Accidental Intentions

38 • Turned Tables

Lance was petrified in all sense of the word. Not only could he not move, he was afraid. Afraid? Psh, nah, more like suprised or shocked or maybe -- no. He couldn't lie to himself. He was terrified.

All eyes were on him. Well almost all eyes. The eyes that bothered him the most were not looking at him at all. Those eyes were closed. Long dark lashes gracing flushed cheeks. Gosh those were some long lashes, how did Lance never notice them before?

The worst part was, he couldn't back out. This was his joke. Then Keith ruined it.

It all started the day before.

He had been confined to quarters for the day. He wasn't allowed out to eat, but Hunk smuggled him some leftovers from his own plate. Lance counted himself a lucky man to be friends with him. While the door had been cracked, Lance caught a glimpse of Pidge who had the largest grin spread across her face. He stuck his tongue out at her, since it was her lie that landed him here. She shrugged and flipped him the bird as she skipped down the hall out of sight.

"What happened anyway?" Hunk had whispered.

"Oh you know, the usual," Lance had clarified. "Thanks man, I owe you one."

"You still owe me for the door," Hunk had reminded him.

But then they heard someone coming so their negotiations had been stopped short.

The rest of the day was awful. Lance thrived on people. He hated being alone. When he was alone there was nothing to distract him from things he would rather be distracted from. His family. How much he missed them. What they were doing now. How much he missed Earth. How much he hated himself. How he was always screwing up. How he was such a disappointment to the team. How the thought of being the only one stopping Zarkon from achieving his goal terrified him. He was only a teenager. He knew the chances of defeating the Galra were slim to nonexistent. He would still give it all he got, but the thought off dying terrified him. And what would happen to his family? They probably would never hear what happened to him, and the purple furballs would come and enslave the planet just like they had everywhere else.

And then there was Keith. Why did he keep acting up with him? Dislike was not a strong enough word to describe how Lance felt about him. He was man enough to recognize his talents and respect him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He supposed that the thing he disliked most about Keith was how he made everything look so easy. Everything he did seemed to come naturally to him, whereas Lance had to work hard to be on that level. And what the hell was with that stupid haircut? Moody mullet moran. But then there was the part of him that found Keith so painfully attractive.

Thoughts like these swirling in his head, Lance finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning Lance awoke and practically bounded out of bed, burst out the door and rushed to the dining hall. Unfortunately just because his sentance had ended, didn't mean the rest of the people on board were functional yet. He considered waking Hunk so he'd have someone to talk to, but the Yellow Paladin had been such a selfless sweetheart lately that Lance choose to let him sleep. He could have gone to the training room, but that was more Keith's thing. Instead, he plunked himself down in his spot and drummed his fingers on the table while he replayed pop songs in his head.

Finally, Hunk appeared and scrounged up some breakfast. Lance greeted him with a large bearhug and again reiterated to him how much he owed him one.

"That's two," Hunk said. "Dude you reek."

"Ah yeah. I woke up in a sweat. Bad dream."

"Nightmare?" Hunk questioned around a spoonfull of green sludge.

"Yeah. Well, at least I think so. I can't remember the specifics. Pretty sure there were cats," Lance looked up to the ceiling as he tried to rember.

"Dude. You love cats. You are a cat lover. A crazy cat man. How is that a bad dream?"

"Excuse you, I like dogs just as much. Don't use labels like that. I love all house pets equally." Lance proclaimed, mostly for the benefit of those mice who he was sure spied on them at all times.

"That's just weird man," Hunk shuddered, a dog man himself.

"You're weird!" Lance shot back in mock anger.

"Whatever man. Just please let go, you're ruining my appetite."

"Missed you too!" Lance sang as he ran down the hall toward his bedroom. The rest of the ship was waking. A very burry-eyed Pidge was making her way back to her room, and Keith was approaching the blue door.

"Couldn't stay away?" Lance teased, causing Keith to jump.

"Ah," Keith articulated, looking like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Miss me?" Lance winked.

Keith looked like he wanted to punch him.

"Don't push it, Lance." Pidge warned.

"Shower," Keith elaborated.

Oh, right. They were still sharing. "What a coincidence, me too! Wanna take one together?"

Keith turned red with what only could be barely contained rage.

"No," he finally managed to choke out.

Lance couldn't resist.

Actually he could have, and looking back, he wished he would have. But sadly, hindsight is 20/20.

What he did was flash Keith (who looked ready to snap at any moment) a pair of his finest puppy eyes, pucker his lower lip in a pout, and placing his arm on Keith's shoulder, he stepped closer. Lance knew he would get punched, but watching Keith struggle to hold back was well worth it.

Lance was half-aware of Pidge watching in anticipation, knowing that she wouldn't leap forward to save him when Keith lost it. He just had to out run her and use her as a sheild. Surly Keith wouldn't punch the Green Paladin.

However, when Keith did break, it was not the way Lance expected. He smiled, biting his lip at the same time. It was hot. Then he leaned in and suddenly their foreheads were touching. "Aw, who could deny a face like that?" he purred.

Lance froze.

Wtf!?

Just then, the black door opened. And Keith's lips were on his.