#notforantis

               Places like Starbucks have tried, of course, to integrate magic into their brews, when the craft became more common in everyday use, but manufactured spells always went a little stale, and never did well in places where homegrown comforts were needed. All of their spell boosts are standardized, put up on the menu along with whatever fancy-flavored frapp is in season at the moment. Elixir’s spells are custom to each order, able to cover whatever the person might need in the moment, though they are careful not to dole out any spells that might have gotten them in trouble with the university.

               The one downside to the shop is that its popularity does tend to drive away anyone who isn’t fond of crowds. Normally, Keith would have avoided such a place like the plague, but their coffee is really, really good.

               It has nothing to do with the cute barista with the messy brown locks and the roguish smile and the blue eyes that make him want to recite sappy poetry on the spot.

               Lance is the favorite of most regulars, thanks in no small part to his charm and good nature, though those qualities are just reflections of the main reason people flock to his register: his particular set of magical skills. Every barista at Elixir has their specialty—everything from boosts to health or strength for customers, to magical flavor enhancements to the coffee itself. Keith’s favorite is the specialty of another boy named Hunk, a brand of magic he can’t place that makes his coffee the perfect kind of warm that sinks right down to his soul. Lance, though, his gift is for love magic.

               On anyone else, Keith might have considered the use of love magic manipulative, but Lance always turns away anyone asking him to make their crush fall in love with them, or to make a partner forgive them for a fight. Keith once heard him reminding one such person that love is a natural force, like the elements, and that like any elemental magic, love magic should be used in alignment with the element and not to control it. Being somewhat gifted in fire magic, Keith understands this very well—disrespect your element, and it could very easily turn against you.

               That being the case, Lance usually helps people seek understanding of others’ feelings, sometimes their own. He sprinkles courage for those wanting to confess, puts in dashes of calm and insight for people wanting to resolve conflicts with their loved ones, and even helps those who have been rejected move on from the hurt.

               Lately, Keith has begun to wonder if Lance is somehow, subtly, unknowingly, working his love magic on Keith, because Keith thinks he might have a bit of a crush.

               It wouldn’t have been a problem had Keith just left things the way they were after their first meeting. He’d never been great with social cues, and had assumed that Lance’s tendency towards friendly teasing was actually him making fun of Keith (given that he had kind of been making fun of Keith’s hair, it wasn’t a totally inaccurate assumption). They’d snipped at each other for a few minutes before Keith stormed off with his coffee…which, as Keith’s first experience with Hunk’s delicious warming spell, was the reason he came back. He’d just resolved to do so when Lance wasn’t around.

               He hadn’t known Lance’s schedule (the fact that he knows it so well now is nothing short of embarrassing), so he hadn’t exactly succeeded in that endeavor. What resulted was an apology he hadn’t expected, and a conversation that had actually endeared him to Lance.

               “I can be a little much for some people,” Lance had said, “and I don’t always see that at first. Hunk had to set me straight after you left—but I seriously wasn’t trying to be rude. You’re cute and I was just trying to break the ice, you know?”

               Keith raised a brow. “By insulting my hair?”

               “Not really my best line,” Lance admitted. “Start over? Whatever you want, on me, as an apology.”

               Keith shifted, a little dumbstruck by the unexpected turn this had taken, and rubbed the back of his neck before replying. “I really liked whatever that first drink was that I had. There was some kind of…warming spell?”

               Lance beamed. “Oh, yeah! That’s Hunk’s specialty. He also does this really great sweetener, it’s not really magic, but—” He halted himself, blushing a bit before continuing, “You know what? I’ll stop talking and just get you your coffee.”

               He had left, Keith had gotten his coffee, and had been coming back nearly every day since. His attraction continues to grow.

               They share a brief conversation every so often, when Keith finds his way to Lance’s register, so it isn’t as though his attraction is based on just…watching. As the weeks go by and their short exchanges continue to pile up, Keith comes to learn that Lance utterly embodies his element in ways that are more than just romantic. He flirts and flatters, of course, but Keith also gets little tidbits about Lance’s family and friends, and hears the love in every word. Lance also genuinely cares about strangers, and is excited to share himself in a way that Keith wishes he could be, too. It doesn’t hurt that Keith associates him with the smell of coffee and the crispness of magic in the air.

               It takes Keith a while to open up as much as Lance has. He talks about his classes, shares embarrassing stories about his pseudo-brother/mentor (Takashi Shirogane is something of a campus hero, so Keith delights in shattering the cool, polished illusion as often as possible), but is reluctant to share much about himself as a person, much to Lance’s dismay.

               If Keith were to be honest with himself, he’d probably say he’s protecting himself from disappointment. If he starts really opening himself up to Lance, he might get his hopes up, thinking that there could be something between them. That Lance isn’t just talking to him because he’s friendly to everyone, that Keith is somehow special.

               “Maybe you are,” Shiro tells him. “Maybe he’s just afraid to cross a line because you’re hesitant.”

               It’s a fair point, but it’s hard to take a chance, when he’s so used to being cast aside, passed off as “someone else’s problem.” When he’s used to riding the line between craving intimacy in a relationship and wanting his space, until his partner gets tired of it and leaves. Or he ends it himself, before it can go that far downhill.

               With Lance, he’s too afraid to step forward or let go completely, so he rides a different line, one that probably isn’t much better. He talks to him, watches him, lets his heart flutter, but doesn’t give himself over. It’s cowardly, and it’s testing his patience. Sooner or later, he’s going to make a stupid decision, and he knows it.

               His stupid decision, much to his embarrassment, turns out to be confessing to Lance in the worst possible way.

               He has a severe case of tunnel vision one morning when he goes to Lance’s register. His mind is on magic, and he doesn’t remember important things, just knows as he opens his mouth that he needs this. That it’s probably better this way. Maybe it’s even more cowardly than what he’s already been doing, but he’s tired of waiting and watching and pining. He needs it to stop.

               “Will you make me a drink today?” he asks. “I need help to…get over someone.”

               Lance’s hand hovers over the register, eyes wide in surprise. No doubt he had been ready to ring Keith up for his usual, only to be completely floored by the change. It’s a long, awkward moment before he speaks, fumbling for a cup as he does.

               “Right, sure, uh…how…” He licks his lips. “I mean…I didn’t know you were…under…someone…”

               Keith wills his face not to turn pink. “I’ve been…trying to ignore it, but I can’t. So I need help to…process these feelings, I guess.”

               “Yeah, okay, I can do that.” Lance fumbles for a sharpie next, eyes still wide and still fixated on Keith, as though he’s watching a horrible car crash. “I just need a name.”

               Keith’s entire body goes suddenly very cold, and he swears his heart stops. “What?”

               “A name? I don’t know how to shape the spell without the name of the person. So who is it?”

               Of course. Keith had foolishly forgotten about that part; had forgotten the way Lance always comforted people over the rejection or the loss while scribbling the name down on the cup. Now, knowing this, he can either try to step back and be subjected to Lance’s questions, or he can just say it, and…face it all right now. Perhaps it will be easier. He doesn’t know.

               He does know that he’s never been one to turn back once he got started.

               He swallows, nervous, looking Lance in the eyes while his heart threatens to pound its way right out of his chest. “It’s, um…Lance,” he says. “Lance McClain.”

               Lance drops the sharpie.

               “What?”

               Keith is definitely burning bright red now, he can feel it. He lowers his voice and shuffles his feet, not daring to look at Lance anymore. “I wasn’t…really planning on telling you like this. Or at all, really. I just…” He sighs, and runs a shaking hand through his hair.

               “I’m not good at this, Lance.”

               There’s a moment of silence, and Keith looks up to see Lance watching him carefully, considering. When he meets Keith’s eyes, he bites his lip, looking as nervous as Keith feels. He wonders what it means, and opens his mouth to try and apologize, or explain, or…something, but Lance interrupts him.

               “I’m gonna make the drink,” he says, carefully. “I’ll give it to you if you join me on my break in a couple minutes and…and hear me out on something. If you really want to get over me, you can, but…but listen to what I want to say first?”

               He looks…soft, Keith realizes. There’s something in his eyes that makes Keith’s heart seize with a mixture of fear and hope. His voice is very quiet now, his tone anxious and uncertain.

               “I told you I’m not good at this, Lance,” he replies.

               “Please?”

               With a voice so gentle, with eyes so imploring, Keith just doesn’t have it in him to refuse.

               He’s in a daze as he walks away, going to sit at one of the tables outside to wait for Lance. He didn’t want to let himself hope, before, but the way Lance had spoken to him inside leaves no room for doubt in his mind. That wasn’t sympathy, or pity; Lance hadn’t been trying to apologize. He’d have let Keith just have the drink if that were the case.

               He feels the same. As much as he can, with as little as Keith offered. Still, Lance feels there’s something about him worth making an effort for, and that, as much as it still does scare Keith a little, also makes him feel…really good.

               He sits and thinks as he waits, a decision forming in his mind. None of this is how he wanted it to go, but it could still turn into something wonderful in the end, if he lets it. He’s tired of pining. He wants to let it.

               Lance comes out with the coffee, and he and Keith smile at each other shyly. Lance sits, skin flushed and looking flustered and excited in a way Keith’s never seen him before. It’s a side he likes, a side he wouldn’t mind seeing more often.

Keith laughs, and they tell each other more stories. He supposes the fun for both of them is in the unfamiliar, the unknown. After all, they both like a good mystery.

Merpeople can’t read books underwater, speaking of which, so Keith sometimes brings his favorites to read to Lance. He reads a chapter or two in the afternoon, and Lance brings him pretty shells as thanks. Lance doesn’t seem to think they’re that special, but Keith treasures the. He keeps them in a jar by his bed, and smiles cryptically when his brother asks him where he found so many.

Sometimes they wonder what it would be like if Lance could come on land, or if Keith could travel down below. He’d love to show Lance all the mundane things from his ordinary life and watch the merman light up in excitement at each new thing. Lance mostly wants Keith to meet his family. He says they would adore Keith, and have almost as many questions about life on land as Lance did.

Keith once thought that merpeople would have stayed away from humans because they were afraid, or didn’t trust humans. Lance tells him that it’s usually the other way around.

“Most humans don’t want to see us, so they don’t. Not everyone is like you.” Lance smiles, leaning against his favorite rock, tail swishing lazily in the water.

“I’m glad I get to talk to you, Keith.”

They fall in love, and share their first kiss as the sun sets. Then Lance looks at him with sorrow in his eyes, and touches his cheek before disappearing under the water. Gone. He doesn’t return for a few days.

When he comes back, he brings a new gift--a slightly scratched but otherwise perfectly serviceable mini-telescope, likely one someone had dropped one day. He apologizes for not being around, admitting how conflicted he was about his feelings for Keith. 

“We live in really different worlds. I just don’t know how long this can last.”

Keith kisses him again. “Right now, I just want to spend time with you.”

He says that, but each day that they meet in their private cove, he wonders, too. Wonders if they can ever truly share worlds the way they are, wonders if there’s some magic out there that could make their worlds one--he a merman, or Lance a human.

Then he decides that until he finds that magic, he’s just going to keep doing what he can to be with Lance as much as possible.

He takes up diving lessons, saves up at his job so he can afford scuba gear. He practices going deeper and deeper, telling Lance that he’d like to meet his family one day. Lance is thrilled, of course, and goes with him on diving trips, showing him his world piece by piece.

Keith gets to meet Lance’s family. They love him, just like Lance said they would. Talking is hard with his diver’s mask, but he loves this family, too, and he wants them to be in his life as much as Lance is. He wants them to meet his brother.

He saves up more, and starts building a shack by the little cove he and Lance like to use. He gets a permit to cordone off the space, so that Lance and his family have their own private pool to visit him in. Lance wants to help, but he can’t move many things or do any of the building from the water. So he helps by singng songs and telling stories while Keith works.

Lance gets to meet Shiro, too. Keith brings his brother over to help with the building, and they meet face to face; Lance’s sharp-toothed greeting to Shiro’s bewildered staring. Keith nudges him for it.

“Hey, be nice. Lance is my boyfriend.”

Somewhere in the middle of expanding the cove, Keith decides he’s not satisfied with just the one pool outside the shack. So he gets creative, working with an architect to put channels and pools all through the house that Lance and his family can navigate through. There are bridges, of course, so Keith can still walk around, but he likes that Lance can occasionally join him in the kitchen or the living room. The merman learns what a fridge is, and he couldn’t be more ecstatic about it.

Lance starts to spend more and more time close to the surface, bringing treasures of his own to fit in the pools. He comes back after hunting, excited that he had found a school of tuna not far from the main cove. He asks for a bookshelf near one of the indoor pools, so that he can practie his reading on his own. He makes a seaweed bed in the pool near Keith’s futon, so that they can sleep close by each other.

Neither of them quite realize what’s happened until, after Lane’s family has dropped by one day, they tell their son to “Not forget to visit sometimes.”

This place has become home, for both of them. They’ve made it their home.