#again I could just straight up make an essay on Luis’ design

[wisecrackingeric-2]

If I wasn’t so GODDAMN BUSY I would absolutely go full self indulgent mode and make funky lil “civilian” designs for each of the re characters in re4r

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.49

Keith had no idea it’d be another month before he saw Lance again for longer than half an hour. His boyfriend had been to Platt, their schedules not lining up in the slightest. He’d only been able to see Lance as Lance was picking up blood and checking in with Coran. He’d seen Lance again at a festival Platt was holding, he and Shiro there to make sure nothing supernatural happened, so he’d only been able to see him from afar. He’d wanted to blow off work and join Lance, Miriam, Hunk, and Pidge, but he had a responsibility to the festival goers. Lance had called him that night to fill him in on his day, but it wasn’t the same as being there with him. His schedule was brutal, not by Coran’s design, but thanks to there being so much to learn about his new home city.

Perhaps sensing the distance, and the fact they missed each other like crazy, Coran suddenly gave him the weekend off. Keith couldn’t wait until the Saturday morning, pestering Shiro into going down to Garrison on the Friday night.

When they reached Lance’s house, Keith was disappointed to find Lance’s car not parked out the front with Curtis’s and Hunk’s vehicles. He hadn’t told Lance he was coming, he wanted it to be a surprise. They’d talked daily since the last time he’d stayed the night, not that they hadn’t before, but any time Keith had the time to call, Lance would answer. Anytime anything happened at home, even when Keith couldn’t answer, Lance would write him a near essay and message it through. If he boyfriend found it funny, he’d leave it as a voice message, knowing it’d make him smile. There hadn’t been that much to smile about of late. He and Shiro had spent far too much time sussing out vampire, and werewolf, bars. As well as being forced to meet other hunters in the city. His sleep pattern had done nearly a full flip, most nights he found himself falling asleep just before dawn. Coran wasn’t working them hard, that was Shiro being a hard arse... not that they really had the luxury of sitting back when something was definitely bad stirring within the vampire community. Making connections was vital. But all Keith wanted to be was connected with Lance. Talking him through a heat wasn’t the same as being able to hold him when he cried.

Shiro let him take the lead, his brother casting him a glance, Keith ignoring it. For all he knew Matt could have borrowed Lance’s car. Knocking on the front door, Keith ignored the doorbell. If Lance was home, he’d have heard him and come down. His surprise had gone as sideways as the last time he’d be here. Opening the door, Hunk’s face lit up momentarily, fell slightly, then Keith was pulled into a tight hug

“Lance is going to be happy to see you. Come in, man. He’ll be back later tonight”

That didn’t sound ominous. Leading them through to the living room, Matt raised an eyebrow at him

“The prodigal boyfriend returns. ‘sup, Shiro”

Curtis wasn’t there. Rieva was lounging back in a recliner, nose buried in a book as Matt paused the video game he was playing

“Where’s Lance?”

Hunk patted his shoulder

“Platt. He took off so fast he left his phone here. Curtis went with him, Miriam is grandmother after all”

Keith felt like he was supposed to know what was going on here, and he didn’t want to admit he didn’t. Shiro cleared his throat

“Something happened to Miriam?”

“A bit of a cold, but at her age it could turn nasty fast. He picked up on it last weekend. Apparently he’s having trouble with an uncle too. Pidge and I never really pried about his family, sometimes you just kind of know not to, but he’s been down about it. Having his cousin here’s helped. He’s going to be so happy to see you. Don’t worry man, Pidge has no clue”

Hunk tapped the side of his nose, Keith wondering what that mean. Did he smell? Why would Pidge care if he smelt?

“”No clue” about what?”

“You two. Don’t worry, Lance hasn’t said anything, but for someone he’s not dating, he talks about you a lot”

Keith internally panicked for a moment. Did he confirm he was dating Lance? He wanted to confirm he was dating Lance. But he was shocked that Lance hadn’t told him about Miriam. His boyfriend must have been in Platt more than he thought... Luis was a dick. Maybe Lance was so stressed from dealing with things that he’d been keeping it to himself again. Or maybe he didn’t want Keith in the same room as his brother...

“What were you tapping your nose for?”

“Because I “knows”... Is that not a thing any more?”

From the sofa Matt called

“It’s a thing. Keith is just dense. He’s too busy thinking about Lance not being here. At least the house has been quite now the heats died down”

Matt emphasised the word “heats”. Keith felt like he was taking a jab at him for not being there through Lance’s heats. His boyfriend had told him his body seemed to be settling down. Keith relieved for him. He knew how much of a toll it took. Hunk shrugged

“Yep. And now Pidge is limiting to visiting instead of sleeping here, we don’t have to put up with you two fighting mid game”

“We weren’t fighting. She doesn’t like losing”

Holding his hands up, Hunk clearly didn’t want to go there

“That’s between you and her. I’m just here for Lance”

It was good Lance had that support network, but it meant hiding so much away. At least he hadn’t had to confirm he was dating Lance... even if he kind of wanted to, it felt like the moment passed.

Barely ten minutes had passed before there was the crunch of gravel and headlights in the drive. Keith had sat, but he was on his feet and moving for the front door before his mind had caught up. Opening the door, Lance walked straight over to him. Wrapping his arms around him, his boyfriend melted into his hold

“I’m so fucking happy to see you”

Lance meant it, and Keith knew he meant it

“I’m happy to see you too”

They stood there long enough that Hunk came to check on them as Curtis waited outside for the doorway to be clear

“Lance, how is she?”

“They’re monitoring her. Thanks for being here”

“Any time, man. I made dinner, it’s in the fridge and there’s left overs”

“You’re the best”

Lance broke the hug, moving to hug Hunk

“I’m going to go now that Keith’s here, but I’ll be back tomorrow”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t know what to do without you”

“It’s fine. I’ve got this, you just get some rest”

“That’s the plan. I really can’t thank you enough”

Hunk hugged Lance back, Keith waiting patiently to steal Lance back into his hold

“Be good and I’ll see you tomorrow. Sorry to just leave, Keith. It’s good to see you, man”

Keith wasn’t offended. He was too worried about Lance and too sleepy to be offended

“Yeah, you too. Drive safe”

When Hunk left, Keith followed Lance to his office. Grabbing out a blood bag, Lance seemed a little lost

“What’s up?”

“I want to hug you, but is it weird while I’m eating?”

“Nah. It’s fine. I did kind of show up without messaging”

“I know... God, I’m exhausted”

“Want to go bed and talk about it?”

Lance gave him a tired smile

“Other than showing up tonight, that’s the best thing I’ve heard today”

“I was worried when your car wasn’t here”

“Mami took a sudden turn. She’s fine. Well, she’s okay. They’re monitoring her closely to make sure it doesn’t develop into pneumonia. I was planning on asking to see you tomorrow in Platt, but I’m just so fucking happy you’re here”

Things clicked. Coran suddenly giving them weekend off. Lance went to Coran over everything, Coran loved Lance like a son. Lance would have told him about Miriam, he probably would have told him not to interfere with his work schedule, and put Keith above his own needs. Keith could almost kiss Coran. Almost. The man was seriously weird and oddly happy most of the time. Yet... he wasn’t like any boss Keith had ever had. He always enquired over Keith and Shiro, like making sure they were doing okay in the apartment and not over working themselves... beyond Shiro being a slave driver. Coran probably knew, he probably knew that they both needed each other right now for different reasons. It was meddlesome to have his love life discussed, but he really fucking missed Lance.

*

Lance was a stumbling mess as he tried to undress. He’d started yawning as they made their way upstairs and hadn’t stopped. Stripping down to his underwear, Lance gazed at his pyjamas like it was too much effort

“Skip them. It’s just the two of us”

“You don’t mind?”

“Not really. I didn’t bring a change of clothes...”

He’d brought himself. That was about it. He’d left both phone chargers at home with him impatience to get to Garrison

“You can borrow whatever you want”

“I know. Let’s skip changing tonight”

That’s how the ended up cuddling in bed in just their underwear. Lance curled against Keith with his blood bag sitting on Keith’s chest as Keith played with his hair. Letting Lance eat, he didn’t know where to begin when it came to bringing up Miriam, so let Lance take the lead. Half a bag of blood later, Lance sighed softly

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mami right away. I thought it was just a bug, but they called me today to tell me she was sounding worse. I kind of dropped everything and went”

“You were going to tell me tomorrow, weren’t you?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to interrupt your work until we knew what was going on. I was actually hoping to have you to myself tomorrow night”

“Coran suddenly gave us the weekend off”

“He knows... about Mami. Curtis goes there when I go see her. He came to see her too”

“How is she? Like, really?”

“Not good... Her memory’s playing up. She knows me, so that’s okay. Luis... she tried to cover not recognising him when he came with Lisa to visit”

Right. Lisa was the sister-in-law

“And you?”

“I’m... I’m scared that this is it. I wanted to bring her home to care for her, but it’s better she’s in Platt”

“I’m sorry I can’t do anything”

“You have no idea how much you being here tonight is everything I need right now. It’s probably not what you had planned”

“It’s fine. I wanted to see you. I’ve missed seeing you”

Lance started to cry, Keith moving the blood bag aside to pull him in close

“I’m sorry... I miss you so much. I know you’re working, but I think lately the only thing keeping me sane is talking to you every night”

“I don’t think I’ve ever kept anyone sane”

“You need to think higher of yourself. Fuck... let’s not talk about me. How’s work?”

Keith snorted. Work was work

“Next question?”

“Shiro still being a hard arse?”

“Yeah. At the moment we’re still getting used to Platt. Shiro insists on going out every night to snoop around. Coran’s given us a briefing on what’s happening, so at the moment it’s all about watching and learning who’s who”

“I’m sure you’re loving that. Not having to talk to people”

He wasn’t that bad... He could trade memes with the best of them now

“I talk to people. I talk to you, and I talk to Pidge, and I talk to Hunk”

“I know. So proud of you”

Keith shoved Lance playfully

“Wanker”

“Takes one to know one. Hey... thanks... for coming”

“Anytime I can... Things sound like they’ve settled down around here”

Wiping his face, Lance then stared down at him

“Matt told you, didn’t he?”

“Matt told me, what?”

“He had a go at you about my heats again, didn’t he?”

Matt had said it’d died down?

“Nope. But apparently you’ve got something to tell me?”

“I feel like you just tricked me”

Keith pursed his lips, in though. Lance leaning down to kiss him. Not the plan but definitely not something he was going to object to. Keith found he was the one tricked as his boyfriend moved from kissing him to cuddling against him again

“Did you just kiss me to distract me?”

“A little. They’re not as bad as they were, I mean, they still hit randomly, which you know about. I... just... um... Matt got mad at me for neglecting my body. Apparently I’m making sex a bigger thing than I needed to. He bought me a flesh light, threw it at my head and then screamed that we should bone already because our phone calls are ridiculous and he doesn’t know how we’ve survived this long. I think he was ready to drive me to Platt and kick me out at your apartment next time it hit”

“What does Coran say?”

“It should have settled by now... but... um... everything’s um... there now”

“No more growing pains?”

“Only heat cramps”

Keith squeezed him tightly

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Keith felt like a terrible boyfriend. He kind of forgot things were growing inside his boyfriend and it wasn’t always heat pain. He’d kind of not wanted to know all the details

“I don’t know... growing a womb is kind of weird when you’re a 44 year old man. Coran did a scan, everything’s like... there now. My heat periods should settle now that it’s all grown. I’m still meant avoid extreme stress, and my stressors. He said to leave it another two months then I can go on some kind of birth control”

This was all good news. Good news that Keith felt came with not so good news, because this was them

“And long term”

“I’m going to be really horny come spring. Nah. He’s not sure. Breeders aren’t generally free to live their lives. Plus I’m like ancient for this to be happening”

“He doesn’t have more answers?”

“Not really. I could still go into heat any time and have to be careful”

“That’s hard”

“It is what it is. At least I’m not like a wolf and have no self control”

Lance spoke up, clearly ribbing Matt, Keith couldn’t help but tease him

“So no more randomly blurting out you want to ride my dick?”

“Not tonight at any rate. He gave me shit for days after you left. He was very disappointed that all the noise we made wasn’t... you know... doing the penetrative do”

“Let’s not call it that again”

“Yeah that felt weird. Anyway, you need to tell me more about work”

“You really want to know?”

“Of course I do. My badarse boyfriend’s out there keeping us all safe”

“Hardly”

“So I didn’t see you at the festival?”

Talk about being sprung. His ability to tail people had obviously slipped. How lame must he have looked

“You saw me?”

“I felt someone watching. You really like your black suit, don’t you?”

Keith groaned

“It’s official Blade uniform. Coran had us working security”

“I kind of figured that much out. It felt a little safer with you out there”

“Only a little safer?”

“Well, you are kind of an idiot...”

Visions of their first encounter as hunter and prey made Keith groan again. He’d never live that down

“Your faith in me is outstanding”

Lance sniffled, rubbing his cheek against Keith’s chest

“I’ll always have faith in you. Thank you for existing”

Keith was struck dumb at that. What did one say to that when he’d been such a burden to so many people. Leaning up, he buried his face in Lance’s hair

“Can I come with you to see Mami tomorrow?”

“Yeah... yeah, that’d be nice. She likes hearing about what you’re up to”

“You talk about me?”

Keith knew they did, talk about him. He just didn’t know what how one talked to their parent

“She likes hearing about the normal things. How you hate traffic. How your furniture hasn’t arrived. How bad your jokes are. How you hate those sensors Coran makes you wear because they make you itch”

“That doesn’t seem something worth talking about”

“It is... because all these things make you, you. God. I sound like a dad. It’s okay to be yourself son. Just give it your best shot, slugger!”

Keith let his head drop back

“That was terrible”

“I spent my whole life actively not being a dad. Let me have my moments”

“And complaining about remembering when rides were 75cents doesn’t count?”

“Hey, you have no idea. And petrol. Petrol prices are so high these days”

“Let’s not forget how excited you got finding those LP’s in that second hand store”

“Pidge talks too much”

That was Pidge alright. She appreciated vintage, but when it came to Lance it was fair game

“And the those bear books”

“It’s Berenstain Bears! Now you’re insulting my childhood. They were quality books”

“Pidge said you screamed and scared the shop assistant”

Lance huffed. Yeah, Pidge was great for spilling Lance’s secrets from college

“Because they were readable”

People usually read books... Why would they buy a book otherwise?

“And your glam rock playlist? It’s like being in the car with Shiro”

“Your brother has impeccable music tastes”

“We both know it’s not true”

“You’re learning too much about me. It’s not fair”

“You can ask you know”

“I don’t want to push you. Can we go to sleep now? I’m a terrible host, but I’m exhausted”

Lance was still probably worrying himself in circles over his mother. He couldn’t change that, but coming out tonight had been the right move. He needed this. He needed Lance. He had to talk to Coran about his schedule because this with Lance... He needed this. He wanted this. Even on the worst days, he wanted to be there with his boyfriend. The distance of not seeing him for weeks felt like a life sentence. He couldn’t go that long again. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to hang out and do all the fun things Lance wanted to do with him

“Yeah, I’m beat too. Let’s get some sleep, then tomorrow I’ll drive you to Platt and we’ll spend the whole day with Miriam”

Lance kissed his chest

“Thank you...”