Arrest Me, Officer {Klance}

Chapter 9

The four of them sat at a booth at Altea café. It was shut to the public but Allura had allowed them to come for a cup of coffee before opening times so they could talk everything through. They doubted any of Lotor's 'eyes' could overhear anything through the locked door. They, instead of talking, sat in complete silence. Keith sat opposite Lance, pressed against the wall while Allura sat beside Lance and Shiro with Keith. Keith kept looking over at Lance to see the young man staring blankly at his coffee mug, no doubt still in shock over his sister's death. Keith wanted nothing more than to place his hand over the other's, whisper words of reassurance. That they would catch this criminal and put him in jail. But then he thought about the urge. It was far too... caring. He cared for Lance, he'd realised, a lot more than he had originally thought. Maybe it was to do with that morning where he woke up to that beautiful voice singing.

There was that word. 'Beautiful'. He'd began to associate that word with Lance a lot more than he should. The more he thought about it, the more he looked at the waiter, he realised that he was gorgeously handsome. Beautiful, even. There was that word again, beautiful. Beautiful like a jewel that caught the light just right to caress the wall with little shards of light and colour. Those eyes... The eyes that had made Keith want to strangle him were now some of the most breath-taking things he'd ever laid his eyes on. Making eye contact made his heart beat speed up irregularly. But a good irregular. It both scared him and made him feel warm. He wasn't used to feeling random bursts of affection towards someone. Especially not in the following days after finding out the man who he was affectionate for was a criminal. A criminal he'd been after for a while. These feelings he felt had probably also been built over the months of relieving flirts at the cafe they currently sat at. Lance always had been his favourite waiter, no matter how much he failed to admit it.

Keith mentally slapped himself. He wasn't meant to be getting attached. He can't afford that! It was set in stone, Lance was going to jail after all of this. Keith had to keep reminding himself that. He couldn't risk falling for the blue-eyed beauty who was going to willingly go to jail. That would hurt them both. After getting the quintessence gem back, it was bye bye Blue Paladin, bye bye Lance. Keith didn't want to say goodbye... Lance was worth a thousand quintessence gems. Actually, he was worth millio- He mentally slapped himself again, having to physically pinch his thigh underneath the table and out of view. He couldn't think like that. Keith didn't want to end up hurting at the end of all of this. He refused. Plus, he doubted Lance even cared. He probably just flirted because Keith had a pretty face, at least hopefully it was okay-looking. It was Lance, wasn't it? He was a flirt, a goof, a playful little shit. A thieving, playful little shit.

Shiro shifted awkwardly beside them, index finger tapping on the handle of his mug. Keith was used to silences, preferred them to actual speaking, but he knew Shiro hated awkward silences. Those silences where everyone wants to say something but can't think of anything interesting to pipe up about. At the moment, that 'anything interesting' was a plan to get enough evidence to take Lotor down. There had to be something!

Keith immediately remembered when Lance had claimed he'd commit murder if the plan failed. That was something they couldn't let slide. They would be forced to arrest Lance under state of law, and keep his locked up until trial which would most likely lead to a long, long time in prison. Especially if it was the murder of one of those most richest men in the city who everyone loved apparently. Lotor was a sack of disgusting shit. How the heck could people not see through him? Keith would prefer him to die so no one had to deal with his ass ever again. If they had solid evidence though, they could put him behind bars for hopefully a life sentence. If it was good enough evidence, that is. Keith refused to let Lance become a murderer. His bright attitude would dim, playful light most likely simmering in his eyes.

"Croissant, anyone?" Allura asked, wincing when her voice interrupted the silence. Everyone shook their head so she let out an, "Oh, okay." and shrunk back in her seat, taking a sip from her espresso. The awkward atmosphered around them was almost suffocating. Keith could sometimes be considered as an awkward person due to his lack of social skills such as how to compliment someone without sounding sarcastic. That was just something he was incapable of. So, this awkward feeling wasn't completely foreign to him.