My sleep? Poor.

My motivation to do good in school? Non existent.

My mood? Bad.

Hotel? Trivago.

⟴ ⛢ ⟴

There were a certain amount of pride both boys wanted to hold onto, but it was that very friable thread between dignity and chagrin - that could easily snap - that made them cautious. They would do everything with a limit, both taking Allura's warning very earnestly. Going into war with purple aliens in space was already enough, but being plundered of sleep would be too much. That's why both paladins couldn't get away. They were stuck here, in the longue room, being forced to hold hands. They could have skipped the handholding part, if it wasn't for the security cameras hidden in every corner of the big room. Ever since Sendak managed to break into the castle, Coran, Allura and Shiro was taking the security to another level. Soon enough you couldn't even take a shit without being recorded.

Both boys glared at each other, trying to make the other unfold. But they hadn't even accomplished the first step of this activity;

"You take my hand", Keith muttered.

"No, you", Lance countered with an equal harshness in his voice. "I don't want to be the one to take initiative."

Keith was starting to grow impatient. He had already lost a big amount of poise in him, and Lance wasn't making the situation better. 

"Just take my hand! Don't make this any harder."

"Funny coming from you, Mr Grumpy Pants. Why don't you make this easier and take my hand, hm?"

"Lance..." Keith muttered very lowly, on the verge to snap.

"Keith", he said back.

"Just...!" In a swift movement, Keith's arm flew up, and the next second, Lance's hand was drowning in his much paler one, warm and surprisingly soft - from what he could feel with his bared fingers that the gloves didn't cover. It took some seconds for the boys to realize what was going on, and when they did, they wanted nothing else but to escape this horrific moment. Keith seethed with a rage that would take some time to supress, and he let some of it out by squeezing Lance's hand a little to hard. 

"Ouch! Keith, soften the grip a little, geez! You're crushing my hand!"

Said boy needed to grit his teeth tightly, letting the force he held pass down to his feet instead, curling his toes firmly against the metallic floor. He eased his clutch just a tad, looking to the side.

"You're already sweating", he noted, making the blue paladin shift uncomfortably.

"Your hand is burning", Lance stated, huffing and putting his free hand on his hip. "It's like a damn heater."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Just ask me a question."

A short lived silence fell over the paladins, and as much as Keith wanted to get this over with, he couldn't help but to love that he wasn't hearing Lance's aggravating voice for just some seconds. He couldn't figure out if the blue paladin was making up a question in his head or just didn't want to follow Keith's order.

But then he said: "Okay, I have a question. Why are you goddamn annoying all the time? It's been pondering me since... well, I first saw your irrelevant face in the Garrison."

The red paladin scoffed. "It's mutual. I can't stand being around you without wanting to punch something. You're talking all the time."

Lance seemed offended. "Well you're barely talking at all! You're so... boring! Always brooding and being emo. Have you ever tried to smile for once? Whenever you're in the room, the atmosphere gets depressing as hell."

Keith didn't like the words he just heard at all. In fact, he hated them. He hated when someone mentioned his behavior. It was one of those things on his hate-list.

"Okay, so we both find each other annoying, period. Let's change discussion", he snarled, not knowing if the sweaty palm that was damping his glove was his or Lance's, or maybe both. "My question to you is... Favorite planet we've visited here in space?"

The thing was, Keith couldn't give two fucks about what Lance's favorite planet in space was, but he wanted to at least manage the first day of Query Quest, even though he would probably forget all the answers Lance gave when it was time for Allura's little inquiry.

Lance perked up at this question. "Easy! That would be... Um... That Mermaid... planet!" His voice broke into the slightest uncertainty, and he scratched his neck.

Keith was unamused. "You don't even know what it's called."

The blue paladin flinched in miff. "What?! I do, in fact, know what it's called! It's..." His face got red from the hard thinking, and perhaps even embarrassment. "Eh..." More thinking, but nothing came out of it. At last he sighed. "I'm just very bad with names... okay? I will remember what it's called, eventually!"

"Mhm..." Keith hummed remotely. The handholding was distracting him and clouding his head from better judgments. He wanted so bad to just release his hold onto the other boy, but he wanted his sleep too, so that wasn't really an option. His glove was sticking to his palm agonizingly, and who's sweat that was soaking it wet, he didn't know.

"Yours?"

The red paladins head shot up. "Huh?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "What's your favorite planet we've visited in space? I'm shooting the question back at you."

Keith didn't expect to get asked his question, so his head was completely blank. Not that he ever wondered about such thing - the war going on was keeping him from enjoying anything - so it's not that he had an idea before.

"Um... I don't know...", he admitted with a shrug. "Never really thought about it."

Lance rolled his eyes again. "Boriiing."

Keith squeezed the other boys hand, and Lance squeaked.

"Keep being annoying, and I will crush your hand into small bits and feed them to the next animal I see", he growled and by the way Lance was gulping, he knew he had made his warning very clear.

"Okay...", he wheezed, and his Adam's apple bobbed again, a pearl of sweat glistening at his temple. Keith grit his teeth, but tried to proceed with the task.

"My turn to ask", Keith snarled so lowly his voice almost faded into silence. He needed to inhale sharply through his nose to calm himself down, while also rubbing his thumb against the middle of his index finger just as his psychologist taught him to when his nerves was cackling, or if he was on the verge of crying. It helped just a little, and Lance eyed him quietly, staring at his moving fingers in awe, trying to figure out what he was doing. He did good in not saying anything.

Keith sighed and lifted his gaze, still doing his therapy method, and asked his question. "Favorite animal?"

Lance tore his gaze from the other boys hand and pinned it forward, not hesitating to answer: "Well, of course, sharks!"

Keith's fingers momentarily stopped. "...Sharks?"

"Yeah! They have super sharp, cool teeth, and they're so shiny!" This time, it wasn't Keith who tightened his grip, but the other way around, and it was certainly a firm clutch. The blood in his fingers slowly stopped flowing, and Lance stared him deep in the eyes. "Did you know that you can measure the age of an shark by counting the rings on its vertebrae? Or that they whip their preys around back and forth in order to break off large chunks of meat?" He jumped on his seat so suddenly that Keith flinched. "Oh, and that they don't have vocal cords, so they make no sounds. That's why they are known as the "silent killers"!" He was smiling so broadly Keith's own cheeks ached, and his index finger was already out, by the way. Four more to go, he thought.

The red paladin would have normally snorted at such a childish reaction he was receiving, but actually, he was nothing but utterly bewildered, so he couldn't do much more than just stare. The hard grip was numbing his whole hand, but what chocked him was that he had no urge to tell Lance off for it. Instead he kept quiet.

"Anyways...", Lance trailed off, his grasp finally softening, and the same disdain within hin appeared again, and the spark that had clearly been there in his eyes just now completely disappeared. "You're not worthy of such inestimable information. What's your favorite animal?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Or do you not now the answer to that, too?"

And the moment was officially gone. The tension that had emerged between them again felt heavy, almost palpable, and Keith glowered. 

"Hippos", he answered shortly.

When he didn't say anything more, Lance raised his eyebrows, moving his face forward, a movement resembling something like a pigeon. "That's all? Nothing more to say about them?"

"They're big and round, and the baby hippos are adorable", Keith snapped.

The other boy grimaced, leaning slightly back. "Wow, sounds more like you're planning a lynching rather than talking about something you like. I'm starting to think that's how you normally speak. Ever heard of happiness?"

"No", Keith grumbled, growing irritated by this whole task. He thought he could survive the first day of this, at least, but now he knew for sure that saving the universe was easier than being in the same room as Lance without throwing a fit.

"Hey hey hey, don't go all emo on me now! I don't want any of that!" Lance waved his free hand in the air as if he was whisking away a fly, and he made a wry face. But then he stopped and his and his expression switched to a wide smirk, and he chuckled. "And what a softie you are, after all. Liking hippos. That's hilarious, actually." This time, he gave outa short snicker, pressing the back of his hand against his mouth as if to mute himself. He bit his knuckle as he narrowed his eyes at Keith, turning red from the effort of not break into a fit of laughter. If Lance didn't shut up within the next few seconds, Keith was sure he was going to commit a crime.

"What kind of animal I like doesn't define what kind of person I am", the dark haired boy growled, continuing with his calming method, and Lance's eyes instantly flew over to the motion again. Keith wasn't having it this time. "Stop staring at me!"

Lance flinched slightly, but then he frowned. "Woah there, calm your ass down. And I'm not stopping anything! Isn't this whole task meant to make us tolerate each other or whatever? At least we have to be able to look at each other. Even though your face is the most unpleasant sight I have ever seen."

Would he notice if I placed my hand on the dagger? Keith thought to himself. But he couldn't think more than that; the air around him felt thick, almost suffocating, and he could swear his throat was twisting into a knot, making him huff out air through his nose. He sounded like a snorting bull. 

"I need to get out of here, I can't handle much more of this. Soon I'm going to punch you, and your face will be the most unpleasant sight anyone is going to see. I'll assure you of that." Keith pointed at Lance's one eye to emphasize his words, imagining how good it would look if he made a black eye right there, if he just hit with the right kind of force and had the right kind of aim. His hand even tingled with anticipation. 

"No one can reach the same level of ugliness you are on, Keith, not even the ugliest person in the world", Lance said lowly as he leaned in closer to give off the impression that he was some kind of threat. The red paladin frowned.

"That doesn't even make sense, Lance."

"Your ugliness doesn't make sense", he muttered in the same low voice, looking at his rival with narrowed eyes, digging his nails deeply into the other's hand. But Keith's hand had since long ago gone benumbed by the yen to hit something. Preferably Lance's face.

"Your stupidity doesn't make sense", Keith retorted.

"Your whole Nico Di Angelo look doesn't make sense."

"All the bullshit coming out of your mouth doesn't make sense." The urge to cause a detriment felt almost scorching inside Keith's body. 

"We can go on like this all day", Lance snarled, voice deep, far from sounding menacing. Instead it just sounded like a very bad acting.

"No we can't", Keith said harshly, feelings how more comebacks was bubbling in his mouth, like boiling water that was desperately wanting to spout out of the saucepan. But he had to compress the need to fly off the handle. "Allura will interrogate us any minute, and we still haven't completed this stupid activity. I don't know about you, but I certainly want all the sleep I can get." That was a lie; Keith hardly slept at all. But when he did fall asleep, it was almost morning, and he only had time to begin and relax before Allura was calling for them to wake up. If she were to take away ten minutes from their sleep, Keith knew he wouldn't even have a second of rest. At least now, he had time to close his eyes properly, but if him and Lance were to mess up this bonding exercise, he wasn't so sure that privilege would last.

"So just say three more things about yourself, and I'll say four more about myself, and then we have completed the first day of this misery", Keith continued, looking Lance dead in the eye. "I don't care what it is, just say something."

"Hm, okay", Lance mused, pretending to think. "I absolutely love garlic nots, going to Varadero Beach, and I absolutely, utterly hate you." He added a little smile at the end, and Keith squeezed his hand again, making the other boy squeal.

"Lance, stop messing around", Keith warned, his patience gone since long ago.

Said boy rolled his eyes, huffing out. "Fine, geez. I also really like Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake. There. Now it's your turn. But don't get surprised if I fall asleep through your boring talk. Nothing you say can be exciting enough for me to listen."

"Garlic knots", Keith scoffed. "Must explain why your breath always stinks."

Lance gasped loudly, looking vexed. "Excuse you? For your information, I haven't eaten a garlic knot since the Garrison, so there is clearly something wrong with your nose. If someone's breath stinks, it's yours! You stink, Kogane!" His eyebrows twitched in his anger.

The raven haired boy just snorted. "Oh, now I understand why I sometimes smelled something bad in the Garrison. Must have been you talking."

"Screw you, Keith! Nothing you say is valid anyway, so I won't even try to get back at you. Now just say four stupid things about yourself so we can get out of here. I'm tired of holding your disgusting hand." He glanced down at their intertwined hands in antipathy.

It took some time for Keith to think of things to say that wouldn't automatically reveal something big about his life. He wanted the mysterious side of him to remain - there was a reason as to why he created that side in the first place - so it was important for him to be judicious, and not let just anything jump out of his mouth. And especially not to Lance, who could twist anything he said into anything ridiculous. 

"Well", he began, digging deep into his brain, staring down at his crossed legs on the couch. "I miss... fast food. It's been a while since I last ate it. And... I like training, especially hand to hand combat, where I have to calculate every move fast and make them as precise as possible before my opponent has time to strike, and I like quiet places, like in the desert, because then..."

He got interrupted by a loud snoring sound, and when looked up, he saw that Lance fake slept, fluttering his eyes open and closing his mouth, pretending to startle awake. Keith just stared at him, unable to get a sound out of him due to the resentment.

"Oh, sorry, I fell asleep. Did you say anything important?" Lance asked, playing confused. But the derision was evident in his eyes.

That was the final straw pulled, and Keith bolted up so fast that he was temporarily dizzy, but he managed to cover it up. He tore his hand away for the others grasp and clenched his fist, which made Lance freeze. Keith was usually able to calculate what he would do next - when he trained, to be exact - but now he couldn't. He had no control over his own actions, or his own wills, but one thing he was aware of, was that his fist was slowly raising, and that it was pulled closer and closer to Lance's face, ready for impact.

Said boy backed up in the couch, his eyebrows wrenched in distress, but then his eyes turned to look at something over Keith's shoulder, and the red paladin had it in him to stop, because somehow he knew what was going on. It took everything and a little bit more for him to stop, and to straighten his back, lowering his fist. He had to take ten discreet breathes before he was able to turn around, greeting Allura with an irked look. She glanced down at his clenched fists, and then back up at him, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Hi, princess", Keith muttered so lowly he almost didn't utter anything at all. But there must have been something about Altean ears that made her hear it anyway.

"Hello, Keith and Lance", she started, looking past Keith and down at Lance, who didn't make an attempt to stand up just yet. She raised her one eyebrow. "What's the matter Lance? Why do you look so petrified?" Once again, the princess glanced down at Keith's hands, her eyebrow raising higher. She was onto something, and it was probably the one thing Keith wanted to hide. 

So he looked over his shoulder, at Lance that was slowly regaining the color on his face again, but he still looked terror-stricken. His leg was half pulled to his chest, like he was ready to melt in with the metal furniture if Keith had pulled his act through, and his arms hung in the air, as if to shield his face. Lance met the other's eyes, and the raven haired tried to convey a message through his death glare;

Tell her and I'm going to enjoy murdering you. Your body will be easy to hide in space.

The message must have been clear, because Lance gulped, before he started to move again, jumping up to his feet, only that it wasn't as gracefully as Keith, and he faltered, almost tipping sideways. On pure instinct, Keith's hand darted forward to grip the other boy's arm to keep him upright. Don't misunderstand this now; Keith was disappointed that he couldn't witness Lance fall flat on the face on the floor, but he was already walking on thin ice, so this little action would hopefully convince Allura that he wasn't on the verge of committing a murder, and that he had it in him to help the other out. Lance, however, didn't appreciate the assistance, and he instantly withdrew his arm from Keith's grasp, throwing a shady look at his rival. Perfect, now Lance was starting to look like the bad guy. Keith was just trying to "help out" after all.

"Oh, nothing major, princess", Lance quickly said, pushing Keith to the side so he could step closer to Allura, taking one of her hands in his, shooting her a big grin. "Keith's face is just so ugly, you know. Can't help but to get terrified everytime I look at it." He made a disgusted face, looking at the boy beside him. "And have you seen that pimple? Horrific."

"What's a pimple?" Allura asked.

"Mhm, yeah, exactly what I thought. It's gross", Lance said.

Keith sighed, closing his eyes for a second. "I have no freaking pimple, Lance. I don't put unnecessary shit on my face like you do. If anything, you should be the one having pimples. All the chemicals you use on your skin can't be healthy."

Lance let go of Allura's hand to turn his whole body towards Keith. "Bullshit! You don't even know what you're saying. Didn't you say something about the desert, or whatever? Well, your face looks like one. I've never seen a face drier than yours. I might be nice enough to lend you one of my products, out of pure pity for your poor appearance."

"Paladins, enough!" The princess roared, and both boys instantly stopped. Something about her getting angry always managed to make everything around her stop breathing. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you know why I checked up on you two, and it was certainly not to witness your meaningless bickering. Now, have you completed today's task like I told you to?"

"Yes, princess", both boys said in unison.

"Well then, please do tell what you have found out about each other today."

Keith opened his mouth to start, ready to get this over with, but Lance beat him to it. 

"I will gladly start, your majesty." He bowed just slightly, and Allura looked down at him with a straight face. When he stood upright again, he continued. "So today I found out how much of an annoying son of a bitch Keith really is, and that he is super boring and that none of what he says is worth listening to." He snickered. "Oh, and he is actually a real softie, everything you are normally seeing is just an act. I mean, what kind of tough guy likes hippos?"

Black eye, black eye! Give the motherfucker a black eye! Keith's inner wills chanted. Maybe he could just punch and make a run for it before Allura had time to capture him and hit him with her Altean voodoo. it was worth the shot.

"I see", she said, her face nothing but unamused. She looked testy. "Well, I shouldn't had expected much, anyways. This is your first day of Query Quest, after all, so it's understandable that you won't fulfill it right away. Today will be an exception. I won't go through with my punishment for now, but don't find this as an excuse to continue this ridiculous behaviour." She pointed at them. "Starting from tomorrow, you will play Query Quest exactly as it's supposed to be played, and if you disobey, be sure to wake up earlier than everybody else."

The paladins didn't dare to say anything, and just stood quiet, ready to be dismissed.

"I won't say that you deserve it, but now you can have your free time. I'm expecting way more for tomorrow." 

Keith and Lance looked at each other, or more like glared at each other. Neither could promise the princess anything, since, well, they hated their guts.

They were rivals, after all.

⟴ ⛢ ⟴

...more like rivals with benefits, am I right???

Anyways, so uh, Kick?