Chapter Text
Keith turns with a start when Shiro opens the door of his and Adam's bedroom, his face pale in a panicked expression. He knows he's not doing anything bad. Yes, he's not particularly supposed to be in their bedroom, but their apartment is Keith's home too, they always tell Keith that, and even if Keith would personally hate for them to be in his personal bedroom without him there, they're not like that. But still, he's anxious, and hates feeling as if he's doing something wrong after everything Shiro did for him.
"H-hi." He stammers, crossing his arms guiltily as if it could hide the jumper he stole from Shiro's closet. But when the surprise of finding Keith there is passed and Shiro finally notice what he's wearing, he just burst into laughter, half hiding it with his hand.
Understanding he's definitely not in trouble, Keith rolls his eyes and turns back to the mirror he was facing before Shiro interrupted him. He gets why Shiro's laughing, he looks ridiculous, with a jumper way too big for him. But it's the only other Christmas jumper they have that he knows about, and even if Adam has one somewhere, it'd just as big as Shiro's.
Keith sighs, letting himself fall sitting on the bed. This is hopeless. Noticing the change of mood, Shiro immediately stops laughing, sitting next to Keith with his big brother-dad face. "I look stupid." Keith informs him as if he didn't see that for himself. "Why are you so big?"
Shiro chuckles, shaking his head. "I'm not laughing because it's too big for you, it's just.. So not you."
Keith frowns. "What do you mean?"
His brother sighs, but he's not annoyed, more sad and tired. "Since I bought you that Christmas jumper three years ago, how many times did you wear it?"
Keith looks down, starting to understand, then back at Shiro. "Once."
Shiro nods. "And why did you put it on?"
Keith shrugs, even though he perfectly knows why. Shiro knows why, Adam too, probably. He just wants to win some time away from the conversation that's coming. But Shiro looks expectantly at him, and Keith can't continue not answering to him. "Because Lance is.. Well, you saw him. And his family. And their house. And then there's me, always wearing black. I wanted to try being more.. Christmassy, I guess. And it's not because I felt pressured or anything! He didn't say anything, I chose to change into the jumper by myself!"
Keith groans, hiding his face in his face. Now that he met his soulmate, he doesn't want for his brother to think Lance wants him to be different or anything. Lance had been perfect, it's Keith who wants to change, to evolve. He felt great in Lance's crazy house, as if it's something he's been missing his whole life, and he's ready to do anything for this to work.
"Okay, okay," Shiro starts calmly. "I just want to be sure you know you don't have to be different for him to like you. A soulmate is someone who'll love you as you are. If he doesn't, then he doesn't deserve you. And seeing how he looked at you, I think you'll be fine if you go to your date wearing your usual all black style. And if you really want to be more.. 'Christmassy', you said? Well, we can go buy other jumpers your size later. But there's no way I let you turn my apartment in a Christmas movie's set."
Keith laughs, not expecting Shiro's last sentence, but feeling way better after his brother's speech. This is why Shiro has always been his favorite person, he's so wise, but also knows when it's okay to make a joke, and somehow, he always finds the words Keith needs to hear.
"Thanks. I know he doesn't want me to be different, I just want to try Christmas their way, I guess. And maybe when we'll live in a house, we can try and decorate a bit more?" Keith asks shyly, then sees Shiro's shocked expression, and realizes he didn't actually ask him and Adam if it's okay for him to stay with them. "Huh, sorry, I—"
Shiro's face breaks into a huge smile. "Of course we can."
Keith smiles back, relieved. "Thanks." Then, his eyes fall on Shiro's watch and he jumps on his feet. "Shit, I really need to leave soon! What do I wear?"
Shiro chuckles. "I don't know, one of your twenty black jumpers?" When Keith glares at him, he adds: "You could wear your red converses, red is a Christmas color, that should do the job."
"I have a green beanie you can borrow if you want!" Adam yells from the living room, and Keith only notice then that the bedroom's door is opened and logically, as Adam came back with Shiro, he's in the apartment too.
"No way, he can't have beanie hair for his first date with his soulmate." Shiro argues.
Keith shakes his head, exasperated, but smiling because he loves them so much. Then, he rushes to his own bedroom to change and go join Lance.
He's late when he arrives to the square Lance told him about. At first, they agreed to meet up again the 26th, when the worst of Christmas' craziness would be over, but then Lance texted Keith to inform him that he volunteered to get a few more gifts for the kids' Christmas stockings and that he was wondering if Keith was free to help. Of course, Keith was. So now, there he is, 24h after their first meeting, having their first date — or at least, Keith guesses it's a date —, and he's late.
Keith didn't particularly leave late, but he's normally a fast walker, and with a lot of people doing last minute Christmas shopping and the snow turning to ice, he lost a lot of time. He warned Lance, obviously, and he said it's okay, but still.
Luckily, Keith finds rapidly the Christmas marker Lance asked him to come to. Unfortunately, it's so huge it takes almost the whole square and there's people everywhere. He takes his phone out of his pocket to text Lance, who immediately says he's next to Santa Claus, which doesn't help Keith much. He looks around, but there's so many persons around him he's starting to feel sick.
"Please, mom, I wanna go see Santaaa!" A little boy whines behind him, and Keith turns around to see the boy leaning to his right, trying to pull his mother in the direction Keith guessed Santa is. Well, it's his best lead for now.
"You already saw him." The mother says, taking the child away in the other direction, and here goes Keith's guide. But this vague direction is still his only piece of information on where he can find Lance, so he decides to go there and hope for the best. Santa shouldn't be that hard to locate, right?
When he arrives to the entry of the Christmas market, there's a line to enter, with security checking everyone's bags. While waiting, Keith updates Lance so he knows he's almost there, feeling bad for making him wait. He looks in the Christmas market to try and find Santa, but there's so many people he can't see a thing.
Then, a finger is patting his shoulder, and he turns around to see his soulmate right in front of him. He's wearing his Santa's hat, and another jumper, with a flying reindeer surrounded by stars this time. The blue of the background emphasize Lance's beautiful eyes, and Keith still can't believe he's real and here and interested in him.
They stay like that for a few seconds, just staring at each other with an expression of awe on their faces. Then, Lance breaks the silence. "Found you." He simply says with a smile. He lets his hand fall back down, catching Keith's in the move, and Keith's lucky he has his gloves on because his hands feel sweaty.
"I would have found you earlier but there's just so many people. How are you supposed to find someone here?" He falsely complains, his face betraying the truth.
Lance shrugs, smirking, and Keith guesses he's about to say something stupid. "I don't know, you made it so easy, I just had to look for the only person dressed all in black in a Christmas market."
Keith feels hot in his cheeks. Maybe he should have kept Shiro's jumper anyway? Or accepted Adam's beanie? Well, too late now, Lance will have to do with dark Keith. "Hey! I have red baskets, totally Christmassy, come on." He jokes, playing with Lance's fingers just because he can.
Lance looks down, checking the truth of this affirmation, then nods, eyes back on Keith's face. "Okay, I surrender, I'm sure these are your Christmas shoes that you only wear on Christmas." Lance teases him, squeezing his hand.
"Actually, yes, they are." Keith lies, squeezing back, challenge in his eyes, daring Lance to call him out. Lance doesn't.
"Okay," he answers. "I guess I have to admit the truth then." Keith tilts his head, confused until Lance finishes. "I found you despite all these people around because you're all I can see." He says smoothly, and this time, Keith knows his face is completely red.
"You.. You need to warn me before you do something like that." He stammers, and Lance chuckles.
"Not warning you is half the fun, babe." He laughs until he realizes what he just called Keith, turning as red as Keith, but before Keith can react or ask about or.. Or anything, really, the guy behind them interrupts them.
"Huh, excuse me but, if you're not going inside, can you move somewhere else?" He asks, and at least he looks embarrassed for the interruption.
Keith only then notices the line is gone in front of them, and by the look on Lance's face, it's the same for him. "Sorry about that." Lance says, looking in the guy's general direction but not at him directly. He turns in the entry's direction, leading Keith to the security guy, who barely checks them up. "It's funny." Lance adds as they make their way in the Christmas market. "We always get interrupted."
Keith nods, perfectly remembering yesterday and the poor woman who just wanted milk. "It's because when I'm with you it's like the rest of the world just disappear." He teases Lance, making it sound like a joke even if he's scared of how close from the truth it is.
If possible, Lance turns redder. "Is this payback?" He asks, as if he's afraid of believing Keith's words. And Keith can't let him doubt his words.
"It's just like you, the truth." He says, more seriously, and Lance squeezes his hand again, walking a bit closer to Keith's side. It's so weird, how they barely know each other, but somehow seem to just.. get the other. Is that what soulmates are about? It always takes Keith months to let someone in, even Adam had to work so hard for Keith to stop being hostile. But Lance.. He appeared so suddenly and now, it's like he's always been there. Keith can't imagine a life where he doesn't know him and it's only been a day. It's the scariest thing that ever happened to Keith, but somehow, feeling Lance against him make it okay.
"Look, there's Santa! Do you want to sit on his lap and take a photo with him?" Lance teases him, finger pointing at the most crowded booth, where an old dude is pretending to consider buying presents for every kid ever. At least the closeness of the booth from the entry explains how Lance joined him so fast.
"No, thanks, but don't mind me and go, I'm sure that's why you were waiting next to him." Keith jokes.
"Nah, I just like how happy the kids are after talking to him." Lance smiles, looking at the little girl currently animately announcing everything she wants to Santa, and Keith understands, finding himself suddenly hoping she'd get everything she's asking.
"That's cute." He says as they stop in front of the booth.
Lance shrugs. "I don't know, it's just that seeing someone happy makes me happy too. Like the presents, I'm way more excited to see everyone's reactions than to open presents myself. I know the kids will run everywhere, that Rachel will pretend she's annoyed I bought her so many books because 'I'm not a nerd, Lance!', but that she'll then find an excuse to be on her own for a bit and start reading right away. Oh, and my dad is taking my mom on a trip, she'll be so happy but worried to leave Rachel and I alone. We'll reassure her, of course, because we're not kids anymore, Veronica will probably tell her, that's my big sister, by the way, and.. Shit, I'm rambling, sorry, I just—"
"Get really excited about Christmas and love your family very much? Yeah, I noticed, and there's nothing to be sorry for." Keith reassures him, letting his head fall on Lance's shoulder. "I like when you talk about them, like that I can get to know them before meeting them and I think it'll help." He admits, just in case Lance didn't realize yet that his soulmate is kind of awkward with people.
He can feel Lance nodding against him. "Don't worry, they'll be just like my parents and Rachel, already considering you as family. They're a lot but we have always been more than ready to welcome new people in our family, especially soulmates."
Keith smiles. They don't have really talked about the whole soulmates thing yet, dancing around the subject, except for that quick conversation when Lance asked Keith where he stood in term of soulmates and partners, telling him he wanted that too. The soulmates thing. Whatever that means. Keith's pretty sure Lance wouldn't be against Keith kissing him, he almost did and Lance was going for it too, but is a day enough time knowing someone to start dating them?
"I think my parents will be weird about it but won't reject you. Just.. They'll want to check if you.. 'deserve' me, but just be yourself and it'll be okay." Keith answers without thinking, then realize it's not that reassuring for Lance to hear. Especially after Shiro's stupid act the day before.
"Thanks, I feel way better." Lance jokes.
"Sorry, they just don't really trust the universe."
"Why not? It worked well for them, and Shiro and Adam." Lance argues, and Keith sighs because he hates having to tell that story, but Lance deserves to know so he won't say something clumsy in front of them. He straightens, taking a step away from Lance to look at him.
"It's more complicated than that. They broke up, hurt each other many times, even if they loved each other so much. 'Life's not a fairy tale', dad said every time she left. He thought she only came back because she felt she had too, with him being her soulmate and everything. And she thought he'd get tired of her and her obsession for her researches, so she pushed him away. They sort it out in the end, finding their balance, but then Shiro met Adam, and they broke up too because when Adam first went away, they didn't manage to handle the distance but like.. As soon as they decided it was over, Shiro bought a plan ticket to join him in a stupid romantic gesture, except when he got there, Adam didn't answer the door, because that idiot was at Shiro's place."
Lance, who looked sad and tensed the whole time Keith spoke, suddenly burst into laughter. Keith smiles.
"I know, those two are tiring as hell, but they're trying their best. Anyway, they learned to handle distance way faster than my parents but that didn't help my parents to trust the universe about soulmates. So now, I have to tell them I met you here, so far away from where I'm officially living and.. Yeah, scary." Keith admits, even if the problem is already solved, he knows they'll be anxious, fearing to see another complicated relationship with a soulmate. There's nothing complicated about Adam and Shiro anymore, but trust parents to focus on the worst.
Lance cups Keith's cheeks in his hands, instantly melting all his anxious thoughts. "I'll never, ever, break up with you, or do anything to hurt you, and if I accidentally do so, please please tell me so we can talk about it and fix it. You said you weren't going anywhere without me, right? Well I'm not either."
And just like that, Lance makes Keith forget about everything. Where they are, who's around, what's to come, because all Keith can think about is Lance and suddenly, he's kissing him. It's almost brutal at first, as they try to handle their need to be closer to the other, to make the other understand how they feel, how strongly they feel. Almost desperate. Then, it turns softer, lingering until they really need to catch their breath. They don't move away from each other, though, breathing the other's air, looking so closely in each other's eyes and finding home in them.
Lance closes his eyes in a smile, but Keith continues to look at him. When Lance reopens his eyes, his smile is still firmly in place, and Keith gets it, he feels like he'll never stop smiling as long as Lance is around.
"Wow, that was.." Lance starts whispering, but he seems lost for words, so Keith finishes for him.
"Something." He offers, and Lance nods in agreement.
"Yeah.. Wanna do that again soon?" Lance asks, as if it's a real question Keith could say no to.
"Yeah.. Soon. And same, by the way, about what you said." Keith mumbles, but Lance understands anyway because if possible, his smile becomes bigger.
He fondles Keith's cheek, making him shiver as he says: "I know."
"Wait, does that mean we're like.. together?" Keith wants to make sure, in the sudden realization of what they're implying. It doesn't really matter, they're soulmates after all, and it's not like one of them would go and date someone else but.. It's important for Keith to be sure.
"Of course, babe." Lance answers, and this time, Keith knows the pet name didn't escape from his lips, this time, Lance did it on purpose.
So Keith does the logical thing and kisses him again.
"No."
"Come on, Keith!"
"No."
"Babe, please. It'll be super cute."
"It won't because it's not happening."
"Pretty please with a cherry on the top."
"No."
As a final weapon, Lance looks at Keith with puppy eyes, pouting at the same time to be sure he's extra adorable and impossible to say no to. So that's how Lance convinces Keith to buy Kosmo a Christmas hat for dog Keith's pretty sure he'll never be able to force on Kosmo, but if it makes Lance happy, he'll definitely try anyway.
In an hour of wandering through the Christmas market, they found a tone of stuff for the kids, always the same things for all of them so none of them would get jealous. Keith also bought new gloves for Shiro as he knows his brother needed some, and socks for Adam because he loves weird socks with patterns.
They're starting to feel a bit tired, leaning on the other more often than not, becoming more confortable around the other. They considered taking a break a few times already, but every time, there's just so many things catching their eyes than they just forget.
"Shiro is going to bully Kosmo for that and it'll be your fault." Keith informs Lance after he paid for the hat as they continue their way through the market. It's more crowded than before, if possible, so they have to hold on each other not to get lost.
"Adam will defend his honor. And you too, I guess, you're such a mother hen with him." Lance teases him, letting go of Keith's hand to put his arm around Keith's shoulder, bringing him closer to kiss his cheek, before going back to holding hands.
"I'm not! And you're putting too much faith in Adam, he always ends up agreeing with Shiro." Keith remembers that time he almost convinced Adam to repaint the living room in dark blue and then Shiro arrived and destroyed all of Keith's efforts. And so many other times where the both of them were just being so.. soulmates. It's annoying. And cute, but mostly annoying.
"Then, I'll come myself defend him and I'll be his new favorite." Lance jokes, and Keith hopes he's conscious this is not happening because Kosmo and him have the strongest bond ever and no one can compete with him in Kosmo's heart.
"I'd like to see you try." Keith teases him. He's not jealous and doesn't feel threatened.
"Oh I will. Definitely." Lance doesn't back up, smirking.
"Fine." Keith wants to cross his arms, then remembers he's holding Lance's hand and.. Yeah, not letting go of that.
"Fine!" Lance repeats, so Keith just rolls his eyes, falsely annoyed. Lance will see.
Instead of answering, Keith looks around, searching for a new interesting booth. Shivering a bit because of the cold, his eyes are naturally attracted by one selling scarfs, and he curses past-Keith for losing so much time wondering if he should borrow the beanie instead of thinking to take a scarf.
"Shit, are you cold?" Lance asks, probably noticing where Keith eyes' stopped or the fact that he's almost glued to Lance trying to take a bit of his natural warmth.
"It's okay." Keith answers, because he doesn't want to be a bother, especially not so fast.
But Lance shakes his head rapidly, dragging Keith to the side where the isn't as many people as in the middle of the path. He starts searching for something in his bag under Keith's curious look. "I didn't know when to give it to you without making it awkward or something but if you're cold.." He mumbles, and Keith has no idea of what he's talking about but at this point he doesn't dare asking. Lance takes out a wrapped gift, handing it to Keith nervously.
It's quite big, soft, and it's clear it gave Lance a hard time wrapping it, but Keith knows that whatever it is, he already loves it. He frowns at Lance, though. "But you already gave me the key chain.. And I don't have anything for you." Keith pouts.
"You gave me two kisses, and meeting you is like.. The best Christmas present I'll ever have so I guess we're even." Lance contradicts him.
"But—"
"Just accept it." Lance demands.
"Thanks." Keith mumbles, looking down at the gift still in his hands. He unwraps it carefully, Lance helping him by taking the wrapping paper so Keith can see properly what it is. It's a red and green scarf, and Keith can't stop looking at it in awe. "It's so soft." He comments, petting it like a tiny animal.
Lance smiles. "Yeah, I love knitting with this."
Keith looks up to Lance, shocked. "Wait, you knitted it? Like.. Since yesterday?"
Lance chuckles, nodding. "Yeah? I wouldn't be useful after Christmas. I mean, you can still wear it after Christmas, but I wanted you to have it for Christmas. I wasn't sure you'd like the color, I mean, I know your favorite color is red, right? But—"
"Why? Because I wear red shoes?" He teases, secretly happy Lance cares enough to notice and deduce that. Or maybe not that secretly, stupid smile that won't go away.
"That, and because your jumper yesterday was red, and Kosmo's collar is black but the medal is red so you put your aesthetic on him too." Lance explains, looking proud of himself and Keith can't stop smiling because Lance cares and he's not used to that from people who don't have to as family members.
"True." Keith admits, holding the scarf close to himself.
"Knew it. Anyway, even if you do like red, I wasn't sure you'd want to step out of your black aesthetic, but I thought it'd be like the hippo's one and it'd be cute and I'll knit you others anyway so why not start with this one, right?" Lance rambles, and Keith realizes he's still nervous.
"I do like red. And green. And I love the scarf. And I have nothing against trying something more colorful." He reassures Lance.
"Good. Great. I'll knit you one in every color ever." Lance announces with a smile.
"And I'll love every one of them dearly." Keith promises, wrapping the scarf around his neck. It's soft and warm and Keith is never taking it off.
Lance chuckles, bringing him close in a hug, and just like that, Keith isn't cold at all anymore.
They're sharing churros, Keith holding them and a pot of chocolate while Lance is feeding himself and Keith in turn. It's new and weird and Keith feels warm inside but it has nothing to do with the fact he's eating something hot.
It's Keith's turn to take a bite when Lance gasps dramatically, letting go of the churros in Keith's mouth to grab his hand and drag him behind him. A bit worried, Keith manages to enter the rest of the churros in his mouth, chewing fast to ask Lance what the hell is going on. But he doesn't have to as he spots a new booth, understanding right away Lance's reaction.
It's full of hand-made Christmas decorations, and even if Keith knows Lance's family will probably kill him if he brings home new ones again, he also knows they're not leaving empty handed. It's painted wood, looking old and new at the same time, and Lance's eyes are sparkling with excitement.
"Oh my.. This is the best booth ever. I want.. Everything!" Lance says, looking ready to hyperventilate. "But my parents would kill me."
"Probably. But at least this time it wouldn't be with their money and you don't have to buy everything."
Lance nods, thinking. "True. Even if I do want everything."
Keith chuckles. "I know, but maybe you can restrict yourself at what you're here for and take stuff for the kids." He offers reasonably.
"I guess that's.. A good idea, actually." Lance agrees, looking down at tiny figurines representing animals. He moves a few of them, frowning, then puts one back in its place, replacing it with another one, then taking another one away to choose something else again. It's fascinating and long and Keith feels like they'll spend the rest of their lives here but suddenly, Lance straightens up with a satisfied smile. "All done!"
He gives then to the seller and pay for them. They're about to leave when Lance's eyes find a tiny Christmas tree in the booth, with decorations on it. "Keith." He simply says as if he saw a ghost, and Keith is seriously starting to wonder if all these decorations broke his soulmate or something.
"What?" He still asks, tilting his head.
Lance points a decoration with his finger as if too excited to talk, and Keith gets it because it's a bottle of milk around others food decorations. It's cute and tiny and well done and Keith doesn't have to think before he clumsily puts the chocolate pot in the same hand as the bag of churros to take the decoration.
"Guess we're adding this to your crazy tree." Keith announces to Lance, turning to the seller. "We'll take that too."
He pays and gives it to Lance, who looks so happy Keith would gladly buy him every Christmas decoration ever just to make him look like that.
"Thanks, babe!" Lance offers Keith a kiss, and yeah, Lance's right, it's totally an acceptable payment in exchange of a gift.
"Merry Christmas, Lance."
It starts snowing as they're about to exit the Christmas market, and of course, they get excited. At first, it's barely noticeable, almost like rain, but after a few minutes, it's real snow, already covering the ground with a new layer of snow.
"Oooh we need to take snow photos!" Lance decides, moving all his bags in one hand to take his phone. Keith isn't sure about what are 'snow photos', but why not, whatever makes Lance happy.
"Huh, okay? Like.. The snow on the ground or falling snowflakes?" Keith asks with a frown.
Lance laughs. A full, big fat laugh at Keith's face. It's almost irritating as Keith has no idea of why he's laughing, but Lance is beautiful when he laughs. Keith keeps frowning, though, because he still has no idea of what Lance is talking about or why he's laughing at him.
Lance finally looks at him to find him serious and stops laughing. "Wait, you're serious? I meant pictures of us in the snow!" He chuckles, amused.
Keith's mouth opens in a 'o' of understanding. "Oh, I guess that makes sense."
So they take photos. Selfies together, photos of the other alone, posing. They also ask a random stranger to take a few with the both of them together, then another one. It's funny and sweet, but the layer of snow on the ground is getting thicker and that gives Keith an idea.
As Lance is thanking the stranger for taking their photos, Keith kneels, forming a snowball as fast as he can, then jumps back up as the stranger turns to leave. He doesn't stop to think and simply throws the snowball at Lance's face, hitting between his chin and neck.
Lance's mouth opens wide in shock and for a few seconds, he's just looking at Keith as if it's the worst betrayal he's ever had to endure. But rapidly, his shocked expression turns into a smirk and oh shit Keith is in trouble.
"You, my dear, are going to regret that." Lance announces falsely cold, but Keith can see the playful look in Lance's eyes. It doesn't stop him from being terrified, though, as Lance starts kneeling down.
"No, Lance, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was aiming something else, don't do that, I'm allergic to snow, please don't kill me." Keith begs as Lance forms his snowball.
"You're not allergic to snow, your gloves are fingerless, remember? And you're still standing after betraying me so I think you'll be just fine." Lance makes fun of him, and Keith hates how observant Lance is but also loves it because he always finds a good come back and it's funny and oh gods he's getting up.
Panicked, without thinking, Keith decides to try and run away, but he doesn't even manage to move away from 10 meters before his stupid flat sole baskets give up and send him falling to the ground, landing harshly on his back.
"Ugh." He mutters, eyes close as he tries to recover from the unexpected fall.
A hand is placed on his chest, gently shaking him. "Hey, you okay?"
Keith makes an effort to open his eyes when he hears Lance's worried voice. Damn, the sky is so.. White. He moves his hand to protect his eyes as an improvised eyeshade. "Yeah." He mumbles for Lance.
"You're not hurt? You're sure?" Lance asks again, frowning as if trying to scan Keith's body for injuries with only his willpower.
"Yeah, I'm good, just cold." Keith answers, realizing that snow is water and water is wet.
Lance's smirk is back at that. "Oh yeah?" And just like that, the snowball is back in his hand as he throws it at Keith's face.
Keith immediately straightens up in a sitting position. "Hey! What was that for? I think falling on the ground was enough of a punishment already!" He shakes his head to try and get ride of the snow, but he's soaked now and there's no way he'll dry with all the snow still falling and he's totally getting sick.
"That was for scaring me by falling." Lance says, getting up, then holding a hand out for Keith to take. "Come on, we're going to the closest cafe to dry." He announces, helping Keith back on his feet and then not letting go of his hand. "And don't fall again."
"I didn't do it on purpose, it's those stupid baskets and their flat soles." Keith pouts, holding Lance's arm close to his chest to get some kind of balance.
"That and the fact that your feet must be soaked and freezing because of them. Why didn't you wear your boots like yesterday anyway?" Lance lectures him, struggling between wanting to walk as fast as possible as they're both shaking from the cold, and being careful that he's not walking too fast for Keith to follow without slipping.
"They're black. I wanted color, et red is a Christmas color so.." Keith shrugs, almost ashamed of the stupidity of his reasoning and fears. Of course Lance doesn't care about the color of Keith's shoes.
"Then, get red boots or something, I don't know. What's wrong with black anyway? I thought you liked black. It suits you and it looks cool. I mean, I don't have anything against the fact that you want color, what's important is what you want, but.." Lance stops his speech when Keith starts laughing uncontrollably. "What?" He adds, looking at Keith like he's some sort of crazy person.
Keith tries his best to stop, but it's hard because he feels so dumb but also so relieved. Obviously, Lance is freaking out about this and doing it right just as much as he is, and instead of talking about it, they've been dancing around the subject like the idiots they are.
"It's just.. I'm stupid. You made me want to try new things, like color, and the Christmas mood or whatever, but I felt like I needed to rush it and be more like you and your family so you'd like me better but—"
"What?!" Lance yells in Keith's ears.
"I know!" He yells back. "That's what I'm trying to explain. I'm new to this so I don't know how to act. Don't make fun of me, please." He adds more calmly.
"I'd never." Lance says right away, squeezing his hand. "And I'm new to this too, you know, I never had a soulmate before, obviously, and I'm scared too, but I know we can make it works." He affirms, confidently, and Keith has no other choice than to believe him. "Just.. If you feel insecure, talk to me, okay? About anything. I won't judge or find it stupid."
"I know, I trust you. And same, of course." Keith answers, nestling himself closer to Lance.
Lance nods. "For what it worth, you don't have to do anything or change for me to like you. Now come on, this cafe doesn't look too crowded."
Keith follows Lance inside said cafe docilely. He's immediately hit by a wave of warm air and a shiver crosses his whole body.
Lance turns to the first waiter he sees. "Hi, can we use you bathroom before ordering?"
"Sure, it's just there in the back on the left." The guy indicates, barely stopping.
Lance guides Keith is said direction, and Keith is pleased to see a hand dryer. Would he look weird if he puts his hair under it?
"Okay, hair first, I'll help." Lance decides, reading his mind. Keith crouches down, and Lance starts moving his hair to dry them faster. It's probably one of the weirdest moments of Keith's life, but he feels oddly at ease with that thought, pretty sure his life is going to get way more interesting with Lance in it.
After a few minutes, Lance moves his hands away from Keith's hair. "I think that'll do. But, huh, your hair's a mess to be honest." He admits, trying to move some locks of hair here and there but rapidly giving up.
Keith stands up to see the damage and yeah, it's awful. It looks like he has twice the amont of hair he usual has, and it's going everywhere it shouldn't be going. Shiro and Adam can't see him like that. He tries to make it better while Lance is drying his scarf, then Keith's, before giving up.
"It's not that bad anymore, actually, well done, babe." Lance congratulates him, kissing his cheek as a reward and maybe it's worth looking weird. "I don't know what we can do for your shoes, though. I'm not sure you want your socks to touch the floor."
Keith chuckles, looking down at the floor, wet in dark water from every other person who came here recently. "Definitely not. It's okay, it'll dry a bit while we're here."
They take their bags and go back to the main room, finding an empty table easily enough. They decides to both sit on the seat, side by side, sharing body heat. They order two lattes with lactose-free milk, Keith telling Lance he doesn't have to and Lance insisting that he likes it just as much.
"Shouldn't you take these off? They're soaked." Lance asks, pointing at Keith's fingerless gloves. He only then notices that Lance took his own off, probably when they were in the bathroom.
"Huh, yeah." He sort of hesitate, though. He always has gloves on, it's part of his aesthetic. But he put them on in the first place for a reason that doesn't exist anymore, so why not finally taking them off? Slowly, he starts with the right one, because it's easier. And it's dumb, Lance doesn't even pay attention, and if someone should be authorized to see, it's him. He puts the glove on the table to dry, and takes the other one off faster, like ripping a band-aid off.
And of course, Lance sees it. He's about to take a sip of his latte when he stops, his eyes opening wider. "It's.." He mumbles, lost for words, looking in awe at Keith's left hand as he puts his mug back on the table. Keith nods, and Lance's hand goes to take his, stopping when almost touching. "Can I?" Lance asks softly, and Keith nods again.
So Lance takes his hand gently, on hand holding his palm, the other one slowly moving Keith's sleeve up from a few centimeters to reveal his whole soulmark. He tenderly traces the words with his finger, rewriting the sentence he was destined to tell Keith since he was born.
"I always wore the gloves to hide it." Keith confesses. He wants Lance to know. His soulmate tears his eyes away from the mark to look at him, still cradling his hand between his. "Not because I was ashamed of something or was rejecting it, it's just.. I'm left handed so in class, when I was little and we were learning to read, the weird drawing on my hand became words, and one day, someone read them and I almost had a heart attack because.. Well, someone said my words. He didn't mean wrong, but it freaked me out, the idea that everyone could know them and then I wouldn't know when it'd be you."
Lance smiles fondly. "That's cute. I so need photos of tiny Keith with tiny gloves all year around." He teases him, his smile turning into a smirk.
"Shut up, there's no such photo. Where's yours?" Keith asks, as much to change the subject as because he's genuinely curious.
Lance moves the hand that was resting on Keith's to indicate somewhere on the inside of his arm, half way between his armpit and his elbow. "Just there. I'd show you but that'd mean taking my jumper off. I mean, I can, but—"
"No! It's okay!" Keith panics, feeling himself blush. He knows Lance did it on purpose. "Lucky you, though. Easy to hide."
Lance shrugs. "I grew up in Cuba so it's not like I was wearing sleeves often. But I never tried to hide it either, never thought about it like you did. Then, I moved here at fifteen and.. Well, sleeves happened."
Keith chuckles. "Sleeves are great. Do you have photos of Cuba? I never went." He asks, curious to see how the world was like around Lance when he grew up. He has so much to learn about him, so much to discover.. And he's excited for every step of the way.
"I'll take you there someday. And yeah, on my computer, at home, I'll show you next time you come, and you'll show me your baby pictures with tiny gloves." Lance teases him again.
"I wasn't wearing gloves when I was a baby, oh my gods, Lance." Keith shakes his head. He can't believe this guy is his soulmate. He can't believe his luck.
"I know, I'm joking. Talking about photos, Is it okay if I send one of us to my friends and family? They're all so excited to meet you. No pressure, though, it doesn't have to be right now." Lance demands shyly, playing with his spoon in his latte.
"Sure. And don't worry, I want to meet them too. Just maybe not all of them at once." Keith admits. It'll be scary at first, but if they're related to Lance, they have to be good persons.
Lance grabs his phone right away with a smile. "Got it. My real friends are only two people anyway and Hunk is the nicest person ever. Pidge is.. Well, I guess you either love her or hate her."
Keith, who was resting his head on Lance's shoulder, straightens. Pidge? It can't be a nickname that common, right? How many Pidge can live in the same place?
"What?" Lance asks, raising his eyebrows.
"Do you have a photo of them?" Keith only manages to answer.
"Sure." Lance opens his photos app, searching for a few seconds before choosing a picture to show Keith. His two friends are cooking in what Keith identifies as Lance's kitchen, and he immediately recognizes the girl. He groans and buries his head in Lance's neck as a new notification appears on Lance's screen.
"Hey, what does she means by 'Oh, it's that Keith lmao'? Babe? What is happening? Why are you reacting like that? You're scaring me." Lance tries to understand, but Keith just groans once more. "Keeeith." Lance pats Keith's head, who finally accepts to raise his head again.
"Ugh, you know that childhood friend you hang out with because your brothers are best friends and you want to stay with them? That's Pidge for me. When her family moved away, we lost touch because we couldn't write to each other like Matt and Shiro, we didn't know how to yet, then we just.. Moved on, I guess? She made new friends, obviously. We met up a few times since Shiro arrived here, but seeing someone twice a year isn't really enough to rebuilt a friendship so.. Yeah." Keith explains clumsily. He's not good at friendship, never was, never needed to be. He liked being on his own, close only with a few selected people.
"Okay.. So, it's not bad, right? You like her?" Lance says slowly.
"Yeah? But she's going to be annoying. I'm sure she's already on the phone with Matt to make a list of every embarrassing thing they remember about me." Keith mumbles. He knows he was a moody kid who did stupid things because he had no sense of self preservation. But he doesn't need Lance to know that.
Lance chuckles, nodding. "Probably, but she also knows an embarrassing amount of stupid stuff about me and it could be your chance to be friends again! Especially if you're staying." Lance says, hope clear in his eyes.
Keith squeezes his hand. "Of course I am, I talked to Shiro and he's okay with it. I just didn't tell my parents yet." He has a feeling that it's not going to be that easy with them. "Maybe if I tell them you're a friend of Pidge they'll trust you more easily.. Or not, they do know her, after all."
Lance laughs in agreement. "Yeah, if they ask her opinion we're doomed."
And just like that, Keith feels that it'd going to be okay. As long as he prepares his parents well, it'll be fine.
When the snowstorm calms down an hour later, they decide it's time to go back home. They've been together for hours now, and even if it's clearly not enough for them, they both have family waiting for them at home they need to catch up with too.
The ground is still really slippery, so Lance insists on bringing Keith home with the car he borrowed from his parents, and just a few minutes later, they're at the bottom of the building Shiro's apartment is in. Lance accompanied him to the door.
"You're sure it's not rude to come here and not say hello to them?" Lance asks, even if he knows he has to go home as soon as possible because it's dark and his family is waiting and if he goes to Shiro's apartment he'll definitely not be leaving before at least an hour. And even if Keith would love that, he doesn't want Lance to be in trouble and knows how important his family is to him.
"Yes, I'm sure. They don't have to know you drop me off anyway." Keith remarks to reassure Lance, who nods.
"True." He wraps his arms around Keith's neck. "I don't want to leave you, though."
"I know, me neither." Keith whispers in Lance's ear, wrapping his arms around Lance's middle. "Text me when you're home, okay?"
"I'm home." Lance declares. Keith knows he's not joking. He's home too.
"You're a sap." He forces Lance to let go of him. They'll stay like that forever if he doesn't. "We'll see each other soon, so enjoy your family in the meantime." He squeezes Lance's hands.
"Yeah, soon." Lance repeats. He squeezes Keith's hands back, then pulls to attract Keith toward him to kiss him. They smile into the kiss. "Okay, I'm leaving. I'll text you. Bye!" He adds, slowly walking backward to his car.
Keith waves at him with his hand, waiting for Lance's car to be out of sight to enter the building.