Chapter Text
1st of December
Lance was running late, again.
This time it wasn’t his fault though, Pidge had used him as a science experiment and had forbidden him to look at his phone. And here he was, sprinting towards his job as if a pack of wild dogs was chasing him. All because Pidge needed someone to test a new computer program for her.
Lance couldn’t help to shake his head; Pidge had looked so excited when he had agreed, so he didn’t regret helping, only not setting a timer.
Paying too much attention to his thoughts and too little to the road ahead of him, and the people on said road, lead to Lance running headfirst into a stranger.
Both Lance and the strangers both fell on the ground, hard. Lance vision blurred momentarily upon impact with the ground underneath. Lance used the next few seconds on gathering his thoughts once again.
“What the hell?! Can’t you see or something?” An angry voice yelled, effectively pulling Lance’s attention away from himself and over to the stranger he had headbutted.
The stranger was a guy with black hair that seemed like it had been left alone a little bit too long. The stranger had a red campus hoodie on, so he was either a student as well or had someone close who was.
Lance got himself up on his legs, brushing dust off his pants.
“I’m so sorry, I’m late for work, so I didn’t pay too much attention to my surroundings,” Lance said, smiling awkwardly to the stranger.
Now that he was face to face with the guy, Lance couldn’t help but notice that he was actually quite handsome if you set aside his hair, and the ruffed up look looked cute on him.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have waited to the last minute to get to work if you can’t multitask,” The stranger said bitterly, pushing roughly past Lance.
Okay, he may be cute and handsome in his own way but he was also really rude. A part of this crash was his fault as well.
“Hey! Listen here, buddy, I said I was sorry, but this wasn’t my fault alone. You don’t need to be so rude” Lance said quite loudly, making the stranger turn around.
“Are you saying that it’s my fault?” The stranger asked, sounding very outraged by the accusation.
“No, I’m saying that we are both at fault” Lance narrowed his eyes at the stranger, just because Lance thought the other boy was cute didn’t mean he would let him step all over him.
“Then you really must be blind,” The stranger said with a huff, walking past Lance but making sure to bump into his shoulder harshly.
“My eyes are fine, thank you very much,” Lance said after the stranger, cringing inwardly at his poor come-back.
“Maybe you should get yours checked if you think that hair looks good, Mr Mullet” Lance yelled, only feeling more embarrassed by his now very late comeback.
Lance didn’t have more time to stand there, he was still very late for work, and this whole thing had just delayed him even more. He could only hope Allura would be too angry for his tardiness.
xXx
“I’m so sorry, Allura. I didn’t mean to be this late” Lance said as clearly as he could even though he was out of breath.
He may have sprinted the rest of the way, so he was only ten minutes late. He was still scared for Allura’s reaction; she was very punctual and did not like when others weren’t.
“It’s fine Lance, Pidge texted me, explaining that you probably were late” Allura said with an amused smile, handing Lance his apron.
“But you were later than I expected, did something happen on the way?” Allura asked as they both prepped the coffee shop for opening.
“I just ran into some trouble on the way, not to worry,” Lance said.
Lance loved working in Altea coffee shop, it had such a nice and cosy feel, and it did have some perks being friends with the manager of the shop.
“Anyway, I have some news for you, for the whole of December you will be the mentor of a trainee. He is a bit of a rebel, and this is his way to do some community work so he can stay enrolled. He will be here for all your shifts so you will spend a lot of time together since you have taken extra shifts. His name is Keith, by the way. He should be here any moment” Allura said when they had finished prepping the shop.
Just as Allura had finished her sentence, the door opened up and revealed a dark-haired guy that Lance immediately recognised as the stranger he had accidentally bumped into.
“Oh, Keith, there you are. Keith, this is Lance,” Allura gestured towards Lance before either of the boys could say anything. “He will be your mentor for your month here with us”
Both of the boys looked horrified by the news even though Allura didn’t notice. This was going to be an interesting Christmas.