Work Text:
Typical.
Juuuuust fucking typical. Of course as soon as Lance had taken not even three steps from his apartment, the sky decided to shed buckets, drenching him after not even two minutes.
He didn't even bother to run, seeing as his shop was a good half an hour walk away and he was carrying all the stupid art supplies that Allura had asked him for (although they were drenched too now, seeing as the box didn't have a lid). No, he just huddled into the already sopping wet t-shirt he was wearing and mumbled curses under his breath.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Why didn't he just go back inside and grab a coat? 3 words - Allura. Doesn't. Wait. He was already late for his shift and didn't fancy being nagged that day, so he couldn't take that extra time.
He clutched the box in his arms closer to himself, the rain water chilling him to the bone. God, he was gonna get so sick. He turned a corner and heard an engine nearing him on the side of the road - probably just some idiot on a bike - he kept his head facing downwards towards his soggy blue converse, not wanting to get water in his eyes.
When the engine's roaring only seemed to get closer, however, is when he got suspicious. He looked up and saw a man on a red and black motorbike (not that he could explain what type - he knew fuck all about motorbikes) with an equally red and black helmet, obscuring his face and hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket and fingerless gloves.
Lance looked at him expectedly, wondering why he'd decided to slow down next to him.
"Hey cutie, you need a ride?" The man asked, a grin etching onto his pale face. Lance rolled his eyes and kept walking, casting his gaze back ahead of him. Probably just some perv.
Bike dude carried on trailing him though, watching him.
"Aw, come on! A sweet little thing like you shouldn't be out all alone in the rain - where you headin?" He pushed on, and Lance shook his head. Get a clue, dumbass. He carried on walking.
"Listen, I'm not some creep. I just saw that you don't have a coat or anything, you'll freeze!"
Well..Lance could use the ride, he figured. He still had a 20 minute walk ahead of him. He turned to face him with a slightly unimpressed look.
"Fine, sure - you know where Altea's Flowers is?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. The man nodded eagerly, patting the seat behind him.
"Sure do, hop on"
Lance thought about it. Even if the guy did turn out to be some sort of serial killer, he always had his phone on him. Plus it was a bike, so he could probably jump off anyway when he slowed down. He shrugged and got on, placing the box on his lap.
"How do I hold on?" He asked, eyebrows pulled together. There was only handles at the front, nothing at the back. The dude laughed as he passed Lance a helmet to put on.
"You'll have to hold onto me - don't worry, I'll drive slow"
Lance put it on then awkwardly wrapped his arms around his waist, holding on tightly (seeing as he'd prefer not to fly off the back). Although, biker dude stayed true to his word and drove fairly slowly, and Lance's further 20 minute walk was cut down to less than ten.
He grinned as he hoped off once the guy had parked outside of the shop, taking the helmet off and grabbing his box off the seat.
"Hey, thanks man" He ran a hand through his partially drying hair "I owe you one"
The guy took off his helmet to shake out his dark hair and oh boy, he was hot. Like, this guy should never have his face hidden by a helmet ever again, hot. Even if he did have a mullet. Navy eyes scanned over Lance and he smirked.
"You could start by giving me your number?" He placed a hand on his hip, the other holding his helmet. Lance snorted.
"Yeah, no" he turned to go into the shop, but mullet stopped him by saying,
"What, why?" He sounded genuinely offended, and Lance laughed internally - he definitely wasn't used to getting told no.
"Because I don't even know your name, and you don't even know mine"
The guy stepped forward, sending him a wink.
"Well, my name's Keith"
Lance nodded.
"Okay, well, bye Keith!" He said, then entered the store without further conversation and laughed as he imagined the gob-smacked expression Keith would have on his face. He wasn't followed in, which he was thankful for, and placed the box off stuff on the counter by the register.
"'Lura, I brought your stuff!" He raised his voice so Allura could hear him from the back. She emerged wearing her army green apron with a nametag, and had her poofy white hair scraped together in a messy bun.
"Lance!" She pulled him in for a quick hug "thank you, I'm gonna start making flower boxes!" Lance nodded with a small smile at his sister.
"You're welcome, you're just lucky some hot biker dude picked me up so it they didn't get even more wet"
He went into the back and put on his own apron and nametag, then returned to the front and stood at the register.
Allura waggled her eyebrows.
"'Hot biker dude', huh?" She asked with a playful grin. Lance laughed and informed her of the past 20 minutes of his life.
"And his name's Keith" he finished off with, tapping his fingernails against the counter.
Allura was stocking new flowers onto shelves as she replied.
"And why didn't you go for it, give him your number?" She asked "he sounds mysterious!"
Lance crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.
"Nah, he's probably just some fuckboy who tries to get in everyone's pants" he replied, then shrugged and sat himself up on the counter to swing his legs (they had no customers at the moment, why not?).
Allura hmmed as she came back to join him, standing with her weight on one leg.
"I guess you're probably right" she said "anyway, I'm gonna be decorating the flower boxes in the back room, so don't have too much fun without me!" She said, then patted him on the arm before leaving.
The next hour passed and Lance served multiple customers, plastering on his usual grin and giving them all 'have a nice day!'s as they left. He slumped forward on the counter, pulling out his phone and checking tumblr. He snorted at some video of a cat then slid it back into his pocket.
As relaxed as this work was, it got boring. He stared out the window at the building opposite - a tattoo parlour. Neither he or Allura had ever been in there (their parents would literally murder them if they got tattoos) but Lance always thought it seemed really cool from the outside.
When the bell chimed again, he sat up straight and his usual work smile spread across his face.
"Welcome to Altea's Flowers, how may I help-you"
It was Keith. His jacket from earlier had been shed, revealing him to be wearing a plain red shirt and black skinny jeans. His usual mullet was pulled back in a ponytail and he grinned at Lance as he approached the counter. Although Lance was focused on the multitude of tats on his right arm, forming a sleeve.
"Well, hello again ocean eyes" he said smugly, and Lance rolled said eyes, refusing to let himself blush.
"Look, dude, I'm at work, so-"
"And I'm a customer" Keith cut him off, leaning with crossed arms on the counter "I need some cacti for the parlour" he pointed a thumb behind him, towards the tattoo parlour.
Lance blinked.
"Wait, you work there?" He questioned, surprised. He'd never seen anyone who worked there but he hadn't suspected.. Keith.
"Yep, moved here a couple weeks ago to be closer to my brother" Keith replied, standing back up to his full height. They were about the same height, but Keith probably had a few inches on him (which irritated Lance more than he'd like to admit).
Lance nodded and left the counter, gesturing for Keith to follow him.
"The succulents are down here" he said, walking between a row of shelves and stopping to point. Keith nodded as he joined him, placing his hands on his hips as he looked at the array of indoor plants.
"And what would you recommend?" Keith asked, eying Lance who sighed. He looked at the shelf with Keith.
"How many do you want?"
Keith hummed, tapping his foot as he decided.
"'Bout two or three? They're just for a bit of decoration" he replied, and Lance nodded.
He reached up and grabbed three pots which were grouped together in a plastic wrap, each with a different cactus. The one in the middle had little pink flowers dotting it, and the ones either side were plain (aside from their spikes). He passed it to Keith, who (deliberately, Lance was guessing) brushed their hands together as he took it.
"These'll do great, thanks" Keith said charmingly, and Lance stuck his hands in his pockets as he lead them back to the counter.
"Just doing my job" he said "that will be fifteen ninety-nine, please"
Keith gave him a twenty and Lance rang him up.
"Here's your receipt and change" he handed the paper and money to Keith, who took them and looked at him playfully.
"And can I get a number with that, now, Lance?" He asked with a smirk, eyeing Lance's name tag. Lance bit back a laugh at the his effort and leaned forward across the counter, smirking back up at him.
"I can't give my number out to customers, sorry!" he said overly sweetly and Keith pouted. He turned and walked towards the door, and stopped.
"I'll get it someday" he grinned, and Lance raised an eyebrow.
"I'd like to see you try, Mullet" He replied, which earned a snort from Keith before he left after a final glance at Lance.
Lance bit his lip smugly. He would like to see Keith try, as a matter of fact. He wanted to see what lengths he'd go through just to get Lance's stupid number. He watched through the window with a small grin at Keith walking back across the road to his parlour.
Looks like his work may just get a bit more interesting.
-
The next week carried on about the same. Keith would come in, say some stupid flirty shit, buy a plant, attempt to get Lance's number then leave again once Lance dismissed him playfully. Lance wondered how his parlour wasn't filled to the brim with succulents by now.
It was just after 8pm on a Saturday and almost closing time, so Lance was busy stocking shelves while the shop was empty. 'Lura had clocked out early to meet up with her friend, and so no one was at the register.
He hoped no customers actually needed assistance this late, because from the back of the shop where he currently was, the chime on the door couldn't be heard - and he had his back to it. They'd had a new delivery of colourful flowers that day, and he'd almost finished shelving them.
On the top shelf, he noticed a succulent and groaned as it was in the wrong place - and also right at the back of the shelf, so almost unreachable to anyone without a stool. However, the stool was in the back room and Lance really couldn't be bothered to get it, so he stretched up to try and grab it to put it in its right place.
His fingers just barely brushed against it and he cursed, stepping a foot up onto the bottom shelf - which was a huge, huge, mistake and he fell backwards with a yelp... Only to be caught by seemingly toned arms.
Switching on his usual flirty nature, he laughed and stood up, addressing the stranger who helped him.
"Sorry, looks like I really fell for you-Keith!?" He went from playful to downright embarrassed as he recognised that familiar smirk in an instant. Whyyyyyy.
"Fell for me, huh?" Keith teased, crossing his arms across the black coat he was wearing. Lance felt his face burning.
"Uhhhm, sorry, about that" he rubbed the back of his head and his eyes flicked to anything but Keith's.
"Don't be" Keith told him, a smile still on his features "I actually came to ask if you wanted to hang out tonight? You know, get to know each other" he stuck his hands into his pockets.
Lance hesitated before nodding. What harm could it do?
"Yeah, alright. Wanna come to my place?" He'd rather be in his own home than a strangers home with a (not quite, but still) stranger.
"Sounds great" Keith nodded, and Lance decided to just lock up 10 minutes earlier than usual. Keith watched as he did so, and then both of them were outside. Keith had parked his bike outside the store and got on, chucking a helmet to Lance.
Just like last time, Lance got on and wrapped his arms around Keith's middle - although he didn't have the box on his lap, this time, so his stomach was pressed up against Keith's back.
"You ready?" Keith asked and Lance replied with a "as I'll ever be". He told Keith the directions to his apartment and then they were off.
Way, wayyy, faster than last time. Lance felt like a fucking koala as he clinged on for dear life, feeling his shirt whip around and cling to him in the wind.
"Slow down!" He shouted and Keith just laughed.
"What, can't handle a bit of speed, Princess?" He retorted back just as loudly over the bikes roaring and carried on laughing. Lance scrunched his eyes closed and Keith did actually slow down a little, like the 'gentleman' he was.
After about 10 minutes they arrived at Lance's apartment block and he stumbled off, his legs and arms feeling like jelly. Keith stepped off after him and Lance whacked him lightly on the arm.
"Thanks for driving slow!" He scolded him with sarcasm, and Keith grinned broadly.
"You're welcome!"
-
Lance waited while Keith parked up his bike then the two of them went inside, going in the lift and up to Lance's place. He was glad to admit that he owned his home all on his own, and didn't have any roommates (although his friends Hunk and Pidge came over so much they may as well have lived there, anyway).
As he unlocked the door, he sparked up a conversation.
"So, what are we doing?" He opened the door and the two of them walked in, Lance chucking the keys onto the kitchen counter (the door led into a hallway next to the kitchen).
Keith shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Dunno"
Lance raised an eyebrow at him
"So, you ask me to hang out, but don't even know what we're gonna do" he asked, and Keith nodded. "You're something else, Keith" he laughed and shook his head.
He led Keith with him into the living room and flopped down onto the grey sofa, patting the space next to him.
"Movie marathon?"
"Sounds good" Keith nodded and slumped down next to him (slightly too close, but Lance let it slide). The two of them both kicked their legs up onto the wooden coffee table in front of the sofa as Lance loaded up Netflix.
Keith watched as he went straight to the horror section and groaned.
"Horror, really?" He asked, and lance nodded eagerly.
"Uh, yeah, it's like the prime genre" he said "or we can watch a soppy chick-flick, which is the second best"
Keith grimaced.
"Stick with horror" he said with clear disgust in his tone, causing Lance to bark out a loud laugh.
"I might make you watch a rom-com now"
Keith narrowed his eyes at him.
"You wouldn't dare" he said, folding his arms.
Lance still had a playful tone as he shook his head and replied with an "alright, alright, guess you're too manly for romance"
He carried on flicking through the 'gory' section and could feel Keith giving him a strange look.
"What?" He raised an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing, just didn't peg you for a slasher type" Keith replied, leaning his arm on the arm rest.
"And why's that?" Lance grinned, turning back to the tv and reading the summery of a particularly violent looking one.
"Uh, cause you work in a flower shop?" Keith scoffed and lance rolled his eyes.
"What, you expected me to watch movies about, like, unicorns n' shit?" He laughed, shifting slightly on the sofa.
"Yes, actually"
Lance's lip curled at the answer and he clicked on a movie, then quickly got up to turn off the lights - for submersion, obviously.
"You want snacks?" He asked.
"I'm alright" Keith said. Lance quickly ran into his room to grab a blanket then returned to the living room and collapsed next to Keith, pulling the cover over both of them.
The movie started and they fell into silence.
-
The movie was.. violent. Like, ridiculously so. Lance was squirming and cringing throughout, covering his eyes with his hand (although still peaking through) and leaning against Keith while practically writhing in his seat. Keith watched with a straight face, making comments every now and then about how the whole thing was 'unrealistic'.
Lance would shut him up with a light whack on his arm or a playful push.
Once the credits started to roll with the most unnecessary creepy music, Lance turned to Keith.
"How, did you watch that with a straight face?!" He shuddered "even with the eye stuff!" He visibly cringed and Keith just laughed.
"It's just unrealistic, like, that would never happen in real life" He said, and Lance gave him a look as if to say 'are you serious'.
"The point of a movie is to not be real life" he retorted and Keith just shrugged.
"Well, you can pick the next one" Lance said, "I need to use the loo" and he did just that, leaving Keith to flick through the movies. He finished his business quickly then returned to find Keith looking through the sci-fi section.
"Ugh, sci-fi? Those put me to sleep faster than sleeping pills" he groaned as he rejoined Keith on the sofa, who just grunted.
"At least they actually have a plot" he quipped, and Lance snorted.
"What? Horrors have plots!" He leaned backwards on the sofa, facing up at the ceiling.
"Doesn't count if it's always the same one" Keith grinned "group of friends go to a cabin in the woods and then it all goes wrong, shocker!"
Lance laughed.
"Well, they go wrong in different ways!"
Keith chuckled then selected a movie and Lance lifted his head back up again to read the summery - something about robots. Or aliens, maybe. Urgghhh. It was over two hours, too.
By the time they were half an hour in he had slumped down in his seat and ended up with his head on Keith's shoulder. He let his eyes slip close, to rest them, for a few minutes during a rather boring scene...
-
He woke up several hours later, meaning that he didn't rest them for a few minutes. He shut his mouth and wiped at it, realising he had been drooling on Keith's shoulder all night. Wait- Keith, all night?!
Quickly, he sat up and saw that Keith had just been scrolling on his phone while Lance basically soaked his shirt.
Keith looked at him.
"Morning" He said and yawned, clicking his neck. Lance looked at him groggily.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" He rubbed at his eyes. God, how embarrassing.
"Because, you looked cute" Keith grinned at him and Lance groaned, a blush threatening his cheeks. Stupid Keith.
"I didn't do my skincare routine.." he then thought out loud, although Keith had already gone back to looking at his phone and so didn't hear him. Ah well, he supposed he could miss one night.
He walked to the kitchen and poured them both bowls of cereal, then brought them back to the living room and passed one to Keith.
"Oh- thanks" he said as he accepted the bowl, tucking in a second after. Lance hummed his response and sat next to him. They both ate and made playful conversation between themselves, before it got to 9am and Keith had to leave for work.
"You work on Sundays?" Lance groaned and Keith shook his head.
"Nah, I just have to cover Shiro today"
They both stood by the door awkwardly, looking at each other. Lance had enjoyed Keith's company, and actually looked forward to spending more time with him.
Keith went to open the door.
"Wait!" Lance said, and Keith raised an eyebrow. Lance ran into the kitchen and scribbled some digits on a slip of paper before returning with a flirty grin.
"I guess you've finally earned this" he winked, handing Keith the slip who blushed upon realising it was Lance's number.
Keith's blush turned to a coy smile as he stuffed the paper in his pocket.
"What an honour" he said playfully, and Lance suddenly felt the urge to kiss that smug look off his face. Which he did.
He leaned up and placed a quick peck to the side of Keith's lips, pulling back with his own grin.
Keith pulled him back for another short but very, very sweet kiss. He pulled the paper back out of his pocket and smirked, waving it at Lance.
"Told you I'd get it!"
~