hey there pretty boy (klance)

CHAPTER 14

Allura addresses the room directly, while the other two gods hang back with their eagle eyes alert for movement. Her voice is frozen over and Keith understands why Lance is intimidated by her.

"Lotor, Haggar. Think about what you're doing-"

The god smirks. "Save your breath, 'Lura." His eyes slide towards Lance. "Your boy over here already gave me the whole speech. We're...just finishing up, actually. How rude of you all to interrupt."

Lotor is at Lance's side in a couple long strides, his blade hovering dangerously close to the boy's throat.

Keith swallows painfully. While the other gods appear to him as timeless, ageless, Lance possesses a youthful quality that makes him seem as though he is still growing up, that made him nothing more than just another young man in Keith's mind. Boys aren't supposed to fight wars meant for gods.

In a flash of movement, Lance is on his feet, deflecting the weapon away from himself. It hadn't been obvious before, but now it can be seen that he wields a staff similar to Allura's. He assumes a defensive stance just in time to block a lunge from Lotor. Keith watches his precise movements and wonders if maybe Lance does belong in this war.

"Lance!" It's not Keith who calls his name, but Allura, her own staff flickering with pink lightning.

She is cut off by the druid, the one that she had referred to as Haggar. Their magic battles with flashes of colour. Keith's eyes leap frantically between Allura and Lance as they parry and strike against individual enemies. Lance somersaults, struggling to keep up with the god who relentlessly takes advantage of each opening as they are revealed. A sharp gasp draws Keith's attention as Allura staggers and falls to one knee, grabbing her side. He tenses, but is held back by a hand on his chest.

"No worries, we can handle this," Matt says, giving Keith a shove backwards. He nods to Pidge and they dart towards Haggar without warning.

There is a pained cry from across the room as Lotor sends Lance tumbling to the ground, his staff clattering to the ground. This time there is no one to stop Keith before he calls the god's name and sprints towards him. Lance rolls over, eyes widening as he sees Keith barrelling to his side.

Lotor sees him also, blocking the boy with a smooth sweep of his arm. He grabs Keith by the collar before he can even reach Lance, who spits blood onto the ground and lunges for his staff.

Across the room, Haggar falls into a shadowy pile on the ground, Pidge standing behind her and casually waving her weapon, which smokes concerningly. She highfives Matt.

Keith's eyes dart back to the venomous ones in front of him. It feels like claws are digging into his throat, dangling him tauntingly above the ground. He sort of expects Lotor to shake him like a predator shaking a half-dead carcass. Keith stares at his face and finds himself surprisingly calm. Maybe he is too stunned to be afraid.

"Put. Him. Down."

It's the first time that he hears Lance say anything. The voice is unsettling and very not-Lance. Keith looks over Lotor's shoulder to see him with hands curled tightly around his staff, which snaps and pops with blue electricity as if it's going to overheat. The other three stand behind him with their own weapons raised. He stares at Lance's eyes and realizes exactly why Lance is the god of the ocean.

He's immense. Unpredictable. Dangerous. Beautiful.

Keith feels the hand flex around his jugular, before he is dropped to the ground. The two gods collide with each other in a fierce storm. He scrambles away from the flurry of light and clashing of weapons. Pidge's grappling hook sizzles as it digs into its target. As Lance is knocked aside, Allura darts in to cover him while he regains his footing. They work seamlessly. All Keith can do is watch.

Although he keeps up with them at first, defending himself on four fronts is beginning to drain Lotor's energy. He is slower to block Allura's strikes and dodge Pidge's attacks. When he stumbles, Lance takes the opening without hesitating. He drives his staff directly into the god's chest with a war cry.

There is a blinding flash and Keith hides his face. When the glow recedes, he blinks to clear his eyes, taking in the scene before him.

Lotor is gone. There isn't even a body. Allura stands tall and poised as always, her dropped staff the only indication of fatigue. Matt and Pidge are leaning on each other. And Lance...Lance is on his knees, head drooping, perfectly still.

Their embrace is desperate, as Keith falls onto his hands and tries not to break down in tears when he pulls Lance close to him and feels the god's arms echoing the touch. He takes Lance's chin and lifts it with a gentle finger, inspecting his face.

"Are you okay?" The question wavers, but there is relief behind it, because he knows that everything is okay now.

"Oh yeah," Lance chuckles, "it takes a lot more to kill a god." Keith tries not to focus on the fact that Lance had been bordering on that edge only a short while ago; if Lotor had caught him...

He runs his thumb over Lance's broken lip. "Didn't know that gods could bleed."

"This body does," Lance groans, climbing to his feet as he uses Keith to stabilize himself. Pidge and Matt attack him as soon as he's standing, playful jabs that remind Keith of him and Shiro.

Shiro. Right.

He leaves Lance with the other gods, finding Shiro more or less where they propped him against the wall. His brother seems decently aware and wastes no time dragging Keith into a rough hug. He can't dam the tears this time.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he sobs, burying his face in Shiro's shoulder. His brother strokes his hair calmly. It feels familiar, after over a decade of the same soothing gesture.

"It's okay. You're safe. We're safe, now, it's okay," Shiro whispers.

It's a bit of a mess trying to get everyone to Allura's castle. The tricky gods are reluctant to hang around now that the action is over, Shiro is still too unsteady to walk by himself, and Lance is milking his injuries for all he's worth - he persuades Matt to carry him, which involves a protesting Lance being thrown over the other god's shoulder. Eventually everyone is safely removed from the battlefield.

Allura walks with Keith and Shiro behind the more...rambunctious of the group. (Lance is dangling over Matt's shoulder like a ragdoll, still whining). She cracks the tiniest of smiles at their antics.

"You shouldn't worry about Lance so much," the goddess tells Keith, noting the lines on his forehead as he frowns. "Although he dug himself into quite the hole...it all worked out in the end, and that is what matters. He may not act like it, but he is much stronger than others give him credit for."

"Yeah," he says softly, and when he looks at Lance, it is not only the god's eyes that remind him of the sea. Everything about him is a mirror image of fierce waters.