I'm a Mess (Klance)

26

Lance's POV

Keith's been pulling away lately, even more so than usual. He's been hiding away in his room more often, he's not even in the training deck often anymore.

Time to investigate.

I ask Hunk and Pidge if they want to help my figure out what's up but they brush me off saying they need to work on the castle defenses with Coran. Looks like it's a solo mission.

I walk to the edgy galra's room and knock on the door. Shuffling sounds from the other side before a strained and muffled, "Hold on," can be heard. Two minutes later Keith opens the door, his ears flicking back slightly and an uncomfortable smile on his face. "Woah, what's up with you?" I ask before I can stop myself.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just ignore that. Do you wanna do something?"

—

Okay, well...we're on the training deck now so at least he's not being totally reclusive. He still looks uncomfortable though.

"One on one? Hand to hand?" Keith asks.

"Oh yeah, totally. I'll beat you in seconds," I boast.

"Yeah right," Keith says while smirking, finally showing an emotion other than discomfort.

We begin the fight and obviously Keith starts pulling ahead. His kicks are lacking though. They aren't as high or swift as usual and it looks like it pains him to execute them.

After a little while we stop to take a breather. I'm the midst of our panting I can hear a faint whimper. I look at Keith only to see an expression of discomfort has taken over his face. I take his wrist and pull him closer to me. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, trying to play dumb.

"You're whimpering, you look uncomfortable, and your kicks are lacking. What's up?"

"It's-...don't laugh."

"You have my word Mullet."

He glares before going back to looking a tiny bit scared. "Um...I wasn't done...changing, apparently."

"What do you mean?"

Keith lifts the back of his shirt a big and fiddles with something behind him. Before his shows me whatever he did, he says, "I tried to hide it but it wasn't long enough to get it to stay still so I forced it to stretch. I think I pulled a muscle in it while we were fighting and it really hurts. I...had it wrapped around my leg to keep it hidden." After he finishes talking he lets go of what he was holding and turns around. A tail, similar in color to Keith's skin with fur along the top the same color as his hair, sways around his legs. "It...kinda has a mind of its own."

I reach out a grab it, trying to be gentle. Keith seems to tense up so I loosen my grip. "I'm sorry! Was tha-" Before I can finish speaking, his tail wraps itself around my hands, but only in the tip. The rest of it seems like it can't move. "Mind of its own...how fun," I mutter to myself.

"It-it's really sore, and I don't really know how to deal with it without having to tell the others about it," Keith says through his teeth.

"You don't have to tell them directly, just go to Coran and tell him what happened. When he's done with you, you can just walk around with it out and I can guarantee that no one will care that it's a little different.

He's silent for a moment. "Thanks." Before I can respond, Keith turns around and wraps me in a loose hug. I return it a bit tighter an he tightens his grip a bit too.

Can I have more of his hugs please?