Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

In Lance’s absolutely humblest opinion, he’s the best salesman alive.

Like, absolutely fan-fucking-tackular.

It goes like this: Hunk, his soul brother/roommate/best friend in the world is engaged to this equally awesome girl named Shay. Shay’s family owns one of the jewelry stores in their college town. And, because Lance has really awesome persuasion skills (and is really good at begging), he gets to work there as a salesman for the summer while Hunk completes an internship under the jeweler.

Which means Lance gets to look on point in nice clothes, flirt with cute couples, and sit down with little old people and learn how they got together.

And, wouldn’t you know it, he’s actually not bad at his job. (Which is what Hunk was praying every night for so his favoritism didn’t show.)

The afternoon starts out well. Lance’s second cup of coffee sits on top of the jewelry case, right above the sapphire pad. He brings his A-Game, chatting it up with seventy-two-year-old Seymour, who’s celebrating his fiftieth wedding anniversary with his wife. Lance feels really good.

Chest puffed out? Check. Lucky polka-dotted bowtie? Check. Pearly whites? Duh.

(Lance never leaves his apartment without the last one.) 

“Look Seymour, I’ve seen you get the yellow gold. I’ve seen you get the white gold. But this rose?” Lance holds up a beautiful rose gold pendant for the older man to see. “She’s not going to expect it. It’s your fiftieth anniversary. The Gold anniversary! It’s perfect.”

Seymour is a cute little old man with terrible posture. What’s left of his hair sticks out in different directions, as though he once held his face up to a grenade. His aging gut juts out further than where he holds his cane, and his small legs look ready to give out at any second.

Yet Seymour has really good taste in jewelry. He looks at the necklace for a moment, thoughtful, and rubs his chin. “It’s awful pretty. She don’t have one like that yet.”

“She’ll look gorgeous. Here, look at me.” Lance steps back and places the pendant around his own neck. “See? Pretty.”

“Hmm,” Seymour hums.

“Get her some roses to go with the necklace. Get it? Rose gold and roses?” Lance cradles the pendant and bats his eyelashes. “Imagine her walking into that diner with this on her neck. Walking arm-in-arm with you and this pretty little number just shimmering on her ches—uh—collarbone.”

Hunk is standing near the cash register, rolling his eyes. Lance doesn’t need to look--Hunk has been doing it all summer.

“Hmm,” Seymour repeats, this time sounding more intrigued.

“All her friends at book club are gonna be so jealous.” Lance gasps dramatically and pitches his voice high. “‘Matilda! Did Seymour get you that? What a stud!”

Seymour brushes a wrinkly finger over Lance’s collarbone and against the pendant. He breaks into a toothless grin.

“You give her that smile too and she’ll remember why she fell in love with you.” Lance wiggles his eyebrows.

Finally, all his charm and super cool salesman skills pay off. Seymour places both a pen and checkbook on the case. “How much?”

“Hah!” Told you he was good.

*

The door chimes as Seymour leaves, pretty blue and red gift bag in tow.

Hunk stares after the tiny old man, stunned. “You just sold a $3000 necklace by hitting on a ninety-year-old man.”

“He’s seventy-two and married to a very nice woman.” Lance leans against the counter of their cash register and takes a long sip of his coffee. He readjusts his bowtie and smiles smugly. “Apparently she’s got a sharp tongue and he loves it. Also, they have a goldfish named Pepper.”

“Good. Ol’ Seymour doesn’t look like he could take a dog on a walk.” Hunk shakes his head. “You know, I stand there and tell them about what kind of metals are durable, what to look for in a diamond, what kind of chain works best for their necklace...yet you just call it pretty.”

He gestures at the door emphatically.

“And that happens.”

Lance raises his head smugly. “That’s because they like the sound of my voice.”

“People come in here because they’re trying to buy jewelry. For their girlfriend or boyfriend or their wife or husband.” Feeling that his point isn’t getting across, Hunk adds, “Because they’re taken.”

“You can like the sound of my voice and still be taken,” Lance insists. “It’s science.”

“Sure. Science thinks you have a nice voice. Please don’t flirt with seventy-year-old men again. It’s weird.”

“Hah! You’re just jealous that seventy-year-old men like me better than you!” Wait. “That came out wrong.”

“Oh, no.” His best friend smirks. “Probably the most normal thing you’ve said all morning. Please say it again so I can make it your ringtone.” 

The rest of the shift passes smoothly. Lance learned that most stores are dead around the summer time—especially in a college town. School starts in three weeks, so people are supposed fill the store again. This time of year makes it easy for Hunk to study the jeweler uninterrupted unless it gets busy. Lance mans the front of the store, switching from classical music to his favorite Spotify playlist while he rearranges jewelry and cleans pads.

It's slow, but nice. When it’s not busy, he gets to kick back and return snapchats.

Once all of the repair jobs are done for the morning, Hunk leaves and returns with sushi.

“Shay says her brother really likes you up front,” he mentions. “He’s sad you won’t be here 24/7 when school starts.”

Lance shrugs, drowning a piece of his spicy tuna roll in soy sauce. “Wouldn’t have made it this far without you, buddy. Sure he’ll be missing you too.”

“Eh,” Hunk says. “I think Rax stopped listening to me after I told him I wanted to propose to Shay.”

Lance shoves two pieces in his mouth. “You could do what I do.”

“Hit on Rax?” Hunk makes a face. “Don’t think that’d help.”

Lance chokes on a roll. “Not like that.”

“Uhuh. You need to get out of this store and find a nice, single person.” Hunk waves his chopsticks around. “Seriously. You’ve spent all summer studying—which I’m very proud of you for—but then you complain and take it out on your customers. And by it, I mean your thirst.”

“My love life is fine, thank you very much.”

The biggest drawback to the job is the amount of attractive people that come through the door. If they’re at a jewelry store, then they’re probably here to buy a gift for someone they liked. And if two people came in together, that only made Lance hanker more. One hot person was one thing, but two?

(He’ll admit that he fumbled when he first got the job. You can’t really slip an engaged couple your phone number without getting weird looks. Not that he’s tried.)

“I’m telling you—” Lance obscenely shoves four pieces of sushi in his mouth and keeps talking. “—if you just flirt with them a little, then they’ll buy it.”

“Flirt with girls. In my fiancée’s family’s jewelry store.”

“You got it all wrong. Here—let me teach you.” Lance swallows his sushi whole and stands to his feet. “You gotta look them in the eye and like, smile and stuff.”

“Okay.” Hunk gestures to the front door as a new customer approaches. “Teach away.”

*

The guy that walks in is a perfect example of what Lance used to get tongue-tied over. He’s got smooth, flawless pale skin, a nice frame, and is super easy on the eyes. His fashion sense isn’t godawful either: a nice v-neck that frames his chest, long dark jeans that show off slender legs and a nice butt, and a pair of red Chucks. (Chucks are always a classic.)  Lance’s one drawback is the dirty mullet.

Otherwise? Solid 8 out of 10. (A good nine-and-a-half if Mullet Guy cut his hair.)

Mullet Guy stands at the entrance of the store awkwardly, like every mortified boyfriend, and makes a beeline towards the wedding sets.

Lance wipes the soy sauce off his mouth and winks at Hunk for good luck.

The solid 8-out-of-10 guy quickly declines to a zero.

“Hey,” Lance greets amicably. He waves at the guy from the other side of the jewelry case. “How’s it going?”

Mullet Guy ignores him in favor of studying every ring that they have.

So Lance waits. A lot of people come in, absolutely terrified at the thought of marriage. Usually in a good way. Then they bow down to him and his jewelry-choosing skills.

Mullet Guy does not notice.

“First time in a jewelry store?” Lance starts.  He taps his fingers against the glass. “Pretty intimidating, right?”

His icebreaker gets lost in some invisible wormhole. It takes ten incredibly awkward seconds for Mullet Guy to acknowledge his presence.

The pretty eyes blink in surprise, looking up at Lance. “Oh, hi.”

“Hi…” Lance arches an eyebrow. He flashes a look to the other side of the storefront, where his best friend is perched. Hunk shrugs. When Lance looks back to Mullet Guy, he finds that he’s once again forgotten.

Mullet Guy strokes his chin and leans as close to the case as possible. “How much are these things actually worth?”

“Anything you want, depending on your budget.” Lance flashes a smile and matches M.G.’s distance. Close and personal. 

Apparently too close, because M.G. inches back.

“Sorry, sorry, did I get in your bubble?” Lance flashes an apologetic look and quickly recovers. “You have any questions?”

“I’m...good,” M.G. mumbles reluctantly. “You...can go away now.”

Ouch. Lance frowns. He hears Hunk stifle a laugh.

“C’mon, let me help you out. I know what I’m doing and you’re probably very confused.” Attempting to save face, Lance gestures between the both of them with a sincere smile. He chooses his next words carefully. “How much is your girlfriend worth?”

M.G. coughs, refusing to make eye contact with him. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Boyfriend, then?” Lance takes a step towards the men’s section. “I’d be happy to show you some men’s bands.”

He stops mid-trek when he notices M.G. barely moving an inch. Suddenly the guy yelps .

“This ring is eight-thousand dollars? Seriously?” M.G. gestures towards the pad.

Lance follows the customer’s hand. In his head, he’s slowly figuring out M.G.’s budget. Definitely not eight-thousand dollars. “Actually, that’s for the semi-mount. You’d still have to pay for the center diamond.”

“And how much does that run?”

“Depends on how big you want that middle rock.” Lance pulls the ring out of the display case and puts it on his finger. “Closer to a thousand if you want a quarter carat. A full carat would probably be more than this mounting.”

“For a shiny rock,” M.G. spits. It rubs Lance the wrong way.

“Yeah,” Lance assures. “For a big romantic diamond.”

“A shiny rock,” M.G. repeats condescendingly. He shakes his head in disbelief and runs his hand through his ugly hair. “You’re literally telling me to spend nine-thousand dollars to give someone a shiny rock.”

Now Lance is getting annoyed. He doesn’t appreciate not being noticed, or being talked down to by a guy who has no idea what he’s talking about. The formality drops out of his voice. “Then why’re you in a jewelry store, buddy?”

Hunk must have sensed the hostility in his voice. The other worker quickly downs the last of his sushi and makes haste to Lance’s side.

For a second, M.G. genuinely looks like he feels bad. Like he realizes he should be kissing Lance’s feet to get the best engagement ring possible. But he must have sensed the irritation in Lance’s voice, too, because he gets defensive. “I said I didn’t need any help.”

“Clearly you do with that haircut!”It’s a dumb rebuttal, sure, since they’re talking about rings and not nasty mullets, but he decides that M.G.’s look of confusion is worth the insult. He gives himself a mental high-five.

M.G. squeaks. “What’s wrong with my hair?!”

“Diamond prices vary based on quality and how they’re cut and grown.” Hunk quickly tries to save Lance’s ass. “It depends on what grade they are, how many inclusions they have, if they’re certified—I’m sorry about Lance. Please excuse his very big mouth.”

M.G. scowls at Lance, hands coiled into fists. His gaze shifts to Hunk and he slowly relaxes. “That’s fine. Can I talk to you instead? Please?”

“Sure.” Hunk sighs in relief. He shoots Lance a look that clearly means, ‘Your method didn’t work, so be quiet.’

Fine. Lance keeps his mouth shut. Hunk and Jerkface (formally known as Mullet Guy, formally known as M.G.) talk quietly, both occasionally shooting Lance looks when he interjects. Hunk’s of concern. M.G. rolling his eyes.

“This is all a bit much,” Jerkface murmurs. He scratches his head again and sighs. “What could I get for fifty dollars?”

Then, Lance loses it.

“What do you think?” Lance howls with laughter. “Dumped!”

The customer’s face flushes red. His shoulders raise, hands looking ready to put Lance in a chokehold. (Lance keeps laughing until tears are coming out from the corner of his eyes.)

“Now,” Hunk hastily says, attempting to alleviate the situation. “Fifty dollars isn’t…really doable for an engagement ring, but perhaps I could show you our financing option.”

“No thank you. I should go.” M.G. quickly defuses the bomb. He reaches out and shakes Hunk’s hand. “Thank you for your time.”

“Oh, no problem. Hope we—I—was of help to you, Keith.” Hunk smiles back nervously.

“Yeah. I’m never coming here again,” the guy says under his breath. Jerkface McGee saunters back to the front entrance, cradling his bruised ego. He whirls around one last time and jabs a finger at Lance. “My hair is fine. AND YOU’RE THE MOST ANNOYING ASSHOLE I’VE EVER MET!”

SLAM

Lance freezes. He stares at the door in shock while Hunk bursts out laughing.

“I am NOT ANNOYING!” Lance screams. “WHO NEEDS YOUR BUSINESS ANYWAY?”

Hunk wipes the tear from under his eye. “Rax is going to kill you if he leaves a bad review.”

Fuck. “Maybe he’ll be back?”

*

A week passes.

Work goes smoothly. Rax gives him a pat on the back for another big jewelry sale (this super pretty girl who wants to surprise her fiancé with tuxedo cuffs before the wedding), so Lance gets to slack off just a little bit.

Once the pads are clean, he does his last round of quizzes for his summer classes. Lance promises to put his laptop away if a customer comes in, but with his classes coming to an end for the summer term, he’s hyper focused on his upcoming finals.

Hunk is busy in the back with their boss, helping with repair jobs, and Shay is currently looking through catalogues for more Garrison University colors to add to their collection.

Bzzt Bzzt

Princess (1:52PM): Thanks for taking care of the mice! You’re a lifesaver!

Lance grins.

Lance M. (1:52PM): Any time! You know I’d do anything for you.

Princess (1:53PM): Can you water the plants, too?

He pauses to type up a clever response. The door chimes while Lance is trying to find the perfect outfit for his bitmoji.

And Jerkface Mullethead walks in.

They do a double take of one another: Lance rocking back and forth on a stool, nonfat skinny latte in one hand, phone in the other, and twenty tabs open on his laptop. (Not that J.F.M.H. can see the last part.) Jerkface looks exactly like he did a week ago: bird’s nest of hair, black shirt, and—fingerless gloves? Really?

Silence. Shania Twain’s ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much ’ belts out the stereo. JerkFace scans the store, clearly trying to find Hunk. Or—more truthfully—anyone but Lance.

“Need help?” Lance asks insincerely.

“Nope.” J.F.M.H. makes a beeline toward the wedding sets.

“Still can’t buy a ring for fifty bucks,” Lance calls out.

“Still didn’t ask for your opinion,” the guy shoots back.

Whatever.

Lance goes back to looking at his school schedule and textbooks. The first CASA meeting is the first Thursday of school, so he shoots his mom a text to get her famous tres leches recipe. Hunk will probably be over the moon about that later. Preparations for school goes smoothly once Lance is in the zone.

He only gets distracted once when he hears a FaceTime ring.

“Can you see okay?” He hears JerkFace say. “Good. Okay. What about this one?” Pause.  “No…?” Pause. “What’d…you say?”

JerkFace is actually trying to get someone’s opinion over the phone for an engagement ring.

Unbelievable. Lance is offended for this guy’s girlfriend. He sets down his phone and makes his way behind the counter.

“I don’t want to ask the dumb sales guy for his help,” Jerkface grumbles, apparently responding to the person on the other side.

“Ahem.” Lance waves a hand in front of the guy’s face, reluctant. “Dumb sales guy here. Need help?”

“No.” Jerkface scowls.

“Keith, they have salesmen for a reason. He’s here to help,” says the phone.

“Yeah, Keith,” Lance parrots. “I’m here to help.”

Keith (oh yeah—that’s what Hunk called him, too) looks between his phone screen and Lance’s face, clearly deciding that he’d rather eat a bug than let Jerkfaceelp him.

(That’s a little dramatic, Lance thinks. After all, he’d rather die than help this jerk.)

“This is for my girlfriend,” Phone Person says. “Be nice.”

“Fine.” Keith abandons his scowl and turns his phone around. “Shiro, meet Sales Guy. Sales Guy, meet my brother Shiro.”

If Keith was an eight out of ten (though currently closer to a negative twenty because of that dumb mouth), then Shiro was a hundred.

Lance is too busy picking his mouth off the ground to muster up a ‘hi.’

That jawline had to be a gift from the gods. And that undercut was too fucking good for this world. And—eyeliner?

“Glad to be working with you,” Shiro says. He flashes a virtual smile.

Fuck. Lance actually tries to shake Shiro’s hand. The gesture is futile and an oblivious Keith shakes it on his brother’s behalf. (Albeit with a frown.)

“…really excited to see this store, it’s great.” Half of Shiro’s conversation is lost while Lance is salivating, but most of it gets through. “I really want the ring to come from here since this town is where my girlfriend and I met.”

“Wait,” Lance pieces together the conversation. He points to Keith. “You’re buying your brother’s engagement ring? For fifty bucks?”

“That’s none of your business,” Keith snaps. He genuinely looks aggravated by Lance’s comment.

“Keith is gonna be my best man. He insisted on helping me pay for the ring as a gift even though I keep telling him he doesn’t need to worry about it.” Shiro flashes a sheepish look, though it’s hard to tell who it’s for.

“So…you’re at an internship and you sent your brother here to help you find a ring.” Lance replays all of Shiro’s introduction in his head. “Because you and your girlfriend met at Garry U?”

Shiro nods. “That’s the gist of it.”

That is the sweetest thing Lance has ever heard. “I think I have a cavity.”

Keith crosses his arms, refusing to look either one in the eye. (Or face cam.)

Lance still doesn’t like this guy’s, ‘I Don’t Care’ attitude and thinks JerkFace could learn a thing or two from Eyeliner God. But Keith can’t be all that bad if someone as hot as Shiro is willing to put up with him. And Lance thinks one of them needs to be the bigger person. Obviously it’s going to be him.

“Does she have a Pinterest?” Lance shakes off his stupor and goes into full salesman mode. “Look at her wedding board.”

Both brothers look genuinely confused.

“Everyone has a wedding board on Pinterest. It’s better than any wedding planner in the state.” Lance holds up fingers and rattles off words. “That’s how you figure out your dress, what kind of venue you want, your wedding theme… what kind of rings she likes…”

They exchange looks.

“What’s Pinterest?” Shiro asks.

Which is how Lance spends the next hour explaining how neither one of them are utilizing the Most Powerful Tool to Understand Women This Decade and has to start from the beginning.

“Rose gold is all the rage right now. White gold is a classic, everybody likes it. Hunk made Shay a yellow gold ring—don’t ask me why, I was confused too—but it’s super pretty.” Lance waggles his fingers around, gesturing to each colored metal. “And you gotta be careful about this one. Yellow sneaks up on you. White gold probably won’t hurt, but if you get rose and she loves rose, you’re definitely going to get a yes.”

“I’d like getting a yes,” Shiro agrees. He strokes his chin.

Keith holds the phone closely to Lance’s hand, sporting a similar look. It’d be cute if he wasn’t such an asshole. “Isn’t her favorite color pink?”

 “If you like a ring and you don’t see in rose, I can get it in for you.” Lance puts away his three example rings and pulls out three more. “Now what kind of band do you want?”

“I thought we decided on pink?”

“He means what kind of design you want.” Keith looks at his brother’s picture and then points out a few rings Lance didn’t choose. “You could go with a solitaire ring—that’s one diamond and a plain band. Or you could have little diamonds coming up on the side. Some bands have little details or side diamonds under the shank. See?”

“Oh, I like that one. What are those diamonds around the middle diamond called?”

“A halo.” Keith gestures to both examples. “This one has a round halo. This one has baguettes around it.”

Lance stares. He’s not subtle about it.

Keith starts getting uncomfortable again. “What? I did my research.”

“Because you were so intimidated by me last time?” Lance teases.

He stares Lance dead in the eye. “No.”

“Chill—is he always this intense?” Lance hovers in Keith’s bubble to catch a glimpse of Shiro again. Sigh.

“I try to tell him to drink more green tea. It’s calming.”

“You are such an old man.” Keith grimaces.

“Neither one of you knew what Pinterest was.” Lance rolls his eyes. “You’re both old men. How either one of you have girlfriends and have gotten this far blows my mind.”

Shiro laughs, Keith shoots him a look. Lance goes back to his Rings for Dummies lecture, occasionally holding examples. With Shiro playing mediator, this Keith guy isn’t half bad. He’s pretty much like every other young customer Lance has ever dealt with. Except more intelligent. Lance doesn’t  want to admit it, but Keith throws things out there that even he doesn’t know.

“Dinner’s ready. Don’t know when I’ll be able to call you next, bro.” Shiro sighs. “Think you can handle it from here?”

“We like pink cushions,” Keith confirms.

“Rose gold band and cushion cut diamonds,” Lance corrects.

Keith rolls his eyes. “Yeah. That.”

“Cool. I’ll see if I can ask a friend of hers for her Pinterest account.”

“Bye, Shiro.”

“Bye, bro.”

He places his phone back in his pocket and returns to staring at the wedding sets in silence.

Lance taps his fingers against the jewelry case, unsure what to say. (That’s a lie. He always has something to say.) “He seems nice.”

Just like their first meeting, Lance’s words reach Keith at a ten second delay. Keith apparently forgets Lance is there again. He’s taken aback that someone graced his presence like the arrogant prick he is. “Yeah.”

Great. Lance already misses Shiro. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about, considering you’ve only been at this for a week.”

“Thanks.” Keith meets Lance’s eye and then goes back to ignoring him.

Woooow. “This usually works out better when there’s an open line of communication. For the record.”

A sigh comes from Keith’s lips. He cocks his head towards Lance, like it’s a goddamn burden to look the salesman. “If Shiro has any questions, I’ll let you know.”

“Great.” Lance grits his teeth.

“Great,” Keith echoes. He rolls his eyes and slowly makes his way to the door.  Before he leaves, he looks over his shoulder and back to Lance. “Thanks.”

Then he leaves without another word.

It’s only then that Hunk and Rax appear. Rax proceeds to lock the front door while Hunk plugs in the vacuum cleaner.

“Not much of a talker, is he?” Hunk notes. He stands beside his best friend, observing the dozen rings Lance had pulled out to show the brothers. “’About time you finished. We were supposed to close fifteen minutes ago.”

“Customers take time.” Rax shakes his head in disapproval. “We should be happy that he didn’t leave a bad review.”

They talk, but Lance doesn’t respond.

“Lance? Buddy?” Hunk waves a hand in front of his friend’s face—which stays fixated on the door after Keith left. “You there?”

“Um,” Lance yells belatedly, “you’re WELCOME?”

*

/

When Keith gets back to his apartment, he struggles to open the front door. He glares tiredly at the four spinning keyholes and unlocks it on the fourth, fifth—sixth attempt.

Exhaustion hits him like a freight train. Keith staggers into the two-bedroom apartment, mumbling a greeting to his roommate and brushing a hand against his cat’s head, before bumping into the armrest of their sofa and collapsing face first between the cushions.

“Hi to you too,” Pidge greets from her room. She pokes her head out the door, hands still flying a mile a minute over her controller. It takes another five minutes or so before she calls it good and appears with their overgrown pet in her arms. “Are you just now getting back from the jewelry store?”

“’Esss,” Keith groans into the couch pillow. His head hurts. Simba decides to take advantage of the situation and jump onto his back.

“Take it that salesman wasn’t there this time?” She bats at his feet to make room for herself and reaches for the TV remote.

Keith twists his body and pets his cat. “He was there. The nice one wasn’t.”

“Did Shiro find a ring?”

“He narrowed it down to seventy-five.”

“Are you serious?”

“They have so many styles.” Keith waves his hands around. “I don’t even know how! Stupid side diamonds, stupid halos, stupid band colors. And some of these are just—” Keith makes air quotations. “—semi-mounts. He still has to pay for the diamond, too! Then he has to figure out how big of a diamond, what kind he wants—I don’t understand why I can’t just close my eyes and pick one.”

Pidge snorts. “Didn’t you volunteer for this?”

“Yes? No?” Keith pauses. “Are best men usually part of the ring-picking process?”

“Beats me. My mom’s ring came from grandma.” Pidge shrugs. “Personally I think I’d rather have an engagement SSD.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Pidge pats Keith’s shin sympathetically. “I know.”

The week before Shiro left for his internship, he sat the family down (including Keith) and announced that he wanted to marry Allura. Ami and Kazuhiro were ecstatic, both jumping up and down with lots of hugs and questions on how he was going to pop the question. 

Keith sat there, smiling. He was happy for his foster brother.

It completely threw him for a loop when Shiro said, “I already know I want you to be my best man.”

He’d never been a best man before. He’s never been close enough to anyone that was getting married. And—well, he not even sure if it’s typical for people to get married at his age. (He had to google it that night. Apparently twenty-year-olds do it all the time.) 

Keith had humbly accepted Shiro’s request. After all—the Shiroganes have been nothing but accepting since they took him in. They welcomed him with open arms.

“Don’t you think Matt would be a better choice?” Keith had asked later.

“Matt will be there,” Shiro assures. “But I want you.”

The sincerity in Shiro’s voice warmed his heart. After that, Keith insisted helping in any way possible—which…isn’t much yet. He’s still fuzzy on what he’s supposed to be doing. His big brother has spent so many years covering his expenses and taking care of him that Keith thought it only natural to help pay for the ring.

“I have plenty in savings. Trust me.” Shiro shook his head over the phone when Keith volunteered. “But you could help me pick the ring.”

Which is why Keith is spending his first weeks back in town researching everything he can about engagement rings.

And why he has to deal with the weird asshole at the jewelry store Shiro insisted on the ring being from.

Keith was so pissed off the first time he went in that he spent six days googling gemstones and engagement rings. Even their origins. He admits that he made the mistake of going there before doing research. Having things blow up in his face is the last thing Keith likes.

“Did all the studying pay off?” Pidge starts up their PS4.

“Yeah.” A lot. Through his bangs, he sees her grin.

“Feel good to show him up?”

“Felt great.”

*

Keith comes back to the store two days later. Lance sees him walking up to the front door—and then bolts to the back.

Hunk finds him hiding behind a plant. “Your customer’s here.”

Lance groans. “Why’s he my customer?”

“You know what kind of ring he’s looking for, what color he wants, and what his budget is.” Hunk waves his hand. “Therefore, your customer.”

“Actually, it’s for his brother. He’s window shopping while Shiro is at an internship.” And Lance asks fate every day why that brother couldn’t walk into the store instead of the gross mullet one. He still gets heart palpitations thinking about that perfect eyeliner face.

“See?” Hunk completely misses Lance’s disdain. Or he doesn’t care. “You know what’s up. Your customer.”

“But he likes you more than me.”

“Most people do,” Hunk agrees. “But he asked for you.”

Well, that’s new.

Lance quietly debates whether or not he can sneak out of the store by wrapping a curtain around himself—Keith doesn’t seem to have the best deductive skills. He spends a moment thinking about all of the disguises he could whip together last minute. Rax comes into the break room and yells at him for taking too long.

So against his will, Lance readjusts his bowtie and drags his feet to the counter.

Keith actually greets him first. “Hey.”

“Hi…” Lance gives Keith a once-over. Black shirt. Dark pants. Converse. Okay. “I heard you were asking for me.”

“Well, I would’ve preferred Hunk, but I need you,” Keith admits. His demeanor twists into a frown, cheeks pink.

“Can’t live without me?” Lance smirks.

Keith walks three pads away. “Shiro wants pictures of all the rings he liked.”

“Oh-kay. Feel free.” Lance leans against the wall and inspects his manicure.

“I need a hand model.” Keith coughs awkwardly. “You’re, uh. Your hands are actually pretty similar to his girlfriend’s.”

Well then. Lance pulls out a case key and saunters after Keith. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Where do you want to start, Keith-y boy?”

“Please don’t call me that again.”

“Whatever. Just be sure to get my good side.”

“I’m only taking pictures of your hands.” Keith grumbles. He whips out his phone. “Not your face.”

“And my hands look good from this angle.” Lance reaches out and tilts the other’s phone screen. “See?”

“No,” Keith says.

“I hate you.”

Thusly, the next two hours are spent with Lance hand-modeling. He’s technically only allowed to take a few rings out at a time, and Shiro is open-minded in all the worst ways possible. (You want to narrow it down as soon as possible. Lance can’t really do that with I-Only-Know-Yes-or-No Keith because A: the first thing he mentioned and B: Shiro’s the one getting engaged and they’ve already established that Keith doesn’t have good taste.)

After the tenth ring or so, Keith puts his phone down and frowns. He looks up to Lance expectantly.

“What?” Lance snaps more harshly than he intended. Knowing Mr. Jerkface GrumpMullet, he’s waiting for Lance to kiss his feet and call him a god.

“Is there like a trick to this?” Keith asks wearily. “Like, do you have a best seller that I can just send his way?”

“Well yeah, but you’re not supposed to know that.”

Blank stare.

“Every girl wants her ring to be as unique and original as possible but also look like everyone else’s ring,” Lance explains.

“That makes no sense.”

“No, but girls are scary and I don’t question them.” Lance waves his hand dismissively and reaches for a piece he’s sold more than thrice. “People usually stop and look at this one a lot. I recommend it to guys and they always gobble it up.”

“That looks like every single ring in this case.” Keith arches an eyebrow. He takes his phone again and looks through the pictures they’ve already taken. “That looks like five of these!”

“You’re blind,” Lance says. He points to the one on his pinky finger. “This one has a halo around it. That one is just a big diamond.”

“So I should get the ring with the smaller diamonds hugging the bigger diamond.” Keith rubs his temples and gestures to Lance’s hand.

“You should get the ring that you like the most.” Lance pauses. “Well—you should get the ring that Shiro likes the most.”

“He’s open to anything,” Keith grumbles.

Anything,   Lance puts that musing aside. “Hurts you more than helps you. Him. Did he get her Pinterest?”

“He’s going to ask her today.”

“No, no—” Lance shakes his head vehemently. “Don’t ask her—then she’s going to know that he’s up to something.”

“But you said I should get it.”

“Yeah, but don’t make it obvious.”

Keith runs his hand through his hair (which Lance admits, looks pretty sexy in a condescending douche kind of way) and  bends over to look at the ring on Lance’s hand. Closely. Very closely.

Close enough that it weirds Lance out. “Dude, I can feel your breath on my hand.”

“You think she’d like it?”

“Do I think that a girl will like something shiny and sparkly and getting engaged to your hunky brother?” Lance scoffs. “Not at all.”

“You’re not a very good salesman.”

“Excuse you. I’ll have you know that I’ve made employee of the week three times in a row.” Lance harrumphs and flicks his hand in Keith’s face. “If you ever find someone who can put up with your dumb attitude and is stupid enough to want to tie the knot with you, you’ll be kissing my feet and begging for a ring.”

Keith dismisses the comment and returns to looking at the cases. “Trust me, I know I’m never getting a ring.”

“I don’t know if I’m impressed that you agree with me or concerned that you aren’t disagreeing with me.” Lance arches an eyebrow. He shouldn’t prod, but Keith’s outlook on life just seems miserable.

“Why waste thousands of dollars on a dumb rock when I can put that towards something else? Like travelling the world?” Keith rolls his eyes, clearly not caring about Lance’s thoughtful insight. “Or something.”

Lance snorts. “They call that the honeymoon, genius.”

“You’re really not selling this ring to me.”

“You’re right, I’m not. Look, do you love your brother?” He asks. “Clearly you do.”

Keith’s aggravated demeanor dissolves. He nods.

“He’s the one wanting the ring. He’s the one that wants to put this pretty little diamond on his girlfriend’s finger and ride off on a rocket ship to the moon with her.” Lance points emphatically to the ring on his finger. “So take yourself out of this decision and think about what he wants—because that’s why you’re here. To pick out your brother’s ring.”

As an afterthought, Lance adds:

“Also note that this isn’t the weirdest way that I’ve sold jewelry, but this is definitely the most impractical. So it’s totally justified to be annoyed at him.” 

To Lance’s surprise, Keith takes those words to heart. Keith studies the ring even more carefully upon Lance’s finger and relaxes. And then, he repeats himself more gently this time. “Do you think she’d like it?”

“I think she’ll be happy that her boyfriend wants to spend the rest of his life with her.” Lance shrugs. “But you know her better than I do and he knows her better than you do.”

Keith sighs and scratches his head. “She doesn’t like me very much.”

“So you’re looking at rings for your brother and she doesn’t like you.” Lance gives a low whistle. “Yeah. Impractical.”

“It’s…a long story. I don’t think she thinks I like her very much either,” Keith explains. Which makes even less sense. His expression implies that the words came out wrong. Instead, Keith whips out his camera and snaps a quick picture of Lance’s hand. “This is enough for now. I’ll run the ideas by him and see what he says.”

“Cool. Lemme see.” Lance holds out his hand expectantly.

Naturally, Keith’s face twists suspiciously. “Why?”

“Because you don’t care about my good side so I have to care for both of us.” Lance harrumphs. “Phone.”

Keith obliges. Lance shrieks.

“These look awful!” Lance sifts through all the photos and lets out another incoherent sound. “You made my hands look chubby!”

“Did you ever think that maybe you have chubby fingers?” Keith combats.

“No, my hands are gorgeous. We’re retaking these.” Lance throws the phone back to his customer. “Make my hands look good.”

“I just spent an hour looking through all of these!”

“And he’s not going to like them if he’s too distracted by your ugly photography.” Lance jabs a finger into Keith’s chest. “He can’t pretend that my hand is her hand if it looks that bad.”

Begrudgingly, Keith looks through all of the photos himself. His demeanor shifts, and he compares the pictures side-by-side next to Lance’s hands. A sigh of defeat leaves his lips. “Fine. Let’s make your hands look more delicate.”

“That’s all I ask for.”

Thus, Keith spends not one, but two hours in the store with Lance taking dainty hand photos. All the while mumbling something about ‘chubby fingers’ and ‘dumb Shiro.’

*

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:40PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:41PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:41PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:41PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:41PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith K. (9:42PM): I like the second to last one.

 

Shiro (9:45PM): I’m pretty sure I’ve seen two of these rings before…

 

Shiro (9:48PM): No wait

 

Shiro (9:48PM): My coffee barista was wearing a ring like the one you like

 

Keith K. (9:49PM): Why were you creeping on your barista?

 

Shiro (9:49PM): Rings are on my mind

 

Shiro (9:49PM): Trust me, you’ll start noticing these things too once you’re ring shopping

 

Keith K. (9:52PM): Which one makes you think of Allura?

 

Shiro (9:53PM): Well the one you like makes me think of my barista

 

Keith K. (9:54PM): Shiro…

 

Shiro (9:55PM): I’m open to any one of the rings. Which one’s your second favorite?

 

Shiro (9:59PM): Hello? Keith?

 

Keith K. (10:02PM): Lance says that my opinion doesn’t matter and that ultimately it’s gonna be down to what you like.

 

Shiro (10:04PM): Well, what’s your opinion?

 

Keith K. (10:04PM): All of these rings look the same and I can’t believe you only narrowed it down to 75

 

Shiro (10:05PM): oh yeah! Did you get pictures of those?

 

Keith K. (10:06PM): No

 

Shiro (10:06PM): I think I remember one from the other day. It had pretty side diamonds on them

 

Keith K. (10:06PM): Shiro

 

Keith K. (10:06PM): Literally eight of those pictures had side diamonds

 

Shiro (10:07): Yeah, but this one was different!

 

Shiro (10:07): Do you think you can go back and check?

Keith tosses his phone on his nightstand and groans. He’s going to have to go back in the store and deal with Lance again? That salesman knew how to wear him out and push all of his buttons without even trying.  

His phone buzzes once more, echoing against the hard surface.

Shiro (10:10PM): Please with sprinkles on top?

 

Shiro (10:11PM): I’ll be your best friend :D

 

Not that Keith really has a choice.

Keith K. (10:11PM): Yeah, I’ll go back in the morning.

 

Shiro (10:15PM): Thank you!!

 

Shiro (10:15PM): That hand model is good by the way.

 

Shiro (10:15PM): For a second I actually thought it was Allura

*

The next morning, Lance stops off at the apartment next door before heading to work. His neighbor’s been out of town, so Lance has had the honor of petsitting her five cute mice and her boyfriend’s pet cat.

“Good morning, sugarplum.” Lance’s lips split into a grin as Kovu greets him at the door, purring. “Who’s a good kitty? It’s you! It’s you!”

The morning goes by smoothly. He waters the plants, feeds the mice, tells each mouse why they’re special and that Kovu is their brother, not a replacement (as per instructions), swings Kovu in the air shouting, “Simbaaaaa!”  and cleans up whatever mess he missed the last time he was there. Lance has spent plenty of time using the place as a study space for his summer classes, so both mice and Kovu have gotten used to his presence.

There’s something therapeutic about being able to come into someone else’s apartment and get comfortable to study. Lance gets distracted at the library with too much going on. Here he has a cat to pet when he takes breaks and mice to tickle.

Before he leaves for work, Lance cradles Kovu like a small child and takes a picture. “Smile for Mommy, Kovs!”

Lance M. (8:45AM): [Image Sent]

 

Lance M. (8:45AM): Kovu and the kiddos miss you almost as much as I do!

He peels Kovu off of his leg and sets off for his drive to work.

Princess (8:50AM): I miss them so much!! I’ll be back at the end of the week!

Lance glances at the message as he pulls out of the driveway. The corner of his mouth lifts into a grin. He texts her back when he reaches a red light.

Lance M. (8:53AM): Tell your bf that he can’t have his cat back

 

Lance M. (8:53AM): He’s mine now

 

Princess (8:53AM): Absolutely not! He would kill me!

 

Lance M. (8:53AM): Kovu is my son now

 

Lance M. (8:54AM): You’ll have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands

He pulls into the parking lot of the jewelry store and unbuckles his seatbelt. Her next message makes him snicker.

Princess (8:55AM): Please. *I* can take you.

 

Lance M. (8:58AM): Am I ever going to meet this guy??

 

Lance M. (8:58AM):  I’m only picking up his son’s poop

Lance wanders to the front of the building, face glued to his phone. He rattles his hand against the door for someone to let him in—and her next message makes him scream in the happiest way possible.

“What?” Hunk shouts over Lance’s happy wailing. He lets his best friend in the building and quickly clamps hands over his ears. “Why are you screaming?”

“Because—this!” Lance nearly punches his best friend out as he shoves the phone screen in Hunk’s face.

Princess (9:00AM): Well

 

Princess (9:00AM): He might be coming in for a ring soon…

“Aw, Allura and her boyfriend are finally ready to tie the knot? That’s sweet.” Hunk’s expression beams. “See if they’ll come in here to get the ring.”

“Working on it.” Lance is already halfway done typing up his excitement by the time Hunk is finished talking. He’s shaking with delight.

Lance M. (9:05AM): WHAT REALLY

 

Lance M. (9:05AM): HOW DO YOU KNOW??

 

Lance M. (9:05AM):  Are you supposed to know??

 

Princess (9:07AM): We talked about it before our internships

 

Princess (9:07AM): And it’s just a feeling

 

Princess (9:08AM):  

 

Princess (9:08AM): Even when his heart’s in the right place.

 

Princess (9:08AM: ESPECIALLY when his heart’s in the right place

 

Lance M (9:10AM): Game plan:

 

Lance M. (9:10AM): Come into the store ASAP and I’ll help you choose a ring

 

Lance M. (9:10AM): Like top 5. Then I can drag his ass here and he can choose from those

(He has no idea what Allura’s boyfriend looks like but every guy is at the mercy of getting it right for their girlfriend.)

 

Lance M. (9:10AM): Literally fool proof.

 

Princess (9:11AM): You mean I’ll get to try on rings???

Princess (9:11AM): [Image Sent]

Allura’s picture is of a cartoon monkey with the biggest sparkly eyes that Lance has ever seen.

Lance M. (9:11AM): YES

Rax yells at them for slacking off and ushers them to set up the store before open. Lance spends the next half hour dancing and singing to the heavens. It’s one thing to help out a senior citizen or a random customer with jewelry—but a friend?

He’s Cupid, and Lance absolutely loves having that power.

Also: he’s been dying to meet his super awesome neighbor’s probably equally-attractive beau for months now.

“She’s going to toast to us at the wedding,” Lance gloats as he wipes down the cases. “I bet her boyfriend’s as gorgeous as she is.”

“You know how many times I’ve heard you say that since we moved in next door?” Hunk replies. “Too many. Stop flirting with our clientele.”

“They’re not even our clientele yet.” Lance waves his hand dismissively. “Totally different.”

“Stop flirting with our neighbors then. It’s weird.”

“Say what you want, but I do it for the mice.”

Hunk shudders at that. For such a big guy, it amazes Lance that Hunk is afraid of something so small. “Well whoever you do it for, just make sure you keep it in your pants when they come in together.”

“C’mon Hunk. You aren’t even a little curious? Allura is super cool and interesting and pretty.” Lance swoons. “She’s too good for this world. So her boyfriend must be pretty freakin’ awesome. I think I’m in love already.”

To his surprise, Hunk grabs the Windex bottle and sprays him in the face. “You stop that.”

“HEY!”

The rest of opening is spent with Lance prancing around the jewelry store, absolutely giddy. He can’t help it—he’s about to make another sale and he gets to make Allura happy. Hunk eventually tunes him out and Rax gives up reeling Lance in.

It's a win-win, really.

Plus, this mystery boyfriend is probably a babe.

Once the vacuum cleaning is done, Rax tosses Lance the key to open the front doors.

Keith waves at him unenthusiastically.

Lance’s excitement gets the better of him. He yanks Keith by the hand and starts dancing. “Hey!”

“Hi?” Keith blinks in confusion, but doesn’t resist. “Um—why are you spinning me?”

“Because my neighbor is getting married and I’m helping her with the ring and I’m absolutely fucking ecstatic!” Lance dips Keith, grinning from ear-to-ear while his dance partner looks ready to puke. “So what do you want?”

Without a second thought, Keith pries himself out of Lance’s grip and wrinkles his nose. “Shiro decided on a ring.”

Two pieces of good news this early in the morning. He may not have to see Jerkface’s face ever again. Lance grins again. “Tell me.”

“The one with side diamonds.”

Lance’s smile drops.

Keith sighs, already dreading the answer. “That’s not very specific, is it?”

“Oh, it’s very specific.” Lance leans against one of the cases and rubs his temples lightly. “That narrows it down to about three hundred.”

More screams are heard. Only this time it’s Keith, and Lance doesn’t think they’re happy screams.  

*

“So do you go to Garry U?”

Lance’s question catches him off guard. Keith snaps out of his thoughts and looks up to the other’s bored face. The answer is more complicated than he wants to let on and Lance is the last person he wants to explore those feelings with. “Um. No.”

“So you moved here on a whim? Because there’s no way you went to high school here.” Lance arches an eyebrow, unconvinced. “You could fit my entire graduating class in one classroom. I’d remember your face.”

“Why are you being nosy?” Keith’s gaze narrows. He’s drained.

Oblivious to Keith’s growing irritation, Lance holds the ring up to the light. “We’ve already established that you don’t care about rings and I don’t want to sit here and watch you interrogate each one you see.”

“Interrogate?”

“Please. It’s like you’re playing bad cop trying to see what’s wrong with the jewelry.” Lance squares his shoulders and makes a face—apparently trying to mimic Keith’s mannerisms. “’You’re trying to hurt my brother’s chances of getting a yes, aren’t you? Tell me how!’”

 “I don’t sound like that!” Keith balks. “And maybe if you weren’t so obnoxious, you’d be able to sell me a damn ring!”

“Well maybe if your brother wasn’t so particular, we wouldn’t be at each other’s throats!”

“Yeah, he’s a real pain!” 

They scowl at each other, and Keith is reminded why he’s been so annoyed in the last few weeks. He doesn’t know how ring-shopping is supposed to go, but he feels like fate decided to stick him with the most annoying salesman ever. Lance has been nothing but an asshole since they first met.

Some dumbass, privileged arrogant asshole who—also decided to sort of dance with him earlier.

(The last part confuses Keith—but he reminds himself that he’s incredibly annoyed.)

And then Lance does this.

“So…are we fighting?” he asks. “I can’t tell if I’m still supposed to be angry with you.”

Keith pinches the bridge of his nose, defeated. “I don’t know. I think we shouted that we agreed with each other.”

“Cool. So your brother’s a moron.”

“Yeah.”

“I go to Garry.” Lance shrugs. “I’m in the aerospace engineering program. I wanna be a pilot.”

Again—a touchy subject that Keith doesn’t like to get into. Especially that one. He tugs at his sleeve nervously, hoping it doesn’t show on his face. “Shiro’s in the grad program for that.”

“No—really?” Lance’s eyes light up like it’s Christmas. It’s refreshing from the constant sneers and bratty attitude. The grin on Lance’s face is honestly endearing. “The grad program here is hella hard to get into! Your brother must be crazy smart.”

“He graduated magna cum laude. Managed to make high marks on all of his tests and still juggle a girlfriend,” Keith mutters. He turns his gaze away. “And a job too, I think. I work at the same restaurant he used to. The guy is basically Superman.”

In more ways than one.

Lance’s eyes shimmer with a thousand stars. He’s also drooling. “Do you think he’d take me for a ride?”

“A ride,” Keith repeats. “To space.”

“Yes!”

A guy that Keith has met in less time than the amount of fingers that he has on one hand? Probably yes, knowing Shiro.

“He’s a bit busy,” Keith admits. “But he definitely wouldn’t say no.”

Shifting his weight between his heels, Keith snorts as he notices Lance swoon. Lance is muttering something under his breath along the lines of: “Pilot. Hot. Eyeliner. God. Biceps,” and Keith is definitely rolling his eyes.

“So about the engagement ring? That we’re getting for Shiro’s girlfriend?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Naturally.” Lance sheds his delight, no hint of it in sight. He pulls out another ring. Keith has to admit, no matter how stupid the guy seems to be, he’s decent at his job. The band is rose gold, diamond is a cushion cut, and there are side diamonds on it.

Something seems off about it, but Keith can’t quite his finger on it. Otherwise, it fits Shiro’s description to a tee.

“So what’s your story?”

Keith sighs again. This guy doesn’t know when to quit, does he?

“The engagement ring is just the beginning,” Lance sings. “Then it’s the wedding band, jewelry for the wedding—Shiro’s band—and hey, even gifts for the bridesmaid. You and I are gonna get to know each other pretty well.”

“Shiro is going to be back for the school year,” Keith points out. And aside from his job, Keith is going to have all the time in the world. To be the best man and do favors like this since he has a hard time saying no.

Ugh.

“I’m understanding that you’re not going to let me just browse for myself.” Keith can’t help but flash a dirty look.

“Well, no,” Lance responds blithely. He pauses, looking thoughtfully at the air and choosing his next words carefully. “Buying a ring isn’t like getting milk at the grocery store. It’s a symbol for someone’s relationship. You want to make sure you get the right one.”

Keith shakes his head in disagreement and continues scanning the cases. “It’s the epitome of a luxury item. Most people only come in here because they can afford it.” He pitches his voice. “‘Hey I have loads of money! Where should I blow it? This nice charity? Oh! What about this shiny rock that I don’t plan on sharing with anyone else?’”

“PFFFT—HAHAHAHA!” Lance cackles, startling him. “What the fuck, man? That is the worst impression that I’ve ever heard!”

Red burns in Keith’s cheeks. “Like yours was any better?”

“Better than yours, that’s for sure.” Lance stifles his sniggers and wipes a tear out of his eyes. He squares his frame one more time, eyebrows knitting together and hands on his hips. “‘I’m Keith and I have a mullet.’”

“I don’t sound like that!”

“Still sounds better than your rich guy expression.” Lance tosses his head back and places a hand on his chest. “‘I do declare…’”

“That sounds terrible.”

“Fine. But for the record, it’s not always rich people.” A smirk curls against Lance’s lips. He gestures to the huge lion broach pinned to his shirt. “My grandpa couldn’t afford much. He worked hard every single day of his life so he could provide for his family. Then he surprised my grandma with this broach the day my mom was born. And then she passed it down to my mom, and she gave it to me. Because I’m her favorite child. Not that she’ll admit that.”

His fingers curl over it gingerly, like it represented the world.

“This broach symbolizes everything that they strived for when they left Cuba.” Lance unpins it and places it in Keith’s hands. His touch is light and feathery against Keith’s own. Surprisingly careful.

It’s probably the gaudiest thing that Keith has ever seen. A broach filled with plentiful sapphires, all in different hues of blue and pink, and a few rubies. Warmth leaks from it, still fresh from Lance’s heart.

Gaudy, sure. But it’s something nice to strive for.

“Sounds like a nice sentiment.” Keith feels a pang of envy in his chest, humbled. He hands the broach back to the salesman. He…doesn’t have something like that. Something he could pass on to someone important to him. “The closest thing I have to sentimental is my dad’s pocket knife.”

Though a rusty knife isn’t something Keith thinks he’d ever give a child.

He recalls the days following Shiro announcing his plans to propose. Ami and Kazuhiro waltzed around their house like it was Cloud Nine. At dinner, Ami offered up her wedding ring. Shiro refused, citing that his mom still had many more years to cherish that ring before giving it up.

When he was sitting there, Keith couldn’t shake his stupor.

Ami’s wedding set is the only one that strikes a chord with Keith. He’d asked the story behind it years ago, when he first moved in with them.

“Parents are weird,” Lance says. He brushes off Keith’s wistful tone. “Your dad gave you something that you can use to cut things up and carve wooden shoes, mine gave me a big honkin’ sapphire that I both love and am stuck with.”

Keith snorts. “One day I’d like to see how you see the world.”

“Rose colored glasses, of course.” Lance grins from ear to ear and—pulls out two pink gemstones over his eyes. “Rose quartz, to be exact.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke or is this another option for Shiro that I’m going to hate you for?”

“You’re supposed to laugh, Keith.”

Out of pure irony alone, Keith snickers. Peering from beneath his bangs, he notices Lance smiling once more—looking awfully proud of himself. He hesitates before deciding to humor the guy. “I moved here because my roommate goes to Garrison. Computer science program.”

That piques Lance’s interest. “Really?”

“She’s a junior. Shiro went here and her brother went here. I had nothing else going on back home, so I moved up here.” Keith shrugs. “Happy?”

“College life not suit you?” Lance asks.

Ergh. Keith shakes his head. “Not really.”

“Word of advice? Don’t follow your girlfriend to college.” Lance wrinkles his nose. “Doesn’t end well.”

“Thank you, Jewelry Love Guru. And we’re not dating, she’s just a friend.”

“You’re damn right I’m Jewelry Love Guru.” Lance places his hands on his hips and puffs his chest. He looks like Wonder Woman. “I’m Cupid in this store.”

“Sure.” The corner of Keith’s lip curls into a smile and scans the case once again. One ring catches his eye. It just seems…right, for some reason. “I think he’ll like this one.”

“Yeah?” Lance studies it himself and hums in approval. “It’s a doozy. I haven’t sold this one yet.”

Keith whips out his phone. He chooses his next words carefully. “Make sure your good side is showing.”

“You’ve learned well, Padawan.” For the first time since they met, Lance follows the order without complaint.

*

Keith (11:23PM): [IMAGE SENT]

 

Keith (11:23PM): This one’s a live piece. You can buy it right out of the case.

 

Shiro (11:39PM): That’s perfect!

 

Shiro (11:39PM): I think that’s the one!

“YES!” Keith pumps a fist in the air—and then another and another, doing a little happy dance on the couch. “Yes, yes, yes, yes—”

“You’re dropping the takeout,” Pidge warns. She looks over to her roommate’s phone and hums in approval. “That one’s pretty. Shiro’s typing again.”

Keith’s smile lasts all of two minutes.

Shiro (11:42PM): But

 

Keith (11:45PM): But??

 

Shiro (11:45PM): I think there’s a crack in the diamond?

 

Shiro (11:45PM): Bottom left corner.

Shiro (11:45PM): It just feels…off.

Keith stares at the picture that he sent his brother. And stares. He stares even more, and insists on Pidge looking. “He can’t be serious.”

“I don’t see a thing,” she agrees. “Other than that Lance guy’s hairy knuckle.”

Shiro (11:50PM): I’m sure it’s fine, but can you check to be sure?

Keith throws his phone back on the table and groans.

*

Lance has the pleasure of meeting Pidge the next day.

She introduces herself by saying, “Hi, I’m Pidge, and this super broody emo guy is my roommate, Keith.”

“Nice to meet you!” Lance enthusiastically meets who he assumes is the only girl Keith has ever spoken to.

Pidge scopes out the store, looking at every single jewelry pad and even the security cameras. Keith can barely muster a wave when he comes through the door. He takes heavy footsteps toward the wedding sets and jabs a finger at one of the rings they’d looked at yesterday.

“Is this one broken?” he asks bluntly. Irritably.

“Uh, no?” Lance pulls the ring out—and Keith gets so close that his eyeball is practically resting on the center stone. “Dude. You’re scaring me.”

Keith mumbles something incoherent under his breath. He calls Pidge over like a small puppy and points to Lance’s finger. “It looks just fine to me.”

Pidge, on the other hand, scrutinizes the ring carefully. Her demeanor twists. “I dunno. It looks different seeing it up close.”

“Diamonds can be tricky?” Lance ends his statement in a question. Pidge for the most part is fairly nice. Keith seems fed up with this ring choosing process. Lance doubts the guy has been to any other store—but usually by visit five, Lance is sealing the deal with his customer and they both go on their merry way.

He feels so bad for Keith that he can’t even muster up an insult.

“Let’s ask Hunk,” he suggests. “This seems like a Hunk problem.”

Thus, the four of them sit in the diamond room (a small office visible to the front of the store where their microscope and scale lay) while Hunk is hunched over in a chair and studying the heck out of the ring.

“Yup, I see it.” Hunk nods to himself. “There’s a slight inclusion at about…six o’clock on this diamond? Six forty-five?”

“Must be very slight.” Lance hovers over his friend and looks through the microscope. Sure enough, there’s a small crack at six forty-five in the diamond. “Still sellable, though.”

“The naked eye probably wouldn’t notice it,” Hunk admits. “At the very best, the inclusion would look like a smudge.” 

They pull away from their conversation, only to be met by Keith’s sour face.

“How the hell did he see it on his cellphone screen?” Keith grumbles. He whips out his phone and pulls up the image of the ring. Then, he stands up and gestures to the microscope. “May I…?”

“Sure.” Lance scoots aside on the bench and pats the seat next to him. Keith obliges and their knees touch.

(This would be a weird time to mention that Lance notices Keith is wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and boots once again.)

At first, Keith struggles with the microscope. He fiddles with it, but not very well. Lance reaches over his customer, brushing his arm against Keith as he shows how the buttons work.

Keith looks through the microscope and falls silent. He pulls away and stares at his phone, defeated. “It’s included.”

“Includes what?” Pidge arches an eyebrow and waves a hand. “Hello. Probably the only one who doesn’t know what that means here?”

“Diamonds are very rarely absolutely perfect,” Hunk explains. “Most of them have little blemishes on them. Or on the inside. Like little birthmarks. Inclusions are small cracks you can see on the inside of a diamond.”

“And my brother managed to see that on his phone,” Keith mumbles. “While I had to look through a microscope.”

Oh. Oooh. Lance’s demeanor twists. “You sure your brother isn’t just punking you?”

“He’s not wrong about what he’s seeing,” Keith says quietly. He runs a hand through his hair—which Lance admits looks a lot softer as he does that. Then Keith frowns. “In fact, he was right. And scary right.”

“Well,” Hunk says gently, clearly sensing Keith’s frustration, “we can always put a new diamond in the ring for him. If that’s the one.”

“Well,” Pidge repeats with a grimace, “he kind of changed his mind not too long after that. Something about not wanting to buy the first ring he sees and accidentally getting the wrong thing.”

“First?” Lance’s eyebrows raise in disbelief. “I’ve taken at least forty pictures for that guy!”

“He’s very open-minded,” Pidge explains. Though she doesn’t sound very convinced herself. “Shiro got into every single grad program that he applied for. It took him three months to decide which one he wanted to go to.”

“Don’t remind me.” Keith pinches the bridge of his nose, accidentally brushing up against Lance. “We had sponsors showing up at our door every single day for weeks.”

Shiro the Eyeliner God with the good hair and nice chiseled face—accepted into every college that he applied for? Sounds about right. Lance can’t wait to ogle—help the guy out in person.

Or he can, from the sounds of things.

“Alright, bud.” Lance claps a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Where do you want to go from here?”

Keith slams his head into the table, defeated. He raises his head, gaze is fixated on the phone. “We had a bonding moment over this ring.”

“I know, buddy,” Lance sighs. “It’s like we offered up our child for America’s Next Top Model and they got the boot.”

“Our child…”

Pidge looks between the two of them, apparently speechless. She nudges Keith in the rib. “Might be a good idea to take a break. This one hasn’t gotten enough sleep since…well, since we first met.”

Keith tries to scowl—but it looks more like a pout.

She places her hand on Keith’s other shoulder, and her roommate relaxes. “You’ve been at this for two weeks, Keith. Let’s go home and play videogames.”

“Videogames,” Keith echoes.

Hunk takes pity on him. “You knew what an inclusion was. Didn’t know you knew your way around jewelry.”

“He studied for a whole week since Lance pissed him off,” Pidge says candidly.

“Pidge!” Keith groans.

“Seriously?” Lance sputters. He grins from cheek-to-cheek. “I knew you were trying to impress me!”

“Was not!” Keith glares.

“Was too!”

“Was too,” Pidge repeats, annoyed. “You studied your butt off day and night to make sure you had all the right information. Be proud of it.”

Lance grins happily. Keith wrinkles his nose and refuses to look him in the eye.

“Shiro comes back from his internship in a few days. Why not take a break?” Pidge suggests. “That way he can look at the rings himself.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Hunk pipes in. He looks between their small group, apparently feeling awkward. “The future groom-to-be will have an easier time picking out a ring in person than through a picture.”

Keith’s mouth curls into a frown. He crosses his arms, shoulders hunched at his ears.

“Hey, don’t be mad. You tried your best.” Lance pats Keith sympathetically on the back. “It’s not your fault that—”

“I’m not mad,” Keith mumbles. His demeanor softens and his shoulders slouch. “I just wish that I could’ve…”

“Could’ve…?” Lance follows the thought.

“Nothing.” Keith sighs and stands up. He looks Lance directly in the eye and extends a hand. “Thank you. For your time. I can only hope that everything we did for Shiro helped him out in the long run.”

Lance feels his cheeks flush. A smile graces his lips and he meets Keith’s touch. “Pleasure working with you, Keithy. Strangle your brother for the both of us.”

“I intend to.” Another sigh leaves Keith’s lips. He turns his attention back to his roommate and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “To videogames?”

She nods wholeheartedly. “To videogames.”

*

The next day, work is quiet. Eventually Rax tells Lance to go home early. He winds up at the coffee shop near his apartment complex to finish up his studying into the wee hours of the night—and watch anime.

(It’s not that he isn’t studying. He just likes the background noise. For the most part, it’s not a distraction.)

Summers have always been quiet in town. Most of the college kids are gone for the intermission, leaving the streets empty and Lance’s favorite places line free. It’s why he gets to sit there at eleven o’clock at night in a lime green armchair, legs propped up on an ottoman, and half a blended chai latte at his side, unbothered.

He’s too busy watching Naruto fighting Pein to notice someone sneak up behind him.

“You’re watching Naruto.”

“What?” Lance nearly throws his computer off his lap. “Keith?”

Sure enough, Keith stands over his shoulder, amused. “Of course you like Narut—mmphhh!”

“Shh!” Lance claps a hand over Keith’s mouth. His gaze whirls everywhere to see if anyone overheard their conversation. “Don’t say that so loud! I have a reputation to uphold!”

“What reputation?” Keith quips. He sets his cup down and sits in the arm chair across from Lance. “You’re a Naruto fan. That ruins any street cred you think you had.”

“I have plenty of street cred!” Lance pouts.

“Oh whatever.” It’s then that he notices what Keith is wearing: a black button up shirt, black slacks, and a pair of black shoes. Keith’s black hair is pulled back into a ponytail and he has an apron bunched up in one of his hands.

Keith looks pretty nice, actually. Aside from a food stain on his pants.

Then Lance remembers Keith mentioned working at a restaurant. “You just get off for the night?”

“Yup.” Keith nods his head toward the window. “I work at the restaurant across the street.”

“How’d that go?”

“Okay.”

“Cool.” Lance stares at Keith, gauging the other’s reaction. It’s not the first time he’s ever seen his customers outside of work. Just the other day, he helped Seymour carry groceries out to his car and asked how Matilda liked her pretty necklace. Sometimes Lance’ll see the college kids that he sold engagement rings to, but Rax explained that first time customers rarely remember their faces until they come back for the wedding bands.

“You come here a lot?” Keith asks. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“I’ve been coming here since the place first opened back in high school.” At first, Lance is surprised that Keith struck up a conversation. This Keith seems a lot more relaxed than the one yesterday did. His eyes seem lighter. “Why, do you come here?”

Red blooms in Keith’s cheeks. He bites the inside of his mouth before gesturing to Lance’s seat. “I was sitting in that chair while researching rings.”

Ohh. Lance shrugs. “I’ve been petsitting for my neighbor for most of the summer. Her apartment works for a second study space. Hunk says I end up giving myself caffeine highs when I’m here.”

“I could see that.” Keith waves to the two empty Styrofoam cups sitting on the coffee table. He takes a long sip of his smoothie.

(Strawberry and acai berries. Lance knows the menu like the back of his hand.)

“Their internet also happens to be really awesome,” Lance explains.“I can stream everything I want in the finest quality.”

Keith snorts. “You should come to our apartment then. Pidge got the best package that she could for our internet.”

“That an invitation?”  Keith shrugs, clearly thinking nothing of it.

A smile curls against Lance’s lips. He shuts his laptop screen and places it aside. His gaze follows Keith carefully. Bags rest under Keith’s eyes, mouth not quite set in a grin, but also not really a scowl. Keith’s phone rests on his lap carefully as he shuffles through it.

“I think I’ve seen you in here before,” Keith says. He wrinkles his nose. “Someone, at least. I think it was Boku no Hero last time.”

“You know Boku no Hero and Naruto?” Lance places a hand over his heart. “I’m flattered.”

Ah, there it is. Keith pulls his smoothie away from his mouth, smile apparent.

“Who are you and what did you do to the grumpy ass that came into the store this morning?” Lance muses. He reaches for his blended chai. “You could barely string a sentence together.”

“Pidge brought me home and we played games before I went to work. And I slept.” Keith’s expression twists. He seems reluctant before adding, “I…think I was being too hard on myself. About picking a ring.”

“Well I could have told you that.”

To Lance’s surprise, Keith doesn’t rebuke him. Instead, Keith runs a hand through his hair and scrunches his face. “Shiro’s family has done a lot for me since I came in to live with them. I guess I was just trying to step up and impress him.”

“Wait. So you’re not biologically related?” Lance blinks. He could have sworn that they both looked alike. All Keith is missing is the eyeliner and a good undercut.

“I’m a foster kid.” Keith leaves it at that. He leans back in his seat, debating his next few words. “The Shiroganes have been good to me—” His voice sounds strained. “—really good to me. I just don’t want to disappoint them more than I already have.”

“Dude,” Lance says lightly. “You’ve put more thought into this wedding ring than I ever did with my two brothers. Weddings are boring.”

Keith stares at him, expression blank.

“I fell asleep while my brother Miguel was reciting his vows,” Lance explains. He makes tick marks with his fingers. “And when Leo got married last year, I got drunk and karate chopped their wedding cake.”

“Why would you—?”

“I saw it in a movie.” Lance waves his hand nonchalantly. “And you know what? I was one of the best men. I think Hunk was angrier at me than my sister-in-law was. They were too busy taking pictures of me shaking my ass on the dance floor.”

The last comment apparently breaks Keith. He stares back at Lance, eyebrows knitted together and perplexed.

“Point being, your brother seems cool. Aside from the fact that he can’t make up his mind.” Lance shrugs. “Most couples go to jewelry stores for months before they decide on one. It’s really not your decision. And I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

Hopefully that thought resonates better with Keith. Keith seems to take in the words whole-heartedly before standing back.

“Hunk already asked me to be his best man and I’ve barely lifted a finger.” They’re also planning on having a long engagement—which Lance doesn’t mention. “And when you decide you want to settle down and have little Keith babies, you can make Uncle Shiro jump through hoops for you too.”

Keith’s mouth cracks into a smile.

“For the ring. Or however you want to celebrate your love.” Lance shrugs. “Ring or no ring.”

Then Keith’s eyes roll.

Lance’s chest tingles. He doesn’t know why, but sitting here and talking to Keith just feels a lot better than in the jewelry store. There’s no tension. Keith is responsive. If they’d never rubbed each other the wrong way when they first met, Lance would like to think that they could’ve been friends. Something about this atmosphere puts his mind at ease. How open they are to each other.

“I want to travel the world,” Keith admits. “If I ever meet that special someone.”

“Yeah?” Lance recalls Keith mentioning something about that when they’d first met.

“Yeah. We’d just go to the courthouse and get our marriage license. Then just…go.” Keith leans forward again, cradling his drink in his hands. “First with all the places I haven’t been to in the US. Then South Korea. And then everywhere else.” As an afterthought, he adds, “Whoever I end up with, I want us to travel all around the world and make memories. We don’t even have to know the language. We could be lost in the middle of Seoul with no maps and I know we’d be okay because we had each other.”

There’s an honesty in Keith’s voice that shines through. A twinkle shimmers in his eyes, smile gracing his lips.

Lance doesn’t know if Keith has someone in mind, but it’s clearly an idea he’s mulled over more than once.

And it’s really…sweet.  

“What about you?”

“What?” Lance blinks.

“What about you?” Keith repeats. He cocks an eyebrow, smirk curling at his lips. “Let me guess. White picket fences, a pretty guy or girl, and a dog named Fido.”

“My dog is Gaston and I’d have two.” Lance smirks back and crosses his arms over his chest. He shakes his head. “I haven’t given much thought on that. I like everyone too much.”

“I couldn’t tell.”

“Well, everyone but you,” Lance teases. There’s no anger or discontent in his voice. Instead, Lance’s gaze falls onto Keith and he feels proud seeing the other laugh. “So you know Boku no Hero?”

The smile on Keith’s face turns into a full grin.

They talk for what feels like hours. Keith apparently has a very in depth knowledge about Boku no Hero and is very passionate about all of the characters while Lance and he argue who Best Girl is. Then, Keith rambles on about the Dark Souls games and Bloodborne because of “dark medieval aesthetic” (which is really just code for ‘emo as fuck.’ Keith gets mad when Lance points that out.)

Then they talk about their roommates. Pidge apparently has a huge collection of Steam games on her computer, which is the only reason why Keith knows about the emo medieval game. Keith can hear her ticking away at her “mechanical keyboard” (he makes air quotes) through the walls.

Lance assures Keith that, it can’t be nearly as bad as when Hunk snores.

“So how’d you two meet?” Keith asks curiously. “You’re very…you. And Hunk is very…” He gestures at Lance, making a face. “Not like you.”

“You mean we’re both incredibly awesome and we’re practically soulmates,” Lance corrects. He laughs when Keith’s face twists again. Lance is learning that he can count all of Keith’s reactions on one hand. “His parents own one of the bakeries in town. My mom used to take me there so we could get beignets—and then I found out the baker’s son was in my kindergarten class and the rest is history.”

“So you became friends with the baker’s son so he’d get you pastries?”

“He wanted to be my friend because I had a dog,” Lance combats. “Totally fair.”

Keith snorts He reaches for his drink on the table—and realizes it’s empty. “Oh.”

“Looks like we’ve been here a while.” The coffee shop is notorious for being a college student hangout, so staying late into the night has never been a problem for Lance. He checks his phone for the first time in an hour—and squeaks. “It’s 1AM. I haven’t fed my neighbor’s cat yet!”

“You sound like a terrible petsitter.” Keith snorts. He collects the empty cups (mostly Lance’s) and stands up to throw them away. “Remind me never to let you catsit for me.”

“First off—you have a cat and didn’t tell me?” Lance follows in suit, shoving text books and his laptop into his backpack. “Second—I am an awesome petsitter and those animals love me. And third—oof!”

He stumbles through the door. Keith reels Lance back to his feet by grabbing the guy by his backpack.

“Third?” Keith repeats, amused.

“This was nice.” Lance inspects his backpack and makes sure that nothing is missing. “I like you a lot more when you’re not being all emo.”

“I am not emo.” Keith looks offended—but also like it isn’t the first time someone has told him that. Pidge probably makes it an easy jab.

“Anyway—” Lance shifts between his feet outside of the coffee shop. The stars shine brightly above them, each one twinkling brighter than the last. The August wind grazes Lance’s skin, brushing up against his neck. He sees Keith’s face against the glow of the shop—pale and narrow. Keith’s dark eyes reflect the warmth inside. “Come…talk to me again. The next time we see each other.”

Keith looks surprised. He nods slowly. “Same.”

“Cool.” Lance shifts awkwardly between his feet once more. He hopes Keith can’t see the red in his cheeks. Hoping to distract the guy, Lance points over Keith’s shoulder. “Well, I live that way.”

“I do too.” Keith shoves his hands in his pockets.

Oh. Well so much for awkward goodbyes. Not that Lance is complaining.

 “Uh—want to keep talking?” Keith’s eyes glow bashfully. He rocks back and forth on his feet, looking hopeful.

And honestly, Lance feels the same way. He matches Keith’s shy smile and starts walking. “Sure.”

*

Matt and Shiro come back from their internships on Friday. Pidge and Keith drive to the next town over to pick them up from the airport.

“Matt!!” Pidge practically assaults her brother as soon as she sees him.

“Pidge!” Matt splits into a grin and throws his arms around his little sister. “Has Keith been mean to you? Have you been mean to Keith? Tell me you’ve been mean to Keith.”

“She’s been plenty mean,” Keith assures. He rolls his eyes—and then focuses his attention on Shiro. As frustrated as he’s been with his brother, the moment Keith lays eyes on Shiro, he lets out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Bro.” Shiro grins and pulls Keith into a hug.

When they were still teenagers, the touch would’ve made Keith uncomfortable. Now he finds himself sinking into it and hugs his brother back. “How was the flight?”

“Rough.” Shiro grimaces and rubs his neck. They start their way to the car. “The family behind us had twins. Screaming twins.”

“I had my headphones,” Matt explains. “Your brother forgot his.”

“Headphones can’t protect you from your own kids.” Keith snorts. “You sure you’re ready to get married?”

“Allura and I can get married and wait a very long time on children.” Shiro wrinkles his nose in distaste. “Plus between the two of us we have six pets. Our hands are full.”

“You guys are ridiculous.” Pidge shakes her head in disbelief. “Didn’t you write out some long speech so your pets know that you’re one big happy family?”

“Mock me all you want,” Shiro snuffs. “But Kovu’s tried to eat them a lot less since we started sitting down as a family.”

Pidge and Keith exchange looks, but say nothing.

Instead, Keith decides to change the subject. “So when does Allura land?”

“Tomorrow.” Shiro claps a hand on his brother’s shoulder, his lips curling into a smile. “I figured you and I could catch up today and have some time together before she gets into town. Is that okay?”

The gesture warms Keith’s chest. He smiles back and shuts the car trunk. “That’s definitely okay.”

It’s about a forty-five-minute drive back into town. Shiro and Matt spend the time explaining all that they’d done during their internships, what they did when they had free time, and all the places that Matt dragged Shiro to on their days off.

“Sounds nerdy,” Keith comments.

“It was very nerdy,” Shiro agrees, exhausted. “We went to a science museum every weekend. A few conventions, too.”

“Any good cosplays?” Pidge asks.

“One guy showed up dressed like a fidget spinner,” Matt says. He pushes himself off the backseat, holding onto Shiro’s headrest upfront. “So that was…interesting.”

“It wasn’t bad,” Shiro quickly says. Though he barely sounds convinced himself. “Just…well. Interesting.”

Keith can only laugh behind the steering wheel.

They make it to Shiro and Matt’s apartment and help the guys unpack. The pair had been subletting an apartment down in Houston while working—so most of their furniture had remained intact. Pidge and Keith took turns coming to the apartment to water plants and gather mail. Otherwise, they’d left the place alone.

Despite Keith’s insistence, Shiro’s pet cat was being taken care of by Allura’s neighbor. They were planning to move in together permanently after grad school, so it made sense to keep their pets together. Keith would have volunteered to take care of all six animals, but…being in Allura’s apartment made Keith feel weird. They never really got along.

She didn’t hate him, per se. But they weren’t incredibly fond of each other, either.

Shiro asks him how his bike is coming along, and Keith admits that he hasn’t made much progress.

“Hard to work on it when you don’t really have a place to keep it,” Keith admits. He follows Shiro into the kitchen, where his older brother starts examining the fridge for edibles. “I’ve been busy working. Ami and Kazuhiro are letting me keep it in their garage. I’ve been visiting every other weekend or so.” 

“Matt and I planned on going back home for a few days before school starts. Want to come with?” Shiro asks. He pulls out a packet of bologna that should definitely not be green.

“You sure?” Keith frowns. “I figured that you’d want to spend some time with Allura.”

“She’ll come too.” Shiro pulls out a carton of milk and stares at it when it makes a questionable sound. “Did you guys eat anything in the fridge while we were away?”

“Of course we did,” Pidge hollers from the living room. Despite the need for Matt to unpack, the Holt siblings are quick to start playing videogames. “We just didn’t save any for you.”

Shiro shoots Keith a look. His younger brother shrugs in a, ‘She’s not wrong,’ kind of way.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Keith’s expression twists. “Allura doesn’t like me very much.”

“Allura thinks you don’t like her very much.” Finally, Shiro gives up on the fridge. A grin spreads across his lips and he reaches for the loaf of bread above their microwave. Well—before he realizes it’s moldy. “I think we need to go grocery shopping.”

“Yeah.” Keith makes a face. “I don’t know how to talk to Allura.”

There’s something about Allura’s bubbly personality that makes Keith uncomfortable. She’s really nice and patient, and even tries to bond with Keith in the last three years that Shiro and she have been dating. He knows that all of the fault is on his side, he just doesn’t know how to fix it.

He’s not as good at expressing his emotions as she is. It took Keith a long time before he was able to open up to his foster family.

Of course, his foster brother—now legal brother—was very patient with him every step up the way. Shiro smiles in that perfect, easy-going way he always does. “How about this? When she gets back tomorrow, we can go to dinner. All three of us.”

“No offense, but I got tired of being the third wheel ages ago.”

“Nonsense. Allura mentioned something about wanting to treat her neighbor to dinner anyway.” Shiro leans in closer, brushing a hand against Keith’s arm. “Plus it would really mean a lot to me. We can find time to go back to the jewelry store together too.”

Sigh. Keith nods slowly and leans back against the counter top. “Sure. Why not?”

*

Work is really slow on Saturday. Scratch that. It’s been really fucking slow all week.

Lance doesn’t know if he’s imagining it, but he swears work was much busier at the beginning of the summer. Or at the very least—in the last two weeks. Hunk reminds him that Lance has been busy working with Keith for most of the month, so Lance himself has been quite busy.

Except Keith hasn’t shown up to work since his slight meltdown over the “inclusion” thing.

He also hasn’t come back to the coffee shop that Lance frequents, which kind of sucks. Lance was able to study for his finals and pass them with flying colors, but he can’t help but wonder if it was at the cost of getting to know his new customer a little better.

(Well, he doesn’t know if he’s passed yet. The results are supposed to be out soon and Lance is very antsy because he really needs to pass his pre-reqs to be in the right courses for the fall semester.)

“This job is boring. Why did you get me hired at such a boring place?” Lance complains at the counter. He flips through Netflix on his laptop, just hoping something will capture his attention.

“Because your exact words at the beginning of the summer were, ‘I get to wear pretty jewelry and then sit around and watch Netflix all day when it’s slow!’” Hunk points out. His internship is almost over. Shay’s a little disappointed that she won’t be seeing her fiancé on a constant basis anymore, but Lance reminds the gross pair that she practically lives with them.

“You suck at impressions,” Lance bemoans. “You know who else sucks at impressions—?”

“Lemme guess. Is his name Keith? I bet his name is Keith.”

“How did you—?”

“How did I know that you were going to mope around about your favorite customer again?” Hunk cuts him off again and shakes his head. He takes a Windex bottle and proceeds to clean the jewelry cases. “Just a guess.”

“He’s not my favorite customer.” Lance hunches over and pouts. “I haven’t had a customer in weeks.”

“People finally get fed up of your flirting?”

“No one ever gets fed up of my flirting,” Lance protests. “I’m very good at it.”

“You see, you say that, but you tried to do that with Keith and he ended up having an aneurism.” Hunk snorts and proceeds to wipe down the windows. “Or Shiro gave him an aneurism. Still not clear on that.”

“Shiro, his hunky brother, asked him to be his best man and Keith thought that his first official duty as best man involved picking out the ring for him.” Lance picks up an eye loop and rolls it back and forth in front of him. “Which is why he spent a week researching diamonds and engagement rings and even getting his own Pinterest. Why are you smiling at me like that?”

Sure enough, Hunk looks at Lance over his shoulder with a coy grin. He continues wiping down the front door. “Nothing. It’s just nice to see you getting back into the swing of things after what happened with Nyma.”

Lance bites the inside of his cheek. “We promised we wouldn’t bring up she who will not be named ever again.”

“Fair enough.” Hunk shoots an apologetic look. “I just like seeing you in a better place.”

Red flushes in Lance’s cheekbones. He pretends to be angry, lowering his face behind the computer screen. Nothing else is said.

Another fifteen minutes passes—but then the most beautiful girl in the world walks into the jewelry store. If Hunk wants to talk about Lance’s favorite people, he clearly forgot to mention their neighbor.

“PRINCESS!” Lance practically climbs over the counter, grinning from cheek-to-cheek. He swoops in for a hug and Hunk deliberately blocks him. “Oof.”

“Hey Allura.” Hunk doesn’t even flinch as Lance accidentally slams into him. “How was DC?”

“Yeah,” Lance says, trying to recover from his collision. “How was DC?”

Allura is literally the prettiest person that Lance has ever seen. She practically looks like a princess and is totally out of his league. It’s the best thing ever. She glows ethereally when she smiles (at least in Lance’s mind) and offers them both a platonic hug. “It was great! I missed you guys! Were the mice okay?”

“Oh yeah, totally fine. Fat and plump and absolutely in love with their big brother Kovu.” Lance poses smoothly. “I do a good job with animals.”

The gesture goes unnoticed.

“Did you just get in?” Hunk asks instead.

“I did,” Allura confirms. She smiles once more and rolls her eyes. “Coran insisted that I settle in while he unpacks for me.”

“And, and,” Lance grins from cheek-to-cheek again. “You decided you want to look at rings?”

There’s something about Allura’s eyes that sparkle more than any piece of jewelry in the store. She looks at him like a small child in a candy store, practically jumping up and down. “Can we?”

“YES!” Lance throws his arms in the air in victory.

Now, unlike stinky Keith and his brother, Allura is clearly a model customer. She says all of the right words (“Now I have an idea of what I want on my Pinterest—” “I adore you for that!”) and laughs at most (a few) of Lance’s corny jokes as he takes rings out for her to look at. Hunk stays for the most part, but eventually grows tired of Lance’s cheesy pickup lines.

Lance places a rose gold ring on his pinky finger as Allura does the same, and they compare the two.

“So you decided to come here before going to see your ultra-hot boyfriend?” Lance asks. He wiggles his eyebrows and places a hand on his chest. “I’m flattered.”

“He and his roommate went grocery shopping after cleaning. Something about their siblings letting a mold monster grow in their fridge.” Allura explains. She holds the ring on her finger up to the light, and a warm smile spreads across her face. The smile.

“Is that the one?” Lance grins. He leans forward, practically straddling the jewelry case, and takes a better look at the ring. It’s a pretty rose gold piece with a round diamond, square halo, and a set of side diamonds running along the sides of Allura’s finger. In the back of Lance’s mind, he can’t help but think about how it’s Keith’s favorite piece. “That’s the one, isn’t it?”

“I think that’s the one,” she replies softly. Her eyebrows knit together with worry and she looks up to him. “Should I look around a little more?”

“If you want. Just know that the heart wants what it wants.” He pulls the ring gently off her finger and sets it aside in Allura’s Maybe Pile. (There are two more pieces, but they definitely didn’t get the reaction that this one did.)

They talk about Lance’s summer classes while browsing some more, along with what Allura did during her internship. She picks out one more ring—but still gravitates towards the Keith’s Favorite.

“I still like this one.” Allura puts the ring around her finger one more time and holds it against the light. “It’s just so…shiny.”

“Looks good on you, babe.” Lance rests a cheek against his hand and smiles at her. “Now all that’s left is dragging your boyfriend here to get it.”

“What if he chooses a different one?” Allura looks genuinely terrified at the thought of getting the Wrong One.

“Please. You think I’d let him walk out of this store without the ring of your dreams?” Lance scoffs and puffs his chest out. “I’m insulted.”

Allura cracks a grin and pulls the ring off her finger. “I almost forgot. We want to treat you to dinner tonight to show our appreciation for you taking care of our animals.”

“Really?” Lance’s smile disappears, surprised. “Hasn’t it been like two months since you two saw each other?”

“Yes, but we want to show you how grateful we are before we get busy.” Allura’s expression fades just a little. “He’s also bringing his brother, who doesn’t like me very much.”

“What? But you’re so super cool and awesome.” Lance takes person offense to that. He frowns.

“Would you be able to convince him of that?” Allura struggles to smile. She looks genuinely distraught over the situation.

“Go to dinner with my favorite neighbor and tell everyone how awesome she is?” Naturally, Lance can’t say no. “You don’t even need to ask.”

*

They stop at a flower shop before making their way towards Allura’s apartment. Keith has the awkward honor of holding a huge bouquet of flours in the passenger’s seat. He feels a little out of his comfort zone, like he needs to dress a nicer. Allura has always made him feel like he needs to dress better around her.

“So should I get in the backseat when we pick her up?” Keith asks as they pull into the parking lot.

“Probably.” Shiro flashes a sheepish smile—and notices Keith’s sour look. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing, Dad.” Keith’s already third-wheeling for this date and now he’s going to have to sit in the backseat and make small talk with Allura’s neighbor. He hates small talk. A thought occurs to Keith. “This isn’t some obscure way to set me up with a blind date, is it?”

They already went through that disaster back when Keith was still in high school and still adjusting to living with the Shiroganes. A double date with one of Allura’s younger cousins. Keith had ended the date before it started—they were sitting in Shiro’s car, akin to this current situation, and he had mumbled, “Do we really have to do this? I’m, um, gay.”

(Shiro and Allura had apologized profusely back then, and Allura stopped trying to give grandiose gestures.)

“Not that I know of.” Shiro strokes his chin. He unbuckles his seatbelt and gestures for the bouquet. “She suggested the dinner with her neighbor before I asked you to tag along.”

“Have you met her neighbor before?”

“Not yet. He apparently spends a lot of late nights at the library and stays up really late.” Shiro shrugs. “And I don’t.”

True. Shiro’s usually passed out by 10:30. Keith shakes his head in amusement at the thought.

“I want you two to like each other,” Shiro says gently. They make their way through the building and up the stairs. “We’re going to be family.”

“I do like Allura. She and I just have nothing in common .” Keith rubs his elbow, feeling even more self-conscious as they approach the door.

“Well, we’ll fix that.” Shiro speaks like it’s the easiest thing in the world. He knocks on Allura’s door.

There’s an echo of a, “Coming!” before the door opens. As usual, Allura looks perfect. Her face beams like the sun as soon as she sets her eyes on Shiro. Keith isn’t sure who squeals first—but they both throw their arms around each other. “I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you too.” Shiro grins as they pull away from each other and gestures to the roses. “These are for you.”

“They’re wonderful,” Allura gushes. “Come in, come in!”

Allura’s apartment is like a miniature greenhouse, rich with flowers everywhere that you turned. Several hung by the window seat in the living room. Her kitchen counter was lush with small vegetable plants that she grew herself, and other potted flowers either hang from the ceiling or on the floor. It’s much nicer looking than Keith’s own apartment.

He makes a beeline for the cat, who perks up when Shiro and Keith enter.

“Hey, Kovu,” Keith murmurs. Kovu’s purr is like a motorboat. He practically peels off his own fur butting Keith’s hand.

“There’s my guy.” Shiro splits into a grin and immediately reaches for his cat. Kovu leaps onto his shoulder without hesitation, purring impossibly louder. “Looks like your neighbor did a good job maintaining the place.”

“Yes. Even Coran was impressed.” Allura snorts and places her hands on her hips. “And that’s hard.”

“Where is he?” Shiro asks.

“Back home. He insisted on staying here, but I told him his wife and daughter would be hard-pressed to let me keep him.” She rolls her eyes—and leans over to catch Keith’s eye. “Hello, Keith.”

“Hi.” It occurs to Keith that he hasn’t seen his brother’s cat in two months. A pang hits his chest, and he brushes his hand through Kovu’s thick fur. “Um. Your neighbor did a good job taking care of him.”

“He’s quite the character. I think you’ll like him.” Allura pauses. “I hope.”

Keith grimaces. He shoots a look over to Shiro, mouthing the words, ‘Blind date?’ while is older brother shrugs.

The gesture, unfortunately, does not go unnoticed. Allura is quick to change her words. “It’s not a blind date! But he does remind me of you.”

A version of himself that Allura actually likes? Keith can’t help feeling a little envious. Red blooms in Keith’s cheeks. He feels bad for making no effort to hide his disdain. Keith opens his mouth to say something polite—but can’t seem to muster it. 

Knock Knock

“Oh, that must be him.” Allura reaches over into Keith’s personal space and scratches Kovu behind the ear before going to the door.

“It’s going well so far,” Shiro decides.

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure I just made an ass out of myself in front of your girlfriend.” Keith pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Just apologize.” Shiro’s expression softens and he squeezes Keith’s shoulder. Kovu takes it as a cue to slink over to the younger brother. “She feels bad for insinuating it was a date, too.”

“Sure,” Keith grumbles.

Allura and her neighbor make small talk for a while. Finally, she reappears into the living room with yet another bouquet of flowers in hand, and gestures to the boy behind her.

Keith’s mouth goes dry.

“Shiro, Keith,” Allura starts, “This is Lance.”

*

Lance reacts in three steps.

He points to Keith. Then to Shiro. And then he screams.

A thousand thoughts run through his mind. First: Shiro is absolutely hotter in person with that chiseled face and nice biceps and beautiful eyeliner. Second: Keith!! Third: Keith cleans up very nicely when he isn’t a brooding emo mess with a ranch stain on his pants. The red Henley he’s wearing is definitely Keith’s color, and Shiro must have helped his brother find new pants because Keith’s legs look killer.

Fourth, and most importantly—Shiro is the boyfriend! And Allura is the girlfriend!

Holy shit.

Holy freaking shit.

Holy fucking shit.  

“Holy shit,” Lance sputters.

The funny part is, Keith screams too. Keith is pointing straight back at him, mouth ajar and body shaking.

They both scream so loudly that the cat jumps off of Keith’s hands and scuffles to hide under the couch.

Allura claps her hands over her ears and Shiro—well, doesn’t move. He’s apparently used to seeing his stoic little brother scream at the top of his lungs.

Then Lance looks back and forth between Shiro and Allura again. In his head, it makes sense—Shiro is devastatingly gorgeous and Allura is absolutely beautiful and beautiful people usually make beautiful babies. They were the It Couple that belonged on every magazine cover in Lance’s fantasy world.

And now his head hurts. Very, very badly.

The two brothers! And the future Mrs. Eyeliner God! And he knows what the ring is!

Holy shit, he finally knows what the ring is supposed to look like.

“Lance!” Allura is the first to break everyone out of their stupor. “You’re scaring the mice!”

Lance struggles to pick his mouth off the ground. He looks back and forth between the trio, adrenaline still pumping in his veins, and can barely get out a word.

Shiro—Lance is so shocked to see Keith standing there looking nice and well-kept that he forgets to gauge Shiro’s reaction—immediately regains his composure and extends a hand. “Nice to meet you Lance. Thanks for taking care of my cat.”

“N-Nice to meet you too,” Lance stammers. Shiro squeezes his hand with such a tightness that makes him melt. His cheeks are probably redder than Keith’s shirt, head spinning with the constant thought of, Shiro! Keith! Brothers! Allura! Girlfriend! Fucking! Ring! “Um. Kovu’s a pretty awesome cat. He likes it when I pretend he’s Simba.”

“That’s cute.” Shiro chuckles and nudges Keith. “You could’ve just done that with Keith’s cat.”

Oh yeah. “Keith’s cat?”

“My cat,” Keith echoes. He twitches, finally coming out of his coma, and nudges Shiro. “Simba.”

Ohmigod. “Your cat’s name is Simba?”

“Yeah.” Keith crouches down and ushers for Kovu to come to him. He cradles Kovu like a small kitten. “They’re from the same litter.”

“That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” Lance stares at Grumpy Keith holding this very sweet cat.

“That I have a cat?” Keith arches an eyebrow.

“That you of all people named it Simba.” Lance cups his cheeks.

“What of it?” Keith grumbles.

“Oh, nothing, nothing.” Lance reaches out and strokes Kovu’s head. “But everyone knows you don’t mix your prequels and your sequels. Please tell me there was a Nala.”

“That was their mom,” Shiro explains. “And then we found out she was pregnant.”

“I’m confused.” Allura’s voice startles all of them. Her gaze switches from Keith to Lance to Shiro. “Do the three of you already know each other?”

"No," they all say. 

“Really?” A smile curls against Allura’s lips. She arches an eyebrow, exchanging looks with her boyfriend. “Because I’m sensing great chemistry here.”

Oh, god. Lance feels his face burn once more. He looks at Keith from the corner of his eye—and notices that Mister Mullet hasn’t picked up on her words quite yet. Another thought crosses his mind. “Wait. So why didn’t Keith pet sit for you then?”

Apparently that’s a touchy subject. Allura’s smile drops, Keith looks away, and Shiro’s demeanor twists awkwardly.

“Um,” Lance says. “Did I say the magic word?”

“Keith just moved back into town earlier this month and Allura and I didn’t want to overwhelm him by taking care of six other pets.” Shiro claps his hand on his brother’s back and jingles his keys. “Who wants dinner?”

*

The car ride to the restaurant makes Keith more nervous than any car ride he ever attended with his social worker. He can’t even find a word to describe how he feels. Nervous? Annoyed? Flabbergasted?

Several things make him nervous. Allura is suddenly talking Lance up with facts that Keith already knows. How Lance is a junior at Garrison, how he wants to be a pilot, how Lance is bi—though Keith picked up on the last one after watching Lance drool over Shiro and Allura.

He's annoyed because Lance’s question reminds Keith how hurt he was that Allura didn’t ask him to take care of the mice and his own brother’s cat. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. Yes, Keith has only been back in town since the beginning of August, but both Shiro and Allura know he’d do anything for his brother in a heartbeat.

And he’s flabbergasted because Lance is sitting on the other side of this car, face pressed against the window and foot drumming uncontrollably against the floor. Keith doesn’t even know how to act. How does someone act in a car when his brother’s girlfriend is half-attempting to set you up with her neighbor, who you’ve been working with for the last three weeks to find an engagement ring?

Lance also looks nice—like that night back in the coffee shop. He looks a lot better when he isn’t dressed in a corny dress shirt and polka dotted bow tie.

(Though he could still learn to keep his mouth shut.)

When they get to the diner, they’re quickly ushered through a crowd of people into a small booth. Shiro and Allura immediately take one side, the former making do of their cramped space by placing an arm over his girlfriend.

Keith and Lance—who don’t nearly know each other as well—remain smooshed together, legs practically trying to merge.

“Allura told me that you’re in the aerospace program.” Shiro smiles, having a much easier time with the whole ordeal. He’s also only spoken to Lance once, so it’s probably easier for him.

“Oh, yes,” Allura smirks. “He’s got very good marks, despite how rowdy he can be.”

Lance has the second easiest time with the ordeal. His leg his rattling against Keith’s as he taps his foot, but he grins. “I’m just that good at being awesome.”

“So you’re not seeing anyone right now?” Allura asks innocently.

If Keith wasn’t sick to his stomach, he’d be interested in that answer too.

“No,” Lance confirms. “I’m not.”

“What about you, Keith?” Allura pounces on him like a tiger. Her smile widens and she brushes hand against Shiro’s arm. “Have you met anyone special since moving back?”

Only the person who’s going to be selling Shiro your engagement ring, Keith doesn’t say. He looks at Lance from the corner of his eye. His cheeks glow when he realizes Lance is looking right back. “Not really.”

“Wait. Move back?” Lance blinks. “You used to live here before?”

Keith groans. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why don’t I recognize you?” Lance doesn’t take the hint that Keith is flustered, which annoys Keith even more. And it’s a little weird to be laying out these skeletons to your brother’s ring salesman.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Shiro says quickly. “Keith used to go to Garrison. For the space program.”

“Really?” Lance asks, shocked. “Are you serious?”

Well. No hiding it now. Keith shoots a glare at his unyielding brother. “I would have been a junior this year.”

“What?” Lance yells in his ear. “How the hell do I not recognize you?”

“I had shorter hair back then. And ow.” Keith scowls.

“But I would have—” Lance cuts himself off there. He stares at Keith like a second head is growing out of the side of Keith’s neck. The corner of his mouth fidgets. Finally, he focuses all of his brain power into one, single sentence. “I definitely would have recognized you.”  

Keith isn’t quite sure what that means, but he sinks further in his chair and refuses to look anyone in the eye. “I dropped out after the first semester. I quit before I even started.”

“And I keep telling you that you’re smart enough to go back.” Shiro nudges him under the table gently. “You’re so smart, Keith.”

“Shiro,” Keith seethes quietly. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not here.”

That definitely shuts everyone up. The giddy smile is gone from Allura’s face, replaced with a look of concern. Keith genuinely thinks she didn’t mean to tug at his secrets. It’d been so many years since he dropped out that he doubts she remembers he didn’t like talking about it.

But now Keith feels awkward and uncomfortable and wishes even more that he wasn’t sitting here in the middle of this conversation.

“I’m gonna. Um. Go to the restroom.” Keith slinks out of the booth without looking anyone else in the eye. He stares at his feet all the way to the back.

And Keith definitely doesn’t expect Lance to follow after him.

Lance yanks at his hand. “Dude.”

“What?” Keith startles and looks at Lance with suspicious eyes. “Why did you come after me?”

“You know Allura,” Lance blabbers. His expression is completely different to the one worn at the table—this one crazy-eyed and red. Lance looks like a bomb that’s been waiting all night to blow. “Why the hell did you not tell me that you knew Allura?”

What? Keith’s tight expression falls in disbelief. His anger dissipates, dumbfounded. “How was I supposed to know that you knew Allura?”

“What do you—I know her Pinterest username! That would have solved everything!” Lance throws his arms in the air, as if the explanation makes sense. “Do you know how many weeks this would have saved us? I can’t fucking believe—I KNOW WHAT RING SHE WANTS—”

“Shut up! Geez.” Keith claps a hand over Lance’s mouth, irritation spiking once again. Then he mulls over Lance’s words, eyebrows raising behind his hair. “Wait. You know Allura.”

“Mmmph!” Lance nods giddily, his eyes wide and frantic.

“And you know what ring she wants. Like, the ring.” Keith’s eyes widen.

“YES!” Lance shouts. His voice is loud and obnoxious—catching everyone’s attention. Even Shiro and Allura look over. All Lance can do is awkwardly laugh.

“And so you decide to yell in my face about the ring that my brother is getting Allura.” Keith stares at the other wryly. “Shiro. Who is standing over there.”

“Yes—” Lance pauses. His demeanor twists a mile a minute and he shakes his hands emphatically. “Well—you’re just. Easier to yell at.”

“Trust me, the sentiment is shared.”

“For example—” Lance grabs Keith by the shoulders and shakes him violently. “—KEITH! I have the ring! Shiro doesn’t need to drive us nuts anymore! We can be out of each other’s hair!”

“Please stop touching me.” Keith wants to sound tough and annoyed, but he sounds like he’s talking into a fan while Lance is spasming.

“And I also wanted to make sure you were okay? I mean—we could have known each other.” Lance’s demeanor changes for a moment and he shares Allura’s same look of concern. “Why did you drop out of Garry?”

“That’s none of your business, Lance.” Keith sighs and tosses his head back. He doesn’t want to talk about when he was a dumbass and freaked out.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lance cuts him off before he gets to the bathroom. “I mean—I’ve been there.”

He has? Keith blinks for a moment, assessing Lance’s words. They make an impression, but everything else is just too much for Keith right now. Meetings with Allura are nerve-racking. His brother is back. Lance is his third wheel partner in crime, and Keith’s pride is just a tad wounded.

Keith ruffles his hands through his hair, as if trying to shoo his thoughts away. “Look, I feel weird sharing things with you, okay? I don’t even know how to act right now. It’s not even like we’re friends. You’re selling my brother an engagement ring, except you’ve sort of been selling it to me and Allura really likes you and doesn’t really like me, and…”

And his head hurts. A lot.

“And I just really, really don’t want to talk about this.” Keith scowls. “Can we just…get through this dinner? I’ll bring Shiro by the store on Monday and we’ll pick up the ring.”

Once the ring is picked up, this whole ordeal can be done and over with. Shiro can be in charge of the engagement and Allura, and Keith doesn’t have to be at his brother’s beck and call again until the wedding. He won’t have to step foot in that jewelry store ever again.

Except things don’t change because Keith is still going to be needed for other best man duties and Allura doesn’t just go away because they’ll be family by marriage.

And Lance does go away. Which kind of sucks too because Keith can’t tell if he wants to be around Lance or if he wants to punch Lance in the face.

When Keith looks up, it’s much more the first thought than the second.

Lance’s eyebrows knit together, his lips curled into an indescribable frown. It’s the most terrifying expression Keith has ever seen. His heart slaps at his chest painfully.

“Okay,” Lance says. He sucks in a deep breath and places his hands in front of himself. “Take the ring out of the situation. You’re Shiro’s brother, I’m Allura’s neighbor, and we’re just two people that happen to be thirdwheeling their date. We’re not friends.”

Keith’s hand twitches. “Yeah. We’re not friends.”

“And Allura is trying to set us up.”

Ugh. “And Allura is trying to set us up.” Keith presses a hand to his face. “Sorry.”

“No, no.” Lance taps Keith’s shoulder gently. He’s already going a mile a minute, like that godawful look never crossed his face. “In any other situation, I’d be flattered. Let’s just get through the night and then my boss can give me a pat on the back on Monday for this awesome ring sale.”

Keith doesn’t know if he heard Lance correctly, but he nods nonetheless. He lets out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. “Let’s just be ourselves and pretend we’re meeting for the first time again.”

“Well—” Lance rubs his chin. “Let’s be ourselves, but better than the first time when I wanted to punch you in the face.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

*

True to Keith’s words, Lance accepts they aren’t friends.

It’s not even that weird. They can totally be friends since they both know Allura. Lance wants to call out Keith’s self-righteous ass and tell him to stop being broody. He doesn’t because Keith looks like he’s ready to die.

Lance thinks he understands. Allura mentioned that she and Keith don’t get along very well. Keith seems massively embarrassed that she brought up dropping out of school. Honestly, Keith just seems tense between his brother and his brother’s girlfriend. Lance doesn’t understand why. Talking to Allura has always come naturally to him.

They had come back to the table, chatting about nothing. It feels stiff. Unnatural. Lance misses how they talked at the coffee shop for hours.

Yearning for their late night chat reminds him of Keith’s words. ‘I was trying to step up and impress him.’ Maybe in more ways than one. And trust him, Lance sure as hell knows what that feels like. Keith looks so nervous to say the wrong thing, and maybe he’s too scared to say the right thing, too.

There’s some resentment in the way Keith is ignoring Lance. Keith scoots as far away from Lance as possible without falling into the aisle.

And they don’t really know much about each other. They had one conversation about anime and their roommates. And as far as first impressions go, Lance and Keith would probably never cross paths if it weren’t for Perfect Student Eyeliner God Shiro. If they did, Lance wonders if they’d be at each other’s throat again.

The following Monday, Shiro shows up by himself. He stands in front of the jewelry case while Lance lays The Ring on a small pad.

Shiro picks it up gingerly and strokes his chin. He’s silent.

“How’s Keith doing?” Lance can’t help but ask. Saturday ended with Keith not even getting out of the car to say goodbye.

A weak smile appears on Shiro’s face. His eyebrows furrow together and he sighs. “He’s tired of looking at rings, unfortunately. I feel bad for asking.”

It’s not the answer Lance is looking for. Lance doesn’t even know why he cares so much. “No—he did a good job.” He gestures feebly to Shiro’s hand. “This ring was Keith’s favorite. The one Allura loves.”

“Really?” Shiro holds the ring up to the light, and his smile warms. “I’m not surprised.”

Lance wonders if Shiro had sensed the tension at the diner. He had to have, right?

“He did a good job,” Lance agrees. Unable to help himself, Lance goes on—“Did dropping out of school suck that much?”

The question apparently surprises Shiro. He makes another face—and it’s when Lance realizes that the question sounds far too personal to be asking a customer. Especially one who’s in the store for the first time.

And that sucks.

“It’s a touchy subject,” Shiro says. He leaves it at that. It’s not information that he thinks Lance needs to know. “But you’re sure about this—”

“Yes, yes, really sure. It’s beautiful, it’s the one, and if you propose with any other ring don’t be surprised if she says no,” Lance cuts Shiro off. He can’t help but think the irritation leaking through in his voice is for Keith and himself.

That silences Shiro. He stares at the ring once more and smiles. “Thank you, Lance. This is really beautiful.” 

Thanking him. Wow. He’s nothing like Keith.

“So how’re you gonna pop the question?” Lance wiggles his eyebrows, attempting to fall back into the swing of things. He leans over the jewelry case and cracks a smile. Tries to sound less bummed that it’s not his weekly visit with Keith.

“I’m not sure yet. Keith probably has some good ideas.”

Well there goes that idea. Lance falters. “Keith? The guy that wants to spend the money on a plane ticket rather than a ring?”

“He told you about that?” Shiro lights up. “You wouldn’t think it, but his mind is incredible.”

And again, he doesn’t elaborate. Lance wavers. “I’ll take your word for it.”

In the end, Shiro is the perfect customer. He shakes Lance’s hand. He doesn’t argue. He listens. And before he walks out the door, Shiro promises to leave a good review.

“That was probably your hardest customer yet,” Rax comments. He pats Lance on the shoulder and smiles. “Good job.”

“You glad that it’s finally over?” Hunk muses. “Lance?”

“Yeah.” It’s finally over.