TREES | klance ✔︎

04 | chances

edited

    lance had been doing most of the talking, which - for some reason - was incredibly comforting. it caused an over-relaxation to take over keith's body. he hadn't felt like this since he met shiro, and that wasn't too many years ago. there was nothing in this world that felt more peaceful than listening to the gentle water waves and laying down on the bridge going across it. well, for lance.

as keith rises above the water for air, lance has a last laugh. "told you it wasn't so bad."

"you pushed me in. unprompted." keith reminds, lifting himself out. lance takes a glance at his arms. the staring doesn't last long before keith shakes the water from his hair like a wet dog, splashing all over lance.

"who's your favorite artist?" 

"like, singer?" keith confirms, lance nods, "i don't listen to music much-" he stops lance from gasping with his hand, "but, i listen to a lot of soft rock. it's hard for me to choose a favo-"

"i love amy winehouse," lance interrupts as if he was waiting to say it. keith hold's back an amused smile, waiting for him to continue his reasoning why, "she's just so iconic. her hair, her voice. she's gorgeous. what isn't she?"

lance begins humming love is a losing game. 

"so, you like white girl bar music?"

"she isn't white girl bar music, you shithead!" lance laughs loudly, pushing keith over who's turning away to hide his cheeky smile. "love my british-jewish queen."

it was keith's turn to ask a question. "of all places, why did you take me here?"

"to butcher you. no one would ever find you," lance giggles, which abruptly ends when he sees keith is not amused, "don't know. i have no one to really hang out with nowadays. i didn't want to come alone. i don't know. you seemed to be the perfect person to accompany me. i don't know."

"i think you do know, you've said i don't know about a trillion times in one sentence." keith teases in a mocking voice which annoys lance slightly, because he doesn't entirely feel like it's a joke.

"well, i don't." 

keith drops it. "oh... but what about those two you always hang with.... pidge and hunk?"

"i only really study with pidge. me and hunk usually just go to the mall food court on weekends or go album shopping."

"album shopping?" 

"yeah. whenever we get spending money, we go up to the music shop and pick out two albums we want." lance smiles proudly. 

"sounds boring." 

but it didn't sound boring. it actually sounded like something keith would enjoy, even alone. he was just feeling some sort of way. jealousy. that's all it was. he had never been album shopping, he didn't even know that was a thing. why would he? he's not even friends with lance or his other weirdo group.

"you're boring." lance retorts with a snort.

sometime later, not interrupted by small groans of discomfort from lance, they stayed still in a silence that felt too normal. like they'd known each other forever, like they knew each other's flaws and non-flaws - their likings and dislikings.

but it wasn't that deep. because they were not going to ever be the best of friends.

was that sad? should either be sad about such a thing? maybe.

or maybe not. 

keith struggled with friends his entire childhood. he actually hadn't had a stable relationship with anyone except shiro; he didn't count because as soon as they were put in a room to play with together, they knew deep down that the word inseparable was created just for them. he was all keith would ever need in life. he's a pick-me-up for keith. he didn't have to constantly be told that he loves keith, because he knows. whenever shiro looks at him it's like he only wants to protect someone with such a small, innocent life. at least, that's what shiro tries to think of keith as even though he's a despicable menace at times.

for the other party, however... lance never had any trouble with making friends. well, that's what he thinks. in reality he just doesn't need many people to function either. he liked being with himself, but that didn't mean he didn't like being the center of attention. in the loudest room, he could suddenly out-loud everyone in there. even if he didn't get close to many people, everyone knew of him. all because he liked making himself known. his presence had to make an impact or else he would just find another area to make sure people knew he was there. maybe that's why some didn't like him and others loved him.

so, breaking down the dynamic between keith and lance would be quite easy. they weren't begging for each other; but the way this day was going so far, despite being entirely different, their conversations and existences alone made it seem like the world only contained them. the two were just completely unaware of how much they clashed. 

"you're lucky i didn't put marijuana in the candy." lance jokes, crossing his legs. 

keith raises a brow. "you? making edibles? do you even know what marijuana is?"

"shut up," lance hisses, pinching his arm, "you're so mean."

"mean!" keith gasps dramatically, "i cannot believe mr. mcclain is seriously calling me such vile, such ruthless names when he - a seventeen year old boy - is possibly the most relentless creature on this-!"

"enough with the acting, you dipshit." lance bites back a laugh as keith snickers quietly. "and we're both eighteen."

"i'm almost nineteen, actually," keith flexes, "i graduate this semester."

"did you not have enough credits to graduate last year or-"

"a foster family i was with revoked my adoption when i was in fourth grade, so i got held back."

"oh, i didn't mean it in... sorry for asking."

as a response, keith tch's. 

"can i ask.. why they revoked it?" lance speaks in a softer voice in hopes he'll get an answer in a similar tone. keith is so taken aback, he has to replay the question in his head. no one really felt comfortable to ever know more, only to awkwardly not speak to him. 

"well," keith fiddles with his fingers, "they realized the checks they got from the government from fostering me would stop, and they wouldn't have much to provide me with without them. looking back, they just wanted the money."

"that's so wrong." lance stares at keith in disbelief. keith shrugs it off.

"not a big deal. i got adopted in the end."

"you don't call them your parents though. you only think of shiro as family." lance recalls. 

keith uncomfortably shifts his weight so that he leans on his left arm. "can we talk about something else?"

he never really talked about his family. there was no need to. he got adopted into shirogane's family, so what? there wasn't anything to celebrate or special about it, he was just a plus one member. 

of course he called shiro's parents mom and dad. it was still a bit awkward to call them his parents, though. he'd rather just call them mom and dad to their faces, then not talk about them to anyone else. he didn't realize, up until lance asking, that it would be such a big deal. (it wasn't a big deal like keith always interprets things. lance was just curious, was interested to know more.)

"ever heard of the urban legend of the loch ness monster?"

"really, lance?"