Red Comet gazed over the city lights, feeling calm despite the fact that he was literally over a couple hundred feet in the air and could fall at any moment.

The ends of his hair flickered with little flames reminiscent of candles, providing him with light and allowing him to see better. The fire running through his veins helped keep him warm in the chilly night air, and he did nothing to protect himself from the cold, even if he was wearing skin tight spandex.

"Good evening," a purr that Red had come to despise said behind him.

Red huffed, a small puff of smoke resulting from the sudden flare of flames in his hair. Trying to reign in his temper, he slowly calmed down, the flares now dwindling back to small little candle flames.

"I thought I told you to stay away from me," Red snapped, refusing to look behind him at the absolutely infuriating hero.

"But we only met last week!" Dear god, Red could practically hear the pout in his voice. "Don't you want to get to know me more, hot stuff? I mean, who wouldn't want to get to know me?"

"My week of peace was the best thing in my whole damn life," Red snarled, ignoring the fact that his cheeks admittedly went a little red when Blue said 'hot stuff'. "Why are you here, anyway? Aren't you some bigshot from some other country?"

Finally, Red turned, and saw a familiar shape crouching beside him. Little ice crystals floating around him due to the freezing temperature of his body, the two heroes practically made steam from their close proximity.

For once, Bluestar seemed to shut up and keep quiet. When he spoke, it was soft, and something in Red made him listen. "My home's safe right now. I left it in the hands of someone I trust."

"But why'd you leave?" Sue Red for being curious - he knew that Blue could be a jerk at times, but so could Red, and from the rumors that Red heard, Blue was an incredible hero despite his cocky attitude.

Blue tensed.

Red felt the air around him grow even colder, and he bristled, naturally reacting to the change in temperature and evening it out by spiking up his own heat a little.

"... I guess I want to feel wanted."

Red let out a breath, the heat of it creating a small puff of steam admist the cold radiating from Blue's body. He looked at him. The person crouching beside him no longer looked like a hero, but a lonely boy gazing out in awe and wonder over the vast city lights. Blue eyes sparkled with the colors of said lights under a dark mask, and a half smile tugged at his lips as he took in the sights.

"We should be partners."

The question was so abrupt and so out of the blue - pun not intended - that Red blinked rapidly, not reacting when Blue rose to his feet and looked at him with those beautiful blue eyes.

"What?" Red finally managed, now noticing that Blue was taller than him, a good two inches or so. Their even closer proximity was definitely creating a little steam - the area around their feet was becoming a little foggy and the air around them was becoming humid.

"What do you say, Red?" Blue's voice was soft like before, and his eyes were earnest. He held out a hand, loosely formed into a fist.

Red slowly felt a smile of his own take place, and maybe it's because of Blue's trustworthiness, or his ability to save people in the blink of an eye, or maybe because Red's just plain crazy, but he raised his own fist and bumped it against Blue's.

"Yeah. Let's be partners, Blue."

Steam hissed and sparked from their connected hands.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Keith absentmindedly wiped the counter, half paying attention to the door and half thinking about last night's fight with some drug dealers.

It'd been tough, more than he thought it would be, but he won.

They won.

The door opened, and Keith looked up, his face turning red at the familiar face. Lance McClain was now a regular at the cafe since he moved to the city a week ago.

Lance flashed him a greeting grin - one that made Keith feel a little weak in the knees and the flush in his cheeks go even darker.

"Hey!" Lance chirped. "Morning, mullet man. I'll have a green tea latte, extra sugar, please."

Keith nodded wordlessly, and his slightly shaky hand took the cash and started on the coffee, dizzyingly going through each step and procedure to make it.

A minute later, he placed it on the counter. Just as he slid it over to Lance, the door opened once more, and a group of young women entered, talking loudly.

"I heard that Red Comet and Bluestar took out those druggies last night," one brunette said, flicking through her phone eagerly and no doubt reading up on the fight.

"Aren't those two adorable?" Another sighed.

"They make a good team," a blond beamed. "Fire and ice - what a balance! The other's yin and yang, you know?"

Keith forced himself to stop listening, instead trying not to smile smugly because what Blue would give to listen to these compliments and preen to himself.

"So, what do you think?"

Keith looked up, body frozen as his eyes locked with deep blue ones.

"I… what?" Keith sputtered, mentally slapping himself.

Lance smiled. "What do you think about Red Comet and Bluestar?" He leaned forward slightly, eyes sparkling eagerly and his smile widening.

Keith took a few steps back, feeling like if he came any closer he'd explode. "I mean… Well…" He cleared his throat and shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. "They make a good team."

"Yeah." Lance leaned back, grabbing his cup and grinning. He seemed oddly satisfied for whatever reason. "They do. See you later, mullet!"

"Bye," the word left Keith's lips in a whisper, but he was already gone.

A few beats of silence echoed, before Shiro popped his head out from the storage room with a large grin. That fucking sneak.

"You got it bad, kiddo," Shiro practically giggled.

Keith sighed almost dreamily - whatever. No use denying it. "Yeah, I do."

XxXxXxXxXxX

hello, hello! sorry for the long wait, i'm so busy with a lot of things at the moment ;;;

but hey, i promise updates will come faster as soon as school is over! yay!

also, look out for an update for of zinnias and cinnamon at the end of the week, and also look out for a new fic soon!

if you want me to post even faster and get motivated, come talk to me on my tumblr, where my username is redyarns :D

it really gets me going if people encourage me to write, and i also love talking to you all, so come and visit!