Thrift stores were quickly becoming Lance's favorite places to go when forced outside of his own home. Despite the entire store consisting of clothes and old furniture, there was a heavy smell of antique books in the air. Keith had walked around with a wrinkled nose for five minutes before relaxing into the atmosphere as best he could. Lance would be lying to himself if he tried to say that he didn't stick close to the galra, not wanting Keith to get lost or harassed by someone else. Lance's tightly wound nerves could only take so many altercations in one afternoon.

Keith didn't like straying too far from his handler. He was exhausted and Lance's friends kept giving him strange looks. The other two, Hunk and Pidge, would stare and their brows would crinkle in what he could only assume was sympathy and it made the galra's skin crawl. Everything felt far too much like pity and it made bile rise in the back of his throat.

Why were they even here? The catboy could vaguely remember Lance saying he needed new clothes… was Keith supposed to pick them out himself or wait for his master to do it for him? His fingers bore into his neck, scratching at the exposed skin. It felt wrong to be out without a collar. He didn't want the latino boy to get in trouble over him. The scabbing around his throat didn't help with the itching.

Wide yellow eyes stared at the brunette, Keith's body angled towards the human. He opened his mouth but words just didn't seem to want to come out. Their stares seemed to cross paths and Lance's face softened.

"Do you see anything you like? I can help you find some things."

"C-collar!" Keith's voice cracked with the force of the word. His ears drooped when he realized how loudly he spoke.

"A collar? You don't…" Lance's brow furrowed and he shifted from foot to foot. Did galra actually have to wear collars like dogs? He chewed at the meat of his cheek slightly, glancing between Keith and a rack of yellow shirts. It was so neat how everything was organized by color in this store. "You don't have to wear a collar if you don't want to, ya know? You're not a pet, Keith."

"Y-you…" Keith's tail swished, the boy finding it difficult to grasp the words he wanted. "I-I gotta… ga-galra have to…"

Lance swallowed, completely confused over the feelings boiling over in his stomach. Was that really the law? Didn't that shitty bus driver say something about a collar? Keith clearly hadn't been treated properly by his old owner… Was that legitimately the law or just horrific conditioning? Lance felt sour at the thought that he had to seriously guess at this point.

It didn't hurt to indulge the kitten though, did it? If this little thing, even if somewhat unhealthy, made Keith feel just a fraction more comfortable in his own skin then it could at the very least be a good thing... Right? With a soft sigh, Lance nodded. "Alright, we can see if they have something that will work for you, alright? You can pick out anything that you want. This is your decision."

The two boys moved out of the clothing section and Lance guided Keith gently towards the front case where the store kept necklaces and other more expensive trinkets. Hunk was beside them, drooling over a dusty looking Nintendo 64 console. The Cuban boy wasn't sure how to go about it delicately so he just took a deep breath and jumped in head first. "Hey, uh, Hunk… Can you google if galra have to wear collars in public?"

"Yeah dude, I'm pretty sure they do. There was this huge protest about it on campus like, three months ago?" Hunk was already grabbing for his phone so that he could fact check himself.

"As of the UN's decision that Galra… Uh," Hunk's face flushed and he focused harder on his phone, refusing to look at Keith as he read the article. It seemed wrong to openly speak about something's status as a human being or not right in front of them; especially when the said intelligent thing didn't have the right to join the conversation or decision making. He scrolled through the web page, swallowing. "In the state of California, a p… galra must wear a collar with the owner's tags and be up to date at all times. This law went into effect as of January, 2015."

Lance felt like there were cotton balls stuck in his throat. His soul hurt for the smaller boy beside him. Maybe he should have paid more attention to the protests going around on campus… Squaring his shoulders, Lance took a deep inhale. "Alright, we need to get that done then."

He turned to Keith with a gentle smile. It was a complete facade. He wanted nothing more than to scream into the void. What in the ever loving fuck had he gotten himself into? "If you don't like any of the collars here, we can go somewhere else and get one, okay? Don't feel like you have to settle. I don't care about the price, if you have to wear it, I want you to like it, okay?"

Keith nodded gently, unable to look Lance in the eye. He didn't like the nervous energy that was vibrating around the brunette. Hunkering down, Keith hugged at his knees to balance himself. The display case was full of different kinds of knick knacks but on the bottom row there was a small rack of collars that looked suitable for a galra. He tapped against the glass slightly, directing Lance's attention.

Hunk watched the two for a second, almost cooing at the way Lance gently placed a hand on Keith's shoulder. This seemed almost intimate in a weird way and honestly, the chubby boy didn't want to spoil that. Keith was good for Lance and Christ knows Keith needed all of the love and warmth he could get. Thankfully, that was exactly what Lance had surplus of. Cleaning his hands needlessly on his cargo pants, Hunk silently motioned that he was going to check something else out and set off to find out where the hell Pidge went.

The counter attendant smiled at the couple when she pulled the display out so they could get a better look. There were are few standard threaded collars that looked like they once belonged to giant mastiff dogs and a few more slim leather ones. Lance ran his fingers over the different ones, never really being able to resist touching anything new or exciting. This really wasn't his decision though, and he stood by that. If Keith didn't like any of these, Lance would happily drop the cash on something he would like. A leash law was ridiculous as it was, but the humiliation of not even having the choice of what it looked or felt like?

Keith looked between Lance and the neckwear, that intense feeling of exposure creeping up his spine again. He swallowed and reached forward, a really soft, worn looking leather strap feeling pleasant against his fingertips. He picked it up and sized it to his neck. He took a quick breath and nodded, "Th-this one. N-not pretty, but soft. Small. Good. Real good."

Lance shifted and took the collar from Keith with a gentle hand. He checked the price tag, shocked to see that it was only a few bucks. This was absolutely more than doable if this was what the other boy truly wanted. His thumb glided over the buckle and smiled lightly. Of course Keith would pick something small and cheap, easily hideable. That was how he lived his entire life, wasn't it? "We can definitely get this one, let's look and see if there are any others you like too, yeah? No one said you had to wear the same one every day."

Lance's heart swelled when Keith gave him a look of unadulterated confusion. His head had even tilted like a cat watching light reflect against a wall. Those over-large ears arched and Keith ruffled his hair nervously. "Y-you sure?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, Keith." The answer pulled from Lance's throat with such an ease. It was utterly true. No matter what he wanted to do, Lance couldn't bring himself to lie to the galra. Keith had far too many issues with authority or even dealing with reality to be able to handle someone being dishonest or flat out lying to him. It would just be a disservice to the both of them.

It looked like Keith was going to hesitate or argue for a moment but he just let his ears flicker. He swallowed lightly, eyes boring into the display case to avoid Lance's gaze. "C-can I… Can I wear th-that one now?"

Lance felt himself grin so hard that his cheeks hurt. He shouldn't have been happy about the kitten asking to literally wear a mark of ownership, but Keith had actually asked for something. After the long, drawn out day that they'd both had, that was nothing if not progress. He turned the collar over in his hand and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'll help you put it on. Lift your hair for me please? I don't wanna get it caught in the buckle."

If the cashier really had a problem with it, Lance would just pay for it before everything else; he wanted to see that small sparkle of contentment racing over Keith's face. A small curved smile pulled on the purple boy's mouth and he shifted to turn his back to Lance, lifting his hair. The light scarring and scabs from the previous week were incredibly evident with the tufts of black hair out of the way and Lance swallowed hard. A raging fire of contempt and anger rose in his chest but he knew better than to feed it. That wouldn't help Keith in any way.

Lance's fingers were nimble and delicate, brushing along violet flesh before roping the collar around to secure it. His eyes widened when he noticed the goosebumps raising along the nape of Keith's neck. Was he really this excited over a collar? All of that righteous fury and heat seemed to drop like a stone into the Cuban boy's stomach. His lips parted, a vivid memory of Keith's kiss tingling against his mouth. This was fucked up, wasn't it? He shouldn't think of a catboy like that, should he?

That kiss couldn't have even truly been considered consensual; Keith had acted out of fear and confusion. He thought that he needed to use his body as payment for Lance being nice to him. How utterly fucked up was that? How deplorable did that make Lance that he wanted to kiss the galra again? It would have to be truly consensual and under better circumstances of course, but that didn't stop the feeling of desire.

Keith let go of his hair and turned his head to look at Lance, a soft expression resting in his eyes. Large, purple furred ears twitched and brushed against the human's wrists. "Th-thank you. How does it lo-ook?"

Lance's eyes trailed over that small bit of leather, his cheeks flared. He found his voice after a moment. "I like it. It suits you, as much as something you have to wear can."

The galra's entire demeanor seemed to perk up and his tail swished happily behind him. It seemed like praise went a long way for this little kitten. Lance was going to have to keep that fun little fact in the back of his mind. He reached forward and ruffled Keith's hair, fingertips lightly brushing over the soft fur of his ears. "Let's focus on clothes now though; I can't have you cutting tail holes in all of my jeans."

Almost as if Pidge took her cue, the fiery brunette marched up to them with a stack of clothes in her hands and Hunk trailing behind her. There were a few normal looking pairs of jeans and sweaters but Lance could see the hideous patterns and bright fuchsia hiding among the pile. "Hunk and I took the liberty of picking out some things Keith would look dazzling in."

Lance's eyebrows raised, his entire being soaked in skepticism. "Go on."

To his friends' credit, they had found a lot of basics that the new addition to their group would legitimately need like pajama bottoms and a few nice looking pairs of jeans. Keith had nodded towards a few of the t-shirts with a little bit of coaxing and they all found their way into the "keep" pile. The galra was sitting on the ground, sifting through the pile of clothing, finding this far easier than walking around the store to pick for himself. It felt like he was going through Lance's closet back at his apartment.

Tugging at a red sleeve near the bottom of the stack, a small squeak left the kitten's mouth. Everything had tumbled over onto his legs and scattered around him, leaving the galra clinging to a somewhat tacky looking crop top jacket. The material was soft under his fingers and the mixture of white and red seemed to calm a deep recess of his mind. Keith picked it up and examined it further before ultimately nuzzling his face into the fabric. Hunk couldn't stop himself from cooing loudly. Pidge broke out into a fit of giggles but seemed legitimately pleased that she had found something that Keith genuinely enjoyed.

Lance watched Keith, his heart melting all over again. God, this boy was going to be the death of him. No one should ever be allowed to be that cute while holding the tackiest piece of clothing the world has ever seen. Lance knew he was in too deep but he didn't mind sinking a few more feet if that meant seeing this scared and mistreated kitten as happy as he was holding that ugly jacket. The fashion police were just going to have to let some things slide.