Chapter Text
The gentle light of the sun shone through the glass panes, decorating the garden and highlighting the vibrant colours of every plant. All around, the flowers and leaves shimmered, a maze of solid and pure hues. The scent of soil and morning dew permeated the air, which settled a soothing feeling over Keith, like a comfortable blanket. He smiled at his glorious garden, a bubble of contentment tinged with pride welling up within him. It was everything that he had ever wanted.
After two years of travelling and saving up money, while working out a plan – with the help of Lance, of course – Keith could finally afford to purchase the greenhouse he had always wanted, and it was a home, a place he could feel warm and safe. He had just finally finished setting everything up. It hadn’t taken long to set the shop up for business, but the flowers needed to be grown for a little while before Keith deemed them good enough to sell. And finally, Keith had given them the pass. They were opening up for the first time, and Keith couldn’t be more excited. Soon, customers would come from all over town to buy his plants. His and Lance’s business would take off and they would make money the honest way. He had never actually set up shop before, and he had never planned to stay in one place for so long, but being with Lance had changed so much for Keith. Where he once felt a heavy grey weighing down on him and forcing him from city to city, always running from himself, he now felt a warmth, a desire to settle down with Lance and be happy, an urging press in his heart that told him to give Lance the world.
Maybe they would make friends while they were there. Keith hadn’t ever really stayed anywhere long enough to make many friends. Lance was one in a handful of people who Keith had ever bothered to open up to. How Keith longed to be able to connect with others, and not in the way he was used to, via draining people of their blood. That was still something they had to do though. Keith was still a vampire, after all. They had a system for that as well though. Keith, being an expert in taking blood and leaving nothing behind, had devised a way to sneak away from town once every couple of weeks to grab a drink. He could even manage to cleanly take people when Lance requested someone from town disappear. It wasn’t a moral operation, but it was a slick one.
Lance had asked Keith on numerous occasions if Keith would turn him into a vampire too so that they could be together and Lance could better understand. He didn't want Keith to feel alone ever again. Keith always refused though. Maybe one day he could turn Lance, but not now. They'd only been together for two years and they'd only known each other for around three. Lance really needed to think about how much he wanted a life like that, how much he really cared about Keith, what living for two thousand years really meant. He would outlive all of his friends and family. He would outlive every single person alive on the Earth, and he would do it again and again, for generations. It wasn't just a decision to make on the fly, and it wasn't a decision that Keith wanted Lance to make just so that Keith wouldn't be lonely. This was Lance's life he was gambling. Maybe one day, Keith would always tell Lance, but not today.
Keith, with his legs dangling off the deck next to his plants and his eyes lidded in satisfaction, sighed happily. He lifted a gloved hand to run it over the plant leaf next to his leg. The light flitted over his covered hand. He reached his other hand up to adjust the bright red sunhat that flopped over his face, protecting him against the light. He had been spending a lot more time in the sun after he and Lance had left Lance’s home town. Obviously, he wasn’t in the actual sun or he would die, but he was leaving the house in the day a lot more. Lance was the one who had helped encourage him, even going as far as buying the hat for Keith.
At that moment, Keith startled out of his thoughts when the door to the greenhouse opened. He flicked his attention over to where Lance was meandering through the entrance which led to the shopfront. Keith couldn’t help the smile that worked its way onto his face if he tried. Lance made eye contact with Keith, grinning back just as much as he made his way over to Keith. In his hands, he held a plastic bag, which Keith could smell perfectly from where he was seated. Twisting his body around to better face Lance, Keith strained his eyes to see into the bag.
“Hey, babe!” Lance called cheerily.
Keith’s eyes trailed up to meet Lance’s eyes. “Hey,” he replied lazily.
Lance shuffled over and crouched down next to Keith. After passing the bag to his boyfriend, he kicked his legs out and settled down on the deck. Keith wasn’t paying attention to him anymore though, busy digging through the bag. A gentle press of lips to his cheek distracted him, drawing him back to Lance once more. Lance was smiling, still leaned into Keith. With a rumble of a laugh in the back of his throat, Keith met him halfway, kissing Lance chastely on the lips, the hint of a grin on the edge of his mouth. They both pulled away to stare lovingly into each other’s eyes.
The aroma from the bag curled its way around Keith’s mind once more and he turned back to the contents of it. “What’d you get?” Keith questioned, ruffling around once again in the bag. He pulled out a lumpy brown paper wrapping with a little sticker and some twine holding it all together. Keith’s eyes brightened excitedly.
“Open it,” Lance instructed, a hint of a laugh in his voice as he watched his boyfriend eagerly flipping the package around in his hands.
Keith didn’t waste another second before he was ripping the twine off and unwrapping the paper. A soft gasp escaped him. “You got me a country ham?!” he frantically exclaimed.
Lance just laughed at his side. “It’s smoked and cooked too,” he casually added.
“Lance,” Keith whined, already drooling at the sight of the beautiful slab of meat. Lance really spoiled him, and he couldn’t deny that he loved it, but that wasn’t to say that Keith didn’t absolutely adore going out at night to pick stuff up for Lance, just to treat him.
Beside him, Lance pulled out a different brown bag from the plastic bag. It had the McDonald’s logo across the side of it, and he pulled a wrapped burger out of the bag. Although Keith couldn’t eat the same food that Lance could, they still ate together. Even when Keith was drinking blood, it was from a bottle or a glass so that it felt more normal to both of them. Neither of them ever made a big deal out of it. Lance began to vacuum up his food with grace while Keith took a huge bite of his ham. They both rested there, gazing out over the deck at the plants of their garden, chewing on their respective meals.
“It’s almost time to open,” Lance commented wistfully.
Keith hummed happily, quickly swallowing down the piece of ham he had been chewing on. “I can’t believe we’re opening a greenhouse,” he answered, just as dazed.
Lance smiled, nudging Keith in the arm with his own shoulder. “Believe it, because this is what we worked for,” he told Keith, a proud note in his voice. His eyes shimmered with an excited gleam.
Keith let Lance’s words sink in, mixing around within his mind. For all the years that Keith had been alive, he had never had an opportunity to share his love of plants with others. Even as he was about to open up his new shop with Lance and have everything he hadn’t ever even known that he had wanted, he still couldn’t help the nervousness he felt bubbling in his stomach. Keith wasn’t really sure what to expect with all of this. Obviously, he was going to meet new people and be part of the local community, but was Keith ready for that? He had been wondering if he would be able to fit in with everyone around.
Even with all his worries, Lance had always been there to help wash away any hesitation that Keith had had before. Whenever Keith ran into a problem and felt like he was stuck, Lance would smile kindly at him, hold his hand, and fix everything with just a few words. Lance always had a way of making Keith’s troubles feel like bite-sized, manageable little pieces, even when they seemed like unscalable mountains inside Keith’s mind. Especially with the sun. When they had first decided to open the greenhouse, Keith had always wondered how he would interact with the customers if he couldn’t be in the light, but Lance always had solutions for everything, even that.
So, as Lance and Keith both finished up their respective meals, they continued to chat about this and that from their days, but the conversation always seemed to steer itself back to the opening of the plant shop, which was only a couple minutes away. They had invited the entire street to come celebrate the opening of the shop, and many people – who Keith didn’t know yet – had informed them that they would be coming by to see it. They also wanted to meet the two plant shop owners since they were new to town. All around, it was going to be a very relaxing and exciting afternoon, if only Keith could figure out what to say to anyone.
“Well,” Lance drawled, glancing down at his phone to check the time, “it’s about time that we unlock those doors. The town is waiting on us, after all.”
Keith took in a deep breath and clenched his fingers around the wooden edge of the deck. He couldn’t help the way he tensed up as the time grew nearer. “Alright,” he huffed out, all in one unsteady breath.
“Hey, don’t be nervous! They’re going to love our shop! I mean, of course they are, I designed it and I have an expert eye about these things!” Lance joked, sarcastically studying his nails to give off an air of apathy.
Keith smirked in amusement as he watched his boyfriend’s antics. He raised an eyebrow. “Of course,” he agreed, just as sarcastic as Lance.
Lance scooted closer then, dropping the charade for a brief moment as he pressed a lingering kiss to Keith’s grinning lips. “They’re going to love you too,” he whispered. It was meant as a reassurance. Lance always was able to tell when Keith was feeling self conscious. He was observant that way, but it still impressed Keith every time, and warmed his chest up. Once more, Lance slid the goofy look of mock cockiness back onto his face before adding, “None of them will love you as much as I do though, and if anyone does, then I’ll just have to joust them for your hand.” He shrugged simply.
Hiding his laughter beneath the click of his tongue, Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m not a prize to be won, Lance,” he dismissed.
Lance didn’t even falter, he just leaned closer to Keith, grabbed his hand, and planted a quick kiss to the back of Keith’s palm. “No,” he agreed easily, a dopey smile on his face that had Keith’s heart melting, “but I still feel like a winner.”
Keith snorted at the cheesy statement, but he kept his hand in Lance’s. He would be lying if he said that that comment hadn’t gone straight to his heart. He would pretend it was lame if asked, but with the way Lance looked at him and the airy tone of his voice which was just short of being anything joking, Keith really felt like he was being showered in love.
“If you’re a winner, then I’m a champion,” Keith flirted back. He swooped in, stealing a quick kiss from Lance.
Humming, Lance smiled, content. “C’mon then, Mr. Blue Ribbon, let’s go open up our shop and grace the people with our presence,” Lance suggested.
Before Keith could agree, he was already dragging him up by the hand and pulling him to the front of the store. Keith’s large-brimmed hat caught on the edges of the doorframe, but Lance grabbed onto it, using it as leverage to lean in and kiss Keith’s cheek, just for good measure. That time, Keith couldn’t suppress his small chuckle.
The entire shop was set up pristinely after a week of work. Lance wanted it to look perfect for the aesthetic reasons, but Keith just wanted it to be successful. There were a few disagreements about placement and such, but once they had worked out all the kinks in their layout, they had settled on something that they were both happy with. Although there was some compromise, it turned out much better in the end, and both could agree that the final product was everything they had wanted.
There were shelves upon shelves of potted plants lining the windows, displaying the flowers that Keith was so proud of, but also offering them the best opening for the sun to reach. They were arranged by colour, enticing any passersby into the store. The area of the store outside was also adorned to draw the eye closer. Above the door and all along the perimeter of the store, there were planters hanging with a variety of eye-catching flowers.
Inside, there were also many different tables and stands to make the place easier to navigate and easier on the eye. Hanging plants were set up from the ceiling too, just to maximize the space and to make it feel more like a jungle of plants, but they were nothing like the low ones that Keith had tacked up in the dingy apartment that he had lived in when he had met Lance. The ones that you hit your head on when you weren’t paying attention. No, these ones were elegant and just high enough that you could grace the vine tendrils with your fingertips as you passed by through the store. Keith loved them like that.
Paintings were strung up on the walls, all in blacks in whites to offset the vibrant colours of the petals. They needed something on their walls, but not something that would take the focus away. Some of the pots were weaved of basket or homemade from clay, and there were a couple signs around the shop set up from chalkboard, which Lance decided he would take to maintaining once they officially opened.
Lance had convinced Keith that the little touches like that were what really made the place. Keith had just assumed it was all about advertising the plants, but Lance tod him that the best way to keep people in was to make them feel at home. And that was also why they had added a cozy little couch and coffee table in the far corner of the shop, across from the greenhouse door. They had enough room for it, so they had figured, why not?
As Keith stood in the middle of the shop next to a little ceramic frog that Lance had picked out because he had thought it was cute. From beneath his red sunhat, Keith gazed around at the plants and decorations everywhere. It was so much more than Keith had ever thought he would have. Keith had never been a domestic person, or a person to foolishly ream for things that he knew he wouldn’t be able to achieve, even with thousands of years to do it, but seeing this all come together and watching his boyfriend flounce around the store with a grin so bright it rivalled the sun, Keith began to fully realize that he could be happy in life.
“Ready, Keith?” Lance excitedly asked, hurrying around a stand to grab Keith’s hand and pull him closer to the door.
Light streamed through the light, falling gently over Keith’s covered arm. He couldn’t feel any warmth from beneath the gloves and long sleeves, but he imagined it. Keith’s floppy hat toppled down over his face as he stared at the lock of the door. Lance dangled the keys from his fingers and jingled them together. Then, with a swipe of his hand, Keith scooped up the keys and pushed them into the lock. They both glanced at each other, smiling and jittery.
“Let’s do this,” Keith smirked. Without any hesitation, Keith flicked the key, effectively opening Blood Rose Gardens for the very first time. In that moment, Keith felt a wave of emotion wash over him. It was as if, all at once, everything was made real in Keith’s mind. He was really doing this. He was opening a flower shop. He was there, with the love of his life. This was all happening. He took in a deep breath, then turned the doorknob.
A rush of warm summer air flowed in through the door, billowing Lance’s hair and rippling Keith’s hat. Outside, there were a few people who were wandering on the street, all chatting and enjoying the sun’s heat. There were a good number of people who seemed to be heading in the direction of their flower shop. Keith’s heart leaped at the idea of interacting with the people he would be living near from then on out.
Keith ducked back inside the store and shuffled away from the windows nervously.
Lance didn’t seem to be bothered by the new people who were fast approaching the front of the shop. “Welcome to Blood Rose Gardens! We hope you’re having a great day!” he greeted as a group of people stepped up to the front of the store. They lingered near the displays outside, oohing at the beauty of the arrangements.
“Good afternoon! These are all so beautiful!” one lady complimented as she entered through the door. She was a lovely young woman in a sundress. Her fluffy ivory-tinted hair contrasted beautifully against the rich darkness of her skin. The awestruck smile across her face was brilliant as she explored the shop with her bright eyes.
“Yeah, you’ve really put this place back together,” a man agreed. He seemed to be with the gal as she turned back to nod at him. The white tuft of hair set apart from the rest of his black undercut matched with the girl’s hair. He was a tall and strong man who appeared as though he could snap you like a twig, although all the threat was taken out by the gentle smile on his face.
Lance didn’t falter, immediately sliding up next to Keith and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Thanks! But the real flower magic was all done by this guy,” Lance told them happily, the smile clear in his voice. Keith was suddenly thankful for the hat atop his head because it effectively hid his blush.
“He can barely look after himself, let alone a plant,” Keith joked, feeling a little bit less anxious with Lance for support.
“I want to argue, but I’m just the looks behind the operation,” Lance laughed. The couple laughed along with him, relaxing the longer they stuck around. “Anyway, the name’s Lance, and this is my boyfriend, Keith! We just moved in around here, and I have to say, I’m already impressed with how nice the people and the weather are!”
“Well, nice to meet you Lance and Keith,” the lady greeted. “Welcome to the neighbourhood! I’m Allura, that’s Shiro,” she pointed to the other man, who waved with a prosthetic arm which Keith hadn’t noticed before, “and we just couldn’t wait to come see the new garden shop! The old one was getting a bit run down, but this is just… stunning!”
Before anyone could say anything else, a loud clamoring outside alerted everyone to the entrance of the shop. “Holy shit!” a male voice shouted. It didn’t take long to figure out who it was because suddenly, a young girl with short caramel-coloured hair and round glasses came stumbling into the store, clearly out of breath. Seconds later, she was joined by a taller, long-haired boy who held a strong resemblance to her. They both panted for a moment before the boy shot up, ramrod straight.
“You cheated!” he accused.
The girl laughed breathlessly. “You’re just slow!” she shot back.
“You tripped me.”
She just waved him off with the flick of her hand, an amusemed expression on her face. “That’s what a loser would say.” Finally, they both seemed to register that everyone in the shop was staring at them after their loud entrance. “Hi!” the girl cheerily smiled. “We saw the flyer for the new garden store opening up. This is it, right? This place is insane!”
The boy behind her grinned as he began wandering around the store. “This is dope,” he announced, gesturing to the entire store all at once.
“Welcome!” Lance called, not nearly as perturbed by their appearance as Keith was. “You’re right on time, we just opened for the first time! My name’s Lance, and this is Keith.”
“Nice! I’m Pidge, that nerd over there is my brother,” she added, as though even mentioning her brother was an unrivalled pain.
From where he was inspecting a potted cactus by the window, the boy called, “I have a name! It’s Matt!”
Pidge rolled her eyes, and Keith couldn’t help but snort. He liked Pidge already.
At that moment, two more people came into the shop, although much less frantically than the two siblings who had come in prior to them. One was a very tall man with an orange bandana wrapped around his forehead and a casual vest. The other was a lady with giant hoop earrings and a clean bob haircut. They were laughing about something as they entered the shop.
Matt and Pidge at the other end of the shop were engaged in conversation about a row of cacti while Allura and Shiro investigated the blooming flowers by the front. This left Lance and Keith perfectly free to go greet the newcomers.
“Hello! Welcome! The name’s Lance,” he greeted, a bright smile on his face.
Keith could feel a gentle sort of warmth emanating off the couple. He wasn’t sure what it was about the pair, but they immediately made him feel at ease. “Welcome,” Keith softly spoke. It drew the attention of the two smiling customers, as well as Lance. “I’m Keith.” He was beginning to feel more comfortable in greeting people who came to the shop. He didn’t want to completely shut himself out, but he also didn’t want to make a bad first impression. It was so much easier to introduce himself to people when he knew he was going to kill them later. It didn’t matter in those instances.
“Hi! I can’t believe we have new neighbours now, that’s so exciting! I’m Hunk, and this is Shay,” the man replied.
“Hello,” Shay greeted. “Your shop is quite lovely,” she commented, a tender smile on her face as she glanced around.
“No kidding,” Hunk agreed. He let out a low whistle as his eyes wandered the shop.
From across the shop, Allura called over, “Shay! They have Balmera Bluebells here and they’re stunning!”
Shay immediately perked up and hurried over to where Allura and Shiro were staring at a potted plant. “Oh, they are! They are as beautiful as the ones in my grandmother’s garden!” Her hands grazed the petals as she smiled dreamily at the plant.
Hunk watched her with loving eyes, an amused grin tugging at his lips. Keith couldn’t help but feel a wave of love and warmth just by being near the two. They seemed like a perfect match, and he hadn’t even known them that long.
Lance must have been thinking the same thing, because he awed softly, swatted Hunk’s arm, and cheerily said, “You two are adorable!”
Hunk laughed heartily. “Thank you!”
Suddenly, Pidge poked her head out from around a shelf, right next to Keith. “They’re always this cute,” she informed Keith and Lance, her voice dropping in a way that made it seem she was bitter about the fact.
Matt appeared from around the shelf then too, nearly trampling his sister in the process. “And it never stops being heartwarming!” he cooed, placing a flat hand to his heart.
Everyone around them laughed good-naturedly, even Keith. He could feel himself slowly growing attached to these people who he had only met moments prior. They liked his flowers too, which was something that made Keith’s heart sing with pride.
Suddenly, Hunk gasped, “We should have a welcoming barbecue!”
Pidge and Matt immediately agreed, almost as if their lives depended on the barbecue. Allura cheered, deeming it a fitting suggestion for the arrival of the new flower shop owners. Shiro complimented Hunk’s idea, already giving a few proposals on where they could host it. Shay approved of it as well, her eyes creasing up as she beamed at him. Lance couldn’t have been more excited at the idea of a get-together with food if he tried, and it had Keith smiling dopily at his boyfriend.
“That’s a grand idea, Hunk!” a new voice approved. Everyone turned to the door to watch as an orange-haired man with a prominent moustache popped his head in through the entrance. Keith wasn’t sure who the man was, having never seen him before in his life, and upon looking to Lance, he could see the confusion in his eyes. They were the only ones, however, because the rest of the room erupted into excited greetings.
“Coran!” Allura called, a bright smile on her face. “I’m so glad you’re here! Would you look at this place? Can you believe it?” she praised, gesturing around.
Coran’s eyes shined as he studied the room. “Why, it reminds me of the flower fields back in my old flight training days!” He stepped inside, his posture impossibly straight. Keith could feel the same comfort from this man – Coran – as he had from Hunk, making him instantly like the older man. “Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe!” he greeted, shooting his hand out at Keith.
Cautiously, Keith met the offer with a gloved hand of his own. Keith wasn’t one to give weak handshakes, often accidentally putting in too much force as he wasn’t used to handshaking, but this Coran fellow had quite the grip. Just shaking his hand made Keith match his posture a little bit more. “Keith Kogane,” he replied with. Keith was a fan of this short and simple, yet warm and inviting sort of introduction. It was more his speed.
Coran then turned to Lance and offered the same welcoming hand, which Lance easily accepted with a pleased grin. “Lance McClain!” Lance announced, making Coran’s eyes scrunch up as he smiled beneath his moustache.
Everyone around him began to chat once again, pointing to the various flowers and giving their opinions. They were all engaged in conversations. Hunk could be heard planning the barbecue with Hunk while Shay and Allura studied the display of tulips by the far wall. Coran seemed particularly invested in a story that Lance was telling.
A sudden voice drew in Keith’s attention and halted his mental evaluation of the people in his shop. From Keith’s side, Pidge tilted her head to better see Keith’s face under the sunhat. There was a confused look in her eye as she asked, “Why are you wearing gloves in this heat?”
Keith blinked once, then glanced down at his hands, his skin completely obscured by the black material they were wrapped in. “Because the sun burns me,” he answered simply. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him.
“Man, I hear you,” Matt agreed from behind Pidge. He leaned his arm heavily onto her shoulder, earning a grunt from his sibling. “The sun just absolutely cooks me. I can’t leave the house without sunscreen in the summer.”
Keith nodded along, although he wasn’t sure they were on the same page. “No, I literally burst into flames in the sun,” he explained, trying to get his message across. “It’s because I–”
“–Have a skin condition!” Lance interjected, sliding up out of nowhere. He rapidly snaked his arm around Keith’s shoulders and hugged him inwards, too tightly. Keith squawked at the sudden motion, his hat jarring itself out of place a little bit. “Photodermatitis. He’s allergic to the sun. He gets all these red blotches that burn, and then we have to go to the doctor, and it’s just better to avoid all that,” Lance laughed awkwardly.
Pidge’s eyes widened sympathetically. “Dude, that’s shit,” she said.
Lance didn’t even let Keith breathe a word before he was already filling in the gap, “Yep, it makes beach days harder, but it also completes his emo boy aesthetic.” Matt and Pidge snorted. Keith scowled.
“I do not have–”
Lance cut him off with a loud exclamation of, “but I love him anyway!” completing it with a loud laugh that drowned out Keith’s complaint. He turned to plant a kiss on Keith’s cheek, a little too close to his ear. When he pulled away, he quickly whispered, “Stop telling people you’re a bloodsucker.” Keith frowned, but Lance was already facing Matt and Pidge again as if he hadn’t said anything.
Keith just didn’t get what was wrong.
The rest of the day was spent greeting new people and chatting with the friends that they had made. Their first day at the flower shop had gone more than perfect, and the two of them couldn’t have been happier with their newfound life together. It wasn’t going to be easy to run their flower shop, not with Keith’s limitations, but they were willing to work through it. Keith felt like he was seeing the light for the first time, and Lance had never felt more at ease in life. They were happy.
Just then, a brown-haired gal in overalls wandered into the store. The store was getting pretty busy and everyone was too preoccupied to notice her arrival, but she frowned as she inspected the different flowers near the shop entrance. As she made her way by the stalls of plants, she grew closer to Lance and Keith.
“Hi, welcome to Blood Rose Gardens! I’m Lance, and this is Keith!” Lance greeted her, as characteristically friendly as ever.
The girl stood up a little straighter and nodded. “Yeah, hi… I’m Olia,” she answered, a little awkwardly, as if she didn't wish to be talking with Lance right then.
Lance just continued to smile, not at all put-off by her demeanor. “Well, feel free to check around the store and if you need any help, ask Keith, here. He knows everything about anything plant related!” He patted Keith’s shoulder and Keith couldn’t help but roll his eyes as Lance’s compliment, even as his heart leaped a little.
Olia nodded curtly before wandering away to continue inspecting the flower arrangements near the back. There was something off about her.
Immediately after she was gone, Lance pressed in close to Keith again, quickly hissing an excited, “She’s perfect,” into Keith’s ear. He spoke in Spanish, something he usually only did to keep their conversations secret. The walls had ears.
Keith raised an eyebrow before mumbling back in Spanish, “I don’t need anymore for a few weeks.”
Lance impatiently tilted his head from side to side as if weighing Keith’s words. “Yeah, I know,” he drawled, “but I’m just thinking ahead.”
“What happened to not choosing anyone close to us?” Keith questioned. He busied himself with a daffodil pot in front of him so that anyone nearby wouldn’t find his whispered conversation with Lance too suspicious.
Shrugging, Lance murmured back, “I just think a little change could be nice.”
Keith snorted and plucked a rogue daffodil out of a pot near the back of the shelf. He turned to Lance and gently pressed the stem behind his ear. It complemented his shining smile brilliantly and Keith contently hummed. “If she’s perfect, then I guess I have to,” Keith replied sarcastically. He was learning very quickly that there wasn’t a lot he wouldn’t do for Lance.
◊ ◊ ◊
The door to Pidge’s room slammed open, nearly breaking the doorstopper right off the wall entirely. She jumped, causing her headphones to slide down her head. Ripping them off the rest of the way, she squinted in the darkness, trying her hardest to see who the unnamed intruder was. It was difficult in the darkness, especially after staring at the illuminated computer screen for so long. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and certainly not at – she glanced to the clock – 3:00 am.
“Pidge!” the person hissed. They quickly shuffled into the room, shutting the door behind them, albeit much gentler.
“Matt?” Pidge called back. “What the fuck are you doing? You scared the shit out of me,” she whispered. She wasn’t sure why they were whispering. Anyone who was asleep before was definitely awake after the door was blasted into the wall.
Matt’s face became clear as he got closer to her bed, her computer highlighting his features. And suddenly, Pidge wished she couldn’t see the person in the dark, because Matt had the look of a crazed man. His eyes were blown wide and wild as he stared intently at Pidge. “I realized something!” he whisper-shouted.
“And it couldn’t wait until morning…?” she raised an eyebrow, her fingers twitching impatiently above her keyboard.
“No!” Matt insisted. “You know those new neighbours with the flower shop we met today?”
Pidge squinted, confused, “Uh, yeah? It happened today… I didn’t forget already…”
Matt didn’t even pause to think about her response, already leaping right into his next point. Matt was usually one for sleeping on time while Pidge was the one to stay up through the night, so for him to be up, it must have been a really important realization. He seriously looked like he was a walking corpse, and the eerie lighting wasn’t doing him any favours.
“They’re vampires,” he breathed.
Pidge didn’t speak. A moment passed with just Pidge staring at her brother, face completely blank, and her brother staring back, crazed in the way his eyes gleamed.
“What…?” she finally forced out.
“Think about it!” Matt continued. He moved away from the bed to wave his hands around wildly. “The sunhat, the gloves, the fake photodermatitis claims. The evidence is there! Sun allergy? That’s not a thing!”
Pidge watched him with a concerned expression. “Sun allergies are real, Matt…”
“Then why were they being suspicious about it?!” Matt whirled on her, startling her a little bit with his suddenness.
“Maybe they didn’t want to talk about it…?” she suggested.
Matt smiled, making him look even more insane when paired with his deep-set bags and his wagging finger. “No, no, it’s because they’re vampires!”
“Matt, I think you need to go to sleep…”
Matt ignored her. “And what was the name of their shop?! That’s right! Blood Rose Gardens! Blood!”
Pidge sighed to herself and rubbed the insides of her eyes from beneath her glasses.
“And did you see how pale Keith was?!”
“Some people are pale, Matt,” Pidge mumbled.
Matt stood arms akimbo in the middle of her room, staring stoically off into the distance as if he was thinking very hard about what she had said. “Not like that, though. No one is that pale.”
“You’re that pale!” Pidge complained, getting fed up with Matt’s insanity. “They’re not vampires! Go to sleep!” And with that, she grabbed the notebook that was sitting on her nightstand and lugged it at him. It hit his arm, causing him to yelp.
“Fine! But I’m telling you! Vampires!” He left the room, calling he last part over his shoulder with indignation.
Once he was out of earshot, Pidge scoffed to herself and readjusted her headphones. Vampires? Honestly, Matt. That would be ridiculous.