Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Surfs up.

Another day at the beach, another day on watchpoint with the sun beating down, another day waiting for the shift to end. Keith Kogane had taken up a summer job in a small seaside town, as one of the lifeguards watching the beach. It was 6:30 and he had just been rudely awakened by the sound of his buzzing phone. Bzz--Bzz--Bzz “What the hell..” He groaned as he went to turn it off, it was his alarm. Slowly rising from his bed, the young man went to go shower and dress for the day.

Keith was tired of the job already, only after three weeks of the seaside experience, there was one part he liked though. His leader and boss was a man called Takashi Shirogane, but he prefered the shorter name, Shiro. He was professional and smart, and very good at supporting Keith in his role as a lifeguard. Keith valued this kindness, he refused to admit that this man meant something more than just a boss to him however. As the cool water from the shower sprayed down, Keith began to move out of his half asleep phase into a more human one. After a few minutes, he called off his mini relaxation session, grabbed his towel and then got dressed into his company issued lifeguard shorts and t-shirt. That morning his breakfast was a half-assed bread and butter, with the butter basically remaining as a cube on top of the slice, Keith wasn’t fussed about it though.

The walk to work was fairly quick, so Keith usually stopped for coffee at Sunbeans, a cafe that was co-owned by two of his friends from high school, Lance Mcclain and Hunk Garrett.
“Hey man how’s it going?” Hunk asked warmly as he went to make Keith’s usual.
“Not bad, should be quiet out there cause it’s kinda windy actually, what about you guys?”
“I’m doing good, me and Shay saw Shrek 12 last night, it was the best cinematic experience I have ever witnessed.”
“Psssst, they kisssssed!” Lance hissed, emerging from the door leading to the stockroom. Keith laughed at this remark as Hunk grew evermore flustered.
“H-hey, no need for that Lance, anyway, Allura looked pretty excited to see you on Saturday, I wonder what happened after that…” Hunk teased, regaining his calm composure.
“Keith you should go outside moreee…” Lance whined.
“Lance my job is at the beach, I’m outside pretty much all day.”
“No I mean The Outside, the magical world of clubbing and parties and adult stuff and more! I can’t even remember the last time you did something with us, Pidge was mentioning it the other day thinking about it.”
“I’d really love to, y’all know that, I’m just really busy at the moment with this new job ‘n stuff.”
“Even at the weekends?” Lance said, knowing fully well Keith did not work after 2pm on friday and Saturday and not on Sunday at all.
“Er.. I have to be ready for- in case I’m needed or someone gets sick..yeah, that’s it.” Keith bluffed, very obviously.
Lance gasped dramatically, pretending to cry, “oH THE LIES, HUNK HOW COULD HE BE SO MEAN TO US, DO WE MEAN NOTHING?? Keith I have your timetable right here buddy, oh look it even says your days off, Friday- half, Saturday-half, Sunday- Full. Thanks to Pidge’s ability to pull info out of your own mouth, we got the deets dude.” His fake crying soon turned into a smug grin. Shit. Keith said internally.
“Lance, lay it off, but he has a point Keith, remember the last time you tried to cut yourself off from society? Wasn’t good was it, let’s go to the club Saturday night, it will be fun!”
“You’re right, I guess I could come for a bit ‘n then spend Sunday relaxing or recovering, depending on how it goes.”
“All right! This is gonna be the best night of your life Keithy Boy.” Lance said, smiling.
“And here is your double-shot espresso, to go.” Hunk said, handing over the coffee cup to Keith. The lifeguard scanned his card on the machine and then said goodbye to the duo, leaving the cafe and continuing his walk to work.

As Keith arrived at the beach, he was greeted warmly by his colleagues who were also holding various drinks containing high amounts of caffeine. All of their attention soon turned to Shiro, who was walking towards them.
“Good morning everyone, quick debrief of today…” As the leader spoke, Keith began to lose focus, Shiro hadn’t shaved like he normally did, is that.. stubble? “You all got that? Just be extra alert and ready to save people that might get caught in the bigger waves, that’s all I think!” Keith suddenly realised that he hadn’t heard any of that, he quickly turned to his co-worker Romelle.
“Er.. hey, Romelle, I wasn’t listening, what did he say?” Keith asked as she began to walk to her watchpoint.
“Oh, nothing too different from normal, the wind is stronger than normal so stay on high alert near the bigger waves, after the beach closes we are cleaning the boards and checking equipment.” She replied, seeming slightly annoyed before turning back to continue her walk.
“Ok, cool, er.. Thanks.” Keith stuttered, then turning back to go to his own watchpoint. As he was walking, he felt a hand land on his right shoulder, he turned around to see Shiro smiling warmly at him.
“Sorry to startle you Keith, I just wanted to ask if everything’s ok, you didn’t seem so focused in briefing.” Keith felt his face burning up, he didn’t know it was that obvious.
“Haha, er.. Yeah, everything’s good.. Just a little worn out I guess, it’s been a tough week.” It had been a long week, but Keith was just bluffing, like normal.
“Alright, take it easy for now, if you need any help with anything I’ll be in the HQ watchpoint.” Shiro, unaware of Keith’s actual reason for slacking, turned around to go back to HQ, slightly concerned for his newest recruit. For whatever reason, he rarely saw Keith around town like he did the other lifeguards. Shiro had recruited Keith as he saw great potential in him, he was in great condition, strong-willed, and an already excellent surfer. He was hoping to get to know the man better and maybe convince him to join the team permanently before summer ends, however, the opportunity to chat with him had never really come up.

Hours passed as Keith sat on watchpoint F, the base to the furthest right of the beach. He watched the sea, checking for signs of danger and occasionally going out into the ocean if anyone needed help. Luckily, the 7 rescues he did before lunch were minor, no one was hurt and he got to everyone in time. As it was nearing 2:00, the end of shift A, Keith noticed someone swimming a little too close to the rocks. Like normal protocol, Keith notified HQ on the radio comms and left his watchpoint with a board. He paddled out and aided the young lady onto the bright blue rescue board, the two made their way to shore, the lady got off and the rescue was over. When Keith had checked that the woman was ok, she made her way back to her family who were relieved to see her back. As Keith began walking through the surf back to his watchpoint, the man’s foot landed in something sharp beneath the water. The pain was instant, shooting up his leg, as not to worry any of the beachgoers he kept walking back to the watchpoint. As soon as he had done that he could then fix himself with his first aid kit that was hung up next to his binoculars. The moments walking out of the surf and back to the watchpoint seemed like hours, he kept walking keeping his goal in mind. HQ had a good view of the whole beach, so they had been watching Keith’s rescue anyway to make sure he was doing his job well. There were 3 lifeguards in HQ at all times, HQ was also the most central and largest watchpoint on the beach that housed the off-road buggies and all of the spare kit.

Keith had been walking back for about two minutes now, as hard as he tried to walk normally, his foot wasn’t having it. Wincing in pain and limping, Keith felt and looked pathetic, he was a lifeguard, he should be strong. Those were the thoughts going through his head, he felt the HQ staring down at him, it must have been obvious by now.
“Hey, Matt, is that Keith over there?” Shiro asked his colleague, who he had known since high school.
“Hold on let me check..uh, actually yeah it is. He’s going.. Kinda slow.” Matt Holt replied as Shiro came over to the curved glass window that overlooked the beach. He grabbed his binoculars to take a look himself.
“Matt, does he look ok to you? He looks like he’s limping or something.” Shiro asked, concerned.
“I don’t know boss, do you want me to go check?”
“Yes that would be a good id-- actually, I’ll go. You stay here and watch the comms.” Shiro said, gaining a weird look from Matt.
“Sure thing, have fun out there,” Matt said with cheek in his tone. He had a feeling he knew why Shiro wanted to go so bad but didn’t say anything that might have agitated the man. Shiro grabbed his first aid kit and set out to go get Keith.

Shiro began walking, then jogging to the lifeguard, ending up in a full on sprint to go help him. Keith had yet to notice that Shiro was running up towards him as he had been looking at the ground in shame the whole time since the incident.
“Keith, Keith! Are you ok?” Shiro called out while running towards the struggling man. Keith turned around, to his surprise, Shiro was there.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine-” Keith paused as another surge of pain shot through his leg.
“Sure thing Keith, I’m gonna carry you back to HQ, ok?” Shiro said, ignoring Keith’s bluffing entirely.
“Shiro, please don’t, it’s not necessary, really,” Keith said, wincing still.
“Keith, listen to me. My job is to make sure the people on the beach are doing well, and you are not looking so good. I’ll bend down and you can hop on my back, ok?”
“..ok,” Keith said reluctantly as he got on Shiro’s back. The two began the walk back to HQ, Shiro thought now would be the time to start a conversation.
“Hold on tight Keith,” Shiro said warmly.
“Yep, got it.” He said as he shuffled up and tightened his grip around Shiro. He was warm, and smelt of a mix between a day in the surf and faded cologne from this morning. Keith took this time to forget about his foot as much as possible.
“There’s this cafe near the beachfront that’s really good, I think it’s called.. Sunbeans? You ever been there?” Shiro said awkwardly, trying to get Keith to take his mind off his wound.
“Yeah, my friends actually run the place, it’s pretty cool huh.”
“Matt’s sister goes there a lot, she told Matt and Matt told me, that’s how I found out about it. Their double shot espresso is really good, I order it every day.”
“Are you serious?” Keith said, slightly shocked.
“D-did I say something wrong?” Shiro stuttered.
“Oh.. no sorry, just kinda weird that I go there every morning too.. To order the same thing.”
“Woah, talk about coincidences, how come I never see you there?”
“I usually stop by, 15 minutes or so before work. I hang around to chat for a bit ‘n then I head straight over to the beach.”
“Oh, right. I’m there at 7 most days, I sit and watch the sea from the window and then I go on a run. I guess, I leave the cafe maybe 10 minutes before you get there.” Shiro ignored the fact that Keith maybe leaves it a little too close to get to work sometimes. The beach opens to the public at 8:00, the lifeguards must be there at 7:45. There is silence for a second, before Shiro speaks again. “I was just thinking about this, I never really see you around that much. Often I see the others in passing and general stuff like that, I pretty much only see you here. What do you do on your time off?”
“I’m pretty boring, I mostly get home, eat and then draw or write for a bit before bed, water the plants ect. On my days off I sometimes chill at Sunbeans, mostly I stay at home though.” Keith said, embarrassed at the fact he literally just confessed his boringness to his favourite person at work.
“That actually sounds really nice, to relax and stuff. It would be cool if you came out sometimes though.” Shiro was starting to run out of things to say, he felt his face heating up for some reason. He wanted to tell Keith about the club he was going to with some friends on Saturday night, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It would be too weird to suddenly invite him like that. He thought to himself. The rest of the journey was spent in silence, Keith rested his head on Shiro’s shoulder, he was really exhausted from all this.

The two reached the door of HQ, Shiro was relieved, he didn’t know how long he could cope with that silence for. “Hey, Matt, open up my hands are kinda full here.” He shouted through the door which was swiftly opened. Shiro carried Keith over to the medical sector of HQ, it consisted of a few beds and shelves containing first aid supplies. Shiro eased Keith down onto the closest bed, being careful not to hurt him. “Ok, you lie here and I’ll go get some antiseptic wipes, ok?” Keith nodded in response. Shiro came back armed with bandages, antiseptic wipes, numbing cream and a whole host of other items, he looked as if he was ready for anything. Shiro wiped away the blood that had crusted down Keith’s foot to get a better look at the wound. On closer inspection, Shiro saw a deep cut that ran from the centre of the ball of keith’s foot, up to the top. It looked as if whatever he had stood on had curled around and cut the top of his foot too before being washed away.
“This is looking worse than I thought Keith, you might be out of action till Friday. I’m going to numb the area and then bandage it. You won’t need stitches but it will be painful for the next few days.” Shiro said to Keith with a concerned look.
“So what am I gonna do Wednesday and Thursday?” Keith asked, getting slightly agitated.
“I’m already getting someone to cover your watchpoint, you need to stay home and heal the best you can.”
“Yes boss.” Keith said, disheartened.
“You walk to work right?”
“Yep, don’t think I’m gonna get back home huh.” Keith said, trying to make a joke.7
“Is it ok if I take you home?” Shiro asked, not expecting a positive outcome.
“But Shiro, you walk to work as well.” Keith countered.
“I was planning to carry you if that’s alright. You don’t live too far from here so it would be stupid to call a taxi.” Shiro said averting his gaze, his face was slightly flushed.
“If that’s really ok with you, what about HQ?”
“Matt’s on lead watch today, him and Thace are covering it. Let’s go.”
The two set off again, this time on the way to Keith’s apartment, 24 Altea Street.

Chapter Text

The walk to Keith’s place was strange. Shiro just couldn’t find the right words for the situation. He knew small talk wasn’t really Keith’s thing but he had to say something. “Hey, Keith.” He stammered.
“Yeah?”
“Let me know if you need anything, ok? I don’t want you straining yourself.”
“We aren’t even home yet, you shouldn’t worry so much I’ll be fine.” Keith chuckled, awkwardly.
“Y..yeah you’re right. You just kind of remind me of someone I used to know that’s all..” Great one Shiro how are you gonna answer when he asks who, nice one buddy. Shiro cringed at the soon to follow topic.
“Who’s that? If you don’t mind me asking.” Keith was slightly curious about this, maybe he could find a way to relate to Shiro if he was like an old friend or something.
“It’s..er. She’s.. Well she was.. My family cat.” WhAT THE actuAL FUCK TAKASHI Shiro internally screamed to himself.
“What.”
“Hear me out, she used to get into all kinds of trouble but one time she came home hurt. I had to carry her to the vet and stuff.. That’s all.”
“..Right, so you think I’m a troublemaker?” Keith teased at the man’s slip up.
“NO! Nonono.. Not at all, I apologise for making you think that way. I’m not great with.. Yunno.. Words.” Keith had never seen Shiro so flustered in all the time he’d known him. At work he always kept a calm composure, serious but kind too. Keith had never thought the almighty Shiro could be.. Awkward? The rest of the journey was continued in silence, Shiro mortified at his lacking social skills and Keith, curious. He thought about the side of Shiro that he had just met, it was kind of funny. A small part of Keith wanted to see if he could meet it again but he kept that to himself.

When they finally reached the apartment, the two had managed to regain their original thoughts on the situation. Shiro had shoved his pathetic small talk in a box deep inside his brain never to be seen again and Keith remembered how hellish the next few days would be. Shiro gently eased Keith off of his back and onto the small, blue sofa at the back wall of the living space. He rearranged some of the pillows to elevate Keith’s foot and to prop his head up a bit.
“Keith, are you sure you’re gonna be ok like this? How’re you going to eat and stuff if you can’t walk?” Shiro asked, gaining a concerned look.
“Trust me, I’ll be fine. I’ve been injured before and I can deal with it.. but thanks for helping me. You saved me twenty bucks on a taxi to say the least.” The two laughed for a bit before Shiro took his leave, he did have to continue working despite his urges to stay with this man and make sure he was ok. It was odd how he had those urges though, other people at work had gotten hurt and of course he cared but didn’t go to these lengths. He just assumed he just really wanted Keith to take up a permanent position at the beach or something.

Now that Keith was alone, he needed to think of his plan of action. He had the rest of today, tomorrow and Thursday to kill, then half a day of work on Friday if Shiro would let him. The man decided to text Lance.

===
Hey, the beach decided to screw me over so I’m kinda bored now. -
omg what happened did a merman suck ur toes or something -
Stood on something sharp, sliced n’ diced my foot. -
Oshit man, want me to come over? -
Yeah if you aren’t busy, I also need to ask you about some stuff. -
Oh, sure. I’m gonna bring food because no offense but your toast regime is not acceptable. -
Heh it’s food tho. -
Whatever you say, I’ll be there in 10. -
===

Soon enough, Keith heard a car pulling up outside his door.
“Hey buddy it’s Lance, can I let myself in?” The close friend shouted through the door.
“Yeah sure, I think it’s unlocked anyway.” Keith shouted back.
Lance walked in to find Keith propped up on his couch, with his foot heavily bandaged. He placed two carrier bags onto the small table in the room and made his way over to the injured man.
“Sorry for joking about this earlier, I didn’t know you were actually serious until you said how hurt you were.” Lance said, sitting on the floor next to the couch.
“It’s fine don’t worry about it, that whole merman thing made me laugh a ton anyway.”
“I brought you some of Hunk’s cooking, he won’t tell me exactly what’s in it but I tried some and it’s really good. I also brought drugs.”
“What kind of drugs?” Keith smirked.
“Only the best.” Lance winked back. The two laughed as Lance brought over a bag containing paracetamol, lucozade and ibuprofen. “With my tender loving care you’ll be back to work in no time. I’ll go heat up what Hunk made you, it’s like a chicken curry kinda thing with loads of spices n’ stuff, you’re seriously gonna love it.” As Lance went over to the small kitchen at the other side of the open plan apartment, Keith smiled, he felt so cared for today and it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He hadn’t felt like that in a while, he needed to be reminded of how much people loved and appreciated him every so often. The smell of non-toast seemed to make the air heavenly, Keith found himself asking every 5 seconds like an absolute child if it was ready yet. Keith then heard a buzzing coming from his pocket, he reached for his phone to see an incoming call from Pidge.

“Hello?”
“Hey Keith, Hunk told me about how you fucked your foot up.”
“Heh yeah, I kind of can’t move actually.”
“Oh yeah that’s great!.. Well not great but great enough for me to rewire your tv to play retro games on.”
“You really don’t have to seriously, Lance is over right now making a fuss over me, but thanks though.”
“Come on man, I haven’t chilled at your place in ages, also you need to have some fun! This is your chance to relax and play games.. With hacks provided by yours truly..” Pidge whined through the phone.
“Ok then I guess it could be fun, let’s make this a group thing. Tell Hunk he’s invited too and that his curry thing smells really good.”
“You got it, Pidgeon out.”

Keith put down the phone to see Lance dancing around the Kitchen, waving a wooden spatula around like a wand.
“Lance, what are you doing?” Keith asked, monotonous.
“It’s called the stuff you’re gonna do on Saturday night, dancing with your hips!”
“What the fuck Lance, why would my hips do that?” Lance sighed at this remark.
“You have a lot to learn kid. Oh right, this is about done now, I’ll bring it over in just a second. What you need to work on is healing so you can actually make Saturday.” Lance walked over with a bowl of something hot and steaming, smelling of rich spices and chicken. Keith took the bowl from him, sat up a bit more and ate a spoonful. It tasted amazing. Not just in comparison to his toast diet but in comparison to anything he had eaten.. Ever. As Keith ate, he once again felt grateful for having Lance and Hunk and Pidge in his live, they put up with him well. A few hours later, Hunk and Pidge arrived with more goods, all in preparation for a fun night in. Lance gathered all the blankets and pillows he could find, Pidge wired up the console and Hunk made a plethora of snacks for the occasion. The group spent the night laughing, Pidge had somehow made single player games multiplayer- with a 4 way split screen. This was really cool for everyone but every now and then they would find bugs and glitches that left them in hysterics. They worked their way through all the snacks and a number of drinks, ending their gaming night all curled up on the floor together, popcorn in hair, dozed off in a well-needed sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning was a sluggish one, no one really wanted to move at all. Pidge had seminars to attend, Hunk had a morning shift and Lance needed to go to the cafe later.
“..I can’t even feel my face oh my god..” Pidge moaned as she rose out of a pile of blankets.
“Jesus Pidge how much did you drink?” Keith asked, sitting up on the sofa, which in turn reminded him that he needed another round of painkillers.
“Too much.. What day is it?” She said, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

“It’s Wednesday. You need to go, you’ll be late for your lecture.” Hunk said, dragging Pidge out of her blanket mountain. “You can come chill at the cafe when you’re done, lattes on the house.” That was enough to get Pidge up and out of the door in a heartbeat, nothing beats Hunk’s lattes, they were magical according to anyone who tried them. The latte man himself soon left to go open up Sunbeans, he didn’t drink anything other than sprite that night so he was good to go straight away. That left Keith and Lance in the apartment together.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance said, taking a seat on the sofa next to the surfer. “You said something yesterday about wanting to ask me about some stuff.. You good?”
“Oh.. er it’s nothing really. Don’t worry about it.” Keith stuttered.

“Listen, whatever it is will stay between us. Get it off your chest.”
“It’s just, is there a guy who comes into your cafe every morning? Well besides me.”
“Yeah.. there’s a lot Keith. Can you be more specific?”
“Uhh.. white hair? Muscular, lifeguard uniform-”

“Oh, you mean Shiro? Yeah he comes in a little bit before you, he’s your boss right?” Lance said, thinking that this may lead to something more important than it currently was going.
“Yeah, he carried me back here when I fucked up my foot. He’s a nice guy, I wish I could speak to him more.”
“Do you.. liKE HIM?” Lance teased, watching Keith turn cherry red.
“Oh.. no..no, not like that. It’s just that he works in the HQ and I work near the rocks at the end of the bay, we don’t run into each other all that much.” Keith said, feeling his face flush for reasons he did not understand.
“If it’s any help to you, he likes Hunk’s lattes. He takes a double shot espresso every day but sometimes on his lunch break he’ll come grab a latte and a sandwich if he’s not in a hurry.”
“Thanks.. Lance.. Really helpful, what am I supposed to do with that?” Keith scowled, still red.
“Just in case.” Lance smiled and got up from his seat, he began to put the cushions and blankets on the floor back where they belonged. After he had cleared up and got Keith what he needed, Lance left as Hunk had called from the back room crying about a bad customer. That left Keith on his own.

The surfer turned on the tv and started flicking through the channels, stopping at an old episode of Bondi Rescue, the show that had inspired Keith to become a lifeguard in the first place. The screen showed the team of Australians laughing after a long day at work, Keith wished he could laugh like that after working, but it would be weird as hell laughing by himself. With that thought he switched off the tv and turned on his phone. == Five new messages== The screen flashed as Keith put in his password. He flipped up the message app to see who it was.

===

-Hey. I hope I have the right number, is this Keith?-

-It’s Shiro. Sorry this is so unprofessional of me, I was concerned about you so I got your number off the work system.-

-Sorry if this is a wrong number, I might have put it in wrong.-

-Text me if you want, I just want to know that you’re ok!-

-#IMG_4761-

===

Keith opened the image to see a picture of a cat sat on a surfboard, he smiled at the cheesy gesture and proceeded to type back to Shiro.

===

-Yeah, hey, this is Keith. I’m doing good thanks. :)-

===

Back at HQ, Shiro’s phone vibrated on his desk.
“Matt Matt omg he replied I’m going to die.”
“Shiro Jesus christ calm down, people are gonna think you like him or something.” The all-knowing Matt replied, gaining a scowl from Shiro.

“Ok good he says it’s him.. He didn’t say anything about the cat though..does he not like cats? Oh no what if he’s mad about me accidentally calling him a cat yesterday.. MATTTT WHAT SHould I dooo?” Shiro whined as he spun around on his office chair, pulling his hoodie cords only to leave a tuft of white hair sticking out where his face should have.
“Calm down loverboy.. Remember you’re texting him out of your concern, not your wet dreams.”
“MATT!” Shiro screeched, feeling his face burning up from inside his hoodie.

“Ok, I’ll text him back. I won’t send a cat image this time.. What about a dog? Or a rabbit? Does Keith like rabbits?” Shiro mumbled to himself as he grabbed his phone.
“How about you say that it’s good to hear that he’s ok and ask him if he needs anything?”
“..Yeah. I’ll do that. Should I add emojis?”
“No..no. Just ask the question Shiro, you barely know the guy.” Matt said with his classic deadpan expression, that he had actually learnt from his sister. Shiro sent the message, and then went back to watching the beach. A few minutes later, the phone vibrated again.

“Leave it.” Matt said. “Concentrate on the beach, you can check it later.” For the next hour of the shift, Shiro couldn’t stop thinking about Keith, who was probably bored out of his mind watching re-runs of Bondi Rescue or something. He really wanted to go over and give the guy some company, maybe cook pasta and watch a movie together, even just a cup of tea and a chat. Shiro was desperate to be with him. The day was a drag, he put on his cheery face when talking to beach-goers, went out on the jetski a couple times to grab people in danger, most of the time he spent was in the tower however.. Just watching.

When his lunch break finally came, Shiro decided to go to Sunbeans to get a coffee.
“Hello, how may I help you today?” Lance asked as the man walked over to the counter, with what Keith had told him earlier in mind.

“Er.. I have a weird request today..” Shiro said, averting his eyes to the ground.
“Yeah? We’ve had all kinds of weird stuff happen here, hit me with your best shot.” Lance said with a smirk.
“Do you know a guy called Keith Kogane? He told me some friends of his worked here.” Shiro asked, blushing a little.
“Oh boy, me and Kogane are like this ” Lance said, crossing his fingers.

“I.. actually work with him, you know how he got hurt, right?”

“Yup, he whined like a little bitch about it yesterday, we came over and cooked for him n’ stuff. He mentioned how you took him home, thanks. We were all working so we wouldn’t have been able to.”

“No worries. I came to ask.. Is his favourite coffee a double shot all the time? Or does he prefer lattes in the afternoon because he told me he ordered the same thing that I do from here and I just wanted to know if he ordered other stuff or not-”
“Woah.. Slow down buddy, I get what you’re trying to say. He doesn't really come here in the afternoon but, I’m sure he’d love whatever (you ordered him), he’s not fussy.” Lance was really tempted to tell Shiro that little bit, but refrained himself for his friend’s dignity. After that ordeal, Shiro ordered one Latte and made his way home. He wanted to order Keith one too and pop round, but he thought it would be rude to intrude while he was still recovering.

Back at Keith’s place, the lonely surfer was dying of boredom. He still had the whole of tomorrow to get through before he could go back. His foot felt better than it had, maybe because of the painkillers or that it was actually healing, but he still couldn’t move to do things well.

===

-Can you come over?-

-Did something happen? Are you ok?-

-Yeah, I’m good, just bored as shit.-

-Awh bud, I can later but I’ve still got an hour before we close shop. I’ll talk to Hunk.-

-Ok :/-

===

Keith put his phone on his chest, watching it rise and fall with his breathing. If nothing’s gonna happen, I might as well sleep for a bit. With that thought, Keith pulled his red blanket up to his chin, turned over and went to sleep, phone still in his hand. As he slept, the hand holding his phone managed to turn it on, swiping through various menus as the man shuffled around, dreaming. He ended up pulling up his conversation with Shiro.

===

-Gjd  .. hhu-

-k--dmd-

-....hhu-

-Keith, are you ok?-

-...huh..j;;;-

-fhhfff……...//-

-Keith, do you have a fever? Are you drunk? What’s going on. I need to know.-

-ww????/////,,-

-I’m worried, I’m sorry if this annoys you later but I need to come over and check on you.-

“Hey.. Matt. I have to go, I’ll be back soon I promise.” Shiro said frantically, looking at his phone.
“What’s wrong?” Matt asked, looking back from his binoculars.
“Look at this.. Does it look bad?” Shiro handed Matt his phone, who looked at the messages that Keith had just sent.

“You really can’t go five minutes without worrying over him can you, I’ll get Romelle over here to cover you, take all the time you nee-” Before Matt could even finish his sentence, Shiro was out of the door.

The lifeguard ran as fast as he could through the crowds of tourists on the beach until he reached the stairs and took the route to the road. He could feel his heart in his mouth as he ran the route to Keith’s apartment. What if the wound got infected? What if he got sick because I didn’t clean it right? What if he got sad when he was alone and drank himself stupid, this is gonna be my fault whatever it is. After a few minutes, Shiro made it to Keith’s door. He rang the bell. No answer. Please forgive me Keith, I’m letting myself in. He thought to himself as he opened the door.

“..Keith?” Shiro half-whispered. He looked around for the man until he saw the rise and fall of a blanket pile on his sofa. The lifeguard walked over and moved the blanket a little, to see Keith fast asleep with his phone gripped in his hand. Just in case, Shiro checked his forehead. No fever, that’s good. Then it hit him. Oh fuck. Takashi this is bad, you need to leave. You literally just broke into his house to watch him sleep. That’s fucked up man. It was almost like his conscious was shaming him for.. Caring. Shiro wanted to do at least one thing for Keith before he left. The man walked over to the kitchen area and looked inside the fridge. There was some lucozade and strawberries next to a bowl of miscellaneous leftovers. Perfect. Shiro grabbed a plate and arranged some strawberries neatly on it, he then got a glass and poured out some lucozade. Shiro looked around for painkillers and saw a box half open on the counter. He took two out and placed everything on a tray, bringing it over to the coffee table that was next to Keith, who had slept through all of that. Shiro looked around for a pen and paper, he could only find a box of tissues and an inky pen. This will do. Trying his best to be as neat as possible, he began to write a note on a tissue.

~

Hey Keith,

Sorry for the intrusion, please forgive me.

You were sending some really odd texts so I came over to see if you were ok. Your phone is on the coffee table now so you don’t sleep-text anyone else. I also got your next round of painkillers ready with some other stuff to try and make up for me just.. Breaking in I guess.

All the best,

Shiro.

-

The white-haired man folded the note over and placed it on the coffee table, before walking quietly to the door and leaving the building. As he was walking back to HQ, he began to think. I should have got him that damn coffee after all.