Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Hunk, come here for a second." Pidge peeked their head out from behind a wall and beckoned Hunk over with a blank expression. "Coran and I have something to show you."

"Uh...okay," Hunk said, walking over to where Pidge was lurking. "Why are you lurking behind a wall?" Pidge lurking around was always a warning sign- their ideas were almost crazier than Lance's.

"I just don't want the others to find out yet," Pidge said, glancing around with narrowed eyes. Dropping their voice, not unlike a secret agent about to perform some sneaky work, they said, "Follow me."

Pidge scampered down the hall on their tiptoes, turning their head from side to side like they were keeping watch for someone. Hunk followed them, trying to keep his footsteps light on the floor. Pidge slipped into the castle's lab with Hunk on their heels.

"Hey, Coran," Hunk said, waving at Coran who was hunched around a brightly lit screen.

"Hello, Hunk," Coran said cheerily, not looking up from the device he was looking at. Pidge walked over to him and bent over with their hands placed on their knees.

"So, what's this all about?" Hunk asked dubiously, glancing at the screen. As he expected, he couldn't gain anything from it, because all the words were written in Altean. Pidge had attempted to learn it a few months (was it months? It was hard to keep track of time) ago, but Hunk still couldn't understand a word of it. He doubted that Pidge did, either.

"Well, I was digging through the storage room," Pidge said casually, gesturing towards the back doors of the lab, which led to a warehouse worth of high tech that Hunk had yet to discover.

"Without my permission, I may add," Coran grumbled, crossing his arms. "The technology in there is dangerous."

"Please, it was fine," Pidge said confidently, "There were only a few things that looked lethal."

"Anyway," Hunk said loudly, "First, Pidge, I am offended that you explored without me. Second, why'd you dig this thing out?"

"It looked cool." Pidge shrugged. "So I asked Coran what it was."

Hunk crossed his arms and gave Pidge a look. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. What is it?"

"Ah." Pidge pushed up their glasses up with their right index finger and lifted up their left one. "Well, it's a stopwatch."

"A stopwatch." That was anti-climactic. Hunk didn't claim to enjoy drama or surprises, but he would have expected that something would come out of Pidge's suspenseful build-up. "That's it? 'Cause I was about to go to the kitchen and I don't think a stopwatch is that great. No offense." Hunk weakly smiled at Pidge. "I'm glad that you find it cool?"

PIdge shook their head exasperatedly. Coran took that opportunity to speak up. "Hunk, you don't realize this timer's full potential! It restarted when the castle restarted after ten thousand years!"

Pidge nodded their head slowly as Hunk finally started to catch on. "Wait, so that means..."

Pidge smirked at Hunk and interrupted, "Yep. We can tell just how long we've been away from Earth."

It was a wonder how people could appreciate something when they were given all the necessary information.

Hunk's chest felt like it was filled with butterflies, which almost immediately transformed into something more resembling cold stones. Did he want to know how long they had been away? What if it had been years? But surely, Pidge wouldn't be smirking if it was like that, right? It certainly didn't seem like years. A long time, sure, but...

"You look worried," Pidge commented, their eyes searching Hunk's face. The light of the screen glinted off their glasses' lenses.

"Oh, it's just." Hunk fidgeted uncomfortably. "It hasn't been...too long, right?"

Pidge leaned one arm against the wall and peered at Hunk over their glasses. "Well. I don't think so."

"It's been a little more than a year," Coran said, squinting at the screen. "Approximately a year, fifteen quintents, five vargas, forty dobashes, and twelve ticks."

"Approximately," Hunk said faintly, looking at Coran with disbelief.

"That means that it should late July on Earth right now," Pidge said, smiling like a pleased cat.

Hunk's mind was racing, almost faster than he could keep up with. Approximately a year of not having to follow Earth time left him disoriented, but July was an important month, he knew that.

"Lance's birthday," Hunk gasped, clapping his face with his hands. "Lance's birthday is at the end of July!"

"What?" Pidge looked at him with wide eyes. "He never told me!"

"He probably didn't want anyone to know," Hunk said seriously, rubbing at his chin with his hand. "Because we couldn't celebrate it. And we weren't so close with you, before we left the Garrison."

"That's true," Pidge admitted, "My birthday passed. It was in April."

"Happy late birthday," Hunk told them.

"We need to do something for Lance." Coran twirled his mustache thoughtfully. "We should celebrate!"

"A surprise party," Hunk gasped again. "Lance loves surprise parties!"

Pidge nodded. "We should call a meeting," they said, face twisted like they were thinking hard. "When Lance isn't there. We'll plan a surprise party." They rubbed their hands together conspiratorially. 

"Sounds good." Hunk nodded, heart thumping with tingly excitement. "I can't wait!"

~~~

The problem with calling a meeting in a castle with seven people in it, when they couldn’t let one of those people find out, was that they all were at the same location almost all the time. The castle was huge, so everyone tended to be spread out, but nevertheless, if Pidge wasn't in the lab for more than five minutes or Keith wasn't on the training deck, and it wasn't lunchtime, there was probably something up.

Hunk and Pidge quietly rounded up Keith, Shiro, Allura, and Coran, while trying to think of ways to keep Lance occupied. Lance was the most likely to go off looking for someone to pester with questions, especially Hunk or Pidge, so he couldn't be left to wander around the castle.

"Just lock him up in a cryopod," Keith suggested in a bored voice, as he sat on the couch, polishing his knife.

"That's mean," Hunk protested. Then he turned to Pidge. "That would be immoral, right?"

Pidge paused, and then shrugged. "It's the only way."

"Guys," Shiro said impatiently. "We are not locking Lance up in a cryopod."

"We can ask him to clean the Lions," Allura suggested. "They haven't been washed lately."

"That's a job that he would be dedicated to," Hunk mused, "Hey, Coran, can you get Lance to clean the Lions? Just until the meeting is over."

"Got it," Coran said, saluting Hunk. Then he took off to find Lance, which would take some time because Lance enjoyed wandering the castle just to explore.

"So, why are we meeting here?" Allura asked. Her hands were on her hips, and she looked at Pidge and Hunk with her eyebrow quirked. "I'm presuming that this is important enough to drag us here without revealing anything to Lance."

"It is," Pidge said earnestly. "Hunk, explain."

"So, we found a timer the other day in the lab. It had restarted when the castle woke up, when we first came here, remember?" Hunk scratched his head and glanced at Keith and Shiro, who nodded their heads. "Right, so, we found out that we've been gone for a bit more than a year, which means that now, on Earth, it should be around the end of July."

"Why's this significant?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow at Hunk. His leg jumped up and down with what Hunk assumed was impatience.

"Because," Pidge said. They stopped for a dramatic pause. "Lance's birthday is around the end of July."

"Oh!" Allura said, jumping up from where she was sitting. "Really? That's amazing!"

"Yeah!" Hunk exclaimed, relieved at her enthusiasm. "So, I was- well, both of us were thinking that we should do something for Lance."

"Like a party?" Allura asked, clasping her hands together and bringing them to her chest.

"Exactly," Pidge said.

"I would like to see how Earth parties are performed," Allura said with interest. "I think we should do it."

"I do, too," Shiro spoke up suddenly, making Hunk jump. "It'll be fun for us, and Lance. It'll help bring up all our spirits."

"Yeah!" Hunk repeated.

“I don’t know,” Keith said doubtfully. Hunk turned and opened his mouth, ready to defend their plan, but Keith steamrollered ahead. “I mean, will we be able to pull it off? What if he doesn’t want to celebrate it?”

“You don’t know Lance like I do,” Hunk said firmly, turning to Shiro for back-up. “Lance loves to celebrate. And we’re going to make this perfect.”

Keith shrugged. “Okay. How?”

Keith sounded almost challenging, but then again, Hunk reminded himself, Keith always sounded like that. Hunk ignored the his tone and let Pidge answer for him.

“We need to make sure that everything is organized and coordinated.” Pidge flopped down on the couch and sat, cross-legged. “When should we throw the party?”

Just that moment, before anyone could respond, someone burst through the door in a flash of blue. Hunk thought it was Lance, for a panic-filled second, before he registered the bright orange hair. “Coran,” he sighed with relief.

“I got him to do it,” panted Coran, who looked like he had run the entire length back from the Lions. “Took a bit of convincing, but I did it.”

“Thanks, Coran,” Pidge said graciously.

“So where are we?” Coran asked, clapping his hands together. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing much,” Hunk said, moving to sit down on the couch himself. “We were discussing when the date of the party should be set.”

“How about three days from now?” Allura suggested. She glanced around at all of them. “Would that give us enough time to prepare?”

“Well, we need a plan,” Hunk said thoughtfully, “We have to make sure that we have everything we need to make this perfect, without letting Lance know what’s going on.”

“I have an idea!” Coran said in a bright voice. “Three days from now, we’ll be passing by the planet Prayus. The locals are known to be quite friendly! And there is a large market there! We could send Lance with one of us to ‘purchase’ an item, while the rest of us get the party ready!”

“That’s a good plan,” Pidge acknowledged, “Do we need to get anything for the party that we don’t already have?”

“The kitchen is stocked with enough food,” Hunk said, trying to recall exactly what was in the pantry of the alien spaceship. “I think I can improvise a cake.”

Allura blinked at Hunk, with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “What is a cake? Is that a birthday tradition?”

“Yes!” Hunk said enthusiastically, “It’s a sweet thing that we eat on birthdays.”

“I would love to try it,” Allura mused, “What else is traditional to do during a birthday celebration?”

“Well,” Pidge said, pushing up their glasses with a finger. “On Earth, everybody gives the birthday person a present, and then we sing a special song while they cut the cake.”

“Oh?” Allura looked intrigued. “I would love to get Lance something. Of course, I’d have to do some searching around, but…”

“I know Lance,” Hunk said, smiling fondly. “He’d appreciate anything you guys give him.”

“But you should give him something,” Pidge said, giving Keith a pointed stare. “Even if you don’t know what Lance would like.”

Keith scowled back at them, but didn’t argue.

“We’ll all find Lance something,” Shiro said reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Hunk, you can be in charge of the food, right?” Pidge asked, glancing at Hunk.

“Of course,” Hunk replied, puffing out his chest proudly. He had faith that he would be able to cook an amazing birthday cake with the ingredients that he had in his pantry, even if it would take a bit of experimentation to get it just right. “Also, can Coran help me? I also want to try making some snacks.”

“Right. Coran, you’ll help Hunk.”

Coran saluted Pidge and nodded at Hunk agreeably.

“Shiro, can you do the decorations?” Pidge asked, turning to Shiro with a hint of doubt in their eyes. “I’d ask Allura, but I don’t think she knows how Earth decorations work.”

“I can try,” Shiro said dubiously, “But I doubt that I can decorate well.”

“I’ll help him.” Allura spoke up before Pidge could say anything, turning to them with a determined expression. “I’d like to learn how Earth decorations work. Plus, I believe that I could help Shiro with the aesthetic quality of the decorations.”

“Okay, that’s decided then,” Pidge said happily.

“What are you going to do, Pidge?” Hunk asked.

Pidge gave him a sly look. “I,” they declared, “Am going to be in charge of the sound system. I’ll see if I can’t find some festive songs in the castle’s archives to play for Lance. Who knows, maybe I’ll find something that resembles an Earth song.”

“Okay.” Hunk rubbed his hands together. “That’s decided, then-”

“Wait,” Coran interrupted, “Who’s going to make sure that Lance stays away from the castle as long as we need?”

“Oh.” A small, devilish grin played on Pidge’s lips. “Right. I almost forgot. Looks like everyone has a job, so, uh, Keith, looks like you’re going to have to take care of that.”

“What?” Keith asked, his voice rising in pitch with shock. “I can’t do that!”

“Uh, why not?” Pidge looked unimpressed. “All you have to do is distract Lance for a few hours. It’s not hard.”

“Um, have you forgotten the part where Lance hates me?” Keith crossed his arm, visibly pissed. “He’d probably refuse to even go with me.”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Pidge scoffed, “He doesn’t hate you. Just be…polite to him, and it’ll be fine.”

“Polite,” Keith said flatly. Hunk suppressed a snort of laughter.

“You’ll be fine,” Pidge said sweetly, tapping on their chin. “You’d better be.”

“Don’t worry, Keith,” Hunk promised, “You’re doing an important job. Also, everyone else is busy. But you’re the man!”

“Okay, the meeting has concluded,” Pidge said in a formal voice. “We have three days to prepare. Good luck.”

~~~

Keith was so totally, utterly screwed. He did not know what he had ever done in his life to deserve something like this. If there was some higher power, they would be looking down from their otherworldly dimension and laughing their ass off at him.

He had to take Lance out and keep him distracted for several hours. Hours.

The problem wasn’t that Keith disliked the idea of being with Lance, alone for a prolonged period of time. His imagination could provide several different scenarios in which this would all go Keith’s way, and both he and Lance would be happy. The problem was that Keith probably wanted this too much, and that the future series of events would definitely not have the outcome that Keith wanted it to.

“Lance,” Allura said at breakfast the day of the party. “I have you chosen for a very important mission.”

Instantly, Lance perked up, chest puffed out and chivalrous grin playing on his lips. “Yes, princess?” he said, in the voice that he thought made him sound oh-so-suave. “Anything for you.”

Allura gave him a look. “There’s a special solution that we use to keep the healing pods up and running in the same shape as they did ten thousand years ago. We need to buy it, though, and I think, with the Galra after us, that it would be unwise for all of us to leave the castle to search for it. Therefore, I want you and a companion to go and look for it for me.”

“Sure, I’m great at finding things.” Lance’s grin brightened, likely at the prospect of being chosen for a special mission. “Who’ll be coming with me? Hunk, we haven’t had a bros day out since we went to space-”

“Actually,” Allura interrupted, looking apologetic. “You’ll be taking Keith with you.”

“What?” Lance protested in a loud, outraged voice, which quite literally hurt Keith, since Lance was sitting right next to him. “Why him?”

“Sorry, buddy,” Hunk said, also apologetic. Keith doubted that he was very sorry, at least for Keith. “Me and Pidge have to do some repairs to the castle with Coran. Keith’s kind of the only one who we don’t need to do something right now.”

“So I have to babysit him?” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping down into his seat.

“Hey!” Keith snapped, “If anything, I’ll be the one babysitting you.”

Lance snorted. “Not likely. We all know that you’re the one who’ll run into some stupid fight first.”

“And we know that you’re the one who’ll go running after some alien girl first,” Keith snarked back, even if the image made his chest tighten rather uncomfortably.

“Boys,” Allura interrupted, in an irritated tone. “This is not the time to bicker. I’m not giving you much of a choice on this. You will get the mission done.”

“Yes, Princess,” Keith said sullenly.

“I’ll do it,” Lance said stubbornly, “Even if I have to deal with Keith.”

“Play nice, you two,” Pidge said in a sing song voice.

Keith pulled Coran aside, later, when Lance was preparing to leave the castle.

“Does the special solutions exist?” Keith asked flatly, because he needed to know. “Or are we going to be running for something that doesn’t exist.”

“It exists,” Coran said, tugging at his moustache. “It’s going to be very hard to find, though. Keep your eyes peeled! I’ll be astounded if you find it in time for the party!”

“Okay,” Keith said, not very reassured. He was glad that they did have a goal, and Lance wouldn’t give up till he found it, but he was really hoping to get back as fast as he could. Keith was very conflicted right now.

“I’m ready!” came Lance’s loud voice, marching up to Keith and Coran. Like Keith, he was wearing a baggy shirt and trousers, and a dark coat, over his paladin armour, to keep him protected against potential attackers. Keith hated that Lance didn’t look like complete trash in the outfit, unlike himself.

“What are you two discussing?” Lance said, glancing between them suspiciously.

“Nothing,” Coran said, straightening his own Altean suit. “Just what you need to look for. The solution is called “QuinteClean”. It’s quite rare, and likely very expensive, so I’m going to be giving you scaultrite lenses to trade it for. However, please try to give away the least amount of lenses possible!”

“Will do, Coran,” Lance said confidently. “We’re set to go, aren’t we? Let’s go!”

“Wait, one more thing.” Coran held up his hand. “In order to keep in contact with you, Pidge and Hunk have built these.” He pulled out a rectangular device that were smaller than Keith’s hand. “We can send you written messages, and you can type responses that will be transmitted back to us!”

“Cool, so we can text?” Lance commented happily. Keith took the it warily and stored it in his pocket.

“I don’t know what that is,” Coran said cheerily. He led Keith and Lance out of the hall they were in and to the front door of the castle, where a ramp had elongated to allow them to walk outside.

“We’ve landed not too far from the marketplace- it should only take a fifteen minute walk- so you won’t be needing anything to ride on,” Coran informed them.

“Right,” Lance said. He glanced at Keith with narrowed eyes. “Let’s go then.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go,” Keith grumbled in response.

“Bye, Coran!” Lance called, as the doors slid open and they walking down the ramp, out to the alien planet.

“Bye!” Coran called, his voice getting more distant with every step Keith took. “Have fun! Stay safe!”

“So,” Lance said casually, as the doors slid shut behind them. Both of them had their hands in the pockets of their coats- Lance so that he’d look chill and casual, Keith so that he could look sullen and brooding.

“So,” Keith said tonelessly. “Let’s get to finding that QuinteClean.”

Lance sniffed, casting Keith a look. “See? You’re no fun. If Hunk were here, we’d have fun and chill. Not that I’m trying to compare you to Hunk, cause nobody could match up to him.”

“While that may be true,” Keith said, glaring at Lance. “I don’t need to be fun. We have a mission that we should complete. Besides, what do you even expect me to do?”

“I don’t expect you to,” Lance said in a disgruntled voice. “But come on. You can’t loosen up a little?”

“We might get attacked,” Keith replied, instinctively glancing around to make sure that nobody was tailing them. “You can loosen up. I’ll keep an eye out for potential threats.”

Lance made a frustrated noise.

This is a great start, Keith thought gloomily.

They walked in silence for a few minutes more. The planet atmosphere was dry, and dark brown, sand-like substance crunched under their feet. It reminded him of the desert that he lived in, alone, after he was kicked out of the Garrison. Keith felt a shiver travel up his spine.

“It’s too hot,” Lance complained loudly, “Ridiculous. I hate deserts.”

“Thought you were from a hot environment?” Keith asked, mentally filing through his memories for a time when Lance had mentioned living in a cold place.

“I am,” Lance said, looking annoyed. “I’m from Cuba. And then Florida. It doesn’t get ridiculously hot like this because of the ocean. The bigger problem is the humidity, which is horrible. Completely ruins your hair.”

“Oh my god,” Keith snorted.

“You wouldn’t know anything about haircare, would you, Mullet?” Lance shot back.

“I don’t care,” Keith said honestly, squinting against the glare of the planet’s two suns. “I had other things to worry about.”

“You could care now,” Lance pointed out.

“Now, I have even more important things to worry about.” Keith wanted to roll his eyes, but the sunlight prevented his from doing more than twitching his eyeballs.

“Do you think they sell skincare cream in the market?” Lance asked wonderingly. “Do you think we could buy some?”

“I doubt that anything they sold here would be safe for humans,” Keith answered, “Don’t buy random things. We don’t have money.”

Lance groaned dramatically. “Keith. Stop grounding me to reality.”

The marketplace drew closer as they stepped forwards. Aliens of all sort were milling around the stalls and booths. Keith made sure to keep his head down so that they wouldn’t be able to get a good look of his face, and thankfully, Lance did the same.

“Wow,” Lance breathed, “There are so many people here. Or, well. Aliens, not people.”

“It’s really crowded,” Keith agreed, though he was less than thrilled about that. Keith had always hated large crowds.

“We’d better start looking,” Lance said, his blue eyes scanning the stalls. “This place is a lot bigger than I’d expected.”

“Okay,” Keith said, “Let’s start.”

Most of the beings behind the stalls were tall, with spindly legs and short, pale fur covering their bodies. Most of the aliens hurrying through the pathways of the marketplace were also like this, likely the natives of this planet, but every so often, Keith would spot someone that looked out of place, like a foreigner. Every time Keith’s eye caught a flash of purple, his shoulders would tense.

“Man,” Lance said in a lamenting voice. “Why is it that all the planets we go to seem to know about life outside of their own little civilizations exceptfor Earth?”

“I’m pretty sure that we’ve seen some civilizations that wish they didn’t know about other life in the universe,” Keith responded distractedly, noticing a small figure of some creature that looked like a bipedal, blue cat.

Lance didn’t respond to that. Keith supposed that he was a little too honest, but it was the truth.

Keith’s small transmitter-device-thing beeped loudly. He shoved his hand into his coat pocket to retrieve it, and saw a message flashing across the dark screen.

“Who is it?” Lance asked, straining his neck to catch a glimpse of the message.

“Probably just them checking on us,” replied Keith hastily. He ducked his head down and read the green text.

Hey, this is Hunk. How’s it going?

We just arrived.

Okay, cool. I’ve started cooking and we’re beginning to set up everything  J

Ok

“Oh, look!” Lance gasped, waving excitedly in the direction of a crooked stall. “I think they’re selling food there!”

He was probably right. Keith could detect a smell coming from the stall, almost greasy, yet alien enough that he didn’t feel tempted to eat it.

“We should try some,” Lance suggested, gazing at the stall curiously.

“We don’t have money.” Keith shut down his idea.

“Damn.” Lance frowned. “We couldn’t use the scaultrite?”

“Do you know how hard it was to get that from the weblum?” Keith retorted, crossing his arms. “Hunk and I almost died about three times.”

“Okay, okay,” Lance huffed, “Let’s continue looking for the QuinteClean.”

And so, they continued their search. Keith only felt relieved that they hadn’t found it yet, even with the two suns pounding their heat onto them. He kept a sharp eye out, determined to find a place that could possibly sell it.

“There’s something that looks like a shop,” Lance said. He nodded in the direction of said stall, which has an assortment of glowing objects hung up on the walls. Something that looked like jewels lined the back shelf. “Let’s go as them if they have it.”

Lance strode of towards the stall in long strides, and Keith, caught off guard, hurried to catch up. If the stall had it, and Lance insisted on going back to the castle… By the time he reached Lance, the latter was leaning against the front counter of the stall, a charming grin on his face.

“Hey, man,” Lance said to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper stared back with round, critical eyes. He looked just like any other native of this planet- his fur was pale yellow, and tufted underneath his mouth, like a beard.

Lance coughed awkwardly. “So, would you happen to have this amazing thing called QuinteClean? I’ve been looking for it.”

The shopkeeper made a displeased noise, and then said in a nasal voice, “I do not.”

Lance’s face fell in disappointment, while Keith internally cheered.

“However,” the shopkeeper continued, leaning against the counter to get close to Lance. “I could tell you where you could find it…for a price.”

“A price?” Lance’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked wary. “What price?”

“Oh, you know…” The shopkeeper smirked with their thin lips. “Just enough to make sure that I remember the right location. These underground operations, you know how they move around.”

“Yeah,” Lance said in a hesitant voice. “Uhm. How much?”

“Oh…about 10,000 GAC or so.” The shopkeeper stared at Lance unexpectedly.

Keith cleared his throat, feeling a need to speak up. “Uh, how about no,” Keith said in a level voice. “Lance, it seems, uh, dangerous. We should just keep searching.”

“No can do, sir,” the shopkeeper said balefully, “You don’t get QuinteClean by any…standard methods, here.”

“Come on, Keith, when have you ever cared about danger?” Lance scoffed. Keith felt himself flush.

“I don’t, but, I don’t know. It’s not right.”

Lance turned back to the shopkeeper. “So, how’s one scaultrite lense for payment? It’s expensive, and I’ve heard that it can make a good trade.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up. “If you really have a scaultrite lense? Deal.”

Lance unzipped the bag of lenses that Coran gave them and carefully pulled one out. He handed it to the shopkeeper with a wink, and they slid it under the counter.

“It’s a little stall at the edge of the marketplace,” the shopkeeper said, “The northwest end, by the oasis.” They pointed in the direction, and Lance nodded. “You’ll know it when you see it, trust me.”

“Is that accurate?” Keith asked suspiciously. He had enough experience dealing with shady people on the streets in the past to know to make sure that someone wasn’t lying. “Cause if it’s not, we’ll be back.”

The shopkeeper nodded. “For a scaultrite lense, any secret is worth giving away.”

“We’ll be off, then,” Keith said shortly, grabbing Lance’s arm and dragging him away.

“Bro,” Lance said, one they were out of earshot. “That was rude.”

“He’s an alien, Lance, his concept of rude is probably way different,” Keith deadpanned.

“I know that, but I feel rude,” Lance complained.

“Whatever.”

“Let’s just find the place,” Lance said, all huffy again. “Hurry. It’s too hot to be outside.”

Keith cursed internally, knowing that he had to do everything but hurry. He kept in pace with Lance, his mind scrambling for something that would make Lance stop. Keith was never that good at coming with spontaneous plans, though, that was more up Lance’s lane. And Lance was the one who he was trying to plan against.

As they walked, Keith pulled out his transmitter and sent a text.

Lance found out a place to get QuinteClean

Too soon! I need to perfect the recipe and Shiro’s still rushing for the present!

Shit. The present. Keith had forgotten about that bit, and now he realized that it might be too late to get anything. He couldn’t stop searching, though, or Pidge would murder him in his sleep.

Try to stall!

ok

They weaved through the stalls and passing aliens. Despite the size of the market, they sped through it far too quickly. The number of stalls started to thin out, and Keith could see actual plant life now- small shrubs and grassy patches that were acid green in colour.

“Keith,” Lance gasped.  

He was staring, starry-eyed, at the oasis a few meters in front of them. The land dropped off into a sandy slope, which led down to the shore of a vast, stretching body of liquid. Actual trees grew up around the water-liquid, bright green and speckled with red and orange fruit.

It was beautiful.

“Wow,” Lance breathed, “That’s the closest we’ve come to seeing an ocean in a while.”

Keith shifted uncomfortably. Lance’s expression was so open and heartfelt that he felt like he was intruding upon some private, tender moment.

“We should…” Lance swallowed. “Look for the QuinteClean.”

Keith nodded numbly, but the beginnings of a plan were forming in his mind.

“Do you think that’s it?” Lance asked. He was looking in the direction of a rounded little stall, built behind two other, larger booths. Unlike the others, this stall wasn’t surrounded by customers, nor was it bright or flashy to attract any.

“Probably,” Keith admitted. 

They went over to the stall with caution in their steps. The vendor was turned around, their head bent low in the shadows.

“Excuse me?” Lance said.

They turned around and stared at Lance and Keith. “Yes,” they said in a gravelly voice. “What do you want?”

Lance leaned against the counter. “We heard that you sell QuinteClean.”

The shopkeeper squinted at Lance. “That’s stuff’s expensive, foreigner. Do you really think you can afford it?”

Lance reached into his bag and pulled out four of the scaultrite lenses. They glinted in the light of the planet’s double suns. “Does this work?”

The alien’s eyes widened as he gaped at the lenses. “Are they real?” they asked wonderingly.

“One hundred percent,” Lance said smugly. “All we need is the QuinteClean.”

“Where did you get them, foreigner?” The alien’s eyes glinted with curiosity. Keith tensed.

Lance’s eyes flicked to Keith for a fraction of a second. Keith wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been steadily watching Lance talk, and he looked away hastily when Lance’s gaze caught his.

Lance looked back at the alien and smirked. “It’s a secret, pal. Do you want them or not?”

“Give them here,” the alien replied, with barely hidden greed.

“Not until you show up the QuinteClean,” Keith interrupted, before Lance could be overly trusting and give up the scaultrite. “Give us everything you’ve got.”

The alien scowled and ducked underneath the counter. Keith heard various clinks before they emerged again with a large vial of shimmery blue liquid in each one of their six hands. They placed the vials on the counter, and the liquid swirled with energy.

“Here, I’ll be generous and throw in a couple Maximory crystals,” the shopkeeper said, like a salesmen trying to hook a couple customers. “They’re good for power circuits, energy conducting, things like that.” He took a handful of purple, cylindrical crystals and shoved them onto the countertop. Keith hoped that the shopkeeper didn’t hope that they would return.

Keith grabbed each vial and carefully put them inside the bag Coran gave him, and then took the crystals just for the sake of it, while Lance slid over the four scaultrite lenses to the vendor. When the exchange was done, Lance thanked the vendor and the two to of them quickly slipped away.

“I can’t believe we just did a black market exchange,” Lance said excitedly. “I always wanted to do that. It always seems so cool when they do it in the movies.”

“Do you base all your actions on what you’ve seen in movies?”

“Um, no,” Lance said, his voice suddenly snooty and impatient. “But the movies are so much fun. And the good guys always win.”

“This is real life,” Keith pointed out.

“Whatever,” Lance snipped, “Let’s get back to the castle.”

Now was the time for Keith to put his plan in action.

“Let’s take a walk by the water,” Keith suggested. It took every ounce of effort he had to sound nonchalant and not awkward; Keith was possibly the worst liar on the entire team. Why Pidge chose him to distract Lance, he still had no clue.

Lance looked at him as if he had sprouted a pig tail. “What the fuck? Why?”

Keith shrugged in the most casual way possible. “I don’t know,” he said stiltedly. “You seemed like you wanted to.”

A foreign emotion passed over Lance’s face- it looked like a combination of worry and irritation. Maybe a bit surprised. “I never said that.”

“You looked like you wanted to.” Keith shrugged again. Why was it so hard to act natural?

“Keith, we need to go back. They’ll be wondering where we are.”

“It’s fine, Lance,” Keith said, trying to sound reassuring. “Look, we all deserve a break. And I’ve heard that, uh, you like water.”

If Keith hadn’t been consciously and unconsciously observing Lance for the past few months, to the point where he got angry at himself sometimes for doing so, he wouldn’t have noticed the nearly imperceptible way Lance flinched. The stupid part of his brain that still had feelings felt a pang of concern, which made Keith even more determined to get Lance to take that damn walk.

“Lance,” Keith said cautiously.

“Fine,” Lance gave in, glaring at Keith. “Let’s take your stupid walk.”

Keith didn’t believe in higher powers, but he thanked them profusely as Lance turned towards the water with barely-contained anticipation. Keith followed after him, feeling triumphant.

Lance stayed silent as the approached the shore. Waves lapped against the darkened soil, and Keith could see small plant life swirling under the surface. Something that looked like a cross between a millipede and frog propelled itself through the orange silt.

Lance stayed within a foot of the water, and Keith made sure to walk a few feet behind him, still cringing with embarrassment at  his terrible attempt at persuading. No matter where Keith seemed to look, his gaze kept drifting back to Lance, who didn’t seem to be paying Keith the slightest bit of attention. The blue of the water were reflected back in Lance’s eyes; they sparkled when the sun shimmered over the water.

Keith’s heart skipped. He swallowed, but suddenly his tongue seemed to be made of sandpaper.

“Why are you lagging behind?” came Lance’s voice, sharp and irritating.

Even Keith’s unfortunate feelings didn’t stop him from raising his head and scowling at Lance.

“Too slow?” Lance snorted.

Keith bristled. “Yeah, right.” He sped up until he was in pace with Lance, leaving only a few inches of distance between their arms.

Lance stayed silent for a moment, and then spoke up. “You know,” he started, and his tone had softened so drastically that Keith got whiplash. “I haven’t been able to stroll by a beach in a long time.”

Keith looked out over the water, where he could see the inky line that marked the other shore. “It’s not exactly the beach.”

“Technicalities,” Lance huffed, “It’s been a while since I’ve walked along water. Kind of reminds me of when my family visited the Lake Ontario.” Lance fell quiet again, likely lost in memories of his family.

Something in Keith’s chest twinged. He felt compelled to say something, if only to fill the void of silence that was spanning between them. “I never saw the Great Lakes,” he said lamely, and then winced at his own inability.

Lance made a noise, somewhere between a laugh and a snort, and said, “I thought they were really boring. My sister loved it, though. She’s a photographer, so she took all kinds of pictures…” Lance perked up, smiling. “Have you ever visited the Grand Canyon?”

“No,” Keith said dryly, “The first time I stepped out of Texas was when Blue flew us to outer space.”

Lance gaped at him with a ridiculous open mouth. “No way.”

“Yeah.”

They were both quiet now. The air between them was less awkward. Keith wondered if this was the first time that they were talking without incessant bickering. He wondered what it meant.

“Let’s go sit underneath that tree,” Lance said, pointing to where a tree stood, it’s large leaves and branches casting a shadow over the land.

Sand crunched underneath them as they flopped down underneath the shade. Keith nestled himself between two thick roots and leaned his head against the trunk, panting slightly in the heat.

Lance groaned. “I could fall asleep here.”

“Don’t,” Keith warned, “I’m not going to drag you back to the castle.”

Lance stuck his tongue out like a five year old. Keith reached over his foot and lightly kicked Lance’s ankle.

“We should head back to the castle,” Lance sighed reluctantly. When Keith glanced at him, he was staring wistfully at the water, clearly unwilling to leave. “Don’t you think they’ll worry?”

“No!” Keith said hastily, and then backtracked when Lance raised an eyebrow. “I mean, dude. We deserve a break. I’m not ready to go back yet.”

Lance grinned impishly. “Did you just call me ‘dude’? Oh my gosh, what’s happened to you?” He leaned in as if examining Keith’s face, which brought him way too close for comfort, so Keith pushed his face away with his hand.

“I’m picking up your speech, unfortunately,” Keith drawled, “Clearly we’ve been stuck together for too long.”

“Then what do you say, Texas Boy?” Lance’s grin, if possible, grew even more wicked. “Pardner? Y’all?”

“Oh my god.” Keith felt his face warm, and buried his face in his hands just to hide it. “I don’t talk like that, Lance. And you don’t call your friend ‘y’all’.”

Lance cackled. “I want to see you in cowboy boots and a hat. Yeehaw.”

A laugh erupted out of Keith so unexpectedly that he almost choked on his own saliva. He covered his mouth with his hand and tried to pass it off as untimely coughing.

Lance looked triumphant at that, for reasons that Keith didn’t know; they weren’t having a competition, so why did Lance look like he had won something shiny to brag about? In spite of that, the happy, confident (maybe a bit smug) expression looked good on Lance. His stomach fluttered and then twisted.

“I’ll kill you if you repeat this,” Lance said suddenly, folding his hands together. “But you’re right. We do deserve a break.”

“Do you think we could convince Allura to let us go on vacation?” Keith asked, although he wasn’t really serious. Still, it seemed like a nice idea, especially if it allowed him and Lance to talk and tease each other like this.

“Ha, I wish,” Lance said, shaking his head. “Nah, she wouldn’t let us. I mean, I get why, but I want to go.”

“When we go back to Earth,” Keith said, the random thought popping into his mind. “I want to go to the beach. I’ve heard that it’s nice.”

Lance blinked at him slowly, with an expression that told Keith that he was just realizing that Keith had never seen the ocean before.

“I’ll take you,” Lance said. Keith was struck by how soft Lance’s voice was at that moment. He couldn’t meet Lance’s eyes, and instead chose to focus on his fingers, tapping on a root next to him.

Lance cleared his throat. “I mean,” he said uncomfortably, “If you want.”

Keith had to force himself not to smile. That would just make a thousand times things worse. “I’d appreciate that. I don’t know how to swim.”

“There’s more to do on the beach than swim,” Lance said, the enthusiasm spreading back into his voice. “You can play in the sand, or take walks, or collect shells. My brother, Carlos, he was amazing at making sand castles when he was a kid. He made one that was two feet high. He has a picture of it framed on his wall.”

“Bet you were terrible at sand castles,” Keith teased.

“Excuse you? I mean, you’re right,” Lance admitted, “Architecture isn’t my forte. But I’m great at beach volleyball.”

Keith had a sudden vision of Lance in a swimming trunks and nothing else, sweaty and running around playing beach volleyball with some faceless figured. He flushed and told his own brain to shut the fuck up.

“Fine. We’ll play beach volleyball when we get back to Earth, and see who wins,” Keith challenged. He could bait Lance into a stupid competition, too.

“You’re on.” Lance grinned. “I’ll have Hunk on my team. How are you going to beat me?”

“Shiro,” Keith said flatly.

“Haha. I’ll still beat you. When I was in middle school, I used to play with my sister’s athlete ex-boyfriend, back when he wasn’t a two-timing dick. And I’ve won against him. I’m practiced.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Keith asked wonderingly. He couldn’t imagine having such a big family. A small voice inside him snarked, You couldn’t imagine any sort of family. Keith pushed it aside; now was not the time.

“Five,” Lance said proudly. “Two older twin sisters, Annett and Miranda. My older brother, Carlos, my other older brother, Julian, and then Maria. Annett is super nice to me, and Miranda is like, the opposite, but somehow they both get along with each other? Carlos is a bit of a dick most of the time, but he’s also super smart. Julian is mischievous, I have to watch out or he becomes the family prankster. And Maria is really creative- she's in an art high school right now.”

"So you're the youngest?" Keith asked.

"Yep," Lance said, grinning.

“Sounds nice,” Keith said, almost wistful. His only experience with blood-related family was his dad, and…well.

“It is,” Lance sighed, “They were…well, big families are always annoying, but there’s always someone there for you, you know?”

“No,” Keith said instantly, and then regretted it when Lance latched onto his words.

“…I’m assuming you don’t have such an amazing history with you family,” Lance said awkwardly. His eyes flickered between Keith and the blue lake. “Sorry.”

Keith just shrugged, as nonchalantly as possible, and said, “It’s not a big deal.” That was a lie, of course, but Keith really, really didn’t want to delve into it right now.

Thankfully, Lance seemed to get it, and his only response was a sympathetic nod.

Keith turned back to the lake in silence. A few moments later, his transmitter beeped, and he pulled it out eagerly, looking forward to the message that would say that they were ready and he and Lance could go back home.

THE KITCHEN EXPLODED

Please stall for just a little longer, I just need to clean up. I’m so sorry, keith!

Keith’s stomach fell. He cursed internally, and glanced sideways at Lance, who thankfully was paying more attention to a small, fuzzy alien that was tramping down to the water.

I’ll try

“Keith,” Lance asked, with concern tinting his tone. “Are you ok? You look upset.”

“I’m fine,” Keith said, mentally willing himself to calm down. His mind was racing in spite of that; while he knew that Lance enjoyed the relaxation, he also knew that Lance wanted to get back soon, so that they wouldn’t be separated from the rest of their team any longer. If Keith continued making excuses, then Lance would get suspicious, and demand to go home.

Shit, Keith thought wretchedly, They shouldn’t have sent me with him. I knew this would fail.

“You sure?” Lance asked doubtfully. “We should get you back to the castle ship, Keith, maybe the heat’s affecting you. We need to get back anyway. Are you sick?”

“No,” Keith said, realizing how forceful he sounded far too late.

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”

“Just-”

“Keith, you’re being irrational,” Lance said, with brutal honesty. “Why do we need to stay out here any longer?”

“Just a few minutes,” Keith said, and even to himself, he sounded like he was begging. His insides curled with disgust; Keith didn’t beg.

“We’ve been out here for vargas!” Lance snapped, and just like that, whatever amiable atmosphere surrounded them evaporated into nothingness. Keith’s chest squeezed.

“Keith,” Lance said impatiently, “Let’s go. It was nice to relax, but we have to get back. I thought you’d be the first to understand that.” Lance moved to get up, and Keith’s mind moved in fast-forward.

There was something he could say that would get Lance to wait. He could…but was he really that desperate? He could…but would it be worth it? Keith thought about how disappointed Hunk would be if he allowed Lance to return early. He thought about how irritated Pidge would be. He thought about the look of Lance’s face, when he realized that he had ruined their surprise.

Besides, Keith had never been the one to have to make a split-second decision and think about the consequences.

“Wait,” he said, grabbing onto Lance’s wrist. “Don’t leave yet.”

Lance wrinkled his eyebrows, just the slightest bit, and his deep blue eyes searched Keith’s face.

Keith swallowed, suddenly thinking that the sun’s heat was overwhelming him. His mouth tasted like the sand he was sitting on.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said. His tongue felt too big for his mouth.

“About?” The crease between Lance’s brows grew deeper, and he crouched down so his face was level with Keith’s. “Is this something bad? Are you okay?”

Keith swallowed again, suddenly feeling like the proximity was too close. It wasn’t like he had any choice now. He took a deep breath. Here it goes…

“It depends on how you take it,” Keith said, his voice coming out the slightest bit croaky. Lance’s eyes widened slightly, and Keith wondered if he had understood anything.

“Keith…”

“Lance,” Keith said, not letting Lance talk. He couldn’t let Lance talk too much or (for probably the first time in his life) he would chicken out and make some excuse to slip away. “Lance. I think…no, I know. I like you.”

Lance stared at him. And then laughed awkwardly. “Well, I hope so. We are teammates, you know, if you didn’t like me I’d be concerned. Although I am surprised, since we always fight.”

Keith clenched his teeth and suppressed some very colourful words. Of course Lance wouldn’t make this easy for him. “No, asshole. Do you need it in first grade words? I like like you.”

If possible, Lance’s eyes grew even wider. Keith thought that his eyeballs were in danger of falling out, and then wondered why that thought was occurring at a time like this.

“You like me?” Lance asked incredulously.

Keith couldn’t believe how fast his nervousness and fear were being replaced by irritation. Although he supposed that it was good that Lance was dragging it out, he would appreciate it if Lance could maybe understand and respond to what he was saying.

“Yes,” Keith said crossly, “I’ve said that three times now. It’s not that hard to believe.”

“Uh,” Lance said, apparently still dumbfounded. “Yes, it is. Me? Why? I would have thought that you would have had a crush on Shiro or something like that. I’m just…me.”

Keith wrinkled his nose. “Shiro is like my brother, don’t be gross. And what do you mean you’re just you?”

Lance nodded, eyes shifting and looking uneasy. “I mean…I’m kind of ordinary, aren’t I? You’re the team’s master pilot, and I’m like…the master of jokes.”

“That’s rich,” Keith said in a flat tone, which got Lance to look him in the face again. “I tell you that I like you and dismiss that by calling yourself ordinary. You’re literally one-fifth of the saviours of the universe. And me being good at flying doesn’t make you less of a person, or less of a pilot, or less of a paladin.”

Lance winced, and Keith almost regretted that his words came out so sharply. “It’s not that, but, like, I’m so average compared to the rest of you. Sorry, I’m being weird, we should go…”

Lance tried to get up again, but Keith pulled him down. “We were having a discussion,” Keith said irritably, lifting an eyebrow. “I just confessed my like of you.” He didn’t give Lance a chance to speak, and steamrollered ahead. “If you’re comparing us, I’ll have you know that my aim is shit. The only reason that I hit anything with the laser canons in my lion is because Red basically aims for me. The reason why each paladin has their own lion and own bayard is because each paladin has their own strengths and weaknesses. They’re each unique.”

Lance paused with a strange expression on his face. “I never thought that I’d actually hear you say anything that’s even close to thoughtful.”

“Fuck you,” Keith grumbled, “Do you get my point? You’re important to the team. Don’t make me repeat it.” He could feel the warmth on his face, and knew that his skin was probably flushed with colour.

Lance lifted his head, and Keith was a little startled to see a small smile playing on Lance’s lips. “Yeah,” Lance said, and was he blushing?  “Uh. Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Keith repeated awkwardly. “Um. Let’s go back.” He got up in a haste, suddenly desperate to return to the castle. He wasn’t going to reopen the conversation about his feelings for Lance; he didn’t want to dig into that, if Lance was willing to let it go. He did his job and stalled, so hopefully, it would pass over.

“Wait, Keith. Keith,” Lance said insistently. It was his turn to pull Keith down, and Keith scowled at him for it.

“What?” Keith asked.

Lance rolled his eyes and huffed. “You’re so rude. You can’t confess your feelings to me and then not let me respond.”

Keith blinked. “Are you making fun of me? Because that’s an asshole thing to do.”

“Oh my god, no,” Lance said, running his hand over his face. “What am I going to do with you?”

Keith would have responded, probably with something snappy and irritated, but at that same moment, Lance leaned in and kissed him.

Keith would have liked to say that the kiss (his first kiss, his mind supplied unhelpfully) was amazing, and sparks flew, but in reality, it was awkward, messy, and at a bad angle. Their lips practically crashed together, for only half a moment, and then Lance pulled back, looking sheepish.

“Sorry,” he said, “I haven’t kissed anyone since high school.”

“No girls at the Garrison?” Keith asked, even if the image of it made his stomach writhe with an ugly emotion. His voice was dazed, as if he had just been knocked out, which was kind of embarrassing, but Keith tried not to mind too much.

“Nah,” Lance said, and he grabbed the front of Keith’s overlarge coat, pulling him forward, tucked a bit of Keith’s hair behind his hears, lightly set his fingers by Keith’s jaw, and then leaned forward again, eyes fluttering shut.

And yeah, this time (and Keith hated to say it, because it was cheesy as fuck) sparks flew.

~~~

When Lance held his hand out to help Keith up from the sandy ground, Keith accepted it gracefully. Neither of them let go when Keith was standing up, and so they made their way back through the market place, hand in hand, blushing like moonstruck teenagers. Which was kind of what they were, in Keith’s opinion.

Keith’s mind was still whirring, which was miraculous when he thought of the recent events that had transpired. He still had to search for a present, and they were already on their way back to the castle. If there was any way for Keith to quickly slip away and search…

His eyes caught onto a low stone building that had two entrances. A line of aliens lead out of each entrance, and there were symbols scratched over the walls that Keith couldn’t decipher.

“Hey Lance,” he said, tugging on Lance’s hand. He nodded in the direction of the building. “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Okay,” Lance said, untangling their fingers. “Don’t take too long, we have to get back.”

“I know that,” Keith grumbled, before walking off in the direction of the bathroom. He hazarded a guess as to which one would be considered the “male” bathroom (though he doubted that alien civilizations would follow the same gender binary as humans did) and stood in line, tapping his foot impatiently. When he was sure that Lance’s attention was on something else and far away from him, he slipped through the crowd and in the opposite direction, frantically searching for something that he could buy Lance.

There was a stall of some clothing product that resembled hats. Keith tossed that idea away, because it was too impersonal and silly. Keith wasn’t very sentimental or emotional, but he wanted to get Lance something that Lance would actually like and appreciate, instead of a piece of junk.  

He was becoming increasingly worried that he wouldn’t be able to find something without Lance getting suspicious. He didn’t want to run the risk of being followed by Lance and being exposed, so he decided to circle back around and see if he could find something on the way back. Making sure to thoroughly observe every passing stall, he weaved through the passing aliens. Nothing there felt right. It was all ugly clothes and strangely shaped clutter that no human would have use for.

He was about to lose hope (he didn’t even know what most of the items being sold were) when the sound of a cart wheeling by caught his attention. The alien pushing it was hunched over, their coarse hair streaked with dull gray. Under the roof of the cart, displays held a plethora of necklaces, strings, and amulets, that clacked together whenever the alien took a step forwards.

A specific one stood out the Keith, and he thought, that’s the one I have to buy.

He hurried over and the alien behind the card paused, their watery eyes lingering over Keith. Keith stopped a foot short of the cart and glanced at the alien, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

“How much for this one?” he asked, pointing to the specific necklace that he had his eye on. It had a fairly simple, brown cord, but the pendant was what attracted Keith; a rough, crystalline orb the size of a grape, mottled dark blue and green, not unlike a certain planet that Lance was very attached to.

The alien squinted, as if Keith has asked a particularly difficult question. “We can discuss the price,” they grunted.

Keith hesitated for a moment, and then reached into his bag, careful not to disturb the large vials of QuinteClean. He dug down to the bottom and found the sharp Maximory crystals that the black market shopkeeper alien had given them along with the QuinteClean. He held two of them out for the alien pushing the cart to see.

“Is this good?” he asked.

The alien blinked at him. “Got anymore?”

Keith suppressed a huff of annoyance and reached inside once more, pulling out another crystal. “This is the last one,” he lied, wanting to save the final crystal for Pidge.

“I suppose that’ll do,” the alien conceded. They held out one hand for Keith to place to crystals into, while another arm reached out to take the necklace off its display. Their remaining four arms stayed firmly on the cart’s handles.

They dropped the necklace into Keith’s hands. With a muttered “thank you”, Keith carefully put the necklace away into the pocket of his coat, and took off running towards the back of the bathroom-building. He skidded to a half just before emerging out from the other side, pushing through the line of aliens, and seeking out Lance.

He found Lance engaged in conversation with a pale purple native of the planet, and tapped on his shoulder to alert him of Keith’s presence. Lance glanced at him and smiled brightly, which made Keith’s heart flutter.

“We have to go,” Lance said graciously to the alien, sliding his hand into Keith’s. “Bye.”

The alien nodded and Lance strode forward, pulling Keith along with him.

“You took a long time in the bathroom,” Lance said teasingly, “I was about to go check if you were okay.”

Keith rolled his eyes, internally grateful that he had come back in the nick of time. “The line was long and the technology in the bathroom was weird.”

“That’s the reason,” Lance said playfully, bumping his shoulder into Keith’s. Keith bumped back, the back of his neck tingling with warmth.

“Shut up,” he muttered, “Let’s go home.”

~~~

Hunk set the three tier cake, carefully, at the center of their dining table, making sure not to his the bowls of snacks that were in the vicinity. In the corner of the room, Pidge was connecting an old Altean sound system that they had fixed up to an energy outlet.

He jumped when his transmitter went off, signaling that he had received a text from Keith. The message flashed across the screen when he slid it out of his pocket.

Hey, we’re on our way back, we can see the castle

Just in time! Allura just finished all the decorations.

When you come in, take Lance to the dining room.

ok

“Pidge,” Hunk called, “They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Nice,” Pidge answered, walking over to Hunk. “Where’re Allura and Coran? And Shiro?”

“We’re here,” Allura’s voice announced. Hunk and Pidge turned towards the soung. “We were wrapping our presents for Lance.” True to her words, each of them were clutching a prettily wrapped package. The shiny foil gleamed in the bright lights of the castle.

“Okay,” Hunk said, “Put them over there.” He pointed towards a small table that was pushed against the wall, where Hunk and Pidge’s own presents sat. Allura, Shiro, and Coran set their gifts down as well, and then turned to Hunk and Pidge for further instruction.

Pidge adjusted their glasses, squinting their eyes, probably against the glare of the overhead lighting. “So,” they said, in a voice that reminded Hunk of their old Garrison commanders. “I hope you all know that we plan to make this party perfect.” They glanced around, taking in the scene of the whole room. “Everyone got presents, that’s good, I hope that Keith remembers- if not, then God help him. It’s all decorated…that’s good. So!” Pidge clapped their hands together suddenly, making Hunk jump. “In Earth tradition, when there’s a surprise party, we turn the lights off and hide, and when the birthday person comes in, we jump out and yell ‘SURPRISE’!”

“Interesting,” Allura said, a pondering look on her face. “Won’t that scare him?”

“Nope,” Pidge said, “Lance has been to surprise parties before, he knows how it works. Of course, he doesn’t even know that it’s around his birthday, but we can explain that later.”

“Right.” Hunk nodded, and the others follow suit. “Now, we need to find places to hide. Make sure that you won’t get stuck there.”

Pidge found their hiding spot first, being the smallest of the group. They crouched behind the gift table, half of their head peaking up to watch everyone else. Allura kneeled down at the end of the table far away from the main door, and Coran ducked behind one of the huge tubes that stuck to the wall and arced to the floor. Shiro hid underneath the table, pushing two chairs away from him so he could leap out when the lights were turned on. Hunk jogged towards the light switch and flipped it off, submerging the room in a semi-darkness, and then crouching behind the nearby tube. Now, the only dim light came from the blue stripes that crisscrossed the room; everything else was just a shady blur.

A mechanical rumbling signified that the castle doors were being opened, and the clicks of footsteps against the castle floor faded in, along with the loud, bickering voices that typically followed Lance and Keith.

“-I’m just saying, you could really work on your technique-”

“Shut up, Lance, oh my god, it’s not like you were that much better.”

“Experience trumps wisdom, my dear.”

“Don’t call me that, and what does wisdom have to do with this?”

“Because the conversation is about me, and therefore, automatically about wisdom-” Lance voice broke off as the door to the dining room slid open with a whirr. “Why is it so dark, Jesus Christ, you don’t think that the castle is haunted again, do you?”

“Lance,” Keith said, although his voice sounded a bit strangled. “It was never haunted.”

“Okay but you know what I-”

Hunk reached for the light switch and flicked it on, and in that same instant, Pidge, Allura, Coran, Shiro, and he jumped out of their hiding spots and yelled, at the top of their lungs, “SURPRISE!”

Lance jumped about a foot into the air, his eyes widening comically. He looked as though Coran has popped up in a leotard and stockings and expressed the desire to dance ballet. Keith groaned and hid his face in his right hand.

“Happy Birthday, Lance,” Pidge crowed triumphantly, beating Hunk to it. They sounded smug, for some reason that Hunk didn’t fully understand.

“Happy…birthday?” Lance asked, as if they were speaking Altean.

“Yep,” Pidge said, putting their hands on their waist. They started explaining rapidly, “It’s quite a long story, but basically, I found a timer that started counting time from when the castle woke up, the same day we left Earth, and from that I was able to calculate that it should be around the end of July on Earth. Which means that, you either have turned or will turn 17. So happy birthday.”

“Yeah, man,” Hunk said warmly. “Happy birthday.”

Lance blinked once, twice. His mouth had fallen open, and he glanced around at Pidge, and Hunk, and then turned to Keith, as if he had another explanation.

“It’s the truth,” Keith said dryly.

They stared at each other for a moment, and suspicion flickered inside Hunk, Something about them was different…The way that they stood, ever so slightly positioned towards each other, or the way that Lance chewed his lip when he looked at Keith, something he only did when he was nervous or flustered. The way that Keith blushed when the lights turned on, pink colour tinting his cheeks and ears.

It struck Hunk like a bolt of lightning, as if balloon of understanding had expanded and burst in his mind. “You guys are holding hands!” he exclaimed.

Keith turned red. Lance jumped again, the tips of his ears glowing with colour. Lance didn’t do that when he was just embarrassed, no, that happened when he was flustered and nervous and embarrassed all at the same time. The last time Hunk saw that, Lance had just been kissed by Plaxum on the water planet.

Allura was the first to respond, clapping her hands together and beaming widely. “Congratulations,” she said, smiling at the two of them good-naturedly.

“Good for you two!” Coran said heartily. His moustache ruffled. “It was high time, you know, especially for you, Keith, you weren’t subtle at-”

“Coran,” Allura interrupted him quickly, and he fell silent, though his eyes shone mischievously.

“Uh, um, thanks,” Lance said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Uh…”

Keith was still blushing furiously, and Hunk realized that his eyes were searching out only one person. His mouth was set in a determined line, but Hunk knew him well enough to see the cracks of vulnerability in his expression.

He wanted Shiro’s approval.

Shiro smiled at them easily, his eyes crinkling with obvious happiness. “Good going, Keith. I knew that you had it in you. Although, I have to say, I don’t think I’ve seen you blush this hard in my entire-”

“Shiro,” Keith said in a drawn out groan, dropping Lance’s hand to bury his face in both of them.

“Hey,” Lance spoke up suddenly, “Why is everyone assuming that Keith confessed to me? I could have done the same to him!”

“I did confess to you, Lance,” Keith said flatly.

As they were swept again in a spiral of bickering, Hunk turned to Pidge, who was the only person who hadn’t said anything about this situation. As he expected, they were smirking smugly, not unlike the way they did when they solved a particularly complex puzzle.

“You planned this,” Hunk said. It was not a question.

“Maybe,” Pidge said, smirk growing wider. “I might have made sure that Keith would be the one to go with Lance. I might have known that he wouldn’t have been able to keep his secret for so long with just Lance for company.”

“That’s devious,” Hunk said, not meaning it at all.

Pidge shrugged. “Perhaps. But it worked.”

“True,” Hunk agreed. “I think you did a good thing.”

Their expression changed to a smile that was more sincere. “I won’t take all the credit. I’m sure Keith played his own part, as well. But I will make sure to mention it during my speech at their wedding, I’ll admit that.”

“Don’t let them hear you say that,” Hunk snorted. Knowing Lance, he would freak out and proceed to obsess over his future with Keith, which wouldn’t be pleasant for anyone involved, including Hunk.

Pidge nodded, and then turned to the rest of the group, talking over their chatter. “Hey! We have music and good food, so I think that we should get this party started!”

Lance immediately dropped whatever conversation was happening and whooped, in his typical party animal fashion. Pidge grinned and ran over to their Altean radio, punching some buttons and cranking up the volume dial.

Immediately, loud music began pounding out of it. It wasn’t unpleasant, for Altean music; perhaps a little more intense than they were used to. Lance mirrored Pidge’s grin and grasped Keith’s hand, pulling him into a sort of dance that was more Lance moving around and yanking Keith’s arm around with him.

“I’m not dancing,” Hunk heard Keith say over the bass of the music (Alteans knew how to use their bass).

“Party pooper,” Lance said, and Hunk just knew that he was sticking his tongue out.

Allura came up to him, swaying to the music in a way that was enthusiastic but elegant. “I’m quite enjoying this,” she said brightly, “Is this what they do for every birthday on Earth?”

“Well not always,” Hunk said, “But Lance likes to party, so Pidge and I thought we should do something special.”

Allura nodded approvingly. “That was kind of you,” she remarked, smiling at him. “You’re a good friend, Hunk.”

Hunk blushed at the compliment, and shuffled his feet. “Lance deserves it,” he said in an embarrassed voice. “And it was partially Pidge’s idea, too.”

Allura hummed, and then looked up when Coran called out her name. With another brief smile at Hunk, she brushed past him, and left Hunk to sip his drink in silence. She joined Pidge and Coran in their conversation, about castle technology, or perhaps about Pidge’s ongoing attempt to learn Altean.

They stayed like this for a while. How long exactly, Hunk didn’t know, but they rotated between conversation with each other for the first time in a while, not as Paladins, or comrades, or anything but friends that could laugh and joke with each other as well as comfort and support each other. It was exactly the type of day that the team needed, in the midst of battle with the Galra and training for their next rescue mission.

Eventually, when they got tired of the banter and talking, Pidge stood by the table and called over the booming music, “GUYS! Let’s cut the cake!”

Hunk nodded in agreement, and glanced at Lance, who grinned and tugged Keith forward so that they were standing side by side in front of the towering cake. Hunk and Pidge stood next to them, and Shiro, Allura, and Coran stood on the other side of the table, waiting expectantly.

“This cake is huge,” Lance said, impressed. His eyes gleamed, and it occurred to Hunk that none of them had eaten anything that resembled cake since they left space.

“I hope it’s good,” Hunk said, twisting his hands anxiously. “I tried, like, three times to get the recipe right, but I’m not sure how much it’ll taste like the cake we get on Earth…”

Lance patted his shoulder and smiled. “It’ll be good, buddy, trust me,” he said reassuringly, and in spite of his doubts, Hunk’s confidence recovered a bit.

“We don’t have candles,” Pidge said apologetically, adjusting their glasses. “But we’ll sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and then Allura and Coran will sing us their version.”

Lance nodded and picked up the knife that Hunk had set by the cake. He glanced around, almost nervously, and Hunk nudged his arm encouragingly.   

Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro started singing, “Happy birthday to you…”

Keith didn’t sing, but his dark eyes flickered between Lance’s face and the knife that was now poised above the fluffy, pink frosting of the cake.

“Happy birthday, dear Lance.”

Allura and Coran clapped along to the song, eyes glowing with interest and happiness, looking just as enthusiastic as the rest of them, even if they were unfamiliar with the song.

“Happy birthday to you!”

Lance blinked hard, his eyes shining a little more than usual. Hunk’s stomach clenched, and he gently patted Lance’s back.

Lance’s lips quirked up in a half-smile. Hunk noticed him tighten his grip on Keith’s hand, and reach up to rub his eyes with his right hand.  

As soon as the humans in the room finished their song, Allura and Coran launched into the Altean birthday song. Hearing it made any Earth birthday song sound tame- Hunk couldn’t understand the lyrics, of course, but they were spoken rapidly, with a wild variety of high and low pitches, and ended with a drawn out, dramatic note, and lots of hand waving.

Pidge whooped as Lance finished cutting out the first slice of cake, and swooped it onto the plate that Hunk held out for him. As soon as Lance put down the slice, Pidge leapt into action, swiping their finger through the frosting of the cake and smearing the pale frosting over Lance’s cheek.

Lance yelped, swiping out at Pidge, while Keith snickered. Hunk took that opportunity to dip two of his fingers in the frosting and dollop it on Lance’s nose.

“Hunk!” Lance cried dramatically, “I can’t believe I’ve been betrayed by my best friend.”

Allura said, “Paladins” in a voice that was more fond than scolding.

“Try the cake, Lance,” Hunk exclaimed, clasping his hands together with excitement. He handed Lance a spoon (Alteans apparently didn’t have forks) and waited in anticipation for Lance to try it.

Lance took a spoonful of cake and considered it for a moment, before eating the bite. He closed his eyes for a moment, like he was taking in all the flavours, before he brightened up and gave Hunk a thumbs-up.

“Thank god,” Hunk breathed.

“It’s fluffy,” Lance said in a delighted voice, “And the frosting is great. It’s kind of fruity, but, you know, it’s unique! But the cake tastes almost exactly like vanilla.”

“Why don’t you cut us all a piece, Hunk?” Allura suggested.

Hunk nodded, while Lance, Keith, and Pidge moved aside to let him through. He cut six, hearty slices, for everyone who didn’t have a piece, and passed them out. Pidge practically stared at their slice with heart eyes before digging in.

Coran chewed on his mouthful with slight suspicion, like he always did with Hunk’s Earth-style dishes, and his eyes lit up. “This is quite good!” he told Hunk approvingly, “There’s a similar dish we eat on Altea, except it’s stuffed with hedgeberry jam! I should make it some time…although I’ll probably have to use dried hedgeberries…hm.”

Hunk didn’t know if he wanted to try another one of Coran’s…authentic dishes, so he just nodded and smiled awkwardly, silently hoping that Coran would forget.

“Good work, Hunk,” Keith said, with a faint smile.

Hunk could only pretend that he didn’t bask in everyone’s praise and hums of delight. “Yeah, well,” he said bashfully.

They finished their cake quickly; Pidge and Lance even went in for enthusiastic seconds, although Hunk noticed that Lance stayed quiet while everyone else engaged in conversation. He noted this, wondering if he should bring it up later. Hunk also thought that next time, he could try making chocolate cake, which was Lance’s favourite, or at least the alien equivalent of it. He could try out a recipe with some alien fruit, maybe…

Pidge set down their spoon with a loud clatter. Hunk started at the sound, and looked at them questioningly, in case they were trying to call attention to something.

He was right. Pidge waited for everyone to look up from their cake before speaking. “We should give Lance out presents now,” they declared, crossing their arms over their chest.

Lance’s eyes widened. “Presents?” he half-gasped, flicking his gaze to Hunk, and then Keith. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, “We all got you presents, Lance. I hope you like them.”

“You, too?” Lance asked Keith wonderingly.

Keith’s cheeks turned pink. “You don’t have to sound so surprised,” he muttered, ducking his head as if to hide his face.

“No, no,” Lance corrected, “I’m delighted. There’s a difference.”

“Come on,” Hunk said. He and Pidge herded Lance and Keith to the small gift table, where their gifts, wrapped in shiny foil, waited to be opened. Shiro, Allura, and Coran followed after, and they all stood in a circle around Lance, patiently awaiting their gift opening.

“Allura can give her gift first,” Pidge decided, looking at the princess for confirmation.

Allura smiled and moved forward, grabbing the largest gift, a flat, squarish package that sagged a bit when she held it with one hand. She held it out to Lance, who took it with curiosity, and then carefully opened the foil. He unfolded what looked like a baby blue suit with a high collar, and a golden border.

“It’s a traditional Altean coat,” Allura explained, looking upon the suit with some nostalgia. “It was typically worn by the Altean nobility…”

Lance examined it and held it up to his shoulders to check its size. “This is great,” he exclaimed, in a way that Hunk knew was genuine. “Thanks, Allura.”

Allura beamed.

Coran stepped up next. “Open my gift, Lance,” he said eagerly.

His gift turned out to be a small bottle of old Altean perfume. When sprayed in the air, it gave of a musty, herbal scent, that would have made Hunk cough if he was someone with less manners.

Pidge scrunched their nose.

Lance, being himself, braved a smile and said, “Thank you, Coran. It’s amazing.”

Keith coughed.

Shiro was hesitant to present his gift.

“I’m really, really bad at gifts,” he told Lance apologetically. “I never know what to give anyone, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Shiro,” Lance said graciously, accepting the rectangular package with ease, although even he found it hard to say words of thanks when they discovered that the gift was a journal. It had a pretty cover, and a nice blue tassel as a bookmark, but it was a journal nevertheless.

“It’s okay,” Keith told Lance, patting his arm. “For Christmas, Shiro gave me a pen.”

“You don’t need to bring that up, Keith,” Shiro said, making a face. “And you were at the Garrison, you might have needed nice pens!”

“We use tablets at the Garrison, Shiro,” Keith said with exasperation.

“That’s not even the worst one,” Pidge said in a deadpan. “He gave my brother a stuffed giraffe for his birthday.”

“Matt likes giraffes,” Shiro protested, while everyone else erupted in laughter.

Pidge and Hunk decided to present their presents together, since their presents were related and they helped each other with the designs.

“Think of it as two presents from both Hunk and me,” Pidge said to Lance.

“Yeah, yeah, Pidge,” Lance replied sarcastically, not-so-discreetly putting his right arm around Keith’s shoulders. Keith not-so-discreetly blushed and ducked his head.

“Open Pidge’s first,” Hunk instructed.

Lance unwrapped the hard, rectangular package, revealing a shiny, black and red device, no bigger than an average smartphone. He peered at it, turning it over with his hands, and then turned to Pidge.

“Okay, I have no idea what this is,” he admitted.

Pidge smirked. “It’s like a camera, except more high tech. If you turn it on, you can take pictures.”

Lance’s eyes were the size of moons. “Woah, really?”

Pidge nodded.

Hunk was getting impatient. “Open my thing next,” he said urgently, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Lance set down the camera, and picked up Hunk’s gift, which, in all honesty, looked exactly like Pidge’s except bigger. He carefully removed the wrapping foil, and held up a white square.

“This looks like a picture frame,” Lance said, “Except none of us have any pictures?”

“It’s a technologically advanced picture frame,” Hunk said proudly, “You can upload a single picture from the camera onto this device, and it’ll display it like a picture frame!”

“Thank you,” Lance said, in an awed voice that Hunk thought he didn’t quite deserve. “Not just for this. For everything.”

Hunk smiled, patting Lance’s shoulder. “No problem,” he said simply.

“There’s still one more present left to go,” Pidge said loudly, crossing their arms and peering at Keith through their glasses. “Come on up, Keith.”

Hunk didn’t want to say that he didn’t trust Keith to buy a proper present, but he also didn’t know how much experience Keith had with presents, or Lance. He waited in silence as Keith slowly reached into his pocket

“Uh, so,” Keith said, his eyes flickering to Hunk and Pidge, guarded. “I’ve…never really had to buy anyone presents before…and I’m not sure how much you’ll like this. I couldn’t get this wrapped, but, I hope you like it.”

From his pocket Keith drew out what Hunk realized was a pendant- a small orb that hung, glittering slightly, on a plain brown cord. It was mottled blue and green, and it took Hunk a few moments to notice what it resembled.

Keith swallowed, then cleared his throat. “You sounded like you missed Earth, and, well, I thought the pendant looked kind of like Earth, so maybe…I don’t know, I thought you might like it.”

Lance curled his fingers around the necklace like it was made of some precious gems, holding it up to his face to inspect. Keith stared at him, swiping his tongue over his lip in a nervous way. Hunk held his breath.

“Sorry if it’s not that great,” Keith said, shuffling his feet, cheeks flushing.

“Are you kidding?” Lance said disbelievingly, stepping forward. His placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder, then slid it down and intertwined his fingers with Keith’s. “This is amazing.”

“I- you really liked it?” Keith asked hesitantly, sounding hopeful.

“If everyone else wasn’t here, I would probably kiss you,” Lance said seriously.

Pidge went, “Ooooooooooooh.”

Keith went red and buried his face in his hands.

Lance grinned.

~~~

After everyone worked together to take down the decorations, Lance offered to help Hunk carry the plates and bowls back to the kitchen for washing, which is how Hunk knew that Lance wanted to talk to him, because Lance had always hated doing dishes.

“What is it?” Hunk asked, when they entered the kitchen.

“I wanted to say thank you,” Lance said, focused on putting the dirty plates into the alien dishwasher. “For the party.”

“Everyone helped,” Hunk replied honestly.

“But it was Pidge’s and your idea,” Lance rebutted. “So I want to thank you. I thanked Pidge, too, during the party.”

Hunk glowed at the praise. “It was nothing,” he said happily, “I think that it was good for all of us.”

“It was definitely good,” Lance agreed, and smirked. “I got a lot more than anyone expected.”

“Pidge expected it,” Hunk admitted.

Lance’s mouth dropped open. “How did Pidge expect it?” he asked, outraged.

Hunk shrugged. “Maybe you were really obvious.”

“I wasn’t obvious,” Lance grumbled, “It was Keith.”

“True,” Hunk conceded, knowing that he definitely would have known if Lance was acting off around Keith. “Pidge is better than me at observing people who aren’t you.”

“You’ll always know me best, buddy,” Lance said with a wink and a nudge.

“Speaking about you acting off,” Hunk said casually, “You were a bit quiet after we cut the cake. Any reason?”

Lance sighed heavily, and shifted enough to lean forward, balancing slightly on his toes. “I was just thinking…” he answered, in a subdued voice. Hunk suddenly felt bad, thinking that maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up at all. But no, it was better to know what was wrong and fix it before it got worse.

“Thinking?” Hunk prompted gently.

“Thinking that…I wish I could celebrate my birthday with my family.” Lance immediately cringed. “I didn’t mean to sound like I didn’t want to celebrate with you guys-”

“Lance,” Hunk interrupted, “I get it, don’t worry.”

Lance sighed again. “I miss them,” he said in a thick voice. “And I’m glad that I can be here, protecting them, but that doesn’t mean I like it, you know?”

“I know,” Hunk said.

“If it’s around the time of my birthday…” Lance trailed off for a moment. “They must be missing me.”

A wave of sadness washed over Hunk, not just for his friend, but for himself, knowing that his family must have also missed him around the anniversary of his birth, months ago.

“But,” Lance continued, brightening up and staring at Hunk determinedly. “When I get back to them, I’ll make sure to tell them that I found another type of family that took care of me for them, so I know that they’ll be happy.”

Hunk smiled at Lance’s regained positivity. “I agree,” he said quietly.

Lance smiled back, and then stood up suddenly, slapping his hands against his thighs. “Okay! I think we’re done! I don’t want to do the dishes ever again.”

“You just put them in the dishwasher,” Hunk said, shaking his head and standing up as well.

“Yeah, well.” Lance strode out of the kitchen, and Hunk hurried to catch up to him.

When they were out of the kitchen, Hunk turned to Lance and said, “I think I’m going to go find Pidge at the lab. You?”

“I- uh, well, I think I’m going to go find Keith.” Lance said, scratching the back of his head and blushing a bit.

Hunk smirked. “Go find your boyfriend.”

“Shut up,” Lance groaned. “Bye. I’m going. I’m gone.”

“Happy birthday, too,” Hunk said, patting Lance (who hadn’t moved) on the back and then nudging him in the direction of the hallway that lead to the training room.

Lance beamed at that. “Thanks.” He took off in the direction that Hunk pushed him in.

Hunk turned towards the opposite hallway that led to the lab, satisfaction settling warmly in his chest.