Chapter Text
***
Keith Kogane was 21 - physically 19, if we didn’t take into consideration how he spent two years ahead on the back of a space whale - when he ended up travelling into the future for the sake of an alliance and ‘a future’.
He had grown into his role as the black paladin, and he managed to learn a lot from his mother during those two years spent on the back of the whale. Plus…
Plus, he had his sharpshooter as his right-hand man.
Right. Lance.
The aliens they were dealing with this time around were very sensitive about who they involved themselves with. Matter of fact, the only reason they allowed Voltron to land was because they sensed a daunting future from someone who was boarding it, and felt the need to try to fix it.
The aliens introduced themselves as Asrians, and the team exchanged hesitant looks with each other as they followed the Asrian’s queen into the palace at the center of the city.
It was only when Coran noticed the numerous clocks and various - presumably - time-measuring units that Keith had totally no clue about did the Altean remembered about an alien race that wasn’t open to any sort of communication outside of their planet, preferring to be amongst themselves in fear of bad omens from visitors.
“Whatever it was that they saw that they let us land, must be very dire, I fear.” Coran finished his hushed recap as the group walked closely with each other, chancing glances around here and there and a bit nervous as they could feel the Asrians staring at them with various emotions.
Of course, because Keith was the black paladin, he was the closest one walking behind the queen, straining his ears a little to listen to Coran’s barely audible and rushed explanation.
Of course, right beside him was Lance, the red paladin and his right-hand man.
The red paladin nudged him by his elbow and prompted him to turn to look.
There’s a reassuring and a bit lopsided smile on Lance’s lips, kept discreet and almost secretive as he whispered to the black paladin.
“Hey, don’t frown.”
To make his point, Lance pinched Keith’s cheek, forced the black paladin’s lips to tug into a smile a little, and then grinned a tiny but wider.
“You’re the leader, Keith. I don’t think the Asrians would appreciate having their first guest after a long while frowning.”
Who was Keith to disagree, really?
From the corner of Keith’s eyes, he noticed the queen glancing at them at Lance’s words, but the black paladin did not pay much attention to that in favor of focusing on the red paladin.
Pushing away Lance’s hand lightly, the red paladin easily pulled his hand away, while Keith toned down his frown and expressed worriedly.
“Well, just- I’m just worried.”
“About what?”
“I mean. Coran said one of us - if not more - had a future that was so dire, that these guys felt the need to intervene to make it right.” Keith started, eyebrows furrowed instinctively as he continued, “I’m just… what future was so dire that they had to step in? They never bothered to mingle with anyone even before Zarkon’s reign started, and what could be more dire than Zarkon’s eternal empire?”
Lance looked like he was about to crack a joke, but he didn’t get to do so when the queen abruptly stopped in her steps, causing everyone else to stop as silence instantly filled the room before she spoke rather ominously.
“An opportunity and untapped potential left unexplored is most dire than anything else, Black Paladin of Voltron.”
Elegantly, the queen turned to look at them, her eyes that were akin to a clock, two thin slits in her pupils, moved tick after tick and for every blink, reassessed the two paladins at the front of the group before she paid the whole group attention.
“Time is not to be messed with,” she claimed, voice booming loud in the otherwise silent palace.
It was almost as if time had stopped just to make way for her to speak.
Keith had seen how the aliens here treated their queen, with utmost reverence and loyalty. Some even looked like they worshipped her.
Frankly, it disturbed Keith a little, but he was on an alien planet, and this would probably not be the most disturbing thing he would find.
Behind Keith and Lance were Allura and Pidge - which was why Keith could hear loud and clear the hesitation yet determination in Pidge’s voice when she cleared her throat.
“Uh. Your Majesty. If time is not to be messed with, then why did you claim that something must be done to intervene with our… dire future? Isn’t that a contradiction to the ‘time must not be messed with’ statement?” The green paladin asked the question everyone in the team had out loud.
For a moment too long, the queen stared long and hard at Pidge, and just when Keith was debating whether he should ‘apologise’ for his teammate, the queen spoke once again.
“The past, if altered, will have an impact on the future, no matter how small the change is.
Someone from the future, travelling back into the past, will be too focused on what has happened in their future to be able to focus on the flow of time of the past.
Getting a glimpse of the future, and returning to the past or point in time that leads to the future to change it, will cause more damage than good, as the effect is immediate.
Getting a glimpse of the future and returning to present time, however, is one that my subjects and I believe is the best way to learn before it’s too late.
Some futures are unavoidable, some futures are satisfactory, some futures are disappointing. However…
Some future is left to collect dust.
This is what we fear the most.”
The queen turned to look at the clocks lining the wall, prompting the team to look, too.
“To see a potential be buried in the ground, far from the light where it could fester and shine, is a pain I couldn’t simply ignore, especially knowing how you are the universe’s defenders. Those as noble as all of you should be allowed a meaningful and fully-explored future and life.”
When the queen turned to look at them, Keith noticed the way her eyes flickered and remained on Lance, and the black paladin flinched when she caught him staring, expression remained unreadable as she seemed to be appraising the half-Galra.
“Black Paladin.” She called.
Keith stood straighter, unable to take his eyes off hers and broke eye contact.
“Yes?”
“It has to be you.” She declared, taking a step forward towards Keith before she repeated, “It has to be you.”
As if held hostage by her words, Keith’s lips couldn’t move, but his teammates were fortunately sharp enough to see his struggle.
“It has to be him for what?” Allura asked, confidently returning the queen’s gaze when she took her eyes off Keith.
“It is he who will be able to make sure all seeds bear fruit. It is he who will be able to make the flowers bloom and the rain to fall and seep into the ground, coaxing anything underneath to rise above ground and bask where it belongs.” The queen answered, cryptid and, in all honesty, sounded a lot like a bunch of gibberish in Keith’s ears.
Lance, of course it would be Lance, was brave enough to speak his mind.
“Uh, sorry, Your Majesty, but I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
When the queen turned to look at Lance, the red paladin straightened up, lips kept into a forced serious line as he met gaze with the queen’s.
“Your leader needs to see what is stored for the future.” She said. “He will know best what is amiss, and he will see what is to be done.”
Still no idea.
Not waiting for a reply or question, the queen abruptly turned around and continued walking, surprising the team as they scrambled to suddenly start moving and keep up with the queen’s sudden and much quicker footsteps.
“It will be a short ceremony for us, but a long journey for your leader.” The queen said as they walked, calling over a few maids and whispering orders before the maids quickly made haste to do whatever it was the queen had said.
“A ceremonial drink will be prepared for your leader, and he will be asleep for four vargas. The rest of you, including the others who aren’t with us at the moment, will be treated with generous hospitality. Fret not if it is your safety that you are worried about, as our planet has been out of the Galras' reach for as long as it has existed.
Take this chance to recharge your lions and rest - before continuing your journey to free the universe from any threats including Galras.”
By the end of her words, they finally reached a hall, a long table with chairs and some doors along the walls that presumably led to smaller rooms for them all to rest in.
It looked as if she was planning to just leave after saying her piece, but Lance spoke up before she could.
“How about Keith?” The red paladin blurted, tongue twisting a little to get some elaboration to his question out of his mouth, “I mean- if he’s- we will get to rest for four vargas, sure. But- but Keith- why is his journey long again?”
The queen quietly stared at Lance for a moment.
“…in those four hours, your leader would be in the future.
However, time will undeniably flow differently for him in the future. Four vargas in the present may be… a week in the future. Or a month. Hence, the long journey.”
“Well, wouldn’t that be unfair for Keith, then? ‘Cause we all got to rest for four hours, and then he had to just immediately start piloting the black lion as soon as he woke up?” Lance questioned, somehow surprisingly very pressed.
A small part of Keith supplied that perhaps Lance was just a tad bit more worried for his well-being than the others’. (It was a selfish yet nice thought. One that Keith would probably keep only to himself for the rest of his life.)
“Of course, if asked or requested after he awakened, we would be… honoured to extend your stay here, if only for the sake of the universe.” The queen quickly replied, as if she had seen the question coming and had the answer prepared at the tip of her tongue.
As if on cue, Lance turned to look at Keith just when the black paladin was looking at the red paladin, and Keith tried really hard not to make it too obvious that he was a little taken aback by the intensity of the concern in Lance’s eyes.
Putting on a sheepish smile, Keith shrugged.
“I’ll let you all know if I need a break.”
It didn’t really have the desired effect.
“When do you ever tell us if you need a break?” Lance countered, the immediate agreeing quips from their other teammates not painting Keith in such a good light.
Only after Lance said that he would be the judge if Keith needed a break or not was the queen finally allowed to leave, having seen that her guests were getting comfortable.
“Your meals will be prepared in a few ticks at the table. For now, all of you may rest in the rooms through the doors in this hall. Your other friends that you had arrived with will be guided here, too.” The queen had explained before wishing them a good rest.
By the time Shiro, Krolia, Romelle, Kattlenacker, Kosmo, and the mice were guided there, the table was set up, and everyone immediately started digging in.
Keith had to explain again about the ceremony he would be doing, and they all agreed that at least they were getting an alliance out of this.
It wouldn’t hurt to have an ally that would be able to somewhat see the future - even though they had no clue how the Asrians were doing it and to what extent they could do it.
At some point, while Keith was lost in thought and was simply eating whatever it was on his plate, a hand was on his shoulder, and the black paladin looked to find Lance looking at him.
“You okay?” Lance asked, concerned and all.
The black paladin shrugged, a little stiff as he didn’t want Lance to take his hand away.
“I mean. I guess. It’s just four vargas.” Keith said, unsure himself of what he was feeling.
Unexpectedly, Lance’s hand moved to lightly hold Keith’s hand, and the black paladin felt his breath hitching involuntarily as he looked at the red paladin, stunned and astonished.
“I got you covered, man.” Lance continued to reassure, smiling as he gave the hand in his a squeeze, “You just focus on whatever the future has in store for us. I will make sure everything’s okay here.”
Of course you would.
“I’ll leave you to that, then,” Keith replied, unable to stop the almost fond grin forming itself on his lips while Lance remained oblivious to it all, retracting his hand and giving the black paladin a thumbs up.
Looking around the table one last time, Keith decided that he should get a move on quickly - lest they end up taking too much time on this planet.
After excusing himself, Keith braced himself for the future he was about to find himself in.
***
Keith was by himself in his room, waiting for whoever Queen Masari would send to fetch him and talk to him about the ceremony, when there were knocks on his door.
When he opened his door, he was a little taken aback to find that almost everyone was there - with Hunk being the one to have knocked on the door with a huge comforting grin on his face.
“Hey, man.” Hunk greeted, him and the others entering the room and making themselves comfortable when Keith stepped aside to let them in.
The room was huge enough for it not to be too crowded despite the many people in the room.
Krolia remained standing, closer to Keith’s side along with Shiro. Pidge had seated herself on the couch in the room with Kosmo sitting beside her and resting her head on the green paladin’s lap affectionately.
Allura and Romelle occupied another sofa, Hunk a chair by a vanity, Coran standing by a window in the room, and Lance had casually taken a seat on the bed, posture relaxed but obviously focused on Keith.
They all were focused on Keith.
“Hey.” Keith greeted back for lack of other more creative responses.
The awkward reply got the room to break into snickers, and only then did Keith realise he had been a little tense this whole time, shoulders sagging once he told himself to be less rigid.
The sound of someone patting the bed grabbed Keith’s attention again, and when he looked, it was Lance who was immediately meeting his gaze as the red paladin beckoned.
“Don’t just stand there and look like you’re being sent to your death sentence,” Lance joked, earning himself another round of snorts and chuckles from the occupants of the room as he emphasised his request by tapping the spot beside him again, “Sit here, team leader. We gotta make sure that if you get cold feet, you won’t fall on your butt when you won’t be able to feel your legs.”
Somehow, it was those words that had Keith moving, rolling his eyes even as he took a seat beside Lance.
He may have miscalculated a little, and ended up sitting too close to the red paladin to the point that their shoulders kept on brushing against each other, but it would be too obvious if he adjusted.
So he tortured himself with the contact.
“You and your terrible taunts,” Keith complained, hands kept to himself on his lap while Lance’s body language was so open.
Unlike Keith who was tortured by the close contact, Lance seemed to flourish in it, even going as far as to loosely wrap an arm around the black paladin’s shoulders, pulling him close enough that Keith could smell the soap Lance probably had used after he had showered here in the palace.
They smelled the same, because they both showered using the soap provided here, duh, and it was a knowledge that Keith filed away in his head to properly think about later.
“Well, they worked, terrible taunts or not,” Lance grinned, cheeky and all.
Keith was pretty sure it wasn’t intentional, but the red paladin tilted his head, so their heads were nudging lightly against each other, and the almost adorable image that was painted in his head almost caused Keith to just end it all.
Fortunately, Lance was quick to grab Keith’s attention again. (Like the red paladin always could.)
“Plus, seriously, man. I was not kidding when I said you should stop frowning. See, even I am wondering if you’re uncomfortable or just mad at me.”
Someone in the room, Pidge, scoffed, and both the black and the red paladins turned to look at the girl when she said her piece.
“Please, Lance. What kind of guy nuzzles a friend that he thinks is mad at him?”
Lance squawked, offended, and as much as a part of Keith mourned the loss of contact when the red paladin retreated, a larger part of him was more glad that he didn’t have to focus on not being weird about the physical contact.
“I was not nuzzling Keith!” Lance huffed, earning an eye roll from the green paladin while Allura was the one who ended up quipping.
“Well, not to be a bully, but you obviously did, Lance.” She claimed, giggling a little before she added fondly, “But I find that very kind of you. Perhaps the action was spurred because you are simply worried for Keith and wanted to comfort him one way or another. I think it’s adorable.”
Lance, seeing the opportunity, put on his usual exaggeratedly charming smile as he made finger guns her way.
“Adorable enough for you to, say, be charmed?”
Just for an extra effect, Lance winked, and Allura ended up rolling her eyes at him in fondness while everyone else in the room groaned on her behalf. (Keith may have faked his groan, because he genuinely found the whole thing adorable too, just as Allura did, but no one really had to know that.)
The relaxed atmosphere that had enveloped the room was shattered when knocks could be heard on the door, and in came Queen Masari with another alien carrying a drink on a tray, presumably the one who would be helping them with the ceremony.
The queen’s eyes swept around the room, lingering on Lance, before she turned to look at Keith.
“Have you prepared yourself?”
Hunk chuckled nervously, prompting everyone to turn to look at him while the yellow paladin cowered a little under everyone’s gaze.
“Uh. I mean. Don’t mind me. Just getting a little nervous for my friend here.” He said awkwardly.
Shiro saw that as his chance to speak.
“Are there… preparations that needed to be done?”
The queen regarded Shiro with a small shake of her head, hands clasped as she made a beeline to stand at an arm’s length from Keith and Lance.
“Merely of the mind and the steely resolve. Nothing physical or can be seen with the eyes.” She said, eyes darting back to Keith like clockwork.
“So are you ready?” She asked the black paladin.
With nothing else to stall, Keith nodded, and the queen finally signalled the alien carrying the tray to come forward, placing the tray on the small drawer beside the bed.
“Make yourself comfortable, Black Paladin.” The queen instructed, the cue for Lance to stand up, and was about to back away to make space for the queen when the said queen placed a hand on the red paladin’s shoulder, stopping him from moving further away.
“Remain by my side, Red Paladin.” She said, her voice a touch softer than the entire time she had used it ever since they landed on the planet.
Keith wasn’t sure if that observation was easily made because it was obvious, or because he had grown accustomed to paying too much attention when it came to Lance.
As instructed, Lance remained by the queen’s side, looking a little befuddled - but was quick enough to switch up to a reassuring expression and give Keith a thumbs up when he caught the black paladin looking.
If there was one thing that Keith liked about being the black paladin, it would probably be how the tense and usually full of only bickering interactions between him and Lance had changed into interactions fueled with equal amounts of reassurance and healthy bantering.
(Perhaps it was one of his, if not most, favourite changes.)
“Keep in mind that there is a difference between a future that is set in stone and a future that is left unexplored, Black Paladin.” The queen said, picking up the glass of drink from the tray and holding it as she continued, “My subject here, Saati, will be able to monitor your actions from here. If necessary, she will interfere, not physically, but there will be signs. It will be in your best interest to do as she instructed, lest the future will take notice of your anomaly and interfere with the ceremony of bringing you back to the present.”
Saati, having been called upon, nodded at the queen’s words and bowed her head, turning to the chair Hunk’s sitting on and sheepishly gesturing that she needed the chair.
Of course, Hunk quickly understood and helped her bring the chair to the bedside.
She thanked Hunk and took a seat, accepting the drink when the queen gave her the drink and drinking half of its contents.
“Unlike you, Saati will be able to wake up and ‘see’ your future as she pleases, as our kind has an affinity and is blessed with the capability to do so.” The queen supplied, taking the drink back from Saati as the girl closed her eyes and relaxed on the chair, body glowing a little as she fell deep in sleep.
Holding the drink still, the queen turned to look at Keith again.
“The rules are simple.” She said, eyes darting to a clock on the wall before she looked back at Keith, “Unlike the past, no matter what you do in the future, the past will not be affected. You will be.
All you have to do is observe the future, pinpoint where and when the potential ended up buried forever, and return to stop the same from occurring in your future.
There is no point in changing the future you will see, for that is already set in stone. Observe what has bloomed and grown, find the root, and leave the future to flourish on its own.
For beauty is subjective, and perhaps there is someone beyond our time that sees an incompressible perfection in the future we deemed unexplored.”
With those words, Queen Masari held the drink out to Keith, and, for a moment, the black paladin stared at the drink in genuine wonder.
Was it really a good idea to just leave his team behind like this?
Keith hadn’t noticed when Krolia had stood by his bedside, but when he did, his mother was already holding him by the shoulder reassuringly, and the black paladin noticed that the queen had made room so that the Galra could stand beside him properly.
“We’ll be fine, Keith. I’ll be here to make sure of it.” His mother reassured, squeezing Keith’s shoulder to comfort her sole son.
For a moment, Keith wondered if it was possible that it was his mother whose future was dire.
But his gut said ‘no’, and he had always been one to rely on his gut to survive at the very core.
Krolia pulled him into a short half hug, and only when they broke apart did Keith feel a little better.
“I know you will, Mom.” He said, certain.
With a sharp inhale, Keith swallowed the remaining contents of the drink, and was adjusted to lie down comfortably on the bed, head already spinning and accompanied by an ache he couldn’t quite ignore.
Everyone was crowding his bed, but his eyes latched on a vague silhouette of Lance, and he felt the lopsided smile stretch itself on his lips instinctively as he murmured, words slurring and tongue numbing.
“Take care of the team for me, Lance.”
Keith didn’t get to hear Lance’s response.
***D0***
When Keith had opened his eyes, he was in a jet.
A Galra jet.
Or, well, Blade of Marmora jet.
Despite the pounding headache, he didn’t miss the way his body obviously had more muscles and was broader than he remembered. (He wasn't sure how far into the future he was, but it must've been years.)
He was in a Blade of Marmora uniform.
It was a relatively small jet. A jet that future Keith seemed to have grown accustomed to, judging from how everything was arranged and cluttered in just the way he liked it.
The black paladin took a moment to look around, realized the jet wasn’t even flying, and came to the conclusion that he had landed somewhere.
At least he didn’t need to worry about getting lost in the middle of nowhere, then.
Grabbing a nearby water bottle, Keith chugged half of its contents, feeling unexplainably parched, and sighed a little in content once his throat was no longer dry.
Only when he could feel his limbs did he stand up, start rummaging around his jet, and was… surprised by what he found.
Pictures. There were a lot of them.
Most of them were just pictures of scenery, captured throughout his adventures in space, he assumed.
There were familiar faces - older, but familiar. Yes, he was definitely some years into the future. Three to five years, maybe? Judging from how everyone he knew had looked in the picture, anyway. There were also faces that weren’t familiar.
Some had dates written on them, some didn't.
Keith couldn’t help but notice that in the very few pictures he had of himself, he looked… happy. Content.
It was, perhaps, everything he had wished for.
He had been afraid of never feeling belonged. Afraid of not being able to find a purpose in a universe so big. Afraid of getting lost among the stars that shone endlessly in the sky and in the darkness that came with space.
But here he was, in the pictures, smiling.
There were pictures of older him with almost everyone: with Hunk at what looked like a banquet, holding up a plate of some food that Keith was sure was Hunk’s doing. With Pidge at what looked like the Garrison, the woman presumably having just finished picking apart a Galra jet judging from the jet he could see behind them.
Coran appeared in a few pictures, too. Keith felt as if he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what seemed to be Altean technology built that was not the Castle of Lions.
That must have meant something. Perhaps they managed to find a way to rebuild Altea.
Keith raised a hand, feeling drawn to a certain picture. A picture of a field of flowers that looked a lot like those flowers that Allura often talked about when she reminisced about Altea.
His hand lingered there, as if he could feel the texture of the flowers if his touch lingered long enough.
But then he spotted other pictures.
Pictures of him with Shiro, of course. Shiro was by far the person who appeared most often in his pictures, occasionally accompanied by another man.
Both men had rings worn on their ring fingers, and Keith’s heart fell when he realized it wasn’t Adam.
It’s not like Keith didn’t recognise the man wearing the ring. Curtis: a man the black paladin had seen around the Garrison a couple of times before he dropped out.
But as far as Keith had remembered, Adam and Shiro were still…
Thoughts and speculations were running wild in his head, but before they could spiral out of control, he noticed a lone picture, creased and as if older him often looked at, held, and stared at.
It belonged to a familiar back.
Keith couldn’t see Lance’s face like this, but the red paladin looked…
Keith wanted to see Lance’s face.
The Cuban was standing in a field of juniberry flowers, and the sun was setting, and the picture was beautiful.
Just beautiful.
(It would have been breathtaking if Keith could get at least a glimpse of the Cuban’s radiant smiles.)
The black paladin hadn’t realized he was already holding onto the picture, holding onto it like it was sacred - well, until he almost dropped it, of course.
There’s a sudden sound that sounded a lot like when he got a notification on a phone, and when Keith looked to find the source of the sound, he blinked owlishly at the phone on the jet’s console.
Granted, it would make sense if he had a phone, considering how this was in the future. Still.
What he couldn’t believe, however, was that his messaging app had messages in it.
They weren't just a few. There were quite a lot.
Looked like he was better at making friends in the future, then.
Keith chanced a glance at the wall of pictures, looking around for more pictures of Allura and Lance, only to frown when he realized there really were no other pictures of them.
(Not even pictures of everyone celebrating during Lance and Allura’s wedding.
Keith was sure - Keith was sure that they would’ve been good for each other.)
His phone buzzed again, demanding his attention, and Keith haphazardly tucked the photo of Lance into a pocket of the suit, muscle memory kicking in to look for the pocket.
The black paladin moved to get his phone, picking it up and was reminded of the pictures he had of… certain half-Galras.
It was a group chat, consisting of himself, Acxa, Zethrid, and Ezor.
Funnily enough; their group chat was the most active, judging from the numerous messages still coming in.
Keith read through the messages quickly, scrolling up and up and realising a certain few unbelievable things.
By the time he was scrolling back downwards, he came to a few conclusions.
The biggest, and most concerning conclusion, however, was the one thing he swore he would keep under lock and key.
“I told them about Lance,” Keith murmured, disbelieving and in shock.
Well, it’s not Keith telling them, actually.
It was more like all they had to do was look, and they immediately clocked him.
Shit.
Maybe this wasn’t such a great future after all.
Reading the most recent messages, Keith felt like knocking his head on the wall.
Ezor was going on and on about congratulating him, saying how they’ve been working so hard the past few months so that Keith could get the vacation he deserved.
“The vacation at Lance’s place that he deserves,” Zethrid added in the group chat, teasing as she spammed emojis that Keith was too stunned to make sense of.
Shit.
Shit.
This was so unfair to older Keith.
Keith tugged on his hair a little frantically, surprised by the softness of it, but was too distracted to pay that much attention.
Acxa sent a message into the group, asking if Keith was getting cold feet because Veronica said she still hadn’t seen the black paladin, and that was Keith’s cue to panic. Actually panic. (He remembered Lance telling him about an older sister named Veronica. Are Veronica and Acxa friends in the future???)
The group chat started to be spammed with messages, and then suddenly there was the sound of laughter and rushed footsteps outside, familiar laughter and a familiar voice, and then suddenly someone was rapidly knocking on his jet as if they wanted to break down the jet.
“Keith!” The voice called out, breathless and fond and affectionate and everything that Keith had dreamt of to hear from the voice.
Emotions were leaking from the voice and from its words, unabashed and almost as if the owner of it wasn’t capable of keeping everything behind the dam, so much emotion that they were overflowing.
“Long journey, huh?!” Lance called out from the other side, voice breathless from presumably running as he continued, “So when are you going to come out here and see your best friend already?!”
As if drawn and hypnotised, Keith walked towards the jet’s exit, a hand tentatively placed on it as his heart hammered and hammered.
‘Best friend’.
Lance called him his ‘best friend’.
Keith suppressed a too wide smile, happy that he was at least still a part of Lance’s future, somewhat.
Maybe he hung out with Lance so often, that older Keith didn’t find the need to take pictures.
Yes - that must be it.
With that in mind, Keith opened the jet, prepared himself to see him.
Whatever it was Keith had expected to find, it was never this.
Lance.
Lance, smooth and sun-kissed skin, looking almost glowing with the sun setting as a backdrop, a radiant smile on his lips directed to Keith.
Only for Keith.
Distantly, Keith knew Lance was still talking, mouth moving to say the words and all.
But Keith, for the life of him, could only focus on the Cuban’s lips instead of the words out of the said lips.
The Cuban was close, as he had been standing there by the exit this entire time, so they were only an arm’s length away from each other, and he’s so captivating and free and happy and-
-and the Altean marks on his skin were glowing a soft blue hue, and he looked out of this world and-
There was a warning ringing in the back of his mind that sounded foreign, like a voice he had never heard before. But Keith paid such ringing no mind, just as Veronica - he assumed it was Veronica since Acxa mentioned the human in their group chat - appearing in the corner of his vision was not properly processed in his mind.
Emotions swirling in his chest and heart, Keith surged forward for his heart for the first time in his life.
Hands surged forward to cup the other’s face in his hands.
(‘I’m content with just being friends with him’, Keith remembered saying to himself - convincing himself.)
Keith pulled.
(‘How hard could it be to keep your feelings under wraps? I’ve been doing that for years. What’s a life?’ Keith remembered telling himself repetitively as he watched Lance flirt with some aliens, internally wishing that it was he who was sweeping the other of his feet.)
When their lips met, all words and sound from Lance died and were replaced with a surprised squeak.
It was when Keith felt how Lance’s breath hitched did he finally snapped out of it.
See, when Keith abruptly put his hands on Lance’s shoulders and pushed him away, hands remaining on those shoulders even after they were apart, a few things were processing simultaneously in his head.
The warning ringing? That was definitely Saati.
The surprised but distant gasp? That was definitely Veronica.
The man standing in front of him - with a confused but flustered expression written all over his face - whom Keith had idiotically kissed?
Lance.
That was definitely Lance.
Head struggling to form any coherent sentences, let alone a believable excuse that would be able to excuse the fact that Keith had just fucking kissed Lance, he ended up blurting the only thing that he felt would make sense to say when greeting an old friend.
“Hi.”
This was going to be a disaster.
***TBC***