A.N.://

Well, this chapter took a lot longer than expected. I guess I kinda wrote myself in a corner. Is it hormones? Is it that my iron supplement supply is running thin and I'm rationing? Maybe. (I should just buy some, lol).
Anyway... This wasn't supposed to end where it does but much later, and I have just gotten a critique on my writing style that I'm going to heed more in the future, I guess. (Was a real life conversation that aligned with what one of my teachers said.) I hope this means I have still room to improve and not that my writing sucks.
Anyway... I was lenient with this chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it regardless :)

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To Lance, the reveal had always been inevitable. Yet, no matter how long he had expected it, he had not been prepared for the change. The emotional stress it put him under wasn't really what he'd prepared himself for. Of course, his friends were all trying to be considerate. They talked to him as they had before and marvelled when he changed into water or used his abilities in some magically powerful way. But to Lance it was also unnerving.

He couldn't exactly say why, but talking to Keith about it felt far more natural than for example, Hunk. Which was wild, since Hunk was his best friend. Lance didn't feel as distanced from Keith as he did with the others. Maybe because Keith knew exactly what dangers these powers came with. Maybe because Keith treated him like he was Lance who went through a terrifying phase and not a magical entity who happened to be their formerly useless blue paladin. Maybe it's because Lance had confided in him from the very beginning. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Lance had quite literally shared a mind with Keith, if only for a couple seconds.

Either way, Keith didn't treat him differently than before and that's why Lance found himself seeking him out more than the others. Sometimes it was only a couple glances and banter within a room, other times Lance searched. for his presence from afar. One of these nights, in which everyone else had a rare night of good sleep, Keith's mind was wide awake at the observation deck. And Lance, not tired while a bit distracted by the loud energy, snapped his Altean romance novel shut and made his way towards Keith.
He manifested right next to Keith, startling the man out of his reverie.

"LANCE! God damn it, stop doing that!"

See? That's why Keith was different. Everyone else would have gone quiet or excited at his powers, or freak out at his sudden appearance, Keith fucking SCOLDED him. "Sorry, sorry. I just noticed you were awake and didn't want to walk the whole way here." Lance sat down and crossed his legs.

Keith watched him for only a moment before he sighed and hugged his own knees tighter to himself. "So... you still don't sleep?"

Lance nodded. "And neither do you. What's up? Wouldn't you normally hit the training deck when you can't sleep?"

Keith grumbled something under his breath, then hid his face between his knees. "'S'ppose."

Lance blinked. "Would you like to talk about it?" Keith shook his head. Lance pressed his lips together. "You know... I've been in your head. There isn't much that could shock me."

Keith sighed deeply. "That's exactly my problem."

Lance immediately fell silent. "Oh." He bit his lip and averted his gaze. Right. Keith had been angry and anxious about Lance reading his mind ever since it first happened. And this time... Lance hadn't exactly given Keith a heads up. "I didn't mean to... It was kind of required to save your life."

Keith shook his head. "It's not that... I just don't know what you've seen and it's kind of..."

Lance nodded. "Scary?"

Keith nodded as well. Then, he took a deep breath before he turned to face Lance, eyes serious and determined. "I have one request, actually."

"Uh... okay?" Lance smiled awkwardly. "I didn't really see much, to be honest. I was a bit occupied by the whole planet in my head. But if it makes you feel better, I'll honour whatever request you may have-"

"Go out with me."

Lance's expression froze, his mouth opened slightly as he tried to process what he was seeing. Keith's brows were drawn in determination. His hesitance was visible through his twitching mouth, and his nose and ears were as red as a tomato. "You mean like... a date?"
Keith shivered even more, then nodded quickly, eyes skipping all over Lance's face. His nails dug into his shins and he looked like he was ready to jump and run away. Yet, he didn't break eye contact for a solid minute.

Lance had no idea what was currently happening. "Huh?" He received no answer. Instead, Keith's determination got replaced more and more by a troubled expression until he could no longer meet Lance's eyes. The problem was, Lance had no idea what was going on inside of Keith's head. Why in the universe would he want to go out with LANCE? They'd been rivals for such a long time! Keith hadn't even gotten his name right in the beginning! Sure, Keith had been interested in Lance in the beginning, but Lance hadn't exactly given Keith a reason to like him! And maybe there had been a moment where Keith considered Lance attractive, but that didn't MEAN anything. "I... sorry, I don't understand, why would you want to go out with me?"

Keith didn't meet his eyes again. "You know why."

Lance really, really didn't. In fact, Lance's mind was pretty sure that there was far more to this. There must be a context he simply didn't have. This came out of nowhere! Wait... maybe there was SOMETHING Lance had seen."I mean... I know that you're really determined not to date until this war is over. Is this... Are you that curious of what it would be like?"

Keith's eyes slightly widened and Lance could sense a sudden spike of his heart rate, not unlike the one he had when Lance jump scared him earlier. "You mean... you don't know?"

"Know what?" Lance rubbed his neck.

Keith stared at him. "Lance, there is no way you're this thick in the head."

"HEY!" Lance glared at him. "What the hell am I supposed to think when you suddenly ask me out! Anyway, if that's what you want to do, then that's fine by me." Lance crossed his arms. "We're paladins, we don't exactly have the chance to meet many people, I totally get how you feel. The most you could get out of anyone would be a one night stand and I doubt you're really into that. In fact, I didn't even know you were interested in dating at all. You're far too serious about the war, so this is a bit of a surprise."

When Lance opened his eyes, Keith looked like he just watched a car crashing in slow motion.

Lance grinned at him. "But I totally get why you'd ask ME for help. After all, I'm the only one on this castle with any game. I could totally woo you for one afternoon. That is if Allura gives us an afternoon to play around like that. Oh, but she WAS mentioning how we haven't been catching a breath lately and for some reason that she'd been overworking me, so maybe I can convince her to - Why are you laughing?"

Keith had a hand in front of his mouth and his shoulders were shaking as he giggled into his hand. "I just... you're so stupid." Lance's smile fell. When Keith saw, he immediately backtracked. "NO, that's not what I meant! You're not DUMB, that's not - Oh god." Keith covered his mouth. "That came out wrong. Lance, you are smart. It's just... Sometimes..." He shook his head. "Silly. I meant silly. That's the word." He finished quickly. "It's a compliment."

Lance really didn't know what he'd been saying that caused such a reaction. But he couldn't bring himself to be mad, really. Keith looked cute when he laughed. "If that is how you compliment people, we gotta work on that. Fake date or not, this isn't how you flirt with me. I deserve better than that." Lance fake brushed his non existent hair over his shoulder. Then, however, Lance turned back to Keith in a more serious tone: "You really don't have to be that embarrassed. We may never have the chance to fully experience life. It's not a stupid request. I'm sure we could have some fun by staging your ideal date."

Keith kept one hand over his face. "Uhuh."

Lance didn't really know why, but he felt that he had actually done something really stupid just now.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keith's POV

Keith spent the next few weeks like a static meme. He'd stare at the ceiling, at the stars, at his own hands, the wall, his food, or anything really. He'd pose around in the wildest possible ways, attempting to somehow make sense of his conversation with Lance. He once caught himself gesturing at the control panel, as if he was trying to explain his problem nonverbally to the ship.

Literally HOW!

How could someone this smart be so STUPID?! The day after Lance had agreed to pretend date Keith for the fucking experience, Keith had knocked on Shiro's door, walked inside, lay down on the floor and just... tried to disappear.

"Keith?" Shiro had tiredly blinked blearily at him, clearly confused why he was there.

"I asked Lance out on a date." That's how he began, before he lay down his problem in front of Shiro in as simple words as he could. Nearly five minutes later, Shiro lay next to him, half T-posing on the ground and examining the ceiling as if it held the answers to the universe. Or at least Lance's mind. Or both. Apparently, there wasn't much of a difference. Anyway, Shiro and him were vibing in the absolute fuckery of the situation.

"Remember when I first asked out Adam?"

"He thought you were trying to steal his lunch money."

"He thought I was trying to steal his lunch money."

That was as much as they had really talked about it. Some things couldn't be helped and this absolutely couldn't be understood. In fact, Keith worried what it said about Lance that he couldn't read the OBVIOUS sign that Keith wanted to go out with him. Like... Keith straight up asked, like, how did this work? It sounded like Lance couldn't fathom that someone could like him that way. He didn't seem indifferent about whether or not he'd spent an afternoon with KEITH of all people, but the reaction was neither here nor there.

And thus is how Keith decided to test his theory. Because Keith may be incredibly bad at flirting and being honest about his feelings, but if Lance seriously didn't see that someone genuinely cared about him, then... Yeah... then, did it matter what he said?

During dinner, Lance was leaning against the fridge while Hunk gave out all the food that Lance could no longer digest. When Hunk asked, Lance therefore answered predictably: "Don't take this the wrong way, buddy, not being able to eat your food is the WORST! I can't even enjoy snacks anymore!" Lance sounded genuinely crestfallen. Then, he grinned. "The only snack I can still enjoy is -" He finger gunned Hunk, "Our friendship."

Hunk covered his heart. "If you're a snack, you're a chocolate chip muffin with blue frosting, Lance!"

Keith smiled as he watched them, his chin leaned on one hand as he sat at the table. Should he-? "Don't sell him short, Hunk. Lance isn't a snack, he's the main course." He'd said it before he could stop himself, and previously rolling eyes turned to him in flabbergasted surprise.

"Did you just-" asked Pidge.

Lance just grinned at Keith. In a wave, Lance washed over to him and hugged him from behind... quite literally through the chair. "AWEE, Keith-," he whined into Keith's ear... way too loud for Keith not to flinch. "You're so right! Voltron is a 5 course menu! You're the slightly too salty first course soup and Hunk is all the cakes and deserts."

"What even is this conversation?" Pidge sounded a bit confused. Keith couldn't blame her.

Lance pointed at her: "You're the baguette, Shiro is of COURSE the steak and I'm the mashed potatoes on the side."

"I'm so hungry right now," said Hunk and looked almost sadly at his delicious looking alien-food goo mix. "I miss mashed potatoes."

"I'm not, but I wish I was." Lance wiped off a comically giant tear that he had OF COURSE fabricated with his powers, before he flooded off of Keith's chair and somehow stilled on the chair next to him. Since his powers were no longer a secret, Lance utilised them almost on instinct. Although he did look somewhat wistful as he watched Hunk put the dinner plates on the table, Lance didn't touch the food. Keith supposed that Lance still COULD eat it. He could turn it into water and then be done with it all. But maybe Lance didn't want to waste food, or maybe it simply wouldn't taste as it should. Or, which may sound a bit crazy, but Lance's powers created boundaries based on Lance's understanding of his own self. If Lance separated the food from his own identity, then he's be a water bag around food goo. Kinda.

Keith didn't really know why, but he was starting to understand how Lance's powers worked. Maybe his previous connection to Lance made it easier for him to emphasise. Which would be quite weird, considering that Karak'nirir seemed to have struggled with finding people who could do precisely that. Maybe it hadn't been the people who struggled with her, maybe it had been Karak'nirir who had struggled emphasising with the people.

"Do I have something on my face?"

Keith blinked as he realised he was staring. "I... no. I was just thinking." Lance seemed somewhat irritated and Keith noticed how everyone else had begun to eat Hunk's delicious food. Quickly, Keith grabbed himself something that looked like a sea-plant from the giant plates and added some pudding like blobs to its side. It would taste like Lasagne, for reasons unknown to mankind.

"Okay, because that would have been weird if I didn't notice it." Lance scratched his skin, then turned to Allura. "Hey princess, how about a little spa day on one of those swap moons? I feel like everyone has been sort of tense since... my reveal. I think it could be good to get our minds off things, what do you say?"

Allura looked up, looking almost as distracted as everyone else. It was only then that Keith noticed how Pidge was only sticking her fork into the food, how Allura didn't seem very present, how Hunk barely even joked. Even Shiro seemed to be more focused on Keith than the fork that SHOULD lead the food to his mouth but kept hitting his cheek instead. Meanwhile, Coran was the only one acting sort of normal, by trying to fight his food as he claimed it had insulted him somehow. But who knew what went on in that (gorgeous) mind.

Allura opened her mouth, then frowned. "That's probably a good idea! We really need some time off." Her eyes widened. "Not that we need time away from YOU, just -"

Lance laughed it off. "I know, princess. Who would want to spent time apart from me? Just yesterday, even our resident grumpy pants asked me out!" Lance laughed heartedly, causing Pidge to choke on her food.

"He WHAT?"

Keith didn't know whether to hide his face or play along with Lance's ... what was this? A joke or a public execution? Keith decided on both. "I asked Lance out on a date." He kept his red face hidden as he said it.

"You WHAT?!" Pidge jumped to her feet.

"Oh my GOD!" Hunk nearly flipped the table.

Lance laughed. "Relax, it's nothing serious. It's kind of a joke. The point is, I completely understand that this situation is new to you, so it's fine if you would like some time off from me. I AM a god now-" He halted on that noun. "Kind of. So I get that this is overwhelming. It was for me too. But I'm not a different person. I'm still Lance and I'd like to stay that way." He paused. "And please don't take this the wrong way... but as long as you guys haven't accepted that and can't be normal around me, I could need a break from YOU."

The situation halted. Keith could only be amazed. With such few words, Lance completely controlled the room. Not only had he addressed everyone's feelings and found a solution to their current situation with sense for their mental health, he'd also established his own boundaries. That was a sort of confidence Keith could only admire. It had long stopped confusing him that Lance had been the leader of what they called the Garrison trio (Lance, Hunk, Pidge).

"I see." Allura still bowed down quicker than usual. "Then I'll type in the coordinates." She was already getting up.

Keith's hand balled into a fist. Allura didn't normally accept Lance's ideas this quickly and he could see Lance's disapproval in his expression. Allura probably hadn't noticed it herself, but everyone else in the room seemed to slowly register it. It was, technically, such a subtle thing, but Lance had still managed to pick up on it before they had noticed it themselves.

Lance exhaled a slow breath, his eyes closed. "You can wait until after dinner, Allura."

Allura startled as she stared at him. "I... oh... right, of course." The confusion was visible in her eyes. She must be catching up on it too now.

Shiro cleared his throat. "So... urgh... but you ARE going on that date with Keith, right? You don't need a break from Keith?"

Keith sent Shiro gestures of very different variations of a man losing his head, as Lance turned to their black paladin. "Keith hasn't been acting any different since the change. He's only been even MORE annoying than before, so that can't be fixed."

Keith nearly let his head hit the table.

"But you agreed on a date?" Hunk asked, making Lance laugh and wave it off quickly.

"Pff... It's nothing quite like that. Keith just doesn't have any game."

They exchanged glances but Keith was done groaning and whining about Lance's weird take on the whole date thing. "He's saying that like the only people who were ever interested in him didn't bound him to a tree and stole his lion."

"Excuse you! A mermaid kissed me!"

"Yeah, while wearing a jellyfish helmet. That must have been sooo exciting." Keith couldn't help the smirk that automatically creeped onto his face.

Lance opened his mouth, then closed it. "Alright, that's fair." Then he opened one eye and smiled himself. "See? Keith is still annoying as always. Here, look at this." He leaned over to Keith. "How about I'll buy a ton of drugs on that planet? I can always get clean whenever I want!"

"Are you fucking KIDDING me!" Rage immediately replaced Keith's amusement. Lance couldn't be SERIOUS! "You have NO idea how that could affect you! Just because you're made of water doesn't mean you can't get HIGH! Plus, you're 17! It's bad enough Shiro's allowing you to drink Nunvill!"

"I merged with a billions of years old goddess. So... I'm technically way older than 17-"

"BULLshit!" Keith fumed.

Lance's grin widened. "I also have the memories of that Kainen planet now. So... You can't even argue that my memories don't match-"

"FUCK you!" Keith wanted to punch him. "You're still a kid, if you want to be or not! I merged with that planet too for a second, that doesn't mean you ARE the planet -"

"See?" Lance looked at the rest of them. "Still Keith. Still me." Irritatingly, Lance leaned away from Keith and completely ignored him. "That's what I expect to come back to, okay? So-" He turned to Hunk. "No worshipping," He turned to Pidge, "No assuming I suddenly know the answer to everything," he turned to Allura, "And no making me responsible for all of you or using me as a weapon for the war without my consent. As Keith said, I AM still a kid. We're ALL kids, thrown into this war we should not be in and it would be good if we all remembered that." He turned to Shiro. They nodded at each other shortly, as if playing at one of their private conversations they've had at night. It seemed that at least Shiro understood.
When Lance stood up, no one stopped him. Keith was just speechless. "Coran, how about I help you clean the castle? I think with my powers I could cover a LOT more ground now!" Then, Lance and Coran walked out of the room.

...

Allura quietly stared at the crumbs on her table. "I never realised how well Lance knows us."

"He can be downright scary," Pidge agreed.

"Or is that the goddess speaking?" Hunk had only muttered it, but quickly covered his face.

Keith shook his head. "No, he's always been like that. I told you he'd be a good ambassador. He's been mediating between the students and Iversion for years at the Garrison."

"He has?" Hunk asked, but Pidge agreed.

"He DID make me shut up every time I tried to fist fight Iversion for talking shit about my brother and my dad." Once again, a silence followed that most of the people in the room were not quite familiar with. "I feel-," Pidge began, quickly stopping herself, "I feel like I'm the worst friend ever. How on earth did we not SEE this?"

"Because he didn't want you to." Keith leaned his face against his hand once more time. And maybe with that, Keith had nailed it. He couldn't be mad at them when Lance had literally kept his talents in the shadows.

Pidge stared at him. "And what was that about you asking him out on a date?!"

This time, Keith nearly buried himself in the leftovers of his food.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lance's POV:

Despite knowing it wasn't a real date, Lance was nervous. Like, jittery nervous, GOOSEBUMP nervous. Lance hadn't even known he could still feel that way. In a way it was unexpected. In another, it wasn't. Because despite everything, Lance was still Lance.

A part of him was still worried that he'd taken it too far with his friends. He had ridiculed them for absolutely reasonable and understandable behaviour, after all. Fuck, how would LANCE have reacted, had one of his friends come out as a god?
Okay, to be fair, Lance doubted he'd have reacted as nervous as they had. He had two examples that proved his innocence.

When Pidge came out as a girl, he'd been shocked, sure, but that was because who on earth would would FAKE their gender unless they absolutely had to? Can you blame Lance? He lived in a progressive country, on a progressive planet. This wasn't the 21th century anymore, guys could look feminine, guys could wear make up and love their skin care routine, some people were trans. Why would he DOUBT Pidge? So of course he'd been shocked, especially when she'd cut her hair and did her best to be 'one of the guys' (her words, not his). He'd been more furious with how everyone else had been so smug about 'knowing' she'd been a girl. He understood Hunk, he'd read her diary, but everything else... Lance ran a hand through his face. Maybe he could have handled that better. Still, he'd never doubted her or been uncomfortable in her presence because of the reveal.

And then, of course, the fact that Keith was part Galra. Allura hadn't taken it well. But to Lance, who had grown up in Cuba, who had immigrated to America to sign up at the Garrison, the reveal hadn't changed anything really. It was much more of a shock to Keith, who now had to deal with the fact that he had a mother out there in space, probably (hopefully) alive. It had been FAR more shocking for Lance to learn that Keith was originally from Texas. Can you imagine Keith in cowboy boots, a matching hat and riding an ox? Because Lance could imagine that very well and it was WEIRD.

Yet he knew that none of that was comparable to Lance's current condition. But, since he was on the topic, he hadn't been treating Allura differently for being a 10000 year old princess who was somehow able to shape shift and partly control quintessence. Sure, it was amazing to see, but Lance hadn't been afraid of her. At least not as afraid as what he had seen in her eyes when she looked at him ever since the reveal.

Lance took a deep breath and tried to focus on his date. His very first date with another guy. As suasive as Lance normally was, he'd only ever managed to ask out girls. To him, guys were somehow more intimidating. Lance had loads of sisters who taught him everything he needed to know in order to treat a girl. When it came to the men in his life... His father had taught him to shoot 'in order to preserve his masculinity', which was a weird thing to say when he spent far more time teaching Veronica the same thing. Lance supposed it was meant to be a joke of some kind, but he didn't quite get it. The only other authority figure in his life had been Iversion. Which... was a whole different thing to unpack.

So yeah, Lance was a bit intimidated.
The first thing where he struggled was with choosing an outfit. Lance was sure it wouldn't matter to Keith if he showed up in Jeans and a sweatshirt or a fancy suit. But it WOULD matter to the rest of the team if he dressed up. Because if Lance put too much effort into this, they'd all think he was serious about this. Lance wasn't ready for that kind of vulnerability in front of friends who were still struggling with seeing him as a fellow human. Maybe, if they weren't ready to accept him as he was, they'd pressure Keith into actually being with him. You don't say 'no' to gods.

Maybe Lance was overthinking this. But he would feel more confident if he were able to wear something nice. That thought was what finally convinced Lance to try on one of the Altean suits he'd found in one of the empty rooms of the castle. It was technically just a blue button up along with a white jacket, but it immediately made him feel more prepared. A little make up as a touch up and he would feel ready.

The knock on his door nearly through him off. "Come in."

The door swift open to reveal no other than the man himself. Keith stood in the doorway, looking rather nervous. Lance slowly straightened, in the middle of applying a little mascara as he saw Keith freezing in the doorway.

"I... urgh." He was wearing his normal shirt, along with his signature cropped jacket and his fingerless gloves. "I didn't know..." He turned his neck while scratching it. "I didn't know whether or not I should dress up, so I figured I'd ask for help." He didn't even say hello.

Lance blinked. "And you've decided to ask me? Your date? Not Shiro?"

Keith flushed, appearing anxious in the soft castle light. It was subtle, Lance thought. Anyone else would think Keith was holding himself dominantly, with his arms crossed and his chin raised. But Lance knew him better than that. "Like hell I'm going to ask Shiro."

Lance twitched a smile. "Aww, you're embarrassed."

Keith didn't even blink. "NO! Shiro would just make a giant fuss. Also I know how much you like dressing people up, so I thought you might prefer doing it anyway."

Lance's heart thudded a little in his chest. That was actually rather sweet of Keith. Lance DID love to give people fashion advise, or braid their hair, or go shopping together. The last time he'd been at the mall, he'd only abandoned his plans to buy new clothes because he didn't have any GAC and Pidge had been obsessed with a video game. Which- fair.
Lance beamed at Keith. "Does this mean you'll let me braid you hair?"

Keith startled a little, hand reaching up and fondling his hair a bit. "Wouldn't you normally rather do Allura's hair?"

Lance's gaze softened. "Ah well, she never lets me. And I always figured you'd get mad if I asked."

"Why would I get mad?"

For a moment, Lance was a stunned because Keith looked genuinely confused at the idea that Lance's hands in his hair may be uncomfortable for him. And that reaction meant, Lance had read Keith wrong, which was unusal in itself. He usually managed to read people quite well, and by now, Lance may as well have a master's degree in Keith. To know he read Keith wrong, after having literally shared his mind, was strangely sobering. "I just thought you were sort of averse to touch or something."

Keith grimaced at that and shifted from one foot to the other. "I'm not. I'm just... not used to it. So it's kinda easy to think you're making fun of me by offering. But I think I know better now."

Lance felt himself relax a bit. "Well then, mullet. Why don't you come in. I have the PERFECT outfit for you!" And he did. As Keith anxiously walked into the room and plopped down on Lance's bed, Lance finished the final touch on his own make-up and hurried to gather the clothes he'd seen earlier. It was basically the same outfit that Lance was wearing, only that the button up was red and the jacket black. Lance threw the clothes at him, startling Keith in the process as the fabric hit his face. He came back behind the clothes with his face flushed and his hair tousled.

"Thanks." He hesitated for a moment before he shrugged his shirt off and put on the clothes.

Lance pointedly didn't watch and instead gathered a few supplied from the bathroom. In the long run, he wouldn't be able to do much with Keith's hair since it wasn't all that long, although longer than most of the people's in this castle. It may be enough for a high ponytail though. Still, Lance needed a brush and a protective spray to make sure Keith's hair wouldn't suffer from wearing a hair band all day.

"Where did you get the hair band?" Keith asked him this the moment he came back, to find Keith adjusting his collar. "It's the same one you kept at the Garrison, isn't it?"

Lance nodded, once again surprised by Keith's observation. "Were you watching me?"

"Yeah." Keith's expression didn't change as he said that. There seemed to be a question there, or a challenge.

Lance wasn't sure which of the two to pick up on. The honesty felt almost provocative, but it wasn't unusual for Keith to be direct. "Well, I used to do my sister's hair a lot. So, it became a habit to keep it around, even at the Garrison. And when we ended up in space, it kind of turned into the only thing I have left of them."

Keith stared at him. "And you want to do my hair with it?"

"You're not going to lose it."

"What if it breaks? What if I DO lose it?! What if -" Keith bit his tongue.

"Keith -" Lance almost laughed at how much Keith worried. "It's fine. It's just a hair band."

"But -"

"Seriously, stop worrying." Lance rolled his eyes and sat down beside Keith to motion him to turn around and let Lance do his magic. Lance would never admit it out loud, but he'd always wondered what Keith's hair would feel like between his fingers. It was a lot softer than he'd imagined it would be. Not all of the hair would fit in the ponytail, the bangs would have to remain in front but Lance found it pretty regardless. He used the spray on his hair first, then carefully brushed the strands together. It didn't take him very long to pull the hair up and secure the bun carefully with the hair band. "See? All done." He felt the urge to put one of those sticks in it that the women in Manga's sometimes put there. Veronica used to wear one of those once at a festival, it had looked really nice.

Keith turned around, eyes twitching nervously as he watched Lance's reaction, although Lance was the one who had done the work.
Lance watched him, and noticed how much Keith genuinely cared. His own heart thudded a bit. It stung painfully, a reminder of old times. "You know, I used to have a crush on you at the Garrison."

Keith's eyes snapped up to meet his.

Lance wasn't sure why he said it but it somehow felt right to admit it in this moment. A moment that Lance had used to chase after, hoping to one day catch it. It felt reminiscent and unfair at the same time because the moment Lance had stopped running after him, it was suddenly here.

Lance laughed nervously and scratched his neck. Now that he had started, he would have to commit to it. "I hated it. Iversion kept comparing me to you and made me feel terrible. But I also admired you. Still do, in a way. I never knew how to talk to you and that confused the heck out of me. When you were thrown out, I cried over it for a week. And then I was an ass about taking your place. It was always sort of easier for me to hate you and treat you as a rival than become your friend.
I think it's part of the reason why I agreed on this fake-date date. We're friends now and I kind of want to make up for the time that I treated you like that."

Keith's eyes were hooded so that Lance couldn't possibly read him without literally invading his mind. "That... would explain a lot. Is that also why you lied about the bonding moment?"

Lance opened his mouth to agree, then stopped himself. That didn't make sense. That was after Keith's flunking out had broken his heart. "It was a habit, I suppose."

Keith nodded, deep in thought. But whatever he was meant to say, he never said it. Instead, he stood up and crossed his arms again. "Shall we go?"

"Sure." Lance relaxed. He felt a weight being lifted off his shoulder, yet his insides felt somewhat raw. And distinctly, he felt like he'd just said something very wrong.

. . .

The swap moon looked like a very modern, universal space mall, looking like the perfect place for a date, although Lance was a bit worried about the amount of money Allura had given them to spend during this afternoon. The first thing they saw when they entered the place was the water fountain that remained in the centre of the mall, making Lance smile as soon as they did.

"Is something wrong?" Keith had a strangely innocent vibe around him, even though Lance could feel that the man was nervous, if not embarrassed about their endeavour.

Lance could only assume that Keith was reading any of Lance's own mimics and gestures and over interpreted them, based on his own twisted understanding of the atmosphere. This was a very specific assessment and yes, Lance was proud that he pulled that off. "No no, I was just reminded of the last time we were here when I jumped into that fountain. It took forever to get the GAC for the video game, but man was it fun."

Keith puffed out a shuddering breath, bangs covering his eyes for a moment before he was no longer indifferent. Lance watched the stubborn expression with curiosity. Keith opened his mouth. "I see. That must have been fun."

Lance bumped him in the shoulder. "Keith, my man, watch'a being so stiff for? We're just hanging out! You look like you're going to throw up." Their shoes clacked against the freshly waxed stone floor, leading them past the fountain and towards a more occupied corner of the mall. The others had gone far earlier and wouldn't miss the two of them for a while.

"I've never... been on -" Keith's mouth twitched. "A date before. And it might be the only time I get to do it. So, I'm trying to take it seriously." A nervous blush creeped onto his cheeks.

Lance nearly halted where he stood, just barely catching himself from doing so. Right, he had totally forgotten. The reason for this date was heavy from the burden they bore in this war. Neither of them knew whether or not they would survive and Keith had people to lose that he hadn't even met yet. For a moment, Lance felt ashamed for having taken this on the light shoulder.
Years ago, a date with Keith would have been a dream come true. He hadn't been ready for it then, and now it seemed rather too late than anything, but he could imagine how he would have felt. He'd probably thrown insult after insult at Keith just to get over his nerves. The Keith from back then would probably not even have twitched. Garrison Keith had never seemed to be phased by anything, until of course his brother was kidnapped by a bunch of space cats. But today they were here together and Lance was making an arse of himself for not questioning Keith's feelings.

"Would you like to hold hands?"

When Keith turned to him again, it almost looked like he didn't quite trust Lance, then something in his mind seemed to click and he took the offered hand, mouth pressing closer together. He didn't answer verbally and Lance didn't need him to. Keith was clearly embarrassed still.

Lance was fine with that, still amazed that Keith had asked him in the first place. Like that, they slandered through the mall, not in a hurry and not really talking, just bathing in each other's presence.