Work Text
based off of artwork by @pretzellus on instagram
*
The doctors told his mamá that it couldn’t be helped. “He was just born this way,” they said. “Your boy is deaf.” Only it turned out, of course, that Lance
wasn’t
deaf
-
at least, not fully. This was proven when one of his sisters said his name and Lance actually reacted to it. So, only partially deaf, then.
This suited Lance just fine. As a baby, he never seemed bothered by the lack of hearing in his left ear (perhaps, he didn’t even notice it.) When he was very little, and other kids would make fun of him, he had his siblings to protect him. He would never forget the time his older brother Marco punched some poor kid square in the jaw because he was making fun of Lance when he couldn’t hear him. That had resulted in his mamá having to sit them all down and explain that violence wasn’t the answer. And so, Lance had to learn to live with his disability on his own.It didn’t stop him much, being deaf. When he started school, his teacher was very understanding (he was placed in a ‘special class’ with other kids that were just like him, per his mamá’s request- he didn’t know if this was a good thing or not) of his problem. She was patient with him, and kind. Miss Allura was nice, and she was pretty. She made Lance feel like he could take on the whole world, even though he was only 14. It was a lovely feeling.
Miss Allura even helped Lance get a job! The owner of the shop was a little skeptical at first, but Lance was a hard worker who didn’t get into trouble. So he let Lance stay on, working at his tiny, family owned candy shop, and Lance loved it there. The candy was great, yeah, but he was more interested in the
people
. Sometimes he’d see other kids from school, and they were a lot nicer when he’d give them their candy. Suddenly, school wasn’t so bad anymore, which was also nice.
And after his first week, he started to recognize the people who came in more often. There was Katie, also known as Pidge by her friends, the small 6 year old whom Lance was convinced was a kleptomaniac because she always seemed to have money to buy stuff with, and there was Shiro, who was in his 20’s (the same age as Miss Allura, and Lance had
seen
them looking at each other), and he always brought his little brother Keith to the shop.
Keith was 12, and he was beautiful. He was a lot shorter than Lance, but he had thick black hair that was longer than normal, and the most stunning violet eyes. Lance had never seen violet eyes before, and he told Keith as such. Keith had simply blushed and told Lance that he thought his eyes were pretty too.Keith and Shiro started to come much more frequently after that. Keith always got the same thing. He’d get six Tootsie Rolls, some Smarties for Shiro, and some M&M’s if they had them. If they didn’t, then he’d get some candy buttons, which he shared with Lance on more than one occasion. Lance was curious about this boy, but he didn’t often ask questions. Keith just came in, got his candy, and left. And that was it. Life still went on. They didn’t really need to know each other, right?——————————Something was different today. Lance could tell because Keith came into the store alone today, sullen and with a small cut across his cheek. Dirt was smudged across his nose, and if Lance didn’t know any better, he would swear Keith’s eyes were rimmed red, like he had been crying. “Hey, Keith,” Lance said, subconsciously tilting his head a little in Keith’s direction so he could hear better. “You doing alright?”“Not really,” Keith muttered, so low that Lance almost missed it throughout the soft chatter of other customers in the store.“What happened?”For a few seconds, Keith was silent. Then he sighed, heavily. “I got in a fight at school,” he said finally. “And I got in trouble.”“Well, yeah, I suppose that makes sense,” Lance said thoughtfully. He always spoke a little bit louder than he intended, due to his ear. “Why did you get in a fight?”“Some other guy was making fun of my dad, who died in the war. And he said that Shiro wasn’t good at taking care of people, and he called my mom a hussy.” Keith took a deep breath. “So I punched him.”“Oh.” Lance frowned lightly. “Did he punch you back?”“Yeah.” Keith had the decency to look at least a little resigned and plopped down in a seat, right by the counter.
“Did it hurt?”
“A little bit.” Keith shrugged. “But not really.”Lance was silent for a moment, thinking. “Okay,” he said. “Do you want your usual?”“Yes, please.” Lance nodded and bent down to get the candy for him, and for a moment, all was as it usually was between them. Lance straightened and put the bag in front of him. They exchanged cash, and Keith got up to leave.“Hey, Keith?”“Yeah, Lance?” The younger boy stopped and turned to look at him again.“Did you win?”Keith grinned. “Of course I did, Lance, who do you think I am?” Lance smiled back at him and slid him another Tootsie Roll for free.——————————They were sitting out the back of the store today. It was Lance’s break, but Keith had come in just before he left, so Lance offered to talk with him for a little bit again. So they sat outside, underneath of the awning, on some precariously stacked wooden boxes. This was probably an awful idea, and Lance had told him so, but Keith didn’t seem to care. They ended up being squished together, Keith tucked into Lance’s side as he unwrapped a ham sandwich. Keith (tried to) ignore the beating of his heart and instead focused on the sound of the light rain hitting the awning above them and rolling off the sides to splash on their shoes.“Hey, Lance?” Keith suddenly asked as he was staring vacantly at the brick wall of the building opposite them.“Yeah, Keith?”“You’re a really nice person. I don’t get how you can be so nice all the time.” He sounded genuinely frustrated by this fact, which just made Lance giggle a little. The sound brought a very faint blush to Keith’s face. Holy heck, his friend was adorable. Unfair.“Why don’t you get it?” Lance asked.“I dunno. I’m not very nice to people.”“You’re nice to me.”
“Yeah, but- I
like
being nice to you. But you’re nice to everybody, even people who are mean to you.”
“My mamá taught me to be nice to people, I guess. Besides, I don’t like being mean to people, so why would I want to do that?”Keith sighed softly and looked at Lance, an absolutely starstruck but soft expression on his face. “Lance McClain, you’re far too good for this world.”Lance laughed softly and smiled at him. “Thank you very much, Keith Kogane.”
Keith felt his chest tighten a little at the sight of that smile. His heart felt like it was pounding, and he felt slightly dizzy. But it was in a
good
way. Suddenly, he leaned forward and quickly pressed his lips to Lance’s. It was something slow and soft, clumsy. But it was perfect, because it was
theirs
. Keith moved away quickly, a bright blush on his face (he didn’t notice Lance was blushing the same). “Uh, I’m sorry about that,” he said quickly.
But Lance merely smiled, his head tilted cutely. “It’s okay, Keith,” he said simply. And that, in the moment, was enough.——————————
Keith was in a good mood today. This was obviously shown by the fact that he practically ran into the store, dragging Shiro behind him, nearly yelling. Lance
definitely
heard, which was unusual for him. “Lance!” Keith yelled, almost scaring some of the other customers. “Guess what??”
But Lance wasn’t afraid. “What?” he asked, with a small smile.Keith just grinned and sat down at his usual spot, pulling Shiro down next to him, who was laughing softly at him. “I’m gonna get a brother!”“Wow, Keith, that’s so exciting!”
“Yeah,” Keith spoke proudly. “Shiro and his boyfriend are gonna get married. I mean, I guess he wouldn’t
technically
be my brother, but I don’t care.”
“Wow… I didn’t know boys could get married.”“Of course they can!” Keith said, with a small frown on his face. “Anybody can get married.”“That’s awesome, Keith. Also, congratulations, Shiro.”Shiro smiled. “Thank you, Lance. I appreciate that.”Keith sat up a little bit. “Lance, I just had a crazy idea?”“What is it?” Lance asked, already bending down to start getting Keith’s candy for him.“I think you and I should get married someday.”“We should?”“Yeah! That way we can see each other all the time.”Lance set the bag down. “Okay,” he said softly, with a smile. “I’d like that.”--------------------Keith swiveled in his chair a little bit, slightly bored as he waited for Lance to come back from his break. He had arrived later than usual that day, but that was fine. It wasn’t until about 15 minutes later when Lance came back, and Keith immediately brightened. “Hey,” he said, cheerfully.“Hey,” Lance said back, a soft smile on his face. “You want your usual?”“Yes, please Lance.”Lance nodded and bent down to grab the stuff.Keith leaned forward a bit. “Is this the ear you can’t hear out of?” he asked. When he didn’t get an answer, he continued. “Lance McClain, I will love you till the day I die.” He spoke in a whisper, just in case. He moved back very fast just as Lance stood up.“D’you want anything else?” Lance asked, still smiling.
Keith smiled back at him, his face in his hands. “No, that’s perfect, Lance,” he said. And it was perfect. Keith’s heart felt full and heavy, but he didn’t mind because he
loved
Lance. Life wasn’t perfect, but this? This thing between them? That was good enough.