Ok so now I love our Home Ec teacher, wtf?? I was so stressed about this test but then when we entered the classroom and the first thing I see is her making tea for us. Tea! On a test!And she was like "just ask me and I'll make you a hot cup of tea, and there is honey and anything you would like to add to it. Just do your best, and don't stress." Like yes??? Thank you so much??? I don't even like tea but thank you anyways??? 

Please don't come at me, I don't like coffee either☕

Also, it was really easy to cheat, but ehem, let's not get into that.

And those who finished early could make cookies but since I'm always so slow with everything, I could just sit and do the test as everyone else made them, and I even got three of them! Without needing to bake them! In other words, this was the most chill test I have ever had in my entire life.

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Keith had changed his mind. 

He'd come to a conclusion: the pod had made him crazy too, and now the effects were slowly starting to come off of him. That he'd even asked Pidge for such a favor in the first place.

In the process of his slowly fading craziness, he tried to occupy himself with other things to do in the castle. His legs had automatically taken him to the training deck, no matter if he knew in the far back of his mind that it maybe wasn't so wise to put his body through such an intensive exercise so soon after literally passing out, but that automatic side of him was stronger. Always have been. But Keith quickly discovered that someone must have disabled the simulation function, so he'd been yelling for the training sequence to start for almost five minutes straight, but got nothing more than a sore throat out of it. And he wasn't really in the mood to sword fight with himself, so he eventually left the big room. Dammit, the paladins knew him better than he wanted them to. 

With the training out, he didn't really have any other options in his head. Training was basically what he always did, and having that taken away from him made his head empty. What was there even to do for him then? Training was basically... him. Maybe he could just make a fool out of himself after all and swing his sword around in the air with no opponent to fight against. There wasn't anyone there to watch him, anyways. 
But the cameras. Not only would they capture his humiliation, but also the fact that he was training in the first place.

So he was currently in his room, dagger beside him on the bed - which he had stared at for what felt like a decade but was maybe just ten minutes - and Pidge's phone was on the other side of him, looking tempting as ever. The fact that she even lent it out to him in the first place, is what set him off the most, like she was supporting his previous and very rubbish idea. She just gave it to him, with no words, only that damn twinkle in her goddamn eyes, like she knew something Keith didn't, and liked to watch him suffer from his ignorance. That's what frustrated him the most. Not knowing. His determination to figure things out he couldn't understand is what always but him above everyone else at the Garrison, and what gave him such high scores that made everyone so irate with him - and what also made the team find the blue lion in the first place. People said that he was a natural, but it wasn't like that at all. He'd spend the whole evening inside his room to solve all the problems he just couldn't seem to solve, until he'd fall asleep late at night only to wake up even more cantankerous than he already was, and people just assumed that his attitude came with his smartness. But really it was just his very bad communicating skills, no matter how rested he was.

So that's why he picked up the phone now, ever so slowly, looking down at the neon orange screen, deciding if he would proceed with this plan and turn it on. He hated that he didn't understand. He hated that Lance could say whatever the hell he wanted in that foreign language of his and Keith wouldn't understand shit. And most importantly, he hated that he cared. And although Lance had already told him what he had said, Keith couldn't seem to believe him. Not with the way he said it.

But he didn't want anyone's help with figuring it out; maybe there was someone else in the team that spoke Spanish, but he didn't want to ask them, not when he could figure it out by himself. Telling Pidge was already enough, and he wouldn't want to expand his fatuity by asking more.

As soon as he opened up the phone, he went straight for the video file Pidge had managed to pull up with just a press of a single button. What kind of technology was this? Apparently, her phone was connected to the security footages in this entire castle, and she could easily keep track on what was going on. She could also replay old footages, which was what Keith was doing just now.

His wariness had vanished; there wasn't really any going back when he started with something. On the contrary, it was very hard for him to stop. This reminded him of every sleepless nights he would sit and study, until his hand felt bruised and his brain ached. 

The video started immediately, starting from very early in the morning, when a new day had begun. Keith had to fast forward until he saw him and Lance emerge into the lounge room, keeping a fair distance between each other before they had to sit down on the couch in front of each other. The sound could have been better, but since the cameras was so high above them, it was the best Keith could get. Lance started cooing about the "hot alien girls on the banquets" and Keith immediately fast forwarded a little bit more, until he came to just the right time. As soon as the Spanish part came, he had to pause and rewind, only to understand what the hell was being said. He tried to separate the words one by one, and picked out one very short word at the beginning; Tú. He knew what that meant. That was one of the few things he knew for sure. He'd gone over the basic words over and over, but tú seemed to be the only one stuck in his head. Therefore he went to the next word.

Eres. Eles? No, eres. It was probably one of those words he needed to know, but just didn't. He had to click away the video and open up Pidge installed translator app, setting it on Spanish, translating to English. When he typed in the word, it quickly translated into you are. Huh, just that? Keith tried to place his two current words into a sentence; You you are? Was the 'tú' really necessary? He decided that it wasn't, and continued.

He continued and continued, sitting in his room on his little bed as he translated his heart away, the dedication like a crackling wire in water. He sat there for an eternity that lasted for an hour.

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Almost everything inside Lance was saying no, but his legs were saying a strong yes. That's why he strolled around in the castle, doubtfully looking for the red paladin, like a part of him was still ready to bolt out of the castle and back to the others before anyone could notice his absence. 

But he couldn't seem to find the other boy immediately, which made him linger inside, and made his stomach do some very unsettling flips. He knew it: Keith had officially managed to eject himself out into open, cold space. He knew that leaving him alone here would result into something like that. Stupid Shiro and his stupid leader decisions. He couldn't wait to say his very passionate and loud I told you so! It was always so good to be right.

But Lance didn't want to be right about this. Not about Keith getting in trouble. That was really the thing he surely never wanted to be right about. It was an awful thing to be right about. He speed-walked through the corridors a little bit faster, stopping in front of his final destination: Keith's bedroom. If he wasn't there he would start to panic, and that included a lot of screaming. And cursing. Specifically in Spanish.

Lance pounded on the door, kicking it too for emphasis. "Open the goddamn door, Kogane! You better be in there! Or else I will haunt your dead soul down! But please don't make me do that! Please be in there! Por favor?"

Just like a miracle, the automatic metal door whirred open, making his hand stop mid-air, and somewhere in his mind did he hear the exhale he let out, letting out all the air he didn't even know he held in. The flipping in his stomach slowly calmed down a little, and his mouth fluttered open, suddenly not being able to say anything.

Keith looked almost as surprised as him, only that he could cover it up way faster, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, at his bed, before looking forward again. His eyebrows was drawn together, so much they almost became just one thick line of hair on his forehead. "What are you doing here? Are you all back already?"

It wasn't really the reaction Lance had waited upon his arrival - though he shouldn't have anticipated for more, looking at their relationship - and it annoyed him. Especially that look on the other's face. What kind of face was that? 

"Already?! What do you mean, already? Just so you know, we've been out for two hours, twenty seven minutes, and forty five seconds!" Lance shrieked, his heart pounding from irritation. He was starting to get worried sick, and this was Keith's way of treating him? With an are you all back already? What the hell?! The red paladin gave him a strange look, and he quickly blurted out. "What are you doing here, huh? Care to explain yourself?"

The expression on Keith's face didn't change, and the wrinkles in his forehead creased as his frown deepened. "I'm...resting? In my room? What else would I be doing here?" He threw another look over his shoulder, but hastily turned his head forward again, crossing his arms.

Lance perked up, placing a hand on the doorframe, leaning in closer to the other boy, staring him deep in the eye. "Yeah, what would you be doing here, Keith? Is there something you're hiding, perhaps?" He made his point very clear by looking over Keith's shoulder, on his bed. He stood taller on his toes, raising his eyebrows. "Is that Pidge's phone...?"

"Why would you assume it's Pidge's phone?" Keith growled, moving so that he blocked Lance's view. He had uncrossed his arms now, and took his stance, his posture stiff. 

The blue paladin rolled his eyes. "Come on now, you don't seem like the type to even know what a phone is, let alone own one. I'm not buying your bullcrap, Keith, so you can cut it out."

"Why does it have to be Pidge's?" said boy snapped, his mouth twitching. "It could have been anyone else's. Hunk's, Shiro's. Why does it have to be Pidge's out of everyone?"

"So you admit it's not yours?" Lance prodded, poking the other boy in his chest. 

In the blink of an eye, Keith firmly took Lance's hand in his and swatted it away, making Lance flinch, recoiling in surprise. Keith bared his teeth in a mutter. "What's your deal here, Lance? Why are you always bothering me? If you don't have anything important to say, please leave before I get really angry."

The flipping in his stomach was back again, but this time, it was from another feeling, and not worry. To think he'd even worry in the first place. Looking at this situation, he saw how Keith definitely didn't deserved any of his care, but it was Lance's fault too for not being able to stop. He'd always been like that. Caring.

"Can you at least let me in? Geez. You have zero manners, man." This was one of his protection systems; picking on his opponent. Like some kind of armament. But often, he didn't really reflect on what he was going to say, so he could only panic over his words after they've been said. Like now. Why the hell would he want to step in to Keith's room?!

"Why?" Keith said slowly, and Lance could practically see the barrier around him appear, preventing him from really getting to the boy. But Lance knew that it wouldn't just open with a knock. Not Keith's barrier.

"Why so hesitant? Just let me in to explain, since you're clearly not as cooperative." He was starting to lose his pride - which was very minimum to begin with - and he was scared to lose the remains of it. He could only hope that the other wouldn't notice it.

Keith eyed him for some seconds, and Lance tried to meet his gaze with the same cool, only that he couldn't and ended up looking away. That's when the other finally moved, and made room for Lance to step in, saying nothing, like he was still on guard, ready for anything. Both boys stood in his room awkwardly, none of them moving. Lance was considering just making a run for it and escape this horrible situation. Keith didn't say anything, nor did he make a sign for him to make himself feel at home, so Lance had to eventually invite himself. He slowly made his way to the bed and sat down at the very far end, looking down at his feet. The soft humming of the machines was the only sound around him.

Just when he began to think that he would be sitting there all alone, with Keith still shamelessly staring at him from the door, a dip in the bed proved him wrong. His head shot up, only to see the black haired boy sitting down in his bed, leaving a meter in between them. He refused to look at him, and instead tapped his fingers against his thighs, in a certain rhythm. All Lance's senses was so painfully sharp that he could almost hear every tap, every movement.

"Start talking", Keith commanded in a deep voice, his head still turned downward, speaking down to the ground. His eyebrows were knit together.

Lance looked down as well, at Keith's bared arm. It ended up with them both just sitting very still and staring at the very pale and short scar that had formed on Keith's underarm, something that the pod couldn't heal, a memory that couldn't be erased. If Lance let his imagination run free, he could almost picture the blood flowing out of the wound, and he gulped, reaching out automatically.

The next second, the other's arm was in his hard grip, resting on his lap, and his thumb stroked over the scar without him really wanting it to, and he looked up.

Keith met his eyes,

and something inside him happened.

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Welp, I'm having a presentation on Romeo and Julie tomorrow in the English lesson hahaha, fuck😀