Work Text
Lance's POV:
I peeled my eyes open to what felt like eternal darkness, but just the covers from my bed. I pushed them back, stretching in the process. Looking at the alarm clock, I realized there was none. Soon I was pushing at the maroon sheets, wrinkling them in the process just to lean back against the oak headboard.
I glanced around, searching for a sense of familiarity, but finding no hope in the dark scenery. A splitting headache ran through my head, causing me to practically tear at my hazelnut hair. I groaned while leaning my head all the way back against the oak wood, wincing my eyes closed.
Soon I could open my eyes again, and I searched the room for some aspirin, ibuprofen, or any other sort of medication. I stared at the room, finding a bedside table with my phone on it, and ibuprofen with a glass of water. With all my heart I wanted to down the medication, but I reached for my phone. I grabbed the ocean-blue case and pressed the black button to only see a red battery show up. It was dead. Seeing this, I groaned in anger and put it back where it was, grabbing the medication and the glass of water. I twisted the cap, pressing down, and it gave me a satisfying 'pop'. With that, I poured a couple pills out and tossed them in my mouth, downing them with the glass of water that I was given.
Once I had those down, I decided to explore. Well, with my eyes, that is, because I'm not exploring some stranger rapists or kidnappers house, no thanks. In the left corner of the room, I found a black desk pressed against the maroon walls with a laptop on it. Next to it laid a black door, and I soon realized there was running water and someone faintly singing behind it. I tried not to panic and continued inspecting the room. In the right corner laid two beanbags, a black one against the furthest wall, and a blood red one against the right wall. I ignored the slight denial in color coordination to have my eyes land on an oak bookshelf, the wood matching the backboard behind me. I looked straight to my right to find a white door, the color matching the molding, and once glancing to my left I found that the blinds of the windows were the same. The only light that covered the room was behind those blinds, drowning the room in a sort of heavenly light. Oh, I also forgot to mention, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots, Cavetown and other seemingly emo posters lined nearly every inch of the upper walls in an orderly fashion. Well, unless you were the poor doors, they had posters and stickers slapped on this way and that. I couldn't blame whoever this was, however, Cavetown is a great band sometimes but based on the other posters I figured we listened to different songs.
Moments later, the soft singing stopped, then the water quickly followed. I decided to stay in my spot, a little antsy in anticipation of who this person was, and what information they had on last night. I tried to think back to what happened, but I couldn't even remember how I left the house. How much did I drink?
My thought process broke when the door opened, revealing a man about the same height as me. He had very pale skin, and what seemed to be a slicked-back mullet. What is this, the eighties? Needless to say, his raven hair was dripping into the maroon hoodie he had on, it obviously being oversized as it covered most of his hands (that were covered in black leather or pleather gloves) and covered... HIS BOXERS?! He wasn't wearing pants. I had a half-naked man in front of me that was a complete stranger.
This is already a very eventful day.
The only thing I could think was that he's minor league hot. Even a straight person like me could see that.
"Ah, you're awake", the man spoke. His voice was deep and gruff, probably from being newly awake. He rubbed his eye slightly and walked over to the window, pulling the blinds open.
"Agh, what the hell?!" I nearly screamed, speaking for the first time this morning. My voice cracked slightly, which was surprising, but my voice was still deep and manly.
"Jeez, what are you, thirteen? Because your voice sure sounds like it. It wasn't like that last night, did you age up because you were drunk?" He asked.
Alright, maybe my voice was high pitched.
"Look, can you just close the blinds? I have a mad hangover and the sunlight is giving me no mercy", I said, praying that the man would fulfill my request.
"Nope", he said, walking over to the opposite side of the queen bed. He sat down as what I was taught to be 'crisis cross applesauce', looking me in the eyes. His gray-purple eyes seemed to stare right into my soul, but somehow it didn't bother me. "You were pretty drunk last night. How much do you remember?"
I sighed. Here goes nothing.
"I don't remember... Anything. I don't even remember how I left my house, let alone why. Actually, what is today?" I asked, shifting my position so I was mirroring him.
"Today's Saturday, the 12th of January. It's somewhere around 9:30." His glare that I didn't even know he had tightened, and he looked behind me, assuming to the bedside table. "Also, sorry about your phone." He leaned back and grabbed his phone off of his bedside table. "I don't have any apple phone cords, I have a Samsung." He waved around his phone to add emphasis to his statement.
"Makes sense", I said, starting to climb out of bed. I soon realized I wasn't in my clothes, but rather an oversized deep purple shirt and white pajama shorts that reached about the middle of my thighs. "What the... Whose clothes are these?" I asked, turning around and shooting an accusatory glance at the stranger beside me.
"They're my brothers. Yours smelled and looked like alcohol, so I cleaned them for you", he said rather casually.
I got up completely, the shirt practically covering the shorts. I held onto the bedside table for support, grabbing my head because of a throbbing headache I had. I regret all my decisions.
I turned around to look back at the man, leaning on the bed.
"How about we get to the more important questions. What's your name?" I asked, finally standing up straight.
"Keith", he said, and he got up in an instant to match my stance, probably hoping to not appear weak or some crap.
Our sort-of-awkward conversation ended with the sound of a fire alarm, startling me, but Keith didn't even bat an eye. He opened the door and peered out.
He mumbled something that I couldn't hear, but it sounded like he said: "damn it shirt". What does that mean? Oh... Oh hell no he did not burn my laundry.
He stepped out the door and at a rather alarming rate walked down the hallway, me quickly following.
I didn't look around, not interested in this dudes life, but interested in whether or not my shirt was gonna be okay.
He went down the stairs two at a time, me following quickly behind. He turned left, and I followed quickly after him, stopping in the doorway. He led me to a kitchen with a rather tall man. He had a little white tuft of hair while the rest of his hair was a buzzcut and black. He had oven mitts on, and smoke was rising up from the pan he was holding. Keith went up to him and ripped the pan from his hand and put it under the cold water, some charred stuff washing off while ending the steam.
Keith sighed, putting the pan in the sink and turning off the water. He then walked over to the taller man again. Once I got a better look at him, I realized he was wearing a similar shirt to what I was wearing, but black. This must be Keith's brother.
"Shiro, what did I tell you about cooking?" Keith asked, putting a hand on his hip. That was strangely feminine.
"Not to... But you were caring for a random drunk in your room and I wanted to help out!" The man I now knew as Shiro said. Wait... Shiro? SHIRO! He said Shiro, not shirt! My precious attire was fine!
I was snapped back into reality when Keith looked from behind his brother straight to me. I shook a little, awkwardness and fear getting the best of me.
"He's not a random drunk, his name is Lance", he said, pointing to me. Wait for a second, did he just say my name?
"Wait, how do you know my name?" I asked, my morning voice finally wearing off. I took a few steps forward, and Shiro turned to me. I soon realized he had a prosthetic arm and a lightly pointed v-shape scar across the bridge of his nose. Or maybe it was the angle.
"Just because you were drunk out of your memory doesn't mean I was", Keith said, his morning voice obviously gone as well.
"Ah. Well, Lance, my name is Shiro", Keith's brother said, outstretching his rather high-tech prosthetic arm out. I took it.
"Lance, the 'random drunk' your brother took home last night", I said, using the information I picked up to my advantage. Shiro let go of my hand and stepped back in horror, while Keith snorted in laughter.
"I like non-drunk Lance already", Keith said, doubling over in laughter.
Shiro was assumably apologizing profusely in front of me, but all I could focus on was Keith's laughter. It had the same effect as a baby's, despite it being deeper and more rough. It was a sweet laugh.
Shiro stopped apologizing and swiftly smacked Keith upside the head, in which Keith let out a string of obscenities at his brother.
A lovely sibling relationship.
Keith stopped his words for a moment and stared at me, a curious look in his eyes.
"Hey Lance, where do you live?" He asked, changing the mood in an instant.
I stayed silent for a moment, and Shiro turned toward me a little concerned.
"I uh... I have a dorm at the nearby college, the Galtean Garrison?" I more asked than said, staring at them in hope because God knows I haven't a clue on how to get there.
A smirk fell across Shiro's face, and it truly concerned me. Keith looked at me like I had just told him that I was a paladin of some weird space lion of a superweapon that protected the galaxy. Yeah, they might think I'm insane now.
Shiro burst into laughter, taking me aback, and Keith as well.
"Jeez Shiro, it's not that funny, we just happened to go to the same school", Keith said, looking at him like he agreed with my outlandish statement.
If I was drinking, I would've taken a spit take.
"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" I asked, confused out of my mind.
"Yep", Shiro said, gaining his composure back. "I'm going to start teaching the history of wars there."
"Wait, so you're taking Mrs. Holt's place?" I asked.
"Right again", Shiro started, looking at Keith and ruffling his hair, much to his protest. "She finally could move up and teach botany as she wanted. Keith here is going to be in my class. Actually, now that I remember my class list, I think you're in the class too."
I took a step back, looking at the two.
This is going to be one strange year.
{~~~~~~~~~~~~~}
I finished the breakfast that Shiro and Keith had offered me, and thank whoever is responsible for not letting Shiro cook. I mean, I think it was Keith, so maybe I should thank him?
They had asked me if I wanted to join them and I accepted, since the only one who would notice I wasn't there was Hunk, unless he was visiting his family. The pancakes they had made were delicious, and they even had blueberry syrup. Who even has that anymore?!
"Are you done eating?" Keith asked, seeing my plate was empty and I hadn't eaten anything else in a good few minutes.
"Nope!" I said, grabbing another pancake and then dousing it with blueberry syrup. "These are too good to exist, I'm not letting them go to waste since you two aren't eating anymore," I smirked a little. Keith sighed, irritated, but I think he hid a smile. He was the one who made the pancakes after all.
"I mean", I started, in between bites. "You could certainly learn from Hunk, but he could learn from you as well! Adding cinnamon was a great choice."
Keith and Shiro looked at me a little confused, and Keith did an even worse job of hiding his smile.
"Who's Hunk?" Shiro asked, genuinely curious by his tone.
"Ah, Hunk's my dorm-mate", I said, laughing at my genius of a made-up word while taking the last bite of my pancakes and setting my fork down. "He's the best chef in the world, assumably better than Gordan Ramsey by everyone who's tried his stuff. Though, no matter how much I ask, he refuses to listen to my advice since the pickle and ketchup fiasco, including my suggestion for cinnamon in pancakes."
They stayed with mostly impressed faces, except for when I stated the pickle and ketchup fiasco, but their amazement soon returned after.
"I guess I should meet Hunk then. Do you know if he'll be in Shiro's class?" Keith asked, pointing to Shiro with his thumb.
"I don't think so, sorry. You may share another class, though!" I said with a smile on my face.
Keith sighed while Shiro smiled at my over-exaggerated enthusiasm.
Keith pushed his chair back, it protesting against the tiles but still fell to his mercy. He grabbed the empty plates on the table and headed over to the sink, where he started rinsing dishes to put them in the dishwasher. Shiro smiled, assumably at his responsibility.
"So, I do have to ask, what happened last night?" I asked, sitting back comfortably in my chair.
Keith nearly dropped a plate and I think I heard him laugh. Shiro looked at me with a painfully fake smile on.
"I don't think you want to ask that", Shiro said, gritting his teeth now to sort of whisper to me.
Needless to say, I was scared and confused.
"Alright... Um... Yeah even though I'm kinda afraid I do want to know", I said, a confused smile on my face.
Shiro sighed and looked down.
"Keith?""Yes, Shiro?""Tell him."Keith finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher with a snicker and started it up. He turned to face me, a huge smirk pulling at the side of his mouth with raised eyebrows and crossed arms.This is not going to be good.Keith started walking out of the kitchen."Follow me, we're getting your clothes", he said, his voice trailing off as he left the room.I quickly got up and followed him, my chair nearly knocking over in the process."Alright", Keith said, obviously about to start off some sort of story. I gave him my full attention, not bothering to stare at the walls yet again.I'd get to someday, right?"So, you went to the club next to Mamora Coffee, I don't even know if it has a name, but I happened to be there as well. When I walked in you were already causing chaos, flirting with literally anything that moved", he continued, snorting for a moment. "I think at one point you flirted with a drink the bartender gave you."I flushed in embarrassment. In my less-than-one-year of drinking I'd never even drunk enough to get drunk, let alone blackout or flirt with a drink.Keith started explaining again. Time for more hell."Eventually you started to flirt with me." Lord, if you're out there, help me. "Since I was heading home already, I figured I'd give you a ride."We arrived at the laundry room, and he opened up the drier and started looking through it."For some reason, you were intoxicated enough you would go home with anything that moved too, so I kinda saved you from rapists or whatever", Keith continued.Suddenly I went blind.Grabbing at my face, I felt the soft cloth at my fingertips. I pulled it off slowly, opening my eyes.I tossed it to the ground the second I saw what it was."WHAT THE HELL?!" I yelled, pretty pissed.Keith just snorted."You looked like you needed a pair of boxers on your face, that's all", Keith said, laughing slightly, still sifting through the laundry."Keith, did you pull the underwear to the eyes thing again?" I heard Shiro yell from somewhere in the house.Keith and I yelled yes at the same time, causing each other to look at each other and burst out laughing.Keith finally latched onto my baby blue shirt with navy accents, throwing it at my chest. I started walking out to change when Keith stopped me."First of all, you don't have to leave. Who did you think changed you in that intoxicated state?" He said, not even looking at me. I'm glad he wasn't because I could feel a light flush fly across my face. Didn't want him thinking that it was out of romantic emotions instead of embarrassment. "And second of all, I haven't finished my recollection of last night, and I'm just getting to the good part."I'm so doomed.I sighed and slipped my shirt off, while Keith dived further into the dryer, his shirt moving up past where the waistband for his pants was, revealing practically pure muscle. Yep, definitely hot, even for a straight guy."As I was trying to get you in my car to take you here, you attempted to kiss me."I started coughing my head off."I... What?" I asked, eyes wide in horror."Yep. Apparently, you weren't only flirting with everything that moved. I ended up having to put you in the back seat because you were going to be a distraction while I was driving", Keith said, so nonchalantly it scared me.I, a straight male, attempted to kiss Keith? How much did I even drink?"Maybe your mullet made me think you were a girl", I said, snorting.He backed out of the dryer at that and stared at me hard for a minute."Sure", he said, drawing out the 'ur'. "Let's go with that. Anyways, I drove you here, and I swear you were trying to have a one night stand with me because you would just not give up", he said, adding emphasis on 'not give up'. Then he looked at me, throwing my navy jeans at me. "Oh, and don't worry. Nothing happened. I mean, unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried you wouldn't stop persisting and I woke up with you spooning me, but I didn't kiss you or anything more than that."I stared at him for a moment, taking in the information. I then started taking off the pants on me to put on my own."Thanks. If I was taken home by anyone, I'm glad it was you.""No problem", Keith said, patting me on my now clothed back after I got my pants on. "Now get your phone, we're going to your dorm."He walked to the doorway and started to leave before he took a step back and looked at me."If you prefer memes, 'get in loser, we're going shopping'", Keith said, and he left before I could say a word.This is one peculiar guy.+-------+
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hunks POV:
I was still ringing up every person who knew Lance when I heard a knock on the door. In hopefulness, I ran over to the door in an instant, nearly slipping on the hardwood floors in the process. I didn't even let the thought cross my mind that it might not be Lance, and I immediately pulled the chain right out and threw the door open, the extreme amount of movement throwing my robe this way and that.
I was very disappointed to find a complete stranger standing there.
He-I mean they, don't want to assume genders-was in a black and maroon hoodie that was slightly too big for them, and ripped jeans with black combat boots.
Basically the definition of emo.
"You're not Lance... Who are you?" I asked, being slightly more rude than I wanted to be.
"My name's Keith. Are you Lance's roommate?" The stranger I knew as Keith asked.
"Yeah, have you seen him?" I asked, leaning forward in hope and anticipation.
"Lance is in the elevato-" I didn't give Keith enough time to finish, I'd already pushed his (rather well-built) body out of the way, running down the dorm hallways in Guatama pajama pants and matching shirt with my yellow robe flying everywhere.
Lance didn't die! Lance's Mom wasn't going to slap me with the chancla (whatever that is)!
I arrived there the second the doors opened, revealing a yawning Lance in his practically full-out blue outfit from yesterday. I didn't even let him out of the elevator, I was already hugging him. I heard, who I assumed was Keith, hold the door open after a few seconds of hugging.
I leaned out of the hug, still holding Lance by the shoulders and looked at him with wide eyes before I started nearly screaming a million words a second at him.
"Oh my God Lance you're alive! I'm so glad you're okay after I left last night you never came home and when I woke up you weren't there either so I immediately assumed the worst and I called everyone I knew that you knew to see if they had seen you and... Oh right, your mother may attack me with a 'chancla', whatever that means, next time I see her so remind me about that so I'm prepared."
Lance stared at me in awe and confusion, taking in everything I had said. Then his face went further away from me as he stepped back, the awe in his face changing to pure horror, yet the confusion still clearly there.
"First of all my mother is saying she'll slap you with her slipper", Lance started. "And second of all, you were with me last night?!" He continued, his voice getting louder near the end and raising pitch quick.
"Yes, but keep it down! We don't want to wake up the whole hallway!" I said in a hushed whisper-shout. "Let's go back to our dorm."
I turned around and walked down the hallway, hair falling in my face. I quickly grabbed my sunshine yellow bandana from my robe pocket and tied it around my head, pushing my hair back. People said that the color yellow suited my personality, bright and kind. I decided I wanted to radiate in it, and plus, my favorite foods had Vitamin D in it, the 'sunshine vitamin'! It just worked out perfectly.
We reached our dorm, Lance walked right in once I opened the door. Yeah, I was gonna hold it for him, but he could've waited? What if I wasn't?
I looked behind me to see Keith standing there awkwardly, right gloved hand on his left arm, staring down and shifting, trying to decide where to go.
"Want to come in?" I asked, opening the door wider and my hand gestured to the dorm.
He looked at me, obviously thankful I gave him a purpose on what to do. He kinda reminded me of what Lance was like at the beginning of Middle school, where we first met.
He walked right in, relaxing already the moment he stepped foot in. He stopped for a moment, seemingly smelling the air. He then looked at me.
"Is that cake I smell?" He inquired, seemingly intrigued, fascinated, yet flabbergasted. And that's how obvious his emotions were, normal 'curious, amazed, yet confused' just wouldn't do it justice.
"Yeah", I said, walking inside and locking the door behind me. "When I'm stressed, I bake, and the chocolate-strawberry cake in the oven just happened to be the victim."
He flashed a smile and headed in the direction Lance had just moments ago, turning to the left into the kitchen. I followed close behind.
Lance was antsy, bouncing his leg on the barstool next to the island, and he snapped his head up the moment I walked in, obviously eager to remember what happened yesterday.
Keith sat down next to him, staring down the entire time but looking up after getting situated.
Basically, they were polar opposites at the moment.
I stepped in front of them, stared for a moment, then turned to the timer. Seeing there was only a minute left, I shut it off and opened the oven, grabbing my oven mitts in the process. Yellow latched onto metal and spongy food, and after three toothpick tests, I had three chocolate cakes cooling.
I turned to Keith and Lance, hoping to clear the confusion on both ends.
"Alright Lance, let's clear this up first: where were you last night?" I asked, ending the silence.
"I was at Keith's," Lance said in a rather cheery voice, pointing his thumb at Keith beside him. Keith stared at his hand for a moment, then his face, then me.
"Alright", I said, turning my head to Keith. "Who's Keith, exactly?"
Keith shrugged, and Lance took the opportunity to explain himself.
Who knows themselves anyways.
"Keith's this really funny and awesome dude who didn't take advantage of me when I was super drunk", Lance blurted out, moving his hands to add extra emphasis.
I looked to Keith and he just nodded along, now playing with his hoodie sleeves and watching them fly this way and that.
"Wait, so you got drunk?" I said, leaning my weight on the island.
"Blackout drunk, buddy. I don't even remember leaving my house", Lance said, not even slightly concerned.
"That might've been drugs, then", I stated, concern lacing my voice.
Keith looked up at me.
"Maybe? I've gotten close to that amount before, and Lance did flirt at a drink", Keith said, trying to calm my growing concern.
"Wait, Lance, you flirted at a drink?" I asked, now my voice filled with giggles.
Lance looked at Keith.
"Keith!" Lance whisper-yelled, hiding what he wanted to say horribly. "We weren't supposed to tell him that!"
"Well sorry", Keith said, his shy demeanor completely dropping. "You should've told me then, flirty boy."
"I prefer Loverboy, but okay then, Mullet."
"That's a little rude, but okay."
They seemed completely in their element, and Lance seemed to be having the time of his life and more. He never has 'and more' tagged on, he's always having the time of his life. But right now? He seems at home. Like one of his siblings was right in front of him, but somehow better. I've never seen him so happy.
The timer beeped, signaling for the cakes to be done cooling. Keith and Lance stopped talking.
"Hey, those aren't exactly chocolate and strawberries... Mostly just chocolate", I heard Keith say.
"Aha!" I said triumphantly, pulling the strawberry frosting out of the cabinet. "That's because it is just chocolate. The strawberry is in the frosting", I continued, winking at Keith.
He nodded, seemingly impressed.
"Nice combination."
"Wait," I heard Lance say. "So you know what happened after you left, but what happened before?"
I sighed, starting to frost the bottom layer.
"I took you to the club nearby Marmora Coffee to celebrate the end of the year a little late, and we hung out there for a while. A girl named Shay-who's super cute, and I totally got her number by the way-challenged you to a shot drinking contest or whatever. You, being the idiot you are with your low tolerance, took her up on the offer. You were practically passed out after five shots, and forfeited. I then talked to Shay for most of the time after that, and I decided to leave when you started making a little too much of a scene. You made a very clear point you weren't going to come with me, so I just prayed you would be alright and came here. That's all I remember."
Keith stared at me for a moment.
"So he nearly passed out and you didn't know he was drunk", Keith said, looking at me like I was the opposite of Pidge.
"Lance has just never been drunk before, it was surprising nonetheless", I said, trying to make me look at least reasonably sane. "Plus, I was nervous something bad happened. Just cut me some slack."
"Alright, fine", Keith said, seemingly satisfied, as he leaned back a little.
I placed another layer upon the cake after smothering it frosting.
This was gonna be one good cake.
"Who's it for?" Keith asked. "The cake, I mean."
"It's for Shay", I said, a dreamy look in my eye. "Believe it or not, she also goes here. Maybe that place is a hang out for college kids? Needless to say, I already texted her and I'll be heading over at three. Hey Lance?" I turned to Lance.
"Hm?" He responded nonchalantly.
"Until then, can I join you with your regular games?" I asked, teeming with excitement for spending some time with my best bud.
"Absolutely, buddy!" He said, shooing off the question like it was ridiculous I had to ask.
"Hey Kei-", I heard Lance start. "Wait, don't you have to start heading home soon?" He said, fully facing Keith.
Keith kept staring at the counter.
"Shiro will be fine with it, I actually believe he encourages it," Keith said.
"What about your parents?" Lance asked.
Keith tensed.
"I only live with Shiro."
"Alright then", Lance said, and I knew he knew something was up. He didn't push it, which I found weird.
Since when does Lance know boundaries?
I quickly plopped another layer on after covering the previous with pink confection.
"Well in that case", I started, breaking the awkward silence. "Want to play with us?" I flashed Keith a smile and he returned it, hesitant.
"Sure." Is all he said.
Lance smiled and pumped a first up in the air.
"Then do you want to come help me set up?" Lance asked Keith.
Keith looked at me, and I gave him the go ahead. With that, he relaxed and nodded to Lance.
Did he need my approval?
They left the room, and I immediately went into a deep train of thought as I painted my chocolate canvas.
The way Keith worded it, it seemed like he arrived the minute I left. But I know Lance, and it takes him a while to get too crazy, and he wasn't overloaded to the point the whole club noticed him. People were annoyed, yeah, but he didn't steal the show. There was definitely time between, and I think both Keith and I know that.
In that case, what happened between my departure and his arrival?
I can assume the best and just brush it off like all that happened was some rough partying, but I know I'd be lying to myself.
I tore some of the cake, much to my dismay, and it snapped me back to reality. I covered it neatly in frosting, and looked over at my phone next to my recipe book.
Finishing the cake, I rinsed my hands and grabbed my phone after drying them.
HunkALicious: Hey, so you know how Lance and I went partying last night?
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: Dude, you literally called everyone you knew asking if we knew where he went. Do you think I'm dumb, Hunk?
HunkALicious: whoops kinda forgot
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: Then I'm assuming you found him?
HunkALicious: Yeah, but he doesn't remember anything from last night. Do you know anything that might've happened?
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: I could probably hack some security footage to find out, since, you know, I'm fucking 18 and not allowed to drink. Thanks for rubbing it in my face, asshole.
HunkALicious: I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I'm sorry, Pidge.
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: I know I know, but still. Anyways, I'll hit up Matt and see if we can get those things hacked. They better have it fucking color coded or I swear.
HunkALicious: You already swear enough.
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: Fuck off
HunkALicious: I love you too
TheMoonLandingWasFaked: whatever
That conversation was interesting, per usual. Hopefully, Pidge would be able to pick up that footage and I can figure out what happened to Lance.
But for now?
For now, I think it's time I play some games with my new friend Keith and my roomie Lance.
I looked back at the cake.
After I add some strawberries to the top.
{~~~~~~~}
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Keith's POV:A/N: This is one of the more foul-mouthed POV's. You've been warned.I stepped into this not-so-strangers supposed living room after leaving his roommate in the kitchen. I heard the clattering of some metal on metal, and the next thing I knew there was silence.This place was roomy for a two-person dorm, and looking at all the doors makes me even question that. Looking around, the walls were a light beige with some light (probably fake) hardwood floors. To the left, a huge amount of sunlight was coming through the barely curtained windows. They covered half the walls, nearly leaving the room in pure bliss. Lights weren't even needed, but looking up I found some dome lighting, most likely for nighttime. The curtains barely blocked out the sunlight, being quite transparent and reminding me of a medieval dress depicted in films on elves or whatever. Shiro for some reason really liked these movies, entrapping me in his grasp as he tangled me to the couch, forcing me to watch them with him. I haven't a clue why he enjoyed my company, but it's not like I could protest with his strength. Coming back from my vague memories jumbled together, I soon see Lance going over to the TV on the wall I came through (A/N no he didn't break through the wall shush, there is no breaking of the 4th wa-... wait.). I see him grabbing a red and pink controller, handing the pink one to me. I grab it with hesitance, I hate the color pink. Why pink, of all colors?"Pink?" I break the silence, voicing my opinion."Well, yeah", Lance said, grabbing a red controller. Fucking Red. You know, my favorite color? That asshole. "I hate the color pink, and red is my third favorite color.""Then I win", I say, not really understanding where I'm going myself with this. "I also hate pink, and red is my FAVORITE color." What the fuck am I doing."Oh really?" He asked, taking a step towards me. "Well I'm the host, shouldn't I get what I want?""No", I countered, "You're supposed to make your guests feel as comfortable as possible. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I wasn't pink", I said, the word feeling like poison on my tongue."Well, it's my decision. I get red, the end.", he said, turning away and landing on the white colored couch. Oh no he didn't.Bitch.I was bubbling with anger. How dare he?!Taking a few steps forward, I ripped the controller out of his hand."What the-", he said in confused protest.I stood up and held the controller above my head, throwing the pink one right on his dick, because that's how he's acting. Like a dick.He grabbed it off of his soft spot and got up, standing up with fury painting his ocean eyes."You ass...", he said, jumping up to grab the controller just for me to pull it back. The only advantage I had was quick movement due to the little to no difference we had in height.I'm having a little too much fun."Language!" I heard his rather gleeful roommate call out, walking into the room."Wait, so I can't fucking swear?!" I yelled, hearing Lance snort in the background.Hunk (by the way, is that really his name? Hunk?) cringed a little, putting a finger on either side of the bridge of his nose. A look I knew too well.Disappointment.He sighed outwardly, somehow keeping his kind demeanor, and pulled out a blue controller from behind his back."I believe this is what you were arguing about?" He asked, with a knowing smirk.Lance immediately dashed over, tearing the controller out of Hunk's hands and tracing his own over each feature of the controller."Hunk", he started, staring at the yellow fellow in front of him. "You're the best."He wrapped his arms around him in a brotherly way, a smile spreading from one to the other. They broke after a moment, and Lance ran back to the couch and sat down to where I found myself when watching them.I'm always in the fucking middle.Hunk sat down next to me, but there was a lot more room than I thought there would be. Lucky me!"What should we play?" Lance inquired, looking at Hunk and I.Hunk sat back and looked at me, as to say 'you pick'."What do you have?" I asked, causing Lance to walk over to the games."Smash Bros, Just Dance", he started, causing me to scowl. I'll dance when hell freezes over. "Ooh, I forgot we had Splatoon", what, has he not gotten a console since the Wii U? Glancing to the console we were about to play on and my controller, I realized that was the best explanation. Well, we are broke college kids. "Hm... Ooh, here's Mario Kart!" He practically yelled, showing it to us with his left hand. I glanced over to Hunk and he seemed indifferent."Sure", I said, not quite understanding what I was getting into.{~~~~~~~~~~~~~}"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" I screamed, as Lance threw a blue shell at me.Hunk cringed as he took a left turn."Sorry", I said, not really meaning my words. Why have such a problem with swearing?As I took my final right turn, Lance came through as a black bullet, knocking me over and stunning me."WHAT THE FUCK!" I screamed, going over the finish line, earning second place. Hunk was so focused on the game in front of him he didn't bother to give me a dirty look.Placing my controller on my lap, I gave Lance a death glare. How the fuck did he get so many power-ups? Like, what the hell man? I want to win?"How", I simply said, not even in a questioning way."It's just the Lance Way", he said, shooting me a finger gun.Mhm. Straight."Whatever, I'll beat you next time", I said, indifference and anger somehow filling my tone.Lance really relaxes into the couch corner and hold up his fingers. "That's what you said last time", he said, throwing up a finger. "And the time before that", another finger. "And the time before that... Yeah, you're not keeping your word", he said, putting his hand down with four fingers. Idiot can't count.Hunk finished in 6th."Told ya' you shouldn't have picked Bowser", Lance said."But he's yellooooow!" Hunk whined.For such a... hefty guy he sure whines a lot."Yeah, whatever. Want to play something else?" Lance asked, turning to face me.Play something else? But what?Hunks phone dinged, causing Lance and I to stare at him. His face looked fairly confused for a moment, but he looked up at us and lost it within seconds."Pidge needs to talk to me", he said. "And apparently them and Shay are roommates? I don't know why Pidge didn't tell me about her but they have weird reasons for everything. Anyways, I'm grabbing the cake and going there now", he continued, standing up and placing his phone in his now jeaned pocket. I don't know when, but at some point Hunk came back from the bathroom in street clothes. He left the room, grabbing his cake and leaving the dorm. The second the door closed, Lance jumped into action."We should play Splatoon!"Fuck no.I ain't playing a game I've never even heard of.Well, I mean, I've heard of it, but mechanics? Hell nah.Fuck, my Texas is showing. In both ways. Damn it, dad. I love you but Jesus.I wanted to protest, but Lance had already put it in and the intro music started to play. It asked for a login.Wasn't he already logged in?Holy shit he's making me an account fuck.Fuck fuck fuck abort please shit no."Alright, I'm making an account. What do you want the name to be, 'EmoMulletGay'?" He asked.Fucking hell."Hm, how about hell no", I said in a nonchalant voice."Language", he said, mimicking Hunk."Like hell you're gonna stop me", I said."Fair point.""Just make it PanicWithTheSamurai", I said. I like Panic! and samurai's are cool, can you blame me?"Alright, sure, but the password is gonna be EmoMulletGay. You can't argue your way out of this one", he said.I sighed.Fineeeeeee.He handed me the controller as the intro sequence started up.Interesting music.I hate it."Is there a way to change the music?" I ask."Nah, but we can put on some stuff over it. Just, y'know, in battle you have to be more on your toes so no one starts sneaking up on you with guns ablaze", he responded. My hearing will work fine.Pulling out my phone, I started my playlist, and the one that really represented me came on first."Make that money, fake that bunny, ache my tummy"Weird ass lyrics, I know, but the beat captivated me and I love the pre-chorus.Lance bopped his head a little as I started moving around a little, getting used to the controls."Not my type of music, but I got to say it's good", he said just before it hit the pre-chorus.I started shooting some balloons, and I pretended they were live enemies. "You're too mean, I don't like you, fuck you anyway"I smirked, then fell into some purple stuff. When I couldn't move, I got super confused."What the fuck?!" I yelled out. What's happening?Lance sighed and shook his head, smirking all the while."Enemy ink makes you slower, just paint over it with your ink", he said rather calmly.I did as he said, and I was on my way again."Oh", I said. "Thanks.""No problem", he responded with far too big of a smile on his face.I want to smack it off, but I'm too captivated by the game to.I didn't realize this would be so fun.I reached the end, and waited for the cutscene and stupid tutorial stuff to end."Why the fuck is this so long", I whined."It's kinda made for ten-year-olds, you have to expect some of them to be idiots.""Fair point."Finally, it ended and I could do some of these 'ink battles'. This'll be fun.I hopped into the lobby, and some names were in a different language while some were just stupid. We finally got in, and in a few moments, the game began."Fuck, why a gun?!" I yelled to no one."You sound like a paintbrush kinda guy. Well rest in peace, that's like level 15 or something, I don't remember, I just know it takes a while."I just stared at Lance."You sure know a lot for a game you forgot about", I challenged."Oh, I mastered this game a few years ago, got every weapon. Even though it's a rather weak weapon, I always chose a sniper rifle. I always hit 'em dead on", he said with a proud smirk on his face."Dead on?""Alright, maybe sometimes I missed when I was too trigger happy, but really. I did", he said, weirdly sincere. Like he wanted to prove himself to me.The fuck? You were just so confident and suddenly you want to prove to me you really did it?Fucking weirdo.But now we're friends.Whatever, he's cool I suppose."Nice", I said.What the fuck is wrong with me.'Nice'? Fuck, Lance looks like a kicked puppy.As I make it to the main area, I try to change the subject."So who's this 'Pidge'?""Oh, Pidge?" Lance asks, perking up in seconds. "Pidge is one of Hunk and I's friends. They're a cool computer whiz and know, like, everything."I groan in anger as someone smashes me to pieces with a paint roller.Lance cringes at my failure, but as soon as I leave he goes back to... Is he impressed?!"Wait, so like, what gender is Pidge? Male, Female, Non-binary... So on?" I ask."Gender fluid, but when we don't know their gender for the day we just call them they.""Huh. Never really knew someone who was gender LGBTQ+. Cool", I respond.Why the fuck am I so cringy.I lay back as the final screen shows up saying 'defeat'. Great way to start off."I'm sure you'll do better next time", Lance says, placing his hand on my shoulder.That's... A weird gesture."Will I ever get to meet this Pidge?" I ask, as the game becomes something of the past."If we stay friends, yeah", he said.Lance looks down at himself."I'm gonna go get in some more comfortable clothes", he says, standing up. "After last night, it's what I deserve", he continued, stretching and starting his climb up the stairs. "Feel free to explore, the only rooms off-limits are mine and Hunk's", he said, motioning to the yellow door before stepping into his blue door.With that, silence.So, exploring a persons house without them there?Sounds great, let's find their deepest secrets.I stood up from the couch, springs squeaking in protest. I stretched a little, I was sitting down for an hour or two now. I looked at the two doors in yellow and blue, then the two doors between them, white. Wonder if the other doors were painted.Taking a few steps toward the staircase, I finalized my fate by hearing the creaking of the step below me. I stared at the door Lance had gone in moments prior, then went into the room to it's left.The door opened with a satisfying click, and the next thing I knew I was in a carpeted room. The whitewashed floors went up to maroon walls, similar to the color of my room, and lead to a popcorned ceiling. Interesting. There was a plain white bed in the left corner, and a birch bedstand just next to it. I noticed a small walk-in closet to my left, and finally understood that this wasn't just a spare bedroom, but a normal bedroom. Lance's and Hunk's rooms probably looked similar. I sighed, letting my tensed shoulders relax. I hadn't realized they were tensed, but now that they weren't I felt a lot better.Backing up, I turned and opened up the door next to Hunk's. Looking in, the layout was nearly exactly the same, except with deep purple walls.Intriguing.I stepped out and looked over the edge of the balcony. It was an interesting view. The TV was still on, portraying the Wii U logo, and Lance had thrown his controller to the other side of the couch in his haste. It certainly did not look like a two-person dorm, let alone a four-person. I'll ask Lance when he gets out.With that thought, Lance walked out of the blue-doored room and nearly knocked into me when I turned around."Wasn't expecting you to be up here but okay..." He spoke, confusion obvious in his expression.I turned around to face the setting again."It's a nice view", I said, sighing with the light haze. "Actually", I started, turning my head to watch as Lance joined at my side. "I had a question."He nodded for me to go on."Why is this place so big?"Lance sighed, a smirk falling on his face."We asked Pidge to hack the system and find the students that live closest to the college and assign them here. Eventually, we ended up in the 'sorority hall'", he said, adding finger quotes around the 'sorority hall'. "It's just me and Hunk, but there's eight rooms here."I stepped back."Eight?" I questioned, rather confused on how he managed to get so many in the dorm. "I didn't even know there were dorms with four people, let alone eight.""Yeah, this place has eight-person dorms instead of sorority houses. Helps with money or something, I don't know. But with our little sister hacking the system, we ended up in one alone.""Wait", I said, still terribly confused, but now for a new reason. "Little sister? Didn't you say Pidge was gender fluid?"He laughed, a sweet laugh, not one that made me boil with irritation.This is new."No, well, yes, but Pidge doesn't mind being called gender-specific terms like sister or brother, just as long as we use them interchangeably so we don't stick on one. The thing that really bothers them is the 'little' part. We mean it as younger, but they always take it as shorter, more... Innocent, dumb. They have a problem with being called short, by the way, so never call that little gremlin anything close", Lance said, using hand signals from time to time to emphasize his point, me laughing when appropriate.But not a fake laugh, like I did with Shiro on occasion.This guy was genuinely funny, somehow. He'd be a great comedian.Like my father would've been.I looked away from Lance at that thought, looking out the window.Lance noticed the shift in mood."You alright?" He questioned. "Yeah", I said. "You just remind me of someone I used to know."Lance's face fell."If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?" He asked.I hesitated, taking a deep breath.Should I tell him? The only other person who knows is Shiro...I suppose having another person to talk to wouldn't be bad."Car crash", I said simply, trying not to go into heavy detail. Yeah, I want him to know, but not with a huge sob story. I don't want his pity. Plus, it's a pretty... Hard story to tell. Telling it all at once would drain me mentally."I'm sorry for your loss", Lance said, his eyes moving, probably attempting for a change in topic."Maybe I should go..." I said, seeing I'd overstayed my welcome."No no no!" Lance shouted.Well there goes that.He ran down the staircase and flopped on the couch, changing it to TV channels and then Netflix."We're gonna watch something."I slowly stepped down to the first floor of the dorm, shooting him a questioning glance. "What?" I asked."Hm...", he said, obviously thinking. "I know!", he said, typing up something in the search bar. When it didn't show up he groaned in frustration."What are you looking for?" I asked, sitting next to him."Love, Simon", he said simply."Well, mayb-", I started, only to be interrupted with the sound of the door opening rather quickly."Lance!" Hunk yelled as he walked into the dorm, a short, brown-blonde-haired person following behind who I assumed was Pidge."You're going to want to see this", Pidge said pulling out a laptop from their side."And I don't think you're going to like it", Hunk said.∆~~~~~~~∆