1st October: Trick or Treat
The screams of over excited children around him, the costumes that are sticky from chocolate-y fingers, the smell of candy corn in the chilly autumn air; everything just screams Halloween at Lance.
He hates it.
Don‘t get him wrong. He loves Halloween. He loves the candy, and the costumes, and going out to collect candy from their neighbors. Any other year he would have loved this.
But this year he‘s stuck with babysitting while his friends are at a party from one of their classmates from High School.
Lance is jealous.
Not because of the cheap booze they get to drink, which is usually impossible since they are in High School and every other party gets crashed by worried parents. Not because Hunk and Pidge get to have fun while Lance has to keep his nephew and his friends from choking on candy.
It‘s because Keith said that he would be at the party. That High School party. With booze, and his friends, and most importantly: costumes.
Keith in a costume. And Lance is not there to see it.
Lance shoves a mini-snickers into his mouth - greedy people and their stupid mini-candy, he could use a real snickers now, or two, or three, and a drink as well - and gets back to his job.
Gosh, he‘s not even getting paid for this.
And he’s only one block in.
Lance will make sure to put his brother on babysitting-duty for the rest of his live when he gets kids himself.
If only someone would save him. Kill him quickly before another six-year-old screams something about candy into his ear before disappearing around a corner and leaving Lance in yet another panic.
“Puppy!”
Oh, no. That voices sounds like his nephew‘s, and those steps that are getting further and further away are definitely his nephew’s. Dammit.
“Silvio! Don’t run off!” Lance hurries the little group to stay together, the other five children laughing in delight when they see the dog Silvio meant at well.
It’s quite hard to make out at first, with nothing but the street lights and some decorative pumpkins illuminating it, and with the costume of a puppy carrying a treasure chest with another puppy.
But as soon as Lance realizes what that costume is supposed to be, he realizes that he also knows the dog in the costume.
Lance rubs his eyes, just to be sure. “Kosmo?”
The person attached to Kosmo’s leach, a tall guy in a pirate costume, gets up when Lance and the kids get close to him.
Close enough for Lance to make out his face as well, even if it’s half hidden by an eyepatch and a big pirate hat. “Keith?”
A cute, shy smile erupts on the handsome pirate‘s face. “Hey, Lance.”
Lance would like to rubs his eyes again, but two of the kids cling to his hands now, making it almost impossible to move. “What are you doing here?”
Keith takes a few steps closer, Kosmo following him idly and ignoring all the kids around him. Such a good dog. “Pidge said you wouldn’t come to the party, so I thought I could join you with Kosmo for a round.”
“The puppy is coming with us?” One of the girls screams almost straight into Lance’s ear, but with the blessing of an angel dressed as a pirate who is also his big, fat High School crush standing in front of him, Lance is deaf to it.
Keith wraps Kosmo‘s leash around his hand when the dog shuffles closer to Lance. He doesn‘t have to, really, since Lance loves to cuddle with Kosmo just as much as he would love to cuddle with Keith.
„Is it okay?“ Keith asks after a while, jerking Lance from his speechless stupor.
„Yes, yeah! Of course it is!“
The kids yoller in delight around them, but all Lance can see is the grin on Keith‘s lips. Gosh, he‘s even wearing makeup! Some dark color on his eyelids and lips, a strong but beautiful contrast to his light skin.
While the kids pick up the trick or treating again, Keith gets to Lance‘s side to walk next to him. He‘s so close that their hands almost brush together, the leather of Kosmo‘s leash scraping over Lance‘s skin ever now and then.
And suddenly, this Halloween night is not so bad anymore.