Cuddle Buddy

Relax, Keith

The door of the shared bedroom of both Keith and Lance slammed suddenly and unexpectedly. Lance looked up from his task at hand. He was on the computer, surrounded by papers seemingly doing school work and not on Instagram (only on occasion he would go on. Just for short periods of time of course…). “Woah, someone’s grumpy.”

 

Keith had cringed when the door had made such a loud noise before turning to face Lance with an apologetic expression. “Sorry…”

 

“It’s fine.” Lance half-haphazardly moved the multiple pieces of paper to one side of the bed. He moved to the other side with no items besides a blanket and sat down, his legs hanging off the edge. He patted the spot next to him. “What’s up?”

 

“It’s not really important,” Keith responded as he sat next to Lance, their knees gently touching one another. Neither moved away, but Lance was very much aware of the unnecessary contact.

 

“Come on, tell me. You’re not bothering me, you are helping me. I need a break from all this work I am doing.” He nudged his chin over to his papers and laptop, a soft blue light emitting from the screen. He gave Keith a half smile.

 

Keith followed his gaze and sighed, moving his gaze to his hands. He twiddled his thumbs.“It’s just this class. There is a really big project project coming up and it’s a group project.”

 

“Oh no, already starting off badly,” Lance commented.

 

Keith nodded, a soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Yup. The professor choose the groups and I am of course stuck with these two people which I am sure are a couple. The whole time, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other and ignored me when I tried to actually do some work with them.”

 

“Maybe you could ask the professor to change partners, or just do it by yourself,” Lance suggested with a soft shrug.

 

Keith scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and nudged his shoulder against Lance’s. “Funny how you think I can talk to a professor. Have you met me? I don’t have the best social skills.”

 

“Don’t think so low of yourself, Keef,” he teased his name, trying to lighten the mood.

 

Keith managed to crack a small smile. “Thanks, but I won’t be able to."

 

“Tell you what, I’ll come with you as moral support,”  Lance said. He, as casually as he could manage while trying to hide his hesitation, slipped his hand into Keith’s. Their fingers overlapped one another. Lance looked down at their hands, knowing he would break if he saw Keith’s face. He gave it a light reassuring squeeze.

 

Keith leaned his head against Lance’s shoulder and softly said, “Thank you.”

 

Lance stopped himself from shivering, the voice so close to his ear. “You’re welcome,” he responded softly.

 

~~~~~~

 

Keith was still awake later that night. Lance was unable to sleep, feeling Keith’s gaze on his face. He sighed.

 

Keith flinched, most likely thinking the other was asleep. “Did I wake you up?”

 

“No, I can’t sleep if you are watching me,” Lance said as he opened his eyes. “What’s wrong, grumpy cat?”

 

“Just thinking about what to say tomorrow to the professor,” Keith responded, choosing to ignore one of the many nicknames he has been given by Lance. He stifled a yawn.

 

“You’re overthinking this too much,” Lance said. “Here, turn around.”

 

Keith raised an eyebrow at the command. “Why?”

 

“Just do it, it’s not like I am going to kill you. I do this all the time with my sister when she can’t sleep,” Lance said.

 

Keith hesitantly turns around, his back facing Lance.

 

Lance slowly slid his hands underneath Keith’s sleeping shirt.

 

The latter tensed. “W-what are you doing?”

 

“Relax, Keith,” Lance responded, slowly sliding his blunt fingernails up and down Keith’s sensitive skin. He could feel the goosebumps on Keith’s bareback.

 

Slowly, Keith relaxed visually, the bumps receding into nothing. His breathing slowed and Lance was sure he was asleep, but he did not stop until he felt tired. He tenderly moved closer and wrapped his arms around him. “Goodnight, Grumpy Cat,” he mumbled softly.