driftfleet | selvin-9 system mingle

[Ooohhh no. The last thing Keith needed was Lance messing up a fancy maneuver to try and impress him. Still, the baiting might actually work... and then... it did...

Keith clenched his jaw and cranked on the throttle, leaning down close over the handlebars to reduce his profile and air resistance. His whole posture changed as he pulled himself in close, knees against the sides of the machine, elbows pulled in, shoulders relaxed and down, and took the next turn tight, blasting past Lance on the inside.]

[It really isn't difficult to bait Keith, after all, at least when it comes to something like this. He can't help but laugh when Keith zooms past him; now there he is. Lance kicks up the speed on his own snowmobile, wanting to do his best to keep up, if not overcome him somehow.

The problem is that he's having to take too many risks in an attempt to keep up, and when Lance gets in this sort of competitive mood, he's more desperate to beat Keith than he is to actually think logically. He takes a turn at far too sharp an angle than his speed allows, and before he realizes it, his vehicle is skidding off course. It's too late to adjust more than just a little so that he doesn't flip the snowmobile over (being crushed does not sound fun), and he manages just enough that...well. He ends up launching off a bump at the side of the track, soaring a short distance in the air before smacking right into a snowbank. The back half of his snowmobile is still sticking out.

It takes him a minute or so to dig himself out of the snow, and he groans as he peels himself off of the snowmobile. Lance is pretty sure he has a few bruises, but his pride is hurt more than his body.]

[Keith was kind of expecting the sound of Lance's engine to die off as he pulled away in speed. He was not expecting to hear the rather sudden and loud revving behind him that meant the snowmobile had gotten some air time. He squeezed his own brake sharply and yanked the handlebars hard to one side, hitting the engine kill switch at the same time to bring the machine to an immediate halt after spinning it around to face behind him.

Not immediately seeing Lance's snowmobile, he started his own back up and slowly made his way back, spotting the tracks that indicated where Lance had managed to launch himself into a snowbank, and, following those, the errant machine buried in a snowbank.]

Lance?!

[Keith shut his own machine off and dismounting, running over to make sure he was okay.]

[He's just managed to extract his body from the snowbank when Keith walks over. Although he's sore, it doesn't feel like anything's actually badly injured, so thank god for small miracles. It doesn't stop him from looking upset, though.]

Stupid...snow.

Are you okay?

[Keith made his way up the snowbank and crouched down next to Lance, watching his movement for any signs of injury before putting his hand gently on Lance's back to help him sit up.]

'm fine.

[He shakes the snow out of his hair best he can, trying to brush it off of his jacket as well.]

I just lost control on a turn there.

[Keith furrowed his brow, and then made to start getting Lance back to solid ground and off that snowbank.]

Come on...

[He held on to him, too, just to be sure he stayed upright.]

[Lance stumbles a little bit on his way up, but readies himself soon enough. Other than a little dizziness that's already fading, he thinks he'll be just fine physically.]

I'm good, I'm good!

You sure?

[Keith actually looked worried. He walked Lance back down to the track where the other machine was parked. He was holding on to Lance's arm until they were next to it.]

Here, sit.

Really, Keith, I'm fine.

[He does sit down, though, brushing some more snow off of him.]

Sorry, I kind of messed up our race...

[Keith frowned a bit, helping Lance dust off that snow so it didn't melt and get all sticky. He shook his head.]

Don't. I'm just glad you're okay.

[He gave him a small smile, and then stood up.]

I'll see if I can get the other snowmobile out of the bank. Stay put.

[He turned as if he was going to leave, and then turned back again, giving Lance a kiss on the lips. Keith smiled just a little as he pulled back, licking his lips.]

You taste like marshmallow.

[Since he knew Lance was okay, he was back to poking a little fun at him. Then, he made his way back up the bank towards the snowmobile to see if he could push it free.]

[...Stupid Keith, making him feel all sappy even right after he'd totally wiped out and lost a race against him. Lance rolls his eyes, settling himself down on the snowmobile, waiting for Keith to get back. If it looks like he needs help, he'll go over, but for now he'll listen to him. For now.]

[Keith studied the position for a second, looked around to see what else was there, and then leaned down to see if there was any visible damage to the underside of the snowmobile. It looked like it was okay enough to wrangle off the snowpile and back around to the track on it's own, so he braced himself behind it, and gave it a good shove forward so it was slide down the other side a bit. He didn't want to push it backwards in case the front skis got stuck.

He might not have much experience with snow, but he knew a potential problem when he saw it.

It slid free easily enough, thankfully, and Keith made his way down to it. He was able to start it back up again, and bring it around to the track again.]

Well, looks like I won't lose the damage deposit.

[He smirked, climbing off.]

Feeling okay enough to bring it back to the start?

[Keith wanted to be sure Lance wasn't feeling too shaky or anything. He knew he wasn't likely to admit it, but he'd give him the out if he wanted it.]

[He gives Keith a nod. The dizziness has mostly subsided, and as long as he doesn't try to pull off any more stunts, he knows he'll be just fine.]

Yeah, no problemo. I'll meet you there.

[Lance can't help but give him a kiss on the cheek before climbing back onto the snowmobile. It's still working fine, miraculously, so he starts the drive back to the top of the hill where they'd rented it. Of course, he doesn't say a word to the rental people about what happened. Ignorance is bliss.]

[Keith watched him as he got back on his own machine and started it up. He kept pace with him this time, though. Lance wasn't going to shake him so easily on the way back.

As he checked the two machines back in and paid for the rental time, he reassured the guy at the counter that everything had been great and fun and perfectly fine, no trouble at all! He was glad Lance didn't say anything, either, and somehow managed to pull it all off with a straight face before walking out.

He heaved a sigh of relief, and grabbed Lance's hand as they headed back to the city.]

Next time, I'll make sure you have more practice first.

[He nudged him lightly with his elbow.]

[Frankly, Lance is surprised he even managed to keep a straight face. He's usually a pretty terrible liar when it comes to the majority of things.

He nudges Keith back, rolling his eyes again before reaching down to tangle their fingers together.]

Pfff. Fine. Once we're on an even playing field, you'll see that I can totally whoop that pretty butt of yours.

[Keith laughed a little.]

Yeah, sure you will.

[As they got back closer to town, Keith realized they were ahead of schedule with having retired the racing part a little early. He considered the options, and decided to detour towards the hotel first so they could relax and warm up a little before dinner. It wasn't a huge swanky place, but it was a decent hotel with a nice modern look that was well cared for. The room was clean and looked recently renovated. There were two beds, but Keith didn't elaborate on why when he walked in, shedding his coat and boots before making sure he didn't have any of the sticky marshmallow snow still on him.]

[His mind gets a liiiiittle ahead of himself when Keith checks them into a hotel, for obvious hormone addled reasons. Said thoughts end up falling flat when he notices that there are two beds. Oh well.

Though it does seem kind of odd... It isn't as if he and Keith don't usually share a bed these days, anyway. So why two? Either or, it's nice to be indoors for a little bit to warm up, and he takes off his jacket and boots as well.]

I'm just gonna wash and dry up a little to make sure I don't end up a sticky marshmallow, okay?

Yeah, sure.

[Oh, Lance. If only Keith could read minds. But, he doesn't even seem to notice that there are two beds. As Lance headed into the bathroom, he flopped back on one of them to relax.]

[If only. Actually, it's probably for the best that he can't.

As much as Lance wants a nice, hot shower and a good change of clothes, he doesn't want to spend forever in there. Plus, he doesn't have a change of clothes. So he just does his best to clean up, glad that the snow hasn't sunk into the fabric of his clothing much.

He's out of the bathroom about ten minutes later.]

There we go. All good.

[Keith sat up, and then smiled a little at seeing Lance. Without getting up, he reached over and grabbed Lance's hands, pulling him close so he could hug him.]

Good.

We still have like an hour before the dinner reservation, so...

[He shrugged a little.]

I figured we could chill for a bit.

Chilling is good.

[Yay, dinner. It wouldn't be a date without dinner somewhere, after all. For now, Lance just holds him close a little while longer. Despite them recently coming out from the cold, Keith is already warm again.]

Good.

[Keith shifted a bit so Lance had room to join him. It was a typical two double-bed room, no king size, but they were pretty much the same size beds as the ships. He smirked a little.]

So... what do you want to do for an hour?

[Yes... he just asked that.]

[He shifts as well to be properly next to him. When he asks that question, Lance's face goes pink, because of course it does.]

You can't just ask me a question like that!

[Keith grinned.]

Oh? Why not?

[He knew exactly what he was asking.]

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