Running back to the Shit Shack meant he was cutting it close to being late, but he could always stay for an extra half hour. He dusted off the cat, turned on the climate control to heat the shack to a cool twenty degrees, and left some water out. An old cardboard box filled with dirt became a litterbox in the bathroom. The cat thanked him by dropping a huge shit right in front of him, meowing happily.
"Thanks, asshole." The cat still had no name, so Keith would have to think about one during work hours. "I'll pick you up some burn cream for ya lil toe beans too, right? I'll be back at six."
Keith didn't know why he was talking to this cat like it could understand him, but then again he was a man in his twenties living off of race money, fixing engines, and reruns of sixties TV shows. If he has a cat now, he'll treat him like a human being.
Not like a terrarian, though. Those guys need to back the fuck off.
The cat gave him a slow blink as Keith left the house, jumping on the couch and curling up in a ball.
"Pronouns?" Keith asked as he marked the time on his card.
"They/them today. You're late." Pidge teased. "The Coranic saw you in the laundromat with a cat. Late because you found a furry friend?"
"Yeah. New cat. Don't tell Sefram? I'm pretty sure they'll set their snakes on me."
"Sefram's cool if you told 'em you got a cat." Pidge waved their hand. "Also, they saved a Pastra 700xx for you."
"A what! " Keith gasped. "But those just came out on the market and are like, a billion Rubles!"
"I know!" Pidge grinned. "Some hot shot Earth guy came by and dropped it off. Said he'll be racing tonight?"
"Earth? Great." Keith groaned. "Probably full of bacteria. Is it decontaminated?"
"Yeah. Hunk did it earlier."
Keith felt a shot of adrenaline shoot through his bloodstream at the mention of the hot guy. "Hunk got the job?"
Pidge narrowed their eyes. "Yeah. Why you got that tone, and increasing heart rate?"
"Damn your cyborg tech, my heart is private ." Keith rolled his eyes. "I want to get my hands on that Pastra."
"No distractions!" Pidge yelled after him.
"Ешьте мой весь мудак!" he yelled back.
"Well, fuck you too!"
The Pastra 700xx was beautiful. The owner must have dropped it in for minor repairs they probably could have fixed themself but likely just wanted to show off.
It was sleek, an egg shaped cockpit with life support, up to eight atmospheres of pressure, barely a scratch or dent, and the ion engine was self cleaning. Cleaning the waste normally took half the job.
But when he popped the hood, the problem was clear. Two carbonfiber wires were completely burnt out, causing the engine to go into radious mode, which had ruptured a lot of the internal hardware. Keith had the same problem with his 400.
He went to work, threading new carbonfibers into the engine and adding his own flair, twisting the wires into a spiral so the heat wouldn't radiate into the water reclaimer. That was a flaw he noticed on the 700xx plans he had downloaded, and had fixed the problem without much thought.
Hope this Earth guy appreciates it. He mentally mumbled. He never trusted those assholes from Earth with their body modifications and an air that they were the pure humans.
Then, a soft knock on his wall. He looked up from the engine, wrench in his mouth and pliers behind his ears, and almost dropped them both.
Hunk was standing in the shabby doorway, but looking way more comfortable than he had when Keith first met him. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal tattoos with amazing designs, glistening with sweat and face stained with grease and ion waste.
He was heavenly. Keith felt his heart race.
"Hey! You working on the Pastra?" He grinned. Goddamnit he even sounded better, like he was more at home and at ease.
Keith's soulmark itched. He grinned in response. "Yeah! Thanks for decontamin' it earlier. I didn't want to catch the flu or somethin'."
"No prob, man! You need some help?"
"Yeah. You wanna take a look at the internal wiring, make sure I didn't fuck anything up? Normally I get Shirogane to do it but he had to go to New Houston for an arm check."
"Sure." Hunk squatted by the low bearing engine, crinkling his cute little nose. "Did you curl the wire or did it come like that? I don't remember seeing that in the schematics."
Oh god he actually read the schematics. Keith was udderly doomed.
"Did it myself. A straight carbonfiber will disrupt the flow of the water reclaimer. With this it won't burn off the water so quickly, and will change the internal temperature to a more accurate readout."
"You're brilliant. What if you twist it around the engine though, to gain more power?" Hunk demonstrated with his thick hands around the circular pump, and that's when Keith saw it.
A red star, shining beautifully on his inner wrist, eerily similar to his own. Then his hand moved, dropping back to his side.
It had to be a coincidence.
"Yeah, that's even better! Also, I like your tats, man." Keith twisted the wire around the engine, making note of how his soulmark itched badly.
"Thanks! I got them when I visited my homeland on Earth. It's a traditional thing with polynesian folk? Either way I look badass."
"You so do though? You look like a warrior." Keith accidentally tapped two metal wires together and yelped at the sparks that caught his wrist.
"Oh, fuck! You alright-" Hunk grabbed Keith's wrist and an explosion of emotions flooded through him, tingling his toes and causing white spots to form behind his eyes. He gasped in confusion and excitement, and Hunk let go of his wrist.
"What the fuck was that?" Hunk breathed. His chest was heaving. Keith realized Hunk must have felt the same thing.
"Oh my goodness. Let me see your soulmark." Keith said nervously, letting a bit of his old New Houston accent drip into his voice. He kicked his leg up on the Pastra, rolling up the leg of his jeans to expose that yellow star that was tingling with sparks.
Hunk turned his inner wrist towards Keith's. "Oh-!"
The stars swelled and popped in sync, one red and the other a brilliant yellow, trickling emotions into each other no matter how far the distance. But now his soulmate was here, and so close they could touch, and the marks knew.
"It's you!" Keith exclaimed, kicking his leg off and bear hugging Hunk, who didn't even hesitate to hug back.
"It's you!" Hunk repeated, lifting Keith in the air. They were out in the hot desert sun and stank like sweat and grease and exhaust and smoke, but it was the best damn smell in the entire universe.
Hunk's arms were warm, and the happiness and excitement flooding though their marks was addictive. Keith never wanted to let go.