Beauty and The Beast {Klance AU}

There May Be Something There That Wasn't There Before.

"Like this!" Keith says, opening the doors to the humongous library.

He leads Lance into the library, who is amazed at the many books lining the shelves that line the walls.

"Should be something here you can start with..." Keith turns to Lance who is speechless and raises an eyebrow.

Lance manages to mutter, "It's wonderful...", as he turns in a full circle, looking at all the books.

Keith rolls his eyes and heads for the door, "Oh. Yes, I suppose it is..." He looks back at the still amazed Lance, "Well, if you like it so much, then it's yours."

Lance's eyes widen more than ever and he looks to Keith, "Have you really read every one of these books?!" 

Keith shrugs and thinks about the question for a second, "Not all of them... Though, some are in Greek." 

Lance raises an eyebrow at Keith, "Was that a joke? Are you making jokes now?" 

Keith shrugs once more, "Maybe.." He turns and leaves Lance in literal heaven. 

Lance smiles and covers his mouth with his hands, trying to calm himself down from the overwhelming excitement.

~~~

In the afternoon, Lance and Keith take a stroll through the castle's garden. Walking onto the wooden, snow-covered bridge, Lance recites the words of the book he's been reading to Keith, "The air is blue and keen and cold. And in a frozen sheath enrolled..."

Keith stops near the middle of the bridge and stares out onto the snowy land. Lance doesn't notice at first and keeps walking, "Each branch, each twig, each blade of grass. Seems clad miraculously with glass..." 

Finally noticing Keith is not next to him, Lance turns back and spots him standing on the bridge staring out onto the snowy land. He walks back over to Keith who mutters, "I feel as if I'm seeing it for the first time..."

Lance follows his gaze which is set on the landscape that seems to be strikingly similar to what he just read. Keith snaps him out of his thoughts and asks, "Is there more...?"

Lance smiles, "Oh... Yes, yes there is..." continuing on, Lance recites the lines, "But in that solemn silence, Is heard the whisper, Of every sleeping thing: "Look, look at me Come wake me up. For still here I be". "

Lance looks back at Keith, meeting his gaze. Those yellow eyes staring back into his. They both smile at each other and continue on with their walk.

~~~

Lance looks at Keith as he brushes Philippe's coat. Seeing his fascinated gaze Lance smiles, "You can pet him! I'm sure he won't bite!" 

He turns away and walks into the small horse stable, setting the horse brush back on its shelf. Stepping back out, Lance sees Keith still trying to pet Philippe. He smiles and walks back over to the pair. Grabbing Keith's hand, Lance guides him to Philippe, who jumps back.

Lance lets go of Keith's hand and calms Philippe down, "Sh...Sh... It's okay, Philippe. Keith isn't going to hurt you."

Lance grabs ahold of Keith's hand once more and guides it over to the side of Philippe's neck. Philippe pulls back a bit but still lets Keith pet him. Lance lets go of Keith's hand and turns to the stairs. Looking down at Keith who is still fascinated by the horse, Lance sings, "There's something sweet and almost kind... But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined. And now he's dear and so unsure I wonder why I didn't see it there before?" 

Lance has an idea and grabs some snow off the railing of the stairs and makes it into a ball. He looks back to Keith who is still fascinated by the horse. Lance throws the snowball towards Keith and it hits him in the shoulder. Keith looks up at Lance and smiles devilishly before kneeling down and making a huge snowball. Lance is meanwhile laughing but then he gets knocked flat on the ground by that said snowball.

~~~

At dinner, Lance and Keith sit in comfortable silence while they read and sip their soup. Keith looks up at Lance and clears his throat gaining his attention, "May I?". Keith motions towards the seat next to Lance. Lance looks to the seat to his left then back to Keith and nods. Keith moves down towards Lance, who is now reading his book in silence while sipping soup. 

Keith's thoughts sing away in his head, 'He glanced this way I thought I saw, and when we touched he didn't shudder at my paw. No, it can't be I'll just ignore... But then he's never looked at me that way before.'

~~~

Lance and some of the servants clean the library up from the immense build-up of dust and grime. While cleaning the windows, Lance notices Keith outside with some of the other servants. He watches Keith walk Philippe around as he talks to him. Lance smiles, "New and a bit alarming. Who'd have ever thought that this could be? True that he's no Prince Charming...  But there's something in him that I simply didn't see!"

~~~

Grabbing books and handing them to Keith, Lance stands on the ladder and looks around for other books that the two need. Meanwhile, the servants watch from aside.

"Well, who'd have thought?" Lotor scoffs and looks at the pair.

"Well, bless my soul!" Hunk exclaims, watching the master and Lance get closer.

Pidge smiles at the prince and his soon to be lover, "Well, who'd have known?"

"Well, who indeed?" Matt chimes in, "And who'd have guessed, they'd come together on their own?"

Hunk smiles at the pair, "It's so peculiar, wait and see."

The four exchange looks and continue with their shared thought, "We'll wait and see! A few days more! There may be something there that wasn't there before."

Pidge waddles towards the door, "You know, perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before."

Coran, who has been sitting quietly next to Hunk pipes up, "What are you 4 talking about?"

"There may be something there that wasn't there before," Hunk says again.

"What are you youngins' talking about?" Coran asks, clearly not understanding what his younger co-servants are hinting towards. 

Hunk sighs in annoyance, "I'll explain later."

The rest of the servants leave as the cart Coran and Hunk are sitting on starts to roll out of the library. 

"It's later." Coran jokes.

Hunk chuckles slightly as the door closes behind them.