Marked For Death | klangst

Twelve.

Keith slept the whole next day and half of the day following that. He didn't mean to, of course; it just happened. When he woke up, his wrist was in a makeshift cast of sorts and it no longer throbbed in pain. His mind was clear and refreshed, and the bags under his eyes were almost nonexistent. To someone who didn't know him, they would assume he was just a normal guy with no worries at all. They would never suspect that he was secretly heartbroken in more ways than one.

Getting out of his bed was a task. His whole body was stiff from being still for such a long period of time, and he had momentarily forgotten how to walk. His knees threatened to buckle beneath him, but shakily held his weight nonetheless. He grabbed his jacket and slipped through his door without bothering to put on his boots.

He didn't know where he was headed. He considered going to Shiro's room to talk, but Keith figured he wouldn't be there. Then he debated whether or not to go to the dining hall for some food, considering he hadn't eaten in more than a day and a half, but decided against it. He wondered if he should just go to the main deck to get everything over with. He decided against that, too. He didn't want to talk to the others just yet.

Keith was mulling over why he was trying avoid everything before the answer hit him like a ton of space rock: he wanted to be with Lance. He wanted to be next to that annoying Cuban boy with the devilish grin and the boisterous laugh. He wanted to sit next to the self-conscious pilot and whisk all of his doubts away into oblivion. He wanted to bask in his presence and relish it like it was the last.

He made the split-second decision to visit Blue. If he couldn't have the real Lance by his side and in his arms, he'd settle for the closest thing after that. He walked down to the hangars, hoping he wouldn't run into the other Paladins or Coran or Allura. Thankfully, he didn't.

Seeing the lions at bay had always seemed eerie to him. But seeing Blue with her force field up, like when they had first found her, just made Keith feel nervous to be around her, especially without her pilot.

"Don't worry," he started to tell the lion, "we'll get him back." He swallowed down the grief that went hand-in-hand with his words, clenching his fists at his sides, the skin around his knuckles and at the tips of his fingers turning a pale white. He sat down, feeling sick to his stomach.

As he was staring into the Blue's metallic eyes, he wondered what would've happened if the rest of the team had found Lance and hadn't told him. He wondered what would've happened if he had just wanted some alone time with his lion, but instead found Keith sitting there, looking at his lion like a grief-stricken idiot.

"What are you doing, Mullet?" Lance belted, the hangar doors sliding open and sliding shut. "Trying to bond with Blue, are you?"

Keith whipped his head around, not believing his ears. "Lance?" He jumped to his feet and ran to the Blue Paladin, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. "You're okay!" He was smiling so broadly, his cheekbones started to ache.

"Yeah, of course I am," Lance replied confusedly. "Being in a healing pod does that to you."

Keith blinked. "Wait, you've already been in a healing pod?" he asked, puzzled.

Lance nodded slowly. "Yeah... You sure I'm supposed to be the injured one?"

"No one told me you were back..." Keith admitted, shuffling his feet.

"Oh, that," Lance replied. "When Shiro and the others found me, they told me what happened to you, and I didn't want to bother you. It sounded like you needed rest after all of that," he revealed, laughing lightly.

"Wait," Keith stopped him, holding up one gloved hand. "That was your idea?"

"Don't sound too surprised, gosh," Lance huffed, blowing a stay lock of hair from his eyes. "I can have a heart, you know."