The team was gathered around the dining table one equivalent of a night. They were all tired and worn after a rescue mission of a planet overruled by the Galra.

'That was a great shot, sharpshooter.' Shiro complimented, looking at Lance and taking a large bite of his green food goo.

Lance looked at the black paladin, still clad in armour like the rest of them, in surprised satisfaction and a pure sincere smile on his face as he looked around the table for everyone else's reaction. It was a smile only Keith noticed as he watched Lance with his spoon between his lips. When Lance's eyes found Keith, their gazes met and Keith smiled around his spoon. Lance's smile softened and he blushed slightly before turning back to his own food.

Keith had been watching Lance for a while. Ever since the blue paladin saved Coran's life in that explosion, risking his own life in the process, the dark-haired teen started paying closer attention to the often undervalued team member and with that came the realisation that, perhaps Lance's bravado wasn't as real as it sounded to everyone.

But who was Keith to diagnose such a thing? It's not as if he was good with emotions. Hell, it took him ages to finally figure out what the warm feelings fluttering about in his chest were.

Love.

Keith was a teen in love.

'Yeah, it was a great shot, as usual.' Keith reinforced for good measure. The tiny smile and the dusted pink cheeks on the tanned teen's face were a good reward for that.

Lance is a very handsome boy, who can blame him?

'Who are you and what did you do to Keith?' asked Shiro with a playful smirk on his face, making Keith blush and splutter as he tried to tell them he was serious.

'Do you think that we may have brought one of those shapeshifting aliens back on board instead of the real Keith?' Pidge also teased after swallowing a spoonful of goo.

Keith looked down at his food, flustered.

'That is an improvement, mullet.' Lance commented in his usual cheerful provocative jab, but Keith didn't feel like he could rise to this bait with the tremendous blush on his cheeks. One he wasn't sure why he was sporting. Where the hell was his indifference when he needed it?!

'Shut up.' Keith answered. It was Lance after all. There was just no way he was losing to him without a fight.

Lance laughed with the rest of the team, though and continued with his teasing. 'Maybe we ask Coran to stop at another space mall to get Keith a present. When's your birthday, anyway, mullet?'

Keith looked to the side, still embarrassed and muttered an answer he half hoped people wouldn't understand.

They didn't.

'What was that, bud? We couldn't hear you.' Hunk asked, pushing away his second bowl of green food and patting his belly in satisfaction.

'I…I said I don't remember…' Keith said, still without looking at his friends, but his blush was no longer there. It was replaced instead by a small wave of sadness.

There was a silence at the table that painted the atmosphere in shades of unease and sorrow until Lance spoke.

'Then I declare Keith's birthday will be tomorrow!'

Keith looked up at the blue paladin with the most surprised look he'd ever displayed on his face, catching Lance's small smile before it turned to an oversized grin.

'Hunk, buddy, is there any way we can cook the man a cake?'

Hunk smiled big and threw an arm around Keith's shoulders who only looked around perplexed. 'Sure thing, bud! I think I might be able to make it taste sweet as well!'

Pidge jumped up from her seat, her own second bowl of space food forgotten, half eaten. 'Keith, I have a surprise present for you and I am going to work on it right this instant!'

But before she could run away to whatever place she would be working on her present Shiro grabbed her by the back of her collar.

'No one will be working through the night. Everyone will go to sleep tonight.' The older teen (?) scolded them. 'If you're all done eating, we're all going to bed and tomorrow we can all figure out what to do about Keith's birthday. Deal?'

'Yes, dad.' They all chanted in unison, looked at each other and laughed good heartedly, walking away in good spirits.

As he was hugged by both Hunk and Shiro, Keith noticed the somewhat melancholic stance Lance carried himself with.

He didn't pay it too much attention, assuming the theme of birthdays made him sad somehow, homesick.

When was Lance's birthday, anyway?

-o0o-

When he woke up the next day, Keith was aware of a nagging feeling that the day was somehow different than the others, but he couldn't place the difference at all.

Until he finished adjusting his jacket over his black tee.

His birthday.

Today is my birthday…

And then he panicked:

What was he supposed to do? What do people do on their birthdays? They get cake and presents, yes, but were they supposed to do anything else? Would the team expect him to do anything? Even knowing he didn't celebrate his own birthday for as long as he lived?

Keith made his way out of his room, hesitant to meet anyone, but also very, very eager and giddy. I mean, a birthday all of his own! Given to him by Lance of all people!

He could feel the most unbidden smile coming onto his face. So unbidden and powerful it was that it turned his lips into a crooked line dividing his skin. Where did he usually put his hands? Did his face always feel like this?

As soon as he walked into the dining room Keith jumped back a few steps and his body sprung into battle position. The lights that had previously been switched off suddenly turned on and all the inhabitants of the castle of lions jumped from behind the door shouting a very loud and heartfelt "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!", complete with confetti and colourful cone hats. One of which was perched atop Keith's mop of black hair as soon as he managed to calm down his heart rate.

He received pats on the back from Hunk, together with a cake, a man hug from Shiro, a vigorous hand shake from Coran, together with a story about his youth, a peck on the cheek from Allura, another pat on the back from Lance, together with a hand cream – "You could seriously use one of these, I think." and a friendly punch to his arm, together with a handmade earth watch, courtesy of a Pidge.

'Guys…this is…very overwhelming.' Keith said, struggling with his own words and unable to control his joy. 'Thank you!'

'No worries! We had to celebrate your birthday after all! It's something that connects us to our humanity.' Shiro said feeling sage in his words, but looking silly in Keith's eyes.

They sang happy birthday to Keith, congratulated him some more and watched him cut the cake.

'My last birthday before I came here was not a big deal. I was at the garrison, so my family just gave me a video call.' Hunk confessed around his bite of the cake. 'Lance's sisters tried sending me their customary free hugs coupons, but since our mail was always searched I think it might have gotten stolen…'

'Speaking of, where is Lance?' Keith asked looking around, expecting the tall tanned teen to dramatically admit he was very popular with his sisters or something of the sort, probably offer to make a coupon for Keith as well, complete with his finger gun pose.

Everyone looked around in confusion then and they all realised something was wrong.

'When was the last time you saw him?' Shiro asked.

'When he was taste-testing the cake…oh no…' Hunk answered and his face turned a very unhealthy shade of pale, almost as if he had seen Zarkon himself. 'I am the worst best friend in the whole universe! What have I done?'

'What, Hunk?' asked Pidge, now alarmed at Hunk's very unusual self-deprecating melodrama.

'Guys.' Hunk looked at all of them seriously, his panic seeping from him in waves and contaminating everyone else's mood. 'Guys, today is Lance's birthday too.'

There was silence as everyone processed the new information. Keith himself was doubly surprised. On one side he was mortified that they had all forgotten Lance's birthday. Not that it was hard to since time seemed to blend together in space and when seconds and minutes became ticks and doboshes, birthdays were hard to keep track of. On the other side…wow! Lance's birthday?

Lance gave me a birthday the same day as him?!

Well, sure, it had only just come up. It could have been a coincidence. Lance could have said it half-heartedly. No, Keith was sure Lance said half-heartedly. Why would someone like Lance want to share a birthday with his mullet?

Intentionally or not, though, they all still forgot his birthday and that was a pretty douche move.

'Okay, nobody panic.' Shiro commanded, always the good leader. 'Allura, can you find Lance?'

'I can.'

'Great. After we make sure he's still safe in the castle, we all need to make this situation right.'

-o0o-

Keith was pulling up a blank brain.

After finding Lance in the hangar, inside the blue lion, they all decided to prepare a few presents for the birthday boy. Pidge closed herself in her room with nothing more than some alien form of sharpies and something similar to cardboard, puzzling everyone. Shiro took Black out with a very specific shopping order from Allura who stayed behind to monitor Lance and make sure he didn't find out their surprise. Hunk gave them all a ration pack and kicked them all out of the kitchen in a very rare show of strict seriousness and Coran vanished completely after leaving the dining room.

Several vargas passed from then, according to the ticker on Keith's side table. Four hours according to the wrist watch made by Pidge. She was really good at making stuff…

The black-haired teen still didn't know what the hell to give the wonderful idiot who was now sulking inside his lion. Keith knew for a fact that Lance and Blue had a very close relationship. He'd seen Lance talking to Blue about his day and about his family and earth several times before…

That's it!

Keith sat up in bed in a rush and ran all the way to the bridge.

'Allura!' he shouted as he entered the bridge, finding the princess sitting on the floor with the mice and with a holographic screen showing the hangar and the blue lion still sitting there quietly. 'Allura I'm gonna need some help with Lance's gift.'

'Sure. What can I help you with?'

'Well, I want to make Lance's gift by myself…' he confessed as he walked up to Allura rubbing his neck uneasily. 'But I'm not good at all at sewing…' The teen looked at the princess bashfully. 'I figured you might know…'

'Actually, I do.'

Another couple of vargas found Keith and Allura, both sitting on the floor of the bridge surrounded by fabric, thread, needles, scissors, buttons and soft stuffing material and Keith's project looked a lot like a wonky and crooked bundle of fabric rather than the cute plush blue lion he had envisioned. But he was determined to do this. Anything he could do to make Lance happy again.

Allura couldn't help the fond look she directed at the black-haired earthling as she watched him stick the needle in and pull it out in deep concentration and his tongue sticking out. He would prick himself on the finger sometimes, hiss and lick the wound, but he would always go back to his sewing straight away. A few times the blood wouldn't stop and he wrapped it with what he called a plaster. Allura figured it was the sepitilic wraps she found and then brought him in handfuls from the first aid kit.

'Keith, make sure you get enough sleep.' Allura said as parting, knowing full well that the boy would not sleep until he finished that plush.

Indeed, the next morning, when Allura entered the bridge, she found Keith asleep on the floor, plush finished…or she thought it was finished…and clutched tightly to his chest. She was almost too tempted to let him sleep. But when she saw that Lance was still inside Blue, she knew the time for that wasn't then. Keith thanked her for waking him as well and also for helping him wrap a bow around little wonky Blue's neck and headed straight for the Hangar, where Lance was still sulking.

Keith was very nervous as he entered the Hangar. He found Blue where she'd been the whole night, quietly keeping Lance safe. He was nervous because he wanted to make Lance understand how important he really was and how much he meant to Keith. He wanted to ask Lance properly to let him share a birthday and most of all, he wanted Lance to accept the plush Blue he had made at the painful cost of the integrity of his fingers. Not just because he was proud of his work (very damn proud!), but because he wanted to be the one to make Lance happy.

You are so gay, Keith Kogane. Congrats.

So, with all of his nervous conviction in mind and wonky Blue on his patched-up hands, he made his way to Blue and called out for Lance.

'Hey, Lance! Are you awake yet?' there was no answer, not a physical one at least, but Keith felt Blue's energy poking at him gently, with a warm permission from Red. So he kept talking. 'Hey Lance. I want to talk to you, please. Can you…come down?'

There was no answer from either Lance or Blue.

'Okay…I'll talk from here…' Keith said resigned to this arrangement, but hoping to be able to reach Lance with his words…if only he could say the right ones. 'I wanted to apologise to you, Lance. I think the others will be down here soon too…but I want to apologise to you before they do.' Keith stopped to think a bit about his words, but came up with nothing, so he decided to let that plan go and go with sentimentality. He was the reckless one after all, right?

I just hope I don't screw this up.

'First of all, happy birthday…I never even realised that it was yesterday. And that's why I want to apologise too. I'm sorry I forgot your birthday. I was so happy, Lance, that you gave me a birthday to celebrate.' And here Keith couldn't stop the giddy laugh that bubbled up in his chest. 'I am so happy, Lance, that you shared your birthday with me. Even though you didn't really mean to do it. I am happy beyond anything, Lance and for that I want to thank you.'

Keith felt giddy about this confession and he felt a blush cover his cheeks as he clutched Blue's plush in front of his stomach looking at his battered hands, wrapped in some sort of Altean plasters.

'Lance…are you alright?' Keith asked after a prolonged silence, leaning a hand on the shield outside of Blue. He itched to get in there, to make things right with Lance. With that self-sacrificing boy with a golden giant heart that he was so in love with.

'Fine…' Lance finally said through the speakers he didn't even know Blue had until he though he wanted to answer Keith.

Thanks, girl.

'I'm sorry.' He said to Keith.

Keith looked at Blue's head in surprise. 'Sorry about what?' he asked gently, in a voice so soft he thought Lance might have not heard him. And he didn't, but Blue did and she passed on the image of the lonely teenage boy, looking pretty sad, leaning his forehead to the particle shield.

'About ruining your birthday.' Lance answered sincerely, sitting on his piloting chair and wrapping his arms around his folded knees. 'I was the one who said you could have a birthday at the same time as me. Your first birthday. Of course I knew mine would be forgotten. But I was still hurt and ruined it. Them. Both our birthdays. And then I was ashamed for being angry at my own mistake. So I'm sorry.'

Keith looked up again at Blue's head, trying to make eye contact with Lance inside, hoping he was looking at him, pretending he could feel how fast his heart was beating and how fond he was of the silly, sulking teenager. 'Lance, you gave me a birthday. Nobody has ever given me a birthday or even celebrated a day for me.' Keith smiled and leaned his other hand against the particle barrier with the blue bundle pressed between his palm and the shield. 'You silly beautiful idiot. You shared your day with me and it made me so, so happy. You have no right to feel sorry about that.' Keith looked down to Blue's paws through the particle barrier, now a bit melancholic and finally put to words the depressing bit of doubtful certainty he'd been mulling about in his head as he sew his fingers to Blue's plush. 'I am not changing my birthday anymore, Lance, even if you just gave it to me by coincidence….'

Then Keith stepped back from the barrier, straightened up and looked straight at Blue's eyes. 'Lance, can I share a birthday with you, please? For real this time?'

There was a prolonged silence after Keith's confession and request. Both entirely too heartfelt for the usually aloof boy. It was a silence charged with uncertainty that hurt more and more as time stretched, but the moment Keith's heart hit his feet in disappointment, the particle barrier dissipated and Blue lowered her head to finally let Lance out of her cockpit, waking slowly down the ramp, holding his arm and looking very awkward.

Keith felt his heart race again, constantly filling him with those warm feelings he identified as love and fondness for the tall, handsome, noodle of a teen. And he waited for Lance to reach him, to stand awkwardly in front of him, looking at the floor to his left with a blush dusting his perfect, tanned cheeks.

'I want to share my birthday with you, Keith.'

Those words ignited a fire of pure joy inside Keith, making him smile very wide and moving his body into hugging Lance tightly against himself, surprising them both. But the feeling of the other's warm body against him, the rare contact of another in a tender way made Keith so indescribably happy that he couldn't help but laugh out loud in Lance's ear. As for Lance, Keith's happiness made him happy as well. Happy that he could make someone happy. Happy that he was important to someone, that he was important to Keith, of all people. Happy that he was laughing together with the awkward boy who hugged him so close, so tight. And he hugged him just as tight, just as close, with as much need.

Time didn't matter to them at all, even when they stopped laughing, but didn't let go of the other for longer. Even when their hold on the other slackened enough to be able to touch foreheads hesitantly and look into the other's eyes, searching and finding those feelings reflected off blue and purple irises. The same feelings were reflected off each other's eyes, warm and fluttery and so strong that pushed them closer and closer and that exploded impossibly bright behind their eyelids at the contact of soft, tender lips.

They had never kissed anybody before and their only experience came from books and films and other teenagers, but even so, the gentle rub of lips against the other and the hesitant poke of tongues felt perfect and safe.

Keith felt his toes curl and his fingertips tingle even after their kiss ended and they remained close, merely looking at each other and daring gentle hesitant caresses on the other's cheeks, necks, arms and hands. Lance braved a small rub of noses followed by small giggles from both teens.

And then the small wonky and crooked bundle of blue, white and red fabric in his hand reminded Keith of the reality and the situation, so he brought it up, between their chests, looking at the present he spent so much time on and then at Lance.

'Happy birthday, Lance.' Keith said, pushing the plush Blue gently to Lance's chest, a bit bashful at the awful job he did.

Lance looked at the plush and smiled an even bigger smile as he hugged the blue, white and red bundle close. Then he looked at the hands that handed him the plush and grabbed them in his reverently.

'Oh Keith!'

Keith smiled as well, on seeing the joy on the tanned face, proud he put it there and found himself unable to stop himself from planting a soft peck on the other teen's lips. The warm feelings that fluttered inside of him became hotter and wilder and he grasped the fabric of Lance's olive-coloured jacket with a desperation he was all too used to feeling when in close proximity to this wonderful boy.

'Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but…I think I love you, Lance…'

Lance let out a breath like a laugh and a surprised exclamation left incomplete and he also grabbed onto Keith's red jacked.

'Well, I might be getting ahead of myself as well, here, because I think I love you too, Keith.'

The following kiss was a bit needier, more desperate and a bit more painful as their teeth crashed. But they wouldn't have it any other way because it was them and they would learn. They would learn how to kiss, how to please the other, what they liked and what they didn't. Because they had time and they were together and that was enough.

'Ahem!'

The voice that interrupted them was Shiro's. The tall older teen (?) was standing a little way off, by the hangar's entrance, with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. behind him were Pidge, Hunk, Coran and Allura, all smiling the same brand of teasing and happy hybrid smiles that approved of the happiness and promised some teasing at the same time. More importantly, Keith noticed they had all finished their presents on time.

Keith reluctantly released Lance and noticed with satisfaction the same reluctance on Lance's arms to let him go. Their fingers remained intertwined as the rest of their group approached them and showered them with encouraging words and claps on their backs.

'I kinda suspected you two were, how can I say this…' Hunk confessed, growing flustered as he spoke.

'Getting closer.' Pidge completed, seemingly unfazed, but blushing slightly none the less. 'It was pretty obvious.'

'I am so happy for you! You are a great team!' Allura exclaimed.

'I'm proud of you both.' Shiro said and then extended his human hand that grasped a tube of what looked like some kind of alien cream with big blue letters. 'Happy Birthday Lance.'

Keith observed Lance's reactions as they went from surprised to delighted in the space of a second and smiled. Continued to smile. In fact, he couldn't stop smiling.

Has my face seriously always done this?

'Is this that facial I wanted from the mall?!' Lance asked as he inspected the foreign looking package.

Shiro grinned wide and proud. 'Yep! I took Black there last night to get that for the birthday sharpshooter. It comes with compliments from that cute alien girl who loved your skin.'

'Seriously? No way!' Lance exclaimed looking between Shiro and the package and then he let go of Keith's hand to hug the larger teen (?). Keith squashed his sudden childish jealousy.

Jealous? This is Shiro! Seriously, Keith, what the hell?!

'This is awesome!'

'That's great, because I didn't make something so impressive.' Said Pidge as she bashfully handed Lance a little bunch of cardboard- or the space equivalent of it- rectangles.

Lance looked at the cards and his eyes widened. He turned all cards in his hands reverently and then looked at Pidge, who was blushing but looking hopefully at him.

'Where did you…?' Lance asked overwhelmed.

'Hunk told me your sisters used to make those for you…so I thought it'd be a good idea?' Pidge answered, intertwining her fingers behind her back.

Keith peeked at the cards, reading the scrawled handwritten words that said "1 Free Hug Voucher".

'I'm claiming one of these right now Pidgey!' Lance exclaimed and hugged the small young teenager tightly, chanting a string of "thank yous".

'I'll consider this one an offer on the house.' Pidge said, jokingly. 'Buy ten, get one free, kinda deal.'

Lance laughed and from his advantage point over Pidge's shoulder he saw Hunk, hanging back and looking very guilty with a large platter of what looked like a purple version of a sliced tres leches cake, topped with alien berries and blue alien icing.

'Lance…I'm so sorry, man.' Hunk apologised, holding the cake gingerly and looking at Lance with a downcast expression. 'I totally forgot about your birthday…'

Lance untangled himself from Pidge and walked to Hunk. He stood in front of his best friend with his hands on his waist in a motherly fashion Keith guessed could have only been the way Lance's mother looked at him when he was in trouble. The smirk on the tanned face ruined the whole impression and told them all the truth: that Lance wasn't at all angry.

Lance dipped his finger in the blue icing of the cake and licked it.

'My man Hunk, if I had been angry at you at all, this cake would have made me forgive you in an instant. Thanks Buddy.'

'You're my best bud, Lance. I really am sorry.' Hunk pressed.

'Hunk, buddy, I brought this mess onto myself. I'm the one who's sorry.'

'What about nobody is sorry and you take this present off my hands, Lance?' Allura interrupted with a smile and offering Lance a transparent case full with what looked like make-up. The same kind of make-up Lance aced on Allura's beautiful face when Shiro took her on a date on a green planet full of flowers about two spicolian movements ago.

Lance hugged Allura with a truly happy smile and no comments. His conspiratory eye blink was enough for the Altean Princess.

'Lance, my boy, you are one year wiser! And for that I have found this little memorondrum, given to me by King Alford himself.' Coran announced proudly, giving lance a sphere that looked a lot like a crystal ball the size of Lance's palm. 'And wisdom comes from life experiences so this present seemed to be the most indicated.'

'Wow, Coran…thanks….' Lance thanked him and then looked at him with the cutest (Keith's opinion) and most confused (everyone else's opinion) innocent expression on his face. 'What is this?'

Coran looked delighted all the same. 'Lance, my boy, a memorondrum is an exquisite piece of technology that works like the King Alford's memories did, but this device turns them into static images.'

'You get to print pictures from your memories?' Pidge asked as she looked at the device on Lance's palm, all starry eyed and energic curiosity. 'This is so cool! Hey Lance let's test it out?'

'Can we all do that after we cut the cake?' asked Hunk from his position next to the entrance to the hangar. 'It's getting a bit too heavy.'

Laughter filled the hangar and with it came real happiness and love and Keith could say without a shadow of a doubt, as they all made their way down to the kitchen with Lance's long fingers intertwined with his again, that this was how family really felt like.

There was a new holographic picture collage displayed in the kitchen. There was a picture where both Keith and Lance were blowing out candles surrounded by pictures where all of them, paladins and Alteans, were covered in blue icing, eating blue and purple tres leches cake, with the largest smiles they could say they'd smiled since they started living together in the castle of lions.

There was also a pair of pictures of the red and the blue paladin only, displayed in each other's bedrooms from the memories of each other as they looked at each other fondly. The device that provided said pictures was innocently sitting next to Lance's. And the couple displayed beautifully in the holographic images? Well, they acquired a new taste for each other on a more physical level, and if anyone were to look, they'd be more likely to find both teens together, than apart anymore.

-o0o-

A.N.: Thanks so much for reading. I'd like to tell my readers and make it clear that Pidge will always have female pronouns until explicitly shown otherwise in the series because she said it herself "I'm a girl." She didn't say "I can also be a girl." Or any other genre ID. This is because I'm against people who go around saying they identify themselves as A, B, C, D, etc., just because they think it's trendy and go around pissing people off AND causing people to get pissed off at the real A, B, C, D, etc. people.

Key:

Tick: Approximately a second.

Dobosh: Approximately a minute.

Varga: Approximately an hour.

Spicolian movement: Approximately a week.