emblazes | INBOX

[ ok i'm back 'sup.

anyway, lance just gives the other boy a mildly confused look. ]

Sitting?

[ look, this is the most innocuous and harmless thing he's done all day, okay!! ]

You're being weird.

[Like a teacher correcting a student over a super obvious Q&A. Either way, he'll shift closer still and take a seat to his side.]

Am not...

[ well. at least he still whines like usual.

he only makes a little bit of room for keith when he moves to sit, which means their legs are touching, which may or may not be what lance wanted all along anyway. in truth, he's compelled to just lean over, rest his head in the crook of keith's shoulder and neck and maybe just nap there for the rest of the day.

but for now he'll just sit content with their knees touching. see how good he's being?

he keeps his hands on those knees, idly flexing every now and then. his rifle is at his side, ignored. ]

Not that I necessarily wanna be fighting an inter-galactic war and risking my life every day or anything, [ he says casually, voice low, ] but do you ever... you know. Miss our old life?

Yeah, you are.

[He'll press a bit further in a second. Lance is in one of those moods, which is entirely understandable. It sounds like he's talking about Voltron for sure, but Keith ends up reaching past that; again, Lance probably misses his family more than cheeseballs or war -- the lions, intergalactic discovery. He can't claim to miss much of anything on Earth, but....

He'll reach forward to take Lance's hand into his own, just one. A squeeze should find his palm as their fingers interlock. He does dislike the fact that Shiro's stuck in stasis and everything they've done up until this point is a global farce/invitation for discipline. Sure, he misses certain things...]

You've been bothering me too much for me to think about any of that stuff.

[Obviously a joke, maybe bad timing, not entirely true either.]

[ the hand around his is a surprise, but certainly not an unwelcome one. his desperation for contact is made all the more evident when he doesn't even hesitate to curl his hand around keith's at the first hint of an offer, their fingers threaded and knuckles white.

it's the light joke that has a light bubble of laughter tumbling out of his mouth though, both in his surprise and fondness. ]

Yeah... I guess there are some things I wouldn't trade back.

[ a-hem. ]

It was just nice knowing my place in the world.

[ he shrugs after that, trying to punctuate his words with something aloof, but it's clearly weighing pretty heavily on his mind. ]

[This affection stuff is way easier when you're not putting a lot of thought into it. He's quick to assume now, that Lance probably wants to hold hands if the situation allows. Lil things like that goin a long way.]

I knew this wasn't about cheese.

[This may or may not be another one of those things Keith claims to have fully known about way in advance but probably didn't.]

What was the problem about?

[ he sighs heavily. lets his shoulders roll a little to try and shake some of the tension out of them. the gesture itself winds up looking more exhausted than he feels; he's still strangely wired, but unlike someone like keith, he doesn't usually think to turn that energy into anything productive.

his tone is light initially, but the more he gets down to it, the quieter he gets. ]

It started off like such a regular day, you know? Prompto and I were just making the rounds, Tyrle was showing off that week's harvest... Everything was so normal and quiet.

Except when it suddenly wasn't? People were screaming and running away, and right there in the middle of the market... this guy. One of us. [ he glances around, careful not to let anyone else overhear. ] He was holding one of the vendors by the throat, his arm was like some kinda... lava rock arm. You could smell the way it burned him—

[ he grows silent, hand curling tight around keith's. ]

That vendor died on my watch.

[Oh.

Oh, this is...a bit tougher than Lance having an ordinary Lance moment. He was all about questioning the lava arm (and politely requesting a better description of it for that matter) but...it all becomes an afterthought.]

That's...

[This is a little beyond his realm; how much of it had he seen, how...bad....

Ignorant, insensitive. Okay.]

Not your fault. [To start with.] Did you get the guy who did it?

[His thumb flexes slightly against the side of Lance's hand, returning the slightest of squeezes in turn. Maybe if he acts Cool about it, it'll be contagious? A part of him's sort of, suddenly, starkly concerned about Lance and his job here, lest he end up the target of that kinda thing. This, even without yet knowing whether the vendor killer's been caught or not.]

[ absently, he reaches up with his free hand to rub at his jaw, still sore and bruising from when he'd been thrown against his partner. ]

Yeah. He roughed us up pretty badly, but luckily we had our guns...

[ he sighs, shoulders sagging. ]

All this, because the guy and his partner stole from him. [ he sounds exasperated, incredulous. ] Like — the guy was going on about exacting justice and all that bullspit, but someone died. And for what? A couple of silver??

[ he sounds angry by the end of it, but it is short-lived. another second passes, and he's back to sounding pretty low. ]

I could've prevented it... If I'd been there first— [ no.. no, even before that. ] If I'd banned the vendor from the district in the first place... I caught him stealing once before, but I just gave him a warning. And now he's dead.

[Apparently Keith's not allowed to relax just because Lance isn't visibly bleeding out or missing a limb. He's suddenly sitting up a bit straighter, turning to face Lance with an air of concern. He's still listening, but he's searching him at the same time; dude's lucky he's been apprehended...]

-- Why would you ban him just because you caught him stealing one time? [With his free hand, he's pulling Lance's bangs back to check the higher bit of his forehead, raking his fingers over his crown to check for bumps.

he sneak.] You did everything you could have.

[Putting legit effort into not saying now you don't have to worry about him stealing anymore.]

Let's go back home.

[ when lance finally looks up to catch keith's eyes, his are red and glassy and about two blinks away from full on tears, but fortunately he seems way more concerned with keith and his words to remember how to in the moment. ]

You think so? You're not just saying that?

[ but also, maybe if keith is just saying that, it wouldn't be so bad either. maybe he's just finally hearing what he's been trying to tell himself for the past hour now, and even if it's not true, it doesn't really matter. not right now. ]

[He's already moving to stand when Lance seeks reassurance. Weird. Being taller than Lance...]

No -- No, I'm not just saying that. There was probably something else going on that no one even knew about. Maybe he wasn't just stealing.

[There's a little tug, urging him onto his feet. Like they're gonna be late for a train.]

You work for the royal guard, you're an enforcer. You did what you were supposed to do.

[ he rises to his feet belatedly, the motion more a mechanical than anything he actually put some thought into. ]

Yeah... I guess.

[ he still doesn't sound entirely convinced. his mind was clouded with his own second-guessings and doubts, even amidst the faint light of hope from keith's own quiet reassurances.

he sighs, gripping the other's hand a little tighter. ]

Are you off-duty? We should walk home together...

[ speaking as if heading home was his idea, tsk. ]

[There's probably nothing he can say to make it all better in one go, as much as he'd like to have that ability. He just provides a little squeeze, a slight tug.]

Yeah, let's go.

[Sans a correction, re: who came up with that idea first.]

Did you have anything to eat yet?

[ it's enough. more than, really, especially considering how low lance had been feeling just minutes prior. he starts to think he doesn't deserve it, but thankfully stops thinking at all when keith mentions food. ]

Oh... No, not yet. I was gonna pick us all up some take-out on the way home after work. [ but then things happened. ]

Did you?

[Just after that squeeze, he's suddenly releasing Lance's hand, opting to uh...slide..his arm around his middle. Slowly but surely, a full waist embrace.]

Not yet.

[And he wasn't having any such thoughtful thoughts, either...ah.]

Let's stop somewhere.

[This is probably one of the most bizarre things Keith's said in the past fifteen days.......he's learning how to no exclusively eat out of a can all the time (or the microwave for that matter) and also, sometimes, mingle at the same time.]

[ he has a half a second to mourn the loss of keith's hand before he suddenly feels the other boy tuck himself in against his side, somehow finding the perfect way to align their bodies so that lance's arm slips comfortably around the span of his shoulders, and they aren't knocking into each other as they walk. it's almost infuriating how good he was at it, and if the moment had been lighter, lance might have even taken the moment to be playfully petty about it. as it is, he can only be thankful that keith's unending list of natural talents seem to also encompass being a great human pillow. don't mind if he leans a little more against you than he probably should... ]

What're you in the mood for? Space soup? Space sushi?

[It's because they're perfectly aligned stringbeans. Keith's just a bean, while Lance is the whole thing. It makes sense, please shut up.

His fingers hook around his hip, settling, cozy against him. He really ought to be more of the support...here...but he lacks the height for that role?! Time to not focus on superficial bullshit.]

We could probably find a place with both.

[He bends his opposite arm, settling the hand over Lance's -- over the one draped over his shoulder. He's not trying to lace his fingers in-between, but he's happy to just..envelope his hand beneath his own.]

Was everything else alright? Today, I mean...with work.

[Ugh...it's like they're adults. Adults in love...nasty.]

[ gross...

but maybe what's more gross is how — comfortable this all is. lance had been so worried, when they first decided to see where this would lead (without so many words, tbh) that things would be weird. and it kind of is? but also kind of not. it's an exciting sort of weird that's both exhilarating and terrifying, like your first time in a rollercoaster and you're pretty sure you're gonna die but then you don't and instead you just had the greatest rush of your life.

he tips his head to the side, temple tickled by wisps of thick, mullet hair. ]

Same old, same old, yeah... [ till that hitch at the end of the day, everything was perfectly normal. ] Merleth had a new flavor of ice cream he let me try. It was kinda like if root beer and pretzels had a baby. He's pretty sure it's gonna be a big seller.

[ idly, his thumb finds the side of keith's hand, rubbing. ]

What about you?

[Salty...root beer? Keith's already not sure about how great it is, but they probably wont be visiting that stand tonight. Unless Lance decides he wants dessert...]

Can't he make you a cheeseball ice cream?

[Which, of course, sounds completely vile, but it may make Lance happy...so...]

Don't wanna talk about it.

[On the other hand, he doesn't know anyone in his district by name (minus Riza) and he doesn't care to. Most of what he ends up tangled up in (why do these women seem so intent on roping him into weird samples/diagram discussions/etc) aren't worth repeating for any reason.

It's a typical response, not at all prompted to elaborate by that tender bit of affection, hmph. His eyes have closed by this point, the temple-nuzzle-thing calming enough.

He's taking for granted he won't be lead into a pole. Character development.]

I dunno if he can achieve the optimum level of organgeness necessary for a cheeseball ice cream.

[ trufax there's such a thing as cheese ice cream though... it's good...

but anyway, lance is normally more than okay occupying the entirety of a conversation (and has, on multiple occasions), but they're, like. dating and stuff now. and part of dating is compromise and being equal and mutual reassurances and all that stuff, right? so while he's more than ready to keep talking about merleth and his wild and whacky dreams of an ice cream-filled future, he'll pause on that for now. ]

Why not? Something weird happen...?

Won't know unless you ask.

[That's fuckin' gross dude. Keith's just trying to be nice. As for something weird happening, Keith would've confirmed this a month or so back. Nothing out of the ordinary happened at all. He opens his eyes just slightly...]

Someone was trying t-- [Wait, he's never talked about anything remotely sexual with Lance before, or outloud? He's looking to make sure no one's really nearby; near enough to hear them.

It's...fine.]

They were giving away coupons for different. Uh. Toys. A lot of the merchandise people bother us to make sure we're on good terms, I guess.

[The vaguest, worst story ever told.]

Toys...?

[ lance shifts his head a little, just enough that he can glance down and see keith's half-lidded eyes and (typical) suspicious glance around. it doesn't really occur to him yet why keith would sound so stilted talking about free merch; he always thought the boy enjoyed being frugal like that, whereas lance would blow twelve silver on one face mask if the packaging was shiny enough, lbr.

oh wait. put the pieces together, lance... toys... red light district...

do the math... ]

Oh. Oh. You mean. Oh.

[ those kind of toys.

well now this is just awkward...............

mostly because now he can't stop thinking about it. ]

[Hey, at least he's thinking about something other than the dude getting murdered, huh? Buttplugs, anal beads...

He's glad he waited on elaborating. He...hm. It's hard, trying to...even recall the simplest of toys by name. None of it interests him, but a lingering glance usually costs him some dignity (even though he's the only one on the street who feels that way) and he gets roped in to some dumbass advertisement scheme. He can't help but to look, either, wild advertisements of any sort tend to be distracting.]

Yeah.

[Finally, with a sigh.]

They had a wheel thing out the other day. I guess they were trying to get rid of old inventory.

[Another vague story.]

They made me take these things that look like candy wrappers, but they're completely clear. They look like small ketchup packets.

[tmw the hookers hook you up with neatly-packaged lube.]

[ the extent of any sex talk lance has ever had with another human being outside of your general sex ed class was a wild night of fourteen-year-old lance and hunk looking things up online while being very careful not to click on anything too blatant and using phrases like you-know-what and you-know-where.

needless to say, he isn't any better off than keith when it comes to this, except maybe even a little worse, because he's getting all warm in the neck and red in the cheeks, and he's shifting against keith like there's suddenly an itch between his shoulderblades. ]

What, like... Edible stuff?

[ is there. is there edible stuff in the bedroom...

oh lord. the internet didn't prepare him well enough for this. curse you, safe search! ]

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