Chapter 12: Bets and Braids

                                    

                                          
"Three, two, one, go!" Lance said as he and Keith flipped their cards over at the same time, a sly smile forming on Keith's face as he saw that his card was a king and Lance's was a three. 
                          
"Dammit!" Lance cursed as Keith happily took Lance's card and put it into his own pile. The two boys had been playing War for at least twenty minutes and Keith had been winning for a little over half of the time. It had been about four days since the rain incident, and Lance had spent those four days questioning literally all of his interactions with Keith. Was he himself flirting? Was Keith flirting? And, the biggest question of all, was he himself not straight? Lance didn't know what to make of how his stomach did flips everytime Keith smiled. He just really wanted to be friends with Keith, yes, that had to be it. After Lance lost yet another time, he decided to raise the stakes in order to make the game more exciting, as he could sense Keith becoming bored. 
                          
"So, Keith," Lance began. "I would like to propose a bet." Keith rolled his eyes.
                          
"Do tell," he said, intrigued. 
                          
"If I win," Lance continued. "Then I get to braid your hair everyday for a week." Keith laughed, already very sure that he was going to win. 
                          
"Fine," He agreed. "But, if I win, then you're going to get a buzzcut." Lance shuddered, then reached out his hand to shake Keith's. The two boys shook hands, and the game continued. However, a sense of dread began to pile up inside of Keith as he noticed his pile of cards becoming smaller and smaller. Round after round, he felt himself becoming nervous. He had never had his hair in a braid before, and he was sure that he would look stupid wearing one. Yet, this was not the main reason he was nervous about Lance braiding his hair. Keith anxiously rubbed his thigh and drummed his fingers on the table. After Lance took his last card, Keith bit his tongue lightly and rubbed his thumbnail with his index finger. 
                          
"You cheated," Keith pouted. Lance gasped in mock hurt.
                          
"I did no such thing, Keith. Now, come sit on the floor over here. It's been a while since I've done this, so it might take me a bit to remember how." Keith glared at Lance, before dragging his feet and sitting down in front of him, his legs criss-cross. Lance got up quickly, careful not to kick Keith.
                          
"I'm going to go find a brush and a hair tie. Don't move," With that, he exited the hut. Keith got up, about to leave, before entertaining the possibility that maybe Lance wouldn't think what he was hiding was strange. Although still skeptical, Keith walked back over to where he had been sitting and resumed his position. Lance walked back into the hut and sat behind Keith. He rubbed his chin, contemplating. 
                          
"Y'know, this would probably be easier if I was also sitting on the floor," Lance decided, more because he wanted to than anything else. Keith looked back up at him, one eyebrow raised. Lance ignored him.
                          
"Scoot forward," He requested. Keith obliged, and Lance slid off the bed onto the dirt floor behind him. Lance could feel Keith stiffen as his legs touched Keith's as he stretched them out to the sides. 
                          
"Relax, mullet. I'm not going to hurt you." Keith was not remotely calmed by Lance's words. He brushed Keith's hair gently, and after finishing, he took the opportunity to run his fingers through Keith's hair, making sure that there were no more tangles. 
                          
"When did you learn to braid?" Keith asked, genuinely curious. 
                          
"My sister, Veronica, taught me so that I could braid her hair for her." Keith smiled, picturing a small Lance carefully braiding his sister's hair. 
                          
"Lance-" Keith spoke up as Lance picked up his hair and gasped when he saw what was underneath. Two purple marks stretched up onto the back of Keith's neck. 
                          
"Keith," Lance began curiously. "Is this a tattoo?" 
                          
"No," Keith answered, biting his lip. 
                          
"Then what is it?" 
                          
"I-," Keith stuttered. "I don't know," he admitted. 
                          
"Oh," Lance said. "Well, that's okay. Is it just on your neck?" Without a verbal answer, Keith peeled off his shirt. Lance bit his lip. A beautiful, flowing purple pattern painted Keith's back. Keith looked down in nervousness, and Lance slowly reached his hand out. He traced part of the pattern with his fingers, all the way down to Keith's lower back, and stopped when he noticed that he had given Keith goosebumps. The purple vines ran along all of Keith's back and appeared to not stop above the waistline. Perhaps Keith had not expected him to stop when he did. 
                          
"Sorry," Lance muttered embarrassedly, he hadn't meant to make Keith uncomfortable. 
                          
"It's fine," Keith replied, blushing. The two sat in silence for a moment. 
                          
"How long have they been there?" Lance inquired, genuinely curious. 
                          
"About three months" Keith answered. "Although it took a while for them to become this prominent, which is probably why no one noticed them before. They've gotten really dark over this past week." Lance nodded, unsure of what to say next. He moved his hand to continue braiding Keith's hair, taking it in his hands. Keith's hands quickly reached up and grabbed his, pulling them away from his hair.
                          
"Lance," Keith turned his body to face Lance, awkwardly still holding his hands. "Please don't." Lance nodded and understood. He didn't want to force Keith into anything he was uncomfortable with. Keith let go of his hands, and stood up, grabbing his shirt from off of the ground. He pulled it over his head quickly. 
                          
"I don't want anyone here knowing I'm part Galra," Keith explained. "Otherwise they might not be such gracious hosts to us anymore." Lance nodded his head again, although a part of him disagreed with Keith. 
                          
"Keith?" Lance asked him, still sitting on the ground like a toddler right before Keith was about to leave. Keith turned around.
                          
"Yeah?"
                          
"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are," Lance told him. "In any respect. Don't hide such important parts of yourself from the world just because you're afraid they won't like you for it. They make you, well, you." Keith nodded, taking Lance's words into consideration. 
                          
"I'll think about it," He said, wanting to put the topic to rest. Lance smiled at him, and Keith smiled back, grateful for his friend's support, although his smile made his heart melt a little.
                          
"I'm going to go take a shower," Keith announced, he couldn't stand standing there and being looked at by Lance any longer. 
                          
"Alright, um, have fun," Lance said, not sure of what else to say. For once, he was the socially awkward one. Imagining Keith taking a shower was interfering with his ability to speak normally. Keith looked at Lance amusedly.
                          
"I will," Keith responded before darting out of the door, leaving Lance sitting on the ground, cursing himself for being so obvious.