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It was the hottest day of the year in Camp Half-Blood and by the gods could Keith feel it. It felt like laser rays were beaming down and burning his sensitive pale skin to a crisp. He should probably be in the shade and/or put on sun cream but that was a problem for future Keith. Present Keith was too stubborn to move and too proud to admit he was already halfway to heatstroke.
Activities had been halted for the day in favour of everyone hanging out at the lake; which is how Keith ended up with stones poking into his ass whilst stacking stones into a tower while his friends played in the lake. They had offered for him to join but Keith had declined.
Hunk and Pidge were having a water fight, and somehow, Pidge was winning. How she was doing that beats Keith. He means, have you seen the size of Hunk? Lance had been partaking but had seemingly decided to dry off as he was walking out of the water, his bare feet undoubtedly pained by the little rocks he was stepping on and water droplets cascading down his sun-kissed shoulders and torso.
If Keith was a stronger man (which he wasn’t) he would have at least tried to focus on his stone pillar, but that was very hard when the boy in front of him was shaking his hair dry in slow motion like he was straight out of a cologne advert or something. Was Lance sure that he was Poseidon’s son? He had to have some Aphrodite blood in him with how gorgeous he was.
Keith shook himself out of the trance he was in and resumed stacking his tower higher by searching for the next stone. Suddenly, a voice cut through the tranquil atmosphere Keith had built for himself by sitting away from the rest of the crowd. He definitely didn’t almost jump out of his skin.
"Whatcha building there, mullet?" Lance asked, still dripping water like a wet dog. Keith looked up to meet his eyes and somehow Lance had positioned himself perfectly so that the blazing son framed his face like a halo. He looked almost angelic, not that Keith would ever admit that in front of him.
"A monument to my suffering," He deadpanned, placing another stone on top, holding still as it shook shakily before settling.
“Funny. You're gonna fry out here," Lance pointed out, turning to look at the sun while shielding his eyes before turning back to look at Keith, “Seriously, your skin's already looking kinda... lobster-adjacent." He gestured to his torso, grimacing.
“Maybe I want to burn.” Keith shrugged, crossing his legs and leaning back, ignoring the painful stabs of his hands pressing into the rocks. Lance chuckled, shaking his head and pushing his wet curls out of his face.
“Join us, I need a partner to have a water fight with Hunk and Pidge?” He extended a hand, smiling gently, and Keith felt his chest tighten. Lance always smiled like that—soft, unguarded—and it made Keith want to do stupid things, like trust him. Or kiss him. Or both.
Knowing the others, said water fight would include Lance on his shoulders with a water gun, shooting at Pidge and Hunk. In the lake. Which included Keith swimming. See, there was a little problem with that.
“No.” Keith huffed.
“Please?” Lance pleaded, his impossibly blue eyes shining brightly and widely, like a vast ocean that Keith wanted to get lost in. That was also a problem. Keith swiftly looked down to the floor, picking up another stone to distract himself.
“I’m fine here with my rock tower,” Keith grumbled, chucking said stone to the side when he deemed it not good enough.
“Please?” Lance insisted, practically begging with his hands clasped together.
“You’re not going to win me over.” He definitely wasn't, considering the fact that Keith couldn’t–
“Huh.” Lance dropped his arm to his side, tilting his head slightly in concentration before his eyes widened comically. “Oh, I get it—You can’t swim!” He said it like he’d just solved the biggest mystery in the world.
Keith tensed up, cheeks flushing before he could stop them. “What? No— I totally can.” He shook his head quickly, the words tumbling out defensively. It wasn’t like he couldn’t swim; he just… hadn’t ever learned. Not properly. Not that Lance needed to know that.
Lance’s laugh rang out, bright and carefree, like sunshine on water. Keith tried not to stare. He failed.
“Gods, that is hilarious! Big, tough, son of Ares Keith can’t swim!” Lance wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, still giggling, his face scrunched up in a way that made Keith’s heart feel weird and unfamiliar, almost a fluttering sensation.
Keith whipped his head around to make sure no one else was listening. The last thing he needed was the rest of camp knowing– he had a reputation to maintain. “I can ,” he hissed, glaring his signature glare—but it wasn’t a real glare. Not really.
Lance just rolled his eyes and grinned at him, and Keith felt like he might actually melt on the spot, reputation be damned. “Yeah? And I’m the daughter of Athena!” He shot back sarcastically.
“Shut it.” Keith gritted out, his face was growing warmer by the second. He hoped that Lance couldn’t tell that his face being red was not his sunburn. It wasn’t Keith’s fault, there weren't a lot of bodies of water in rural Texas. Okay, yes, there were pools but Keith would be caught dead before getting into one of those. Gross.
"No shame in admitting it, Mullet! Swimming is an art . It’s okay that not everyone can master it." Lance teased, hands on his hips and a stupidly kissable grin on his face. Gods, what is with Keith mentioning kissing Lance today? He inwardly groaned, why did he have to be so attractive and why did Keith have to be so single?
Lance lit up, and if this was a cartoon Keith swore he would have seen a light bulb appear above his head. "Lucky for you, I, Lance, son of Poseidon and professional lover boy, am also an amazing swimming instructor." He gestured to himself, bowing slightly and gaping as Keith rolled his eyes. “No, seriously! Before this place, I spent my summers by the side of the pool teaching little kids to swim!”
“Good for you–” Keith sighed, ready to go back to his rock tower before he felt a tight grasp on his arm, “Hey, let go!” He practically screeched, trying to break free but Lance was surprisingly strong. The other boy dragged Keith up onto his feet and started guiding them to the water's edge. Keith tried to drag his feet but that was very difficult and painful with the rocky shore.
“No can do, Kogane. You’re coming with me!” Lance exclaimed determinedly, obviously on a mission to get Keith into the water.
“Lance!” Keith said in exasperation, trying to drag himself back to his little corner. He was not in the mood to make a fool of himself today.
“C’mon! Live a little!”
“I'm warning you—" They were getting dangerously close to the water, he could feel the waves cascading over his toes. Keith gulped. This was a terrible idea.
"Warning me with what? Your very intimidating, very dry, very weapon related powers?” He laughed—bright and unbothered, and okay, maybe it was a little cute, not that Keith had time to appreciate it.
Because in the next moment, Lance darted behind him and shoved .
Keith went down like a sack of bricks, face-first into the freezing lake.
He surfaced with a sputtering gasp, black hair plastered to his forehead and water stinging his eyes. He flailed for a second like an idiot. Swiftly, Lance joined him and grabbed ahold of Keith so he didn’t drown. Keith gripped onto Lance’s shoulders like they were a lifeline, which they sort of were.
“LANCE, JESUS CHRIST!” He shouted, wiping his soaked black hair out of his face, losing balance and gripping onto Lance harder. The water was icy cold despite the fact it was at least one hundred degrees outside , apparently, it was unaffected.
“Wrong religion buddy,” Lance giggled, holding under Keith’s ribs to add extra security but it was useless as Keith kept thrashing his legs, trying to stay afloat. “Okay, I know you like to fight anything that can move but you gotta relax.” Lance sighed, smiling softly.
“I am relaxed!” Keith gritted out, clearly not relaxed. His hands were locked rigidly around Lance’s shoulders, knuckles white with tension. Keith looked anywhere but at Lance because if he did he thought he would die right there of embarrassment. Lance raised a brow, the ghost of a smile tugging at his lips, but his voice was light, teasing.
“The bruises that are going to show up on my shoulders later say otherwise.”
“I am relaxed,” Keith repeated, more forcefully this time, as if saying it would somehow make it true. But his grip didn't loosen.
“The water isn’t going to swallow you up,” Lance said, softer now, his tone shifting as he dipped his head trying to meet Keith’s gaze.
“I wish it would.” Keith deadpanned, jaw tight, eyes trained somewhere over Lance’s shoulder into the blue depths surrounding them.
“Not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be.”
There was a pause, the lake suddenly feeling too still. Lance’s brows furrowed, just a little.
“Please… just trust me, Keith?” Lance asked, squeezing his grip on Keith to emphasise that he wasn’t going anywhere. This was the same guy who couldn’t go the week without ending up in the medic cabin, so screw him if he was a little hesitant– even if water was this guy's forte, being the son of Poseidon and all.
“That’s asking a lot.” Keith teased, before realising that that might not have been the right response, seeing as Lance was trying to be sincere, so he amended with an “Okay.”
Lance huffed, but his grin slowly crept back onto his face, “Jee thanks.” He rolled his eyes before moving to glance at Keith once again. A wobbly grin spread across his face, and if Keith had to admit it, it was kind of goofy– but it looked good on Lance. Everything looked good on Lance.
“Okay, step one: stop looking like you’re about to be executed,” Lance laughed softly, bobbing up and down in the water, creating soft ripples that collided with the ripples that Keith created. Keith had his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, even though Lance was doing all of the work, and he guessed that translated to a solemn look. Figures.
“Easy for you to say, swimming extraordinaire,” Keith muttered, clinging just a little tighter to Lance’s shoulders as the water shifted beneath them.
“Is that a compliment?” Lance asked, clearly delighted, his brows lifting in a playful challenge.
“I swear if you drop me.”
“I’m not gonna let go Keith ,” Lance promised, voice softer now, more grounded. He gave a reassuring squeeze to Keith’s waist. “You are in like, five feet of water. Worst comes to worst you… could just stand up.” He chuckled awkwardly, causing Keith to look down into the water. Was he sure? It felt way deeper.
“It seems deeper– are you tricking me?”
Lance spluttered dramatically in an offended tone, “What? No, I am not tricking you!” He laughed brightly, “Who do you take me for?”
“You literally swapped my shampoo for slime the other day.”
“It wasn’t slime,” Lance groaned, defending himself, “It was actual shampoo! Not that 100-in-1 stuff you use. An upgrade!” Lance removed his hands to do some jazz hands, which made Keith feel very unsupported and then move to cling harder on Lance.
“Alright, alright. Trust-building exercise. I promise I won’t let you drown. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a dagger in my eye—wait, no, don’t take that literally—” He resumed his grasp on Keith.
“I’m watching you, Blue.” They moved further out into the lake, drifting slowly.
“You can take a picture, it will last longer.” Lance winked before shaking his head, sighing “I’m sorry– force of habit. No tricks, just kick your legs.”
Keith slowly removed one hand from Lance’s shoulder so that he was less supported and began to follow his instructions. It was less than graceful, he was sure he looked like a drowning bug, thrashing and gasping whenever he went under the water.
“Look at that! You’re a natural.” Keith was not a natural. “You will be swimming in no time!” Keith was, in fact, still clinging onto Lance’s shoulders, so he wasn’t sure if it counted as swimming.
"If you say one more word about how I'm doing great, I might just drown myself." Keith gritted, using his foot to kick Lance’s shin, resulting in a yelp of pain– even if it wasn’t that harsh as his momentum was slowed by the water.
“What, compliments aren’t your thing? Tough crowd. I’m trying to be supportive here!” Lance was literally being supportive, if he was not there Keith would probably be at the bottom of the lake right now.
They stayed silent for a few moments as Keith got the hang of swimming, “You think you can let go now?” Lance asked encouragingly, breaking the silence.
“No.” Keith shot down quickly, his stubbornness shining through.
“Please? I’m sure you can do it.” Lance said gently, beginning to pry Keith’s iron grip from his shoulders one finger at a time. Keith stumbled slightly, his balance faltering in the water like a baby deer on ice. “Just let go and kick your legs. If it goes wrong I can grab you.” He reassured softly, his voice calm and honey sweet .
His arms skimmed across the water's surface awkwardly as he kicked his legs, stiff and unsure. Every nerve screamed that he was sinking. Was he sinking? It felt like he was sinking. But after a few seconds, he wasn’t at the bottom of the lake so he opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) and looked around. He was moving. Floating. Swimming. Keith was swimming. Keith was swimming! He looked at Lance with eyes wide in shock.
Lance lit up like a constellation, pride radiating off him in waves. His grin was so wide it looked like it almost hurt.
“See?” Lance exclaimed excitedly, gesturing to Keith’s unsure but broad strokes, “I told you nothing bad would happen.”
He had, and Keith hadn’t listened, but Keith wasn’t going to admit that he was right.
“You’re not so bad,” Keith said, trying to sound casual despite the adrenaline still buzzing in his limbs. He paused for a moment before he smirked cheekily “For a son of Poseidon.” He teased.
“I will drown you right here.” Lance shot back so quickly he was surprised he didn’t get whiplash, his face in a playful deadpan expression.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Maybe not.” Lance’s grin softened at the edges, turning something quieter, something honest. The water rippled around them as they drifted closer, buoyed by the gentle lake. “You’re not so bad yourself. When you aren’t threatening bodily harm or doing your closed off , broody routine.”
“I am not broody. ” Keith gaped, his face scrunching up in distaste– and then in pain when the salty water got into his eyes.
Lance laughed. It wasn’t fair—how effortlessly bright he was. That laugh—easy, genuine, like it bubbled straight from his chest—rippled across the lake like sunlight. It was the kind of sound that made people look. The kind that stuck in your head. His eyes squinted slightly from the force of his grin, and the water droplets clinging to his lashes sparkled like tiny stars.
Keith caught himself staring, his breath hitched in his throat. How could someone be so beautiful?
“What?” Lance looked at him, an eyebrow raised and a quizzical look in his eye.
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“You’re in the way.”
“Sure…” Lance chuckled softly, moving towards Keith in the water with grace, eyes flicking down to gaze at his lips. “Would you punch me if I kissed you?” He breathed out in a hushed tone, the screams of the other camper's shenanigans drowned out by the loud pulse thrashing through his head.
Keith gulped, moving closer till they were almost nose to nose. He just had to lean forward and they would be touching. “There’s only one way to find out.” Keith teased, trying to remain confident.
Lance’s gaze searched his face for a half-second longer, something nervous and electrifying flashing in his ocean-blue eyes— and then he leaned in, closing the distance.
The kiss was soft at first— a tentative press of lips against lips, cautiously as if testing the waters. Keith stiffened for half a second, he half expected Lance not to kiss him, then melted, gripping Lance’s arms like a lifeline till his knuckles were white.
Lance tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss and getting into a more comfortable position, his hand moving up to cup the side of Keith's jaw, his thumb stroking lightly along his cheekbone. Keith responded without thinking, pressing back hungrily as he gripped Lance’s hips, pulling him impossibly close, tasting sunlight and salty lake water and Lance and wanting more.
It wasn’t the most perfect kiss. It was wet and slippy and Keith’s mind was split by staying afloat and trying to savour every moment— every clash of teeth or weird angle. It was perfect to him.
They pulled away only when their lungs burned for air, faces flushed and noses still brushing, panting hot air into each other's faces. They stared at each other for a moment before smiles broke across their faces, big and wide and the type that made your cheeks ache.
“You didn’t punch me,” Lance whispered, a giddy, breathless smile blooming across his face. Water droplets beaded his eyelashes and dripped down his cheeks as he closed his eyes, “I must be a really good teacher.”
“Shut up,” Keith grumbled, leaning his head into the nape of Lance’s neck, but there was no heat behind it— just fondness.
Lance grinned, wicked and beautiful like he had been sent down from above to bless him and he was everything that Keith had ever wanted.
“Make me.” He grinned cheekily.
Keith didn’t hesitate this time. He surged forward, grabbing a fistful of Lance’s stupid dolphin swim trunks and yanking him into another kiss— messier, fiercer, more certain. Lance squeaked in surprise and Keith grinned against his mouth before resuming the kiss. They lost their balance, splashing down into the water together, laughing against each other’s mouths like they didn’t have a care in the world.
Keith thinks he could do just fine without his rock tower.