Keith huffed in annoyance as he tugged on the collar of his dress shirt. He had never been to a wedding before, but he had quickly learned that he hated wearing tuxedos with a fiery passion. Stiff shirts, wide dress pants, way uncomfortable. However, today wasn't about his comfort, he decided resolutely. No, today was about Sophia Mendes, Lance's sister, and her soon-to-be wedded partner, Jamie. Keith would be damned if he didn't deliver them his finest work yet. He sighed as he hung the strap of his camera around his neck, careful not to ruin the flower pinned to his chest, and stepped out of the chapel's men's room.
"You okay there, buddy?" Lance asked, a little too chipper for Keith's taste.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Keith replied, gazing away from the other. "I'm just a little nervous about getting everything right, I guess… I mean, this is the first time I'm doing a wedding. The suit isn't doing anything to make me more comfortable either."
"I completely understand. But you take great pictures in general, so if you just do what you always do, at what just so happens to be my sister's wedding..." He trailed off.
"Then by your logic, I should be fine." Keith nodded, smiling tentatively.
"Exactly!" Lance beamed, patting his shoulder. "Let's go, I'm sure you'll do great!"
Keith couldn't help but smile as he looked around the chapel. The entire place was decorated with bouquets of green carnations and lilac violets, bound together with white, satin ribbon tied in a knot, rather than a bow, as well as bouquets of pink and yellow tulips, tied in blue ribbon. Clever, subtle, queer imagery. He wouldn't even have noticed if Lance hadn't specifically pointed it out to him.
According to Lance's explanation, the green carnations were a popular identifier among gay men in the victorian era, while violets were often used by lesbian and bisexual women to woo one another from the 1910s until the 1950s, the white knot tying the flowers together was introduced as a symbol in support of same-sex marriage. The colors of the pieces were the same as the colors of the genderqueer pride flag, for Jamie, and the tulip bouquets made up the colors of the pansexual pride flag for Sophia.
It was cute, Keith thought. It gave him hope for the future.
He jolted when the organ started playing. It was go-time. Keith chuckled, watching Jamie's jaw growing slack through the viewfinder of his camera as the bride walked down the aisle with her father, barely managing to snap a picture of their gaping face in time, before turning to take some photos of Sophia and her dad walking her down the aisle.
The way the two looked at one another warmed his heart. He wished he had someone in his life who would look at him like that. He took another series of photos from the middle of the aisle as the two stood in front of the altar to keep them in the center of the composition as they held each other's hands and smiled oh so beautifully before they burst into a fit of giggles.
"I love you, Sophia."
"I'd sure hope so, Jamie."
"Hey, Keith." Sophia, the bride, smiled as she walked up to him, struggling to run in her creamy, off-white princess gown. The resemblance in Lance's immediate family was uncanny, he noticed. She looked just like her younger brother, but with longer hair, twisted in an intricate updo and adorned with a flower crown made of violets.
"I just wanted to thank you again for doing this on such a short notice. For a while I really thought we weren't gonna have a photographer for the wedding."
"Ah, don't worry about it." Keith smiled. "I'm just happy to help."
"So, do you do this often?" She asked curiously.
"Actually, no." He told her almost shamefully. "Truth be told, this is the first wedding I've ever been to. At all."
"What, really?" Sophia asked, a dumbfounded look on her face. "But you were such a professional with the family photos. Heck, you're probably the first photographer who ever got Maria's kids to pay attention!"
"Just lucky, I guess." Keith shrugged humbly, rubbing the back of his neck. A blush creeping to his face from the avalanche of compliments.
"Well, in that case I hope you don't mind I decided to help your business along."
"Oh?" Keith asked before rapidly looking away as the bride started rummaging around in what was obviously her bra, the blush on his face only growing.
"Sorry, this designer dress is pretty and all, but it doesn't have any pockets." She apologized.
"N-no, it's okay." He stammered as she produced a phone from her décolleté, and proudly held it in front of Keith's face.
"Is that my business card in that photo..." He mumbled. "'Brides of the Round Table'?" He chuckled as he read the title of the group chat out loud.
"Yep. Five of my best friends are getting married this year, so I figured I'd spread the word." Sophia beamed.
Keith smiled. This was crazy. For years he's been advertising his own services, but to see someone else proudly shouting him out like this was completely new to him. "Thanks, Sophia. I really appreciate it."
"Don't mention it! You deserve it. Now go ahead and get yourself a slice of cake and some food from the buffet. I don't think I've seen you eat yet, and we can't let you pass out on the job now, can we?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Keith couldn't help but stare at the mountains of food on the buffet table. Dessert plate with cake in one hand, empty dinner plate in the other. If the food tasted half as good as it looked and smelled, he would ascend to the heavens, he was sure. Keith considered himself a decent cook, better than Shiro at the very least, and this was leagues ahead of his own skill level. Whoever was cooking here was an absolute genius.
He turned on his heel to check out the rest of the table, though as he kept walking, he bumped into a man, smearing his cake on the man's chef's jacket. Oops.
"Wow, the second time we meet is the second meet you walk right into me? Must be fate." The big man smiled.
It was only then that Keith realized this was Hunk, and suddenly blushed bright red. "I-I'm so sorry Hunk… I didn't mean to..." He trailed off.
"Don't worry about it, man. These clothes are meant to have food all over them." He quirked an eyebrow as noticed Keith's hands were shaking and quickly snatched the plates from his hands, placing the saucer, now devoid of cake, on the table and started scooping various sorts of food onto his dinner plate. "How long were you taking photos like that? You know, without eating?"
Keith shrugged. "I don't get hungry when I take pictures."
"Allow me to politely call bullshit. Just because you don't notice, doesn't mean you don't get hungry." The larger man said, guiding Keith to a table and sitting him down.
Keith stared with sparkling eyes and a watering mouth as Hunk put the plate in front of him and handed him the silverware he needed to dig in, not noticing the worry in Hunk's eyes as he watched him eat.
"It's true, though. When I'm in the right mindset, everything else kinda disappears. Hunger included." Keith said, his mouth full as he tried to consume everything as quickly as humanly possible.
"Slightly less bullshit, but still equally bad for you." Hunk admitted.
"I guess you're right about that... This is really good, though. Did you make this?"
"Only a little. Buffets are more of a team effort. But I'm glad you like it. If you're interested, you could come over to my place for dinner some time. I'll make you my best meal."
Keith almost choked on his pasta. "Ye-Yeah, that sounds great, actually." He stuttered.
"Can I have your number?" Hunk asked, blushing brightly when he realized what he'd just said. "I-I mean, to set a date! O-Or not necessarily a date, just-"
"Hunk." Keith spoke, placing his hand on Hunk's, snapping him out of it. "I'd… love to go on a date with you. Especially when it's dinner at your place." The confidence with which he had confessed surprised even him, but he could feel the confidence crumble quickly the longer Hunk stared at him in silence. "Shit. Fucking fuck. I made it weird, I shouldn't have done that, I'm so, so sorry."
"N-No! You didn't… I was just surprised that you seem to like me back… I mean, you know Grindr, 'no fats'..."
"'no fems, no asians'." Keith finished. "Trust me, I know what it's like."
"Yeah, so much for a loving and accepting community, huh?" Hunk chuckled bitterly. "So… I know we're technically on the clock, but wanna dance?" He asked, getting up and offering Keith his hand.
"Absolutely." He whispered as he took Hunk's hand, looking up at the bigger man with newfound hope sparkling in his eyes.
Keith was grateful that Lance turned out to live in the same neighborhood he and Shiro lived in. He wasn't sure he would have gotten home that night if the other man hadn't offered to give him a ride home. Public transit was nice and all, but after midnight, he was pretty much screwed. Maybe he should invest in getting a drivers license some time…
He groaned as he opened the door to his and Shiro's apartment, stumbling inside with his camera safely packed away in his padded bag. "'m home…" He said, exhausted and half-heartedly, not expecting Shiro to still be up and waiting for him. He'd be surprised.
The entire apartment was pitch black, except for the living room, where only the artificial light coming from the television illuminated the couch and the coffee table. Shiro looked up from whatever bad scripted reality show was on, half asleep on the couch, mumbled "You sound like you had fun."
"Tons." Keith said as he let himself fall to the couch next to Shiro. His voice was more hoarse than he was used to. "I saw Hunk again."
"Talk to me, bro. Should I get my notes?" He teased, but that quickly earned him a punch in the arm, getting a chuckle out of him.
"He's so sweet. He made sure I had enough to eat when I forgot to, he danced with me until his boss started screaming at him. He's a really good cook, too. He works at this catering company that made the buffet for the wedding. He even offered to make me dinner some time..." Keith let out a sigh, deep in thought. "I don't know what it is about that guy, but every time he smiles it's like I can just melt away…"
"Sounds to me like you have a crush."
"No. No, no, no. I've had crushes before. Crushes I wanna ride into the sunset. This was way different. This was… Soft, fluffy, like being swept off my feet. It's like something I've never felt before." Keith mumbled as he leaned against Shiro, curling up on the couch.
"If that's true, I think you're actually in love with Hunk."
"Shit, I've never been in love before… What do I do?" Keith asked, turning to Shiro.
"You do realize who you're talking to, right?"
"Right…" Keith mumbled, burying his face in his knees.
"H-hey, don't be like that!" Shiro said, his mind racing to find something to cheer him up. "You're a smart guy, you'll figure it out, I promise. Just don't rush into anything stupid, okay? Patience-"
"yields focus." Keith finished. "Thanks, man. That was surprisingly motivational. So, how was dinner with the Holts?"
"Mostly the same, but a little different." Shiro pondered, still trying to process the events of just a few hours prior.
"Different how?"
"Well…"