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Lance McClain threw his arms over his head, stretching until he heard a satisfied pop.“This stupid project is killing me.” He whined aloud, leaning his head back over the library chair.“Well it wouldn't be killing you, if you had been up to date with all of your editing and line art and basically everything.” Pidge Holt said as she flicked his head, pushing her glasses up her nose bridge.Lance groaned. “Man, being a cargo pilot was much easier than this!” Hunk rolled his eyes, setting down his pencil. “So you're telling me, that you would rather be overseas right now, away from your family, in the military, than be doing a simple project about background design?”“Well when you say it like that…” Lance huffed as he crossed his arms. “I don't even know why I joined the art department! I suck ass at art!”“You probably just joined all for Kogane.” Pidge snickered as Lance looked at her in utter disbelief.“You insult me! I didn't join for Mullet Head!” Lance crossed his arms. “I joined because… well… let me get back to you on that.”Pidge laughed. “Oh, you’re totally crushing on Kogane and you can't even deny it.”“Yeah, man, ever since you laid eyes on him at camp, you’ve been chasing him all over the place. Even joining the art department just for him!” Hunk teased, cracking his knuckles.Lance shook his head. “You guys are ruthless. I joined so I could do the backgrounds for animation movies. Even special effects. I know what I'm talking about.”“Mhm.” Pidge clasped her hands together, resting her chin on them. “So you wouldn't mind us teasing Kogane about your undying love for him and what not?” “Sure! Go right ahead because I don't have anything for that emo guy.” Lance said loudly, earning a loud sush from a nearby student.Pidge and Hunk snickered as Lance turned red and focused on his computer in front of him. As Lance typed away for his slideshow, he peeked up at his friends. “Be honest, if you guys wanted to, would you go back?”Pidge shrugged. “I'm not sure. Sure, the training was hard as hell, but being tech support was fun.”Hunk nodded, agreeing. “Being a mechanic made me feel more useful I guess.”Lance hummed in acknowledgement, sighing as he leaned back in his chair.Pidge raised her eyebrow at him. “But we were finally dispatched. Don't tell me you're thinking about going back.”Lance ran a hand through through his shortened hair, which had grown just a little longer in the three months they had came back. “I'm not sure yet, but yeah, I have.”“What? Why?” Hunk asked, sending a worried look towards Pidge.“I don't know. I mean, I was thinking about probably going back after this school year ends. I feel so behind with everything and I,” he sighed again. “I'm still thinking it over.”“Listen, if you go, we're going too. You wouldn't last a day back there all by yourself.” Pidge looked at him from over the rim of her glasses.Lance gave a half smile. “I wouldn't want you guys to come along. As much as I appreciate it and everything. I think it would be something I need to finish.”Pidge clicked her tongue. “We still haven't finished first semester. And you still have the whole school year to decide. But I really hope you chose the right thing.”Lance nodded, staying silent before perking up. “This Saturday, none of us have classes right?” “I think Allura might, why?” Hunk glanced at him.“We should go to an arcade!” Lance slammed his hand on the table, earning another loud sush from the same nearby student.“Let me guess. You want to go all the way to the Commons mall, don't you?” Pidge sighed, a smile toying at her lips.“Well duh!” Lance grinned. “Think about it. We know all of those games like the backs of our hands and most of them are probably broken, which means?” He spread his hands out, waiting for Hunk or Pidge to answer.Hunk snapped and pointed at Lance. “Broken games mean more chances for easier access to wins. More wins means more tickets!”“Exactly my friend.” Lance laughed. “We have to round up our squad and get going on Saturday. I’ll handle the food situation of course.”Pidge nodded along, grinning as well. “I'm guessing me and Matt will handle all of the tokens, as usual with your broke ass?”Lance gaped at her. “Hey! Be grateful I’m getting your ungrateful ass food!”“Yeah, bootleg snacks from the one dollar isle.”“Just for that, you aren't getting nothing. You little furby shit.”Pidge glared at him. “You must have forgotten that I hold all your precious, precious secrets in the palm of my hand. You wouldn't want those getting out to Keith, now would you?”Lance pursed his lips. “You're a bitch. Fine! I’ll buy you the realist of snacks there possibly could be.”“You better.” Pidge laughed, clearly satisfied with herself.After a few more jokes and finalizing their plans for the weekend, they soon went back to work on their own project's.After a solid 40 minutes of work, the three college students were soon packing their things up, leaving the library table behind, talking as they left campus, walking to their shared home.“I'm making chicken pasta today, so I hope that's okay with you guys. I want to try a new seasoning.” Hunk had said as he opened the door to their house, letting his friends go in first before shutting it behind him.“Hunk, anything you make, you know we will demolish it.” Pidge said as she threw her coat onto the couch.“Yeah, you don't have to tell us what it is. Unless I’m dying of curiosity.” Lance joked, kicking off his shoes and slipping off his jacket.“I know, I know.” Hunk smiled, setting his backpack onto the side of the couch. “It’ll be done in like, about 20 minutes. Someone go tell Keith, Shiro, and Allura, is they're here.”“I call Shiro and Allura!” Pidge yelled as she slid down the hall on her socks, Hunk and Lance hearing a thud and a curse.Lance laughed. “Karma is a beautiful bitch!” He marched upstairs, shoving his hands in his jeans as he approached Keith Kogane's room door.He lifted a fist and knocked three times. “Kogane! Hunk sent me to tell you that dinner’s gonna be ready soon.”He waited, but got no answer.He knocked again. “Kogane?”No answer.“Okay, I’m coming in. You better be decent.” Lance nudged open the door, poking his head in.At first, Lance was expecting a dark room, walls painted black, blinds closed, gothic skulls strewn across the room. Possibly a satanic ritual happening right in the middle of the room with demons and monsters crawling out of it.But, no.Instead, a neat bed was tucked away in the corner of the room, a bedside drawer accompanying it with a reading lamp on it. The walls were the same creme color as the rest of the house, and the blinds were slightly open, letting in the sliver of of the setting sun. The entire room was neat compared to Lance's. You could actually see the floors.Until Lance looked at the desk where Keith Kogane himself was hunched over. Countless crumpled pieces of paper littered the desktop, the floor around it, and the mini trash can next to the desk was over flowed with torn up papers and reference sheets.Before Lance could touch Keith's shoulder, Keith snored.Loudly.Lance jumped back, pressing a hand to his heart as he muttered curses in spanish. He nudged Keith's shoulder again.“Yo, wake up, man.” It wasn't until he noticed the empty cups of coffee that he realized that Keith Kogane himself was lagging behind.“Oh my god.” Lance squealed under his breath, pulling out his phone to snap a quick picture of the scene in front of him. He then saw a notification to an update from his favorite comic to date.Lance pocketed the phone, telling his brain to not forget the notification as he nudged Keith again.Harder this time.Keith blinked a few times before he shot up in his seat. Standing to attention as he would if their Commander had come into their bunk. Keith muttered a few incoherent words but Lance was able to catch the words, “Morning” and “Sir.”Lance broke out into laughter, earning an even more confused look from Keith.“What’s… uh..” Keith rubbed his face, smearing the drool on his cheek and messing up the already crooked glasses he had on.Lance snorted. “It's just me, man. McClain.” He patted his shoulder. “You're at home and no longer have to rise up to our Commanding officer.”Keith looked at him with his startling violet eyes. “Lance?” That's when he jumped into defense mode. “What the hell are you doing in my room?”Lance held his hands up. “Hunk just sent me to say the he’s making dinner and it’s gonna be ready soon.”“Okay, now that you’ve told me that, get out.” Keith pushed him towards his door. “I have to get to work.”Lance pressed his palms against the door frame. “Not gonna give me a kiss goodbye from the Sleeping beauty himself?” He grinned as he looked over his shoulder.Keith gaped at him, color rising to his cheeks as his reading glasses slid down his nose even more. “Out!” He shoved Lance out and slammed the door close.“Ouch.” Lance looked at the stairway, seeing Takashi Shirogane standing there with his arms crossed.“Hey, Shiro.” Lance waved.“What’d you do to him to make him react like that?” Shiro chuckled as Lance gave a very satisfied smirk.“Saw him in his probably worst state ever. Woke him up and saw he was lagging behind on school work. Never thought I would live to see the day that Keith is behind in school.”Shiro shook his head with a smile. “And I’m assuming he thought his commanding officer was there?”“Yup.” Lance made a pop noise with the p at the end.“Sounds like Keith. It's been what, three months already? And he still hasn't gotten used to it.”Lance chuckled. “Oh jeez, he still does it? I mean, I never did it, all because I still couldn't get used to waking up early even at camp.”“I know, Pidge already told me all about that.”Lance rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.”“Well, I need to talk to Keith real quick if you don't mind. I’ll see you at dinner.” As Shiro walked by, he pat Lance on the shoulder.Lance waved him off, bounding off to his room down the hall, he opened the door and he collapsed on his unmade bed. He pulled out his phone, already tapping the notification of the comic he had been reading.The comic itself seemed to speak to him.Two guys in the military, waiting for their service to end to get back home and to hopefully start their lives once again. But, one guy catches the eye of the other, but was too afraid to say anything considering they were surrounded by men and women in a strict facility. He tried to do everything he could to be the attention of the other's eye, without anyone else figuring out. So he strode to be the best he could.It wasn't until he was assigned to a search and rescue team that he realized how much he truly needed the other. In the mission, he saw horrible things and only longed for the other the entire time until they went back in success, but he felt as if he had lost everything.His friends had been badly hurt, some were even killed along the way and when he came back, he saw the other standing from afar with the proudest look in his eyes.Then, he was dispatched. He would finally go home to see his friends who had been sent back long before him. He could have a chance to see the other.After those painfully long chapters that took Lance about a weeks worth of binge reading, he was always in tears and would be sobbing endlessly to either Hunk or Allura.Lance could feel the connection and the sadness for the main character. He was a true soldier, whereas Lance had been a cargo pilot. He had always hoped of going out like that, but after seeing what happened, he was perfectly happy with his position.The newest chapter however, had the main character adjusting to his new home life with his roommates. It had the comedic relief it needed and the overall sense of happiness that the main character showed, made Lance happy even though none of these characters were real.Another addition in the new chapter, had the main character running into his crush since guess what? They were rooming together along with their other friends.It was pretty much impossible not to run into the other every day.However, towards the end of the chapter, the main character finally got a part time job, just as he was assigned a week long project from the college he was attending.Then the chapter was over, and Lance would have to wait until the end of the week for the next one to be published.Lance sighed loudly, resting his head on the pillow, pursing his lips to figure out what to do next. That was until his phone buzzed with a notification.Lance tapped on it, seeing as it was from the comic. He stared at the words with wide blue eyes.Attention reader's, due to some issues going on with my school life and what not, this comic will be going on hiatus. Sorry everyone.
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“What?!” Lance screeched as he shot up in his bed, gripping onto his phone tightly. “Shut up, Lance!” Pidge screamed from the living room.Lance bolted out of his room, nearly tripping down the stairs as he crashed into Hunk. “What’s the matter, Lance?” Hunk asked, patting his friend’s head. All he got was unintelligible mumbling.“Lance? Come on, man.” Hunk pat his head again, trying to get him to look up. “It’s not every day you come running out of your room an absolute mess.”Lance looked up at him, tears running down his tan cheeks, snot running down his nose as he showed Hunk his phone with the hiatus message and ugly sobbed. “They’ve never gone onto hiatus!” he cried loudly as Hunk rubbed his back.Hunk sighed, lifting his friend up with ease and setting him down on the couch. “Like they said, they need to focus on school for a while. I’m sure they’ll be back in no time.” He reassured, handing Lance a tissue so he could blow his nose.Lance whined, already tapping the refresh button every five seconds, staring sadly at the screen. Pidge moved away. “Yeesh, what did Keith do to you?” She poked at his forehead, only getting a whimper and a weak sob.“His all time favorite comic is on hiatus right now, and he’s freaking out about it.” Hunk explained, going back to the kitchen, reappearing with a half cut tomato with specks of salt on the top. He handed it to Lance who quickly started eating it.Tears slipped out of his blue eyes before he sobbed loudly, making Keith stare at him as he came downstairs.“I’m not even going to ask.” Keith had brushed his hair and washed his face, his reading glass still in his room.“You shut up!” Lance cried, though it sounded more like ‘You shud uph’ along with hiccups and sobs.Keith rolled his eyes, walking into the kitchen, hopping onto the counter, picking at the cut tomato and placing it into his mouth.Pidge punched Lance on the shoulder. “Be nice to the love of your life!” She scolded, which resulted in Lance throwing all of his body weight onto her small body. “No! Get off!” She screeched, trying to scramble out from under him.“No! Now I’m gonna lay down here until I feel better.” Lance sniffed loudly. “Someone feed me ice cream, please.” “Have Keith do it!” Pidge grunted, at least trying to get comfortable. “Bleh!” Lance shuddered, “I don’t want his emo to spread onto my gracefulness.”“That’s a load of shit and you know it.” Pidge scoffed, giving up on trying to move.“You’re a load of shit.” Lance rubbed his eyes, eyes landing on the white haired woman that emerged from the hall. “Allura! Come give me comfort since no one else is!”Allura laughed. “Why don’t you ask Keith that?” She tied her long, flowy, white hair up, her kaleidoscope eyes fixing themselves on Lance. “What happened?”Lance threw his head back and sobbed as he showed her the same page he had been refreshing for the past few minutes. “No!” Allura gaped at the phone screen. “Is this a joke?” She was the only other one who read the same comic as Lance and shared his love with it. “That’s what I said! I’m done with life. Wake me up when they update again.” Lance whimpered, throwing an arm over his face.Allura sighed. “Well I suppose I could catch up on all the other comics I’m behind on.” She sat down next to Lance and Pidge, crossing a leg over the other as she looked for something for them all to watch. She always picked what they watched, considering they all had very different opinions and took too long to decide on what to watch, so she did it for them.“We should treat ourselves to ice cream for this sad day.” Allura said, sighing once again. “I haven’t even read the new chapter yet. I still can’t believe it. But I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”Lance sat up, freeing Pidge who quickly jumped away from the couch. “I should email them and ask!”“Dinner’s ready!” Hunk said, Keith setting plates full of food and silverware on the table as Shiro set down everyone's drinks.“Right after dinner!” Lance hopped up from the couch, sitting in his respective seat. Being the respective person he was, he waited until everyone, including Matt who had come home late from his part time job, sat themselves down at the table. He vibrated in his seat as he waited to start and finish dinner so he could ask the creator of the comic right away.Keith sat next to him, his head drooping down onto his chest as his eyes fluttered close.Lance nudged him. “Yo, stay awake. We haven’t even started yet.”Keith jolted in his seat. “Sorry, sorry.” He muttered, covering his mouth the back of his hand as he yawned. “Really tired.” He opened his can of Coke Cola as everyone else began to eat, talking amongst themselves about their days.Lance hummed, shoveling food into his mouth which earned a slightly disgusted look from Keith. He rolled his eyes after swallowing the forkful noodles and chicken he had shoved into his mouth. “You can’t say anything. I saw you when you woke up. You had drool all over your cheek and the side of your face had sticky notes. So shut up.”Keith turned red and glared at his plate, drinking from his soda slowly. “You were just crying your eyes out and had snot coming out of your nose. So really, who can’t talk now?”“I could always uninvite you to the arcade.” Lance retorted, drinking his pink lemonade. “Arcade? What are you talking about?” Keith looked at him, clearly confused.“Oh shit!” Lance choked on his drink for a little bit and slammed his hand on the table, his friends looking at him with a questioning look. “I totally forgot to tell you guys this! Pidge and Hunk already know, but I propose that all of us go to the Commons mall this Saturday if no one has class that day! I’m humbly paying for food.”“So tomorrow?” Matt asked, waving around his fork that had noodles on it, in which Pidge gladly leaned over and bit down onto the fork, making Matt yell at his sister as she sat back in her chair with a wide grin on her face.“Wait, today’s Friday?” Lance gasped, smacking his hand onto his forehead. “Damn! I forgot that too!” “When do you remember anything?” Keith snorted, watching Lance through the corner of his eye.“Shut up, Mullet.” Allura clapped her hands with a smile. “That sounds wonderful! I do have a class, but it’s in the morning so we should go around 2!”Matt nodded along. “And we can take Shiro’s dad van!”Shiro sighed. “It’s not a ‘dad’ van, it’s just a van.”“Be glad I’m not calling it something else.” Matt joked, drumming his hands against his legs. “I don’t have work or class, so hell yeah, I’m down.”“Cool! What about you, Keith?” Pidge asked, looking at him through her owl like glasses. “Sure. Why not?” Keith shrugged, pushing his food around with his fork. “Could be fun.”“That’s new. Hearing Kogane say something could be ‘fun’.” Lance snickered, earning a punch to the shoulder by Keith himself.“Whatever you two,” Allura chuckled, shaking her head the boys. “But yes, I’ll help pay for gas with Shiro.”“Alright! It’s all set!” Lance scarfed down the rest of his food, quickly standing up with his plate in his hand. “I’m gonna go do the thing now.” He rushed off to the kitchen, setting the plate in the sink, looking at the chart they had hung up of the refrigerator. “Matt! You’re on dishes today!”“Damn it!” Matt cursed, laughter rippling throughout the group as Lance took his drink and went upstairs, bidding them farewell. Before he could disappear into his room into his room, Allura called him back.“What’s up, princess?” Lance smirked as he leaned over the banister, winking at Allura who only rolled her colorful eyes with a grin.“Still on for ice cream and binge watching sad rom coms?” “Duh.” Lance chuckled. “Gonna invite Romelle over like last time?”Allura shook her head. “Not this time.”Lance nodded. “Okay, now I’m gonna start typing.” He waved his friends off, walking into his room, sitting on his bed, scrolling through social media until his siamese cat suddenly jumped onto his lap.“Shit! Hey, Blue.” He set his phone down, scooping his cat up into his arms, nuzzling her fur gray fur. “How’s my baby girl doing?” He cooed sweetly, scratching her ears a little before she squirmed out of his arms, looking up at him with her wide blue eyes before jumping off the bed and darting out of the room and down the hall.“Wow. I see how it is.” Lance sniffed, crossing his ankles as he pulled up the comic app, tapping on the creator's name, going to their email. Before he could even type anything, he heard Keith go into his own room and shout. “Lance! Come get your cat!” “Just give her love and affection!” Lance shouted back, thinking of how to start off the email. He wanted to seem smart and know what he was actually saying, since, the comic was one of the most popular bl comic. “Lance, I swear to god I will get Cosmo in my room right now if you don’t get your ass up and get your cat!” Keith yelled, making Lance groan and roll off his bed. “It’s a cat! Relax Keith! You even have one!” Lance marched over to the room next door, crossing his arms as he stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed at Keith who was trying to get Blue off his bed.“Just get your cat, and leave. I still need to finish working.” Keith huffed, throwing his hands up as Lance sighed in annoyance and went over to his bed, coaxing Blue into his arms. “Was that so hard?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or has Kogane finally hit rock bottom?”Keith crossed his arms and frowned. “Blue only listens to you and I don’t want her to fuck up the blankets. Now get out.”Lance shook his head, sighing. “When are you not gonna be so stubborn and just love Blue?” He held Blue out towards Keith who stared at him with wide eyes. Lance cocked his head when Keith didn’t answer. “Yo, Kogane?” He snapped his fingers and Keith jumped.“Oh, sorry.” Keith shook his head. “Zoned out a bit.” He muttered and pushed Lance out of his room. “Good night.” He shut the door leaving Lance confused. Lance snapped out of it as Blue jumped out of his arms and strode downstairs, perching herself onto the arm of the couch. He went back into his own room, picking up where he last left off. He pursed his lips as he decided to go back to the beginning of the comic itself, scrolling through the chapters to see if the creator had been lacking off in any of the recent chapters.As usual, the chapters were all spot on, with the perfect lineart, to the perfect coloring, to even the perfect background.When Lance had tried to find out who did what, since a creator of a comic usually had a team where they did translating, the coloring, the story, etc. That’s what had surprised Lance the most.The creator, TheGreatUnknown, had done everything by themselves.And everything was so perfect that it completely threw Lance off. How could one person do this much work on their own?Lance went back to their email, staring at the blank text before inhaling and closing his eyes. He opened them again and began typing away.After several typing and editing and possibly crying, Lance sent the email with a shaky email. He threw his phone on the bed and left the room, to afraid to see if the creator would even reply, and if they did, what they had to say. Hello, TheGreatUnknown. I am a huge fan of yours and have been reading By You ever since you first posted the epilogue. I fell in love right away and I was ecstatic when you decided to post the first chapter. I am an art student focusing on design, all because you have inspired me to do so. I love the way the way the background makes everything pop out or fade away when necessary and it just makes everything seem real. I want to be able to do that, in hopes of creating as something as unique as this comic.Despite my huge fan girl moment right there, I wanted to ask something.How long do you think you’ll be on hiatus? I understand that everybody needs a break every now and then, and I’m sure you need it just as bad, but it was just a question that’s been bugging me for a bit now. I hope you read this and answer, but if not, than just know that I will try to be patient and continue to be a fan.Thank you for creating By You.-All_Bi_Myself
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Allura situated herself on the couch, pulling up several blankets and setting the multiple tubs of ice cream on the coffee table.It was well into midnight, and mostly everyone had gone to sleep besides Pidge who was working away in her room. Lance came sulking downstairs after taking one of his 40 minute showers. In which he spent most of the time reflecting over the email and crying over the hiatus. So basically a normal day for Lance.Allura patted the empty spot next to her, Lance accepting the invitation. “So, did you do it?” She put on the movie, A date with an angel, and handed Lance his Cookies n Cream ice cream.“Mm… yeah.” Lance paused as he took the ice cream scooper from the table, and scooped a large amount of ice cream.“Do you think they'll reply?”“You know, I’m hoping they do, but at the same time they don't.” Lance shrugged, already tearing up at the movie though it had barely started.“Why?” Allura cocked her head, looking at her light blue nails, tsking. “Do my nails?” She offered her hand to Lance.“Of course, my darling Princess.” Lance cooed, sticking his tongue out as he looked at the multiple choices of nail polish set on the table. “Purple?”Allura smiled. “You choose. You have very good taste.”“Why thank you.” Lance laughed as he picked up the lighter purple of the nail polish, uncapping it.“Go on! Continue with the story!” Allura urged him on, a smile on her lips.“Where was I? Oh yeah.” Lance fixed his sitting position, clearing his throat. “I really want them to reply, because then I would be talking to my freaking idol. That would be so cool. But, I’m also scared that if they do reply, then what are they going to say? Are they just going to completely blow me over, or what? You know?”Allura tapped her chin with her free hand. “I suppose I understand. You’re afraid that your idol is going to turn out to be the person you most despise. Or that they hurt you.” She tilted her head and looked at him for confirmation.“Yes! Thank you! Since people say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, I guess I’m panicking whether or not the creator is going to be a total dick wad.” Lance sighed. “I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen.”“I’m positive it won’t! But you do have to be patient. I’m sure that the creator has already gotten countless emails and what not.” Allura assured him.Lance’s lips pulled into an uncertain smile. “Yeah… Thanks for listening to me rant like a child.”Allura waved him off. “You had to listen to me rant about Romelle for hours and hours. This is hardly anything.” She smiled and perked up. “My gosh! I completely forgot to tell you about this one comic! I can’t remember the name, but I’m 100% positive you’ll absolutely love it!”For the remainder of the next few movies they played, Allura and Lance talked on and on about new comics, fan fics they had been working on, their new or dream jobs. Pretty much talked about everything and anything. There was never an awkward moment or a moment of silence because one or the other were always talking.This was what Lance loved about their relationship.At first, Lance had fallen heads over heels for Allura, thinking that she was the love of his life. But she quickly dismissed that by awkwardly coming out as lesbian to him.Lance was heartbroken at first, but Allura made sure they stayed good friends. And so they did. And now they’re even closer than most. Lance was the one who helped Allura score her new girlfriend and their bond only grew stronger. They just consider each other brother and sister at this point.Allura’s eyes brightened as she swallowed her ice cream and turned towards Lance. “Are you going to make a move on Kogane?”Lance choked on his ice cream. “What the hell do you mean?” He coughed loudly, narrowing his eyes at her.Allura rolled her eyes. “Do you not see the way he looks at you? He totally has the hots for you.”Lance laughed. “Then you need glasses girlie, because I’m pretty sure that guy hates my guts. He even hates my poor Blue.” He cooed as he scratched said cats name who had crawled up next to him during her daily walk around the house.“You can’t be serious.” Allura sighed, throwing her head back against the couch. “I know right? Who could hate Blue?” Lance leaned down and pecked Blue’s head, which only resulted in her looking up at her owner.“Lance, you’re an idiot.” Allura shook her head, picking up the remote. “We should go to sleep. I need to go to class in the morning and you need to get ready for the arcade.”Lance jumped to his feet. “You’re cleaning this clean.” He looked over his shoulder with a smirk as he lifted up Blue into his arms.“Yes, yes. We all know you weren’t going to do it either way.” Allura chuckled as she rose to her feet and stretched. Lance laughed. “Absolutely right, princess. Night!” He bowed and waved as he treaded upstairs, carefully stepping past Keith’s open door. That was when Keith decided to come out of his room.Keith nearly jumped 5 feet in the air when he saw Lance. “What the hell are you doing out here?!” He whisper yelled, weary of Matt’s room down the hall. “Going to bed!” Lance did the same, Blue leaping out of his arms and dashing into his room. “What are you doing up?”Keith rubbed his eyes. “Woke up and haven’t been able to go back to sleep.” He crossed his arms defensively, glancing up at Lance, but looking away just as fast.“Aw.” Lance smirked, leaning closer. “Does our Samurai need to cuddle with someone to feel better?”Keith socked him in the shoulder. “Shut it, McClain.” He growled and stalked downstairs, Lance being able to hear him greet Allura.Lance scoffed and rubbed his sore arm. He stuck his tongue out towards the direction Keith had walked off to, returning to his own room. He shut the door and collapsed on his bed. He grabbed his phone and turned it on, biting his lip as he searched through his notifications, looking for what he hoped and dreaded for all at the same time.Nothing.Lance couldn’t help but deflate a little. He had been hoping for something. Still sucks he didn’t see a reply. He turned over in his bed and looked up at his ceiling, wishing for his glow in the dark stars he had in his childhood bedroom. Then he started thinking over Allura’s words.Did Keith really have the hots for him?“Nah.” Lance chuckled to himself, patting his cheeks lightly, wiggling under the covers after he had thrown off his shirt and kicked off his pants. He curled around a spare pillow, resting his cheek on it as he closed his eyes, slipping into a deep sleep full of nonsensical dreams.~In the morning~Lance groaned as he rolled over in his bed, picking up his phone, blurry vision focusing on the time. It read 12:27Lance shot up in bed, sleep lone gone as he tumbled out of his bed, the blankets tangled with his legs.“Very classy, Lance.”Said boy looked up at the voice, scowling at Keith who had his head poked in. “Shut up, Mullet.”“Only if you make me.” Keith retorted, snapping a quick picture of the mess before him and bolted downstairs.“Keith Kogane!” Lance screamed as he struggled to untangle himself from the sheets. He threw on a pair of jeans and a random shirt, stomping downstairs where he promptly tackled Keith to the floor.Keith grunted as he fell to the floor, glaring up at Lance. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” He snapped as he grabbed Lance by his arm and slammed him to the floor, pressing his knee onto his chest.“You went into my room without permission and saw me at my worst!” Lance yelled, his hands shooting up to the collar of Keith’s shirt, yanking him down.Keith jerked forward, smashing their foreheads together. Through gritted teeth, he narrowed his eyes and said, “You’re always at your worst.”Lance gaped at him before frowning and swung his leg over Keith’s waist, flipping their positions.“Aw man!” Pidge screamed and both Lance and Keith turned their heads towards her.Correction. Him.Pidge shuddered and whimpered. “I just came into the kitchen for some breakfast. I didn’t want to walk in on Lance and Keith screwing each other.”Keith flamed a bright red and scrambled out from underneath Lance, delivering a swift kick underneath Lance’s legs, sending the lanky cuban back onto the floor.“Pronouns are He and Him today.” Pidge declared as everyone else filed out of their rooms to see what the commotion was.Lance accepted the hand Hunk offered who easily lifted him up to his feet. “You are the very definition of Pureness. Keith however, is the very definition of the biggest dicks of all time.” He rubbed his eyes, ocean blue eyes glaring holes into the back of Keith’s head.“I’m sure you’re hungry and tired. I don’t have enough time to cook, so we can get something on the way.” Hunk stretched, Pidge jumping on his back, his feet dangling in the air.Lance sighed. “I’m gonna get dressed then.” He said as he glanced around the living room, seeing as everyone was more or less already ready. “Properly.” He hissed towards Keith who raised a brow at him with narrowed eyes.Lance dragged himself upstairs, forcing himself to take a quick shower, knowing that Allura, despite having stayed up all night, she would be ready to go as soon as she came back. After about a 12 minute shower, Lance stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on his head and new boxers slipped on as he wandered around his messy room, looking for nice, clean clothes. He needed to do some serious cleaning after he came back. But now wasn’t the time for evaluating life choices. He needed a clean shirt and clean pants!\It took about an additional 5 minutes of tossing around old clothes and finding new things, in which he had forgotten about such as numerous worksheets and some important looking papers, that he finally found clothes that were presentable.It was simple sky blue t shirt accompanied with a dark gray long sleeve and a pair of skinny jeans to go along with it.Just as he brushing his teeth, he heard the front door click and Allura’s voice greeting the group. He checked his phone, seeing it was nearly one, he rushed to finish brushing his teeth, then his hair. He stumbled downstairs once again, making sure he had his phone and wallet.“Ah! There he is!” Allura laughed, her eyes bright and her posture full of energy. “Woke up late I see.”“Of course. I’m sure a certain someone told you things that shouldn’t have been said.” Lance coughed as he elbowed Pidge in the ribs, making Pidge retaliate with a dirty sock to the face. “I know everything and see everything though I am no longer in the house. I have my ways.” Allura put a hand on her hips, dressed up with her white hair in a ponytail, a pink crop top, light blue capris, and golden bracelets decorating her arms.“Well I figured as much, princess.” Lance rolled his eyes. “Now,” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get out of here before I change my mind and decide not to pay.”Matt and Shiro sped walked to the van, Shiro hopping into the driver's seat while Matt took shotgun, much to Pidge’s various complaints.Pidge and Hunk took up the first row, lounging against each other as they argued who and what would be playing.Allura and Romelle, who Allura had graciously invited, took up the middle row, leaning towards each other. They had already pulled out their phones and were already playing with each others hair.Which left Keith and Lance. They took up the back row, and Lance could swear he heard Pidge smirking from all the way from the front. Lance sat in the corner while Keith took up the other one, putting as much distance as possible.Lance whipped out his phone and put his ear buds in, hoping to take comfort in Shakira. And boy did it work. By the time Shiro had pulled up to their first red light of many, Lance was already dancing in his seat and muttering the lyrics under his breath.As Lance danced his heart away as best he could, Keith watched from the corner of his eye, a small smile on his lips as his pencil tapped on the blank page of his sketchbook. Cheeks turned red as Lance made eye contact with him, making Keith look away like nothing happened.Lance saw it as nothing and went back to shimming his hips. He leaned forward in his seat and began talking to Allura and Romelle, an ear bud hanging out and resting on his shoulder.Keith looked back at him, heart hammering in his chest as he looked down at his still blank page. He brightened up as he quickly forced a sketch out of his brain and onto the page itself. Though he despised it with all he had, he knew he would make it perfect later when he came back from this little trip.
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“Alright! Tell me what you want now before we pull up.” Shiro looked in the rear view mirror, rolling down the window.“I want pancakes!” Pidge leaned forward in his seat. “Make sure they give me lots of syrup. Like, LOTS.”“You’re disgusting.” Lance snorted. “I want two Bacon and Egg McMuffins!”“Add four more to that.” Allura chirped. “And hashbrowns, obviously.”“Two Egg and Sausage Muffins please!” Hunk smiled, which made Pidge chuckle. “You are like too fucking pure, man.” Pidge shook his head, grinning even when Romelle smacked his head for language. “What do you want, Samurai?” Lance nudged Keith who had been dozing off.“Oh, uh, whatever you’re getting. I don’t care.” Keith shrugged, playing with his bangs that were getting in his eyes.“Alright, everybody shush.” Shiro eyed Pidge the most as he came up to the speaker. He gave the tired employee their orders, including his and Matt’s.Hunk quite literally had to hold Pidge down and clamp a hand over his mouth to stop Pidge from saying anything bad. Pidge was known for that kind of stuff. Just before Shiro pulled away from the speaker, Pidge screamed, “Pass the weed!” Matt, Pidge, and Lance burst out into childish laughter, high fiving each other as best they could. With their contagious laughter, Hunk and Romelle themselves couldn’t help but join in with chuckles and snorts.“You guys are children.” Shiro sighed and shook his head with a smile on his lips. Shiro paid quickly at the first window, swatting at Pidge who kept trying to scream for ‘help’. The employee just looked done with their shit.“Oh my god.” Lance breathed out and sank in his seat, his blue eyes widening as they approached the next window. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” He whispered under his breath, unbuckling and sinking to the floor.Keith raised an eyebrow as he looked at the window, seeing a tall pale girl with two long pigtails. “Oh hell.” Hunk handed Allura his large backpack, Allura placing it over Lance as quick as she possibly could.The employee with blonde hair squinted her eyes at Shiro. Then the realization hit her. “Oh hey! Aren’t you Lance’s friends?” She glanced back at the car. “Where is he?”“He’s at home sick.” Hunk leaned forward in his seat, blocking her view to the back. “Just went out to get him food so he can feel better.”“Aw, I was hoping I would see him. Well tell him that I said hi and that he gets better soon.” The girl handed Shiro their multiple bags full of food, followed by their drinks. “Tell him that I miss him.” She batted her eyelashes and Keith saw Shiro’s grip on the steering wheel tighten. “Sure will.” Shiro forced a smile and waved her off, quickly pulling away from the window and away from the restaurant. “Alright, you’re good Lance.”Said boy pushed the backpack off of himself, sighing loudly as he put on his seatbelt again. “Fucking lies. Give me my food please. I need to eat my feelings away now.” He held his hands out. Allura gave him and Keith’s their bags, patting Lance’s cheek. “Ignore her now. It’s all in the past. Just enjoy the rest of the day.”Lance smiled slightly, shoulders slumping as he settled back in his seat. He picked at his food as the rest of the car filled with talking and laughter, knowing Lance needed the distraction.Keith glanced at him and furrowed his eyebrows. He bit his lip before quietly speaking only to him. “You alright?”Lance shrugged. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just didn’t expect to see her.”Keith nodded along, biting his lip. He looked around their row, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as he tried to think of what to say to make Lance feel better. He hung his head and turned in his seat so that he was facing Lance. “I’m all ears.”Lance looked at him, clearly surprised. “You want to listen to me talk?” He huffed a short laugh and saw a flash of hurt in Keith’s eyes. “Well, I mean. Yeah. I was the one who had to pick you up at the park she left you at. And untie you from the tree. And listen to you cry for hours.” Keith offered a small smile. “Or do you not remember that either?”Lance blushed and slapped a hand to his forehead. “My god. It was you that helped me that night! I passed out because all I had been doing was crying and I always thought it was Hunk or Pidge who helped me.”Keith glanced down, eating his food to distract himself. “Yeah. It’s been what, a year? Two? It happened when you were on military leave. Why are you suddenly so upset by her?”Lance frowned into his bag and handed Keith a napkin with blue ink. “Because of that.”Keith’s eyes read over the phone number and Nyma’s name, gagging as he crumpled it up and tossed it somewhere. “Forget her. She doesn’t matter at this point. Go find someone else.” He tried not to choke on his own words.“I think I’m going to wait a while.” Lance picked at his food sadly. “Everything is just going my way right now.”“Hey.” Keith nudged Lance with his foot. “You have to eat and be energized so I can beat your ass at Skee Ball.”Lance grinned. “Oh yeah? Wanna bet?”“If I win, you treat me to a movie and dinner of my choice.” Keith held Lance’s blue eyes with his violet ones.“Alright. If I win, you have to stay up with me for three days, feed me food, and watch sappy movies with me all night.”“What?! That’s your thing with Allura!” Keith shook his head. After a few moments of silence and a staring contest between the two, Keith sighed. “Alright. Fine. Whatever.” “Haha! Yes!” Lance fist bumped the air, now quickly scarfing down his food. “Totally going to beat your ass. Be prepared to fucking lose, Kogane.” Lance grinned madly, clearly in a better mood.“Whatever, Sharpshooter.” Keith rolled his eyes, but continued to look at Lance with a smile. He had cheered up the cuban yet again. That was enough for him.After about 10 minutes of driving, everyone already done with their lunch, Shiro pulled up to a gas station. “Bathroom break and snack raid. Go!” As soon as Shiro spoke the magic words, everyone clambered out of the van, breathing the fresh air and running towards the small convenience store. “Hunk, Pidge. You’re on drinks. Allura, Romelle, you’re on chips. Matt, Shiro, you’re on gas. Me and Keith will handle candy. Meet up at the front and I will gladly pay for everything.” Lance held up his card and sent the teams off. He grabbed Keith’s arm and dragged him off to the candy aisle.“You already know everyone’s favorites, right?” Lance asked, turning towards Keith.“Yup. Been on multiple snack runs for a certain someone.” Keith crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one foot. “Alright Mr. Smarty Pants.” Lance held his hands up. Better get some extra for the bet I’m going to win.” He grinned widely.“You’re all talk, but no game.” Keith passed him and started picking off candy bags off the shelves, throwing a smirk over his shoulder.“Ack! Hey!” Lance chased after Keith, frantically grabbing bags and holding them with his arms.Keith picked up his speed, occasionally suddenly stopping to trip Lance, only freaking him out so Keith could get ahead faster.In about 5 minutes, both Keith and Lance were panting as they ran up to the front, dumping their huge pile of candy onto the counter. The cashier blinked at the mountain and began scanning the items.“I beat you! I grabbed more candy!” Lance threw his arms up in triumph, laughing loudly. “No you didn’t! Did you not see how much I got?!” Keith breathed heavily, glaring at him. “I got 10 times more than you!” Before Lance could argue any further, the rest of the group came up behind them, setting their items on the counter. Pidge and Hunk passed out Slurpees, eyeing the candy.“Holy shit. What the hell are you guys on?” Pidge picked up an already paid bag of candy and tore it open, handing some to Hunk and Romelle.“Don’t you think this is a bit much?” Romelle asked, making a face as she ate the sour candy.“I think it’s the perfect amount.” Matt shrugged, holding his hand out for Lance’s credit card. “I’m stealing some from you guys.”“You can have the leftovers after I win a bet.” Lance said, handing his card away. “That is if we don’t eat it all.”“Who said you were going to win? You’re going to eat your words is all you’re going to be eating.” Keith huffed, standing off to the side, but still close to Lance.Allura gave Romelle a knowing look, tilting her head towards her. Romelle smiled and nodded. They didn’t even need words at this point to communicate with each other. “Okay, you guys can hang out in the van or outside.” Shiro said, gesturing to the counter covered with snacks and drinks. “This is going to take a while. I am so sorry.” He looked the cashier.The cashier only waved him off, telling him it was nothing at all. The group filed out of the store, Pidge hopping on the hood of the van. “How much longer until we get to the arcade? I also want to stop by GameStop and hope to get cowboys.”“You mean Red Dead?” Matt pushed his brother’s shoulder. “Stop calling it cowboys.”“It’s game full of cowboys! Why wouldn’t I?!” Pidge threw his hands up in the air. “Like they should get rid of the name Red Dead, and replace it with just Cowboys.”“Okay, but what about Yee Haw Skyrim 2?” Matt offered.It was completely silent for a few seconds before Pidge began screeching with laughter. Matt snorted loudly and joined in, soon followed by the others. Even Keith was laughing.Pidge grabbed onto his stomach and fell to the floor. This only made Lance throw his head back and cackle.Keith laughed with a hand over his mouth as he watched Lance, eyeing every detail that came from the cuban boy. “I’m gone for 3 minutes and Pidge is on the floor dying. What did you guys do now?” Shiro walked out of the store with multiple bags looped through his one good arm, the cashier helping him with the other bags. “I can’t fucking breathe!” Pidge screamed, rolling over onto his side as tear poured of his eyes, his laughter now mostly air.“I worry for all of you.” Shiro chuckled, opening the back of the van, setting the bags down, the cashier doing the same. “Adam, right? I can’t thank you enough.” Shiro shook the cashier’s hand, smiling.“It was nothing really!” Adam waved him off, pushing his glasses up. “Let me at least treat you for coffee or something.” Shiro said, taking out his phone and handing it to Adam who hesitantly put his number in.“Did we just see Shiro of all people score a hot date?” Lance wheezed as he turned towards Keith. “The Dad of the group.” Keith coughed into his hand, choking on his laughter.“I heard that.” Shiro threw a look at the two boys, his hand on his hip. “Disguise yourself fool!” Lance threw himself into the back row of the van, Keith following right after. They lay next to each other, Lance laughing into the crook of his own elbow while Keith laughed into his own hand.“I can’t fucking believe that just happened!” Lance turned his head towards Keith, face flushed from the loss of air. He continued to giggle as everyone else climbed into the van, Matt now driving while Shiro took up the passenger seat. “Oh my god I know!” Keith faced Lance, violet eyes widening as he realized at how close they really were.Lance chuckled as he looked at Keith, smiling warmly at him.Keith lay there in silence, his cheeks warming up and his heart leaping into his throat. He quickly sat up, jerking forward as the van began to move. He glared at Shiro, knowing damn well he was smirking. He could practically hear him.Lance just lay there, humming as Keith pushed his legs out of his seat. “Rude.” He crossed his arms behind his head, draping his legs across Keith’s lap as he sat down in his seat.“Whatever.” Keith craned his arm behind the seats, stretching until he pulled out a giant bag of Gummy Cola’s. “Hey gimme some!” Lance held his hand out, watching as Keith’s bluetooth headphones flashed red. “No. Get your own.” Keith huffed as he put away his headphones, tapping his foot impatiently. “I’ll let you listen to my phone if you give me some. Please?”A few minutes of silence fell over them before Keith dropped about ten gummies on Lance’s chest. Lance grinned and sat up. He handed Keith an earbud, who brushed his already long hair behind his ear. While Keith pushed his black beanie back further on his head, Lance went ahead and put the earbud in for him, putting in his own.Keith’s cheeks turned red, body tensing as Lance scooted closer to him and scrolled through his music. His eyes lit up as familiar music began to play. “Hey this is…”“The Front Bottoms. Yeah.” Lance scratched the back of his neck. “I heard you blasting it in your room one night and at first I thought they were stupid. Still think the name is stupid.” He laughed as Keith gave him the stink eye. “But they quickly grew on me. I don’t know why.” All Keith could do was look at Lance, surprised. He looked down at his lap, and discreetly moved closer to Lance, their shoulders brushing against each other. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment while it lasted. This was enough.
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Pidge yanked open his car door and threw his body out of the van. “Fresh air!” He yelled in the parking lot of Target, which made some people turn their heads towards him.“I didn’t think the air conditioner would break down like that.” Shiro scratched his head as he stepped out of the van, standing beside Matt. “And I also didn’t expect it to get this hot.”“It’s Washington. The weather here is bipolar.” Matt fanned himself, waving his hand towards Romelle and Allura. “Hand me water, please?”Romelle took off her baseball cap and wiped the sweat collecting on her forehead. She fanned herself as she dug around in her sports bag, tossing a water bottle at Matt. “I think we can all agree on that statement.”Keith pushed Lance out of the van, stumbling forward a little as he stepped out. He fixed his beanie and tightened the knot of his red flannel tied around his waist. “So what are we doing first?”“I think we’re going to get dinner after, right? If we’re even hungry.” Hunk scratched his chin as the others nodded and agreed. “So we can look around and then head towards the arcade.”“Sounds like a plan.” Lance yawned and stretched his arms over his head. “I am going to look around in Target and maybe get myself a smoothie. Anybody who wants to come is more than welcome to follow.” “Matt. Shiro. Hunk.” Pidge pointed at the three. “Gamestop?” “Hell yeah.” Matt went ahead, following Lance. Hunk and the others trailed after him, splitting off at the entrance of the mall. “Meet at the arcade at 3?” Hunk asked over his shoulder as he walked away from Lance and Keith, who had decided to stay behind at Target. “Yup! See you guys then! Or maybe I’ll catch up to you guys.” Lance waved his friends off and immediately took off towards the clothes. Keith followed, hands in his jean pockets as his eyes glanced over his surroundings. He bit his lip as he tried to focus on new ideas and tried to sort the new sketches that had popped into mind.He was getting a lot of ideas for sketches, but whenever he tried to draw them down, they didn't turn out the way he wanted. This resulted in him scrapping the idea completely. And when he scrapped an idea, his more pissy mood would take over. “You alright there, man? I can hear your thoughts from behind me.” Lance stopped at the sports clothes section, making Keith bump into him.“Sorry.” Keith coughed to cover up his embarrassment, backing away. “Just struggling to finish a project for my art class.”“What’s it about?” Lance asked, focusing on the clothes in front of him, but keeping his head inclined towards Keith, letting him know that he was listening.Keith sighed and glanced over the clothes. “I have to draw a memory from my childhood, or a favorite recent memory.” He explained the details, including the art block that he was drowning in at the moment.“You also work right?” Lance hummed, holding a shirt up to his body, but putting it back on the rack in distaste. “Yeah. I was also working on a side project of mine, but I needed to stop because I had to focus more on my work and my school work. I just can’t think of a favorite memory.” Keith crossed his arms, frowning. “Well I’m sure you have one. You just can’t remember it, or you haven’t made it yet.” Lance glanced over at Keith’s sour face. He reached over and brushed back Keith’s bangs out of his eyes, smiling at the surprised look from Keith.“You should ask for a break from work. It’s a cafe right? I’m sure they’ll let you take a break. When is the project due?”Keith blinked a few times to gather his bearings and fix his head. “Uh, like a week from now.” Lance clicked his tongue. “Digital or on paper?”“Digital.”“Oh wow. That’s tough.” Lance clasped his hands together. “What to do, what to do.” “You don’t have to help me. I can figure it out on my own.” Keith said, messing with his beanie. Lance laughed and bumped Keith’s hip with his own. “I want to help! You had to listen to me cry about Nyma. Now I’m going to help you! I know. Let’s get some smoothies and toss around some ideas.” Keith hesitated for a bit. Before he could answer, Lance grabbed his hand and pulled towards the front of the store where the Starbucks and the small food court was. He looked down at their joined hands and felt himself blush red. Lance was too good to him. Lance practically crashed into the counter as he quickly ordered their smoothies, waving Keith’s money away as he paid for the drink himself. Keith stood by his side awkwardly, fingers itching to tangle themselves with Lance’s. His heart dropped as Lance let go and handed him his drink. “You keep zoning out.” Lance chuckled, tilting his head at Keith’s saddened look. “Let’s sit down.” He grabbed his hand again and pulled him to a table. “Sorry.” “Don’t apologize.” Lance smiled and waved him off, taking a seat across from Keith. “Now let’s discuss memories and ideas while we wait for time to pass. Then I can beat your ass at Skee ball.” Keith snorted. “You’re a sharpshooter, just not when it comes to arcade games. I got this win in the bag.” Lance rolled his eyes with a smirk. “I’m taking the time out my day to help you and what do you do? You trash talk me! I’m wounded, Keith!”“You trash talked first!” Keith pulled out his phone from his back pocket, pulling up his art app on it. He lay it on the table and Lance scrolled through the countless unfinished drawings.“Oh my gosh! Your art totally reminds me of this other artist!” Lance gasped after taking a long sip from his smoothie. “Have you read this one comic called By You?” He looked at Keith with wide blue eyes.Keith blinked. “By You? No. I haven’t” He took a sip from his drink, averting Lance’s blue eyes.“It’s so freaky how similar they look!” Lance laughed. “I’ve been reading too much. Sorry, sorry!”“It’s fine. Now, help me out?” “Right! So here, it seems like you had something going on…” Lance talked on and on, Keith listening and jotting down notes inside his head.Lance offered many ideas, and Keith tried to sketch them out, but he got frustrated to a point where he almost burst into tears and flipped the table. Their smoothies were long gone, and Lance focused on calming down a seething Keith who was trying to take deep breaths and blink away the tears. Lance glanced at his phone. “It’s been close to an hour now. We should start heading towards the arcade.” He threw away the empty cups. He held out his for Keith with a smile on his lips.Keith tried to fight back the color rising to his face as he took his hand, gulping when Lance began leading him out of Target and into the mall. “I don’t get how you’re so patient with me.” “I have younger siblings who have a bad temper every now and then, and I was the one who always calmed them down and helped them out.” Lance shrugged, looking at the shorter. Your temper isn’t a problem at all.”Keith sighed. “But that’s what got me in the most trouble.” He shook his head. “My commanding officer sure loved to make my life a hell if I ever gave attitude.”“From what I saw and heard, I’m sure. If you don’t mind me asking, why’d you join the military?”Keith bit his lip, his hand tensing in Lance’s hold. “I don’t want to say. Not right now.” He muttered, pulling his beanie down.“Sorry. I get it though. You don’t have to tell me.” Lance hummed. After a few minutes in silence, Lance suddenly gasped. “What is it?!” Keith jumped, looking at Lance with furrowed brows.Lance grinned madly and dragged Keith forward. “Shut up and close your eyes!”“I don’t like where this is going.” Keith grumbled, but yanked his beanie over his eyes. Keith jumped a little as Lance covered his ears. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.“Okay, okay.” Lance uncovered his ears, standing in front of him. “Yes. I totally just did this.” Keith uncovered his eyes and burst out laughing at what Lance had done.Lance had rented two of those animal scooter things. Keith covered his mouth as he snorted and shook his head. “You’re a dumbass McClain.”Lance hopped onto gray cat one. “Race you to the arcade?” He didn’t even need to think twice to start moving as Keith got onto the black panther one. The scooters were painfully slow, but Lance and Keith tried to kick at each other to get away from the other. They laughed together, trying to figure out how to make it go faster.Keith was the one that figured it out first. He was jerked forward, yelping in sudden surprise. He looked over his shoulder and smirked as the scooter took him farther away.“Get back here!” Lance yelled. “Hunk! Pidge!” He made his friends stare at him in disbelief as they exited Gamestop.“You can’t be serious.” Pidge snorted. He climbed on behind Lance, patting his shoulders. “Racing Keith? Onwards Hunk!” Hunk laughed as he began pushing them ahead, slow at first, but gradually gaining speed. All three friends whooped and hollered, Lance and Pidge throwing their arms into the air. Keith looked behind him and began laughing at the scene in front of him, not caring that the trio passed him. He got off his scooter once he stopped in front of the arcade, hands on knees as he laughed.“Never thought I would I see that in my life.” Shiro came up to the small group, Matt, Allura, and Romelle right behind him. “Once I saw them I just had to get them!” Lance laughed breathlessly, watching in amusement as Pidge draped himself over Hunk, the two fending off tears of joy. “Oh we’re totally going to take these over. Right after we get out tickets!” Pidge declared, pushing the group inside. “Shiro, Romelle, you’re on tokens. Lance, Keith, you’re on shooter games. Allura, Matt, you’re on basketball games. Me and Hunk are on claw machines. Go!”Everyone spread out, laughter and loud excited talking filling the already loud arcade.Shiro and Romelle quickly rushed out to everyone, handing out tokens, making sure everyone had enough to begin playing before running back and getting more tokens. Allura and Matt were already scoring points and tickets with their basketball game, knowing just where to hit on the hood of the game. As Hunk stood at a claw machine, he used his body to shield the body of Pidge who was cramming his arm into the slot of the machine, grabbing as much toys or candy as possible. Lance and Keith took up the arcades guns, aiming them at the screen where they began to blast zombies in the head, scoring them points by the second, getting them further ahead with every level they passed.Every now and then, the group would join together, putting their winnings in a bag, eating their candy and drinking from their sugar drinks.Shiro and Romelle would pass out tokens and then they all disbanded to play the games they wanted to play before heading off to their designated spots. When Pidge’s arm became tired and sore, he would make rounds and make sure everyone had snacks, drinks, and collected their tickets, adding them to Shiro’s bag.When he would come back to the claw machines, Hunk would be messing with the joystick and buttons, already trying to rewire the mechanics. Allura squealed as she lifted up the bundle of tickets in her arms from the spin the wheel game. She bounded over to Shiro and Romelle, excitedly shoving the tickets in the bag and dragging Romelle over to play a few games. “Allura just scored us a shit ton of tickets, but we still need more! Keith! Lance! Try your hand at air hockey or Skee ball!” Pidge yelled from his station, snickering as the wires shocked Hunk’s finger. Lance shot the last zombie and set his gun down, wiggling his fingers, shaking the soreness out of them. “Give me.” Keith grabbed his hands, gentle fingers massaging the knots out of his hands.“You were just a cargo pilot? I don’t believe that.” He muttered, flicking his eyes up at Lance through his eyelashes.“Went out on a few missions. A sniper. Didn't have to shoot unless necessary.” He said, detecting Keith's next question.Keith hummed, patting his hands before letting them go. “I can tell you never treated yourself properly afterwards.”Lance shrugged. “Didn't exactly think I was worthy of it.”Keith frowned. “Don't say that. Let's play a quick round of air hockey. Then I'll win at Skee ball.”Lance stepped forward, making Keith incline his head up a little. Keith blushed at the closeness, his eyes darting around for an escape.“I never thought our Samurai would care for the Sharpshooter.” Lance teased, cocking his head. He smiled and walked towards the air hockey table.Keith stared at Lance’s back with wife eyes, trying to remember how to breath. He marched over to air hockey table and inserted the tokens, smirking at Lance as he grabbed his paddle and the futuristic music started up.
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“This isn't fair!” Lance screamed for the millionth time, slamming his paddle down.“Since when the fuck were there two slots?! Air hockey only had one!”Keith laughed and placed his hand on his hip, a smug look on his face. “Wanna go again, Sharpshooter?” He enunciated the nickname.Lance growled. “You’re fucking on.” Before he could insert the tokens, Pidge yanked on his ear.“Oh no no no. You two have been playing this for the last 30 minutes. Get your asses to Skee ball or get back to shooting zombies.” Lanced waved Pidge off. “Just one more time!” “You’ve been saying that for the past 30 minutes!” Pidge yelled, glaring at Keith who was laughing behind his hand.“You should have stopped him!” Pidge jabbed his finger at Keith. “God knows how much money he wasted trying to flirt with your dumb ass!”“I am not trying to flirt with him! I am trying to find something I’m better at than him!” Lance defended himself. “Air hockey never had two goal thingies! There was always one!”Pidge sighed loudly. “Whatever. Just stop playing this game. It doesn’t give you that much tickets.” He grabbed Keith’s winnings, looking disappointed. “We’re regrouping in 10.”“Alright.” Lance saluted Pidge with a mocking face, earning a swift kick to the shins from the shorter. Keith went ahead and started up Skee Ball, leaving Lance to whine in pain as he hobbled over to his friend.“Okay okay.” Lance shook his hands, narrowing his eyes at Keith. “Prepare to get your ass whooped.” “I highly doubt it.” Keith retorted, cracking his knuckles. He picked up the first ball along with Lance, the two standing side by side as they readied their throwing arm. “Best out of three?” Lance asked with his impish smile that almost made Keith lose focus.“Yeah. Ready?” Keith replied, his bright violet eyes set on the 100 score. “Yup. Go!” Lance rolled first, Keith right after him. As time passed ever so quickly, the two scored points like no one else had seen before.They were neck and neck the entire time, entirely focused on beating the other.When Pidge had called time for regrouping, Lance and Keith couldn’t hear him from the start up of the next game, way pass 3 games. Pidge stalked over to them, curses at the ready on the tip of his tongue, but instead his eyes widened at how many points the two boys were scoring from their intense game. Not to mention the tickets that were slowly trailing to the floor, which should have been impossible due to the old age of the game itself.Romelle saw the game happening and the small crowd of children watching and cheering on Keith or Lance. She rushed over with more tokens. “How long are they going to play for?” She asked Pidge, looking down at him with a questioning eyebrow raised.“I don’t know.” Pidge admitted, blinking at the back of the boys heads. “We could just wait for them to run out of tokens. How much did you give them?”“I haven’t given them any. I think Shiro did. I’m not sure.” Romelle pocketed the tokens and tried to look over the small crowd on her toes. “I’ve never seen those two go for so long without talking.”“I know, right? It’s kind of scary.” Pidge snorted, shoving his hands into his hoodie. Romelle shifted her weight onto one foot. “They’re into each other, aren’t they?”Pidge looked up at her. “What gave it away?” He asked with sarcasm dripping with every word.Romelle shoved him a little. “Oh whatever.” She pursed her lips. “Want to bet $20 they get together by the end of the year?”“Oh I bet they’ll get together by… hm, let’s see,” Pidge cocked his head. “I bet $30 they’ll get together by spring.”“You’re on.” Romelle shook his hand, returning her attention towards the two. “We’re going to have to help them out, aren’t we?”“Yup.” Pidge popped the ‘p’ at the end. “Those two are dense as fuck.”“They really are.” Romelle agreed. They stood in silence for the rest of them time, everyone leaning closer to the game as Lance put in the last two tokens he had. “May the best man win.” Lance grinned, holding a fist out to Keith“May the best man win.” Keith nodded back, connecting his fist with Lances, lifting up his first ball of the last game.Keith scored a solid 50 for his first roll, with Lance behind with a solid 40.With each and every roll, and a ball slowly disappearing with each toss, the points racked up higher and higher. This left Keith and Lance always behind one another, only to have one make a quick and frantic comeback.“Ah damn it!” Lance cursed as he rolled his last ball, scoring a last 50 points, adding to 850 score he already had.Lance watched Keith with the same amount of intensity had been playing with, watching to see who would be the winner. Keith, with his stubborn attitude and determined mindset to win, he was not going to back down even if it were Lance. He rolled his last ball and watched with wide eyes as the ball went forward, so close to a goal. His score now read 900.Keith threw his arms up and laughed triumphantly, the small crowd clapping, along with Lance who looked almost, proud. Usually, Keith never cared for silly games like this, but casting his eyes towards Lance, locking eyes with him, he never felt more happy and in place. He felt at home. As quickly as the crowd formed, they dispersed, leaving Lance and Keith on their own, the two almost in their own world the longer they stood still.Lance broke the magic first. “So I guess I owe you that dinner and movie, huh?” He laughed, not seeming nervous at all.“Yeah. I’ll let you know when.” Keith mumbled, holding his arm, taking a step back, his eyes now cast down.“Good job, man. It was hella close.” Lance smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.No matter how hard Keith tried, he couldn’t help but meet the ocean in Lance’s gaze. He smiled softly.Lance let his hand fall back to his side and bounded towards Pidge. “We regrouping?”Pidge nodded. “Get the tickets. I’ll get the others.” He rolled his eyes and sent a look towards Romelle, who returned it shortly afterwards. “We going to eat after this? I’m full, but I still want to eat.” Lance chuckled, retrieving the tickets, holding the bundle in his arms. “If the others want.” Pidge shrugged. “I could eat too.” The group met up at the ticket machine, leaving Shiro to feed the machine the tickets they all had won. “Alright. I’m driving back. Do we want to pick up food, or do we want to stop and sit at a table?” Hunk declared, shoving the prizes he won from the claw machines into his backpack.“We should get pizza.” Matt brightened up. “Pizza sounds fucking awesome right now.” “Sounds good to me.” Hunk nodded. “You guys cool with that?”The others nodded, some offering a thumbs up.“I say we stop somewhere. But we don’t go inside, you know? We should just eat outside in the parking lot by the van.” Allura offered. “By the time we get back home, or even to the pizza place, it’ll be really dark out, so maybe we can sit and enjoy the stars.”“That’s sounds amazing! It’s been clear all day, despite it being fall, so let’s just hope it remains clear.” Romelle clapped her hands together excitedly. “Yeah. Sounds lit.” Matt grinned childishly, earning a punch to the shoulder by Pidge.“If you ever say that again, I will kill you and take away your anime privileges.” Pidge warned, pushing up his glasses. Matt held his hands up in defense. “No! Anything but that! Whatever shall I do?” He cited dramatically, throwing an arm over his eyes.“Matt I swear to god.” Before Pidge could make a move to strangle his brother, Shiro held up the card he received from the machine. “We have got 18,397 tickets!” Shiro smiled widely, the others cheering loudly.“Hell yeah!” Lance laughed. “Only took about a few thousand hours!”“What can we get?!” Pidge and Hunk rushed over to the counter, looking towards the 10,000 ticket area.“Watch the only thing we can end up getting is a single jolly rancher.” Keith muttered to Shiro, the two chuckling. “That would be the saddest thing ever.” Shiro took off Keith’s beanie and ruffled his hair.Keith swatted him away. He jumped and snatched his beanie, yanking it on with a huff. Lance watched the two from the corner of his eye, a slight furrow in his brow. Before he could speak up, Pidge laughed maniacally.“Guess what fuckers?! We have a new addition to the family!” Pidge held his arms out, revealing a cardboard box.“...A box?” Keith raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “I did not spend that many hours to fucking win a box.”“Don’t be a bitch, Kogane.” Pidge was too happy and excited to be mad. “Meet beezer!” He then whipped out a gray and green roomba with the widest smile possible.“We won a fucking Roomba?!” Lance screeched with laughter, leaning on Hunk who joined in after attempting to hold in his own snickering.“Yes we did! And Beezer is beautiful and I shall raise him as my own if none of you fuckers are going to appreciate beauty.” Pidge hugged the Roomba to his chest, glaring at his laughing friends.“I want to hold him!” Romelle squealed, holding her arms out as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Pidge gladly let Romelle hold the Roomba. “Someone understands the greatness of Roombas!” “Why do I get the feeling that this Roomba will be your new transportation unit?” Keith sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a clearly amused smile toying at his lips.“Damn straight!” Pidge laughed out loud, puffing out his chest with his fists on his hips. “Me and Beezer are going to hit up all the clubs!” “Well let’s get going! I need to see if you will actually be able to use that.” Lance rubbed his hands together, talking loudly with Pidge and Hunk, draping his arms around their shoulders. The rest of them followed the trio, passing by the closing stores and the empty food court that had once been busy of people earlier in the day.“So Pizza Hut, or Round Table?” Matt asked once they had exited out of Target, now in the parking lot. “I say Round Table.” Allura let her long hair loose, white strands spilling around her dark shoulders. “I agree.” Shiro said, tossing the keys to Hunk who caught them with ease. The others nodded along, just wanting to get actual food instead of sugar.Hunk unlocked the van, everyone piling into their respective seats, sitting in a quiet comfortable silence. As Hunk started the van up, quiet music from the radio filled the van. Keith let out a soft sigh, pulling his beanie from his head, running a hand through his tangled hair as he looked out the window.The darkened blue sky made the blackened trees stand out, a few wisps of a pale gray cloud drifted along the sky as the scenery rolled on by. But Keith’s violet eyes were more focused on trying to find the one thing he desired most. Just when he thought he found it, a flash of both red and green upset him, signaling him it was an airplane and not what he wanted. Lance gently nudged Keith’s shoulder. “Hey. I’m lonely. Want to listen to some sad depressing music?”Keith cracked a smile and accepted the ear bud Lance held out. “Just my favorite type of music.” His smile only grew along with the warmth in his chest as The Front Bottoms began to softly play through the ear buds.“I suspected as much.” Lance chuckled, turning his head towards the window.His hand was right in between them, and Keith had the perfect chance to reach out and take it with his own, but he wussed out and clasped his hands in his lap instead.It was only about 10 minutes until Hunk pulled up to the Round Table parking lot, parking and getting out with Matt, who had everyone’s order. Allura and the rest of the group spilled out of the van, stretching and talking among themselves.Except for Keith who had climbed onto the vans roof and laid across it, arms tucked behind his head as his eyes focused on the sky right above him, still searching. Pidge had set her Roomba on the floor and tried to get it working, but ended up crying in defeat as the Roomba needed batteries. He began to talk on and on about how to upgrade it so that it didn’t need batteries to work.After 6 minutes passed, Hunk and Shiro came back with pizza boxes in their hands.Allura, Romelle, and Matt sat on the hood of the van while Hunk, Shiro, and Pidge sat on the curb. Lance stood up, talking and joking as he ate his slice of pizza, his gaze trailing towards Keith who hadn’t gotten up for food.Lance picked up a box and walked over to the quiet boy, holding the box in front of his field of vision. “Hungry?”“Not really.” Keith muttered.“Scoot over then.” Lance grinned as he clambered onto the roof of the van, laying next to Keith with a groan. “Well this is uncomfortable.” “You can always go back to standing.” Keith joked, not looking away from the sky.Lance hummed and crossed his arms under his head, their elbows touching. He crossed his ankles and shivered as a cold breeze swept by and nipped at his skin. “Keith?”“Hm?”“Do you ever get homesick?”“Can’t really get homesick if I can’t remember what home is.” Keith said, a sudden sadness lacing his voice.“I’m sorry. Do you remember anything?”“A game me and my dad used to play.”“What was it?”“Who ever could find the first star could make a wish. And whoever could find the most stars could make three wishes.”“What did you wish for?”“Can’t say.”“I understand. It’s nice.”“What is?”“Hearing you talk and open up about your childhood. Though it’s only a little bit.”Keith turned his head, now facing Lance, their faces so close to each other that made Keith’s heart beat loudly in his ears. All sound faded away, and time seemed to freeze in place, as if a picture were taken at just the right moment.The wind lifted Lance’s brown hair ever so slightly. His blue eyes contrasting dramatically against his tan skin. A few freckles lay across his cheeks and nose, as if they were stars of their own. The gentle gaze behind Lance’s eyes filled Keith with so much ease and heartache that he just wanted to lean forward and rest his head on his chest, for Lance to hold him just once.But right behind him, shining the brightest blue Keith had ever seen, was a single star.He found the first star of the night, right in front of the person he wished most was his.