Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron or any of the characters.

Summary: In which Lance has to learn how to navigate through a relationship with a Keith who is surprisingly shy, but it's okay because Lance honestly freaking loves it.

The first of possibly more Klance fics. I hope you enjoy!

Muy Lindo

Lance would like to blame his surprise from Keith's reaction to his confession on Keith himself, and the perception of himself that he has given off until now.

Allow him to explain. Don't worry, he'll start from the beginning.

The decision that he liked Keith did not come to him lightly—who could just lightly decide that they were attracted to a hotheaded, temperamental, confrontational, unstable, unpredictable, mullet-having mess of a person?—and his decision to actually tell Keith had come with even less ease. There had even been a brief period of time when Lance thought he could get away with simply pretending that he was not, in fact, attracted to said mess of a person.

Key word: briefly. Lance couldn't just pretend to not be infatuated with someone (even someone as irritating as Keith)—he just wasn't built that way.

So naturally he told just about everyone who would listen (which was exactly five other people) and it came as a surprise to literally no one when he did, it seemed. Though if Lance were to be honest, he'd say that he was not all that surprised by everyone's reactions and words of encouragement. Hunk hugged him ("Go get 'em, tiger!"); Pidge didn't even bother to look away from their computer screen ("Don't start being gross"); Coran looked confused ("It was a secret?"); Allura simply patted his arm and looked relieved (probably because she thought it meant he would finally stop flirting with her—as if).

Even Shiro seemed to have already known, which was just about every level of embarrassing, though surprisingly enough, he was quite supportive. A bit more serious than the others, though, and his advice wasn't so much advice as it was a stern suggestion: "Be careful with him, okay?"

Lance hadn't been sure what to make of such a statement, and in hindsight he probably should've thought about it more (probably should've guessed that Shiro was maybe trying to warn him that there was a whole other freaking side of Keith that Lance didn't even know about oh my gosh), but his mind was still overtaken with thoughts on how he was going to tell Keith he was in like with him anyway.

He would have to tell him, of course. Lance accepts that he wears his emotions on his sleeves and that he isn't even remotely good at hiding his affections. He did try to go for a bit more finesse than normal (a combination of learning from his past mistakes and understanding that life in this castle could become very awkward very quickly if Keith did not feel the same way) which is something that he would like to be acknowledged thank you very much.

Still, he was not quite sure how else to go about this aside from flirting, so that's initially what he tried. That plan was a bust however, given that he forgot how freaking dense Keith could be ("No I'm not from Tennessee, Lance, I already told you I'm from Texas"), and that it annoyed Pidge, who said he was breaking the "don't be gross" rule.

In the end, Lance finally decided to just come out and say it. Keith's reaction couldn't be that bad after all.

He shouldn't have been so confident in that assumption, it seemed, and he was reminded of Shiro's earlier warning that Lance told himself he would analyze at a later date but never did.

It was also then that Lance wondered if perhaps the real reason Keith was the red paladin was not solely due to his temperamental and volatile attitude.

"W-w-what," Keith stammered out, his face looking vaguely like a tomato. Well, Lance did say that he was unpredictable...

"Er, I like you?"

"You, mean like…" He swallowed hard, his hands clenching like mad. "... Like like?"

Lance decided not to point out that Keith sounded exactly like his eight-year-old sister. "Yeah, you know, the kissing and hugging and hand-holding kinda like like." He couldn't help but tease him a bit though.

Keith didn't even seem to notice, a high-pitched strangling noise emitting from somewhere in his throat. His hands flew up to his burning cheeks, covering his mouth and oh God Lance can't believe that Keith is actually doing that, that is just too cute.

And that shocked him a bit, because of all the amazing traits that Lance had picked out among Keith's annoying ones, cute had never really been one of them. Keith always seemed like too much of a 'scary bad-ass' to be cute.

Even now, watching as his face grows ever redder and his stammering worsens, Lance is stuck trying to figure out where the hell 'moody, sword-swinging, emo Keith' went.

Several moments pass before Keith finally drops his hands to the side. His eyes have trailed down too, staring hard at his feet as he mutters out: "o-okay..."

Lance gaped at him.

Suddenly a loud crash resounds throughout the castle and the spell that held Keith there breaks and he bolts.

"Better go see what that was..." he says, speeding away like he's heading straight into the jaws of danger even though Lance is pretty sure Hunk just dropped some pans in the kitchen again or something.

He's about to tell Keith this when he realizes that he's already gone, and Lance is left wondering whether this was a success or not.

It was a success, he decided.

Keith, for the most part, acted as though Lance's confession had never happened at all. He still spent hours in the training room; still tossed insults back and forth with Lance; still pissed Lance off 98% of the time.

And yet, there were moments when Keith's facade would break and he was affected, and those were the moments that Lance lived for.

His cheeks would get pink whenever Lance stood a bit too close, and any time he noticed that they were alone he would become that weird "shy Keith" that Lance was starting to become more and more acquainted with; Lance had even mustered up the courage to hold his hand, and Keith hadn't stab him! These were all good things.

In fact, the only time Keith ever gave a less than stellar reaction was when Lance went out on a whim one night and kissed his cheek.

"W-what are you doing?" Keith had sputtered, pushing Lance's face away with his hand.

Lance maneuvered so his lips were free. "Kissing you?"

Keith dropped his hand, gaping at Lance as if shocked. Lance arched his brow in turn.

Keith's face heated even more, and oh God Lance isn't sure he'll ever get used to seeing him blush. He averted his eyes and looked very much so like he wanted to twiddle his thumbs. "Y-you've got to warn me first…"

"Ok, then," he said with a smile, leaning in for another kiss. He never made contact.

"Lance!" Keith shouted, doing almost a complete back-bend in his arms.

"What?"

"I said you have to warn me first!"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm going to kiss your cheek now, okay?"

Keith winces and bites his lip. His expression shifts then, still embarrassed but not so much in a cute way anymore—like he realizes how ridiculous he's being, and Lance feels like the worst kind of jerk.

"Yeah, I-uh... sorry..."

Lance frowns and thinks for a moment. Then, with a tiny smirk, he leans in and plants the biggest raspberry of all time on Keith's cheek.

"Ack-! Lance!"

Lance laughs then and gives a more gentle kiss as an apology. Keith flushes once more but it's cute again and Lance feels like the best kind of person once more.

That was the moment Lance realized that Keith wasn't playing hard to get simply because he's a surly person hell-bent on making Lance's life harder than it ever needed to be. No, in fact, Keith wasn't playing hard to get at all. The now-obvious truth was that Keith had simply never done anything like this before—an affection-virgin, if you will. His lack of acknowledgment of Lance pouring out his heart and soul, and his seeming disinterest in physical displays of romantic feelings was not simply for the sake of being contrary, but rather out of genuine cluelessness on how to proceed. Keith was, in other words, shy, and too much of a stubborn idiot to admit it.

It was a great shock, yes, but to be completely honest, all Lance really thought on the matter was that it was really, really cute.

Keith eventually became more comfortable with cheek-kissing and the act more or less worked itself into their routine (insult each other; hold hands; kiss cheeks; repeat). Keith still blushed furiously whenever Lance did it, but he didn't have to "warn him" any longer which was an improvement. There had been times when he would become so overwhelmed that he'd make up some silly excuse and more or less ran away from Lance, but despite his strong reactions he's never really protested anything they did and Lance has never felt the need to push any further than that, happy enough that he could do what he could and that Keith was warming up to him.

So imagine his surprise when it was Keith who initiated their first real kiss.

It had happened one night when they were cuddling together (that was another thing that had worked its way into their dynamics, sometimes even with the others around) on the couch. It was late, and Lance had been leaning in for his customary 'good-bye cheek-kiss' when Keith suddenly turned his face, connecting their lips for a solid second before Lance recovered from his shock and pulled back. Honestly, Lance would've thought it was an accident if it wasn't for the way Keith's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and the hasty goodnight he gave before dashing from the room, leaving Lance to wonder what exactly just happened.

So really it wasn't much of an 'initiation', per say, but it was something, and it left Lance grinning like an idiot for the whole rest of the night.

More surprising than their first kiss, was that two weeks after Keith wanted to make out.

Or well, he hadn't actually verbally expressed the desire, but it had been made abundantly clear while they were kissing on Lance's bed. Keith had parted his lips tentatively, perhaps a bit wider than was strictly necessary, but the gist had been received. So, in accordance to his 'life rule' to never pass up a perfectly good opportunity, Lance gleefully slipped his tongue into Keith's mouth.

Keith squealed and Lance thought that maybe he had been a bit over-eager, but Keith only clenched his fingers tighter in his baggy jacket, and oh Dios mío Lance can't believe this is really happening because Keith is so freaking hot and could literally kiss any human or alien or whatever that he wanted and yet he's letting Lance kiss him and—

Pain erupts in his mouth and he realizes that Keith just bit his tongue. Lance was too surprised to hold back his yelp, and Keith had to have teleported or something with how fast he managed to away from his arms.

"I think I left the training simulator on—better go turn that off," Keith rambled, his body rigid as he fled towards the door.

Oh, no you don't...

Lance leaped, grabbing him before he could reach the door. Lance quickly spun him around and pressed him against said door, connecting their lips again. Keith squeaked against him and his hands fell obediently to Lance's shoulders, but his mouth stayed firmly shut.

"Come on," Lance said when he pulled back, pressing their foreheads together. "Gimme a kiss."

"But I—but I… I'm not—I don't—I don't know what I'm doing!" Keith protested desperately, squirming in his arms.

"Then I'll show you," Lance said with perhaps more confidence than he really ought to have, and connected their lips again.

Keith grumbled before reluctantly parting his lips again. Lance was more cautious with his tongue this time, brushing it slowly against Keith's bottom lip before slipping inside. It took a bit more coaxing before Keith started to kiss him back, his lips moving almost timidly against his. Lance skillfully held back his winces this time whenever Keith's teeth grazed his tongue and to be completely honest Keith was probably the worst kisser in the whole world but it was just so cute and his mouth was so sweet that Lance found he really didn't mind.

A few more minutes passed before they finally began to wind down. Lance pulled back first, Keith nearly trailing after him. Their lips were barely an inch apart when he said (quite smoothly, he'll add): "Hmm, you better hurry off to the training deck, then."

Keith looked confused for a moment before another adorable blush spread across his face. "R-right..."

He turned and fumbled with the door for a moment before it finally slid open. He looked back at Lance, and nibbled his slightly-swollen lip. His eyes were studying the floor.

"I-uh... see you, Lance." He cleared his throat. "And, um... thanksfornotlaughingatme," he blurted out before disappearing from the doorway.

Lance stood frozen for a moment before breaking out in a wide grin, the distinct feeling that he had just gained some serious cred with Keith blooming inside of him.

It later became apparent that he had indeed passed some sort of test with Keith.

Keith didn't run away from him as much anymore, and even initiated kisses (once even stuck his tongue in Lance's mouth first oh my gosh) and hugs and other such embraces. He was even starting to initiate new things!

Keith always got pretty quiet when he wanted to try something different. He very rarely put his wants into words, but rather hinted with his actions. His hint now was the way his fingers played with the hem of Lance's shirt, not quite tugging but clearly wanting too.

Lance pulled back with a gulp, and slow enough to give Keith a chance to stop him, peeled his shirt off of his body.

Keith said nothing for a while, simply staring at him and Lance squirmed a bit uncomfortably under the attention. He wasn't particularly displeased by his body but he was bit on the lanky side...

Finally, Keith swallowed, Lance's eyes catching on his bobbing Adam's apple. his face was a steady pink as he reached his hand out. "I... Can I...?"

"Sure," Lance croaked out, a flush of his own blooming across his cheeks.

Keith nodded, as if giving permission to himself before he tentatively laid his hand on Lance's shoulder. He smoothed his hand over, his bare fingertips nearly tickling him as they ran along his collarbone and then slowly down his chest. Keith's eyes singled in on a point on his neck, and Lance wondered if Keith could feel how fast his heart was beating underneath his touch.

Perhaps he could and it gave him confidence, or maybe it was just his own headstrong personality that set his face in determination and had him leaning forward with an unwavering resolution. He was right there, his lips just barely grazing Lance's neck—

"Paladins!" came Allura's voice, and Lance had the sudden desire to fight her.

Keith jumped at the alarm. He looked at him for a moment, and the determination quickly gave away to deep embarrassment as he hastily stood and hauled ass down the hall.

Lance groaned amidst Allura's panicked voice warning of an indeterminate amount of Galra fleets right outside of their castle that Lance probably ought to be a bit more concerned about, but all he can think about is how it'll probably be weeks before Keith works up the courage to touch him again.

So it had, in fact, taken Keith a sizable portion of time as had been predicted. There was a bright side though: it wasn't long after that when Keith took off his shirt (which Lance admits he thought was a bit of an odd thing to be shy about, given that he had already seen Keith shirtless before, but whatever). Even better, Lance had actually gotten to give him a hickey! Oh what a joyous day that had been.

Lance was currently working on giving him his second. Keith squirmed in his arms as he nibbled around his pale skin, his fingers flexing against his back.

"Not so high up, Lance, everyone will see..."

Lance grinned at his plan being discovered, and obediently moved down to mouth at his collarbone. Keith seemed to be really into it today, his hands practically dancing across Lance's body, completely wrecking his hair. Little gasps fell from his lips that he tried to muffle with his knuckles, and his face was such a pretty pink color that it took nearly all of Lance's willpower to not completely ravage the body beneath him.

Instead, he gripped at his boyfriend's (were they boyfriends?) waist, moved his hand away from his mouth, and kissed him. Keith moaned into his mouth, his tongue readily swirling around Lance's and oh quiznak this is great. There was a slight rock of Keith's hips which was really great, and Keith's waist was great and his chest and his hair and his eyes and his little noises and his lips were all great but his lips were pulling away for some reason and opening really wide and—

Keith let out a surprisingly loud moan, his fingers tightening in Lance's hair as he threw his head back. His hips were stuttering, and the bright flush across his face seemed to be for a reason entirely different than Lance was used too.

No way...

Yes way, apparently, because once Keith opened his eyes and their gazes met, the 'tomato-face' that Lance hasn't seen since way back when he first confessed suddenly takes over Keith's face like an old friend.

Then Lance finds himself sprawled across the floor—knocked over by Keith's haste, it seemed—blinking as Keith darts out the door in a mullet-y blur.

Lance laid there for several moments, trying to simultaneously beat down the stupid swell his ego is experiencing and to calm any and all responses he's still got going on under his belt.

Lance waits five minutes—enough time for him to get himself under control and for Keith to hopefully sort himself out—before following after him, praying that he doesn't run into anyone and have to explain his extremely goofy grin.

He suspects that Keith is still too mortified to have gone down to the training deck, so he heads towards his room. When he arrives he let's himself in, whistling as the door slides shut behind him. He turns towards the bed and is met with a burrito-like, blanket structure vaguely shaped like Keith.

Lance strolls over, crouches, and lays a hand on what he assumes is Keith's shoulder. "Hey, champ..." he says in his best 'Shiro-voice'.

"Shut up, Lance."

"Aw, don't be like that." Lance pouts. "And you were being so honest with me earlier..."

Keith makes an unintelligible noise. Then: "Quit making fun of me!"

Lance laughs. "Okay, okay. Will you come out now? I promise I'll be nice."

Keith grumbles and shifts within his cocoon. Finally, he peeks out, his dark eyes all that's made visible.

Lance ecstatically threw his hands in the air. "There he is!"

Keith narrowed his eyes at him in warning. Lance dutifully tones down to what he hopes is a comforting grin.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Like I want these blankets to eat me."

Lance hums. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so sensitive; I would've been more gentle otherwise."

Lance probably should've rethought that sentence, given that it was definitely one that would poke at Keith's pride. For a moment Keith does look like he wants to be indignant about it, but instead he just sighs and averts his eyes. "It's fine. I... I didn't hate it..."

Lance blinked, then smiled, once again whacking down his inflating ego. "I'll keep that in mind, then."

A flash of pink, then another sigh from Keith. He shifts a bit before spreading out his arm, holding open the blanket.

Lance graciously takes the invitation and crawls in. Keith still seems too keyed up from before so Lance keeps his hands to himself, grateful that Keith hasn't kicked him out altogether. For a moment they just lie there, taking comfort in the silence. Keith still looks bothered though, like he wants to say something but can't quite find the right words.

"What's up?" Lance prompts.

Keith seems to debate with himself in his head before finally drifting his eyes down, picking at the sheets with his fingers.

"I'm sorry I'm so weird about everything..."

Lance blinks in confusion for a moment, before it clicks and he's gaping. That's what's bothering Keith? Has that always been bothering Keith?

"Hey, don't be sorry, it's fine..."

Keith groans and sits up, the blankets pooling around his waist and smothering Lance's face. "I don't know why I get so... so shy or whatever. I mean, I really like you and I really like the things we do and I want to do more things but when I think about it I get really embarrassed and I don't know why because it's you and I like you and I trust you or maybe it's because it's you that I get like this or I don't know I just..."

He gave his umpteenth sigh, and dropped his head to his drawn-up knees. "I just hate that I'm making you wait..."

Lance is left speechless for a moment. The first reason is that while it has already been made quite clear how Keith felt about him, he has never actually said out loud that he likes Lance back (not just once but twice!). Conversely, Keith has also never admitted that he did, indeed, like the things they did, and that he wanted to do even more things in the future. Both of these confessions have quite honestly left Lance more than a little shooketh.

Still, he had a boyfriend (yeah, they're boyfriends, he's decided) to console, so he'll just have to be shook later.

"Stop apologizing," he says, sitting up. "You just need more time to get comfortable; there's nothing wrong with that. I really wish you wouldn't stress over it so much." He kisses his cheek. "We've got all the time in the world—no universe, really. There's no need to rush. It's fine."

Keith gives him a skeptical look.

"No, really, it is. It's cute, actually."

Keith whipped to face him so suddenly that Lance instinctively threw his hands up in a crude defensive position he had learned from some animes. His jaw was completely dropped, his eyes nearly popping out of his head, and Lance idly wondered what he had said wrong. "Uh..."

"Cute?!"

Oh. Oh...

Uh, yeah." He didn't even try to fight his grin. "It's really, really cute. Like, super cute."

"I-I-I'm not cute!" Keith sputtered. It seemed that 'tomato-face' was feeling particularly social today.

"You kinda are." Lance shrugged. "No, scratch that, you really are. Mega cute. Probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. Muy, muy lindo."

"Lance!"

Lance leaned in close and whispered: "Tu eres mi chico lindo."

Lance then finds himself kicked onto his back, his super cute boyfriend pinning him down and attacking his face rather violently with a pillow, all while shouting, "shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Lance takes it all in stride, and wonders just when and how Keith will surprise him again. There's no doubt that he will, of course, and Lance is definitely looking forward to it.

The End

Muy lindo - Very cute

Tu eres mi chico lindo - You are my cute boy

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, it has been quite a while since I last took Spanish. Thanks for reading!