Chapter Text
***
lancey lance and pidgeon
monday, 7:25 AM
pidgeon
lance class is starting at 8. what happened to 'new sem new me'???
7:25 AM
pidgeon
b4 u say anythg
7:25 AM
pidgeon
it's not too early.
7:25 AM
monday, 7:30 AM
pidgeon
okay u WIN matt woke me up early. ughhh when will i ever get to have my own place i'm 19 alreadyyy
7:30 AM
pidgeon
anyways. 30 mins. where th r u?? i'm boreddd
7:30 AM
monday, 7:45 AM
pidgeon
lanceee 15 minutesss
7:45 AM
pidgeon
also uh i might not be able 2 save u a seat
7:45 AM
pidgeon
lecture's gonna be packed with people 2day
7:45 AM
monday, 7:49 AM
pidgeon
shit lance r u still sleeping???
7:49 AM
pidgeon
i just saw hunk on his way alone???
7:49 AM
***
GOATED homies i will die for
lancey lance, pidgeon, and hunk my MAN
monday, 7:50 AM
hunk my MAN
@pidgeon @lancey lance did u guys manage to save a seat for me??
7:50 AM
pidgeon
it's WAR out here
7:50 AM
pidgeon
i managed 2 save 1 seat. lance's not here yet
7:51 AM
pidgeon
he's not responding to my messages
7:51 AM
hunk my MAN
fr?? oh man i didn't drop by our rented apartment cuz i just got back from my hometown
7:52 AM
hunk my MAN
@lancey lance wake up buddyyy
7:52 AM
pidgeon
@lancey lance
7:53 AM
hunk my MAN
@lancey lance
7:53 AM
pidgeon
@lancey lance
7:54 AM
you
SJDHSKAJDSAKDD
7:55 AM
pidgeon
oh look there he is
7:55 AM
pidgeon
gud luck getting here on time
7:55 AM
***
Lance was running late, he knew. He also knew that his fit was not fitting, as in he took the first shirt and pants in reach because he was that much late. He also knew for a fact that Coach Alfor would nag him later and threaten him to ‘pick up his slack’ before he would actually take drastic measures if Professor Coran snitched on him.
At least he was fortunate enough to be able to catch the last bus before he would actually be late.
This time around, Lance had actual reasons for being late! Really!
He was teaching kids to swim the other day! As a volunteer - like he usually would! Alfor should be applauding him for his ‘generosity’! (While Alfor had indeed praised him for spending so much of his time volunteering, Lance knew that the moment Alfor heard he was late on his first day, the man would reprimand him for his ‘terrible time management skills’.)
However, as noble as it was the first time he told his coach and professors, he was pretty sure the excuse wouldn’t be so effective at some point. Just like how Allura, the girl of his dreams since his first year at the university and Alfor’s daughter, thought what he was doing was cute - until she found out from her father that he was falling behind in his studies, that was.
Allura wasn’t in the same course as he was. She was studying law - which suited her very much. Lance, on the other hand, wasn’t really sure about his place in life at the moment.
He was a big fan of sea life, but, ‘unfortunately’, he ended up stuck with computer science.
He wasn’t particularly bad at it. He knew some stuff, and joined a couple of programming-related competitions in high school. He would say that he was pretty decent.
It was why when he found out that the marine science course he was applying to was full, he resorted to choosing something that he thought he could handle.
Not such a wise decision on his part.
During the typical week when all new students who enrolled were expected to get to know each other, Lance found out that almost 60% of the applicants for the course were reluctant and had somehow accidentally applied. The other 15% applied because they heard the salary for computer science graduates was usually high - depending on the job, of course - while the rest were genuinely interested in the course.
Yeah. He knew he was fucked.
To summarise: his CGPA wasn’t looking so good, and Alfor had been telling him to make sure to study hard this semester.
Lance, his past idiotic self, had dismissed his coach’s words with a boastful grin and claimed that he would not slack off for the semester (also known as his fourth semester. He’s running late for his first lecture during the first semester of his third out of four years degree, at the moment). His idiotic past self also claimed that if he slacked off in any way, Alfor was free to do whatever he deemed needed to ensure his best swimmer would be able to raise his CGPA this semester.
Well, shit. He should’ve cut himself some slack.
So what if he flunked his second year? His first year’s result was pretty damn impressive, mind you!
It didn’t help that Lance’s first class was with Professor Coran, and as far as Lance knew, the professor and his coach had always been close, and Coran had always been a snitch. (A caring and endearing one, but still.)
His only way of reassuring himself that the damage hadn’t been done was that Coran was somewhat famous for always being five minutes late to his lecture. The professor’s reasoning was that if he was five minutes late, then supposedly there should be no other students who were later than he.
Clinging onto Coran’s tardiness, Lance frantically ran past students and through hallways, barely muttering audible ‘excuse me’s to get to his lecture hall. He hoped and hoped that Coran wasn’t there yet.
He could try asking his friends who were already there via message - Pidge always made an effort to come to lectures in the first week along with Hunk - but too many students were loitering around. He needed to give his whole attention to dodging people to even make time to look at his phone. Last time he checked his message, all he could do was leave a random keysmashed message to tell his friends that he was on his way.
Everything was going well: he could hear the chatter from inside his lecture hall, meaning Coran was not in yet, and just when he saw a glimpse of the orange moustache of his professor’s, someone bumped into him from the back.
Mind you, the hallway he was in was less packed compared to the ones Lance had just passed, but this one was still pretty crowded, and it took a lot of strength for him to not fall on his face or into anyone.
So Lance turned around to say a quick ‘sorry’ even though it wasn’t him who almost caused whoever it was to fall flat on their face, but when he turned, the guy was also turning to look at him, and.
And of course it had to be the bane of his existence. He would recognise the mullet anywhere. Oh; and the rather plain and ‘practical’ choice of clothes. With the exception of fingerless gloves - because how were those ‘practical’?
The words were out of his mouth automatically, drawled in plain irritation, “Just my luck. Bumping into you this early in the morning.”
The glare belonging to those sharp eyes properly settled on Lance, and, as always, a shiver running down his spine was ignored in favor of snapping curtly at the other man, “Watch where you’re going, Kogane.”
Keith Kogane: the bane of Lance’s existence.
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, and maybe Lance was petty to be holding a grudge against the guy for something that happened since long ago during their first year.
However, what happened was not to be forgotten no matter how long had passed - for sure.
During the very same week when the new students were supposed to get to know each other as new students, they were divided into teams for group activities, and Keith’s group and his had been neck-and-neck the entire time.
Lance had absolutely no idea what Keith’s deal was, but the guy was always smug whenever Lance looked his way because the guy swept another win over his team again.
He was still upset that they somehow ended up getting a tie at the end of that week. Someone had to have rigged their scores because they were too chicken to see what would happen if one team triumphed over the other.
Lance obviously would not flaunt his victory too much at Keith if he had won - which he probably totally did.
Keith’s glare somehow was able to sharpen even more when he, too, realized who he had bumped into. Lance was betting that if glares could cut, Lance would’ve already been cleanly cut in half.
There’s a retort Lance could see coming from the mullet man - that’s right; ‘mullet man’ because having his hair cut in a mullet in this day and age?! - but some people joking around nearby accidentally pushed Keith.
Both he and Keith looked genuinely surprised by the force of the guy - because that push had Keith literally stumbling into Lance’s arms and causing them to stumble a little.
For the sake of not falling and to gain stability, Lance’s hands were automatically around Keith, raising an eyebrow at the stranger who was completely unaware of his surroundings.
Look, Lance was usually a decent guy. Though his typical and usually automatic smile was not automatic anymore since he bumped into Keith.
The stranger at least had the mind to look sheepish and apologised, scurrying with his group of friends and away from the computer science students.
While initially Lance sort of just glared at the strangers, his attention was grabbed when Keith rudely shook his hands away, grouching a short ‘hands off’. Ungrateful bastard.
Without even a ‘thank you’, Keith walked past him, and Lance scoffed in offense, hands on his hips as he drawled loudly, purposely trying to grate on the man’s nerves as he used an exaggeratedly timid voice to match the other man’s height: “Oh, wow. Thank you, Lance, for being so kind as to stop me from falling.”
(Keith was only a tiny bit shorter than him, but that was a win in Lance’s books.)
Not even looking back or sparing Lance a glance, Keith flipped him off, and swiftly entered the lecture hall.
What a rude bastard…
So offended by his ‘classmate’s rudeness, he failed to notice that Coran was suddenly standing there at the lecture hall’s entrance, and Lance realized then that shit.
He was going to be late.
There must be a sadistic bone somewhere in Coran’s body - because the professor made eye contact with Lance, entered the lecture hall, and popped his head back out for the sole purpose of innocently and loudly observing:
“Mr. Mcclain. You’re late.
Alfor wouldn’t be too happy to hear this.”
Damn it.
***
Lance usually didn’t like putting the blame on people.
He liked to believe that everything happened for a reason, and that putting the blame on someone was a waste of effort because, at the end of the day, it happened.
However, he was selective about this belief, of course.
What happened today? The whole ‘late to Coran’s lecture’ thing?
Yeah. That was totally Keith Kogane’s fault.
It didn’t help that the lecture hall was, for the first time since forever, full to the brim. He had no choice but to sit beside Keith at the front.
Coran sort of had it coming when most of the class was spent with Lance and Keith bickering and whispering angrily at each other. (Hunk and Pidge didn’t manage to save a seat for Lance because there were so many people. Even if they did save him a seat, he didn’t think Coran would let him sit at the back.
To put it simply, his morning was a little shitty, and Keith just so happened to be there…)
Lance wouldn’t say he was a rude and arrogant guy. No, he obviously wasn’t. In fact, he would say that he could get along with anyone. He dared to say that people loved him. Most of the time anyway.
There were exceptions, but that was all they were. Exceptions. Lance couldn’t care less.
But there was just something about Keith that always managed to… rile him up - different from anyone else.
Speaking about being different; Keith, even without Lance being rude, was different. In a weird way.
Since the rivalry - that was what Lance was going to call it, yes - started, Lance had taken the words ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ very seriously, and had observed his rival. His rival, who had oddly sharp canines, and who squinted when their surroundings were too bright. Yeah; weird weaknesses.
Weaknesses that Lance did take advantage of, fine. So what if Lance pointed out that Keith’s teeth were growing sharp to distract the man while he stole the mullet man’s team’s flag? It worked! (Although, it was odd how much the guy looked like he was freaking out when Lance pointed out the made-up comment.)
Also, yeah, so what if Lance purposely pointed his flashlight at Keith when it was the week’s night activity where the students were left wandering in the woods and had to ‘escape’ and find their way out? Keith was literally walking and running around in the darkness like a psycho!
So. Yes. Keith was a little… off.
But that was not the point to be made at the moment.
The point that is to be made here, is that, as soon as the lecture ended, Lance immediately got up on his feet and talked to Coran, trying to tell the professor that he was not late and that he had arrived on time. His story was legit, too. Heck, if necessary, he would even ask Keith to be his witness and be the evidence to ‘why he was late’.
He loved swimming, he really did. It was why he had to make sure that the news of his tardiness did not reach Alfor. (He also loved the money that came with swimming since, you know, scholarship, but that was besides the point.)
Alfor never explicitly said or described what he planned to make Lance do if Lance ‘slacked off’, but knowing the coach’s daughter’s rather strict schedule, he absolutely did not want that man near his busy schedule. (Okay, his schedule wasn’t that busy, but point made.)
Throughout his speech on why ‘he was totally not late to his first day for class’, all Coran did was stare at him silently, while the dismissed students all eagerly left the lecture hall, planning to grab a bite before their next class, presumably.
He could hear Pidge and Hunk loitering around, waiting for him. While catching up with Keith.
Despite Lance’s dislike for the mullet man, his two close friends were pretty chill with the guy.
They had seen Keith and Lance going back and forth and ‘fought to death’, yet both of them insisted on how what Lance and Keith had was just a ‘simple’ rivalry and that Keith was a decent guy.
Sometimes, Lance wondered if they were even friends, really. Though he refrained from speaking up about it after a couple of times because, well, he didn’t have any right to stop his friends from befriending other people - even if the ‘other people’ annoyed him to hell and back.
“So, Mr. Mcclain. You are trying to tell me that you were helping Mr. Kogane up from almost falling, hence why you were late, right?” Coran asked for confirmation when Lance had finished saying his piece.
It wasn’t necessarily true, but it looked like Coran would cut him some slack if he agreed.
“Uh. Yeah, yeah. Exactly tha-“
“He was actually in my way, professor,” Keith suddenly interjected, rolling his eyes when Lance pointedly glared at him.
Looking as if his curiosity was piqued, Coran turned to look at Keith.
“Oh? But you got here just in time,” the professor pointed out, head tilted a little.
Then, with a smug smirk that almost had Lance lunging forward to strangle him, Keith replied, “That’s exactly why Mcclain was late. He tried to make me late, and, well, what can I say?
I guess I’m just more nimble on my feet. So much for him being a swimmer.”
Lance was so taken aback by the audacity, that by the time he snapped out of it, Coran was already waving his remaining four students goodbye and was out of the lecture hall before Lance could say another word.
It took Keith snickering for Lance to snap at him.
Instantly, his hands were grabbing for Keith’s collar before he pulled the man close, not batting an eye at the close proximity because of how often he found himself in this exact position.
Keith didn’t look fazed, either. Merely putting on a deadpan expression while Lance wished he could burn someone from his eyes alone.
“Seriously, Keith?! You can’t be a decent guy for me just this once?!” Lance spat, completely ignoring Pidge and Hunk at the back who were exchanging hesitant glances with each other.
The man he’s ‘holding hostage’ simply just let Lance grab him, not showing any signs of retaliation aside from opening his mouth, “It’s hard to be decent when it’s for you.”
Swimming was fun for Lance, sure.
But it became important because his scholarship was on the line, and getting on Alfor’s bad side was not going to paint him in a good light along with his dropping grades.
Would do him even worse if he chose to act on his impulses and maybe punch the guy in his hold.
So Lance settled for roughly shoving the guy off, letting himself take satisfaction from watching the guy stumble to regain his bearings.
“You’re going to fucking regret opening your mouth, dipshit,” Lance spat one last time, turning on his heels with finality and ignoring Keith’s goading ‘good luck holding onto that swimming scholarship of yours’ taunt.
When Hunk had remained by Keith’s side to check if he was okay, no, Lance was totally cool and not salty about it, whatever, Pidge had been the one to catch up with Lance and told him that he should ‘lay off’.
Lance had been pissed, and when he turned to Pidge to remind her that he needed to make sure he still had the scholarship right until he finished his studies, the anger somewhat subsided at the concerned look on her face.
“I know the scholarship is important to you, and… and I guess what Keith did was kind of an ass thing to do, but…
But I hate to see you like… this, you know?
I know you worked your ass off for last semester’s exam only to get a barely improved result, but if that’s what you’re worried about, then don’t.
Because Hunk and I? We have a plan on how to get your grades up! So keep a cool head, talk to your coach, and we’ll work on your grades, okay?”
Pidge may be some years younger than Lance, but damn was she wise sometimes. (In a random, almost childish yet mature way. Who knows; Lance couldn’t really ever describe her aside from the word ‘smart’.)
When Lance had said that Keith was ‘going to regret it’, it was more like words that were said in the spur of the moment.
He remembered not intending it to be a prayer or a wish.
Yet when he got a message from Coran to meet him at his office, he had this unexplainable gut feeling.
And when he found Keith also standing in front of Coran’s office, that gut feeling was leaning more towards an ‘impending doom’ feeling. But he didn’t pick a fight this time around, and Keith returned the favour by doing the same.
However, when both of them were called to enter, and he saw Alfor standing there with Coran, he got a final confirmation when the coach nodded at both him and Keith.
Lance’s mind raced, trying to remember how Alfor could have known about Keith since the man had nothing to do with swimming. When he came empty-handed, he thought about Coran telling Alfor that ‘Lance was late because he was helping Keith out’.
Alfor started talking, and as soon as Lance heard his question, he realised he fucked up.
“Mr. Kogane, right?
I… heard you’re doing well in your studies? My daughter has… brought you up in conversations a couple of times.”
Studies.
The coach started talking about how Allura loved to frequent the cafe Keith worked part-time at, and she had befriended Keith at some point because she once spotted him diligently studying during his break.
Lance didn’t even know Keith and Allura were friends.
Having been put under the spotlight, Keith’s mouth didn’t run like it usually did with Lance, and he settled for nods and short answers. ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ and all that jazz.
But then the inevitable happened:
“So, Keith, I was thinking if you could tutor Lance here for this semester.
He has a scholarship, for now, and his grades are… below satisfactory. While it is indeed a sports scholarship, I do want my swimmers to graduate excelling in both studies and sport.”
Lance could see that Keith’s answer was a flat ‘no’, but then Coran started talking about how he would give Keith extra credits for his subject, a.k.a. a killer subject that seniors often struggle with, and Lance.
Lance was already shaking his head from side to side not so discreetly when Keith turned to look at him.
Judging from the look in Keith’s face, though…
“Okay,” Keith agreed.
Should Lance even be surprised that all three men in the room didn’t even bother to look at him and ask for his input?
Before he knew it, Keith and he were excused from the office.
It took a tug on his ear from Keith for Lance to turn to the barely shorter man beside him.
“Don’t forget tomorrow,” were the only words Keith said before he was already walking away, leaving Lance to stare rather helplessly.
Oh, Pidge.
He didn’t even get to say anything to his coach…
When he got back to his shared apartment with Hunk, all he could do was listlessly fall onto his bed, purposely smashing his face on his pillow.
Seeing that his friend wasn’t feeling so conversational, Hunk quietly and considerately told Lance that he could tell him later once he felt better.
The action was so kind, Lance almost just got out of his sour mood in that very instant - until he got a notification.
He turned on his phone to check the notification out of sheer habit when he heard the familiar sound of a notification coming in, and all ‘positivity’ that Hunk’s considerate action felt like it was sucked out of him when he saw who the notification was from.
lancey lance and k.kogane
monday, 7:49 PM
k.kogane
remember to come to Galtean Cafe tomorrow. 6:30 AM.
7:49 PM
It took a good three hours' nap for Lance to manage to gather enough energy to tell his friends - beloved Pidge over a video call with Hunk by his side - about what had transpired in Coran’s office.
(He, in fact, did not bother to reply to Keith’s message.)
***
It had been ages since Lance stepped foot into the cafe near his university. He had hoped that his first visit back would be with his friends as they caught up on lost time (read: semester break).
See, he imagined Pidge talking his ears off about how annoying her brother was the whole semester break, and he also imagined Hunk excitedly recounting the surprise birthday party he and his siblings planned for his mom.
Never had he thought that he would come here to see Keith.
The cafe smelled like coffee, duh, and Keith had decided that they meet at 6:30 in the morning like some psycho with the reasoning that his shift would start at 7.
So there Lance was, awake on a Tuesday morning when his classes were supposed to let him sleep in since his first class for the day was at 10 in the morning.
He made a beeline for the counter with some stools, didn’t even bother to announce his arrival as he contemplated life, staring at the coffee machines all over the place and the menu.
Nothing much changed, then.
It was a wonder how he never saw Keith working at the cafe, but knowing how Lance usually was always accompanied when he dropped by the cafe or how he could get pretty absorbed in whatever was on his phone, he guessed it was possible for him to never notice.
There was the sound of some shuffling from a room with its door slightly ajar behind the counter, and Lance chose to stare at the slightly ajar door with a bored look, an elbow propped on the counter and a chin on his hand.
Some mumbling and muttering, Lance could hear. Belonging to a familiar voice, too.
Keith must have been the one in charge of opening the cafe.
Lance wasn’t sure what he was expecting. After all, he was going to be tutored by a guy whom he never got along with. If anything, he had a feeling that this ‘partnership’ of theirs probably wouldn’t even last.
He came because he told Hunk and Pidge about what had happened, and they said that ‘things could’ve been worse’. Then they did the unthinkable by suddenly vouching for Keith and saying how he really was a decent and not difficult guy.
Pidge had looked thoughtful when Lance confided in her via video call last night, lips pursed before she tried to persuade the oh-so-unlucky student, “Keith really is not that bad, you know? He’s pretty smart. Maybe, along with Hunk and me, Keith can actually help you get your grades up, too, you know?”
After that, Hunk also started vouching for the guy, and, well, Lance’s hands were tied.
His impromptu recap was interrupted, however, when the door opened properly wider, and Lance was sure he heard a yelp coming from someone who had just dropped a whole load of boxes onto the floor. How in the world did one guy manage to carry all those boxes?
It took him quite a long moment to realise he was looking at Keith. Keith who looked oddly flabbergasted and staring at Lance like he was an alien that managed to make his arrival very silent. (The former part of the sentence was false, of course. That latter, on the other hand, was deservingly the truth. Lance could totally pass off as a ninja. Totally.)
The mullet man was…
Keith was not the kind of person who cared much about how he dressed. Most of the time, it looked like he just grabbed whatever out of his wardrobe, and as long as he was not wearing sleepwear, he would just stride into lectures unbothered. Lance refused to call Keith’s fashion statement ‘practical’. He was baffled every time he remembered Keith claiming such while wearing fingerless gloves. (Keith and his damn fingerless gloves, man…)
The habit of his did nothing to deter their peers from drooling over him, though. (It must be the fingerless gloves’ doing…)
It took Lance by surprise to see Keith dressed in slacks and a button-up - definitely not ironed - white shirt, green apron covering most of his fit.
Lance was left a little astonished to see the man’s hair in a bun, though. Messy, sure. The man’s bangs were getting in his eyes and all. But.
But Keith seemed to look good like this, and. Huh.
“You couldn’t have announced your entrance like you usually do?” Keith snarked, eyebags prominent and looking like he did not even get a wink of sleep.
Lance was admittedly not in the mood to snark back.
“It’s almost 7 in the morning, and I’m supposed to still be asleep. Class starts at 10, and you made me wake up at dawn, psycho,” Lance half-heartedly said as a reply, letting himself… stare.
“You could’ve just replied to my message and asked for a reschedule.”
“Whatever. I’m here already,” Lance half-heartedly retorted, propping his elbow on the counter and resting his chin on his palm, watching Keith since he was lacking things to do.
Usually, he would offer his help with the fallen boxes. Though he’s not really in the mood to help.
In response to Lance’s reply, Keith rolled his eyes, crouching down and haphazardly arranging and stacking the boxes.
Once that was done, Keith opened a box, and started unboxing it. Eventually, the counter was filled with some coffee beans in jars, some packets of sugar, some packets of creamers, and pretty much what Lance guessed were ingredients needed to open a cafe.
Keith worked in silence, like a psycho, and the more Lance stared, the more he noticed the excruciatingly slow way time moved - or maybe Keith was purposely moving slow to annoy the hell out of Lance.
If that was Keith’s purpose, well, it was sort of working.
“So do you always work in silence? Like, do you thrive in it? Insane if the answer is yes, by the way. I mean, well you can live life however you want to live, but I sort of can’t thrive in silence. It’s why I’m taking the risk here and starting to run my mouth. Because. You know. Silence and all,” Lance eventually blurted, gaze sort of remaining on Keith but looking away every time Keith turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
The man rolled his eyes at Lance’s words, and after putting the empty box back in presumably the storage room, he started putting the ingredients into their drawers and places.
“…I don’t usually work in silence,” Keith replied shortly, putting away the last few packets before finally setting his eyes on his only ‘customer’ at the moment, “I forgot my earphones.”
Oh.
“Well, good to know you’re not a psycho,” Lance joked - because he was sort of trying his best to be civil here, and jokes always light up the mood, he had learnt.
Unfortunately, this was the one time it didn’t.
“Stop throwing around that word,” Keith huffed, the corners of his lips not even twitching to laugh at Lance’s joke as he went around the counter, directing Lance’s attention to the sling bag that had been there the whole time but he hadn’t noticed at all.
For some unknown reason, Lance was a little nervous to see Keith sitting so close. (Would Keith sit beside him??? Or a stool away? Why was this bothering Lance so much?)
The pros of Keith sitting close, were that if he wanted to strangle the mullet man, he could do it easy peasy. The cons, however, were that Lance might actually poke on the mullet man’s messy bun because what’s the point of putting his hair in a bun if it’s still messy?
Totally because of that. Definitely not because his eyes kept on drifting to the pale nape the guy usually had obscured with his mullet. Totally not because it was distracting and bugging Lance for unknown reasons.
Someone snapping their fingers in front of his face grabbed Lance’s attention, and he turned to blink at Keith, who had sat on a stool away from him.
Nice. Totally cool. (Has the guy always been so… buff? On second thoughts; Lance did remember holding the man in his arms and being mildly surprised by how solid he was-)
“Lance. Stop spacing out,” Keith chided, shaking his head from side to side when Lance looked at him with a rather clueless look as he opened a book he had taken out, placing it between them and leaning with a pen.
Lance, too, leaned a little to get a better look at the opened book.
…
“It’s blank,” Lance deadpanned, leaning away to raise an eyebrow while Keith didn’t even bother to look at him, pen already scribbling away on the paper.
“Yeah, no shit,” Keith murmured, eyebrows furrowed and lips set to a frown.
It was getting harder to remind himself that Pidge and Hunk told him to give Keith a try.
Suddenly, with a finality, Keith loudly slammed his pen on the table, causing Lance to jolt.
Pushing the book more to Lance’s side, Keith didn’t bother to hide the smug smirk on his lips at surprising the other man. (Dickhead.)
“How’s this for how often we’ll meet?” Keith asked, smirk still intact. (Why the hell was his hair framing his face so… so annoyingly?)
Begrudgingly, Lance was ready to make Keith’s life miserable - except all he could do was stare with his mouth agape.
Accusingly pointing at Keith, Lance shrieked rather loudly, “How the hell did you know my schedule?!”
Keith rolled his eyes. (Lance hoped that if Keith rolled his eyes often enough, they would roll right into his brain. Ugh.)
“You seriously were not paying attention yesterday, huh?” Keith sighed, pushing his bangs away from his forehead while Lance’s attention immediately latched onto the fingerless gloves. “Alfo- Your coach gave me your schedule yesterday, remember?”
Huh.
“Orrr maybe you’re lying right now and you’re actually my stalker? How about that???” Lance countered, skeptical even though he knew it would totally make sense if Alfor did just give his schedule to his sworn enemy. Or rival. Whatever.
“Why would I stalk you?”
“Uh, obviously because you’re obsessed with me,” Lance’s smart mouth retorted.
Lance sort of wanted to smack himself for saying something so self-absorbed, but then a complicated series of expressions passed by Keith’s face before it settled into disgust.
“Ew.” Keith oh-so eloquently said.
“What does that even mean???” Lance scoffed, somehow offended, “I’m not that bad! I’m handsome, charming, funny, a very good swimmer, and obviously have this, what, magnetic attraction to me. Duh! It totally makes sense if even you think I’m irresistible!”
Despite having somehow managed to coincidentally share a lot of classes with the other man, at that moment, when Keith made a sound between a scoff, a snort, and a laugh, Lance came to the realization that he really had never seen the guy smile.
So when Keith did all those three, smiling barely noticeably but with mirth, Lance had to stare.
“Haha. Hilarious,” Keith sarcastically drawled, shaking his head from side to side while taking the book back from Lance, taking out his phone and snapping a picture of what he had drawn.
Lance was vaguely aware that Keith was talking, “Since you have no complaints, then we’ll go with my plan. Group assignments with me, meet up at least once a week, preferably on Wednesdays, and, if necessary, on Fridays or the weekends.”, but the man from Cuba just… stared.
Rather dumbly, yes.
The smile was long gone, and Keith wasn’t looking at him and was too busy sending the captured picture to Lance’s phone as he talked and talked. Yet Lance stared at Keith’s lips, somehow remembering fully well the curve of his lips that formed the small smile.
Weird.
This was weird.
Obliviously, Keith looked towards the entrance of the cafe when the doors were opened, either opting to purposely ignore Lance or genuinely not noticing Lance staring, the Cuban had no clue.
Keith was greeting the newcomer with a little bow and a short ‘good morning’, footsteps were approaching, and there must be something wrong with Lance because it was barely even a smile-
“Is this the ‘bane of your existence’ that you were somehow roped into teaching?”
The voice was deep, rather intimidating, and it was just the interference Lance needed to stop his brain from making up thoughts that were sounding a lot like nonsense.
He wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting, but he had not expected the older man standing in front of him, towering over him and giving him a rather judgmental once-over.
‘Bane of your existence’?
The shock in Lance’s face must have been too palpable - because Keith laughed, Lance swore he heard it and that it was not something his mind conjured up, but the man was quick to cover it up with a snicker.
“Ah, yeah. He’s the reason why your favourite employee might not be able to take more shifts, Kolivan,” Keith properly snickered, glancing at Lance briefly before his eyes followed this Kolivan guy - who was, apparently, Keith’s boss.
How come Lance never saw this guy around if he was the boss???
Kolivan made this noise between a snicker and a chuckle as he stood behind the counter, and, in all honesty, Lance was sort of freaking out over how intimidating and tall the guy was. Also, this guy looked like he could knock out Lance in the blink of an eye with the muscles he’s packing.
Terrifying thought.
Reminder to self: don’t get on Keith’s boss’s bad side.
Lance was planning to stop gawking and introduce himself, but then Kolivan looked at him again, and Lance just… seized up and went rigid.
God was he intimidating.
“Is he… broken?” Kolivan asked Keith, gaze still pretty intensely on Lance.
This time around, Keith actually unabashedly laughed.
It was fleeting, but it was enough to get Lance’s brain’s gears to turn and frantically process the words that had been exchanged between the cafe’s employees while he was spacing out(?).
Gasping in offense, Lance finally turned to look at Keith before pointing at the man’s nose rather aggressively. “You are the bane of my existence!” Lance retorted, scowling while Keith, unlike what he was doing previously (unfortunately?), merely snickered.
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Keith shrugged.
???
He turned to the only other man in the room, but pretty much shrank in on himself at the unreadable look Kolivan was sending him.
Time to get out of here, then.
Unable to feign nonchalance, Lance frantically packed his things - which wasn’t even anything, in all honesty - and got off the stool, making an effort to look only at Keith and not the intimidating boss.
“Fine! Sure! Whatever!” Lance parroted aggressively, unsure why it was that he didn’t feel too mad when he saw Keith seeming to be suppressing a smile at his lame retort.
What the cheese?
Lance thought he should just leave like that before he embarrassed himself even further in front of Keith’s boss.
However, his mouth had always gotten a mind of its own.
“You’re lucky you’re in your turf!”
What the hell does that even mean???
He was acutely aware of Keith bursting into a fit of laughter at his random exclamation, and he was also acutely aware of his reddening face and possibly the tips of his ears.
To save his remaining dignity, he decided to leave without looking back.
It was only when he was a distance away from the cafe did he realised how much Keith’s mood improved when Kolivan entered the cafe.
It was only when he was a distance away from the cafe did he realised Keith’s laugh had been creepily repeating itself in his head.
It was only when he was a distance away from the cafe did he took out his phone, read the message Keith sent him, and didn’t bother to do anything but change the man’s contact name.
lancey lance and bane of my existence 😒🖕
tuesday, 7:02 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
we’ll start next week
7:02AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
don’t be late
7:02AM
k.kogane changed to bane of my existence 😒🖕
***
lancey lance and bane of my existence 😒🖕
wednesday, 10:12 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
did u manage to jot down the details of honerva’s course?
10:12 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
u did come to today’s lecture, didn’t u?
10:12 AM
you
gud morning to u too ig 🙄
10:16 AM
you
went with pidge n hunk. not the kind to skip on the 1st week
10:16 AM
you
prof honerva’s all over the place istg not sure if i manage to copy everythg down
10:16 AM
you
uh, that’s obviously ur sign to offer me ur notes??
10:25 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
skill issue, mcclain
10:25 AM
you
f u man
10:25 AM
***
GOATED homies i will die for
lancey lance, pidgeon, and hunk my MAN
wednesday, 10:26 AM
you
i hate ur friend
10:26 AM
***
lancey lance and bane of my existence 😒🖕
wednesday, 3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
[2 files attached]
3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
notes for yesterday’s prof sendak’s class n today’s prof honerva’s class
3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
don’t ask for coran’s. someone was annoying me to death on monday so i didn’t managed to get everything that he said
3:41 PM
***
GOATED homies i will die for
lancey lance, pidgeon, and hunk my MAN
wednesday, 3:42 PM
you
ok maybe he’s somewhat useful fine
3:42 PM
***
lancey lance and bane of my existence 😒🖕
wednesday, 3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
[2 files attached]
3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
notes for yesterday’s prof sendak’s class n today’s prof honorva’s class
3:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
don’t ask for coran’s. someone was annoying me to death on monday so i didn’t managed to get everything that he said
3:41 PM
you
u think u r just so funny
3:43 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
at least im not annoying
3:43 PM
you
👎👎👎
3:43 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
”oh wow thank u keith for sharing ur notes” “oh yeah np”
3:43 PM
you
👎👎👎👎👎
3:43 PM
***
lancey lance and hunk my MAN
wednesday, 3:43 PM
hunk my MAN
why r u suppressing laughter to ursef in ur room???
3:43 PM
wednesday, 4:04 PM
hunk my MAN
??? hellooo???
4:04 PM
wednesday, 6:03 PM
you
just ignore me i think i was hysterical for a sec
6:03 PM
you
keith is not hilarious
6:03 PM
hunk my MAN
whatever that helps u sleep at night man 👍
6:04 PM
***
lancey lance and bane of my existence 😒🖕
thurday, 4:51 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
[1 file attached]
4:51 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
notes for today’s prof ryner’s class
4:51 PM
friday, 5:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
[1 file attached]
5:41 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
notes for today’s prof lubos class
5:41 PM
saturday, 1:12 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
[1 file attached]
1:12 PM
saturday, 3:59 PM
you
why did u send me a file abt ‘how to raise kids’???
3:59 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
just thought u might need some sources to learn how to get better attitude 4 urself
4:01 PM
you
🖕
4:01 PM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
wc
4:02 PM
sunday, 3:13 AM
you
[2 images attached]
3:13 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
why the hell would you send me ur selfie???
3:14 AM
you
shit man do u not sleep???
3:14 AM
you
misclicked
3:14 AM
you
was spposed to send it to hunk to ask his opinion on what fit should i wear
3:15 AM
you
just ignore the pics i’ll delete them later
3:15 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
don’t u n hunk share an apartment???
3:16 AM
sunday, 4:13 AM
bane of my existence 😒🖕
imo the second shirt complement the colour of ur eyes
sent and deleted at 4:13 AM
***TBC***