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Keith was lying in the nest that he and his pack had assembled in the castle. He was snuggled up into Kolivan's side, with his other pack members lying sprawled out through their nest. Keith had thought that having his pack with him would help him get some sleep while visiting his old team, but that was obviously not the case.
Keith continuously squirmed in his leader’s hold; attempting to find a comfortable position. Eventually, he gave up, letting out a small whimper. He knew there was only one way he was getting any sleep that night: he needed that damn jacket.
Keith didn’t know why he needed it; only that he did. What jacket was he referring to? Why, Lance’s jacket, of course. That, in Keith’s mind anyway, stupid, green, worn out, slightly oversized (on Keith at least) jacket.
Maybe it was how the jacket smelled; which was like a mix of the beach and strawberries. Maybe it was the warmth that he received while wearing it. Or maybe it was the fact that the article of clothing in question belonged to Lance…Nah, that certainly wasn’t it. But regardless of the reason, he needed that jacket if he wanted any amount of sleep that night.
Now, it wasn’t as though Keith had never taken Lance’s jacket before, because he had... many times. He always returned it before Lance woke up, though. Putting aside his worries that lance would find out about his occasional thieving, he slipped out of his nest and walked down the hallway that led to Lance’s room.
However, upon entering his former teammate’s room, Keith was immediately frustrated. It seemed that Lance had not changed out of his clothes from that day; including the jacket that he needed to go to sleep.
“Really, Lance? Of all the days to not do your stupid skin care routine and put your pajamas on, you choose TODAY,” Keith thought.
He now had to weigh his options on the situation. He could always take another piece of Lance’s clothing, or he could simply wake Lance up and ask for the jacket. He chose neither of those options, however.
Keith didn’t know why he did what he did, but he found himself climbing into Lance’s bed and snuggling up to the red paladin; his head resting on Lance’s chest and an arm wrapped around his waist. Keith was thankful that Lance didn’t wake up. He figured that Lance would continue to sleep and that he could slip away from his friend before he woke up.
Keith found himself drifting off to sleep only moments later, a low purr emitting from the half galra and content knowing that he had Lance’s jacket with him at least in some way.
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Kolivan woke up early in the morning, as he usually does. Immediately, he noticed that his pack’s kit was not in his presence. Panic immediately began to set in. After all, he lost his kit for god’s sake. Immediately, he woke up the other pack members; those being Ulaz, Antok, Thace, Krolia, and Regris.
He told them that Keith had not been there with them when he had woken up.
“You lost our kit ,” Ulaz asked in shock.
“He was not there when I woke up,” Kolivan responded. “Let us go look for him. I am sure that he is on the training deck.”
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Keith was not , in fact, on the training deck.
“Perhaps we should ask the other paladins of they know where he is,” Krolia suggested. After all, Keith probably was with them, if not on the training deck.
The pack made their way to the dining area, where the paladins and Coran, minus Lance, were seated and eating breakfast.
Kolivan was quick to get Shiro’s attention.
“Excuse me, Black Paladin. Would you happen to know where Keith is at the moment? He was not in the nest when we woke up.”
“No,” Shiro responded, clearly confused at the question. “I thought he was on the training deck.”
“We have already checked there,” Ulaz added. “We were unsuccessful in finding him.”
Up until now, no one had mentioned, yet everyone had noticed, the absence of Lance. Pidge, hearing that he was Keith was not training, had a rather sly grin on her face.
“Why don’t you go ask Lance? He might know, seeing as how he hasn’t shown up for breakfast yet.” Pidge said all of this while never taking her eyes off of her food.
“Uhh, Pidge,” Hunk said. “I don’t know if you know this, but those two aren’t exactly the best of friends. Why would Lance know where Keith is?”
“Just a hunch, I guess,” Pidge said while pushing her glasses up on her nose.
Shiro soon broke the brief silence that had fallen upon the dining room.
“Well, It’s worth a shot. I’ll go ask Lance if he’s seen Keith. You coming, Kolivan?”
“Perhaps I will,” the Blade leader responded.
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Shiro and Kolivan were walking toward the paladins’ rooms when Shiro decided to ask Kolivan his opinion on what Pidge had suggested.
“Do you think Lance knows where Keith is? I’ve known Keith for a long time, and since coming to space, he and Lance haven’t really gotten along very well. They used to argue all the time, up until about a month before Keith started joining you guys full time.”
“It would not surprise me at all if they were together somewhere,” Kolivan began. “He speaks fondly of you all, yet he mentions the red paladin more frequently than the others. Krolia suspects that our kit may harbor certain feelings toward Lance.”
“Oh, does he now,” Shiro said with a small chuckle. He had suspected that Keith had a crush on Lance before moving away to the Blades. He had even seen Keith sleeping with Lance’s jacket on before while making his nightly rounds to check on his team, but he suspected Lance knew nothing about that.
Before Shiro knew it, he and Kolivan were standing in front of Lance’s door. He knocked but got no reply.
“Lance? Are you in there?” Shiro knocked again.
“We were looking for Keith and wondering if you knew where he was.” Again, Shiro got no reply.
“Perhaps neither of them are in there,” Kolivan suggested.
Without acknowledging what Kolivan had said, Shiro opened the door. Immediately, he was shocked at the sight before him.
Lance was lying on his back, with Keith on his left. Keith’s head was on Lance’s chest and he had one arm wrapped around Lance’s middle. Lance was snoring lightly, but Shiro and Kolivan heard another sound beside that. Shiro wasn’t sure what it was, but Kolivan recognized it instantly; his kit was purring. He had found someone who he had wanted to be his mate, it seemed.
Shiro noticed that Lance was wearing the jacket that Keith stole every so often. Immediately he knew what was going on; Keith couldn’t sleep without the jacket. He suspected, however, that Keith didn’t mind that someone, especially Lance, was wearing the olive green coat. In fact, Shiro suspected that Keith preferred that Lance was wearing it. A small smile spread across his face. His little brother was growing up and was learning to find love.
“Should we leave them for a while,” Kolivan asked after a minute.
“Yeah, I think we should.”
With that, Shiro shut the door to Lance’s room to let them sleep.
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When the pair returned to the dining hall, Shiro had informed the team that Keith was with Lance, after all, briefly describing the scene he saw upon entering the red paladin’s room.
“Ahh, young love,” Coran said with a dopey look on his face. Pidge said nothing, but everyone took notice of the smug grin that appeared on her face.
“I was wondering when those two would get together,” Hunk added. Looking back on things now, Hunk supposed that Lance’s constant bickering with Keith was all just a ploy to get Keith’s attention. Regardless, he was happy for his best friend.
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Meanwhile, Lance awoke to Keith snuggled up to him and purring softly. He took this opportunity to wrap an arm around Keith and bring him closer. Keith purred louder in response and Lance smiled. He decided that he would lay there for a while longer, not wanting to give up the warmth and comfort that Keith’s body provided.