Chapter Text
“Wow! That was sure something, eh Shiro? Shiro?”
Someone shook him and he blinked. “Wh-what?” Shiro looked at his friend Hunk with a stunned smile and wondered how he had become out of breath. Hunk laughed and his other friends snorted or giggled in amusement.
“I think Shiro’s been abducted by aliens or something because he is not here,” teased Lance. Shiro gave him a half hearted glare as Matt pulled Shiro around to face him.
“You ok Shiro? I’ve never seen you react this way to a boy before,” Matt asked him, mildly concerned.
Shiro nodded. “I’m fine. It’s just… He was amazing.” The crowd around them began to disperse to other shows or attractions, but Shiro and his friends stayed put where they were, as the note had requested. Shiro strongly hoped that it was from the dark haired belly dancer. If nothing else happened, he wanted to at least show his appreciation for the performances.
“He was amazing,” Matt replied, “but I’m a little worried you’re going to fall over from overload.” Shiro gave another half hearted glare, but it soon turned into a smile.
“I’m fine. Are you sticking around or are you all going to find something else to enjoy?”
Lance put his hands on his hips. “I think I’m going to get another drink and then-”
“Oh no you’re not. You’re driving tonight,” Hunk interrupted.
“What? But! Hunk! My buddy! My pal! After the hard day of dealing with the masses, don’t you think I deserve it?” Lance clasped his hands together and gave him his best puppy dog eyes.
Hunk crossed his arms defiantly. “Sure you do… After we get back to the apartment.”
“But-!”
“Uh uh. I drove here this morning at the crack of dawn, so you get to drive us home, like we agreed.” Lance sputtered unhappily next to him. When he finally gave up, he hunched his shoulders and pouted.
“Fiiiine. Should we stay until Shiro meets his mystery admirer?” Shiro’s three friends turned to him and he blushed again.
“I’ll be fine if you want to go,” he told them. “Do you want to go with them?” he asked Matt “I can drive the car back at the end of the night,”
Matt shook his head. “As fun as that sounds, I’d rather stick around if you need me. Plus, they are going in the opposite direction. I’ll just wander around until you’re ready to head back,” he explained.
“You sure? I don’t want you to be bored without me.” Matt snorted at Shiro’s reasoning.
“Me? Bored? Not likely. I think you underestimate how much trouble I can get myself into.”
Shiro smirked at him. “Probably. Alright. I’ll just wait here then and find you later.”
“Sounds like a plan,” replied Matt. He and Shiro exchanged farewells with their other two friends, and when they departed, Matt wandered off in a random direction.
As the minutes passed, Shiro grew increasingly nervous. He fussed with his hair and doublet, and dusted the dirt off his pants. While he did so, an unfamiliar pair of red converse walked up to him.
“You stayed,” said the voice belonging to the converse. Shiro stood up straight again to look upon the man whom he’d been pining for. The costume was gone and had been replaced by normal modern clothing all in black, save for the shoes. He wore skinny jeans and a crop top over the fishnet shirt he had been wearing earlier for his performance, and his long dark braid swayed behind him. The man’s eyes were still decorated in golds and reds and his fingernails were also painted in black. His wrists were free of the gold bangles and were now replaced with black leather bands. He reminded Shiro of a modern day fae, or would have if he had the pointed ears, but much prettier.
“I… Yes. I was waiting for… Did you write this note?” Shiro tripped over his words as he showed the man the scribbled on paper he had received earlier. The man smiled at him.
“Um. Yeah, I did. Are you disappointed that it was me?”
“NO! Uh, no. I’m not disappointed at all,” Shiro tried to reassure him. He nervously brushed his undercut with his hand. “I was.. hoping it would be you.” The man’s face lit up in the darkness and Shiro was swept away.
“Oh. Good.”
“And I promise I’m not a stalker!” Shiro rushed to tell him. “I just… I just think you’re really pretty.”
What looked like surprise flitted over the other man’s face and then a deep blush colored his cheeks. “Oh! T-thank you. So are you.” And if Shiro wasn’t already blushing, he certainly was now. His face was warm in the cooler night air and his smile felt like it was too big for his face.
“Thank you. You um…” Shiro’s voice trailed off as he struggled to come up with something intelligent to say. It seemed that all his words had been stolen away. The man seemed to notice this and saved him from further embarrassment.
“What happened to your face paint?” he asked.
“Oh. It melted.” Shiro absently scratched at his cheek.
“Too bad. It looked good with your white hair. Is it natural?” the other asked.
Shiro shifted nervously again. “The front part is, so I dye the rest to match it.”
The dark haired man nodded. “That’s cool. My mom dyes hers purple.”
“Oh. Was she the one who first announced the show?”
“Yeah. She helps organize the troupe and teaches classes,” he explained as he waved a hand in the direction of the stage.
“Did you learn how to dance from her? Your performance was incredible,” Shiro complimented. The man’s smile glowed with pride.
“Thanks. I learned from a different teacher when I first started. Which one did you like? The performances I mean.”
“All of them. Were those poi? At the end? With the fire?” Shiro mimed the twirling action he had seen on stage and the man nodded.
“Yeah. Regular poi aren’t as impressive, so I light them on fire for a dramatic effect.”
“That’s amazing!” The other smiled again and Shiro felt like he was swooning.
“Thanks. I can eat fire too.”
Shiro gaped. “You eat fire? Now that I want to see.” Just then an unfamiliar man walked by carrying a tote full of supplies.
“You could give him something else to eat, if you know what I mean,” the man teased Shiro with a wink. The dancer let out a growl and punched the man on his arm.
“Shut up James. This doesn’t concern you,” he retorted. James walked away snickering as he turned to face the taller man once more. “Sorry about him. That was rude.”
Shiro’s face felt like it was on fire, and watched as the other ducked his head in blushing embarrassment. He couldn’t decide if the dim lighting of the night helped their cause, or made things worse by making it feel more intimate. Shiro decided on the first one when a drunkard walked by them laughing loudly at his own joke.
My name’s Keith by the way,” the dancer suddenly offered.
“My first name is Takashi, but I’d really like it if you just called me Shiro. It’s what my friends call me.” The dancer, Keith, smiled again.
“Shiro,” he tested. A shiver ran up Shiro’s spine at the way he said it, all dark and almost husky. He wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or just the way Keith spoke, but he wanted to hear it again and again.
“Yeah. Um… I’m really glad I got to meet you, Keith,” he replied, and Keith nodded. Around them there were other people just mingling about, some of them were shouting, and Shiro winced.
“Um… Is there a quieter place we can chat? And I mean chat, not that other thing. NotthatIdon’tlikethatbutIjust.. thought it would be nice to talk somewhere else and-” Keith chuckled and turned away from the stage.
“Yeah. I understand. Follow me?” Shiro nodded.
“Sure. Just let me text my friend so he knows I didn’t get lost.” Keith nodded as Shiro brought out his phone. Once finished, he followed the other through the faire, feeling much like a little lost puppy hoping for scritches.
“Do you get lost often?” Keith teased as they walked.
“Not really, but it was my first time at a renaissance faire today,” Shiro explained.
“How did you like it?”
“I loved it! All the shops and costumes are so fun, and the performers are really unique. But it was really hard to tell who was a performer and who was just a faire goer sometimes.” Keith nodded his understanding.
“A lot of fairies are like that, and some of them even count on having patrons like that. Adds to the atmosphere. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” The dancer led Shiro through the outer part of the fair and past an opening in the fence. Beyond it were lots more trees, and then a clearing even further away where there appeared to be several tents and even an RV set up. Several camp fires were going and where people sat around them cooking their dinners. Keith nodded and waved to some of them as he approached, but stopped short a small distance away.
“This should be better.” The two stared at each other for a moment and before Shiro could say anything else, someone by the closest fire shouted to them.
“Keith! You want some dinner?”
Keith shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll make some for myself a bit later. Thanks though.”
“Sure!” answered the person before they went back to the conversation with their friend. Keith turned back and Shiro grappled for that tiny crumb of conversation topic. He was so nervous but Keith’s smile seemed genuine and encouraged him.
“I… um… I make some really good curry, if I say so myself,” Shiro softly boasted.
“Oh!I love curry, Keith exclaimed. “And spicy food is my favorite.”
“Yeah? So… would you… Um… Like to have some with me? Like… for dinner?” Keith snorts but smiles and Shiro vowed to keep trying until he got Keith to actually laugh.
“I’d love to,” the dancer agreed. “Give me your phone.” He held out his hand.
“My phone?” Keith nodded. Shiro unlocks his phone and hands it over. Keith puts his number in, then hands it back.
“There. Now you have my number.”
Shiro felt truly blessed now. His crush just gave him his number. “Wow. Thanks. I’ll use it. To… um... Call you, or text you?” Keith laughs this time and it is the most beautiful music Shiro has ever heard.
“Good. I want you to.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” The two of them fell into another round of happy gazing at one another. Shiro’s gray eyes gazed into Keith’s deep blue ones, almost purple from the light of the nearby fire. The odd thing was, the staring didn’t feel awkward. Maybe a bit new and uncomfortable, but not bad.
“Um…” Shiro began.
“God, Keith! Just bring him to your tent already!” shouted another campfire attendee. Looked like it was James again.
“Excuse me,” Keith said just before he ran at the man. James scurried away in fright and Shiro laughed as he watched them playfully tussle just on the other side of the fire. When he was done getting his point across, Keith came back to continue his chat with Shiro.
The night was blissfully long, and the two of them enjoyed every minute of it. The faire soon closed for the night and Shiro and Matt headed home.
Shiro is not ashamed to admit that he kept the golden bracelet that Keith gave him, and often stared at it sitting on his side table… Until their very first date. It went very well, and they had many more after. Eventually, they moved in together, and even adopted their own furbaby; a very large mixed breed dog who was the goodest boy you ever saw.
And all of them were very happy.
The End.