Langst One-Shots

Actions Speak Louder Than Words... Literally.

Not super angsty, but I just had the idea for it and wanted to write it. I'll probably (hopefully) update more than once tonight! This was originally requested by DaywalkingPoet. Sorry for not tagging you earlier!!

Keith shuddered as the cold wind whipped at his back. He kept walking, cursing himself for forgetting his things at home. If he had his wallet, or even his phone, he could get a taxi. Call a friend to pick him up.

But he had nothing but the clothes on his back, and his apartment was halfway across the city. He sighed in defeat, realizing that he would have to go and use a public phone somewhere.

He looked up to the closest building. It was a bar with a half burnt out neon sign reading Altea's Bar and Grill. Keith shrugged to himself - anything would be better than staying out in a blizzard.

He pushed open the door and sighed in relief as a wave of warmth washed over him. The place seemed nearly empty, and all of the customers were either sitting drowsily at the bar or staring at someone on a stage. Keith watched him as he sang and played the piano, gasping at his voice. It was beautiful, soft and soothing yet loud enough to hear above the piano.

As for his playing, the man was very talented there, too. His fingers danced along the keys as if they had minds of their own, and his vocals matched the chords and harmonies he played out on the piano.

All of Keith's thoughts about phones and taxis and snow storms were swept away as he listened to the man. He slowly took a seat at a table, not bothering to order something from the bar. Even if he'd had his wallet, he wouldn't have bought anything. He was too entranced by the piano man.

"I'll always remember the smile on your face!" He sang. "I never feel alone in your embrace... I never feel alone in your embrace." He finished his song and was met by loud applause, which was impressive coming from the tiny audience.

"Thank you." He said, smiling down at them. He stood up, took a bow and walked down off the stage.

"You were amazing." Keith said as he walked past, but the man ignored him. Keith frowned. That wasn't very nice. He had complimented him!

Whatever, Keith thought. I just came here to use someone's phone. He stood up and walked over to the bar, where the man now stood.

"Is there a phone here I can borrow?" Keith asked the bartender. She looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, there's one by the bathrooms." She said, brushing her long white hair out of her face. Keith nodded a quick thanks and left to find it. Once he did, he pushed the faded beige buttons and entered his friend Pidge's brother.

"Hey," he said when she picked up, "it's Keith. After the party, I realized I left my stuff at home... I can't get a taxi like I planned. Can you pick me up?"

"Sure." Pidge said after a moment. "Where are you?"

"I'm at a bar called O'Malleys." Keith said with a snicker.

"Make one more reference to that song and I'll hang up on you." She threatened. "I'll ask again: where are you?"

"I'm at a bar called-"

"Don't you fucking dare."

"-Altea's Bar and Grill." Keith finished. "It's across the street from Starbucks."

"Ooh, I love that place! I'm totally getting some nachos. Would you mind eating there with me?" Keith could hear the faint sounds of Pidge running to her car.

"Fine by me, as long as you give me a ride home afterwards."

"Sure. Nachos are on me!" Pidge said before hanging up. Keith smiled and walked back over to the bar. The man was still there, but he didn't seem to be talking. Instead, he was making weird gestures at the bartender.

What a creep. Keith thought with disgust. He sat down right next to the man, but he didn't stop making the weird gestures, even though the bartender was staring at him! What the hell was wrong with him?

Keith was about to say something when the bartender started making weird gestures back. He frowned, trying to understand what was going on. The man laughed after a moment and made more gestures. Keith felt awkward enough that he moved away from the bar and back to the table he first sat down at.

After about ten minutes, Pidge came rushing in the building. "It's nacho time!" She said breathlessly, zooming up to the bar. She talked for about five minutes to the bartender, and from what snippets of conversation Keith heard, they knew each other. The bartender was named Allura, apparently. It was a cool name.

"The nachos are on the way." Pidge said excitedly, leaping back over to Keith's table. He smiled at her awkwardly. "I fucking love nachos."

"Me too." Keith said. "They're great."

The man walked over to the table and tapped on Pidges shoulder. She turned around and gasped, giving him a huge hug. Now Keith was really confused. Who was this guy?

Pidge started making some weird gestures at him, raising Keith's eyebrow. The man started making gestures back, like he had with Allura.

"Pidge, who is this?" Keith finally asked. She looked up, but the man seemed determined to ignore him.

"Oh, this is Lance." She turned to Lance and made some more gestures, and he turned to Keith.

"Hey." He said. "I'm Lance. What's your name?"

"Keith." Keith said angrily. Pidge made a few more gestures.

"Keith, huh?" Lance said after Pidge finished. "That's a nice name."

"You sounded really good earlier." Keith said, wanting to know if Lance would ignore him again. Sure enough, he turned to Pidge. She made some more gestures and he turned back to Keith.

"Thank you! I never really know how I sound, so it's nice to see people say that." Lance smiled at him. Keith's eyes widened for a second as he realized what he had missed.

Oh, shit. "Um, are you deaf?" He asked awkwardly. Pidge burst out laughing.

"Did you just now realize that?" She asked. Lance looked between them nervously, confirming Keith's suspicions. He started making gestures at Pidge - which Keith now realized was sign language - and Pidge frantically signed back. Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry. I get nervous when I think people laugh at me... I know Pidge would never, but some people don't realize that I'm deaf. They laugh when I tell them, because I can talk and sing and play piano well enough that I can pass as having 'normal hearing.'" Lance apologized, signing along with his words. Keith felt a pang of shame as he realized that he had done this.

"Nachos are here." Allura said, bringing over three plates of nachos a side of ruining the mood. She set a plate down in front of each of them and winked at Lance and Keith. "Third plate is on the house." She said before walking back to the bar.

"I'm sorry." Keith said. Pidge quickly translated, and Lance shrugged.

"It's fine." He said. "It happens more often than you'd think."

"Yeah, but it shouldn't happen." Keith said, watching as Pidge signed his words. "I shouldn't have assumed that you were 'normal' just because you could sing."

"Thanks." Lance said after Pidge finished signing. "That means a lot to me."

"Can we eat these nachos already?" Pidge whined, signing so that Lance would understand her. He smiled.

"Fine by me."