Keith stared blankly at the pile of gifts left on his bed. He had thought being in space would have prevented him from getting presents. Or that it would have been like last year, just him, the moon, Jack the rattlesnake and Cody the coyote. It was even more surprising that he'd gotten gifts even after leaving the castle to join the Blade of Marmora, he really hadn't thought anyone would have gone through the effort to get a present to him, but apparently they had.
Keith took a deep, shaky breath as he sat down at the edge of the bed. He carefully picked up the smallest present that had been left on top, a plain black box with Galran writing on it. Keith opened the box, presumably form some of the Blade members, and found a set of gloves with retractable claws, and a card that he had to scan to read that said "So now even our smallest can have claws." Keith frowned at the comment about his height but ignored it as he slid the gloves on. The fabric was soft and smooth, but he could feel the sturdiness. He twitched his fingertips to cause the claws to deploy, smiling at the smoothness of the deployment. If he hadn't known there were claws, he wouldn't have guessed there were just from the feel.
Keith twitched his fingers again to retract the blades and slid the gloves off before grabbing the next box. It was longer than the first and wrapped in sparkly paper, the tag hanging off it read "From: The Tailor To: Keith." Presumably it was from Lance, he tried to find and edge of the wrapping but had little success. Eventually Keith gave up and just tore the paper off the box. The box itself was plain and white, so Keith slid the top off without much thought. Inside was a simple black and red striped scarf and a letter that rambled on for three pages. Keith set the letter aside to read later and reached in to feel the scarf. The scarf was surprisingly thick and plush feeling. Keith rubbed his cheek on the fabric for a moment, just enjoying the feel before wrapping it around his neck, making a mental note to at least wear the scarf in front of Lance to show he appreciated it.
The next box Keith grabbed was far heavier than the previous two and was a plain box that latched at the bottom until the previous two boxes. Keith pulled the box into his lap, balancing it carefully, before unlatching the top. He pulled the top off to reveal what looked like a small cake with the words "Happy Birthday Keith" written carefully in icing on the top. Keith assumed it was probably from Hunk, who he trusted with food, but space food was still always a little dangerous. Keith stuck a finger into the cake and licked the frosting off his finger. The frosting tasted almost like peanut butter, which he presumed Pidge had probably absconded all the leftover, and the cake itself was almost chocolate flavored, a little bitter, more like the dark chocolate of home, but still good. Keith carefully slid the lid back on and latched it so he could put it aside to enjoy after he'd opened the rest of the presents.
Keith surveyed the boxes left, a brightly wrapped one covered in bows, a smaller one wrapped simply in white paper, and a large black one with tape all over it. Keith considered his options then grabbed the one wrapped in white paper. Having learned from the last wrapped box, Keith tore straight through the paper and opened the box inside. The box contained a practical hair tie, a particularly fluffy red scrunchy, a soft bristled brush, a note and a short stack of datapads. The note indicated the box was from Allura and Coran, both seeming excited by the human tradition of gift giving to celebrate living another year. Allura had included the hair ties and brush for when he was working out, or if he had a diplomatic mission and needed his hair out of his face. Coran had included the datapads with a number of translated Altean myths, a compendium of animals they might run into, and then one was entirely full of stories Coran remembered from the days of the Old Paladins. Keith checked his watch to make sure he wasn't going to be required anywhere soon, which he wasn't, and then brushed his hair out carefully, enjoying the feel of the soft bristles brushing against his scalp. He brushed out his hair until it was shiny then tied it up with the scrunchy, which went exactly three times around his hair without pulling or tugging too much. Keith put the brush back in the box and moved it over to the side with the "things to do later" pile.
Keith hummed quietly to himself as he tried to decide which box to open next, the overly decorated box or the largest box. Eventually he decided to save the largest box for last and opened the brightly wrapped box covered in bows. This box, Keith was able to find and edge of the wrapping paper and carefully removed it from the box. The box was very square and rather heavy so Keith wasn't sure what to expect. He thought it might be from Pidge so maybe she made him something? Opening the box he discovered it was a set of red headphones, a small orange data storage device, a smaller set of black headphones that would wrap around his ears, and a note with directions and well wishes. The note said that it was from Pidge, Hunk, and Matt who had apparently been found since he had left. The data device was apparently full of movies and music from Pidge's computer as a reminder of Earth. The headphones could both plug in, the large ones were noise cancelling and the smaller ones were so he could take music to the training deck with him. Apparently Pidge had been working on making more headphones since Lance kept snitching hers and had finally had the time to do so. Apparently it was a prototype so if he had any problems he was supposed to contact them between mission. Keith slid the noise cancelling headphones on, the little background noise of the ship being silenced as he connected the headphones to the space mp3 player and put the music on random.
Keith stared at the final box as he bopped his head to the music. Eventually he reached forward, this was Shiro's present, it had to be everyone else had already given him something. He surveyed the box with tape on it everywhere and decided it would be easier to just cut it. Carefully using his knife he cut the top off the box and placed both the knife and the top to the side. In the box was a giant plush comforter, when he ran his hands over it it felt similar to the scarf he was wearing, probably made with the same fabric. Keith picked it up and shoved his face in it, noting there seemed to be a certain level of weight to the comforter. Keith smiled, Shiro had provided him with a weighted blanket back on Earth ages ago, but it hadn't made it to space so the new one was greatly appreciated.
Keith left the blanket in his lap while he investigated what else was in the box. There was a datapad with the Altean equivalent of a sticky note that said "watch me last" and a small box that rattled some when he shook it. Taking out the box, Keith inspected what else Shiro had seen fit to give him. The box was full of swatches of fabrics that mostly felt nice, there was one that Keith really didn't like, it felt too scratchy against his skin, then there was Shiro's class ring on the chain Keith had left it on when Shiro had given it to him back before Kerberos, the presence of which made Keith's heart skip a beat. It was Shiro's one real reminder of Earth, of before the alien war in space, before his kidnapping, when space was something shiny and new, waiting to be explored. Keith couldn't imagine why Shiro had sent his class ring, it wasn't like the reminder of the Garrison would bring Keith much comfort. Keith puzzled over it for a few seconds while the song moved to the next one and Keith dumped it all back into the smaller box. He put the small box back into the larger one and grabbed out the datapad before shoving the large box off the bed so he could lie down. Keith flopped onto his side, carefully avoiding the other boxes still on his bed and pulled the weighted blanket up over his shoulder. Relaxing he unplugged the headphones from the music player and plugged them into the datapad. There was a video queued up when he turned the pad on so he relaxed and watched.
The video was dark, there was some whispering before a voice clearly said, "Guys, guys, shhhh the video recording is started." There was a little more shuffling before what seemed to be candles were lit, each of the Castle's residents holding one, even Matt who looked scruffier than Keith remembered with the scar on his cheek. Hunk, the person at the beginning started again, "Hey, Keith! So, Shiro told us you didn't get to celebrate your birthday back on Earth much, so we decided to do it out here in space. You being away with the Blade doing all the sneaky important things made our plans a bit harder, but we adapted." Hunk paused and it looked like Pidge had jabbed him with an elbow. "Right. Anyways, so we sent all this stuff with Kolivan last mission we had in common, so hope you enjoy the Space Birthday Song." Keith let out an amused snort at the name, Lance's habit of just putting space in front of the word seemed infectious.
Shiro counted them in and started the song, "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you." Pidge joined in, voice clear, and the pair continued, "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you." Lance and Hunk joined in next, adding to the harmony effect, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you." Matt, Allura, and Coran joined in last, "Happy birthday dear Kei-eith, happy birthday to you." Suddenly Lance yelled, "Make a wish!"
There was a lot of yelling over each other but Keith knew he heard at least once, "Keith comes back okay!" Keith felt tears build up in his eyes that he tried to blink away. Then he head Matt's voice call out, "Now blow out the candles!" The video descended into darkness again before someone turned the lights on.
Hunk wandered forward, presumably to turn off the camera, and Keith's eyes were overflowing from the overwhelming amount of feelings he had right now. Right before the camera turned off he heard, "Happy birthday Keith, hope you come home soon. We're waiting." The screen turned off, its message given, and Keith curled up in a ball under his blanket sobbing, who knew you could miss a few people this much. Was this how Lance felt all the time when he said he was homesick? Could you feel homesick about missing people? Keith didn't know the answer as he slowly slipped into an exhausted slumber, clinging to the pad like a teddy bear.