The California sun was sweltering despite it being so close to Halloween. Lance fanned himself with his hand, secretly more than happy to deal with this heat rather than the humid death trap that is Florida. He looked over to Keith as they walked down the street, curious as to how he felt about the climate. Did galra react the same way humans did? Were the pants and plaid shirt he'd borrowed too much for him in this kind of heat?
Keith's ears twitched with interest when he noticed his owner staring at him. He blinked, trying to figure out if he'd done something to warrant attention. Was there something on him? Had he not been walking fast enough? The cat boy pursed his lips slightly and tried not to squint. The daytime sun was murder on his senses.
Lance gave the hybrid a toothy grin and kept walking. Pidge and Hunk had told them to head to the bus stop on the corner and they could just take the Metro to the Fashion Center. He stepped in line with Keith, wanting to do anything he could to keep the other's anxiety down. The galra was walking carefully with his head bowed, each step seeming to be made with purpose. Was Keith still feeling low from earlier?
Lance's entire being seemed to vibrate with excitement when he could see Hunk's messy mop of black hair. He took a fleeting glance to Keith and smiled before running the few feet of distance. He took a mighty, and literal leap of faith, knowing the husky Filipino boy would catch him or fall trying. Maybe he took advantage of that trust a little too much.
"Hunk! My beautiful baby boy, I've missed you!"
Hunk laughed bashfully and swung Lance around like they were experiencing a lover's reunion after a war drove them apart. They were complete idiots. The broader of the two grinned and put Lance down on his feet. He moved so that Pidge could great the two newcomers and watched Keith with the same beaming smile.
"Hey, Keith, you look like you feel better! And, you uh, you're wearing Lance's clothes! They look good on you!" Hunk was itching to scoop the galra up in a hug too but he didn't trust himself to not scare or hurt the smaller boy.
Keith blinked owlishly, his mouth feeling like it was full of cotton. He glanced at Lance, unsure if he was allowed to answer for himself or if the other would on his behalf. Overlarge purple ears were straight up in interest at the attention, though. He enjoyed being noticed . His tongue darted out and wet his lips, giving another strong look to Lance before looking at the ground near Hunk's feet.
"Th-thank you, h-he let me, uh," Keith's fingers twitched almost like he was physically tempted to grab words out of the air and string them together. "P-pi-pick? F-fed me yellow squ-squishy stuff too."
Pidge arched her brow at Lance, clearly skeptical. Lance's face flushed; "I made eggs and toast for breakfast before I ran to my lecture. He seemed to like them."
Keith nodded silently, still staring a hole into the cement by Hunk's feet. His ears folded when a gust of wind struck his face. The smell of motor oil and gasoline was heavy in the air as the Metro bus pulled up. He instinctively reached up and tried to flush his hair up around his defective ear, not wanting any other humans to think that Lance owned something so broken.
Pidge nudged Hunk closer to the bus, pulling out her own Metro card. She tapped it against the machine to pay her toll and Hunk followed suit. Lance watched Keith's facial features for a moment before lightly touching his arm. "We are gonna get on the bus, okay? Go climb on and sit with Pidge an' Hunk. I'll take care of the fare."
The kitten nodded slightly, swallowing back the lump in his throat. He stepped onto the bus, feeling the sandpaper-like grit against the pads of his toes. It felt disgusting. People were openly staring at him and it was making him want to hyperventilate. Was he doing something wrong? His human told him to get on! Before Keith to move to walk down the aisle, the driver's thick forearm blocked his path and it made him yelp.
"Pet's aren't allowed on the bus without a collar an' leash or a carrier." The man's voice was gruff like he smoked at least a pack of cigarettes a day. Lance's nose wrinkled in disgust.
"What do you mean, pets aren't allowed? I just paid both of our fares!" The Cuban boy's shoulders squared and an intense rage seemed to pool into his stomach at the way Keith shook at being reprimanded.
"I don't make the rules, kid. It's a new policy." The Metro driver's voice was deadpan and loud, clearly not scared to spread their business across the bus to absolute strangers.
"That's bullshit. You couldn't tell us that before I paid you? We are literally trying to get to a store to buy him a collar and I don't fucking appreciate you scaring him half to death and talking like he isn't even standing there!" A muscle in Lance's cheek twitched and he only grew louder the he got.
Keith cowered, wanting the world to swallow him. He should have just died in that shitty park. He wouldn't be putting Lance through this and embarrassing him so badly. His shoulders trembled and his tail tip flickered as he tried to find anything that could possibly ground him. He was panicking.
Hunk stood up and walked up to the driver, a friendly smile on his face. Lance knew that look though. The way his best friend's eyes sparkled, there was nothing but venom coursing his veins. "Hello, sir. I just checked the Metro's website and I'll have you know that there is no such policy against galra. This boy, you see, isn't a dog or a lizard of some kind. He has every right to use this public service. I suggest you let him board your bus since his fare has already been paid or I will report you to your management. I assume your ID number has been posted on today's bus route schedule?"
Pidge gave a quick wolf whistle as the rest of the passengers broke out into varied whispered opinions. Keith was gripping into the bottom of his shirt and it looked like the button closest to his hands was going to fly off at any moment. Lance swallowed and gently reached over to touch Keith's wrist, trying to ease his grip. The shirt was the least of the human's worries; Keith looked like he was going to pass out.
"Just fuckin' sit down already. You kids are throwin' me off schedule. That filthy thing isn't allowed on the seats though. No pets are, tubby." The driver snapped the doors of the bus shut, his irritation more than a little obvious.
Thing.
Lance's right hand twitched, amazed at his own self restraint. Maybe in another place or another time, he would have punched that greasy motherfucker in the face. That seemed to quell the blood lust clouding his judgment for the moment and he guided Keith to the deep interior of the bus. Keith was more important; if Lance was thrown in jail or anything stupid like that then he would be on his own. The human just couldn't take that level of guilt. Lance sat down on the bench seat usually on reserve for senior citizens so that he could stay close to Pidge and Hunk as they sat in the first row of two seaters.
Keith fidgeted as he stood, His toes feeling uncomfortable on the rigid lining of the bus's flooring. He could handle it, though. He wasn't even supposed to be here. Shifting from foot to foot, the galra boy almost fell over when the bus lurked away from the curb. His tail wrapped around his leg to keep any violent twitching down to a minimum. He wanted to be good, he didn't want to accidentally hit anyone.
"Keith," Pidge spoke softly, trying not to startle him when he was already on pins and needles. "Sit in Lance's lap so you don't fall over, okay? We don't want you getting hurt."
Lance nodded, feeling stupid for not thinking of it first. He opened his arms and let the galra move at his own pace. Keith was all knees and elbows as he situated himself, nothing graceful about his actions whatsoever. It was still oddly heartwarming to Lance. He helped Keith sit sideways, a solid but gentle hand on his side to keep him from falling or moving too much. Relaxing into the rather stiff backing, Lance lifted his free hand and studied Keith's facial features. "Can I pet your ears?"
The cat's ears flicked at the mention and he nodded, bowing his head. Lance had light callouses at the very tips of his fingers and the sensations felt nice on tender flesh. The motions helped Keith's mind calm down. This… was this what it meant to be comfortable?
Lance grit his teeth so hard that he was positive he could bite an industrial nail in half. He just wanted to get his new roommate clothes! He wanted to have a fun night out with friends and show Keith that not all humans are grade A assholes, but fuck him, right? Was it "Destroy Lance's Faith in Humanity" Day or something? ...Were people always this shitty when it came to galra and he'd just never noticed?
They had been kicked out of two different boutiques with a stale excuse of "No Pets Allowed". Keith had legitimately started tearing up and hiding behind Lance's shoulder when one of the cashiers had suggested tying Keith up outside of the store front while the human did the shopping. Hunk had needed to literally and physically remove Lance from the situation while Pidge had to reiterate that the poor girl had no idea how awful that statement was to the current situation. Lance could only assume he was now banned from shopping there ever again.
"We can try a thrift shop? They tend to have a more lax policy on uh, these kinds of things?" Hunk was walking behind Lance and Keith as Pidge lead the group along. He felt it necessary to keep a buffer between Lance and that last store no matter the distance they'd traveled.
Keith hadn't spoken a word since the bus incident. There was a pained expression across his features and his eyes still looked glossy from almost shed tears. He scratched at his neck, the skin feeling too bare. He needed a collar to be outside. Why didn't Lance give him a collar? Was he not planning to keep him? Were they taking him to a shelter?
Lance was mentally and physically exhausted. He couldn't even fathom what Keith was feeling like at the moment. He looked over at his kitten and tried to sound light. "Well, kitty cat, what do you say to getting some food? I'm starving."
"We should go to that ramen shop next to the place that sells boba." Pidge offered her suggestion as she fought with her hair, trying to get it in a ponytail. The sun was finally setting but that didn't mean that they were lucky enough for the heat to go with it. The valley was kind of terrible in that resolve.
"That sounds delicious. We haven't eaten there since the beginning of the semester." Hunk felt a little more chipper at the mention of the restaurant. He loved japanese food and the ramen was always fairly cheap for the high quality and sheer volume that you get. He never had to worry about Lance not eating when he got home if they could gorge themselves on a feast like that.
The quartet made it to the small shop give or take five minutes later. The waitress didn't even take a second glance at Keith as she showed them to a table and took their drink order. Lance made a note to definitely take Keith here more often if he liked the food.
Once the menus were distributed, Hunk had decided that he definitely wanted the katsu donburi this time around instead of the noodle soup. Pidge seemed to want to keep it simple with pork ramen and Lance followed suit. There was a sudden cold falling on the group when everyone realized that the galra hadn't even picked up the menu.
Keith was sitting in the chair, tail twitching rapidly against his thigh. Why was he sitting as high as the humans? Why had they let him in this restaurant? What if he got hair in the food? What the hell was this plastic thing the lady had handed him? Why was everyone staring at him? He had spaced out, his mind firing off far too rapidly to make any sense. Had he been talking out his thoughts again? Why did their gazes feel like they burned his skin?
"Did you decide what you wanted to eat, Keith?" Pidge attempted to prompt the cat, showing him that he was absolutely allowed food and the ability to make his own selection. She reached over and opened his menu for him. "Just pick something from this and you can see if you like it."
Keith looked down at the black and white laminated paper and his ears twitched. He couldn't read this. He couldn't read anything, if he was to be honest with himself. Swallowing, he just tapped on one of the random lines of dark text. Lance and Pidge both had instantly noticed that he hadn't read anything on the page. That was the drinks section.
It had never once occurred to Lance that someone could grow up and not learn how to read. He shifted closer to the kitten, looking over the menu. "We already ordered drinks, big cat. Why don't… why don't you try the pork ramen with me and see if you like it? It has soup, delicious noodles, and even more eggs like we had for breakfast, yeah?"
"If you th-think that's bes-best, S...Lance." Keith's voice was weak, his throat raw from far, far too many thoughts and emotions. He was awful as a pet. He couldn't even leave the house without being overstimulated and causing trouble.
Lance's eyes widened and he felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He spared a glance to Hunk and Pidge to verify what he'd just heard. That had been the first time his name had ever graced the galra's lips and it had absolutely no right sounding that nice in his melancholy tenor. Lance would go to war for this boy.