Keith stared at the computer screen in front of him and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he had been trying to edit this video, but he was out of coffee and his eyes were exhausted from staring at the screen for so long. A bright light turned on behind him. He flinched at the sudden change.
"Keith what are you doing? You've been locked in here all day."
"I'm fine Shiro. The sound equalizer is just giving me issues and I haven't been in here all day." A quick glance at the clock told him that he had in fact been in there all day. "Or maybe I have. I just need to finish this part up then I'll come out."
"Of the closet or this room?"
"Of this room. Why would I be coming out of the closet? I don't edit my videos in there." Keith swiveled in his chair to face Shiro. Judging by his clothes - and that smell that was now permeating the room - he had just come back from the gym Shiro wore a small frown but was still standing relaxed in the doorway.
"You're right Keith. How silly of me," Shiro deadpanned. "But you need to get out of - not only this room - but the house. I don't think you've left this house in the past week."
"Yes I did. I went outside on Tuesday."
"Taking out the trash does not count."
Keith opened his mouth to argue, but closed it just as quickly. He couldn't argue against that point much.
"Well what do you expect me to do? He finally asked. "I don't need to go out for anything so why should I leave?"
"Because you need human interaction like everyone else. Outside of your brother," Shiro quickly added the last statement, cutting Keith off before he could cut in.
"So what do you expect me to do? I'm not going to leave if there's no reason to."
"Well funny you should mention that," Shiro said, a smile on his face. "While I was at the gym I could have sworn I heard someone mention something about pyramids and an eye-"
"What!?" Keith nearly shrieked. He leaped from his chair and hurried to the corkboard hanging on the wall. It was full of pictures and strange journal entries. Strings were connecting each of the pictures to an image in the center that featured a pyramid with an eye. "What did this guy look like? He has to have been part of the Illuminati. Maybe I can get him to tell me about the alien cover ups. Where is he Shiro?" Keith turned back to Shiro pleading for answers with his eyes.
"Well like I said I just overheard him. I do think he mentioned something about heading downtown for some special business."
"That confirms it!" Keith rushed out of the room pushing his way past Shiro and toward the front door. He grabbed a red jacket hanging on a hook and was about to leave when Shiro cut him off.
"Keith, since you're heading out why don't you go get me more eyeliner? I'm almost out and the shop is right there."
Keith paused and turned back to face Shiro. "Why didn't you grab it earlier? You could have gotten it before you went to the gym or even after. It's not a crime to shower at the gym you know."
Shiro frowned back at him. "I went to the gym right after I got off work. Not all of us can work from home like you. And everyone always looks at me weird whenever I shower at the gym." It wasn't long, but Keith managed to catch the glance Shiro gave his right arm. Keith grimaced remembering when Shiro had come home from the war. They had needed to give him prosthetic arm and he had always been self conscious about it since. It didn't help when people asked about it. Not many people were proud of their veterans.
"Sorry Shiro," Keith muttered.
"It's ok Keith I know you didn't mean it. Now the eyeliner you need to get is -"
"Just text it too me Shiro. I don't think I'll remember what it is by the time I walk into the store."
"Okay. Stay safe." Keith nodded and walked out the door to his motorcycle. He'd had the old thing for years. He knew he should probably replace it, but he just couldn't yet.
It managed to start after he had turned it over a few times and he began to make his way to Galaxy Garrison. It was the store Shiro went to get his makeup and face wash. The only reason Keith even knew that was from Shiro forcing Keith to come with him on several of his makeup runs. Luckily this time Keith didn't have to wait for Shiro to finish talking with the salespeople. He could just go in, get what he needed, and get out. The member of the illuminati wouldn't wait forever and Keith needed to catch him as soon as he could.
He parked his bike in the small parking lot the store provided and strode through the door. It was starting to get dark and it didn't seem the place was very busy. Keith could see one other customer in the store back looking at what he guessed was nail polish and he couldn't see any of the workers anywhere. There was a buzz in his pocket. Keith pulled out his phone and noticed the new text for, Shiro.
I need the Altean brand black liquid eyeliner and make sure it is waterproof.
Keith smirked as he tapped out a quick reply.
Waterproof? Do you need to make sure it doesn't get messed up when you're crying all those tears?
Keith shoved the phone back in his pocket and made his way around the store trying to find anything that could be eyeliner. He couldn't remember where Shiro always got it. He was so engrossed in his search he didn't notice the other customer was leaving until he was startled by a loud "Have a nice day" from the cashier. Keith glanced up to the registers but quickly hid behind one of the nearby shelves, cursing under his breath.
What is he doing here? He thought. Keith hadn't seen that man since before he dropped out of college. He'd recognize that dark skin and brown hair anywhere.
Keith continued to curse in his head as he hurried to the other side of the store. Shiro had not told him that he would be here. Not that Shiro would have really known that but still.
Keith was no far enough away from the main counter that he didn't think the other man would see him, but Keith was also smart enough to realize that that man was the only one who was working here and he would have to go deal with him eventually. Keith cursed Shiro and manipulating him out of the house and forcing him into this situation. Keith bumped lightly into a shelf next to him. He grabbed it to steady it and noticed a sign on it that said Altean. He quickly scanned through the contents of the shelves to find the eyeliner Shiro asked for.
"Hi, the name's Lance. Can I help you find anything."
Keith felt like he jumped a foot in the air at the sudden words. He steeled his nerves and turned to face the other man.
He was just as attractive as Keith remembered him. Lance even made his uniform look good. There was a smile on his face and it didn't seem like the fake customer service smile that everyone who worked in retail wore and his eyes seemed to sparkle. Keith could get lost in them for days - no. He was not going to think about that. He just needed to get Shiro his eyeliner and get out of there. The sooner he got out of there the less chance Lance had to recognize him.
"I'm just looking for some eyeliner. For my brother," Keith hastily added.
"Then you're already looking in the right place. Altean Brand is one of the best makeup brands period in my opinion. Not only is it a good makeup product, they don't use animal testing and it's environmentally friendly. They really care about what they're doing," Lance said. He moved closer to Keith and Keith could feel the beating of his heart speed up as Lance came right up beside him, almost too close for comfort, and reached for something on the shelf.
"This is the one I'd recommend. It goes on smooth and waterproof so you don't have to worry too much about protection." Lance said this with a wink. His breath smelled like a sweet mint. Keith forced his mind to focus on the container of eyeliner Lance was holding out to him. He couldn't tell if it was the one Shiro wanted though.
"Of course I don't know what you're brother wants," Lance continued, stepping away in the process. Keith breathed a sigh of relief as his heart rate went down a bit after the bit of space.
"He wanted the black liquid eyeliner," Keith managed to say. He needed to get out of here fast.
"So this one then," Lance said with a teasing smile. "Did he need anything else or just the liner?"
"Just the liner." Lance's face seemed to fall a bit at the simple statement.
"And I don't suppose there's anything that you need," it was more of a statement than a question. From what Keith could tell, Lance seemed a little sad just to say it. "If you wanted I could help you find something that could make your eyes really pop."
"No I don't need anything."
"Of course," Lance said the statement with a sense of finality. Keith wasn't sure why he seemed so disappointed about it. He was pretty sure the store was closing soon and so Lance could leave. Even if he wanted to take Lance up on that offer, Keith didn't think he could handle much more time around this guy. He already felt like his heart was gonna burst.
"I'll ring you up then," Lance continued. "Follow me."
Keith followed Lance up to the register and was grateful that this whole ordeal was going to be over very soon. Lance gave him his totally and Keith quickly swiped his card. Lance was about to hand him the bag when the song in the store changed. Lance gasped.
"Oh man I love this song!"
"What?! This song is terrible! It's just the same 3 chords played over and over. I'm pretty sure it is basically the same as five other songs too." Lance's outburst had startled Keith and all his nerves from before seemed to disappear. For a moment at least.
"Are you kidding! This song is amazing. Not only are it's lyrics on point, it reminds me of one of my favorite video games."
"And what would that be? Tetris?"
Lance scoffed. "Not even! It's Legendary Defender!"
"Legendary Defender? That's even worse! The graphics may be halfway decent but the gameplay is horrible. There is barely anything that can be considered a plot which wouldn't be a problem if it was most platformers since you can get away with that a bit more of that genre of game, but it is an RPG! RPG's need plot! you can't just throw in a couple voice actors saying whatever goes through their minds about the world and call it an RPG! That's not even taking into account the game mechanics! If you're not careful going into most of the boss fights you're going to end up getting caught in an invisible hitbox that will kill you before you even get a chance to attack! Then you can get caught on on the world map if you don't' go through the very specific path the developers programmed in there."
"Maybe you just have to get better at games!" Lance retorted.
"I am good at games! I am very good at games!"
"Likely story. I bet it's all talk."
"If we had a game here I would prove it to you! Besides I bet you're worse than me anyways! I doubt you could even get through the first chapter for Legendary Defender!"
"Well number one I never claimed to be good at games. Number two I have beat Legendary Defender three times. And number three I could destroy you in any game!"
Keith was cut off by a buzzing in his pocket. Shiro had texted him.
If you don't get back here soon I will start making dinner.
Keith cursed and turned back to Lance.
"I have to leave but that does not mean I lose this."
"Well what's so important that you can't stop to prove your so-called gaming prowess?"
"That is not what I said! And I rather like having a place to live so I need to go stop my brother from burning the place down. And this isn't over."
"Sure it isn't Mullet."
"I'll be back," Keith growled. He snatched the bag from Lance and barreled his way to the door. He thought he brushed something as he was heading out, but didn't think much of it as he exited the building and made his way to his motorcycle. He stowed the eyeliner safely and cursed Lance for his entire drive home.
He slammed the door to the house and went to find Shiro to give him his stupid eyeliner.
Shiro was sitting in the main living room nowhere near the kitchen. Keith realized that Shiro had probably been faking the whole him making dinner thing.
"Here's your eyeliner," Keith muttered as he tossed it over to Shiro who caught it effortlessly. He almost didn't have to look up from his book. Keith turned to leave but Shiro stopped.
"What's wrong Keith? You don't seem like yourself."
"I'm fine Shiro. Just some bad traffic on the way home." Keith made to leave the room again but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Keith this is more than just some bad traffic. What happened? Did you not get the information you wanted from the man?"
"I didn't even get to see the Illuminati member."
"Keith-"
"I don't want to talk about it Shiro."
"Alright I won't push you, but you can tell me anything. I just want to help and it's not good to keep something like this bottled up." Shiro looked at Keith with concern. Keith meanwhile did his best to avoid Shiro's eyes.
"I know Shiro," he said. "I just need some time to myself right now."
Keith shrugged out of Shiro's hold and made hi sway to the kitchen, closing the door behind him. The anger from his encounter with Lance still lingered, but that wasn't the main reason he was still angry. He sighed as he leaned back against the door.
"How did that make him even more attractive?" Keith grumbled. "He fricking tried to defend Legendary Defender as a viable video game. He pressed all my buttons and ended up looking even cuter. It's not fair."
Keith sighed again and pushed off the door. He needed to get dinner ready.
Besides he thought it's not like I'm going to see him again. I just need to get over this stupid crush already. It's already been years.
"Keith, don't forget we're hosting the game night tomorrow," Shiro called through the house.
"The excuse for you to hang out with your boyfriend? Yeah I remember," Keith called back as he turned on the stove.
"Matt's not my boyfriend Keith. And he's bringing his sister and a couple of her friends."
"Fine whatever. But I won't be cooking anything for them."
"Well you won't have to. Matt said they were going to bring something over for all of us. Matt seemed pretty excited about it for some reason."
"Good for him," Keith muttered. The water had just started to boil when Shiro opened the door to the kitchen and stood just inside the doorway. He didn't say anything until after Keith had begun stirring the noodles he had added to the pot.
"You've been awfully quiet today," Shiro finally said.
"I'm always quiet Shiro."
"You're right Keith," Shiro said, leveling a deadpan look at Keith as he leaned against a nearby counter. "You're as quiet as a mouse. A mouse that screams at video games most of the day and constantly blasts its emo music."
"It's not emo!" Keith interjected. Shiro raised an eyebrow at him. Keith corrected himself. "It's not all emo," he said.
The timer on the stove cut Shiro off before he could reply. Keith turned to drain the pasta and Shiro continued.
"Now normally you would be blasting something that was emo while you made dinner. Something that would probably make me a little concerned about your mental state, but it is awfully quiet in here so something must have happened while you were out. I'm still not going to pry but I am open if you want to talk. Or maybe this is about something else?"
Keith said nothing in response and continued to work on dinner. Shiro frowned but soon a smile began working its way up his face.
"I know. This is about game night tomorrow isn't it? You're excited to see Katie and meet her friends. You want to actually expand your social circle don't you!"
"What!?" Keith nearly shrieked. His face began to turn a very nice shade of red and he nearly dropped what was left in the cheese packet onto the floor. "That's not- Shiro I- No that's not what I- Just no Shiro!" Keith's face turned even more red as he scooped the mac and cheese into bowls for him and Shiro.
"It's okay to want to make friends Keith. And judging by what I know about Katie, I'm sure these people will be some good friends to have. Maybe a couple of them even more than just good friends," Shiro muttered this last bit under his breath so Keith couldn't really make it out.
"I said that wasn't what I was thinking about Shiro!" Keith shoved one of the bowls into Shiro's hands. "Here. I'm going to go have dinner in my room."
"You made mac and cheese again?"
"Well it's better than any burnt thing that you would make," Keith gave Shiro a small smirk as he made his way to his room food in hand. Shiro groaned quietly as Keith made his way down the hall. Keith wasn't telling him something major - not that this wasn't the first time that had happened - and he was going to get the truth out of him. One way or another.
Keith quietly shut his door behind him and rested his back against it, letting out a small sihg. Him? Make friends? When was that ever going to happen. He managed to get into an argument with someone he hadn't even been around for ten minutes. Well, the two of them had met before but that didn't really count. Then there was all that time at school. Keith had lost track of how many people had refused to be his friend because he was that half-breed freak.
He wasn't going to get his hopes up.
Not this time.
Not ever again.