Keith sat anxiously in his chair, texting Pidge with much more force than was necessary
cryptid-in-disguise: I'm telling you, man, you aren't gonna mess it up. The date will go fine just don't spill on yourself and don't just sit there
mothmans-secret-boyfriend: you underestimate my profound ability to fuck things up
cryptid-in-disguise: Oh shush. Anyways, gtg, matt says lunch is ready have fun byeeee
Luckily enough for Keith, Shiro showed up at last...
...With the tattooed man from the first weird encounter curled up under his arm.
Had he seriously misunderstood the situation?
Shiro approached with a smile,
"It's alright if Lance joins us, right? He was dying to see you again."
Thank God. If they had been in a closed relationship, Keith might have turned into a flaming fireball of shame and regret.
Shiro and Lance sat down, Keith ordered a lemonade, extra sugar, Lance ordered coffee, black, and Shiro the most frothy and caramelised drink possible, his order so incredibly long Keith began to sympathise HEAVILY with the poor waiter. He remembered when a customer came in and tried to order neon green tiger lilies with bright red spots, refusing to accept that that type of flower didn’t exist. He left work that day with a migraine, scouring the internet for anything that looked remotely like the man described.
But their drinks came in, and Lance started asking questions about Keith’s job, how Allura had hired him because there was nothing in college that interested him enough to make a career out of. Lance opened up about his tattoo parlor that he ran for the same reason; he had applied to art school and chosen to take the tuition money and invest in opening a shop, hiring an artist, and inking his beautiful artwork on the bodies of many satisfied customers. He now had three more employees and a co-manager, Hunk, who drew out beautiful mandala patterns and swirling designs when Lance needed him to. He’d shown them both Hunk’s and his designs, and Shiro and Keith agreed; they were spectacular, both on paper and on skin.
When it finally came round for Shiro’s turn, he blushed slightly and looked away from Keith, only to say
“I’m, uh, the most recent CEO of Zarkon Industries.”
Keith felt his eyes go wide, as he spat some of his lemonade back into the straw he was drinking it from.
“Wait, Zarkon??? THE Zarkon?!?!?!”
Keith leaned back in his chair, as the trio continued chatting about whatever else in their lives. Lance complained about one of his brilliant, but very picky employees.
“She turned away every customer she got one day because they weren’t ‘elaborate enough’“ Lance imitated the employee's voice in a nasally Bronx accent.
Shiro and Keith laughed at that.
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“......so then, as I’m wrapping up these twelve bouquets of yellow roses, I’m thinking to myself, “this’ll take an hour, let’s ask why this dude fucked up”. Turns out, he told his friend that his dick *starts laughing* had accidentally *snorts harder, struggles to keep composure* slipped into her boyfriends ass, because they were cuddling naked, platonically,*laughing again, with Shiro and Lance* ya know, *snort*, like bros, and it had just happened. She..*wheeze* believed him.... *dies again*, until she researched it *laughing harder still* and called him out on his bs. Now he’s trying to gain her friendship back so he can feel less guilty about Shawn being a fantastic lay...”
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“.....I’m sitting in my father’s office, my ex Adam and I making out in my father’s chair, when Kral Zera CEO Sendak - more like Send-BACK, me and my dad used to joke - bursts in screaming about how my dad screwed him or something, notices me and Adam, takes a photo, and runs out of the room, and that’s how I came out to the corporate world”
“Dayummmmmm, and did you get in trouble?”
“No, Sendak got removed from his position for being intolerant and homophobic, along with multiple cases of attempting slander, and then four girls came forward with rape allegations and he was arrested. Dumb fucker didn’t do any time though, he’s too rich for that.”
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“So.” Shiro cleared his throat. “Keith, I think you probably have some questions that need answering.”
Lance nodded in agreement, before continuing Shiro’s train of thought.
“Shiro and I have been dating for three months, he came into my parlour to get a bicep tattoo. He had seen Hunk’s designs on Instagram and wanted a giant mandala pattern on his right arm.”
“A car accident about two years ago damaged the nerves enough for me to be just barely able to use it. I’m left handed thuough, always have been, which was lucky. I thought that, as long as people were going to stare at it, might as well give them something worthwhile.”
Shiro took off his sports coat, revealing a loose black tank top that made Shiro look amazing - Keith’s mind went blank noticing all of his muscles - and a beautiful sleeve tattoo, swirling and circular patterns fitting together like cogs of a machine. It was beautiful, simple, and perfect.
“....Whoa...” was all Keith could muster in response. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to how beautiful he was.
Shiro nodded, then Lance continued,
“So about a month ago, I was walking by your shop to get to a coffee place I knew Shiro liked, to surprise him with one of their extravagant and sugary lattes, when I saw you in the flower shop window. I think I got Shiro a coffee every day for two weeks, just walking by your shop to see a glimpse of you.”
“After I finally got him to tell me, I told him to go in there and talk to you. We ALL know how bad tht went"
"HEY, it did not, go, baaad, he was just so goddamn gorgeous that a bolt or lightning struck me down and rendered me unable to speak, breathe, or think!"
Keith flushed so brilliantly he felt for SURE it would show up on some satellite in space as a giant, inexplicably red dot.
Shiro continued talking, but Keith didn't hear a word, hyperfocusing instead on the way his lips formed words and how they must look kissing Lance and how they would feel kissing him and-
"...keith, Keiiith, Keith, keithkeithkeith,KEITH! Earth to KEITH"
Lance had begun waving his hand in front of his face violently, trying to get his attention.
Keith blushed harder, somehow.
Shiro chuckled and smiled gently,
"So, anyway," Lance interjected, "what do you say, Keith, be our boyfriend?"
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Wow, this took a LONG time. Too long. Writers block SUCKS. Hope y'all enjoy! I made it extra long :)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
