#I’ve gotten bitten twice and had a table flipped

[15-lizards]

oh your thoughts on dornish religion are so interesting! I always pictured them with a coptic/ oriental orthodox christian vibe but I love the idea of the mother as a virgin of guadalupe figure

Yeah wait I fuck with this heavy. Good addition anon no notes 👍🏻

[xfandomwritingsx]

Hold Your Breath – Chapter Five: Helping Hands - Draco Malfoy

-gif source unknown-

Description: After decisions put you on opposite side of the war, returning to Hogwarts to finish your education proves to be challenging. Maybe closure isn’t the only thing you need from Draco.

Approx. Word Count:

A/N: Well…hello. Yes I’m still alive and working on this story. I had a hell of a time writing this chapter for no reason at all. Hopefully now that I’ve bitten the bullet and gotten it out of the way, I can get everything flowing more smoothly again.

Story Masterpost

December 1998

You arrive to Potions just a little before everyone else. The air around Hogwarts is brisk and chilled, just how you’ve grown accustom to enjoying, so you’d woken earlier than usual to take a walk around the grounds before your first class.

You take a seat at a middle table on the far side of the room. You’ve started to avoid the back rows as it feels too much like hiding but you don’t like being front and center in lessons, so you’ve found a comfort in middle and off to the side. Unpacking your bag, you take a look at the lesson board that Slughorn is still currently prepping.

The room slowly fills with more students, a slight bustle of movement and conversation coming with it. You keep your focus on the board, already pulling out a quill to jot down notes and pulling out your lesson book to flip to the correct page.

When the chair next to you is pulled from the table, you assume without looking up that someone is taking it to make a seat at another table. It’s not until there’s a body in the chair and the person is shuffling through their bag that you realize someone actually chose to sit beside you. Your confusion at this only rises when you turn your head to see the person is Draco. He doesn’t look at you or acknowledge you in any way, but you still feel a little pull in your chest as you watch him.

Then you cast your eyes around the classroom. There are still plenty of open seats which clearly means he’s purposefully chosen to sit next to you. Your heart beats a little faster and you find that pull in your chest to be a slight fear. Is anyone watching you? Do they notice him sitting here? Do they think you’re friends again?

You give a small shake to your head and face front again. What does it matter if anyone thinks you’re friends? Besides, you’re clearly not friends when there’s no greetings exchanged, right? You’re not friends.

Draco remains silent and unbothered by you when the lesson begins. Slughorn’s lecture at least takes your focus off of him and the rest of the students as you concentrate. It doesn’t take long for you to immerse yourself in the lesson and nearly forget about Draco’s presence entirely.

You’re jotting down notes, shifting your glance between your parchment and the blackboard. It’s nearly twenty minutes into the lecture when you notice words appearing on the margins of your page that you haven’t written.

Notice he said three sprigs and the book says two? Trust the book.

You recognize the handwriting immediately and you can’t help the way your head snaps to look at Draco who is still ignoring you entirely. He’s stoic enough that you second guess yourself. Maybe you’re imagining things? Curious and apprehensive, you look back to your notes. The extra bit of advice is still there, permanently inked into the parchment. You run your finger over it briefly and you’re sure it’s his.

It’s been over a year, but you still recognize it easily. Written notes had always been how you two had chosen to communicate when you were friends. You used to have books filled with notes exchanged between the two of you. Everything from jokes to flirtations to helpful tips for classes. You’re lost in thoughts and memories when more words start to fill in beneath the pads of your fingers.

Focus. He writes. No wonder you’re dreadful with potions. You’re not sure if it’s meant playfully or as a sharp jab. You used to be able to literally read his tone, but now you’re unsure and out of sync with him. It gives you a sinking feeling somewhere in your belly.

This time when you look at him from the corner of your eye, he looks back at you. He gives you a pointed look, baffled by your eyes on him. With a sharp, but subtle tilt of his head and raise of his brow, he indicates to you to face forward and listen to Slughorn’s droning. You straighten your back, clear your throat quietly, and refocus on the lesson.

Draco continues to help you throughout the lesson. He does it mostly silently through notes and small gestures, rarely actually speaking to you. The lack of spoken words makes it feel secretive, though you don’t truly believe you are meant to be hiding your interactions. It also makes it feel more personal. Understanding his directions and critiques without the use of words only serves to remind you how connected you still are with him.

He does things as small as raise an eyebrow or tap his finger onto the table and you understand exactly what he’s telling you. As he gives a stir to his cauldron, you wonder if anyone else can read him like you do. It’s not like he doesn’t have friends. You have to assume someone has picked up on his habits and behaviors.

You don’t like the way your stomach curls at the thought.

The feeling tightens and turns to a pleasurable heat as his knee knocks seemingly casually into yours beneath the table. It’s not subtle or soft and judging by the way he ignores the contact, you assume it’s an accident. But then you notice his knee barely moves away. It drifts just enough to no longer be touching you, but you can feel the edges of your pants brush against each other and it’s enough to leave you wondering if he did anything by accident.

The lesson ends just as quickly as it started, your mind having constantly run off on its own. With a swish of his wand, both his and your cauldrons are emptied as everyone around you starts to gather their things. You look once more to Draco and find him still avoiding your eyes, instead shuffling around his bag. You stand to leave, ready to go back to your room and study and try to forget about anything Draco Malfoy related.

Before you can even sweep your bag onto your shoulder, there’s a pale hand sliding a star chart across the table towards you. Surprised, you raise an eyebrow at Draco. He taps his fingers on the chart.

“I need this back by tomorrow,” he says. “Will you have enough time?” It’s not the most polite way to ask you to review his work and you have to bite your tongue to refrain from snapping back at him with a smart remark. He releases the chart and waits for your reply.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Draco,” is all you give him before rolling the chart up and putting it gently in your bag. You turn away to leave before he can say anything more, but you could swear there’s a slight upwards tilt in his lips.

~~~

The common room is dark and empty by the time you finish your work and pull Draco’s star chart from your bag. You had completed your assignments slower than usual, finding yourself purposefully waiting for everyone to disperse before you took it out. You choose not to examine the reasons that may be for. Maybe some other time. But not now.

His chart is almost accurate, an improvement from the last time you saw him draw one. Every time he used to bring one to you, it was always wrong. Stars were in the completely wrong quadrants. Sometimes he even had stars from the wrong hemisphere depicted. You wonder if without your aid in the subject, he’s actually started researching and learning. Either that or he found someone else to copy off of. Either is possible, you suppose.

As you mark some corrections with a colored quill, you admire his work. Draco may have been dreadful with accuracy, but his charts were always so elegant and that, you notice, hasn’t changed. His lines are graceful and effortless, varying in thickness from pressure on his quill as he no doubt flicked his wrist without thought or care. Your fingers trace the dried ink and a smile tilts at your mouth.

His natural artistry is not something too many people know about Draco. What he would call the equivalent of children’s stick figures, you’d call works of art. He used to doodle little images on his work, on your notes, even on your hand once or twice and you were always mesmerized by them.  

Your fingers drift down from the dark quill strokes to a small blank corner of the parchment. The little white space of nothing gives you a little pang of nostalgia. You used to conceal little messages to each other, often on homework, that the other could reveal whenever they wanted. Occasionally, Draco would draw you a small image in the corner of the paper and while you always knew they were your favorite to reveal, you hadn’t realized how much you missed them until just now. Just another thing to add to your list of emotions when it comes to him.

You sigh and refocus on correcting his work, but when you’ve finished and his chart is filled with little bits of your handwriting to explain what you’d done, your eyes fall back to the still empty corner of the page. You look over your shoulder briefly, making sure no one is in the room and then before giving yourself time to think about you, you’re writing a small message in that corner.

The moment your quill lifts away from making the period at the end of your sentence, you feel a surge of regret. You should remove it. Use a quick charm and act like it never happened. Or you could conceal it. After all, what’s the harm in doing so? He would never see it because he’d never reveal it.

But what if he did? What if he pulls it out when he’s alone, much like you are now, and casts the same revealing charm he used to and sees your little message? The brief thought slips into a daydream. If he were to even think of using the revealing charm, it would mean he thought there was a chance you’d write something, that he was hoping for it, looking for it. You can see his little, hidden smile in your mind and the way his fingertips would dance over your writing much like yours had his chart.

The draw of the possibility is too appealing in the middle of the night. You silently talk yourself into it, calling it a risk-free decision. Either he wants you to do it or he’ll never see it. You slip your wand out of the robes you’re still wearing and whisper the incantation as you press the tip to your written words. There’s a rush in your blood and a flutter in your chest as you watch the ink slowly disappear on the parchment.

When there’s no trace of the words anymore, you feel a mix of emotions; anxiety, release, anticipation. You’re committed now though. Before you can change your mind, you roll up his star chart and put it back in your bag and prepare to go to bed with the echo of your words floating through your mind.

I miss you.

---

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[choco-glow]

Is This Thing On?

“You, my dear Shan, are a hard man to find at the best of times.” Theron smirked, just a little, as he sipped his drink from the half-hidden booth he’d chosen, gesturing for Jonas Balker to sit in the opposite seat. Both agents toasted one another, and Theron leaned forward a little into the light, chuckling when Jonas swore heavily at the bruises and cuts marring his face. “And what the hell kind of shit have you been in this time?”

“C’mon now, Balker, I know you know what I’ve been up to, I’ve been fending off your droids for months now all over Rishi so that Lana didn’t stab me. Besides, they look worse than they are.” Jonas glared him down…and sighed a little, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a long draught off his own whiskey.

“Force help me, I do. So, the Revanites…”

“Currently in rout on Yavin-4; we’re now working with the Grandmaster of the Jedi and Darth Marr to build a joint operation…which you also know about, because I know I saw you in and out of the Imperial camps at least twice. You fit the uniform just fine, but that accent sucks.” Jonas flipped him the bird, but shook his head and smiled anyway, and they fell into familiar roles, bantering back and forth as they exchanged information both useful and already used, that rare combination of being both spies and best friends since they were teenagers…and as they ordered fresh drinks, Jonas paused a little bit, and looked like he’d bitten a lemon. Theron just sighed.

“C’mon, out with it.”

“…are you alright after that torture?” His voice was low, soft, and honestly concerned…and Theron gave his friend a faint smile, lacing his gloved fingers together and leaning in a little. Closing his eyes, Theron took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, calming his thoughts, his whole being, drawing on everything Master Zho had ever taught him, because even with the stunt he’d pulled to escape…it had been horrific. The pain wasn’t as bad as the mindprobe, and even now, Theron shuddered at the memory of Revan’s casual perusal of his very soul…but he’d gotten his revenge, in the sweetest way possible, and that had also gotten him the opportunity to break free.

“It was…it was bad. Very bad. But you remember those holovids I had to watch all the time when I was a kid? The ones that were made specifically for the Shan family?” Jonas blinked, suddenly confused by the change of subject, but nodded anyway, well aware even now of the ranting Theron used to go off on about the utter stupidity of those vids…and Theron grinned. “Well, I kept a special link of ‘em for the explicit reason of throwing it back in Revan’s face if I ever got the chance. And that idiot gave me the perfect opening.”

“…No.”

“Yup.”

“You didn’t.”

“Damn right I did.”

“How the fuck were you not stabbed?”

“I have no clue. But it worked, I escaped, and here we are.” Jonas narrowed his eyes, and pointed accusingly at Theron now, who was trying to pull his best injured innocent face over the wicked grin.

“Bullshit, there’s so much more to that story, and you owe me the whole thing, Shan.”

“Fine, fine, but we’re gonna need more drinks.” He slapped down a full credit chip on the table, and Theron felt his grin widen even further. “Alrighty then, strap in, because this is gonna be fun…”

---

Eighteen years earlier…

Padawan Theron Shan, thirteen, arms crossed, robes a mess, his lip busted open from the last scuffle, stared resolutely at the wall as Masters Kaedan, Bakarn, and Zho tried to figure out a suitable punishment. Fighting between Padawans was strictly prohibited, of course, short of controlled sparring, but defending a Padawan who was disabled from several of the wealthier children of the elite on Coruscant did merit some praise…but he’d still started a fight. Ngani Zho sighed faintly, and turned to his wayward pupil.

“Theron, please speak to us. We understand why you fought as you did, and we want you to know that defending Padawan Ask’lil is a noble, kind thing…but you still cannot brawl as you did today.” Theron shrugged, slouched as he was in the chair, still glaring a hole in the wall, and it was Syo who shook his head.

“I fear we won’t be getting through to him this way, Ngani; however, there are the old holovids we could show him. It might be good to give Theron a sense of right.” Master Zho noticed Theron glance up at that, but didn’t call him on it, only nodding a little in confusion. Certainly, they had many holovids for Padawans to learn from, but he wasn’t sure what Syo was talking about…until a familiar figure appeared, and Zho had to keep himself from dropping his head in his hands.

“Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem.” Righting the microphone in the vid, they watched as none other than Revan himself smoothed his robes down, gave the camera a weak smile, and launched into what was possibly the most boring ‘you must keep to the side of Light!’ speech Ngani had ever heard. Now he knew why he’d forgotten this; he’d repressed the memories from when Satele was young.

Theron was staring in horror now, glancing around the room as if looking for escape, and Ngani grimaced in sympathy, because this was just…painful to sit through. Everything from “even thinking impure thoughts can lead to the Dark side” to “Remember, the best way to end a fight is by talking out your differences.” It was cringe-worthy at best, and as the holo finally came to a close, he resisted the urge to punch Kaedan and Bakarn both. Barely.

“…and remember the Jedi Code. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.” Revan winked out, the room finally quiet…and as the Masters stood up to leave, Theron took his chance and bolted out the door. Ngani didn’t have it in him to stop the boy, and though both Syo and Jaric were disgruntled, he calmed them down with a few words and made his way back to their rooms.

“Master, please please do not let them show me that again.” Theron’s voice came from his hiding place in the vents, and Zho chuckled, motioning for his Padawan to come down.

“I’ll do my best, lad, but you’ve got along way to go. Now, come down and let us work on your form…”

—-

“Oh c’mon, not another round of this stupid vid…”

“Then stop picking fights with other Padawans, Theron!”

“It’s not my fault they have punchable faces…”

“Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem. Welcome, young Padawans, and may the Force be with you…”

“Arrrrrrrrrrgh.”

---

“No.”

“You have to watch it.”

“No.”

“Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem. Welcome, young Padawans, and may the Force—-”

“Fuuuuuuuuuuck.”

“THERON.”

---

“Snooooooooooore.”

“I know you’re awake, Theron.”

“Snooooooooooooore.”

“Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem. Welcome, young Padawans, and may the Force—-”

“…..SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE.”

---

“Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem. Welcome, young Padawans, and may the Force—-”

“I hate this shit.”

“I do too, lad.”

“We could just leave and let it play…or destroy it.”

“And risk listening to Jaric scream all week long? I’d rather listen to Revan.”

“Dammit.”

“Theron, stop swearing.”

“All due respect, Master: fuck no.”

"Remember, the best way to end a fight is by talking out your differences.”

“Did you hear that, Theron? We should talk things out.”

“Arrrrrrrrrgh.”

---

Six weeks prior

Panting, blood trickling from his half-fried implants, head pounding, Theron closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting back a whimper as his two broken ribs seared through his abdomen. He hated interrogation tables for a number of reasons, as did any other sane being, but at least he was lying down at the moment; gravity was not kind to injuries when vertical. And the blinding light that they’d been using on him was off too, small mercies for that…and Revan had also left, which allowed Theron to rest a little before figuring out his next move.

I could just…break out and leave, there’s enough little ways to escape, but with my ribs, the vents and holes in the cave ceiling aren’t possible…I could take out a guard and dress up, but I don’t know the codes…and his people are too paranoid. Dammit…shooting my way out might be the only option… He turned his head to the right to peer through the darkness, narrowing his eyes as he studied the console…and a spark of joy leapt in him when he realized he could see a link between his implants and the console. It’s a Republic model! These idiots must have stolen from Alderaan, because I know that code all too well…

Then, a sudden, vicious grin stretched over his handsome features, and Theron Shan activated the link, uploading an obscure old video to the whole of the Revanite compound as he also had his manacles unlocked and the door opened.

“Take this, you fucking hypocrite.”

"Is this thing on, love?”

“Yes dear.”

“Oh good—-CRAP. Uh…okay. Ignore that. Ahem. Welcome, young Padawans, and may the Force be with you…”

Theron’s laughter could be heard over the alarms sounding as he grabbed up his blasters and hightailed it out the door.

—-

Sipping his fourth drink now and feeling a delightful buzz, Theron grinned at Jonas’ face. The older spy looked like he’d been slapped by a fish, jaw dropped, drink frozen in midair, and Theron couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up, wheezing a little as his ribs twinged in warning under the bandages.

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“You’re a mad bastard.”

“And you’re surprised by this?”

“No, just…impressed. Honestly so impressed. How in the name of the Force did that go down?”

“Oh, I probably got us shot at a whole lot more when Revan saw that, he was furious, but damn, it was worth it. My…partners in crime were confused until I explained it, then Lana actually congratulated me for throwing the whole base into chaos.” Jonas just shook his head, finally downing his drink, and Theron slouched back into the warmth of the booth, content to rest for a while longer yet.

“So…how did your…ah…the Grandmaster take it?” Theron smirked at that, and Jonas groaned.

“Let me guess, she hated it too?”

“With a passion. Apparently, all the Shans have been…rather combative since then, I wonder why, and so the Order kept that vid in safe keeping for any future Shans to watch and ‘learn from’. Which…really, has never worked. She thought it was the funniest fucking thing and that was the most bonding we had in years, pretty much since I was born. She patched me up as we talked about it, might just make a habit of spending time with her after all, especially since she’s mellowed out with age.”

“…Wow, I never would have guessed that that would be the outcome of all of that…but what about your old master? I know you lost him before all of this…” Theron gazed out over the cantina, and felt a faint smile touch his lips in fond memory.

“…Master Zho would be proud.”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid 186

186

   With Keith’s sudden disappearance, there should have been no surprise that the group had been called. Ushering Keith into the kitchen, Lance had sat him down. Hunk fretting up a storm, torn between then need to desperate to rush over and hug Keith, and hanging back because he had no idea what happened. Keith sat slumped at the table, head in his hands, Lance letting him have a few moments to think as he made tea for the three of them. Keith had to be overthinking what to tell Hunk, he’d trailed after him into the bathroom when they’d got home, Lance having to guide him back out and make him wait in the hall. Had Keith’s ears been showing, he was sure they’d been downward in sadness. The vampire feeling the truth was the best. Keith couldn’t help this, and if there was one thing he’d tried to drill into their group of friends it was that judging wasn’t happening.

  Placing down the cups, Lance smiled at Hunk, who in his nervous state, had started arranging cookies on a plate for the three of them. Taking his seat, Lance placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder

“You don’t need to look so worried, he’s an idiot, but Keith’s going to be okay”

Hunk let out a long breath as he sat next to Keith, with no idea how scared Keith had been that he might hurt him

“You couldn’t have just said that, man?! I’ve been freaking out here”

“Sorry, Bud. Keith needed a moment. I think we should talk about what happened. Keith got a bit overwhelmed and ran because he was scared of how his ego acted. Babe, Hunk’s not scared of you or thinks of badly. He was super worried when he called”

  Keith worried his bottom lip, Hunk giving him a sad look

“I should have said no...”

Nope. Keith had to start socialising at some point. Maintaining relationships outside of having Lance by his side constantly was going to be hugely important to not only Keith, but their friend group as well

“No. I’ve already told Keith I’m proud that he tried. Honestly I’m kind of glad he was with you. You’re the most level headed one out of all of us... He’s going through a lot, but things aren’t going to get easier if we don’t face facts”

Hunk shook his head

“I still should have... I mean, he was nervous, but... uh...”

Hunk didn’t know that Lance knew about the surprise Keith had intended. It was cute watching him blush slightly as he tried to think of how not to tell him. Squeezing Keith’s shoulder gently, Keith sighed heavily, raising his head as he did

“No. Lance is right. I’m glad it was you. Shiro would have flipped... I’m sorry for running. I got taken by surprise and I didn’t handle it well”

“Dude, I’m sorry I missed the signs that it was to much”

“It wasn’t you. It was me”

“Still...”

“I...”

  Lance smiled at the pair of them, both trying to apologise over each other. Maybe it was the hormones, Lance feeling himself getting teary over how much he loved the pair in front of him

“Keith’s ego is still quite new. And as we all know, he’s like the king of overthinking things. He got a bit scared because his ego flared up. He was scared himself thinking that he could possibly hurt you”

Yep. There they were. Big fat drops of water rolling down his cheeks. He didn’t want to cry, crying took energy, but Hunk and Keith were so important to him

“Dude! You wouldn’t hurt me. Don’t worry about it, bro”

Lance started fanning his face. Would it be weird to get up and hug both of them? He wanted to hug both of them

“I nearly lost control of my temper. I knew if I did, you’d try to help. I don’t want anything happening to you, Hunk”

“Hey, we’ll work this out. Just don’t go running off like that again. You really had me worried”

  Stuff it. Pushing his chair back, Lance moved to wrap his arms around the pair

“I love you guys”

Hunk twisted in his chair, Lance hadn’t exactly made it easy to hug him back by standing back from the table to fit his stomach in the gap

“Aw, man. I love you guys too”

“I know! Sorry, I really wanted to hug you”

“Why are you crying?”

Trust Keith to point out the obvious. Lance let them both go with a chuckle

“Happy tears, babe. I guess I’m feeling like... clucky? I really love you guys”

  Keith tilted his head back to stare up at Lance, Lance bending to kiss his boyfriend’s forehead

“I’m okay. And you’re okay. And Hunk’s okay. Let me go pee again, then we’ll start working on that surprise of yours”

Keith drew his brow in confusion

“It’s not a surprise anymore...”

So what if it wasn’t? He loved working with Keith in the kitchen. He missed his boyfriend right beside him, teasing him gently or pointing out Keith’s mistakes. Making meals was almost always much more fun with Keith around

“Given we don’t know the end result, I think we can still class...”

  Lance’s words died at the sound of tires on the gravel of his driveway

“Babe? Are you okay?”

Now Lance was the one with the confusion. Did Keith not hear this? His boyfriend blinked at him as Lance turned his gaze towards the road despite there being no way of seeing who was out there

“Someone’s here. I hear the car. You can hear it too, right?”

“It’s probably Matt...”

“Nah. That’s not Matt... I think it’s Shiro? Hunk, did you let Shiro know that Keith was missing?”

  With a groan of remembrance, Hunk nodded

“Sorry! I called him to ask if Keith turned up there... or if he had any idea where he’d head to if he didn’t come back here”

Keith’s expression dropped, worry clouding his handsome features. Sure, he and Shiro were being civil but now Shiro was in “Worried Dad Mode”, Keith was bound for a lecture

“It‘ll be okay, babe. We’ll just explain things to him and he’ll understand”

Keith muttered sourly

“It’s embarrassing enough as it is. He’s going to make a fuss”

“Because he loves you. If you don’t want to see him, I can talk to him”

“Nah... I just want to skip the lecture bit”

Lance kissed Keith’s forehead again. Keith needed support, not fussing... or at least, not fussing from anyone other than him

“The last thing you need today is a lecture. I do believe I was promised pampering and a surprise, I might not be too happy if he ruins my plans”

  His words made Keith snort, smile appearing on his lips. He knew Lance was joking to make him feel better

“We can’t interrupt today’s plan. There’s pizza to make... and... I got face masks...”

Keith had unfairly nice skin. His boyfriend didn’t subscribe to face masks and a beautiful routine. Lance’s own beauty routine had pretty much dropped to hand creams and moisturising his stomach to deal with the itchiness

“Oooh. This I have to see. Can I play with your hair?”

“If you really want to? I can’t say I know anything about hair care”

Lance sighed dramatically. Keith really was unfairly handsome

“It must be hard being so handsome and not having to rely on a truck load of products. Oh, woe is your life”

“You’re a shit. You know that, right?”

Lance smiled a shit eating grin at his boyfriend. For how rattled Keith had been, him teasing him was a sure sign that Keith’s mood had improved

“I know. I better make some more tea, Shiro’s probably going to be here for a while”

“As long as he doesn’t interrupt. I feel embarrassed enough over this “ego thing””

“You don’t need to be. Just remember I’m still really proud that you tried”

    *

Shiro basically rushed into the kitchen and threw his arms around Keith, as Keith had expected. He didn’t want a fuss made, not on the back of Hunk being so understanding about everything. Being back at the house felt a hundred times better than being outside. The lack of life around them meant not having to be overloaded with sounds and gossip he’d really rather not hear. Giving Shiro a few moments, Keith patted his brother’s arm, wanting him off of him

“Shiro, I’m fine”

  Shiro didn’t detach. His brother slipping from hugging him side on, to standing behind him with his hands on his shoulders as if he was trying to keep Keith from bolting again

“You had me worried! I thought we’d gotten past the days of your running away. What were you thinking?! Anything could have happened to you”

  Ugh. Maybe Lance had had the right idea when he’d volunteered to talk to Shiro

“I’m fine. I got a bit overwhelmed, but I’m fine...”

Shiro sighed at him. Keith really hated that “disappointed sigh” that seemed reserved just for him

“What were you thinking shopping?! You said you weren’t ready for that”

“I wanted to try, besides, um... I went with Hunk”

“You shouldn’t be pushing yourself. You’re still recovering”

Keith’s ego instantly prickled. Yeah, he’d been in a bad way, but that had passed. He couldn’t ignore leaving the house forever, despite how tempting it was

“Shiro, he’s okay. He had a bit of a scare, but he’s calmed down now. Sit down and have a cup of tea. Then we can talk about all of this calmly”

  Lance hadn’t had to go get the door, not when Shiro had let himself in. His boyfriend had moved back to hover behind Hunk

“Not everything can be solved with a cup of tea. Why weren’t you there to watch over him?!”

Wait. Why was Shiro snapping at Lance?! He had to know that’d only serve to upset Keith. His ego had him snapping back at Shiro, though he knew very well that Lance could speak for himself

“Don’t talk him like that. I went with Hunk because I wanted to. Lance isn’t my keeper, he’s my mate and deserves respect”

  Hunk looked uncomfortable. Lance rubbed at his stomach as he bit his lip, before giving a half shake of his head

“I was laying down, I haven’t been sleeping much with these two being so active. I would have gone with them, but we all know Keith would have had to leave the house at some point. I’m proud he tried shopping. From what he said, things went well until he was bumped into. He’s doing really well with his ego, all things considered”

Shiro sighed, Keith wriggling his way out of his brother’s hands

“Anything could have happened to him”

“I’m not a kid”

“I’m not saying...”

  Lance took a deep breath, interrupting Shiro’s rant before it could become a full blown rant again

“Look, the best thing for all us is to sit down and talk properly. Shiro, I get you’re scared. You got a phone call out of nowhere. Hunk, you did nothing wrong. Keith, ego flaring happens. Now, we can either keep bringing this up repeatedly and pull apart everything that went wrong or could have gone wrong, or we can see this as a good first step, which it was. I’m tired, and I’m cranky, and god if I don’t need a massage, but I will get all cranky if we don’t stop making feel more embarrassed than he needs to feel. Sit down, take a few moments, drink your tea and relax. Hunk, do you want to start putting together everything we need for dinner? The bathroom is calling my name and there was a promise of a cheesy pizza for a cheesy vampire”

  Hunk snorted loudly when Lance said it. Keith knew he was secretly hilarious, though it did kind of sound funnier when Lance said it... Now that Shiro was there, he felt awkward about his plans to try and soothe his ego with some pamper time with Lance. He was hardly a face mask kind of a guy. It was bad enough that he was going to be out of his comfort zone, he didn’t need another witness. For all its aggression, his ego seemed really keen to lavish Lance attention, kind of mocking him for feeling self conscious when they were doing something nice for their precious mate. This whole mates thing was starting to do his head in. Boyfriend he could do. Mates... he didn’t know how to do. He wanted to be with Lance. He wanted to do nice things for Lance. Yet... what if his ego wouldn’t be content with how things were? He didn’t want to bind Lance to him forever, he did but wanted that to be by Lance’s choosing, and not because his ego decided a lack of a ring meant they weren’t committed. Shiro might have been worried, but having him in their space... God. His thoughts were a mess. This was his brother, and he knew he’d have done the same thing had their roles been reversed.

  “Keith?”

Pulled out of his head, Keith smiled at Hunk

“I’m okay, buddy. I was thinking about Lance”

Hunk snorted

“That’s not unusual. I was asking you if you wanted me to stay?”

Oh... did Hunk want to go? Then again, he shouldn’t have to be subjected to him getting snappy

“Yeah. I mean, I’d still like to try make Lance dinner, if you don’t mind teaching me”

“I don’t mind at all. Lance seems pretty excited”

The conversation felt awkward with Shiro still standing behind him. His brother not clued in on anything happening other than his temporary disappearance

“Maybe... we can... think of it like pack bonding? I think that’s what Rieva would call it? I don’t... really get it”

  Hunk’s smile could have lit up the whole house. It was far too bright for Keith’s yo-yoing moods

“You think I’m part of your pack?”

“What else would you be? If I have to be a werewolf, then I think I get to choose who’s in my pack”

“Dude, that’s... so freaking cool! Pidge is going to be totally jealous. I put away most of the shopping, except for things I really didn’t want to... We could start making the dough, it’ll need some time to proof”

What could dough possibly need to prove? Okay, he knew about proofing, but he didn’t have the courage to say the joke out loud

“If Shiro’s staying, he’s helping too”

“That’s fine. I don’t think you two can mess up too badly”

“I don’t know, you haven’t have the full Shiro cooking experience”

  Shiro smacked him across the back of the head

“I took care of you, well enough”

“Let’s face it, we would have died if Adam hadn’t been doing all the cooking at home”

“I don’t know about that”

Keith sighed. His ego taking that the wrong way. This ego thing could kindly fuck right off and stop making him feel so exhausted from a simple conversation

“Look, I get that you dropped everything to come, and I’m not about to kick you out, but today was important. Is important. Coran said it’ll help with my ego, which is all over the place right now. I don’t want you fighting with Lance, and I don’t want you blaming him. I chose to go shopping. Coran said it’d help me settle down and... I don’t know where I’m going with this, but Hunk said he’d help... I don’t want to be snapping at you, and I don’t want Lance blaming himself because I left the house. So can you like sit down or something?”

“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me, but you’re right. You’re not a child, even if you’ll always be my little bother”

“I think you mean “your little brother””

“No. You’re definitely a bother of a brother, kiddo. Maybe you can tell me about it while we make dinner? Lance said something about pizza?”

“Hunk’s going to show me how to make it from scratch”

“If you want to pamper Lance, shouldn’t you make something fancier?”

  Hunk leapt to his defence, embarrassing him as he did

“He’s making pizza because it’s one of the first meals he made for Lance. I think it’s very romantic”

Keith blushed to the tops of his ears, Shiro chuckling

“In that case I’ll help the best I can”

    Keith’s pamper time with Lance was hindered by the slow return of their friends. Rieva smacked him in the arm, hard enough to make him growl, for making her worry. Matt laughed it off with a story of his own. Pidge came home from work with Curtis. There were people everywhere, and with Hunk trying to help with the pizza, Keith felt on edge as his ego decided it was more of a hinderance than a thoughtful gesture. It wanted to provide for Lance, meaning it wanted to pick and choose the toppings, and not be directed over things like putting the cheese on the bottom to act as glue for the rest of the toppings. His planned dinner turning into a group pizza night, with Pidge laughing at the idea of face masks.

  Lance seemed to silently get what he was going through. His boyfriend soft and gentle, pulling his focus to him, rather than the chaos around them. Smiling was hard when all his plans had gone up in smoke, with nothing playing out the way he’d wanted. By seven in the evening, he was ready to call things a night. Shiro and Curtis were staying overnight, Hunk and Pidge leaving after pizza, though Pidge would have stayed if Hunk hadn’t wrangled her in, casting him a sympathetic glance as if he knew how deflated Keith felt internally. After the pair had left, they’d watched a movie, Lance falling asleep against Keith, and Keith feeling like he’d lost his shield against everyone else. Knowing he wasn’t going to be good company, he used Lance as an excuse to head upstairs early, frustrated at himself for not speaking up against their friends. He probably would have sunk further into his mood if Lance hadn’t woken up.

  Settling his boyfriend on his side of their bed, Keith was about to cry when Lance’s big blue eyes opened. Yawning softly, his boyfriend smiled at him, hand reaching up to rest on Keith’s

“I fell asleep again, didn’t I?”

“Yeah”

His reply was curt, though Lance kept smiling at him. He didn’t get how Lance wasn’t upset over the lack of pampering that’d been promised

“I’m sorry I fucked up”

Lance shook his head, tugging on Keith’s hand

“You didn’t. Come up and here and cuddle me”

“I...”

“You’re upset. I can tell. Right now you think you should go because you’re not in a good mood”

  Lance would swear he wasn’t in Keith’s head hole, but it felt like he was

“I promised you pampering”

“And our friends sidetracked things”

“I should have said something”

“It’s fine”

Keith got his feet. It wasn’t fine. He wanted to pamper his mate, and like some coward he’d held his tongue

“How are you not mad?! I broke my promise!”

Lance sighed softly at him

“I’m disappointed, but I’m not mad. I know you wanted to, but everyone else was worried”

“That’s their problem. I didn’t ask for them to be worried”

  Lance sighed again, propping himself up as he did

“No, but they were. Look, I know today went nothing like how you wanted it to go, but I’m not angry. Okay, I’m a little tiny bit angry, but that’s not directed at you”

“Why not? It should be”

Lance clearly wanted to roll his eyes at him, yet refrained from doing so

“I’m not angry at you because I love you. Tomorrow we have the house to ourselves all day. Sure, you couldn’t pamper me today, but tomorrow we can totally pamper each other”

“I had it planned...”

“And sometimes plans change and you have to go along with the flow for the sake of everyone else. And it really hurts and it sucks, but babe, everyone came because they love you. As things settle down, they’ll settle down. So please come down here and cuddle me”

  Keith huffed. He didn’t want cuddles, he wanted to make Lance feel good about himself and work out this ego issue... but he also didn’t not want cuddles. Pouting at him, Lance lowered himself back down then held his arm out until Keith climbed into bed beside him. Looking almost smug, his boyfriend wrapped his arms around him

“See, things are looking up already”

“I still messed up”

“And you think I haven’t?”

“Yeah, but...”

“Nope, no “buts”. I’m sleepy as heck, and you give the greatest cuddles”

“Cuddles aren’t pampering”

“Who says they’re not? I’m happy when you’re in my arms”

“That’s... we always cuddle”

“And yet, I still feel so damn lucky to have you every single time. There’s no one in this world that’s harder on themselves than we are to ourselves... I don’t even know if that made sense. What I’m trying to say is that I love you. I love your big dumb mullet and your overthinking brain. Besides, I want to be pampered by you when we’re alone. You know how self conscious I feel about what... I look like now and how I act. I mean, heck. I was crying because of how much I love you and Hunk. I’m a mess”

“You’re not a mess”

“I am. I really really am. Tomorrow we’ll take it slowly and work things out. I’m not in any rush because I already have everything I want, which is you. Now, if you want to cuddle your babies, they’re moving”

“They should be sleeping”

“They take after their father. Always on the go”

  Keith didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. Lance still hadn’t any fresh blood, and now he was getting worried all over again that it wasn’t healthy at all for his lover

“Babe?”

“I’m... you need blood”

Lance chuckled at him, giving him a firm squeeze as he did

“You can’t stop worrying about me, can you?”

“You’re going through so much because of the pregnancy... because of me. It’s not fair on you”

“Hey, I wouldn’t change a thing. If anyone was going to be the person who’d I make a family with, it was you. I can’t say I’m coping entirely, but I’m coping because we’re in this together”

“You’re constantly fatigued and sick. You throw up so much, and I... I’m scared...”

“But, babe, in the end, I get to have two more little mini-Keith’s in the world”

  Keith wasn’t sure the world needed more of him in it. He didn’t know why he wanted four kids, or if Lance wanted more kids, or would want more after labour. Labour didn’t look fun in any way, shape, or form. His boyfriend forced into a screaming mess if the movies were to be believed

“After hours of labour”

“Me and my arse respectively choose the drugs. Besides, I absolutely refuse to give birth without you there. I want you to be the first person to see our twins”

“I think that’ll be Coran”

Lance huffed at him

“You know what I mean. Seriously, I don’t want anyone else meeting them before you do. I’m scared, but I want to meet them already. I want to hold them. I want to tell them all about their daddy and how wonderful he is”

  Keith didn’t feel wonderful at all

“I think they’re going to find me the biggest disappointment”

“I think I know better than you do”

“I don’t know. I think I kind of know myself, it has been 28 years and all that”

“Babe, you just have to face facts here. Neither of us are perfect. We’re probably no where near as perfect as we seem to each other from an outsiders perspective, but we’re perfect for each other because that’s how we feel. You’re not some kind of a shit dad, you’re a dad who’s been through a lot of shit. They’re going to adore you”

“I wish I could feel that way. I’m so fucking angry that I got so upset”

“I know you are. But you seem to think you wronged me. As the person who was supposed to be wronged, I’m saying you didn’t. That should count for something”

“You’re saying that because you love me”

“That’s because I do love you, silly. Now come down here and cuddle your kids. Maybe you can convinced them it’s time to sleep?”

  Keith shimmied down, resting his forehead against Lance’s stomach. He really loved feeling the twins move. It’d be a long time before he forgave himself for not being able to do more when Lance had started miscarrying them. He never wanted to feel that powerless again

“Babe, you still need to feed. I want you to try my blood”

“Maybe later... I’m terrible company, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep my eyes open”

“Coran said you needed fresh blood”

“And I promise we’ll work it out together, but for now, can we cuddle? I really wanna cuddle”

“Do you promise. Like, you’re not going to go back on your word, right?”

Lance rested his hand on Keith’s hair before starting to play with it gently. Keith enjoying the sensation, happy to cuddle up with the twins and be alone with his lover

“Babe, I promise. I want to keep doing everything right”

“Okay. But you’re not getting out of it tomorrow”

“I know. You know, bed time might just be my favourite time of the day. I like it when it’s just us like this”

“Mmm... I like it to”

  Lance didn’t take long to fall asleep, unlike Keith. His brain wouldn’t switch off. Downstairs the others were watching a different movie now, he wished he didn’t have to hear them talking and laughing. He might not be up for people, but maybe it’d do them some good to get away and work this ego thing out together. He still needed to see his dad... and though Shiro said he’d be there, maybe he and Lance could go ahead of them? If no one else was around, no one could interfere with their plans. He’d have to ask Lance in the morning.

[jasntodds]

Teddy Grahams & Coffee [t.h]

Pairing: Uni!Tom Holland x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, a little bit of awkwardness I guess, more fluff (I know, surprise)

Words: 4,660

Summary: You’re somewhere between friends and more than friends, how some coffee, some snacks, and a lake changes everything

A/N: Bold italics are thoughts!! I was in a mood to write a one-shot and I got an ask about the in between stage of friends and more than friends so here we are. And thank you for all of your kind words about my writing. I love y’all so much!! And @keepingupwiththeparkers has me feeling some type of way about uni!Tom. Lemme know what you think!!

Masterlist

The library is quiet, unsurprising with the Friday night, most students either attending a party or catching up on lost sleep from the week. It’s actually why you like coming to the library on Fridays after you’ve attended your classes. Quiet, not super crowded. Overall, it’s a pleasant environment. So, you’ve got your earbuds in, the music quiet while a book is open in front of you and your laptop open to the side for you to type out any notes. The comfort of your study session is almost relaxing and there’s only one thing, person, that could make it better.

Tom.

Walking in through the library with a navy blue backpack and two coffees in hand is Tom. He’s wearing the usual black t-shirt with jeans that are a little too low, his Calvin’s would definitely show if he lifted his arms even the slightest bit. A snapback hat is backwards, hiding the mess of curls from the long day of classes. A chord to his earbuds stick out from the collar of his shirt, one earbud still in his ear and when he sees you staring, he gives you a quick smile, one that makes your heart skip.

Here we go.

Tom takes a seat opposite you and slides you your coffee, your usual, something he definitely knows off the top of his head now. You thank him quietly, taking a sip of your beverage. Tom leans down and opens his backpack, grabbing a book and a notebook followed by a metallic red bag of unopened Teddy Grahams. The bag of snacks is put right in between the two of you for easy access and it always floods your chest with warmth at the offer.

“How’s studying?” He asks, opening his textbook and flipping through pages.

“Boring.” You huff with a smile as you reach for a few Teddy Grahams.

“Better now that I’m here?” Tom asks flashing you a cheesy grin.

“Yeah, you brought coffee and snacks.” You tease and heat creeps up the back of your neck as you bite your lip.

“Mm,” Tom hums, leaning over to grab a few Teddy Grahams. “That all I am? Coffee and snack provider?”

“You said it, not me.” You quip and Tom gasps maybe a little too loud, hitting his chest over his heart.

“I’m hurt.”

“Yeah, you hit yourself pretty hard.”

Tom’s nose scrunches and his eyes start to crinkle, his head tilting back as he tries not to laugh too loud and disturb the few students around. “Probably gonna bruise.”

You match his laugh, covering your mouth with your hand. “Tom.” Your eyes widen with his name, Tom’s heart skipping a beat and his cheeks tinting a rosy pink.

“Y/n.” Tom mocks.

“Study.” Your voice is showing mock-sarcasm as you shake your head.

“Alright, alright.” Tom puts his hands up, a pretty smile not moving.

Tom looks down to his book and finds the page he was originally looking for, opening his notebook right after. Your eyes look over to see the words that are barely legible and roll your eyes, a grin coming to your lips. Tom can feel you staring so his eyes meet yours and he sends you a quick wink followed by the scrunch of his nose. Heat rises to your cheeks as you shake your head and go back to your own studying.

He’s so cute.

You met Tom a few months ago at a party. The intentions of the night were not to end up spending most of the night splitting a bag of Teddy Grahams and talking to a random boy with chestnut hair and chocolate eyes but that’s exactly what happened.

Your friend had gone off with someone and Tom’s friends were all busy either with girls or one of the few drinking games that happened to be going on. It’s how you two ended up being the two people alone in a kitchen surrounding by pairs and trios.

It was a little awkward, you standing with a red cup in hand, barely taking drinks and Tom on the other side, every now and then you’d make eyes contact. How could you not? He’s gorgeous. But, it was a little awkward randomly making eye contact with a stranger from across the kitchen. Luckily though, Tom had gotten up the courage to finally approach you and introduce himself.

He was sweet and kind with his airy words but his cheeks were that blushed tint and his eyes sparked under the dim lights of the kitchen. He ran his hand through his hair and spoke with his hands, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Nervous.

He was nervous and he was never nervous around anyone but then there’s you with pretty eyes and a gorgeous smile. But that didn’t stop him talking and eventually, you two got tired of being bumped into and interrupted so Tom offered to go outside with you. He said he had snacks in his car which, for some reason, happened to be a selling point for you.

Maybe you were just hungry and bored of the party, or definitely, you just wanted to keep talking to the boy with pretty eyes and a nice jawline.

The fall was turning into winter so the air was crisp when you had exited the crowded and heated house, walking to Tom’s car. You shivered and without even thinking, he offered you a coat he had in the back of his car. You’d taken it shyly and it smelled of fresh cologne but had a boyish scent you couldn’t pinpoint as anything in particular, turns out, it’s just Tom.

He’d grabbed a bag of Teddy Grahams from his car and the two of you sat on the hood of his car with the music from the house echoing in the background, just talking for hours. The two of you ended up so enthralled in getting to know each other, you went through two bags of Teddy Grahams, the cold became irrelevant, and the party started to die down. It was then Tom offered you a ride back to your dorm.

When you got back to your dorm, you swapped numbers and you asked if he wanted to get coffee the following day, continue to get to know each other. And that was the start of the routine of sharing the snacks with a coffee.

Now, an hour’s passed and Tom looks up to you. His eyes soften as he sees you concentrating on working between your book and your laptop, your only focus on your studies. Every part of him just turns soft and he can’t really peel his eyes off of you as you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

Truth be told, he’s been into you since the night of the party but it’s college and neither of you really explicitly stated if you really liked each other even though it’s obvious. And neither of you really ever said if you wanted to be dating. You said you were both single but that was pretty much as far as the conversation ever went. The two of you have hung out and you’ve held hands, had a few movie nights that definitely ended in you falling asleep on his chest or shoulder once or twice, and you’ve definitely attended a party or two together. But you're totally not actually dating. But you’re more than friends. Complicated but neither of you complains. You just look up and Tom immediately looks back down, blushing furiously while you smile to yourself.

Tom lightly kicks your shin from under the table, not enough to inflict pain, just enough to get your attention. When you look up to him, he’s got a cornered smirk and his eyes are glued to his notebook while his pen glides across the paper. Your eyes narrow before you do the same gesture, not hard to inflict pain, just enough to grab his attention.

“What?” Tom asks innocently, big brown eyes looking to you with brows pinched together and a soft pout coming to his lips.

“You kicked me.” You let out a mixture of a huff and a laugh.

“No, I've been studying, see.” Tom says, twisting the notebook around so you can see the sorry excuse for handwriting in blue ink.

“You kicked me, Thomas.” You say again and Tom laughs.

“Why would I do that,” Tom keeps up the innocent act. “Y/n?”

Your eyes go wide while your cheeks start to ache from smiling, Tom nudging your leg with his again from under the table. His laugh is quiet, muffled by his hand before you grab a Tedd Graham and toss it at him, hitting him in the throat. Tom coughs and it’s your turn to laugh now, Tom fumbling for the small snack and finding it on his lap before tossing it into his mouth.

“Wasn’t nice of you. Could at least aim for my mouth next time.” Tom quips.

“Your mouth was covered, smartass.” You reach over and toss another one at him, hitting his nose before he catches it with his hand.

“You're not very good at this.” Tom remarks, shrugging his shoulders and the two of you go to reach for a Teddy Graham at the same time, fingers brushing together and suddenly his cheeks are bright red and you feel the heat creeping up to yours.

“Sorry.” Tom mutters through his blush, letting you have the bag.

“It’s okay.” You bite your lip and grab a Teddy Graham. “Ready?”

Tom grins and leans back a little. “Go.”

You toss the mini snack and Tom catches it in his mouth this time. His eyes shoot open and his arms fly into the air, eliciting a laugh from you that’s way too loud to be in a library. Tom's nose scrunches again as he tries to hold back his laughter and he just watches as you slap your hand over your mouth after gaining a few glares and “sh”’s from the nearby students.

You’re incredible.

You turn around and apologize the students behind you and Tom does the same to the ones on the other side before the two of you look back at each other. You stick your tongue out at him and get Tom to stifle a laugh before he shakes his head, the stubborn stray curl falling in front of his forehead.

The two of you get back studying over the next two hours. And every now and again, there are a few stolen glances with heated cheeks and bitten lips to conceal smiles. His eyes are always soft when he looks at you as you work, admiring you and just being happy this is how he spends his Friday nights. With you, some Teddy Grahams, and some coffee. Others might want to be at parties or catching up on sleep and yeah, Tom would like either of those two things, too but they don’t beat hanging out with you. They don’t even come close, not the same playing field.

“Hey,” Tom taps your hand with a pen, you looking up to him with raised brows and a hum. “Uh, you ‘bout ready? Getting kind of late.” Tom shrugs, giving you a nervous smile that tells you he’s probably just tired of studying but he doesn’t wanna leave without you.

You look at the time and see it’s just after eleven. “Yeah, I could shower and sleep.” You sigh, closing your laptop.

The two of you work on packing up all of your things, Tom grabbing the empty bag and empty coffee cups to toss in the trash before coming back to your table. By the time he gets back, you’ve got a light jacket on and your backpack hanging off of one shoulder as you push in your chair.

Tom slings his own backpack over his shoulder and meets you at the end of the table before the two of you head out but as you start walking, Tom reaches over to you and takes your backpack from you. He smiles shyly, shugging it on the same shoulder as his backpack and you bump him lightly before cautiously and carefully reaching between the two of you and brushing your hand against his.

It’s like a bomb of butterflies explodes through Tom’s stomach with the brush of your hand as he looks between the two of you. He reaches for your fingers and interlocks them, connecting your hands with the same caution you used. When he feels your chilled fingers wrapped around the front of his hand, he lets out a shallow breath and smiles to himself and then at you.

The walk is quiet besides your footsteps a few crickets in the background allowing for a nice walk. Tom’s thumb rubs over the back of your hand and you have to smile, it’s like a reflex now. He does anything and it makes you smile ear-to-ear and your stomach twists and turns with butterflies. There’s just something about him that pulls you in.

“Hey…” Tom starts running a hand through his hair as you two reach just outside your dorm building. “A-are you busy tomorrow?” He asks, biting his bottom lip and his brows lift with hope.

You look to your shoes and back to him, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear as best as you can. “No, I was probably going to read, catch on shows. Maybe. Why?” You ask and there’s hope rising in your chest too.

“Well,” He rubs the back of his neck. “A few of my friends are goin’ to the lake and I was wondering, if you wanted, maybe you’d go, too?” Tom asks and normally his words flow like a slow current of a river but right now, his words are like raging rapids. Uneasy and nervous.

Say yes, please. Please, say yes.

“Um..” You start but Tom cuts you off.

“You can--” Tom sucks in a breath, realizing his sentence was going to come out too fast. ”You can bring a friend...if you want.” Tom offers, hoping that if you could bring a friend, maybe you’d feel more comfortable to be around him and his friends. You haven’t really hung out with Tom and his friends before, not a group anyway. You’ve met most of them but not in anything bigger than a group of three.

“Will Harrison be there?” You ask.

Tom nods, and his heart sinks a little. “Yeah, yeah he will be.”

“I’ll bring my roommate if she isn’t busy.” You give Tom a smile and suddenly, his heart is in his throat and are you saying you’re going to come? “She thinks he’s cute.”

“So, you’ll go?” Tom asks and his eyes are brighter than the moon above you with the question.

You nod quickly. “Yeah, sounds fun.” You chew your bottom lip and Tom looks like he’s going to shoot out of his skin.

“Cool, awesome. Yeah.” Tom says quickly, making you giggle. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, I’ll text you the time.” Tom rushes, before he starts to walk away, completely ecstatic you said you’d go.

“Tom?” You stand there, pointing to him.

“Yeah?”

“You have my backpack.”

“Oh!” Tom says, quickly coming back and returning your backpack to you. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You lean up to him and kiss his cheek before turning to the door, tugging it open. “Don’t forget to text me the time.”

Tom’s eyes are wide and the spot where you kissed him is warm, his cheeks about as red as a fire engine and his stomach is swarming while he’s completely giddy with excitement.

“Okay.” Tom says, trying to keep his cool before you enter the building.

Once the door is shut, Tom starts to walk off, looking to the sky and he does a little twirl in the grass before it turns into a small few second dance with each step. He doesn’t know it, but you definitely saw it through the window, leaving you laughing to yourself and for some reason, it makes you like him even more than you already do, if that’s even possible.

Dork.

--------------------------------

The next day comes around the sun is already high in the sky, temperatures reaching well into the eighties with high humidity making it feel hotter than it actually was which only made it a better day to spend at the lake. So, Tom’s there with a group of his friends, all of them besides him and Harrison having someone on their hip, and he sets up a towel for himself and his things, a small cooler sitting at the edge.

Meanwhile, you’re on your way with your roommate who’s maybe just as eager to see Harrison as you are Tom. It’s a good thing the lake isn’t too far off campus so the drive is short and you’re there in no time.

Your roommate parks the car and the two of you walk across the small graveled lot and into the grass where most everyone has a towel set up for themselves and mini coolers besides them. Tom spots you immediately and his cheeks flush as he waves, mentally kicking himself for actually waving but you wave back and head over to him, your roommate wishing you luck and heading off to Harrison who’s with a couple.

“Hey.” You greet and take your towel from underneath your arm and set up beside Tom’s.

“Hey.” Tom smiles back, watching you and helping adjust your towel from where he’s sat. “Drive okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” You nod, taking a seat beside him. “Mostly listened to music.”

“Cool.” Tom says and it falls silent between the two of you.

You both look out to the lake where a few of Tom’s friends were standing about knee deep, the guys trying to get the girls, presumably their girlfriends, to come into the water farther. Their laughter and teasing pleas echoed around the water and through the trees around the lake. Tom glances at you and he needs to say something, anything at all. He can usually find something to say but it’s just a little different right now. Everyone is kind of paired off as couples, besides Harrison and your roommate but that might change within a few hours anyway, and then there’s you two.

In between.

“Are you hungry?” Tom asks, breaking the silence as he leans forward for his cooler.

“Do you have Teddy Grahams again?” You ask, a teasing smile coming to your face while Tom opens the lid.

He pulls out the silver and red bag flashing you a cheesy grin. “Always.” He says smoothly, handing the bag to you before going back to the cooler. “I made sandwiches.” Tom’s smile turns more nervous than teasing. “You said this was your favorite.”

You blush, taking the sandwich wrapped in cling wrap from him, seeing that it is your favorite. “Thanks, Tom.”

Tom nods with a gentle smile while he reached for his own sandwich and follows it with two bottles of water, one for you and one for him. You take yours gratefully and the two of you start on your lunch.

You didn’t really think he’d pack a lunch. You expected Teddy Grahams since it’s almost a joke between the two of you but he pays attention to the things you like. The table in the library, your specific seat at that table, the sandwich you almost always have for lunch when you eat together, your coffee order and where you get your coffee from. Tom pays attention more than you really thought he would and again, it’s just making you fall harder for him.

And the conversation between you starts to pick up. Tom mostly asks about your summers and you do the same, finding out Tom spent a lot of his summers doing everything and anything. Traveling, time spent on the soccer field, skateboarding on occasion, a lot of swimming, surfing if he happened to be vacationing somewhere that made it possible, nights spent with friends at lakes and in fields drinking. It’s been obvious he’s not a homebody exactly but he definitely does a lot more than you expected and if you could sit and listen to him talk about every story he has about his summers, you would. And he would do the exact same, him hanging onto every word of your previous summers.

By the time you’re both done eating, Tom’s friends and your roommate are egging the two of you to join them in the water. There’s a bit of hesitance but you both agree, but only after sunscreen is applied.

Tom offers to rub some onto your back, around the straps of your swimsuit once you’ve taken off your over your shirt. His hands are careful and gentle across your skin, making sure not to miss a spot and not overstep even though it’s just sunscreen.

“Think you’re good.” Tom says, leaning of your shoulder with a soft smile.

You turn your head to look at him and suddenly your faces are only a few centimeters away from the other and there’s that moment where you both aren’t breathing. Your breath is held and your hearts thunder like a midnight storm in your chests. Tom’s eyes look between yours and your lips and he’s so close to asking, leaning in and then you’re pulled away by yelling.

“Come on!” Harrison yells. “Get on with it!” Harrison chortles, earning a light smack over his shoulder by your roommate.

You look back to Tom and he hangs his head with a soft laugh, trying to brush off the anxiety of him almost kissing you. “Ready?” He asks looking back to you.

“Sure.” You brush it off as well and Tom helps you to your feet, the both of you walking off to the water.

The water is cold but it doesn’t take long to get used to. And before you know it, there’s laughter with the entire group of people, you and your roommate merging right in as if you’d been friends with everyone the whole time. Eventually, it leads to a few games of chicken, you on top of Tom’s shoulders and your roommate on top of Harrison’s. You definitely won most of the rounds but the few that you didn’t win, you couldn’t very well complain.

You were first into the water, Tom right after you and he came up, shaking his hair, droplets of water falling down his muscular chest. The sight was very pretty and you had half a mind to keep losing to keep getting the sight but you figured maybe that’s a little mean. But it’s a nice thought.

Eventually, the sun starts to set and the day of lake fun comes to an end. Tom’s friends all pack up, one-by-one and soon enough, your roommate is asking if it’s okay if she takes Harrison back and you can ride with Tom. It’s an easy decision to which she quickly thanks you for and her and Harrison are off to her car, Harrison's arm draped around her shoulders.

“In the mood for coffee?” Tom chuckles as he nudges your shoulder with his, the two of you off to his car.

“I’m always in the mood for coffee, haven’t you figured that out yet?” You tease.

“Oh, my apologies, miss.” Tom dramatically moves both of his hands to his chest, fluttering his eyes at you.

“Shut up.” You roll your eyes but nudge him back, cheeks aching from smiling.

The two of you pile into Tom’s car, him resting your things and his in the back. He lets you choose the music to which you just choose one of Spotify’s “what’s popular” playlists and let the music fill the car.

Tom’s fingers tap to the music and every and now and then, he glances over at you while you’re looking out the window, watching the sun finally disappear. The lights going back to campus illuminate your face and it sends heat up Tom’s neck and to his cheeks, his stomach fluttering and all he wants to do is really ask you to go a real date with him. To be something more than just this in between. It’s great and he’s fine with it, but he wants a little more. He wants you if you’ll have him.

Tom swings by one of your favorite coffee shops and gets you both your usual before you head back to campus and instead of dropping you off at your dorm, you ask if he wants to walk. If you’re being honest, you just want to spend more time with him and it’s so nice outside, on a Saturday night. There’s no harm in asking and Tom nearly completely jumps at the opportunity wanting to spend more time with you, too. So, Tom drives to the parking lot he uses and the two of you grab your things and make the walk to your dorm, your fingers interlocking with his just as they did the night prior.

Unfortunately, the walk back to your dorm seemed to be much quicker than usual. Maybe it was the constant conversation the two of you maintained and the laughter, Tom teasing you and nudging you while you squeezed his hand. Or maybe it was the new found energy from the coffee in your hands. Or maybe it’s definitely that you don’t want to say goodnight.

“So,” Tom sucks in a breath, standing in front of you, your eyes spotting the light bit of sunburn on the bridge of his nose. “Was fun today.” Tom says.

“Yeah, I had fun.” You give him a wide smile. “We should do it….again?” You leave it as a question, making it his choice to finish it, hoping that he wants to.

“Yeah, for sure.” Tom nods quickly before looking to his shoes, nerves building in his body as he tries to build up the courage.

Ask. Just do it.

“Um,” Tom looks back up to you and you can see the nerves written in the creases of his forehead. “I really like you.” Tom’s words are breathy.

“I like you, too.” You respond and you want to completely combust. It was obvious you both liked each other but the verbal confirmation just relieves so much pressure from both your shoulders and his shoulders.

“You do?” Tom asks, his face softening and his brows raising.

“Yeah!” You giggle.

“Well,” Tom takes a step forward, sucking in a breath of courage. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for….” Tom trails off, his eyes looking to the side before they meet yours. “A long time, since we met, I think.” Tom lets a chuckle come from the back of his throat. “Could I kiss you?”

You don’t answer. Instead, you close the distance between the two of you and connect your lips to his. He tastes like a mixture of espresso and chocolate, lips warm but a little chapped but it’s more than what you had imagined. And Tom leans in closer to you, using the hand that doesn't contain his coffee to grip your hip and bring you flush against his body. It’s like a firework store completely explodes through Tom’s entire body with your lips finally against his and he needs to pull away, just for a second.

“Wow.” He whispers, his forehead resting against yours.

“I wanted...to do that, too.” You whisper back, biting your lip.

“Wanna go on a real date? Just me and you?” He asks, eyes so soft you could melt into them.

“I’d like that.” You nod against him before Tom presses his lips against yours once more, this time the kiss deeper and hungrier than the one before. And you both know this is the start of something incredible.

-----------------------------------------

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[theoddcatlady]

I Lived in the Haven Commune, Part Four

Part Three

The incident happened a few weeks after Beverly’s and Jonas’ marriage. Of course my mother never intended on it happening, but it was her fault.

It was a school outing. We were all out checking out the fields of grown corn while Mr. Whitney explained how we grew all our own crops. It’d just rained the night before so Abigail was jumping from puddle to puddle, trying to splash me and Scotty. She got me at least twice, but I splashed her three times so I won.  

It was a little muggy out but nothing too bad and we were all having a great time. We were all getting covered in mud, even Mr. Whitney was playing around with us.

Then I saw a man lying in the ditch next to the field.

At first I thought it was a mannequin, I’d never seen a human look so pale before. I walked away from the group and up to the edge. Only when I got close did I realize that it was a person… and that he was alive. His chest was slowly rising and falling.

I screamed and immediately slid down into the ditch to make sure he was okay. “Hello? Hello, sir?! Help! Mr. Whitney!”  

The man gasped and his hand shot up, grabbing my wrist. He managed to lever himself into the sitting position, his bloodshot eyes staring right into mine. “Do you taste the blood?” He slurred.

I screamed again, trying to scramble away as this man slowly leaned in, bloody spittle dripping from his chapped lips.

“What the fu- JANE!”

Mr. Whitney grabbed me by the middle and yanked me out of the ditch, out of the pale man’s grasp. The pale man giggled and flopped back down, eyes staring at the gray sky.

“Everyone, back to the building, right now. Have Mrs. Powell, wait a tic,” Mr. Whitney slid down into the ditch and kicked the man under the chin, knocking him senseless as Mr. Whitney yanked up his pant legs.

I think they were leeches. Leeches from hell, anyway. These pale grubs, with red veins popping out of their swollen bodies were latched all up and down this poor guy’s leg. His leg was shriveled to the point of being not much more than skin and bone. He probably couldn’t even stand.  

Mr. Whitney sighed. “… Have Mrs. Powell check you over and fetch Dr. Gardner. Jane, stay with me, I’ll check you myself,” He said.  

Everyone ran off as Mr. Whitney crawled out of the ditch, pulling up his own pant leg to check himself over.  “Jane, you have to be completely honest with me. Did this man attempt to kiss or bite you?” He said.

I gagged. “No!”  

“Pull up your skirt past your knees, check yourself for leeches. Right now, Jane.”

Mr. Whitney was dead serious.  I nodded and sat down on the ground, pulling up my skirt. My finger brushed something behind my knee and I felt my heart stop. I flipped my leg around and there it was. It wasn’t bigger than my pinky finger, but it was a leech, just like the ones all over that man.  

“Shit.” Mr. Whitney picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, bolting out of the fields.  

He took me into the main building and past the curtains to the infirmary. He practically dropped me on the table before digging through the first aid kit.  

He pulled out a small little package, I didn’t realize what it was at first until he dumped it onto the leech.

Salt.  

The leech detached and flopped onto the cot. Mr. Whitney slammed his elbow onto it, squashing it into a splotch of bright red and black goo. He sighed as he poured the rest of the salt onto the leech corpse.

“It’s gonna be all right, Jane, it’s going to be all right. This is going to hurt a lot, but you’re going to be all right.”

Mr. Whitney pulled an orange lighter out from his pocket and flicked it on. Without so much as a warning he pressed that flame right against the leech bite. I howled and my fingers dug into the cot as Mr. Whitney continued to burn the wound.

“What are you doing to my baby?!”

My mom burst past the curtains and was about to tackle Mr. Whitney when my dad pulled her back. My mom clawed at the air, fire in her eyes and about frothing at the mouth in her rage. Father Holmes and Dr. Gardner came in next.

“Are you cleansing the bite?” Dr. Gardner said, heading for the medicine cabinet and digging through it.

“Trying. Someone hold her hand, please, she’s going to bolt,” Mr. Whitney said through gritted teeth.  

I don’t know how he knew I was going to run before I did, but Father Holmes took my hand in his and let me squeeze as tight as I could. I was crying, tears flooding down my cheeks as I garbled pure nonsense about how badly this hurt.

Dr. Gardner bumped Mr. Whitney to the side and she uncapped a jar of pale green cream. “Pull back the flame,” She ordered before spreading the cream over the bite.

If I’d thought the fire hurt, it had nothing compared to the cream. Although it was cool to the touch, every nerve lit up on my leg like needles were stabbing into my skin. I sobbed and squeezed Father Holmes’ hand.  

“What is going on?!” My mom demanded, my dad still having to hold her back.

Dr. Gardner spread more cream onto the wound. “Your daughter was bitten by a Beleven leech. This doesn’t make sense, Father, they don’t come this close to our homes, not ever,” She said.  

“Something drew them here then, maybe the rain?” Father Holmes wiped my forehead off with a cloth and I remembered when he did this for Mrs. Powell. “Usually it’s a larger storm that helps them travel so far, but it could’ve been a fluke.”

Mr. Whitney shook his head. “No. There were no less than seven leeches on Augustus, and now there’s one on Jane. This isn’t a fluke. Something else drew them,” He said.

My mom shook her head. “What… what is a Beleven leech? Why are you hurting my daughter?!” I saw she was crying.

Father Holmes wiped my tears away. “It’s better she hurts now then be dead later,” He said quietly. I passed out after that. The pain was just too much.  

When I woke up, I was in my own bed. Nutmeg tucked under my arm and I was redressed into my pajamas. My mom was sitting on her bed, flipping through her Bible. My leg still felt like something was pressing spikes into it and I quietly cried out.

“Shhh, shhh…” My mom ran up to me and brought a bottle of water, pressing it to my lips. “The doctor dosed this with something. It’ll help with the pain.”

The water had a bitter aftertaste but I drunk as much as I could. I could barely even lift my head up. “… Where’s dad?” I asked.

My mom glanced at the door. “They’re having a meeting right now, about the leeches. Don’t worry about it, my sweet girl, they’re going to make sure no one else is hurt,” She said.

I stared out the window out the front of my bed, where something squatted outside. It stared at me a moment longer before it turned around and hopped away like a frog.  

I didn’t say anything.

I drifted off a few times, always waking up with my mom sitting next to me. I heard her humming lullabies a few times the few times I was awake.

I woke with a start when the door banged open. My dad walked in with Father Holmes, Frank, and Dr. Gardner. All of them were somber.  

“Where is the Bible, Deborah?” Father Holmes asked quietly.

My mom pressed her lips together in a firm line. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She responded.

Dr. Gardner glanced at my dad, who sighed and pointed to my mom’s pillow. “She keeps it there,” He said.

My mom sputtered. “Wha- Carson! How could you!? You promised \-”

Frank walked over to the bed and flipped over the pillow, pulling up the book. “Here it is,” He said.

Father Holmes stared at my mother, he looked so sad. “… We do not have many rules, Deborah. Why?” He asked.

My mom crossed her arms. “That Bible belonged to my mother, it’s my Reminder. I’m allowed to have a Reminder, you said I could!” She said.

Frank squeezed the Bible in his hand, shaking with rage. “Reminders do not include anything involving religion, including jewelry, symbols, or books. Do you know what you’ve done?!” He swept an arm out. “You got a man killed today! A good man, who had a wife and two daughters! You could’ve gotten your daughter killed! If Augustus bit her, she would’ve gotten sick a lot faster and there’s no guarantee treatment would’ve worked. And before she died, she would have suffered because you thought you were above the rules!” He shouted, his face turning bright red.

Frank pulled out a lighter then and my mom’s face went white. “Wait- no! Don’t, please!” She begged.

He flicked it on and turned to Father Holmes. The man sighed before turning to my mother. “Deborah, you have a choice right now. Either you let Frank burn it or you pack up your things right now and leave. What is your choice?”  

My mom looked at the Bible before looking at me and my dad. She looked back at the Bible before she walked forward and snatched the Bible from Frank’s hand. Already the pages had been singed. “… We’re leaving,” She said before turning to my dad. “Carson, carry Jane to the car.”

“No. Jane is staying right here.” My father got between me and my mother. “She’s not the one who couldn’t follow a simple rule, Deborah. We’re staying here.”

My mom gasped and for a moment I thought she might have changed her mind. But she just shook her head and said, “Damn you, Carson. Damn you!”  

She threw what little things she had left into her suitcase and was marched out by Dr. Gardner and Frank. I just watched the whole thing with numbness. I didn’t let it sink in until the next morning when I realized my mom just left us.  

I’ve never forgiven her for that.

Part Five

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 114 prt 1

114

It snowed as they slept, a tangle of limbs. Lance fell asleep in the bath, Keith carrying him back to the bed where he stripped off the dirty quilt and roused Lance enough to coax him under the blankets. They’d woken some time before dawn, the sex slow, sleepy and sweet, before falling back to sleep holding each other. Waking the following morning, Lance was shaking with the cold. Keith tucking the blankets around him as he fetched their gear from outside. Everywhere was dyed white. The lights on in the main cabin, but it was too early to human. Keith grabbing up their things and darting back inside, it was fucking freezing out there, barely past dawn. Sleepily Lance called to him

“Babe?”

“I’m here”

He wasn’t about to wander off naked

“It’s cold”

“I know, I’m coming back to bed now”

“‘kay... miss you”

Lance was still cold when it came time actually get up. Keith running them a warm bath. His boyfriend clinging to him as he carried him into the bathroom. He liked Lance being clingy, but those fingers of his were no joke. Getting Lance into the bath, his boyfriend whined softly when Keith didn’t join him right away. Keith hadn’t had his coffee yet, the fact Lance wasn’t dropped was a birthday miracle. Maybe he was magically cured... Nah. That wasn’t going to happen over night

“It’s alright, babe. I’m going to grab us some clothes to wear”

“Mmm, okay... but don’t be too long”

Heading back into the bedroom, Keith dumped their things out on their bed, finding Lance had hidden his present to him under all their clothes. He didn’t want to open it. Not yet. Not until he was awake to function. It was hard to ignore though. Lance had really nice handwriting, his name on a little gift card signed from his boyfriend with a heart. Forcing himself to grab them something to wear, he came back to the bathroom with the gift still on his mind. In his absence Lance started dozing in the tub... looking adorable as he did, surrounded by the bubbles that came from the provided body wash.

Joining Lance led to bath sex... Lance’s skin smooth and oily from the bubble bath, his boyfriend whining softly at the hot water slipping inside of him, not that that stopped him. It was slow sex with plenty of kisses and Lance doing the hard work. It’d taken him three and a half weeks to be intimate with Lance again. He regretted not being ready sooner, especially in the wake of Lance’s breakdown, yet his boyfriend had calmed a lot since he’d started rubbing and touching his stomach more. They were being those kinds of parents, taking photos weekly as Lance’s stomach began to grow. Not that you could tell at the moment. The small amount of pudge still looked as if Lance had eaten too much, not that he was carrying a baby. He got what Lance meant about being physical, but he was also kind of glad they hadn’t rushed into immediately upon finding out they were expecting.

Lance was more awake after they’d had sex. His boyfriend dried his hair, then wanted to dry him down, peppering kisses to Keith’s scars. Lance never pushed on them, instead he seemed to know that some had stories Keith wanted forget. His kisses like he was trying to heal the hurt behind them. When they were dressed, and Lance had had his vitamin injection, Keith carried him to the main cabin seeing they’d left Lance’s boots their the previous night, Lance holding on for dear life as Keith’s pre-coffee clumsy was strong.

In the main cabin breakfast was underway. Pidge nursing her coffee as she sat at the dining table. Kosmo was already making a pest of himself as Hunk and Shay made breakfast, his dog lolling his head back to acknowledge their existence but the call of bacon was too strong. Matt and Rieva were in front of the fireplace. Shiro and Curtis cuddles up on the sofa. This was nice... nice, but Keith felt kind of left out seeing they were the last to arrive

“We thought about sending a rescue party to find you”

Lance climbed out of his hold, shivering as his feet touched the cold wood floors

“Totally my fault. Needed a bath to warm up... stupid snow”

Lance flashed their friends a smile. Keith feeling worse about things seeing it was fake... Keeping up appearances was hard and unfair. Shiro chuckled

“It’s a cold one. Matt and Rieva were straight in front of the fireplace. There’s coffee left for Keith”

Lance kissed his cheek

“Here that, babe, you better get some coffee in you while I put my boots back on”

“Can you two not be gross before breakfast?”

Keith rolled his eyes at Pidge. She was just jealous she wasn’t here with her partner. The thought sticking with him as Lance walked over to the fireplace. Pidge wasn’t dating anyone. He hoped she didn’t feel any less wanted there, because he wanted her there

“Leave Keith alone. He’s allowed to be gross in his birthday weekend”

Flipping Shiro off, Keith cautiously shuffled into the kitchen, Shay an angel as she passed him a cup of coffee, giggling at the happiness on his face

“Shiro already warned me I better have it ready”

“Babe, he’s as bad as Pidge when doesn’t have her”

Shay giggled at being called “babe”. Lance was right. Hunk and Shay were very well suited together. Taking his first mouthful of coffee, he found it lukewarm, meaning he could drain the whole cup. Hunk noticing

“There’s coffee next to the kettle. The milk’s in the fridge. It’s lactose free, Lance made sure to tell us repeatedly, as if we forget”

“Thanks, guys. You didn’t have to go to the effort”

Pidge snorted from the table

“Dude, you’re our friend. We do nice things for the people we actually like. Everyone else can go fuck themselves”

Matt and Shiro both called out in synch

“Language!”

The kind of timing that couldn’t be brought. Grumpily Pidge leaned back in her chair, cradling her coffee

“Blow me”

“Blow you what?”

Matt was the only one game enough to mess with her. Keith making for the coffee and the kettle, dying for another cup and this time hopefully warm. This wasn’t a bad way to spend a birthday at all... Not now he had caffeine starting to drive the blood out of his caffeine system.

Feeding Lance for the morning proved slightly difficult. Shay was in the kitchen, meaning he could go pouring blood into Lance’s morning shake. Instead he had to be covert. Making like he was putting away the milk, he hovered near the fridge, pouring out too much blood into the shake cup. He then had to use both hands and some very awkward body language to hide the contents as he added the shake powder. On a cold day it was probably better for Lance to have more blood than he needed, though he didn’t know if it’d make his boyfriend short the rest of their stay. Topping the shake up with water, he snapped the lid into place, shaking it as he carried it over to Lance who was sitting near the fire now he had his boots on. A normal person would be sweating from the heat

“Babe, food”

Lance eyed the shaker bottle with defeat. Matt shaking his head as the concoction

“I don’t think I want to ask”

“Have to hide breakfast somehow”

“Leave him alone to eat in peace”

“But, babe...”

“You finish that sentence, Matthew Holt, and I’ll put you out in the snow to pee like Kosmo”

Matt pouted at Rieva. Lance shooting Rieva a smile. Keith not jealous... He wasn’t. He simply needed more coffee

“Am I making pancakes?!”

Calling out from where he’d been frying eggs and bacon, Hunk laughed as they all called back “yes”. They really felt like a weird family... a weird family that he wasn’t sure he deserved.

With the baby, work and Lance, letting himself be distracted from his birthday blues was easier this year. Lance knew his past, knew not to push and when he needed that push. Shiro hadn’t pushed... Keith still feeling down about it especially between the ultrasound and the weekend, the feeling kind of like nothing good could possibly come from it and it was all going to be a big joke. That everyone was faking caring and there’d be no cabin. He felt dumb for doubting his friends... but some things were so ingrained that all the love in the world from his friends’ wasn’t going to magically break down those walls or heal the damage in an instant. All of these people being here for him scared him. He liked all of them... and they all liked him... he found a place here and he never wanted to lose it.

Settling down at the dining table with this cup of coffee, Pidge punched him in the arm

“What did I do now?”

“Birthday punches. Normally you punch the person however many times they are old, but I need more coffee for that”

“Thanks... I think?”

“You’re welcome. I’ve got your present in my bag. What did Lance give you?”

“I haven’t opened it yet...”

“Shit. I could have gotten in first... Guys, Keith hadn’t opened anyone’s present yet! He’s still fair game”

Was that a thing?

“Pidge, leave him alone. Besides, I booked the holiday!”

“You just want Keith all to yourself. I’m into your McClain!”

“He is my boyfriend!”

“Finders keepers, losers weepers”

“Merp!”

Pidge flipped Lance off. Curtis laughing at the pair of them

“With your compatibility, I am sure you would find Keith most agreeable to keep. Though he is more compatible with Lance. You’d both murder each other over the first cup of coffee for the day”

Pidge wrinkled her nose

“If I have to share my coffee like that, you can keep him”

Lance enthusiastically claiming him

“Done! He’s mine! But I left his present in his bag...”

He didn’t need presents... He didn’t need anything. Being here with them... he’d never had this like this...

“Guys... you don’t have to give me presents. You being here is enough”

Pidge raised an eyebrow

“Dude. It’s free stuff”

“I don’t need a lot”

She wasn’t backing down

“Shut up. You do too. Now drink your coffee birthday boy”

Breakfast was loud. There were discussions and firm plans put in place for a snowball fight, and something about maybe making snow men, Hunk bragging a little about his skills. Lance hadn’t taken the delicious scents as well as the others, his boyfriend slipping off to throw up, missing the second half of things before Keith went to check on him. Hunched over the toilet, Lance smiled at him weakly

“You shouldn’t be worrying on your birthday”

“I came to check you’re okay”

“Better... just letting the cabin air a bit before... nope... never mind”

Throwing up again, his boyfriend weakly gripped the toilet as he did. Keith hated seeing him like this, and he hated he couldn’t do anything about Lance’s morning sickness. Sitting himself down behind Lance, he wrapping his arm around him, rubbing the taunt muscles of his stomach

“I feel like I should apologise”

Lance hacked and spat, sounding throughly done as he did, before letting himself relax back against Keith

“You don’t need to. You’ve done nothing wrong”

“Still...”

“Nope. It’s your birthday. None of that”

“You’re being stubborn again”

“Because I’m okay. I feel better than I have in a while... other than this...”

“This is kind of my fault”

“It takes two to make a macaroon. You should be more worried about Pidge in a snow ball fight. She shows no mercy, even to her team”

“She did seem pretty keen”

“Personally I think she can’t wait to rain hell down on Matt”

“I can see that. Are you up for it?”

“Traipsing around in the cold? Ugh... maybe I’ll umpire”

“We need one?”

“You know Pidge will accuse Matt of cheating. This wasn’t supposed to... I mean... I didn’t think it’d snow so soon”

“It’s fine...”

“Mmmm... maybe. No one made a fuss, did they?”

“Nah. Shay’s the only one who doesn’t know human food doesn’t stay down”

“I really want to bring her in to sign a non-disclosure, but she deserves a life where she doesn’t have to fear the dark”

“I think she could handle it... Hunk wants to tell her”

“It’s not fair on him”

They both fell silent for a moment, Keith rubbing at Lance’s belly. This birthday was so weird. His next birthday he’d be father...

“Babe... I know birthdays aren’t the best for you, but I hope you still make some good memories of today”

“I already am... I... kind of feel weird having everyone together because of me”

“That’s because we all love you, silly. You deserve every happy moment”

“I don’t know about that”

“Then it’s a good thing that I do. You, Keith Kogane, are loved. Very much... I’m just sorry that I’m tired”

“Was last night too much?”

“Last night was perfect. So was this morning... and this morning again... you’re a total horn dog”

“I can’t help it... you’re so cute”

Lance blushed softly. Keith’s heart doing flips

“Should I be worried you’re going to gobble me up?”

“Maybe. But if you don’t want to... I mean...”

“I like having sex with you. Even if I did worry I was going to piss myself in your lap”

“Babe, I wouldn’t really... No. You need to feel safe with me”

“I do... last night was pretty close though”

“Let me know in future. I’d rather stop than hurt you”

“I know. I think maybe I’m done. My stomach feels like it’s settling”

“That’s good. I worried I put too much blood in your shake”

“You did, but it’s alright. I needed the energy boost”

“Should I be worrying about that?”

“Nah. I’m sleepy for all the right reasons... and the fucking snow”

Keith chuckled

“You’re so much like Mami. Her showing up bundled up like that”

“Mmm... I’m definitely a tropical vampire. It was hard to hide it all when Pidge and Hunk didn’t know. Hunk used to fret so much over how cold I was...”

“I’m fretting over how cold you are”

“Ahhh, but this is perfect weather for snuggling with the birthday boy, after he wins the snow fight”

“If you’re not...”

“Don’t you finish that. I’m your boyfriend, not your keeper. Have fun with our friends. I know how much you missed them. I’m not going to be lonely laughing at you guys”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. I’ll just borrow someone’s phone and take photos”

“You could borrow my camera”

Lance raised an eyebrow, Keith not sure why

“Your camera is your baby”

Oh... that was why

“It’s not like you’re going to drop it”

“I don’t want to risk breaking it”

“You won’t. I’ll set it up so all you have to do is point and shoot”

Lance groaned at him

“They’re going to awful compared to your skills”

“I’m not that skilled”

“Babe. Love of my life. Anger loaf and lover of Macaroon. You really are. I was totally thinking about getting you camera stuff for your birthday, and I mean, I know I remember stuff, but then they went off and started in talking in some weird language with exposure and angles and it was complicated”

“Not as complicated as legal jargon”

“Oh, that’s pretty up there... but give me a day in the courtroom over deciphering camera talk”

“That’s because you’re not used to it”

“Does that mean you’ll teach me?”

“If you want to learn”

Lance chuckled

“Not really. I’m happier watching you. Okay, let’s get off the floor. My butt’s going numb with the cold”

“We can’t have anything happening to that arse of yours. It’d be butt a tragedy”

Lance’s glare said he wasn’t amused, Keith on the hand thought himself funny. For two people so close, he couldn’t believe how calm Lance was taking things when compared to him losing it over finding Lance the perfect last minute gift. Next year he was going to be prepared.

*

Lance wasn’t imagining things. Shay kept looking at him like she wanted to say something, the looked away when their eyes met. They’d talked a little in the car, Shay asking how he’d been, the others must have told her he’d been, or more likely Hunk had turned to her upset over what had happened. Thanks to his life being flipped upside down again, he’d barely seen Shay as much as he used to. It sucked... and the snow really sucked.

Sitting on the veranda of the cabin, Lance watched the others playing in the snow. Keith hadn’t been keen, then had been ganged up on by Curtis and Shiro, his boyfriend tackled down and snow put down the back of his shirt. For all his yelling and complaining, Keith was laughing as hard at as everyone else. The air was still cool, but the snow had already begun to melt to slush. Kosmo was so confused to what to do, running after the balls of snow only to watch them disappear, or even worse for the poor doggo was when he thought he’d caught them onto find them vanishing like magic. He made his displeasure know as he barked, bounding around with everyone. This was how life should be. No shitty vampire “war”, and now worries. He truly hoped this would be the first in a long line of happy birthdays for his boyfriend. This time next year they’d be parents to a little Macaroon that really needed a better name.

Playing in the snow resulted in an early lunch. Lance skipping real food for a shake, the smells of breakfast still in the air, and he wanted to make an effort to keep something down. Lunch was less formal than breakfast, not that breakfast was formal. Deciding on snacks, they lounged around, Keith not keeping him warm as his boyfriend was damp from Shiro smooshing snow into his hair. Each time he went in for a hug, Lance sank back into the sofa wishing he had a blanket

“Lance, I have to ask, what’s with the shakes. You didn’t even have a proper breakfast?”

Shay finally spoke what was on her mind. Their friends all looking momentarily panicked

“I’m fine... just you know, dieting and stuff”

Shay giggled at him

“Dieting? If you diet any harder there’ll be. Nothing left of you”

“She’s right you know, you’re a twig”

Fucking Keith, Lance huffing

“I’m a manly twig. Are you’re cold. Stop trying to squish me with your coldness”

Keith laughed at him, laying back against him with that cold wet hair of his. All of them should have gone for hot showers and warm dry clothes

“You love me anyway”

“I do, but if you keep this up I might have to run away to Cuba until spring... I’m not made for cold weather”

Matt cackled at him. Stupid werewolves and their high body temperatures

“Dude, it’s not that cold. What are you going to be like when winter really sets in”

“I’m going to hibernate. Build myself a little Lance burrito and hibernate”

Keith kissed his cheek, ignoring Pidge pulling a face as he did

“Can I join in?”

“Not if you’re going to bring the cold with you. I should have grabbed my heat packs from the bag”

“Want me to grab them?”

Keith was too sweet

“Nah, just keep your frostbite to yourself. Honestly, the lot of you should have had showers and changed”

“Your age is showing, dad”

Pidge giggled at her comment. Lance sorely tempted to flip her off

“Someone’s gotta be the sane and reasonable one around here”

“As if you’re sane. I know you too well, Gremlin”

“Saner than you”

“Riiiight... I’m not the one who developed a macaroon fetish after getting out of hospital”

Lance bit down a laugh, relieved to know they didn’t suspect macaroon was a baby and not a dessert snack

“That’s right. You were in hospital. Hunk said it was an accident. Are you okay?”

Why was Shay bringing that up now?

“Yeah. I had a stomach bug and fainted. A whole lot of worry for nothing”

“Plus he’s been working in Platt...”

Hunk was trying to help, but how was he supposed to explain that? Especially when Shay looked so interested

“You’re a lawyer, right?”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten Twice Stupid Prt.75 prt.1

Keith felt lucky. He felt lucky enough to have the friends he did. Pidge and Hunk would be heading back to Garrison today, so Lance had prepared a surprise for them all with Keith’s help. A picnic in the park. Not the same park they’d gone to last time, but another one... where less murders had happened as long as you avoided the lake according to Lance. Keith finally felt confident to show off his photography skills to someone other than Shiro and Lance. Matt and Rieva couldn’t be there. Matt coming home drunk hadn’t gone over well with Pidge’s mum according to Hunk who’d shivered as he’d told them, but Allura had joined them again, as had Blue and Kosmo. Blue wasn’t like Kosmo, Kosmo was running around with Hunk and Lance, who’d finally replaced his fake glasses with a new pair. Keith took it to be the way they needed to work through their issues, having not missed the way Hunk was nervous around Lance.

With Blue in his lap, Keith was fiddling with his camera. Shiro and Curtis were making disgusting faces at each other, also known as “being totally smitten but having not kissed yet”. Allura was reading a thick book as she sun bathed on the over cast day. Rather than bringing his best camera, he’d brought the one Lance had bought him. Pidge at his side as he’d stumbled through explaining the specs and she’d be surprisingly knowledgeable about cameras in general

“So. I have to ask. If you were there to kill Lance, why didn’t you?”

Keith blushed. Telling Pidge would lead to a lifetime of teasing. Shiro laughed too hard, knowing exactly what the blush was for

“Lance actually saved Keith’s life before he got the chance to kill him. There was a while there we were Lance had changed him”

“Lance saved you?”

“Yeah. I... uh, got injected with something bad and he sucked it out my system before I died from it”

“Keith!”

What was Pidge yelling his name for? He knew he was an idiot. He didn’t need her harping on about it.

“It’s not a terribly romantic story. Lance was sick for days recovering”

Allura snapped her book closed, choosing now to join in the conversation

“Vampires get sick?”

Allura nodded, before explaining

“They do when exposed to the wrong things. Bad blood can leave them near death. Fresh tends to be best. Though each individual vampire does have their preferences”

“Lance doesn’t like my blood”

There was huff of annoyance in Keith’s tone, despite having accepted that it really wasn’t anything personal. Pidge snickered

“Oh damn. Your boyfriend’s a sucker, but he’s not a sucker for you”

Shiro reached out, ruffling Pidge’s hair

“Leave him alone. You’ll break him if you tease him too much”

Curtis’s curse got the better of him

“Keith injected himself with mercury. Lance sucked the mercury from his system and was forced to have his blood purged”

Suddenly he was having his arm smacked by Pidge. Blue jumping off his lap, trying to walk off the picnic rug in a huff, only her lead was clipped to Keith so she couldn’t

“You idiot! How could you do that?!”

“It wasn’t my fault I got the needles wrong!”

“You could have died!”

Honestly he’d been more scared about being a vampire than dying thanks to mercury

“I know... Thanks a lot, Curtis”

“That reminds me, Curtis. I don’t understand completely where you fit in. You didn’t fit when we were trying to work things out”

It was Keith’s chance at revenge

“Curtis and Shiro like each other. They’re practically boyfriends but they won’t ask each other out. Curtis used to work in Rome with Shiro”

Both Shiro and Curtis flushed, looking away from each other. Pidge instantly on them instead of him

“Ooooh! But if you’re a hunter, why were you living with Lance?”

“I may have be slightly cursed by werewolves trying magic”

More than bad luck. Fucking wolves. Great. He sounded like Lance

“Holy shit! That’s like some bad luck right there, dude. Still doesn’t explain why you were living with Lance so long”

“Lance has fits of illness that Coran was worried about”

Allura’s explanation didn’t help things

“Is that why he had to leave yesterday so suddenly?”

Shiro laughed at Pidge’s perfectly innocent question

“No. That was a case of Keith not being able to handle his alcohol. He was feeling Lance up under the table”

Fuck Shiro

“Fucking dobber”

“Drunk Keith gets a bit handsy”

Pidge laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. Keith wasn’t impressed with his brother dobbing him in

“Really? I was under the impression Lance left due to his heat”

And fucking Allura

“His heat? Like an animal?”

And fucking Pidge. Everyone but Pidge knew not to discuss it, Keith trying to stick up for his boyfriend who was probably listening to everything

“Lance isn’t a fucking animal. He’s special”

“I don’t mean it like that. I’m trying to understand”

“Yeah. Well. This is something Lance doesn’t want to talk about and I don’t want to talk about it either”

Pidge immediately sobered. Keith felt he might have been a little harsh

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Does Matt have heats?”

Allura gently explained

“He’s a male werewolf so he has ruts. Rieva is a female werewolf so she has heats. Lance is a vampire who has heats, but not all vampires have heats, just as not all vampires turn into bats. It is difficult for Lance to talk about it. I know how special you are to him, he’s often talked about you”

“He has?”

Pidge should know how often Lance bragged. He often did it in front of her

“Very fondly. Honestly, I’m most happy we can talk like this. I feel like practically know you already”

“How long have you known Lance?”

Allura got a dreamy look on her face, as if she wasn’t seeing the present

“Nearly as long as Coran has. He was the sweetest child you could imagine. He and Coran are exceptionally close. Lance is like a son to him. Keith, can you take Lance to his car...”

Allura shook her head, the look disappearing from her face

“...Sorry. I don’t know what that was. What was I saying again? Oh, yes. Lance was the sweetest boy”

“He’s a dork... like... how is he a vampire. What’s with the glasses?”

Allura shook her head

“I don’t really know. He’s seemed to prefer them for some time now. I had thought fashion, but he’s worn them for so long now, despite having perfect vision”

“He wears them because he sees too much. He says he can’t cope with how much he sees and hears, so they help make his world smaller”

“But isn’t that a good thing? Being able to see and hear if someone’s coming for you?”

You’d think. But Keith got it now

“Not really. He can’t not hear things and see things. Imagine hearing Matt having sex at the other end of the park. That’s what it’s like”

Pidge wrinkled her face up

“No fucking thanks. Nope. I can’t forget that, Keith”

Keith shrugged

“You’re the one who asked”

“Yeah, well, I regret it now, obviously”

Coming running up to their group, Hunk was panting hard. Hands on his knees for support as he talked between pants. Kosmo wagging his tail happily as he sat beside Hunk

“G-guys... Lance... just... ran... off...”

Keith got up so fast his precious camera fell the few centimetres from his leg to the group as he did. Turning a full circle, he couldn’t see Lance

“What do you mean he ran off?

Hunk raised a hand, pointing towards the cafe strip across from the park parking bay

“I don’t know... He kind of paused, then ran off”

Keith looked to Shiro, who’d also gotten to his feet

“Keep everyone together. He might have heard something or seen someone. I’ll go check”

“Got your phone?”

“Yep. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Shit... Hold on, Blue”

Blue didn’t appreciate being pulled by her lead shorting. Keith unclipping her and handing her lead to Pidge. He’s nearly strangled Lance’s perfect princess. His boyfriend would literally kill him if he’d hurt Blue

“Stay there. I’ll be right back”

*

Keith jogged across the park, catching sight of Lance standing near the dumpster alley between a cafe and a florist. Not watching for traffic, he was beeped at when he stepped out in front of a car, barely stepping in back in time as the driver flipped him off. Checking for cars, he had to wait for three more to pass before he could jog across the road and over to where Lance was standing

“Babe?”

Lance’s voice shook

“Stay back, Keith”

Keith stepped into the alley. A figure clad in black leather with a helmet on was holding a gun towards Lance. Keith went to go for his gun, but he hadn’t worn in it so long he’d kind of forgotten about the fact he actually needed to carry one. Seeing Keith, the figure moved the gun towards him, Lance stepping between them. A bullet could kill Lance depending where it hit him

“I don’t know what you want, but don’t hurt him”

Lance turned his head to gawk at him

“Really?”

“Look, I’ve got money. Just don’t hurt him”

The figure moved the gun downwards, pointing to Keith’s pocket... well, Lance’s pocket seeing his boyfriend was trying to shield him. Raising one hand, Lance digging into his pocket with the other. Pulling out his wallet, the slowly started to bend. The next thing Keith knew, Lance had tackled him to the ground as the gun went off. Dazed for a moment, Keith came too pretty quick as Lance tried to prop himself up

“Lance!”

“You okay, babe?”

“Am I okay? You got fucking shot!”

Behind him, the figured walked up so they were staring down at the pair of them through the helmet visor

“Don’t hurt him! Take my wallet and go!”

What kind of idiot yelled that when they’d been shot?!”

From within the helmet came a muffled laugh. Keith feeling murderous that the bastard was laughing at them. Raising their hands, the pulled the helmet off, Keith’s eyes going wide as he recognised the figure inside

“Mum?!”

“Hey, Keith. This must be the infamous Lance I keep hearing about. Nice to meet ya, I’m Krolia. Keith’s mother”

Lance looked from Keith to Krolia, then back to Keith again. His boyfriend slumping sideways as he fainted. Angry with his mother, Keith pulled his legs out from under Lance, gathering him up as he shot his mother a glare

“What the fuck?! Lance?! Hey, Lance? It’s Keith...”

Tapping Lance on the face, his boyfriend was out cold... in more ways than one

“Mum! You shot him! What the fuck!”

“Calm down. It was a rubber bullet. I wanted to know the kind of man dating my son!”

“Mum! You can’t... Lance, babe. Hey, come on”

Tapping Lance’s face again, his boyfriend groaned, big blue eyes confused. It didn’t matter that it was a rubber bullet, it’d still fucking hurt

“Babe?”

“Thank fuck. You fainted”

“I think your mum tried to kill me”

Calmly Krolia defended herself

“If I was trying, you’d be dead”

That was true. If Krolia wanted to kill, she would have killed him before he’d known what was happening. If Krolia had been one Lance’scale from the beginning his boyfriend would long dead and disposed of.

Gazing up at Krolia, Lance was so confused. Keith explaining because his mother wouldn’t

“It was a rubber bullet. Apparently she saw now to be give a fuck about my life and test my fucking boyfriend. Are you okay?”

“My shoulder fucking hurts”

“That’s because rubber bullets hurt... hang on”

Feeling his phone vibrating, Keith turned his back towards his mother as he pulled the device out. Sliding his thumb across the screen, he started helping Lance to stand at the same time

“Keith?! What was that shot?! Are you okay? Did something happen?!”

Now Krolia was upsetting Shiro too...

“Krolia. She finally decided to say hello. Take the others back, I’ll drive Lance home myself”

“Are you two going to be okay?”

No. Yes. Ugh. He was. Lance on the other hand had been shot

“We’re fine. Rubber bullet. Let the others know Lance is fine. I’ve got to go”

Keith slid his phone back in his pocket. Lance had his arm around the hunter’s waist as he tried not cry. His boyfriend was being very brave

“Why would you do that?!”

“I wanted to see what kind of man my son is dating. He’s made a good first impression. He’ll heal right up with a bit of blood”

Keith sent Krolia a scathing glare

“Why couldn’t you greet us like a normal person! Babe, I’m so sorry. Let’s get you home and get some ice on that shoulder”

And chocolate. Chocolate and some cuddles... How did he even apologise for this

“You’re headed to VOLTRON? Good. I’ll follow you”

“Like I want to see you after this sick joke”

Krolia let him lead Lance to the street corner before calling out

“You forgot his wallet”

Turning back, Keith snatched the wallet from his mother as soon as he was close enough

“Don’t follow us”

The hunter knew what a rubber bullet felt like. And it fucking hurt. Krolia was always pulling dumb stunts. Apparently she’d pulled a blade on Shiro when Shiro first joined the Blades, “testing his loyalties”, as she put it. Him she’d watched for days, before pulling the “I’m your mum speech”. How Shiro could talk to her was beyond him. And, worst of all, the Blades seemed to think this normal. Coran was weird, but the Blades were a bunch of Grade-A nut jobs. Grade-A Vatican approved nut jobs.

*

Lance was quite on the drive home, holding his shoulder as stared out the window. Keith wished he’d talk. Anything was better than the glam rock on the radio and his boyfriend not talking. It felt as if he’d opened his mouth he would have been apologising all over again. Leaving before the others meant they got home before them, but Shiro must have called ahead to warn Coran as he met them at stairwell for parking

“Shiro told me there was some kind of attack”

That was one way of putting it. Lance sighed heavily

“I’m fine. Just a sore shoulder. And I met Keith’s mum. I’m not completely sure she likes me, but I seem to have passed the parental dating test”

“She fucking shot you!”

Lance didn’t sound particularly mad. That was good. Keith was easily mad enough for the both of them

“Yeah. I noticed. I heard her call my name... and I just... went. I didn’t think she’d pull a gun on me”

“Wait?! You knew it was her?!”

“No. I just heard someone call my name and say yours... Yeah, I know. Dumb move”

Idiotic move more like it

“Oh dear. I was so hoping you’d have a nice time at the park. Come upstairs and let’s take a look”

Lance sat on Coran’s examination table, Keith helping him get his jacket and shirt undone so Coran could see. Sliding it down, the bruising was horrible from what Keith could see over Lance’s shoulder. Turning, his boyfriend showed him properly

“How bad does it look?”

The site was purple black, angry redness swollen in the middle of Lance’s shoulder blade

“It looks like I should have shot her and seen how she liked it”

“Babe”

“Don’t “babe” me. She shot you”

“She was testing me”

“She had no fucking right”

“You do realise her only son is dating a vampire?”

“That doesn’t matter! Seriously, what were you thinking?!”

“That if you were going to be shot, I’d never recover”

Keith floundered. Opening his mouth and closing it, before crossing his arms

“That’s beside the point”

“Not really. I’d rather be the one shot. At least I’ll heal from a shot that could kill you”

Coran fetched an icepack out his small fridge

“Now, now, boys. I’m sure Krolia had her reasons. Like Lance said, you are her only son”

“Not when she pulls shit like this”

Putting the icepack to Lance’s shoulder, Lance hissed. Coran wincing in sympathy

“I know. It’ll help the swelling”

“Yeah. It’s still damn cold though”

Lance and Coran were taking this too well. Some kind of buzzer went off over their heads

“That’ll be front reception letting me know we have a visitor. Keith, can you grab Lance a bag of blood. He seems to have gotten sunburnt on top of things”

So that’s how Coran knew they were there. That was one mystery solved. Lance placed his hand over his shoulder to hold the icepack in place

“I’ve got him”

Coran gave him a warm smile

“He’s in excellent hands”

Keith opened the fridge to find all kinds of things in there

“Does blood type matter?”

“I’ll take an A+ if there’s one in there”

There were two. Like Coran kept the fridge stocked just for Lance. Grabbing a bag out, he brought it over to his boyfriend, holding it out for him to take

“Here. Fuck. I can’t believe she shot you”

“Keith...”

“Don’t defend her”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid 114

114

  It snowed as they slept, a tangle of limbs. Lance fell asleep in the bath, Keith carrying him back to the bed where he stripped off the dirty quilt and roused Lance enough to coax him under the blankets. They’d woken some time before dawn, the sex slow, sleepy and sweet, before falling back to sleep holding each other. Waking the following morning, Lance was shaking with the cold. Keith tucking the blankets around him as he fetched their gear from outside. Everywhere was dyed white. The lights on in the main cabin, but it was too early to human. Keith grabbing up their things and darting back inside, it was fucking freezing out there, barely past dawn. Sleepily Lance called to him

“Babe?”

“I’m here”

He wasn’t about to wander off naked

“It’s cold”

“I know, I’m coming back to bed now”

“‘kay... miss you”

   Lance was still cold when it came time actually get up. Keith running them a warm bath. His boyfriend clinging to him as he carried him into the bathroom. He liked Lance being clingy, but those fingers of his were no joke. Getting Lance into the bath, his boyfriend whined softly when Keith didn’t join him right away. Keith hadn’t had his coffee yet, the fact Lance wasn’t dropped was a birthday miracle. Maybe he was magically cured... Nah. That wasn’t going to happen over night

“It’s alright, babe. I’m going to grab us some clothes to wear”

“Mmm, okay... but don’t be too long”

  Heading back into the bedroom, Keith dumped their things out on their bed, finding Lance had hidden his present to him under all their clothes. He didn’t want to open it. Not yet. Not until he was awake to function. It was hard to ignore though. Lance had really nice handwriting, his name on a little gift card signed from his boyfriend with a heart. Forcing himself to grab them something to wear, he came back to the bathroom with the gift still on his mind. In his absence Lance started dozing in the tub... looking adorable as he did, surrounded by the bubbles that came from the provided body wash.

  Joining Lance led to bath sex... Lance’s skin smooth and oily from the bubble bath, his boyfriend whining softly at the hot water slipping inside of him, not that that stopped him. It was slow sex with plenty of kisses and Lance doing the hard work. It’d taken him three and a half weeks to be intimate with Lance again. He regretted not being ready sooner, especially in the wake of Lance’s breakdown, yet his boyfriend had calmed a lot since he’d started rubbing and touching his stomach more. They were being those kinds of parents, taking photos weekly as Lance’s stomach began to grow. Not that you could tell at the moment. The small amount of pudge still looked as if Lance had eaten too much, not that he was carrying a baby. He got what Lance meant about being physical, but he was also kind of glad they hadn’t rushed into immediately upon finding out they were expecting.

  Lance was more awake after they’d had sex. His boyfriend dried his hair, then wanted to dry him down, peppering kisses to Keith’s scars. Lance never pushed on them, instead he seemed to know that some had stories Keith wanted forget. His kisses like he was trying to heal the hurt behind them. When they were dressed, and Lance had had his vitamin injection, Keith carried him to the main cabin seeing they’d left Lance’s boots their the previous night, Lance holding on for dear life as Keith’s pre-coffee clumsy was strong.

  In the main cabin breakfast was underway. Pidge nursing her coffee as she sat at the dining table. Kosmo was already making a pest of himself as Hunk and Shay made breakfast, his dog lolling his head back to acknowledge their existence but the call of bacon was too strong. Matt and Rieva were in front of the fireplace. Shiro and Curtis cuddles up on the sofa. This was nice... nice, but Keith felt kind of left out seeing they were the last to arrive

“We thought about sending a rescue party to find you”

Lance climbed out of his hold, shivering as his feet touched the cold wood floors

“Totally my fault. Needed a bath to warm up... stupid snow”

  Lance flashed their friends a smile. Keith feeling worse about things seeing it was fake... Keeping up appearances was hard and unfair. Shiro chuckled

“It’s a cold one. Matt and Rieva were straight in front of the fireplace. There’s coffee left for Keith”

Lance kissed his cheek

“Here that, babe, you better get some coffee in you while I put my boots back on”

“Can you two not be gross before breakfast?”

Keith rolled his eyes at Pidge. She was just jealous she wasn’t here with her partner. The thought sticking with him as Lance walked over to the fireplace. Pidge wasn’t dating anyone. He hoped she didn’t feel any less wanted there, because he wanted her there

“Leave Keith alone. He’s allowed to be gross in his birthday weekend”

  Flipping Shiro off, Keith cautiously shuffled into the kitchen, Shay an angel as she passed him a cup of coffee, giggling at the happiness on his face

“Shiro already warned me I better have it ready”

“Babe, he’s as bad as Pidge when doesn’t have her”

Shay giggled at being called “babe”. Lance was right. Hunk and Shay were very well suited together. Taking his first mouthful of coffee, he found it lukewarm, meaning he could drain the whole cup. Hunk noticing

“There’s coffee next to the kettle. The milk’s in the fridge. It’s lactose free, Lance made sure to tell us repeatedly, as if we forget”

“Thanks, guys. You didn’t have to go to the effort”

  Pidge snorted from the table

“Dude, you’re our friend. We do nice things for the people we actually like. Everyone else can go fuck themselves”

Matt and Shiro both called out in synch

“Language!”

The kind of timing that couldn’t be brought. Grumpily Pidge leaned back in her chair, cradling her coffee

“Blow me”

“Blow you what?”

Matt was the only one game enough to mess with her. Keith making for the coffee and the kettle, dying for another cup and this time hopefully warm. This wasn’t a bad way to spend a birthday at all... Not now he had caffeine starting to drive the blood out of his caffeine system.

   Feeding Lance for the morning proved slightly difficult. Shay was in the kitchen, meaning he could go pouring blood into Lance’s morning shake. Instead he had to be covert. Making like he was putting away the milk, he hovered near the fridge, pouring out too much blood into the shake cup. He then had to use both hands and some very awkward body language to hide the contents as he added the shake powder. On a cold day it was probably better for Lance to have more blood than he needed, though he didn’t know if it’d make his boyfriend short the rest of their stay. Topping the shake up with water, he snapped the lid into place, shaking it as he carried it over to Lance who was sitting near the fire now he had his boots on. A normal person would be sweating from the heat

“Babe, food”

  Lance eyed the shaker bottle with defeat. Matt shaking his head as the concoction

“I don’t think I want to ask”

“Have to hide breakfast somehow”

“Leave him alone to eat in peace”

“But, babe...”

“You finish that sentence, Matthew Holt, and I’ll put you out in the snow to pee like Kosmo”

Matt pouted at Rieva. Lance shooting Rieva a smile. Keith not jealous... He wasn’t. He simply needed more coffee

“Am I making pancakes?!”

Calling out from where he’d been frying eggs and bacon, Hunk laughed as they all called back “yes”. They really felt like a weird family... a weird family that he wasn’t sure he deserved.

  With the baby, work and Lance, letting himself be distracted from his birthday blues was easier this year. Lance knew his past, knew not to push and when he needed that push. Shiro hadn’t pushed... Keith still feeling down about it especially between the ultrasound and the weekend, the feeling kind of like nothing good could possibly come from it and it was all going to be a big joke. That everyone was faking caring and there’d be no cabin. He felt dumb for doubting his friends... but some things were so ingrained that all the love in the world from his friends’ wasn’t going to magically break down those walls or heal the damage in an instant. All of these people being here for him scared him. He liked all of them... and they all liked him... he found a place here and he never wanted to lose it.

  Settling down at the dining table with this cup of coffee, Pidge punched him in the arm

“What did I do now?”

“Birthday punches. Normally you punch the person however many times they are old, but I need more coffee for that”

“Thanks... I think?”

“You’re welcome. I’ve got your present in my bag. What did Lance give you?”

“I haven’t opened it yet...”

“Shit. I could have gotten in first... Guys, Keith hadn’t opened anyone’s present yet! He’s still fair game”

Was that a thing?

“Pidge, leave him alone. Besides, I booked the holiday!”

“You just want Keith all to yourself. I’m into your McClain!”

“He is my boyfriend!”

“Finders keepers, losers weepers”

“Merp!”

  Pidge flipped Lance off. Curtis laughing at the pair of them

“With your compatibility, I am sure you would find Keith most agreeable to keep. Though he is more compatible with Lance. You’d both murder each other over the first cup of coffee for the day”

Pidge wrinkled her nose

“If I have to share my coffee like that, you can keep him”

Lance enthusiastically claiming him

“Done! He’s mine! But I left his present in his bag...”

He didn’t need presents... He didn’t need anything. Being here with them... he’d never had this like this...

“Guys... you don’t have to give me presents. You being here is enough”

Pidge raised an eyebrow

“Dude. It’s free stuff”

“I don’t need a lot”

She wasn’t backing down

“Shut up. You do too. Now drink your coffee birthday boy”

     Breakfast was loud. There were discussions and firm plans put in place for a snowball fight, and something about maybe making snow men, Hunk bragging a little about his skills. Lance hadn’t taken the delicious scents as well as the others, his boyfriend slipping off to throw up, missing the second half of things before Keith went to check on him. Hunched over the toilet, Lance smiled at him weakly

“You shouldn’t be worrying on your birthday”

“I came to check you’re okay”

“Better... just letting the cabin air a bit before... nope... never mind”

  Throwing up again, his boyfriend weakly gripped the toilet as he did. Keith hated seeing him like this, and he hated he couldn’t do anything about Lance’s morning sickness. Sitting himself down behind Lance, he wrapping his arm around him, rubbing the taunt muscles of his stomach

“I feel like I should apologise”

Lance hacked and spat, sounding throughly done as he did, before letting himself relax back against Keith

“You don’t need to. You’ve done nothing wrong”

“Still...”

“Nope. It’s your birthday. None of that”

“You’re being stubborn again”

“Because I’m okay. I feel better than I have in a while... other than this...”

“This is kind of my fault”

“It takes two to make a macaroon. You should be more worried about Pidge in a snow ball fight. She shows no mercy, even to her team”

“She did seem pretty keen”

“Personally I think she can’t wait to rain hell down on Matt”

“I can see that. Are you up for it?”

“Traipsing around in the cold? Ugh... maybe I’ll umpire”

“We need one?”

“You know Pidge will accuse Matt of cheating. This wasn’t supposed to... I mean... I didn’t think it’d snow so soon”

“It’s fine...”

“Mmmm... maybe. No one made a fuss, did they?”

“Nah. Shay’s the only one who doesn’t know human food doesn’t stay down”

“I really want to bring her in to sign a non-disclosure, but she deserves a life where she doesn’t have to fear the dark”

“I think she could handle it... Hunk wants to tell her”

“It’s not fair on him”

  They both fell silent for a moment, Keith rubbing at Lance’s belly. This birthday was so weird. His next birthday he’d be father...

“Babe... I know birthdays aren’t the best for you, but I hope you still make some good memories of today”

“I already am... I... kind of feel weird having everyone together because of me”

“That’s because we all love you, silly. You deserve every happy moment”

“I don’t know about that”

“Then it’s a good thing that I do. You, Keith Kogane, are loved. Very much... I’m just sorry that I’m tired”

“Was last night too much?”

“Last night was perfect. So was this morning... and this morning again... you’re a total horn dog”

“I can’t help it... you’re so cute”

  Lance blushed softly. Keith’s heart doing flips

“Should I be worried you’re going to gobble me up?”

“Maybe. But if you don’t want to... I mean...”

“I like having sex with you. Even if I did worry I was going to piss myself in your lap”

“Babe, I wouldn’t really... No. You need to feel safe with me”

“I do... last night was pretty close though”

“Let me know in future. I’d rather stop than hurt you”

“I know. I think maybe I’m done. My stomach feels like it’s settling”

“That’s good. I worried I put too much blood in your shake”

“You did, but it’s alright. I needed the energy boost”

“Should I be worrying about that?”

“Nah. I’m sleepy for all the right reasons... and the fucking snow”

Keith chuckled

“You’re so much like Mami. Her showing up bundled up like that”

“Mmm... I’m definitely a tropical vampire. It was hard to hide it all when Pidge and Hunk didn’t know. Hunk used to fret so much over how cold I was...”

“I’m fretting over how cold you are”

“Ahhh, but this is perfect weather for snuggling with the birthday boy, after he wins the snow fight”

“If you’re not...”

“Don’t you finish that. I’m your boyfriend, not your keeper. Have fun with our friends. I know how much you missed them. I’m not going to be lonely laughing at you guys”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. I’ll just borrow someone’s phone and take photos”

“You could borrow my camera”

  Lance raised an eyebrow, Keith not sure why

“Your camera is your baby”

Oh... that was why

“It’s not like you’re going to drop it”

“I don’t want to risk breaking it”

“You won’t. I’ll set it up so all you have to do is point and shoot”

Lance groaned at him

“They’re going to awful compared to your skills”

“I’m not that skilled”

“Babe. Love of my life. Anger loaf and lover of Macaroon. You really are. I was totally thinking about getting you camera stuff for your birthday, and I mean, I know I remember stuff, but then they went off and started in talking in some weird language with exposure and angles and it was complicated”

“Not as complicated as legal jargon”

“Oh, that’s pretty up there... but give me a day in the courtroom over deciphering camera talk”

“That’s because you’re not used to it”

“Does that mean you’ll teach me?”

“If you want to learn”

Lance chuckled

“Not really. I’m happier watching you. Okay, let’s get off the floor. My butt’s going numb with the cold”

“We can’t have anything happening to that arse of yours. It’d be butt a tragedy”

Lance’s glare said he wasn’t amused, Keith on the hand thought himself funny. For two people so close, he couldn’t believe how calm Lance was taking things when compared to him losing it over finding Lance the perfect last minute gift. Next year he was going to be prepared.

     *

Lance wasn’t imagining things. Shay kept looking at him like she wanted to say something, the looked away when their eyes met. They’d talked a little in the car, Shay asking how he’d been, the others must have told her he’d been, or more likely Hunk had turned to her upset over what had happened. Thanks to his life being flipped upside down again, he’d barely seen Shay as much as he used to. It sucked... and the snow really sucked.

   Sitting on the veranda of the cabin, Lance watched the others playing in the snow. Keith hadn’t been keen, then had been ganged up on by Curtis and Shiro, his boyfriend tackled down and snow put down the back of his shirt. For all his yelling and complaining, Keith was laughing as hard at as everyone else. The air was still cool, but the snow had already begun to melt to slush. Kosmo was so confused to what to do, running after the balls of snow only to watch them disappear, or even worse for the poor doggo was when he thought he’d caught them onto find them vanishing like magic. He made his displeasure know as he barked, bounding around with everyone. This was how life should be. No shitty vampire “war”, and now worries. He truly hoped this would be the first in a long line of happy birthdays for his boyfriend. This time next year they’d be parents to a little Macaroon that really needed a better name.

  Playing in the snow resulted in an early lunch. Lance skipping real food for a shake, the smells of breakfast still in the air, and he wanted to make an effort to keep something down. Lunch was less formal than breakfast, not that breakfast was formal. Deciding on snacks, they lounged around, Keith not keeping him warm as his boyfriend was damp from Shiro smooshing snow into his hair. Each time he went in for a hug, Lance sank back into the sofa wishing he had a blanket

“Lance, I have to ask, what’s with the shakes. You didn’t even have a proper breakfast?”

  Shay finally spoke what was on her mind. Their friends all looking momentarily panicked

“I’m fine... just you know, dieting and stuff”

Shay giggled at him

“Dieting? If you diet any harder there’ll be. Nothing left of you”

“She’s right you know, you’re a twig”

Fucking Keith, Lance huffing

“I’m a manly twig. Are you’re cold. Stop trying to squish me with your coldness”

Keith laughed at him, laying back against him with that cold wet hair of his. All of them should have gone for hot showers and warm dry clothes

“You love me anyway”

“I do, but if you keep this up I might have to run away to Cuba until spring... I’m not made for cold weather”

  Matt cackled at him. Stupid werewolves and their high body temperatures

“Dude, it’s not that cold. What are you going to be like when winter really sets in”

“I’m going to hibernate. Build myself a little Lance burrito and hibernate”

Keith kissed his cheek, ignoring Pidge pulling a face as he did

“Can I join in?”

“Not if you’re going to bring the cold with you. I should have grabbed my heat packs from the bag”

“Want me to grab them?”

Keith was too sweet

“Nah, just keep your frostbite to yourself. Honestly, the lot of you should have had showers and changed”

“Your age is showing, dad”

Pidge giggled at her comment. Lance sorely tempted to flip her off

“Someone’s gotta be the sane and reasonable one around here”

“As if you’re sane. I know you too well, Gremlin”

“Saner than you”

“Riiiight... I’m not the one who developed a macaroon fetish after getting out of hospital”

  Lance bit down a laugh, relieved to know they didn’t suspect macaroon was a baby and not a dessert snack

“That’s right. You were in hospital. Hunk said it was an accident. Are you okay?”

Why was Shay bringing that up now?

“Yeah. I had a stomach bug and fainted. A whole lot of worry for nothing”

“Plus he’s been working in Platt...”

Hunk was trying to help, but how was he supposed to explain that? Especially when Shay looked so interested

“You’re a lawyer, right?”

“Yep. Family law. It always gets busy towards Christmas”

“Don’t let them lie to you, Shay. He and Keith have totally shacked up. We’ve been abandoned”

Shay giggled as she bumped Pidge with her shoulder

“They are kind of cute together”

“If by cute you mean “totally gross”, then sure”

  Shiro finally decided to “Dad” up

“Now, now. They’re happy. That’s the main thing. So what do we want to do now?”

“I could totally go for a nap right here... the fire feels so nice. Kosmo’s got the right idea, totally digging out and letting the fire warm his balls”

Lance wished he had something to throw at Matt, instead Rieva proved to be on his side

“Mmm... that’d be nice. I left my book in our cabin. I could go for dogging out too”

Werewolves. You couldn’t take them anywhere. Curtis seemed to be on team “lounge about” too. Lance had kind of thought the weather would be clearer and they’d be able to explore the area more

“We could do presents? It’d be an excellent way to warm up again”

“Yes! Okay, let me get mine for Keith!”

“And I’ll get ours!”

Hunk seemed enthused

“Matt’s going to brave the snow and get ours, the fire’s too nice to leave”

“Baaaabe”

“Awww, do you need me to hold your hand”

“Yes”

Rieva shoved Matt in the shoulder

“Go get ours before I throw you into the snow. And be nice. Go grab Lance’s present and his heat packs. He’s making me cold looking at him”

Matt dragged himself up

“Yes, boss. Do you two want anything else from your cabin?”

  Lance knew it was horrible, yet he was struck with the strong feeling of not wanting Matt in his and Keith’s space. He knew it had to be his ego being stupid, but the feeling was uncomfortable and unwanted. When he didn’t answer, Keith answered for him

“Nah, thanks for asking, man”

“Okay... I guess I’ll be back soon. No stealing my spot while I’m gone. I farted on it”

Pidge wrinkled her nose

“Are you sure you don’t just stink all the time?”

“Not funny, Katie”

“Come over here and say that. I’ll bite you”

“And risk my ankles? I think not”

Pidge glared at Matt who darted out the living area. Stupid werewolves and their high body heat, and stupid feelings. He’d nearly growled at Matt as he’d passed Keith. This was beyond ridiculous. How the fuck was he supposed to keep his secret for the whole weekend, let alone until the next scan? Maybe he should just take his bad mood back to the cabin after the presents. It was Keith’s birthday. He shouldn’t be acting pissy at their friend for absolutely no reason.

     *

Shiro’s gift wasn’t funny. His brother was an arsehole. He’d taken a photo of him sleeping, mouth open and all, then had it printed on a blanket, with matching socks. Shiro laughing far too hard at the look on Keith’s face. He’d wanted to open Lance’s first, but Lance seemed nervous for some strange reason, so Keith was now saving his for last. He knew whatever his boyfriend gave him, it had to be better than Shiro’s.

  From Curtis he received a bat. A soft toy, but none the less it was bat. Poor Shay didn’t get the joke, Lance explaining Keith was totally terrified of them. Keith defending himself over the incident in the mine, though it was pretty good coverup story if he thought about it. He liked bats a little more, though only when they were Lance and not flying past his head like some great doom cloud. Curtis producing a second present that was heavily influenced by Shiro, because it was a damn bobble head of a bat. But of them sucked... not that he’d admit it, and not that they really did... Okay, Shiro did, but he already knew how lame his brother was. At least it wasn’t more sex toys. He hadn’t even told Lance he’d brought a few things with him.

  Hunk’s gift was more practical. Seeing Keith’s bike still wasn’t on the road it was a voucher for his dad’s garage. At $250 it was far too much, despite Hunk insisting he’d be doing most of the work and Keith could help if he wanted too.

  Shay’s gift was a fuel card for Balmera, to go with his bike once it was up and going, and stern lecture about visiting more because they missed him. It was nice... but still, he felt like it was too much. He didn’t need $100 voucher on top of Hunk’s, though Shay said she used her staff discount it was still... a lot.

  Pidge was a gremlin. She’d always be a gremlin. She’d brought him a hard book map of Platt, laughing about his terrible sense of direction, and GPS tracker that kind of looked like the ones worn when under house arrest. She laughed at the confused look on her face, explaining it was for Lance so he wouldn’t lose his boyfriend when they were out. If anyone needed a GPS it was Matt. Especially after he and Rieva had “relocated” a cow for Lance’s birthday.

  From Kosmo he was gifted a bag of treats and new harness seeing the old one was snug with how much his dog had grown. Shiro had picked it out... it was red with little bones on it... definitely more his brother’s taste.

  Matt had gifted him a voucher for a bike shop. Keith wondering if he really seemed the voucher type. He was under orders to get a new helmet. He hadn’t thought about it, but all his friends had been pretty worried after his accident. It felt nice to be cared about... too cared about. This wasn’t like his birthday’s in the past. No Adam with his practical gifts... Or smell of burnt cake in the air.

  Rieva had gifted him books... Vampire romance books... that he wasn’t sure how to accept. He only wanted to be intimate with one vampire, so possibly Lance would have a laugh out of them later. Shiro’s gift was bad but this wasn’t that great... Did Rieva always... Surely she didn’t just read porn... Rieva was smart, highly educated, and confident in herself... but even she couldn’t ignore pop culture making things seem like everything was possible when you were a vampire... Maybe she thought he could use a laugh?

  Lance’s gift was finally the last. By now Keith really didn’t want to open up another voucher. He already had anxiety thinking about going shopping. Naturally he wanted to take Lance, but that was now even more dangerous. They hadn’t even had like a real date. They’d missed their reservation and opera with Lotor and Allura didn’t count. Lance‘a gift wasn’t that big... it felt like it was maybe two thing in there... and something kind of solid...

“Open it already!”

Trust Pidge to want to rush him. She probably wanted to know what vampires thought an acceptable gift when dating a hunter. Careful with the tag, he placed it aside. Yeah. No one else got that treatment, but then again, no one else had bothered putting a tag on it. The gift wrapped in red ribbon, Lance knowing he loved the colour red... the paper was plain white, not giving him any clues to the contents.

  Unwrapping Lance’s present, he was actually really thrilled. It wasn’t a voucher. It wasn’t something to do with his bike, that he now felt a little self conscious about. He loved his bike and missed the feel of straddling her... not that Lance knew he called her a “her”. There was a small butterfly knife, not great in a real fight but a handy thing to have in a human fight. His collection of them was somewhere in the boxes from the move. The second knife was a proper good quality hunting knife, his name engraved on the hilt. This... this was definitely making onto his work belt

“I know you don’t like big expensive gifts. And I wanted to give you something useful. Just don’t go stabbing me with it”

Lance nuzzled into him, Keith kind of in shock. Like... he knew Lance paid close attention to the things he liked, and he felt like after Lance admitted he didn’t know much about cameras that it was Lance’s was of confessing he didn’t know much about him. He’d been totally wrong

“I won’t... babe... it’s perfect”

  Keith hadn’t realised Shiro was actually recording the whole present opening thing. His brother chuckling

“I guess we know who’s gift he likes the most”

It was when he flipped his brother off that he noticed. It was probably bad that he wanted to start training with it...

“I love it...”

“We can tell. Happy birthday, kiddo”

  Keith’s feelings flooded through him. The amount of love he felt for the group of people surrounding him was too much. He didn’t... he couldn’t thank them enough. Wrapping his arms around him, Keith hid his face against Lance’s cheek completely limp in Lance’s hold

“Happy birthday, samurai”

“I...”

“It’s okay... you’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to be scared too... Pidge is pretty scary”

“Fuck you. I’m a nice person when I want to be”

Lance chuckled

“See. She’s a terror. Okay, now that presents are done, I’m totally going for a nap... Take care of Keith for me”

He didn’t get to come? Shiro chuckled at the pair of them

“Don’t worry about that. He’s got his blades to play with. We’ll keep an eye on him”

“I’d prefer you kept both on him, or he’s likely to lose one of his own, and I’m afraid I can’t let him. I love his eyes too much”

    *

When Lance left for his nap, Keith felt kind of lost. He couldn’t help but worry if his boyfriend made it back to the cabin and if he was okay. Still overwhelmed, he found himself sitting on the veranda of the cabin, playing with his camera because Shay would probably freak out if he played with his knife. Inside the others had figured out how to hook Pidge’s laptop up, playing some interactive game with their phones, which Hunk didn’t seem to be doing well at. Hearing the sliding door open, he knew it’d be Shiro coming to check on him.

  Sitting down beside him, his brother looped his arm over Keith’s shoulders

“How you doing?”

“Okay... I... don’t really know”

“It’s definitely different to birthdays back in Rome”

“Yeah... louder... with more people and presents. It’s kind of weird”

“Really? I think it’s nice”

Keith looked up to Shiro who smiled down at him

“That’s because you’re weird”

“Nah. My baby brother is having the best birthday of his life. What more could I hope for?”

“Not to be surrounded by weirdos?”

“Nah. They’re fine. Is Lance okay?”

“He doesn’t like the cold...”

“I gathered that by how high the aircon’s been in the apartment. I also heard you kept a couple of wolves up last night”

  Keith blushed. He loved the sounds Lance made and hadn’t thought about his voice carrying

“Yeah... I know it’s sex... but with him...”

“It feels special”

Special didn’t come close

“Yeah. We hadn’t done anything since the accident...”

“I understand that. As long as you two are okay, that’s all that matters”

“Are you okay? Is Curtis?”

“Yep. He’s worried about Lance but knows Lance will talk to him properly when he’s ready. He’s missed having him back at the house”

Keith groaned. He didn’t want Lance going back

“Kiddo?”

“I... it’s not fair but I... I get stuck thinking about what if he falls down the stairs again. We were so lucky the first time”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m sure everything will be fine”

“The word for that is “macaroon””

“Let me guess, Lance decided?”

“Nope. We couldn’t decide what an “idiot crumpet” made when combined with an “anger loaf””

Shiro snorted with laughter

“He’s a bit strange with the bread analogies”

“He’s fine. I think you’re a croissant but it really depends on his mood”

“Because I’m delicious and a killer on the hips?”

Keith wrinkled his nose. His brother was too into this

“I don’t want to think about that. That can stay between you and Curtis”

“In that case let’s just say Curtis really likes croissants”

Thank god he didn’t say he liked buttered croissants or croissants with cream

“Ew... I’ve seen too much as it is. Is everyone else having fun?”

“Yeah. They get it. They don’t expect you to have to hide away what you’re feeling”

“Even when I don’t feel like I deserved everything they gave me. Them being here was enough”

“They chose gifts thinking of you. I gotta say, that GPS on your ankle would save me hours of worry”

“If you like it that much you should wear it”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

   A comfortable silence fell between the two brothers. Shiro had done so much for him. Keith wished he knew how to pay him back for everything. He’d given him first happy birthday memories that he could remember. The door behind the slid open, then closed, again, Curtis coming out to join them. Sitting down on Keith’s other side, he was squashed in an idiot sandwich

“Pidge is ruthless. She and Shay have broken Hunk and Matt”

That sounded about normal for them, Keith asking

“And you?”

“Came to see what was taking you two so long. I was sure you’d be with Lance”

“He wanted to take a nap”

“I’ve noticed the change in his energy levels. Don’t tell me. He will when he’s ready. I do worry about him in the cold... It won’t kill him, but he may become aggressive if his body temperature drops too low”

Shiro sighed at Curtis

“Don’t stress Keith out. I’m sure Lance is fine”

Or he could be huddled up freezing his arse off

“Nope. I’m stressed now. I’m going to check on him. Shiro, take care of my camera for me, I’ll be back soon”

  As Keith left the two idiots behind, he could hear Shiro scolding his boyfriend, Curtis protesting awkwardly. Their friends were so damn weird.