I don't own Voltron Legendary Defender.I own nothing but the plot. Oh well.
"No DAMN way!"
Pidge scowled, crossing her arms. "You are no fun. Live a little!"
Lance crossed his arms defensively. "Why do I have to get a tattoo? There's no point!"
Pidge grinned cheekily at Hunk. "He chickened out. There's no way he'll do the dare!" she shouted trumpiantly. Lance stood, his face set. "Fine. I'll get a stupid tattoo, if only to prove you wrong."
Hunk put a hand on his shoulder. "Lance, you don't have to do this."
Pidge smiled. "Oh yes he does. I gave him the dare, and he accepted. Our Goody Two Shoes Cuban Boy is finally going to the most popular tattoo parlour on campus!"
Lance groaned. "Just take me there so we can get this over with." They led him off campus grounds to a well lit shop. Inside, the walls were painted a cool shade of purple. The shop was old, Lance could tell that much. But it was decorated with vintage posters and spinning chairs.
The store wasn't very full at the moment, despite it's so called popularity. A couple of boys were looking at tattoo designs. A punk girl was getting her hair spiked by a woman with white hair pinned up in a simple bun. She was wearing an apron over a open backed black halter top. She smiled at the trio when they walked towards her.
"Hi Allura!"
"Hey guys." She greeted Hunk and Pidge warmly. She surveyed Lance. "Is he new? I don't think I've ever seen him around before."
Pidge slung her arms around him. "Nah. he's just never been here before." she gave Allura a devilish smile. "He's going to get a tattoo on a dare."
Allura laughed. "Well if this is your first tattoo, here is a good place."
Just than, a pale teen with the darkest hair he'd ever seen walked out of the back of the store. His mullet was unique too. Lance caught himself from thinking about how soft the boy's curls would be.
Stop it. You don't even know his name! He scolded himself.
It was Allura's turn to smile devilishly when she noticed Lance gaping. "That's Keith. Shiro asked me to employ him after we found out how good he was with a tattoo needle. He's an artist."
The boy had reached them by now. He turned to Allura. "I refilled most of the stuff at the back."
"Great." she turned to Lance, winking at him. "Keith, my hands are actually kind of full here. Why don't you get Lance his tattoo?"
"Sure."
Lance barely had time to register that this woman was shipping him with someone he had just met before he was whisked off into a chair. Pidge and Hunk gave him a thumbs up before joining Allura to look at different hair patterns.
Keith glanced at him while setting up his stuff. "So, you got anything in particular you want me to draw?"
"Huh? Oh, um, no. Not really. See, I kinda came here on a dare, so…"
If the room was empty, Lance would have slapped himself. He was never this nervous when he was flirting with the girls on campus!
Keith, meanwhile, laughed.
Oh god.
His laugh was bright and beautiful. It made Lance dizzy.
"That's fine. We've got patterns and designs for first timers." He opened a drawer filled with paper. He handed a couple to Lance. It took him some effort to wrench his eyes away from the raven-haired boy.
He forced his eyes to stare at the patterns. It was no use. The designs were complex and artistic, but none as glorious as the beauty sitting beside him, waiting patiently. After pretending to look at the tattoo designs for five minutes, he finally sighed.
"I don't know." than he surprised himself.
"Why don't you pick something for me? I can't choose anyway."
Keith's eyes widened. He hesitated, chewing his bottom lip.
So cute, so cute, so cute!
"Sure. I was actually working on a new design, I might as well try it on you."
Lance sat in the chair, watching him. Immediately, he saw the change come over Keith. His hands relaxed. His mouth puckered adorably in concentration. He swabbed Lance's shoulder with antiseptic and picked up the tattoo needle.
He turned to Lance. "This might sting."
But Lance couldn't even feel it. His legs had gone wobbly. He stared at Keith, marveling at how his eyes were dark, but if you looked hard enough, you could see flecks of purple dotting them. He got lost in them, drowning, but somehow in a good way.
Damn, he could sit here forever.
In what felt like minutes, Keith finished his tattoo. It took Lance a minute to realise he was done. Keith was snapping his slender, elegant fingers in front of his face.
"Hey. Lance?"
"Y-yeah?"
"You're done." Keith was staring at him strangely. Lance wanted to facepalm.
He swung his legs out of the chair. Only than did he feel his right shoulder stinging faintly. He turned his head to look.
It was so beautiful, he gasped.
It was a lion made out of flickering blue fire. The lion was a simple black sketch, but the blue filled it with color so it looked like it was moving, the hot flames licking his arm.
He turned to Keith, smiling. Keith blushed slightly, his cheeks turning pink. "It's nothing, really-"
He never got to finish because Lance was throwing his arms around him and beaming. Keith's cheeks went from pink to red. "It's awesome!"
"Thanks. Come back sometime?"
"Definitely!"
He walked outside the store, Pidge and Hunk admiring the new tattoo.
Allura was finally finished with the punk girl's hair. She walked over to Keith and grinned. "He just couldn't keep his eyes off you, could he?"
Keith turned to her and frowned. "Who?"
Allura rolled her eyes. "Lance, you dummy. He was staring at you the entire time."
"No he wasn't."
"Oh yes he was. And I have to say, you make a very attractive couple."
"Shut up!"
"Whatever, Keith. Deny it all you want." she went backstore.
Keith stared at the spot where Lance had been a couple minutes ago. Had Lance been staring at him? When he thought about it, the Cuban boy was cute…..
Lance had visited the tattoo parlour two weeks later. He got another tattoo, and Allura even trimmed his hair. He got lost in Keith's eyes again. This time, Keith had copied the design off a piece of paper. Scribbling at the bottom, he added a couple of tweaks. He handed it to Lance.
"Here," he said casually. "I added something at the bottom. If you're okay with it, I can add that to the rest of your tattoo."
"What? Oh, sure."
Lance grabbed the paper, trying to hide his pink cheeks. Focusing on the paper, he almost fell backwards into his chair. Scribbled on the page in messy handwriting was:
Call me?
453-730-2834
Keith smiled shyly. Lance was sputtering, trying in vain to regain his composure. He could feel Allura's evil grin penetrating his back through the chair. Shaking off the dizzy feeling that had overwhelmed him, he felt a smile grow across his face. He handed Keith the paper.
And kissed him.
It didn't matter that the parlour was full of people. It didn't matter that Allura was shaking her fists in the air with an I-Told-You-So look on her face. It didn't matter that Pidge and Hunk were staring at them with their jaws hitting the floor.
But the fact that Keith's lips were soft and tasted faintly like watermelon was definitely important.
As they pulled away from each other, Lance could tell that Keith's cheeks had turned pink again. His face probably wasn't much better. They grinned, blushing awkwardly. Slowly, Pidge started to clap. Hunk joined in, with Allura bringing in the rear. Soon, the entire parlour was clapping, which only made the couple blush more.
Lance swallowed the lump that had made home in his throat. "You know, I think I might need this after all. Call you later?"
Keith smiled so cutely it made Lance's chest hurt. "Sure."
Epilogue
Keith rubbed his fingers over the new tattoo on Lance's left ring-finger. "Feel okay?" he asked, lips pursing in concern.
Lance laughed. "It feels fine, Keith." He leaned over and kissed his boyfriend. Keith had his own tattoo on his left finger. It was their second year dating, and they had celebrated by getting new tattoos. Afterwards, they went to a quiet cafe to share a hot cocoa.
Lance sipped from his straw. Keith mimicked him, loving the way the hot, sweet drink felt going down his throat. It was even better because he was sharing it with his amazingly cute boyfriend.
They finished the drink and payed. They walked out of the store, anticipating the movie they were going to watch. Instead of going to the theatre, Lance suggested they watch at home instead, so they could cuddle and share kisses while watching the cringey movie Shiro recommended.
While walking, they held hands the entire time. During the movie, Lance kept planting kisses on Keith's fiery sun tattoo, much to the other's annoyance and amusement.
Lance himself had a simple moon tattoo on his finger. The couple loved the idea of getting finger tattoos because they were so self-explanatory when it came to their relationship.
"I love you, Lance."
And even though Keith muttered it, Lance heard him loud and clear.
Fin
