Cold of the Sea

Chapter Five: Embarrassment

About a half hour into Lance and Keith's conversation, Lance paused and grinned.

"I'm dry!" The exclamation scared Keith, causing him to jump a bit.

Suddenly, a mist the same color of Lance's tattoo erupted from his back and enveloped the entirety of his tail. Keith watched, rather unamused as the spectacle was far too commonly used in movies and things of the such. Not much later, the mist disappeared and a pair of tanned, lanky legs laid in the place of the tail.

"What? Why do you look so unamused? Wasn't that cool?" Lance frowned, completely oblivious to the reason Keith was so disinterested.

"Yeah, it was fine." Keith sighed, attempting to spare the merman's feelings.

Lance looked down, somewhat deflated by Keith's blasé demeanor. Keith took a minute to observe the differences. Lance's hands were no longer clawed or blue, but most of the scales had stayed. The gils were gone and a simple streak of blue appeared in his brown hair. Overall, he hadn't changed very much.

The thing that caught Keith off guard most was the fact that Lance was completely naked. As in no clothes on. As in completely exposed. As in Keith could openly see Lance's dick. Keith turned around quickly, entirely embarrassed, red spreading all over his body.

"Whoops, I probably shoulda mentioned that. Sorry babe." Lance laughed guiltily from behind Keith.

"How the hell did you forget to mention something like that?" Keith mumbled with an embarrassed frustration lacing his words.

"I don't really do this often, it's been a while and I never really do it around other people, so... I forgot." Lance explained.

Keith stood abruptly, pulling down his swim trunks to reveal a tight pair of boxers. He threw the trunks in Lance's direction, not turning around to see if he even got close to throwing the clothing to the other. He mumbled something in the way of telling Lance to put the apparel on.

"Uhh... o-okay...." Lance muttered as he stood up and fumbled to put on the bottoms.

A few minutes later, Lance voiced his problem.

"K-Keith... I don't really know how to put these on correctly... they keep falling down..." Lance was audibly flustered.

Keith huffed, frustrated, and then turned around to see Lance holding the waistband of the trunks around his slim hips. There was roughly and inch of space separating Lance's skin from the cloth, and Keith was sure if Lance would let go, the pants would drop.

Stomping a couple steps to stop in front of the taller boy, Keith leaned down to grab the waistband. He made sure to hold the pants in a way where he couldn't see down. He folded the band over to see the inside, fumbling with the strings there to tighten the shorts. He tied them off when they were securely tightened and bunched around Lances hips.

Keith backed away swiftly when he was done, not wanting to end up bumping into the skin he had been working near anymore. He was too awkward for physical contact and felt as if he was invading Lance's personal space.

"Thank you, dear." Lance smiled softly.

Keith frowned in response and crossed his arms, his stance was defensive and closed off. Lance's smile fell a bit, but he didn't loose all enthusiasm.

"So, can I ask a question?" Lance began to jump around a bit getting uncomfortably close to Keith.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, just don't get so close and calm down." Keith's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned away.

"How come you stopped swimming so much the past couple years?" Lance asked, leaning back to offer Keith space, and standing still again.

"Because I just didn't want to." Keith looked away.

"How could you not want to swim?" Lance was dumbfounded by this discovery.

"Lance... I... I just didn't want to." Keith stared with a strange look in his eye, warning Lance not to ask again.

Lance frowned, feeling rejected, but respecting Keith's boundaries anyway. Keith sighed, realizing that he hurt Lance but not wavering from his decision.

"It's not your fault, Lance, I didn't mean to come off so rude." Keith apologized.

"No, no, I shouldn't have pushed like I did." Lance looked away, his stance was submissive and guilty looking.

Keith sighed, his arms dropping as he watched Lance. He no longer felt so defensive. Lance really hadn't done anything wrong, and here he was, getting mad. He wasn't sure how to restart the conversation they were having before Lance got his legs. He wanted desperately to go back to it, as it was comfortable and safe, but he couldn't find his way back.

"Lance," Keith began, looking like he was grasping for strings as he stood with his arms akimbo.

"I'm going to have to leave soon or my brother will discover I snuck out, but I'd like to see you again. Can we continue this tomorrow, please?" Keith asked softly, realizing it was getting dangerously close to sunrise and he really didn't want to get in trouble with Shiro.

"O-oh.... yeah! Of course!" Lance grinned, sad aura disappearing.

"Thank you, I should go find my way back home again before the sun rises. I'll come back at the same time tomorrow." Keith didn't realize it, but a ghost of a smile came to his face.

"Yep! I'll see you tomorrow! Wait-- don't you want your shorts back?" Lance asked, looking down at the baggy clothing around his waist and legs.

"N-no, just keep them here for tomorrow and I'll bring something better. We can trade out then. I'll just come straight here, so just meet me here." Keith stuttered as he responded.

"Okay!" Lance grinned.

"Alright, well... bye, Lance." Keith sighed, beginning to walk backwards to the woods.

"Bye, sweetheart!" Lance waved joyously, beginning to slip the still slightly loose shorts off.

Keith turned around quickly, not really wanting to see the trunks come completely off. He walked his way through the woods, making it out much sooner than he had the day before. He made sure to memorize his way in order to make it back the next day.

The entire trip home, Lance occupied his thoughts. Lance this and Lance that. It was like Old MacDonald's Farm but every animal and sound was Lance. Keith really hated himself for that analogy.

When he saw his house he quickened his pace, he still had a few hours 'till sunrise but he decided it was best to get home early to avoid any problem with Shiro. He hoisted himself up onto the first layer of the roof after entering the back gate and then jumping up to the second layer. He entered his window with practiced ease before shutting and locking it.

He walked to his bed and fell onto the plush material there. He was tired, and so he let himself drift off into sleep, his dreams filled with merfolk, particularly the one he had met that night.

It was only then that he realized he'd left his clothes on the beach.