Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Keith! Keith!"

"What?!"

"I need a huge favor from you!"
   

"..."

"Right NOW!"

Keith forces himself off his bed, yanks his earbuds out, and trudges into Shiro's room, still thinking about his tattoo design for a new customer. He arrives to his brother digging for clothes and holding a towel around his waist with wet hair and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

"What do you need Shiro?" Keith asks tiredly.

"Ok. This is very important. I'm running late to my date with Allura and I need you to go to Voltron Flowers and pick up the bouquet I picked out for her. It's already purchased, just waiting for pick up," Shiro says while trying to pull his dress pants up.

"Why are you running late? You guys have been planning this date for weeks!" Keith groans.

"That's true, but Mr. Zarkon decided today, right when I'm about to leave, to give me someone else's unfinished work-"

"Then why can't you tell Allura that and pick up the bouquet yourself!" Keith says, cutting Shiro off.

"Keith. Please. I don't want to be late and I'm asking for your help. Now, can you please be a nice, helpful, little brother and help me out. You are living in my apartment because I'm letting you," Shiro said strictly, not taking 'no' for an answer.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Keith stomps off back to his room and Shiro begins to blow dry his hair. Keith grabs his favorite red jacket, keys to his motorcycle, and walks out the door. As he is leaving, he hears Shiro shout,

"Be back in 15 minutes please!"

Keith grabs his helmet out of the back compartment under the passenger seat and throws it on his head. He swings his leg over the seat, turns on the engine, and speeds off.

~•~•~•~

Keith pushes through the door of Voltron Flowers. The bell rang, it catching the attention of the store clerk.

"Hello! Welcome to Voltron Flowers!" They say as they emerge from behind a shelf of flowers.

Keith sees a tan boy wearing a blue and white long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and an apron with the Voltron Flowers logo in the left corner. He was pretty thin, but he had golden-brown skin and bright, captivating, blue eyes, leaving Keith completely in a trance.
   

Wow, Keith thinks, he's beautiful.
   

"May I help you?" The boy says, breaking Keith out of his trance.
   

"Uh... um... yeah. I'm here to pick up a bouquet of flowers," Keith said. His words sounded more like a question.
   

"Ok," The boy said, "Let me help you out at the consultant desk. What name is the bouquet under?"
   

"Oh-um. Shiro," Keith responded.
   

"Ok. Wait right here while I go look for it," The boy says while walking into the cooler.
   

Keith nods his head as he sits in one of the chairs at the desk. He looks around the room while waiting. There are many picture frames of people and many books with themes such as wedding, baby shower, or a simple birthday party. They're all filled with pictures of many, many bouquets and what flowers are in each one. He spots one book though: The Language of Flowers. It wasn't any regular flower book. It looked like a novel. Next to it, there was a flower dictionary. Before Keith could look at the books, the clerk came back into the consultation room, looking a little nervous.  
   

"Um... Are you sure there is a bouquet for pick up under the name Shiro? I can't seem to find one starting with 'S'."
   

"Uh-yeah. Um. My brother said he purchased one from here..."
   

"Ok. Well that rules out the bouquet being purchased from somewhere else... Sorry, wait right here while I go ask the other employee."
   

"Ok," Keith says nervously. He's positive that Shiro said to pick it up from Voltron Flowers. Plus, he doesn't know of any other flower shops in the area. Keith checks the time and realizes he has been gone for 10 minutes.
   

Oh shit, Keith thinks.
   

He gets up to tell the clerk that he's running short on time.

Wait. Doesn't this clerk have a name? Keith wonders.
   

He wanders towards the cashier counter and hears frantic voices coming from the back room.
   

"Is something wrong?" He asks, almost shouting, so they can hear him.
   

The boy comes out of the back room looking very stressed and Keith becomes even more worried.
   

"Um..." The boy starts, looking as if he was about to cry. "I deeply apologize, but my coworker sold your bouquet to another customer."
   

"What do you mean 'sold to another customer'?" Keith asks, not understanding how someone could be so stupid. It had his brother's name on it!
   

"I didn't mean to!" A girl exclaims, "I wasn't paying attention and thought that was our general bouquet shelf!"
   

"How could you think that was the general bouquet shelf Nyma! It clearly says 'Bouquets for Pick Up' on the rack AND all the bouquets have names on them! If you took your face out of your phone once in awhile, you would know that! Ugh!" The clerk says bewildered. Keith feels bad for him.
   

"I'm sorr-"
   

"It's fine. Just go. Leave. Go home."
   

"You're not my boss."
   

"Nyma I said. Go. Home."
   

"Fine."
   

Nyma turns and walks back into the employee room. Gathering his bearings, the boy looks at Keith.
   

"Ok. I can remake the bouquet for you but I need to know what flowers were in the bouquet and what the occasion is. Is that ok with you?"
   

"Yeah. It's a date. Let me call my brother really fast."
   

"Ok."
   

Keith whips out his phone and dials his brother's number. It rings once.
   

"Keith! Where are you? I have to leave soon or I'm going to be late!"
   

"I know! I'm sorry, but we have a problem. Some girl that worked at the flower shop sold your bouquet-"
   

"What?!"
   

"We are trying to remake it right now, so what flowers did you have in the bouquet?"
   

"Fuck. Ok. When I was there, I think I had pink Coreopsis-"
   

"Pink Coreopsis," Keith quickly repeats to the clerk as he scribbled it down on paper.
   

"White Lilies."
   

"White Lilies."
   

"And Amethyst."
   

"Amethyst."
   

"With a little honeysuckle."
   

"Honeysuckle."
   

"That's what I remember. Please just have a nice bouquet ready soon. I'll wait till after the date to give the flowers to her. I gotta go. Bye."
   

As Shiro hangs up, Keith turns back to the boy and says,
   

"Ok. I'm on a short time frame and need this bouquet ASAP."
   

"Ok. I'll get started right now."
   

The boy jumps off into isles and isles of flowers. Keith tries to keep up, but once he arrives, the boy is off to the next isle. Keith wanders around after losing the zipping boy. While walking down an isle and looking at all the flowers, he looks through a window on the other side and sees the boy at a workstation preparing the bouquet. Keith becomes enamored with his lithe fingers. They move diligently while putting flowers with flowers, organizing them in an artistic way. He, then, wraps the flowers with pretty, patterned, tissue paper and next in plastic. After that, he pulls out a packet of flower food and rubber bands it to the bottom of the bouquet. The boy grabs a small card and a calligraphy pen before coming out the door, bringing Keith out of his daze.
   

Keith walks over to the clerk and the clerk turns to him.
   

"Who's name do I put on the bouquet? Shiro?"
   

"Oh, no. Allura," Keith responds.
   

"Allura?" He questions, slightly surprised.
   

"Yeah. A. L. L-"
   

"No. I know how to spell her name. Is this for Allura Altea? Dark skin with white hair?"
   

"Uhm. Yeah. I think."
   

"Aw. I didn't know this was for Allura. I'll have to make a better bouquet for her next time," The boy says as he begins to write her name in calligraphy on the small white card.
   

"Well... She's sorta dating my brother right now, so..."
   

"I know that. I'm making the bouquet for your brother to give to her. She's is my best friend after all and deserves the best."
   

"Oh."
   

Keith couldn't help but feel a little giddy about that.
   

I'll get to see pretty, flower boy again, Keith thinks happily.
   

"Here you are." The boy says as he holds the bouquet out to Keith.
   

Keith takes the bouquet while checking the time.

He was done in 15 minutes. Wow.
   

"Thank you... uhm."
   

"Lance. The name's Lance."
   

"Thank you Lance."

Chapter Text

Shiro struggles to twist the key into his front door with all the shopping bags on his arms, but, eventually, he is able to open the door.

“Finally! I can rest my feet,” Allura says as she walks through the door and toes off her baby-pink pumps that match her baby-pink dress with white lace.

“Tell me about it. We walked around that mall for nearly three hours,” Shiro says as he closes and clocks the door and follows Allura’s actions of taking off his shoes.

“Shiro,” he hears from around the corner of the entryway.

He walks into to kitchen to see Allura holding a magnificent bouquet of flowers.

Woah, Shiro thinks, Keith really pulled through for me.

“Who are the flowers for Shiro?” Allura asks rhetorically with a small grin on her face.

“Who do you think?” he responds as he walks closer to her.

Shiro slipped his arms around Allura’s waist as she cradled the flowers in her arms. They shared a chaste kiss in the middle of the kitchen before getting interrupted. Keith walked out of hallway that leads to the rooms. He had his shirt racked up from scratching his his chest and he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his other hand.

“Oh, sorry,” Keith croaks out, tired after his nap.

“Hey Keith! How are you?” Allura asks enthusiastically.

“I’m good. How did the date go?” Keith questions as he and Allura share a light hug.

“It was great! We went out to eat at Slav’s. Our appetizers were fried calamari with lemon and marinara and we also got a shrimp tempura sushi roll. Then, for our main dish, we got their pad thai noodles with shrimp which we shared because the appetizers were very filling. Oh! And their patio bubbles cocktail was so good, but Shiro didn’t like it because it was too fruity for him. Right, babe?”

“It was! That strawberry sauce or whatever was way too sweet and you could barely taste the mango!”

“What are you talking about! You could definitely taste the mango!”

As Shiro and Allura continued to bicker, Keith began to think about how happy he was for his brother.

They’re perfect for eachother… I wish I had someone special like that.

“Yeah, whatever you say Allura,” Shiro says as she scoffs in the background. “Keith, I got you some chinese take-out from Bi-Boh-Bi since I knew you weren’t going to cook something for yourself.”

“Wait. Since when can Keith cook?” Allura questions.

“Since never.”

“Hey!” Keith shouts, appalled by the insult even though it is true. “I can at least cook successful pasta.”

“Yeah and the first time you tried, you almost burned down my apartment.”

“Whatever.”

Keith rolls his eyes before noticing all the shopping bags on the kitchen counter.

“So… what’d you buy? The entire mall?”

“Well, this woman over here just had to have all these new… erm… undergarments from Luxia’s Secret because they had this huge sale. We were in there for like an entire hour!” Shiro exclaims.

“They had a lot of cute stuff on sale! And you liked a lot of it too!” Allura fires back, her words sending Shiro into a blushing mess. “Anyway, the rest of it is just clothes and shoes from various, other stores. It’s not a lot.”

Keith looks at her with the most ‘Are-You-Serious’ face he could muster and gestures to the twenty-two shopping bags sitting on the counter. Allura rolls her eyes in retaliation.

“Well, Keith, enjoy your food. Allura, do you still want to watch the movie we bought?” Shiro says after he recovered from his awkward moment.

“Yeah, sure! Goodnight Keith!” Allura calls as she drags Shiro of to his room for the night (And no, they are not going to do anything scandalous because Shiro wouldn’t scar his brother like that).

Keith hums in response before taking his chinese food and a bottle of water from the refrigerator back to his room. After finishing his food, he is at loss for what he wants to do. He thinks about playing some video games, but settles on finishing his client’s drawing. He climbs into bed and picks up his sketch pad. However, he balks at continuing to draw his client’s design and turns to a new page. He, then, begins to sketch a person. He doesn’t know who until the sketch looks a lot like someone he met at a certain flower shop earlier today. As Keith is adding small, finishing details to his drawing, he slowly begins to dose off for the night.

~•~•~•~

“Bye boys! See you soon!” Allura says as she walks out the door that early, Saturday morning.

They had just finished breakfast and were cleaning up the kitchen before getting ready for their daily activities.

“Hey Shiro, I’m going to go get ready for work right now, but I’m letting you know I can stop by the grocery store after, so is there anything you want me to get?” Keith says as he is drying his hands from washing the dishes.

“Thanks for the offer, but there is no need. Today is my day off, so I can go to the gym and then go to the grocery store right after,” Shiro responds while putting away the last of the dishes.

“Ok.”

Keith heads off to his room. He gets out a pair of black, ripped jeans and a black t-shirt with the Marmora Tattoos logo in the top, left corner of the shirt. Then, he goes to take a quick shower. Next, he throws on his clothes, brushes and ties up his hair, and is out the door, with his keys to his motorcycle, to drive off to work.

~•~•~•~

“Huuunk… why is Allura always laaaaate?” Lance groans as he waits for Allura to show up for their coffee date.

He leans into Pidge, who is sitting next him working on her mid-term paper. Pidge, in turn, tries to shove him off while grumbling about him being distracting.

"I don’t know. Maybe she’s just tired from last night, if you know what I mean,” Hunk responds, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Hunk! My precious, innocent, cinnamon roll! NO! No dirty jokes from you! EVER!” Lance exclaims at him.

“Oh come on! I’m twenty-two! Quit, babying me!” Hunk whines.

Hunk turns back to working on the next customer’s coffee. Finally, Allura walks through the door with the click of her heels and dark shades on her face.

“Hi! Welcome to Coran’s Caf-”

“ALLURA! Over here!” Lance shouts across the cafe, waving his arms like a maniac, interrupting Hunk, and drawing much attention to himself.

To make it worse, he gets up and runs over to Allura. He then proceeds to jump into her arms for a hug while she is holding her purse and standing in heels. She still catches him with ease.

“Lance. Are you going to do this every time you see me now that we watched that video on Instagram together?”

“Yep.”

“Whatever. Did you order my coffee like I texted you to? Please tell me you did.”

“Yes Princess. It is sitting hot and ready for you at the pick up counter.”

“Thank god.”

After Allura gets her coffee and says hi to her Uncle Coran, they all settle down into the table in the back corner of the cafe. They’re all nice and warm and ready to spill some tea.

“So, Allura, how did the date go?” Lance eagerly asks.

“It went so great! Even though, Shiro had me worried because he quite literally arrived at the last minute and he normally arrives before me!”

"Well, at least he wasn’t late. Now, tell me more! Did he have any surprises? Any dirty tricks up his sleeve?”

“Well, he did pay for our late-lunch or early-dinner, whatever you want to call it, and he paid for some of my shopping, but I didn’t want to suck his paycheck dry, you know? Luxia’s secret was having a sale too! So, he helped me chose out some of the lingerie, but most of it is a secret.”

“Oooo, Alluraaaaaaa… Are you planning a spicy night?” Lance whispers with a sly grin.

“I’m planning a spicy night,” Allura drags on, mimicking Lance’s grin.

Pidge proceeds to put in her earbuds and turn her music up high as she doesn’t want to listen to this conversation any further. However, Lance changes the subject back to something appropriate.

“What about my bouquet of flowers?” Lance questions.

“Oh yes! The flowers were so beautiful. I loved them so much. Wait, how did you know about the flowers?”

“I made that bouquet of flowers.”

“Oh. So, you have met Shiro?”

“No. I met… speak of the devil, I met mullet-boy over there.”

Allura turns to see Keith walking in through the doors of Coran’s Cafe. They both stare at him as he orders his coffee and wait for him to finish.

“Keith!” Allura yells, catching the attention of said boy. “Come here.”

Keith walks over to their table after he pays for the coffee.

“Hey Allura. What are you doing?”

“I’m here hanging out with Lance.” Allura says as she gestures to him across the table from her.

Keith catches Lance’s eyes and they just stare at each other. They set themselves in an endless staring contest, get lost in each other’s features, and sink into their own little world. Allura looks back and forth between the two boys, a grin forming on her face, but, eventually, pulls Keith out of it when she asks him a question.

“So Keith, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, uh. I came across the street from Marmora Tattoos to get coffee for all the guys.”

“Oh, ok. Lancey here just told me that you guys met yesterday.”

"Uh, yeah. Shiro sent me to go pick up your flowers because he was running late.”

“Aw. Why was he running late?”

“His boss gave him extra work-”

“Ugh. Stupid Zarkon. You make sure to tell your brother, again, that he’s always welcome to join the Altea Tech Corporation. Daddy is willing to give him a job.”

“Wait,” Lance cuts into their conversation. “Are you saying that Shiro works for Galra Industries, the rival to Altea Tech? Can he be trusted? Or is he a spy?”

“Hey, my brother is not a spy-”

“No Lance,” Allura reassures, “Shiro is not a spy. He started there as an intern and then they hired him because he does a lot of their work. He’s a workaholic over there and he doesn’t want to admit that they’re using him, even with his shitty paycheck! Now, Keith, please tell your brother to quit his stupid job!”

“Will do Allura. Also, I really hope you liked your flowers. Lance worked really hard to make them.” Keith says as he walks over to pick up his coffees. His compliment makes Lance flush cherry red down to his neck.

"Well, I gotta get back to work. Bye ‘Lura, Lance.”

Keith nods his head at the pair as he pushes the door open and walks back over to Marmora Tattoos. Allura waves at him and turns back to Lance.

“Keith totally likes you,” she states simply, causing Lance’s blush to deepen.

“What! What are you talking about Allura? We only met yesterday!” Lance shrieks back, becoming even more flustered.

“I’ve known Keith for awhile now and he never compliments people that easily. He never talks or even looks at people that easily either. He’s probably the most socially awkward kid I know.”

"Well, maybe he’s nice to me because I helped him yesterday.”

“Bullshit. That boy has a crush on you. Now the question is, do you like him?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Lance.”

“Fine. I guess he’s cute... I don’t know.”

“Lance! Do you finally have a crush again? Thank god! I thought you were hopeless after I shut you down!”

“Hey! I had a girlfriend after crushing on you!”

“Yeah and she was the absolute worst, a complete and utter thot. She doesn’t count. Plus, you only dated her to try and make me jealous.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

“Lancey and Keithy sitting in a tree. K-I-S-”

“Allura! No! Stop embarrassing me!” Lance whines as he shoves his bright, red face into his arms, leaning on the table and trying to disappear from the world.

Allura just begins to laugh. She laughs and laughs and almost knocks her coffee over because little does anyone know, Allura knows something nobody else does and she’s ready to play matchmaker.

~•~•~•~

Allura had just finished making breakfast and she already had Shiro out of bed. She was on her way to get Keith up. She bursts through the door almost screaming.

“Keith! Breakfast is ready!” she sing-songs.

Keith doesn’t move a muscle. He is out cold, on his bed, with his sketch pad on his chest. Allura sighs and walks over to the bed. As she was picking up his sketch pad to set aside, she gasps at what she sees. It was no doubt the most beautifully detailed sketch of Lance, her best friend Lance. So many questions began to pop into her head.

When did Lance meet Keith?

When did Keith meet Lance?

Are they hanging out with each other?

Are they dating?!

No. Lance wouldn’t do that and not tell me. I’ll ask him about it later today.

Allura sets the sketch pad on Keith’s nightstand and proceeds to wake up sleepy-head Keith for breakfast.

Chapter Text

It is an early Sunday morning and Shiro is out for his daily, early, morning run. As he is standing at a street corner and waiting for the light to change, his music is interrupted by an incoming call. He unzips the zipper on the pocket of his shorts and pulls out his phone to see his beloved girlfriend calling. He answers the call with a grin coming to his face.
   

“Hello Allu-”
   

“Shiro!”
   

“Good morning to you too. What has you so excited this morning at 5:45am?”
   

“Oh shut up. I know your on your morning run… I didn’t wake you did I? Did you finally decide to sleep in and I ruined it?!”
   

“No. I’m running.”

“Ok...”
   

“What big news do want to tell me Allura? I can feel your excitement through the phone,” Shiro chuckles.
   

He places his phone back in his pocket and begins to start running again. He listens to Allura make an excited squeal through his earbuds, making him laugh a little harder.
   

“We are going out on a double-date today!”
   

Shiro stops dead in his tracks.
   

“What? With who?”
   

“With Lance and Keith of course!”
   

“Woah. Ok Allura. Slow down. Lance and Keith? Why? Are they even together? I was positive Keith wasn’t dating anyone. Wait- Who the heck is Lance?”
   

Allura chuckles, “Shiro. Shiro. My sweet, little boo boo-”
   

“Allura.”
   

“Ok. Ok. Lance is my best friend. You should know that. And Keith has a cute, little crush on Lance.”
   

“Allura, how do you know that?”
   

“Hush. Let me finish.”
   

“...”

“Ok. So, remember how you sent Keith to pick up my flowers from Voltron flowers?”
   

“Yeah… wait, how’d you kno-”
   

“I ran into Keith at the coffee shop yesterday and he told me. Anyway, Keith met Lance at the flower shop because Lance works there and I’m POSITIVE it was love at first sight. Lance made my bouquet by the way.”
   

“Ok. It is time to. Calm. Down. What? Love at first sight?”
   

“Shiro. I’m going to repeat myself one more time. Your little brother, Keith, has a crush on my best friend, Lance. And I know it seems impossible, but I have proof.”
   

“Oh yeah. What proof?” Shiro asks amused.
   

“Keith complimented Lance on his bouquet making skills yesterday at the cafe and he didn’t stutter. You know that boy is so socially awkward and a complete wallflower, I mean, come on Shiro. He would never compliment someone he barely knows like that. Keith didn’t talk to me until we hit our 2 month anniversary Shiro! Two! Months!”
   

“Ok. Ok, Allur-”
   

“AND he drew a picture of Lance.”
   

Shiro balks at what he was going to say.
   

“When I was waking him up yesterday morning for breakfast, I saw, in his sketch notebook, a very detailed and beautiful drawing of Lance. It was from memory too.”
   

This peaked Shiro’s interest. Keith. His little brother, Keith, drew a picture of an actual person. Shiro couldn’t believe it. Keith would never draw people unless it was for a client or something. Keith, just, doesn’t draw people, even important people, not even for fun. His brother doing something so unlike himself left Shiro shook. Keith drawing people for himself? Don’t know him? Hell, Keith wouldn’t even draw a simple picture of Allura, when Shiro asked, not even if Shiro paid him. And, here, Keith was drawing a picture of this boy named Lance without getting paid or having any personal benefit. Unless…
   

“What time is the double date happening, Allura?”
   

“Great! We will be meeting at the Arusian Theaters at 4:15pm. The movie starts at 4:30. Is that okay?”
   

“That’s perfect. I get off of work at 3pm.”
   

“Good. Don’t forget Keith!”
   

Allura hangs up the phone at Shiro takes out his phone again to text his brother.

Big Bro: Hey when’s your last appointment today?
Lil Bro: @ 2:30pm. Why??
Big Bro: We are going to the movies @ 4:15pm today.
Lil Bro: Why??
Big Bro: Because Allura wants to. She already bought the tickets.
Lil Bro: Ugh
Lil Bro: Fine whatever

~•~•~•~

Princess: Lancey
Princess: Are you free today @ 4pm???
Loverboy: Yeah
Loverboy: I can be if I close the shop up early today
Loverboy: why???
Princess: We are going on a double date!
Loverboy: WHAT?!
Loverboy: With who???
Princess: the broganes
Loverboy: who?
Princess: Shiro and Keith
Loverboy: ALLURA!
Loverboy: WHY DID YOU DO THAT!
Princess: BECAUSE
Princess: Keith likes you
Princess: and he’s really looking forward to this date so you have to try
Loverboy: really?
Princess: REALLY
Loverboy: ok
Loverboy: Can you give me a ride?
Princess: Want to come over to my house to get ready?
Loverboy: sure
Loverboy: Pick me up from the store @ 3pm
Princess: ok
Princess: bye my little bean
Loverboy: yeah yeah bye mom

~•~•~•~
   

“Lance! Hurry up!” Allura shouts from her car.
   

“One sec! I need to lock up!”
   

Lance quickly locks the door to the flower shop with his satchel bag over his left shoulder, turns around, and runs over to Allura’s expensive, baby pink Lamborghini. He slides in and Allura drives off.
   

“I love and hate your car,” Lance says while looking out the window.
   

“I know.”
   

“Because, like, your car is super awesome and cute but every-”
   

“One knows that it’s me. Yes Lance. I know.”
   

“Sorry.”
   

“No! Your fine, Lance,” Allura laughs, “I just think it’s cute how you’re always concerned about me.”
   

“Well, I have to make sure my best friend doesn’t get kidnapped. I couldn’t live without you.” Lance replies, giving Allura an awkward hug.
   

“Aww. Now move I need to drive.”
   

“Please don’t go over the speed limit Allura!”

~•~•~•~
   

They arrive at Allura’s house. It’s grand and fancy just like any other rich person’s house. After greeting the few bodyguards and maids around the house, they try to rush past her dad’s office before heading off to Allura’s room to get ready.
   

“Hey dad! I’m home,” Allura says quickly.
   

Allura tries to make it to her room without her dad seeing them, but he turns around in time to catch Lance passing by the door.
   

“Allura,” Alfor says.
   

Allura silently curses as she back tracks to the office, pulling Lance back with her. They stand in front of the door with the most innocent smiles on their faces.
   

“Do you want to tell me why you brought a friend over without letting me know beforehand, Allura?”
   

“Lance and I are getting ready to go out to the movies with some friends.”
   

“At what time?”
   

“4pm.”
   

“Allura, you know the meeting I wanted you to attend is at 3:30pm.”
   

“I know. I accidentally forgot it was today when I made these plans with Lance.”
   

Alfor breaths a long sigh. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes for a couple of seconds, thinking about his daughter’s behavior.
   

Well, she might as well have fun while she can. Plus, I don’t want to drag poor Lance with her to this boring meeting.
   

“Fine. You can go to the movies, but you have to attend the next meeting I tell you to go to.”
   

“Ok. Thank you dad!”
   

Allura tries to get out of the office before the conversation can go any further. She yanks Lance by the arm and he yelps in retaliation, but before they can make it out of the door, Alfor stops them, again.
   

“Wait.”
   

They turn around to look at Alfor.
   

“Hello Lance,” Alfor says, smiling and directing his attention to said boy.
   

“Hello Mr. Altea,” Lance responds with a small, nervous grin.
   

“Lance, my boy, drop the formalities. You can call me Alfor, quiznak, you can even call me dad if you wanted,” Alfor says with humored exasperation, causing Lance to relax and give a little chuckle. “So, how are you doing? Is the flower business going well?”
   

“I’m doing good. Um, flower business is going okay though. I just had another employee fired and I have no help again and I have a big shipment of flowers coming in on Tuesday. So, that’s going to take a while to get organized in the store, but other than that, everything is going fine.”
   

“Ok. Good, good. I’m glad your doing okay, but let me know if you need any help. I’m going to let you go now. We can talk later.”
   

Allura finally takes her chance to escape to her room with Lance. She yanks Lance out the door as he squeaks a goodbye to Alfor. They, finally, arrive to her enormous room and she heaves a grateful sigh. Allura turns to Lance, almost laughing at him.
   

“Hello Mr. Altea,” Allura mimics Lance from earlier.
   

“Shut up. I got nervous,” Lance whines.
   

“Ok. Whatever Lance I-practically-lived-here-during-college McClain.”
   

“Oh god. You’re right. Do you think offended him?”
   

“Nah. But, I will be offended if you go on this double date looking like that,” Allura says as she walks into her closet over to the section for Lance’s clothes. What? How could she not spoil her best friend.

“What do you want to wear?”
   

“Something warm. It’s cold today and knowing you, you’d probably have me in the most revealing clothes just for Keith.”
   

“True. So, do you want to wear a sweater and some-”

Allura balks at what she was going to say when she walks out of the closet. She sees Lance sitting on her bed. He took off his apron and he’s tending to a little bouquet of daisies and coreopsis arkansa. It’s a small bouquet and has a certain innocence to it that makes the gesture absolutely adorable. Allura swoons at Lance’s actions in her closet before she comes out and looks at him with a grin.
   

“Laaaance.”
   

“Yes Allura,” Lance replies with a small grin, light blush rising on his cheeks. Allura comes over to sit next him.
   

“What are those flowers for?” Allura asks rhetorically.
   

“Well, you said that Keith was looking forward to this date and that I had to try, so I might as well hint at his feelings being recuperated. Unless, you completely lied to me and he’s not interested at all.”
   

“No! Lance, he’s going to love them,” Allura reassures him.
   

“Ok.”
   

Allura watches her best friend sit there, staring at his flowers with longing in his eyes. She has to make this work between them. She wants Lance to be truly happy again.
   

“How about we get you ready and then we can head to the mall early to get ice cream and calm our nerves. Dad told me that a new intern's brother owns an ice cream shop over there,” she says softly.
   

“Yeah, let's do that,” Lance replies with a small grin and thankfulness in his eyes.
     

~•~•~•~
   

Keith had just parked his motorcycle in front of the garage of their condo and walked to the second floor of the building. He unlocks the door to walk in, only to get yelled at by Shiro.
   

“Keith! Where have you been? It’s 3:30pm already!”
   

“Shiro. I said my last appointment was at 2:30pm, meaning that’s the time my client came in get work done and they have a big project,” Keith responds exasperated.
   

“Ok, Keith. I understand that, but we are going to be late and Allura and Lance are already there!” Shiro says while yanking on his shoes.
   

Keith stops dead in tracks, drops his keys, and looks at Shiro dead in the eye.
   

“Who is going to this movie thing?” He asks slowly, shaking a little bit.
   

“Allura and… oh yeah… Lance is going too.”
   

“Don’t you think that would’ve been good information to give me, like I don’t know, when you texted me this morning!” Keith yells while frantically running to the bathroom for a shower and pulling off his clothes.
   

“I guess… why? Is there a reason you would need that type of information?” Shiro questions slyly through the bathroom door.
   

The only noise heard is the water from the shower and Keith’s silent curses. Other than that, he is met with silence and all he can do is laugh at his brother’s antics.
   

~•~•~•~
   

When Shiro is finally able to pull into a parking spot at the busy mall, they get out of the car and start heading to Rax’s Ice Cream Parlor, the ice cream shop that Allura told Shiro they were at. They both are wearing beanies and have their hands stuffed into the pockets of their jackets. As they start walking to the parlor, Shiro turns to Keith.
   

“So…” Shiro starts.
   

Keith glances at Shiro, gesturing that he’s listening.
   

“Do you like Lance?” Shiro continues.
   

“Shiro,” Keith groans, “Don’t start.”
   

“Keith, I’m asking you an important question. Like, I don’t know if you forgot or something, but my girlfriend is literally Lance’s best friend. I’m like the answer to your dreams,” Shiro laughs as Keith punches him the shoulder.
   

Keith thinks over what Shiro says and decides to respond.
   

“Ok fine. I may or may not have had a gay crisis when I went to go pick up your flowers on Friday.”
   

“Ok and? Do you like Lance romantically? I need more context dude.”
   

“I mean... I guess I like Lance. I think he’s cute if that’s what you mean.”
   

Shiro turns to look at Keith. He sees his brother looking down at his walking feet with a slight blush on his fond face. Shiro stops walking.
   

“You really like him, don’t you?” Shiro asks with a fond grin.
   

Keith ignores him and continues to walk to the parlor. Shiro shakes his head with a chuckle. He jogs to catch up to his brother and throws an arm around Keith while falling into step with him. They look around at all the stores silently until they finally arrive at the ice cream parlor. Shiro pushes the door open for Keith and they both walk in. Glancing around at all the tables, Keith’s eyes land on a bright face filled with joy. His head is thrown back laughing at something Allura said. Lance. Keith is once again entranced by Lance’s beauty and enlightening smile and his even brighter, blue eyes. He doesn’t even know he’s staring at the glowing boy until Lance makes eye contact with him, wearing the biggest smile Keith has ever seen. Lance waves them over and Shiro has to give Keith a little nudge on the shoulder to get him moving. Allura notices them once they arrive at the table.
   

“Hey guys! You ready to head over to the theater?” Allura asks, still giddy from her previous conversation with Lance.
   

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Shiro responds.
   

They grab their things and all walk out of the ice cream parlor. Allura throws away her empty cup, while Lance is still trying to finish his off. As they walk off to the theater, Shiro and Allura rush into some random conversation as they walk in front of Lance and Keith. Seeing that Allura left him to fend for himself, Lance begins to lose all his confidence they built up while eating ice cream. He slowly turns his ice cream with his spoon while throwing short glances Keith’s way. If there is one thing Lance hates, it’s awkward situations. There’s awkward silence with awkward body movement and awkward eye contact. To make it worse, Lance begins to overthink situations like he is right now.
   

Should I strike up a conversation with him? Will I be annoying if I do that? What if he already thinks I’m annoying. Oh god! When do I give him the flowers?!
   

Lance begins to have a little panic attack. He side-glances the flowers is his bag. All confidence gone and feeling a little self degrading, Lance almost feels like crying. Why did Allura convince him to do this? Why did he try to start dating again after his past relationships? He already has enough stress on his plate with his business and, according to his exes, he’s nothing short of the worst boyfriend ever.
   

This was the worst idea ever. Keith will never like me.
   

While Lance his stuck in a destructive train of thought, Keith looks over at Lance’s melting ice cream.
   

“Are you going to finish that?” Keith asks pointing at the ice cream soup.
   

“Oh! Um- no, you can have it,” Lance says while handing over the cup of ice cream, finally broken out of his terrible thoughts.
   

“What flavor is it?”
   

“It’s dulce de leche ice cream with caramel syrup, brownie bites, and bananas, but there are no more brownie bites. I ate them all.”
   

“Of course you did,” Keith replies with a light smile while eating the ice cream.
   

Lance returns a small grin. His nerves start to dissipate at the growing conversation.
   

“It’s so… soupy?” Keith says as he takes his first bite.
   

Lance gives a little giggle at Keith words.
   

“Well, I guess you could drink it.”
   

“No way. That’s to risky.”
   

“How so?” Lance thinks aloud in a curious manner.
   

“Worst case scenario, I completely miss my mouth and it gets all over my face and clothes.”
   

Lance full out bellows out a laugh at that. It’s was so absurd, it was funny. Probably not as funny as other people would think, but super funny to Lance. Keith began to stare at Lance, again, with a fondness in his eyes and Lance’s face was, once again, so bright and his laugh was light and, somehow, sounded beautiful. Even though his laugh was obnoxious, it still sounded like a angel’s laugh. After Lance calmed down with deep breathes, he turns to match Keith’s stare and replies.
   

“But that’s the worst case that could happen. Are you sure you want to use that spoon? I did use it after all,” Lance childishly counters.
   

“Nope.”
   

That’s all Keith says before making a big action of scooping up the ice cream liquid and putting it in his mouth. He even made a big show of licking the spoon all over to show Lance it didn’t bother him that Lance had already used it. But, boy, did it bother Lance. Lance flushes with a huge blush all over his face.
   

Isn’t that like an indirect kiss though? Lance thinks.
   

“Um… well yeah I guess it is,” Keith says, blushing as well and looking away.
   

“What is?” Lance asks dumbly, thinking he zoned out.
   

“I guess it’s an indirect kiss, Lance,” Keith says, trying to humor him.
   

Oh no, Lance bristles. Did he really say that out loud? To Keith?!
   

An awkward silence washes over them. Both are a blushing mess, avoiding eye contact. But, it is short lived as Allura turns around to speak to them.
   

“Ok guys, quit your flirty banter and come help us choose a movie.”
   

Lance is absolutely sure he flushed all the way down his neck, but continued to try and answer Allura’s question. Keith beats him to it.
   

“Wanna see Venom?” He asks.
   

“Already seen it,” Allura and Lance say in unison.
   

“The Nun”
   

“Already seen it and not scary,” Allura replies.
   

“A Star is-”
   

“Seen it.”
   

“Then you guys figure out the movie,” Keith says bewildered.
   

“You know what? We are going to see Ralph Breaks the Internet for shits and giggles,” Allura states.
   

“You know that movie is going to be packed, right? Because it just came out and all the little kids want to see it,” Shiro says.
   

“I know. That’s why I got here early, so I could buy the theater,” Allura says unbothered by the fact.

Lance smacks his forehead at her actions, Keith’s jaw drops at what she said, and Shiro just stands there unsurprised with his girlfriend. Even the lady at the ticket booth thinks Allura is crazy. But, it happens. The whole theater is bought out and they go to get their drinks and snacks. They walk into the theater and go to the good seats in the middle, but Lance keeps walking a few rows higher.
   

“Lance! Where are you going?” Allura asks confused at what her best friend is doing.
   

“Oh, I won't be turning off my phone during the movie because of work and I don't want to bother you guys,” he says while finding a seat a few rows up from them.
   

“Lance! Get your ass down here right now! I don't care about your stupid phone! We are here to have fun!” She shouts, not taking any of Lance’s bullshit.
   

“Shhhh. You're in the movie theater,” Lance jokes.
   

His phone rings and he goes to check the text message. It's from his manager asking about new employees. He responds to them, not paying attention to the person who just sat right next to him.
   

“Hey, you okay?” Keith asks.
   

Lance jumps, being slightly frightened. If Keith notices, he doesn't mention it.
   

“Oh yeah. I'm fine… just have to keep running business,” Lance says while finishing off his reply and shutting off his phone.
   

“Who's texting you?” Keith asks curiously.
   

“My manager,” Lance says simply while taking a sip from his Orange Fanta.
   

“Why is your manager texting you while you’re not putting in hours?” Keith asks. “Why would he text you when your not working?”
   

“No, no, no,” Lance laughs a little. “It's not like that. I own Voltron Flowers. It was passed down to me from Mr. Kinkade, the previous owner, because he wanted someone to have it and his own son didn't want it. Since, I already worked there and knew how everything worked, he gave his flower business to me and retired. Ironically though, his son, Ryan Kinkade, is my manager- well temporary manager. He helps me hire people and just, you know, manage the business. Currently he's studying business in college because he wants to build his own gaming company after he graduates. So basically, it's a win-win. He helps and teaches me how to manage my business and he gains some extra money and practices his skills.”
   

“Wow,” Keith's says, a little shocked at all the information. “So, like, what were your dreams before you were thrown into all the flower business and stuff?”
   

“Well, in college I majored in engineering and then, towards my 3rd year, I focused on studying chemical and computer engineering because after I met Allura and her dad and stuff, I basically had a guaranteed job at her dad’s company. Though, I still had to study all types of engineering to get my bachelors. Then two months before my graduation, I was given the flower business and decided not to work for Altea Tech, but her dad is still offering me a job there.”
   

“Why engineering?”
   

“What?”
   

“Why did you choose to study engineering?” Keith clarifies, completely captivated by Lance and his life.
   

“Oh, ok! So, in high school, I just really enjoyed chemistry class, science has always been my favorite subject, and I was part of robotics club and all the jazz. It was actually my drama club teacher who recommended engineering as major in college for me. One of the things that really solidified my decision was the salary of an engineer because my family- Oh one sec.”

Lance’s phone went off and he pulled it out to check it. This left Keith wondering about the rest of the story. What about his family? Is he happy with the flower business? Why does he still refuse Allura’s dad’s job offer for flowers? Keith's attention is diverted to Lance starting a call. He watches him speak to the person about business and requirements for new employees. Once Lance finishes the call and give a large, heavy sigh, Keith, eager to start the conversation back up, asks Lance a question.
   

“So, what about your family?”
   

“Ok, slow down for one sec, lemme finish making this note,” says Lance.

He finishes up his note and then shoots off a quick text message to someone before turning off his phone once again. He turns his attention back to Keith.
   

“So, what were we talking about?”
   

“You were talking about why you decided to be an engineer. It had something to do with your family,” Keith says quickly, eager to know more.
   

“Oh! So, my family lives in Cuba and the whole reason I moved to America was to make a living and provide for my family and stuff. My sister, Veronica, lives here in America, too, but she lives in New York as a model. Her company invited me to do modeling with her, but I didn't really like all the touching when it came to the clothes and make up and posing stuff. I guess I have a thing for personal space. Anyway, back on track, I went to college instead and yeah, I'm here now.”
Even though Lance clarified a lot with his business and basically life in America, there was one thing Keith was still confused about. Why did Lance choose the flower shop over working for Allura's company? He could be making thousands of dollars a month! Does he make a lot with the flower shop? He owns the business after all.
   

“Ok, but one question, if you don't mind…”
   

“Yeah! Go for it,” Lance replies enthusiastically.
   

“Why don't you take the job at Altea Tech? You could earn so much money that it's not even a joke. Is it because-”
   

“Ok, woah, stop right there. Not to be rude and interrupt you or anything, but I don't take the job at Altea Tech simply because I don't need all that money. I already own a penthouse in one of Alfor’s apartment buildings and I own it free and clear, partially because of Allura's dad. Even though the amount I paid was very, very small compared to his original price, it would have made me feel terrible if I didn't pay for it at all and he gave it to me for free. So, with my housing covered, that would leave me to pay for groceries and my phone bill. I use Allura’s Netflix, so I don't have to pay for TV and I ride my bike to work, so I don't have to pay for gas. I've paid off all my student debt, so these factors leave me with very few expenses to pay and I can cover them, even with what I'm making now. I just feel that I shouldn't take a job away from someone who needs it. There is no point in me having money sitting around when someone else could clearly use it.”
Lance takes a deep breath from his really long tangent and looks at Keith. Keith looks like a deer in the headlights, like completely shocked and Lance becomes a little nervous.
   

“Sorry if I spoke to much. I tend to go on tangents,” Lance says sheepishly and a little embarrassed.
   

“No! No, you're completely fine. I just find it really shocking for someone who lives comfortably and has opportunities to gain more money to be so modest and… and benevolent,” Keith says, rushed to reassure Lance.
   

“Oh, um. Thank you,” Lance replies, blushing slightly at Keith's words.
   

They both take a small break from talking. Lance to regain his breathe and check his messages and Keith to process all of what Lance had said. They settle into a somewhat comfortable silence and both are content with for a while until Keith blurts out a question while he was thinking.
   

“So, all the money you make now goes to your family in Cuba?”
   

“Yeah, pretty much. With all the money I make with the flower shop, I take small portion out to pay my expenses and then I send the rest of it off to my mama, brothers and sisters, and my nieces and nephews, just the family in general,” Lance answers unbothered.

Keith takes this as a good sign and asks more questions.
   

“What's your family like?”
   

“Well…”
   

And they talked for the entire 2-hour movie. It was just Keith asking questions and Lance answering them. All attention for the movie was gone because they were so engrossed in the conversation with each other. They barely paid attention to their spatial awareness and grew closer to each other over the course of the movie. They laughed at Lance’s funny stories and talked about everyone in the family and Keith just had to do a recap of it all.
   

“So, wait one sec. You are the youngest child of two older brothers, one older sister, and a twin sister, but your family just likes to adopt everyone else in and now you have basically millions of younger siblings that are cousins, nieces and nephews.”
   

“Yes,” Lance said curtly with a smile. “You are correct.”
   

“And then for-”
   

“Ok lovebirds, quit the chatter and let's get outta here. The next movie is about to start,” Allura says, stopping their never ending conversation.
   

Both their heads whip around with bright blushes to stare at Allura and Shiro holding hands and both wearing smug smirks. Lance and Keith start spluttering in denial to the accusation, but grab their stuff and walk out of the theater. While Allura and Shiro are kissing goodbye, well they were sorta making out, but nevertheless kissing goodbye, Lance and Keith awkwardly stood facing each other, still embarrassed from Allura's words. Lance, somehow, finds the courage to speak.
   

“So, I'll see you around?”
   

“Yeah, yeah. For sure,” Keith replies.
   

They both stand there until Lance turns around, murmuring a small goodbye before walking over to Allura. Shiro walks over to Keith to see how he was doing.
   

“Hey buddy, how it go?”
   

“Please don't call me buddy ever again and the movie was fine. Lance and I just talked. Nothing big…”
   

“Well, did you get his number?”
   

“...No…”
   

“Keith, go get his number right now. Come on dude. Don't be a wimpy baby. Even if you guys don't end up dating, maybe you can be friends,” Shiro says, trying to be encouraging. He's not.
   

“Wow Shiro. That makes me so hopeful. I'll go through all this effort to get to know him just to be friend-zoned. That's exactly what I want!” Keith replies with false enthusiasm.
   

“Keith just go get his damn number.”
   

“Fine,” Keith huffs.
   

He turns around to see Allura and Lance walking away. Seeing his chance slipping, he runs over and shouts at them.
   

“Hey Lance! Wait!” Keith shouts, watching them stop to turn around and look at him.
   

Keith takes a deep breath before nervously asking, “Can I have your number?”
   

Lance gets a super shocked look on his face, completely bewildered at what Keith just asked him.
   

“Oh, um, sure.”

Keith hands Lance his phone and Lance puts his number. After getting his phone back, he shoots off a text to Lance who immediately gets it. When Keith is about to turn away, Lance remembers something important.
   

“Oh Keith!” Lance says quickly before Keith leaves.
   

Keith turns around with a questioning look on his face and Lance goes to get something out of this bag: the flowers.
   

“I made these for you,” Lance says as he hands Keith the daisies and coreopsis arkansa.
   

“Oh, um, wow. Thank you,” Keith replies, shocked by the kind gesture.
   

They awkwardly say goodbye to each other again while Allura and Shiro laugh at them from the side lines. But, it's a loving laugh. It's a look-at-our-awkward-children-try-to-flirt laugh. Everyone finally parts ways for the evening.
         

~•~•~•~

Later that night…
Lancey<3: Hey Keith
Lancey<3: Do you want to hang out sometime?
Lancey<3: Like maybe go for coffee or something?
Keith;): Yeah sure

Chapter Text

An alarm is blaring and there is a pounding on Keith’s bedroom door. He groans loudly as he begins to wake at the sound of irritating, incessant knocking. Keith painfully pushes himself up from under his cozy covers and rubs the sleep out of his eyes while stretching.

“Keith!” Shiro shouts through the door. “Turn off your fucking alarm!”

Keith groans again before reaching over to flop his on top of his phone. His eyes squint at the bright light from the phone. He turns off the alarm and checks the time. 

6:47am. Hm. A little later than I wanted. I can’t go to the gym now so I guess I’ll go for a short run, Keith thinks while sliding out of bed and walking over to his dresser. 

He throws on a pair of shorts and t-shirt. He’s almost out the door before he goes back for a jacket. Keith walks out of the door with his earbuds in, not noticing Shiro’s keys still on the hook by the door. 

~•~•~•~

He walks back through the front door breathing a little heavy. He’s flushed from the exertion from running and the bitter cold outside. His earbuds are still blasting music into his ears as he checks the time on his phone. Nodding his head, he begins to walk to the bathroom for a shower before a hand grabs him. Keith jolts, whirling around to throw a punch. 

“Shit!” Shiro shouts as he blocks Keith’s fist from colliding with his face.

“Fuck, Shiro! You scared me. What are you still doing home?” Keith says as he pulls his hands away from Shiro and yanks his earbuds out. 

“Sorry for scaring you,” Shiro responds, “I have a half day today.”

“What half day? Your half days are only on the first Friday of every month.”

“Ok, fine. Zarkon cut my hours.”

“What?! Why?!” Keith shouts, “Shiro just quit your shitty job! Allura’s dad will offer you a better one-”

“I can’t do that Kei-”

“YES! You can! You and your work is worth way more than Zarkon could ever offer you. You don’t have to feel guilty for working for Allura’s dad. You are not stealing her money, you’re not taking advantage of her, you are doing nothing wrong. Plus, if you take the job at Altea Tech, you get to see the love of your life basically everyday…”

Silence followed Keith's lecture to Shiro. How ironic. Normally, it’s Shiro lecturing Keith, but, oh, how the tables have turned. Shiro heaves a heavy sigh. 

“You’re right.”

“I am right.”

“Ok, I’ll… I’ll think about it. Breakfast is in the kitchen if you want some.”

Shiro walks back to his room and Keith runs off to take a quick shower before dressing for work and walking into the kitchen. As he is grabbing some eggs and bacon, he sees a note from Shiro saying he went out for a run. 

~•~•~•~

When Keith arrives to work, he heads to his station and begins prepping for a new client. He has a couple hours before his appointment so he decides to go on a coffee run for his coworkers.

“Hey guys. I’m heading to Coran’s for coffee so text me your orders.”

He gets a cluster of responses in return and Thace, who works the front desk, decides to join him. They quickly run across the street to the cafe and head into order. As they're waiting, Keith looks out the window and notices someone talking on the phone aggravatedly. To his surprise, he sees it is Lance. Keith becomes concerned as Lance’s face drops and he looks utterly defeated at his phone. As Keith watches Lance run a hand through his hair and begin talking with someone else on the phone, Thace nudges him to help with the coffee. Keith picks up the coffee and immediately heads outside to see if Lance is ok. While walking closer, he begins to pick up on Lance’s conversation.

“Thank you so much. I know you're busy and everything...ok..ok… yes...ok bye, love you too.”

Before Keith can begin to say anything, Lance promptly turns around and runs straight into him, spilling the coffee everywhere.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry- Keith! Let me help you clean up,” Lance exclaims as he immediately reaches down to pick up the spilt coffees and throws them away. 

“It’s okay, Lance,” Keith mentions as he bends down to help Lance. He turns to look at Thace and waves a hand at him to go back to the tattoo shop. Thace gives him a small nod before leaving.

“Do you have the receipt? I can go reorder the coffees for you while you go to the bathroom to clean yourself up,” Lance insists desperately.

“No, it’s okay Lanc-” Keith tries as he throws out the rest of the mess.

“No, I insist!”

Lance turns to go back into the shop and Keith quickly follows after him. What originally was Keith trying to make sure Lance was okay quickly became Lance trying to make sure Keith was okay. Lance shooed Keith toward the bathroom while Lance waited in line to order the coffees.

While in the bathroom, Keith got lost in thought while he washed his hands.

Why was Lance so upset?

Who was he talking to?

Is he okay?

His mood changed so quickly when he accidentally ran into me.

What am I doing?! I’m supposed to be making him feel better! 

Keith was going to rinse his shirt, but decided to just change into a new one when he got back to the tattoo shop. He exited the bathroom and saw Lance waiting at the pick up station. As he walked over, he made eye contact with Lance who looked so apologetic.

Lance apologized again, “Keith, I’m so sorry I spilled your coffee. It was a total acciden-”

“Lance, it’s completely fine. Stop worrying. Paying for the coffee is enough of an apology,” Keith assured, trying to calm Lance down.

“Ok.”

Their conversation fell silent after that as both waited for the replacement coffees to come out. Once they were ready, Keith picked them up and walked out the door with Lance. Before they parted ways, Keith built up the courage to ask Lance about his earlier conversation.

“Hey Lance, uh, were you- are you okay? You just looked really upset earlier and I wanted to make sure everything was okay?”

“Oh,” Lance said a little surprised, “Yeah, I think I’m good now. Just, the flower business has been really stressing me out lately, but I’ll be okay.”

“Ok. If you need any help, you can ask me,” Keith responded while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh thank you,” Lance said with a slight blush, “I’ll keep that in mind. Well, I have to get back to work now and I’m sure you do too so, bye Keith. And sorry again.”

“It’s no problem Lance and thank you for the coffees.”

They both parted ways with small grins and a slight wave.

~•~•~•~

Keith is finally cleaning up after his last appointment. He had a consultation, started two pieces, finished a bigger piece for a client, and inked a couple small tattoos. After his long day, he is ready to go home. As he is about to grab his bag, Thace walks into his room.

“Hey Keith, there is a walk-in requesting you. Do you have time for a consultation right now?”

Keith thinks for a moment. On one hand, he is really tired and could always see them tomorrow, but on the other, it's just a consultation so it shouldn’t take long.

“Sure, why not.”

Thace brings Keith to the front desk to meet the potential, new client. It’s a tall guy with dark skin and short hair. Keith quickly greets him and takes him back to his room. As he sits down, he seems pretty excited.

“Hi. So, I am Keith, the tattoo artist you requested. To give you an idea of how this works, right now, we are doing a consultation. So, we are going to talk about tattoo design, placement, and pricing. Basically, get most of the paperwork out of the way. Then, I’ll schedule you an appointment for your tattoo. Sound good?” Keith explains.

“Perfect.”

“Ok, good. Take a couple minutes to fill out this document and then we’ll get started on the design.”

Keith hands him the paperwork and while the customer fills it out, he goes to grab his sketchbook and pencil and waits a couple minutes for the man to hand back the clipboard.

“Thank you. Ok, Curtis, start telling me about your design.”

“Ok, so I want it over my heart, or like, left chest area and it’s… basically the face of my husband.”

Keith balks at that. Keith doesn’t draw faces and definitely doesn’t ink them on people’s skin. He doesn’t even like getting paid to draw faces. It doesn’t sit right with him. It never has.

“I deeply apologize sir, but I will not be able to do your tattoo because I do not draw or ink faces. I can recommend you to another artist if you would like,” Keith says calmly.

“Aw man, really? My friend showed me the work you did on their sleeve and I loved it. Is there any way you can do this for me?” Curtis pleaded.

“I’m sorry sir, but as I mentioned before I-”

“I’ll pay extra! Or double! Anything!”

Keith was starting to get irritated. Why doesn’t this guy understand that he doesn’t want to do his tattoo.

“Sir. I can recommend you to another artist. I have already explained why I can’t do your tattoo and I won’t do it no matter how much you pay me. Now, would you like the recommendation or not?”

“I guess dude. It’s your loss.”

Keith escorted Curtis back to Thace at the front desk and told him to give him Ulaz’s contact information. Keith then promptly returned to his station, finished cleaning up, and grabbed his things. As he was leaving, Thace stopped him.

“Keith, why didn’t you take up his offer? He did offer to pay anything for just a face.”

“I don’t like drawing faces," Keith stated simply.

Keith was almost out the door before Thace asked one more question.

“Why?”

Keith let out a small breath.

“I just don’t like the idea of branding yourself with someone who could hurt you; no matter how much you trust them.”

With that said, Keith left for home.

~•~•~•~

Keith came out of his bathroom freshly showered with a towel draped over his wet hair. He walked over to sit on his bed as he grabbed his phone to check his emails. Right as he was about to check out for the night, he gets a text from Allura.

Allura: Keith I need your help with something

Allura: It is an emergency