Under My Skin

Chapter 2

He'd done it. He'd bravely raised his fist and knocked on Mullet's door.

Unfortunately for Lance, the Castle's alarms went off at that exact moment. It was like the universe just knew how nervous Lance was and it was being helpful by granting him some much-needed time ... that, or it was having a laugh at his expense. Either way, nothing stopped Keith from opening his door and finding a dumbstruck Lance, fist still raised for another knock, standing opposite him.

"I'm fucking coming, Lance. GOD!" He growled. "The alarm JUST went off not even a dobash ago," Keith glared at him, smacking into Lance's shoulder as he stormed down the hall, helmet in hand.

Surprised, Lance stared after him a moment longer than he'd care to admit. On one hand, he'd just been given the perfect out as to why he'd knocked at Keith's door in the middle of the Castle's night cycle. On the other hand, Keith was now pissed at him for entirely the wrong reason.

Ughhh, can't a guy catch a break around here? Lance bemoaned as he turned down the hall, following the cloud of angst left in Keith's wake.

Galra ships had already started bombarding the Castle's particle barrier, and the occasional hit from their ion cannons sent Lance sidelong into the wall as he ran. Their two resident Alteans rushed about the bridge, frantically trying to stand their ground sans backup. Lance ran to Blue as fast as his feet would carry him and found her ready and waiting when he arrived.

Several fighter pods had already been launched by the time he joined the fray. The Red and Green Lions immediately set to work swarming them while Blue, Black, and Yellow focused on the frigate. It didn't take long to deal with the single ship that had descended upon them. A few well-placed shots from the Lion's mouth cannons and the haul had exploded like the fourth of July.

Hunk initiated the celebratory cheer, leading them all in a round of ruckus applause. But something was eating at Lance, he'd gone to Keith's room with a purpose; to talk, and that purpose had been interrupted by the freaking Galra. As usual.

He needed to pull Keith aside from the group, talk to him, find out just what was going on. Hunk's suspicions were playing in his mind, reframing all of their past interactions. If Lance was being totally honest, some of Mullet's weirder reactions made a whole lot more sense in this new context. Like, a lot more sense.

Freaks out when Lance puts his arm around him? Obviously, it's because Keith finds him irresistibly sexy, and having Lance's arm around him is too hot to handle.

Hates when Lance calls him "Mullet"? Clearly, he'd rather Lance call him "baby".

Quick temper and short fuse? Well, that one's less to do with Lance and more to do with Keith being Keith. But, given this new context, sexual frustration could absolutely be playing a key role in that too. So, yeah, short fuse cause he's always on edge from Lance oozing his personal brand of exotic Cuban sexiness.

Wow, when he looked at it like that, it was no wonder Keith was a mess. He'd been a total prick back at the Garrison too, so Lance wondered just how long Paladin Grumpy Pants had been madly in love with him. Not that it was Keith's fault, if anything it was Lance's fault for being just so. Damn. Irresistible. It was honestly a problem.

His magnetic charms had lured in Nyma, were slowly winning over Allura, and now proved too much for Keith.

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Red floated in the debris of the battle and Keith surveyed their surroundings, watching the other Lions return to their hangars. As the fastest and most agile Lion, Keith could dock Red in half the time it took the others to dock. Because of this, he'd gotten in the habit of hanging around after a battle to watch for late arrivals as the others returned to the Castle of Lions.