Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter 10: Surprise!
On the way home from his shift at the veterinarian's office, Lance stopped at the store to pick up a roll of stamps and a box of envelopes wide enough for him to simply use printer paper for what he was about to do.
He'd decided, after Keith had left, that he was going to try and contact Kuro on the off chance that he might know his friend. He'd checked on the computer and found an address to send fan mail to the actor and figured it was worth a shot.
After he'd returned home, dealt with his family, ate and helped clean up dinner, he was ready to write the letter to Kuro…err Shiro.
He tapped the eraser end of his pencil against his chin as he thought about how to start the letter. He would have typed up the letter, but he didn't have a printer at the house. The library was ridiculously far away, and Lance didn't think going all that way to print was worth it.
Lance set the pencil down and scooted his desk chair back before spinning around lazily as he thought out loud.
"Hey Kuro! No, I hate that."
He spun around once more before stopping suddenly. "Greetings Kuro. God, that's worse."
Another rotation. "What would I say to him if I met him in person?"
He stood up from the chair feeling a little dizzy. He imagined his favorite actor standing in front of him before he tried again. "Oh my God! Kuro! I'm, like, your biggest fan! Oh, do you know someone named Keith? He seems to remember you, only your name was Shiro…" Lance scrubbed at his face with a groan and winced when his bangs stabbed his eye.
"Arrgh, why am I so bad at this?" He smacked his cheeks and rubbed them vigorously in the hopes that it would spark an idea.
He sucked in a breath through his nose and turned to the currently blank piece of paper. "Okaaay, okay, okay." He dragged a hand through his hair, causing it to puff up and go everywhere as he let out a deep sigh. "You got this."
With a roll of his shoulders he put the pencil to paper…and waited for the words to flow.
They did not flow.
"This is such bullshit. I can do this!" He glared at the pencil. "For Keith."
He spoke as he wrote to hear the words being written to make sure they sounded right.
"Mr. Kuro, let me first start this letter by saying that I am a huge fan of your work and your acting is always so impressive. I find my eyes unable to look away from the screen whenever you enter the frame…no that last bit's creepy."
He erased the sentence and continued from the one before.
"I really admire how you command attention whenever you are on screen. There, that's better. Okay…umm. I was watching one of your movies, one of the 'Space Buds' movies in particular with a friend of mine and he seemed to know you. He said he thought you looked incredibly similar to a man he used to know by the name of Shiro. We thought it was weird and tried to research your bio to find out if you had changed your name or something. Imagine our surprise when…what the hell? Am I an old lady from the seventies now?"
Lance scoffed as he erased the start of the last sentence. "Imagine our surprise? Jeez. I hope I don't sound like that when Keith's around. He'd probably never let me live it down."
He huffed as he imagined the other boy teasing him. The warm and affectionate smile that would light up his face as he laughed at him.
He let out a dreamy sigh before he shook himself.
"Focus, Lance! Where was I? Oh, yes. We found that your bio doesn't discuss anything from before when you were hired onto your first movie, which I also saw, in case you were wondering…he probably wasn't wondering that." Lance grouched as he erased the sentence at the comma and turned it into a period.
"We sent you something over social media, and my friend was content to let you get around to it whenever you would. He looked so bummed about the whole thing, I decided to try and send you this letter to see if I could reach you this way. If you could just…send us something to let us know if you are this Shiro person my friend remembers, we would be really grateful. Feel free to contact me using the same mailing address, or the other contact information at the bottom."
He wrote down his email address and his phone number on the bottom before he reread the letter to make sure everything was spelled correctly and that it was legible.
Mr. Kuro,
Let me first start this letter by saying that I am a huge fan of your work and your acting is always so impressive. I really admire how you command attention whenever you are on screen.
I was watching one of your movies, one of the 'Space Buds' movies in particular, with a friend of mine and he seemed to know you.
He said he thought you looked incredibly similar to a man he used to know by the name of Shiro. We thought it was weird and tried to research your bio to find out if you had changed your name or something. We found that your bio doesn't discuss anything from before when you were hired onto your first movie.
We sent you something over social media, and my friend was content to let you get around to it whenever you would.
He looked so bummed about the whole thing, I decided to try and send you this letter to see if I could reach you this way.
If you could just send us something to let us know if you are this "Shiro" person my friend remembers, we would be really grateful.
Feel free to contact me using the same mailing address, or the other contact information at the bottom.
Lance waggled his eyebrows as he praised himself. "Perfect, if I do say so myself…and I do say so myself!"
He folded the letter carefully and slipped it inside of the envelope. He sealed it with a lick of the adhesive and pressed a stamp to the corner before he wrote the address he wanted it to go to as well as the return address…his house.
He danced around in his room in a fit of giddiness before he got ready for bed. He knew it was going to be impossible to fall asleep that night, but he tried anyway.
Lance and Keith had spent the next few weeks hanging out at the taller boy's house. He'd officially become one of the family. Katherine and Fran warmed up to Keith enough that Lance had returned home quite a few times to find the other boy's neck wrapped in a ridiculously large, pink boa with his hair done up in one of Fran's large pink bows. Over-done blush that appeared to resemble a circle on each of his cheeks, his eyes smeared with blue eyeshadow that made the iris seem more purple and less blue-gray. He'd even once painted his nails with his sisters, surprisingly he chose a sparkly blue, as he sipped at an empty cup, pinky raised.
Lance always found himself excluded from those tea parties, his sisters hissing at him that boys weren't allowed.
Lance had laughed harder as Keith nodded sagely at the tiny table as he was shoved out of the room.
He'd even borrowed his mom's car and had taken Keith shopping for clothes. That had been quite an experience. He looked perfect in anything he tried on. Lance remembered pouting in disappointment when Keith had exited the changing room to display the ugliest yellow and red polka dotted shirt Lance had spied, and looking stupidly cute.
The worst part? Keith didn't even realize how good he looked. He always waited for Lance's approval before he decided that he did indeed look good in an outfit and add it to the pile. After he'd picked out five shirts, some more pants, and a few pairs of underwear and socks…he hadn't modeled those for Lance, but he had come out blushing after he'd tried on the underwear to make sure they'd fit.
Lance had thought his heart was going to melt from the bashful look.
It was shortly after they'd returned home and went their separate ways when Lance received a reply.
His eyes had bugged out of his head as he squeaked with surprised. He turned it around and began to tear it open before he thought to open it with Keith…but the other had already gone home for the day.
He couldn't live too far since he often walked to his house. Plus, Lance recalled a memory where Keith had confessed mysteriously, when Lance had asked, that he lived nearby.
He ran up the walkway to his house and called inside to his mother that he was going to visit Keith. He waited until he heard her yell back before he ran back to the street and set off in the direction Keith took to go home.
He jogged for a few minutes waiting to see a house he didn't know the occupants of. The perks of living in a small community, Lance supposed.
He slowed when he reached the end of the houses and hadn't found any place Keith could be staying in…unless he was staying with one of the neighbors?
He shook his head as he looked down at the envelope in his hand before sadly shoving it into his pocket.
With a sigh, he steeled his resolve to just wait until the morning before he headed back. Keith really needed to invest in a phone.
He was halfway there when he heard leaves rustling to his left. He turned curiously and found Keith frozen on the trail leading to the forest.
"Keith?"
Lance looked back and found that the other's motorcycle was parked at the top of the hill, semi hidden behind a bush. If Lance didn't know what it looked like, it would have blended with the dark leaves.
"Why are you leaving your motorcycle up in the hedges? You afraid someone's gonna steal it if you park it in the street?"
Keith looked nervous and shifted about. Lance's eyes narrowed at the tell and knew whatever Keith was about to say was going to be a lie.
"Yeah…I couldn't think of anywhere else." The other boy lied with a nervous laugh.
"Well, you could just park it at my place?" Lance offered, partially genuine, but partially testing how far Keith would take his story.
"Oh, that's really nice, but I would hate to take advantage of your family any more than I already have."
"Bullshit!" Lance spat the word. "You're a shit liar, Keith. Now tell the truth. Why is your motorcycle hidden in the hedges? Did you steal it?"
Keith's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What? No!"
"Then tell me. The. Truth!"
"I don't have to tell you anything!" Keith growled back as he turned to storm up the trail before he froze and turned around. He started to take a few steps towards Lance before he stopped on the trail again, unsure of where he should go to escape.
"Keith." Lance sighed. "Just tell me what's going on, bud."
Keith watched him, his dark eyes revealing nothing as Lance's blue orbs searched.
"You wouldn't like me anymore if I told you."
"Oh my God. Keith, did you murder someone and steal their bike?" Lance accused in horror.
Keith rolled his eyes as he scoffed. "What is it with you and thinking I'm some kind of hardened criminal?"
"You're not denying it!"
"For fuck's sake, Lance. I didn't steal the bike, and I did not murder someone for it!"
"Then why won't I like you when I find out why you've hidden it up there?"
Keith sighed. "Follow me." He started up the trail and Lance jogged to catch up with him. They took a few more steps before Keith stopped and turned around to face the other. "You gotta promise me that you won't leave me."
"Keith…as long as you didn't murder someone for a bike, or…ya know. In general. I don't see that happening."
Keith inhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose before he exhaled, let go of his face, and continued up the trail once more.
They reached the bike and Keith stood expectantly. Lance looked at him blankly.
"Well? What are you going to show me about the…" He paused as he finally took in the scene of the clearing they were standing on the edge of.
A few of the neighborhood cats were lounging in a tent. Keith's clothes serving as excellent cushions. Another one was eating out of a can of wet cat food set near where Lance suspected a fire had just been dowsed minutes prior.
It was Blue. The traitor.
"Keith…are you..." Lance tried to put it delicately.
"I've been living out here since I came to town."
"Why?"
Keith rubbed at his face as his cheeks darkened. "Okay, this is the weird part. So…you know…how when we first met. I said that I'd moved here recently and that someone had told me about you? Well…that was a lie."
"No, shit!"
"Let me finish!" Keith grouched, and Lance's mouth snapped shut. "I…I've been looking for you for a long time. Wow! That sounded creepy!"
"Oh really? You mean you didn't mean to make it sound that way?" Lance asked as he took a step back.
"Lance! Just…let me explain!"
"This had better be good." Lance threatened with narrowed eyes as he crossed his arms protectively over his chest.
"I…think I was reincarnated and that, fuck this sounds even crazier when I say it out loud! That I used to be your cat."
Lance's face fell. He gave an unimpressed, "I'm outta here." Before turning around to leave. His arm was snatched, and he ripped it out of Keith's grip. "Leave me alone!"
"Wait! Please, Lance! Don't you remember? You used to call me Keef? When you were little?"
"No! Now stop acting crazy! It's not funny."
"I'm being serious!"
"Fuck, Keith! You really are insane! I can't believe…" he sobbed. "I let you into my life. Shit! My family! My mom! My little sisters!" Lance fell to his knees and tried to fight back the betrayed tears.
He felt Keith approach him tentatively.
"I remember your abuelita." Keith tried quietly. His voice sounding miserable. "She didn't like me very much."
Lance's breath hitched as a spark of his grandma towering over him and the mean look she would get when he would talk about cats.
"How do you know she didn't like cats…did my mom tell you?" He asked miserably.
"No, Lance…she didn't."
"Are you lying to me?"
"No, Lance." He answered even more quietly, and Lance hated the sincerity in his voice. Hated it almost as much as the fact that he wanted so badlyto believe him.
"Anything else you care to bring up?"
He heard Keith kneel behind him before he felt a hesitant hand touch his shoulder, and he hated the fact that he leaned into the warm touch.
"I…remember your old room? That it was blue and that you had a bunch of space stuff. You even had stars that glowed in the dark. I spent many nights staring at them and wondering how they were only visible when your room was dark. I realize now it was just glow in the dark stickers."
The image of his old room tickled Lance's memory and he was flooded with the image of the fish comforter, the cat coloring books. His space curtains. There, on the bed. A gray tabby cat with blue-gray eyes.
So different, and yet, so similar to the ones he felt burning a hole into the back of his head. He turned around to look into those eyes now.
They were so full of love and remorse, a fear of rejection but acceptance of letting Lance go. Lance felt his eyes well up with tears. He believed him.
"You idiot. Why'd you wait 'til now to tell me you used to be my cat?"
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, and Lance gave him a wanting and watery smile.
Lance felt himself pulled into a strong embrace.
"Don't look at me like that." Keith begged from above him.
"Like what?"
"Like you…like you want more than friendship from me. I'm not strong enough to resist…I end up hoping for more."
"You, stupid asshole!" Lance growled before he pulled away from Keith, grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him closer.
He kept their faces just inches apart for a moment, giving Keith the option to pull away before he leaned forward and caught the other's lips in a hesitant kiss.
Keith melted into him and his lips softened and molded perfectly with Lance's as they both shut their eyes.
They stayed like that for a moment before Lance released him. Their cheeks were both flushed as they gasped for air like they'd just run a mile. Both too inexperienced to realize they could breathe while they shared such chaste kisses.
Lance smiled cheekily as he giggled. "I waited so long to have my first kiss with someone, and it's my cat!"
Keith's face fell, and he grumbled as he began to stand up.
Lance laughed as he tugged the other back down for another kiss. Keith had gasped in surprise, so when their lips met again there was a brief moment where Keith had caught Lance's upper lip with his teeth.
He felt a thrill run through him before the pain registered. He ripped away to rub at his lips to soothe them.
"Oh, shit! Sorry, Lance! Are you okay?" Keith asked as he stood hovering over Lance still sitting on the ground.
Lance waited until the painful throbs died down before he stood and nodded his head.
"Yeah…let's try that again."
"Are you kidding me right now? You haven't even asked me out properly and you're demanding kisses?"
"You're right. Keith, will you go out with me?"
The other snorted. "You're ridiculous."
"Is that a yes?"
"You are insufferable sometimes. You know that?"
"Yes…but that's what you love about me."
Keith shook his head as he turned back to his camp and picked up the last can of cat food. He'd been going into town to pick up some more when Lance had discovered him. He watched Blue lick her chops with a smug look. Like she'd orchestrated the whole thing herself.
"Is that…my fucking house?"
Keith whipped around and spied Lance standing at the edge of the clearing and pointing to what was unmistakably his own house.
Keith shuffled, and Lance knew he was going to try to lie again.
"Oh…I guess that is your house. Isn't it? What a weird and totally random coincidence."
Lance turned around as he shook his head fondly. Past the point of finding Keith's endearing awkwardness weird.
"It's so cute when you try to lie." He replied as he approached the other.
Keith shuffled nervously as Lance stepped into his personal space. "Are you…mad?"
"Furious." Lance answered sarcastically.
Keith's face fell, and the light dimmed behind his eyes, not getting the sarcasm, before Lance grabbed his shoulders and pressed their lips together again.
"Mmm?"
Lance smiled at the small, confused noise Keith had made as he tilted his head, opened his mouth, and tugged on Keith's bottom lip gently.
He felt the gasp and shiver go through the shorter boy before he tried licking at the lip trapped between his teeth.
Keith groaned and pressed closer. His hands gripped into Lance's shirt as he, in turn, caught Lance's lip and tentatively did the same to him.
They both moaned at the sensation before they separated and held each other at arm's length.
"That was really nice!" Keith announced, and Lance nodded as he licked his lips. He watched Keith's eyes dart down to follow the action as he tasted Keith's saliva.
When the other boy copied his actions, he wondered if he could taste Lance's. When a shudder ran down the other boy's body, Lance figured he could.
He smoothed a hand over his shirt to both compose himself and stop the urge to go further. He didn't quite know what he needed to do. What he even could do. He'd have to look it up later…perhaps Keith would join him?
He blushed as he thought about it, before he shook his head. No way was he going to try anything at his house.
"I didn't get to ask before…but what were you doing out so late?"
Keith's question interrupted Lance's mortifying thoughts of his mother, or worse, his siblings walking in on him and Keith getting hot and heavy.
"Oh, yeah! I wrote a letter to Kuro…er. Shiro! I finally got a response!"
"You…what?"
"Yup!" Lance dug a hand into his pocket, quickly finding the envelope folded inside.
He let Keith open it and demanded he read it to him.
"Okay, umm. He says that he doesn't remember anyone named Keith."
Lance nodded. "Because he only knew you as a cat, right?" He paused before he scoffed and shook his head. "I can't believe I said that with such sincerity."
Keith smiled, happy that Lance had decided to believe him when he could have continued to deny his story, before he continued reading aloud.
"He says that the name Shiro does sound familiar though. He's-", Keith gasped and looked at Lance, his eyes wide and panicked.
"What? What did he say?" Lance shouted as he snatched the letter from Keith's weak grip.
Hello…Lance? (I feel like that's your name judging by your email. You didn't sign the letter so…I'm hoping that's right.)
Lance smacked his free hand against his forehead at his carelessness before he continued reading.
I'm afraid I don't know anyone named Keith, however the name 'Shiro' sounds familiar. It's been a well-kept secret that I can't remember anything of my past, so I would like to follow up on this chance to discover more about my past.
I decided to fly out and see this "Keith" in person to see if he can trigger any more of my memories. It will be after my current role is finished. I should inform you that my manager thinks I am crazy, so she will be following along and intends to bring several guards in case you are a crazed fan…her words, not mine.
I hope to see you soon.
Kuro
Lance looked up, the letter shaking in his hands as he turned equally wide eyes to the other boy.
"He's coming." Lance announced quietly before he jumped into the air with a whoop of joy. "I can't believe he's really coming!"
"Lance! Lance!"
"What?"
Keith wrung his hands together nervously. "What if he wants to see my house?"
"What house?"
"Exactly!" Keith exclaimed as he threw his hands up.
"You're right… I've just decided. You're moving in with me."
"What?" Keith felt like his head was spinning from the sudden shift in the conversation.
Lance put his hands on his hips and raised a brow. Keith didn't think Lance would appreciate just how much he looked like his mother in that moment. "I can't believe how stupid you are! You've been living here this whole time. Pack your shit up, and let's go."
"Are you serious? Lance, there's no room at your house for a permanent guest. We had to share a bed last time!"
"So?" Lance waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Was I that terrible in bed?"
"Lance! This is serious!"
"I'm serious!"
"Lance, it's fine. Seriously. I've gotten used to it. I've got company." He gestured to the cats and Lance scoffed. "Water, shelter, and I can get my own food. And there's a nearby laundromat."
"Oh shit! That's why you didn't have that many clothes! Oh man, I feel like shit for allowing you to talk me out of taking you clothes shopping for so long now." Lance mourned.
"Lance, it's okay."
"Keith…it really isn't. I have been a terrible friend. I didn't even realize that you were homeless. For how long?" He tugged at his hair and messed it up. Keith watched him worriedly as the taller boy cursed. "Damn…shit!" Lance inhaled sharply as he thought about what he was going to do next. "Okay… okay." He sighed.
"What's okay?"
"Nothing, Keith. Don't worry about it. Just give me some time. Until then, you will be living with me."
"Lance…"
"No, Keith, get your shit. I am not playing around. Pack it up. Let's go."
Keith watched him for a long moment. He had no doubt Lance would tell his family about where he'd been living. They would probably all show up, pack up everything and take it from him to force him to move in and stop living in the woods.
"Okay, Lance." He agreed quietly, before they both began packing everything up.
Notes:
FINALLY! Some actual Klance!
I plan on attempting to draw two scenes from this. A cookie to whoever guesses both correctly first. (Perhaps cookie should be a quick doodle. I need more practice drawing the peeps of Voltron at any rate so...okay.) First person who guesses right gets a quick doodle of their fave character and a theme of their choosing (one word theme please). I'll post a link to the three in the next chapter when I post it, but I will be adding the images to the bottom of this chapter when they are done.