Chapter Text
Lance wasn’t surprised when Keith announced he wanted to try for citizenship. In fact, he laughed, questioning why Keith took so long to bring it up.
When they brought the matter up to Tellru, she rubbed her chin in thought, saying that Keith could try on the last day of the week, if he wished to. “If you don’t mind me asking though- why go through with this? You are technically already a citizen since Lance is your Equivalent. You don’t need to earn a citizenship,”
“I am not a citizen on my own. I don’t want to be welcomed to the Kingdom simply because I’m Lance’s Equivalent. I want to earn my place fairly,”
Blinking, Tellru smiles, and nods. “I see. Then I’ll arrange for your challenge,”
“Thanks, Tellru,” he smiles.
The entire week Keith prepared for it, practicing his sword fighting up on the roof, a determined glaze in his eyes. Lance watched him for hours, mesmerized by his powerful swings, flexing muscles, and cunning tactics. Not to mention, he got to admire Keith’s ass the whole time.
“Looking good, sweetheart!” he called in encouragement, bringing up a tray with two glasses of water. Keith paused to join him, taking the glass gratefully.
“Thanks,” he dabbed at the sweat on his chin, tugging his shirt to try and air off his chest.
“Take it off~” Lance whistled. Eyeing him, puzzled, Keith slowly reached down to peel off his shirt. Lance was staring, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.
With a tilt of his head, Keith husks, “See something you like?”
“Yes,” Lance hummed, but his voice was quiet. After a few seconds, his eye brow arches playfully, “What do ya say, stranger? How about you come take a seat next to me, and we can get to know each other~” Lance patted the spot next to him.
Keith snorted, “How can you say all of that with a straight face?” he sat down regardless, nudging his Equivalent.
“It’s a talent,” Lance slides his hands over Keith's shoulders, admiring his back muscles with delicate touches "Similar to how you must win back muscle competitions, because sweet parlog, look at these," he adored them, loving the way they flexed every time Keith so much as moved.
"It's a talent," Keith mimics him
They laugh, tilting their heads upward to enjoy the day. The team would be coming for them any day now, and they didn’t mind the wait. They enjoyed the rest of their time in peace, admiring the view of the kingdom.
“Sure is hot today,” Keith leaned his head against Lance’s shoulder, closing his eyes to rest.
“Hopefully it isn’t too hot for your challenge tomorrow,” Lance agreed. “You’ll be fighting Dravla,” he reaches up to curl his hand through Keith’s hair, “You ready for that?”
Keith smirks, “It’ll be interesting.” He purses his lips, glancing up at Lance hesitantly, “You’ll uh- be rooting for me, right?”
Lance couldn’t believe he even had to ask, but the way Keith batted his eyes in a pleading fashion was cute. “I dunno,” he teased, “Dravla seems pretty strong. I might just have to put my money on him,”
Keith’s jaw drops, bewildered, “B-But I’m your equivalent.” He disagreed, taking Lance seriously. “I’m way stronger than Dravla!”
Lance lifted a hand to stifle his laugh, “You sure?”
Keith sits up with a start, gathering his Bayard, “I’ll prove it to you!” Like he had suddenly taken this as some challenge to prove his worth to Lance, determined to show his Equivalent that he was the strongest and deserved all of his attention, Keith went back to his training. Left alone by the wall, Lance gawked at him.
“Keith, I was joking!” he called, “You don’t- I was just joking, babe. I believe in you~”
“You will because I’ll win!” Keith’s spirit didn’t waiver, his eyes ready to take Dravla down.
Lance wondered if he should be worried about what he might have just caused, but he wasn’t sure there was much he could do at this point. Once Keith decided something, he tended to follow it through to the end.
So Lance pulled his knees up to his chest, quietly muttering, “Your jealousy is showing, Keith,” he didn’t hear.
It was sweet how he wanted to fight for Lance’s love. Not that he ever said that he loved Dravla more than Keith- but he supposed believing Dravla to win over him might have been on the same level to that. If you don’t believe in the one you love, that could lead to other doubts.
Lance knew Keith could win. As strong as Dravla was, he was positive Keith would prevail. But man, it was going to be one hell of a fight.
After a few hours, almost feeling jealous himself that this battle was taking away from Lance’s “Keith time”, he pulled his Equivalent back downstairs to have dinner with him.
Keith argued at first but gave in when Lance batted his eyes pleadingly.
The red paladin ate like a beast, shoveling down the food faster than Lance could even comprehend.
Watching him, blinking from time to time, he says “Um… you’re gonna get a tummy ache eating like that,”
“I have to prepare for tomorrow,”
“Throwing up everything you just ate isn’t going to help for tomorrow,” Lance laughs. Reaching across the table, he brushes his thumb to the side of Keith’s mouth, wiping away some sauce. He watches in awe as Keith's cheeks brighten and the red paladin leans in a little, letting Lance clean his face for him.
“Thanks…” he mumbles when Lance pulled away. Eating slowly, Keith finished his meal and got ready for bed, making sure to get plenty of rest by going to sleep early. Lance crawled onto the mattress after him, snuggling close.
“You are gonna do great tomorrow,” he says laying his head on Keith’s shoulder, curling into his chest.
Keith nods, watching Lance closely between the space that separated their faces. His eyes were dark when he said, “I want you to watch me tomorrow,”
“Keith, of course, I will-“
He pressed a finger to the blue paladin's lips, cutting him off. His voice deepened to a tone Lance seldom got to hear, whispering into Lance's ear, “Just me. I don’t want you to look at anyone else,”
Licking his dry lips, Lance takes Keith's face into his hands, cherishing those eyes- those lips- his heart kick into overdrive, his mind drawing a blank. He couldn’t tear his gaze away, pulled in close and left trembling.
“Is that okay…?” Keith looked a little timid at Lance lack of an answer, never wanting to over step his boundaries with how possessive he knew he could be.
“I-I’ll look at just you,” and Lance meant that with every fiber of his being. How could he not stare at this magnificent being before him, who time and time again made him forget his own name?
Content to hear that Keith pulled Lance a little closer, cradling his head as he kissed him. Melting, his chest on fire, Lance pulled back to hide his face into Keith’s shoulder. He knew Keith had to rest up for tomorrow, but he was itching with a need for a much more intimate time with him after everything that had just been said.
He would have to wait for tomorrow night, where he would make sure to celebrate with Keith to the fullest extent.
The next morning, Tellru came to greet them, Ruru by her side
“This is a big day,” she muses, “Dravla is very excited to face against you, Keith. He woke up very early today to prepare for it,”
Keith smiles, a similar excitement burning behind his eyes, “It should be a good match. It's soon, right?”
“About an hour is when the matches start, and you’ll soon be up after that, yes,” Tellru nods. “You might want to head to the Arena first. We’ll meet you there. Keep a look out for us in the stands,”
Lance quickly grabs Keith’s hands, lifting them up to kiss his knuckles, “Good luck,”
Keith nods, squeezing. “I’ll look for you,”
“And I’ll be watching,” Lance winked, “Go show ‘em what you can do, sweetheart,”
Before he could leave, Ruru approached him, bombarding Keith with questions, demanding to know if he was ready or need anything before he left.
“Hungry?”
“I ate. I’m good,” he tells her.
“Well sleep?”
“Well rested,” Tellru corrects her.
“I slept great,” Keith smiles.
“Pee pee?”
“I just went to the bathroom too, so I’m good,”
She nods, checking off the list in her head, “Good luck kiss?”
Keith blinked, shrugging his shoulders. Ruru motions for Lance to get closer, pointing to Keith expectantly, demanding he gets the job done. Lance giggled into his palm, tugging Keith back and turning his chin to kiss him.
Leaning into him, the red paladin smiled lovingly, “See you there,”
Keith collected his Bayard a moment later and took to the arena.
“This will be a day to remember,” Tellru mused. “Who do you think will win?” she inquired to Lance
“Keith, hands down,” he concluded.
“Should have expected that. I myself am rooting for Dravla- but that is expected too since he is my Equivalent.” They look down at the child in the room, “What about you, Ruru? Who do you think will win?”
She purses her lips, contemplating the question with a lot of thought. She couldn’t seem to decide so declared, “Tie,”
“Can’t seem to choose between the two, huh?” Her mother chuckled. Ruru nodded, not even attempting to deny that.
“I love papa and Keef,” she says. “Cannot choose,”
Lance chuckles, “We should probably get going.”
“Yes…” Tellru glances at the clock then back to Lance. Looking him over, there was a sparkle in her eyes, “Lance?”
Hesitant, recognizing that tone, he inquired, “Yes?”
“Can I dress you up?”
“Dress me up?”
“For Keith’s match?”
Tellru always dressed him up, and usually, she never had to ask. The fact that she did this time made him worried, “Exactly how much dressing up are we talking about here?”
Tellru invited Lance to her home to see for himself. Knowing they had time, he reluctantly agreed.
This was his mistake.
Taking a Kever down to the lower district, they gathered in Tellru’s house no more than 20 minutes later. Like an excited child, the older Coeihn had Lance wait on the couch while she went to fetch her surprise.
When she returned with an outfit, she proudly held it out before him, “Tada,”
Lance felt heat blossom in his cheeks at the sight, “No,”
“He’ll love it,” she insists, “It’ll give Keith the motivation to win,”
“He has enough motivation as it is,” he backed away, “I-I can’t wear that. It is too embarrassing,”
“Do it for Keith,” Tellru insists, grinning, a snickering Ruru behind her.
“Keith nothing, you just want to dress me up like a doll!” he accused her.
“I cannot confirm nor deny that is true. Come on, Lance,” she pleaded. Stepping being him, turning them to the mirror, she put it in front of him to give him a general idea of what it might look like on him. “You’ll drive him wild,”
Nervously staring at himself, Lance felt his tongue go thick. It was strange to admit that he was kind of… Enticed, to the idea. He wanted to know what Keith would think if he wore it. Would he find him attractive?
The idea of that being true made Lance blush, almost feeling excited. With a thrill shooting up his spine he stammered, “O-Okay...”
The two girls cheered, whisking him away before he could change his mind.
Keith was definitely in for a big surprise.
Lifting his Bayard up, Keith swung it out within the room he was supposed to wait in, preparing for the match. Lance would be watching, so he wanted to make sure he was ready. At first, this was just to prove to the Coeihns that he could stand before them, and that was still kind of the case… But he also wanted to impress Lance.
He wanted to show him that there was no one out there better than him, as childish as that sounded. It was important to him that Lance believed in his abilities and was impressed by them.
Because Lance himself was so amazing. He was courageous, brave, and loyal to a fault. He always fought as hard as he could and managed to get smiles from people in the darkest of times.
He wanted to be able to stand by Lance’s side as an equal and as someone who could protect him. So he wasn’t going to lose this challenge.
He was going to win and then, he was going to sweep Lance off his feet.
Keith felt himself blush at what they might do afterward if Lance was up to it.
When Keith heard a knock on the door, he called out, “Yes?”
“K-Keith?” recognizing Lance’s voice, Keith paused from putting on his elbow pads. Smiling, he approached the door, excited to see him before he went off for his match, “Lance, hey-“ when he tried to open the door, he found some resistance to it- like Lance was pulling on the other handle, stopping him, “Lance?”
“I-I uh…” he stammered, sounding nervous, “This was a mistake,”
“What was?” Keith pressed into the frame, concerned.
“Don’t open the door,” Lance pleaded with him, his voice sounding shaky.
Worried at why he would want that, Keith asked, “Lance, what is wrong?” it concerned him why Lance wouldn’t want him to see him. Did something happen while they were apart? Did Lance get hurt and he was trying to hide some injury, so Keith didn’t get mad?
“Lance,” he says, his voice deeper, “I’m opening the door,” he needed to make sure he was okay.
“N-No!” Lance squeaked, “I-I can’t face you right now…!”
Keith gave a tug on the handle and Lance desperately held onto the other end to stop him.
“Lance, let me see,” Keith demanded, furious that something had happened. Because something always happened when they were away from each other. It made him feel like an idiot for thinking Lance would be okay just because Rashra was gone, “Lance, please, let me see,” he says with a gentle tone, knowing Lance never wanted to worry him. “If someone hurt you-“
“That’s not it,” Lance almost whispered. Pressing his ear to the door, Keith heard him say, “I’m just- this is embarrassing. I shouldn’t have let Tellru convince me into this,”
“Convince you?”
“I-“ Lance was quiet for a long time before muttering, “I look like a girl,”
Keith blinked rapidly, “H-Huh?”
“I-“ the door handle loosened, and Keith gave it a sharp tug. With a yell of surprise, the blue paladin stumbled back, his clothes twirling with him.
Keith’s Bayard slipped from his fingers, tumbling to the ground with a loud bang. Silence fell upon them a moment later, Keith’s eyes so wide that they might just pop out if he stared any longer.
Tellru had definitely convinced Lance to do something crazy because Keith couldn’t believe his eyes. His equivalent, his sharpshooter, was in a dress.
It was purple and silky, leading down his body and framing Lance’s curves perfectly. Keith’s eyes trailed downward, noting how it barely went above his knees, showing off his slender legs- Keith's mouth watered when he realized Lance was wearing stockings.
“Y-You…” he covered his mouth, unable to form the words of how much he appreciated this sight before him.
“Lance. You look-“
“Ridiculous,”
That would never be the word Keith would use, and before he can realize what he is doing, he tugs Lance in, closing the door behind him to give them some privacy. Tellru may have had some strange ideas, but this had to be the best one she’s ever come up with.
Reaching up to touch Lance, he hesitated, eyeing him cautiously to check if this was okay. When Lance nodded meekly, Keith pressed his hand into the soft fabric. He exhaled, “Beautiful,”
Lance couldn’t seem to look him in the eyes, the red of his cheeks making him all that more enticing. Keith could hardly think straight, not even aware that he would find Lance in a dress so attractive.
“Lip gloss,” he notes, lifting his thumb to trail the blue paladin's lower lip, barely grazing it. He shudders in response.
“Tellru’s idea…. It-“ he was cut off when Keith leaned forward. Like an unknown force was driving him, he gripped Lance’s shoulders, pressing him firmly to the wall behind him. Lance followed obediently, his eye lids feeling heavy, his mind clouding with lust when Keith leaned in with a dark look.
"Best idea ever," he whispered. There was a gasp when Keith kissed him, their pace already frantic. Their chests were pounding with a raw desire that neither had prepared for.
They had kissed many times before, but nothing had felt as mind numbing as this. It was pure sex appeal, their minds driven by a sexual tension they had never experienced so thoroughly before.
Keith felt like he might just go mad. Tellru's idea was both brilliant and dangerous to his senses.
"This might have been a mistake," he agrees with what his Equivalent had said earlier. His tongue darted out by impulse, swiping along Lance's lower lip, tasting the cheery flavoring lip gloss. He hummed in approval when Lance trembled, visibly unwinding and pressing his body closer.
They were losing themselves, barely able to recall what they were even doing in this place. “Y-You’re match,” Lance reminded Keith shakily, knowing that if they continued they would miss it. “I have to go so you can get ready,”
Keith knew he was right but… Lance smelled so good. Pressing his face into his shoulder, he suckled on the spot.
“You have to-“ Lance groaned when his Equivalent’s teeth grazed his skin, warning of a rapidly approaching bite that was sure to follow. A moment later, the teeth punctured his skin, just as predicted, and Lance cried out.
“Y-Your match,” he bucked his hips involuntarily feeling the red paladin's wandering hands slipping below his dress, squeezing his thighs possessively. “K-Keith… Seriously,” he whined, so close to just forgetting it all and letting him have his way.
Keith hadn't seemed to have heard Lance anyway.
“Keith... You said you wanted to prove yourself.” Drawn back to his senses enough, Keith froze.
That seemed enough to clear his mind, and he retracted his teeth, swiping his tongue apologetically along the mark. Lance didn’t mind, rather used to Keith’s impulse to mark him. “Sorry… I do,”
Lance took a few deep breaths, his voice sounding too quiet when he says, “Then you have to stop… The match is soon,” he pants, wanting so badly to continue but not wanting to keep everyone waiting, “You gotta get going,”
Keith realized he was right, and he wanted to go through with it, but he also really wanted to stay and worship this Cuban boy's entire body.
As if reading his mind, Lance swallows thickly, “I-I’m wearing this all day so- you can see me later,”
“Is that all?” Keith inquired.
“Huh?”
“I’m only allowed to look at you?”
Blushing, Lance shifted his gaze a little, “W-Well- you can do more. As much as you want… If you win,”
“If I win, do I get you to myself?” he pressed closer, “All night?” he gripped Lance’s chin.
“Yes,” Lance felt himself melting into the touch, his mind following suit. Though he would give himself to Keith no matter what the outcome.
“Then I’ll be sure to win,” he promises.
“I know you will... Good luck,” Lance stepped closer kissing him one final time. Keith looks torn to pull away, his hands gripping along Lance's silky sides.
Keith couldn’t possibly let him go dressed like this. Everyone Coeihn out there would see him. The downside to this kind of outfit was that it wasn’t just Keith that would be staring.
“Wait-“ Keith took hold of his wrist, tugging him back in. Confused, Lance titled his head.
“What?”
Instead of answering, Keith grabbed the cloak that was hanging from the wall and threw it over Lance’s shoulders. Puzzled when he buttoned it up, he asked, “What is this for?”
“I just-“ Keith frowns, “You are really cute,”
Pursing his lips, Lance clears his throat, “And… Your point?”
“Everyone else will think so too,” Keith muttered, like that should explain his whole thought process.
Not exactly understanding, Lance frowns, “Um… I’m not following,”
Keith ground his teeth together, “I don’t want- they’ll see you,” he concludes, motioning to Lance. “They’ll see you like this,” When Keith lifts the hood up, stepping close to grip Lance’s shoulders, the blue paladin feels like he understands a little.
“You don’t want them to see me?”
“Call it a request from my possessive side,” Keith muttered
Lance smiles a little, “Very well,” he agrees, definitely not minding hiding this from the rest of the world. Adjusting the cloak, he leans forward to press a kiss to Keith’s cheek. “Good luck out there. I’ll be watching with Tellru and Ruru,”
Pulling back, Lance slipped out of the door, grinning. Keith watched him, his eyes trailing to Lance’s legs, which he could still see from below the cloak.
Those stockings….
Shivering a little, knowing he would never be able to forget a sight that like, he turned around to continue getting dressed.
Focus, he told himself. He had to focus on things other than Lance’s legs- or curves- or face- or lips- his soft hair…
Keith slumped against the chair, groaning into his hands.
Lance was just too cute.
It was very different this time around when Lance entered the stands of the arena. The first time he hadn’t been able to see anything, walking into unknown territory with screaming citizens and dangers of death lurking around each corner.
Now, he was welcomed by smiling faces, laughing children, and friends he could trust.
Amazed at how a few months somewhere could change your perspective on it, he followed Tellru and Ruru through the crowd. He had never been on this side of the arena before, seated amongst the citizens in the stands.
The arena was actually very nice. And oddly enough seemed… Family friendly? If that made sense? It was like going to see a baseball game back on Earth. They had vendors, sold shirts and treats for the kids- they even made bets.
Noticing Tellru was eyeing the event he asked, “Are you going to bet on someone?”
“Well, usually I always bet on Dravla to try and earn a little extra money, but Keith is going to be out there today,” she hummed in thought, “I honestly have no idea who would win between the two of them. So I feel it is better just to sit back and enjoy the fight,”
“Good plan,” Lance chuckles.
Smiling at him, Tellru chuckles when they sit down, “So Keith didn’t want you showing off your outfit to anyone else, huh?”
“Nope,” Lance says
“So protective. He just doesn’t want other Coeihns drooling over you,” pausing when the bell above went off, Tellru started to cheer with the rest of the crowd when she saw the challengers of the day coming out to stand before the crowd. There were at least three of them, Keith being one of the last to compete.
The second he came into view Ruru and him were raising their arms, waving frantically to catch his attention. Spotting them in an instant, he smiled.
It wasn’t till Keith stepped out to face the first champion that Lance understood that this was technically a sport to Coeihns.
There were prisoners of war, yes, and the Coeihns showed little mercy to those people. But now that Lance had spent time with them and learned their culture, he realized why they were very cold to them when they first arrived.
Most all of them were Traveks, people who had bombed their city and killed their families. With decades of war, he assumed that making them fight in this arena was their only means of revenge against the people who caused them years of grief and sorrow.
Not that Lance thought that was the right way to do things, but it wasn’t unrealistic that he wouldn’t understand. This was a different culture after all.
Most of the time, these challenges seem to be in good heart.
It was for warriors to prove their worth to their people and earn the affection of a mate.
Sitting with Tellru and Ruru in the stands, Lance actually found himself cheering for a lot of the competitors, getting really into the fights. None of them were to the death.
It was like watching a big sparing matching. Like wrestling or boxing back home. Fencing with actual swords, perhaps?
No one aimed to kill, and to him, none of the champions or competitors ever even attempted to swing at the spots that would cause damage.
It made the previously brash Coeihns seem a little gentler.
When Keith was finally up, Lance had already gotten himself and Keith a shirt from the vendor to wear later. Keith had spotted him and actually rolled his eyes when Lance held them up for him to see.
Lifting his Bayard, he nodded his head towards the first champion when he arrived.
King Manson, who had heard of Keith’s challenge had come to witness it, watching from above. Prince Harri was with him and calling wild cheers to Keith to do his best.
Lance refused to be outshined by a child and belted Keith’s names to the heavens, making a heart with his hands.
This seemed to please Keith, and he charged for the champion, ready to begin.
Keith’s Citizenship challenge was miles different from Lance’s.
Due to him being blind, a lot of his attacks were uncoordinated and random, going purely off his instincts with not tact to it at all.
In all honesty, he couldn't exactly remember each fight with the champions and tended to blur all of them into one big confrontation. WIthout his sight, it was hard to recall he was ever fighting different people, so most of their ways of fighting just mixed together.
“You know, after all this time, I never asked what his name was,” Lance admitted.
“The first champion?” Tellru inquired.
“Yeah,”
“Wer’la,”
“W-Wear-la?”
“Wer’la,” Tellru corrects.
“I’ll do my best to remember that,” Lance shakes his head, “So, are champions just champions? Or do they do other stuff?”
“Like other jobs?”
“Yeah, Dravla is Manson’s right-hand man, and if he isn’t here or with you two, he is with the King. Do the other champions do stuff?”
“Of course,” she smiles, “Wer’la here actually raises Parlogs. It really affects the way he fights,”
Lance could see that, noting how Wer’la was more of the brute kind of fella, charging at his challengers like a bull. He held nothing back with Lance, or anyone for that matter, and came at Keith with the same intent.
Lance remembered him pausing from his attacks to gloat if he knocked him down during their fight.
He seemed different now, taking Keith seriously, almost respectfully.
Of course, during his fight, he was nothing more than an outsider. In this battle, Keith was a hero to the Coeihns, so of course, the champions would also look at them in a different light.
Keith was more graceful than Lance had ever seen. To him, the red paladins fighting almost seemed like a dance, each swing and thrust thought out and precise with the intent to end the battle swiftly.
The Coeihn wasn’t much of a swordsman like Keith but held his ground fairly well. The crowd was going nuts, admiring Keith’s speed and power in the arena.
But there were instances that he could see something in Keith’s eyes.
Keith wasn’t going to lose this fight.
Lance began to realize that this wasn’t just about the citizenship for Keith. He wanted to prove his worth to everyone, Lance included, but there was something else. A sense of… Closure, perhaps?
Maybe even a little bit of revenge.
Lance knew why. Keith had always been protective, and one of the reasons Lance had to be in a wheelchair the first few weeks they were here was because of his fights against the champions. Lance had long since forgiven the Coeihns for that time.
He had seen enough of how these people lived to understand why he needed to prove himself, and how important battle was to them. Keith understood too, but this felt like he was trying to ingrain a crucial fact to the Coeihn society.
He loved the Coeihns, but if they dared mess with Lance ever again… He was going to end them.
With that thought, Keith slammed the hilt of his Bayard into the first champion's chest and knocked him over. Before he could get up, he pressed the blade to his throat, forcing him to concede.
When the bell rung, Keith helped the Coeihn to his feet and shook his hands.
Forgiveness for what he had done.
This was the trend to Keith; forgiving the champion for what they had done only after he had beat them in the challenge.
When the second champion came in, a much larger and stronger Coeihn, Keith had to rely more on his speed and tactics to with the battle. Lance could faintly recall how easily he had beaten the second champion.
It was almost cheating since he had fired at the Coeihn from a distance- using the advantage of his heavy weight to locate him then take him out before he got close.
Now that he could actually see the second Coeihn, and see how he fought since Keith had no gun on him to do what Lance did, he was glad he had decided to take this Coeihn out with his Bayard.
He was strong. Horribly strong.
Not too fast, mind you, but the ground seemed to almost crack under his weight when he would punch at Keith, barely missing him by a hair.
Lance would have been snapped in two if he had been forced to actually go hand to hand with this Coeihn.
So he cheered Keith on to do his best.
“What’s his name?’ Lance thought he might as well ask who all the champions were, since he never got to previously.
“Tilma,” Tellru tells him, “His Equivalent owns a bakery that he helps out in. So don’t let his big looks fool you. He’s a big sweetheart,”
Reminded of Hunk, Lance smiles. Hunk or not, this guy was touch for Keith to get a hit on. Even if he managed to punch the guy, it hardly affected him, and seemed to be causing more damage to Keith instead.
Deciding that the saying “the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ was perfect for this situation. By ducking through his legs, Keith had taken the straps attached the the Coeihns legs, pulling them back when Tilma had tried to walk forward.
Falling to the floor, sounding like a giant had stepped down when he collided with the ground, Keith leaped up onto him,
Slamming his feet down against his lower back, he held the blade above the Tilma'a neck in a check mate fashion. The Coeihn held his hands in surrender, was helped to his feet, and shook Keith’s hands.
“Clever,” Tellru praised,
When the third champion came out, Lance almost spits out the drink he had gotten.
He hadn’t realized this before, because of course, he hadn’t really had the time to notice this before but…
The third champion was a girl?
“She’s a girl,”
“Do you think girls can’t be champions?” Tellru inquired.
“N-No, not that- I just didn’t realize she was a girl when we fought,” Lance says.
“Her name is Verla,” Ruru tell Lance, “She swim coach,”
“A swim coach?” he asks.
“On the side, when she isn’t doing challenges, she teaches swim class. She is Ruru’s swim instructor,” Tellru explains to him.
“Ooh,” he nods, “Gotcha.”
It was a battle of speed. Swords were clashing, sparks almost flying with each impact as the two fought. Keith seemed to enjoy this one the most, taking Verla head on. They slashed at each other fiercely, the screeching noise of metal hitting metal making goose bumps form on his arms.
In one instance, Keith swung a little too hard, aiming straight for Verla’s head and neck.
The crowd almost covered their eyes, relieved to see Keith had missed the 3rd champion's neck by an inch. Quickly reacting to this, Verla threw her hand out, catching Keith’s wrist with the hilt of her blade.
With his Bayard knocked from his hands, Keith had to duck back, slide out of distance from the Coeihn before making a quick break for his Bayard to retrieve it.
Keith was tough- but everyone here seemed to know that. Every Coeihn knew what Keith had done during his time here. He had saved them from the galra attack- but had also brutally killed one of their own kind.
All in self-defense and to protect Lance, who had his own blood staining his hands, but it was still an ample warning to all.
Keith didn’t play around, and if antagonized, he could kill you easily. The Champions were aware of this, and despite this being a friendly kind of match- they were on their full guard.
Having retrieved his Bayard, Keith winced when a pain tightened around his wrist. He glanced down at it, noticing the fresh bruise from the Coeihn’s previous attack.
Shaking his hand, having seemingly hurt it too much to use it properly in a fight, the 3rd champion smirked a little. Not looking overly impressed, Keith gave his own smile and switched his Bayard to his left hand. Realizing he was ambidextrous almost a second too late, Verla lifted her swords just in time to block Keith’s attack.
Catching her off guard, Keith took the change to advance, flipping upward like an acrobat to slam his foot into the Coeihn’s shoulder.
Tellru snorted, “Show off!” she calls into the ring to Keith. He smirks over his shoulder, glancing a bit at Lance to see if he had seen that.
And boy had he.
Lance would not admit that he was swooning despite him obviously cheering and yelling Keith’s name to encourage him.
Flipping over the 3rd champions back, he swiped her legs out, back flipping onto her stomach and slamming the hilt of his Bayard into her nose.
Knocked out a moment later, Keith stepped off her and let the other Coeihns drag her off.
The crowd was going nuts.
Lance was going nuts
Ruru was waving goodbye to Verla saying she would see her next week.
“She’s out cold, sweet pea,” Lance tells her, “She can’t hear you.”
“Oh…” Ruru blinked, “...Still, see you next week!’ she continued to call.
Lance laughed, then looked at Keith to notice his Equivlanet was staring at him. Lance blushed a little, waving. Sweet parlog that was one of the coolest things he had ever seen! Right after that time Keith went racing into that asteroid field and came out completely unharmed.
“Go Keith!” he called with Ruru, clapping their hands.
Lance's good mood died off when the 4th champion sauntered into the ring. Lance had never seen his face before now, and honestly, he wished he hadn’t. This was the man he almost killed.
Okay, he had almost killed every champion with his Bayard. If they hadn’t hadn’t been advanced enough in the medical field, all the champions would have bled to death from where he had shot them.
Lance knew this. It haunted his dreams sometimes.
Paladin or not, he wanted to avoid killing as much as possible. So he forced himself to never think about the lives he might have taken during galra attacks.
But here, in this ring, death was all that was on his mind.
He had defeated the first three champions, but he never worried about whether or not he had killed them at the time because he could hear them yelling in pain or making some sort of noise when they were dragged away.
The fourth champion, however- Lance was convinced for days that he had killed him till Dravla told him otherwise. It made him relieved, but from what he had heard, he had been in extensive care and had been on the brink of death for a short time.
Lance had caused that.
“He uh- recovered well,” Lance clears his throat awkwardly, watching as the fourth Champion bowed to Keith, a sign of respect before the match. Tellru glanced at him, nodding cautiously.
“We Coeihns are tough,” she assures him.
“Y-Yeah I know,” he says, “...What’s his name?”
“Arlo’Kie, but everyone just calls him Arlo.”
Lance almost screamed, “Are you serious?!” He hadn’t talked about his family too much to Tellru, so she wouldn’t understand, but his youngest brother’s name was Arlo.
Hearing that just made him feel worse about what he had done.
“Lance,’ Tellru puts a hand to his shoulder, “The Champions came out with a killing intent that day. None of them hold it against you for defending yourself. No one died, and everything turned out fine. You do not need to feel guilty for defeating them,”
“But I- he almost died.”
“As did you,” she reminded him. “Arlo, as Dravla has told you before, never held any ill will to you after what happened. He’s gotten worse injuries from citizens trying to earn their Equivalency. It is okay,”
Lance glanced at her, “...You sure?”
“Yes. If you want, you can talk to him later and settle it yourself,”
He nods, “I’d like that,”
Looking back to the Arena, noting how the match had already begun, he watched the way Arlo fought. His preferred weapon seems to be a kind of speared staff? It could still remember how it smacked against his skin.
Due to its length, Keith had to keep a slight distance, just a little slow compared to Arlo’s speed. He was a difficult challenge.
Of course, as the fourth champion, he would have to be.
Ducking when Arlo lunged his spear forward, Keith dodged to the right, the sharpened end cutting his cheek. Rolling back, he brushed the back of his palm to it, narrowing his eyes.
Out of every champion, Arlo had been the closest to killing him, as well as causing the most damage to Lance’s body.
Keith seemed to realize this, and motioned for Arlo to attack, ready to take him down. Swinging the staff once, his eyes dark and calculating, Arlo took in his surroundings, noticing how much space they had before reaching the edge of the arena.
From here, it was hard at first, but Lance began to see something, “His eyes…” While the Coeihn’s eyes were generally black, his seemed more human and were white. His irises were even green!
“He is royalty,” Tellru explained, “And the white part of his eye is a congenital disability or sorts. It isn’t often, but many strange defects can occur if something happens during the pregnancy. He is King Manson’s cousin,”
Lance went pale. He stabbed the King’s cousin? And the King never said anything about it. “Is Manson-”
“I just told you, Lance, no one is mad at you for what you did. Each Champion out there is prepared to be injured, as is every challenger. You won the match, and in turn, one both Arlo’s, Manson’s, and everyone’s respect.”
“Oh…” Lance nodded slowly. “Manson never really mentioned a cousin before.”
“They aren’t on the best terms,” Tellru shrugged, “They get along well enough, but certain things happened in the past. It’s more of their story to tell and not mine,”
Lance understood and nodded.
Looking back at the match, this one seemed to draw on the longest. Arlo’Kie was skilled, no doubt, and Lance wondered how he possibly managed to beat the guy.
He calculated each of Keith’s attack, learning as the match progressed. He was faster than Keith, but Keith seemed to beat him in strength.
Slamming their weapons together, Keith pushed forward, managing to catch Arlo off guard. Tossing him to the ground, Keith attempt to pin him down, only to have Arlo’s legs kick out and slam into his stomach. He fell over on top of the fourth champion, and the two rolled, throwing punches and kicks.
Lance was screaming, calling Keith’s name
Managing to pull himself to his knees, Keith threw his fist out with everything it had. Connecting painfully to Arlo’s jaw, he managed to get a KO out of the Coeihn, and the Fourth champion collapsed.
The crowd erupted into cheer when the bell went off, rising to their feet to cheer for Keith.
He stumbled back to brush some sweat from his brow, noticing how Arlo came to consciousness a second later. Stumbling to his feet, a little woozy, he nodded his head to Keith. They shook heads, and the crowd gave another cheer.
Knowing what was about to happen next, Lance leaped to his feet, watching as the gates opened on the other end of the Arena.
The crowd was already starting to chant, going went nuts when Dravla stepped out, smiling brightly. He approached Keith, and the crowd went completely silent when he held his hand out to him.
Staring at it, Keith smiles and shook it, a sign of friendship in this fight.
“May the best man win,” Dravla tells him, and Keith nods.
“I’ve been itching to spare against you,” he admits.
“Oh?” Dravla grins, “Well, Lance always says your an excellent swordsman. Time to see for myself just how good,” he pulls out his blade and gives it a twirl. Keith smirks, excitement shining in his eyes as he charges forward. Their swords collide, and Lance feels a shiver go up his spine.
The fight was almost in slow motion; each swing so calculated and powerful, it left him trembling. Keith never stopped grinning, enjoying himself the entire time.
Dravla was the same, and even bellowed out a laugh when he would manage to throw Keith completely over his shoulder and into the air. Landing like a cat, Keith smirked, satisfied when he finally managed to get Dravla to fall over.
The upper hand only lasted so long. These two refused to budge an inch, willing to go till the other passed out of exhaustion before they ever gave up. Lance thought that this might actually be what happened as the sun slowly began to set. Three hours…
Three hours and the two of them were stumbling, barely able to move.
Panting heavily, they stumble around the arena; their weapons tossed aside to throw punches and stick with hand to hand. Dravla had learned a lot of how Keith fought in the time and would have used that to his advantage- if Keith wasn’t the same way. He learned best through experiences and watching Dravla fight enough had given him the insight to figure out how to combat him.
In the end, the two fell over, exhausted.
Keith had been deemed the winner simply because he had fallen over only a few second after Dravla had.
The Coeihns accepted this turn of events and gave a standing ovation, cheering long after Keith and Dravla were carried off.
Quickly getting to his feet, lance scrambled up the steps to meet up with Keith.
He located him in the far infirmary half an hour later, finally managing to push through the Coeihn crowd. When he arrived, Keith was standing in the middle of the clinic, removing his armor. He was awake but bruised. Lance charged at him, bring him into a hug. Catching him, Keith gave him a small twirl, laughing.
Placing him back to his feet, his arms snugly around the Blue Paladin’s waist, Keith titled his head, “You see it?”
“Of course I did! You did it!” Lance tells him.
“Was there any doubt?” It sounded like a tease, but Lance could see the nervous look in Keith’s eyes. Recalling the day before, knowing just how seriously Keith tended to take his words, he smiled.
“Of course there wasn’t. I knew you could do it,” he kisses his Equivalent’s nose. Looking bewildered for a second, Keith grinned when Lance started to lather his face with adoring smooches, praising him endlessly.
When Tellru approached them a few moments later, Keith smirked at her, “So you convinced Lance to wear a dress?”
Lance hit him, his face changing a shade, “Shut up.” he tries to play it cool by saying, “You are just jealous I can pull this off so well,”
“It suits you well,” Tellru offers. Keith moves the cloak just enough to view the outfit and nods. Lance bats his hands away, embarrassed.
“Next time, you are the one wearing the dress,” he tells Keith.
Keith opened his mouth to disagree, but the way Lance pouted at him made him agree, “Next time,” he promises. Though next time could mean anything or anytime, so he wasn’t too worried about it, confident Lance would forget their deal after a while.
Lance, however, would never, ever forget that Keith agreed to wear a dress for him, and nodded his head to Tellru; a silent agreement to have a dress ready for that moment.
“I must say, that was one impressive battle,” Tellru smiles, “Dravla will be talking about it for years, no doubt.”
“He was tough,” Keith shifted his shoulders a bit, wincing at how sore they felt. “But it was fun,”
“I’m glad,” Tellru eyes the arena “I should go fetch him. I would say we should go celebrate, but you look exhausted,” she patted Keith’s shoulders, “We can meet up tomorrow and celebrate your citizenship if you would like,”
“Yeah,” Keith smiles, “I’d like that.” Waving goodbye to Tellru, Keith leaned against Lance the entire way to the Kever. The Coeihns that had just witnessed the match was waving to him, calling cheers and praise.
(“Red Champion! Red Champion!”)
“I guess this means I’m no longer the top warrior,” Lance snorted, “My Red Champion,”
Keith stuck his tongue out at him, motioning for Lance to step onto the Kever first. Scurrying up, he found them both seats and watched his Equivalent slowly sink down, his muscles stiff and face tight. Lance leaned into Keith, resting his head on his shoulder, “You tired?”
“A little,” Keith glanced at him, “Those battles really take it out of you,” he reaches out to take Lance’s hand, “It really makes me understand exactly everything you had to go through when we first got here… how much you had to push yourself to win,”
“It was different then,” Lance says,
“Exactly,” Keith says, his tone serious, “Back then, no one here knew you. You were a stranger to these people, so they held nothing back. Today, I was a friend to the Coeihns, so even if Dravla took me seriously, he held back enough so he would never seriously hurt me. Same with the others. You had to fight against them without that hesitation. They could have killed you, and you could have killed them- but you didn’t. You won,” he tightens his grip, smiling with so much admiration and love that it’s staggering.
Lance swallows, pressing his tongue to the roof of his mouth when Keith inched closer. Another inch- two more… Their foreheads were touching.
“You were inspiring, Lance,” he murmured.
Without a word, he slowly brought his hand around Lance’s back, wrapping it snugly around his waist.
Biting his lip, Lance watched Keith’s other hand trail down to his thigh, squeezing it.
They both inhaled, their breathing coming out shaky. Turning his head enough to graze their lips together, Lance quivered under Keith’s touch, anticipating the day turning in this direction.
Excited for what was about to come, Lance’s hand ghosts over Keith’s chest, curling around his shirt to bring him closer. Pressing their forehead together, gratefully they were towards the back of the Kever where no many could see them, Lance hummed.
“You won,”
“I did,” Keith murmurs, his breath ghosting along Lance’s ear. “Do I get a prize for my victory?” Pressing his lips to the spot he nibbles lightly.
Lance inhales sharply, his head swimming, “Yes,”
When the Kever pulled into their stop, they scampered off the Bug to run home, hand in hand. They were drunk off each other, bumping shoulders and tripping over each other as they bolted up the stairs, giggling and tugging at the other’s clothes.
“This dress…” Keith was ripping off the cloak the moment they stumbled into the apartment, “You are killing me with this,”
“Didn’t think you were the one for this sort of stuff,” Lance admits, wrapping his arms around Keith’s shoulders.
“Neither did I. I learn a lot about myself when I’m with you,” surging forward, Keith kisses him, backing him up into their apartment. They blindly kicked their shoes off through the buzz of excitement coiling through their bodies.
Lifted against the table when they back into it, Lance gasps when Keith steps in between his thighs, pulling him in for a deeper, hotter kiss.
“K-Keith,’ Lance shuddered, “Not on the table,”
“I don’t think I can wait to get to the bed,” Keith’s hand slipped below the dress, dancing along Lance’s thighs.
“Yes you can,” Lance groaned, “It’s right… over there,” he even glanced at the bed, knowing it was only a few feet away.
“Too far,” Keith insists, pressing his hips forward, grinding his hips forward. Caught up in the pleasure, Lance whines, giving into the red paladin’s insistence and wrapping his legs around his waist.
Pressed back further, Keith ended up crawling up onto the table, looming over Lance. They really could have just quickly stepped over to the bed, but Keith was kind of into having sex- or, making love, in strange places.
He was just full of interesting things for Lance to discover.
“So, what’s the plan here, Red Champion?” he mused, lifting a hand to brush Keith’s hair back.
Keith blinked a few times, too caught in his lust to think straight, “We uh…” he shifts his weight, “Make love…?”
“Obviously, but how are we gonna go about it? Who tops tonight?” Lance curled his lip, lifting himself to kiss long Keith’s neck.
“Um- I’m kind of on a role here so….” Keith shrugs, cutting himself off.
“Ooh? So you become champion, and you think you’re all that?” Lance inquired playfully.
“What? N-No. I- I just-“
“Ah, don’t “no, I-I just-” me, mister,” Lance smirked.
Keith blinked a few times, innocently staring at Lance, willing to go with whatever he wanted. Lance, in return, chuckled and motioned for Keith to come down so they could kiss.
"You are on a roll~" he smirks against the red paladin's lips, "So do whatever you want for the night,"
Keith shivered, grinning from ear to ear, "With pleasure,"