~Writey Power~

Venti is half-curled around his head, snoring into his hair. His arm is draped over Aether’s face, fingertips tickling at his ear and it’s a miracle Aether hasn’t suffocated yet, because he can barely see and even less breathe. Another heavy weight rests on his chest. Aether pats up the limb and is not surprised when Venti huffs into his hair. Nor when the leg jerks and Venti kicks him into the side. Not surprising, but also not welcome.  

If Venti would be a bit more like his other bed companions! But no matter how many times he wishes for that, he can’t really change that about Venti. Because Venti is loud, constantly moving and taking up entirely too much space when he is awake and there is no way that would be different when he is asleep.  

Aether pushes the offending arm higher onto his forehead and sees Albedo on his other side. Today as well, Albedo sleeps silent like a rock. He always wakes up almost in the same position he falls asleep in and sometimes it freaks Aether out a little. But it’s just like when he sits for hours and hours and hours hunched over his research until Aether reminds himself he shouldn’t just watch that handsome profile and by curiosity lit up eyes, and reminds Albedo to take a break. Right now he has one arm bent to pillow his head, which lies close to Aether’s shoulder. The other hand is placed on Aether’s hip, fingers splayed towards his abdomen. Aether reaches out, careful to avoid another kick, and strokes along the familiar vein up the back of Albedo’s hand. The breath warming his shoulder hitches and soon enough he is looking into intense eyes.

“Morning,” Aether whispers and melts at the soft smile Albedo gives him. He presses a quick, wet kiss into Aether’s shoulder and lodges his fingers into the spaces between Aether’s. “I see you are in the clutches of our resident octopus again.” Aether shrugs, as best as he can, caged between bodies as he is, with the threat of another kick still looming over his ribs. His brows furrow and lips curl into a desperate smile. He is pretty helpless against said octopus and though Venti spares none of them - Aether recalls that one time Venti was sprawled over Albedo’s back and head in such a way, Aether was concerned he had been crushed - lately he had been the target of Venti’s nightly escapades more often than not.

Aether turns his head back to the offender and finds also the last of them. Well, most of him is hidden behind Venti, but there is an arm curving along slim waist, knuckles brushing against Aether’s side with every breath. Xiao is a light sleeper, quite often spending most of the night awake and catching little naps here and there during the day. By the way his fingers move, he must be awake now too. Aether dislodges his arm from between himself and Albedo and presses his fingertips against Xiao’s fingers. They twitch; once, twice, and a sleepy bed-head emerges. Oh, so maybe he was asleep.

Xiao looks confused at first, like he has no idea where he is, typical for him after he wakes up from anything that lasted longer than half an hour. Slowly, he clears his eyes by blinking a few times. Aether’s chest swells at seeing him sleepy and unguarded like this. He watches his eyes wander towards the window and his own follow.

The light spilling in is still grayish, more night than day, way way too early to be up, let alone get up.

“Early.” With a grunt and within a second, Xiao’s head disappears behind Venti again. He clutches his arm tighter around Venti’s middle, waking him up in the process, making him squawk. Aether hisses - that was the second kick he was trying so hard to avoid. His ribs will be sore for the rest of the day.

Fingers run through his hair and he looks up at Venti.

“Morning you two.” Venti mumbles. He looks like a cat that’s been jostled out of its nap. Sleepy, yes, but completely different than Xiao had. His eyes are more closed than open, his brows scrunched and his mouth stretches into a yawn. He looks like he is not aware his fingers are carding through Aether’s hair.

Venti is the one of them who can sleep the longest, occupying the whole bed long after everyone else is gone. But watching his lids fall down a few times before he forcefully pries them open, Aether decides that yes, Xiao is right - it is way too early.

“Maybe it isn’t morning just yet.” He grabs Albedo’s wrist and pulls him along as he turns onto his side. Venti wraps his legs around his waist, the same way Aether’s arms wrap around his, hands finding their place on Xiao’s belly. Albedo presses into his back, thumb caressing over Venti’s hipbone. And then there is Xiao’s hand, fingers digging into his side as he pulls him closer, closer against Venti and it’s so, so warm, almost scorching. Aether pillows his head on Venti’s chest, smiling as it rumbles, because of course Venti is already snoring away. Feeling warm inside out, Aether closes his eyes to catch a few more hours of sleep.

„And it’s really okay, Hunk?“ Lance shifted on the spot and squeezed the leather strap in his hand.

“I told you already two months ago when you have asked for the first time. And I’m telling you again now. It really is fine.” It did not happen that often that Hunk started to count things on his fingers to ground a point in, but sometimes it was necessary. And so he did. Lifted his hand and pointed each finger at Lance as he cited the simple facts Lance seemed to forget. “I don’t mind having Orion over. Neither does Romelle. We will enjoy looking after him over the weekend. And he loves the visits too, right buddy?” He leaned over to scratch the fur between two large ears of a brown down, which earned him an excited tail wag. The woof that came after sounded just as excited, and happy. “See? Told you he does.” Hunk grinned, crossing his arms over his chest before he gave Lance a pointed look. Every time this discussion boiled up to the same pointy look and the whole ordeal was already getting old. This wasn’t the first time he and Romelle were looking after Lance’s dog Orion while he was away. This wasn’t even the tenth time. And yet Lance still acted like it was. Nervous and fidgety and with “Is this really, really okay?” written all over his face in bold letters. The way his nose scrunched and his teeth were digging into his bottom lip told Hunk the little tale of “But if you change your mind, you can call me anytime; I will drop everything and come home immediately.” That was already toeing at the edge of Hunk’s limit and when Lance’s brow curled in the way of “Oh my god, I hope he doesn’t break anything.” the edge collapsed in and Hunk was catapulted way past the limit of dealing with this bullshit. He reached out and ripped the leash out of Lance’s hand.

“Listen, Lance, you will now go pack your bag and yes, don’t give me that look, I know you haven’t packed yet just in case you didn’t find anyone to take Orion in, this is not the first time I’m doing this. Anyway, you will go pack your bag and then have a wonderful time over the weekend, and you will not have the slightest worry about us and Orion, because we are going to have an amazing time too.” Hunk jabbed Lance’s chest with the leash, almost out of breath from the flow of words, while Orion jumped around his feet, all pumped up from how fast Hunk was talking.

Lance opened his mouth, words ready to stumble out, but Hunk did not let him, because after years and years of being Lance’s best friend, it was more than clear to Hunk what he wanted to say. “And no, you are not a huge inconvenience. If we’ve had any plans and couldn’t take Orion in, we would say so. And you know, we would.”

Lance deflated. Literally and visibly. The air whooshed out of his lungs instead of the words he wanted to say and his shoulders fell in. But a small smile appeared on his lips along with a tiny “Fine.” Hunk’s veins were flooded with relief – he finally, finally, had persuaded Lance that this was god damn okay. Maybe he should record a tape for the next time, because he was really getting tired to crack this thing in every time.

=

When Lance finally trotted off to go pack for his weekend away, Hunk was happy to take a long walk in the park with Orion. Romelle had been still asleep when he left to meet with Lance, meaning he had an hour or two before he needed to head back. Walking around in the greenery and fresh air was relaxing and mind cleansing for him, and quite energy outputting for Orion. Because once they arrived at his and Romelle’s apartment, Orion sat down waiting for Hunk to unlock the door instead of running around and sniffing everything in the hallway like he usually did.

“I’m home, my sweet Apple Pie,” Hunk called out. Romelle ought to be up by now - and really, her lovely voice answered back.

“In the living room.”

“Let’s go, buddy.” Hunk patted the dog’s side, unclasping the leash before they both headed to where Romelle was.

“I have picked up-” Hunk had entered the living room and the rest of the words got stuck in his throat. He saw his girlfriend nestled on the couch, which, admittedly, was a sight that easily rendered you speechless - with her hair brushed up, in a loose tank top and her legs stretched out on the couch in front of her. But while one of her hands was holding a book, the other was busy with petting a fluffy, black loaf in her lap that looked suspiciously like… Hunk’s eyes bumped down to Orion, who was on his way to the couch, tail wagging happily at the sight of Romelle - he apparently hadn’t noticed the loaf yet.

“You have picked up?” The sound of Romelle’s voice was soft, but as she turned towards them, Hunk watched her smile melt off her face into a horrified expression. She put her hand on the loaf, perhaps to shield it from Orion’s eyes, perhaps to keep it from turning around as well. The interest to look what was going on was there, Hunk could see it in the two fluffy ears that flicked around.

He hurried to Orion’s side and grabbed his collar to stop him from progressing further. “What is Polly doing here?” He whisper-hissed, ignoring Orion’s pitiful whining, because Hunk had prevented him from greeting Romelle.

“We were supposed to look after her this weekend, you remember?” Romelle patted the cat, a bit too aggressively - her tail had started to swish around and she was rousing, a little hissey noise escaping her.

Hunk swallowed. The tiny little noise seemed to be enough to attract Orion’s attention. He stopped to whine and sniffed the air. This was not going to end well. There was no possible outcome to this, which could be labeled as good. Hunk had no clue if Lance’s dog and Keith’s cat had ever met before, but this was the worst way to find out. Because they were just that - a cat and a dog, and that fact alone already promised a disastrous outcome.

Of course, the second Orion noticed the ball of black fur that was wriggling out of Romelle’s grasp, his wagging tail froze still. His ears twitched as he watched Polly escape and jump onto the back of the couch, settling down and starting to groom herself.

And that was it.

Orion barked and pulled and Hunk thought his wrist was beyond salvation in a second. Medium sized dog, for sure. Where the hell did he get so much strength? Hunk dug his heels into the floor to hold the dog back, which wasn’t really helping, but at least the thought counted, right?

“That was… next week, wasn’t it?” Hunk gritted out, the muscles in his arms straining as much as his voice. “I definitely… promised… Lance… this week.”

“No, I’m sure… hey, hey, hey, Polly, here my girl.” Romelle abandoned the rest of the sentence for the sake of attracting Polly’s attention, trying to distract her from the mayhem happening at the living room’s door. She had startled at Orion’s bark. Her ears were now flat against her head, and she was crouched in a ready-to-flee position, examining everything with watchful eyes. When Romelle reached out to her and Polly lashed at her, Hunk decided this was enough of playing around. A separation needed to happen and needed to happen now.

“Come on, buddy. Looks like we are spending the weekend in the kitchen.” Hunk pulled at Orion’s collar, trying to drag him away. Orion’s claws scratched over the floor, making Hunk wince - he refused to leave the living room. With renewed strength, he charged forward and his collar slipped out of Hunk’s grasp. “Orion!” Hunk yelled, but he couldn’t move, his brain busy with the decision if he should run after the dog or squeeze his eyes shut, so he wouldn’t have to see this. How was he going to explain this to Lance and Keith?

=

This was totally not worth the heart attack she was having.

When Orion broke loose, Romelle panicked and had jumped up on the couch. She heard it squeak under the onslaught, but didn’t have the mind capacity to spare a thought if something broke, not until much later at least. She tried to grab the cat; maybe lifting her above her head would at least help to avoid the worst. But Polly hissed at her, scooting a few steps back. And then Orion was there, too close and too soon and… it turned out that Lance’s dog and Keith’s cat have met before. Possibly more times than one. Possibly were even friends. More than possibly. Because where Romelle had expected a blood bath, came the most cutest greeting between two animals she had ever seen, youtube videos included.

Orion had jumped onto the couch, his tail wagging so hard Romelle briefly wondered if it was going to fall off soon. He booped Polly into the side with his wet, cold nose and the cat swatted against his snout. There was no malice in it, though, it was just a soft, playful swat before she jumped down, rubbing her head against Orion’s chest and purring so loud Romelle thought she was going deaf.

The panic forcing her heart into a 60m race quieted down bit by bit as she watched them, and she slumped onto the couch.

Was there air in her lungs or had they been sucked completely empty and she was now filling them all over again? Her chest at least ached like that was happening right now. A disbelieving laugh forced its way out of her mouth. Damn.

“Why are you laughing? What is happening?”

Right, Hunk was there too. Romelle looked at him and snorted. He stood in the living room doorway and his eyes were squeezed shut.

“It’s fine, Berry Pie. They seem to know each other.”

“What?” Hunk’s voice was filled with all the emotions she was feeling at the moment, which was mostly betrayal. Why did neither Keith nor Lance said anything? They could have spared them a lot of nerves. She would tell them both an earful when they came to pick up their respective darlings. She at least intended to until a hot tongue licked a stripe up her cheek, momentarily swiping her anger and determination away.

“Hey, Orion, my boy. You are a good boy, such a good boy.” Romelle laughed, scratching the dog behind his ears.

=

Hunk’s girlfriend was a lovely flower that had enough thorns to rip you a new one if necessary. She didn’t take any bullshit from anyone at any time. And that was just one of the things Hunk loved about her. He had invited her for a coffee after they met in a queue that was barely moving, and even now he had a hard time believing he had really done that. At that time he was muttering under his breath when she apparently heard him and went all “That totally sucks, right?”, an irritated tug in her lips but still so bright eyed it almost blinded Hunk. He had connected with her through the things they complained about and that they both found to be the worst like with no one else before, while they progressed forward step by step. And then that one person tried to cut the line. Ho boy. Ho boy.

That was how Hunk imagined how it was going to go down once Lance and Keith picked up their pets on Sunday. Romelle wouldn’t stop talking about it the whole time they made lunch together. And while Hunk agreed, he was perhaps a little bit worried for his friends. He had still loved watching her while she talked about what she was going to tell these two idiots. She was a fierce flower - with a flame in her eyes and in her cheeks.

But she was also beautiful when calmed down, like right now. Hunk couldn’t take his eyes away from her, the way the white light from the TV danced over her face more interesting than what was going on on the screen.

Romelle was sitting on the couch, her legs stretched out just like before, except now her feet were nestled in Hunk’s lap. His thumbs rubbed over her soles, applying pressure to banish the little knots he was feeling in her muscles. Orion had settled in the spot between her legs, head propped on her thigh, and slept soundly. Polly was curled on top of him, a fluffy loaf again. Romelle’s fingers stroked through her fur, absent minded, but unceasing. Her other hand was holding a tea mug, which she brought to her lips again and again, but never actually drank, her eyes trained on the TV, too invested to care for the rest of the world. There was a little spark in her eyes, intrigued and amused, just like in the soft smile splayed on her lips.

“You are so beautiful, Romelle.” The words bubbled out of Hunk without him meaning to. It wasn’t like he never complimented her, but in a serene moment like this one, that was unheard of. They were more the couple to throw playful compliments at each other while chopping up a bowl full of vegetables. This here felt vulnerable, almost raw.

Romelle’s head whipped towards him and she blinked several times. “W-what?”

“I said that you are beautiful.” Hunk’s hand wrapped around her petite ankle, her smooth and warm skin under his palm stopping it from shivering.

“I heard you the first time, but where… where did that come from?” She chuckled, cocking her head to the side. A strand of blond hair fell along her cheek and Hunk watched as it slipped from her shoulder. It was silky and sleek and shining in the flickering light of the TV. The voices pouring out of it were dancing on the edge of Hunk’s ears, but those were already filled to the brim from the inside with a strange, strong busing to make any sense of the words the actors spoke.

“I was just looking at you, realizing for the millionth time, what a beautiful wife I have.” Hunk didn’t realize what he said. Not immediately. Not even when Romelle’s eyes grew wide before her pupils shrunk to tiny slivers. Not even when her hand shook, almost spilling the mug full of lukewarm tea. Her gasp was a voiceless opening and closing of lips. She sat up straighter, almost throwing both of the animals off her lap.

“I do.” She blurted out, fingers clutching around the mug.

It was Hunk’s turn to blink now, confusion written in his face. “You do… what?”

“I do. You… you said wife! I do!”

“Wait, what… No, I did… no. This… no.” Hunk was panicking, slapping his hands on his cheeks and pulling on the skin.

“No?” Romelle’s voice was confused, and hurt and that wasn’t what Hunk meant at all. That he did not want to propose to her like ever. But this, this right here… he had done it all wrong.

“I don’t even have a ring. This was not planned, not perfect, not-”

“I don’t care.” Romelle interrupted him, almost flailing when she put her cup away and reached out for his hands. She pulled them close, kissing Hunk’s knuckles. Her lap had become uninhabitable for Polly, so much movement driving the cat away. Orion had stayed, though, his spot warm and comfortable and his, and just looked from one weird human to the other. “I don’t care about a damn ring. I still do. Want to marry you, I mean.” She had the flame in her cheeks again, but it burned brighter and more tender than when she was spewing fire about some dumb thing they complained about together.

Hunk laughed, the sound bouncing louder than the TV.  “You aren’t just beautiful, Romelle. You are the most perfect person to ever exist.” He leaned closer, trapping the dog between their bodies. Orion’s tail thumped against his chest. “Do you think the animals made us do this?” Hunk chuckled, and Romelle shook her head with a grin on her lips.

“They are not aliens, dummy.” Her lips almost touched his nose as she spoke. But before she pressed a kiss onto the tip of his nose, she whispered one more thing. “I love you, my Berry Pie.”

Except his head is spinning as if he is rolling around the room and he should figure out what to do after his two last tissues are gone. Because they will be soon.

Something tickles inside his nose and he grabs a tissue just in time before he sneezes. With half closed eyes and a vein pulsing on his forehead with pain and annoyance, Kolivan stares at the last tissue hanging out of the box. Last one and he feels like he is counting minutes before this one will be gone too.

A knock on the door startles him and breaks his impromptu staring contest with the tissue. His eyes flick to the wall clock and then to his planner. Today are not his office hours and there is also no appointment scheduled. Normally the only person who dares to come along unannounced…

Kolivan watched the door open and a mop of red hair peek inside.

Coran.

The last person he needs right now.

“Hello dearest.” Coran waltzes in like this is his living room and he had just walked in from the kitchen. “I was just passing by and thought I might see how you are doing with the essays.”

Kolivan rubs at his forehead before he forces on a smile. He hopes he doesn’t look to snotty.

“It’s going well.”

A ‘I’m half done’ dances on his tongue, but he and Coran have been together long enough for Coran to know his habits in and out. The right pile is the finished one and it’s the smaller one, so there is no fooling Coran.

“What about a lunch together, it might…” Coran leans down to press a greeting kiss on Kolivan’s lips, who is hard pressed not to lean back – that would be too suspicious. But his hope that Coran won’t notice something is off dissipates into thin air when his partner’s eyes go wide after the kiss, and after his cheek rubbed against Kolivan’s.

“Oh cricket!”

A chilly palm is slapped onto Kolivan’s forehead and against his better judgement, he closes his eyes and leans into it.

“You are like a bloody furnace. You should be in bed right now.”

“I’m fine, Coran. It’s just a bit of runny nose.” Kolivan tries to convince him, but when he opens his eyes and sees the look Coran is giving him, squinting at him like he had just caught a child stealing a lollipop from his store, Kolivan knows he is doomed. Well, he did knew that since the moment the door opened, if he is completely honest, but he was still hoping.

“Nonsense.” Coran grabs the essay Kolivan had just opened, and puts it back on the left pile. “This can wait. Right now you need to go back home and lie down. No discussion.” Coran cuts Kolivan off, when he opens his mouth, so he only lets out some air in a wheezing sigh.

“I can still… finish…”

There goes his last tissue, as Coran grabs it and presses it against Kolivan’s face before he can sneeze all over his student’s essays.

“You were saying, dearest?” Coran’s voice is dripping with thick-liquid sarcasm right into his ear as Kolivan blows his nose.

This is the worst. His next lesson in this subject for this class isn’t until next week, so he has plenty of time to finish grading the essays, but he wanted to be ahead of time because there is always too much to do and too little time. And now he will be out of commission for the rest of today, because no way is Coran letting him out of the bed earlier than tomorrow. Given he looks well enough then, of course. God damn. And he might also… Kolivan shudders when he remembers.

“We will go back home now and I will make you my grand-grand uncle’s secret recipe soup. It’s the best remedy one can wish for a cold.”

There it is. And no chance to run away, with Coran already holding Kolivan’s coat in his hands. Cursed be this cold.

Kolivan feels his nose running again, but all he can do is pull it back, because he has no more tissues left.

=

“Are you warm enough, dearest?”

There isn’t much but the tip of Kolivan’s nose peeking out of the blankets Coran had piled on him. When Coran started to gather these together after they came home, Kolivan pressed his lips into a thin line. Such amount was unnecessary. Aside from the runny nose and a slight head pounding, he was feeling fine.

But now, dressed in a tank top, a t-shirt and a hoodie, he is happy he has a pile to bury himself under. Because he is still feeling cold, his body wrecked by one shiver after another. That is definitely not warm enough.

Fingers curled into the layers of blankets, Kolivan pulls them tighter around his chin, sealing all of his body heat underneath.

“Tea…” he whispers, barely avoiding biting into his tongue. “Tea would help.” He forces out with difficulties, looking up when he feels a palm on his forehead.

Coran’s eyes are concerned.

“I’ll go and make you something much better than tea. And then you will take a long, healing nap. You will be feeling all better in an instant, then!” Coran’s smile is meant to be encouraging, but it just grinds in how pathetic Kolivan feels.

His body is sweating, but he is still cold and his eyelids are so, so heavy. Again and again they flutter close, but are pried open by some unseen force right after as Kolivan seems not to be able to keep them closed. He resigns and keeps staring at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of Coran busying around in the kitchen that spill into the bedroom.

The rooms are right across each other, but the sounds are muted, like they are fighting their way through a thick curtain. Kolivan wishes the curtain was real, made out of a thick, warm fabric and he could wrap it around himself atop of all these blankets.

He doesn’t notice when his body starts to buzz, but when realizes it does, he can’t unfeel it anymore. It’s like his body wants to crawl out of its own skin. It forces him to toss and turn when he wants to stay still, because every movement makes him feel colder.

Kolivan misses Coran’s footsteps as he returns and startles when he sees him standing right next to the bed.

“Shhh, it’s just me.”

Fingers stroke messy hair loosened from his braid from his forehead.

“Tired,” Kolivan mumbles, his lips dry and cracking. How did his state got so bad so quickly?

“Just do me a little favor, alright? Drink this small cup all empty and then you can sleep all you want. You will feel plenty better after you wake up.”

Needles dig into his back when Coran nudges him to sit up. Kolivan is sure he is leaning against him more than he should, but Coran doesn’t say even one word, just lifts the cup up to Kolivan’s lips. A faint whiff of lemon and garlic hits him and he is suddenly happy his nose is clogged up, otherwise the scent might have knocked him unconscious right here and now. The liquid burns down his throat and for the span of one second, Kolivan wonders if it’s because it’s hot or because of something else. Then he closes his eyes and just swallows, one large gulp after another until the cup really is empty.

“There, see. That wasn’t so bad, right?”

A nod is the only answer he can muster enough energy for before he slides back under the blankets, curling together in search of warmth.

His eyes fall closed and this time his lids stay down. It still takes him a while before he falls asleep. The only thing he is aware of before he drifts off are the shudders of his body and the cooling palm on his cheek, with the thumb slowly stroking over his cheekbone.

=

The first thing Kolivan notices when he wakes up is the dark. The second thing he notices is the absence of the shivering and the cold; his body temperature seems to be evened out again.

The third thing he notices is the sliver of light under the door. He has no clue how late it is, if it’s still afternoon, evening or night, but either way Coran has to be still up. With careful, slow steps he slips into the hallway.

“Coran?” Kolivan finds him in the living room, curled in his favorite chair. With a blanket tucked around his legs (they still had any blankets left? How?), with a book in his fingers and with his reading glasses on. He looks up when Kolivan enters, a smile spreading over his lips.

“Kolivan. I see you are feeling better.”

“Plenty better.” Kolivan uses his exact words and smiles back. “Seems like your magical remedy helped.”

“Of course, it always does. You shouldn’t be up yet, though. The remedy is not as magical as to cure you completely with just a few gulps, after all.”

“And I was sure I could get dressed and head to finish grading those essays already.” Kolivan leans down to press a short kiss on Coran’s lips, who accepts it before patting Kolivan’s arm.

“Hardly. It’s almost one in the morning. What you should do instead is head back to bed.”

“That seems like a good idea. But I think with someone at my side instead of in this chair would help me sleep better and get well faster.” His fingers sneak down to pick the book out of Coran’s hands.

“How is the fit? Not too tight?” Lance asked, checking how tight he had tied the skates.

“No, I think it’s good?” Shiro tried not to make his answer sound too much like a question, but it still did. He had no clue how tight the skates were supposed to be. The only thing he knew that they were not cutting his blood flow off, which was a good thing, right?

“Okay, I think you are good to go. Keith?”

“Right here.” Keith had his skates on by that time and helped Shiro to get up on his feet.

Catching balance with those things on was the worst and Shiro felt like he was rediscovering his legs with the first few steps he took. Once Keith helped him step on the ice, Shiro’s legs wobbled. Badly.  

“Maybe… we shouldn’t… I don’t want you to fall down because of me, Keith.” Contrary to his words, Shiro clung to Keith’s arms like it was the only lifeline in existence. He was aware of it, but no matter what, his brain refused to loosen his cramped fingers and let go of Keith’s jacket.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Shiro. We are not going to fall down. Here… put one of your hands here. Yeah, like that, that’s it. Good boy.”

“I’m not a dog, Keith.” Shiro glared at Keith, but the soft smile on Keith’s lips melted Shiro’s glare away. Keith wasn’t mocking him, but most likely tried to get Shiro to relax… with words he had definitely ‘caught’ from Lance. They all influenced each other a little bit too much.

“But you still did good.” There was a chuckle behind him and Shiro didn’t need to turn around to know Lance had finally joined them. Hands settled on his hips, holding tight, but not restricting. Giving Shiro’s confidence a little boost that maybe he wasn’t going to end up on his face anytime soon. Or at least not in the next ten seconds.

“Hello, handsome.” Lance grinned when Shiro glanced at him over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we got this. You will be speeding around the rink in no time.”

There was no way Shiro could believe that, yet he concentrated with all his might and followed every of Lance’s instructions.

Lance was a good teacher and after a few exercises they did on the spot, he lured Shiro to his first forward steps. Each of his arms were held in a tight grip by his boyfriends as they skated at a snail’s pace.

„See, you are doing great!“ Lance’s voice reflected the smile on his lips. The encouraging smile he had for others, which Shiro loved so much about him.

“Just because you are such a good teacher.” Shiro smiled back at him – for half a second before he stared at the ice in front of his feet again. The moment he broke his concentrations to smile at Lance, his legs wobbled like he was about to fall down.

“Shh, easy, easy.” Shiro could hear Keith mutter. “You can be grossly in love once Shiro is not skating.”

“Awww, Keef, don’t act like you aren’t grossly in love either.”  Lance teased, and Shiro wheezed, when Lance left his side and skated around to hound in Keith.

The look Keith threw at him was mightily unimpressed and he guided Shiro to turn, so they could skate away from Lance. He had chosen the wrong direction to turn though, because not even halfway through, someone skated past him a tad too close and bumped against his side. It was Keith, who wobbled now, and Shiro tried not to cling to him too much to give him enough room to regain balance. Shiro could consider himself lucky neither of them landed on the ground, considered how unsure he felt on the skates. He was just a little shaken.

“You ass!” Lance, on the other hand, wasn’t shaken at all. “Can’t you watch-“

“Lance, stop.” Keith interrupted him, before he could shout further profanities across the ice. “It’s okay, it was my fault.”

“But they could have made either of you fall and hurt yourself!” Lance protested, arms crossed across his chest.

“But they did not, so it’s fine. And I should have watched my surroundings.”

“But..!”

“But nothing. It’s fine. Drop it.”

“It’s bizarre watching Lance get angry while you are staying level-headed, Keith.” Shiro interrupted their little banter with a laugh. “It used to be the other way around.” He let out loud bursts of laughter and was nowhere to stopping, when he watched the faces of both of his boyfriends heat up.

“Shiro!” Lance recovered first, joining Shiro’s laughter as well as returning to the spot at his side. “They just shouldn’t have messed with my boyfriends, because I get protective,” he explained, sweet honey dripping from his smile, at which Keith rolled his eyes.

“You big protector. We can-“

“Oh, shush, Keith.”

“That he is.”

Lance blushed at Shiro’s words, looking up to him before he pulled him down to a kiss.

“See, Shiro agrees,” Lance grinned at Keith once their kiss parted, which earned him another eyeroll.

“When did Shiro no- hnng.”

Shiro watched Lance pull Keith over into a kiss – the most successful way to shut up either of them.

“Let’s head over to the rink entrance once you two finish. I wouldn’t mind a break.” Shiro had to grin at the dazed look on Keith’s face after the kiss, but he couldn’t blame him – Lance’s kisses were just something peculiar. But to speak the truth, so were Keith’s and Shiro took advantage of the situation and sneaked in to steal a kiss from Keith for himself as well.

=

“I can get us something warm to drink.” Lance looked over the change in the pocket of his jacket if he had enough and literally stormed off before Keith could tag along to help. Stormed off. On the thin, thin blades Shiro had so much respect from and was thrilled he could finally sit. When Keith settled next to him and they both watched Lance bounce around in the line, Shiro’s expression softened.

“Do you think he is having fun?”

The confused look on Keith’s face was unwelcome – Shiro had hoped he wouldn’t have to explain what he meant.

“When he spoke about an ice-skating date, I’m sure he didn’t mean teaching an old geezer how to skate.” Shiro panicked a bit, when Keith snorted at that.

“Firstly, you are not an old geezer Shiro, you are twenty-nine. If anything, you are only almost an old geezer.”

“Oh, thank you Keith.” Shiro’s fist bumped softly against Keith’s shoulder as they both laughed.

“You are very welcome. But secondly, Lance is absolutely loving this. You know how he is about taking care of either of us. He is thrilling right now.” Keith’s grin was contagious, especially as they watched Lance waddle back with three cups in his hands, concentrated on every step so he wouldn’t spill any.

“Be careful, the tea is scorching. First one has no sugar.”

“Thanks.” Keith smiled, as he eased the first cup from between Lance’s fingers. Shiro took the other and Lance slumped on the bank next to him, letting the white steam puffs wash over his nose.

“Cold?” Shiro asked, while he warmed his fingers against the cup.

“Just my face feels a bit frozen, nothing bad.”

“Want to go home?”

Lance shook his head, smile not leaving his lips. “No, not yet. Except either of you do.”

Shiro looked at Keith, who was busy sipping his tea while trying not to burn his tongue off.

“After this tea, I’m fine staying for a bit longer.”

=

‘A bit longer’ turned out to be another hour. Shiro was surprised with the progress he had made today, however when Lance suggested he would also teach him how to skate backwards, Shiro called it quits. He had not fallen once during the whole evening, no need to push his luck. He would rather stand at the side and watch Keith and Lance skate hand in hand for a little bit longer until it was really time to go home.

=

It was way past ten when they finally arrived at their apartment and Keith collapsed into a puddle on the floor right after he took his shoes off.

“I’m… not sure I will be able to move tomorrow. And my toes are frozen solid.” He groaned when a foot poked him, rolled over onto his back and glared up at Lance.

“Come on, no passing out before you get to the couch. I have the perfect recipe to that.”

“To getting to the couch befo-”

“To feel less like a corpse. But if you need a recipe to getting to the couch. If you would be so nice, Shiro.” The grin Lance threw at him was confusing, but when he grabbed Keith under the armpits, Shiro understood.

“Hey, don’t you dare. Shiro! What a betrayal.” Keith protested loud and tried to kick when Shiro grabbed his legs, but laughed when they heaved him up. “I can walk. I can walk!”

“You didn’t really sound like you could.” Lance smirked when they deposited Keith on the couch, patting him on the head. “There, there. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.”

“Do you need help with anything?” Shiro was already a step forward, but Lance’s palm against his chest stopped him.

“Not at all. You just sit back and relax.” Lance smiled, pushing Shiro down on the couch to sit next to Keith.

“What is he planning?” Keith sat up to watch Lance scurry away.

Shiro could only shrug - he had as much clue as Keith did.

They heard Lance busy around in the kitchen, which, right, a hot drink was kind of expected. But then the storage room’s door opened and they heard Lance rummage through it. Shiro tensed when something fell and Lance’s curses bounces through the apartment.

“Do you really not need any help, Lance?” Shiro shifted on the couch. He wasn’t used to just sit and let Lance do all the work, and neither was Keith - he constantly pulled at his pants, staring at the living room door until Lance reappeared.

“Nope. All is okay here.” He grinned wide, carrying a large plastic tub, which he placed in front of the couch.

“Lance?” Keith seemed confused, but Shiro had an idea what Lance had in mind.

“I can bring the water, you don’t need to do eve-”

“Nuh, nuh.” Lance wiggled a finger in front of Shiro’s face. “I told you to sit back and relax. The only thing you can help with is getting rid of your pants and socks.” Lance winked at them before he was gone again, leaving back a perplexed Keith and a head shaking Shiro. Sometimes he had no clue how his body could contain all the love for these two. It was like doing somersaults down the stairs from their apartment. All the way down.

“Come on, we have to listen to Lance’s instructions.” Shiro nudged Keith with his elbow and removed his socks while listening to Lance humming a happy tune in the kitchen.

First, he brought a tray with three steaming cups and the room was filled with the scent of chocolate.

“One hot cocoa to warm your bellies.”

“Thank you.” Shiro accepted his cup with a smile, looking at the image of a black kitten on it. It was a set they had bought a few years ago. The cup with red kitten had been sold out at their local shop and Lance had bent hell to get it, since it was a store exclusive. Now it was covered by Keith’s fingers as he sipped his cocoa. A content expression has spread through his face after the first sip - especially his eyes shone brightly.

“Now, let’s also do something about your feet.” It did not took long until Lance was back again, carrying a large bucket this time, with towels flung over his shoulder. Shiro heard water sloshing around, meaning his suspicion had been correct.

“Careful. It will feel hotter than it actually is.” Lance poured water into the tub and prompted them both to put their feet in.

In the same state of undress he wriggled in between Shiro and Keith, and with his blue kitten cup, a blanket spread over their laps and snuggled to both of his boyfriends, Lance let out a happy sigh.

“You really didn’t have to prepare all this alone.” That was the only complain Shiro had, as he wriggled his toes in the warm water.

“We could have helped!” Keith was apparently bothered by it as well.

“I know. But I wanted to. It’s a thank you for the amazing surprise date.” Lance grinned before he took a sip of his cocoa. He looked like a cat, who just got to a lifelong supply of cream.

Shiro’s body became warmer, and not because of the cocoa. He ruffled Lance’s hair just as Keith pressed a kiss on his cheek. “I’m happy you had an amazing time, even with the… um, circumstances.” Shiro smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I promise the next time will be better.”

Lance’s eyes lit up. “There will be a next time?”

“Of course. Shiro needs a lot of practice to get better.” Keith stretched his arm and patted Shiro on his shoulder, who gulped a bit. He wasn’t running away from the backwards skating next time. But he still wanted to get better.

“Yeah, so you two don’t have to lead me around the whole time.”

Hunk stared at the note with a raised brow. That was so unlike Keith. Even more so was the heap of fabric Hunk unfolded into a sweater. It was soft and - Hunk couldn’t find any other fitting word - cuddly. It was also utterly hilarious. The dark green wool was interwoven with a lighter one on the front, shaping a pine tree. A bright red, fuzzy wool curled all around the tree like a garland and white letters were hanging on it instead of ornaments, spelling the sentence “You are my best present.”

Amused, Hunk shook his head as he slipped the sweater on. He couldn’t imagine Keith buying something like this, but the fact he just put this something on meant Keith must have and Hunk would give anything to see that. Did he looked unfazed when paying or did he had that cute, little scowl that always appeared, when he was doing something embarrassing? Musing about it and dressed only in the sweater and his pajama pants, Hunk followed the second part of Keith’s instruction.

He sneaked into the kitchen silent enough to not disturb Keith, who was sitting at the dining table. It was just a small table, barely accommodating two people for dinner, but anything bigger than that would not fit into their tiny kitchen. Hunk had at least invested into comfortable chairs - that’s why he found Keith here more often than in the living room. With his upper arm flat on the table. With his cheek propped against his knuckles, his little finger pulling at his lower lip. With his eyes so invested in the book he was reading, he didn’t pay any attention to his surroundings. The same position Hunk found him in today.

On any other Saturday, Hunk would join him for breakfast right away. But today, leaning against the door frame, Hunk took extra time to appreciate the view of his boyfriend properly. Keith’s hair was messier than usually, which Hunk assumed was because Keith hadn’t brushed it yet. It hung into Keith’s face, so he couldn’t see his expression, but the tense shoulder whispered about furrowed brows because of something intriguing on the pages. His free hand was playing with the corner of the page, which Keith did always when he couldn’t wait to turn the page around, fully invested in the story.

How could Hunk disturb him now? With an appreciative smile he watched Keith finish the page. Watched his finger stumble once before he managed to turn the page. Watched him look up to the wall clock right above the door frame, watched him return to his book and then freeze. At that point Hunk couldn’t hold the laugh back anymore.

“How… how long have you been standing there?” Keith’s voice was grumpy and the scowl Hunk had been thinking about before, appeared on his face.

“Not for long, I’m sorry. But you were enjoying your book so much, I just couldn’t disturb you. If you want to finish the part you were reading, go ahead.” Hunk sat down across from Keith, aware of his boyfriend’s eyes following him the whole way from the door, and grabbed Keith’s tea to take a sip.

“No, it’s fine. I can finish later.” Keith closed the book, and fiddled with the corner of the bookmark that was peeking out.

“So, what is this about?” Hunk grabbed the sweater he was wearing between two fingers and pulled on it. Keith seemed to be also wearing a sweater, which was strange and added a new layer to his situation. Keith was prone to wear only t-shirts in the depths of winter.

Keith’s eyes flicked around a few times, before he took a deep breath and started to talk. “I have been talking to Lance…”

Hunk took another sip of the tea. The last time Keith had talked to Lance, he came with the suggestion that he and Hunk move in together to lower their monthly costs. Which, hey, wasn’t a bad thing, alright. The opposite. Hunk had been thrilled – too thrilled maybe, as he almost had a heart attack imagining waking up next to Keith every day. Their relationship was still quite fresh and sure, both him and Keith had stayed over a few times, but this was a whole other matter to tackle. But they did tackle it and so far it was the best decision they could have made, so Hunk was thankful to Lance. However, just thinking back about it made little stars dance in front of Hunk’s eyes in anticipation.

“And?”

“He… he mentioned you have this Christmas tradition, where you sit down in Christmas sweaters, eat cookies and have a Christmas movies marathon.”

Hunk lifted a brow and Keith apparently panicked at that.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to barge in on that. That is a thing between you and Lance. But I was thinking for our first Christmas together we could start our own tradition? Like… maybe baking the cookies together in Christmas sweaters? I have already bought the ingredients for a few of them.”

=

‘A few’ ended up being a ton, which Hunk didn’t find out until he stopped gawking and literally melting. Keith wanted to bake with him. Christmas cookies in Christmas sweaters. The Keith, who was his boyfriend, and always said he didn’t care much about Christmas. Was this Hunk’s early Christmas present?

It took a while to sift through the recipes and through the two full bags, which were resting at Keith’s feet. Keith had insisted that they didn’t have to do it today, since his suggestion came out of nowhere, but even though Hunk had an essay to finish, it wouldn’t stop him from indulging into some wonderful time with Keith.

“So, we are going to do these two for now and this third one if there is enough time.” Hunk gave the recipes one last glance over before he pulled a clean apron out of his stash. When Keith stretched his hand to grab it, Hunk refused to hand it over though. He held it open instead, grinning at Keith, who shook his head, laughing and stepped closer. “Excuse me for covering your amazing sweater.” Hunk glanced at the two snowmen in the middle of a snowball fight on Keith’s purple sweater to admire them one more time before they disappeared under the apron’s fabric. “But I believe this will make up for it. Now I just have to follow the instructions.” Hunk did have a ‘kiss the cook’ apron, because of course he had and of course he had chosen that one.

“I’m not the cook, though. More like the helper.” Keith’s words didn’t sound like a protest in any way and he welcomed the kiss Hunk placed on his lips by kissing back. They were just short, soft brushes of two pairs of lips against each other, and their noses bumped with each of them.

“We should get you a ‘kiss the kitchen helper’ one then.” Hunk’s thumb swiped over Keith’s cheek before he forced himself to step back - they wouldn’t get any baking done if they continued like this.

=

It was the messiest cooking session Hunk ever had. Probably. He was sure that even his first attempts at cooking when he was seven weren’t this bad. But when he watched Keith knead the dough with a this-is-a-life-or-death-situation level of concentration in his face, he couldn’t but boop him on the nose with his flour covered fingers. The smear of white powder over Keith’s face combined with his confused look were too cute to not kiss. It earned him a smear of dough across his cheek.

“Oh, it is on now.” Hunk’s laugh rang through the kitchen along with Keith’s and it took them over an hour before they got the first dough resting in the fridge, and the kitchen looked like it had been snowed in.

“Should we clean up now or after we are done?” Keith asked as he was putting the second dough into the fridge as well - after their time consuming fight, they had decided to go only for two types of cookies. They could always bake more later if they felt like it. Hunk for sure wouldn’t say no to more baking sessions like this.

“Later.” Hunk’s voice was just a mumble when he pulled Keith into a hug, his face buried in Keith’s black hair, hands resting around his hips. He shuddered, when Keith put his hands on top of Hunk’s own and stroked his thumb along his knuckles. Hunk nuzzled at Keith’s nape, making him laugh.

“Feeling extra romantic today?” Keith’s voice was full of a bubbly undertone, which Hunk loved. It never came out unless they were alone and it whispered to Hunk, how happy he made Keith. It wasn’t hard to express that Keith made him just as happy.

“You are saying it like I’m usually not romantic.”

“Oh, you are. You definitely are.” Keith turned around in Hunk’s embrace, both of his palms warm on Hunk’s cheeks. “But it’s probably a bit unusual for me.”

“No.” Hunk shook his head, taking one of Keith’s hands so he could kiss each of his fingertips. “Not anymore. I have corrupted you with my romanticism.” They both laughed and rubbed their noses together before they kissed.

“So, what do we do now until the doughs are ready?” Keith asked after the kiss, pulling back only so far that their nose tips still touched. They haven’t properly started baking yet, but the air in the kitchen smelled sweet and christmasy, especially with the cinnamon they put into one of the doughs. Hunk’s heart was beating in a calm, loving symphony and there wasn’t anything else he wanted to do right now but enjoying his time with Keith. Except…

“Maybe we could just chill a bit? On the couch? You could finish your book,” Hunk wiped a line of flour from Keith’s forehead. “And I could work on my essay.”

Keith’s eyes widened. “Hunk! I hope I’m not getting in the way of something you need to do.”

“No, no, don’t worry. I’m on track.” He added an ‘almost’ in his mind, but that was something Keith didn’t need to know. “This will just give me a bit of headstart. So?”

“Of course.”

=

They settled down on the couch, Hunk sitting and Keith basically sprawled over his lap. His belly was stretched over Hunk’s thighs, and with his chest propped up with a bunch of pillows, he was holding the book in his hands as he immersed himself into the story again. Hunk had placed his laptop on Keith’s back, typing away and shut it off for at least ten minutes whenever it got too hot. Keith had told him that the sweater worked as perfect isolation and he didn’t feel anything but comfortable warmth, but Hunk wasn’t going to risk it. When he shut his laptop off for the third time and put it on the coffee table, Keith put his book away as well.

“Did you made a good progress?” He glanced over his shoulder at Hunk, who nodded and ran his palm up Keith’s back.

“Yeah, I think I can finish it tomorrow.”

“Should we get back to-”

Hunk shook his head before Keith finished his sentence. “I wanna shut off for a bit too before we get back to baking.”

“A nap? Now? Isn’t it too late for a nap?”

“Have I taught you nothing? It’s never too late for a nap.” Hunk furrowed his brows to look upset, but the grin pulling at the corners of his lips was giving him away.

“I feel like…” Keith slowly rolled around and shifted, so his back was flat on the couch and his thighs rested on top of Hunk’s. “You might have mentioned something.”

“Oh, I will show you mentioned.” They both laughed, as Hunk attacked Keith, tickling him under the armpits until Keith was begging with tears in his eyes. Only then did Hunk have mercy - partially. He wrapped his arms around Keith all tight, pillowing his head on his belly.

“There, as a punishment you are my body pillow now.”

“Oh, what am I getting punished for?”

“Shiro, there really is no reason to.” Keith, standing at the counter and twirling a teabag in hot water, didn’t look back at his friend as he spoke. His eyes were glued to the screen of his phone instead, following the flowing words each time he swiped his thumb.

“Oh, come on, Keith. You’ve moved here what, five, almost six year ago and you have never visited it. I think it’s about time you fix that.”

“I thought it was just a tourist attraction the locals didn’t care about. So why, as a local, would I need to visit?” Keith pressed the excess water into his cup before he threw the teabag into the trash, an automated action he didn’t pay any attention to anymore - just like to Shiro’s tries to convince him.

“The tourists are more interested in the historical city center, since it’s unique. They can visit a lunapark anywhere else. So it’s not solemnly a tourist attraction.”

Keith looked up as the new voice rang too close to his ear and watched Adam peek over his shoulder, reading what was on his phone. He swiped it off.

“Do you mind?”

“And do you?” Adam looked at him with a grin on his lips. “I thought you read strictly non-fiction books?”

“It was a recommendation from Pidge.” Keith shrugged, rubbing his thumb over a piece of dirt stuck to the screen. “It’s quite nice. The main character-”

“Hey, don’t go skipping the subject.” Shiro stood up from the couch and moved towards the two of them. “We are still talking about you going with us to the lunapark, Keith.”

Keith grabbed his cup and turned around to face Shiro. There was no hurry in his movements. They were languid and slow as he held a spoon between two of his fingers and stirred his tea two times around the whole cup before he took a sip.

“Are we?” He looked at Shiro, who sighed and opened his mouth, but Keith jumped in before he could get any word out. “If we are still talking about me going to the lunapark, then please give me one good reason why should I be interested in going and playing the third wheel on your lunapark date.” With satisfaction Keith watched a soft pink layer appear on Shiro’s cheeks.

“You won’t be a third wheel. There will be more people than the three of us.” Shiro crossed his arms over his chest and gave Keith a look like this was the argument Keith wouldn’t be able to throw anything against.

“No really. It’s a lunapark, Shiro. It’s kind of given that there will be more people.”

Shiro groaned, in that exasperated kind of way when something drove him up the wall and for once Keith enjoyed playing the dumb one.

“What I meant-”

“I know, what you meant. But I still don’t understand, why us going in a group of ten people instead of just the three of us, should convince me to come along.” Keith took another sip of his black tea. If anything, it was the opposite - a larger group of people was one more reason for him to stay at home. “Are you having fun?” He side-eyed Adam, who stood next to them, hip leaning against the counter and listened to Keith’s and Shiro’s exchange in silence.

“Oh, I do. Quite a bit.” Adam grinned, his eyes flicking in Shiro’s direction, who was glaring at him as if to say ‘This is not why I brought you along, you were supposed to help.’

To say the truth, the situation was quite amusing for Keith as well. Perhaps a bit annoying, but mostly amusing. In the five, almost six years, Keith had lived in this city, he had found exactly four friends - Shiro, his boyfriend Adam, Shiro’s friend Matt and Matt’s sister Pidge. Which was more than enough for Keith, thank you very much. Shiro seemed to disagree on that point. With the infamous ‘You should find more friends of your age.’ one would hear  from an over-concerned parent, Shiro constantly dragged Keith to various gatherings or places with higher concentration of people. Most times Keith at least humored him - for a bit before he slipped off to be a hermit in his own apartment again, curled on the couch with a book and a cup of tea in his lap.

Keith studied Shiro’s expression, the little pout he was still directing at Adam, knowing he would yield this time as well. It was difficult to say a complete no to Shiro, considered all he had done for Keith.

“Fine, I will go.” Shiro’s little “Yes!” at Keith’s response was almost adorable. “However,” Keith slid in before Shiro could start to celebrate. “You will leave me out of social gatherings for at least the next three months.” Keith sipped his tea with a smirk while Adam’s laugh rang through the apartment.

=

The lunapark was, as Keith had expected, loud and crowded. At least the early summer brought a weather that wasn’t too hot yet, which made the lunapark ordeal a bit more bearable. But comfortable weather couldn’t save everything.

The three of them met up with about eight other people in front of the lunapark’s gate. There were people of Shiro’s and Adam’s age, but also people of Keith’s age, as he had expected. He had been ready - for most things at least. He was not ready for this Mark guy, a friend of Shiro’s friend, who had missed the definition of personal space and was face-slapping obviously trying to hit on Keith. And right now Keith was really not in the mood for that.

Luckily, in all those years, Keith had also master the skill of unnoticed abscond. After about half an hour of listening to this guy’s uneducated advances, Keith had accidentally lost the group. The moment they were out of sight he also turned his cell phone off - a message for Shiro to not go looking for him.

The first option Keith had was to just go home. Easy and desirable, right? Even if he did not feel like turning his phone back on to continue the book from today morning, there was a large enough pile for him to pick from. But when Keith looked around the less crowded part of the lunapark he had wandered into, he admitted to himself, he had been quite curious about the lunapark - everyone always talked about it. Keith had just never found the drive for a visit on his own accord. But now he was already here, right? So it would not hurt to look around - as long as he avoided the group, of course.

The attractions in this part of the lunapark looked well used and quite old-fashioned, compared to the more modern part close to the entrance. It was probably the reason why there weren’t as many people around here. Keith only welcomed that - looking around without having to fight his way through a crowd was giving him a bit less of a headache. Or it would, would it not be for the loud, boisterous voice that boomed around here and of which he still haven’t found the source of. He seemed to be getting closer now, though, because the unintelligible jumble of words was getting clearer with every step.

When Keith stopped in the vicinity of a small booth, the voice was inviting him to come and try if today was his lucky shooting day. Well, not him personally, but a young man with a bright smile was trying to attract people to his ‘Galaxy Shooting Game’. He was prancing around with a toy gun in hands.

“Come closer to try your luck with this beautiful girl, there is no other like her. Just two dollars a shot. What about you, wanna check how good your aim is today?”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest - and this was what he was trying to find? So not worthy. Maybe it was about time he went back home.

“Hey, stop right there, Mullet! Where do you think you are going without stopping at the best booth of this lunapark?”

The voice bounced louder the moment Keith turned around and he rolled his eyes. *Someone should go try his stupid game just to shut him up.* With the next step the voice called out louder. And louder. With the third step Keith couldn’t but glance back to see, whom that person was trying to lure to his booth. Only to find out the guy was staring at him. Keith’s eyes widened when he was met with a teasing grin.

“I knew you wanted to try, come on, come closer, don’t be shy.”

*Would flipping the guy off be considered an appropriate reaction?* Keith frowned in the direction of the booth. He would not be swayed by the stupid challenge etched into that stupid grin. No way. No. Then why the hell was he walking closer?

“Hey, glad you made up your mind. The sparks in your eyes, about how you wanted to give this a try, were hard to overlook.”

“You can’t even recognize the eye color at such distance,” Keith deadpanned, only now noticing the piercing blue of the guy’s eyes, “let alone some non-existent sparks.”

“Oh, do not underestimate my sharpshooter eyes, they see what stays hidden from other people! So, how many shots do you think you will need to hit jackpot?”

“I… uhm, so I try to hit that target back there and…?” Keith’s eyes roamed over the interior of the booth.

“Never played the famous shooting game here? Now, let the great Lance explain and initiate you. You wouldn’t find a better shooting teacher.”

Keith rubbed at his nose. All he thought was he might get a quick in and quick out to wipe off that annoying smirk, but the way this guy was starting to explain things, this would take hours.

=

Keith didn’t know how long it all took, but it was dark when he was leaving the lunapark. He was about 30 dollars lighter and all the prizes were mocking him from their shelves at the booth. Considered the circumstance, this should have been Keith’s one and only visit to the lunapark.

Keith had no clue why he kept coming back. The lunapark was loud and the guy was obnoxious. He couldn’t get rid of the grating voice even as he tossed and turned in his bed at night.

But aside from being obnoxious, the guy was also funny. At least moderately so, since he managed to make Keith laugh a few times. He was also patient when he was teaching Keith how to shoot. And actually not so bad to talk to once he stopped yelling around to attract people and settled into a lower tone to converse with Keith.

Somewhere along the way of Keith coming back, the obnoxious guy has shifted into Lance and Keith’s heart has shifted into dangerous territory. He noticed it every time Lance smiled at him now. Noticed it every time Lance leaned in closer to gossip about a passer-by, his warm breath fanning over Keith’s cheek. Noticed it in how fast his heart started to beat when their hands brushed and how deliberately he was trying to make their hands brush. And noticed it especially once he went to consult with Shiro if it would be worth a shot to try asking Lance out.

=

Keith’s heart was pounding the moment he set a foot out of his apartment that day and he expected it to burst out of his chest once he passed the lunapark gate. *I have nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose.* He repeated Shiro’s words, his brain trying to yell louder than his heart did, but it was futile. Keith’s nervosity and fear spurred his heart on and he was sure Lance would her it once he was hundred meters away from the booth. Well, Keith was not sure if Lance heard that, but he definitely must have heard Keith’s heart cracking several minutes later.

Keith saw the girl at the booth from afar. That was nothing new, of course, as the point of the booth was that people came closer. Lance’s flirting wasn’t new either, he did throw sugar coated words left and right for his customers, no matter their gender. His smile… while it wasn’t new on itself, Lance using it outside of private moments with people he knew was definitely new. Keith saw Lance smile like that at his best friend Hunk, who came by a few times while Keith was there. Keith himself needed several weeks of talking to Lance to catch a glimpse of it thrown at him for the first time. There was more honesty etched into it than in the smiles Lance offered to the customers.

It made Keith waver as he came closer, noticing other things that were also new. The arm around the girl’s shoulder was. Fingers playing with her hair, strand after strand twirled around Lance’s fingers. Lance not trying to persuade her to a game - he still was attempting that with Keith after three months. But this, this definitely wasn’t a scene of Lance talking to a customer. Keith faltered with his next step. Maybe he should just go home, like he should have on his first day in the lunapark. Maybe he would, if Lance hadn’t spotted him and waved at him like the biggest goofball, with the widest grin Keith ever saw him make.

“Keith! Glad you made it today. I’m happy you can meet Allura, she is the most important person in the whole world to me.”

With teeth digging deep into his lower lip, Keith watched Lance lean over the counter and press a kiss into Allura’s nose. The most important person in the whole world. Keith bit his teeth together so hard his gums ached.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Allura.”

The girl was sweet. Her voice was sweet, her smile was sweet and the handshake Keith accepted seemed to leave a sweet, sticky residue on his fingers as well. Everything was so sweet his stomach churned, as Keith tried not to pin any blame on her. His feelings were not Allura’s fault.

“Nice to meet you too, Allura.” It was nice. It really was. It was nice to get to know Lance’s girlfriend before Keith made an idiot out of himself by asking Lance out. He cursed himself stupid for never considering that, because of course someone like Lance would already have someone.

“Keith?”

Keith snapped out of his thoughts when Lance addressed him. On the verge of his mind he did register that Lance was talking, but he had no clue what it was about.

“Sorry, I got a bit lost in my thoughts. What was it?” Keith forced on a smile.

“I was just wondering… if you’d want to grab dinner with us later.”

Keith was sure something was wrong with his hearing. Why would Lance want him to tag along on the dinner-date with his girlfriend?

“Yeah, I would love to get to know the Keith, Lance can’t stop mentioning, a bit better.”

Lance opened his mouth, but snapped it close when Keith looked at him. It made Keith aware he was glaring, but he couldn’t help himself. It was nice of Lance as well to talk about him to his girlfriend, but never mentioning her when talking to Keith.

*Well, why should he? It’s not like you two are extraordinarily close.* Keith’s mind supplied helpfully, making him more and more uncomfortable with this whole situation.

“I already have plans for tonight, sorry.” It consumed a lot of Keith’s willpower to force his expression to be less sour. His mind was right - it wasn’t like Lance had been giving him any hints or hopes during Keith’s visits. It was Keith himself who had tripped and fallen deep. “Actually, I have to go already. Just wanted to stop by today and say a short hi.”

Under the scrutinizing looks of both of them, Keith wanted nothing else but leave. “It was nice meeting you, Allura. Lance.” He didn’t give them the chance to say goodbye before he took off, pushing his way through the crowd that has gathered on this unusually warm autumn day. The sun felt like it forgot what season it was and got lost in summer thoughts. Keith hated it. Hated the warmth pouring down on his skin, making the freezing cold chills that danced through him more pronounced.

=

“You haven’t been to the lunapark for quite a while.”

Keith wished he could ignore Shiro’s voice and pretend his apartment was still silent and his reading undisturbed. But he knew that once Shiro started… “Hmm.” He gave a short nod, not taking his eyes away from his phone and hoping for the best. What came, was the worst.

“Did something happen with Lance? Did he turn you down when you asked him out?”

How should he answer that? That a turn down wouldn’t be as bad? Keith swiped his phone off, but instead of looking at Shiro, who was sitting on the couch across him, Keith looked at the poor excuse of a plant he was keeping. He had never been good at taking care of plants, but this one gift from Pidge somehow had enough willpower to linger on even under Keith’s horrible care. He should probably water it soon. How long has it been since the last time? A month or so? A month since he had visited the lunapark for the last time.

“Keith?”

Keith’s eyes flicked to Shiro and the attempt to swallow words stuck in his throat failed. Instead they bubbled out.

“I met Lance’s girlfriend.” At least he didn’t have a thing for over-dramatizing, spilling how he was introduced to her the day he gathered his courage to ask Lance out.

“Oh Keith, I’m so sorry.” The palm on his shoulder made Keith realize that he had spilled just that. Damn. Definitely not something Shiro needed to know.

“It’s okay, Shiro. It was just a stupid crush, it will pass.” Keith shrugged, fiddling with his phone. At the moment the tight feeling that had settled around his heart a month ago didn’t feel like it would ever go away.

The silence had returned to Keith’s apartment. Several minutes of absolute silence in which Keith concentrated on taking deep breaths. They weren’t calming at all, just game more room for thoughts.

“What about we head to the Christmas market?”

Keith scrunched his face. “Considered the result of the last time you had taken me out to a place with a huge amount of people, no thank you.”

“Come on, Keith. We will go to the one at the castle’s yard. It’s smaller, not so full. Some fresh air, waffles and Christmas punch. I’m sure it will do you good.”

Keith looked up to Shiro, ready to argue that he was not setting a foot out of his apartment to go to Christmas market, but the emotions swirling in Shiro’s eyes stopped him from saying any words. This stupid crush was sitting deeper than Keith was ready to admit and Shiro seemed to feel that. He also felt that it wouldn’t go away until Keith actively helped it along, which Keith knew himself. He just lingered on, like the goddamn plant chocking down any nutrients that were left in the soil.

“Fine. Just let me water my plant first.”

=

“Okay, so you go get the waffles and I will bring the punch. I swear that booth over there sells the best punch you can find in this whole city.”

With a sigh Keith watched Shiro trot off, eyes flicking to the queue at the booth. If that was any indication how good the punch was, then it must really taste godly. Wasn’t Shiro talking about there being less people here? Seemed they all had gathered around that Christmas punch booth. Keith shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket and walked over to get the waffles. Aside from punch booths, this was the only food booth in the yard, but through some miracle there weren’t that many people here. At least he could quickly grab the waffles and station himself somewhere aside from this commotion, which reminded him of the lunapark with all the noise and all the talking.

“Hey, one chocolate and one strawberry waffle, please.” Keith glanced over the menu before he pulled out a palm full of coins from his pocket and started to gather the right amount.

“Hey, did you come here today to check how good your aim is?”

Keith’s head shot up at the words, at the voice, and all of his change fell into the mess of trampled snow at his feet. Confronted with the sight of Lance with a white and red striped apron over his thick winter sweater, grinning at him from inside the booth, Keith was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally stuttered.

“Lance? What… What are you doing here?”

“I’m usually helping Hunk with his booth once the Christmas markets start.” Nonchalant as ever, acting as if he had told Keith many times before, but Keith just hadn’t remembered.

“Oh.”

*Very eloquent, Keith.* But he just couldn’t bring out more than that. No other words were coming and even if his brain tried to put together a few sentences, they dissipated before they reached Keith’s mouth. The silence between them stretched into an uncomfortable length.

“Hey, Keith! Nice to see you again.”

Keith had registered the flash of white hair from the corner of his eye, but hadn’t paid it any attention until Allura’s cheerful voice ripped the awkward silence into pieces. He blinked when he saw her elbowing Lance in the side and Lance clear his throat and shift on the spot.

“Uh, hi Allura.”

“How have you been? Lance had totally-” Lance’s hand pressed against Allura’s mouth and pushing her away stopped her from talking further.

“Keith wants two waffles. Go, go, that’s your job.”

Right, the waffles. The money. Keith looked at the coins strewn around his feet and cursed. Picking them up would be fun.

“Do you need help?”

Keith looked up from where he had squatted down at Lance’s head peeking over the counter. He grabbed a fistful of coins along with snow and everything and just barely didn’t knock Lance out as he shot back to his feet.

“No, no, I got this. H-how much are the two waffles?” Keith flicked bits of snow out of his palm when he caught a sight that almost made him drop the coins again. Allura, who was manning the waffle iron, had a blond girl draped over herself and they were talking, laughing and kissing. His eyes went from the pair to Lance and back multiple times, confusion not elevated in the slightest when they settled on Lance.

“Are you in a poly relationship or what?” Keith blurted out before he could stop himself, stunning Lance into silence.

“I… what?” were the only two words Lance was capable of.

“I mean you, and Allura and that…” Keith’s voice drifted off when Lance looked around and started to laugh.

“Me with these two? Keith, Allura and Romelle were in a relationship since they were what, sixteen?”

“But back at the lunapark… you said Allura is the most important person in the whole world.” Keith’s emotions were so mixed right now he couldn’t pick them apart no matter how he tried.

“And she is! She is my best friend. Did you thought she was my girlfriend?”

Was the ground opening right under his feet? Keith wished it would do that and he would disappear. This was the most embarrassing moment he had ever been in. Lance was gawking at him like he had grown a second head and Keith deserved that. He had just accepted the fact that Allura was Lance’s girlfriend by himself and didn’t let Lance introduce her fully.

“Keith… that isn’t why you didn’t come to the lunapark for a month, or?”

Keith bit into his lip. How could he answer this question without making an even bigger idiot out of himself? He had… shot without considering and completely missed the big red target that was his chance. He averted his eyes and looked at his feet.

“I’ve missed you.”

Keith’s heart went from zero to hundred under one second and heat crept up his neck when he heard those words. Lance was looking at him with a shy smile, a smile Keith had never seen before, and his cheeks were also dusted in pink.

“I was wondering the whole time what I did wrong that you haven’t stopped by after that day. If I made you uncomfortable with the dinner question. And the whole time you were…”

“Please stop rubbing more salt into the wound,” Keith groaned, the shame still burning the tips of his ears.

“Only if you accept that dinner offer. I’m sure you will love both Allura and Romelle, or if you would prefer… it could be just us two.”

Keith shivered, his eyes staring deep into Lance’s to find a hint that his offer was… yes, yes it was. Lance’s arm was outstretched, his palm ready to accept the coins Keith wanted to pay with, so Keith did. He dropped all the snow-free coins into the waiting palm. Except this time he was not even pretending their fingers brushed by accident, as he let them linger in Lance’s palm.

Some parallels in life are so blatant they are not even funny anymore. They might have been considered funny, if they were at least happy. But having to look at something while being reminded of the previous occasions where things went wrong. While wondering if this one is going to go just as sour… 

With the back of his head pressed against a grayish trunk of some kind of tree and arms propped on his knees, Keith stares at the cosmic wolf sitting in front of him. Neither of them moves even for an inch, only the wind waves around Keith’s hair as well as the thick, but soft fur of the wolf. The night is bristling around them. Like charged with electricity. Like a cat, who has laid herself to rest, but it’s all arched and hissing now, because Keith has roused her with his walk. Keith and his wolf.

 ‘You should give him a name. You can’t just call him space wolf.’

The corners of Keith’s lips jump up. It’s a tense smile. Sour. Dripping with the irony of life that’s tangled in the wolf’s fur.

“Kosmo, huh?” It’s a fitting name. A good one and Keith knows it. It would be perfect. If he hasn’t used it before already.

The wolf gets up and moves one step closer, then two. His cold nose brushes over Keith’s fingers. It’s a faint touch, like a butterfly rushing past his hand. He watches the wolf wait with his head turned down, eyes staring on the ground. What immensely long lashes.

The tree gives a squeaking symphony when Keith shifts and lifts his hand. He doesn’t need to put it down to touch the wolf. A quick intake of breath after there is a soft forehead under his palm. It presses into his skin and Keith runs his thumb up the little slope between the eyes that flick up to look at him. The look is penetrating. Like the wolf knows about everything that’s going on there. Maybe it has to do with his teleporting abilities? Does… Is he able to teleport thoughts? Wait, that’s dumb. This time the corners of Keith’s mouth dance up with sincere amusement his silly thoughts. Silly is better than the shadowy bundle, though, that is sitting and itching in his brain just above his ear. There is no successful way how to scratch it, and blowing it apart takes more than a gentle nightly wind.

The wolf’s head disappears and bumps against his palm. Keith’s eyes refocus to see into the present. If there isn’t accusation seeping out of that hooded look, Keith doesn’t know what else it is.

“I’m sorry.” He rubs the fur between his ears. “You know I’m happy we have rescued you in the Quantum Abyss.” A whine confirms that the wolf indeed knows. Keith’s thumb slides back into the slope. The slow up and up again is calming. Yet something has awoken in Keith’s chest and sticks to the bottom of his ribcage. It waves itself between his ribs like a ribbon as it climbs up, all the way to his throat, and forms a knot.

With a hand on either side of the wolf’s head, with thumbs pressing down along his brows, Keith buries his face into the wolf’s soft fur. It’s like a balm against his cheeks and Keith tries to push the thoughts away how it can also burn like a sanding paper.

“You know I’m happy to have you.” His mind flicks to Krolia for a tick and he tightens his arms around the wolf’s neck. “But what will you bring to me?”