"Go away, Lance!"

"Dude, you've been holed up in there for the past four and a half hours! What are you doing?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Whoah, touchy. Wait…this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that today's Valentine's Day, does it? Aww Hunk, you shouldn't put so much effort into something for little old me! Just seeing your handsome face is gift enough!"

The door to Hunk's room suddenly whirred open. The Yellow Paladin was covered head-to-toe in wood shavings.

"Jesus, Hunk, did you kill a forest for V Day?"

Hunk glared at him before giving a heavy sigh. "It's for Keith's gift."

Lance raised an eyebrow and his lips turned up in a feral smirk. "So it is for Valentine's Day! C'mon, let me see!"

"No. You're just going to laugh at me."

"Oh c'mon, I'm your best friend! Would I ever judge you?"

Hunk gave him a flat look.

"Alright, alright, I promise I won't laugh. Now will you please show me?"

Hunk gave another sigh, knowing that Lance wouldn't back down. Turning his back to his best friend, Hunk led the way into his bedroom.

"It's not finished yet, okay? So don't talk too much shit about it."

Lance raised his eyebrow again in wonder as his eyes scanned the room. There was a serious pile of glue containers and paints resting on top of a small worktable in the center of the room. A saw and several different carving knives sat on top of and beside the table. Hunk resumed his spot in a chair that he had propped up against the table as Lance surveyed his work. Sitting neatly on the table was a miniature of the red lion. Lance knelt down and peered in for a closer look. The lion was identical to Red and captured every detail. It was about a foot long and half a foot tall.

"Dude, this is amazing!"

Hunk blushed a very cute shade of red and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It could probably be a lot better."

"Are you kidding me? This is perfect! Keith's going to shit himself."

"You really think he'll like it?"

Lance's eyes ran over the immaculate workmanship and nodded in reply. "You have to go give it to him."

"But it's not finished!"

"Dude. It's totally finished. You're just stalling because you're too scared to give it to him."

Hunk bit his lip and didn't meet Lance's eyes. He and Keith had only been dating for a few months and Keith was his first valentine. What if he didn't like the gift? Or was too embarrassed over it? Or got weirded out?

"Hey, hey. Look at me." Lance put a hand on Hunk's shoulder and forced him to look at him. "That hothead is going to positively melt over this, you hear me? Now you go and you give it to him. And then give him the gift."

"Lance!" Hunk cried indignantly as he blushed at the innuendo. Lance only let out a laugh and Hunk took in a deep breath. "O-okay. I'm going to do it," Hunk said nervously as he picked up the miniature delicately. "Thanks for the support Lance."

"Ugh, just go and be lovey-dovey in his room so I don't have to look at ya."

Hunk beamed at Lance and the Blue Paladin grinned back.

XXXXXX

"I'm fucked."

"You're not fucked."

"I am so totally fucked."

"It's really not that big of a deal. Couldn't you just make him chocolates or get him some flowers?"

"I'm not getting Hunk flowers!"

"Why not? Lots of guys like flowers."

"Pidge."

"Hey, you can't be mad at me for trying to help your sorry ass. Who forgets to get their significant other something for Valentine's Day?"

Keith gave a heavy sigh and let his head fall into his hands.

The day was already halfway over and he hadn't gotten Hunk anything for Valentine's Day. It wasn't that Keith purposefully forgot to get Hunk something – it was just that with all of the battles against Zarkon going on lately, Keith hadn't given it much thought. He had had other things on his mind. Now, however, Keith felt like a total loser. This was his first Valentine's Day in a relationship and he was going to fuck it all up because he hadn't gotten his boyfriend anything.

"I suck at baking so chocolates are out. And it's not even like the castle can create flowers." Keith's head shot up and his eyes got really wide as he looked at Pidge hopefully. "Wait, can it?"

Pidge gave him a flat look and Keith groaned, dropping his head back into his hands.

"Pidge, what am I going to do?"

"Why don't you make him something from the heart?"

"From…the heart?"

"Yeah! Like a really big card or something cheesy like that."

"A card's not good enough."

"Why not?"

"Because Hunk deserves a thousand cards!" Keith sighed as he flopped down onto Pidge's bed. "My gift should show him how I feel about him without needing words. It has to be special. And it should be practical."

"Well, then think from the heart. What's your heart telling you to do?"

"Puke."

"Keith."

He gave another groan and ran his hands through his hair. Keith pressed the cool leather of his gloves against his forehead and contemplated. After a minute he sat up so fast that Pidge jumped.

"I got it! But I don't know how much time I have."

"I saw Hunk dart into his room on my way to get you a little bit ago. My guess is that he's holed himself up in his room to work on your gift. So you probably have loads of time."

"Do you think Coran still has that spare fabric he used to make our disguises for the mall?"

"You can go ask him. Why? What are you going to make?"

Keith simply grinned in response.

XXXXXX

It was nearly dinnertime when Hunk knocked on Keith's door. When he didn't get a reply right away, Hunk knocked again. He was mid-knock for a third time when the door whirred open to reveal Keith. He didn't meet Hunk's gaze and was staring down at the floor with a furious blush on his face.

"H-hey."

"Hey," Hunk greeted warmly. He was holding Keith's gift behind his back so that he couldn't see it. Reaching out, Hunk gently cupped Keith's face and lifted it so their eyes met. "Happy Valentine's Day, Keith."

The Red Paladin's blush traveled down his neck and touched the tips of his ears as he swallowed thickly. The sight made Hunk's heart melt and he felt himself relax a bit in his boyfriend's presence. Keith was just as nervous as he was.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too."

"I brought you something," Hunk started as he shifted on his feet.

Keith's eyes widened fractionally in alarm and Hunk wondered if perhaps he had forgotten to get Hunk something. But then Keith nervously licked his lips and looked away from Hunk.

"I have something for you too, but I doubt it's special enough."

"Anything from you is priceless," Hunk whispered, tilting Keith's face so their lips could meet.

The kiss was sweet and Keith couldn't help but lean into it. He rested his hands on Hunk's hips and squeezed lightly. After a moment Hunk pulled away slightly breathless. He touched his forehead against Keith's and pulled back to gaze into his boyfriend's eyes.

"You know, I'm really happy that I get to spend this day with you. I couldn't think of anywhere else in the galaxy I'd rather be than right here with you."

Something in Keith's heart clenched at hearing those words and he couldn't resist leaning in for another kiss.

"I feel the same way."

After some more kissing and holding one another, Hunk eventually pulled back with a breathless laugh. "I believe you mentioned something about a present?"

The blush came back and Keith absently rubbed the back of his neck. "You go first."

Hunk gave him a bashful smile before withdrawing the miniature lion from behind his back. He held it up for Keith to gingerly take.

"I made this for you. It's not perfect, but…" Hunk's voice trailed off as he watched Keith's eyes widen in amazement. Keith carefully ran his fingers over the paint job and marveled at just how perfectly the miniature looked like Red.

"Hunk…"

"Hey, I warned you it wasn't that great –"

"Hunk, it's beautiful."

"R-really? I hoped you would like it."

Keith finally tore his eyes away from the miniature to look into Hunk's eyes. His expression told Hunk everything he needed to know – that Keith was incredibly impressed with his work and that he was very much in love with Hunk.

"After dinner I'm going straight to Red to show her. She's going to love it just as much as I do."

Keith held the miniature carefully in his left hand and entwined his right hand in Hunk's hair, bringing their lips together again for a passionate kiss. Hunk moaned against him when Keith's tongue desperately pushed into his mouth to explore. They stood there until their lips were slightly bruised and puffy from the intense make out session. Keith pulled away first, his pupils blown wide, and watched as Hunk lazily blinked his eyes open.

"I could spend all day kissing you."

Keith chuckled lowly at that and the sound did a number on Hunk. The Red Paladin turned away from him to place the miniature on his bedside table.

"Thank you for this, Hunk. It really is beautiful."

Hunk beamed at him and watched as Keith reached for something under his pillow.

"Close your eyes."

"Oh, c'mon."

"Please, Hunk?"

The Yellow Paladin huffed but closed his eyes regardless. Something soft was placed in his outstretched hands.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Hunk opened his eyes slowly and stared down at the gift he had received. He held a pair of homemade oven mitts. They were made of yellow fabric and had Hunk's initials and a pair of poorly-stitched lion faces embellished on them in red.

"Your other ones were getting kind of shabby and I know you often worry that one of these days you're going to burn yourself right through the fabric, so I thought…"

"I didn't know you knew how to sew," Hunk whispered in awe as he slipped on the oven mitts. They fit perfectly and actually looked pretty good on him.

"Coran taught me how to use the sewing machine. They'd probably look better if he had done it, but I wanted to make you something from the…from the heart."

Hunk looked up from the mitts at Keith and realized the Red Paladin was looking vulnerable. Hunk couldn't help but reach out and wrap his oven mitted-hands around the Red Paladin, drawing Keith close to his body.

"I love them. I'm going to use them all the time and think of you."

Keith hid his smile in Hunk's neck.

The Yellow Paladin pulled back just enough to press a chaste kiss on Keith's lips. "Nobody's ever given me such a thoughtful gift before. I really love you, Keith."

"I love you too, Hunk."

The two would be late to dinner but none of the others really seemed to mind much. Nobody seemed to mind when Keith showed up covered in hickies or the loving looks the boyfriends continuously shot each other over the meal, or the way Hunk hummed jovially as he prepared dinner.

Lance didn't even make one crack about Hunk's new oven mitts.