Shklance -- Courting Pt2
It’s been a few weeks haha. Here’s a part two to the first part, which you can read here. Let me know what you think, cause it’s been a bit since I’ve written anything, honestly. Gotta say, I’m loving Keith haha he’s a lot of fun to write. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
In other news, if anyone cares and ever reads these notes, I’ve really just been busy this summer. I spent about a week and a half sleeping, and I’m still trying to catch up on all the sleep I missed during classes, but I’ve also been attending a bunch of weddings. Like. So many weddings. And most of them are my husband’s family so one of us is always in the stupid party, and by the time they’re over I’m completely drained. Plus, work and family drama, as usual. Hate it but oh well I guess. Even now, I’m just dead tired and want to sleep, but I’ve got stuff I’ve been putting off and really need to work on haha.
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The problem was, they had to be discreet. And Keith was anything but discreet. Take this morning, for example. It was the day just after Shiro and Keith had slipped into (no, Keith, we did not break in!) Lance’s apartment, and it was obvious that Lance had had a rough night of it. Now that they knew what they were looking for, it was obvious that Lance was having a hard time. He looked thinner than usual, and there were dark circles under his eyes, and he definitely seemed a lot more quiet and mellow than he usually was.
“Hey, Lance!” Keith was offended when his greeting was met with nothing more than a suspicious glare, because seriously??? They were friends! It’s not like Keith was planning anything nefarious – he just wanted to say hi to his close friend (and maybe possibly hopefully boyfriend, please please please) and then enjoy some time with him! He absolutely did not deserve a glare for his efforts!
“Um. Hey, Keith. Uh… what’s up?” Keith was pleased to see that Lance still offered him a bright grin, because that meant that they were still okay. Which meant this would be fine!
“What did you eat for breakfast this morning?”
Shiro face-palmed behind Keith, and Lance stiffened before forcing himself to relax. “W-what do you mean?”
“I should think that would be a simple question, Lance, what did you eat?”
“Ummm breakfast?” Lance laughed, the sound slightly higher than usual. “Was this a quiz? Did I pass?”
Keith opened his mouth, intent on finding out just how much nutrients his boy had actually consumed, but Shiro’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder and cut him off. “We were just wondering if you would like to join us. For breakfast. Which we haven’t eaten yet. Because we were waiting for you!”
Lance looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot and glancing all around them as he responded, “Actually, I’m okay. I’m not all that hungry.” Except, that was right when his stomach gurgled noisily, and Lance sighed and glared accusingly at his own midsection. Keith had to stifle a laugh because it wasn’t funny, goddammit!
“Lance,” Shiro sighed, “just come do breakfast with us. It won’t kill you, and you have some time, okay? Just try to enjoy a couple of hours of your weekend.”
Lance still looked like he wanted to refuse, but Shiro clapped him on the shoulders and steered him towards his car, while Keith excitedly bounced ahead to get the door for him. First he got to break into an apartment, and now he got to kidnap somebody? Not to mention all the extra time spent with the most beautiful boy he knew? It was literally a dream come true!
Okay, actually? This was a nightmare.
Lance was absolutely scarfing down his food, and while both Shiro and Keith were pleased to see he was being taken care of for once, that didn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t have been that hungry to begin with. He’d gone through more pancakes than Shiro, and that man ate like a tank! If it weren’t for the warning looks Shiro had been shooting him since they’d met Lance that morning, Keith would’ve dove right in with the questions about Lance’s living situation, but he figured that for now, he would just keep sliding Lance extra bits of food and wait patiently for Shiro to broach the subject.
They were seated at a diner, one frequently visited by other college kids, though Shiro and Keith themselves hadn’t been there in a couple of years, since they’d realized they could actually save on money just making their own meals together, plus, Keith was generally a fan of staying in, and Shiro didn’t mind staying home with him. Definitely meant they could have more – ahem – fun together, so that was always a bonus in their eyes. Even more so if they could figure out how to get Lance to join them…
“So. You had housework planned for the weekend, right, Lance? Any chance we could convince you to just… come spend the weekend with us instead?”
Lance inhaled his food too quickly at that, forcing himself to stop and take some time to then clear his airways and sip some water. Shiro looked apologetic, while Keith kept a close eye on Lance to ensure he was okay.
“Why the hell would you say that?” Lance demanded when he could. His voice was a hoarse rasp that made Keith wince to hear it.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Shiro countered.
“You can’t just get my hopes up like that, man, you’ll end up breaking my heart.” Lance returned to his most recent stack of waffles, eyes troubled.
Keith pounced on that and said, “So, if you thought we meant it, would you agree?”
“Are you kidding?” Lance asked, “Anything that gets me out of housework would be a godsend. Plus, you’re both a huge help when studying, and Shiro’s a fantastic cook. It would literally be like a win-win-win. For me, anyway, I’m not sure what you two would get out of it. And therefore, you must be joking,” Lance said, his voice trailing off. And, there, that! It was the stupid matter-of-fact way that Lance seemed to just accept that no one would want that with him that made Keith’s blood boil.
Shiro, though, was calm when he said, “Honestly sounds like it’s a problem for us, if it’s a problem for anyone. But trust me when I say that we would love nothing better than for you to come over to our apartment and ensure you’re actually getting decent sleep and food.”
He and Keith watched anxiously to see what Lance would say. Keith’s brain was already racing to think of alternate ways to ensure Lance was all right. Only about 43% of them involved breaking a law, which he definitely considered a win, because that meant there was a greater chance of Shiro helping him!
“Why do you assume I won’t do those things on my own?” Lance asked.
Shit. He caught onto that way quicker than they hoped he would.
