A/N:HOLY SHIT I? WON A COSPLAY COMPETITION LAST MONTH AS CIEL PHANTOMHIVE!

no dead serious i went to jafax as ciel and my friend was sebastian and i ended up winning the cosplay competition

my instagram is lastlifecreatons and you can go check out my page for pictures

anyway i'm still shook but here's a chapter update

It was a goddamn red carpet.

Of course it was.

Pidge was perched behind a lamppost, peeking around the side and watching the entrance to the grand plaza this ceremony thing was supposed to be held in.

There were paparazzi. Real life paparazzi.

Oh Stars, Pidge thought, what if someone recognizes me from the underwear magazines?

They nervously pulled on the green square in their pocket, trying their hardest not to rub their eyes.

Lance hadn't done much at all-shaped their eyebrows, textured their hair, and used some basic makeup-but he had insisted that they not touch anything he had used setting spray on. Which was everything.

Another car pulled up to the walkway between the paparazzi and Pidge couldn't even make out what they looked like before the person was drowned by the swarm of camera flashes.

A motorcycle's loud engine came tearing down the street, swinging into an open meter recklessly and cutting to silence.

Pidge fought a giggle as they looked over the bike-who still thought flames were cool?-when they realized the rider had pulled his helmet off, and was watching them.

He had dark, messy, fluffy hair and an almost-gaunt complexion, a well-tailored suit with a dark red tie hastily being tucked back into place. He looked Pidge up and down before leaning over his helmet in his lap.

"Hey." He said, after several moments of observation.

"Um...hello." Pidge responded softly. They suddenly felt like too much, in a suit too fancy for them on a street they had no business standing around on, and they wanted to wither up like a dry plant under this kid's glare. He really couldn't be much older than them, if he wasn't the same age.

"It's Pidge, right? Like Pidgeon?"

"I-I-Yes." Pidge stammered, caught by surprise.

The kid on the bike nodded flatly.

"Cool. I'll let Shiro know I found you."

"O-oh, you know...Shiro?"

The kid paused, having leaned back in his seat and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"He's my brother, man. Wouldn't be here if he wasn't." He responded stiffly, back to his phone as soon as he finished speaking. "I have no idea where either of them are-Allura told me she was showing up separately, she hates valet, but I didn't hear anything from Shiro, so I assumed he was going to call up someone, but he didn't actually have an ETA."

Pidge nodded like they knew what the hell he was talking about, and fiddled uselessly with their cufflinks. Their hands just needed something to do.

The kid noticed, of course he did, and nodded towards their wrists.

"You like space?"

"I love it." Pidge responded quickly, breathlessly.

"That explains why he started casting so many galaxy-style molds. Greens and purples, flecks of glitter-it's actually really cool."

Again, Pidge nodded like they knew what he was talking about. It seemed to work; he chewed the inside of his lip, but gave them a half-approving look. "How did you meet Shiro, anyway? He hardly ever leaves their little basement lab, and he certainly isn't looking for anyone."

"O-oh, yeah...hehe, uh…"

He said he needed a fake date; did he tell his brother he had a legit date, too, or can I be the legit one here?

"Aiy! Keith! Glad you found it okay."

Pidge was saved by a familiar voice calling from across the street.

Their knees went weak.

Shiro was standing tall, remarkably relaxed, looking down the street.

Pidge fought the urge to run away. He was wearing a jet-black suit with crystals at the wrists, mirroring the ones around their ankles, and his tie was purplish-pinkish-greenish space, with a reflective black lioness imprinted on the front of it. His eyes moved from the kid (Keith?) to them, and his face froze.

Shiro's chest trembled. Pidge was standing behind Keith on the street, watching him the way a cat assessed a dangerous situation. He could almost see a tail whipping back and forth.

The suit was stunning on them. He felt his jaw working just to stay where it was. The curve of their hips fed right into the starlike crystals bleeding down to the mock-galaxy at their ankles, yet the way they stood was so...intelligent. Could one even describe how a person stood as being intelligent? Would inquisitive have been a better word?

He didn't know, and he didn't care, and he was crossing the street before he knew what he was supposed to think.

He lost his momentum as he was about to step onto the sidewalk, and leaned away quickly, rubbing at the back of his neck. He didn't want to scare them off.

Pidge is a person, not a stray cat, he thought. Keep it together, dummy.

He smiled easily and stepped up onto the sidewalk, coming to face them.

Wow, he knew they were small, but they barely came above his waist! He took a step back just so he felt like he could see them okay.

"Good evening, Pidge. You found it okay?"

Shit, that was stupid, too formal, then too casual, you're a mess, what were you thinking-

"And to you, too, Shiro. It was right where you said it'd be; how was your day?"

Oh, stars, this is awkward, he's looking at me funny, and how can someone be so tall?! This was a mistake, I can't do this-

"Quite honestly, my day has drastically improved, now that I'm seeing you." Shiro smiled before a heavy flush fell over his face.

I shouldn't have said that, it was way too honest, they're not actually dating you-

"Oh! I-I-"

Pidge laughed bashfully, a little red dusting across their cheeks. They twiddled nervously with their cuff links again.

Keith cleared his throat loudly, ignoring the disapproving look Shiro shot at him.

"Riiight, well, it was good to finally meet you, Pidge, but I should probably go find Allura. See you in there?"

He swung his leg off his bike, pressing quarters into the parking meter.

Shiro nodded.

"See you in there. On your best behavior, right?"

Keith laughed half-seriously.

"We're going to find out." He responded flatly, before jogging away into the street.

Pidge and Shiro both sighed heavily as soon as Keith was out of earshot.

And then they looked at one another, and burst out laughing so hard that some of the paparazzi actually turned to look all the way down the street.

"I guess that tells me what I'm up against!" Pidge laughed, finally letting go of their cufflinks.

"I-I cannot tell you how happy I am that I found you." Shiro said as he came down from the laughter-high, still flushed. Not even he was sure if he meant just then, or in general.

"I get the feeling we should've planned this through a little more." Pidge responded, and Shiro immediately agreed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want either of you to meet each other that way...though, now that I think on it, I'm not sure what would have been better. But you're right, we probably should have a plan."

Pidge nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, how about...I ask you a question, and you ask me one?" They offered, glancing up at Shiro just long enough to see him nod before looking away. "Alrighty, uh...how serious is the relationship you want to fabricate?"

Shiro watched them push their glasses awkwardly back up their nose, their fingernails very short but neatly-recently-filed.

"Let's say it's not very, but just enough to justify bringing you along...uh, what's your comfort zone for physical contact?"

Wait, that sounded perverted, didn't it?

"You mean, like, in a public relationship?.. I don't know, probably...well, in all honesty, you've got full permission to do just about whatever, I trust you for that, and it's not like there's a lot you could do to make me uncomfortable...I was a model, you know. You get used to hands everywhere after something like that." Pidge ended with a laugh.

Shiro gave another nod, and stepped forward.

Good god, I feel like an awkward middle-schooler trying to flirt again.

"So...something like this…" He tucked his hand around their waist, holding them loosely to his side, "...would this be okay? Never be afraid to tell me no, alright?"

Pidge flushed deeply, and their hand rested on top of his for just a moment before pulling away and nodding messily.

"That's fine." They said hurriedly, breathily. "And the same for you. But I think that if we stick together, it'll be fine."

Why am I trying to comfort him? He does these things all the time, why on earth would I need to-

"Excellent. In all reality, I'm not ready to do this, but...ready to go in?" Shiro asked, hand still around Pidge, adjusting his tie with the other.

Pidge grinned, a lopsided and goofy yet still somehow bolstering thing.

"Not at all. Let's do it." They said.

And together, they marched awkwardly forward.