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Pidge is a genius, okay? She is a fucking genius, but it doesn’t take one to see that Lance has the biggest fucking crush on Keith. Hell, he’s been pulling the guy’s mullet ever since they met him, even if Keith continues to swear up and down that it isn’t a mullet. And it is obvious that Lance is infatuated with the weirdo because everyone else he finds attractive, he flirts with like crazy, but he has done none with Keith so far.
Lance has flirted with Allura and the hot teachers and fucking Nyma and even some random guy on the cafeteria line at the Garrison and it’s impossible not to know that Lance likes Keith; he commands his attention like a self-entitled right and he obviously isn’t at all subtle about staring at the guy after a mission or when Keith is training, not that Pidge blames him per say.
So, really, when they meet up with Rolo and Nyma again, it isn’t a surprise that Lance is giving Rolo and Keith a big-ass stink-eye. He doesn’t even make a move to flirt with Nyma again and Pidge can’t tell if that’s because Lance is still pissed about them stealing his lion or if it’s just because Lance has actually stopped seriously flirting with anyone in the past month or so. Being the genius that Pidge is, she is almost a hundred percent certain that’s because of Keith.
Anyway, they encounter the trio again at a pitstop for ships on a moon of some grey and green planet called Ariya. The castle has taken more than a bit of damage, so much that it isn’t able to heal itself in space and needs a place to stop. They’re supposed to stay there for a couple of days while it repairs. They spot them sitting down and eating food, chatting idly and Pidge forces herself not to go to Beezer and dissect the thing. Pidge knows the exact moment that the bounty hunters see them because Rolo’s eyes widen and Nyma rolls hers and looks away.
Shiro guides Pidge and the others toward another table facing away from them. He makes an annoyed noise when they sit down and Pidge sees Lance huff and Hunk groan.
“Not them!” Lance hisses angrily, face twisted in annoyance while he unwraps his ‘sandwich’.
“Let’s not pay attention,” Shiro responds, patient as ever, taking a sip from his drink.
Lance scoffs, taking a bite. “Easy for you to say; they didn’t steal your lion!”
“No, they didn’t,” Keith agrees, prodding at the moving piece of meat on his plate, nose wrinkled in disgust. “Because Shiro wasn’t blindsided enough by a pretty girl to act so stupid.”
“Hey!” Lance yelps indigent.
“It’s true,” Keith mutters, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice and Pidge resists the urge to face-palm. “If you hadn’t been so enamored by Nyma, she wouldn’t have handcuffed you to the tree.”
“Yeah, well, this time that is not happening. I ain’t getting anywhere near her.”
“Smart.”
Pidge wonders if she was made to just be ever-suffering in life, because most of the time it feels exactly like that. She swirls around her drink, making eye-contact with Allura as the other girl smiles amusedly, poking her food in confusion as well.
They eat in companionable silence, occasionally filled with remarks and questions, all of them too hungry to actually put up much of a conversation. It has been a very long week. Pidge is halfway through her drink and has managed to gulp down a significant part of her salad before she sees Rolo approach their table tentatively.
Lance makes a grumbling sound, chewing his sandwich angrily at the sight.
“Nyma says I shouldn't be over here一” Rolo says quietly.
“一smart lady,” Lance interjects.
Rolo continues as if Lance hasn’t said anything. “一but I just wanted to let you know that we’re grateful to you folks. You’re making a difference. The Galra’s losing control of more planets day after day and we got you to thank for it.”
A side of Shiro’s mouth quirks up. “It takes a lot of courage for you to come over here, thank you.”
“Least I could do as a sorta apology,” Rolo responds. “Shoulda known you’d be a threat for them”一he jerks his head in Keith’s direction, smiling at him一”you got our ship, right? You can fly.”
Keith smirks, ducking his head in pride and Lance glances at Keith before narrowing his eyes at Rolo. “Tell him something he doesn’t already know.”
Hunk makes a snorting sound from next to Pidge and it causes Pidge to hide her smile into her hand.
Rolo grimaces when he looks at Lance. “Sorry ‘bout your lion.”
Lance’s face twists even further.
Allura ignores Lance’s look of distaste, asking Rolo pleasantly, “And why are you guys here?”
“Our ship’s still kinda screwed from the last time we saw each other,” Rolo responds almost sheepishly, glancing at Keith again. “Your lion’s impressive.”
Again, Keith practically preens and Pidge chokes on her drink because before she thought Lance was getting annoyed for no reason, but does Keith一?
She elbows Hunk, looking at him pointedly, and he glances at Keith, tips of his ears red, then Lance, growing angrier by the second, and Rolo, still trying to charm Shiro and Allura. Hunk’s face lights up and he grabs Pidge’s shoulder and shakes her giddily, which tells her he read the scene loud and clear.
“I could help fix it for you,” Hunk offers, the lying, manipulative, devious genius. Pidge watches as Lance’s head snaps towards Hunk, betrayed. She can practically hear him yelling inside his own mind, all dramatic and Lance-like. The entire thing is, apparently, extremely shifty, though, because Shiro glances at Hunk in absolute confusion, along with everyone else at the table.
Rolo’s eyebrows disappear under his hat and googles. “You sure?” he asks in disbelief. “Last time you didn’t like us.”
“Yeah, man,” Hunk replies, way too chipper for the situation and out of the corner of her eyes, Pidge watches as Shiro narrows his eyes at Hunk in suspicion. Dammit. “I got to lecture the team because of you guys last time. And as long as you don’t try to steal our lions again.”
Allura makes an agreeing noise, nodding her head in agreement. “I am a firm believer in second-chances.”
“This wouldn't be our second chance,” Rolo says, glancing slyly at Keith again.
“With us it would be,” Allura replies without hesitation. “Just do not steal from my Paladins again.”
Rolo nods in agreement, mouth stretching wide as he takes a plant from the back of his pocket and puts it between his teeth. “Lemme just tell Nyma and Beezer,” he says, winking at Keith before making his way back towards the rest of his group.
Making a deep noise, Lance slams his sandwich on the table angrily. “Are you kidding me?” he nearly shrieks. “They stole my lion and now we’re helping them?”
“Technically, I am,” Hunk replies patiently.
“Wow, how different. What, the guy gives a half-assed apology and now we’re going to bend over backwards to help him? We can’t trust them!”
“We’re not bending over backwards, we’re just helping,” Keith responds, taking a bite of his food, not looking at Lance. “And we’re not trusting them either.”
Lance glares at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I being mean to your boyfriend?”
Keith chokes on his food, face reddening, and Shiro whacks on his back to help Keith. “What?” Keith yelps.
“Your bounty hunter boyfriend, that’s what. You were lecturing me about Nyma before we knew they were gonna steal our lions, but now you and Rolo are suddenly chummy.”
“Hey! That’s not一” Keith says, finally looking at Lance annoyedly.
“Woah, Keith, your lion is impressive. You can sure fly,” Lance imitates mockingly, voice low and deep. “I chew on an alien plant to seem hot and cool. Wow.”
Keith’s face stays a bright red and he buries himself farther into his jacket. “Allura and Hunk want to give them a second chance. What’s wrong with being nice? He just said I was a good pilot.”
There’s a collective sigh from around the table. Keith is fortunate he’s pretty, because he’s a big slouch in the flirting department. Poor guy thinks that Rolo just thinks Keith is a good flier. Pidge always knew Keith was an idiot with those things (Lance isn’t exactly subtle), but managing to develop a slight attraction to a bounty hunter and yet failing to realize said bounty hunter was flirting with you when he complimented you is such a spectacular move she isn’t even surprised with Keith. She just bangs her head on the table.
“He was flirting with you!”
“No, he wasn’t,” Keith answers, adamant, before looking back towards Rolo and wringing his hands, “was he?”
“Oh, quiznack,” Allura cries, pulling at her hair.
Lance ignores her. “Yes! Are you blind? He fucking winked at you!”
There’s a slight reprimand of, “Language!” by Shiro, but neither of them pay attention.
“Winking at me is flirting?” Keith asks, poor innocent child.
Lance groans. “I’m going to get food!”
“You just ate,” Keith points out.
“Well, your stupidity is taking a lot out of me!” Lance snarls, grabbing his drink and tray and bringing it with him as he stomps away.
Glancing at the rest of them quickly, Keith rubs the back of his neck, ducking his head towards the ground once more before muttering, “Shiro, I’m gonna use the bathroom.”
Nodding, Shiro gives him a reassuring smile and gestures towards the restroom building.
Keith makes his way towards the building, refusing to look at any of them in the eye and he’s almost out of sight before Shiro stares accusingly at Hunk. "What’re you doing?” he asks.
“Nothing,” Hunk counters, still too cheerful.
“Cut the crap, why are you helping Rolo and Nyma?”
“Keith and Lance,” Allura answers, and Pidge does an almost comical double take at the Princess. Really, when Pidge thinks about it, she shouldn't be all that surprised; Allura was the one to unite the team with a common enemy, she definitely has a manipulative streak as well.
“Maybe they’ll both, what is it?” She breaks off.
“Pull their heads out of their asses?” Pidge supplies.
Allura furrows her brows before shrugging.
Shiro glances towards Lance, waiting on line as he taps his foot impatiently, then the restroom, where Keith has entered, and then to Rolo, who is having an adamant conversation with Nyma while Beezer blinks. “I don’t think,” Shiro says tentatively, almost as if he’s treading on very thin ice, “that this is the nicest way to get them together.”
“Probably not,” Pidge agrees easily, sniffing the purple part of her salad and she wrinkles her nose when she’s hit with a chemical-like scent and pushes the salad away in disgust. “But it is the most effective and also the most entertaining.”
Banging his head on the table, Shiro sighs, but he doesn’t tell them to stop so Pidge thinks they’re in the clear. Hunk, Pidge, and Allura start conversing about Rolo and Lance and how to help, but the exchange halts when they all notice Keith coming back towards the table, almost chatting with Rolo. Mostly, it’s Rolo talking while Keith listens while nodding or making faces. Pidge tries to contain her excitement, but she ends up shaking Hunk anyway. Next to Hunk, Allura is practically beaming.
Keith takes his spot across the table and Allura gestures towards Rolo to the seat across from her, interrupting their conversation. “Sit.”
Looking towards Allura inquisitively, Keith narrows his eyes, a scowl forming on his lips, and he glances towards Lance, at the front of the food line. “What about Lance?”
“He can sit next to me,” Pidge replies, waving a hand nonchalantly, scooting closer towards Hunk, who, in turn, scoots closer towards Allura. Hunk may be big, but Pidge more than makes up for it. “We want to keep an eye on Rolo.”
Rolo laughs and sits down next to Keith and Keith shares a look with Shiro. Shiro raises an eyebrow before wincing at Keith’s shrug, grimace, then blush. He glances from Rolo to Keith continually as Keith’s face steadily gets redder before he avoids gaze and looks towards the ground.
Pidge doesn’t have time to decipher what the look really means, though she suspects something about a crush, because Lance starts walking over with another plate full of food and he just stares at Rolo sitting in his seat.
“Here, Lance,” she tries to keep him calm, gesturing towards the seat next to her. “You can sit next to me.”
“Sorry, man,” Rolo says, sounding absolutely unapologetic before setting his gaze on Keith again, who is still blushing.
Pidge is honestly impressed that all Lance does is snap his tray in half.
***
Turns out, the bounty hunter trio is not all that bad when they’re not trying to steal from the team. Pidge is still trying to get a good look at Beezer, though she isn’t as insistent as she was before because of the whole stealing thing. Her guard is still up, and that’s why Coran is staying in the castle to make sure they can’t take the lions.
Allura seems to have gotten along well with Nyma, as well. The two are talking while they both sit on boxes. Shiro and Hunk chime in once or twice from their own conversation, but mostly it is just the two girls. Keith and Rolo are alone in the corner and Pidge almost coos at the fact that Keith can’t seem to meet Rolo’s eyes and his face is still bright red as he doesn’t say a word, listening to Rolo babble on about whatever.
There is also a dark shape behind everyone by the name of Lance, and he seems resolute on watching the two of them. It would provide material for Pidge to laugh in his face for for years, but she doesn’t want to interrupt his weird stalker fetish now.
It is several minutes before Lance has finally had enough and the trigger is when Keith’s bangs swing low in front of his eyes and, being the smooth bastard that Rolo is, the alien pushes them out of Keith’s face. As Keith stutters and almost trips on his own two feet in mortification, Lance charges over to the pair, head held high and chest puffed out.
“Look who’s being the idiot now!” he barks out, giving Keith a terse look before turning to Rolo and looking as if he would sprout gleeful poetry about Rolo’s death on the guy’s grave to the alien’s own mother without an ounce of remorse or shame. “He might be buying your whole, I won’t steal from you again act, but I am not so naïve!”
“Tell that to someone who didn’t have to recapture your lion because you were thinking with your downstairs brain,” Keith deadpans, finally glancing up from the ground to give Lance a sweltering look.
“And who’s thinking with their downstairs brain now?” Lance bites back, enraged.
“Lance, no,” Pidge hears Shiro mutter, burrowing his face into his hands and Pidge agrees wholeheartedly; that is not a way to diffuse the situation. And he should not point out that Keith thinks the guy who has been flirting with Keith for almost an hour is hot, that doesn’t help his standpoint at all.
“Lance!” the black-haired teen screeches, looking at Lance in betrayal.
Rolo looks all kinds of smug, smirking at Keith and eyes twinkling. “You think I’m hot, huh?”
Pidge knew it, she really fucking knew it.
Keith avoids Rolo’s gaze, covering his face with his hand. “Obviously,” he rasps out, before he flushes even harder. “I mean, yes, but一” He trails off, glancing towards Shiro in desperation.
“That’s what I mean!” Lance shrieks, ignoring how Keith has now truly become the red Paladin. “Look at you! I trusted Nyma and look what happened.”
Somehow, Lance always manages to make Keith angry no matter what preluded the argument. “You trusted her because you wanted to get in her pants! Lance, you really need to back off!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I killing your vibe?”
“I’m gonna kill something if you don’t stop,” Keith nearly snarls, looking ready to pull out his bayard and slap a bitch.
“Okay, enough,” Shiro interrupts, walking towards the feuding pair. “I know you’re worried that they’re gonna take from us again, Lance”一Pidge snorts, trust Shiro to try and give Lance a way out from facing up to the fact that he’s jealous一”but we are letting them redeem themselves, okay?”
Lance harrumphs, but he marches away, looking murderous.
It’s silent as he leaves before Pidge barely hears Nyma say very softly towards Allura, “Has Lance always been in love with Keith or is this a new development?”
Allura shrugs. “It’s hard to tell.”
***
It’s not going to take long to fix Rolo’s ship, a fact that Pidge is simultaneously both relieved and disappointed at. She supposes it’s for the best, Lance and Keith may actually murder each other if the project took a long time and it’s already been a day, but she doesn’t want them to leave before the thing with Lance and Keith resolves itself. Having Rolo here to help Lance face up to his feelings has been a huge help.
Anyway, Hunk is going full on repair mode while Pidge is interchanging between actually doing things to help and watching Keith and Rolo talk by the end of the ship. Surprisingly, Keith is helping them with repairs, and Pidge suspects it’s because he wants to seem useful. Rolo and him are working on the broken doors on the side of the ship, trying to get them to open and close smoothly.
Lance makes a move towards them, which Pidge knows takes some balls because of the entire debacle that happened yesterday. She almost tells him to not go over there, but that would be counterproductive to the mission, so she keeps her mouth shut and just nudges Hunk and jerks her head in their direction at the engineer’s questioning gaze. His lips quirk into a smile.
When Lance approaches them, Keith stiffens in annoyance and Rolo peers at him in confusion before going back to the wires for the doors. Keith refuses to look at him, not even acknowledging his presence and Lance’s fist clenches at that.
“I didn’t know you fix ships,” Lance states, completely ignoring Rolo. It’s an art, Pidge guesses, that makes that sentence sound concurrently like an accusation and a personal betrayal.
“Not usually,” Keith replies coldly, still not looking at Lance. “But I do know how.”
Lance nods before narrowing his eyes at Rolo and Pidge can see his mind working towards the fact that Keith is helping fix the ship because maybe it’ll impress Rolo and there’s a roar from the Castle of Lions as Pidge barely manages to smother her snickers into her sleeve and it sounds like Hunk is doing the same.
Apparently, Keith is made of stronger stuff than everyone else because he doesn’t even turn around or change face at the sound, all he does is say, “Maybe you can ask Hunk and Pidge if they need help.”
Lance makes an agreeing noise before turning around and his clenched jaw is looking like the only thing that is keeping him from screaming his lungs out.
Pidge holds her fist out towards Hunk and the man bumps it without hesitation.
It’s a couple of hours later before Coran exits the castle with a pile of goo, Lance has even started helping Pidge and Hunk as much as he could, apparently his mind realizing that the faster it takes for Rolo’s ship to be fixed, the faster he could get the fuck out of here.
“Food!” Coran sings, holding up the goo happily. “Thought you’d need a snack!”
Lance shakes his head, sighting loudly something about how this wasn’t a particular laborious task and he wasn’t a wuss who needed a snack for just fixing a space-ship, all with a pointed look towards Rolo even though everyone else is eating as well.
Pidge is almost done with her goo, and, really, it grows on you after a while, when she hears Coran say, “Keith, does your partner not like the food?”
She looks towards Rolo and sure enough, the alien is just staring at the goo, not even making a motion to eat the thing. He gives Coran a shaky smile, then, with obvious effort, swallowing down a spoonful as Keith colors once more and eats his goo even more vigorously, like that would save him from having to answer Coran.
Over by the hood of the ship, there’s a yelp and a clang! as Lance drops something on his foot and he swears loudly. Shiro gives him a disapproving look at the words.
Pidge, Hunk, and Allura are all apparently on the same wavelength because they all go in to give Coran a hug at the same exact time, who seems surprised but no less joyful at the affection.
***
“I’m sure you’d be great,” Rolo says slyly, the left side of his mouth pulled into a lopsided grin, eyes heated as Keith lets out a small sound that could almost be called a laugh, but sounds a bit more like a scoff. “Nah, kid, really,” Rolo insists and Keith shakes his head, glancing at the ground before giving Rolo a, sarcastic maybe, smile.
“Look at you,” Rolo continues and Keith pulls the back of his own hair sharply. “You’re gorgeous, you can fly, you can fight. I’m not lyin’ to ya, you’d do good. A natural.”
The bounty hunter makes motion towards Keith, far too close to him for Pidge’s comfort, making her feel like some sort of voyeur. In response, Keith’s face heats up and he does a little half-step back, all awkward and bashful.
Chuckling, Rolo takes a step forward once more. “You’re adorable, kid.”
Pidge jumps as she hears as small growl coming from behind a box a little farther back and she approaches the thing apprehensively, making sure that Keith doesn’t see her. She’s almost scared that it’s some rabid alien that no one warned her about before she hears small word-like sounds and一does she know that voice? Is that Spanish?
“Qué chingados! No, no, no. Hijo de puta. Te mataré, lo juro. Dé un paso para atrás, okay? I swear to God, tú pinche idiota. Back the fuck up.”
No way.
“Lance?” Pidge hisses out and she is ashamed of herself because she is surprised by this idiot. Why did she not guess this?
Thank God, though, Lance has the decency to look ashamed of himself when Pidge comes into his view. He’s kneeling behind the box, hands clenched in his lap, as his head pulls back behind the box so he could face Pidge.
“Are you spying on Keith?” she just barely demands, well she hopes she sounds demanding, because it is taking all of her free will to keep herself from laughing; boy has it bad for Keith.
“No!” Lance scoffs, rolling his eyes, and wiping his fingernails on his shoulders. “I was just, just watching the一uh一stars, yeah.”
“Lance.”
“I wasn’t spying, that’s such an ugly word. I was just looking out for him, like Rolo can’t steal Keith’s lion, or even Keith, if I’m here just observing their conversations.”
Pidge is quiet for a moment, but she doesn’t hear a damn thing. “You can hear them from here?”
“Well, no,” Lance replies, grimacing, “but watching them is the same thing, right?”
Pidge stares at him.
“Besides, wouldn’t that make everything less creepy? I’m not listening to them!”
“No,” Pidge says, looking Lance straight in the eye and shaking her head. “No, that makes it worse. What are you doing? Sitting here and watching their mouths move and cursing in Spanish with the intent of what? Interrupting them once things get too heated? Lance, how long have you been here?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Lance glances at the ground before he looks at Pidge sheepishly. “Oh, you know,” he states, giving Pidge a guilty smile, “like five, ten, maybe twenty-five minutes. Give or take…”
“…what the fuck, Lance?”
Pathetic, this poor boy is so fucking pathetic.
“I know, I just一” he says before peaking over the top of the box. He looks as if he’s going to say something to continue that thought, but whatever he sees halts him. “What the fuck?”
Unable to resist, curse her nosiness, she looks at Keith and Rolo as well.
They’re kissing, or, well, Rolo is kissing Keith, who is standing ramrod straight and eyes wide, entire face flaming.
Okay, so maybe the plan might’ve backfired a bit. Pidge really should tell Hunk that next time they should choose someone who Keith doesn’t like to make Lance jealous.
Luckily for Lance, and unluckily for Keith, Shiro chooses that moment to bound towards the pair. “Keith! I need you一oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Shiro smiles bashfully, politely averting his eyes, “I’ll just.”
Keith pulls away, coughing and rubbing the back of his neck. “No, it’s, uh, okay, Shiro. What do you need?”
“Are you sure?” Shiro says. “I mean, I know you’re busy and一”
“Yeah,” Keith nearly yelps and he turns to Rolo apologetically, “sorry, gotta help Shiro.”
“It’s cool,” Rolo responds, raising his hands placatingly as Keith goes off with Shiro, who pats his back and leads him towards the Castle of Lions.
Pidge peeks at Lance, who is nearly shaking.
“Hey, Lance, buddy,” she says, trying to get his attention.
The poor guy nearly has an aneurysm.
***
Pidge and Hunk are working on Rolo’s ship when she bring up the topic. “So, I think we might’ve fucked up.”
“What? With Lance and Keith? Yeah, I know,” is his response and she stares at him. “But Allura was in on it, too, so it’s not entirely our fault.”
“How’d you know I was talking about them?” Pidge asks.
“About an hour ago I had to forcibly separate the two from tearing the other’s head off. Lance was pissed that Keith kissed Rolo, Keith was just plain pissed.”
“Did Keith find out that Lance had been stalking him?”
Hunk gaped at Pidge.
“Oh, yeah, I was there. Lance was behind a box, watching Keith and Rolo like a creep. That’s when Rolo kissed Keith.”
Hunk sighs. “Lance, my man, what are you doing?”
“That’s what I said.”
“If Keith found out about that he’d tear Lance to shreds.”
“I wouldn’t blame him really.”
“Yeah…”
“…do you know what they’re doing now?”
“Lance is probably sulking in his room, Keith is probably killing another robot in the training room.”
“Of course he is. He doesn’t really need to know about the creeper thing, right?”
“He was almost going full on berserker before, I’m scared he’d kill the messenger right about now.”
“Good point.”
They continue in silence before Hunk pipes up once more. “Maybe we should hurry up and get the little trio out of here.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
They work twice as fast.
***
The ship is finished the next afternoon and Allura, Coran, Shiro, and everyone else all surround the ship to give them a proper send off. There really is no send off, most of them don’t really care and Lance is downright chipper that Rolo and his crew are leaving. He doesn’t even seem to care that Rolo is still making advances to Keith even as Nyma and Beezer are in the ship.
Keith is smiling lightly as he talks with Rolo. Finally, Rolo takes a step back towards the ship and he winks at Keith.
“You think we’ll see each other again?” Keith asks and Pidge narrows her eyes at him because who body-snatched Keith?
Rolo chuckles. “Probably not, kid. Though, like I said, you’d be a natural if you came with.”
Before anyone really has time to react to the statement, Keith shakes his head. “No.”
Rolo laughs again. “I expected that. It’s goodbye then, good luck with the Galra.”
With that little parting statement, Rolo climbs into his ship and winks to Keith, whose face is completely devoid of any emotion. It takes a couple of seconds before their ship takes off and leaves, fading out into the stars. Keith still hasn’t reacted.
Pidge knows that everyone else is watching Keith, waiting for him to say or do anything. It feels like a lifetime before the red Paladin lets out a sound between a shout and a sob, covering his mouth with his hand.
As everyone stares at Keith, Lance takes a step forward, reaching a hand out hesitantly. “Keith, buddy, are you okay?”
Pidge listens to the sounds coming from Keith, which sound like一
“I think he might be laughing,” she says.
“Or is he crying?” Hunk disputes.
Keith lets go of his face, a big, relieved grin splitting his face. Pidge thinks this might be one of the happiest she’s ever seen him. Is she even sure this is Keith?
“Body-snatcher,” she repeats, thinking of this happy Keith and him asking Rolo if they’ll ever see each other again. She whips out her bayard, pointing it at him. “Where’s the real Keith?”
“Woah,” fake-Keith says, holding his hands up, grin still etched on his face. “Pidge it’s me. It’s just…thank fuck, I couldn’t stand the guy!”
There’s a shrill scream as Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Allura all shriek “What?” simultaneously.
“Really?” Shiro says, looking at the team in confusion, raising his eyebrows. “None of you noticed?”
“I did,” Coran responds. “I thought it was obvious.”
Pidge gapes at the three of them.
“But, but you called Rolo Keith’s partner,” Hunk manages to get out.
“Yes, because they were working together on the ship,” Coran replies simply. “What did you think I meant?”
“Wait,” Lance says, like they’re all missing something important. “You didn’t like Rolo?”
“No!” Keith says, nose crinkled in disgust, looking at Lance like he’s sprouted Galra ears. “He was hot, yeah, but then I had a conversation with him. Too much drifter and edgy and I didn’t like it. And he was the biggest fucking asshole, he wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone.”
“Are you kidding me?” Pidge gets out.
“No. There’s plenty of other guys that are hot and didn’t steal Lance’s lion.”
“Honestly, I’m really shocked that none of you noticed,” Shiro responds.
“But every time you two talked you were blushing!” Hunk says, eyes wide.
Keith reddens at the statement. “He was very open with compliments,” Keith replies softly, “it was embarrassing.”
“You two kissed,” Allura counters.
Keith’s face flares even more. “He kissed me, I was just grateful to Shiro for interrupting it.”
“You two were always together,” Hunk adds.
“He kept looking for me. I let him do that and was friendly with him because you two wanted to give them a second chance.”
Pidge chokes on her own spit.
“You let the guy hit on you and pretended to like him because you thought Allura and I wanted to give Rolo and his crew a second chance even though you couldn’t stand him?” Hunk shrieks.
Keith looks at the ground. “Well, when you put it like that…”
“We were giving them a second chance because we thought you liked him!” Hunk responds.
Keith blinks at him before his eyes narrow. “Are you kidding me? I put up with that for nothing?”
Pidge looks at Lance, who is staring at Keith still in disbelief. “Oh my God, Lance. You were jealous for no fucking reason!”
Spluttering, Keith looks at Pidge in shock. “Lance was jealous?”
Pidge is done. She is done. Keith didn’t even like the damn guy!
“Dammit, Keith, you’re lucky you’re pretty!” she snarls at him.
“What?” he yelps, looking at her like she has grown two heads.
Apparently, Lance takes this time to recover from his shock, not caring that his crush is supposed to be a secret towards Keith because he yells, “Of course I was jealous! Everything he said to you, you were all blushing and flustered and cute! I was fucking pissed!”
Keith gapes at him. “You think I’m cute? Wait, is that why you're such a dick to me?”
“I’m not a dick!” Lance protests, seeming offended.
“You made up a fake rivalry between us for no fucking reason! Did you think I didn’t notice you following me with Rolo? Every time I talked with the damn guy you came over like you knew everything and yelled at me!”
Lance chuckles, but it looks pained. “Hey, yeah, about that一”
Pidge has reached her boiling point. Lance literally yelled that he thinks Keith is a-fucking-dorable and they’re focusing on their one-sided rivalry? “Idiots!” she shrieks at the two of them, causing them to look at her in confusion. “You are both idiots! Idiots who are so gone over each other that you are killing the rest of us!”
There’s a moment of silence before the two idiots scream, “You like me?”
They each nod at each other, not tearing their gaze away from the other one. They both stare at each other before Lance clears his throat, licking his lips. “Oh, okay,” he says, softly, sounding stunned and just a bit hopeful, “I haven’t had lunch yet, do you, uh, want to grab something to eat?”
Keith blushes for what seems like the millionth time this week, but unlike the others, which had been mortification through and through, the undercurrent emotion of this one is pleased. He smiles, tilting the side of his mouth up softly.
“…yes.”
Lance grins before grabbing Keith’s arm and dragging him away from everyone, towards the area of the pitstop’s food court.
Pidge glances at Hunk and Allura, who both seem just as happy as she is, and she gives the both of them high fives. “Our plan worked!” she shrieks, climbing up to Hunk’s shoulders. “It worked!”
Shiro splutters in the corner of the room. “Not really, this wasn’t exactly一”
“Sshhhh,” Pidge shushes. “Just let it be. We’re geniuses and it worked.”
Shiro sighs and burrows his face into his hands. “I’m wanna go back to Earth.”