For sleapyGazelle since yesterday was her birthday! Happy Birthday, my beautiful friend!
Cover image by scadoots on Tumblr.

Today was the day.

After meticulous planning and hem-hawing from Pidge, Coran, and Hunk, they had mapped out their time in space and sectioned it into nice tidy Earthly dates. That was how they had been able to celebrate Easter in April, introducing Allura to the wonders of bunnies and Coran to the addicting chocolate. Then came September where the team celebrated not one but two holidays: the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Shiro, which also happened to be Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, that Keith had once celebrated in the briefest of childhood memories.

Now it was well into October and beyond Lance's continuous chant of "Halloween, Halloween, Halloween," accompanied by a pounding melody of some kind, it was all quiet. Good. Keith liked it quiet anyways.

He had slept the night before and it was a sleep with no dreams, something that he had come to appreciate after waking up with twisted blankets, a dry mouth, and an aching in his knee. That had happened more frequently since the Black Lion had moved for the first time since it opened up and Shiro wasn't inside. But Shiro was back, the team was stronger, and days had slid by with Keith laughing and smiling more than he ever had before.

He had awoken feeling refreshed and walked outside his room just in time to see Lance's door swoosh close. Keith blinked, curious, but hunger bade him to enter the dining room instead. He had not expected much, had expected this day to go as smoothly and quietly as usual, and so, was surprised to see a banner that said Happy Birthday Keith draping down from the high arched ceiling of the Castle.

"Happy Birthday," Allura said from her spot at the head of the table as Lance took a seat. "I understand that it is the day of your birth. Congratulations on making it to another year."

Keith blinked at her formal words but understood the warmth beneath as Coran came up to give him a firm handshake. "Happy Birthday, my boy! I wish you health in this lifetime and the next!"

He wondered if it was an Altean way of showing you cared, the way they hide behind their words when they were some of the most affectionate people he knew. Besides Allura stood Shiro, his brother if not in blood then in spirit. The man came over to enclose Keith into a solid hug and Keith ignored the jerk-knee reaction to pull away. The hug was brief but full; no words needed to be exchanged as Shiro smiled. It was a full blown smile, one that radiated happiness and it was something that Keith hadn't seen in a long time since Voltron's head was dragged back from Zarkon's grasp many sleepless nights ago. Keith took a moment to take in the view of Shiro's face as he walked back to sit next to Allura and ignored the suspicion that he might be losing his brother to another as Shiro looked at the Princess with tenderness in his eyes.

He was distracted at that moment when Pidge and Hunk barrelled through the doors with some contraption at hand. Understanding their sputters and yelling over each other, Keith eventually made out that the two had created some kind of tracker so that in battle, messages would come up on his visor to identify and analyze the people he was fighting.

Just then, the lights went out in the room and a small glow appeared by the door as Lance came walking in with a party hat on and a cake in the shape of Voltron. The candle's flames lit Lance's face up and Keith couldn't help but stare as the team started to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him. With the song commencing, Lance thrusted the cake in his face,

"Make a wish!"

Keith looked into Lance's blue eyes that were accentuated by the glow of the flames, felt more than saw the heat settling in both their cheeks, and hoped that he would have the courage to finally saw what was on his mind.

After all, today was the day.

- She had requested a small fic where the team celebrates Keith's birthday which is coming up on October 23rd. I snuck in some Klance because it's her OTP. Hope she likes it though I think I can do a better job if I had more time. I have a peanut sized brain so I honestly completely forgot until Facebook reminded me that it was her birthday. Yikes. I'm such a bad friend lols.

- Enjoy and drop a review, please! :)