#shancesecretsanta2018

Shiro gave a start and dropped his phone on the couch; when he had regained his composure, he said, “Keith, what did I tell you about sneaking up on people?”

Keith moved in front of Shiro and made to grab his phone, asking, “Are you talking with Bleu again?”

Shiro grabbed his phone at the last second, saying as he tried and failed to type a reply, “Yeah, I am, he wants to draw some fanart for the steampunk AU I’m writing, and he’s asking about which arm Thorin lost.”

“I’ve been trying to ask you a question for the past fifteen minutes,” Keith said. He then sat next to Shiro on the couch and stared at him like one of their cats until Shiro finally pulled himself away from the phone.

“About what?”

“There’s a convention this weekend and I was asking if you wanted to come with me and Hunk.”

Shiro’s eyes lit up for a second, but then turned downcast as he looked at his arm. As much as it sounded fun… “I’m not so sure that’s my thing anymore.”

Keith’s heart broke, and everything in him wanted to give Shiro a hug. “Shiro…”

Shiro fidgeted on the couch and said, “I mean it’s fun to have people stare when you’re in costume, but they’re not necessarily going to be staring at me for that reason anymore, are they?”

Keith then pulled Shiro into a long hug, and said, “I know you’ve been rather shy since the accident, and not always for no reason, but you can’t let all your social interactions happen either at work or on your phone.  Didn’t you tell me that once?”

Shiro let himself be buried in the hug, but asked cheekily, “How did you meet Hunk again, or was it not you who, under the name of xXxCrimsonBladexXx, repeatedly roleplayed Zutara lemons with a certain HunkaBurninLuv?”

“SHIRO!” Keith yelled, his ears bright red.  “Just consider meeting people outside of work, me, Hunk and the Bagginshield fandom.  The convention is bound to have people you’d click with, and who knows, we did see that awesome Hiccup cosplayer last year. Maybe you might see someone like you there?”

Shiro smiled (it hadn’t reached his eyes quite yet) and said, “Fine, I’ll go with you on Saturday to the convention, okay?”

Keith’s demeanor changed entirely, and he cheerfully replied, “Oh, great!  I have a Thor costume I ordered just for you, and I’m going to be Loki!”

So Keith definitely expected me to go, Shiro thought as he asked, “Wait, what about your boyfriend?”

“Oh, he’s cosplaying the Grandmaster,” Keith said, his eyes twinkling and his face alight with a rare lascivious grin.

Shiro stared askance at him and deadpanned, realizing exactly what was going on, “Are you two seriously cosplaying your crack OTP, Keith?”

Keith threw his hands up and said, “Like you wouldn’t die of joy upon someone cosplaying Bagginshield with you–”

Shiro stood up and argued, “Bagginshield should have been canon and we both know it!”

The light in his eyes is back, Keith thought. Good. “Well, Loki and the Grandmaster actually slept together in canon so there–Shiro why are you already on your phone again?!”

Paladin4Lyfe #2114: So I’m going to a con for the first time in a year this weekend. I’m a little nervous.

BleuLion69 #6969: Same here! Do you think we’re going to the same one?!

Paladin4Lyfe #2114: I don’t know, how far do you live from Anaheim?

BleuLion69 #6969: Not too far, do you think I’ll see you there?

BleuLion69 #6969: If you are there, what cosplay will you be wearing? I’m going as Valkyrie because the Avengers trailer is coming out and I am STOOOOOOOKED.

For the second time that day, Shiro dropped his phone. “Oh God Keith…”

“What?”

“Bleu’s going to be there.”

The day of the convention had arrived, and Shiro was shaking in his boots. It had taken a while to put on the Thor cosplay, and as much as Keith insisted Shiro looked good, Shiro wanted to look great. If he were lucky, he’d be meeting Bleu today. Who knows what he’d think about the arm, though–

“You don’t need to worry, Shiro, your muscles will probably be more distracting than your arm,” Keith said absentmindedly.

“You ordered this a size too small for me on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Well you can’t say it’s not flattering, brother.”

So Keith’s already getting into character as Loki. I’m just going to let Hunk deal with him. “This wig is terrible, though, and probably the biggest distraction on my outfit.”

“If you really think so, you can always buy a new one. I’m going to hold our spot for the Avengers trailer, Hunk’s already there!” With that Shiro and Keith parted ways.

Much to Shiro’s surprise, only ten minutes later he saw a face he recognized wearing Hogwarts robes and a red wig far better than his own. “Matt, I never thought I’d see you here! I figured you’d still be working at Holt Co. over the weekend.”

“My little sister’s in charge of the Harry Potter cosplay meet, so Dad let us have this weekend off,” Matt said, beaming with pride. “And what’s with the awesome Thor cosplay?”

“Keith’s cosplaying Loki somewhere, and he somehow roped Hunk into cosplaying the Grandmaster.”

“How is Hunk doing?” a bright voice suddenly said. Shiro turned to find Pidge standing there in a Ginny cosplay, holding a broom and texting somebody.

Shiro raised an eyebrow and asked, “Pidge, you’re not wearing Hogwarts robes?”

“I’m wearing Ginny’s Holyhead Harpies Quidditch robes,” Pidge said, “And my partner’s supposed to be here in her Luna Lovegood cosplay.”

Matt patted Pidge’s head affectionately and said, “You know Romelle’s always late, little Pigeon. Also who are you texting?”

Pidge then started laughing and said, “Apparently Hunk’s getting super flustered because Keith’s using his Loki cosplay as an excuse to call Hunk Daddy in public. I mean I could totally see Lance doing that, but I never thought Keith had it in him. Also Hunk told me to tell you that Keith’s wondering where you are and he’s holding your spot in line for the new Avengers: Endgame trailer.”

Five minutes later, Shiro decided to give up on getting a new wig and finally found the line for the Avengers trailer panel, and Keith beckoned him over, saying, “We’re just waiting for one more person and our group is here!”

“I’m calling him now, sweetie,” Hunk said, giving Keith a kiss on the cheek before talking with someone on the phone.

“Hunky-bear, I’m over here you didn’t need to call me!” A voice shouted from across the convention hall, and the clinking of boots could be heard walking toward them.

“Lance, what took you so long? We’ve been getting glares from the other con goers for the past fifteen minutes for holding your place in line!” Keith then muttered flusteredly, “And don’t call my Hunk Hunky-bear.”

Lance pouted melodramatically and replied, sticking a hip out, “Can’t a man be fashionably late?”

“Not when seeing the new Avengers trailer is on the line!” rang out from a stranger in an Aggretsuko cosplay in the line.

“Well I’m here, aren’t I?”

There he was, a very handsome man wearing a well-made Valkyrie cosplay, with a blue cape having only just stopped fluttering behind him, a flatteringly draped shirt, long leather gloves, boots and leather pants leaving very little to the imagination. And if Shiro stared much longer he feared his imagination would run away with him–

“Yes, you’re here… I mean you’re Lance, right?” Shiro blurted out, trying to hide how obviously he had been checking him out.

“That’s my name,” Lance said. He then turned to Shiro, raised an eyebrow, and after muttering a poorly hidden “Holy shit you’re hot” placed a hand on his shoulder, purring, “And who might you be, handsome?”

“That’s Shiro, my brother in all but blood. Lance, please don’t scare him.”

“No worries, Keith, I won’t bite,” Lance said, “Well, unless he wants me to.” He then winked at Shiro, and much to his chagrin, his face turned bright red.

“LANCE!”

The line eventually moved as the panel opened, and Hunk insisted in sitting next to Keith, who in turn wanted Shiro to sit at his other side, and as Hunk was at the end of the row, Lance ended up sitting at Shiro’s other side.

Upon further inspection of Lance’s person, Shiro discovered Lance’s backpack, one of those star-shaped ita bags (in black, of course, to match the outfit) Pidge and Hunk had pestered him to get for his own large collection of pins. Shiro looked at Lance’s backpack to find not just one but five Bagginshield pins featured in the center of it.

Wait a minute…. Oh dear God BleuLion69 is literally sitting next to me in this panel. I’m so dead.

After the new Avengers trailer aired, they left their seats, went outside, and grabbed their meals from the food trucks that were parked near the convention center.

“How the hell is Tony going to get out of this one? He can’t just die alone in space, can he?!” Shiro asked as he dug into a box of steak fries from his favorite food truck.

Keith replied, munching on some pasta, “I dunno, I’m more worried about Captain America, Chris Evans’ contract is done and I don’t like what that means.”

Hunk then asked, “So do you think everyone who got snapped away’s in the Soul Stone because that theory’s getting more plausible by the second–”

“LUIS WHERE ARE YOU?!?!”

Hunk turned to Lance and deadpanned, “Why, Lance. He’s not even an Avenger.”

“He’s an Avenger in my heart, Hunk. Anyway, somebody has to love him as much as I do.”

Shiro fondly heard Lance’s ramblings about Luis (he held a none-too-secret soft spot for the man too) and said, interrupting Lance’s train of thought, “I can’t help but think I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Lance raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Well, Keith cosplayed Zuko last year for our group cosplay and I was Sokka in that one. Does that help?”

“Everybody wanted me and Lance to pose for steamy Zukka pictures that day,” Keith said, “Only good thing about that was Hunk getting jealous and the night at the hotel room that came after–”

Shiro blanched and said, “No no no no, I am not hearing about your and Hunk’s love life!”

“Yes you are,” Keith said, and Shiro honestly could not have rued Keith’s decision to cosplay Loki more than at that moment.

Lance looked to be rearing for a fight, and he interrupted Keith’s attempt at eleborating on his and Hunk’s love life with a “Well then, if we’re really steering the conversation in that direction, there was also that one male!Yue cosplayer who really rocked his costume that day, and his even more gorgeous Yue cosplayer girlfriend, we’re actually all friends on Discord now–”

Keith’s hair stood on end, and he yelled, “That guy’s an asshole why are you still friends with him?! His girlfriend’s okay, but still!”

“He’s not bad, Keith! We’re all just better as friends!”

“–and then I found the three of you making out before the end of the day–”

“Hunk!” Lance yelled. He then pulled Hunk next to him and muttered, glaring at him while doing so, “I’m trying to impress Keith’s gorgeous brother in all but blood over there, and I don’t want him thinking I’m a sl–”

“You’re the one who brought it up!”

Shiro interrupted their quarrel with a gently placed, “I’m not surprised you landed a couple, especially if I recall your Sokka cosplay correctly.”

Lance paused, his face flushing pink; he sheepishly muttered, “You weren’t there so you don’t necessarily know what I looked like it could have been horrible…”

“Keith took pictures.”

Lance’s face turned bright red, and he stammered, “Now to change the subject, there’s this awesome Bagginshield steampunk AU one of my friends is writing, and–”

“Oh God not this again!” Keith yelled; he then paused, looked at Shiro, heard Lance continue talking about the Bagginshield Steampunk AU, and his face lit up with realization that really shouldn’t have taken him this long to find. He would wait and see how long it took Shiro and Lance to figure it out themselves. What, he was cosplaying Loki for fuck’s sake.

Hunk continued, “Lance we have all heard you rave about the wonderful story Paladin4Lyfe is writing, yes, the Bagginshield Steampunk AU is the best story you’ve ever heard, thanks a lot, by the way–”

Shiro interrupted, “What did you say?”

“Oh, there’s this one user on a Bagginshield Discord Lance frequents that he can’t stop talking about–”

Shiro seemed frozen as he asked again, “What did you say that user’s name was again?”

“Paladin4Lyfe, Lance wouldn’t let me forget it even if I try–”

Shiro choked on the steak-covered french fry in his mouth. A few seconds of choking and a few minutes of panic later, the group had regained its composure, and Hunk was petting a scared Keith’s hair to calm him down.

“Shiro are you alright?” Lance said, holding a napkin out for Shiro to clean himself up. “What about the conversation had you so shocked?”

“Lance… you might not believe this, but Paladin4Lyfe… that’s… that’s me.”

Now it was Lance’s turn to freeze as he asked, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

Lance lit up like a Christmas tree as he said, “I’m BleuLion69, Shiro.  You’re telling me you’ve been Paladin4Lyfe this whole time?! I’m just… I’m so excited to finally meet you in person, I never thought I’d actually see my favorite fic writer face-to-face–”

Shiro sputtered, blurting out “I’m really your favorite writer Bleu?!”

Lance nodded happily but then said, skepticism on his face, “Wait a second why aren’t you as shocked as I am?!”

“Well you did tell me what you were cosplaying so I had an easier time of it, and your ita bag, where did you get that by the way, has a ton of Bagginshield buttons on it.”

“Oh,” Lance said, smiling, “So what do you think about–”

“Your art is gorgeous, Lance, and I’m just…” Would starstruck come off too strong? Shiro thought as he fiddled with Lance’s ita bag in his hands.

“Also, I’m sorry I never got back to you regarding the picture. As to which arm got lost in the battle with Smaug,” Shiro then stood up, and Keith gave a start before Shiro stopped him, rolled his sleeves, and revealed his prosthetic right arm, “It’s this one.”

Keith sat back down, guarded and staring at an oblivious Lance with protective intent in his eyes. If Lance fucked this up…

“Whoa….” Lance said, walking towards Shiro and asking with his eyes if he could touch it. Shiro nodded, and Lance took Shiro’s arm in his hands.

The artist in him wanted to know every single detail of it, every line, every way it attached to Shiro’s shoulder, whereas the human in him wanted to know whether it got uncomfortable from time to time and, honestly, where a gun could be attached to it because this was the best inspiration for Thorin’s arm that he had ever seen and it was attached to Shiro, to Paladin4Lyfe, to his friend who he had been unwittingly chatting with and lowkey pining after for months he had wondered why Paladin4Lyfe had Thorin lose an arm in that battle with Smaug but now he knows why–

“So…” Shiro said unthinkingly after a while, hoping against all hope that he wouldn’t get the common questions, the usual pity, that odd look in the eyes that said sympathy but meant none-too-secret revulsion when Lance turned around to finally look Shiro in the eyes–

“You could actually cosplay Steampunk AU Thorin if you wanted to!” Lance said giddily, his focus on the arm well broken and turned to Shiro’s face, which had begun to lift in relief. “I’m still a bit tall to be your Bilbo, but I’ll do my best!”

As Shiro and Lance jumped into both the costuming of Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield and the main plot of the Bagginshield Steampunk AU, Keith wandered to a sitting Hunk’s side with a half-eaten bowl of pasta in hand and said, “We’re not talking about the Avengers trailer we just saw again, are we?”

“Nope,” Hunk said, pulling a pouting Keith onto his lap and handing him a churro.

If the conversation permanently drifted away from the new Avengers trailer and toward Shiro and Lance’s Steampunk AU, then they certainly didn’t blame each other for it.

A solid hour later, Lance leaned into Shiro’s side and said, walking back into the convention center hand in hand, “How about we just blame Keith for this one, okay?”

Keith stared askance at Lance said yelled, “Lance, this is literally your fault you are not blaming me for us not talking about the Avengers–”

Shiro gave Lance a kiss on his head and said, “All right.”