But, given that this was a charity gala- a whole night dedicated to the cause he has been spearheading for years now, the bar was elegant. The whole charity hall was, really.
“Have Earth drinks made it past the Milky Way yet?” Lance asks as someone passes by with a bubbling red drink. Keith’s had that before- fruity and spicy…strong enough to land you in bed with not one, but two aliens if you weren’t careful.
“Earth isn’t exactly known for much more besides…well, the Paladins. And even that’s a stretch,” Keith says as he grabs one of the holographic menus from the bar, handing it to Lance for him to read it over. Earth, while it could hold its own, simply was not on the same level as most of the planets in the Intergalactic Union. They were still struggling with space travel unassisted, and social issues were…well, this was Earth.
Lance hums as he looks over the menu- the thin panel flickering slightly. Translation was always an issue when you were trying to communicate with citizens of the galaxy. While there was a common tongue that was in the early stages of mass adoption towards the end of the war, there were still countless precincts that were untouched. Knowing this, and more importantly, needing to give Coran something to do other than drive Keith up the wall, the galas used a translating system- a small pin that everyone was given that would automatically translate menus and such based on proximity. Lance’s menu flickered between Spanish and English.
“Do you want me to order for you?” Keith asks after about a minute of watching Lance read over things. Despite being the one who asked him to come to the bar, Lance seemed pretty hesitant to order. Keith may or may not have forgotten to mention that Lance’s “usual” was not something most aliens appreciated, and thus, most likely wouldn’t be on the menu.
“I can order for myself, Keith,” Lance says without looking up, his Altean marks glowing slightly, somewhat overpowering the small flush on his cheeks.
“Alright, alright- I’m going to go ahead and order then.”
Keith lingers for a second or two more before ordering himself a drink- it's a dark blue- something light. Keith had to give a speech tonight, after all, and there was something to say about liquid courage, but standing up straight is the main priority when it came to these cheesy speeches.
When Keith returns to where he had left Lance, Lance is still looking over the menu, his brow creasing in worry. “Lance-” Keith is ignored, which makes him roll his eyes. “Lance. What do you want?”
Lance sighs dramatically, nearly folding in on himself before he shrugs. It was so…un-Lance-like. “Wine?”
“Do they have wine?”
“More or less.”
One blue drink- not quite as opaque as Keith’s- later, Lance is still mopey. Now, don’t get Keith wrong. He’s spent years learning to navigate emotions like a proper, functioning human being. Now, did a lot of this emotional development happen on the space whale with his mom, or working with the Blade, where he was beaten within inches of his life at times…that didn’t matter. He could be a shoulder to lean on now. He was emotionally mature now, dammit.
“Hey, buddy, I appreciate you coming tonight.”
That’s all he’s got?
Lance looks up, offering him a small smile, then looks down at his feet again. He’s really twisting Keith’s arm here.
“So, you come to space often?”
Oh, so now he was flirting now? That’s not what he was trying to do.
“I only leave Earth for the reunions on New Altea,” Lance speaks up. Because Keith already knew that. Keith just suffered from being as socially awkward as he was as a kid. Just because he maintained the emotional depth for helping a friend out didn’t mean he had the charisma.
“Right, right. I knew that,” Keith looks away awkwardly, his gaze drifting to the event around them. There were thousands here- this was one of the largest events Keith’s hosted- no, scratch that- THE largest. “Lance, you gotta give me an in.”
He finally settles on saying. Keith felt defeated, which was often, in the emotional realm of things. But Lance would understand. Despite their bickering, they were, at least at one time, the closest two on the team. Or at least, the person that Keith had let in the most. Technicalities- Keith was allowed to claim Lance as his best friend, even if they kissed that one time- but let’s not talk about that. Lance had an aversion to alien liquor for a reason, now.
“Keith…” Lance starts to say, but stops to bite his lip. C’mon, Lance, Keith wants to help- “I think I made a mistake staying on Earth.”
Suddenly, Keith thinks, he is out of his depth.
