Chapter Text
Keith couldn’t help but chuckle at himself, years ago he would never see himself doing such a mundane thing as making a flower crown. As a warrior it was unbecoming but here away from his clan, away from his mother he could just be…Keith. Lance had shown him out of pure boredom, Keith initially besmirched the idea claiming up and down he hated it but it made Lance smile and that’s all Keith needed to get on board with it.
Whatever Lance loved Keith loved as well, sure he might have it bad for the elf but it didn’t change anything.
Keith’s left ear twitched as he heard movement through the short grass, honestly he smelled Lance even before he heard him. He couldn’t hold back the wide smile that was forming on his face. Lance was home early. His wings and tail had a mind of their own, it was hard to hide when he was so excited to see Lance. Keith quickly turned his head to gaze up at Lance, a big smile was there ready to greet his mate.
The smile slowly disappeared and replaced it was a concerned frown.
Why was Lance crying?
Keith didn’t even notice the poorly hidden dagger behind Lance’s back, he was so worried something had hurt him.
“Lance, baby what’s wr-“ Keith’s sentence was cut short as Lance quickly pulled the dagger from behind him and held it up to Keith’s throat. Keith looked down at the dagger, his eyes widen once he saw what it was made of. Bones from a dragon, the only thing strong enough to puncture dragon flesh. Keith’s eyes then shot up to Lance, silently begging for an answer. Why was he doing this?
Lance let out a shaky breath, his hand then began to tremble the longer Keith looked at him. Lance had hoped Keith would notice the dagger and run but he didn’t. He was too worried about him crying to care.
“I love you, very much Keith.” Keith attempted to reach out to Lance, to comfort him but Lance’s shaky hand immediately went steady as he raised it higher to his neck. Clearly saying do not move. “But…this is the end.” With that Lance gave Keith a watery smile and then everything went black.
.
Keith shot out of bed a scream ripping through his body. Keith was so busy trying to calm his breathing down that he didn’t notice the small hand on his arm. It startled Keith so bad he smacked it away with more force than necessary.
“Ow! Fuck! Okay I deserved that.” Keith then immediately stopped panicking and looked over at Lance who was kneeling on the floor and cupping his face as thick blood leaked out of his nose.
“LANCE!” Keith rushed over and immediately pulled his face up to take a look and seeing how bad it was, making sure he didn’t accidentally break his nose. Once Keith was satisfied and made sure his nose was in fact not broken, he grabbed a lone rag and a chair and brought them over to Lance. He began to clean him gently as possible, Keith hands would not stop shaking he started to become frustrated with himself. Lance sensing the upcoming anger gently placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder to get his attention but Keith was so caught up in his own thoughts he didn’t even feel it.
“Is my bread and butter okay?” Keith stopped what he was doing glanced at Lance, seeing the bloody smile he gave him, Keith couldn’t help but roll his eyes and let out an angry huff.
“Can’t you be serious for 10 minutes, god Lance I almost broke your nose.” Keith then got up after he made sure to clean all the blood off, he then gently made Lance lift his head back to keep some of the blood from falling. Keith then walked to the opposite side of the small hut and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and resting his head back.
Keith didn’t want to admit it but he was embarrassed. First he screamed the most unmanliest scream he could muster, then he had a panic attack and then he smacked Lance so hard he bleed. It was not turning out to be a good day for him.
“Keith.” Keith couldn’t hold back the small smile as he heard how nasally Lance sounded, he lifted his head to look at Lance and see what he could possibly want. Keith couldn’t help the little shiver that crawled up his back as he made eye contact with Lance, he never noticed how intimidating he could look. He no longer held his head back, his was slightly hunched over holding the rag close to his still bleeding nose. Lance was shirtless, nothing Keith had not seen before but he looked different in this light. He was lean but muscular, Lance wasn’t a small man by any means he only looked small compared to Keith but Lance was jacked, Keith couldn’t help the bitter chuckle that left him. Of course he’s strong, he’s a dragon slayer. Keith wondered how many he had to kill to get that physique.
Lance rolled his eyes as he noticed Keith was checking him out, he really couldn’t stay focused for more than a minute. He then made a humming sound quickly gaining Keith’s attention yet again.
“What happened mí amor?” Keith couldn’t hold back the needy whine he let out, Lance only spoke to him in his mother tongue when he was trying to comfort him. Keith quickly made it over to Lance’s side and buried his face into Lance’s lap, snaking his arms around Lance’s petite waist. Lance instantly brought his hand to Keith head and began to smooth his messy hair out. Combing his fingers through his hair in an attempt to get the knots out. “Dime mi amor, what’s causing you so much sadness?” Keith let out a shaky breath, should he tell him? Would Lance think Keith didn’t trust him if he told him?
There was still a hint of distrust between them. Keith didn’t need Lance to outright say it for him to notice, Lance flinched anytime Keith breathed fire. He would get panicky looks if Keith moved too fast around sometimes. No, Keith couldn’t do that. He couldn’t tell Lance what he dreamed of, all their progress down the drain.
Keith slowly raised his head, nearly eye level to his mate. Keith let out a small laugh as he noticed how ridiculous Lance actually looked. He was still clearly in pain, even though he did his best to hide it for Keith’s sake. But Keith could tell as bruises began to appear around his face, obviously causing discomfort.
“I-I had a nightmare.” Keith let out shakily, slightly tripping over his words. He then moved his eyes to the corner of their hut as he continued to speak. “I dreamed that they were back…th-the dragons, they were tearing my wings again.” Keith couldn’t look at Lance as he lied to him, Keith knew Lance deserved to know but he wasn’t ready to him yet. He didn’t want Lance to be sad. Keith then finally turned his gaze back to Lance and couldn’t help but flinch as he saw the look in Lance’s eyes. The longing look Lance often had when he missed his village, the far away look he had more and more as time went on. Keith knew this look all too well, it was the same look his mother wore when she thought about his father. Lance wanted to trade places with Keith, take his pain away. It made Keith’s mouth wobble on the verge of tears.
“They can’t hurt you anymore, amor. I’d kill them before they even had a chance.” Lance cooed as he tucked Keith’s stray pieces of hair behind his ear. Keith felt a different shiver go up his spine as Lance spoke, this one was more enjoyable. Keith felt his lips tug upwards as he gazed up lovingly at Lance. Keith felt his heartbeat finally began to slow as he placed his giant hand against Lance’s smaller one.
“I know, Lance.” Keith then moved his head to place kisses on Lance’s bitten hand. He was doomed, if Lance ever did decide to kill him; he doubts he’ll be able to stop him.