Work Text:
"Glitter"
In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to send members of his pack to get stuff from the Earth store at the Space Mall. However, Keith liked to draw and paint in the downtime he had between missions and was running low on some of his colors and he needed more sealant. He would have gone with his pack to pick up the supplies he asked for, but he was in the middle of setting up one of his drawings to put paint to it and didn't like leaving in the middle of setting it up.
His pack liked that Keith was indulging in interests other than training and piloting. He was quite a good artist. The Blades agreed to get the supplies for their kit, while Krolia said she'd stay with Keith at headquarters. So, that was what led Thace and Ulaz to be standing at the craft supplies section of the Earth store in bewilderment. There seemed to be an abundance of different types of paint in the same bottles. The only difference seemed to be a dot of color on the lid.
"Which colors did Keith say he needed?" Ulaz asked.
"He just said more paint, so maybe all of them?" Thace replied.
"Well, we don't want to miss the color he needs most, so maybe two bottles of each color?"
"I found the sealant too. We should get a lot of that too."
"Sounds like a plan."
%%%
When Thace and Ulaz entered the nest room, Keith was talking on his data pad with the Paladins, who seemed to be gushing about Keith's latest art project.
"You are such a talented artist, Keith!"
Keith blushed. "Thanks, Hunk."
"I'm jealous!"
Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's comment. "You don't need to be jealous of everything I do that is better than your talents."
"Is that Arus?"
Keith grinned. Trust Pidge to recognize the planet without its distinctive colors. "Yup."
"Are you adding color to this one?"
"Yes, Shiro. I just need more paint, especially blue."
Thace cleared his throat. "Well, it's a good thing we bought more paint for you, then, kit."
Keith's eyes widened in surprise when he saw two bags full of paint and sealant. He pulled out bottle after bottle of paint until he withdrew another bottle and let out a screech. His eyes widened in horror this time.
"Kit, what's wrong?" Ulaz was concerned.
"Why did you buy glitter?" Keith asked in a horrified tone. Krolia looked on in hesitation. She had never come across this glitter when she had been stranded on Earth. Was it a new substance?
Lance busted out laughing. "Holy crow! They picked up glitter!"
The other Paladins watched as their Blue Paladin fell over in laughter. Pidge adjusted her glasses. "It's extra fine pink glitter!"
In between Lance's bouts of laughter, he managed to say, "Craft herpes!"
Ulaz's eyes widened in surprise and snatched the bottle out of Keith's hand. Whatever Lance called the glitter didn't sound good, and the pale doctor didn't want Keith to be near it, especially before he had a chance to examine it.
Thace drew Keith close and nuzzled his hair. "My apologies, kit. We didn't realize we picked up something that wasn't paint or sealant."
"It's all right. I know it wasn't intentional." Keith nuzzled Thace in forgiveness. "Though, the Paladins asked if Mom and I could come for a visit."
"Of course, you can visit your team, kit." Thace replied.
"Can we go in a varga?"
"That will be fine. It'll give us time to wormhole to the base," Shiro agreed.
"We'll see you soon, Paladins," Krolia said, and the comm channel blinked off. Ulaz tucked the glitter bottle into his pocket, intent on examining it after his kit left the base.
After seeing Keith and Krolia safely off the base, Ulaz and Thace sequestered themselves in a commonly used lab. Thace opened the bottle of glitter, and Ulaz extracted a small sample, putting it in a test tube to make sure he had plenty of room to run tests. While Ulaz was busy gathering supplies for all the tests he wanted to run, Thace was trying to screw the lid back on the small bottle, which he was having issues with.
His one hand was shaking slightly, which caused the overly full bottle to spill. The fine particles floated in the air and landed on the table, the floor, and in Thace's fur. Thace carefully set the still open bottle on the table and tried to put the lid back on it that way. A crash distracted Thace, causing him to knock over the bottle. Most of the glitter was now on the table, some of it spilling onto the floor. Thace looked over at his mate, who had shattered glass at his feet.
Ulaz had been carrying over extra vials to the table when he looked at Thace. His mate had pink sparkles in his thick fur. There were pink sparkles on the table and the floor too. Had the glitter escaped somehow? Was it sentient? The vials slipped from Ulaz's claws, shattering upon impact with the floor. The resulting crash caused Thace to knock over the bottle of glitter, spilling the majority of its contents.
"We need to clean all of this up before I can test this glitter," Ulaz stated. "And you need to figure out a way to get it out of your fur."
"Keith likes taking showers. Do you think dousing myself with water would help?"
"I don't know. Possibly. I wish I had the time to examine this before we had to deal with this, but I don't, so I do not have any answers."
During their short conversation, the door slid open to reveal Kolivan and Antok. Neither the doctor nor his mate noticed that they had visitors. Kolivan and Antok took one look at the disaster the lab had become and left without taking a step inside. Little did they know, the glitter that had been in the air had been sucked out into the corridor with the opening of the door and was now in their fur, uniforms, and Kolivan's braid.
%%%
Keith and Krolia returned to the base after spending the quintant and following night at the castle ship with the Paladins and Alteans. Both looked well rested and relaxed, which was wonderful, and were ready for the meeting with the rest of their pack. However, they were not ready for the sight of tiny pink sparkles dotting their irritated pack members. Realizing what happened in their absence, Keith grabbed Krolia's arm and tugged on it, urging his mom not to get closer.
"What happened, Keith? Why is our pack sparkly?"
Keith sighed. "Someone opened the bottle of glitter. Can we sleep in your personal nest? The last thing I want is Lance to see glitter on me. I'd never hear the end of it!"
Fin