Outer space | klance au |

35: peach blossoms

Lance was nervous for some reason. He had cleaned his room twice, texted Rolo his plans, and made sure his shirt wasn't inside out. Still, the nervousness persisted. The doctor to be reminded himself that he met Keith before, that he shouldn't be nervous, but that didn't help. He sat stiffly in his desk chair, rereading the same paragraph in one of his medical textbooks. The words never seem to stick.

He sighed and pushed his chair back from his desk. Lance balanced on the back two legs and looked up. Most of his glow in the dark stars he placed on the ceiling above his desk had fallen away. Well, supposedly fallen away. Lance knew that his roommate had picked some of them down leaving one helpless star by itself. Somehow that made Lance feel worse. It caused that helpless feeling to grow. He stopped leaning back so he wasn't forced to look at the lonely star.

A knock on the door signaled Keith's arrival. Lance felt butterflies erupt in his stomach—they desperately fought against his insides to get out. He rushed to the door to let the other man in. Once he opened it he immediately became shy which he didn't understand because he knew Keith or at least liked to think he did. It was different when there were screens and miles between two people.

"Hi," Keith supplied when Lance wasn't able to find his words.

"Hey man," Lance opened the door wider, "Come on in." Keith stepped into the room and Lance felt those same butterflies after he closed the door. They seemed to ignite with proximity. "I know it's not much–"

"I like it," Keith interrupted Lance. "It feels homey." Lance then noticed that Keith had a bag of pixie sticks in his hands. The older male followed Lance's line of sight until he realized that Lance was looking at the bag of candy. He flushed slightly. "I remember reading some time ago that you liked these and I wasn't sure if you wanted me to bring anything," Keith laughed nervously.

"That was really sweet of you," Lance grinned at the writer before plucking the bag out of his hands. He quickly began tearing into it to get to the sugary treat. He handed one to Keith who took it with unsure fingers. Lance noticed that the other male's hands were warm as their fingers brushed. It was a red pixie stick and the fact that it matched Keith's aesthetic made Lance laugh. Keith gave him an incredulous look but Lance didn't want to explain why he thought it was so funny.

"I feel like we always talk about me so I wanna hear about you," Lance flopped down onto his bed. The springs slightly creaked as he did so. Keith looked around like he didn't know where to sit. He settled for the chair Lance previously occupied and for some reason, Lance was disappointed. He wasn't sure why but he was. There was a certain sinking in his stomach and the butterflies that resided there shriveled and died. He cleared his throat. "What's happening in your universe?" He turned on his side so he was at least facing Keith as they talked.

Keith cleared his throat and for some reason looked sheepish. "I mean nothing particularly interesting," he stumbled out and Lance rolled his eyes.

"I think everything you do is interesting," Lance paused and Keith looked like he wanted to add to the small comment. "Are you writing a new piece?"

"I am," Keith nodded. There was a long stretch of silence and Lance peeked over at the other male to see that he was picking at his fingernails. He was waiting for his friend to continue but it didn't seem like Keith was.

"Are you going to at least tell me about it?" Lance laughed and threw a pixie stick at him hoping to get his attention. Keith caught it in one hand and looked Lance over.

"You want to hear about it?" There was something in Keith's voice that bugged Lance. It made it seem like no one was interested in what Keith had to say. He frowned at the thought, shoving it aside so he wouldn't think about it.