Nights In Panthera (Klance)

In His Defense

Warm.
If Keith had to use one words to describe the myriad of things he was feeling, it'd be warm. This warmth was abnormal. No sensation you'd recieve from any blanket- it was human-like. Uneasiness plagued the indigo haired boy's consciousness. Not knowing what it was made Keith anxious. In a way though, he found comfort in it.

It was killing him now, he had to know. He slowly opened eyes, only to find the gentle rays of morning light and- Lance. A groggy sounding "Lance," left Keith's lips. There was no response from the other male. Only murmurs of a language Keith had been foreign to.

He tried calling out to him again, this time in a slightly louder tone. "Lance." Once again, he had no luck. A little annoyed Keith yelled out to him.

"Lance!"

Lance groaned and sat up sluggishly. He then turned to look at Keith. In only a short, second of a glimspe, Lance's eyes widened at what was supposedly Keith. Like lightning Lance fearfully sprung from his position next to him.

Keith was just as confused as he was flustered. Being that he was still unaware of how Lance ended up in the bed with him anyways. On top of that, he had a headache that left his head pulsating. Silence had been replaced by Keith, suprisingly not too affected by his headache to get questions answered. "W-What were you doing in my bed?" Lance mouth was gaped open wide, unresponsive and most likely incoherent to Keith's question. "Hello? La-" Keith had been cut off by Lance. "Galra."

Keith sighed, "Isn't this getting a little repetitive?" "Wha- No, Keith it's- you're- you're purple." "What?" Keith looked at his hands, which were now a lavender color, and his nails had become abnormally long. In utter shock he jumped out of the bed and rummaged through his satchel and took out a small pocket mirror. He opened it to see an unrecognizable face staring back at him. Hiding his ears and once filed down fangs were one thing, now he had to hide all of him. It would be impossible. Doubts filled his mind, he wouldn't ever be able to walk around peacefully like this. Because of the Galra's well-known reputation, he'd seem like a threat. Worst case scenario would be if a Galra mercenary saw him and was able to identify him.

Keith's next plan was to look for the serum Shiro had given him. He unwrapped a small cloth that revealed a plethora of empty test tupes. He felt his heart drop onto the floor along with all of the empty bottles. He put his hands in his hair. There wasn't much that could make Keith cry, but this- this was probably one of the things.

Lance watched from the other side of the room, anticipating for a chance to comfort the other male. He tentatively walked over to Keith's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. The sudden contact made the indigo haired boy jump back. "Keith we-" "Don't," he snapped, "don't try and tell me it'll get better. It won't. I've been taking that stuff all my life. If I don't have that serum my Galra genes will take over. There's no way I'll be able to take a trip back to Shiro's this early and not be noticed. Without that serum I'm a monster-" It got harder for Keith to keep his composure, voice cracks holding back his cries. "I'm just as awful as the rest of them." "Keith, no-" "Lance I kidnapped you because I was that selfish and desperate enough to hide my secret! Now you're forcing yourself to stay here and take care of me because you're probably afraid of me. I resulted in taking you away and-" "Keith!" Lance's tone was loud enough to halt Keith's rambling. "I had the opportunity to leave you many times, but it was my choice to stay here. Sure, getting threatened by a 5"2 tall stranger in a cloak was a bit frightening at first. But the more I got to know you, the more my reasons to stay with you built up. Honestly now you're about as threatening as a ladybug." Keith's facial expression went from upset to mildly annoyed after hearing the last sentence.

Lance, taking quick notice, cleared his throat and started again. "Which is why I came to the conclusion that...I'm madly in love with you Keith."

Keith didn't know what to say, what could he have said? The thought of him and Lance had crossed his mind every now and then, he could admit to at least that much. But now that it had become a possibility he wasn't sure what to think. The reminder that he knew little about Lance's past was conflicting.