TREES | klance ✔︎

03 | candy kid

edited

"nuh-uh," keith crossed his arms over his chest, "you will not catch me dead in the dirty creek water."

except, it didn't look dirty in the slightest. it looked like fresh water, even the water where the waterfall was hitting it. the water was clearly lacking ill color to prove it was suitable for many occasions of using. but alas, keith was one stubborn motherfucker and lance knew it when keith did not.

"your loss."

"how?"

"well, i did assume we could have a few breath-holding contests.. there may or may not be a prize." lance was not tempting keith at all. this prize could be anything; such as: a shoelace. you never knew what lance had up his sleeve unless you begged for elaboration, even then his vagueness would bring anyone to fury. anyone being keith.

keith lowers his gaze toward the creek, then at lance. he nods slowly. "i'll let the water go up to my calve."

a small set of victory whispers could be heard in lances direction. had he been looking, he could've caught a glimpse of a ghost of a smile from keith. 

while lance was busy going up into the treehouse to change (what keith assumes), keith admires the beauty of the place. stairs led down to the creek; there was even a small bridge that went to the otherside, it sat underneath the treehouse to create a cozy scenery. as if it couldn't get better, as he sits down on the edge of the bridge to dip his legs in, lance jumps down the ladder while holding multiple snacks. he was also shirtless. but that wasnt the pretty part, keith was far more interested in the colorful snacks in lances hands than the defined muscles curving around his bones all in the right way-

"which one do you want?" lance cheerily sits down beside keith, who shrugs.

"what is it?"

lance deadpans, holding up one bag, then the other. "these are sour gummy worms and these are normal gummies!" lance frowns, straightening his posture to mock the boy staring confusedly at him, "what do you mean; what is it?"

"i dont eat candy," keith explains, embarrassed, "wasn't allowed when i was little either."

a sharpened knife gets pierced through lances heart. at least, that's what it feels like to him.

candy was always a big part of his childhood. did good in school? his mother would reward him by letting him pick out from the dollar candy section. tried to learn a sport even though there's zero athletic bone in your body? gas station candy was your best friend. going to bring your child to work day but the only son that will go is lance and he also doesn't know how to shut the fuck up? shove a bag of candy in his face and his sugar rush won't come until they get home.

"not allowed to have candy, huh? that's a crime." lance utters, plopping a blue sour gummy worm in his mouth. he offers keith a red one in hopes he'll try it. taken aback, he only stares at it like it's a foreign manual with backwards directions. 

"what does it taste like?"

"for gods sake, keith!" lance lets out an exasperated sigh, "eat the damn worm."

he shoves it in keiths mouth before he can protest. he chews slowly at first, as if pretending not to like it. then, the sourness dissolves and it's sweet. strawberry flavored. he has only tasted an artificially flavored thing that was strawberry once, and it was strawberry milk with shiro. the first ever drink shiro's parents bought him when they adopted keith. needless to say, there was never not a six pack of strawberry milk cartons in the fridge. 

"do you like it?"

"i think so." keith shyed his voice away out of shame. 

"put out your hand." lance says cheekily. he takes out all of the red ones as keith obloges, placing them in his hand. 

"what did you do that for?"

"i hate the red ones. and the only colors i had left were.. well, blue and red." lance half smiles. 

keith silently eats his gummy worms, lance eventually does too after staring a few seconds too long at keith. keith, who was seemingly happy, stored a worm in his cheek before he spoke.

"so, you're like a candy addict or something?" 

lance nudges him playfully. "no, you loser." it goes quiet for a few seconds. "okay, maybe." 

"so, what is this place? how did you find it?" 

despite keiths voice being rough, with the amount of talking he was doing showed he was growing comfortable in the presence of lance, and he could feel that. 

"actually, my brother found it back in the days when him and my parents fought," lance smiles to himself as he looks out at the water, "yeah, he built this entire place with the help of my other brother. luis and marco were always really close."

keith didn't want to intrude with another question, he just let lance continue when he wanted.

"marco was his motivator for many things. luis was just marcos cheerleader," lance scoffs, "i always tried getting into their little duo, you know? be in the middle of the brotherly affection with mindless fighting and stealing beers at the crack of dawn on the weekends instead of worrying about school and-"

"i feel like your pity dick did you dirty, not their relationship." snickered keith.

lance slowly turns his head towards the ill-timed jokester. the laughter from him dies down as he realizes he's the only one finding his humor funny. lances eyes look a lot more bluer now that keith is reading in them. 

a loud cackle echoes through the forest, startling keith. he gets slapped on the arm at the same time that lance mutters: "you're an asshole."

keith holds back his smile. "i genuinely thought you were about the beat the shit out of me."

"nah, you were right anyway. they called me out for always needing attention and shit. once i dropped it we got really close. it's too bad our relationship pivoted just right before they both went abroad," lance shakes his head in reminiscence before looking at keith who's munching on three gummy worms at once, "you got any siblings aside from shiro?"

a small sigh leaves his mouth as he thinks about the one person that really comes to mind. "a sister. but i kinda lost her in the system. we last talked after i got adopted. it's no biggie."

"shit," lance frowns, "i'm sorry."

"no biggie." keith repeats with a harder tone this time. lance looks out at the water before laughing to himself.

"take one of mine anytime. i got two sisters, two brothers, and about a million nieces and nephews scattered 'round this state." the two softly laughed, though the laugh coming from keith just sounded like a huff of air. "so, how does the water feel?" lance asks, breaking what would've been silence. 

keith shrugs. "not bad, it was cold at first but now that i'm-"

it took zero thoughts in lances brain to process before he pushed keith in. and boy, when he reached back up for air did lance ever regret his decision. as a final, "you motherfucker!" sounds throughout this other-human desolated area, lance forgets what self-defense is.