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Things often happened in ways you wouldn’t expect. This applied to all kinds of situations and things in life. Including, Keith mused, his relationship with Lance.
With the way Lance had always appeared on the outside—open, loud, self-confident, always ready to flirt with any female aliens they met—, you would think that he would take the lead. And yet, it was Keith who made the first move by starting to flirt with Lance when he couldn’t deny his growing feelings anymore. It was Keith who confessed when the love was overflowing. And it was Keith who leaned in for their first kiss, finally unable to hold back the impulse he had had for a while.
On the other hand, it was Lance who became a flustered mess whenever Keith made a move. It was Lance who was blushing furiously when saying his own confession in reply to Keith. And it was Lance who was melting completely into their first kiss and looking starstruck when they parted.
(This only led to Keith leaning right back in for another kiss, because how could he refuse when Lance made a beautiful face like that?)
Keith thought that Lance’s reactions would change now that they were dating. He thought Lance would start making flirty comments and be openly affectionate around the group.
But, again, things went in unexpected ways.
One time at the dinner table, Keith and Lance were sitting next to each other as usual. Every so often, they would sneak glances at the other. Keith was smiling fondly at his boyfriend the whole time. When their eyes met, Keith’s smile grew wider; Lance, however, froze, only to furiously attack his food goo while blushing.
(Keith had trouble holding back a chuckle at how cute his boyfriend was.)
Because he was still watching Lance instead of going back to his own meal, Keith noticed the green goo sticking to Lance’s cheek. Softly saying Lance’s name to get his attention, he raised one hand to gently cup the side of Lance’s face and wipe away the green goo with his thumb.
Lance’s blush was deeper than ever, and he was staring at Keith with wide eyes.
“You had some food goo on your cheek. I wiped it away,” Keith explained.
“O-oh. Uh, thanks,” Lance said weakly, returning to his plate after holding Keith’s gaze for a few more ticks.
Keith fought to resist the urge to hug (and who was he kidding, also kiss) him right there. How did he get so far gone for this boy?
Throughout the meal, he didn’t pay any mind to the rest of the crew looking at them with their reactions ranging from fond shakes of the head to silent “aw.” If there had been cameras in space, someone surely would have snapped a picture “for the family album.”
They were walking back from the training deck, side by side, Lance babbling animatedly about something or another while Keith just watched him, humming in reply whenever the situation called for it.
(He didn’t mind at all; in fact, Lance was adorable when rambling on like that. Contrary to what people might believe, Keith found it was one of Lance’s most endearing traits.)
Keith couldn’t help it and reached out to hold Lance’s hand, lacing their fingers. Lance stopped talking mid-sentence and brought both of them to a stop in the middle of a hallway, looking down at their joined hands, then up at Keith’s face to meet his indigo eyes. His freckled cheeks were flushed deeply. The small smile on his lips made Keith’s heart flutter.
“You know,” Lance said with a voice softer than usual, “I never really expected you to be so… forward and stuff.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Keith asked with a raised brow.
Lance shook his head. “Nope.”
“Can I kiss you?” The question left Keith’s lips before he thought about it, like so often when it came to Lance.
Lance’s blush deepened, but compared to previous situations, he didn’t freeze up nor lose his speech. He replied: “I don’t know, can you?”
If this had been anyone else, Keith would have been annoyed. But this was Lance, and a reaction like that just felt so reminiscent of the time when he had first gotten to know him. It made Keith smile. He decided to play along. “Want me to show you?”
“Sure, show me your best try.”
And so Keith leaned in for a kiss, right there in the middle of the hallway. Somehow, in the heat of the moment, they ended up moving, with Lance’s back against the wall; Keith’s hands on his hips while Lance’s hands were tangled in Keith’s hair.
(In the end, they were interrupted by a cough from Shiro. Keith scowled at the interruption. Lance’s face was flushed deeper than ever, whether from the kiss or being caught was hard to tell.)
Situations like this kept repeating. Keith would do or say something openly affectionate, Lance continued to react flustered and shy, the depth of which depending on if they were alone or around others.
After a while, Keith began to worry. Was this the wrong way of doing the whole relationship thing? Was he going too fast? Was he making Lance uncomfortable? Would Lance get fed up with him and leave?
His thoughts kept racing, leading to an increase of anxiety. He didn’t want to ever make Lance uncomfortable. The idea of Lance leaving him was scary.
The next time they were alone, Keith decided, he had to talk about this.
The opportunity came up soon after Keith had these thoughts, when they were sitting on Keith’s bed one night. Keith was resting against the wall, with Lance curled up against his side, head resting on Keith’s chest. Keith had his arm around Lance’s waist, his other hand holding one of Lance’s. Lance had already changed into his blue Altean pajamas, and ever since they had started sharing a bed, Lance had convinced Keith to start wearing his own set of red pajamas, as well.
It had taken Keith some time get used to sleeping in pajamas rather than fully clothed complete with boots and belt, ready for any possible threat. But Lance had convinced him that with the Castle’s defenses, the risk of anything threatening them in their rooms was low. (Keith argued to at least have his knife right nearby and be the one to sleep on the side facing the open room, to satisfy his need to protect and keep safe. He thought it was a good compromise.)
They cuddled like this a lot; it was comfortable, just sharing warmth and closeness. Sometimes, they would read some book they found in the castle, either alone or together. Sometimes, they would just sit in silence, other times they would talk about anything that came to mind.
That night, they had been sitting in silence until Keith spoke up.
“Hey, Lance?” Lance gave a hum in reply to show that he was listening and Keith continued. “Are you ever uncomfortable?”
Lance moved slightly to look up at Keith, eyebrows raised in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… are you uncomfortable with how things are between us?”
“No.” Lance’s brows scrunched up in thought. “What gave you this idea?”
Keith had to collect his thoughts at that reaction. “I don’t know, it’s just—you always go nearly as red as my lion when I hold your hand or compliment you or anything like that. And when anyone else is around, you kind of freeze up? So I’ve been wondering if I’m moving too fast or doing the wrong thing.” When Lance didn’t say anything, Keith continued, and kind of fell into a ramble which was unusual for him. “I know I’m not that good at holding back impulses, and when I look at you, it seems to be even harder because you are just so precious and I want to hold you all the time and kiss all over your cute face. But if that’s too much for you—”
He was interrupted by the sudden movement of Lance basically sitting right on his lap, their faces now really close. Perfect kissing distance, a voice in Keith’s mind provided. For good measure, Lance put a gentle finger on Keith’s lips.
After a moment of both boys sitting with their eyes locked, Lance finally spoke. “It’s true that I get really flustered and nervous, but it’s nothing like that. I’m just…” He took a breath and looked to the side. “I’m still not really used to this. I mean… yeah, I always act like a big flirt, but it’s just that—an act. I actually have no idea how to do these things either, and no one ever actually reacted to me. Well, aside from Nyma, but we all know how that ended.” He chuckled nervously, and Keith instinctively wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist. He very much remembered about Lance just being used by the aliens to get hold of the blue lion. Lance continued. “And I still kind of can’t believe that you actually return my feelings because I never thought that someone like you would like someone like me.”
Hearing Lance spill all of that was a stab in Keith’s heart. “Lance. How can you even say that last part?” he asked.
“Do you want a full list of all the reasons?”
“Only if you’re ready for a full list of all the reasons why I adore you. I ask myself all the time how I got so lucky to have you by my side.”
Lance was looking at him again now, cheeks flushed, but he was smiling. “Seriously, though. I’m more than fine with you being so affectionate and forward all the time. And if I ever do end up being uncomfortable with a situation, I’ll let you know. So don’t worry, okay?”
Keith returned the smile and leaned forward to make their foreheads touch. “Good, because I want you to be happy above all else.”
“I am so damn happy like you wouldn’t believe.”
Life on the Castle Ship went on as usual after that talk, but with subtle changes. Keith continued to shower Lance with affection, while Lance was now more eager to openly return it. He still blushed a lot in reaction, but Keith was more than fine with that.
After all, that was just one of the many reasons why he loved his boyfriend so much.