Work Text:
“I fucked up! I fucked up and I can’t fix it and I ruined everythiiing - tissue please -” Lotor accepted the tissue from Shiro and blew his nose, loudly.
Shiro sighed, hoping Lotor couldn’t read the expression on his face. “Have you tried calling him? ”
“Nooo I can’t! I left him like… a bazillion text messages! I can’t call, I’ll look clingy!”
Shiro blinked, then sighed, resting his head on his cheek. “Yes, god forbid that would make you look clingy. What happened, anyway?”
Lotor held up his finger, telling Shiro to wait - then picked up the bottle of vodka and tipped another gulp of it into his mouth. “...God I love strawberry vodka. It tastes like my tears. ” He cleared his throat. “I told Thace I loved him.”
“...Yes?”
“And - and - and he didn’t respond!”
“...At all?”
“He looked really startled and then he started looking sheepish and then he said ‘oh’ and then I ran away because it means he doesn’t love me back, and I should have kept my mouth shut - ”
“You’re not terribly good at this, are you?”
Lotor’s head snapped towards Shiro with an offended expression. “I am a romance aficionado - “
“How many people have you dated?”
“I’m all about that bar life, Shiro, you should know this -”
“I mean, actually dated.”
Lotor opened his mouth, then closed it with a pout. He bonked Shiro on the head with the bottle of strawberry vodka. “Stop being right about things, I’m too distraught to be reasonable.”
“So you hit me instead? Gimme that.” Shiro grabbed the bottle. “Thace is a grown man, he’s not going to break up with you over something like that. And you’re the one who ran off on him -”
Lotor’s face dropped into an expression of my horror. “Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god I did - he must hate me -” He sprang to his feet, and Shiro dove for Lotor’s phone as it tumbled out of his lap. “I gotta go find him right now and apologize!” He ran for the door, opened it -
Thace fumbled with his own hands, grinning awkwardly. “...So, uh, Keith texted me and told me you were here.”
From the other room was the faint whisper of thank god.
Lotor just stood there for a moment. Then, with a sniffle, he threw himself at Thace, lanky arms wrapping around the older man’s chest. “I thought you were gone. ”
“Actually, I just kind of sat at the coffeeshop for a while wondering if you were going to come back -”
“I was being metaphorical, you jerk,” Lotor grumbled into Thace’s shoulder.
“I know. And - hey - I’m sorry I kind of stumbled on my words. I’m not particularly good at this.”
That makes two of us, Lotor thought with a smile.
“-And I love you.”
Lotor could only manage to summon a startled squawk before Thace kissed his cheek. “Come on, glitter-boy. Let’s get you home.”
“Will you stay with me?” Lotor mumbled.
“Yeah. Anything you want.”
Lotor grinned - then turned back to Shiro. “Thanks for the help, love. Ta!”
“...Uh huh.”
Shiro waited until the two of them were gone. Then he knocked on the closet with a grin. “You can come out now, Keith. We’ve stopped talking about your dad. It’s stopped being weird.”
“No! It will never stop being weird!”
“I’ve got vodka.”
Keith poked his head out from behind the coats. “...I could be tempted,” he grumbled. “Please tell me it’s not that god-awful strawberry stuff.”
“...Sorry.”
“Eh, I’ll live.” Keith exited the closet, dusted off his clothes, then flopped onto the couch next to Shiro. “He’ll be okay?”
“Yeah. He and Thace -”
“Oy! You said we were done!”
Shiro laughed, scratching Keith’s head. “Fine, fine. I’ll just be all sappy and cute to you instead.”
“Perfect.” Keith closed his eyes, leaning his head on Shiro’s shoulder. “...And I’m glad Thace is happy.”
“Me too.” Shiro took a sip of the strawberry vodka - and pulled a face. “Also, we’re putting this down the drain.”
“Okay. But what if… we set it on fire-”
“No.”
“Just a little bit?”
Shiro sighed and smiled, petting Keith’s hair a little more. Life as usual.