Third time’s the charm
I blame @bittenred (not that I’m complaining lol)
Inspired by @magimagali ‘s amazing art:
http://bittenred.tumblr.com/post/178706387018/magimagali-seven-minutes-in-heaven
~~~~~~~~~~
“Everyone find a spot! Hunk scoot over. Lance! Could you grab my phone?”
He turned to where Pidge had motioned and grabbed her phone, joining the circle of his peers sitting on the floor. “Here ya go.” He said as he handed it over, his eyes flickered to her right, daring to glance at Keith while he was distracted.
He took a sip from his bottle, his neck shifting as he swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. Condensation glistened on his lower lip, and Lance watched, transfixed as Keith dragged his teeth across it to catch the droplets absentmindedly.
He’d gotten taller, and broader. Backpacking across Europe for the past year with his mom must have been a good workout.
“Lance, finish that bottle off so we can use it.”
Keith’s gaze, redirected by Allura’s comment, flickered over to Lance, their eyes met for a moment, but Lance looked away quickly, cheeks flushing at being caught staring.
He downed the last of his beer and set the bottle down on its side in the middle of their circle. “Alright, who’s first?”
“You might as well.”
He shrugged, needing something to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t keep looking at or thinking about Keith.
Reaching forward, he gave the bottle a good flick, watching as it spun around and around, slowing and finally stopping. On Keith.
The circle all cheered and hooted, laughing at the look on both young men’s faces.
“Time for a new rivalry, who’s the better kisser?” Hunk said between chuckles.
Lance shot an unamused look at his best friend, his cheeks flaming as he stretched across the circle and placed the quickest of kisses against Keith’s cheekbone. “There, who’s next?”
As the game continued around the circle, Lance chanced another quick glance at Keith, having avoided looking at him when he had kissed him, knowing he would have lost the nerve or done something stupid.
Keith was watching the game, laughing when Pidge kissed Allura’s nose. He had a flush of pink across his face, like the last hints of a sunset. It was probably just from the alcohol he had drunk.
“Okay Keith, your turn.”
He spun the bottle, body language relaxed, idly watching the light catch the glass as it slowed to a stop.
Lance felt his heart skip, staring at the neck of the bottle which was pointed directly at him. The noise of the others blurred into static as he lifted his gaze and met Keith’s across the circle. Why was he so hard to read? His expression was neutral, the only hint of what he was thinking being the slight downward angle of his left eyebrow. Also why did he have such great eyebrows? Lance Focus, you’re not in middle school.
“Second match means you’ve gotta kiss on the lips this time.”
Keith rolled his eyes at the giddy proclamation. “Whatever.”
“Whose idea was it to play this anyway?” Lance asked indignantly, his voice cracking slightly.
“Yours, now hurry up and kiss each other or you’ll have to do it French style.”
Lance spluttered, feeling his ears burn from the intensity of his blush. Before he could protest the rules, Keith had slid forward across the circle and pecked his lips, barely making contact before moving back to his seat.
Forgetting how to breathe for a few moments, Lance fought the urge to touch his lips, very very determined to avoid looking at Keith at all costs. Before he knew it it was his turn to spin again, and desperate for any kind of distraction, he spun.
If there were any gods out there, they either really loved him, or really really hated him.
“Third time! Time to play seven minutes in heaven!”
Lance couldn’t even hear what he was saying but he knew he was protesting, arguing the rules and trying to convince the others that they had agreed against the seven minutes in heaven rule.
Despite his best efforts, he and Keith ended up herded into the hallway closet and left alone in the dark.
“Forcing a guy back in the closet, not cool guys!” He called, pounding his fist against the door a few times for emphasis. Huffing, he turned around and let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, looking at Keith. “Sorry.”
He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “You know we don’t actually have to do anything in here, right? Just wait for the seven minutes to pass.”
Lance was grateful for the dim lighting so Keith couldn’t see him blushing. “I know that! Just...you know, everyone will talk.”
“Since when do you care what people think?”
“Well, I don’t really, just...I don’t know.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, then Keith spoke up. “Are you okay?”
Lance looked up, frowning slightly. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“Just, you seem...different.”
“Me? You’re the one who’s, you know, more-” He uncrossed one arm and gestured at Keith vaguely. “-grizzled.”
Keith smiled slightly, raising his eyebrows. “Grizzled?”
“You know what I mean. You’ve just changed a lot in the past year.”
“I guess so…”
Silence again.
“So, how was it? Reconnecting with your mom?”
“Good.”
More silence.
Keith idly looked through the contents of the closet they were in, slowly making his way closer to Lance in his exploration. “How long do you think it’s been?”
“I don’t know. Maybe three minutes.” He watched Keith run his fingers over a stack of towels. “Having fun?”
Keith chuckled, the sound warm and cloying. “Just a little bored.”
Lance tried to think of something to say, but he kept coming up short. When did conversation between the two of them become so difficult? They used to be able to talk for hours on end, even if they argued, at least they were talking. This weird distance between them was unbearable. Things just hadn’t been the same since he left.
“So I bet Europe was pretty cool, I’d love to travel some day, I mean I’ve been to Cuba to visit family and stuff but it’d be cool to see other places too. And your mom seems pretty cool, not that I’ve talked to her much but she looks like a badass and was really nice and-”
“Hey Lance?”
He stopped rambling and looked up, realizing they could see easily eye to eye. Was Keith a little taller than him now? “Yeah?” His brain short circuited as Keith leaned forward and pressed his lips against his.
His eyes widened and he found himself holding his breath as Keith stayed there for a long moment before pulling away.
“You talk too much sometimes.”
Letting the breath he had been holding out in a rush, Lance blinked and reached up to touch his lips. “What the hell was that?”
Keith shrugged. “A kiss?”
“No shit Sherlock, I meant why the hell?”
Shoulders hunching defensively, Keith shot back quickly. “Why? I don’t know you tell me, you’re the one who’s been sending signals.”
“What? Since when?” Lance protested, knowing damn well since when.
“Okay look, nevermind, just forget it, okay? I’ve had too much to drink tonight anyway.” Keith said, stepping back, his walls visibly closing back around him.
“No, you don’t get to do that, not again.” Lance said, feeling the rush of emotions he’d been holding back overwhelm him, crashing through the fragile barrier he had built. “What the fuck, man? You can’t just do something like that and then say to forget it. How am I supposed to forget it when I still can’t forget the fact that you left?”
Keith softened. “What?”
Lance felt his throat go tight, determined not to cry, not in front of him, not when he was finally getting to say what he had been wanting to for over a year. “You left. We were a team, we were friends, and you left. Like, yeah I get that you had stuff to do and then you reconnected with your mom and everything but you can’t just-” His voice broke for a moment and he paused, letting his head and heart settle. “The way we left things, it wasn’t good. And I had no way of contacting you, no way to smooth things over. Hell, I didn’t even know where you were most of the time.”
“I...I didn’t-”
“No, you know what, it’s fine.” Lance took a deep breath. “I just needed to say that, I’m over it.”
“I’m not.” Keith finally looked him in the eye, and the emotion there was raw and vulnerable. “I’m not over it.”
“What- what do you mean?”
Keith opened his mouth to say something, closed it again, and growled in frustration, running a hand messily through his hair. “I’m not good at-” he gestured vaguely “-this. I just...fuck it.” He grabbed Lance’s tie and pulled him forward, kissing him hard.
Lance was taken off guard, hands held out at his sides, stiff and trying desperately to stand his ground and stay mad because god it had hurt when he left. But Keith was here now, with him, and he was so so warm.
He folded like a petal in the wind, his hands moving to hold Keith’s face, brow furrowing as he pressed back against Keith’s advances, his frustration and hurt finding release in the feeling of his fingers in Keith’s hair, the weeks and months, hell the years of pining confessed in the movement of his lips.
Keith pulled back slightly, barely leaving room to breathe between them as he frowned, forehead rubbing against Lance’s. “Wait-wait...what about you and Allura?”
Lance’s nose bumped his as he shook his head. “It didn’t work out, we were both trying to get over other people.”
“Sorry.” Keith said, trying to find sincerity in his heart, he was lying if he thought he wasn’t happy that things didn’t work out.
“It’s fine, just- kiss me?” His eyes were glowing, staring at and through Keith, pulling him in like a siren calling a sailor to his death, and there was nothing Keith wanted more than to drown in that gaze forever.
He was soft this time, gentle kisses placed against Lance’s mouth, tracing his Cupid’s bow with delicate reverence. Lance parted his lips and let out a sound that turned his blood to magma, slow and impossibly hot, burning his skin and spreading heat through his veins with every short breath he exhaled against Keith’s lips.
“Keith…”
Fuck, his name on Lance’s tongue was the final note to pull him in, the water closing over his head as he sank in deeper and deeper. His lips trailed from his lips down to his jaw, teeth scraping the sharp ridge there before moving to the delicate skin of his neck, breathing in the smell of him, feeling the race of his pulse thrum beneath his lips, the way his fingers curled tightly into the hair at the nape of his neck as he kissed him there long and slow.
“Keith.” Lance dropped his head back, granting Keith full access to the slender expanse of his neck.
Keith found a stretch of skin that made Lance moan, taking his time to explore the area carefully and commit it to memory, his fingers working to loosen the tie at his collar and pull open his shirt to reveal more alluring brown skin.
Lance’s hands were insistent and relentless in his hair, combing through the thick strands, curling and pulling, pushing it back from his forehead. Keith could lose himself to the feeling of Lance’s fingers against his scalp, sparks lighting in the wake of his touches.
Moving back up, Keith looked at Lance’s lips, bitten red and glistening, like a fruit ripe for the tasting. Hungry, he devoured him, a groan bubbling from his chest as Lance coaxed his lips apart and explored with his tongue, his hands moving from his hair and down underneath Keith’s shirt, eagerly exploring bare skin.
Blinded suddenly by the light in the closet flicking on, Keith tore his mouth from Lance’s and turned to the door.
Reluctant to release him from his grip, Keith kept both arms firmly wrapped around Lance, left hand boldly resting very low on his back.
Before the others could say anything Keith temporarily released Lance to slam the door shut and say abruptly. “Your watches are fast.”
Lance, ruffled, flushed, and grinning from ear to ear, laughed. Full bellied and genuine laughter that had Keith feeling overwhelmed by the softness he felt for him.
Smirking, he crossed the closet’s small floor space and wrapped Lance back in his arms, fingers drawing slow circles against the skin exposed on his lower back, drinking in the way it made Lance shiver and push tighter against him.
“Now. Where were we?”
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