Work Text
“It seems the rioter has gathered a crowd! Oh God, fires spread to the town! The firefighters are attempting to contain the fire but the rioters are- oh dear Lord, they’ve started to remove their under garments- cut to commercial, cut to commercial!” Keith stared at the screen in awe. His dad had gone to the town in order to assist in the fires from the riots. He wasn’t sure what was happening or why people were mad, but it was really pretty, seeing all of those different colored pants burn the same orange, red. He thought it was silly that people were on his TV, running around without pants like it was their house or something. Why were people supposed to wear pants anyways? Who decided that people had to wear pants and why did people listen? He laughed at the thought of people going to work without pants and took his off. He began to scream and act like the people on TV because he wanted to be silly too. “Keith, buddy, are you here?” He heard a familiar voice ask. He turned around and ran to the door, giving his neighbor Takashi, or as everyone called him, Shiro, a hug. He was from Japan, he was tall, and he was Keith’s favorite friend.“Shiro!” Keith exclaimed as he jumped into his arms. Shiro swept him up off the floor for a brief moment and set him back down with one swift turn, sending Keith in a giggling fit. “Look! I’m like the silly people on TV!” Keith yelled as he spun his pants above his head running around his living room, causing Shiro to laugh.“I cant believe so many people can be so stupid, Keith,” Shiro sighed as he ran behind Keith, picking him up and sitting both of their bottoms on the couch. “All of Houston is on fire over pants, Keith. Can you believe that? Imagine if I set my shirt on fire because I didn’t like my arm?” He asked in a very serious tone. Keith nodded back in an equally serious expression. “That’d be very not good,” he concurred. Shiro laughed and turned up the TV as the news came back on. “Three buildings have been set on fire behind me! It seems one building is still currently occupied! If we zoom in, we can see a fireman being risen into the buildings third story window!”“That’s my dad!” Keith said proudly, pointing at the screen. “Hi, daddy! Do you think he knows he’s on TV?! I can’t wait to tell him!” Shiro smiled at how endearing Keith’s pride and love for his father was so evident. He ruffled Keith’s hair and looked back at the TV, silently praying that Mr. Kogane would pull through. “Wow, he’s gotten so many people out! He’s so cool!”“It seems that all of the occupants have been evacuated, only two firemen remain inside! Oh- oh no! The building- the building is collapsing!” Then as quickly as the new anchor said it, it happened. There was no delay, no miracle, no warning. It just fell. It was quiet inside the living room, stiff. All you could hear was the steady beep of the line from the broadcast abruptly ending. Shiro turned off the TV and stared at Keith. A single tear began running down his cheek.“Keith, maybe-.” He began sobbing. “Daddy! No, please!” He screamed. He was only seven years old. He had no other family. These were the only things in Shiro’s head. “Keith, bud, it’ll be okay, I’m sure they’re sending in a rescue team right now,” Shiro said in the most reassuring voice he could manage. He died twenty four hours later in the hospital. Keith spent the next two and a half years with Shiro’s foster family until Shiro was able to adopt him legally. They live together to this day, where Keith still hates the pantless. -“Lance McClain, if you denounce pants, you are no long part of this family!” Lance’s father yelled. Lance had just turned sixteen when he decided to come out to his family as a pantless. He couldn’t stand the restrictions that society created. He needed to be free. It’d been ten years since the revolution began in Houston, Texas. It’d gone worldwide very shortly and the pantless became shunned. He couldn’t live in the dark anymore, though! How could he live in a beautiful place like Cuba where the sun shines so beautifully every day but couldn’t touch all (most of) of his equally beautiful skin?! “¡No me importa, papá! ¡Los pantalones me ponen a hacer triste!” He yelled. He would stand no more for the injustice of those devil traps!“How could you say you don’t care?! How can pants make someone sad?!” His mother cried. She hide behind her husband, completely ashamed by her son. “If you can not accept me, I must go.” “¿A donde puedes ir? Where can you go?” His father asked, shoving him out the door. “Houston. I’ll go to the Mecca of the pantless, and I’ll make my way.”“Then leave.”That was the last thing his family said to him. Of course he had regrets but now he was on a plane. now he couldn’t turn back and give his Mamá a hug goodbye or beg for her to let him stay. He couldn’t smell her chicharones on his birthday or play with his siblings. He suddenly felt very sick but he knew he couldn’t live like that any longer. He had to make his way into the world and unapologetically be pantless. -“Pues amigos, espero que disfrutaron su vuelo, I hope you enjoyed your flight,” the flight attendant said as the plane landed. “Por favor, salen de manera orden, gracias. Please exit in an orderly fashion, thank you.”Lance couldn’t believe it, he was really there. He looked out the window, people of both the panted and pantless variety stood outside. He couldn’t believe it. Houston had made being pantless legal on the ten year anniversary of the start of the revolution in order to attempt and make peace among the two factions, but to little avail. It just pissed off most of the panted. “Thank you for flying with us today, ladies and gentlemen, this has been your captain, Takashi Shirogane, signing off.” People began filing out, one by one and right when Lance stepped out of the terminal, he ripped his pants off, accidentally hitting the person behind him in the face. “¡Aye Dios mío! I am so sorry!” Lance said profusely to the person whom he had hit. He was met with a young man, similar aged to him. He wore a red jacket and had a mullet. He looked like an asshole. “Save it, p-less,” the guy snarled. Lance was taken aback by the person’s hostility. Truth be told, he hadn’t necessarily been out long enough to be called such a term, but he expected to be out for more than a week without being called as such at least. “Hey, I said, I’m sorry, man. Don’t get your pants in a twist,” Lance huffed. This only seemed to make the other guy more irritated. “Well maybe if you just kept your pants on, you wouldn’t have to talk to me at all! Now move out the way, I need to get to my brother,” the guy said, shoving Lance out the way. “Keith! What’re you doing hear, bud?” Lance heard a familiar voice call. It was the captain. He turned to see who he was talking to, only to see the beautiful man- wait no- asshole- yes that’s word he used earlier, become engulfed into the captain’s arms. “You were gone for three whole weeks! What’d you do to your nose? Where’d that huge scar come from?!” They kinda looked similar, but Lance totally wouldn’t have guessed they were brothers. Maybe all Americans were related. He shrugged and began to walk towards the exit. “Hey, shithead!” Keith called. Lance winced and turned towards him. “You forgot to grab your luggage!”“I-I only have this,” Lance stuttered, raising his carry-on backpack that he filled with essentials. “But, thank you, Keith, was it?” “Uh, yeah,” Keith responded, looking uneasy and kind of red, “no problem-.” “Lance, Lance McClain.” Maybe he was sick. Or sunburnt. “No problem, Lance McClain.”-Lance had spent the last two weeks trying to find a job in Houston, but he couldn’t find any place willing to accept a pantless Cuban boy. If he didn’t find a workplace soon, his visa would become vetoed and he’d be sent back! Suddenly his prayers were answered when he stumbled into a small ice cream shop.“Welcome to Holt the Phone Gelato! What can we get started for you?” A shaggy haired guy asked as he stood behind the counter. “I need a job,” Lance admitted with pleading eyes. “Are you hiring?”“One sec,” the guy said, holding up a single finger and disappearing into the back room and reappearing with a smaller, more feminine version of himself. “This is Pidge-.”“Katie.”“Gesundheit. They’re my little sister and the manager of this whole operation,” the guy said. Lance laughed internally. This was a kid, no older than fourteen or fifteen, and this guy was at least ten years older, yet he answered to them. “What’d my brother do to cause you to summon me?” They asked, seemingly very uninterested. “Actually, I was wondering if you’re hiring.”“Can you clean?” Lance thought about how much he cleaned up after his siblings and have a big, tired nod. “Can you serve gelato?”“Uh, is it like serving ice cream?”“Sure.”“Then yes.”“Cool, from when to when can you work and do you have means of transport?” Lance felt panicked. He didn’t even have a place to permanently live let alone a way to get from there to here.“Uh, any time, and yes?”“Do you have any special talents?”“I can milk a cow and play guitar?”“At the same time?!” The guy yelled, disrupting the customers. Lance laughed very loud.“Oh my- you graduated top of your class, how could you be such an idiot?!” Katie sighed, pinching their nose under their round glasses. “What? I was just checking,” the older guy said with a frown. “When can you start?” Katie asked. “Today, if that’s alright,” Lance eagerly replied. “Yeah, whatever. Matt, you can show him the ropes. I’m gonna go help Hunk fix freezer number two,” Katie yawned, leaving to the back room.“Litty titty!” Matt exclaimed, putting his hand out for Lance to shake. “Welcome, aboard! Now, we don’t require pants, but we do require aprons, and hats or hairnets, so meet me next to that door,” Matt said, pointing to a door next to the restroom, “and I’ll give ya the grand tour!” Lance smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be bad at all. -Before Lance realized, it was already ten o’clock and the parlor closed. “Normally we let whoever’s cleaning close up, but since you’re new and all, I’ll be staying with you!” a guy that worked with them named Hunk offered. “Thanks! I appreciate it!” Lance beamed. “It’s not to help you, it’s so we know you don’t steal from the register,” Katie said, their eyes completely dead. “I ought to get this one to their house,” Matt said. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, losers!” “Bye!” Lance enthusiastically replied. “‘Night,” Hunk yawned. Nope, it wouldn’t be bad at all. -“I’ll see you at eight, Lance,” Hunk yawned, locking the door behind them. “Yeah, I’ll see you then!” Lance laughed, pulling out his sleeping bag, getting ready to walk to the park. “Hey, whatcha doing? Gonna camp in the park?” Hunk snorted, getting out his car keys. Lance blushed, looking away. He suddenly felt ashamed of his current state. “Hey, buddy, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Wanna come over to mine? I’m sure my mom won’t mind.”“I couldn’t impose,” Lance replied quietly. “I’m offering.” Not bad at all. “Thank you.”-“My mom has a car kinda like this,” Lance said, smiling sadly as he got into Hunk’s truck. “Oh, really? Do you like it?” Hunk asked, switching the ignition. “I love it. Riding on the flatbed with my siblings on the way to the beach. Tailgating at futbol matches. Listening to her music. It was the best,” Lance said with a fond smile.“That sounds really cool, but in the city, if someone sees you without a seatbelt, it’s ticket time for you, so buckle up.”Lance obeyed his new friends order and off they went. Finally, for the first time in over a month, Lance get to sleep somewhere with no bedbugs, no branches, and comfy. Even this truck was more appealing than any park bench or motel bed he’d been on since he got kicked out. So much so that he fell asleep before he even got to Hunk’s house. That happened every day they went home for three weeks. Home. That sounded nice to Lance. -It was the first day Lance got to work up front by himself since his training started and he was eager! They just opened and he couldn’t wait for the first costumer to come in. “Hello and welcome to Holt the Phone Gelato! How can I help you today?” Lance asked as a familiar pair of customers walked in. He couldn’t remember where he knew these people, but he knew he’d seen them. Then one of them spoke. “Hi, could I get two scoops of mint in a cup, please?” the costumer asked. A wave of realization came over Lance and stared at him. It was that pretty asshole from the airport and his brother. “For sure,” Lance replied gingerly, scooping out two scoops of mint gelato. One of their least selling main flavors. Of course that asshole would like it. “Here you are, and you?”“I’ll take two, no three, scoops of triple fudge gelato, wait no two and I want one of ice cream too!” The captain excitedly said pointing out the flavors through the glass. Lance chuckled and scooped them out, added a tiny umbrella they usually saved for the kids and handing it to the man, then leading them to the register. “I got it!” Matt told Lance, showing up out of nowhere. “Shiro, it’s great to see you, dude!” He said to the captain, hugging him from across the counter. Keith rolled his eyes but smiled as he shook Matt’s hand. “Matt, you’re wasting your degree! How can you work at your old man’s place still? Work for the airline, design a new energy efficient gas of something! I can hook you up!” The ‘dude’ named Shiro suggested, heartedly patting Matt’s arm. Matt has a degree? In what? Memes? “Well you used to be the best pilot in your sector, and now your a cruiser pilot so at least I didn’t downgrade,” Matt teased. “Oh come on, I spent like six years in the military, and now I already have a pension, what do you have?” “I was gonna say dignity, but that’d be a lie.” “Fuckin’ mood,” Keith blurted, first bumping Matt. “Hey, split this tip between you and that guy right there,” Shiro said with a smile, handing Matt three twenties, and pointing to Lance. Keith looked red again and Lance wondered if he was okay. He offered Keith a smile to which he was returned an eye roll and a turned back. Ouch. Lance was so busy paying attention to Keith’s pretty head, that he didn’t even realize another costumer had come in. Oof. -Keith and Shiro came in every day for the next week, ordering almost the same thing every single day and every day, Lance served them, trying to be nice, only to receive glares from Keith and shrugs from Shiro. Lance would never know what happened every day before they came though. -“You’re not leaving this house until you put your pants on,” Shiro screamed. Never would he ever had guessed that he’d have to tell Keith, the prince of hating the pantless, to put on pants. Maybe he was dead or in a coma and this wasn’t real life. Either way, there was no way in hell Keith was getting into his new Mercedes without some fucking pants. “Shiro, I’m just tryna be more open minded!” Keith replied, standing clad in his shirt and briefs. “Make like some gelato and chill.”“Is that what this is about? Is it because of that kid we met at the airport? Keith, what the fuck? You don’t even know the guy, and you’re gonna throw all of your beliefs out the window? No way.”“Pfft, what? Shiro, please. Me, not wearing pants for some guy, ha. That’s crazy,” Keith rambled, blushing profusely. It was crazy, right? A guy he barely talked to was making him rethink his whole life. Lance never even mentioned his pantlessness to Keith, he never asked if he’d considered it or anything. He just made Keith want to not wear pants. Keith didn’t even know if this guy was gay! Embarrassed of his actions, he went to his room and put on pants, hurried to return so Shiro didn’t leave him.“Just ask the guy out already,” Shiro groaned. -“Hi there, you two. What would you like today?” Lance asked with a wide smile. “I’d like a fruit punch mix!” Shiro exclaimed, staring at the gelatos longingly. “One watermelon, strawberry, and apple coming up!” Lance chirped. “Keith?”“Oh, uh,” Keith said, blushing. He was staring at Lance so intently, he forgot what he was doing. What a gay disaster. “Mint?” Lance asked. He blushed a little and he didn’t know why. What was so blushy about mint?“Yeah, two scoops,” Keith chuckled, blushing even more. Shiro stared between the two of them and rolled his eyes, walking towards the counter. While Lance got Keith’s order done, Matt rang them up. Matt and Shiro stared at the pair, shaking their heads. Matt handed Shiro a five and he began to walk towards the exit with Keith. Just before leaving, Keith turned back around and walked straight up to the counter that Lance began to wipe down. “Ya know, the movie theater, it uh, it doesn’t have a pants policy. Just in case you didn’t know,” he stammered. “I actually didn’t, thanks,” Lance replied with a warm smile. What a nice gesture. Maybe Keith didn’t hate him.“Wow,” Keith whispered under his breath. Lance was so pretty, and that shit was breathtaking bro. “Huh?”“Oh, uh, do you want to maybe go?”“Go? I can’t, I’m cleaning, Keith. Shiro’s waiting for you though, so you can?” Lance was confused. Why would Keith act nice just to be mean again. Americans were so weird. “No, not go away, I meant to the theater,”Keith groaned, hiding behind his gelato. Lance was really confused now. Shiro face palmed from the entrance, visibly tired. From the corner of his eye, Lance saw Matt walk over next to him. “Yeah, I want to go, why?” What was up with everyone. Why were they all acting so weird?“But, do you want to go with me? You know, like on a date,” Keith was very frustrated now and suddenly Lance felt very dumb. He could feel his face grow hot and he smiled at Keith very appreciatively for putting up with how dense he was being. “I’m sorry I’m such an idiot,” Lance laughed, putting his face in his hands. “Of course! I’d love to.”“Really?” Keith’s voice crack and Lance blushed even more. Why was he so cute. He suddenly saw Shiro hand Matt a ten defeatedly, and he blushed even more. Was it that obvious that they liked each other? “When do you get off?”“Six,” Lance said with a smile. “Pick me up, then?” “It’s a date,” Keith answered. That’s so gay. -“That was a such a good movie!” Lance exclaimed, swinging his and Keith’s intertwined hands as the walked down the street. He really liked Marvel, and this movie did not disappoint. “I don’t know, the ending was kinda sad,” Keith sighed. “And why is Ant Man a cool movie, but a movie about Mothman would be stupid?” “What’s a Mothman?”“Maybe you should go home.”“Oh, okay. I had fun tonight,” Lance said beginning to his hand away from Keith’s. “Wait! I was just kidding!” Keith screeched. Oof. “Oh, sorry, that’s my bad,” Lance chuckled. “I’m usually pretty okay at reading people, but it’s so hard to read you.”“Oh,” Keith blushed. “Is that- is that a bad thing?” Lance stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Keith, his entire face dropped from guilt. “No! It’s just an observation! I think if anything, it’s making you more interesting!” “Oh, that’s cool, I guess,” Keith said with a prideful smirk. Nerd. “Are you hungry, by the way? I know this pretty good pizza place that’s not too far.”“That sounds good and all, but personally I’m pooped. Plus, Hunk texted me and said he made food at home, sooooo,” Lance began, lightly pulling on Keith’s hand, encouraging him to follow. “Oh, y-you live with Hunk?” That’s something he definitely didn’t know. “How’s that?”“Oh yeah! The first day we met, I didn’t have a place to stay, so he offered me, and now I kinda just live there. I’ve been trying to find an apartment, but i don’t know many people and renting on my own would be kinda pricey.”“Oh.” That was a lot of information to take in at once, for sure. What did he mean by he didn’t have a place to stay? Well, obviously Keith knew what he meant, but wasn’t Lance sixteen? Couldn’t he get legal help and join the foster system? Where were his parents? Did he have parents?“Yeah, but it’s been pretty great there so far! His mom and sister are really nice! His dad isn’t home much because of work, but he’s nice too, from what I can tell,” Lance explained. Something about how he explained things made Keith feel like he was listening to the most interesting topic in the world. It was crazy. Keith was crazy. This whole thing was crazy. Suddenly before he knew what he was saying, Keith blurted out, “The chick who lived in the apartment below me, Allura, is looking for a roommate. I can give you her and my landlords number, his name is Coran, really nice guy,” Keith was rambling, he knew he was but he couldn’t stop until-. “That’s nice as hell of you,” Lance said, kissing Keith’s cheek. “Even if it doesn’t work out at all, that’s just about the nicest thing ever, thank you.” Keith was blushing a red deeper than his jacket and his heart felt like it was gonna plop right out his chest and onto the sidewalk. “No problem,” he breathed out. -A month passed, and Lance was already moved into Allura’s apartment. He had his own bedroom, which he’d never had before, and Allura was also a fellow pantless! Not to mention, rent was way cheaper than he expected! This was a complete win! He plopped down on the couch and just as he got comfortable of course there was a knock knock at the door. Fuck him I guess, right?“Hey, babe,” Keith smiled as Lance opened the door. Lance was not amused. He rolled his eyes and walked back into the family room, Keith in tow. They sat down and tried finding a comfortable way to cuddle but Lance just couldn’t. He was always very open about Keith’s lack, or should he say surplus of pants, but as their relationship progressed, Lance became more and more impatient. The fabric alone was enough to make him want to leave. He just liked Keith too much tho. “Hey, I’m kinda tired, Keith,” Lance said with a yawn. “Oh, that’s fine. I don’t have work today so we can just nap here if you want,” Keith replied, a doting mess. Lance rolled his eyes and rolled off the couch, leaving Keith slight sad and confused. “Actually, I was thinking about going into my room,” Lance said, beckoning for Keith to join, “you can come too if you’d like.”Keith, a suddenly flustered mess, happily obliged. He’d gone into Lance’s room at Hunk’s house a bunch, and Lance had gone into Keith’s room plenty, but there’d always been other people home. Today, they were alone. When they got to the door, Lance gave Keith a lingering kiss and stepped into the room. Just as Keith was about to follow, a hand had found itself on his chest. “What?” Keith chuckled, slightly impatient now. Lance sighed and stared Keith dead in the eye, “You're not entering this bedroom until you take your pants off,” he demanded. Keith’s face grew so hot so quickly, he feared that it would pop right off. “You work fast,” Keith said under his breath, stripping from his pants immediately. Lance let out a large sigh of relief and stepped to the side, allowing Keith to enter. Just as quick as he did, Keith practically tackled him onto the bed, kicking the door closed behind him. -“Thank you,” Keith awkwardly said. What the fuck, Keith thought. Who says “thank you” to someone for sleeping with them.Much to Keith’s horror, this caused Lance to laugh (even snort) something awful. Lance, in his now nearly 17 years of life, had slept with a few people now, but until now, no one had ever said thank you. He had. A couple times. So Keith saying it made him very much happy. “Sorry,” Keith mumbled, hiding in Lance’s chest. Lance rubbed circles into the boy’s back and kissed his head. He finally felt comfortable cuddling with Keith. The skin on skin contact, the ability to stretch out, the lack of pants. Perfect. “No, don’t be,” Lance assured his silly, wonderful, absolutely perfect boyfriend. “It was really cute.” “Oh, okay,” Keith yawned, his ears slightly red. Within the past month, Keith had opened up so much to Lance, it was shocking. But something that never came up, something that was daunting to ask, why they felt the way they did about pants. “Are you gonna spend the night?” Lance asked, sinking into his silly duvet. “Maybe, but it’s only three o’clock right now, Lance,” Keith chuckled. “Oh, fuck me,” Lance groaned, his hands falling on his face. “I mean,” Keith began, only to receive a like slap on the head from Lance. -For the next two months, any time Keith went into Lance’s apartment, he pretended he was converting to pantless, but a guilt was growing in his chest with every visit they had. As soon as he left, as soon as he was in his own apartment, or as soon as Lance was gone, he was in pants again. He couldn’t just forgive what had happened to his father like that, and while he loved Lance, he just couldn’t bring himself to go over the edge. Sometimes Lance’s pantlessness made him sick, but he could never say that to his face. knock knock knockThat must’ve been the pizza Keith ordered. Lance was closing tonight so he’d been trying to keep busy on his own day off, and Shiro was off again so he was quite bored. When he opened to door, he was met with Lance’s smiling face, which slowly turned into Lance’s distraught face. Keith looked down at his cargo pants, Lance’s least favorite pants, and gasped. “Y-you’re wearing pants. Alone. Inside your house,” Lance said just above a whisper. He couldn’t fathom as to why Keith would do such a thing. As far as Lance knew, Keith never wore pants in private settings. As far as Lance knew, Keith was changing. Keith stammered to find the words to say to make this right, “I, uh, I’m waiting for a pizza.” “Oh,” Lance’s expression didn’t change, “a pizza.”“Yeah, a pizza. I didn’t want the pizza guy to see me without pants. I’m not that used to it yet.”“Maybe I should go,” Lance choked out. “No!” At this point, Keith was desperate to make it right. He just didn’t know how yet. “Keith, you obviously aren’t ready to change, and I won’t either. I just can’t,” Lance cried out. He just couldn’t believe that Keith would lie for so long about something so sensitive. “Lance, please, I can explain!” “No! I gotta go.”Lance was already half way down the hall, and Keith was panicking at this point. His breathing was unsteady and he felt dizzy, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. “My dad died in the first riots! He died, Lance! We’re living in the middle of a war that ignited because of him, and I hate it! I am changing though! I used to wearing pants to bed! Please, just don’t leave!” Lance turned to him, a tear running down his cheek as he whispered, “just find me when you’re ready.”