Hunk does some damage control
Hunk isn't sure what Keith and Shiro talked about the other night in the van, but whatever it was it definitely worked. They are both calmer, Shiro is even being nice to Lance, which of course has the boy elated. Shiro seems more relaxed, too, but still weary of something that Hunk is pretty sure he could guess, and Keith is picking up on it, giving him an almost daring look from time to time.
Still, though, overall it's much more chill.
"Hey, Keith~!" Pidge sings out, catching everyone's attention as she walks out of the bathroom wearing a shirt and cheshire-like grin, "Remember this?"
Hunk watches a blush rise to Keith's face as everyone stares down the light green shirt Pidge is wearing. It has a small purple version of Keith's face with alien antennae and a UFO in the background with the words 'An alien is among me' beneath the picture.
He'd be lying if he said it wasn't to cutest shirt he's ever seen, or that he didn't want ten of them for himself.
"I need, like, ten of those." Lance gushes, running up and checking the shirt out intensely, "This is hilarious !" He exclaims before looking at Pidge with excitement, "Where did you get it?"
"Matt is in love with aliens, so a few years ago we went to some alien con thing and one of the booths was an artist. I made him draw an alien Keith print for the shirt I was wearing. When we left I got it put on by a professional." She explains proudly as Keith looks like he's fading fast in the background.
"Wait, Matt," Hunk turns to the older man, "You believe in aliens?"
Matt grins, "You bet I do, kid! Aliens, ghosts, cryptids! I remember when we were younger Keith once stole some of my mothman memorabilia while calling me a loser for believing in ghosts in the same breath. Such a hypocrite."
"Matt, you are the best ." Lance grins before looking to Keith, who is desperately trying to disappear in a corner, eyeing a window like he's legitimately contemplating an escape from it, "What's with you and mothman, dude?
"Can we talk about something else, please ?" Keith asks and Hunk nods.
"Let's leave the poor kid alone." He says, looking to the snickering Pidge, "I think he's been through enough."
"Fine, Fine," Lance sighs, pulling a ton of brochures out of nowhere, "Let's pick out a place to hang, we are gonna need stuff to do for the day since obviously we aren't going to our spot until tonight . "
Shiro smiles at him amused, " Obviously ."
Lance grins back and holds up a brochure, "So what will we be doing to kill the time?"
Hunk grabs a few and looks at the prices for the activities, "I think it might be better if we just hang out around town for the day. I saw a nice looking restaurant we can get dinner at."
"I saw a decent looking ice cream place last night." Keith offers and Hunk grins at him. It never ceases to amaze him just how much Keith loves junk food. Honestly, looking at his body one would think he leaned more towards fresh veggies and fruits, but nope, their dear Keith here would gladly push all those aside for a burger and cake any day.
"So we know where we are gonna eat...but, like, what are we gonna do today?" Pidge groans.
"Hassayampa River Preserve looks good," Shiro muses, "It's free and will get you dorks outside for something other than ghosts." He looks to Keith and gasps, "Keith! You can finally see the sun, Keith!"
"Fuck off, Shiro," The younger brother huffs, but the smile on his face betrays any annoyance he might be trying to convey.
"Alright! River it is!" Lance cheers before patting Keith on the head, "And don't worry, we'll get your ice cream, too, kiddo."
"I'm older than you." Keith growls out and Lance raises a brow, looking him over.
"Then why are you so much smaller than me?" He teases, earning a swift smack to the stomach, hunching him over as Keith smirks next to him.
"Same size now, you little shit ."
"No rough housing, Keith." Shiro scolds, "Now everyone get ready and in the van."
Hunk smiles as he watches the others scramble to grab different things, Shiro delegating.
"No, Keith, you don't need a knife at the preserve ," He groans, missing his younger brother sneak it into a holster on his belt anyways, "Pidge stop chucking socks at Keith!" Shiro yells before looking over to Lance with a huge bottle of sunscreen, "Is...is that necessary…?"
"Absolutely!" Lance huffs, "Not only for my benefit, but for the sake of the future Mr. or Mrs. Lance McClain. They need a husband with soft, undamaged skin."
Pidge smirk, "Too bad Keith won't return the favor," She teases, earning her a pillow to the face from Keith.
" Enough! " Shiro groans, making everyone go still except a now snickering Matt, "Everyone get to the van ! Jesus, Keith weren't you telling me last night you were an adult?"
"I am an adult," Keith says, casually smothering Pidge with a pillow, "Don't be so dramatic."
Shiro walks over and chucks the pillow to the side, "If you don't leave Pidge alone, so help me god I will carry your 'adult' ass to the van myself."
Hunk sees the joy at said challenge that comes to Keith's eyes as he crosses his arms.
"Bring it, old man ."
Without another word, Shiro scoops Keith up, throwing him over his shoulder before looking back at the others, "Let's go."
Everyone, as expected, goes .
Luckily for Keith, Shiro is nice enough to set him down in the elevator, where he subtly stands behind Lance and Hunk, eyeing his brother wearily.
"I can't believe you did that."
Shiro just shoots him a cocky smirk and Hunk can't help but smile at the two brothers, clearly acting more comfortable and natural.
It luckily takes no time to get to the preserve and Shiro has given them a literal list of things not to do by the time Matt parks.
Hunk isn't entirely sure the others were listening.
As soon as they all clamour out of the van Keith takes the opportunity to stretch, his arms raising high to reveal his midriff. A sight that Lance definitely takes notice of.
While Shiro definitely takes notice of him taking notice.
"So, should we do a tourism video?" Hunk asks to distract at least one of them, and Pidge scoffs.
"Only if they fucking pay us for the endorsement."
Keith laughs a little under his breath, "So that's a no."
Hunk shrugs and starts recording anyways, "So this will be just for us, then!" He says, turning to Keith with it, "Are you excited to be in nature for the first time?"
"Hmmm, it's hard to say," Keith muses before grabbing the camcorder from him and pointing it at Hunk with a devilish grin, "Are you excited to be on camera for once?"
Hunk blushes and covers his face, "Keith! I told you I don't want to be the focus of a shot!"
The raven haired man frowns at him, "I don't get why, but, fine . Here you go." He says, handing it back before him and Pidge go slack jawed at the sight of some lizard scurrying by, "Oh my god."
"Let's go catch it." Pidge decides, grabbing his hand and dragging him off, leaving Hunk to himself again.
Honestly, Hunk knows people like seeing him on film, and he knows he's attractive, but the idea of being the focus of anything makes him nervous. He'd much rather help from the sidelines where he can be useful without feeling smothered or pressured by attention. It might seem weird to feel that way about a home video, but anxiety doesn't exactly care about making sense.
"What the shit, man! Why did you go right to Keith, Hunk? I'm hurt! " Lance whines and Hunk shoots him a smirk.
"I figured you would appreciate me not having you gawking like a horny school boy at Keith on film." He teases, watching his best friend go ten shades of red.
"I-I wasn't-! That's not -! You should have just-!" Lance groans, giving up and looking to his best friend dejected, but curious, "Speaking of crushes, which I do not have, why the hell haven't you gone on that date with Shay yet?" He asks and Hunk frowns.
"I want to," He admits, fiddling with the camcorder, "I just...with all this stuff I can't afford it right now...and this on top of work and school has me pretty busy...ya know?"
Lance frowns, "Dude if you can't afford these-"
"I can! I enjoy these trips,I mean come on, it was our dream Lance! I'm just saying, $5 doesn't really make for a good date, and I want to give her the best ." Hunk frowns, "I will have enough saved soon to-"
"That's such bullshit!" Lance exclaims, glaring at Hunk, "The cost of the date doesn't matter, you idiot . What matters is you are together and enjoying yourselves! The key to a good romantic relationship is a strong foundation of friendship .You have to be able to enjoy the other's company even when you aren't out doing extravagant things. Go for a walk in the park or even just come to our place and watch a movie alone together! I'll go bug Keith and Pidge while you do it! I mean, come on, do you know how romantic that is!? You can even cook her a meal and really wow her! It costs nothing extra aside from a bit of our grocery money! Stop putting it off, dude, you asked her out in November ."
"But I-"
"No more excuses!" He scolds, "She said yes, she's obviously interested, don't dick around until she drops your ass. Get your shit together and take that beautiful woman on a date!"
Hunk smiles over at Lance, if he's being honest with himself he may have been putting it off out of fear. Shay is a nice girl, after all and he doesn't want to mess up or end their friendship, even if it's just at school, that time together is still something he never wants to lose.
"What are you two doing back there?" Pidge hollers from her spot next to Keith as he eyes a patch of cacti where the lizard is now resting, "Get your asses in gear, boys, jesus!"
Lance shoots him a grin and shrugs before jogging over to them, quickly followed by Hunk, "Wow, look at that," He begins, leaning on Keith's shoulder to look down at the cacti, "They're almost a prickly as you."
Keith side eyes him, annoyed, "Keep talking shit, Lance, and you can get a face full of these pricks."
"Oof, Keith, so hurtful ." Lance teases before walking away, quickly taking the lead of their group.
"Speaking of hurtful," Pidge begins, a scowl in place, "Why the hell are we doing something that requires walking all over today when we are literally spending all night walking through a god damn abandoned town?!" She asks and, yeah, why are they doing this?
Their feet are probably gonna be in a lot of pain by tonight.
"It's a bonding exercise!" Matt teases and Pidge groans.
"I've been dealing with you, Shiro, and the emo pretty much all my life, we don't need bonding."
"Gotta work them glutes, Pidge." He grins, earning a dark look from his little sister. Things are looking kinda dark for a second, so Hunk goes to say something, only for Lance to interrupt.
"Holy shit, guys! Check out this cactus!" Lance yells, getting everyone's attention as he stands under one that is literally five times his size, "This is some big dick energy right here, damn !"
Hunk immediately bursts out laughing because, damn, he fucking loves this guy. "Lance," He wheezes, earning a large grin from his best friend, " Oh my god ."
"I argued with Shiro for this guy , what has my life become." Keith groans nearby, his fondness still unmistakeable, and Hunk's pretty sure nobody else caught it, but he did and it's enough to make his heart melt a little.
He was right, Keith stood up for Lance. Stood up to his brother, his hero , for Lance. Honestly if Hunk could get away with inconspicuously hugging him right now he absolutely would.
Later, though.
Later .
They walk a while more, Keith and Lance now oh-so-subtly power walking to beat the other for the lead. The two are neck and neck, but Hunk can see that Lance is struggling a little to keep up.
"Practicing for when you run away like a little kid tonight?" Keith taunts, earning him a dirty look.
"You fucking wish, Kogane," Lance's scowl morphs into a challenging smirk, "I'm not leaving your side tonight."
The blush that rises to Keith's face is noticeable by literally everyone but Lance, and Hunk even notices the poor boy's footing stutter for a second, before he grumbles, "I fucking wish you would."
Lance scoffs beside him, "Bullshit."
Hunk hears a sound from Shiro behind him, and notices the man sneak away from the group. He's seen this song and dance enough himself as well, so Hunk decides to join him since Matt is clearly too busy egging the two on. "Hey, um, mind if I join you?"
Shiro looks over at him and smiles, "Sorry, I'll catch up with you guys in a second."
Hunk shakes his head and raises his hands up, "Nah, I'm not here to drag you back, I just wanted to check up on you. I'm sure it's weird to see them like that."
Shiro lets out a weak laugh, "A little, but honestly it's not so much them flirting as just... Keith ." He goes silent for a minute, looking over the river in front of them before turning back to Hunk, as if deciding if he really wants to discuss this with someone who is basically a stranger, "You don't know, probably, since you have only known him since...November, was it? Keith has grown so much since meeting you and Lance four months ago." A tired, but strangely proud smile comes to his face as he looks off into the distance, "I'm honestly still kind of reeling from my conversation with him last night. He's maturing into an adult with his own life and his own opinions, I'm no longer his moral compass. He isn't just blindly following what I would want him to do, and even yelled at me for not treating Lance up to his standards."
Hunk can't help the large smile that comes to his face at that. Because yes, Keith, he's gonna get such a big hug later .
"He has his own life now, I guess," Shiro sighs, "His own desires, now completely separate from mine and honestly it's...it's so new it's a bit jarring. He's out making friends and hunting ghosts, a thing he and Matt have always butted heads about, and he's even gushing about his new life. You know, over christmas, with Lance and the texting, that's honestly the most I have ever seen him on his phone and he literally never uses it when we are having family time. He also gave me a two hour break down on you and a girl named Shay and how you are perfect for each other." He adds with a grin, making Hunk blush some, "I've never seen him talk so much about someone else. Keith loves you guys already. His focal point is changing from me to his new life in your town."
"Isn't that good, though? That's, like, the goal? " Hunk asks, because he's 100% sure it is for parents, or pseudo-parental-brothers.
"It is," Shiro agrees and his expression becomes distant again, as if he's debating whether he should continue still.
It's a look Hunk is pretty used to, just like he's used to the inevitable giving in. Everyone shares with Hunk, he's like an unofficial therapist.
He's honestly thinking of getting business cards made and working out an hourly rate.
"You know our parents died, right?" Shiro asks and Hunk frowns, nodding.
"I haven't been told how or why or even when, but I know they died when Keith was young. He mentioned it once but honestly a lot of it was just context clues."
Also he brought it up with Lance once, who confirmed it.
Apparently they did a lot of opening up during their ride to the Sallie house.
Hunk is considering playing 21 questions with Keith himself.
"Well, after our parents died, Keith and I sort of latched onto each other as a safety net." Shiro admits and Hunk nods because, yeah, it makes sense, "I've been using him as a way to stay grounded since then. Before Pidge and him left, Keith was my stability in everything that has happened in my life, and he felt the same. Now, though, he's reaching out to others. Pidge is his go-to these days, and I know he relies on you and Lance in different ways as well, I can see it just from watching you all interact. It makes me happy, it does, but I'm just...lonely I guess."
"You're kind of a huge mess, huh?" Hunk asks and Shiro sighs, reluctantly nodding.
"Honestly it's why I haven't purposed to Matt yet." He admits, "I'm always afraid something will happen to Keith. He's the only family I have left, who is to say he won't break down again? Or what if during one of these adventures you kids go on he gets injured in a way that requires constant care? He will be my top priority and poor Matt would be stuck there because of a wedding ring."
Hunk waits a few moments to see if Shiro has anything more to say, before he finally lays out some piping hot tea for this idiot of a man, "Okay, first of all, I might not know Keith as well as you do but I know he's not some mentally fragile child who lost his family anymore. He's a mature adult who is building a new one. If anything did happen to him, you would have to contend with Pidge, Lance and me for taking care of him because there's no way we'd not be there for him.
" Also , dude I might not have seen you guys acting super lovey on this trip, but just from what I can see it's obvious Matt adores you and Keith. He's not gonna feel trapped if anything did in fact happen. If you love that man, fucking marry him already ."
Shiro laughs a little and it sounds exhausted and a little sad, "I can't believe I'm getting therapy from Keith's new friend."
Hunk narrows his eyes at the man, "Have you even been to therapy? With the war and your parents, have you gone to one?"
The older man is suspiciously silent and Hunk scowls.
"You need to go." Hunk demands before looking back at the trail, "And we need to go, no doubt they are way ahead of us now."
Shiro sighs, putting his hands in his pockets and heading back to the trail, "I thought I was the mother hen."
Hunk grins at him, "You are, but even you need one from time to time. If you ever want to talk, you can call me any time."
Shiro gives him a small smile and by the time they meet up with the others he looks a little lighter, his smile a little wider, "How's the team doing so far?"
"My feet hurt." Pidge groans.
"I'm starving. " Matt adds, sparing a thoughtful look between Hunk and Shiro before smiling at the former.
"Why 'team'?" Keith asks before Lance touches a tree in front of them both and cheers.
"I won! Hah! Suck on that , Keith!" He exclaims before grinning at Shiro, "My feet hurt like a bitch, though, so maybe we should head back and take it easy until tonight."
The older man spares him a soft smile, "Sounds good, Lance."
Everyone begins to head back, Pidge and Hunk straggling behind the chaos of the other four.
"Think Shiro's gonna be okay?" Pidge asks, surprising him, "What? I can't notice when my brother's boyfriend has troubles?"
Hunk laughs a little, "Sorry, just a little surprised. I didn't take you for the emotionally astute type." He teases, earning an unamused look from the girl, "He'll be alright, he's just got some issues."
Pidge sighs, "He's had those issues since returning from war, luckily Keith is pretty dense to it," She sounds a little bitter, and Hunk can't blame her, "So how did you like our little trip to the preserve?"
Hunk groans, throwing his head back to look up at the giant trees around them, "Honestly? You are all exhausting ." He answers, lips curving into a smile when he hears Pidge laugh beside him.
A/N:Hey, hi, what's up? This chapter is random as fuck and I apologize.