Sorry if u didn’t want me to turn this into klance but I am lol
> Lance is the dumbass merman who gets way too close to the shore despite his family telling to stay the fuck away from the shore.
>Keith can not swim to save his life. He does not like water, he hates the beach, he’s never had a pool in one of his foster homes and public pools gross him out.
> So of course, he gets dragged into going on a beach trip for shallura’s wedding with the entire crew bc his life sucks
>only Shiro knows about the whole fear-of-water thing (it’s not a fear!!) so he promises Keith he won’t have to go anywhere near the shore
> Keith, ofc, ends up getting dragged by Pidge to the cliffs above the coast “there were sightings of the woman in white here, Keith! Are you a cryptid hunter or not?” He goes bc he refuses to back down from anything
> he falls into the surf. The water is calm/deep enough that the fall doesn’t do much, just knock the wind out of him, but he can’t s w i m
> poor Pidge is like freaking the fuck out bc holy shit she KILLED KEITH
> Lance. Oh my god. He witnessed the whole thing, bc he’s stupid and was too close to the beach and was people watching again.
> he keeps an eye on Keith and when he realizes ya boi can’t swim thats when he fuckin goes and rescues his stupid ass
>lance doesn’t really know what to do. He’s not supposed to be near humans. But he doesn’t want to just leave him by himself (and this one is really pretty wo w)
>Keith ends up waking on a rock with the sexiest fucking lifeguard looming over him
>it takes longer than Keith would like to admit that the “lifeguard” staring at him has gills, and webbed fingers. And a fucking blue and gold fishtail.
> his first words to lance are “merman. Holy shit. Does that mean Bigfoot is real too?
> lances first words to Keith are “what the fuck is a bigfoot”
> after the aftershock of “holy shit, merpeople are real” they immediately start bantering. “Why did you go to the water if you can’t swim?” “Why did you save me if you aren’t supposed to be around humans?”
> eventually he takes Keith back to the beach. When Pidge finds him, she starts crying. It’s very touching, until she punches him for scaring her.
>Keith comes back everyday for the rest of the week. They meet at a secluded tidepool. They swap stories about mermaid and human culture, lance talks about his family and Keith talks about the one he’s made of friends.
> On the second to last day, he introduces everyone to lance. Pidge freaks tf out and has a million questions, hunk and lance immediately become bros, Allura and Coran are fascinated and Shiro is just….of all people to pine after Keith picks a fuckin merman. Keith is happy and Shiro likes Lance, so he’s okay with it.
> on the last day, Lance kisses Keith.
> Keith comes down to visit every break, every long weekend, every opportunity he has. Lance is always waiting.
>He surprises Lance during summer vacation when he comes back being able to swim. He’s still afraid, clinging to Lance, but he can swim with him.
>they aren’t really sure what their future is, but they’ll make it work. They have faith in them.