Cold of the Sea

Chapter Ten: Distress

Shiro had prompted Keith to go back out into the waves, and Keith had done so reluctantly. They stayed for the next few hours, only leaving when Shiro got the call form Allura to come pick her up. For Keith, the enitre rest of the day was uneventfully spent mulling over the kiss Lance had given him.

He had tried to fall asleep a few hours after the sun had gone down, but all attempts were futile. He was just too anxious. He stayed up reading a random book, waiting for midnight to come. He wanted to see Lance. He wanted answers.

He nearly fell out of his bed when he glanced at his phone's time to read 11:47. He slipped on his still wet trunks, not bothering with a shirt and pulled on his converse without any socks. He reluctantly left his precious gloves in his room.

He was quick to make his way to the small beach, he was more than antsy to see Lance. When he arrived, his eyes landed on the silhouette that was his... friend? He sauntered his way down the sand, his hands shaking in anticipation.

"Lance." He called as he neared the merman.

"Keith?" Lance sounded nervous as he turned to look up at the human.

"W... what happened... earlier?" Keith asked without even skipping a beat, wanting those answers.

"Well, it's kinda obvious isn't it? I kissed you, if you'd even classify that as a kiss." The answer came jumbled together as Lance curled into himself, seeming distressed.

"B-but, why?" Keith stuttered out, crossing his arms to try and obtain some kind of comfort from his exposed stance.

"Because-- I...I'm sorry... I don't know what to say without scaring you off." Lance tried to search for the right words, but man was he failing big time.

"Why don't you just spit it out Lance? I don't care if it sounds ridiculous." Keith scowled, his temper suddenly growing short.

"I... well, I... I love you... and I have for a very long time." Lance explained, albeit reluctantly, becoming too embarrassed to face Keith.

"You what?" Came Keith's blunt reply, he acted taken aback.

"I... l-love you." Lance could barely manage to get the words out, he trembled in his spot and held his legs close to himself.

"You... you love me?" Keith repeated lamely, he seemed like he didn't believe it for a second.

"Yes." Lance mumbled.

"I have no idea what to say."

"I'm really sorry... I shouldn't... I shouldn't have said that..."

"I... I guess I'm glad I know... though."

"You are?"

"Yes, I mean, at least I'm aware of it, so that... so that things don't get weird..." Keith shrugged, and the conversation seemed to drift for a minute.

Lance just stared at Keith for a long moment, shocked by his surprisingly calm reaction. He had thought this wouldn't go so smoothly. But soon after he couldn't bring himself to not ask the question burning in his mind.

"And... how do you feel about me?" Lance inquired sheepishly, looking up with an innocent, almost vulnerable expression.

"I don't really... know. I really don't." Keith answered, shaking his head as if thinking about it was too much.

"That's... that's okay... just, tell me... when you know. And does this really not bother you?" Lance's eyebrows furrowed, upset by the rejection, as he continued to stare up at Keith.

"Yeah, I'll tell you... but, it doesn't bother me... I would expect it to, but it doesn't." Keith muttered, beginning to sit down.

"Thank god..." Lance sighed, relieved.

"So.... uhm... the kiss?" Keith attempted to begin, but didn't really know where he was going with his words so he simply ended with a question.

"Yeah, about that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, it was out of my bounds. I just felt like it was something I should do and so I did it. I'm sorry. It was probably really awkward for you. There was no reason for me to-" Lance began to ramble, but was cut short.

"It's alright, Lance." Keith huffed, scooting closer to said merman.

"What?" Lance was broken out of his trance by the sharp words.

"I said it's alright, idiot." Keith frowned.

Lance was about to reply until he heard the prominent clap of thunder. He snapped up straight, eyes darting to the ocean. It was a mess. The waves were crazy. How had they not noticed this?

Lance groaned, there was no way, despite his exceptional abilities in the water, that he could get home unscathed in this weather. It began to rain soon after he became aware of the state of the water. He was lucky that freshwater didn't make his tail come back.

"Whelp kelp... looks like I'm not going back in that water." Lance blanched, shrugging.

"Shouldn't you be... growing a tail or something?" Keith raised an eyebrow.

"Not in freshwater, honey." Lance smirked, all traces of discomfort leaving him.

"Oh..." Keith uttered simply, leaning back and enjoying the cold of the rain.

"So, uhmm, do you still gotta go back to your house? Cause if so, I'm gonna have to come with you.... you know, despite my awesome swimming skills, love, I can't risk that..." Lance grinned, gesturing to the crashing waves.

"You're asking to come to my house." Keith stated more than questioned, eyes moving to meet Lance's.

"I believe so." Lance beamed turning more towards Keith with a can-do facial expression.

"Uhh... why can't you just swim home?" Keith's face was blank.

"Did you not hear what I said? That water is too choppy. To high a risk." Lance pouted.

"Oh... I-- you want to come to my house." Keith narrowed his eyes, leaning closer to Lance, severely confused.

"Yep." Lance exclaimed happily.

"I guess that's no problem? I... yeah... okay..." Keith nodded, beginning to stand.

Lance reached, trying to grab the other's hands, asking for Keith to help him up. Keith sighed before grabbing the tanned hands and pulling. Lance was standing in a matter of seconds and Keith began to lead the way to the forest's edge.

Keith traipsed through the now familiar trees, looking back every once in a while to make sure Lance was still following. He wasn't sure why he had agreed to let Lance come to his home. It was absurd.

After roughly a half hour of Lance stumbling on legs he wasn't all that accustomed to, they got close to Keith's house. Lance was awed by the human buildings and contraptions, having only been this far into civilization a few times.

He was confused by most of it, but he hopped around from thing to thing, asking Keith to explain everything. Keith, in turn, was confused by this, not expecting any of it, but explaining most all of it readily.

By the time they were nearing Keith's backyard, the human was frustrated with all the questions and was simply ushering Lance forward, ignoring all words directed at him. The way into Keith's bedroom window was strenuous on both parts; Keith was becoming annoyed by Lance's inability to do what was asked of him without help, and Lance was ultimately confused.

After multiple mistakes on Lance's part, and many of Keith's angry groans, both boys were inside and sitting awkwardly in front of each other.