Chapter Text
“What the fuck? You have streaks with people other than me?”
Shiro laughed, and the phone crackled softly. “Lance, you’re not my only friend. And while your streak is vital for me to maintain, there are others I have that have been going longer. So, can you do it?”
Lance blanched. “Keep your streaks while you’re teaching in Malaysia? Aren’t you going to have some semblance of an internet connection?”
“No, Lance. Can you do it— please? It’s only two months, and I’ll definitely owe you one.”
“Fine, Shiro. But you better warn your friends. I’m not a cute snapchatter.”
Lance heard a sigh of relief. “You, Lance, are a lifesaver.”
“Can I at least set some boundaries?” Lance paused. "No estranged nudes from your weird friends, and you can’t get angry if they don’t respond. That’s on them.”
“I’ll only be mad if you’re being a shit memelord and freak them out. I have six streaks right now. I’ll text you my password later, and you should probably set an alarm. Thank you Lance!”
Ugh .
(ALARM SET FOR 9 am)
Well, it can’t be that terrible Lance thought while he as he sat in the airport lobby. Minutes before, he had tearfully bid goodbye to Shiro, wishing him luck on the 20+ hour flight. Two months without seeing or talking to Shiro? Maybe it will be terrible . Lance opened snapchat and logged off of his account, the purple “are you sure?” button winking at him briefly before logging back in as Shiro. The page loaded for a second, then Lance blinked and saw himself in the front camera.
Here we go.
Lance slid on the chat screen, and rolled his eyes at the heaps of messages for Shiro. Some names he recognised, some he didn’t know so well. Okay, he thought, let’s start by introducing myself to each of these people. The first was “theincrediblehunk,” who Lance recognized as, of course, Hunk, who he had spent plenty of time with outside of social media. Hunk’s picture was of the corner of a television screen with the caption “travel safe, man.”
“What’s up duude! Shiro tell you what’s up?” Lance typed over a duck-faced photo and quickly sent over to Hunk. Next on the list was Shiro’s girlfriend Allura, and Lance gagged internally. After clicking through the puppy-eyed-sadface photo of the girl, Lance opted for an eye-pic with the caption “It Lance,” and kept looking through his streaks. He vaguely recognized someone called “pidge_kt,” who Lance placed in one of Shiro’s instagram pics, but the other two streaks besides his own were people he didn’t recognize. The first was this enigmatic older dude named “coran.naroc” with a large moustache who only typed “wot” over a pale sky. Lance laughed and responded in kind, and landed on the final streak holder.
Holy shit… 150 days? Whoever this person was, they definitely were committed. The username “fireforest” didn’t ring any bells. Lance opened the the picture, and was slightly taken aback. The young man in the photo looked about his age, with dark eyes, long hair, and a stern expression. The photo passed in the blink of an eye, but long enough to make Lance’s heart skip. He’s… cute?
Pausing for a moment and biting the side of his thumb, Lance contemplated his response. Should he go with simple? Concealing? He pressed on his face and the filters appeared. The dog one is cute, but Lance was always more of a cat person. Fuck it. Imma be basic as shit Lance decided as he chose the flower crown that made his eyes look shiny, and offered a blinding smile with the caption “Hi I’m Lance what’s your name?” and sent it straight away. Blushing slightly, Lance got up and made his way to the nearest bus stop and waited for the circulating vehicles. When he finally got a seat, he checked his phone again, and on the locked screen it read “Snapchat from fireforest.”
Lance quickly opened the app, expecting the best. I mean, hey, responding so fast is a good sign, right? He tapped the red box and his eyes widened at the glare and the caption.
“Keith. And that filter is basic as shit”
Keith was fucked up. Three months ago, he had confessed his affection to Shiro— an uncommon action for the normally shy person he was— and the rejection was blatant enough that he nearly broke off all contact with the other guy… nearly. Save for his undying snapchat streak with Shiro (150 days is a lot, ok?), the two hadn’t spoken much aside from pleasantries. There were so many times when Keith didn’t want to respond, when he was feeling too much pain from the gratuitous selfies of Shiro and his girlfriend, but he still did. He always did. So when he got a message from “actualdadshiro” he was apathetic, and the slight hope in the back of his mind was hushed. Little did he expect the sight that arrived before him.
A young man, probably around his age, with tan skin and a bright smile. Keith was entranced by the quirk of his brow and the sharp jawline that jutted forward. The hell? How does ten seconds have this much of an affect on me? Am I really that thirsty ? Keith let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Lance, huh.
Keith flopped onto his couch, possible responses shaking around his head. He could just send his signature glare and be done with it. But damn, that boy. Keith couldn’t get his smile out of his head. This “Lance” guy was the type of person who could brighten a room by just walking in. Keith hated that type of guy. His type of guys were strong, sweet, protective, and not excessive. Guys like… STOP THINKING ABOUT SHIRO, KEITH. Acquired anger and sadness bubbled up in Keith’s throat, and he lifted the phone to glare at the camera, and he retorted to the awful (perfect) picture sent to him before.
Keith. And that filter is basic as shit.