Art credit: applepiyaa on tumblr
This is a one shot unrelated to the events of the story.
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Keith rolled out of bed, landing painfully on the floor. He rubbed the base of his spine as it throbbed angrily at the rough landing.
He sat up and scratched his head, working his fingers through the tangled mess of hair on his head. He slowly stood up and shuffled over to his wardrobe. He picked out his normal clothes and chucked them into his bed, ready for him after he finished his shower.
He wandered into the bathroom, stepping out of his pyjamas and into the shower stall. After shampooing and conditioning his hair and scrubbing himself clean, he exited the stall and walked over to the mirror. Keith always loved having the water temperature unnaturally high so steam coated the mirror and floated around the room.
Written in the steam on the mirror was Did you forget what day it is? in big bold letters. Keith chucked to himself softly, rubbing the letters off the mirror in order to see himself. Shiro had left this message every single year after one year Keith completely forgot it was his birthday. Sometimes it was on a post-it note, sometimes it was spelt out with alphabetti spaghetti; apparently this year it was written in the mirror.
Keith didn't notice anyone coming into his bathroom so it must have been done last night at some point. He shook his head, Shiro is nothing if not determined.
He looked at his reflection, grabbing a brush and working through his hair. When it was more or less tamed, he dried off and left the bathroom. He dressed himself but opted to leave his jacket and then left down the hall.
He entered the kitchen to find Hunk stirring the contents of a bowl wildly. Hunk looked up from the food and smiled warmly at Keith. "Oh hey Keith," he said, wiping his face and managing to smear batter across it, "Happy Birthday!"
Keith sighed, hoisting himself up into the counter top and sitting, "Shiro told you?" He groaned. Hunk laughed "Well of course he did, silly. It's your birthday, we gotta celebrate."
Keith leaned forward and swiped batter off of the counter - where some of it had been splattered - on his fingertip and tasted it. "Cake mix?" Keith said with a slight grimace.
Hunk's face dropped. "Yeah..? Does it not taste good or something?" He froze "Oh quiznack, don't tell me you're allergic to cake or something." Keith shook his head violently, feeling awful for meeting Hunk feel bad. "No no no no no! Nothing like that! It tastes great, I just didn't want anyone to make a big fuss of my birthday. It's just another day, after all."
Hunk relaxed and resumed stirring. "It's not just 'another day' it's your day and if you think we're not gonna make a fuss then you're dead wrong." Hunk put down the bowl and started shooing Keith off the counter and out of the room. "Anyways, you're contaminating my work space, out out out. You don't need to fix yourself some food goo, I already made you something. It should be in the dining room."
With one final gentle shove, Keith was pushed out of the kitchen and into the hall. He began walking down the corridor, grumbling to himself about Shiro's betrayal. Shiro had promised not to tell anybody about Keith's birthday and yet "somehow" Hunk had found out.
Keith sighed once again and stepped into the dining room where a plate of pancakes - although they appeared to be light pink in colour - was waiting for him. He quickly tucked in, smothering the stack in a syrupy mixture and devouring it. He had just finished the last bite of the pancakes when Pidge burst in.
"Keith! There you are!" She leapt round to him and began tugging on his arm. "Happy birthday, ya little emo. I have a surprise, lets get going!"
Keith decided it would be in his best interest to ignore the emo comment and got up from his seat, mumbling something about how he was actually taller than Pidge so shouldn't be called "little".
Pidge yanked him forward and pulled him through the castle, steering him this way and that. Eventually, they came to the room with all the pods in. Pidge continued to drag him across the room until they ended up in front of a large cloth covered object. With a flourish, Pidge pulled of the cloth revealing:
"My old hover-bike!" Keith exclaimed with a gasp. "Uh-uh-uhh" Pidge said, waggling her finger, "It's you're new bike. It's just like your old one but better!"
She leapt in front of it, gesturing at it with both arms, "Ta-daa! In a little bit, I'm getting Allura to land the castle on a planet that would have perfect conditions for it. You should be able to give it a spin then!"
Keith smiled excitedly at Pidge, hopping from foot to foot happily. "Oh also!" Pidge said, "It comes fully equipped with all your favourite emo songs!"
She reached in and pressed a button, resulting in a song (admittedly an emo one) blasting from some speakers. Keith murmured something, too embarrassed to admit that it was one of his favourite songs playing.
"Thank you Pidge." Keith said with a smile, a genuine smile.
"Sounds like sadness and angst, did Keith get a radio?" Lance burst into the room with a large grin.
Keith turned around, his smile now gone and replaced with a scowl. Lance walked over and lightly tapped Keith on the jaw. "Chin up, buttercup." He said with a smirk, "You've yet to see the best part."
Pidge handed Lance a remote with a few brightly coloured buttons on it. "Thank you, Pidge. I owe you my life" He said cheerfully. "I'll hold you to that." The green paladin said, grinning mischievously.
Lance leapt into the top of the bike, hand on his hips like a superhero. "Keith Kogane! Prepare to be amazed!" He presses a large button on the remote and a small panel (about 8 inches wide and 30 inches long) dropped from the bottom of the bike.
"Breaking my bike? I gotta admit, I expect you to do that, at least not so soon." Keith said with a scowl, his arms crossed.
Lance jumped down and landed in front of Keith. "No no no! Just look!" Lance gently pushed Keith onto the panel and pressed another button on the remote. The base of the panel began glowing green and slowly lifted off the ground. Keith let out a short cry and clutched the edge of the panel, teetering wildly.
"It's a hoverboard!" Lance exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "Yeah... Haha..." Keith gulped, still gripping the hoverboard, "Super cool..."
Lance stood still, looking at Keith with an incredulous laugh. "You don't know how to ride it do you?"
Keith snorted, "I totally know how to ride a hoverboard." He slowly started to stand before losing his balance and grabbing the sides of the hoverboard. "Ok yeah, I have no clue."
Lance sighed, shaking his head and smiling. "Alright, get off. I'll show you how it's done" Keith detached himself from the board and carefully stepped down, allowing Lance to climb on.
"Well," Lance said, balancing himself, "To start you need to either kick off the ground like so" He kicked himself forward and glided forward a few feet before slowing to a halt. "Or..." He said with a playful glint in his eyes, "You could do this!"
Lance stamped on the end of the board, causing it to rocket across the room at high speed. In a second, he turned and was now racing back towards Pidge and Keith. He skilfully maneuvered been the two of them, holding his arm out to hook Keith around the waist and yank him onto the board.
Keith shrieked helplessly as he suddenly found himself standing on the back of the hoverboard. He clung onto Lance for dear life and buried his face in the blue paladin's back: making heat crawl up Lance's neck and settle on his cheeks.
They sailed out of the room and tore down the hallway, Keith daring to look out from between Lance's shoulder blades. He gazed in awe as Lance piloted like an expert, turning corners and controlling the board perfectly. Keith glanced up at Lance, admiring how the wind rustled through his hair and his grin that sat just right on his face; his blue eyes sparkled with glee as he raced through the castle.
They slowed to a more controlled speed Lance glanced back at Keith, catching his gaze and winking. Keith buried his face in between Lance's shoulder blades once again and hid his face. The blue paladin simply laughed and returned his line of sight to the hallway in front of them.
"So you think you've got the hang of it now?" Lance queried. "No way." Keith mumbled into Lance's back, tightening his grip around his waist. "Guess I'll have to show you how to do it again then" Lance said with a chuckle. "No Lance. Don't you da-"
Before Keith could even finish, they shot down the hallway like a bullet, going much faster then they had before. Lance cried out with glee, trying to ignore how Keith latched around his waist made him feel. Lance could feel his breath on his neck, getting faster as the increased speed.
Briefly, Lance lost focus completely, narrowly avoiding smacking into a wall and he had to quickly make a sharp turn to prevent the collision. However, it was too sharp a turn as the hoverboard teetered, causing Keith to overbalance and fall off - yanking Lance with him.
They landed in a tangled heap, both laughing heartily. "Good job, Lance" Keith said between snickers, "You're a real expert, you managed to crash."
"It's your fault!" Lance exclaimed between bouts of laughter, "You distracted me."
Keith snorted, "Distracted you how exactly?" He sat upright, removing his arms from around Lance's waist. Lance sat up as well, "Well how am I meant to focus with you wrapped around me like a vine." Lance decided to prove his point by winding his arms around Keith's waist - pulling him close in the process - and breathing hot breath down the back of the red paladin's neck.
Keith flushed, unsure of what to do with himself at the sudden proximity of the other boy. "Not easy is it?" Lance said, continuing to breath down his neck. Keith did his best to stiffle a shiver, to no avail.
Lance leant closer, pressing his face to Keith's back, "And don't even get me started on how this distracted me."
As Lance spoke, vibrations were sent down Keith's spine, making him precisely aware of how close Lance was. "Ah yes, because it must have been so easy for me with you being all Jim Hawkins and winking at me."
Lance pulled away slightly to look at Keith, still being sure to keep his hands around his waist. Lance winked again and smiled when he saw Keith blush and bury his face in his hands. Lance carefully lifted Keith face and looked at him: his hair, his skin, his lips, his eyes. With every second that passed, Keith reddened more and more.
Their eyes met and the two paladins stared at each other attentively. Slowly, both began to lean in, inch by inch. Gently at first, their lips made contact, carefully seeking out one another. Quickly, the kiss gained passion and heat, all the while their actions became less precise and more desperate. Lance grapped Keith and pulled him into his lap and Keith clutched at Lance's hair, getting his fingers tangled in his brunette locks.
Eventually, they pulled away, both panting heavily. Lance looked at Keith with a grin on his face.
"Happy Birthday."
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Duuuuuude i have so much more respect for people that do one shots, this was so much more difficult than i anticipated.
I hope this was good enough to tie you over to the next proper update. Do you want this to be added to a separate book for one shots? Idk i might do that if i write another one or something.
I hope you like this! It was really difficult to write but i dont think its too shabby :)
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