Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lance blearily rubbed his eyes as he sat up in bed. He groped along his nightstand until his hand found his phone.

3:30 am.

Nice.

He hadn't been able to sleep more than 5 hours since Nutmeg died. Peaches hadn't slept in his room since that awful night, and he still woke up feeling the phantom weight of a chubby little corgi on his feet. Honestly, it fucked him up.

He typed the password into his phone and opened the photo album labeled Peachnut. He sniffled and wiped his eyes, a small, sad smile curving the corners of his lips up. He always swore up and down that his two dogs were in love. (Hunk's response to that was to call him a furry.)

He chuckled at a photo of them in their matching raincoats, Nutmeg licking Peaches' cheek. A wave of sadness washed over him.

He missed her so much.

An impulsive, sleep-addled thought struck him.

I should get another dog.

On the one hand, it felt like he was betraying both Nutmeg AND Peaches, but on the other hand...

Peaches was so lonely now, and Lance himself was having trouble with simple things, like falling asleep or making ramen. Both things he normally did multiple times a day, with minimal problems.

Today he'd tried to cook ramen without putting the water in the pot.

Burnt ramen didn't smell too great.

Yeah, maybe having two dogs would help him settle back into his routine.

He rolled over, setting his phone on the pillow next to him. Tomorrow, he vowed, after class, he'd go to the shelter.

---

The next day saw him awkwardly pushing the door to the local shelter open. His eyes wandered, taking in the soft, blueish gray walls and the small waiting area, before snapping to attention as the woman at the front desk greeted him.

"Hello there, welcome to Altea City Animal Shelter!" She smiled kindly at him, before returning her gaze to the computer in front of her. She was beautiful, in an intimidating way, and Lance got the feeling this was a woman he wouldn't want to cross. He strode up the counter, propping his arms up against it. A quick glance at the woman's nametag told him her name was Allura, and she was the owner of the shelter.

"Hello, Allura, my name is Lance, and I was wondering if I could take a look at your dogs? I lost one to spinal issues recently, and it just hasn't been the same without two of the lil' munchkins annoying me every day." Allura listened with a small, sympathetic smile gracing her face.

"I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Lance. I'm sure we have a dog in there that'll fit in great with your lifestyle!" Her accent (British, he thinks) was musical, and he felt himself liking her already.

"Pidge will take you to visit the dogs!" Allura beamed, gesturing to a short teen with a head of fluffy brown hair and a spray of freckles across her face. At the sound of her name, the girl looked at them, pushing her glasses up her nose and revealing a toothy smile with the most adorable dimples Lance had ever seen.

"Come on, the dog kennel is this way!" She said, walking over to a metal door and pushing it open. Lance followed her down to a spacious hallway, lined with large cages. The dogs perked up, trotting over to the cage doors and pushing their noses against it.

But none of them seemed too eager to meet him. Maybe they sensed his hesitation to adopt another dog after Nutmeg.

20 minutes later, he'd seen a few dogs, but none of them really clicked with him.

Pidge must've noticed his discouraged expression, because she grabbed his wrist and, wow, her hands were tiny but strong, what the fuck. She dragged him to the end of the hall and took a left turn.

"Uuuuuh, Pidge? Where are we going?" Lance said, tripping over his own feet as he was dragged along.

"You'll see!" Pidge called back to him as they rounded another corner and halted in front of another metal door. Pidge slid it open and shoved Lance inside.

"Welcome to the cat room, nerd. Have fun!" And she shut the door.

Lance turned, and met dozens of eyes. The room was large, but cozy, filled with beds, cat condos, and a bunch of feathery toys. Cats were staring at him from every angle, even the little kittens who could barely walk.

"Uuuuh..... Can I help you?"

Lance jumped at the sound of the voice, and looked around to see-

Oh my sweet baby Jesus he's hot.

A pale guy with long, raven-black hair, and the most stunning purplish-gray eyes Lance had ever seen. And an adorable little Russian Blue kitten sitting in his lap. And was that...? It was. He was wearing a shirt that said Show Me Your Kitties, with pawprints placed strategically like a bikini.

Oh. My. GOD.

"Uuuuuuh..." Lance said. Very eloquent, huh? "One moment, please." He mumbled, turning away and whipping out his phone.

Me > Hunk of Sunshine

Me: OH HOLY SHIT HUNK
Me: THIS GUY WHO WORKS AT THE PET SHELTER IS SO HOT
Me: AND HE HAS THE CUTEST CAT SITTING ON HIS LAP
Me: I WANT IT

Hunk of Sunshine: The cat or the guy

Me: JHSVSHGHVGDFVGHF H U N K
Me: ......................................both

Lance pocketed his phone again and turned back to the guy.

"Uuuh, I was looking at dogs but then that girl- Pidge?- brought me here." Lance shrugged. The guy stood up and set the little kitten on the floor. She instantly scurried over to Lance and twined herself around his legs. Lance let out a weak little noise, like something in his chest had melted as he leaned down and picked her up. He cradled her close to his chest and tickled under her chin, grinning as she grabbed his finger in her tiny claws.

Lance glanced up, a big, sappy grin on his face as he noticed the guy was smiling fondly at the scene before him.

His name is Keith, huh?

"So, is she up for adoption?" He murmured, stroking her belly with one finger. The guy-Keith- nodded.

"Yeah, she just became old enough to be adopted out." The kitten let out a tiny little peep noise, and Lance could physically feel his heart skip a beat.

"I need to start signing papers right now. Just, like, take all my money, holy shit. I love her." Lance squealed, bopping her nose with his own. Keith chuckled and, god, if that wasn't the cutest thing he'd ever heard (next to the kitten's little peep, of course.)

"I mean, if you go and start the paperwork with Allura now, you'd probably be able to bring her home by the end of the week."

"Sounds amazing!" Lance grinned. He set the kitten- no, he had to stop calling her that. He'd just call her Blue for now. He set Blue down on a little perch and left the room, with Keith following behind him.

"Allura, this guy wants to adopt a cat!" Keith called as they stepped back into the front room. Allura looked up and her smile widened at the sight of them, There was a handsome guy standing behind her, bending over to look at the computer. He had black hair with a shock of (Dyed? Natural? Who knows?) white hair as bangs. A scar carved it's way across the bridge of his nose, and he had a prosthetic arm. Lance wondered briefly what had happened to him, but then Allura was standing up and whisking him into an office. Lance's hand may or may not have brushed against Keith's as she did so.

Lance may or may not have blushed.

He really hoped Allura and that other guy didn't notice.

(They totally noticed.)

But Lance didn't notice Keith had blushed as well.

Allura sat him down in front of a desk, pushing a pile of paperwork to him.

"Which cat did he want to adopt, Keith?"

"That little Russian Blue kitten who just went up for adoption!" Came the muffled reply. Allura nodded.

"Oh, she's a cutie. Good choice, Lance, I was worried she wouldn't get adopted. At least, not this soon!" She chattered, all the while typing at her laptop. "Now, would you be willing to have your home inspected? It's a courtesy thing, really. We like the chance to make sure the place is safe for the kitten, and it's usually a big help to the owner if they've never owned a cat before."

Lance tapped his chin. "I think that'd be good. I mean, I've never had a cat before, so I don't know what's safe and what isn't." Allura was quiet for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, then gave him a faux innocent smile.

"I bet Keith would be willing to examine your home. He's the resident cat expert here, honestly."

Lance wondered if Allura could see the way he flushed down to his neck at the thought of someone as hot and adorable as Keith going through his entire apartment, scrutinizing every detail. If she did, she didn't show it.

(She totally did see.)

Lance filled out paperwork in silence for a little bit, while Allura typed away at her laptop, occasionally making small comments about Blue's temperament, or what kind of food she preferred.

After he'd finished all the paperwork (lots of "sign here, initial there"s), he was sent back out into the front room while Allura and Shiro (the buff guy Lance had noticed earlier) talked to each other in hushed voices in her office. Keith was sitting across the waiting area from him, his arms crossed and his lower lip jutting out in an almost-pout, which Lance totally didn't find adorable.

Not one bit.

While he was waiting, Lance pulled out his phone to text Hunk again.

Me > Hunk of Sunshine

Me: Okay so I'm getting a cat
Me: Her name is Blue
Me: She's the one who was sitting on Keith's lap
Me: Keith's the super hot guy I was all freaked out about before btw

Hunk of Sunshine: Oh boy
Hunk of Sunshine: Lance, we've been over this
Hunk of Sunshine: No dirty thoughts about them until AFTER you start dating

Me: jbDHSVJFHVSD
Me: HUNK
Me: FIRST OFF, IT WAS ONE! TIME!
Me: SECOND OFF, WHERE DID I SAY ANYTHING REMOTELY DIRTY????

Hunk of Sunshine: YOU DIDN'T NEED TO SAY ANYTHING
Hunk of Sunshine: I JUST KNOW

Me: Hunk, my buddy, my man
Me: You are incorrect

Hunk of Sunshine: a damnable lie my friend

Lance sighed and rolled his eyes, tucking his phone back in his pocket. He looked up just in time to see Allura and Shiro walk out of her office together, heads put together as they whispered to each other. Lance sat up a little straighter as they approached him.

"Soooo, Lance..." Allura drawled, her voice pitching up ever so slightly, "You've never owned a cat before, right?"

"That's right!"

"I was thinking, maybe Keith could help you shop for her things!" Allura beamed, gesturing to Keith. Keith's eyes flew open at that and his jaw dropped.

"Hey, that is not what I signed up to do here!" He snapped quietly, glaring at Shiro, as though he'd been talking and not Allura. Shiro simply gave him a shit-eating grin before turning back to Lance.

"Yeah, my brother is a total cat person so he'd be able to tell you which brands are good and what toys she likes." He said, flashing a proud- yet devious- look at Keith.

Keith looked ready to punch Shiro in the nose, but he took a deep breath and appeared to fight back the temptation.

"Shiro, you never said I'd run around being an assistant buyer for these people!" He said, "The deal was I help out in the cat room on the days you volunteer here!"

Shiro gave him a disapproving look.

"A) Don't yell in front of the customers, and B), this is a one-time thing. You need to get out more, and Lance needs help buying everything from food to litter to toys for his new cat. This will benefit you both, trust me."

Allura stepped forward, nodding her agreement.

"What Shiro says is true, Keith. It would be a great help! I'd do it myself, but..." She trailed off, leaving the end of her sentence up in the air, but the look she gave Keith was very clear.

Keith seemed to accept his fate and mumbled, "Fine, fine."

Shiro and Allura exchanged twin smiles.

"Lance, you and Keith should exchange phone numbers so you can coordinate a shopping day!"

Lance shrugged. Fine, whatever, he could totally deal with giving this cute boy his phone number. He tossed his phone to Keith. "Put your number in my contacts so I can text you."

A minute later, Keith handed his phone back and Lance sent a quick text to him. Keith gave a quiet little chuckle as he looked at his phone.

"Why am I not surprised the middle digits are 420?"

Lance snorted.

"I'm surprised you know what that meme is."

---

Lance flopped down on his bed later that evening, contemplating texting Keith about the pet shopping day. Then again, he was basically broke after paying the adoption fee for Blue, so maybe waiting until he got his next paycheck (which was a couple days from now), would be a better idea.

He didn't want to seem too clingy or desperate, and he most certainly didn't want to weird Keith out or drive him away or-

Woah woah woah, slow your roll, McClain. It's not like you're dating him, haha. Just acquaintances making plans to shop for a cat like a married couple would shop for their baby...... GODDAMMIT ME.

Lance rolled over, flinging his phone onto the end of his bed and groaning into his pillow.

He was screwed, wasn't he?

He didn't really believe in love at first sight (attraction, sure, that was a given), but if he did, he'd say it felt something like this.

But this was just a piddly little crush, based solely in physical appearance and the fact that Keith liked kittens. Not Love with a capital L. It wasn't possible to love someone you'd just met.

Besides, he and Keith had only professional experience with each other. Lance was the customer, Keith was the guy helping him out. That's all it was.

So, yeah, he thought Keith was attractive. It didn't mean anything. He wouldn't let it mean anything.

Oh god, it meant something, didn't it? Somewhere under all of Lance's walls that he defended with cheesy pickup lines and false confidence, uncalled for feelings for this guy he'd literally just met had sprouted.

Lance groaned into his pillow again, cursing the universe for allowing him to catch feelings so damn easily. This guy wasn't even his friend yet, and there was no guarantee they'd ever become friends, no guarantee they'd ever see each other again after Lance got Blue settled into his home.

Whatever. The ball was in Keith's court as to whether or not they kept in contact. Or maybe Shiro and Allura's court?

Speaking of Shiro and Allura...

Me > Keith the Cat Man

Me: Hey, are Shiro and Allura dating?
Me: Because I totally got that vibe from them

Keith the Cat Man: Lol no
Keith the Cat Man: They're just super close friends
Keith the Cat Man: Allura helped him get a service dog when he was in a tough spot a few years back, and ever since then they're almost inseparable

Me: Oh my GOD that's the cutest thing.

Keith the Cat Man: I know, right??
Keith the Cat Man: His service dog is the sweetest thing to everyone but me
Keith the Cat Man: She gets so excited when she sees Allura
Keith the Cat Man: But she growls at me whenever I come home
Keith the Cat Man: Shiro says it's because I'm a cat person. He says she knows I picked my side.

Lance found himself laughing more and more as the texts from Keith rolled in.

So he has a sense of humor, huh? Wouldn't have guessed it. Oh SHIT- Stop it Lance!! Keep it cool, casual. Don't start with him just because you think he's funny as well as sweet and adorable and attractive........ Dammit.

Lance was so, so screwed.

He was shaken out of his hopeless, fluffy thoughts by his phone buzzing a few times.

Keith the Cat Man > Me

Keith the Cat Man: So have you picked a day for the shopping?
Keith the Cat Man: No rush, just gotta plan around it
Keith the Cat Man: I've just got a lot of Nothing going on that I might have to rearrange.

Lance snorted.

Me > Keith the Cat Man

Me: Is Saturday good? I get paid on Friday so that way I might actually be able to,,, you know,,,,
Me: buy things when we go shopping

Keith the Cat Man: Lol
Keith the Cat Man: Yeah Saturday's good
Keith the Cat Man: You wanna meet at the store?

Me: Yeah, sounds like a plan
Me: My apartment's kinda at the top floor of the building so meeting there wouldn't be very convenient

Keith the Cat Man: How tall is your apartment building??

Me: Only 4 stories not counting the lobby, but there's no elevator and the hallways don't have AC lol

Keith the Cat Man: Oh dear god how are you alive

Me: I lived in Florida for ten years, I can deal with the heat ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

Keith the Cat Man: So how do you handle the cold?

Me: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ........ i don't

Keith the Cat Man: lol

Lance set his phone down after noticing it was getting close to midnight. Just once this week he'd like to have a good night's sleep and not act like a total zombie in class.

He had a feeling that maybe he'd sleep a little better tonight. Or at least have nice dreams.

Totally not dreams about Keith cuddling a bunch of kittens.

Totally not.

Chapter Text

Keith leaned against the side of the pet shop, eyes alternating between the parking lot and the space where he'd parked his motorcycle. Lance was running late and Keith was running out of patience.

He glanced to the right as a blue sedan rolled into the parking lot. Judging from the loud pop music blasting from the windows, it was probably Lance.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Lance bounded up to him.

"Yoooo, Keef, sorry for making you wait! Got held up by a train." Lance smiled apologetically at Keith, and he felt a little of his frustration melt away at the sincerity he saw there.

"It's fine, let's just not make a habit of it, 'kay?" Keith shrugged. "Let's go, already." He pushed the door open and strode into the pet store. Lance stuck by his side, grabbing a cart and paying rapt attention to him.

"Okay, so first off, you'll want to pick up some high quality kitten food. We recommend Blue Buffalo." Keith said in a flat voice, as if this was something he normally did. Lance raised an eyebrow.

"'We'? Who's we?"

Keith shot him a Look™.

"The pet shelter, idiot."

Lance chuckled. “You know, you could at least try and have a little fun.”

Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yes, because this really is the epitome of fun. Shopping for someone else’s cat, and analyzing multiple types of sand for said cat to pee in. I’m actually having the time of my life.”

“Your words, they wound.”

Keith chuckled at that.

“Back to the cat food, loser.”

---

After they’d moved on from the cat food, Lance insisted on spending an eternity in the toy aisle.

“You said she likes feathery toys, right?” Lance chirped, sticking his face through the armfuls of feather toys he was currently holding up.

And Keith totally didn’t find that adorable. Not at all.

Okay, maybe a little.

Just a little.

“Yeah, feathery toys are her favorite.” Lance beamed at him and dumped all the cat toys into the cart.

“...Isn’t that a few too many?” Keith said, chuckling slightly.

Lance gave him quite possibly the most serious look Keith had ever seen on his face.

“Nothing is too much for my princess, Keith. Nothing.”

Keith blinked. He and Lance simply stared at each other for several long moments, neither of them breaking eye contact.

Then, Lance broke into a fit of giggles, Keith following shortly after.

“Oh my god, dude, the look on your face was pure gold.” Lance wheezed.

Keith felt his heart skip a beat at the open, happy look on Lance’s face.

“Seriously though, dude, this is probably $50 worth of cat toys. You should probably put some back.”

Lance pouted, grudgingly putting away a few of the toys. “Fiiiiiiiine. You’re so strict.”

Keith gave him an unimpressed look, ruined slightly by the fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He turned to another shelf of toys, squinting at the labels to make sure there was no catnip in any of them.

He lost himself in thought for a moment, and only snapped out of it when Lance snuck up behind him, and smacked his ass with one of the feather toys.

Keith stiffened, his eyes widening.

Did he really just do that?

The realization of what he’d just done seemed to sink in for Lance as well. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were wide.

“Uuuh, sorry?” He said, but it sounded more like a question.

Keith stared blankly at him for several seconds before he finally cracked, doubling over and laughing.

“O-oh my god, dude, I can’t believe you did that!” Keith laughed, glancing up at Lance from his hunched-over position. Lance’s face was still flushed, but he managed to send Keith a shaky smile.

“I actually did that, oh my god.” Lance looked like he couldn’t quite believe himself, either.

“You just whacked my ass with a sparkly pink cat toy.” Keith was grinning like an idiot.

Lance blinked at him, still looking a little shocked.

“I actually did that.”

They both stood there, beaming at each other, for a moment longer, until Lance snapped out of it.
ist. Keith shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

Right, I’m here on a job. Not for fun. This is for work. Calm yourself, Kogane.

“Uuuuh- right. Cat shopping. Gotta get back to that.” Lance turned back to his l
Keith shook his head.

He just had to make it through the next hour or so without saying something extremely gay and putting Lance off.

I can do this.

---

“SHIROOOOOOOO.” Keith groaned, flopping onto the couch in a very Lance-esque move, “I just spent 2 hours shopping with the world’s cutest boy for the world’s cutest and fluffiest kitten and I think I’m dying.”

“Stop being so melodramatic, little brother. It’s not the end of the world.” Shiro was giving him that absolute shit-eating grin again, the same one he’d been wearing the day he’d set all this up.

“Shiro, you don’t understand, he’s so cute,” Keith grumbled. “Have you seen his smile?”

Shiro shot him a look.

“A) I’m like 8 years older than you guys, and B) Lance really isn’t my type.”

Keith rolled his eyes.

“You don’t understand my pain, Takashi.”

“It’s like your My Chemical Romance phase all over again.”

“I thought we agreed never to speak of that again.”

“You cried for a day after they broke up, Keith.”

Keith threw a pillow at Shiro without glancing behind him, smirking when he heard the muffled thump that meant the pillow had hit it’s mark. Shiro tossed the pillow back at him.

“Respect your elders, son.”

“Earn it, old man.”

Keith turned around just in time to catch Shiro’s stealthily thrown pillow right in his face.

---

Keith lay in bed that night, eyes wide and staring unblinkingly at the wall.

I don’t have a crush on Lance, a guy who I literally just met. I don’t I don’t I don’t, I won’t let myself have a crush on him.

Except for the part where, you know, he totally did have a crush on Lance.

I JUST met this guy. Great. Good job, Kogane. You’ve really gone and done it now.

Keith rolled over and groaned angrily.

(The anger was directed mostly at himself.)

He pulled his phone out and pulled up his messages.

Me > Pidgey

Me: Piiiiiddgggeee
Me: Piiiiiiidge
Me: pIIIIDGE
Me: PIDGE

Pidgey: KEITH
Pidgey: WHAT THE HELL
Pidgey: IT IS 2 AM

Me: I know it is but I need your help
Me: Pidge there’s a guy

Pidgey: there’s a guy???
Pidgey: oh my god there’s a guy??
Pidgey: you haven’t had a little puppy love crush in ages pls spill :3c

Me: On second thought, nevermind telling you was a mistake

Pidgey: KEITH NO
Pidgey: LISTEN TO ME
Pidgey: YOU WOKE ME UP
Pidgey: AT 2 AM
Pidgey: TO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LITTLE CRUSH
Pidgey: SO THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE GONNA DO

Me: Alright, alright
Me: you know that guy who came into the shelter the other day? The guy who wanted a dog but got a cat

Pidgey: Lance? Yeah I remember him

Me: Okay so Shiro noticed I was giving him that “I think you’re cute” look he says i have (and I totally don’t, btw)

Pidgey: (you totally do, but go on)

Me: So Shiro, being the older brother he is
Me: signs me up to help Lance with shopping for his cat, inspecting his apartment, etc. etc.
Me: I did the shopping thing today
Me: And tomorrow afternoon I’m going over to his place to help him set stuff up
Me: i think i might actually die Pidge
Me: He was so cute with his cat
Me: And I actually had a good time shopping with him
Me: AT A PET STORE, PIDGE
Me: What is he doing to me

Pidgey has sent a video

Me: Pidge why did you send me a video that’s just 30 seconds of pitch black with you laughing in the background

Pidgey: Because you’re so cute when you get crushes??
Pidgey: You act like you’re so tough and emo all the time but the moment you catch feelings you turn into a big sap and it’s adorable.

Me: ……………...shut up
Pidgey: Lol are you blushing bc i called you out on being too damn sappy

Me: NO SHUUT UP SMABFJHS

Pidgey: LMAAAAAAOOOOOOO

Keith shoved his phone under his pillow and rolled his eyes.

Pidge was wrong, of course. He didn’t get sappy when he “caught feelings”. Maybe he softened a little bit, sure, but he wouldn’t go so far as to call himself “sappy”.

He needed a second opinion.

Me > Shiro

Me: Shiro do I get sappy when I have a crush on someone

Shiro: Keith it’s almost 3 am
Shiro: And you’re literally in the next room
Shiro: but yes, yes you do

Me: Shiro I can’t help it he’s so cute

Shiro: It’s too early for this
Shiro: I’m going back to sleep now

Me: Shiro wait no help me

Shiro: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Me: I hate you

Keith rolled over, glaring at the last text from Shiro.

He debated throwing something at their shared wall, but ultimately decided to be the bigger man and just go back to trying- and failing- to sleep.

(The next morning he threw a frozen bagel at Shiro. The resulting chase around their apartment was totally worth the look on Shiro’s face, though.)

He didn’t have to go into work at the shelter today (he had a feeling Shiro had something to do with that.), so he got dressed and flopped down on the couch, ready to wait out the hour or so before he had to leave by watching Netflix.

After 2 ½ episode of Futurama, Keith shut the TV off and grabbed his helmet.

It was a 15 minute ride to Lance’s apartment building, and though he could’ve done it in probably 5 minutes, the route took him through mostly residential areas, and Keith had learned the hard way that the local soccer moms don’t appreciate “unnecessary engine noises” disrupting their “holy day of rest”.

He pulled into the parking lot of Lance’s apartment complex- a tall, white brick building with chipped paint that should’ve looked shabby but instead seemed rustic- and shut his bike off.

He pulled the front door open and stepped inside, trying to recall what apartment Lance lived in so he could buzz in.

UUhh… he lived in apartment 615 right? He said he was on the 6th floor, so…. Yeah that sounds right.

Keith pushed the buzzer for 615, biting his lip nervously and praying he’d remembered it right.

A loud crackle sounded from the speaker, preceding Lance’s voice by a few moments.

“Keith? Is that you?” Keith breathed a sigh of relief. No awkward explanation to some little old lady about how he’d mixed up the apartment numbers.

“Yeah, it’s me.” A loud buzz sounded after his words, and he heard the lock click open on the door. He stepped into the hallway and glared at the staircase.

Because of course Lance had to live on the top floor of a building with no elevator and no AC.

Oh, well. At least he hadn’t had to help him carry the litter and cat condos upstairs. His friend and roommate, Hunk (a big guy with a huge smile, who, for some reason, had smelled strongly of cinnamon and sugar when he’d pulled Keith in for a bear hug.) had helped him out with that.

After what felt like an hour, but was really only a few minutes, Keith stood in front of Lance’s open door, stifling a laugh.

“What happened to you?”

Lance glared at him halfheartedly.

“Hunk happened, Keith. He might seem innocent, but don’t let him fool you, he can be pure evil.”

Hunk had, according to Lance, taken a permanent marker to his face, and he was now sporting a unibrow, a lovely mustache, and some extremely round glasses. (They reminded him of Pidge’s glasses, come to think of it.)

Lance had, evidently, tried to clean the marker off, and it was now smudged all over his face.

Keith chuckled.

“Sounds fake, but okay.”
“IT’S TRUE!”

“Hunk is a cinnamon roll, Lance, he would never.”

“You met him one time, Keith. ONE. TIME.”

“That’s enough for me to know he is a pure soul who would never do such things to you. Pidge, on the other hand, totally would do that the instant you fell asleep.”

“Really?”

“She carries a marker around in her bag just in case.”

“Holy shit.”

Lance turned his back to Keith and gestured to the bags and bags of cat supplies spread out over his mismatched living room furniture.

“Anyway, I figured I’d wait for your expert opinion before setting anything up, so I didn’t unpack anything yet.”

“I can see that.”

Keith stared at the piles of bags in thought.

“Do you have like a closet or something where you could keep her litter box?”

“Yeah, there’s a linen closet in the bathroom that’s like, totally empty.”

They managed to get the litterbox set up in there, with only one incident where Lance “accidentally” spilled some litter on Keith’s feet.

(Keith felt like there was litter between his toes for the next hour. Not. Fun.)

Lance wrapped a few of the feathery cat toys around his neck like some weird feather boa and made ridiculously over-the-top kissy faces at Keith (or, in multiple cases, Keith’s phone. There was no way he wasn’t going to take pictures of that.)

Playing with the feather toys only ended when Lance tickled one under Keith’s nose and sent him into a sneezing fit.

(Keith had grabbed the toy from him and smacked him upside the head with it. The shocked expression on his face? Priceless.)

Keith was now sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor, staring at a bag full of cat clothes.

“Why did you buy her so many dresses?”

Lance stared at Keith, as if he’d just said something highly offensive.

“She is my princess, Keith! Princesses wear dresses!”

He flopped down on the floor next to Keith.

“Man, I really need to clean up.” Lance sighed, glancing around the living room. The floor was strewn with the packaging from the cat stuff, as well as what looked like most of Lance’s wardrobe, multiple video games, and, for some reason, My Little Pony trading cards.

I don’t want to know.

Keith sat up a little bit, meeting eyes with Lance and giving him an encouraging smile.

“Hey, between you and me, I’m sure you’ll pass.”

Chapter Text

“Lance, you’ve been up for 3 hours cleaning. If you scrub the counters any more, you’ll put holes in them.”

Lance rolled his eyes and kept cleaning the counter.

“Relax, Hunk, it’ll be fine.”

“You know, I think… You’re doing this to impress someone?” And even though Lance had his back turned to him, he could perfectly picture the shit-eating grin on Hunk’s face.

“S-shut up, Hunk, I’m not trying to impress anyone.”

Hunk leaned over Lance’s shoulder, getting a good look at the flush spreading across his face.

“Is there, perhaps, a cute woman coming over to inspect our apartment on this fine Friday afternoon?”

Lance glared at him.

“Not a woman, it’s Keith.”

“Notice how you only denied that it was a woman, and not the cute part.” Hunk’s smirk widened as he watched Lance’s face visibly flush red.

“I really don’t like what you’re implying there, buddy.”

“Why, I’m not implying anything, Lance, I’m just pointing out what you’re implying.”

Lance playfully shoved Hunk away from him, rolling his eyes.

He thinks I’m trying to impress Keith because I think he’s cute. Yeah right.

And, yeah, okay, sure he thought Keith was attractive. And funny. And sweet. But Lance McClain was not the kind of guy who went after someone he’d only known for a couple weeks, especially considering they’d met on business (technically).

But that didn’t stop him from thinking Keith was really, really cute. Come on, most of Lance’s interactions with him had involved Keith holding a kitten and/or serving as a climbing tower for one, how could that combined with Keith’s perpetual half-pout not be adorable?

So maybe he was trying to impress Keith, just a little bit. Honestly, he wanted Blue more than anything else right now, and that was all riding on if Keith thought his apartment was a good space for a cat.

Lance scrubbed at the counter a little bit harder. He would be cuddling his kitten tonight.

“HUNK, DID WE REMEMBER TO PUT LITTER IN THE LITTERBOX?”

“Lance, that’s the third time you’ve asked that, and the answer is still no.”

“FUCK!”

“Stop yelling, Lance, the neighbors can hear you.”

Lance grabbed the bag of litter and hauled it to the bathroom, taking note of how damn heavy it was.

Yeesh, I’m gonna have to buy the lightweight stuff next time. I don’t think I can handle carrying this up 5 flights of stairs.

He was ripped out of his litter contemplation by a knock at the front door.

What the heck?! They’re not supposed to be here until 3:00!

Lance checked his watch.

3:05

Oh.

So maybe he’d gotten just a little bit carried away cleaning.

(Only a little; you still couldn’t see a perfect reflection in the stainless steel.)

He heard Hunk opening the front door and vaguely registered the sounds of him and Keith talking politely through the bathroom door.

Lance swung the bathroom door open, grinning broadly at Keith, who had Blue’s crate tucked securely under one arm. Hunk was currently sticking his fingers through the holes of the cage, cooing quietly at Blue as she rubbed her tiny muzzle against one of them.

The sight of the guy he sort-of had a crush on, holding his cat, while his cinnamon roll of a best friend made cute little gibberish noises at said cat was almost too much for Lance’s heart to handle.

Keith set the carrier down and looked around the apartment, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as he made eye contact with Lance.

“How’s it going, Lance?” Keith smiled. “Hunk’s been telling me how you’ve spent literally all day cleaning.”

Lance shot a look at Hunk when he responded for him.

“Yeah, he’s been going kinda nuts with it. He really wants this place to pass your inspection.” Hunk still had that small, shit-eating grin on his face, and Lance could only pray he didn’t say something about how he, Lance, probably just wanted to impress Keith instead.

Thankfully, Hunk kept his mouth shut, and instead saved Lance’s butt.

“Uh, I’m assuming you’d want to meet the dog? Normally we keep her shut up in Lance’s room when people come over, but I guess you’d want to see how she interacts with Blue.”

Keith nodded.

“I remember you saying something about owning a dog. I’d love to meet her.”

Lance hopped over a box of random junk they’d been meaning to donate and pushed his bedroom door open, releasing the small fluffy bullet known as Peaches.

She made a beeline for Keith the instant she saw him, wagging her stumpy little tail and making excited little yipping noises. Keith looked a little uncomfortable, but bent down and patted her head all the same.

Peaches sniffed briefly at Blue’s cage, but seemed much more interested in Keith. Lance decided to take that as a good sign.

Apparently, so did Keith.

“Your apartment looks good, how about we see how Blue interacts with Peaches?”

Lance nodded, swallowing nervously. It was a whole different ballgame, actually letting Blue out in the apartment, but Lance wasn’t going to refuse. He just watched as Keith popped the carrier’s door open, and grinned as Blue took a few steps out into their living room. She looked scared, but also curious about this new place.
Lance watched quietly, holding his breath, as Blue walked up to Peaches, blinked at her, and then bopped her nose with a paw.

And, okay yeah, that was absolutely the most precious thing Lance had ever seen. Screw all those late nights spent watching kitten vines and crying over how cute they are, this was the real deal.

Lance shot Keith a half-smirk, half smile.

“Sooooo, can I keep her?”

Keith rolled his eyes.

“You can keep her.”

Lance flung himself at Keith, tackling him in a signature Lance hug that involved lots of flailing, and okay maybe Keith fell on his ass when Lance let go, but they were both laughing too hard to care.

And yeah, Lance could totally get used to having a friend like Keith in his life.

---

“Lance, are you gonna eat your dinner or no?” Hunk frowned, side-eyeing Lance’s untouched plate of spaghetti.

“Yeah, yeah, just gimme a sec.” Lance drawled, waving one hand dismissively from his position sprawled out on the floor.

“You can’t watch her forever, Lance, you have to sleep sometime.”

“Sleep is for the weak and the kittenless, Hunk.”

Hunk rolled his eyes at his best friend’s antics.

“I’m putting your plate in the fridge. If you don’t eat it before tomorrow morning I’m packing it as my lunch for work.”

Lance ignored him, choosing to focus his attention back on the puffball currently climbing up the side of their couch, occasionally letting out little determined squeaks as she hauled herself up. He hadn’t really interfered with her much since Keith had left, and he was curious to see how she’d react to cuddles.

He scooped her up once she reached the top of the couch, squeaking in triumph.
“Aaw, you did it girl! Yes you did! Yes you did!” He cooed, booping her nose with a finger and settling down on the couch with her. Blue immediately stretched and yawned, curling up in his lap and kneading his thigh with her tiny little claws.

It only hurt a little bit.

Lance doesn’t really care.

Hunk joins him on the couch, paying most of his attention to the cooking show on TV and making notes on the recipe, but occasionally he’d reach over and scratch behind Blue’s ears, and she’d let out a happy little purr whenever he did.

Lance was so happy. Probably the happiest he’d been since Nutmeg had passed away. He had a cat, Peaches, and good friends, plus a sort-of crush on his sort-of-friend, Keith, who just happened to be the guy who hooked him up with this cat.

Speak of the devil, Lance’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

Keith the Cat Man > Me

Keith the Cat Man: How’s Blue doing?
Keith the Cat Man: Is she settled in alright?

Me: Yeah, she’s doing great!!
Me: She’s on my lap rn
Me: Hang on a sec-

Image sent to Keith the Cat Man

Me: Cute, huh?

Keith the Cat Man: Yeah, she is.

Lance tilted his head back and grinned at the ceiling.

This was nice.

---

Yeah, he really is cute.

Keith groaned angrily, rolling over onto his back and glaring at his phone.

Why did Lance have to be so damn cute all the time? The way he’d let out all those adorable excited squeaks when Blue so much as blinked had Keith’s heart in checkmate the entire time he was there. He’d eventually had to excuse himself and leave quietly while Lance was preoccupied with Blue.

Now, he was laying on the couch, waiting for his brother to cook them both a couple microwave mac n cheese meals, and hopelessly thinking about this guy he had a doomed crush on.

In reality, Keith’s life was pretty okay. But at the moment he wanted to crawl back into his bed and sleep for roughly the next week (it was only 8:45 but that’s a totally appropriate time to go to sleep, right?).

Keith threw his phone at the door, the very same moment Shiro decided to come in, and Keith winced when the door smacked into his phone.

“Keith,” Shiro said, in that older brother/dad disapproving voice, “That’s the 4th time this week.”

Keith shrugged apologetically, picking his phone up and inspecting it. No new chips or cracks to speak of, so that was good.

“Is there anything you wanna talk about, Keifer?”

Keith scowled at the nickname and avoided Shiro’s questioning eyes.

A mistake on his part, because now Shrio knew something was up, even if Keith didn’t want to talk about it.

“Keith, is this about that guy from the shelter? The one who got that cat? I saw the way you were looking at him.”

Keith shuffled his feet a bit, a stubborn pout betraying his emotions.

“Taaaaakaaaaaashiiiii.” Keith groaned, rolling his eyes and stalking into the kitchen to avoid his brother’s curious gaze.

“You can’t hide from your feelies, Keith!” Shiro teased, noticing how red his brother’s face was.

“I don’t have “feelies”, Takashi. I lost all of those to the void.”

“Can’t you stop being emo for 5 seconds and actually talk to me?”

Keith crossed his arms and turned to face Shiro.

“What’s there to talk about? It’s a stupid little crush, I’ll get over it easy.”

“Keith, I think you should take a shot at it..”

“And what? Risk freaking Lance out? No thanks.”

“Keith, did you see the way that boy looked at you?”

“He was looking at the cat, Takashi.”

Shiro glared at him stubbornly, raising one eyebrow in the way he knew Keith hated.

“Keith, I’m just saying that maybe something could happen between you guys in the future. Would that really be so bad?”

Once again, Shiro had backed Keith into a metaphorical corner with his kind encouragement. Keith dropped his head into his hands.

“Fine. I’d actually be thrilled if something could happen between me and Lance. Some day. In the forseeable future.” Keith deadpanned, giving his brother a flat look as he pulled his hands away from his face.

Shiro gave him the most shit-eating grin.

“Great job getting in touch with your feelies, Keith.”

“I got in touch with a feely, Shiro. Not multiple feelies, just one singular solitary feely.”

“That’s better than nothing.”

Chapter Text

Keith almost didn’t hear it.

He was wrapped up in thought, gazing down at his phone as he drew closer to the shelter, when he heard the tiniest little peep coming from the bushes near the road. His first instinct was to just ignore it- but he knew that sound. So he bent down and pushed the branches apart to reveal the tiniest kitten he’d ever seen.

It definitely wasn’t old enough to be alone, much less alone, outside, with no trace of it’s mother anywhere nearby. Its rust-red fur was dusted with dirt, and it had its tiny mouth open in an angry, soundless wail.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.” Keith hissed, whipping off his hoodie so he could scoop it up without the risk of getting scratched.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fUCK-” Keith mumbled under his breath, carrying the wriggling kitten bundled up in his hoodie towards the shelter.

He jogged up to the door and nudged it open with his foot- sighing audibly in relief when he saw Allura standing across the room from the entrance. He shoved the door open the rest of the way and slid inside.

“Allura, holy FUCK.”

Allura whirled around, fists raised as if to defend herself, but relaxing when she saw Keith standing there.

“Whatever’s the matter, Keith?”

Keith held the bundle in his arms out to her.

“I found a cat?”

Allura bent down to peek inside the hoodie nest, and Keith watched her expression transform from shock, to pleasant surprise, to holy shit that’s the cutest thing I’ve seen in my whole entire life.

“Oh my gosh, Keith. Where did you find it?” Allura questioned, gingerly picking the kitten up to examine it more closely. “Er, I mean her?”

“In the bushes just outside here.” Keith shrugged, looking helpless. “No mom cat, though.”

Allura frowned, gently stroking the top of the kitten’s head with one finger.
“She’s too healthy-looking to have been out there for more than a few hours.. My guess is someone didn’t want to try and find proper homes for their kittens, so they dumped them.”

“Those kinds of people are automatically the worst.” Keith scowled, crossing his arms.

“Agreed,” Allura sighed. “Anyway, she just needs a bath, so why don’t you take her into the back and clean her up?”

Keith nodded quietly, taking the kitten back from Allura and cradling her in the crook of his elbow as he made his way to the back room.

As he set the tiny kitten down on the counter and ran the warm water in the sink, he contemplated her. Who would be so cruel as to abandon such a helpless animal?

It left a bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could relate to the kitten sitting before him.

It wasn’t a great thing to have in common, but it was something, and Keith found himself talking to her as he set her into the warm bath.

“I guess we’re kind of alike, huh? Both orphaned, both left on our own…” He mumbled as he rubbed some soapy water on her head.

“Shiro is kind of a life saver, you know? He took me in as his brother without a second thought when I turned 18… I wonder if you have a Shiro somewhere?” Keith asked, holding the cat up to look her in the eyes.

He set her down on a towel and gently rubbed her dry. She wriggled out of his grasp after a few moments and crawled up his arm, curling up at the base of his shoulder.

Keith felt a very warm something come to life in his chest as the kitten snuggled closer to his neck, her little body rumbling with the purr she was letting out.

“You need a name… How about Red?”

The kitten stretched out one paw to gently tap his face.

Keith grinned.

“Red it is.”

Keith headed toward the cat room, walking carefully so Red wouldn’t fall off his shoulder. He fished the keys out of his hoodie pocket and unlocked the cat room- smiling as cats stood up and stretched in all corners of the room. He sat down in the middle of the room, watching as all the cats approached him, sniffing gingerly at Red. A few turned up their noses at her, but most seemed comfortable with the new arrival. But Red didn’t seem to be interested in exploring her new surroundings, simply sliding down from his shoulder into his lap.

Keith let out an incoherent little noise of adoration at the kitten curled up with her head resting on his thigh.

“Aw Keith, you big dweeb.” A loud, self satisfied voice called from the front door of the cat room.

Keith half-turned to glare at the smirking gremlin leaning against the doorway, as well as her slightly taller, but equally gremlin-esque brother.

“See, Matt? Told you our Keithy boy had a heart.”

“I admit, Katie, I didn’t believe you at first, but it appears you were right. Keith does seem to have some form of emotion, even if it is in its earliest stages of development.”

Keith scowled at both of them.

“I have emotions you guys.”

Pidge tutted loudly, strolling across the room to stand in front of him.

“Incorrect, Keith. We’ve only seen you in a perpetual state of grumpiness. For all we knew, you only had one emotion.”

Keith rolled his eyes at the pair of them and turned back to Red.

“See what I have to put up with? Every. Single. Day.” He shook his head. “At least they work in the dog room, so you won’t have to deal with them.”

Pidge snickered at him.

“Aaaaawwww. Are you attached to the widdle kitten?”

Keith opted not to answer, keeping his focus on the tiny fluffball.

He vaguely heard Pidge and Matt talking to each other, and barely noticed when they left.

Chapter Text

“Hunk, have you seen Blue anywhere? I haven’t seen her all day.”

Hunk just offered a shrug and an apologetic look.

“Sorry man, last I saw she was chilling in the bathroom, but that was hours ago.”

Lance frowned. It wasn’t like Blue to hide all day. She thrived on the stream of affection that she received from Hunk and himself.

“Thanks anyway, man.” Lance sighed, leaving the room.

Maybe she’s still in the bathroom?

He poked his head in the bathroom and drooped when he saw no signs of his missing cat.

There was, however, something out of place, though.

“Hey, Hunk? How long has the vent grate been like that?”

“For a few hours? I had a shaving cream malfunction and some of it got in the vent, so I had to clean it.”

And as Hunk spoke, a horrible realization dawned on him.

”HUNK HOLY SHIT WHAT IF SHE WENT IN THE VENTS????”

Lance bit his lip and spun around to face his best friend, eyes wide.

“Do the vents connect to the other apartments in the building????”

“I-I think they do, man.” Hunk groaned. “Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d want to go in there! I thought I could leave it like that until I got back from work.”

“I-I’m gonna call Keith. He’ll know what to do.”

“Good call, dude.”

Lance flopped down on their couch, tapping his foot nonstop as he waited for Keith to pick up.

“Hello? Lance?”

“Oh thank fuck you picked up.”

“Is something wrong? Is Blue alright?”
“Uh…. yes and no? I don’t…..know if she’s alright because I don’t know where she is.”

“I’m sure she’s just sleeping somewhere, Lance. Don’t worry.”

“But see, the problem is, the vent grate has been out of place all day. Keith, what if she went in the vent what the fuck do I do then.

“..........................Uh, do you want me to come over?”

“Please.”

Chapter Text

hEY HEY HEY!!! sorry for this fic being kinda sorta really dead, I've been dealing with stressful stuff like job interviews and driving tests + i was sort of falling out of love with voltron before s3 came out due to just how crazy the fandom gets l o l

but!!!!! I just started writing ch6!!!!!! it's gonna include lots of klance, broganes, and cats!!!

and i don't respond to many comments, just because i get a Lot and it tires me out to reply to more than a few at a time, but i read every single one of them (multiple times) and they all mean so much to me!! i love all you guys so much

so yeah!!! i'll have chapter 6 up soon!! love u all!!!