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“Lance! It’s really raining! Did you close the windows?” Keith peeled off his jacket and kicked off his shoes before making his way into the main area of the apartment. “I don’t want the-”
Keith stopped in the doorway and looked to Lance who was sitting on the floor, a box in his lap and an apologetic smile on his face.
“Hi, Keith.”
“What are…” Keith gestured around Lance. “These?”
“Oh, they’re… um… kittens.” Lance reached out and gently pulled a runaway kitten back with the rest.
Keith furrowed his brow. “Where did they come from?”
“Well, I was walking past the barbershop and nail salon and I heard them squeaking from a box in the alley and-” Lance held a kitten to his nose. “Oh, Keith! They were just too cute and it was starting to rain and they looked so lonely!”
Keith rubbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. “So you took the entire box instead of calling someone who would be able to take care of them?”
“Well, we can take care of them! I’ve had cats before!” Lance pointed to the other side of the room. “I got some food and litter. They’ll be okay!”
“Lance…” Keith walked over and sat down near Lance, a curious kitten making its way onto his lap. “We can’t take care of all of these kittens. We’re only allowed two small pets in the apartment. There are…”
“Seven.” Lance gave Keith sad eyes and stuck out his lip. “But they need a home!”
“We can’t keep them, Lance.” Keith absent-mindedly stroked the kitten in his lap. “We both work full time and it takes a lot of time and effort to look after seven little kittens - time and effort we don’t have, not to mention money.”
“But Keith! They’re orphans! Just look how sad they are!” Lance held a squeaking kitten up to Keith’s nose. “They don’t want to be alone!”
Keith scratched the top of the kitten’s head. It was cute. He closed his eyes and sighed again. “I’ll tell you what. We can keep two, but we have to give the others up, okay? They can stay here until they get homes.”
“Yay!” Lance beamed as he collected the kittens in his lap. “We get kittens!”
Keith put his kitten against his chest and began to walk towards the kitchen. “I’ll give Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro a call to see if they know anyone who would be willing to adopt one.”
“Here that?” Lance said to the kittens. “You’re going to get a new home!”
Keith smiled as he punched numbers into the phone. “You’re lucky I love you, Lance.”
“Aw, I love you, too. Almost as much as I love kittens.”