Written for Day 25 of Sheith Month: Gladiolus.
"Mom's not exactly thrilled, but you know Dad got into the idea as soon as Matt told them about it, so- Shiro, where are you going?" Pidge asked, interrupting herself, and Shiro grinned.
"I just need to look in here for something." Shiro said, indicating the shop they were passing by. "Coming?"
Pidge looking at the storefront. "Uh. No. Thank you. Do you know how many things in there will make me sneeze?" she asked, wrinkling her nose, and Shiro laughed.
"Okay. Just give me a few minutes?" Pidge nodded and Shiro slipped into the shop, which was . . . filled with more flowers than Shiro had actually expected. There wasn't quite room for his shoulders between encroaching plants and he had to duck to keep something bright blue and dangling from catching on his head.
He quickly gave up on looking for what he wanted and started looking for a proprietor. Surely there was one, somewhere in the mass of plants.
Once he found his way through to the counter - most of its surface scattered with leaves, ribbons, pots, and dirt - to ask, the tiny woman who owned the shop quickly produced an armful of very tall stalks sporting brilliant scarlet flowers. Shiro grinned. "Perfect!"
A few minutes later he was carefully edging his way back out of the shop, trying not to catch his bouquet on anything that would be damaged or fall over, at least.
"Holy monkeys those are huge!" Pidge said as he stepped outside, eyes wide. Shiro tipped his head back, looking at the bouquet. Fair assessment. "What are they? And are you really bringing Keith flowers?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Keith doesn't really seem like a flowers kind of guy. More like . . . a new sharp thing or part for my latest mechanics project kind of guy."
"They're gliadioli." Shiro told her. "Their name comes from gladius." he said absently. "I think Keith will like them." He fingered one huge bloom. Certainly his boyfriend would like the colour, at least.
Pidge, Shiro realised, looked blank. "Gladius. Sword. Latin. They're also called 'sword lilies'." he filled in for her.
Pidge blinked, then laughed. "Perfect."
"Right?" Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Home, 'Kashi!"
Shiro smiled, going to meet Keith near the door. He pulled off his boots and stepped inside with his heavy bag still over his shoulder.
"Welcome home, darling." Shiro hesitated just in front of his boyfriend, giving him a change to slide his bag off and put the case holding his swords down before hugging him. Keith kissed his cheek, returning the embrace with a hum. "How was practise?"
"Good." Keith said, shrugging one shoulder. "Leon is not getting any better, and Jae-in keep pushing too hard; his leg isn't healed enough to train hard yet, but he keeps trying, and he swears he's going to be fighting in the competition three weeks from now."
"Which is something you would never do." Shiro said dryly, and Keith snorted, lips twitching.
"Never." Keith said, just as innocent as if Shiro hadn't had to come and collect him - and his bike - from the dojang last October when he'd pushed himself too hard, too soon and aggravated his severely sprained and healing ankle almost far enough to tear a ligament.
"Hm." Shiro said non-committally. Keith kissed him lightly before slipping out of his arms with a mischievous smile. He scooped up his bag and sword case, heading down the hall to stow his equipment properly.
Shiro went through to collect the flowers from where he'd stashed them on the back porch, out of sight to wait until Keith got home. He'd expected Keith to be back before he was today, but it wasn't so unusual for his boyfriend to stay longer at the dojang, either.
"Hey, 'Kashi, what did you want to do for- Oh!"
Shiro smiled. "You needed flowers." he said lightly as he passed them into Keith's arms.
"I did?" Keith asked, not quite teasing and not quite serious, trailing his fingers up one blade-shaped leaf.
"Yes, you did. They're gladioli." Shiro said. "Sword lilies. Which just screamed 'Keith needs these'." he said, mock-solemn.
Keith laughed. "I can see that." he admitted, bringing them a little closer. "They're pretty, 'Kashi. Thank you." He fingered one of the blooms with a tiny smile, his eyes soft. "Is there any . . . particular reason you brought me flowers?" he asked, cocking his head.
"I love you." Shiro said softly, cupping Keith's jaw and kissing him lightly. "But aside from that, no." He scrunched up his nose playfully. "I just couldn't resist."
"I love you too." Keith freed one hand to catch Shiro by the collar and pulled him back down for another kiss. "Do we have a vase these will fit in?" he asked curiously, looking at his armful of flowers.
Shiro opened his mouth, then paused. "I . . . don't know. Um."
Keith laughed and tugged his collar again. "It doesn't matter. They're lovely. Let's check after dinner, though." he suggested. "I'm starving." he said apologetically.
"Of course." Shiro shook his head, focusing, although at the back of his mind he was idly trying to remember if there was a vase large enough in one of their cupboards.
Pidge says holy monkeys because of Mikkimouse - she didn't suggest it, but she's kind of Pidge-ish, and she does. XD
Incidentally, in the Language of the Flowers gladioli mean 'ready armed', which I thought was rather appropriate for Sheith in general even if not used in this story.