Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“A wolf in sheep’s clothing is more then just a warning!~” Adam started the song, the crowd yelling back twice as loud.

Keith stepping around the small square he had drawn out in his mind. ‘You need to look more lively on stage, Keith!’ Shiro would say

Well Shiro had just down a back flip off of Matt’s drum kit and messed up the bass line for the rest of the song. Keith was content with his little square.

Keith kept the beat going with his Bass guitar, Matt soon rejoining him. Nobody seemed to notice the tune had gone off. They were too busy singing the words back to Adam.

There was a two second break before kicking into the next song. It didn’t feel long they were finishing up with their platinum single.

“I coulda went to college like rich kids do!~” Adam’s voice worked so well with Shiro’s guitar.

They were escorted back to their tour bus by security. Girls and guys alike were crying and screaming for their attention. Adam, Matt, and Shiro waved at them, smiling as they pass. Keith kept his head down as he walked, shades masking most his face.

“Take us home, Rolo!” Matt yelled as he jumped into the passenger seat. The two sat up front, chatting away to each other. Keith tried to make it to his bunk before the bus jolted forward, sending him flying backwards. Shiro caught him and pulled him onto the couch with himself and Adam. “Wait until we get onto the highway. We can’t have ‘Lady Killer Keith’ injured” Matt called back.

Shiro chuckled, Keith shook his head. “Whatever that tabloid writer thought was a load of bullshit”

“You’re the only single member of the band.” Rolo added to the conversation, turning sharply. “Make sense people wanna know who’s in your pants.” Adam held onto the couch to steady himself.

“Slow down on those corners!” He fixed his glasses, settling into the corner. Shiro fell back onto his chest, pulling his fiancee’s arm over his shoulder. “Is there anyone you’re even interested in?”

“Nah.” Keith followed suit, laying down on the far side of the couch, his knees just touching off Shiro’s.

“Not even that model? What was her name” Adam snapped his fingers, trying to kick his memory. “You know she works for the foreign guy.”

“You need to be specific.” Matt joined them, sitting in the arm chair across from the table. “If we’re going by ‘not the same nationality as you’ then you got three foreign guys right here.”

“Nah, he’s talks foreign and has real long hair”

“Okay. それは非常に残酷です！ ” Keith sat up, feigning offense. “There’s no need to be so rude”

Matt giggled as Adam pouted silently. They hadn’t noticed the violent movements of the bus had stopped until Katie arrived from the back of the bus. She carried her laptop with one hand and types away with one hand. An alien print tote bag was overflowing with wires and other tech hanging off her arm.

“Great show guys. Twitter is already hopping.”

“Katie!” Adam called to her from underneath Shiro. “Do you know the name of that foreign guy? He has long white hair and walks around like he’s better then everyone. Does the fashion thing”

“‘Does the fashion thing’?” Katie fixed her glasses as she slid into the second arm chair, placing her computer on the surface between the two chairs. “Your ability with words blows me away, really.” Adam gave her a unamused look. “Lotor, why?”

“We’re trying to remember who was that girl people thought Keith was dating. She works for him”. Keith lay back down

“It’s Acxa” he piped up

“You knew exactly who I was talking about you little shit!” Adam cursed.

“Yeah. I like to watch you struggle”

“How is it you three didn’t remember?” Katie asked

“They were wasted, Katie.”

She nodded, typing on her computer. “I found a couple good movies while you were performing. Wanna watch?” Matt’s phone rang. He looked at the screen then ran to the front of the bus. “He’s still shy to talk to his own girlfriend in front of us?”

“Nah, just you. The shit of heard.” Keith pretended to shiver, making Katie chuckle. He sat up, leaning over to the laptop to get a better view. “What movies?”

“Horror movies. Specifically the banned ones.” She pulled up a streaming website. “I Spit On Your Grave, The Last House On The Left,-”

“Enjoy the movie, I’m going to bed” Adam announced. Shiro sat forward to let him stand up. Adam kissed his cheek before whispering something in his ear. Keith, luckily, didn’t hear over Katie rhyming off the list. Adam disappeared down the back of the bus, closing the door to the main room.

“Well,” Shiro coughed as he stood up. “I’m going to-”

“We get it, your fucking.” Katie shooed him away with an idle hand. “Use protection or whatever.”

“Hey! Shiro!” Keith called to his brother before he could disappear down the back of the bus. “Pass me my phone before you go”

“No problem.” Shiro stepped to Keith’s bunk, grabbing his phone and tossing it to him.

“And my headphones”

“Sure”

“And my water”

“...okay”

“And Mr. Hippo"

“Keith!” Shiro snapped, the two youngest on the bus waved him away while laughing. Shiro threw the stuffed hippo at Keith with as much force as possible.

Katie joined Keith on the couch, the computer was connected to the tour bus TV, casting a hazy glow over them. The were ten minutes into the movie when Matt emerged. He lept over Keith to get to his sister, screaming in Italian. Pidge jumped up and began yelling with him, tackling him back onto Keith. Keith yelped in pain under the weight of both Holt siblings.

Adam ran down to see what the fuss was about, now only in his jeans “What the fuck is going on!?!”

“I’m gonna be a daddy!” Matt yelled, kneeling on Keith’s back. Keith screamed out in pain. The bus came to a sudden stop, sending Matt flying off him and Adam down the length of the bus.

After they put an ice-bag on Adam’s head and made sure Keith was breathing, they congratulated Matt. They pulled out the beers from the fridge to celebrate. Keith and Katie retired to their bunks a couple hours later since they weren’t drinking

Keith put in his headphones and turned on his newest obsession “Machika, machika, machika. Turbo, nitro en la máquina. Siempre pa'lante, nunca pa' atrá'. Aquí estamo' duro, somo' global”. Keith felt a skinny finger poke him, he seen Katie looking at him from her same-level bunk.

“Your headphones aren’t plugged in” She yawned. Keith plugged them in. “You’re stilling listening to that Spanish stuff?”

“It’s called Reggaeton.” He rolled over “I’ll probably grow tired of it in a month” Keith lied. He said that a month ago. Then two months before then. The truth was he was impatiently waiting for the music video for this song to drop so he could see one of Nuevo Azul’s vocalists in action.

Lance downed his water bottle in one go. “It’s hot!” he groaned.

“It’s Colombia, Lance. It’s gonna be hot.” Rachel shook out her glittered cloak in an effort to cool down.

“At Least you get to wear a swimsuit. Do you see how many layers this stupid outfit is?!” Lance held out the beige scarf and baggy shirt to further his point. “And I’m in direct fucking sun!”

Rachel threw her head back “Where is Marco? This whole ‘post apocalypse aboriginal’ vibe was his idea?”

Veronica typed away at her phone from the corner of the tent the siblings had been given for the shoot. “His scenes are shot at night.” She glanced over the rims of her glasses. “If anything blame yourself, Lance. You wanted to do a Spanish version of this song.”

Marco arrived in the tent. “I got good news and bad news.”

“Good news, please.” Rachel groaned.

“Lance,” Marco pointed at his younger brother “You’re done shooting for the day, you can head back to the hotel.”

“Yes!” Lance did a mini victory dance, pulling off his scarf and waving it around in triumph.

“What about me?” Rachel jumped from her seat, her glittered cloak falling off her head.

“Bad news, they’re ready for your shot. We’re going into the forest.”

Lance passed the bug spray to his sister, grinning from ear to ear. She grabbed it and flipped him off as he danced out the tent.

Two minutes into the drive back to the hotel Lance noticed the aux cord. “Oye!” Lance got the driver’s attention, pointing to the cable “¿Puedo reproducir una canción?”

“Si, Sí, sí puedes,” the man nodded, handing him the cable. “Put on whatever you like, Leandro.” Lance didn’t even notice the driver, a private hire to chauffeur the ‘talent’ around, had used his stage name. He plugged in his phone and selected one of his favorite songs. “But I don’t give a damn ‘bout no Higher Degree cause you know in Rock n’ Roll I got a PHD. Bitch!”

“You like this kind of music?” The driver sounded shocked and surprised. When Lance looked over he seen the man was now embarrassed. “I am so sorry, sir. I didn’t mean-”

“Hey, Hey, Hey!” Lance interjected “It’s okay, amigo. You’re not the first to react that way. What’s your name?”

“I’m David, sir.”

“Drop the sir, David. No soy realeza.”

“Tell that to my daughter. Her walls are decorated with posters of your group.” Lance smiled, nodding along ‘Ahh, that’s how we got him so cheap’.

“How about we take a picture when we get to the hotel? Show your daughter how cool her papa is”

The idle chit chat continued, jumping between Spanish and English.

“I was wondering, how is it you listen to this?” David motioned to the radio, a different song playing this time by the same band. “But you perform, you know, our music.”

“Our music?”

“You know what I mean, come on!”

“Yeah, I know. These guys” Lance motioned to the radio. “They’re called Kerberos. They’re kinda my guilty pleasure. You have to listen to different things so you don’t get tired of your own thing, ya know.”

David nodded in understanding “So, how long have you been listening to these guys?”

“Since I was thirteen. They’re bassist is actually just a year older then me! He’s been performing live since he was eleven!”

“So you’ve met them?”

“I wish.” Lance sunk back into his chair “I mean we’re on the same label but our genre’s are so different so there’s no need for us to meet." Lance was cut off by his phone. Looking at the ID he seen the chocolate covered face of his best friend when they were eight years old. He disconnected his phone, he didn't need David hearing their conversation.

"Hola, Hunk!" 

“Hey Lance, what’s up?”

“Heading back to my hotel to rest up, you?”

“Sitting in the studio cleaning up your Album. You get all the fun, huh?”

“Standing in the desert getting bitten isn’t that fun, Hunk. Though if you wanna work together I’d be psyched. You know that.”

“Nah, I‘m-I’m not good in the creating aspect. I’m more technical-”

“Oh please! I’ve heard you play guitar, Hunk! You could totally-”

“‘Give Slash a run for his money’? I haven’t played since we were fifteen at that talent show.”

“I’ve heard people say it’s like riding a bike. You never forget.”

“Right, okay. Listen my guy talked to the assistant of that independent tech, Pidge. Anyway Pidge told their guy who told my guy who told me how to clean it up and, Lance. The quality. It’s like listening to you live.”

“Awesome! E-mail me the MP3-” they pulled up to the hotel. “I gotta go, talk later.”

“Okay, Look after yourself man.”

Lance smiled at David, “Now, let’s take that picture”

Chapter Text

“¡Oye! . Nos complace anunciar que nuestro video musical de 'Machika' está en vivo. ¡Compruébalo en nuestro VeVo ahora mismo!” Marco winked at the phone camera, standing on Veradera’s Pier with a clear view of the vibrant blue ocean behind them.

Lance raised an eyebrow at his older brother. “Winking? Seriously?”

“The chicks dig it” Marco passed the phone to Veronica

“Great work, Marco.” she tapped idly.

“I thought today was our day off!” Rachel huffed, large beach bag hanging from her arm “Is this why you wanted to go to the beach?”

“Lance” Veronica called, tactfully avoiding her sister’s judging gaze. “You do the English one, come on”

“No, I came here to relax” Lance waved her off.

“Lance, we talked about this. Music is a full time business! And we all know the non-latin audience loves you” Veronica started, cut short by her brother’s rolling eyes.

“The quicker you do it, the quicker we get to surf.” Rachel pleaded. Veronica held out the phone with a stern look.

“I’m not winking” Lance stated, taking the phone and standing in his brother’s place.

“Remember we sell better when you don’t sound white.”

“Just let me do it!” Lance started the recording, flashing his signature smile and dubbing the heavy cuban accent that their fan-base adored, not realising it was faked. “Hola amigos! We're super excited to announce our music video for 'Machika' is live! Check it out on our Vevo right now!” he finished the recording and threw the phone to veronica. She just managed to catch it as her younger brother and sister disappeared down the beach.

They joined the rest of their family on the beach. Rachel pulled Lance’s wet suit out of the beach bag and threw it at him.

“Done already?” Lisa perked up, smothering her young son in sunscreen.

“Yep!” Rachel pulled on her swimsuit with the same energy Lisa’s son was using to get away from his mother.

“Remember Rachel.” Lance spoke in an effeminate voice “We sell better when you don’t sound white!”

Lisa gasped “She didn’t say that!”

Rachel groaned “I know but she is the PR expert.”

“I tried so hard not to sound like an immigrant in school, and now it's a selling tactic!” Lisa added, her slippy son escaping her grip. He ran into the water with a scream of triumph, tackling his father. “People would make fun of me. ‘Oh, you filthy Mexican’, ‘Go back to your own country!’”

“Oh, you got names thrown at you” Lance’s mother perked up from her sunbathing, sitting up on her elbows. “Estos pequeños bastardos. Estoy caminando a casa, ocupándome de mi propio negocio y vinieron y derramaron su leche sobre mí. ¡Dijeron que era demasiado picante!” She shook with anger. “Then when I get my curves the same boys are all ‘Hola chica!’” She sat up “What is her reasoning for this whole ‘put on an accent nonesense’?”

“It’s sex appeal, Mama.” Lance shrugged his shoulders

“They need to be feeding the latino fetish to sell albums!” Lisa spoke with disgust. "You're talented enough without having to resort to that crap!"

“Well then” Rachel backed away, surfboard under her arm. “Me and Lance are gonna catch some waves before Ronnie gets here.”

“Yeah, Later mom” the two sprinted away from the fire they had inadvertently caused.

A few moments later they sat across from each other, damp and waiting for the next wave. The only noise was the distant chatter of the beach and the lapping waves of the ocean

“I hope this wave never comes” Rachel spoke up. Lance looked over to his sister. Her lay on her stomach with her legs either side of her pink and yellow surfboard.

“Why?” Lance laughed “What’s the point of surfing without waves?”

“Cause then we gotta go back to shore.”

There was a moment of silent understanding

“I hate the pandering” Lance lightly paddled himself to try keep next to his sister. “Why can’t we just make music”

“Cause that doesn’t sell. We gotta sell music to make music.”

“Bullshit. Most our audience is Latino-American. They wouldn’t care.”

“Well, it’s too late now” Rachel sat up “We’ve established our image. Revealing ourselves now would ruin us.”

“Fuck the image”

“Jeez Lance,” Rachel locked eyes with her brother “If you hate the system so much then do something about it.” Lance looked down the water, colourful fish swimming beneath his feet. He bobbed in silent defeat. “Wave!”

Lance looked up, refilled with childish joy.

“Catch ya on the flip side, bro”

“Later” Lance padded forward. “I’m riding the barrel to the end!”

“Land, sweet sweet land!” Matt collapsed onto the concrete, just off an boat. Katie stepped around him “I hate the ocean. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!” Matt cried into the ground. Keith stepped on him as he walked off the boat, getting a yell out of Matt. “What the fuck was that for!” Matt jumped up, ready to launch at Keith had Shiro not been holding him back.

“Revenge for the bus” Keith commented, not sparring him a glance back. Katie walked beside Keith.

“Hey, check this out.” Katie held up her phone. Keith took it and examined the title on the post she was showing him

“A hundred and one reasons Keith Shirogane was…” Keith sputtered into a high-pitched laugh “Hatched from an egg!? Where the hell did you find this?”

“Tumblr.”

“Tumblr’s been dead since like, our grandparents”

“That makes it better.” she took her phone back. “Oh, you know your little latino fetish?”

“Oh fuck off!” Keith scoffed.

“You liked their post with the band’s LoudMouth account.”

“No I didn’t.” Katie put her phone up to Keith again. There on the reliable red and black background of LoudMouth was Nuevo Azul’s post featuring Leandro announcing their new video. Beneath it was a pink heart. In the top left corner was a small picture of the band, signifying it was the band’s profile. “Whoops.” Keith shrugged, passing back the phone “Just unlike it”

“I can’t”

“Why?”

“This is why you idiot!” she yelled, shoving the phone into Keith’s face. There was article after article, post after post, looking into why Kerberos was looking to Nuevo Azul.

“How the-” Keith took the phone and started scrolling “It’s only been a couple hours- There’s theory videos!”

“Yep.” Katie grabbed the phone “So keep quiet for the next couple days, okay?”

“What’s up?” Adam caught up

“Keith’s dick started a scandal. Check LoudMouth.”

Adam opened his phone, taking moments to find what Katie was talking about. “Really?” He pocketed his phone, coming upon airport security. “Well, at least you’re interested in someone.” Adam teased. Keith made a run for security before he could be victim to Adam’s teasing.

On the far side Keith was ambushed by teenage fans and reporters. “Keith! Keith!” A familiar reporter called. Slav, a pushy theorist who had been chosen to specialise in the band “Why the interest in Nuevo Azul? Are Kerberos branching into the Latino market?”

Shiro swept up behind Keith, pulling him under his arm. “Hey everyone!” he waved with his free hand “Thanks so much for your support!”

The crowd shrieked in excitement with the arrival of Adam, giving Shiro the opportunity to pull Keith back. “So here’s the plan.” Shiro whispered. “We’re organising for three cars to take us from here. Me and Adam is one, Katie and Matt are in one, you’ll be in the last one. We’ll all be going in different directions but you should get to the hotel first.”

Keith suddenly paled “If I have to talk about the weather with some old guy for an hour I will end you.”

“Well, Keith, you wouldn’t have to ride on your own if you hadn’t started a media scandal! Now sign some autographs and keep quiet.” he snapped, turning back to the crowd. “Me and Adam will be right behind you.”

Keith rolled his shoulders under his leather jacket, his signature shades luckily keeping his panic a secret.

“Keith! Keith!” to his right girl’s were crying while screaming his name, one had her phone out. ‘Once you notice someone you gotta talk to them’ Iverson’s voice rang in his head. The security guard nodded towards the girl’s with a questioning glance to Keith. Keith sucked in his lips as he nodded. He walked towards the girls, their ear piercing screams getting louder and louder.

“Hey” he greeted flashing them the practiced smile. They screamed in his face, as they always do. Keith couldn’t make out anything through their sobs but he did see a autograph book being held out by a girl. He picked it from her hand, turning to the guard “You got a pen?” the guard pulled a fine-point marker from his breast-pocket, passing it to Keith. He flipped it to an empty page, signed his name and passed it back to her. She quickly disappeared as more rabid fans clawed forward. He made the rounds, signing books and giving hugs

He noticed a girl to the front had been growing paler and paler. “Woah, give her air!” he yelled, reaching to grab the girl. The guard seen what was happening and helped pull her from the crowd. They brought the girl away from the crowd, sitting her down on the floor. “Are you okay?”

The girl nodded, still dizzy.

“I’ll get water.” the guard announced before disappearing. The girl came through, now getting full view of her saviour. Her mouth opened and closed without any words escaping.

“Relax.” Keith tried to calm her “Are you hurt?” she shook her head, still stunned. “What’s your name?”

“Pla...Pla...Plaxum.” she sputtered. The guard arrived and gave her a bottle of water. “I’ve been waiting since you boarded in Canada!” she yelled, her voice regained.

Keith was blown back. That was a twelve hour journey. Keith made sure she was alright, took some photos then made sure she was safely brought back out.

When Plaxum left his sight, it was time for them to leave.

They were escorted into black cars with blacked-out windows. To Keith’s relief, there was a divider between him and the driver. Five minutes into the drive he started testing Acxa.

‘How’s the most beautiful girl in the universe today?’

Twenty minutes later, Acxa replied with a video of Kosmo and Kova fighting. It was more of a one-sided fight. Kova sat inside, grooming her fur without a care while Kosmo jumped up, barking and clawing at the door. Beneath was caption ‘Asserting her dominance over your hellhound’

‘He’s lonely. Let him in’

‘He’s a dog Keef!”

‘No he’s three quarters wolf.’

‘You have to be the only person alive who finds a wolf pup in his trash and decides ‘that’s my dog’’

‘1, I thought he was a dog. 2, he’s adorable!’

Acxa replied with a picture of Kosmo savagely ripping apart a plastic bag full of recycling

‘See? Look how cute he is <3’

‘I’m never dog-sitting this demon again Keith’

‘Are you sure?’ Keith attached an old photo of Kosmo sleeping contently with a young Kova curled up on top of him.

‘Okay maybe one more chance’

‘Thank you!’

A couple minutes passed, the next picture of Kosmo to arrive had him sitting on Ezor’s lap, beaming with pride. The only way you could tell it was her was the thumb’s up coming through Kosmo’s fluff and her tall red ponytail. ‘You’re lucky my roommate loves him’

Keith saved the photo ‘How’s things with Lotor?’

‘Over’

‘Sorry Acxa’

‘Don’t be. I’m glad. He kept going psycho on me then one day I see him eyeing up this girl from across the runway while I’m strutting HIS wares and I was like ‘bye bitch’’

‘In that case you go girl’

They arrived at the hotel without anyone following them. There was nobody waiting to ambush them either. Keith opened his door and proceeded to the boot of the car, the driver already lifting out his bags to the bellhop.

“I have this sir!” the men insisted, Keith was sooned whisked away by another hotel staff, insisting they show him to his room. Walking through the foyer the staff greeted him like he was old family. A few camera’s flashed from the resident’s bar where people had been pushed aside for the arrival of the talent.

Keith was left in the penthouse suite. The room was decorated in with white couches, black marble tables, and modern light fixtures. He asked for his bags to be left at the door so he could be on his own sooner. The bellhop held out his hand for a tip. Keith patted his pockets, finding a small bundle of canadian dollars. He handed them to the bellhop and headed towards the couch. The bellhop gave him a line of thank yous as he left. Keith stood before the couch, thinking now he was on his own

“Did I just give him fifty bucks?” he spoke to himself. He brushed it off, shuking his jacket to the floor. He collapsed head first into the white plush of the couch, quickly taken by sleep.

“I will destroy you!” Sylvio yelled, running after his uncle Lance, holding a foam sword. Lance ran with his niece in his arms.  His hair had gone curly from the salt water.

“Go! Go! Go!” She chanted, giggling away. They ran around the garden, the old family dog nipping at the end of Sylvio’s trousers, trying to keep up.

“¡Adelante, niños!” Mrs. McClane called from the decking, laying out heavy plates of food. Slyvio dropped his toy sword in his sprint for the decking. Lance went to set his niece down, only to be gripped harder. He cooed at the girl, re-positioning her as they walked over.

“Nadia,” Veronica appeared, speaking sweetly to the girl. “Can I borrow uncle Lance please?” She held Lance closer, staring down her aunt. Lance gently set her down, despite her arguments.

“I’ll be right back, okay? You keep two seats for me and you.” Lance kissed her forehead. Veronica and Lance passed the rest of the family, going into the house and upstairs to the guest bedroom. “Now, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing” Veronica tapped at her phone screen, a coy smile on her face. “Just thought you’d like to see this” she handed him the phone. The post of him announcing their new music video. He looked up at her

“So?”

She tapped the phone and scrolled through the likes, smiling larger when she found it. “There!”

Lance couldn’t believe his eyes. One of the likes had been his favorite band, Kerberos. Lance looked at his sister, then back at the screen, back at his sister, the screen. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He paced around the room, his sister watching him with glee. Finally, he screamed “Holy shiiiit!! Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy sheeeeeeeeeet!!”

“I thought you’d like that”

“I…”he pointed to the screen “That-” he jumped up and down, his hands waving “I can’t-” he stopped and started at his sister “emm….what do we do?”

“...pfft” Veronica shrugged “Enjoy it? I don’t know man this is massive! I mean” she looked down, the bands profile now on show “they’re not latin but…” the siblings stared at each other in silence for a moment. “They’re international” she whispered as if talking of a crime.

Lance put the phone onto the bedside table, hands cupping his face. “I feel like...happiness and anxious and…” he looked towards the door, staring at nothing “like I’m going to explode.”

“I’m gonna talk to the label.” she grabbed her phone, heading towards the door “We gotta…” she stopped at the door, turning to smile at her brother “We just gotta!”

Lance snapped at her, shooting finger guns “We gotta!”