Close Quarters

Chapter Ten

Keith shivered in Lance's grip as his words registered with him. 'What if the items the alien gave us show Lance how I really feel?' He thought to himself. 'I'm not ready to lose him.'

Lance shifted Keith into his lap, sitting up to reach for the bite aid items. He pulled out the greges bands and turned his attention back to Keith.

"The alien said these would lessen the pain of the bite and create some sort of bond? I'm not entirely sure what that means but we won't find out until we try." Lance handed Keith a bracelet and slipped the other onto his wrist.

Keith took the bracelet and held it between his fingers before hesitantly slipping it onto his own wrist. Once the bracelet was on he was immediately hit by a wave of warmth that took his remaining pain away. Keith slumped in Lance's grip with relief.

"Woah." Lance exhaled. "I didn't realize the pain was that bad, Keith."

"What do you mean?" Keith questioned, hiding his face in Lance's shoulder.

"When you put the bracelet on, I could kind of feel the pain that you felt, but like a weird sixth sense, not actually feeling it. And then I felt when it washed away from you too." Lance's eyebrows scrunched in thought. "Is this what the alien meant by a bond being formed?"

Keith could feel small pieces of Lance's confused state and sighed quietly in relief when he realized the bracelets probably weren't strong enough to reveal much more than glimpses to the other person. "Yeah, I think it is." Keith responded.

The scrunch in Lance's eyebrows remained for a little longer before his eyes widened with an idea.

"Lance, what're you thin-" Keith was roughly shoved away from Lance before he could finish his thought.

Lance peeked over the edge of the bed to see an angry Keith glaring up at him. "What the hell was that for!" Keith exclaimed, shakily standing to his feet.

Lance shrugged. "I wanted to see how well the bracelets worked. Though based off what I feel from your side, I'd still need to hold your hand or something." Lance reaches over and grabbed Keith's hand again, tugging him back to the bed.

"So we've got that one out of the way. You ready to try the potion thing?" Lance questioned. Keith eyed the potion as he remembered what the alien said it would do.

Keith opened his mouth answer but Lance beat him to the punch. "What do you think the alien meant by show us the truth? I thought Coran said the bite could only be helped by the person closest to you." He stared and the potion as he shook it around.

Keith eyes widened as a thought popped into his head. What if Coran meant emotionally closest to you? Keith wasn't ready to tell something like that to Lance! How would he react? Would he go back to the awkward banter they had before this whole thing began? Keith could feel the tears well in his eyes as panic began to overtake him. Lance felt a sense of panic through his bracelet and returned his gaze to Keith, only to see the glistening in his eyes as he breathed rapidly.

"Woah, woah, woah. Keith, you need to calm down. It's okay, nothing is gonna happen. We'll wait to use the potion okay?" Lance shifted closer to where Keith had scooted away, opening his arms in an invitation. Keith quickly dove into Lance, latching his arms tightly around the taller boy. Keith buried his face into Lance's chest, breathing in the smell of Lance as he calmed down his breathing.

After a few minutes Keith looked up at Lance and spoke. "What if the potion reveals more than just the meaning of the bite? What if it is also like a truth serum of sorts?"

Lance thought for a minute before responding. "I never thought of it that way but maybe it could be." He picked up the potion again and shook it around. "Since the bracelets are working pretty well for now we can take it to Coran and have him analyze it?"

"I'd like to do that. We probably should've done that right off the bat just in case the alien gave us poison or something." Keith said, mentally slapping himself for not going through such precautions before.

Lance laughed as he felt Keith's self frustration cross over the bracelets. "Yeah, that probably would've been a good idea," He chuckled.

Keith stood up and pulled Lance with him, keeping a tight grip on the blue paladins' hand. "We can head to breakfast and then talk to Coran?" Keith suggested.

Lance took his hand out of Keith's and grabbed his shirt, throwing the other at Keith. "Great, cause I'm starving," Lance responded, throwing his arm around Keith's shoulders once he'd put his shirt on.

Keith blushed and looked away as Lance pulled him along and out of the room. Maybe he was wrong about the potion and it would just speed up the bites' effects. Keith pushed all thoughts of the potion from his mind as they headed towards the dining hall.

* * *

I am so so sorry about the late update and the lack of anything actually happening in this chapter. I promise there will be something a little more interesting in the next, though I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter.

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a vote if you liked it and a comment if there's something you want to see in the next ones!