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After his father died he stopped celebrating his birthday. The homes he lived in didn’t have the time or money to spare to get him a cake or a gift and honestly, he didn’t feel like celebrating anyway...
Shiro asked a few times, but for some reason Keith avoided the question, changing the subject time and time again.
Of course, eventually over their time at the garrison Shiro was able to access Keith’s records— just to see how his behavior had been! — and had stumbled on the ever-elusive date.
When he confronted Keith about it the boy had said it wasn’t a big deal, it was okay to forget, but Shiro remembered his face and thought: well that’s not right.
A kid shouldn’t cry over their birthday.
So, for the next few years Shiro got him a cupcake and made sure that— while October 23rd was to be treated as any other day aside from the cupcake— nothing bad would happen.
If Iverson was hard on him or if cadet Griffin spouted off at the mouth again on just that day, Shiro made sure not to chastise Keith for fighting, to make sure to bring him good snacks just because, take a little longer riding around the desert.
Little, subtle things to make sure the kid didn’t break.
And then he wasn’t there.
Keith was fully aware of what Shiro had tried to do for him all these years and the absence weighed heavy on his shoulders as the day rolled by again.
No cupcake. No long drives. No Shiro.
Yeah, it wasn’t like there was anyone to say it to but…
As he laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling, feeling his headache worsening while he ignored the empty feeling in his chest, he mumbled to no one: “Yeah… I knew it.”
When he found Shiro and they’d respectably gotten themselves kidnapped by a mechanical blue space lion to fight a 10,000 year long intergalactic war he didn’t think about trivial things like birthdays.
Hell, he didn’t even know what day it was anymore.
Then Shiro showed up with a pile of goo on a plate and a paper straw to pretend it was a candle and Keith thought…
“No, thanks.”
Only he didn’t just think it, he said it out loud, clapped his best friend on the shoulder, and made his way past to the training room.
He heard Shiro shout after him, tradition, come on, ridiculous things like that.
There was also a pointed “oh come on are you seriously gonna get your ass handed to you by the bot again? Today???”
But Keith ignored all of it.
Shiro would get the point. Because he was Shiro and he knew better.
Also, there was simply no dignifying that tease with a response, Keith never got his ass handed to him by the bot. The bot was Keith’s bitch, come on.
Still, when he made it to the training room and started his drills, it was possible he was being rougher than usual. He wasn’t sure why. He didn’t feel angry. He wasn’t sad. He just.
He didn’t know.
He didn’t know…
“Ouch.”
Keith’s head shot up at the noise, catching sight of Lance as he propped himself up against the far wall, one hand hanging loose in front of his face while he winced.
“What did the bot ever do to you, samurai?” He asked, voice almost playful. Teasing, kind of how Shiro’s had been.
Keith blocked but still managed to offer Lance a quiet skeptical look. Then he shrugged it off and went right back into it.
Lance didn’t leave.
“Can I hazard a guess and say~…. you’re picturing my face?” Lance offered, his voice still light.
Keith had to stop for that one. Shaking his head as he commanded the bot pause it’s fight simulation before turning to fully face Lance. To his surprise, Lance had somehow managed to walk up to him without his noticing, now within arm’s length— if he stretched anyway.
Well, that was a red flag.
“Did you want something, Lance?” It’s testy because he’s testy. He knew he was being obnoxious levels of irritable even for himself and he didn’t even know why.
There just… There was no reason for him to be sore about this. It wasn’t a big deal.
“Oof! Dodged the question. I must have been right.” Lance on the other hand… Lance was plenty reason to be annoyed all on his own. Keith rolled his eyes while the blue paladin sauntered around him, taking full advantage that a bot wasn’t going to try taking a swing at Keith any time soon.
“That’s some really shitty logic,” He replied flatly.
Lance remained unphased, “Well, were you?”
“Was I what?”
“Imagining my face.”
Keith pulled a face and watched Lance’s grin spread slowly across his, “No.”
Lance chuckled and shut his eyes, shrugging his shoulders, “Don’t believe it. Who else could have pissed you off more than me?”
“I’m not pissed off.” At least he didn’t think he was. He didn’t understand why he would be. It was stupid. It was all stupid.
“Yeah you are.” Lance was back in his face again and Keith had to lean back to protect his personal bubble.
“I’m not.” He sounded petulant and he hated it.
“Uhuh. You’re just radiating all these upsetti spaghetti vibes.”
Keith froze. Lance’s grin included teeth and an eyebrow waggle now.
“I’m- I’m not—” Keith was losing this battle. What the hell. “…What in the world?”
“Upsetti spaghetti.”
It sounded ridiculous. He sounded ridiculous. What the hell was wrong with him???
“I am not… whatever the hell that is.”
“Say it. Say upsetti spaghetti.” Lance shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and leaned forward so far, he almost bumped Keith’s nose with his, “I guarantee it will make you less upsetti.”
Keith felt the tension easing out of him already, purely to be replaced by confusion and a bit of embarrassment at Lance’s face being so close to his. (He had freckles dusting his cheeks and nose. Who knew…) Maybe he wanted Lance to back off or maybe he just wanted to see if it would work.
So, he shrunk into himself to put just a little more distance between them and he looked at the floor while he tried to form the syllables.
“U-up…”
“Upsetti Spaghetti. Come on man, say it with me.”
“Up…” This was strangely mortifying and amusing to him all at once. Why was Lance doing this? Why was he so close and smiling like that?
“Upsetti…” Lance tilted his head and leaned in.
“Up—this is ridiculous.” How was he supposed to take himself seriously if these words left his lips?
“Keith.”
But it was Lance. And as annoying as he was. As frustrating as he was, when he pushed his buttons he had the awful tendency of responding.
“Upsetti.” Yeah, he felt stupid.
But Lance’s smile grew warmer and he continued the phrase.
“…Spaghetti.”
“Sp—Oh my god. Why are you like this.”
Lance held out his arms letting his jacket fan out like a cape and shifted his head this way and that, purposefully trying to make him look up, “Almost there dude, come on.”
“Upsetti Spaghetti. I am…not upsetti spaghetti.” He couldn’t help it. It sounded so strange coming from his own mouth and Lance’s persistence was kind of charming and okay, okay, it kind of made him laugh, “How is anyone supposed to say that with a straight face what the hell.”
Lance laughed with him, “Wow, I can’t believe I won.”
It took Keith a few minutes to wind down from that, arms crossed in front of him as they normally were, bayard in its passive form loosely in his left hand.
“Quiznak,” He started, trying to catch his breath, “Was that all you wanted? To watch me make a fool of myself?”
Lance shrugged and spun on his heel taking wide steps back the way he’d come, “Nah, I wanted to make you laugh. And I succeeded. Cause I’m a winner.”
Keith rolled his eyes expecting that to be the end of the conversation when Lance spoke again.
“You shouldn’t be so crabby. Not today anyway.”
And then he was gone.
It took Keith another moment to realize what Lance had meant.
He tried to focus on the fighting simulation a bit longer, but the fight was out of him. He was kind of picturing Lance’s face now and it didn’t make him want to fight.
He ended the simulation completely and went to go join Shiro for some goo cupcake.
Shiro didn’t say happy birthday, as was custom, but he did smile a little too broad and when he asked if Keith wanted to go for a quick run around with Black and Red, Keith briefly considering asking Lance if Blue wanted to stretch her legs too.
He didn’t though. Because that would have been weird.
---
“So, what turned you around?”
“Eh. Lance made me laugh.”
“Oh? What stupid thing did he do now?”
“Nothing. He just. Made me laugh.”
---
“You okay dude?”
“Yeah. I’m just a little. Uhhh rattled? Is that the word? I dunno…”
“Why?”
“…Have you ever heard Keith laugh?”
---
“How did he know it was your birthday?”
“…I assumed you told him?”
“Oh no, my knowledge of your birthday was hard earned, I wasn’t just giving that away.”
“…Huh.”
---
“So, when are you going to admit you kind of stalked him at the Garrison?”
“I didn’t stalk him, Pidge.”
“You kind of did.”
“No one asked you, Hunk!”
---