Little Merman - Klance Mermaid AU

Chapter Six

To say Lance was ticked off was an understatement. Keith didn't seem to recognize him at all, and, to make it worse, he was cold to people he didn't know. He barely talked to Lance the first day he was there and basically just ignored the rest of the world. It not only made Lance mad, but it made sadness and pity ache through his bones. All he wanted to do was hug the poor boy.

When Shiro and Allura found out that he had no place to stay, that he was out of town, they offered to give him a room in the castle until he could find a place. He graciously accepted and was led to his room, which just so happened to be next to Keith's. Lance suspected Allura had something to do with it, but he said nothing (obviously).

"So, Blue," Shiro said at breakfast the next day, "Where are you from?"

Lance looked up from his seaweed wrap breakfast burrito, which was surprisingly good, and scrunched his eyebrows together, like he was thinking. After a moment, he gestured up towards the ceiling.

"You came from the surface?" Allura asked, fascinated by the statement. That brought Keith attention away from wherever he was in Dreamland.

Lance made a 'kinda' gesture with his hand. He didn't want to say that he was technically human, so he settled for agreeing with Allura when she said that he lived near the surface, rather than on the surface. It was a lot better than having to endure the looks of hatred that would most likely unfold if he let slip that he was human. He had heard Shiro talking about them earlier that morning.

"Have you ever seen any humans?" Keith asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

Lance nodded, excited at the fact that Keith was actually showing him some attention. His violet eyes grew wide and his face went slack with awe.

Lance studied his face while he had his attention. The way his hair floated around his head framed his face perfectly, and it shined in the light that streamed in through the water. His eyes really were violet, a shade that Lance had never been able to appreciate until then, but they were the most beautiful thing in the world to him. The markings on his face seemed to literally glow when Lance mentioned humans, making a small light in the middle of the room. He was just so beautiful

The sound of Shiro clearing his throat caught their attention. The two looked back and saw Shiro scowling at them, clearly distressed by the conversation.

Keith deflated at that look and quickly got up. "I'm heading off to train," he muttered as he swam out, a sad scowl on his face.

Lance watched him go, a growing ache in his chest. He turned back to his breakfast and deflated himself, too distressed to eat. At this rate he thought bitterly I'll be stuck as Haggar's servant forever.

"Sorry about that," Allura said, breaking the awkward silence, "but humans are a really sensitive topic around here,"

Lance shrugged and got up himself, swimming a little unsteadily. He held his hand up when Allura came over to help and still struggled, but began to swim normally, even if it was a bit forced. Working with a tail was like trying to swim with your legs wrapped up. Hard at first, but not impossible.

After exploring the castle for a bit, he heard the sounds of fighting from another room. He quickly swam towards it and peeked into the large room at the end. What he saw took his breath away.

Keith was swimming around, long sword in hand and battling with what looked like a training dummy. Sweat was beading around his forehead, prominent even in the ocean as he slashed with the ferocity of a thousand suns. It made Lance want to duck out and stay and watch at the same time.

He didn't get a choice, though, because, as he was weighing the pros and cons of staying, Keith finished with the dummy and turned around, spotting Lance instantly. His face darkened more than it had before and he began to swim out, but Lance grabbed his arm to stop him.

Keith looked back, clearly annoyed, but trying to hide it. "What, Blue?" he snapped, snapping his sword to the leather belt around his waist.

Lance blanched at that moment, completely forgetting what he was doing. He had just wanted to be around Keith, and now he had to think up some excuse to keep him there. Faking a shameful look at the hall, he tried to find something to say. Then, upon spotting all of the doors, an idea popped into his head.

He gestured slowly around the halls, looking back at Keith with an amused and curious expression. It was rather nice to see Keith's face shift from annoyed to taken aback.

"You want me to show you around the castle?" he asked, eyes darting between the doors.

Lance nodded and tried to drag him down the hall, but failed and bumped into a wall, earning a snort from Keith. He quickly shot the boy a scowl and tried again, this time holding on as Keith slowly made his way around the halls.

They made their way throughout the whole castle, Keith describing each room to Lance. His favorite seemed to be the training room, but he also took a shining to his own room and studio. Unlike most of the other rooms, Keith didn't let Lance go inside, muttering something about it being a private place. It had Lance captivated, but he didn't push, wanting to stay on Keith's good side.

After about an hour, the two of them reached the other side of the castle and were at the final room. The door was huge and made of golden coral, much like the other doors, but this one seemed different. It looked more sparkly to Lance.

"This is the orchestra room," Keith said, pushing the doors open. They swung open without a sound and Lance was faced with the most beautiful room by far. Shells lined the room in orderly rows, looking a lot like band kids at a show. Small harps hung on the walls and shiny things that Lance couldn't even describe. It took his breath away and made his head fuzzy in the best way possible.

He quickly swam over to one of the harps and picked it up, inspecting it slightly with an excited look on his face. After a moment, he turned back to Keith, gesturing to the harp in a silent question.

"You play?" Keith asked, gesturing to the harp.

Lance nodded enthusiastically and swam over to a chair in the corner, gesturing for Keith to come closer. When the merman swam close enough, Lance positioned the harp in his arms.

The sound that came out was absolutely beautiful and it entranced Keith in a way that no music ever had. It made him sit down and watch as Lance played with passion, never once opening his mouth to sing and letting the music speak his hurts. It felt good to let out some tension.

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Pidge and Hunk stood outside the local church with tears streaming down their face. The rain soaked through their clothes, but they didn't care, merely watching as everyone went away. The witch had said he had tried to come to her house and had fallen off of the cliff. They couldn't even find on body.