Sparkle Eyes For You (Klance)

Part 7

Somehow he was able to get through all his food without looking at Keith or throwing up, and he was past ready to sprint out the door and barricade himself in his room, when Pidge piped up: "Hey Allura, isn't your dishwasher—or whatever you call it on Altea—broken?"

"Hmm?" The princess glanced up from her last bite with blurry blue eyes. "Oh, yes, I believe so."

"That's too bad." Her scheming gaze landed on Lance and he froze, spoon in mouth. "I guess two of us have to stay behind and wash them by hand...I nominate Lance and Keith!"

"What!?" He yelped, scrambling to catch the spoon as it fell into his lap. "I mean...Why me?" His eyes flicked to Keith, and his hurt expression made his heart sink, only made worse by the way the red Paladin quickly tried to hide it. Had it always been like this? How had he never noticed? Was he really that dense?

Shiro glanced from Lance to Pidge with a torn expression, before betraying him and agreeing: "I think that's a good idea."

"Mm—!" Lance glared at the plate for a few seconds, weighing how much he needed to talk to Keith with how much he didn't want to, until Pidge appeared at his side, bumping his shoulder with a soft fist.

"Good luck!" she whispered in his ear, before skipping off around the corner to dump her plate in the sink. He sighed, getting to his feet, and felt Keith's presence behind him.

"You good?" he asked, the question tinged with  boredom.

His voice was so different from the night before that Lance's brain almost didn't connect them. This was the Keith he knew—snarky, arrogant, and...

He turned, and all negative thoughts left his mind. There was the same longing in those eyes as before, it was just more hidden this time. There was the same angle of his hands, like he just wanted to reach out and grab him, but firmly controlled.

How long has he been holding himself back? Another wave of guilt hit him, but he followed Keith's example and hid it, donning his usual charming smile.

"What, you worried?"

"Can't have my dish dryer distracted." Keith jerked his head in the direction of the sink, and Lance followed as he started off around the corner. He heard the rest of the group leave and the door slid shut, leaving them in silence. He stopped, while Keith walked to the sink and turned the faucet, picking up the first plate and grabbing a sponge. When he noticed the lack of Lance next to him, he glanced back, and Lance jumped, realizing he'd just been staring at the floor in a very suspicious way.

"Ah, I guess I'm drying, then?"

"Yeah." Keith's eyes narrowed slightly. "I already said that."

"Oh...yeah."

Keith watched Lance closely as he walked over, grabbing a cloth from the pile left for them by Allura, his head down and eyes aimed at the floor all the while. After a few seconds of silence, he gave up, flipped the switch to let out the water, and started washing. The shhh of running water was the only sound echoing around the space, and Lance could hear his heartbeat filling his body.

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Keith's concentrated face as he worked was almost enchanting. His eyebrows furrowed and his nose crinkled so little you wouldn't notice unless you were paying close attention, and his eyes never strayed from his mission, even if it was as small as scrubbing off a certain crusty spot off a plate.

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Maybe he was something special. Lance felt like he could stare at that handsome, concentrated face for hours and never get bored, discovering and rediscovering every ridge and crevice, every twitch and eye roll, every laugh and every grimace that he made. It wasn't that all this was sudden, it was just that he'd never even considered the possibility of liking another guy, Keith included. But if he opened that door, all the things he'd never realized would come crashing down on him in a wave of confusion and lust. It was dangerous. But he was Lance—pilot of the fucking blue lion! Danger was his middle name! Yeah, he could deal with this! He just had to stop being such a lost, confused wimp and man up.