Marked For Death | klangst

Twenty-Two.

"Lance, oh god, Lance," Keith managed to stutter out before running over to the Blue Paladin and engulfing him in a fierce embrace.

Lance winced. "Okay, Mullet. Just because I'm all healed doesn't mean I'm not still sore as hell," he told the boy clinging to him for, what seemed like, dear life.

Keith muttered a brief apology and avoided direct eye contact, but Lance didn't notice. He was swept up in Hunk's arms next, almost being crushed in the process.

"Dude, we thought you were a goner!" Hunk cried, not hearing any of Lance's pleas to release him.

"Big guy, it's okay. I'm okay. It's gonna be alright now, I promise," Lance managed to wheeze out. "Now will you please put me down... I-I can't breathe."

Hunk instantly released the Cuban teenager. "Sorry, Lance," Hunk said sheepishly.

Lance laughed a laugh the whole team needed to hear, a laugh the whole team was missing for a good two weeks. "It's fine, Hunk."

Pidge was next, running up to him and almost tackling him to the ground. She buried her head in the divot of Lance's chest while he gingerly wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I'm glad you're okay, Lance," she mumbled earnestly into his shirt.

Lance smiled. "Me too, Pidge. Me too."

Once everyone had properly introduced Lance back into the land of the living, Hunk and Pidge left the med-bay to alert the remainder of the team, leaving just Keith with Lance in awkward silence.

"So-o-o-o..." Keith started to say but trailed off, having no clue where to start first. "Umm..."

"Was that the truth?" Lance asked out of the blue.

Keith blinked, confused. "Was what the truth?"

"What you were saying when the pod opened. I think you called it a... confession?" Lance recalled, looking anywhere but in Keith's direction.

"Oh, that..." Keith, again, could not find the right words.

Lance moved his gaze from the floor to directly to Keith's eyes. God, they were blue. Sparkling with life and earnestly and concern. They were so beautiful. "Was it true?"

Keith didn't know how to respond. Instead, he took a couple fumbling steps backwards before turning his whole body away from Lance. Of course it was true, but what if he didn't feel the same? What if he's only asking so he can add another thing to his list of things to torment Keith with? What if this is just a game to him?

No, Lance isn't like that... Keith told himself reassuringly. He wouldn't do that.

"Keith, look at me, please," Lance said gently, taking cautiously small steps towards the Red Paladin.

"I can't," Keith said, almost like a whimper.

"Why not?" Lance asked, still making his way towards Keith.

"Because your eyes are distracting..." Keith admitted with pained sigh.

Lance reached out and put his hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith jumped slightly at his touch, but remained with his back towards him.

"Keith, it's okay. Look at me, please." Keith remained as he was. "Keith, please," Lance begged, his throat becoming closed off with tears, but Keith still didn't move. "Dammit, Keith, turn around!"

Lance's sudden outburst made Keith recoil, but he slowly turned around as asked. His purple eyes travelled from the floor, up Lance's still nutrient-diminished body, and finally landed on his eyes — those sweet, beautifully blue eyes — just as he asked.

"It's my turn to make a confession, okay?" Lance told Keith, not once breaking eye contact. Keith nodded impishly. "All my life," Lance began with a sigh, "I've been in the shadows. My family was constantly focused on the little ones. Hunk seemed to connect easier with Pidge with their mutual love of all-things techie. Here, I'm not really a valued team member — my role is so insignificant, it hurts. And at the Garrison, I was always fighting and trying as hard as I could to be the best, to make my family proud, but I was in your shadow. You were first in our class, had Shiro as a mentor and confidant, and that's all I ever wanted from life: I wanted to be a good pilot and make my idol proud.

"When you washed out of the Garrison, I was so ecstatic to have finally made it. But then I realized, it wasn't really my hard work or skill that put me there. It was you. And I know it's wasn't intentional, but over the year that you were gone, all I could think about was that you dropped to make my dreams come true. Sounds insane, doesn't it?l" Lance laughed heartily before continuing. "But that was the truth. And let me tell you, when you spend a year believing with all your heart hat someone sacrificed something important to them for you, it gets you wondering... and feeling."

Keith perked up, a chill running through his blood, making it run cold with ice. What is he getting at?

"When that year had passed, and we saw each other again while saving Shiro, it was like my whole world was doing three-sixties. I couldn't believe it was you. And when my heart starting racing and my stomach got all knotty with anxiety, I knew something was up. And being here, in the castle, always at such close proximity... Those feelings never went away. And I knew that it was something big..."

"Lance, what are you trying to say?" Keith asked nervously, searching and scanning for any answers hidden amongst the different blue hues in Lance's eyes.

"I'm saying that I love you, too, Mullet," Lance relented, a rosey blush creeping its way up his neck.

Keith couldn't believe what was happening. Was this real? Or just some kind of twisted hallucination brought on by immense sleep deprivation?

His good hand found Lance's. They intertwined their fingers. Lance's hand was soft, still perfectly moisturized. They stood there, holding hands, for what felt like a lifetime. But they were happy.

"Is this real?" Keith asked Lance, eyebrows furrowed and his mouth set in a straight line.

Lance released Keith's hand and brought his own to either side of Keith's face, cupping it gently. Warmth radiated from his touch, and Keith couldn't help but lean into Lance's palm. "This is as real as it gets," Lance whispered endearingly. He closed his eyes, leaned down, and planted a soft kiss on Keith's lips.

The moment was perfect. When Lance pulled away seconds later, Keith grabbed his face and pulled him back passionately, initiating a kiss of his own. More fervid and lustful than the first, the two paladin's lips moved together in perfect synchronicity, each longing for the other with all their being.

After what felt like hours but was really only minutes, Keith pulled away and pressed his forehead against Lance's, murmuring through hot breaths, "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that."

Lance chuckled, his breathing becoming less erratic as well. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that right back," he said quietly through his smile.

And they just stood there, cradling each other's faces, foreheads pressed against one another's. Everything was the way it should be. The universe was finally in their favor.

But the ultimate question is for how long?