(You Can) Drop Your Façade ; klance

café

Lance wriggled his hands together nervously. He was supposed to get coffee with Keith in twenty minutes or so.

Speaking of Keith, he was right beside him, working on today's english assignment while listening to music. Lance sighed, Keith hasn't spoken to him since lunch (which was about two hours ago), and Lance was a bit worried.

Did he regret asking Lance to go get a coffee? Is he going to back out?

Lance shook his head and kept working on his own assignment. He shouldn't think about that.

What you should think about is why he asked you in the first place.

Lance stopped writing, letting his pencil fall from his grasp. This grabbed Keith's attention, for he turned his head towards Lance, raising an eyebrow as his hair fell into his eyes. Lance felt his cheeks warm at the sight, so he turned away, staring down at his paper which lay unfinished.

Why did he ask?

Lance tapped at his thighs as he thought back to lunch.

Lance sat next to Keith, trying to pay attention to whoever was speaking at the moment. Of course, he failed, because he had no idea who was talking. He knew that voice, he knew he knew that voice (and that damned phrase too), but his mind couldn't put a face to it, it refused to.

And Keith was so close, he couldn't pay attention to anything else besides his warm presence.

Lance suddenly tuned in when Keith began to speak. "Uh, yeah. Um, what does it mean?"

Lance's breath hitched. What? What is he talking about?

"What?" Hunk then asked. Lance looked towards Keith. Exactly. What are you talking about?

Keith glanced towards Lance and then back at Hunk. Lance would be lying if he said his stomach didn't churn.

"Y'know, it. What does it mean?" Keith said. Wow, thanks for clarifying.

Lance squinted at Keith's profile, noticing how long his hair was. Lance found himself stifling a laugh. It's a mullet...Oh my god, my crush has a mullet.

Lance eyes widened slightly. My...crush?

"That fucking phrase. Hush Lance or whatever the fuck. What does it mean?" Keith added after Hunk had said...um, something.

Lance froze, going rigid. He sat straighter in his seat. He waited for a response from his...friends.

"Oh! It's just an inside joke, you wouldn't get it." Allura brushed off. Lance blinked.

A joke...a joke. A fucking joke.

"Yeah," Pidge added. "We use it when Lance talks too much-"

Talks too much...I talk...too much...

"-or when he makes a shitty joke. Or y'know, says something inappropriate or irrelevant."

A shitty joke...inappropriate...irrelevant. Irrelevant...irrelevant...I'm irrelevant.

Half of Lance expected Keith to nod his head and drop the conversation, maybe even agree with what Pidge was saying. Thirty percent of him hoped he wouldn't. The other twenty percent was still floating around in his mindscape, not paying attention to what was going on.

"Okay so...why do you guys use it so much then?" Keith then asked. Lance squinted at him.

...What? Is he being serious? Is he...Has he...