Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keith indignantly puffed a sigh out as he walked beside his friend in the cold night air, frost had covered the streets of the city and Keith was sure it was start snowing any second, even if it was barely into OCtober.

"Would you cheer up?" Shiro chuckled, giving his friend a pointed look.

"I don't understand why I needed to come." Keith shot back for the 50th time since leaving his room.

"Because, Keith my dear, it's Hunk's 18th." Shiro said pointedly, then in seeing the pissed off look on Keith's face softened it to a normal smile and sighed.

"Why did it have to be a strip club?" Keith continued to pout "Hunk could of chosen anywhere..."

"He wants a taste of adult life I guess," he shrugged "at least try to have fun," Keith shot him the mother of all pissed off looks and he chuckled awkwardly "or, faint illness after an hour and go home; I promise I'll play along."

Keith finally cracked a small smile at that "I have to wait an hour?"

"Yes." Shiro sighed sternly "the whole team's gonna be there, at least stay for a while and have a drink - you're not allowed to leave until I've got at least two shots in you."

"Fine." Keith sighed as the reached their destination, seeing Rolo outside sucking the life from his lungs. When she saw the two of them he grinned, the cigarette dangling off his bottom lip as he waved them over.

"Keith, Shiro!" he said, expelling smoke into their faces. Keith resisted the urge to cough "it's been forever."

"Hey Rolo," Shiro grinned

"Go on in," he nodded to the door where there were bouncers "I left Allura yelling at Coran about the no touching rule."

"Deep joy," Keith muttered sarcastically as him and Shiro headed to the bouncers, having to go through all the checks before they were allowed in, ID checks and such from ridiculously huge men with ear pieces designed for secret agents. Keith could barely bring himself to look him in the eye. He knew it was one of the only places in the city that offered unisex dancers. Given the varying sexualities of the old Voltron Lions football team it was really the only place that suited. He knew that some of the girls from the cheer squad would be there too, Allura and Shay most probably - possibly even Pidge if anyone had convinced her to put down the laptop enough. It was actually Pidge who suggested this place, apparently her brother worked here. She was much like Keith in the way that it took a lot of begging to get them any where near alcohol and bad decisions. As they entered Keith practically choked on the thick air dense with smoke machine fog, the music was ridiculously loud, there were dancers up on stage but Keith kept his eyes trained to the ground.

"Shiro, Keith!" came a shout, the short body of Pidge suddenly appeared at Keith's elbow, holding a tray of drinks in her hand.

"Dammit, have we just missed a round?" Shiro laughed

"Sorry, you snooze you loose," Pidge grinned "we're over in the corner if you wanna get a drink before joining."

"We will do," Shiro nodded as Pidge manoeuvred her way through a crowd of girls - who appeared to be on a Bachelorette night - swanning over a male dancer.

"Come on." Shiro gave Keith a soft nudge in the direction of the bar. Keith sighed and followed, running a hand through his long, black hair. Shiro rested his elbows at the bar and Keith sighed, sitting in a stool next to him.

"Oh smile, won't you?" Shiro teased, Keith was just about to shoot him a snark reply when they were interrupted by the bartender.

"What can I get you boys?" came a male voice, Keith turned and his eyes widened at the boy across the bar, a blush blooing across his face. The boy held a cheeky grin as he looked at the two of them, his skin was tanned and he stood about the same height as Keith but slightly lankier. Blue eyes behind a set of thick, dark brown eyelashes.

"What would you suggest that would get my friend here very drunk very fast?" Shiro smirked at him. His eyes flitted to Keith and he inclined his head slightly to the side, as if examining him. Keith found more blood rushing to his face under his stare, a small smile pulled on the boy lips.

"You boys ever tried Absinthe?" his voice raised so they could hear it over the music.

"Can't say I have." Shiro said, his tone flirty and Keith felt an involuntary pang of jealousy. He knew his best friend was good looking, people always tended to flock to him. Shiro was a couple years older than Keith and he'd always really looked up to him, he watched the man brush inky black hair out of his eyes. Shiro has always been oblivious to how good looking he actually was, a car accident in the summer after highschool had lost him his right arm and left a deep scar across the bridge of his nose. A fact he was now horribly self conscious over, though Keith thought it made him look cool. Honestly, it irritated Keith when he woke up with eye bags from miles in the morning and Shiro can stumble out of bed and look ready for a photo shoot.

The boy chuckled and ducked down, placing a couple shot glaces on the bar and turning around to grab a bottle of green tinged clear liquid from the shelf behind him. Keith couldn't help but note his black shirt riding up a couple inches as he stretched. He filled the glasses and pushed them over the table to the boys.

"You know if Matt is on tonight?" Shiro asked, picking up the shot glass.

"You just missed his show," he answered, nodding at the stage as he stood cleaning a glass "I don't think he has another one tonight but he should be out for personal dances in like 10 minutes."

"Thanks, sweetheart." Shiro turned to Keith, raising his glass. Keith sighed in response, taking the glass in his calloused fingers and staring at the liquid, giving it a sniff.

"Just down it, Keith," Shiro laughed "on 3?"

"Fine." he sighed

"One, two, three.." Shiro shot his drink back and Keith paused for a second before wincing and throwing his back too. The liquid burned the back of his throat and tasted faintly like licorice, it was warm as it slid down his throat and he coughed involuntarily.

"Damn, that's strong." Shiro laughed, his voice stained.

"You asked for drunk fast," he boy chuckled with a shrug "you want something nicer?"

"What's your favourite?" Shiro smirked at him

"Well, I can make you a cocktail that'll turn your legs to jelly in 10 minutes," he lent his palms on the edge of the bar, smirking at Shiro "it's my speciality."

"What's it called?" Shiro cocked an eyebrow

"Blue Lion." he shrugged

"I think we're gonna have to," Shiro said, Keith shot him a pleading look "you promised, two drinks."

"Right" he sighed in response, the boy smiled at him before grabbing a cocktail shaker, throwing a load of stuff in so fast Keith couldn't keep up with what he was about to drink. He slapped the lid on and started shaking before taking a couple large glasses and pouring out the vibrant blue liquid.

"Looks radioactive." Shiro cocked an eyebrow

"Tastes it too." he grinned and Keith took a wary sip, it tasted a whole lot better than the shot. It was sweet and slightly lemony; the bitter tang of strong liquor barely being noticed. He was sure he could be falling over the place on just a couple.

"Thanks..." Shiro angled for his name

"Lance." he replied as Shiro paid for their drinks, pushing a generous tip into the jar and smirking flirtily. Lance cocked an eyebrow and Keith smiled as he watched him roll his eyes just a tad as Shiro turned his back. Lance noticed him looking and it turned to a soft smile, raising his hand to wave them off as Shiro dragged his friend through the crowd. He sighed, leaving the pretty boy behind to probably have his personal bubble breached by strangers taking off their clothes. As they reached the table the old Voltron team were all laughing and he couldn't help but smile ever so slightly at the wave of nostalgia it brought.

"Shiro! Keith!" Hunk bounced up excitedly "thanks for coming!"

"Happy birthday!" Shiro clapped the younger male on the shoulder "first dance is on me."

Hunk's eyes sparkled as Shiro flopped down next to him at the circular booth they were all crammed into. Keith perched on the end of the row beside Shiro, taking another swig of the cocktail. It honestly tasted amazing, like sweet honey and lemon candy. He looked out at the club, it was a dull lit red with the walls velvet. He was sure it probably looked tacky as hell in good lighting.

As the night progressed more people got dragged off for private dances or to take a seat closer to the poles, leaving just Keith, Pidge and Shiro in the circular table a couple hours later. Keith was the only one mildly sober, having finished the drink Lance had made him and then never ordering another. He sat on his phone most of the night but he knew staying this long would keep both Hunk and Shiro happy.

"Keith," Shiro said and the boy looked up from his phone "you can take off if you want.... or I can buy you another drink?"

Keith stayed silent, he found himself looking to see if Lance was still working, the bar had quietened down and he was cleaning the bar top, his hair falling in his eyes slightly and he found himself wanting to talk to him "one more drink can't hurt?"

Shiro's eyes widened "who are you and what have you done with Keith Kogane?" he chuckled, sliding out from the table, Keith followed him - biting the inside of his cheek as Shiro stepped up the the bar. The boy looked up as they appeared, smiling at them.

"Back again already?" he cocked an eyebrow at Shiro

"Just here out of the goodness of my heart," he smirked, dramatically laying a prosthetic hand over his heart "to buy my friend Keith here a drink." his eyes moved to the Keith and smiled.

"Sure," he said "what'll it be?"

"U-um..." Keith stuttered "that drink you made earlier was good."

"You liked it?" he grinned

"Yeah." Keith blushed

"Thanks, my roommate actually taught me the recipe." he said, taking a cocktail shaker out from under the bar and started throwing in ingredients, Keith noted him squeezing half a lemon and pouring in what looked like vodka but the rest remained a mystery. He shook it in his hands, Keith noted how long his fingers were, nails perfectly manicured and and there wasn't a blemish on them. Keith looked down at his calloused hands and sighed.

"Hey stranger," came a voice and Keith turned from scrutinising his hands to see an attractive, brown haired boy leaning into Shiro. His hair gelled back and he wasn't wearing a shirt, Keith assumed he must be the dancer Shiro asked about.

"Hey, Matt." Shiro grinned, looking at the boy as if he was the sun.

"You got some free time?" Matt trailed his fingers down the edge of Shiro's jaw. He turned and shot Keith a pleading look and he sighed in response, knowing his best friend had been pining over this dancer for weeks. He waved his hand as if you say "go on, have fun" but also "you're an asshole" and Shiro beamed, letting Matt take his hand and lead him towards the private dance booths.

"Hey, mullet boy," Lance said, Keith turned to him "what's your name?"

"Keith.. K-Kogane.." he replied quietly but he somehow heard him over the music "what about you?" he knew his first name but..

"Lance McClain" he smiled "it's nice to meet you, Keith."

"You too." he blushed as he pushed the cocktail glass towards him

"I get the feeling this isn't your scene?" he leaned his elbow on the bar, head in his hand as he looked at Keith with curious eyes.

"Not really..." Keith muttered

"Why are you here?" he smiled as Keith sipped the cocktail

"Shiro guilt tripped me, I suppose it was nice to see my high school friends..." he trailed off, looking out over the club to see Pidge and Allura laughing while throwing cash at a dancer, and but back a laigh. Honestly, he knew Pidge just showed up to embarass Matt. Hunk passed out face down at the booth with Shay patting his back sympathetically and Rolo sneaking out for another cigarette.

"Friends from high school, huh?" he asked

"I guess, we were on a football team together." he shrugged

"Which school did you go to?" Lance asked curiously as he started cleaning out some glasses, it was nearing ridiculous o 'clock in the morning and the number of people was dispersing, meaning he didn't really have anyone to serve.

"Voltron High," Keith replied "what about you?"

"Oh sure, I know that school," he nodded "I went to Lions Academy- you know it?"

"Sure, we played games against them," Keith nodded "I'm not sure how old you are but do you know Katie Holt?"

He laughed "that super smart girl with brown hair? Sure, she was in my class - a friend of yours?" He smiled in knowing they were the same age. Pidge had always been stupidly smart, meaning although she was two years junior to Keith she'd been moved into his year in the school across town.

"Yeah..." he said, glancing to see if he could see Shiro and caught sight of him being dragged into a private booth with Matt and sighed, turning back to Lance and sipping what was left of his drink.

"You want another?" he asked "your friend left his tab open.." he smirked and Keith felt himself laughing a little.

"What else would you suggest?" Keith asked, feeling his inhibitions lowering slightly at the strength of those cocktails.

"Have you ever tried a Jaegar Bomb?" he asked

"No..." Keith shook his head

"Oh, you're in for a treat." he giggled, the noise was like music to Keith's ears. He could of sworn he was flirting with him; though maybe it was a sales technique... as he turned he pushed on to his toes to grab a bottle from a higher shelf, showing another couple inches of perfect, tanned midriff and Keith blushed noting the tattoo he had next to his navel as he turned back to him. Lance cracked a can of red bull and poured it into a glass, then filled a shot glass with dark brown Jaegermiester - and pushed them both to Keith. He quirked an eyebrow at him and Lance grinned.

"Here," he gabbed the shot glass and threw into into the red bull "now down it."

"In one go?" Keith raised his eyebrows at how big the glass was.

"Yes," he chuckled "one go." Keith sighed and threw it back, wanting to impress but was pleasantly surprised as it was sweet as hell on his tongue and didn't burn on the way down, he still coughed slightly.

"You're kinda cute, you know that, Kogane?" Lance chuckled and his face flamed

"Th-thanks?" he blushed and he chuckled in response, brushing a strand of brown hair from his eyes. It was then Keith noticed the tattoo on the inside of his wrist.

"Is that Navi?" he frowned, Lance seemed caught off guard by his sudden question but smiled and rested his arm on the bar to let Keith get a better look.

"Yeah," he chuckled, showing Keith the tattoo of the fairy from his favourite Legend Of Zelda game "you play?"

"Yeah," Keith smiled. Jesus, he was like the perfect guy. It was then someone caught Lance's attention to order a drink.

"Two seconds." he smiled at Keith and walked down the bar to pour the group of guys a few beers. He watched him as she did, he smiled politely and didn't make a whole lot of conversation - shoving the money into the 'till aterwards. He wasn't flirting with them.. did he like him? Lance beamed when he walked over and Keith found himself audibly gulping. God, he was pretty, Keith watched as he casually pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, and then blushed noting the many big, colourful tattoos he had swirling around her forearms. 

"So, do you go to University here?" Lance asked with a curious smile, cracking a bottle of water open and taking a sip.

"Yeah, I go to Garrison," Keith nodded "what about you?" his eyes widened in shock and he froze, had he said something wrong?? "...what?" he asked nervously

Lance laughed warmly and he relaxed slightly "nothing, I'm sorry," he shook his head "I've had plenty of people flirt at me at this bar but they all assumed I took my clothes off for money, not that I judge the dancers here - they're awesome," he shrugged "but no, not you, you ask if I go to university..." he chuckled, Keith noting the pink hue spreading across his cheeks "yes, I do, Kogane."

Keith smiled gently "what is it you study?"

"Astrophysics." he replied

"You wanna be a scientist?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah," he nodded "cliched right?" Keith let out a confused hum "pretty boy works in a sleazy bar to pay his way through college to be a scientist? or maybe I should switch of medicine, that sounds more cliched?"

"It's more admirable than cliched." Keith said, Lance grinned, looking down at his feet.

"Thanks," he smiled, leaning his elbows on the counter "listen, mullet-head, how many times am I going to have to smile at you and lean over this counter before you ask for my number?"

Keith's entire face exploded with head and he stuttered "do you want another drink?" Lance smirked

"That and, uh, your number too.." Keith managed, the alcohol still lingering in his head being the only reason he managed those words and Lance giggled in response.

"I can do both," he said "what do you want to drink?"

"Surprise me." Keith said, his face cooling down as he turned away to pour him something. Lance pushed what looked like coke towards him but when he sucked some through the straw he knew there was definitely a lot of rum in there too. He then pushed a piece of tattered paper towards him, her name was scrawled in a really pretty, looping hand writing with his number written below it. Keith smiled and then pushed it deep into his jeans pocket. He looked up at Lance and he chuckled, taking another sip of his water. Their moment was interrupted by Shiro stumbling into the bar, causing it to clatter. Lance grabbing a falling glass just before it smashed on the floor. His hair was messier than usual, his tie half undone and the buttons of his shirt done up wrong.

"Keith, d'you have your keys?" he slurred, Keith could smell the alcohol practically seeping from his pores.

"Yeah" he cocked an eyebrow

"Okay, I'm gonna go to Matt's to see his cat!" he laughed, it was then a more sober Matt appeared at his elbow, holding him up gently by the forearm.

"Go call down a cab, babe," he said into Shiro's ear "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!" Shiro said, clapping Keith's shoulder on his way out.

"What happened to the no touch rule we have here, Matty?" Lance smiled cheekily over the bar at him with his eyebrow quirked

"I like that one," Matt shrugged, nodding to the door Shiro just went through "I'll make an exception."

"We don't even have a cat?" Lance laughed

"No, we do not." he grinned back "see you tomorrow, Lance!"

"Have a good night." Lance smiled, rolling his eyes as Mat leaned over the bar to ruffle his brown hair, he smiled at Keith before leaving.

"God, at least I can stop hearing Shiro go on about how much he wants to sleep with him." he commented to Lance and he laughed.

"Same," he smiled "Matt's my roommate."

"Oh, really?" he asked

"Yeah, is that your roommate too? I've forgotten his name..." 

"Shiro," he nodded "yeah, we just started sharing this year."

There was a beat of silence between them for the first time "um, listen I get off my shift in 10 minutes," he was blushing a little at this point "um, do you live near campus? We could walk back together..."

"I-I do live on Campus," he nodded "..I'd like that"

"Great!" Lance grinned

Chapter Text

Keith's breath condensed in front of his face as he stood outside the strip club. His stomach was bubbling with nerves at the fact he was sobering and he was gonna be alone with Lance. As if on cue the side door clanked open and the brown haired boy walked out. Keith smiled a little seeing he'd pulled a hat down over his hair, a black jacket now covering him and Keith realised they were pretty much exactly the same height. Keith had only grown an inch or so since high school, he was just over 5 foot 11 now.

"Hey," Keith said awkwardly, the fresh air clearing his head of what little affect the alcohol had had on him.

"Hi," he laughed "my apartments this way." he nodded in the same direction Keith would be heading anyway and they started walking "...so where do you stay?"

"The student apartments by the Life Sciences building," Keith replied

"So, is Shiro your only room mate?" he skipped to avoid a puddle. So cute. Keith thought to himself. Now that he could see Lance more clearly under street lights he seemed more human. Keith noted the smattering of freckles barely visible across his nose, the small scar below his eyebrow, a dimple in one of his cheeks. Somehow they all made him more appealing. He suddenly looked up and smiled and Keith realised he hadn't answered.

"O-oh, yeah he is."

"You two seem close," he smiled "how long have you known each other?"

"I don't remember a time without him," Keith scratched his neck "we grew up on the same street."

"Childhood friends?" Lance smiled "that's so cute!"

Keith felt himself smile too "so how did you meet Matt?"

"That's a story and a half," he laughed, Keith just kept quiet to urge him to continue "well, uh, my old friend from high school hired him to show up to my 18th," he chuckled "he did his thing and we got to talking after about this band we like; we swapped numbers and everything we got on so well," he shrugged then laughed a little "we both needed a roommate; it just made sense."

Keith chuckled "well, Shiro really likes him."

He hummed in response "Matt's always been very professional; I think his feelings aren't unrequited. It's nice; I think he needs someone apart from me to take an interest in alien conspiracy theories." Keith laughed, smiling over at boy who's nose had gone a pretty pink in the cold air "This is me," Lance stopped in front of an apartment building maybe 4 or 5 blocks from Keiths's "thanks for walking me, Kogane."

"My pleasure." Keith replied, slightly disappointed he'd have to say goodbye now.

"It was nice to meet you," he blushed, not meeting Keith's "...call me?"

"I will." Keith nodded, his hand pushing into his pocket to feel the piece of paper he'd given him with a smile on his lips. Lance took a leap of faith and pressed on to his toes, his lips brushing against Keith's cheeks for such a fleeting moment he could of imagined the warmth.

"Good night." Lance smiled, turning and unlocking his door to hide the fact his face was scarlet.

"G-good night." Keith's blush matched Lance's as he raised a hand to wave before his door closed behind him. Lance leaned into the door, unable to keep the smile from him face. On the other side; Keith was smiling too - brushing his fingers across the tingling skin where Lance's lips just touched. He found himself chuckling as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, walking in the direction of his apartment.

As soon as he opened the door he cringed at the very audible noise of Shiro's bed springs squeaking. He slammed the door behind him loudly to let his room mate, and company, know he was home; scurrying into his own bedroom and jamming on his headphones, blasting the first song in his library to drown out the noises. He found his fingers already reaching for Lance's number... it was too soon to call. Could he text him? It would be funny to tell him Matt was here.. He sighed and typed Lance's number into a new message before he could talk himself out of it.

I think Matt's is in my apartment... super glad I went for noise proof headphones. -Keith

He hit send before he could think about it and threw his phone on to his bed, stripping down and putting on his pyjamas. He had just pulled on the top half when his phone buzzed. He picked it up warily to see Lance had replied already and couldn't help but grin as he fell back on to his bed.

1 new message: Lance

Oh god I'm sorry (but also not since they're not here) I was thinking my apartment was waaaay too quiet :P x

His heart jumped at the x and he felt as if he was in middle school again. Keith typed out a swift reply before pushing the phone under his pillow and wrapping himself into the sheets snugly - the alcohol from the night sending him off to sleep nicely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith woke the next morning to a ningling headache in the back of his skull, it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the clock and he felt both ashamed and mildly impressed to see it was just leaving 3 in the afternoon. He wasn't usually one to sleep in so late. Sure, he'd slept until 1 a few times after playing a new game until god knows when in the morning but never woke quite this late. As he sat up he groaned at the small twinge through his brain.

Coffee.

Coffee would fix this. Suppressing a yawn and letting his bare feet touch the cold floor he got up, his back cracking as he did. There was the faint noise of Shiro's snores coming from his bedroom which Keith was more than used to at this point, he ignored it as he stumbled past Shiro's door for the kitchen. He put on the coffee machine enough for 5 when he got there as between him and Shiro they usually got through a lot of coffee in the morning. Taking his favourite mug from the shelf - being his favourite cause it was was practically a bowl with a handle and Darth Vaders face - he filled it with black coffee. Ambling for the fridge he sighed seeing there wasn't any milk. Behind him he heard the door crack open and close.

"We're out of milk again Shiro; how much fucking cereal have you been eating?" Keith said, not turning from scanning the shelves.

"Um, not Shiro." came a voice and Keith jumped and spun round to see a very bedraggled Matt.

"Oh," he breathed, kicking the fridge shut "sorry, I thought you were my room mate."

"I was awake and I smelled coffee..." Matt replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"In the machine, help yourself." Keith said vaguely; taking his own mug and sitting down at the rickety table in their kitchen.

"Thanks..." Matt angled for his name.

"Keith." he sipped his coffee and Matt took two of their mugs and poured; Keith assumed one of them must be for Shiro. Who, as if on cue, stumbled sleepily into the kitchen.

"Well," he rasped "safe to say I missed my 9 am lecture."

Keith snorted a half hearted laugh into his mug. Shiro walked over to Matt and swirled his arms round his waist "morning," he mumbled into the skin of the other boys nape.

"Good morning." Matt smiled, pushing the mug into Shiro's hand. Who sat in the chair opposite Keith and yawned as Matt sat down in the last chair; slightly awkwardly now around Keith.

"So, you get lucky last night, Keith?" Shiro grinned smugly. Keith shot him a look over the top of his mug "couldn't help but notice you were rather cosy with the bar tender."

"Lance?" Matt raised an eyebrow at the mention of his room mate.

"Did you get his number?" Shiro grinned, Keith kept quiet but as Shiro's smug grin widened he knew it was the wrong decision "oh my god, you totally did."

"Might of done." Keith mumbled

"They grow up so fast!" Shiro held a hand over his heart, laughing loudly.

"Shut it, Shiro..." Keith blushed

Matt hummed into his mug and they both turned to him, Keith almost forgetting he was there "he's worked in that bar for nearly a year and he never gives out his number," he shrugged "he must like you." Shiro was chuckling now as Keith's blush just got redder; his phone vibrated on the table which just made everything worse.

"That's him, isn't it?" Shiro smirked, Keith grabbed his phone before his friend could "aw, Keith, you're blushing!"

"Fuck off." Keith muttered and Shiro sighed, knowing Keith rarely properly swore and usually only when Shiro provoked him enough to make him pissed. So he changed the subject.

"You going to your class in an hour?" Shiro grinned

"Probably not." Keith rubbed his eye sleepily as Shiro slid an arm around Matt's  shoulders.

"Your choice," Shiro shrugged "you still got those noise cancelling headphones?" Matt laughed and elbowed Shiro lightly; who just smiled fondly at him and kissed his jaw gently.

"Yeah; but I might need a bucket too." Keith sighed; standing up and grabbing his mug. He was definitely a third wheel now and left the room quickly as his legs would allow.

"I should get home, I have work tonight anyway." Matt sighed. Shiro pouted and buried his face in his neck, making him smile and run a few fingers through Shiro's black black bed head.

"I had fun last night," Maty sighed "I don't usually, well I don't ever..."

Shiro looked up off his shoulder "can I have your phone number? I want to see you again."

It was Matt's turn to blush this time; he'd been terrified since he woke up this morning that this was just a one time thing for Shiro "y-yes, you can."

"You're blushing, Matt." Shiro smiled genuinely; pressing some chaste kisses along his jaw again.

"Shut up." he laughed, turning his head and catching his lips in a kiss as he aimed for his cheek again.

In his room, Keith was smiling too as he tapped away on his phone, replying to yet another message from Lance. Who was also grinning at his phone screen as he lay on the couch in his apartment .

Chapter Text

"Lance?" Matt called into their small apartment when Shiro finally let him go home nearly an hour later.

"In here!" came his vague shout. Matt walked into the living room to see him wrapped up in the ratty Peter Pan blanket he cherished, glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, hair still a ruffled mess from sleeping. Matt was now familiar with the fact Lance was a tosser in sleep. Lance smiled at his room mate as he entered, Matt turned to see some cartoon he'd been binging on the TV.

"You enjoying your day off?" Matt laughed, flopping down on the couch next to him.
He hummed and smiled, dropping his head on to Matt's shoulder sleepily. Matt could now see his phone sitting next to him on the couch and a small smile tugged on his lips. Lance'd never been as attached to his phone as Matt was and it was hard to get him to reply to texts a lot.

"So, I heard you gave your number out." he smirked, Lance stiffened and then looked up at him "he didn't say anything but his phone kept going off and Shiro was teasing."

"Ah..." he blushed

"You like him?" Matt smiled

"Yeah.."

"He's cute," Matt chuckled "looks like you could teach him a thing or two."

"Matt!" Lance laughed, elbowing his ribs.

"Ah come on, it's true!" he grinned, Lance just rolled his eyes.

"I'd happily teach him a thing or two." he winked at his room mate who laughed but then caught a glance of the time and groaned

"Urgh, I gotta go to work.."

"Wait!" Lance whined in return "tell me about last night! Is he a keeper?"

Matt smiled into his lap "yeah, I think he is.."

Lance grinned, making a few high pitched squealing noises and his room mate laughed "I'm happy for you!" he raked a hand through his bed head, doing nothing to flatten it down.

"And I you, so tell me about Keith - I only met him very briefly this morning." he smiled

"Uh, well he was nice and cute and he plays he same video games as me," he said "he was actually interested in me, Matt, you know how it is - guys at the bar think they can get you with a couple sleazy lines and decent tip."

"Yeah." Matt sighed

"But he asked about my life, if I went to school, how I met you.." he was smiling now as he brought her knees into her chest.

"Love is in the air!" Matt sang as he got to his feet "now excuse me, I have to go put on some pants I can rip off and a shirt that's painful on my nipples."

Lance laughed, pushing his glasses back up "I'll wait up for you."

"I'll text you if you shouldn't." Matt winked before retreating into his bedroom. Lance chuckled, turning back to the TV - his phone buzzing on the couch next to him and he smiled at Keith's name on his screen.

~

Keith suppressed a huge yawn as he walked out of his lecture, stretching his arms above his head a little. He'd managed to fall asleep during some very coding related class and was now groggy, the cold air was like a slap in the face. It was nearing Halloween now, there was frost all over the ground and the odd snowflake fell from the sky. It was one of the coldest October's in history apparently, it wasn't getting more than one or two degrees above freezing. Given that it rarely fell below 7 or 8 in Winter in the city it was pretty freezing. Keith shivered, the idea of hot tea when he got home becoming instantly appealing. He stopped dead when he say the familiar mess of brown hair under a blue fluffy hat walking out of the Physics building. Keith himself studied Game Design, really the only course that ever appealed to him.

"Lance!" he called and the boy spun round, her eyes met Keith's and he grinned, walking over to him. Keith gulped, he looked nice, bundled into a scarf and a jacket, thick rimmed black glasses sitting on his nose. Keith didn't really think through how cold it was when he shrugged on his jacket this morning, opting for fingerless gloves when he should of put on normal ones.

"Keith, hey!" he said "you just going to a class?"

"I just got out." he shrugged

"Me too!" he beamed

"Um, do you wanna maybe get some coffee... it's freezing.." Keith scratched the back of his head awkwardly

"Sure, I can't feel my fingers," he smiled "I know a really good place." he skipped beside him, leading him across the street.

"How was your class?" Keith asked, pushing his gloved hands into his pockets, his on the other hand were bare and he was rubbing them together for warmth - Keith fought the urge to reach out and take his hand in his; suddenly glad of the cold as it was something to blame his blush on.

"Boring as hell," Lance laughed, there was a beat of silence "it just occurred to me I don't know what you study."

"Video Game Design." Keith replied

His eyes practically sparkled "really?"

"Yeah." he smiled

"That's awesome!" he grinned "it sounds like fun."

"It's really just a lot of coding and not a lot of creativity.." Keith shrugged "I mean it's just 1st year so it'll probably get more interesting."

"Still," she smiled "it's better than having to memorise maths equations rather than learning about stars."

"I won't argue with that." Keith smiled and Lance chuckled, a brown hair falling out of his hat as they walked across campus. Lance led him into a small coffee store, the warm air and the smell of coffee instantly hit him as they walked in. It was a really cute place, with book shelves lining the walls and squishy looking couches in the corners.

"I think I need the strongest coffee possible." Lance yawned

"Me too." Keith smiled as they moved to the front to order, both of them ordering just regular coffee's with extra shots of espresso. The typical order of a student. Keith looked over as they called their orders, Lance wrapped those long fingers around the mug before turning to smile over at Keith; he noticed for the fist time the small gap between his front teeth. God, he kept getting cuter. Lance skipped to a table with arm chairs and put down his mug, Keith following with a small smile on his face.

"So, Matt did the walk of shame in at 3 pm the other day." he grinned over at Keith

"I honestly don't know when he left I was blasting music so loud I nearly burst an ear drum." Keith smirked and he giggled into the mug.

"He said they're going out again tonight," he smiled "I think it's going well."

"I'm glad," Keith nodded "gets him off my Play Station every once in a while."

Lance laughed "I don't have that problem, Matt can barely play Tetris."

"Jealous," Keith sighed "Shiro's addiction to Soul Calibur is seriously getting ridiculous; he gets really mad when I don't play with him and I have to remind him it's mine."

Lance laughed and Keith couldn't help but smile knowing it was him to make him laugh "you don't like Soul Calibur?"

"I loved it before Shiro got good at it." he chuckled, sipping his coffee.

"I'm not all that great at fighting games," he shrugged "though I do love to play it and lose."

"It's not really my cup of tea either." he agreed

"What do you like to play?" she asked

"Um, well I just got Twilight Princess for the Wii and that's pretty exciting." he said

"Urgh, I haven't picked it up yet - so excited for the revamp," he grinned "plus I don't really have the money."

"My mum pre-ordered it on my birthday so I only got it a couple weeks ago," he chuckled "you could yanno.. always come over and play it at mine... if you want."

"That would be cool," Lance blushed "oh, I meant to ask - Matt's inviting Shiro to our annual Halloween bash; do you wanna come too?"

"A party?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we have it every year and invite people from high school and uni," Lance shrugged "it's usually pretty fun; you get to dress up."

"That would be fun." he smiled

"Really?" Lance beamed "well it's at the weekend, I'm sure Shiro knows the details by now but I'll text you them later."

"Okay," he smiled, racking his brain suddenly to think if he even had a costume to wear...

Lance groaned as he checked the time on his phone "I'd love to stay but if I don't split I'm gonna be super later for my seminar."

"Oh, okay." Keith smiled sadly

"I'll talk to you later, I have work tonight so it might be quite late when I text you the details." he stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Keith stood up too, walking out the cafe with him - feeling a little dejected he couldn't spend more time with him but also very glad he'd invited him to a party. The cold air was sudden as they stepped out and Lance shivered instantly.

"I was nice to run into you," he smiled, pushing on to his toes and Keith's heart jumped into his throat as he pulled him into a light hug, he blushed and smiled as he put an arm around his small waist. Lance smiled as he pulled away, face gone a little pink as he raised a hand to wave and walked away.

"Bye, Kogane!" he grinned, half jogging across the street in the direction of the Science building again. Keith smiled to himself as he headed in the direction of his apartment; his day was really starting to look up.

x

"God, Shiro, I feel ridiculous." Keith sighed, staring at his reflection in the mirror; he'd entrusted the purchase of his Halloween costume to Shiro. Which inevitably was a horrific mistake as he looked at himself in a cat costume. Shiro appeared in the door, shirtless and pained almost completely black with really cool skeleton makeup. Keith sighed, looking at the totally black clothes he wore with the cat ears perched on his head, half hearted whiskers drawn on his cheeks.

"Put on the bell." Shiro smirked

"No way in hell." Keith shot back, folding is arms over his chest.

"Oh come on, Keith." he laughed, taking the collar off Keith's bed and throwing it at him. Keith looked at the dumb bell choker in his hand.

"After a few more drinks," he said, shoving the collar in his back pocket "hurry up; we're already an hour and a half late."

"Sorry, Coran insisted on this fucking skeleton costume," he sighed, brushing his bangs from his eyes "I'm ready now."

"You're gonna freeze." Keith raised his eyebrows at Shiro's bare torso.

"My nipples are not gonna PG friendly for this party, no." he sighed and Keith snorted, grabbing his jacket and following his friend out the door. There were a load of drunk teens walking around in various degrees of nudity and costumes, making Keith and Shiro barely even stand out as they made their way towards Lance and Matt's apartment.

"So, before we get there," Keith spoke "how are things going with Matt?"

"Really well." Shiro smiled slightly, covering his bare nips by crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's good." Keith said and Shiro smiled down at his best friend, someone who rarely asked about details on his life but seemed to be trying to make an effort.

"What about you and that Lance guy?" he smiled "you seem to text him a lot."

"I really like him." Keith said quietly and Shiro chuckled

"He seems really nice, you should try go for it tonight." he nudged Keith's arm and he blushed a little in response. Shiro jabbed his thumb into the bell for their flat as they reached the front door.

"Yello?" Matt's voice crackled through the speaker.

"It's us, baby." Shiro said

"Come on up." he chuckled in response and the door buzzed up

"You two are disgusting." Keith sighed

"Shut up." Shiro shot back with a goofy smile on his face, Keith didn't give him the satisfaction of letting him know he was actually very happy Shiro was in such a good relationship. They walked up the three floors to Matt and Lance's apartment, they could hear the music blasting as soon as the front door opened however. Shiro banged his fist on the door and it swung open about 20 seconds later to reveal Lance. Keith's eyes widened at how good he looked, skin tight Spiderman costume with a half hearted red splotch and webbing which looked like he'd started and been too lazy to finish.

"You look awesome!" he laughed at Shiro, who leaned down to give his a friendly hug.

"Thanks," he smiled "is Ma-"

"In the kitchen." he answered before he could finish and Shiro grinned, sliding past him and disappearing off to find his "not" boyfriend.

"Oh my god!" he grinned, a red cup in his hands "you look adorable, Kogane."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Keith chuckled as he let him in, closing the door behind him.

"It is," he smiled "love the whiskers; do you want a drink?"

"Sure." he nodded

"Follow me." Lance smiled, leading him towards the kitchen. Keith felt a little awkward now, the music was blaringly loud and their apartment was filled with people he didn't know all dancing and grinding.

"Keith!" came a voice as Lance was pouring what looked to be a vodka coke. Keith turned to see Thace standing in a half hearted vampire costume.

"Thance," he smiled, a little bemused at his presence "nice to see you again."

"You two know each other?" Lance asked, handing Keith a drink; as he sipped it he realised how strong he'd made it.

"Sure, I whipped his ass into shape when we played football as kids." Thace grinned

"Oh, right." Lance shrugged

"How do you two know each other?" Thace raised an eyebrow

"That's a story; should I tell him you came into my work, Kogane?" Lance smirked, Thace's eyebrows just raised a little higher.

"Hunk's 18th; Shiro dragged me." Keith sighed

"Makes sense," Thace nodded "is Shiro here?"

"Probably making out with Matt somewhere." Lance shrugged, suddenly interrupted by Pidge crashing in, skidding to a halt by Lance. Keith had assumed they must know each other too.

"Lance! Keith!"

"What's up, Pidgeon?"

"I just saw Shiro, he said you two are a couple!" she grinned happily, a huge blush exploded on to Keith's face and Lance choked on his drink. Thace just raised his eyebrows. Again.

"Uh, n-no; it's not like that..." Lance coughed, Keith glanced at him and he was looking at his feet - probably blushing under all the red makeup.

"That liar!" Pidge gasped dramatically "you'd make a cute couple anyway!"

The two of them just awkwardly gulped their drinks in response. Pidge smirked at her work, Shiro hasn't even mentioned them, she just noted the obvious pining. It was then Matt and Shiro appeared, Keith rolled his eyes at the smudged black makeup that was now on Matt's lips, Allura, Coran and Hunk following after them.

"Hey Keith." Matt greeted him.

"Hi, Matt." Keith said, sipping his drink and realising he'd managed to drink most of it in 5 minutes and before he knew it Lance was pouring more vodka into his glass followed by not a lot of coke. He jumped as an alarm buzzed on Matt's phone.

"That's 1am!" he grinned "everyone down their drinks!"

"What?" Keith frowned

"He's got hour alarms, every hour everyone has to down whatever drink they have," Lance explained, Keith realised he was standing closer then before after more people joined their circle "bottoms up." he lifted his drink to his lips. Downing the whole cup of what Keith suspected was the same drink as his. Keith saw everyone else lift up their drinks, even Allura, usually the voice of reason so he just braced himself and chugged down what was left of his drink - which was a lot. He coughed as he put down his cup.

"Another one?" Lance asked with a sweet smile that made Keith's heart do the little cliched jump.

"Hey, Lance - why don't you mix up some cocktails?" Matt grinned

"Sure!" he giggled, Keith beginning to realise Lance wasn't too sober "come with me, Kogane!" with that he grabbed on to Keith's hand, making him blush as he tugged him towards the kitchen. Shiro grinned at the action and Keith shot him a look but didn't exactly have a problem with Lance holding his hand. The group general followed and Lance pushed his way through a crowd to find a cocktail shaker, Keith watched as she made it. Throwing in Limoncello, rum, a squeeze of lemon, blue lemonade and a tiny bit of amaretto.

"You're really good at that!" Hunk commented

"Thanks," he poured them all cocktail from the shaker "it's my job and all."Keith could feel the two very strong vodka cokes already making his knees turn to jelly and he was starting to enjoy himself. 

"We should play a game!" Shiro smirked, Matt looked at him as if they were both in on something Keith wasn't but he ignored it - knowing if he hadn't already drank so much he probably wouldn't and definitely shouldn't.

"7 minutes in heaven!" Shiro grinned

"What are we, 14?" Lance laughed

"Oh come on, Lance," Matt whined "it'll be fun."

"Fine." he rolled his eyes

After deciding that they would all put a belonging of theirs into a bag and just pick out something and be shoved into a closet with the owner of said item they all sat in a circle in the middle of their hallway - in varying states of intoxication. Keith was pushed between Lance and Pidge as they sat down, he smiled as Lance's knee pressed into his. He pulled the Kingdom Hearts key ring from his keys as Shiro went round with a Halloween candy bucket for them to deposit something in.

"Okay, ladies first." Shiro said, then held the bag out to Matt

"You're such a jackass," he laughed, reaching into the bucket and rampaging around for a second before pulling out Shiro's student ID card "okay you totally rigged that." Matt raised an eyebrow.

"I did not!" Shiro laughed "you're just lucky babe." Matt rolled his eyes in a fond manner and stood up, the two of them disappearing into the hallway closed. Coran set a timer for 7 minutes as the rest of them started talking amongst themselves.

"I don't think I've played this since middle school." Lance giggled to Keith, who smiled at the boy.

"I've never played it." he said

"Never?" he laughed "oh you innocent little boy."

"Hey!" Keith chuckled, god the alcohol was definitely starting to work.

"Don't worry," he smirked "it's cute."

"Thanks" he laughed

"Hey, what's that?" Lance asked, he reached behind Keith and he looked and saw the collar in his hands, it must have fallen out when he sat "oh my god, why aren't you wearing this?" Lance then sat up on to his knees and reached over. Keith felt his cheeks redden as his fingers brushed the side of his neck as he moved to tie it round his neck. "So cute." Lance smiled, his face a mere couple inches from Keith's and he gulped. He was almost glad for Shiro and Matt stumbling back out the closet, black paint smudged all over Matt's face and who very noticeable hand prints on his ass.

"Okay, Lance - you're turn." Matt cleared his throat as he adjusted his hair.

"Fine." he laughed as Matt held the bucket to Lance, he dug around for a second before pulling something out. Keith's hold world seemed to stop when he saw his keychain dangling from his fingers "Who's is this?" Lance frowned.

"M-mine" Keith stuttered

"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Shiro grinned "into the closet with you!" Keith got on to his shaking legs, the alcohol only giving him enough confidence to stand up - Shiro had to give him a shove for him to stumble into the closet, Lance scurried after him - looking at his feet. The door was kicked shut behind them and Lance flinched at the slam, Keith's eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden change of light. He could see the outline of the boy opposite in the dark, his heart hammering in his chest at being pushed into a dark and enclosed space with the boy he had somewhat of a massive crush on.

"S-sorry about this.. Kogane..." he said awkwardly

"It's fine..." he managed

"Here's your keychain," Lance mumbled, pushing it into the palm of his hand. There was a couple moments of silence "Sorry you were forced to play this." he spoke to break it.

"I don't mind," he mumbled, Lance finally looked up at him through eyelashes, there eyes met and something snapped. Keith felt his hand reach out to brush the hair out of his eyes, his hand stopping to rest on his cheek as he moved his thumb across his cheekbone "Hey, Lance?" he managed

"Yes?" he croaked

"C-can I.. kiss.. you?" he blushed and Lance smiled, his finger curling under the loop of the collar around his neck now, tugging it down suddenly - making their lips crash together. Keith's hands were shaking as they came up to cup his face. Lance pulled away a couple of centimetres, looking at how Keith appeared to be like a deer caught in headlights.

"Are you nervous?" Lance whispered

"Th-that was my.. first.." he stumbled, looking like a tomato at this point.

"Keith..." he smiled, who's face flared at the use of his first name. He'd called him Keith once since they met and that was when he said nice to meet you "was that your first kiss?" He managed a nod "god, you're so adorable."

In a sudden surge of confidence, he leaned forward to connect their lips again, his hands going for Lance's waist and tugging him closer sharply. He gasped and Keith could feel that alcohol was fuelling his actions as he took that opportunity to slide his tongue into his mouth. Lance let out the softest moans as his hands tangled into Keith's hair. The kiss was kinda desperate and sloppy due to the alcohol intake and that Keith was a little inexperienced but there was no denying it was passionate as hell, both of them getting totally lost - also losing track of time so they were in a very compromising situation with their tongues down each other's throats when Matt kicked the door open.

"Oh Jesus, my eyes!" he laughed, the two of them pulling away quickly. Keith looked over at the boy, red makeup smudged and he raised his hand and wiped his mouth, red face paint coming off on the back of his hand and he blushed. He almost jumped as he felt a warm hand slide into his, looking over to where Lance was smiling gently at him, he couldn't help but smile back.