Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keith was walking down the hallway of his college. Like normal, he had his overused earbuds in, listening to bright music. It drowned out all of the dull voices around him. It was mid-spring, and it was blindingly bright outside, so he preferred to stay inside. The song he was listening to came to an end, leaving a pause in between songs. In this moment, a boy came up to him. He had clear brown skin, mixed with excited blue eyes. As the boy spoke, Keith pulled out an earbud to hear whatever he was saying better. He thought he recognized him from somewhere, but he wasn’t sure. He saw tons of people everyday. He tuned back into whatever he was saying, and oh no.

He had the most beautiful voice he’s ever heard.

“Keith? Hello?” He blinked, focusing on him now.

“What?” The boy sighed, seemingly annoyed at his lack of attention.

“I said, how is your brother?” It clicked now. This boy is Lance McClain, someone Shiro knew. He introduced him before, he just never really listened to him, but now he thinks he should have.

“Oh, yeah, he’s doing okay.” Keith replied back, slightly embarrassed at this scene. He wasn’t really used to talking to people he didn’t know. Lance smirked at him, and rubbed his shoulder. He has a amazing smile also, Keith noted.

“That’s good. Well, anyways, I’ll see you around.” Lance said to the black haired boy. He replied with a weak sure, and Lance walked off to another person, who looked like one of his friends. Keith sighed and put in his other earbud. He has to stop observing people like that. Even if they are amazingly looking- stop. Okay sure, he can admit when someone is attractive. That doesn’t mean he wants to be in a relationship with them. He would rather be their friend for a long time before actually getting involved. If he even wanted to become their good friend. He has always been like that. Keith shook his head. He is getting sidetracked he told himself, he probably won’t talk to him again.

His voice was the color of a calm ocean though. And Keith though that was fascinating.

---

“Lance, I know you love Leonardo DiCaprio. Now can we focus on studying?”

Lance and Pidge were in their school library, studying for a test that they both have. Well, Pidge was studying. Lance, not so sure.

Lance banged his head on the table, almost knocking over his coffee. “I really don’t want to.” He said in a whiny tone. Pidge let out an audible sigh, and gave him a ‘friendly’ smack on the head. He winced at this.

“You know this test is important, my dude, if you don’t pass it’s going to be a problem.” Lance rubbed his head, and pouted.

“I guess you’re right Pidgeon. But, we are going to get pizza tonight.” He grinned. Pidge groaned.

“Alright. Now get back to work, you dingus.”

Lance look pretend backstabbed.

--

bestlancc - HUNK MY DOOD

hunkalicious - ???

bestlancc - could you hook me up with some pizza??

hunkalicious - Cant you just go down the road and get some

bestlancc - yeah,, but you always get discounts!!

hunkalicious - Fine, but youre paying me back

bestlancc - THANK YOU T-T

--

Pidgeon - lance mcclain

bestlancc - what

Pidgeon - why is hunk here,, carrying 2 boxes of pizza

bestlancc - I told you we were getting pizza tonight???

Pidgeon - i know,, but i thought we were going to get it ?

Pidgeon - lance did u make hunk get pizza for you again
Pidgeon - l a nCE

Pidgeon - gdi lance

--

Every Friday they got pizza. It was like a unspoken rule between Pidge and Lance. They always binged watched a series or watched movies that day. They liked to call it, “Cheat Day.” What was different about this time though, it was a Wednesday.

They stood up ‘till 3 am on a school night, watching Star Wars and eating pizza.

“DAMNIT LANCE, GET UP!”

Pidge ripped the covers off of Lance. He fell out of his bed with a big thump. A loud groan came from the blue-eyed student as he knew he had no more chance of sleeping in.

“Pidge, I need my beauty sleep!” He moaned into the floor of their shared room.

“You are going to be late! Get your lazy ass up, and get ready for school!” Pidge said irritated and left the room.

Lance swore they acted like a mother sometimes.

He rolled over, blinded by the light of his room. He slapped himself and walked to the bathroom. It really should be illegal to get up this early he thought to himself. Especially if you didn’t sleep until 3. He went into the bathroom and quickly did his facial routine, and got dressed, yada yada. He grabbed a banana, and left the dorm room with Pidge. He honestly did not want to go to school today, even his love for marine life could motivate him at this point. Pidge had dark circles under their eyes, but what’s new really. He knew they pulled all-nighters a lot, so he’s used to seeing them tired. Not that it was a good thing. He thought that this small child should be resting.

Not that he would say that to them, they would probably kill him.

Lance got to class, and sat down in his normal seat in the back. The teacher started to drone on, so Lance started to daydream.

Of course he had to think about Keith.

Chapter Text

Keith was sitting in the local coffee shop called Altean Coffee. Shiro’s girlfriend Allura’s father owns the company. He had his earbuds in like usual, listening to a calm soundtrack he had created earlier. He usually comes here to order a snack and drink, and works on his remaining school work while he is eating. The coffee shop has a nice atmosphere, and the people that work there don’t bother him. There are long windows, so there is always some natural light source. Keith always orders the same thing; a black coffee and a blueberry muffin. He was now finishing up his essay that is due the next day, finishing 3 essays that day. He had a 9:00 am class and a 3:00 pm class, so he had plenty of time to study during the day. He just got out from his 3:00 class, and it was now around 7:00. Usually no one is in during these hours, considering that people usually get coffee in the mornings or late at night. It was a perfect time for him to come in. Keith slammed his laptop shut, and made sure to collect all of his papers that were scattered around the spruce table he was residing in. His music then stopped, reaching the end of the playlist. It was perfect timing really. He stuffed all of his things in his large backpack he carried around most of the time, and collected his trash to throw it out. Keith heard the bell of the shop door ring, and he turned around to see who it was. It was the boy he saw earlier, but this time with another person standing next to him. He assumed it was a girl, but he couldn’t really tell to be honest. He felt his heart skip a beat as he rushed to throw the remainder out. Lance and the mystery girl were now starting a conversation with whoever was manding the cashier, presumably ordering coffee. It was such a odd place he could run into him. Keith practically ran to his bag so Lance and his friend wouldn’t notice him, but luck was not on his side that day sadly. He heard the girl next to him nudge his arm and it seemed like she was smirking. It gave him the chills. Lance turned back and looked at him surprised at first, but his facial expression quickly went to large grin in a second.

“Hey, Keith!” He jogged to him, and Keith could take in everything about the other boy in a second. He somehow looked better than the other day, despite looking like he went through a long day of studying. His voice was the exact same though, but seemed brighter today. Keith anticipated his becoming, and let out a weak hello. How come he can be so bad with talking to this boy? It’s not like he is going to kill him.

(Well, he wasn’t so sure of that right now.)

Lance stopped about 3 feet away from him, and his grin faded into what seemed a cocky smile. “Do you come here often?” He could hear the girl groan loudly from behind him, but chose to ignore it.

“Uhm, yeah I do actually.” Keith could feel his own awkwardness radiate from himself. Lance leaned onto the table that he was at. “D-Do you?” Keith mentally facepalmed himself. He obviously does if he’s here. Lance’s already cocky grin widened, and Keith is now regretting everything he has said to this person.

“This is actually my first time here in awhile.” He said smoothly. “But if you are here, I’ll consider coming here often.”

Oh, Keith gets it now. He wants them to be friends, or something. He wasn’t really good at this ‘making new friends’ thing. Keith sighed quietly, and Lance’s face did not fall, instead stayed the same grin as if he had accomplished something.

“Well, I was just heading out. I’ll see you later, I guess.” He picked up his backpack ready to leave, but Lance stopped him suddenly.

“Well, I was going to ask you if you would like to meet up with me and Pidge at the library to study tomorrow.” He gestured to the girl that’s now walking towards them holding two coffees and a bag of donuts.

“Is she okay with that?” Lance nodded.

“They, actually. And yes, they are.” Keith made a mental note to use the correct pronouns later, and this Pidge person sat the good down next to them. They were short, and had unusually messy brown hair. They had large circle framed glasses, and tired brown eyes. Their voice seemed like a calming green color, almost like the tree’s leaves you find in a forest after it rained.

“Yo, the name’s Pidge. Lance mentioned you once, so I’m guessing you’re ‘The Keith.’” Lance shot them a look, and turned back to him. “And yes. We are meeting at the library, so join us if you want. Not sure of a time though, so we will have to notify you later.” Keith took this in, and considered it. Did he really need a studying partner? I mean he’s assuming that they have different majors and whatnot. Though, Shiro would probably never live him down if he didn’t accept. He was pretty scary when it came to new people, especially if they had invited him out and he declined. He would always say something along the lines, “Keith, you know I love you, but you have to make friends other then me.” It always irritated him, but he knew he had a point. Not like he would never admit it to him.

“Sure?” He said to the duo, and stretched. “How will you contact me though?”
“I have my ways.” Pidge said smugly. Keith nodded unsure, not sure what they meant by that.

Keith swung his bag onto his shoulders, and waved at them as he left. He could feel their eyes on the back of his neck while leaving. He secretly hoped they would cancel tomorrow, so he would be able to do things on his own on Saturday. He internally sighed knowing that they probably won’t let him live if he doesn’t go. He gets a murderous vibe from Pidge.
He also secretly hoped that they wouldn’t.
Lance wasn’t sure how he got into this hellhole of a conversation.
Of course, it included Allura, Pidge, and Hunk. The three who somehow always are deeply involved in his romantic endeavors. Pidge told the two that Lance asked Keith to study with them, and it went downhill from there.

--

Pidgeon - guys you will not believe this
Pidgeon - everyone come here fast

Princess - What is it Pidge?

Pidgeon - hunk i know youre lurking

Hunkalicious - my cover is blown.

bestlancc - what pidge?? You know we share a dorm right
bestlancc - you could just have told me

Pidgeon - no everyone needs to hear it

DadShiro - Yes, Pidge?

Pidgeon - good everyone is here
Pidgeon - its about what happened today in the dear old coffee shop owned by the one and only allura’s dad

Princess - ???

bestlancc - pidge no
bestlancc - pidge i thought we were cool

Hunkalicious - Is this about that mullet guy?

DadShiro - Keith?

Hunkalicious - yeah

Pidgeon - yes, lance did something incredible today

bestlancc - pIDGE NO

Pidgeon - he asked the crush himself keith to study with us
bestlancc - honestly i came here to have a good time and i feel attacked rn

Hunkalicious - wOAH

Allura - I’m proud Lance

DadShiro - wait but what did Keith say
DadShiro - If he said no, I’m coming to him personally and never letting him go anywhere except that library
DadShiro - I’ll hunt him down

Hunkalicous- - ^^^^^^

Allura - Yeah, I’d like to know

bestlancc - sigh

Pidgeon - he said yes
Pidgeon - I dont think lance would let him say no in the first place
Pidgeon - but anyways
Pidgeon - itS AN ACHIEVEMENT

Hunkalicious - im so proud lance im crying
*Hunkalicious sent a photo.*

bestlancc - you weren’t kidding
bestlancc - BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT
bestlancc - I FEEL BETRAYED

Pidgeon - Lance do not worry
Pidgeon - I could’ve just hacked into their phones and sent a large text saying
Pidgeon - LANCE FINALLY MADE IT TO BASE ONE

Princess - lance after that study session you need to tell me everything

DadShiro - Also me, he’s my brother after all

bestlancc - dont lie shiro u know she will tell you anyways

DadShiro - I cannot deny nor confirm

Hunkalicious - this is the best day, my skin is clean, my grades are up, I have 20/20 vision, the crops are thriving, the birds are chirping, the sky is blue, I met Gordon Ramsay,

Pidgeon - exactly
Pidgeon - Lance im tempted to not go and see what you two do by yourselves ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

bestlancc - PIDGE NO

Pidgeon - wait ur right

bestlancc - thank god

Pidgeon - I have to watch it firsthand

bestlancc - AHH NO PIDGE

Pidgeon - yes pidge

Princess - lance do you have the right clothes for this
Princess - are you sure you’re prepared

bestlancc - allura yes I am
bestlancc - as ready as ill ever be
bestlancc - im so ready i could be..ready
bestlancc - but i am ready

Hunkalicous - you’re nervous aren’t you

bestlancc - no
bestlancc - maybe

Pidgeon - lance youre shitting your pants rn arent you

bestlancc - ..yes

DadShiro - Lance its alright
DadShiro - keith doesnt bite
DadShiro - most of the time
Dad - we dont talk about the incident of 2002

Pidgeon - im pretty sure he wants him to bite ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

bestlancc - pIDGE

Hunkalicious - i have to go guys
Hunkalicious - im meeting shay in the morning

Pidgeon - ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

DadShiro - Pidge stop with that face, and goodnight Hunk, im also going to sign off

Princess - Yes, same with me

bestlancc - wow ok i feel so supported

Pidgeon - lance, allura and shiro signing off at the same time

bestlancc - SCREAMS

--

“Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidgeee.”

“No, Lance.”

“Pidge.”

“No.”

“Pidge-”

“Lance if you say my name one more time, I’m going to crawl across the room and suffocate you with your own pillows.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I was just going to ask what you wanted for breakfast, I feel hurt.”

“Lance that’s a lie and you know it.”

“..I can’t confirm that.”

“Now you sound like Shiro.”
Lance rolled over, and chucked a pillow at Pidge. Little did Lance know, this was the greatest mistake of his life. He knew how Pidge was with pillow fights, he should have listened to Matt at this moment. After a long 15 minutes of screaming and throwing pillows, they realized that everyone else down the hall could probably hear them. They called a truce, but Lance did not like the look in Pidge’s eye. They did their morning routines, though Lance’s lasted way longer than theirs. Lance says you can’t rush beauty, but Pidge disagrees. Instead of getting into another fight, they went into the coffee shop they were in before. The only reason they went there the other day was to get more coffee after both of them practically inhaling the pot full they had in the dorm. They happened to meet Keith their.
It is practically a ritual for Lance and Pidge to study like this. They would go to their choice of coffee shop or restaurant in the morning, and then dick around for awhile instead of actually studying. This time Keith is going to be there, so both of them knew that they both had to either actually study, or talk to Keith the whole time. He had a feeling that it was going to be the ladder.

It was about 9:30 am, and Pidge had texted Keith the other day. Lance wasn’t sure how they got his number, but from the scene yesterday he wouldn’t be surprised if they stole it. At this point Lance was bored with their teasing about Keith. Luckily Lance was with Pidge, and they seemed too tired to do anything really. They arrived at the familiar shop, and walked through the door, practically dragging themselves. They didn’t bother looking around the coffee shop, but headed straight towards the employee behind the long table. Lance ordered both of their coffees, having two each. They needed it if they are going to be actually doing work this time. They payed for the order, and sat down at the nearest table. By the time they finished, they felt fairly refreshed and awake. After that they set out to the library, it being on campus so it was only a short 10 minute walk back. Their coffee was long gone by the time they reached their destination.
They got into the library, and Pidge spotted the man himself, Keith. He seemed tense, but they didn’t really notice until they actually greeted him. Lance wondered if he was mad about something, I mean what could have he possibly done?

Well, he could have done a lot of things actually. He didn’t want to think about that though.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---

Keith didn’t like where this situation was going.

He met Pidge and Lance at the library like they had planned. He made the grave mistake earlier by agreeing. Keith knew that Shiro would personally bring it into his own hands, so he decided going was the only way to get him off his back with that. He loves Shiro and all, but sometimes he can be overprotective. He heard Lance and Pidge arrive in the library, and had known it was Lance’s immediately. Who couldn’t really? He had assumed Pidge was with him, and he was correct. Keith got to know Pidge more after that, and they genuinely seemed easy to talk to. Almost seemed like they were used to steering the conversation to good topics. Keith didn’t doubt that Pidge took control of conversations regularly. Lance on the other hand, was a handful. After getting out of his ‘this man is too beautiful to exist faze,’ he could actually notice more about his personality. Lance was over-dramatic at most times he noted, and loved Beyonce. That’s the jist of what he got out of their short conversation. At this point Keith was feeling good, actually liking his company. But it went out of control fast.
Well first Pidge brought up conspiracy theories at one point. Of course Keith had agreed with Pidge on everything, but Lance seemed to have a different opinion. Pidge and him somehow started arguing, that led to yelling, then the librarian getting mad, leaving the library, it started raining, so they are now residing in Pidge and Lance’s dorm room. Keith didn’t know how he got here, and like he had said right before, he didn’t like where this was going. It was about 30 minutes into their ‘study session,’ and now Keith is seeing what their definitions of studying really was. Before Keith could leave though, he got trapped into talking with those two. At this point it was around 10:30, and apparently they have nothing to do all day. Keith actually is slightly relieved that he isn’t studying right now, considering he studied almost all night yesterday. Shiro had to practically persuade him to lay back on the school work, but Keith can’t help but be worried. Now when he said he was talking to Pidge and Lance, it is more like not being able to leave because of his awkwardness. He texted Shiro for help of course, but he didn’t reply. Keith just decided to wait it out until they fall asleep or something. He internally was glad that they didn’t pressure him into the conversation. Not for long though.

“Keith, who do you agree with?” He heard Lance’s voice, and immediately Keith came back from his inner monologue. Shit, he thought. He wasn’t paying attention.

“Uhh, Pidge.” He thought it would be reasonable to agree with them since he agreed with them on most things. Apparently to Lance this wasn’t though.

“Keith!! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Lance, you can’t expect people to agree with you on everything.”

“Yeah but-”

“Lance-”

“Finnnee.”

Lance then threw himself onto his bed in their dorm, and Pidge sighed once again. Keith decided that it would be a good time to go at this point.

“I’ll be going now, I guess.” He announced to the room, while turning around to leave. He felt a hand clutch onto his wrist, and he snapped his head around. What now? He saw a desperate Pidge.

“Keith! Don’t leave me with him!” He heard an angry groan come from the corpse of Lance. Keith shook his head. He had to go at this point. He was exhausted, and he hasn’t done any school work for the future.

“Sorry, but I’m going to be going now.” He left the dorm room, hearing muffled groans coming from the room. He made his way back to his small dorm. Luckily he knew that it would be empty when he came back, because his roommate left 2 months back. The school didn’t assign another person to his dorm because there was no one left to room. So Keith had it all to himself. He practically threw himself onto his bed, still rendering what happened today. It wasn’t like Keith hated this outing in particular, but he can’t say he was overjoyed about it. He liked both Lance and Pidge, (maybe Lance more for reasons he would never admit) and at least he got free food. He sighed as he pulled out his phone to text Shiro. He knew Shiro would want to get every single detail out of him, so he just sent a plain ‘hey.’ He dropped his phone of the floor, and did his nightly routine. If you could call it a routine. Wash face, take a shower, eat an apple of choice, and pine in bed until he falls asleep. This session of pining: Lance McClain.

---

bestlancc - hOLY FUCK

Pidgeon - lance calm

bestlancc - pidge we scared him off

Pidgeon - wasnt my fault dood,, look at us

bestlancc - true
bestlancc - wAIT NO IM NOT SUPPOSED TO AGREE

DadShiro - guys it’s 12:00 can you not.

Pidgeon - dad has spoken

bestlancc - cmon dadddd

DadShiro - I told you guys not to call me that-

Pidgeon - but its ur name??

DadShiro - it’s only my name because you changed it to that

Pidgeon - i cannot argue
bestlancc - sigh

DadShiro - seriously guys, sleep for once.

Pidgeon - ok dad

bestlancc - i feel personally attacked

---

Shirogone - hi :-)

keith - you only make that face when you want something
keith - im not stupid shiro

Shirogone - I know you arent stupid, and how do you know I want something?

keith - first of all ive known you for fucking ever, youre my brother
keith - second of all you know u are going to pry about today

Shirogone - keith I am your elder respect me

keith - I dont want you telling me that after you ate 5 boxes of star wars mac and cheese after allura said you were cute

Shirogone - We are getting of track
Shirogone - What happened at this study session of yours?

keith - …
keith - literally nothing

Shirogone - Sure, nothing
Shirogone - Keith?
Shirogone - Wow, okay leave then

---

Keith woke up groggy as per usual. Most days he was a morning person, but he would kind of forced into that habit when Shiro would make him have early morning runs with him every day. It was a pain, but he got used to it eventually. When he moved into his dorm, his sleep schedule got out of whack though. Shiro found out, and now calls him at 9:00 am so he wouldn’t sleep in for amense hours. It annoyed the hell out of Keith, but he couldn’t shake him off. He ignored the ring from his phone, and jumped straight into the shower. He had some work to do today, so it was going to be a bland day.

--

Lance didn’t expect Keith to be this way.

Of course he had unrealistic expectations, but he was just so...emo. He liked a emo with a mullet who happened to be Shiro’s brother.

He was in some deep shit.