Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hey, Red.”

Keith dragged his eyes from the sight of the accident and towards the sound of Lance’s voice.

Lance’s words were friendly, but his tone wasn’t completely welcoming.  His arms were crossed casually in front of his chest. The brim of his dark blue baseball cap protected his face from the harsh summer sun, partially obscuring his eyes.  

Keith found himself irritatingly jealous of the way Lance appeared to remain cool despite the heat.  Sweat trickled down the back of Keith’s shirt.

His eyes twitched in annoyance.  “Are you ever going to use my actual name, Blue ?”

Lance pretended to think about it for a moment.  “Hmmmm… Nope! Don’t think so,” he said cheerily, tone purposefully a little antagonistic.

Keith balled his hands into fists and forced them to remain at his sides.  He really didn’t need Lance’s attitude today.

He honestly wasn’t sure what Lance’s problem with him was.  Originally, Keith had blamed Lance’s behavior on the general rivalry between the police and fire departments, but lately he had noticed that neither Shiro nor Pidge got the same treatment.  Something in Keith’s chest stung at the thought.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me,” Keith replied tersely, “I have an emergency to respond to.  You continue doing what you’re doing. Herding a bunch of rubberneckers is important work, too.”

Lance’s jaw clenched and Keith felt a twinge of satisfaction as he saw Lance’s eyes narrow at him.  Instead of responding, Lance turned on his heels and walked away. Keith almost felt disappointed.

He was about to turn when he felt a hand clamp on his shoulder.

“What was that about?” Shiro’s voice wasn’t outright accusatory, but Keith still felt guilty at the question.

“He started it,” Keith muttered and crossed his arms, posture becoming more defensive.

Shiro hummed.  “Even so, it doesn’t mean you have to respond in kind,” he chastised gently.  “I know you’re better than that, Keith.”

Keith swallowed heavily.  Guilt and frustration bubbled within him.  The pressure he felt from Shiro’s expectations (which Keith was confident he’d never be able to live up to) made him  feel as if he might boil over. “Yeah. I know.”

Shiro patted Keith on the back and gave him a smile.  “C’mon. We’ve got a job to do.”

When Keith turned, he saw Lance out of the corner of his eye, watching him from a distance.  Lance’s face was unreadable, but his body language looked a little stiff as he watched the traffic meander past, drivers slowing to gawk at the scene.

Maybe Keith would be a bit nicer next time.  Maybe.

“Hey, Red. Nice of you guys to finally show up to the scene,” Lance joked, but Keith could hear the underlying exhaustion in his voice.  Lance’s eyes were ringed with dark circles and Keith wondered what had happened to make him this tired. The lingering late summer heat probably wasn’t helping either.

Keith pushed down the small pit of worry in his stomach.

“We’re right on time, Blue.  But you look like you’re about to fall asleep on the job.  Are you sure you don’t want to lay down somewhere? I think we can handle this one without you.”

Lance blinked, surprise plain on his face at the worry that underlay Keith’s usual competitive jab.  Keith pushed away the mixture of guilt and annoyance he felt at Lance’s surprise.

Lance managed a tired smile.  “Trust me, I could do this in my sleep.  You firefighters wish you could get on my level.”

Keith let out a sharp bark of laughter.  “Whatever you say, Blue. Just … be careful, okay? Don’t want you getting sloppy now.”

Lance’s face softened.  It was clear he understood the concern Keith was trying to convey.  

“Never,” he promised, smile becoming less forced.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.”  Keith left Lance quickly, trying to seem as though he wasn’t running away.  Lance’s soft, tired, warm smile was making Keith’s stomach do funny things.

He hoped Lance would get some much-needed rest soon.  This worry was making knots in Keith’s stomach.

“Take that, Red!” Lance crowed, fists pumping the air in excitement.

Keith forced his amused smirk into a scowl.  “Yeah, yeah. Allura did all the work.”

Lance let out a huff of minor annoyance, but his eyes remained playful.  “Are you serious? Did you not see that amazing pass? A perfect spiral!” Lance mimed throwing a football and Keith couldn’t contain the small chuckle that escaped him.

“A perfect spiral? Are you blind?  You’re lucky Allura’s a good enough receiver to have managed to catch that terrible pass.”

Lance was about to retort when Hunk, who stood next to the rest of the Altea Police Department’s recreational football team, took a step towards them.

“Seriously guys? Do you have to do this every time?”

“We don’t do this every time,” Keith protested at the same time as Lance.  They both exchanged a look of surprise before jerking their gazes away from each other.

Lance cleared his throat, avoiding Keith’s gaze.  “Anyway, we don’t do this every time. And Hunk? Please tell Keith he’s wrong and that was a perfect spiral.”

Hunk had a long-suffering look on his face when he turned to Keith.  

“Keith, you’re wrong and that was a perfect spiral,” he dutifully recited.

Keith hid his smile behind his hand, then schooled his expression to something more neutral.   “Yeah, yeah, whatever. One perfect spiral isn’t going to help you win this game, Blue.” Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance and smirked.

Lance’s eyes lit up at Keith’s challenge.  “Oh, it’s so on!”

The game somehow managed to become even more fiercely competitive after that.  Lance and Allura made a deadly combination, with Lance’s passes finding Allura almost every time.  Shiro marking Allura closely was the reason they didn’t completely dominate the score. Hunk made a formidable lineman, but Keith and Pidge’s small statures and speed meant they were able to slip by him often enough to even the score.

Keith had to admit he hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.  It was nice to feel the familiar thrill of adrenaline without being placed in a life-or-death situation.  

When the final whistle ended, Keith was sweaty and panting heavily.  He wiped at the droplets on his forehead, pushing damp hair away from his face.  Pidge flopped heavily facedown on the ground next to him. Keith was tempted to join her.

“What was the final score?” she asked, face muffled by the grass.

“45-45,” Shiro said as he sat down on the ground next to her.  Pidge groaned.

“A tie!? No way,” Lance exclaimed.  “We need to have a tiebreaker or something.  No way we’re losing to the fire department!”

Keith scoffed, but he had to admit he didn’t want to leave it at a tie either.

“Maybe when we’re all a little less tired, we can have a rematch,” Shiro offered diplomatically.

“That sounds like a great idea, Shiro,” Allura responded and gave Lance, who seemed like he wanted to protest the idea of waiting, a stern look.  Despite his exhaustion, Keith couldn’t help but agree with Lance.

The early autumn breeze helped Keith cool down marginally but didn’t make him feel any less sweaty and gross.

Keith caught Lance’s gaze and for a moment they exchanged looks.  Keith wasn’t sure exactly what either of them was trying to communicate to the other.  Then Lance offered Keith a tired grin.

Keith blinked in surprise.  His heart thumped loudly. Huh.

Coran cheerfully handed Keith an ice cold bottle of water.  Keith blinked once, then took it from him, relishing the cold radiating from the chilled bottle.  

Shiro gave Coran a grateful smile when Coran gave him his own water, but Pidge couldn’t be bothered to pick her head off the ground even with the temptation of ice cold water sitting right next to her head.

Lance was sitting back to back on the ground with Hunk, and both drank deeply from their waters.  Keith had a hard time tearing his eyes away from the way Lance’s adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he drank until -

“Great game, Keith.  You played well,” Allura said, holding her hand out for Keith to shake.  “I thought you almost had it there for a second.”

Keith took her hand in his and shook it awkwardly.  “So did I.” Belatedly, he remembered to add, “You played well, too.  You and Lance make a good team.” While he meant every word of it, the last admission left a strangely bitter taste on his tongue.

Allura laughed, clearly amused.  Though by what, Keith wasn’t sure.  “Yes, I suppose we do. But I suppose that’s what happens when you’ve been partners with someone for years.”

Keith felt as though he’d been sucker punched, surprisingly hurt that he’d never known this despite the fact he and Lance probably couldn’t even be considered friends. “Partners?”

“Yes, we were paired together straight out of the Academy.  I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled at first, but I suppose my initial judgement of him wasn’t entirely fair.  He’s much more dependable than he lets on. Though his behavior at the Academy certainly didn’t show it, in my defense.”

Keith blinked.  “Oh,” he said a bit faintly, happy at the revelation that Allura and Lance’s partnership was apparently platonic and work-related.  “Wait. What did he do at the Academy?”

“Oh, there are too many stories for me to tell you now, but let’s just say Blaytz taking Lance under his wing led to many ... incidents.”  

Allura took a moment to really study Keith, her gaze growing more mischievous.  “If you’d like me to tell you more about Lance... ,” she trailed off meaningfully.

“Uh, yeah, sure.  If you want.” Keith aimed at being casual but had to admit he wasn’t exactly a sharpshooter when it came to expressing himself the way he wanted.

“Brilliant,” Allura said, beaming at Keith.  “We’ll have to meet for coffee sometime. I’ve always meant to develop a better relationship with the fire department - we’ve been at each other’s throats for far too long.”

“Uh, yeah,” Keith agreed as he searched for something meaningful to add.  Thankfully, Pidge’s screams cut through the air, catching Keith’s and Allura’s attention.

They turned to see Pidge sitting on top of Lance’s surprisingly broad shoulders.  Lance was racing around the field while Pidge hit the top of his head and yelled for him to put her down, but laughter betrayed her attempts at sounding angry.  

Hunk just stood watching, face torn between expressions of amusement and of worry - Keith had to admit he was also just waiting for something to go horribly wrong.

The only incident it ended up devolving into was Pidge mercilessly tickling Lance, who had first made an attempt to tickle Pidge into submission.  Lance was wheezing more than laughing as he lay on the grass, desperately trying to fend off Pidge and calling for Hunk to help between gasps for breath.  Hunk just gave Lance a helpless shrug and a shit-eating grin as Lance called him a traitor.

Allura chuckled quietly besides Keith, amusement and fondness clear in her eyes, while Shiro silently shook on Keith’s other side.

Keith couldn’t help his own laughter at the sight.

“Lance did what ?” Keith gaped incredulously at Allura from across the table.  His almost empty coffee mug sat on the table in front of him, now considerably cooler than the piping hot state he’d received it in.

Keith’s raised voice drew curious glances from the other patrons in the coffee shop who had come to escape the late October chill with hot beverages and a warm, homey interior.

Allura was clearly trying to stifle her own laughter as she recounted the story.  “You should have seen Detective Trigel’s face - she was so angry. Lance is lucky her first instinct was to blame Blaytz and that he would never rat out his partner in crime to her.”

“Well, what happened to Blaytz?”  Keith was still in disbelief and secretly thought Lance must have the devil’s own luck to have avoided any of the consequences for the prank he’d helped pull.

“Oh, it was a delicate balancing act between groveling at her feet and avoiding her and whatever retribution she wanted to bring down on him.  I think that alone would have served as punishment enough - I’d never seen him look so paranoid.”

Keith sniggered, trying to picture the image - he’d only met Blaytz a couple of times on the job, but somehow it was easy enough to picture.  Allura just shook her head in a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

Finally, Allura had to excuse herself, frowning as she checked the time on her phone before smiling at Keith.  “I did enjoy our talk, Keith - I do hope we’ll be able to meet up and do this again soon.”

Keith smiled back at Allura.  “Yeah, I had fun,” he admitted, much to his surprise.  He hadn’t entirely been sure he’d enjoy himself today. Just getting coffee and talking with someone he didn’t know very well wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time, but Allura had been pleasant company and had carried the conversation enough for Keith to become comfortable and relaxed.  

After Allura stood up and collected her purse, she turned to look at Keith mischievously.  “You know,” she began conversationally, “I believe Lance walks his dog at the park across the street around this time. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the company.”

With those parting words and a wink, Allura disappeared before Keith had a chance to say something.  

Damn.  She’d get along well with Shiro.  Keith made a mental note not to let the two ever get the chance to conspire together.

He remained at the table for a few moments, contemplating Allura’s words.  Should he go check the park? If Lance was even there, what would he say?

Keith shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts.  No, if Allura suggested he go see if Lance was at the park, it was because it would be fine to go over and say hi.  Allura didn’t seem like the kind of person to suggest it if she thought Lance would be annoyed by Keith’s intrusion into his routine.

Mind made up, Keith stood and picked his way around the other tables and out of the coffee shop.

The late afternoon sun was beating down, but it didn’t do much to chase away the autumn chill as Keith made his way across the crosswalk.  Traffic was surprisingly light and Keith didn’t bother for the light to turn, instead hurrying across the street during a lull. Even as he did so, Keith smirked to himself, glad that Lance wasn’t there to see him jaywalking - no way Keith would’ve heard the end of it.

Trees lined the park pathway, and Keith found his eyes drawn to the colorful leaves that clung to the branches of the trees that dappled the pathway in shadow.  Keith’s foot crunched on a fallen leaf.

As Keith made his way casually down the park’s path, he kept his eyes carefully peeled for any sign of Lance, finally spotting him sitting on a park bench a small distance away.  Keith had to shade his eyes and squint to be certain, but sure enough it was Lance with a large, furry shape at his feet eyeing him intently.

Keith squinted harder - was that a German Shepherd?  The coat color was unusual and threw Keith off, but he had to admit Lance having a German Shepherd was a cliche that fit him.   

Lance tossed a tennis ball he had been holding, and his dog caught it in its mouth and immediately dropped it back on Lance’s lap, tail wagging eagerly.

When Lance grabbed the ball and looked back up, he blinked, noticing Keith for the first time.  A wide smile spread over his face and he raised a hand in greeting. His dog followed the motion eagerly - Lance let out a chuckle and tossed the ball again before looking back over at Keith.

“Hey, Keith!  I haven’t seen you around here before.”  Lance’s eyes were bright and his tone was curious as he watched Keith.

Keith closed the gap between them and stood awkwardly off to the side of the bench, watching as Lance and his dog played a very contained game of fetch, with Lance softly lobbing the ball above the dog and the dog catching it neatly every time.

“Yeah, well, I just got coffee and figured I’d go for a walk.  The weather’s really nice today, you know,” Keith said awkwardly, unwilling to admit he had come because Allura told him Lance would be here.

Lance laughed.  “Yeah, I do know.”  He eyed Keith. “You sure you don’t want to sit down?”

Keith sat down on the bench next to Lance.  While there was still a small gap between them, Keith could feel the warmth radiating from Lance.  He swallowed heavily and searched wildly for something to talk about. “Uh, is that a German Shepherd?”

Lance smiled fondly and scratched behind his dog’s ears. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth happily.  “Yeah, she is. Total cliche, am I right? But yeah, her coat color throws a lot of people off. Blue isn’t a common coat color, and it doesn’t meet breed standards apparently, so the breeders wanted to give her to a non-show home.  My family thought a dog would be good for me once I moved out on my own and here we are.”

“What’s her name?” Keith asked curiously.  When Lance talked about her, he had a really soft look on his face that Keith wanted to see more of.  And the dog herself was pretty cute, too.

Lance smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.  “Her name’s actually Blue. I know it’s not very original, but it was just supposed to be a placeholder name until I came up with something good.  But it ended up sticking and you’ve gotta admit, it fits.”

Keith laughed.  “Yeah, it definitely does.”  Keith turned thoughtful. “You know, it’s going to become really confusing for the both of you if I keep calling you Blue.”

At the sound of her name, Blue turned towards Keith, tail thumping on the ground happily.  

“Sorry Blue,” Keith said.  “Can I?” he asked Lance, gesturing towards her.

“Yeah! She loves being scratched behind her ears.  And you know … if you wanted to, you could always call me by my actual name.  Or you can just call her Blueberry like I do sometimes.”

Keith scoffed.  “That’s rich coming from someone who only calls me Red.”  Lance just shrugged.

“I guess that means I’m calling you Blueberry, huh, girl?” Keith cooed, following Lance’s advice and scratching gently behind Blue’s ears.  Blue tilted her head up at him happily. Keith couldn’t help but grin at her. “It’s a cute name for a cute girl.” When he turned to look at Lance, Lance had a fond expression on his face.  

“I think she’s going to love you forever now,” Lance joked. “I’m pretty sure you hit her sweet spot.”

“You better be careful, or I’ll steal her from you,” Keith joked back.  “I’ve always wanted a dog and I’m sure Blue is sweet enough to persuade Shiro to keep her.”

Lance’s eyebrows furrowed.  “Does Shiro not like dogs?” It was clear he was in shock at the idea.  Keith laughed.

“No, no.  He loves dogs, maybe even more than me.  But he always goes on and on about how much responsibility they are, so I feel like I’d have to do a lot of persuading. Plus, I’m kind of worried I wouldn’t be able to take good care of a dog if I got one.”

“I think the fact you’re so concerned about it means you’d probably make a good pet owner, Red,” Lance said softly. “But I get that they don’t suit everyone’s lifestyles.”

Keith just shrugged.  “Maybe one day I’ll get one.”

They were quiet for a moment as Keith continued to rub at Blue’s head and ears.  Keith had to admit it was nice just to sit on the bench in companionable silence.

“Hey.” Lance’s voice grabbed Keith’s attention and he turned to look at Lance. “If you ever did get a dog, do you think you’d get a Dalmatian? Be a cliche with me?”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh.  “Sure, Lance. If I get a dog, I’ll get a Dalmatian just so I can live up to the cliche.”

Lance grinned brightly.  “Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s going to be a stereotype.”

Keith just rolled his eyes fondly.  “Yeah, we’ll be in good company together.”

Lance hadn’t stopped smiling.  “I’d like that.”

“You could do worse, you know.”

Keith looked up, startled, from where he sat eating at the long table next to the fire station’s kitchen.  “I - what?”

Pidge shrugged and slid into the seat directly across from him.  “I mean Lance. You could do worse than have a crush on him.”

Keith’s first instinct was to deny it, but he knew Pidge was capable of seeing through any pretense he put up.  Keith sagged in defeat. “Is it that obvious?”

“Not to him, at least.  He’s blissfully oblivious as always.  But to any of us who actually know you? Yeah.”

Keith groaned and jabbed his spoon deeper into his chili.  

“Like I said though, you could do worse.  Lance is a good guy.” Pidge hesitated a moment before continuing.  “He was there for me when that thing happened with my family,” she admitted, hands fidgeting underneath the table.  “He really cares about his friends, you know?”

Keith smiled softly.  “Yeah, he does.”

Pidge laughed.  Keith looked up, startled.

“What?” he demanded, tamping down on his embarrassment.

Pidge shook her head, still laughing.  “Nothing, nothing. It’s just ... I could see your eyes get all soft and mushy when you said that.  It’s cute, but it means you’ve got it real bad, haven’t you?”

Keith flushed. “I don’t have it that bad,” he protested.

Pidge smirked.  “And these glasses aren’t just for the aesthetic,” she said, giving Keith a knowing look.

Keith huffed and looked back down at his food.

“Look. Just … if you ever wanted to talk with someone who knows Lance well, I’m here.”  Pidge levered herself back out of her seat. “Oh, by the way, I’m going to eat the last pudding cup, sorrynotsorry,” she said quickly, sprinting for the kitchen fridge.

Keith bolted up out of his chair and slammed his hands on the table before chasing after her.  “No way, Pidge! You’ve already eaten most of them! I’ve had one !”

Pidge’s gleeful cackles echoed through the kitchen.

“I’m going to invite some of the police department over for the party and you’re expected to be there,” Shiro told him as he debated over the two apples he held in his hands.

Shiro seemed to come to a decision and put one back while placing the other carefully in the plastic bag with the others and deftly closing it with a twist tie.

Keith made a face.  “Seriously?”

Keith snuck a bag of red grapes into the cart when he thought Shiro wasn’t looking.  Shiro caught the movement out of the corner of his eye but didn’t say anything and made no attempt to remove the grapes from the cart.  Keith counted it as a success.

“Yes, seriously.  And I told you it’s a potluck, so you have to make something.”

Keith groaned.  “Do I have to? You know I can’t really cook.  Unless you want me to bring Bugle-mallows?” he asked hopefully.

It was Shiro’s turn to make a face.  “Sticking a marshmallow on the end of a Bugle doesn’t count as cooking, Keith.  And I have a feeling they wouldn’t be that popular anyway.”

“Fine. If whatever I bring is burnt, it’s on you,” Keith muttered.  Shiro just rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure whatever you make will turn out fine, Keith,” he placated.  “If you’re really that worried, just bring a veggie tray or something.”

Keith wrinkled his nose. There was no way he was bringing a vegetable tray.  No one, save Shiro, would actually eat anything from it.

He opened his mouth to say as much when -

“Lance?” Shiro called out.

Keith’s head twisted around so fast, he thought he might’ve given himself whiplash.

Lance was standing by his own cart, hand raised in greeting.

As Shiro and Keith approached, he gave them a smile.  “Hi Shiro. Red.”

“Hey, Lance,” Shiro greeted him.

“What are you doing here?” Keith blurted out instinctively, alarm clear in his voice.  

Lance gave Keith a strange look and Keith could feel Shiro’s eyes on him.  He wanted to shrivel up in embarrassment.

“Uh, I’m grocery shopping?  I’m kind of out of food plus I have to make something for Shiro’s potluck.  Thanks for the invite, by the way.”

“Sure thing, Lance.  We’re looking forward to having you, aren’t we, Keith?”

“Uh, yeah,” Keith stammered.  He hadn’t realized Lance was one of the people that Shiro had invited, but he should’ve figured.

Keith cleared his throat.  “So, uh, what are you making?” Keith asked, desperately searching for something normal to add to the conversation.

Lance narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Keith.  “Oh, I know what you’re doing. You want to know what I’m making so you can steal my dessert idea and try and one up me!”

Keith snorted.  “Fat chance of that happening, Blue.”

Lance looked offended.  Keith hastened to add on. “I, uh, actually can’t really cook so.  No one-upmanship here.”

Lance just stared at Keith.  Keith was beginning to feel self conscious under his gaze.  Lance seemed to come to some kind of decision because he just nodded once.

“Okay, you can help me,” Lance decided.  

“I - what?” Keith asked, taken off guard.

“I’ll let you help me with my dessert and you can take partial credit.  Then you don’t have to try figuring out how to make something and we won’t have to suffer through the results.”  

Keith flushed red in embarrassment, but Lance’s tone suggested he didn’t mean anything insulting by it.  Besides, it was probably true.

“Okay,” Keith found himself agreeing easily.  “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Lance gave Keith a smile that he couldn’t help but return.

“Oh, I’m going to need your number.  So I can let you know when and where to come to make these,” Lance said, gesturing towards the assortment of ingredients in his cart.  Keith’s eyes caught on a bag of frozen strawberries and a carton of blueberries.

“Yeah, sure.” Keith fumbled for his phone and handed it over to Lance, who quickly put in his contact information and gave it back.  Keith tucked his phone back in his pocket, patting it once to make sure it was secure.

“Don’t forget to text me.”  With a wink, Lance was gone, leaving Keith feeling dazed.

“You’ve got it bad.” Shiro’s voice came from behind and made Keith jump.  He’d forgotten Shiro had been there the whole time. Keith could feel his face turning red.

“Not a word, Shiro,” Keith threatened, voice coming out strangled.

Shiro gave Keith a shit-eating grin instead.

“This seems needlessly complicated,” Keith said dubiously, staring at the mass of ingredients on Lance’s kitchen counter.

Lance smirked.  “It’s easy, I promise.”

“Are you sure? Do we really need this many bowls?” Keith asked helplessly.  

Lance laughed.  “Yeah, we’re making two batches.  Strawberry swirl and blueberry. Hopefully everyone will like one or the other.  I personally love the strawberry ones, but they’re not for everybody, I guess.”

Keith had to admit they both sounded rather good.  

“Huh. I would’ve pegged you for a blueberry person, Blue .”

Lance just shrugged.  “Shows what you know. Besides I think most people prefer strawberry to blueberry.”

Lance gave Keith a ‘but-what-can-you-do-gesture’ as he measured the cream cheese he was putting into one of the mixing bowls.  

Keith paused. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he had a feeling they weren’t just talking about fruit anymore.

“Blueberry is my favorite,” he offered, eyeing the carton of berries that sat off to the side.  Blue perked up at that and Keith couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at her.

Lance’s eyes followed Keith’s gaze and he shot Keith a look that was a mixture of amusement and some indecipherable emotion.

“Funny. I would’ve pegged you for a strawberry kind of guy, Red .  Guess we were both wrong.”

“Yeah. I guess we were,” Keith said softly.  About a lot of things went unsaid by the both of them as Keith marveled at how much their relationship had changed in the past few months - he would have never pictured the two of them getting along, let alone baking together back in July.

“Anyway, if you’re good and beat the cream cheese while I start on the strawberries, I’ll let you have the leftover blueberries,” Lance bargained, handing the bowl over to Keith without waiting for an answer.

Keith took the bowl from Lance and stared at it for a moment.  The cream cheese stared back. He hesitantly grabbed the whisk and started stirring.

“I don’t even know if I’m doing this right,” he muttered, eyebrows furrowed as he started to whisk harder.

“You’re doing fine,” Lance said from where he stood stirring at something on the stove.  

Keith scowled.  Lance wasn’t even looking.  

Blue bumped her nose against Keith’s leg.

“You can’t have any of this.  It’s for the party,” Keith said sternly.  Blue just looked up at him plaintively, reminding Keith that he was far too weak to deal with literal puppy-dog eyes.  Keith had heard that dogs and their owners often begin to resemble each other, but this was ridiculous.

Lance turned at that, an eyebrow raised in amusement.  “If you want, she can have some of the blueberries - we should have plenty of extras.”

Keith pretended to be annoyed.  “I thought those were mine in exchange for stirring this?”

Lance laughed.  “No need to be so stingy, Red - there’s plenty to go around.”

“Oh sure there is, if they’re my blueberries,” Keith complained, even as he tossed one to Blue.  Blue gobbled it up greedily and immediately began begging for more.  She nuzzled Keith’s leg with her wet, black nose and Keith immediately felt his resistance crumble.

“Oh, fine,” he muttered, pointing the whisk at her.  “But this is the last one for now.” A small glob of cream cheese fell on the floor, which Blue immediately took it upon herself to clean.

“I don’t even know why you wanted me as a baking assistant,” Keith joked.  “Blue is much more helpful than me.”

Lance laughed but stared at Keith intently as if he were searching for something.  “You seriously don’t know why?” he asked. His voice was soft and Keith suddenly knew he was missing something important.  

Unsure, he let out a weak chuckle.  “Well, it certainly isn’t for my stirring skills.”  Keith looked down at his bowl.

Keith heard Lance turn off the burner.  Suddenly, he felt Lance’s presence close behind him.  “You’re right,” he chuckled. Keith could feel his breath tickle his ear and he shivered.  “You’re hopeless.”

“Here.” Without warning, Lance snatched the whisk and the bowl from Keith and turned back towards the stove, stirring all the while. Keith felt almost disappointed when Lance stepped away.

Lance turned to look back over at Keith and winked once.  Keith was grateful Lance turned his attention back to what he was doing as Keith felt himself start to flush deep red.  His cheeks were warm.

Keith cleared his throat and turned to look at the rest of the mess of ingredients spread across the counter.  “What next, Master Chef?”

Lance snorted loudly at the nickname.  “Just give me a second and I’ll let you add the other ingredients in. I think you’ll be able to manage that”

Keith grinned and tossed Blue another blueberry.  “Sounds good.”

“What’s a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?”

Keith turned, startled to see Lance now next to him.  He hadn’t even noticed Lance’s approach despite how fixated Keith was on the throng of people surrounding the food table.  

“Oh, you know.”  Keith gestured towards the party.  “Not really one for these types of parties so...” He shrugged and shoved the hand that wasn’t holding his drink into his pocket.

Lance nodded understandingly.  “Yeah, they can be a bit much. I’ve never even seen half the people here - do they work at the fire station?”

“Most of them.  Some of them are friends or family.  Pidge’s brother always comes and attempts to eat us out of house and home, but I can’t really blame him since he’s a grad student.  This is probably the only time he can actually afford to eat.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure Pidge had to booby-trap her fridge so Matt wouldn’t come and raid it in the middle of the night anymore.  She told me he used to wake her up all the time.”

Keith snorted.  “I’m surprised he survived a sleep-deprived Pidge.”

“You’d be surprised - I think Matt might actually be a ninja.  Dude’s got some moves.”

Keith scoffed. “Some ninja if he can’t open Pidge’s fridge without waking her up.”

It was Lance’s turn to snort. “Well, either way, he’s raiding your place now.”

Keith let out a huff. “Yeah, I think he’s gone through the food table like four times already, and I’m pretty sure he also snuck into the kitchen, so who knows what he pillaged from there.”

“Yeah, well, it looks like there’s still plenty of food left.”  

Keith could see Lance’s eyebrows crease as he studied the food table.  Keith knew exactly what Lance was looking for and what he was concerned about.

“Your cheesecake bars are a hit,” Keith said, watching everyone else move along the food table that had been set up for seconds.  Most of Lance’s dessert was gone; the bars had all been snatched up quickly. And from the looks on everyone’s faces, they had enjoyed them.

Lance relaxed at those words and brought his drink up to take a sip.  

Normally at these types of parties, Keith was alone on the fringes or forced right into the middle by Shiro, who didn’t want to leave him all alone.  He felt grateful towards Lance, who seemed content to stand on the edges of the gathering with him despite his generally sociable nature.

“I think you mean our cheesecake bars.”  Lance turned and nudged Keith’s shoulder, a wide grin on his face.  “Look at this - we did it. We do make a good team.”

Keith ducked his head and cleared his throat.  His face felt like it was on fire. “Yeah. We do.”

“Is it as fun as it looks?  Sliding down the firepole, I mean.”  Lance’s voice was full of curiosity and what sounded like a tinge of envy.  His breath curled into small clouds due to the cold.

Keith pretended to think about it.  “No, it’s not.” He paused and gave Lance a smirk.  “It’s more fun, actually.”

Lance laughed.  “Way to rub it in, Red.”

“You asked,” Keith said, grinning.  Lance made a face.

“I’d let you try it for yourself,” Keith continued, “but it’s a sacred right of brotherhood handed down from fireman to fireman. I’d be kicked out if I let you try.”  Keith pretended to get teary eyed for a moment. “Shiro would be so upset.”

Lance scoffed.  “You’re so full of it, Red.”  But Keith could hear the laughter that threatened to bubble out of Lance’s voice and suppressed his own smile.

“Maybe.  But you’ll never know for sure.”

“Hmmm, I guess I’ll just have to figure out how to draw the truth out of you somehow.”  Lance leaned back on the bench. Keith now had a clear view of Lance’s neck and watched his throat move as he spoke.  Keith swallowed heavily.

After a moment, Lance leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.  His forearms were exposed where the sleeves of his olive green jacket were rolled up.  Blue’s leash was wrapped around one of Lance’s hands and Blue herself was sniffing around the park bench.

“So, any other top-secret fireman things you should totally tell me about?”

“I think that defeats the whole purpose of them being ‘secret fireman things’ if I tell you about them, Blue.”

“Aha! But you admit there are secret fireman things,” Lance said, smiling triumphantly.

Keith couldn’t help but laugh.  “Whatever you say, Blue.”

Lance eyed Keith contemplatively.  “I’m going to figure out how to infiltrate the fire station someday,” he promised.

“Sure you will,” Keith said in an attempt to appease Lance.  

Keith took a sip from his coffee cup, enjoying the warmth of his coffee in his hands and on his tongue.

“Do you think if I married a firefighter, he’d tell me all of your guys’ secrets?”

Keith spluttered, narrowly avoiding spitting out his coffee.  Lance continued on. “I know Pidge would say no if I asked, and Shiro’s too old for me - please don’t tell him I said that though.  Same with Kolivan, but he scares me anyway.” Lance took a sip of his own drink. “I guess that means you’re my only option. What do you say, Red?”

Keith almost choked.  “What?” His voice was strangled and he felt as though he might combust.

Lance just let out bright peals of laughter and wiped at his eyes with a finger.  “You should’ve seen the look on your face,” he chortled.

Keith felt faint.  “Yeah, you really got me there,” he managed.

Lance just grinned at Keith and then looked down at Blue, who had given a sharp tug on her leash.

“It looks like Blue’s getting antsy to get to the actual walking part of our walk,” Lance laughed.  His eyes flicked back to Keith. “You wanna come?”

Keith shrugged casually.  “Sure. I don’t have anything else to do.”

Lance laughed.  “Really? You’re telling me you don’t have anything else to do? I’m shocked.”

Keith let out an amused huff.  “Oh, shut up.”

That just seemed to galvanize Lance to laugh harder.

As they were led around a circuit of the park by Blue, Keith tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans and watched Lance out of the corner of his eyes.

The colorful foliage made a striking background, with light shining through the gaps in the leaves.  Lance had a content expression and he seemed utterly relaxed as he let Blue pull him along.

A strong gust of wind picked up a couple of orange and red leaves.  They seemed to dance in the air as they were carried past.

“This is nice,” Keith offered after they had walked in companionable silence for a while.

Lance turned to look at him.  “Decided you wanted your own dog after all?”

Keith shrugged.  “Yeah. But for now, I guess I’m just going to have to tag along on all your walks with Blue.  Live vicariously through you.”

Lance smiled.  “Anytime, Red.”

“You idiot,” Keith hissed, struggling to move under the weight of both his turnout gear and Lance himself, who was slung over his shoulders.  Lance was either unconscious or too weak and dazed to answer Keith.

Adrenaline surged through Keith’s body, giving him the strength to pick his way down the stairs, which were likely growing structurally weaker as time passed.  

Keith had never felt so afraid when inside a burning building. Even now, it wasn’t the flames licking at his boots and along the walls behind him that terrified him - it was the unconscious person slung over his shoulders that had Keith’s heart in his throat.

If something happened to Lance because he had to be so goddamn heroic … why couldn’t Lance have waited for the firefighters to arrive before rushing in?

Even as he asked himself that question, Keith knew the answer.  There was no way Lance would leave the burning house alone if he thought that there might still be someone in there.  If only he’d waited until Shiro had arrived to the scene and found out the teen hadn’t in fact been asleep in her bed as previously thought, but actually had been at a friend’s house.

Keith had almost reached the bottom of the stairs and it was getting hard to breathe.  The air was hazy with smoke.

He coughed loudly once, twice.  His eyes had begun to water and his head was beating in time with his heart.  

Just a couple more steps.

One step at a time.

He set his foot down on the next step.  Immediately, his stomach dropped as his foot did, the step collapsing under the weight.  Keith, Lance, and the rest of the staircase all fell with it.

Keith blinked open his eyes, momentarily confused.  His body ached.

His head was awkwardly resting on something that seemed to faintly rise and fall in a constant rhythm.

Keith blinked again.  

He let out a groan and rolled over as he attempted to get up.  Debris shifted with him as he moved, most of it rolling off to collect over at his sides.  The rest was easy enough to shrug off, though Keith knew he’d have heavy bruising from where the debris had landed on him in the first place.

When Keith was successfully on his hands and knees, he blinked in surprise as he faced his headrest and then swore loudly.

“Blue?” he asked, worry lacing his voice as his memories returned to him.  Lance didn’t respond, but the constant rise and fall of his chest soothed Keith’s worst fears.

The heat was becoming harder to handle and Keith could feel sweat dripping down his face.

“Just hold on, buddy. I’m going to get us out of here.” Keith may have been talking to a brick wall for all the acknowledgement he was going to get, but saying it out loud made him feel a bit better.  As if saying he was going to get them out would make it true.

“Okay,” Keith muttered as he tried to coach himself into standing up.  “Just stand up. And then pick up Lance. It’s easy. You’ve done it once already.”

His body didn’t seem to remember, or at least it seemed to want to ignore Keith’s logic.  It was agonizingly difficult to make his limbs respond, and when Keith stood, he felt a little unsteady and lightheaded.  His lungs were protesting loudly. Just bending down to lift Lance seemed like an impossible challenge. And if Keith somehow managed that, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand back up with the extra weight.

Keith closed his eyes, frustration at himself overwhelming.  His hands, balled into fists at his side, shook.

Keith had never felt more hopeless.  And then -

“Keith?”

Keith almost sagged in relief at the sound of Shiro’s voice.

“Over here!” he yelled out hoarsely, afraid he wouldn’t manage to be loud enough to be heard.  A brief second passed and -

“I’m on my way.  Just hang on, okay?”

Keith’s eyes were still watering from the smoke; he blinked back tears.  “Yeah, okay.” He hesitated a moment. “I think Lance is in bad shape, though.”

There was a moment of silence, but Keith knew Shiro well enough to guess it was being filled with vehement, albeit quiet, cursing.  Then, much louder, came, “Got it, Keith. Just hang on for a second, buddy. We’ll get both of you out of there.”

It felt like it took forever for Shiro to reach them, but Keith knew it was probably his fear that made each agonizing moment feel like an eternity.

Shiro swiftly took in the scene, eyes assessing the situation.

“I’ll carry Lance.  Will you be able to walk by yourself?”

Keith nodded sharply.  He could at least do that much.

“Great. You’re doing good, Keith.  I’ll be right behind you just in case.”  Shiro rested his hand briefly on Keith’s shoulder and then bent down to lift Lance.

When Shiro stood back up with Lance hoisted across both shoulders, he gave Keith a nod to signal him to go ahead.

It was difficult for Keith to concentrate as he placed one foot in front of the other.  The heat was intense, but luckily the path to the front door seemed to still be clear. Shiro was a steady presence behind him, and it spurred Keith to keep moving forward, to increase his frustratingly slow pace despite his turnout gear feeling heavier with each step.

Stepping outside into the frigid December air sent a wave of dizzying relief through Keith.  If he wasn’t still so close to the burning building, he would’ve dropped to the ground right then and there.

Pidge rushed forward to help Keith, no doubt sensing his impending collapse.  She placed Keith’s arm around her shoulders and helped support his weight. Pidge was small but incredibly strong for her size.

“Lance,” he rasped, trying to gesture to where he was being carried by Shiro behind him.  He needed Pidge’s expertise more than Keith did.

“Shiro’s going to carry Lance over to the fire truck before I can look at him, so right now I’m more concerned about you, you big dummy,” she said. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”  Her tone was teasing, but Keith could sense the undercurrent of worry in her voice.

Keith didn’t protest, grateful for the support as they stumbled forward.

Soon, he was sitting on the truck, with a promise from Pidge to come and take a look at him after she was done checking on Lance.  

Keith’s eyelids drooped.  Adrenaline was no longer enough to keep exhaustion at bay.  He’d just rest his eyes until Pidge came back.

 When his eyes closed, all he saw was black.

“How is he?” Keith croaked.  His voice was rough and his throat hurt from the smoke damage.  Keith idly wondered how long he’d be stuck doing paperwork until he sufficiently recovered.

Shiro hesitated.  “He’s going to be okay.  The doctors were worried about his head injury on top of everything else, especially since Lance was unconscious when we brought him in, but it looks like he’s going to be fine.”

Keith tried to jerk into a sitting position, but his ribs ached at the attempt and other sore muscles tried to make themselves heard, so he gave up and sunk back into his reclined position.  “Head injury?”

Shiro hesitated.  “Yeah. He didn’t have any protective gear so when the stairs collapsed…”

Keith flinched guiltily.  It probably hadn’t helped that he’d all but fallen on top of Lance in addition to everything else.

Shiro’s face softened at the sight.  “You know it isn’t your fault, right?  If it weren’t for you getting him out, it probably would’ve been much worse.”

Keith shrugged, not looking directly at Shiro. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered.

It was clear Shiro didn’t buy it from the concerned, creased expression on his face, but thankfully he didn’t try and push the subject.

“I want to see him,” Keith announced suddenly and made another move to sit up.  This time, he was slower in his movements and was successfully able to straighten up.

Shiro frowned, a look of concern on his face.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Keith. You probably shouldn’t be getting up and moving around like this before the doctor gets to come take a look at you.”

Keith swung his legs over the bed and looked at Shiro.  “Better call the doctor in, then.”

Shiro gave Keith a look of exasperation.  “Okay, I’ll call her in right now if you promise to wait just a moment.”

“Deal.”

Once the doctor was called in, Keith was given a look over and a set of stern instructions on how to take care of himself, to which he knew Shiro was carefully paying attention, so he didn’t bother to really listen. Finally, he was set to go visit Lance.

Anxiety had Keith’s nerves wired, and it was only exacerbated by the sterile white of the hospital.  He hated everything about hospitals from the stark look to the medical smell that seemed to permeate every surface.

Lance was in the room next door, a fact that Keith was grateful for.  His entire body felt bruised and sore, but he didn’t want to give Shiro any reason to force Keith to go lay back down.

Keith had to steel himself before entering Lance’s room.

Keith was relieved to see that Lance was awake; he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to bear seeing Lance unconscious in a hospital bed.  He already looked small and vulnerable, tucked under a baby blue blanket and propped up with pillows.

“Hey, Keith.”  Lance’s voice was soft and raspy.  It was clear his throat had been damaged by the smoke.  

“Are you okay?” Keith demanded, striding forward despite his own body’s protests.  He scanned Lance, taking in his injuries. His eyes were immediately drawn to the stitches along Lance’s temple.

Lance’s forehead creased in concern.  “Keith, I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine. You’re the one with a head injury,” Keith said, gesturing towards the visible stitches.  He felt agitated, worry making his stomach turn at the uncharacteristic use of his first name.  “You called me Keith!”

Lance laughed, though he winced at the movement.  “Yeah, that’s your name. Are you sure you didn’t get a head injury, too?”

“Yeah, but you’ve never called me by my actual name before,” Keith said, confused.  “I thought maybe you hit your head worse than we thought. I was … pretty worried,” he admitted.

Lance just chuckled, staring at Keith with a fond expression on his face.  “If you saving my life wasn’t enough to get me to call you by your actual name, I don’t know what would be.”

Keith flushed at the mention of him rescuing Lance.  “It was nothing,” he said, embarrassedly scratching at his face.

A thought occurred to him.  “Wait, does this mean I should call you Lance now?”

“Well, I mean it might confuse Blue less if I didn’t have the same nickname as her,” Lance said.

“Yeah. Okay, Lance.” Keith savored the way the name tasted on his tongue.  It felt strangely intimate calling Lance by his first name after so long.

Lance beamed at him.  “Now get over here, Keith .  I want you to tell me all the details of your heroic rescue.  I heard we fell down a flight of stairs!”

Keith scoffed and moved to sit on the end of Lance’s bed.  “It was half a flight at most.”

Lance rolled his eyes.  “Okay, whatever. An entire flight sounds better though. More impressive.”

“I dunno.  There’s not really anyone I want to impress,” Keith said, leaving out an unspoken other than you .

“Oh come on, surely there must be someone you want to impress.”

Keith shrugged noncommittally.  “I think you’re really the only one I want to tell this story to,” he said carefully, watching Lance’s reaction.

Lance blinked, a faint blush forming on his cheeks.  Keith felt enamored by the sight.

Lance cleared his throat.  “Okay, so take it from the top.  What happened before we fell down the flight of stairs?”

“ Half a flight, Lance.”

The pair soon devolved into a playful argument with Lance insisting Keith play up his “heroic efforts”.  Keith, embarrassed, insisted on recounting events as accurately as possible.

Lance was in the middle of a passionate argument as to why Keith should, in fact, embellish the story and not be a “boring old grump” when Shiro entered the room, a regretful look on his face.

“Sorry, guys, but they’re saying visiting hours are over. And Keith, I’m going to check you out - they say it should be fine for you to go home since we live together and I’ll be able to keep an eye on you.”

Keith rolled his eyes.  Shiro wouldn’t just be keeping an eye on him; he’d be mother-henning Keith constantly.  “Alright,” he said, levering himself off of the hospital bed. “Just a second.”

He turned towards Lance and hesitated.  “I’ll come see you tomorrow?”

Lance snorted.  “Don’t say it like it’s a question, Keith.  You better show up or I’ll die of boredom and we can’t have that.”

Keith grinned.  “Definitely not.  I’d hate for my efforts to go to waste.  So no dying any time soon.”

Joking about it so soon after their near-death experience was oddly relieving.  It was a reminder that they had both made it out safely, if not entirely unharmed, from the building.  

Lance snorted.  “Got it - no heroic efforts going to waste here.  Scout’s honor.”

“Were you even a scout?” Keith scoffed, crossing his arms.

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

Keith opened his mouth to argue-

“Keith, we’ve really got to go,” Shiro interrupted.  It was clear he felt bad, but his tone brooked no argument.

Keith rolled his eyes.  “We’ll continue this tomorrow,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Lance.

Lance just grinned.  “It’s a promise.”

Keith took a sip of his hot chocolate and grimaced at the powdery taste.  He definitely wasn’t letting Shiro make their hot chocolate next time, no matter how nice it sounded to let someone else do it after coming in out of the snow.

Though the warmth of his mug was thawing his icy hands, so there was one good side to the terrible drink.

“So the rest of us were thinking we might throw a joint holiday party next week,” Shiro said conversationally as he sipped at his own drink.  He seemed to be savoring the taste and Keith made a face at him. “We thought it’d be nice to be all together after what happened.”

Keith nodded.  “Yeah. That’d be nice. Who’s we?”

Shiro laughed.  “Just us, Pidge, Coran, Allura, Hunk, and Lance.  That’s probably as many people as will fit in Allura’s living room comfortably.”

“Yeah, okay.  Sounds fun.” Keith attempted another sip of his drink.

“We’re going to do a gift exchange, too.  I’m going to pair everyone who’s interested up tomorrow so you all have time to go shopping or make your present.”

“I’m in,” Keith decided immediately.  He half hoped he’d get Lance but also half dreaded it.  Maybe Shiro would be an easier person for him to figure out a gift for.

Shiro blinked, clearly surprised that he didn’t need to talk Keith into joining the gift exchange.  “Well, good. That’s settled then.”

Shiro paused as he watched Keith attempt another sip of his drink.  “You know if you don’t like the hot chocolate, you don’t have to drink it.”

“Thank God,” Keith muttered, immediately depositing his mostly full mug on the table.

Shiro looked like he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Hey, Lance.  I was wondering if you’d help me with finding a present? I got Hunk for the gift exchange thing and …”

And it’s already Thursday, he thought.  The party was on Sunday and Keith felt guilty for putting it off for so long, though it was partly due to his work schedule.

There was a moment of silence over the phone. Keith thought Lance was going to turn him down, but then -

“Yeah, but does tomorrow work for you? I can’t do Saturday because that’s when I’m getting my own gift ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine,” Keith rushed to reassure him, grateful that Lance had time at all to help him.  Keith frankly just wasn’t sure what to pick that Hunk would genuinely enjoy.

“Alright, sounds good!  Do you want me to come pick you up in the morning? I figure I’d know the best places to hit so I might as well drive.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”  A pause. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow!”

Keith stared at his cell for a moment after hanging up and then tucked it back into his pocket.

Nervous excitement thrummed through his veins.  He silently thanked Shiro for giving him Hunk for the exchange - it felt like less pressure than getting a gift for Lance himself but still gave Keith an excuse to hang out with him.

A panicked thought made Keith jump off of his bed and run down the hallway.  His feet thumped loudly on the wooden floors. He soon regretted wearing socks when he crashed into the wall after attempting a sudden stop outside of Shiro’s door.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice came through the door, panic at the loud and nearby sound apparent.

Keith shook his head, nose still smarting from where he’d bashed it into the wall.  He was thankful it wasn’t bleeding from the impact, but his eyes were still watering.  

Shiro flung open his door.  Keith narrowly avoided getting hit.

When Shiro spotted Keith, his face relaxed at seeing him mostly intact, but there was still underlying concern.  “Are you okay? What happened?”

Keith waved off his concern.  “I accidentally slid into the wall.  It’s not a big deal.”

He received an exasperated look in response.  “What have I told you about running around the house in your socks?”

Keith rolled his eyes.  “I know, I know. Not to do it.  But I have a bigger problem, Shiro!”

Shiro’s eyebrows knit together in concern.  “What’s the problem, Keith?” he asked.

“I don’t have anything to wear!”

There was a moment of silence.  Then -

“Keith, you’re wearing clothes right now.  And you have plenty of time to do laundry today if you’re really out of clean stuff already.”

Keith groaned.  “No, I mean I have clean clothes.  But I don’t have anything to wear tomorrow.”

Shiro just laughed.  “Okay, well that’s a completely different problem. As long as you don’t turn up naked, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”  He paused. “Wait, what’s tomorrow?”

Keith shrugged.  “I’m going Christmas shopping for the gift exchange.”

“Uh huh.  And?” Shiro prompted.  “You haven’t exactly been concerned about your appearance when going shopping before, Keith.  I once had to force you out of your pajamas before we went to the grocery store.”

Keith huffed.  “That was two years ago.  And I still don’t get what the big deal is about not wearing pajamas in public.  They’re way more comfortable.”

Shiro just looked at him knowingly.  “You’re avoiding the question, Keith.”

“Lance is going to help me, alright? I didn’t know what to get Hunk so...”  Keith averted his gaze so he wasn’t looking at Shiro directly.

He felt Shiro’s hand clap on his shoulder and looked up.  Shiro beamed at him.

“That’s great, Keith!  It’ll be cold tomorrow, so wear that nice black coat I got you.  Your hoodie is starting to look a little ratty. And I’ll help you go through your closet and pick out something nice to wear underneath.”

Keith felt embarrassed but grateful.

“Thanks, Shiro.”

When Keith stepped outside, the cold hit him in the face like a brick.  He wrapped his red scarf tighter around his neck and suddenly felt grateful that Shiro had mother-henned him into wearing gloves.  The wind was sharp and icy and it attempted to cut through Keith’s coat like a knife. He was glad he hadn’t gone with his hoodie after all.

Keith trudged across the yard, which was covered in a fair amount of soft, powdery snow that kicked up with every step.  Thankfully, his thick socks and boots insulated his feet, but his legs were already beginning to grow cold.

He picked up the pace and hurried towards Lance’s car, which was idling by the curb.  Keith’s breaths came in airy white clouds.

He pulled open the passenger door and slid inside, relishing the blast of warm air.  Keith immediately took off his gloves and shoved them in his pockets and began rubbing his hands together.

Finally, Keith buckled his seatbelt and turned to look at Lance, who was watching him with a look of amusement on his face.  Keith’s eyes were immediately drawn to the new scar along Lance’s temple.

“You ready?” Lance asked.  

Keith nodded in response.  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Awesome.” Lance put the car into drive and pulled away from the curb.  After a moment, he asked, “You mind if I put on some music?”

Keith shrugged.  “Sure.”

Lance reached for the dial.  ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ immediately came on over the radio

Keith snorted.  “Seriously?”

It was Lance’s turn to shrug.  “What? I mean we’re going present shopping, so we should get into the holiday spirit, amiright?”

Keith laughed.  “Whatever you say, Lance.”

Lance grinned.  When the chorus started playing, he immediately began belting along to Mariah, and Keith couldn’t help the dopey smile on his face at the sound.

Lance didn’t seem to be bothered that Keith was watching him and even tried to rope him into singing along, which Keith refused.  Lance just pouted at him but immediately turned his attention back to the road and kept singing.

Keith rested his head against the freezing window and watched Lance, a smile tugging at his lips.

The song segued into a commercial and Lance’s singing ended with it.  Lance began tapping his long fingers against the steering wheel in a rhythm suspiciously reminiscent of the song that had just been playing.

“So, uh, where are we going first?”

Lance blinked in surprise at the sound of Keith’s voice.  His expression turned sheepish but he kept his head facing forward.  “Oh yeah, I probably should’ve mentioned that, huh?”

“That might’ve been nice,” Keith said dryly.  He shifted a little in his seat.

Lance laughed a little awkwardly.  “I thought we’d hit up the mall? I know it’s probably going to be crowded, but I thought it might be convenient since there’s a few stores that might work all in the same area.  Plus I thought we could have lunch there when we’re done, so, uh, yeah.”

“Sounds good.” Keith stretched out his legs in the footwell.  Tiny clumps of snow that had stuck to his shoes had begun to melt, causing wet patches to form on the gray, carpeted surface.

Lance started humming along to the next Christmas song that came over the radio.  Keith wasn’t one for Christmas music, but listening to Lance was oddly soothing. He had a pleasant voice.

The car ride seemed over far too quickly, and soon Keith found himself exiting the car into the frigid outside air of the parking lot.  The mall was obviously packed, and Lance had ended up parking at the far end of the lot.

Keith shivered once and shuffled his feet as he waited for Lance to get out of the driver’s seat, which he did a moment later, grimacing at the weather.

“It’s cold,” Lance complained, pulling his jacket around him more tightly and rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm them with friction

Keith only hesitated a moment before unwinding his scarf.

“Here,” he said, holding it out towards Lance, who seemed surprised by the gesture.

“You sure?” He asked, finger hesitating above the wooly object.

Keith shrugged, neck suddenly feeling colder for a brief second.  Lance had complained about Keith’s mullet before, but at least it did something to insulate the back of his neck.

“Yeah, just take it so we can head inside.”  Keith’s teeth were chattering but so slightly he didn’t think Lance noticed.

“Thanks.”  Lance’s hand brushed Keith’s as he took the red scarf and wound it around his neck.  Keith thought it was a good look on him.

Suddenly embarrassed, Keith said nothing and began walking towards the entrance to the mall.  Lance fell into step beside him.

One of Lance’s hands slid into Keith’s.

Keith looked over at Lance, startled by the gesture.

Lance just shrugged.  There was a faint dusting of red on Lance’s cheeks - Keith wasn’t sure if it was from self-consciousness or just the cold.

“My hand was cold,” was all the explanation Keith got.  

Keith didn’t question it. Suddenly, he was grateful for the long walk through the parking lot.

“You dip your fries in your milkshake?” Keith wrinkled his nose.  “Why did you even get a milkshake when it’s this cold out?”

Keith shifted his leg and felt the plastic bag containing Hunk’s present brush against him and rustle loudly.  He gently pushed it a little farther off to the side with his foot.

His scarf was hanging loosely around Lance’s neck, and as Keith watched, Lance brought a hand up to unwind it completely, exposing the smooth column of his throat.  Lance then narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms at Keith.

“First of all, I got a milkshake because it’s delicious and I am sick of this stigma against having ice cream in the winter.  And second of all, yes, I do dip my fries in my milkshake because it’s delicious. It’s the perfect balance of hot and cold and salty and sweet.”

Keith eyed the fry in Lance’s hand that was currently dripping ice cream onto his tray dubiously.  “Whatever you say.”

“You’ve got to try it,” Lance insisted, shoving the fry closer to Keith’s face.  Keith’s lip curled in response.

“Please?” It was Lance’s puppy-dog eyes that finally broke him and Keith silently resigned himself before taking the proffered fry from Lance.

“You were right.”  Shock colored Keith’s voice as he savored the new taste.

Lance gave him an amused look.  “No need to sound so surprised, Keith.”

Keith just stole another of Lance’s fries.  Lance unsuccessfully tried to fend him off when Keith snatched the chocolate shake to dip his fry in.

Lance just nodded as he watched Keith demolish the few remaining fries.  “I’ll remember this,” he promised, jabbing a finger in Keith’s direction.  It was clear he wanted to laugh. Keith suppressed his own smirk.

“Whatever you say, Lance. You ready?”

Lance nodded and they both stood up.  Lance grabbed their tray and Keith followed him to the trashcan where he disposed of their garbage.  He stacked the black plastic tray neatly on top with the others.

The food court was crowded and noisy, and as they wound their way between tables, Keith found himself bumping up against Lance more than once.  When the back of his hand brushed gently across Lance’s, Keith felt an intense urge to take Lance’s hand in his like Lance had done earlier.

As they exited the mall and stepped outside, Keith shivered and tucked his hands into his coat pockets.  Snow was beginning to fall, fast and heavy.

Lance had a look of delight on his face as he stared up at the sky.  Snowflakes caught on Lance’s eyelashes. Keith swallowed heavily at the sight. “It’s snowing!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Keith said, wasting no time in heading back to the car.  

Lance jogged to keep up.  “Do you not like snow?” he asked incredulously, staring at Keith as if he’d grown a second head.

Keith scowled.  “Snow’s fine. It’s fine.  But it’s cold and I don’t want to have to deal with it melting everywhere.”

“That’s fair, I guess.  But if there’s still snow on the ground Sunday, you have to promise to join us for our snowball fight.  Deal?”

Keith shrugged. “Sure.  But I don’t want to be on your team.”

Lance had a look of offense on his face.  “Wait, why not? I’m great at snowball fights, I’ll have you know.”

Keith grinned.  “Well, that’s because I want to nail you in the head with a snowball, obviously.”

Lance laughed loudly and grinned back at Keith.  “Good luck with that. I’ve already drafted Hunk onto my team and the dude’s like a machine gun.  You’re not going to stand a chance.”

“Oh really?” Keith raised an eyebrow.  As they passed by a parked car, Keith stealthily snagged a clump of snow off the trunk.  He was grateful he had remembered to put his gloves back on as he packed the cold substance together into a vaguely spherical shape.

“Yeah, no way you’ll get close enough to get a headshot,” Lance said confidently as he continued walking forward, hands tucked in his jeans pockets.  Keith fell a couple of steps behind.

He took careful aim and launched his projectile.  He hit Lance dead on the back of his head. Small clumps of snow remained in Lance’s hair, though Keith could see some of them starting to melt already due to Lance’s body heat.

Lance turned around to look at Keith, a look of disbelief on his face.

“You mean like that?” Keith asked smugly.

Lance narrowed his eyes, lips curling upwards into a dangerous grin.  “Oh it’s so on, Mullet.”

Keith didn’t have time to protest the new nickname before Lance immediately attempted to retaliate with a snowball of his own.  Keith ducked off to the side, but the snowball grazed his shoulder, leaving white powder on his coat.

Keith laughed loudly and bolted for the car, occasionally pausing to return fire at Lance, who was slowly turning the back of his black coat white with snow.

When Keith finally reached Lance’s car, he was panting for breath, the cold air burning his lungs.  A quick look told him Lance wasn’t faring much better.

“I win!” Lance crowed as he dug for his keys to unlock the car.

Keith frowned.  “No, I reached the car first, so I win.”

“Yeah, but I totally won that snowball fight so that means I win.”

Keith all but threw the passenger door open once Lance got it unlocked and immediately closed the door behind him.

“No. No way. I won because I beat you to the car even after you started chasing me.”

Lance buckled his seatbelt and turned the car on, immediately turning on the heater.  “No, you threw a snowball and I was retaliating. It was a snowball fight, which I won. I wasn’t chasing you so I could beat you to the car, Keith.”

“Sure you weren’t, since you lost .”  Keith took off his gloves and began rubbing his hands together as he waited for the air coming out of the vents to warm up.

“Oh, whatever, Keith.  We’ll settle this with the snowball fight Sunday,” Lance promised, giving Keith a challenging look.  Keith had to admit it was a rather attractive expression.

Keith returned the look with one of his own. “It’s on.”

Allura’s house looked like it belonged in a photograph.  It was an attractive home made of what looked like brick and stone, and the roof and yard were both covered in a layer of deep, pristine white snow.  A privacy fence encircled the backyard, but being surrounded by tall drifts, it didn’t seem all that tall.

As he and Shiro approached the house, Keith found himself grateful that Allura had taken the time to shovel and salt the walkway so no patches of slippery ice remained.

Allura answered the door swiftly when they rang the doorbell and quickly ushered them inside.  Shiro and Keith took off their snowy shoes and set them by the front door. Keith noted three pairs of shoes already there and tried to guess who they belonged to as they walked down the hallway.

The house was warm and Keith shrugged himself out of his jacket, hanging it in the closet underneath the stairs Allura directed them to.  Keith definitely recognized one of the jackets already present. It was an olive green color and had a white hood sewn in - Lance’s jacket.

Keith hung his red hoodie on the hanger next to Lance’s, Shiro following suit immediately after.

Allura led them to the living room, which was already populated by Lance, Hunk, and Coran.  Coran was loudly telling them some story about his early days on the force with Alfor, and Lance and Hunk were laughing loudly.  It was a nice scene and Keith found himself smiling.

When Allura asked them if they’d like anything to drink (“Coffee? Hot chocolate? Cider?”), Keith saw the others’ attention drawn to him and Shiro by the sound of her voice.

“Keith! Shiro!” Lance beamed at the sight of them.

“Hey, guys!” Hunk waved from his spot on the couch next to Lance.

Coran leaned forward in his armchair and greeted them brightly.  “Hello, my boys! Hope the snow didn’t give you too much trouble on the drive.  Why, I haven’t seen weather like this since my Academy days!”

Lance sniggered.  “Coran, it snowed more than this last year.”

“Nonsense!”

A bubble of laughter burst out of Keith unexpectedly. Shiro chuckled beside him.

Lance stared at Keith, an inscrutable expression on his face.

“Come on and sit down, guys!  We’re still waiting for Pidge to get here before we actually start.”

Shiro and Keith both sat down on the couch opposite Lance and Hunk.  A coffee table laden with steaming mugs on coasters, a plate of cookies, and a small haphazard pile of three stacked presents lay between them.  

Shiro and Keith both set their gifts among the others. Shiro’s was neatly wrapped in shiny purple paper, while Keith’s was more tape than actual wrapping paper.  He didn’t think Hunk would mind his shoddy wrapping job though.

Allura returned carrying Shiro and Keith’s drinks and sat on the arm of the couch next to Lance after passing them out.

Keith took a sip of his hot chocolate.  He blinked and took another sip, relishing the rich, full taste.  Half-melted marshmallows bumped against his lips.

“It’s delicious,” Keith said, still surprised.  “Much better than Shiro’s powdery mess.” He could feel Shiro’s offended expression without looking.

Hunk scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.  

“Hunk made it earlier,” Lance proudly explained, throwing an arm across Hunk’s shoulders.  “He makes the best hot chocolate.”

“Well, it’s amazing.”  Keith took another drink and Hunk shot him a grateful look.

The doorbell rang.

Allura stood back up and clapped her hands together.  “And that must be Pidge! I’ll be right back.”

Allura vanished quickly from the living room and returned moments later with Pidge in tow, whose long hair was wet with melting snow.  She still looked cold and had opted to leave her green and white hoodie on.

She dropped a green parcel on the coffee table and flopped onto the couch on Keith’s other side.  Her jacket was wet and Keith cringed a little when she brushed against his bare arm.

“Hey, Pidge,” Shiro greeted warmly.  “You look cold.”

“And wet,” Keith grumbled, wiping at his arm with one hand.

Pidge shrugged unapologetically.  “Matt shoved me into a snowbank as I was leaving our parents’ house.”

Hunk winced sympathetically but Lance and Coran began laughing obnoxiously.  Pidge gave them a half-hearted glare.

“Now that Pidge is here, can we start the gift exchange?” Lance asked eagerly.  

Allura exchanged a meaningful look with him.  “Yes, why don’t you go get your gift ready in my room while I get Pidge something warm to drink?”

Lance nodded and got up, disappearing further down the hallway.

Keith furrowed his brows.  What did Lance have to get ready from Allura’s room?

“Allura, you’re a goddess,” Pidge said.  “That hot chocolate smells amazing and I’m still freezing.”

Allura beamed at Pidge and then left to get her guest a mug.

“So, is Matt still alive?” Keith asked.  Pidge was a terrifying force to be reckoned with when she was mad.

“For now,” she joked.  “He just has to live in fear until I get home.  I didn’t want to be late, so I figured I’d just take the time to come up with my revenge.”

Keith shivered in fear.  He was glad he wasn’t Matt.

Allura returned at that moment with a colorful, bright green mug that she handed to Pidge.

Pidge took it gratefully and groaned in approval as she took a sip.  Keith took another long drink from his own mug in agreement at the sentiment.

Lance took that moment to enter the living room again, carefully carrying a large box.  It was wrapped in bright red paper, but it was clear that the lid and the box itself had been wrapped separately.  A dark blue bow rested on top of the lid and Keith found himself impressed by how neat Lance’s wrapping skills were.

Lance sat down, gently balancing the box on his lap and jiggling his leg anxiously.

Allura clapped her hands together.  “Alright, then! I suppose we’ll all just pass out our gifts now and open them all together if that’s alright with everyone.”

Everyone exchanged looks and nodded in agreement.

Keith picked up his bright yellow present and handed it to Hunk with an embarrassed look.  “Sorry about the wrapping,” he muttered, flushing a bit as he took in again just how horrible it was.

Hunk laughed and his eyes crinkled kindly.  “Don’t worry about it, man. The wrapping’s just going to get torn up anyway.”

Keith sat back down in his seat.  

He looked up.

Lance was standing in front of him, and he gently deposited the box he was carrying on Keith’s lap.

Lance scratched his cheek, clearly self conscious.  “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but I checked with Shiro and he thought it was a good idea when I suggested it.  I get you still might not want it, and if you don’t, I’ll get you something else, I promise.”

Keith stopped him there.  “Lance. Stop. I’m sure I’m going to love it.”  How could he not? It was clear Lance had put a lot of thought and worry into his gift.

Lance nodded in response, still clearly concerned and waiting for Keith to open it then and there.

Keith hesitantly slid the lid open.

A small, wet, black nose peeked out.

Keith blinked in surprise and dropped the lid onto the floor.

“Oh my God,” he croaked out.  He couldn’t be bothered to watch Lance’s reaction to him opening his present.  Instead, he was fixated on the small animal inside the box.

He lifted it out, noticing the red bow and collar around its neck for the first time as he cradled it close to his chest.

“Oh my God,” he said again.  The dog couldn’t have been more than 2 months old, but that meant it was old enough for its spots to have come in.

The dog began licking at his face and Keith almost melted.

He looked up at Lance for the first time, who was watching Keith with an anxious look on his face.

“I know we talked about it one time, but I also know you said you weren’t sure if you were ready for a dog.  So if it’s too presumptuous, you don’t have to keep him, but -”

“Oh shut up,” Keith said, standing up and closing the gap between them.  He impulsively caught Lance in a kiss, careful not to squish the puppy between them.  Lance only hesitated a moment before returning the kiss eagerly and immediately soothing Keith’s fears about misreading the situation.

He heard whooping and cheers around him with Shiro being the loudest (probably on purpose, the jerk).  When Keith broke away, Lance was staring at him in awe. Lance brought a hand up to gently touch his mouth.

“About time,” Pidge said loudly.

Keith and Lance both flushed.  Keith saw Hunk slip Allura money right in front of him.

“Seriously?” he asked, exasperated.

Hunk just shrugged.  “What can I say? I’m a loyal dude, so I bet on Lance to make the first move.  I’m glad you proved me wrong though. Lance had been worrying about this for like a week now.”

Lance turned bright red and whipped around to look at Hunk accusingly, who simply shrugged.  “I’m an honest person,” is all Hunk said in response.

“Did all of you know?” Keith asked, a little annoyed.

“I brought mistletoe!” Coran said brightly.  “Shame I didn’t need to put it up while you all had your snowball fight. Unless you’d still like me to, of course!”

Lance made a choked sound that quickly turned into a laugh.  Keith couldn’t help but soften at the sound.

“So… you know what you’re going to name him yet?” Lance asked, a little breathlessly.  Lance was still looking at him in a way that made Keith feel warm all over, his eyes bright and fixated solely on Keith.

Keith just grinned.  

“What else? I’m going to name him Red.”

As Keith trudged back into the house after the snowball fight with the others, his first instinct was to immediately take Red back from Coran, but he refrained.  He was trailing snow and water behind him and his now-wet clothes were almost frozen to his body. He wasn’t going to subject a puppy to that as much as Keith wanted to hold him again.

Even taking his jacket off again didn’t help - Shiro, the traitor, had shoved a bunch of snow down Keith’s jacket.  What he hadn’t been able to completely brush away had been melted by his body heat, soaking his shirt and his skin.

Besides…

Keith’s eyes immediately sought out Lance.  Keith found him grinning at Pidge, who was rolling her eyes at something Lance had said.  Lance’s nose and cheeks were still rosy from being out in the cold. His blue knit hat still rested snugly on his head.

Keith hesitated a moment, gathering his courage.

“Hey, guys.”  Keith awkwardly raise a hand in greeting as he approached.  He looked at Lance. “Hey you have a minute? We need to talk.”

Lance’s face grew momentarily strained, before Lance forced himself to relax.  Pidge quickly excused herself.

Lance scanned the room and Keith mirrored the action.  Allura, Hunk, and Shiro were all carrying out a quiet conversation on the far side of the room.  Pidge was making her way towards Coran, who was leaning against the mantel and cooing at Red, who was cradled comfortably in his arms, but seemed to be making a desperate bid to lick Coran’s face.

“The kitchen?” Lance asked.  

Keith nodded and followed him around the coffee table and through the hallway.  

Scenic photography lined the hall’s walls and seemed to all be different shots of the same location - rolling green hills and a bright pink flower Keith didn’t recognize were common subjects throughout.  Keith wondered if Allura had taken the photos herself.

The kitchen itself was spacious and open, painted an airy, bright blue color and lined with numerous white cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

Lance leaned against the island in the center.  His body posture was still stiff and his arms were crossed, though he had raised an eyebrow in an attempt to appear casual.  “So? What did you want to talk about?”

Keith swallowed nervously.  “It was about the kiss.”

Lance’s expression shuttered.  He uncrossed his arms and shoved them into his pockets as he stood up straight.  “Don’t worry about it - it’s okay if you didn’t mean it. It was an emotional moment, I get it.  Really, it’s-”

“That’s not what I meant,” Keith interrupted.  “Why would you think I didn’t want to kiss you?”

Lance gave him a slightly incredulous look.  “Seriously? You said you wanted to talk! About the kiss!”

“Yeah.” Keith furrowed his eyebrows.  “I said that because I did want to talk about the kiss.”

Lance groaned.  “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear,” he said softly enough Keith could only just hear him.  He was giving Keith a fond, exasperated look. “So what about the kiss did you want to talk about then?”

Keith down at fiddled with his hands. He cleared his throat.  “I wanted to apologize. For putting you on the spot. I just kissed you in front of everyone without asking if it was okay.”

When Keith looked up at Lance, he blinked once in surprise.  Lance was staring at him with an affectionate look on his face.

“Oh, Keith,” Lance murmured softly.

Keith flushed at the sound.

He felt a surge of sudden courage.  

“And …”  Keith licked his lips once and then bit his lip.  “And I’d like your permission to do it again.”

“What, right now?” Lance asked, sounding amused.

Keith swallowed.  “Actually… I was thinking maybe more along the lines of after a date?” he asked hopefully.   “But if you wanted to kiss right now…” Keith trailed off meaningfully. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Lance laughed loudly, giving Keith a look that made his chest feel warm.

“And where will you be taking me on this date?  Dog-walking in the park?”

“I thought we could do that in the spring, actually, when we’ll be able to feel our fingers again,” he joked.

Keith expected a laugh, but instead all he got from Lance was a small “oh”.  Lance had a surprised, soft expression. He stared at Keith as if he was seeing him for the first time.

Keith flushed as he realized the implication of what he’d just said - that he planned on there being more than one date, and them still being together when the weather finally warmed in a few months.  

Keith didn’t bother to retract or try and brush off his statement.

“I figured maybe this time we could go ice skating - Allura told me you’re actually pretty good.”

Lance smiled and took a step forward, closing some of the gap between them.  “Oh? You and Allura talk about me often?”

“Yeah.  And sometimes we even bring up your good points,” Keith responded, somehow avoiding the blush that threatened to creep up.

Lance tilted his head backwards and let out a sharp bark of laughter.

Lance stopped mid-laugh.  “Oh.” Keith followed his gaze upwards.  

“I guess Coran put up that mistletoe after all.”  Lance brought his gaze back down to look at Keith.  “So? Are you going to kiss me or what?”

Keith returned his gaze steadily.  “Depends. Do you want me to?”

Keith’s nerves were killing him as he waited for Lance’s answer.

“Honestly?” Lance asked.

Keith’s mouth felt suddenly dry. He swallowed heavily.

“I’d want nothing more.”