Red and blue makes purple.
Journal
Date: Nope. This is weird.
I didn’t even realize it was happening at first. Just...suddenly, holy crap, he’s not my freaking rival anymore. Heck, he probably never was to begin with except for in my mind. And instead of just being the annoying red paladin with that stupid mullet, he became Keith.
Ok that sounded dumb, even to me.
But like, he started to be more than just some jerk. I saw him for who he was instead of what he’d done in a way and it made me realize that maybe I should start to cut him some slack. Sure, he isn’t the best at talking...like...at all, but he tries. And he really is a good guy. Hell of a lot better than I pretend to be.
Uh, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like how often he comes and just...chills with me?
No, that’s not it either.
It’s something about his eyes.
Yuck. No that was stupid. Strike that. Omg, what am I? Some cheesy Bollywood film? Nope. Keith is just Keith and I think I like that.
Wow. I’m really bad at this, even just writing. Meanwhile I’m pretending to think I could actually say this to him? Not likely. Not gonna happen.
Knock knock
Shit. Do I answer that? I should probably answer that. But if I answer that, there’s no way I look at him without getting flustered. Does he just know I was writing about him?
Knock knock
Finally, Lance closes the journal and stands up to open the door. Of course, it’s Keith. He takes a deep breath and smiles just like every other night. Once the door is closed, the two of them sit down and say nothing.
Shit. Lance thinks. I’m usually the one that starts this off, but I don’t know what to say. Think, man, think.
“So,” Lance starts before he looks over to see Keith twirling the dagger around, looking lost in thought and stops. He clears his throat. “Did you want to talk?”
“Shiro is still out there.” Keith says seriously. “He’s going to come back.”
“Of course, buddy.” Lance isn’t sure if its the truth, but Keith had lost enough in one lifetime. Keeping up hope wouldn’t be a bad thing until proven otherwise. “And we will do everything we can to find him. You know that.”
Silence falls again as Lance tries to decide what to say. When it fails, he takes a deep breath and scoots next to Keith before putting an arm over his shoulder. He looks over to a baffled Keith and just smiles.
“What are you doing?” Keith says calmly.
“Giving...you...support?” Lance scratches the side of his face and laughs nervously. “At least it’s what I’m trying to do anyway.” He can feel Keith shrug and gets a laugh out of it. Keith is so oblivious, Lance is fairly certain he could hit on the guy and he wouldn’t even realize it. Wait, why had he thought that? That was weird.
Nope. Weird is what happened next.
Keith sighs then rests his head on Lance’s shoulder, not saying a word as he relaxes into him. Lance feels his face burning hot but doesn’t move to shove Keith away. Instead, he tries to calm himself by taking a few clearing breaths while staring up at the ceiling.
“You know,” Keith starts in his typical bland tone. Lance turns to look back down at him. “Spending time with you like this, it’s...nice.”
“Yeah. Makes me a little less homesick.” Lance admits before finally relaxing enough to uncurl himself. After bouncing the idea back and forth, Lance decides to put his hand where Keith could reach for it. If Keith managed to realize what Lance was doing anyway.
Silence engulfs the two of them again for a minute then Lance feels fingers daring to dance over his and realizes Keith’s face is as red as his feels. His breath catches in his chest, trying to focus on anything else as Keith hasn’t grabbed his hand but rather runs his calloused fingers up and down Lance’s as if unaware the effect it's having on Lance.
“How do your hands stay so soft?” Keith asks finally, not looking up to meet Lance’s gaze.
“I, uh, take good care of my skin, I guess.” Lance admits nervously. “A habit I picked up from being in a house full of women for the most part I guess.”
“Just seems strange for a paladin who fights as often as we do to have such smooth skin.” Keith says as he finally looks up at Lance then can’t help but let out a small laugh. “For someone who flirts as much as you do, I’m surprised to see you this red.”
“It’s just…” Lance stops speak and swallows the lump forming in his throat. “I…” He sighs and hangs his head. “I was literally just trying to figure out how I would tell you that I think I feel...something more than familial attachment to you.”
“Funny how that happens then, hm?” Keith finally takes Lance’s hand in his. “Before Shiro...was gone, I told him I thought I might have feelings for you.”
“Wait?! What?!” Lance immediately covers his mouth, realizing it must be really late for the others. “Y-you, talked to Shiro about it?"
“Who else would I tell that wouldn’t have told you...or blackmailed me?” Keith laughs a little.
“Ok, I guess that’s fair.”
“And, Shiro is like my brother. So it just feels more natural to talk to him.” Whether he realizes it or not, Keith still makes circles on Lance’s hand, amazed at the softness there.
“So, uh, what did he say?” Lance can only imagine what Shiro would have said about him.
But he’s no good. Why Lance? He’s the worst there is! Anyone is better than-
“He made fun of me at first.” Keith laughs a bit then shakes his head. “But, he supported it. Said he knows you’re a good guy and will likely treat me better than you let on.”
“Shiro really said that?” Lance is honestly surprised. Even if he’d really tried, he couldn’t have hidden the shock in his voice.
“Yeah.” Keith relaxes into Lance’s side more. “He said he has always been so hard on you because he wants you to see how good you can be.”
Lance isn’t sure what to say after that. So he simply sits beside Keith and nods before resting his head atop the fluffy head of hair on his shoulder. They sit like that for a while, neither ready to move but also being unsure what else to say with such a distance closed between them. Keith is hardly awake when Lance finally sighs. His tired eyes look up to meet the gaze of the still blushing Lance and almost wants to laugh. With the hand not interlocked with Keith’s, Lance carefully pushes a few strands of the black hair away from his face before begrudgingly admitting;
“Ok, so, I don’t actually hate your hair.”
Reason #10 - Keith’s hair
Story belongs to Elireide @ A03
