Birthdays were a difficulty for Keith.
Growing up, there wasn't much of an occasion for one. Both of his parents had died when he was very young and drifting from home to home made Keith's own birthday fade into obscurity.
He'd never even truly celebrated it until last year when he came home to all of his friend's jumping out at him screaming something about a surprise.
Despite the initial shock, the party itself was fun. It was everything Keith had heard about as a kid. Only a million times better.
Hunk had made a cake, Pidge had made him a mix of some of his favorite music, and Lance had given him a funny little cardboard card with a few bucks in it. The other's had given him what would graciously be called a 'look', but Keith, who had never received any kind of card for any reason, quietly appreciated it. Shiro had gotten Keith a book he had been wanting for the past few months. He'd been too busy to hunt for it himself. Having had work and other responsibilities to tend to.
And then there were the flowers.
Allura had bought them at a local florist and presented them to him the moment he walked through the door. A lovely bouquet of red tulips. Lance had sniggered but he stopped when Shiro elbowed him in the ribs.
Her cheeks had been pink as she thrust the flowers into his arms. Though when he accepted them, she gave a smile that could light up the world.
That smile never left him.
Not while he ate the cake. Or as he listened to the music with the others (Lance nearly tipped the couch over when he attempted an especially unique dance move.) Even when he finally sat down and read through his new book. That bright, happy, almost relieved smile stayed with him.
It wasn't until later that he realized why.
Tulips, he later found out, were used to declare your love for someone.
Allura loved him.
And he loved her back.
Feelings had never been simple for Keith. They'd always made him say things he didn't really mean, or do things without thinking.
And realizing that he dearly loved Allura had turned him into a gibbering mess around her. He suddenly found himself fretting over her health and wellbeing in a way he had never done before. He found himself being more standoffish than usual when some guy outside their social group flirted with her.
He feared what Allura thought of him. Of the way, he dressed, of the way he did things, of the way he acted now that he knew how she felt. But every time he caught her gaze there was that familiar warm smile.
How, exactly, they had started dating was something that remained a mystery to Keith. There wasn't any big romantic scene like in the movies. No dramatic meeting in the rain, or at a train station. They just started…. Dating.
It was like some kind of mutually-silent-understanding-that-didn't-require-words. Of course, the difficult with mutually-silent-understandings-that-don't-require-words is they… well, are silent. And don't have any words.
As a result Keith only realized just how serious their relationship was getting AFTER they had moved in together and he started washing Allura's underwear on his days off. The realization made him rather nervous every time he looked towards the calendar and saw the quickly approaching date of his girlfriend's birthday.
Allura had taken the chance on his own birthday to tell Keith how she felt about him. The realization of those feelings had warmed his heart in a way nothing had for years. A wondrous and loving present that Keith felt sure beat out any gift that he had ever gotten in his life.
Keith couldn't help but sigh as the days ticked by and Allura's birthday came closer and closer. Through one small act, she had lifted the heavy weight of loneliness that had once dragged him down.
He wanted to return the favor. To give her something special that would be just as powerful of a gift as hers had been to him.
But no matter what ideas he got from his friends, no matter how many stores he perused, nothing seemed to be right. Nothing seemed suitable or anywhere near good enough.
And so, on the eve of Allura's birthday party, Keith walked home with a heavy heart.
He doubted Allura would be angry with him for not getting her a gift. In fact, she likely wouldn't even care. She was the type of person to say things like, "Spending time with you is always a gift" and cheesy things like that.
But HE cared. Allura deserved the whole of the world and beyond. If he couldn't get her something she deserved… then what good was he to her?
Keith paused when a small, scared, and pathetic sound drifted into his ear. Stopping, he glanced down at the culprit.
"No, Coran." Allura said sternly into the phone. "I'm sorry but I won't be able to visit for my birthday. I barely got time off for a private party with my friends."
The manservant on the other end argued incessantly.
Sighing, Allura wondered if other girls had to deal with this kind of thing.
After her father had died some years before, Coran had become her legal guardian until she had come of age. However, her father's old manservant still called consistently for updates on Allura's life. He had nearly blown a gasket when she told him she was moving in with Keith.
Coran had demanded all kinds of information on the boy.
Where he went to school, what his family was like, and, Allura had lost her temper a bit when he brought it up, his financial position.
It WAS true that Allura had inherited more than a little money from her father. In fact, she was arguably a very rich woman. But it irked her the way that little fact seemed to get dragged into her personal life.
Whether Keith had been financially stable or not before meeting her didn't matter to their relationship NOW. He had never asked her for money or anything like that. In fact, Keith seemed to make it a point to stubbornly try and pay for as many things by himself as possible.
Thankfully, Coran had dropped the subject rather quickly after actually meeting the boy. But it still irritated Allura that the subject had even been brought up. It felt like people were questioning her intelligence and choice in boys.
The only reason she hadn't raised more of a fuss was because it had been Coran. Had it been anyone else, she would have left them in tears for even questioning Keith's motives in their relationship.
Allura was not the type of woman who loved lightly or often. Oh, there had been crushes before. Handsome men, with long family histories, and words like honeysuckle dripping from their lips. But in the end, they had always proved to be lacking.
Keith may have been an orphan with the romantic sense of a drowning cat, but he still somehow managed to have a more genuine understanding of what it meant to BE with someone than anyone she'd ever met.
He didn't shower her with chocolates or flowers, but if Allura ever needed an ear he was more than happy to offer both of his. When she'd been ill, he'd taken care of her. His very presence gave her a sense of comfort she used to only find in her father's arms.
And the most endearing aspect was how he did all of it without even really thinking. He never said things like "my love" or "my dearest" and he certainly never described her as "the light of my life" or anything embarrassing like that. He didn't need to.
Keith had the rare gift of saying, "I love you" without words. Words, in general, didn't come easily to him. So his actions made up for it.
And she adored him for it.
"I'll be coming down to see you next week when I'm free." She reasoned. "No, I won't be spending the night alone Keith will be home soon. No, we're not having the party tonight but tomorrow when everyone has time off. Yes, Coran, I do still plan on coming down for Christmas. I've invited the others to come along as well."
There was some argument on the other end.
"Oh come on Coran. The castle is always so empty and drafty. Besides, I think you'll like them. They're all so spirited!"
They spoke back and forth for some minutes more before Allura finally rang off.
A knock drew her attention to the door.
"One thing after another." she sighed.
Allura opened the door to find Keith standing there. His jacket held in his arms in a bundle.
"Keith? Why'd you knock? Don't you have your key?"
"Uhh," his eyes wandered down to the bundle of fabric in his arms. "Th-the thing is…"
The material moved and a small black nose poked out and whined.
Allura stared at it.
"Do, uh," Keith began sheepishly. "Do we have any towels?"
He found himself being pulled into the house and the bundle of fabric taken from his arms as he was given orders to go fetch the towels from the restroom. The sequence of events had happened so quickly that before he knew it, Keith found himself helping Allura towel off the small puppy he'd found.
"Ohh, he's soooo cute." Allura held the little creature in her arms as it liked her face. "Where on earth did you get him."
"W-well I came across it when I was on my way home. It was just sitting in a box on the curb. A-and I think it's actually a she."
"Awww," she cooed. "A little princess. Yes, you are. Yes, you are."
The puppy seemed to respond to this behavior well as it licked Allura's smiling face with vigor.
"I-I wasn't sure what else to do." Keith went on explaining. "So I, uh, I brought her here."
"Do we have anything for her to eat?" Allura asked before allowing her attention to switch back to the dog. "Poor little thing~ Must've been so cold and lonely out there all by yourself."
"Uh, yeah. I'll, uh, I'll go check."
Keith got up and headed into the kitchen and dug through it until he found some leftover chicken. It was as good as anything he supposed.
Still, it was surprising to see Allura act like that. He'd never seen her actually coo over anything before.
Later, Allura lay with a sleeping puppy on her chest, petting it carefully as the small creature slept on.
"Here," Keith came up next to her and placed a cup of tea next to her. "I figured you might be thirsty."
"Thank you," her voice was grateful, though she didn't reach for the drink. Still being busy running her fingers through the puppy's fur.
Keith smiled at her. "I don't know if I've ever seen you like this before."
"Like what before?"
"Like… I dunno… like this. I mean your cooing. I've never seen you actually coo."
Allura flushed and pouted a little.
"Well… she's cute. Anyone would coo at a cute puppy."
Keith laughed. "True enough I guess."
She remained silent before saying, "When I was little my father got a dog. It was a cute little thing. After he died, we never got another. This one kind of reminds me of that one."
"I see," Keith whispered. "Well, why don't we keep her then?"
"Are you sure?" she asked trying to keep her voice down.
"Absolutely. I've always liked dogs myself." He paused and then added. "You can consider it your birthday present. If you like."
Allura gave that smile that could rival the sun before looking down at the puppy in her lap and saying, "I'd love that."
Keith left her be and went off to begin making a list of things they were going to need. Food, a collar, a leash, etc. It made him happy to see Allura connect to something so quickly. She never really grew attached to people.
It wasn't a ring or bouquet of flowers or anything like that.
But Allura's smile had warmed his heart. Just like it had done with the tulips.
He couldn't read her mind but Keith hoped he'd made her happy. If only just a little.
And if he could be assured that Allura was happy, well, he could go the rest of his life never having another birthday ever again.