There has to be an After for Us ~ (shadam / klance)

Chapter 8 - Dad vs Daddy Issues

"What do you mean, you're in?" asked Keith. "You can't just 'be in' to look for my dead dad with me. This is serious, Lance."

"This is serious, Lance," repeated Lance in a mocking voice then in his regular voice said, "I can be serious, Keith."

"No you can't. You failed at being serious even before saying you could be serious. You pre-failed."

"Whatever. I had to get it out of my system. I'm all good now." Then he deepened his voice. "Serious Lance."

Keith shook his head, like nope! "I don't have time for this, Lance," said Keith, turning away.

"You never have time for me," Lance muttered under his breath.

"I don't have time for this, Lance," repeated Keith's voice, which confused Lance especially since the voice had come from beside him, not in front of him.

Lance looked to his left and felt like he was going crazy. Two of the gray figures looked eerily like him and Keith. The Lance figure had his arms stretched wide as the Keith figure brushed past him.

Lance blinked and they were just indistinct figures again.

"Uh, Keith?" whimpered Lance. He looked back at Keith and saw he was already a good twenty feet away from him. Lance jogged to catch up. "Either my mind's playing tricks on me or this place is freakier than we thought."

"It's likely both," said Keith.

"We should probably hold hands in case one of us gets scared or tries to wander off or something." Lance reached for Keith's hand, but as soon as he made contact, Keith slapped his hand away.

"Cut it out, Lance," snapped Keith.

Lance could see the colour in Keith's cheeks. He must've really pissed the guy off. Keith always seemed angry when Lance flirted with him. Wait! Don't get the wrong idea! Lance flirts with everyone. Lance's charm was his gift to the entire universe, not just to the ladies. Wait... Was Keith homophobic? No, that couldn't be it. He was so close with Shiro... Wait... *How* close was Keith with Shiro? Keith wasn't gay... Right? Lance felt like he would be able to tell if Keith were gay. He could tell that Shiro was gay. You know, after Hunk had told him Shiro had a boyfriend.

So if it wasn't homophobia why'd Keith react like that? Maybe Keith just didn't like to be touched? It would explain why when Keith arrived home after so long with the Blade he walked past Lance without even hugging him. Leaving Lance with his arms outstretched like an idiot. But then... Keith had touched Lance when they'd bond – er ah, no, never mind. He almost remembered something he definitely did not remember. Okay, but then what about earlier in his room? Right before Keith shoved him down he'd placed his hands on Lance's chest. What was that for? Was that bonding? Did Keith only touch to bond? Was that a Galra thing? It felt a little like bonding, but maybe deeper than that... Like...

"Will you wipe that goofy look off your face?" asked Keith, invading into Lance's thoughts like a battering ram. "I can tell when you're daydreaming about girls. If you're insisting on being here at least help me look for my dad. These grey figures keep looking like real people and then fading back to faceless."

"Sorry," sputtered Lance, blushing harder than the situation deserved. Why should he be so embarrassed for thinking about Keith? Unless...No, Lance! Stay on task! "Okay, looking for your daddy!"

"Dad," Keith corrected.

"Dad," Lance repeated, swinging his head back and forth wildly, on the hunt for whenever one of these gray figures dared to show a familiar face. Wait... "Okay, so it's occurring to me suddenly that I have no clue what your dad looks like. I mean I'd just age you up, but having seen your mom, I'm pretty sure you don't look much like your dad."

Keith just sighed. "I'm not purple, Lance."

"Okay, but if 'not purple' is all I have to go on for what your dad should look like and these figures look gray even when they do have faces..."

"He was tall," added Keith.

"Wow," said Lance. "Master of description right here. Did he also have feet and breathe air? I want to narrow it down some more. Flip more cards down in my mental Guess Who game."

Keith scowled. "He was muscular –"

"Thicc Keith daddy, got it."

"Short black hair -"

"So the mullet came from mommy? Go on."

"He had a scar through his right eyebrow."

"Distinguishing marks. Now we're getting somewhere. And I guess for race he was... Well, like you."

"He wasn't Galran, Lance."

"No I mean like...," Lance trailed off, gesturing towards Keith's face. How to proceed here? "A...asian?"

"Korean," said Keith, deadpan.

"Oh, that's what you are," said Lance. "By the way, I love your Barbeque and your boy bands. Have you ever listened to BTS?"

"You know, I think your talking is scaring away the ghosts."

"Then I'll talk quieter," whispered Lance.

"Or not at all," suggested Keith.

"Or not at...Heeeey." Lance frowned. Keith so often told him to be quiet (when he wasn't outright telling him to shut up.) But it wasn't easy just being silent while near Keith and he wasn't sure why that was.

Keith sighed "Will you be quiet if I let you hold my hand?" he asked, offering his hand out to Lance.

Lance looked at Keith's open hand, reaching towards him and instantly forgot how to make thoughts or movement happen.