#4.9.2018

Keith drops his bag to the floor the minute he steps through the door of their makeshift apartment. He hates diplomatic meetings, but he hates them even more when Lance isn't there to reign him in when he gets mad, or to keep him awake when negotiations he has nothing to do with drag on indefinitely. He's exhausted, and it can only be mental exhaustion because he hasn't done anything for days but he still wants to drop into bed and not move again. At least for a few days. Except maybe for food and some creatively maneuvered private time with his husband. Because he hasn't seen him in days and he's emotionally mature enough now to admit he misses the hell out of him.

Though that plan immediately goes out the window when he hears Kaia’s muffled “Appa?” through the walls.

And it’s not that he hasn’t missed his daughter as well, because he definitely has, but she was supposed to be at her grandparents.

He moves through the repurposed dorm that became their designated family room, and the nest of blankets and pillows that suggested Lance and Kaia had some kind of movie night without him, to the rest of their in-castle apartment. Other than the “family room,” there are just two bedrooms and a large bathroom, but it gives the small trio some privacy from the rest of the castle. It is not as necessary as it once was, when the peace was still on rocky grounds and a small Galra child running around the castle set some diplomats and negotiators into a panic, but Keith was fond of the space.

Kaia sticks her head out from the bathroom when the hallway door opens and she waves excitedly to him. The smile that slips onto his face when he sees her is a reflex. It doesn’t seem to matter how tired he is.

There’s a green mask spread over her face, undeniably one of Lance’s. Her wild mane of hair is contained by a dozen colorful hairpins that Keith has a sneaking suspicion actually belong to Pidge.

Lance peeks around the doorway a moment later, and, sure enough, the same mask covers his face. One blue and one red pin also seem to have found their way into his short hair, though they serve little purpose.

Lance smiles at Keith before he nudges Kaia forward. “Just don’t rub your face on him,” he warns as she rushes down the hall.

The top of her head already reaches Keith’s hips, and he’s sure one day she’ll be taller than him and Lance both, but he lifts her in the air when she reaches him anyways, cradling her close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, away from the sticky mask. Her arms go around his shoulders and she sighs contently, as if she had just been waiting for him to hold her again. The moment she knows he’s looking at her again, however, she pouts.

“You were gone for so long, Appa!” She complains loudly, which means she’s not really upset by it, but wants him to know at some point she was very upset. Keith blames Lance for her flare for the dramatic.

He squeezes her middle, earning a squeak of distress and a half-hearted shove, but the pout disappears.

“I’m sorry, next time I will tell them I cannot stay any longer because my baby is waiting for me at home,” He promises. He knows, logically, such an excuse would have little weight but he likes the idea of blowing those dreary meetings for family time.

“Good,” That settled, the blinding smile she greeted him with returns. “Papa and I are doing special masks! To be beautiful!”

“I see that. But you’re already beautiful so you don’t need the help,” he leans closer to her to stage whisper, “Unlike your papa.”

“Hey you better watch it mister,” Lance interjects, with a dramatic cry of fake offense. “I’m not the only one here who could use the help.”

Kaia rolls her eyes, dropping her head back as if they’ve suddenly exhausted her. “Papa!”

Lance’s offense looks a little more genuine after that as Keith laughs. “What, mija?”

“Appa calls you pretty all the time! You know he’s joking.”

Lance and Keith share an amused look.

“You're right, I'm sorry, mija. It's just been so long I forgot how nice your Appa can be.” Lance apologizes, blowing a kiss to Keith.

Kaia wiggles in Keith's hold. He lets her back on her feet, only for her to grab hold of his and Lance's hands and tugging them forward to the best of her ability. He looks to Lance for an explanation, but he only shrugs.

“Where are we going?”

“We have to finish being beautiful, first.” Kaia says, leading them into the bathroom.

An array of the hair pins Lance and Kaia both wore were scattered across the sink and two of Lance's face mask containers were pulled out, along with a few brushes.

“First?”

Kaia hefts herself onto the sink beside the mess. Once she's situated and facing them again, she nods. “Before you get squishy.”

Lance chuckles and resumes spreading the thick mask over Kaia’s forehead while Keith looks on, confused.

“Squishy?” he asks when neither elaborate.

“Kidge,” a nickname Kaia used for Pidge, left over from before she could speak well and Pidge encouraged her to call her Pidge or Katie. “Always says you guys are squishy when you...re…” Kaia’s nose scrunches as she pouts. “Papa?”

Lance smiles easily. “Do you mean reunite?”

“Thank you,” Kaia turns back to Keith with a serious expression. “So we have to finish before you can re-u-nite and be squishy.”

Lance steps back to look her over again, touching up a spot on her chin. “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘mushy’, mija. Appa and I are ‘mushy.’” He looks over his shoulder to wink at Keith.

Keith rolls his eyes.

Lance turns back to the skin, cleaning up the mess. “Looks like we’re done,” he says to Kaia. “We just have to wash off the masks in a few minutes.”

Kaia looks to the side, twisting her hands together in her lap. “Oh,” she sticks her tongue out of her mouth, deep in thought. “Wait!” she leaps off the counter, startling Lance with her outburst. “Appa! Become beautiful with us!”

Lance turns to face Keith as well as Kaia pleads with him. Keith looks between his daughter, tugging on his hand insistently, beginning him with puppy dog eyes she had to have learned from Hunk, and his husband casually leaning his hip against the counter and watching them both with a soft smile.

Like he would have been able to say no to either of them like this.

“Okay, baby. I’ll become beautiful with you.”

“Yes!”

A few minutes later, Keith found himself back in the living room, Kaia squeezed between him and Lance, a face mask drying on his face. His hair is pinned back with an obscene number of hair clips Kaia insisted on him using. On their screen is the end of an Altean movie. Even after all these years, Keith still didn’t really understand them, but Allura had introduced Kaia to them early and she seemed to adore them.

Keith looks over her head to Lance, wondering if he was following any of what was happening on screen, only to find Lance already watching him instead.

“What?” he asks, wondering if he had somehow gotten his hair in his face mask again, but Lance just smiles at him, slow and easy.

“I missed you,”

Keith doesn’t blush, he thinks, finally, they've been together long enough for Lance's casual affection not to startle him like that, but something warm settles in his chest and spreads through him at Lance’s quiet words. “I missed you, too.”

Kaia sighs loudly between them. “Really?”

Lance tosses his head back and laughs. Shuffling even closer to Kaia, squishing her between them, he nuzzles against her face, poking at her until she giggles. “You’re not the only one allowed to miss your Appa, missy.”

She gasps for air as he tickles her, maneuvering herself onto Keith’s lap and pulling his arm around herself for protection. “But you can’t be squishy until we’re beautiful!” She reminds him.

Distracted with scolding Lance, she doesn’t expect Keith to use his position to tickle her as well.

“Appa, no!” she shrieks, betrayed, wiggling in his arms.

He relents and she slumps, lifelessly, against him. “Mean,” she complains, but her mask is cracking from her wide smile. Keith laughs, brushing her bangs back and leaning down to brush his nose against hers.

“We’re so sorry, do you forgive us?” he asks.

She giggles, reaching up to pat the top of his head. “I guess,” Sitting up, she looks at Lance. “When are we done getting beautiful?”

Lance glances at his watch. “We should be done, we can go wash up now.”

Slipping off the couch, Kaia leads their way back to the bathroom. She insists Keith wash up last, because he started so late, so he sits back, watching as Lance carefully shows her how to wipe the mask away without rubbing too hard and irritating her skin, or making a mess. She listens attentively, trying to copy his movements exactly. In the end, the front of her shirt is still damp from the washcloth, and the short hairs that had fallen free of her hair pins curl around her temples and cheeks as they dry.

“Do you want to finish your movie after Appa cleans up?” Lance asks, helping her off the sink.

She shakes her head. “No. I’m going to watch with ‘Lura so you can be squishy now.” She makes her way to Keith, tapping his leg so he bends to her height. She kisses the top of his head, beside one of the hairclips she gave him. “Welcome home, Appa.”

He pulls her close for another hug, even as she whines about the mask he still wears. “Thank you, baby.”

She waves to them both and a few moments later they hear the tell-tale swish of the doors opening and closing behind her.

“Technically you have five more minutes,” Lance tells him as he stands up straight again.

Keith glares at him, approaching the sink and reaching for a wash cloth. “I’m taking it off,”

Lance laughs, batting his hand away. “Let me, you’ll just scrub your face raw.”

Keith rests against the counter and lets Lance take care of him. Lance’s cheeks are pink from the mask, despite his careful removal, and the edges of his hair still damp, but he looks soft. Lance carefully rubs the wash cloth along his jaw before moving up, and around his lips. The hand holding the washcloth cups his cheek, while his other gently tips Keith’s chin up.

The kiss is soft, chaste, but the lonely longing that had been following Keith all but disappears behind the warmth. Lance smiles against his mouth, preventing the kiss from delving into anything more, but not moving away.

“I missed you,” he repeats, breathes, against Keith’s flushed skin.

Keith’s hands snake around him. One hand slips into the back pocket of his jeans, the other resting on his hips, and he holds him close, pressing up for another kiss.

“I missed you too,”

“No more long trips,”

“Definitely not.”

Lance, regretfully, pulls away, resuming his task. There’s green on his nose again, but Keith doesn’t want to let go of him long enough to wipe it away.

“I thought Kaia was going to spend time with your parents this month,” he says instead.

Lance smiles sheepishly. “I was lonely.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “You could have spent time with your parents too. I could have joined you both on Earth after the meeting.”

Lance shakes his head. “I didn’t want to have to wait to see you,”

He pulls back to make sure he’s gotten all of the mask, and Keith finally takes the wash cloth from him to wipe the small bit still on his nose.

“I’m glad,”

Lance leans in for another kiss, taking the wash cloth from him and dropping it into the sink. He maneuvers Keith towards the door, breaking the kiss to nose against his jaw. “And now we have the apartment to ourselves…”