hey there pretty boy (klance)

CHAPTER 09

Lance is still there when he wakes up late morning. It fills Keith with relief as he turns over to find strong, sun-kissed shoulder blades and a soft head of brown hair. He touches his fingertips to some of the dark freckles and marks on Lance's back. The boy grunts, twisting around to face him with sleepy eyes.

"Didn't know that gods needed sleep," Keith mutters through a yawn.

"Gods can do whatever they want," Lance huffs. He shifts closer to Keith, pressing their foreheads together and teasing his lips by skimming over them with his own. "Keith?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy?"

Keith sighs, "very," and rolls onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Is he supposed to be at work today? "Come on, we should get up."

Although Lance seems reluctant to leave the warm bed, he takes less to convince once Keith leaves him and wanders around the room in search of clothes. He throws Lance's t-shirt and jeans onto the bed, and finds a fresh outfit for himself. Lance shuffles like a zombie to the bathroom and comes out wearing a grey long sleeve and jeans ripped at the knee, which had definitely not been in the room before. He gives a lazy shrug when Keith raises an eyebrow. Gods.

When they are dressed, Keith makes himself toast while Lance entertains himself by poking around the pictures that Shiro insisted on keeping out.

"I'm really digging these chubby cheeks you had as a toddler," he chuckles, peering across the room at the young man that had grown up slender. Judging by the look on his face, he's picturing how Keith looked last night, without clothes, pale skin glowing in the poor lighting.

The two of them walk side by side to Voltron, Keith leaving his bike behind for once. Shiro greets them from behind the desk.

"I didn't think you'd make it in today," he laughs. "You're ten minutes early."

Lance leaves Keith to his work for the day, and he's thankful. Simply having him on his mind for his entire shift is hard enough, let alone being distracted by the boy's antics in person. It does, however, mean that he is subject to Shiro's brotherly interrogation as soon as Lance walks out the door.

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Keith expects Lance to find him once his shift is over, but there is no sign of the boy. He sits through a second day without word before he resolves to find Lance himself.

His thoughts are occupied by the words that Lance had half-heartedly mumbled during their night together. This is going to get me in a lot of trouble.

He doesn't have to explain himself when he turns down Shiro's offer for a ride at the end of his shift, simply taking Red and gliding out of the parking lot without much of a plan or destination. There are only two places where Keith knows he can find the god, although he worries that Lance won't be in either. A misty, cold drizzle sets him on edge as he pedals for the beach.

Turns out that Lance is on the beach, but he's not alone. He faces the only other two people with rigid shoulders. Keith gently leans Red against the guardrail and wonders if he should really be invading.

From across the sand, he can hear unusual authority in Lance's tone. "How did you find me?"

The pair look at each other. They're nearly identical, with pointed faces and wide round glasses over their eyes. Both have coppery, fluffy hair that sticks out in unruly directions. The taller of the two is the one who answers Lance, with a young male voice. "It wasn't that hard to track you down while you were doing..." he risks a glance over the boy's shoulder and makes eye contact with Keith. "...Stuff." Lance doesn't seem to notice and simply folds his arms over his chest.

Keith feels a chill run over him as soon as those golden eyes find his face.

"Right. I was, uh, distracted," Lance mutters.

The smaller one interjects, in a tone more feminine. "Does Allura know?"

"She won't find out," he growls sharply, suddenly ruffled. The two of them seem to shrink as Lance straightens his posture once more. "Why did you come here?"

Tall says, "maybe we should tell both of you."

Lance tenses. He looks over his shoulder, and finally notices Keith. His blue eyes seem to lose their chill and swell with battling emotions, so that Keith feels as though he's staring into the churning ocean itself. The rain has caused Lance's hair to curl at the ends. The entire image seems desolate. Is he...sad?

"You need to be careful," Tall catches the boy's attention, "letting your guard down like that is risky. It won't take Lotor much longer to find you than it took us."

"Have you finally picked your side, then?" Lance shoots back.

"No. We came to warn you as your friends, Lance."

Small gives Keith a onceover. "You realize what you've done?"

"Yeah," Lance's answer is low and defeated.

"Then we've done all we came to do."

The pair nods in unison and brush past the others, matching their strides as they walk towards the road. Their movements are so light that it appears they almost float over the pavement. Keith blinks, and they are gone.

He turns to Lance, gripping the boy's hand tight and raising it to his chest. "Who were they?" The tremor won't leave his voice.

Lance's head is hanging. "Matt and Pidge. Gods of deceit, trickery and the like." His eyes stay frozen to the place where the other gods had melted into the air. "They are my friends, but don't ever trust them. Gods like that will play any cards that suit their interests."

Keith steps closer, fingers ghosting over Lance's shirt as he recalls the golden skin and muscles that roll like waves under it. He can sense the apprehension coming from the other boy.

Lance takes both of Keith's wrists and gently pushes his hands away. "Keith, I...I've made a mistake."

The words sting as if Lance had shouted them, slapped them across his face, instead of whispering them painfully.

"I shouldn't have gotten so close to you."

His eyes brim with tears that he refuses to shed in front of Lance. Keith squeaks out, "I'm sorry you feel that way," voice wavering as he starts to back away. Lance clings to his hands longer than acceptable. It seems to physically hurt the god as he drops them, but he still does it. He lets go.

Keith is supposed to keep the ocean at a distance - he's forgotten his one rule, and he thinks he's going to pay for it.