Apologies - Klance/Lancelot Voltron

Chapter 23

Keith sighed and took Lance's hand, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. Lance grinned and had the two waltzing around the hall quickly; it felt more natural than last time, both of them gliding together smoothly.

They fell into a rhythm and Keith was beginning to enjoy himself, his muscles relaxing and his nerves beginning to dissipate. He dared to look up into Lance's eyes and flushed as the blue paladin stared right back at him, his gaze soft and warm. The knot in Keith's stomach instantly disappeared and was instead replaced with butterflies.

A small grin grew on the red paladin's face, his cheeks flushing. A giggle escaped from his lips and he wondered if perhaps he had drunk more than he realised.

As the continued to dance, Keith couldn't help but overhear a snippet of a conversation - "They're on opposite sides of the war, you know. Personally I can't imagine ever fraternising with some silly freedom fighter." - but Lance and Keith moved away before he could hear the end of the conversation.

The knot in his stomach reestablished itself and he became suddenly aware of the many eyes on them. Some of the gazes were in awe or merely curious but he couldn't ignore the many stares of disgust and distaste. He stiffened and Lance looked down at him quizzically; "There's just a lot of people" Keith said, answering his question before he even asked it.

The couple slowed to a halt and Lance held onto Keith's hand, weaving through the crowd with him and guiding him outside. They left the building and made their way to a bench nearby.

The bench was in a sort of park or garden, with tall trees like oaks on either side of the bench and grass and shrubs surrounding it. Lance sat on the bench and patted the space next to him, gesturing for Keith to join.

They sat in silence for a bit and Keith stared at the ground, suddenly timid from the intimacy of being alone with Lance. "It's nice out here" Lance said, trying to fill the silence, "It's real... spacey..."

A bubble of laughter came from Keith unexpectedly and he spluttered out "Lance, what the fuck?". Lance peered at him strangely as Keith doubled over with laughter. "We're in the middle of space, on an alien planet, lightyears away from earth so yeah. I think it would be a little spacey." Keith said, still snickering.

Lance pushed him lightly and puffed out his chest. "I stand by what I said, it's completely accurate to call it spacey" he defended indignantly. Keith pushed Lance back "Accurate... If a little simplistic." the red paladin shot back, laughing hard again. Lance pushed him again and Keith snorted loudly.

Lance froze: "Did you just snort?"

"...No." Keith said, laughter abruptly ending.

"Oh my god, you did! You just snorted!" Lance exclaimed, poking Keith in the ribs in an attempt to get him laughing again. Keith clutched at both Lance's hands and gripped them tight, saying "Lance. I'm going to give you one chance to stop. One."

Keith gingerly released Lance's hands, only to be immediately bombarded with jabs and tickles. Keith shrieked, his laughter echoing through the night air. He leapt away from Lance but overbalanced and fell off the bench.

Lance howled with laughter and Keith grumbled, holding back a smile. Lance dropped onto the floor next to the red paladin and grinned at him. Keith scowled and folded his arms, turning his head away from him.

"Don't sulk on me now." Lance cooed, placing a finger under Keith's chin and making him face him. "You know I'm only kidding, Mr Grumpy."

Keith unfolded his arms and a small grin made its way to his face. Lance smiled widely and said "Now that's what I like to see."

Keith beamed up at Lance and the two simply looked at each other for a second. A contemplative silence fell between them as Lance studied how Keith's cheeks grew pink as he smiled and Keith was captivated by the glow in Lance's eyes every time he laughed.

Lance leaned forward and time seemed to slow as Keith's lips met his. Their kiss was slow and experimental as they figured each other out, tentative and careful. Soon the kiss became faster as Keith wound his fingers into Lance's hair and pulled himself into his lap. He slid his tongue into his mouth and by the time they pulled away they were both panting.

"Wow" Lance said breathlessly.

"I know ri-" "This lipstick didn't budge at all!" Lance cried over Keith.

The shorter boy sighed, folding his arms and pouting like a toddler before Lance pulled him closer in his lap. "Oh come on," Lance soothed, "You can't sulk on me now. Look - let me prove it about the lipstick." he said, pulling Keith in for another kiss.

An indiscernible amount of time was spent kissing and just laughing and chatting and for once, the two of them were simply happy.

"I have to admit, that lipstick held up really well." Keith said, intertwining his fingers with Lance's. "I know right!" Lance exclaimed happily, "I'm never going to have to reapply this."

A comfortable silence fell over them and the sounds of night and the hum of the music inside were all they could hear. Eventually, Lance stood up and offered out and hand for Keith to take; "Ready to brave the world and head back inside?" He asked.

Keith took his hand and nodded, climbing to his feet.

Because, with Lance at his side, for once he truly felt ready.

**********

Yo sorry this took approximately 7 years to get out and sorry its not very good ://

I feel kinda bad about ranking #10 in Lancelot bc this isn't really a lancelot story and i feel bad about tagging it that now. It does make me wonder who came for happy healthy lancelot and was instead faced with this shitshow lol sorry

Please vote and comment i love love love your comments

Cya