Klance Oneshots

Lance's Lion Castle: Part 8

"KEITH!" he roared, enraged from the stairs, "you sabotaged me! Look what you've done to my beautiful white hair! Loooook!"

Lance raced forward, hands yanking on his now bright red hair as he shoved the top of his head in Keith's face.

"Oh… that's a pretty color!" Keith exclaimed, shocked at Lance's actions.

"It's horrible! You completely ruined my magic potions in the bathroom! And my face creams too! This is a disaster!" the sorcerer seethed.

Lance was close enough now that Keith could see adorable freckles sprinkled across Lance's tanned nose and cheeks as he tore at his hair. He didn't have those before… and his blue markings were gone, having been replaced by the freckles.

"I just organized things, Lance. Nothing's ruined."

"Wrong! Wrong! I specifically ordered you not to get carried away!"

Actually, you told Pidge to make sure I didn't get carried away, but I'm not going to rat her out-

Keith couldn't help but notice how built Lance was. He was slender, but years of training with his magic had toned his body and limbs, leaving Keith's cheeks red against his purple skin.

"And now I'm repulsive… I can't live like this…"

Lance sank into the chair in front of Hunk and curled in on himself, tears flowing from his eyes as he groaned and sobbed at the loss of what he considered his beauty.

"Lance. You're not repulsive. You're anything but. It's not bad in any sense. I promise."

As Keith watched, Lance's hair darkened from bright red to chocolate brown and coiled into loose curls.

"See? It's even better now. Look."

"I give up," Lance mumbled a few octaves lower than his previous tone, "I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful."

Keith glanced worriedly at Pidge, who was wide-eyed in fear. Hunk was speechless as well. Then, shadows swarmed the room, causing it to creak and groan in protest as darkness filled every space of light.

"Lance, stop it. Lance, cut it out!" Hunk cried out, grabbing more logs for protection.

"He's calling the Spirits of Darkness," Pidge explained as rumbles filled the room, "I saw him do this once when a girl dumped him. She died not long after because Lance couldn't save her in time."

"Allura?" Keith asked and Pidge nodded sadly.

"Lance, don't worry about it. Your hair and freckles are gorgeous. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and we can have breakfast, ok?"

Keith put a gentle hand on Lance's back, then jerked away as green goo coated Keith's palm. It began running down Lance's skin, hair, and face as he stared wide-eyed at the floor. Keith's eyes were wide too. He didn't know what to do.

He backed away, flicking the slime off his hand. Then, his anger spiked as Lance's words truly sunk in, reopening a sore wound.

"Fine! You think you've got it so bad? I've never once been handsome or beautiful in my whole life! I've had this scar for as long as I can remember- and because of it, I'm always treated like some kind of monster, ya know?! Now look at me with all this purple- my freakin ears- and a tail-"

Tears filled Keith's eyes as he growled animalistically and ran to the door. He turned the knob to Star Lake and burst outside, running to the shore before completely breaking down. He had just voiced his worst thoughts to the room and he wished he hadn't. Why did Lance deny himself the natural beauty he had accidentally created? He looked even more beautiful than when Keith had first met him.

Keith would have given almost anything to look as gorgeous as Lance did. But he couldn't. And he wasn't. He was just an ugly monster. 

Rain mixed with his tears as Keith sobbed by the shore. After a few minutes, he had cried himself to sniffles. Rain no longer fell on his head as a familiar stick was by his side.

Turniphead was holding an umbrella over him.

"Thanks," Keith sniffled a little, wiping his face.

Turniphead bounced twice before Pidge came running out in a panic.

"Keith! We need your help, Lance is in trouble, and so's Hunk!"

Pidge and Keith ran back inside to find Lance having face-planted on the hearth oozing green slime, and Hunk crying out as it was slowly nearing him, threatening to drown him.

"Keith! Help!" Hunk cried anxiously.

Keith sighed and rolled up his soaked sleeves.

"Is he dead?" Pidge sniffled.

"No. He'll be fine. He's just throwing a tantrum. Come on, help me by getting another bath ready. And put some of those bubbles I stored under his sink in the water."

Pidge disappeared and got the bath ready as Keith lifted Lance into his arms, one under the wizard's knees and the other wrapping around his back. Lance's head tucked against his collarbone. Keith cringed inwardly at the gross feeling of the slime on his arms and soaking his tunic against his chest. He carefully carried Lance up the stairs to the bathroom, leaving a trail of the green gunk behind. He sniffled a little, his ears drooping at his own outburst, and didn't notice Lance's blue eyes cracking open to look at him through the slime.

Lance looked at the scar in particular. It must have bled a lot when he first got it, but it wasn't an ugly scar. It could easily be hidden. It slowly dawned on Lance that while he had the ability to change his appearance thanks to his magic, Keith didn't… and he had been ignored and outcast because of his physical appearance. He had gotten so used to being shunned and overlooked- to having people think he was ugly, that he had actually started to believe it.

"Clean that up for me, would you please, Pidge," Keith said as she dodged out of the bathroom, almost slipping in the slime.

"Ok. Just… take care of him, Keith."

"He'll be fine in no time," Keith promised her.

A few hours and baths later, Keith had finally gotten Lance cleaned up while avoiding looking at certain parts of the wizard. He was thankful the bubbles kept Lance hidden. Yes, Keith was gay, but the writer didn't want to have anything to do with writing that part.

Anyway, Keith managed to get Lance dressed and tucked him into the bed in his room under the blue blankets. Magical trinkets and gadgets covered the walls completely, twinkling in the light, or clinking gently with the movements of others. Glow-in-the-dark stars and planets were hanging or stuck to the ceiling and a shark plushie was tucked under one of Lance's arms.

"Lance, I brought you some tea. Want some?" Keith asked gently.

Lance shook his head once.

"Alright. I'll leave it here for you. Try to drink it before it gets cold."

He had his hand on the door handle when-

"Keith… wait."