klancepride with cal

day 6- storm

As stormy and moody he was, Keith didn't like thunderstorms. He sat upright in his bed, frowning at his window, the rain hitting it with tiny taps. After a few seconds, a low rumble shook the sky and Keith flinched.

He wasn't necessarily scared of the thunder. Or the lightning, for that matter, with its unpredictable flashes of too-bright light. Ever since he'd been a kid, though, he'd had to suffer through thunderstorms by himself. After his dad died, it was worse than ever, but even when Adam and Shiro had taken Keith in, he felt like he couldn't go to them when storms struck.

At the current moment, he was at Lance's family's home, staying in the guest room. He and Lance had crashed there for the night as they traveled cross-country to go visit another branch of the Garrison in California. The guest room was nice- a small, square space with a bed, dresser, and vanity, everything coordinated to match the aesthetic of the room. It smelled like Fresh Linen Air Freshener and Keith found it oddly soothing.

He and Lance were on a mission together for the simple purpose of getting more information, but Keith felt like their personal lives were getting in the way of the job.

Like how his hands got sweaty whenever Lance smiled at him. Or when his heart started beating faster when Lance laughed. Or any other way his body deceived him whenever Lance did literally anything.

Or maybe he was just the one getting in the way of the mission.

Keith sighed, burying his head in his hands. He'd pulled all-nighters because of storms before, but he had to drive tomorrow and he didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel. Keith searched for a solution to the problem. His mind suddenly flashed to Lance coming in to say goodnight earlier that evening.

Keith had thought his heart was going to burst from his chest when Lance had appeared in the guest room's doorway, shirtless, leaning against the doorframe nonchalantly. He'd been wearing blue plaid boxers, a sleep mask pushed up over his forehead, and headphones.

Headphones.

Keith's eyes narrowed. He weighed his options. On the one hand, he could go ask Lance if he had an extra set of headphones he could borrow and be able to sleep soundly, even though then Lance would probably get mad at him for disturbing his beauty sleep. On the other hand, he could be a chicken and not ask Lance, but then fall asleep at the wheel tomorrow and Lance would get mad anyways for almost killing the both of them.

Either way, Lance would get mad, but Keith might as well pick the option where he slept well.

Keith carefully lowered his feet to the floor, cringing as every step on the hardwood led to a loud creeeak that he guessed the whole house could hear. Doing his best to avoid the creakiest floorboards, Keith slowly made his way out of the guest room and into the hallway, then down two doors to Lance's room.

Biting his lip, he steeled himself, then knocked as softly as he could. There was a pause, then a muffled, "Yeah?" Keith opened the door.

Lance's room matched his personality perfectly. The walls were covered with overlapping posters of various movies and soccer stars and vintage cars. His floor was partially covered with a large, woven rug and the lava lamp on his bedside table cast everything in the room a low, vibrant magenta. Glow-in-the-dark stars were pasted to the ceiling and Keith recognized a few constellations.

His eyes drifted to the far left corner, where Lance's bed was situated. Except, instead of a sleeping beauty lying beneath blankets, Lance was sitting upright, his knees pulled up to his chest, head turned to watch the rain outside his window.

Lance turned, his cheeks pink in the lava lamp light. Keith was sure that his own cheeks were pink anyways.

"What's up?" Lance murmured. Keith stepped closer, his legs stiff.

"I uh... I was wondering if you had any extra headphones I could borrow."

Lance's voice and eyes were steady. "Don't like thunder?"

Keith shook his head. Lance sighed, turning to look outside again. "I think thunderstorms are gorgeous," he said softly. He looked to Keith again and moved closer to the window, opening up space beside him on the mattress. He patted the spot he'd made- an invitation.

Keith slowly approached the bed, then sat down beside Lance, keeping his distance and nearly falling off the bed as he tried to keep as much space between them as possible. Lance laughed quietly, snaking an arm around Keith's waist and pulling him closer until they sat, shoulder-to-shoulder, their thighs and knees pressed together.

A slow, shaky exhale left Keith's lips. He clenched his hands to fists. Lance was too close, the smell of his sweat and shampoo surrounding Keith, taunting him with attraction.

"Sometimes, you just need to see things from a different angle," Lance whispered, his gaze steady as he looked at Keith. His eyes were dark and unintelligible. Keith didn't know what to do so he froze, still and quiet, watching Lance's every moment.

Ever so slowly, Lance lifted his hands to Keith's face, bringing them up to the sides of his head. Then, he gently pressed the heels of his palms to Keith's ears, muffling sound. Lance never broke eye contact but Keith was having trouble keeping control of himself as Lance's fingers spread and sunk into his hair.

He couldn't help it- a small, low sound escaped his mouth and he closed his eyes, primal and vulnerable as he focused on nothing but the feel of Lance's warm hands anchoring him, securing him. He was safe from the storm and the thunder it brought.

Before he could open his eyes, he felt Lance's lips brush his own, barely a kiss, barely anything but a whisper of a touch. His eyes flew open and nearly jumped back- Lance's face was so close, too close. His dark, gorgeous eyes met Keith's and a tiny smile spread over his lips. Keith couldn't hear anything beyond his own heartbeat.

Lance let his hands fall to Keith's shoulders and sound returned to the world, Lance looking over his shoulder at the rain beating softly at his window. When he turned back, Keith met him, kissing him for real this time.

The storm didn't matter anymore.