Work Text:
Moments of peace were few and far between. It was war, after all. But today, the team had unanimously decided that they deserved a break. Back-to-back life threatening missions were beginning to wear on them and they were getting sloppy.
They had stopped off at the space mall first off to restock. Keith made his way immediately to the used bookstore in the back. In the age of digital media, a bookstore wasn’t the most highly sought after shop, but Keith had always loved physical books. The feel, the scent, and the weight of them were always so satisfying and comforting.
Lance sighed, knowing from the direction they were headed alone what Keith’s goal was. “You don’t have to come with, you know.” Keith looked over at his boyfriend with a quirked brow.
The man just rolled his eyes, “Please, you know we’re a package deal at this point. Plus, there’s this really cute jacket I’ve been eyeing for a while now and I need your opinion. And God knows, if left to your own devices, you’ll spend the whole time in the bookstore. So really, I’m doing you a favor.”
“Right.” Keith said with his own fond eye roll. Finally they walked into the little stand, a tiny little room, barely able to be considered a store, really. It was stuffy in that way only used bookstores are. The two paladins were the only customers there and Keith couldn’t be happier.
The old shopkeeper was sat behind a little stand with a register on it, asleep. The alien was tiny in and of herself. Probably about 3 feet tall on a good day, perpetually hunched and wrinkly as all hell. Honestly, it was a wonder how she could see with how her skin drooped into her singular eye. Her skin was a dusty, dark blue, her body bulbous and where most of her height was. Her little limbs made Keith think of Mr. Krabs with her tiny legs with pointed feet and short arms with large hands. He couldn’t, for the life of him, remember her name though, despite how many times he’d shopped here.
The peace of the shop was swiftly ruined as Lance stumbled into an oddly leaning stack of books. “Nice.” Keith deadpanned.
Lance opened his mouth to argue, but the commotion had apparently awoken the shopkeep. “Eh- Oh, ah hello, young man. It’s been so long. Have you gotten through that last stack alright?” Both men looked at the woman who had hopped off her little stool and wobbled over with a bright smile.
“Uh, yeah, I have. And I was wondering if you had any more-” Keith cut himself off, looking sideways at Lance. He was fairly certain that his boyfriend would make fun of him for his genre choice (At least, not maliciously) but, it was still a secret he held close to his chest. “Ah. Books like, um, like last time?”
Lance raised a brow in question, obviously tipped off by Keith’s behavior and the subtle blush dusting across his features.
“Ah, yes! I just got a bunch of new romance novels in! I got them just for you.” She said proudly, winking at the red paladin (Or at least, he thought it was supposed to be a wink. Can you wink if you only have one eye?). Well there goes that.
Keith glanced back at his boyfriend, who looked like he was fighting hard not to laugh. “Not a word.” He growled at the other.
Lance put his arms up in defense, silently making a zipping and key locking motion over his lips.
The red paladin sighed, turning back to the expectant shopkeep. “Thank you. I’ll look through those.”
~~~~
Keith had thought Lance would needle him about the books as soon as they left the shop, but oddly enough, he hadn’t mentioned anything about them the entire trip. Now they were back in their shared room, putting away their purchases and Keith was getting nervous. “Okay, just say it. Make fun of me for my romance books!” Keith snapped, blushing hard enough to rival his lion in color.
Lance looked up at Keith in surprise, his outburst having cut the taller boy off. He shifted to fully face the other, hand finding its place on his hip. He looked over his boyfriend and shrugged. “I don’t have anything to say, really. I mean, it’s definitely funny to think of my rough n’ tumble boyfriend being into romance novels, but I’m honestly not surprised.” Then, he turned back to what he had been doing, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Keith.
“Wha- What do you mean you’re ‘not surprised’?” He crossed his arms defensively, more confused than ever.
Lance cocked his head to the side curiously. “I mean I’m not surprised. I mean, if I really think of it, your idea of romance this whole time has really been straight out of a romance book, so it’s kinda just like a puzzle piece fitting into place more than anything.” Lance then walked up to his slack jawed boyfriend, drawing a hand up to cup his cheek. “Why do you think I’d make fun of you, anyway?”
Keith shrugged, “‘Cause it’s girly.” He said weakly, obviously parroting an opinion he’d heard all his life.
Lance just snorted and raised a brow. “And my skin care routine isn’t? Babe, there’d be a whole other problem if I made fun of you for something ‘girly’. Plus, I’m honestly just glad you have more than one hobby.” He teased, kissing Keith’s cheek and the man huffed out a dramatic sigh.
“I have more than one hobby.” He grumbled, significantly more relaxed.
“‘Kives’ isn’t a hobby, Love.” Lance sang as he walked back to their closet.
Scoffing, Keith returned to his little book shelf- a gift from Lance, despite his jabs about Keith’s reading- and he honestly couldn’t keep the smile off his face if he tried.
After a couple more minutes of silence, where the boys had changed into comfier clothes, Lance spoke once more. “Hey Keith?”
“Hm?” Keith looked up from the book he’d chosen for the night. It was in Galran (As many of his books were), and even though he wasn’t fluent in the language, he was good enough with it to parse the meaning of the books he read.
Lance was biting his lip and looking uncharacteristically shy. “Will you read to me?”
Keith’s eyes widened a bit at the request. Of all the things he’d expected from his boyfriend, that wasn’t it. Though, with such a vulnerable look, how could Keith say no. “Sure. Though, I can’t guarantee it’ll make much sense.”
Lance’s face immediately split into a beautiful smile and he made his way toward the bed to get comfy “That’s okay. I honestly just like listening to your voice. It’s really soothing.”
Keith tried to will away the fluttery feeling in his chest with a fond eye roll as he followed Lance into bed. Soon enough they were settled in, cuddled closely together with Keith sat reclined back against their pillows and Lance draped over his side, using Keith’s chest as a pillow.
Then Keith opened the book, focussing on the odd characters and slowly translating. From the summary, it seemed like a run of the mill teen coming of age style romance. Though, with a lot more violence. The Galra were honestly so weird.
Keith was so focussed on translating that it took him about a chapter to realize that Lance had fallen asleep, lips slightly parted and breaths coming out soft and even. Keith looked down at his boyfriend fondly. He’d always looked so peaceful while he slept. And really, considering all he did for the team, the man deserved the rest, if you asked Keith.
After a few moments of taking the other in, Keith pressed a soft kiss into Lance’s hair and settled back in. He wasn’t going to continue reading aloud, and honestly, he was probably going to have to restart the book from the beginning since he was too focussed translating to really pay attention. But that was okay, perfect even. After so many long arduous battles, Keith couldn’t think of any place he’d rather be than reading a trashy romance book while cuddling up in his shared bed with the love of his life.