keith’s chest. “Hey, listen, I get it. You were busy. Saving the universe, and all that. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Keith scrunched up his nose. “Didn’t you...I dunno, expect something else? With the way you would go on, it was like I was a...a sex god, or something – which I’m not, totally not, I –”
“A sex god?” Lance giggled, and rubbed his scruffy face against Keith’s, trying to get him to open his eyes. “You think I thought you were Don Juan? Nah, that’s me. Although, for not having any clue what you’re doing, your dirty talk is pretty excellent.” Keith cracked an eye open and Lance kissed his stubbly cheek. “I don’t want a sex god,” Lance said. “I want you, Keith. And, hey – first time for everything, right?”
Keith looked at him for a long moment, and chewed his lip. “I...I guess so.”
“Or not,” Lance said easily, nestling up to Keith’s side and patting his arm. “Whatever you’re comfy with. Consent’s very important.”
“Mm,” Keith agreed, turning his head to the side to face Lance again. “Can...can I see you? Uh, naked, I mean.”
“Sure. Can I see you, naked?” Lance countered, and Keith nodded shyly, both of them sitting up to shed their shirts, and Lance moving to the side of the bed to kick off his boxers, pausing when the bed dipped behind him and Keith’s warm palms slid around his waist, up and over his chest. Lance leaned back into him, encouraging.
“You’re really beautiful,” Keith whispered, and Lance shivered, turning to face him and getting a soft kiss, both of them tumbling down to the bed. Keith was a little clumsy, but learning fast, and after several minutes of heavy petting and messy kisses he broke away and said, “I...can we try something?”
“What?” Lance asked, curious.
Keith hesitated, then rolled onto his other side, exposing his back to Lance. He glanced over his shoulder and Lance hastily tore his admiring gaze away from Keith’s ass to meet his eyes. “This,” Keith said, and it took Lance a second to process.
His eyes widened. “You want me to fuck you?”
But Keith shook his head. “Not, um, not exactly? I don’t know if I...but I want to try this. And I want you to come, because you made me come, but also because I really really want to make you come, Lance.” Lance looked at him blankly (and pleadingly, because hell yeah he wanted Keith to make him come, too). Keith huffed. “Put your dick between my thighs,” he blurted, ears pink.
“ Ohhhh ,” Lance said, and then louder when Keith grabbed his hand and licked it , holy wow Keith had potential to be a freak in the sheets, Lance could tell; and then even louder when he got said hand around his cock and slicked himself up.
Keith seemed to relax at Lance’s sounds, but when he shifted back and parted his legs just enough for Lance to slip his cock between them, his thighs were taut and flexed when Lance thrust forward, and then again, and again, and coño carajo that felt amazing . Keith shuddered and pressed back into him and Lance fumbled to get a hand on Keith’s stirring cock, and their fingers tangled, and Keith moaned his name and Lance sucked a bruise into the curve of his neck, biting lightly when it made Keith squirm and arch. Lance was slowly making a mess between Keith’s thighs, making everything slicker, the head of his cock nudging at Keith’s balls; which must have felt good, judging by the way it made him groan. It felt good for Lance, too.
It was nice, like this, all warm sweating skin and soft sighs and half-formed words and easy painless pleasure and Keith’s head tilting back against the pillows, his hair a stark black oil spill against his pale neck and Lance’s brown fingers stroking through it. Lance kissed his shoulder as Keith came again, squeezing his thighs tight around Lance’s cock as he did so. Lance came at the sudden friction, gasping, and Keith started at the sensation, then chuckled and stretched, distinctly satisfied.
Lance nuzzled at the bruises he’d left behind, and Keith searched blindly for his hand, sighing quietly when he found it. They were quiet for a while, and absently, Lance found himself braiding Keith’s hair. Keith furrowed his brow, and then smiled in realization when Lance lifted his hand and touched his fingers to the tiny plait. “Think Allura will lend us a bow?” Lance asked.
“You’re welcome to ask her,” Keith retorted, and they grinned at each other.
“Braids do look good on you,” Lance told him. “And shorts.”
“Those were Pidge's shorts, you know,” Keith said. “I might have been oblivious as to how short they were, but I doubt she was.”
“Oh my god,” Lance groaned. “Seriously? Why, that little...”
“I still have them,” Keith added, and snickered when Lance blew a raspberry into his neck. “Maybe we’ll just have to ruin them so bad she won’t ever want them back.”
“You’re evil ,” Lance said, booping his forehead. “I love it.”
Keith did an awful impression of maniacal villain laughter, and both of them dissolved into helpless cackling, rolling around on the bed. Keith sounded like a honking goose, and Lance wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’re a mess,” Keith panted when they both remembered how to breathe again. He didn’t sound too upset about it, though.
“It’s true,” Lance said, bumping his nose against Keith’s. “Weren’t we always, though?”
Keith blinked at him. “We can shower in the morning?” he said, hesitant but hopeful.
“In the morning,” Lance agreed firmly, throwing an arm around his waist and snuggling close. “I’m staying, Keith.”
“You think maybe you could get used to staying, with me?” Keith murmured, searching his gaze.
“I think I’m already used to it,” Lance said, and he meant it.