Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

10-4-2016 // 11:36pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Oh my god what the hell is that username

[LANCEALOT]: Hello edgemaster69

[LANCEALOT]: lolololololol

[PidgetWidget]: Oh my God. I just checked the profile.

[PidgetWidget]: It’s Keith. Keith, why did you change your username?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: what? its not that bad guys

[Hunkydory1]: idk man. Its pretty bad.

[Hunkydory1]: like middle school scene phase bad.

[takashiro3088]: I like it! It suits him.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: THANK YOU SHIRO

[LANCEALOT]: Anyway has anyone heard from allura shes been mia for like

[LANCEALOT]: MONTHS now

[LANCEALOT]: And since none of us know each others like last names

[LANCEALOT]: Or if these are our real names

[LANCEALOT]: Or even what we look like

[LANCEALOT]: I cant find her anywhere like anywhere else online

[takashiro3088]: …

[takashiro3088]: I haven’t spoken to her in a long time come to think of it.

[takashiro3088]: And it hasn’t been months. Weeks, sure, but not months. Stop being so dramatic Lance.

[LANCEALOT]: Shut up DAD

[takashiro3088]: How many times do I have to ask you to stop calling me that? I’m not your dad.

[takashiro3088]: You aren’t that much younger than me!

[takashiro3088]: Right?

[LANCEALOT]: Blah blah blah anyway have you guys heard of this new photograph going around

[LANCEALOT]: With the ufo over chicago?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: no but id love to see it

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i didn’t even hear about it…

[LANCEALOT]: Hang on ill link you guys!

[LANCEALOT]: < LINK SENT >

[Hunkdory1]: lance you are so lucky I dont REALLY know who you are

[Hunkdory1]: I cant believe I just got rick roll’d in the year 2016

[PidgetWidget]: One day I’m going to figure out a way to complete erase that video’s existence.

[LANCEALOT]: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[LANCEALOT]: :D

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: why am i not surprised

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hes literally done this to us before too

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and we keep believing it

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: wheres allura so she can ban lance from this site forever

[PidgetWidget]: I’m a mod. I’ll do it. I mean, I basically constructed this site for her.

[LANCEALOT]: Excuse you guys alteansociety dot com is a public website i will just make more accounts!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: why are you such a nuisance

[LANCEALOT]: I keep this chat alive anyway so you cant get rid of me!

[LANCEALOT]: Like us five are the only ones that really use the chat system and IM THE MOST ACTIVE

[LANCEALOT]: Without me the chatroom dies~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Hunkydory1]: hes kind of right you guys.

[Hunkydory1]: kind of. :p

[takashiro3088]: I hate to admit it, but Lance has a point. I usually forget to check this.

[takashiro3088]: Unless Lance PMs me to join the chat.

[LANCEALOT]: ;D

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im gonna go check my forum post and probably work on this paper for fantasy lit

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ttyl

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

10-4-16 // 11:48pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Keith groaned and pushed his roller chair away from his desk. Lance can be so infuriating sometimes. Why does this guy get under his skin? So. Much.

                He stretched his arms above his head, his shirt rising just enough to expose a bit of his midriff. A chill went up his shirt, causing him to shudder. All he could think of was a warm, and hopefully large hand running up under his shirt, from a certain nuisance. He placed a hand on his chest, imagining his hand resting right above his heart. A low hum raised in the back of his throat.

                It’s pathetic. Here he is pining over a guy he’s only know for a few months, but has never even seen a picture of him. And how is he to know the guy’s name is actually Lance? How does he know if his hands are big and warm? That they’d intertwine with his so perfectly?

                In the main chat, Lance seem like the typical annoying college freshman dude-bro. But in their private messages, Keith slowly discovered, that yes, he is annoying, but he’s also much more. He has a deep love for extra-terrestrials and cryptids, much like Keith does. They both like cheesy sci-fi moves and zero butter on their popcorn. Lance is a really good listener as well. When Keith would have nights where school was just too much and he considered heavily about dropping out, Lance would be there to, well yell at him for basically thinking of throwing his “future” away. And then he’d spend the whole night talking to him, trying to cheer him up. Which usually just meant memes and terrible puns.

                God, why did they have to establish the “no photo” rule when they all started talking? He’d give anything to know what he looked like. To see if his face matched his beautiful soul. Keith was sure that he did. He had a few ideas of what he looked like, but he’d accept Lance even if he looked like a slug. And there’s always the possibility that Lance isn’t actually human, but a slug-like alien that inhabited a human’s body and learned how to use a computer. All very possible.

                When Keith first joined the social media site, AlteanSociety, about a year ago, it was basically dead and the site itself was bare and boring. But it was something that allowed him to speak to others freely about his beliefs in life in outer space. Things really kicked up when a post on Tumblr went viral about the site’s existence. The owner of the site, username PrincessAllura, then requested the help of a good programmer and that’s how Pidge came to use the site.

                Pidge designed basically everything to make AlteanSociety the fully functional social media site it was. There was friending, profiles, private messaging, forums and then the main chat system. When the new site first went live with all the new features, the site was a big hit. But a lot of it was skeptics coming to criticize or just casual believers. When Keith was first on the site, he went heavy into theories and only spoke to those who could match his discussions. Which is why he actively avoided the main chat system.

                But soon after the hype of the site died down, Keith decided to check out the chatroom. When he entered, there were only five others in the chatroom. And only two of them were actively talking. It was LANCEALOT and Hunkydory1. Keith had immediately cringed at their choice in usernames, but he wasn’t one to talk. At that point, his username was R0GU3AL13N because he wanted to remain as anonymous as possible. Lance and Hunk were talking about a possible Mothman sighting in the Midwest, but Lance was arguing with Hunk about the existence of the Mothman, as it was one of the very few cryptids he didn’t believe in. Keith actually took Hunk’s side and joined in on the argument. With the three of them going at it, it attracted the attention of the other three who were originally idle in the chat. Suddenly, Shiro, Pidge and Allura were all taking sides. It eventually ended after three hours with both sides compromising and that the Mothman topic was to be avoided in the main chat, but PMs were not off limits.

                From the argument, it was noticed that the six of them all started to frequent the chatroom more often. They’d talk daily and for hours. Not all of it was about conspiracy theories or aliens either. It got personal and friendlier. And soon enough, they were a small group of friends who talked in the chatroom. It was about a month into the group friendship that the “no photo” rule was put in place. It was Allura’s idea actually. She said that remaining anonymous would be mysterious and would add excitement to their friendship. So it was decided that no one could send a selfie or anything to anyone in the group. Lance declared it to be unfair because his face was “crafted by the gods and the world needed to see its beauty”, but he agreed anyway. Said the excitement and mystery was too much to pass. And as far as Keith knew, no one had each other’s personal social media on Facebook and such. Or anyone’s phone numbers. It was all on AlteanSociety. All the time.

                So who’s to say that the supposed 18 year old Lance was actually the 59 year old Harry?

                Even still, Keith fell for this anonymous man and fell rather hard. He wouldn’t say love. It was more like a deep, deep crush. A forever one-sided type of crush. As far as Keith knew, Lance was heterosexual. From him discussing his failed flirting attempts with the girls on his campus and sometimes successful pickup lines for girls on dating sites, Keith was almost 100% sure that he liked girls and girls alone. Which only hurt his heart even more.

                Keith sighed, sitting back up straight. He might as well go check his forum post to see if anyone had replied. While the chatroom usually only had their small group in it, the site itself was decently filled still. There were plenty of people in the forums. Keith’s newest post was about one of the new planets that were discovered and if there was a possibility of life living on it. And if so, what kind of life?

                His fingers raced over the keys, replying to a new comment on his post. This person was arguing that it was impossible for there to be life due to the fact the planet is too close to its sun. But Keith retorted with ‘not all living beings are like humans tho some are probably able to adapt and evolve to withstand extreme temperatures humans are weak if you think about it’. Satisfied with his response, he smirked and clicked back to go and see what new threads were out now.

                He scrolled through the top ones, nothing interesting. It was just the basic cryptid and alien talks and some trolling threads. All the new threads just looked dull to him, nothing stood out. Except for one.

                ‘The Girl of My Dreams: An Alien Catfished Me?!’

                This title already makes it unbelievable. It was more than likely just a troll article, but it did inspire Keith. Catfishing, huh? Using a fictional persona to lure someone into a relationship? It’s crazy! It’s cruel! No one ever deserves to be lied to! But it might just work in his favor.

                It’s easy! All he had to do was make a new AlteanSociety account and pretend to be a girl. Then, join the chatroom and meet Lance. Lance is weak around girls. He tried flirting with Allura when everyone first met, but she shot him down. Pretty harshly too, but that’s a story for another time. Lance was going to try for Pidge as well, but when Pidge revealed they were a junior in high school (at the time of their first meeting), he backed away. He said he prefers ‘older, more mature women’ and after that Pidge continuously proved how much more mature they were than him. But Lance is a man of his word.

                A simple, yet insane plane that could work. If Keith can keep up a female persona, then he could interest Lance. And maybe live out a relationship with him online. With the group rules in his mind, maybe Lance won’t ask to Skype or anything. Maybe. If he does, Keith can easily get out of it. And who says they need to see each other in person to be in love?

                Keith cracked his knuckles and logged out of his account, already clicking on the sign up button. With a smile stretched across his face, and a heart full of hope, Keith created his fake account.

10-5-16 // 12:12am – alteansociey.com/chatroom1

                [ crypticsweetie has joined the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: keith if that’s you then that’s an even worse username

[PidgetWidget]: Actually, I don’t think that’s Keith. Keith’s profile says he’s offline.

[PidgetWidget]: Plus, if you check the new guy’s profile, they’re literally a brand new account. Not Keith.

[LANCEALOT]: Well hello crypticsweetie welcome to altean societys sweetest hang out

[LANCEALOT]: With me lance as the coolest cat in here~~~~

[LANCEALOT]: And too who are we speaking to?<3

[Hunkydory1]: isn’t it ‘whom’? & to? if keith were here his english major self would’ve scolded you

[LANCEALOT]: Keith isnt here and he has no room to talk because he types like he doesnt

[LANCEALOT]: know what a punctuation mark is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:(

[LANCEALOT]: But FINE!!!!

[LANCEALOT]: To whom are we speaking to? happy?

[Hunkydory1]: ^-^

[crpyticsweetie]: heehee^^ im katie!! nice to meet you lance!

[LANCEALOT]: Aw how polite! a real SWEETIE ;)

[PidgetWidget]: Wait, your name is Katie?

[crypticsweetie]: yeah^^ been that way since I was born lol

[PidgetWidget]: Interesting.

[Hunkydory1]: what’s interesting pidge?

[PidgetWidget]: Oh it’s nothing Hunk. Don’t worry about it.

[Hunkydory1]: >->

[takashiro3088]: Hello Katie! I am Shiro. I come from the year 3088! At least that’s what I believe.

[takashiro3088]: I mean I’m pretty sure I was sent here when I was a baby. It’s the only thing that explains

[takashiro3088]: My robotic arm and intense genius and skill.^^

[PidgetWidget]: Such modesty, Shiro. You’re truly a humble man.

[takashiro3088]: I try. :)

[crypticsweetie]: from the future? :o robotic arm? so cool! ehh are you sure youre from the future?

[takashiro3088]: Mhm! I am a firm believer I am not from this time, but was sent here for a mission!

[crypticsweetie]: whats the mission?

[takashiro3088]: …

[takashiro3088]: That I do not know yet, but I am sure I will be contacted from the future once it’s time.

[LANCEALOT]: I personally think its all bullshit but he DID send us a picture of his super cool arm.

[LANCEALOT]: Im still skeptical which is pretty ironic considering what site im on lololololol

[LANCEALOT]: Like you arent born with a prosthetic arm so maybe when he was a kid

[LANCEALOT]: Something happened and he lost his arm and like this is coping idk?

[LANCEALOT]: Whatever keeps the old man happy.

[Hunkydory1]: i’m skeptical too but its good to have an open mind!^_^

[PidgetWidget]: No comment.

[takashiro3088]: ;-;

[takashiro3088]: Lance how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not that old?

[takashiro3088]: Besides, TECHNICALLY I’m younger than you. You’re the old man.

[takashiro3088]: Future, baby.

[LANCEALOT]: ANYWAY

[LANCEALOT]: Katie, sweetie, can I call you sweet im gonna call you sweetie okay.

[LANCEALOT]: Let me give you the run down of whos who

[LANCEALOT]: Pidgetwidget is pidge and theyre a super sweet hacker computer science kid.

[LANCEALOT]: Very smart very wise. dont pick an argument with them you will lose.

[LANCEALOT]: Hunkydory1 is my main man hunk! sweetest dude youll ever meet<3

[LANCEALOT]: Love u bb

[Hunkydory1]: lance

[LANCEALOT]: *blows a kiss at the sky* 4 hunk

[Hunkydory1]: LANCE

[LANCEALOT]: lololololololol

[LANCEALOT]: Nah seriously hes my best friend of all time.

[LANCEALOT]: Noah fence to the rest of yall.

[LANCEALOT]: Some offense to keith.

[crypticsweetie]: oh! which one is keith?

[LANCEALOT]: Hes not here right now mr goody goody is doing his hw.

[LANCEALOT]: Keiths kinda cool I guess ;)

[LANCEALOT]: Maybe hell get on later whatevs moving on!

[LANCEALOT]: takashiro3088 is my dad

[takashiro3088]: I will seriously leave the chat, Lance.

[PidgetWidget]: You know he’ll never stop Shiro.Especially since it bothers you. He’s TRYING to annoy you.

[LANCEALOT]: Shiro is my FRIEND not my DAD :( there happy?

[LANCEALOT]: As you can see he thinks hes from the future.

[LANCEALOT]: As you can see I do not think hes from the future. although that would be pretty kick ass

[takashiro3088]: Lance you really do get under my skin sometimes.

[LANCEALOT]:  <3<3<3<3<3<3

[LANCEALOT]: Judging by your username katie i bet you like earths lovely cryptids? i do too~~

[LANCEALOT]: Oh it says cryptic…

[LANCEALOT]: Not cryptid…

[LANCEALOT]: CLOSE ENOUGH!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Most of them here focus on aliens and space and im like

[LANCEALOT]: Space is cool and all but wont you guys get super homesick if you leave?

[LANCEALOT]: I could never leave my mom.

[Hunkydory1]: lance is a bit of momma’s boy

[LANCEALOT]: Hell yeah i am i dont care who knows that! i love my mom<3<3<3<3

[crypticsweetie]: i think aliens are super duper cool :DD but the cool creatures on earth are even better

[crypticsweetie]: cause we can discover them from our own homes!!!

[LANCEALOT]: SEE?!!!?!?!? THATS EXACTLY WHAT I SAY!!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Keith says im lazy for thinking that but PLBTTTTTT to him

[crypticsweetie]: plbtttttt??????

[LANCEALOT]: You know like a fart noise???

[crypticsweetie]: oh!!! lololololol youre funny^^

[Hunkydory1]: oh no.

[PidgetWidget]: She called him funny and lol’d at him.

[takashiro3088]: She’s meeting all of his standards.

[Hunkydory1]: run katie before lance tries to woo you.

[takashiro3088]: And that’s never pretty. Remember Allura?

[PidgetWidget]: I still have that chat saved. It’s a personal favorite of mine.

[Hunkydory1]: me too ^^

[takashiro3088]: Pretty sure we all do. It’s a classic.

[LANCEALOT]: SOME FRIENDS YOU ARE.

[LANCEALOT]: Anyway katie dont listen to them they dont know what theyre talking about!!!!!!

[crypticsweetie]: don’t worry lance im on ur side :3c

[LANCEALOT]: Glad to know a stranger is on my side and not my friends.

[LANCEALOT]: Even if this is a situation that doesnt really NEED sides……..

[LANCEALOT]: The sentiment is there<2

[LANCEALOT]: <3*

[crypticsweetie]: <3

[LANCEALOT]: :O !

[Hunkydory1]: anyways I think im gonna get off its really late here and I need sleeeeeep

[PidgetWidget]: I have school in a few. I guess I should sleep for an hour of that. Night guys.

                [ PidgetWidget has left the chatroom! ]

                [ Hunkdory1 has left the chatroom! ]

[takashiro3088]: I have an early shift tomorrow so I guess I should follow the rest of them. Goodnight!

[takashiro3088]: Nice meeting you Katie! Hope to see you around here again!

                [ takashiro3088 has left the chatroom! ]

[LANCEALOT]: And then there were two~! Lolololol

[LANCEALOT]: ACTUALLY….

[LANCEALOT]: I should go too. Its like really late in my time zone and i have an eight am class rip me

[LANCEALOT]: But i dont wanna stop talking to my new friend awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[crypticsweetie]: well i could pm you?^3^

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah feel free to slide into my pms~

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chatroom! ]

                [ crypticsweetie has left the chatroom! ]

10-5-16 – 12:32am – alteansociety.com/inbox/new-message

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^

[TIME]: 12:32am

[MSG]: hey its me katie!! from the group chat….um yeah^^ i really liked talking to you. you seem really sweet and down to earth. like me! love earth<3 whats your fave cryptid? mine’s bigfoot! yeah i know its really basic…but I love the classics! simplicity is my fave. c:

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 12:40am

[MSG]: I couldnt forget you already katie~~ hey down to earth girls are my favorite ;)<3 i would never knock a classic like bigfoot! hes up on my top fives FOR SURE. My personal favorite is the dover demon! cause its rumored that it could be an alien so its like a mix of both of a normal cryptid and alien I GUESs???? i love it plus the dover demon is super scary. i love the scary, monstrous kinda cryptids!!! I like to think other planets have their own cryptids. i mean theyd be aliens to us still, but were aliens to them!!

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 12:43am

[MSG]: i think youre totally right lance!! i mean its kinda impossible to discover EVERY species ever right? even if these aliens are suuuuuper smart!!! wouldnt it be funny if their cryptids were more humanoid lololololol^^ well why don’t you tell me more about yourself lance!:33

                MESSAGE SENT

10-5-16 – 12:44am – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Keith was still smiling as he rolled away from his desk. So far the plan was working and no one was suspicious at all. It was weird for him to type outside his own quirk and being called ‘Katie’ and being referenced to as a girl was definitely weird to him. But it’s all something he can and will adjust to.

                He powered down his computer and stood up, stretching and yawning. He had a class at nine so he figured it was time to go to sleep. Keith would just reply to Lance in the morning if he had time before class. He climbed into his raised bed and put his phone on the charger. Keith set all of his alarms before snuggling under his blankets, closing his eyes and falling asleep. Where he had the best dream about Lance. As always.

Chapter Text

10-5-16 – 3:07pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: may or may not have flunked this pop quiz today

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im an english major why do i have to take statistics

[PidgetWidget]: Keith I am disappointed in you!

[PidgetWidget]: You know if you wanted to study, I can help. I’m in statistics now.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeah but thats HIGH SCHOOL statstics

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im in college

[PidgetWidget]: I’m actually a little offended in your little faith in me.

[PidgetWidget]: I can build my own computer. I’m sure I can figure out basic college stats.

[XxCrimsonxFighter]: fine next time u can help me

                [ LANCEALOT has joined the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and there goes the peace

[LANCEALOT]: I AM the peace keith.

[LANCEALOT]: I AM THE PEACE.

[PidgetWidget]: Nah, I’m with Keith on this one.

[LANCEALOT]: …

[LANCEALOT]: ANYWAYS

[LANCEALOT]: So keith I see that you failed your pop quiz.

[LANCEALOT]: I for one passed mine.

[LANCEALOT]: It was in history but the gloating still stands.

[PidgetWidget]: That’s good to hear Lance. Congrats.

[LANCEALOT]: Thank you thank you but please hold your applause til the end!

[LANCEALOT]: Because not only did i pass my history quiz…

[LANCEALOT]: I currently have an a in that class!

[LANCEALOT]: Now you may applaud.

[PidgetWidget]: *claps hands*

[LANCEALOT]: You too keith

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: *middle finger*

[LANCEALOT]: Plain old middle finger is not an action you suck at this.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: *fuck off*

[LANCEALOT]: Im in too good of a mood to let you bother me keith old buddy ol pal!~~~~~

[LANCEALOT]: Has katie stopped in the chat today? i hope she becomes a regular.

[LANCEALOT]: To spice up our group.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: whos katie

[LANCEALOT]: Oh yeah thats right you were doing homework.

[LANCEALOT]: Just a totally cool girl who came in chat last night~

[LANCEALOT]: She…

[LANCEALOT]: Didnt really talk much.

[LANCEALOT]: But im a good judge of character so i know shes cool~

[LANCEALOT]: Unlike you keith.

[LANCEALOT]: Youre a loser.

[LANCEALOT]: :D

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ill pretend that hurt my feelings for your sake

[LANCEALOT]: <3<3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: dont you <3 me

[LANCEALOT]: <3<3<3<3

[PidgetWidget]: <3<3<3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh no not you too pidge

[PidgetWidget]: I can’t help it. The <3 is too infectious.

[LANCEALOT]: <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

[PidgetWidget]: <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

10-5-16 // 3:12pm – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 3:10pm

[MSG]: Hey keith i know we talked about how math isnt your strongest point but its one of my stronger points i guess??? this is like your third failed quiz so far thats not good. I know its kind of breaking our groups mysterious anonymous rule but dude if you want to skype call or something to let me tutor you id be down. I dont wanna see you fail more yknow? Cause then ill just look like a dick when im always showing off my great grades ;)

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 3:16pm

[MSG]: glad to know you still care about your image while trying to be the good guy. nah that would be pretty cool if you could tutor me because im getting worried about this class i might flunk out of it at this point. we dont have to video chat i guess because that way its not technically breaking our rule?? ill read aloud all of the things on the pages. thank god i don’t have a roommate.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECIEVED               

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 3:22pm

[MSG]: Sounds like a plan to me! How does friday night sound? i dont have work that night. Its good to get a head start. Lololololol having a roommate isn’t too bad. Better than living with your family am I right?

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 3:24pm

[MSG]: friday night sounds perfect

                MESSAGE SENT

10-5-16 – 3:25pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Did that really just happen? Keith’s hands gripped at his hair as he stared at his computer in disbelief. After all this time, he was finally going to hear Lance’s voice. His heart hammered in his chest. Only two days and he’ll finally have a voice to fit the messages. No face, but that’s fine with him. He sat there thinking what could his voice sound like? Was it deep and velvety? Or high pitched and full of sarcasm? It was more than likely the latter, but Keith knew he would love it.

                Keith moved from his chair and grabbed his cell phone, face planting onto his bed. He let out a small, muffled scream into his pillow. His cheeks were flaming and his chest ached. Two days. Two whole days.

10-5-16 – 7:45pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ crypticsweetie has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: !!!!!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Hey katie!!!!

[crypticsweetie]: hey lance^^

[crypticsweetie]: how was your day?

[LANCEALOT]: It was good but now its even better now that youre here ;)

[crypticsweetie]: lololololol aww

[LANCEALOT]: How about you?

[crypticsweetie]: it was ok.. classes were pretty boring.

[LANCEALOT]: Oh! youre in school! Like…

[LANCEALOT]: High school or college….

[crypticsweetie]: college! Im a freshman

[LANCEALOT]: PHEW.

[LANCEALOT]: I mean aw sweet thats cool whats your major?

[crypticsweetie]: english

[LANCEALOT]: Oh really? keiths an english major too. im currently undecided! Getting my feel for things.

[crypticsweetie]: what are you good at?

[LANCEALOT]: Math, science, history, some other seemingly boring stuff.

[LANCEALOT]: I can confirm they aren’t boring. keith says they are but dont listen to him lolololol

[LANCEALOT[: Weve had an argument before which was better: math or english.

[LANCEALOT]: Needless to say i won~~~

[crypticsweetie]: are you sure you won and he didnt just give in to stop the argument?^^

[LANCEALOT]: …

[crypticsweetie]: cause english is best~

[LANCEALOT]: …

[LANCEALOT]: You havent even met him yet and youre already on his side.

[LANCEALOT]: :,(

[crypticsweetie]: english majors have to stick together

[crypticsweetie]: it’s a cruel world for us

[LANCEALOT]: UGH you sound just like keith you english majors are all the same </3

[crypticsweetie]: ^-^

[LANCEALOT]: I guess i can forgive this act of treachery

[LANCEALOT]: If you promise to stay active in chat~

[crypticsweetie]: why should i?

[LANCEALOT]: Becauuuusssseeeee

[LANCEALOT]: This chat used to be six of us and then it went down to five.

[LANCEALOT]: Don’t let the others know but they get pretty stale after a while. we need a new face.

                [ Hunkydory1 has joined the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: lance how could you…..</3

[LANCEALOT]: OF COURSE NOT YOU HUNK. NOT MY BESTIE.

[Hunkydory1]: i’m… stale…. :,(

[Hunkydory1]: so hurt…..so……..offended…………

[LANCEALOT]: </3 hunk no bb ily

[Hunkydory1]: nah dude i don’t care you can be pretty annoying anyway ^-^

[LANCEALOT]: -_-

[LANCEALOT]: I….deserve that.

[Hunkydory1]: also I can’t believe you’re trying to replace allura already.

[Hunykdory1]: she’s been gone maybe TWO weeks

[Hunkydory1]: and weren’t you like IN LOVE with her??????

[LANCEALOT]: That was two weeks ago lance…. I am a new lance.

[Hunkydory1]: y’know I question our friendship sometimes.

[Hunkydory1]: also heya katie!

[crypticsweetie]: hello hunk good to see you!

[crypticsweetie]: hope you had a good day

[Hunkydory1]: THANK YOU I did ^^

[Hunkydory1]: preparations for the competition I’ll be entering are almost done!

[LANCEALOT]: *smooches* good luck bby~!

[Hunkydory1]: lance you are so weird but thank you.

[Hunkydory1]: I think.

[Hunkydory1]: I really hope allura is okay I miss her a lot….

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah me too… I inbox her a lot to try and check in on her. nothing.

[crypticsweetie]: hope your friend is doing well.

[LANCEALOT]: Shes not even answering shiro…and theyre like SUPER close…..

[Hunkydory1]: It’s times like this i wish we didn’t enforce the anonymous rule….

[Hunkydory1]: I wanna be able to find her on like ANYTHING else

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah cause idk out of all of us allura sounds like the most fake name.

[Hunkydory1]: hey we don’t know where she’s from it could be a common name for her!

[LANCEALOT]: Hunk dont think youre out of the clear. hunk? thats what attractive men like me are called

[LANCEALOT]: Its not a name >_>

[Hunkydory1]: T_T it’s my name! I swear!

[LANCEALOT]: suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuureeeeee it is.

[crypticsweetie]: how come you all have your names in your usernames?

[crypticsweetie]: isnt that cyber safety rule number one

[crypticsweetie]: dont use your real name

[LANCEALOT]: …

[LANCEALOT]: WELL WE ALL CANT BE CRYPTICSWEETIES YOU KNOW

[LANCEALOT]: that sounds like something keith would say UGH you two would get along well.

[LANCEALOT]: I wonder where he went. probably still upset that I got a better grade than he did~~!

[Hunkydory1]: mmm you can’t compare those scores because they’re completely unrelated subjects.

[Hunykdory1]: if you guys took the same quiz and you got a better score then you have room to gloat

[Hunykdory1]: but you didn’t so you just look like a jerk ^-^

[LANCEALOT]: Damn is today Hunk Calls Out Lance Day?

[Hunkydory1]: no that’s everyday for all of us!

[LANCEALOT]: RUDE.

[crypticsweetie]: maybe you should be nicer to keith you seem to pick on him a lot

[LANCEALOT]: Bah how would you know you just got here -.-

[crypticsweetie]: im a good observer

[Hunkydory1]: …

[Hunkydory1]: right okay well im gonna head out for dinner ill talk to you guys later

[LANCEALOT]: Didnt you eat dinner like two hours ago?

[Hunkydory1]: excuse you I’ll eat as many dinners as I want if I’m hungry ill eat!

[LANCEALOT]: Whatever talk to you later hunk!

                [ Hunkydory1 has left the chat! ]

                [ crypticsweetie has left the chat! ]

10-5-16 – 8:03pm – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:57pm

[MSG]: Hope you know the anonymous rule doesn’t have to apply to you since you weren’t there for the making of it~ so you know you can feel free to send me a selfie whenever ;)

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 8:05pm

[MSG]: youd like that wouldnt you lololol maybe some time in the future. after we get to know each other better!^^ im not much to look at anyway. Plain. Boring.

                MESSAGE SENT

10-5-16 – 8:06pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Already he was asking for a selfie and it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours. How crazy. But Keith knew that was going to come up eventually. He kind of had a plan for that at least. Probably just go through the Tumblr tags with pretty girls and find one that posts enough selfies he could use. No one would be the wiser. At first he thought about doing makeup on himself to make him look like a girl since his hair was pretty long and convincing. But Keith didn’t have a clue about wearing makeup. Besides, he felt he wasn’t all that attractive. And he’d need someone to really capture Lance’s attention. But he didn’t need to look just yet. There was plenty of time for that.

10-6-16 – 1:17am – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 12:33am

[MSG]: Oh man katie and I have been messaging each other all night. Shes really cool and you need to get in the group chat right now to meet her! I think shes gonna be a great addition to the group!! You havent been on at all tonight and im a little worried honestly. Has your quiz grade got you that bummed out? Dont worry dude! Thats why im gonna tutor you ;)<3 oh hey youre missing out on another night of gang up on lance. this time katie is even involved and the topic is politics. Gross. SO WHAT IF I FORGOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE? D: IM FORGETFUL.

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 1:01am

[MSG]: Hey keith im kinda having a rough night. you remember what ive been telling you about my mom right? Of course you do. Well shes not having a good night either and im currently in her room right now. Shes sick in the bathroom next door. I dont wanna lose my mom keith. I feel like youre the only one I can talk to about this cause you know what its like to lose a parent. And oh man that sounds harsher than I mean it. Can I have some coping advice? Cause it can be any day now at this point… cancer’s a bitch….

               MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 1:12am

[MSG]: You havent been on all night. Why did I expect you to answer right away lmao. Youre probably asleep. Night dude. Message me when you can I guess.

                MESSAGE DELETED

                MESSAGE SAVED

                MESSAGE DELETED

                [ LANCEALOT is offline! ]

10-6-16 – 1:20am – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Already the guilty feeling has set it and it’s only been twenty four hours. Little did any of them know, Keith was in the chat and actively participating too! But just not as himself. He thought about logging into the chat as himself, to break away from the Katie character, but after reading Lance’s messages he felt disgusted with himself. Lance needed him to be there for him and he wasn’t.

Keith groaned and hit himself in the forehead. He got up from his desk and flopped onto his bed, still groaning. If he wasn’t on his Katie profile, teasing and flirting with Lance in the group chat, he could have been on his actual profile. Teasing Lance in the group chat and helping him in the inbox. He felt sick to his stomach. Keith knows how stressful Lance’s mom’s cancer is for him. They’ve spent night after night talking about it.

And now he doesn’t even have the balls to message him back.

Lance assumed he was sleeping, so Keith figured he should let him believe that. Then he’d just message him in the morning. Keith pulled his blanket up over his head and curled his knees to his chest. It was going to be a restless sleep with how he felt.

10-6-16 – 10:04am – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hey sorry for being gone last night guys I was super exhausted for some reason

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: crashed in my dorm room

[takashiro3088]: You missed Katie again last night. She seems to be a delight.

[takashiro3088]: Not chatty, but that’s like me. I’m rarely in here.

[takashiro3088]: It’s my day off work which is why I’m currently online.

[takashiro3088]: Don’t you have class right now??

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: no it got canceled so im sitting in the student union eating a sad bagel

[takashiro3088]: What makes it a “sad bagel”?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: its not toasted and the butter isn’t evenly spread and in lumps

[takashiro3088]: …

[takashiro3088]: Keith you’re smart. Why the hell didn’t you toast it?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: cause the toaster is still broken since some kid tried to blow it up last week

[takashiro3088]: That kid wasn’t you, was it?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: no who do you think I am?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: lance?

[takashiro3088]: I’m sad because I feel like that’s something he would do.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: right and with like hunk backing him up with science or something

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: thank god none of us know each other irl because

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: just imagine what those two could do together

                [ Hunkydory1 has joined the chat! ]

                [ LANCEALOT] has joined the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh god

[takashiro3088]: Speak of the devils.

[Hunkydory1]: prepare for trouble!

[LANCEALOT]: And make it double~!

[Hunkydory1]: to protect the world from devastation!

[LANCEALOT]: To unite the people within our nation!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: isnt it to unite all peoples within our nation

[LANCEALOT]: (Shut up keith)

[Hunkydory1]: to denounce the evils of truth and love!

[LANCEALOT]: To extend our reach to the stars above!

[Hunkydory1]: hunk!

[LANCEALOT]: Lance~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Hunkydory1]: team voltron blast off at the speed of light!

[LANCEALOT]: Surrender now or prepare to fight~!!!!!

[LANCEALOT]: (Keith do it nows your turn)

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: (no fuck you)

[Hunkydory1]: keith! that’s right!

[LANCEALOT]: NO HUNK THAT’S NOT GETTING KEITH TO BE A TEAM PLAYER.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i wasnt gonna do it anyway so

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: besides what the hell is team voltron

[LANCEALOT]: Hunk swears hes heard that name in some mecha anime and it sounds pretty cool

[Hunkydory1]: so while we were planning on doing this in chat today, I dropped down the name!

[Hunkydory1]: like, calling our squad team voltron or something! be cool like people do with their profiles

[LANCEALOT]: yeah! Like putting 1/6 of team voltron in our profile bios so people know were a thing.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: that

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: is the stupidest thing ive ever read

[takashiro3088]: Actually I kind of like it. I’ve never been a part of a “squad” before!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shiro no dont give in to the temptation

[takashiro3088]: Too late I’m already putting 1/6 of Team Voltron into my bio as we speak.

[LANCEALOT]: BOOYAH. hunk and i already did ours~ and i know pidge will be on board.

[LANCEALOT]: Maybe allura! you know if she ever comes back…

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: so is she not part of this team voltron crap youre spouting

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: whos the sixth person then

[LANCEALOT]: …

[Hunkydory1]: isn’t it obvious.

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah it’s katie. but only if she wants to yknow? Shes like super new to the group but its like

[LANCEALOT]: its like weve all known her for longer she just clicks with us

[LANCEALOT]: BETTER THAN YOU DO KEITH

[LANCEALOT]: SO YOU KNOW WHAT IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU DON’T PUT TEAM VOLTRON IN YOUR BIO

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oooo im so offended

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: she cant be that amazing

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: youve known her for what like a day

[Hunkydory1]: yeah but you know how fast lance can get a crush on someone.

[takashiro3088]: Like 5 seconds. The moment he finds out she’s a girl over the age of 18 he has a crush.

[LANCEALOT]: That is so not true and I cant believe you are all ganging up on me like this

[LANCEALOT]: AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Especially after last nights gang up on lance event.

[Hunkydory1]: lance chill you of all people need to know how to take a joke.

[LANCEALOT]: I AM CHILL.

[LANCEALOT]: IM SO CHILL WHEN I SNEEZE I CREATE BLIZZARDS!!!!

                [ Hunkydory1 has left the chat! ]

                [ takashiro3088 has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Oh screw you guys!

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

10-6-16 – 10:18am – alteansociety.com/inbox

              MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:11am

[MSG]: lance im really sorry i wasnt on last night. i was so tired I just crashed when I got home from class. didnt even eat dinner. anyway well you know im not the best advice giver? but I can try I guess. um. i lost both my parents when i was REALLY young so i dont remember too much but it still was hard. but you do get through it because you know they wouldnt want you to be sad for them forever. theyd want you to carry on and live a good life. make them proud even if they arent around? im hoping this is making sense because I honestly have no idea what im saying im so sorry.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:35am

[MSG]: Thank you keith. I get what youre saying. Its not much but its helpful. Thank you. Moms doing better this morning by the way. All smiles and giggles. Im hoping she can stay like this just a little longer. Anyway debbie downer lance is over back to our regularly scheduled lance! Dude the barista girl ive been flirting with since the beginning of the semester slipped me her number when I got my usual today. Im in. ;)

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:34am

[MSG]: good for you lance. im sure katie will be glad to hear it.

10-6-16 – 1:04pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ cryptcsweetie has joined the chat! ]

[crypticsweetie]: hey hows everyones day so far^^

[LANCEALOT]: Better now that youre here~~

[Hunkydory1]: i mean a good majority of my classes were canceled today due to….unknown reasons….

[LANCEALOT]: Hunk MIGHT have started an accidental fire when working on his robot.

[Hunkydory1]: lance why do you have to throw me under a bus all the time? …supposed to be a secret

[Hunkydory1]: yes my partner and i were working on our robot when I messed up, things overheated…

[Hunkydory1]: next thing I knew we were outside with the whole university I swear…

[Hunykdory1]: and the fire department was laughing.

[LANCEALOT]: I bet youre a hero to some of those guys. Bet you canceled a lot of tests and/or quizzes.

[Hunkydory1]: they only canceled classes in that building—which is where I am for almost all of my classes.

[Hunkydory1]: so I’m free until like four which is my english class. ^-^

[LANCEALOT]: UGH i have english next and im dreading it.

[LANCEALOT]: I—didnt do the reading. my professor might just kick me out again.

[LANCEALOT]: I was a little preoccupied last night! ;;

[crypticsweetie]: yeah with us!! lance you really need to focus on your studies ;;

[crypticsweetie]: what are you guys reading? i bet i own it!

[crypticsweetie]: i can even read with you

[LANCEALOT]: It’s the great gatsby and its mainly for annotation practice.

[LANCEALOT]: Im in a pretty basic and nice english class.

[LANCEALOT]: The prof is pretty cool other than the fact she WILL kick you out if you dont do the reading.

[LANCEALOT]: Like I tend to forget to do.

[crypticsweetie]: ive read the great gatsby so many times i could recite it to you.

[LANCEALOT]: Maybe we should skype someday and read it together?~

[crypticsweetie]: haha maybe

[Hunkydory1]: nope sorry katie im lance’s best friend which means I get skype privileges first

[Hunkydory1]: and since our group has an anonymous rule I can’t skype lance yet

[Hunkydory1]: which means you can’t skype him either ^-^

[LANCEALOT]: Aw hunk you care so much about me <3

[Hunkydory1]: more like im just following bff code UNLIKE YOU.

[LANCEALOT]: <3333333

[crypticsweetie]: ahaha no I get it bros before hoes ^^

[Hunkydory1]: no don’t call yourself a hoe! that’s not it at all!

[Hunkydory1]: you’re our new friend. not a hoe.

[crypticsweetie]: thank you hunk

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah you are a part of team voltron!

[LANCEALOT]: Yknow if you wanna be….

[crypticsweetie]: aww you guys have only know me so long though…

[crypticsweetie]: like not even two days

[crypticsweetie]: how can you be sure im not like an old dude or something

[LANCEALOT]: Well none of us are even sure we are who we are. thats cause of our anonymous rule.

[crypticsweetie]: right the anonymous rule you guys have mentioned that before what is it

[Hunkydory1]: another friend of ours that you have yet to meet is actually the owner of this site!

[Hunkydory1]: her username is PrincessAllura and she was the one who suggested the rule.

[Hunkydory1]: basically our only interaction is this site. no skyping. no texting/calling. no sending selfies.

[LANCEALOT]: She said it was to keep our group interesting and on its toes.

[LANCEALOT]: But she hasnt been here in weeks.

[LANCEALOT]: So I saw we move to repeal that rule!

[LANCEALOT]: Ive been dying to show off this beautiful face crafted from the gods!~~~~

[Hunkydory1]: im perfectly fine remaining anonymous. perfectly. fine.

[LANCEALOT]: Why hunk? hiding something?

[LANCEALOT]: *suggestive eyebrow waggle*

[Hunkydory1]: no i just don’t want to ruin anyone’s perfect image of me.

[crypticsweetie]: i might have to reconsider joining team voltron then cause i would like to skype

[crypticsweetie]: with you guys at some point ^^

[crypticsweetie]: so count me out i guess

[crypticsweetie]: and besides its a little lame sorry not sorry lance

[LANCEALOT]: </3 keith was the same way

[LANCEALOT]: Speak of the literal devil himself where is he?

[LANCEALOT]: Its one o clock which means he is on break until like five

[LANCEALOT]: Dunno how the dude can do 8am to 12pm of all english classes.

[LANCEALOT]: No wait its thursday. 1pm is intro to theatre time. rip keith.

[Hunkydory1]: how do you know his entire schedule?

[LANCEALOT]: No reason.

[LANCEALOT]: I know your schedule too dumbnuts.

[Hunkydory1]: riiiiiiiiiiiiight

[Hunkydory1]: well I’m just gonna let it slide.

[Hunkydory1]: oh pidge just messaged me. they got home from school early!

                [ PidgetWidget has joined the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: Contrary to popular belief I am not sick.

[PidgetWidget]: It’s just what I told both the school nurse and my parents.

[PidgetWidget]: Although school was giving me a massive headache which is why I left.

[Hunkydory1]: pidge! I am surprised!

[PidgetWidget]: I’m not. I’ve done this plenty of times. I’m smart. I can miss school here and there.

[PidgetWidget]: I’m gonna make me a peanut butter sandwich. BRB.

[Hunkydory1]: ooh that sounds good I’m hungry now T_T

[LANCEALOT]: Youre always hungry.

[Hunkydory1]: you…..

[Hunkydory1]: are not wrong.

[LANCEALOT]: English class is starting. she has a weird policy of no electronics EVER in her class.

[LANCEALOT]: So ill talk to you guys later! wish me luck.

[crypticsweetie]: no

[Hunkydory1]: :o

[Hunkydory1]: luck!

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: And I am back!

[PidgetWidget]: Oh Lance left. Darn. I had something I wanted to tell him. Oh well.

[PidgetWidget]: Another time.

[crypticsweetie]: what did you have to tell him?

[PidgetWidget]: It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.

[PidgetWidget]: Anyways, good job on setting your school on fire Hunk.

[Hunkydory1]: I DIDN’T SET MY SCHOOL ON FIRE.

[PidgetWidget]: IDK sounds like you did. Just a little.

[Hunkydory1]: ToT </3

[Hunkydory1]: i will not take this. I’m going to get food.

[Hunkydory1]: bye bye!

                [ Hunkydory1 has left the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: And then it was the two of us.

[crypticsweetie]: haha yeah although I should probably get going to class! >.<

[PidgetWidget]: Oh okay that’s fine. Bye.

                [ crypticsweetie has left the chat! ]

10-6-16 – 1:23pm – Keith’s Student Union Building

                Pidge. Pidge is someone to be careful around. They are a very good observer and he’s sure out of all of them, they would be the first to catch him. One on one chats with Pidge were to be kept to a minimum. Not only was Pidge an excellent observer, he was sure they had already tracked his IP address. Pidge probably already knew all of their IPs to begin with. So if Pidge happened to notice that Katie and Keith were from the same place—well, it wouldn’t be good for him.

                So is that what Pidge was going to tell Lance? Had he been found out already?! God, it’s only been like, two days. He was already making good progress with Lance! It’s certainly helpful that Lance is very flirtatious by nature. All Keith had to do was flirt a little back in either the chatroom or their private messages and BOOM! He was in no problem.

                Lance had opened up a little in their private messages. Nowhere near the level he and Lance were already on, but it was something. Keith was making up a fake backstory for Katie as he went too. She was a simple girl living in California. He had to be careful not to say Seattle, Washington like he almost did. Lance already knew that’s where he lived. They talked about it a long time ago when they were discussing time zones. Lance was in Boston, Massachusetts. All the way across the country. As far as he knew at least. Lance could be lying and he’d never really realize it. It’s great that they both lived in major cities in their respective states.

                Back to ‘Katie’. She’s an English major living in California, but originally from Oregon. She lives on campus with a roommate who she doesn’t talk to very often. Her roommate is too overdramatic for her taste. Theatre major and what not. Katie visits her parents in Oregon during the holidays. And that was all Keith really got to telling Lance. They talked often, but not as much about their personal lives as Keith had anticipated. Instead, they talked about aliens and what not. Like the original purpose of the social media website. The social media website designed for people who believed in the unbelievable.

                It was nice to talk about that too. Their group had started to stray away from those kinds of topics as they all got closer. It was nice to go back to the site’s roots. But it was not in Keith’s original mission plan, but he worked with it. He had to be careful not to say exactly what he would say himself. Lance had pointed out a few times how similar he and Katie were and he was being too careless. He had to get into character fully as Katie. His Intro to Theatre class he was forced to take was a little helpful as well. Granted, they didn’t touch acting much, but when they did it was helpful information.

                Just one more day. One more day and he was going to finally Skype call Lance. He was going to hear his voice for the first time. Hopefully it wasn’t going to be their last. But he knew he wouldn’t forget his voice. Ever.

                One. More. Day.

10-7-16 – 4:00am – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: crpyticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 4:00am

[MSG]: Katie you cant be real LOLOLOL. How can you think the chupacabras is up in the north? It’s a southern climate kind of hybrid. No way could it handle, like, a new york temperature! Sure, it’s RUMORED to have been spotted as far north as maine, but come on. It’s mainly in the south. So its body is meant for warmer temperatures! In fact I wouldnt be shocked if it was more reptilian and cold blooded versus warm blooded. I mean sure in some evidence it looks like theres fur, but still. We dont know for sure! Anyway, its seven in the morning and I have an eight o clock class. so i think I should finally get some sleep. Weve been talking since like midnight my time anyway LOLOL. But its been nice talking to you. <3

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: hi lance^^ (CONT)

[TIME]: 4:07am

[MSG]: are you telling me cold blooded animals CANT live in the north? then explain my pet bearded dragon I had? huh? exactly. Its totally possible that the chupacabra can migrate to the north! THERE HAS BEEN SIGHTINGS LANCE. thing needs to feed so its gotta travel! Haha yeah its pretty late here too. ill talk to you tomorrow then. Sleep well.

                MESSAGE SENT

10-7-16 – 6:28pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                His hands were sweating immensely. Skype was already opened and waiting. Lance said around six thirty they should Skype. Keith was nervous in anticipation and has had his homework neatly laid out next to his laptop, everything perfectly aligned. He was practically shaking in his seat. He rearranged everything multiple times, just because he was nervous.

                Lance had sent him a contact request over an hour ago and it took Keith a half hour to actually accept it. He couldn’t believe it was real. He also couldn’t believe Lance’s Skype username was ‘LanceDaMan69’. Lance said it was back in a ‘dark time’, but Keith didn’t believe him. It was dumb, but Keith still found it charming.

                6:30pm. LanceDaMan69 goes from Offline to Online. On the dot. Keith’s heart races and he licks his dry lips. Should he call first? He didn’t want to seem too eager. Not to mention his heart was still going too fast. He was sure he was going to just stumble with his words. Keith’s hand hovered over the mouse, trembling. Should he call first?

LanceDaMan69 is calling…

>Answer.

                “H-Hello?” Keith nearly whispered.

                “Keith? Oh hey buddy! Wow, can’t believe we’re doing this!”

Chapter Text

10-7-16 – 6:34pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                “Keith? Are you there? You haven’t said anything in a little—,” Lance started.

                “No! No, I’m here. Sorry, it’s weird to just wrap my head around this,” Keith cut him off, a nervous laugh following it.

                “I know right! We’ve known each other for what, almost a whole year? And never head each other’s voices? It’s like it’s not even real. You sound young, so you can’t be some old dude. Which is honestly a huge relief. I mean, I kinda figured you wouldn’t be, but you can never be too sure, right? That’s what my mom always said, not to trust internet strangers! Wow, can’t believe I’m really talking to you, Keith! Should we tell the others? Because I mean technically we are breaking the anonymous rule, but also not? Because we can’t see each other’s faces,” rambled Lance.

                “Lance.”

                “Yeah?”

                “You talk a lot. I thought that was just an online thing.” 

                And then it happened. Rippling peals of laughter came from his laptop, echoing in his room. His heart practically stopped. He sucked in a sharp breath, trying to contain himself. Keith’s hands clenched at his sides, shaking from the tension.

                “You stopped talking again, Keith. What? Isn’t my voice one of the most wonderful things you’ve ever heard? Cat got your tongue?” Lance teased. Well, he wasn’t wrong.

                “Ah, sorry. Still, getting used to it. I have a voice to match the text now. And it’s pretty suiting. Higher pitched, whiny, annoying. Exactly like you online,” he smiled.

                “Oh come on! Just when I was about to say you have a really nice voice too.”

                “W-Wait, really?”

                “Yeah! It’s not what I thought it would be at all. It’s deeper and softer. I really like it, haha.”

                Badump. Badump.

                He wasn’t playing fair.

                “So how was your day Lance? It’s Friday so I was of course I’ve been in class until like a half hour ago.”

                “I may have skipped classes today. May have.”

                “Lance! Come on! How are you not failing your classes? Isn’t it like a universal thing for professors to take away points from your grade for missing class?”

                “I have friends in class who will updated me on what I miss! They give me all extra work too. It’s great. I have a system. Don’t worry about me Keith.”

                “You make that hard for me to do.”

                “Aw Keith cares about me! If we were in chat you know I’d send that heart emoji so just pretend I sent it to you. Less than sign, three.”

                “You’re literally a fucking loser online and in real life. I hate you.”

                There was that laugh again. It was such a beautiful sound, something Keith would treasure forever. It was infectious and he couldn’t help but laugh with him. His laugh shook him entirely, a little tear forming in the corner of his eye.

                “Whoa! Keith, your laugh is even better than your voice. You rarely ‘lol’ in chat so hearing you actually laugh—it’s weird. But a good weird,” Lance said, genuine surprise in his voice. Keith felt his cheeks flare up and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

                “S-Shut up, dude. It’s just a laugh,” Keith said sheepishly.

                “Yeah, but it’s your laugh. My best friend’s laugh. It’s really awesome hearing it for the first time.”

                “I’m your best friend? I thought Hunk was your best friend,” Keith asked accusingly.

                “Well, who am I currently Skyping first? Haven’t even done that with Hunk! I mean, you’re all my best friends, honestly. No one is better than the other. I adore you all equally. But yeah, should we tell the group about this or keep it secret?”

                So he hasn’t even Skyped with Hunk yet and Keith was almost positive they were as close can be. So close they were already planning a visit to each other soon. But apparently Keith was wrong. He was Lance’s first and Lance was his first. Keith’s palms were so sweaty he had to wipe them down on his thighs. His throat was tight and dry. His nerves would never calm themselves and these butterflies would never go away.

                “Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyway for now. Keep this between us, you know? Our little thing,” Keith shrugged.

                “Sounds fine with me! So, why don’t we get started on your homework? Why don’t you read out loud what the problem is?” Lance said. Keith nodded and pulled his homework towards him. The real reason they were actually Skyping.

                “Okay first problem. In March of this year Harvard announced that it has admitted 2046 students for September’s freshman class. However, the university has also announced that it only has dormitory room spots for 1655 freshman students. If there is an 80% chance that an admitted student will decide to accept the offer and attend Harvard, what is the probability that Harvard will not have enough dormitory room spots for the freshman students? See that’s all mumbo-jumbo to me!” Keith huffed, already getting frustrated with the first problem. He tapped his pencil on his desk, rereading it in his head.

                “It’s not as hard as you think it is, Keith. You just need to break it down in to pieces for you to understand. Ok? So…”

                And then the two of them carried on with Keith’s homework. They actually really focused on his homework alone which is why they finished it in an hour. But neither of them were ready to hang up the call. It was such a great moment for them.

                “Hear me out Keith. Are you hearing me? Are you? Maybe Star Wars isn’t the best movie series of all time,” Lance argued as they had gotten into a long conversation about movies after they finished working on Keith’s homework. Keith actually learned a few things from Lance. He was a pretty good tutor despite being unable to see what was actually on the paper.

                “No, fuck you Lance. La, la, la, I can’t hear you! Blasphemy! Lies! Blah, blah, blah!” Keith said, trying to talk over Lance.

                “You really need to think about this clearly. There are other movie series that are just visually better. Scored better. Better than Star Wars.”

                “I’m not listening and if you say it one more time I will hang up this call.”

                “Oh my God I can’t believe you’re being such a baby!” laughed Lance. Keith couldn’t help but break his annoyed mood in favor of a smile. Lance’s laughter was just too good to not smile at.

                “Would you look at the time? It’s almost midnight. Well, midnight for me. It’s almost three in the morning for you, right? Don’t you need to sleep or something?”

                “Or we can talk until I fall asleep. Which I mean, I am getting to that point anyway. Haven’t you noticed my slowly increasing amount of yawns? Duh.”

                Of course Keith had noticed his yawns. He noticed how they had a little ‘um’ sort of noise at the end of it. And how sometimes he would be way too overdramatic with them, stretching them out longer than necessary. They were all still cute yawns.

                “S-Sure. That’s fine with me. What else do you wanna talk about?”

                “I’unno. You have a nice voice. Why don’t you sing for me?”

                “I—don’t—really….uh. No?”

                “Keith. I’m kidding. Why would I make you sing for me? Now that’s lame.”

                Right. Of course he was only kidding. That’s Lance for you! Always ready with a joke. Keith let out a small, almost inaudible sigh of relief. He unplugged his laptop from his charger and carried it over to his bed. He nuzzled into his blanket nest in the corner, setting his laptop on his lap.

                “Sorry, had to get more comfortable if I’m going to be here until you fall asleep,” Keith said.

                No response.

                “Lance?”

                A snore came through the speakers which made Keith laugh. So Lance snores in his sleep and Lance can fall asleep in a matter of minutes? Keith would never have believed it if it didn’t happen right then. Honestly he was a little jealous of his ability to do that because it usually takes him three hundred positions and four hours to fall asleep. It’s awful.

                “Good night, Lancealot,” Keith whispered, blowing a kiss to his laptop. He hung up the call and closed his laptop, setting it down on the floor. Then he covered his face in his hands, his face burning hot from excitement and embarrassment. His heart was soaring and he clutched at his chest with one hand and supporting his body with his other hand gripped at this thigh tightly. If this was a dream, then it was the most perfect dream he’s ever had.

                He remained in that position until his heartbeat finally calmed down. Once it was at an acceptable rate, he curled up in his bed and shut his eyes, hoping he’ll dream of Lance’s voice. He couldn’t get it out of head. It echoed in his mind and kept him awake, but he didn’t mind. He wanted more of it. Keith smiled and wiggled in his bed like a smitten school girl. Which at this point that basically described him.

                Keith finally fell asleep, Lance’s voice filling his dreams.

10-9-16 – 5:20pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ crypticsweetie has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: There you are katie! where were you yesterday?

[crypticsweetie]: sorry i was catching up on hw ;;

[Hunkydory1]: like lance should be doing. >.>

[LANCEALOT]: Ill do it eventually!

[Hunkydory1]: it’s sunday. evening. you aren’t getting anything done.

[LANCEALOT]: You got me there.

[crypticsweetie]: hw is pretty important when it comes to grades you know

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah yeah yeah im already pretty okay with that.

[LANCEALOT]: Wheres keith he hasnt been on all day???

[LANCEALOT]: I am worried™

[LANCEALOT]: Probably marathoning star wars AGAIN!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Im gonna message him brb

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: so how has your day been

[Hunkydory1]: katie

[crypticsweetie]: pretty good^^ how about you hunk?

[Hunkydory1]: long. i spent a lot of time repairing damages the fire did to my robot.

[Hunkydory1]: i….hate robotics. a lot. but i also love it. it’s a love/hate relationship.

[crypticsweetie]: wish i could say i understood but ;;

[Hunkydory1]: no don’t sweat it <3

[crypticsweetie]: thanks hunk^^

[crypticsweetie]: i actually have to get going so could you say bye to lance for me? thanks.

[Hunkydory1]: sure! talk to you later!!

                [ crypticsweetie has left the chat! ]

10-13-16 – 9:57pm – alteansociety.com/inbox

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: Lances ultimate proof that the mothman doesnt exist (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:57pm

[MSG]: no lance i dont think thats it at all! why would the others keep returning to the group chat if they thought that was true? lance i havent known you a long time but weve already gotten pretty close. i mean thats expected when you talk almost 24/7 but! if you want i can talk to keith? whats his username ill send him a message and sort it out!^^

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Lances ultimate proof that the mothman doesnt exist (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:02pm

[MSG]: I mean i guess youre right. Its not the others im worried about as much. Sometimes i think I really do annoy the crap out of shiro too much but idk. Its keith I cant tell with. One minute were arguing in the GC and the next hes comforting me in the inbox like a cool best friend. and like since we skyped, which you are sworn to SECRECY KATIE, like a week ago he hasn’t been messaging me back??? i see him posting in the forums and everything but he hasn’t gone into the chat or message me back. its scary. did i say something to upset him? Like you don’t understand. Hunk is close to me too, but keith knows things he doesnt. He knows things that even you don’t know. What if I really pissed off keith to the point of him being done with me??????? I canT HANDLE THAT? aw katie thank you but you dont need to message him <3 you guys haven’t even met yet so it would be weird for you to message him trying to fix drama lmao.

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: Lances ultimate proof that the mothman doesnt exist (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:08pm

[MSG]: yeah i guess youre right^^ just give keith time im sure you didnt upset him. hey maybe you should fill me in on some of these things that keith knows ;) maybe i can help you!!! im pretty smart you know. and you can trust me with anything.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Lances ultimate proof that the mothman doesnt exist (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:11pm

[MSG]: Yeah thank you katie. Maybe eventually but right now im not ready to talk about that kind of stuff? Idk it’s like SUPER personal. Top secret. Classified information. Above your paygrade. Level 10. BUT ANYWAY so tell me more about this professor who squawked like a chicken today in your class. was there a purpose to this or? Im dying to know. you cant just casually mention that your professor clucked in the middle of a lecture AND THEN NOT TALK ABOUT IT? EVEN HUNK MESSAGED ME AND WA SLIKE PLEASE TELL ME KATIE TOLD YOU WHAT HAPPENED CAUSE H EY WE WANNA KNOW! GC now. Youre gonna tell the story~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10-14-16 – 7:06pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has entered the chat! ]

[takashiro3088]: Oh. Hello Keith.

[ XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hey shiro

[LANCEALOT]: KEITH YOU PIECE OF SHIT.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: what did i do now

[LANCEALOT]: YOU ARE GONE FOR LIKE A WEEK. AND YOU DON’T MESSAGE ME AT ALL.

[LANCEALOT]: AND YOU SAY HI TO SHIRO FIRST.

[takashiro3088]: How was your day Keith?

[takashiro3088]: Where have you been btw?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: work. school and more work.

[takashiro3088]: You have a job?

[LANCELAOT]: He works on campus in the bookstore.

[takashiro3088]: Wait how do you know this and I don’t??????? WTF.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: it came up when we were talking once

[LANCEALOT]: No biggie!

[takashiro3088]: ;; Ok. Sure.

[LANCEALOT]: Anyway katie should be here any minute. she told me she was getting on later today.

[LANCEALOT]: Maybe now youll finally get to meet her keith.

[takashiro3088]: She’s actually really cool. Very friendly.

[takashiro3088]: Makes me miss Allura actually…

[takashiro3088]: Still nothing from her…

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah i miss her too…

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: real life probably caught up with her guys

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shell come back to us eventually

[LANCEALOT]: That doesnt make us miss her any less.

[takashiro3088]: Hey guys, I’m going to log off for a bit. My dinner’s done and my show’s on.

[LANCEALOT]: Which show?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: is it something we know or a canadian exclusive

[takashiro3088]: It’s a Hulu exclusive that I’m starting. There aren’t too many Canadian exclusives btw.

[LANCEALOT]: Is it cold in canada yet

[takashiro3088]: It’s always cold in Canada.

[LANCEALOT]: GREAT SO HEAR ME OUT.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh boy

[LANCEALOT]: You have a metal arm right?

[takashiro3088]: …Yes.

[LANCEALOT]: Should i ever come visit you in the great north when its cold…

[LANCEALOT]: Would you let me stick my tongue on your arm to see if it sticks?

                [ takashiro3088 has left the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: please take that as a no

[LANCEALOT]: I just want to see if it actually sticks :(

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: it probably does lance

[LANCEALOT]: Ok but i still want to try it out?? gotta live a little

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: you usually have good ideas

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: why this

[LANCEALOT]: Why not?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: …fair point

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: crap now i wanna know if itll stick

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: you see it in movies but never in real life

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: holy shit lance you do have a good idea

[LANCEALOT]: Right? thank you.

[LANCEALOT]: Got your passport? lets roadtrip to canada I have a car and i drive!

[LANCEALOT]: Ill just…..go all the way to washington…to get you….

[LANCEALOT]: Oh man thats a lot of driving.

[LANCEALOT]: If we ever do finally meet…youre going to have to fly to me.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: why not you to me

[LANCEALOT]: Because i have the car and you dont so we can sightsee together in boston. duh?

[LANCEALOT]: Sorry i dont ride handlebars on bikes.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: dont knock my bike man

[LANCEALOT]: Get a car. and then i wont.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ok you know what

[LANCEALOT]: What?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: katie would appreciate my bike

[LANCEALOT]: How would you know? you dont know her?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: call it english majors intuition

[LANCEALOT]: Youre annoying did you know that?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: lance you shouldnt speak to yourself in a group chat

[LANCEALOT]: *middle finger*

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im gonna go work on an essay feel free to message me

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im sure you have a lot to tell me since i was gone for a week

[LANCEALOT]: Damn straight i do.

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

Chapter Text

11-17-16 – 10:11pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                Keith hammered away on his keys, his eyes locked on the screen. His tongue sticked out just a little and off to the side. Keith had thick square framed black reading glasses that hung around the tip of his nose. He was going hard on this reply. How dare this person argue with him over the existence of Mothman? Mothman is easily the most plausibly cryptid and one of his favorites. Of course he was going to defend its existence! He came into his thread, argued with him, on this day? A normal day? How dare this person. Keith was already at three paragraphs worth of a response. He paused to push his glasses up and read over what he had so far. It all seemed like a well thought out argument. This was sure to put a stop to this rude nonbeliever. Just like how he had stopped Lance all that time ago.

                Lance. What was he up to? It was Thursday night so he should be home from work by now. Maybe he was already in the group chat. Now, did he want to stay signed in as himself or did he want to slide into his Katie persona?

                It’s going on two months with Keith pretending to be a girl to flirt with Lance. And things were working out in his favor surprisingly. Lance and Katie were hitting it off very, very well. The flirts were flying back and forth between the two. Lance had even asked Katie to Skype him sometime soon, but luckily Keith was able to slide the conversation in another direction. No one was wise to what was going on. Yet. Keith was sure Pidge might have an idea because a couple weeks ago Pidge brought up the fact Keith never seemed to be on the same time as Katie and that it was a ‘darned shame’, but Lance deterred the conversation to himself which let Keith off easy. Honestly, Keith was almost certain Pidge knew after tracking his IP address at some point. But Pidge hadn’t said anything yet so maybe he was in the clear.

                Either way he was doing really well with Lance. Lance had started to open up to him more. He definitely knew way more as Keith than he did as Katie, but it was something. Keith was loving being able to relearn things about Lance. There was even some stuff he couldn’t believe he forgot, like Lance’s birthday for one. Christmas Eve. A perfect Christmas present. All right that one was a little too much, even for Keith.

                He leaned back on his desk chair, stretching out his whole body. Keith gave a little yawn, ready to finish this reply and head to bed. Maybe he wouldn’t get in the group chat tonight. He was too tired anyway. Keith took off his reading glasses and set them on his desk.

Ping!

LanceDaMan69 is calling…

Answer?

                Keith’s heart began racing. What was going on? They just had a tutoring call a few days ago and the next one wasn’t until after Thanksgiving break. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe he didn’t mean to send him a call request. So, Keith declined it. No big deal, right?

Ping!

LanceDaMan69 is calling…

>Answer

                “Lance? Is…everything okay?” Keith asked, trying to keep his voice soft so he couldn’t tell how nervous he was. He rubbed his hands together, they were already sweaty. Instead of an answer, Keith heard sobbing come from the other end. Oh no. Keith’s heart sunk in his chest. That was a sound he never wanted to hear. Keith clutched at his chest, squeezing his shirt in his fist.

                “Oh, haha, hey Keith. Sorry about the tears. Usually I’m not like this. It’s just—my mom. You know how she gets and it’s not a good night for her, Keith. I’m really scared,” sobbed Lance. It was exactly what Keith had expected. His hand reached out for his laptop, gently placing his fingers on his screen. What he would give to be there, holding his hand and letting him cry on his shoulder.

                “Jesus, is there anything I can do to help?”

                “Can you cure cancer? No, I guess not, haha. She’s sleeping now and I didn’t want her to see my cry. I mean, I didn’t want you to hear me cry either. But I saw that you were online and I just didn’t know who else to turn to. You’re… the only one who knows. I guess Hunk kind of does, but he doesn’t know everything. Really I just need my bro to keep me company and talk to me! H-How was your day?”

                There were so many voice breaks as he spoke. Keith felt tears forming in his own eyes. It was different reading about how Lance was sad to actually hearing him sob over Skype. It was heartbreaking; it was devastating. He never wanted to hear it again.

                “My day was fine. I mean, other than this dude trying to argue with me over the existence of Mothman! Just like we did, almost a year ago, you remember? And how Allura banned the talk of Mothman in the group chat? Heh, oh man I can’t believe I’ve known you guys for so long. And I’ve only heard your voice. Yet, I’ve never seen what anyone looks like. It’s so weird to think about. I know you’re not a fifty year old man because you sound like a twelve year old boy, so I guess that’s good?”

                “Hey! I don’t sound like a little boy!” Cue voice crack on the word boy, but that could be because he was hoarse from crying. Even still, Keith couldn’t help but laugh.

                “Yes, go ahead and laugh at the crying dude. Go and laugh your cute laugh at the guy crying his eyes out. You’re totally a good person.”

                “Lance, no—I didn’t mean it like—.”

                But then Lance laughed loudly, causing Keith to smile. His heart didn’t feel as heavy. Lance’s laughter echoed in his mind, drowning out his sobs that he couldn’t get out of his head. Much better.

                “I’m only messing with you bro. You’re right though, we’ve known each other for so long. I still think we should abolish the anonymous rule. ‘Cause I do wanna see what everyone looks like. And I’m sure you’re all dying to see the handsome stud that I am!”

                “I bet if I see you I’ll turn to stone.”

                “…Because I’m so handsome?”

                “No because you’re probably fucking Medusa.”

                “Hey! Okay, that one hurt a little. Are you calling me a snake?”

                “I’m not saying you’re not a snake.”

                The line went silent for a moment before Lance said, “Well, at least I’m not a total loser like you!”

                “Ooh, good one Lance. I’m hurt. Devastated,” Keith said sarcastically. He even rolled his eyes at that. What a perfect comeback, right?

                “Katie wouldn’t treat me like this!”

                “Speaking of Katie, what’s your deal with her? I read back on some of the group chat messages. You guys seem awfully—close.”

                “What’s the matter Keith buddy-o-pal? Are you jealous of Katie?”

                Yes. “No.”

                “Aw, I think you are! Wish you were Katie, don’t you?”

                He is Katie. “No, I’m Keith. And I’m fine with that. Besides, flirting with you? No thanks, I’d rather lick in between Bigfoot’s toes.”

                “I think, I’m going to ask her to send a selfie. She wasn’t in our group when we made the rule, so it would be fair, right? I’ll send her one back if she does. Then finally someone will be swooning over my handsome face,” Lance said. He was starting to sound better. Keith could still hear the catches in his throat, but this was a good distraction for Lance. It was exactly what Lance wanted. To not think about his mother for a minute.

                “What if she’s actually a neckbeard? Biggest plot twist of the century.”

                “Oh god what if she has a mullet?”

                “Ok, I’m taking that personally, but I won’t hold it against you because you don’t know what I look like.”

                “Wait—Keith you have a mullet? I’m sorry, but I might have to reconsider our friendship. A mullet is so ugly! So you’re a business in the front and a party in the back kind of guy. Okay, I can work with that.”

                “Oh shut up. It’s only because I’m letting my hair grow out. It’s in this awkward state of mullet…and has been for a while actually. Work with what?”

                “With how I picture you look like! The mullet thing kinda throws my original idea out the window. Don’t tell me anything else about your appearance. I want to be pleasantly surprised when we finally appeal that stupid rule.”

                “It won’t be a pleasant surprise….trust me.”

                “Looks like I can’t trust you. You have a nice voice, so I’m assuming you have a face to match.”

                “Lance don’t say that. I really…don’t.”

                Keith was hiding his face in his hands, his cheeks blaring hot red. He didn’t know what to say. His heart was pounding so loud in his ears. He was so glad Lance wasn’t able to see him. He would just be even more embarrassed.

                “Keith? You okay dude? You got quiet.”

                “What? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

                “Don’t scare me like that. It’s hard to tell sometimes if I really annoy you or not,” Lance said, a nervous chuckle following.

                “I mean, you get under my skin sometimes. But that’s just what friends do. Right?”

                “It’s fun getting under your skin. You’re really fun to tease sometimes.”

                “Alright, I have to agree there. It’s fun messing with you too. It’s easy to.”

                “Oh shut up, I’m not easy.”

                “There are many things I could about that, but as your friend in your time of momentary sadness, I will not say it,” Keith said, trying to keep his voice as level as possible.

                “Wow, thanks best friend.”

                “Aw, you called me best friend. Cute.”

                It really was cute. It made his heart flutter and the smile grow bigger. Keith grabbed at his hair and ran his fingers through it, trying to calm himself down. This pining was getting worse and worse for him. It doesn’t help that when he plays the Katie persona he gets to flirt with him freely. He just wanted to do that now. He wanted Lance, but he can’t. They didn’t have that relationship.

                “Oh, hey Lance, how’s that bruise on your hip?” Keith asked after a few moments of silence. But the line stayed silent. “Lance?”

                “How did you know about that? I don’t think—I don’t think I told you about that?”

                Oh no, he’s right. Lance had told Katie about the bruise on his hip he got from work. He had slammed it into a shopping cart a bit too hard, which left him a bruise. Keith’s eyes widened in fright and his breathing stopped. He had to figure out an excuse. Quick.

                “You told the group chat remember? I was there and so was Pidge and Hunk. We laughed at you for being careless,” he said, rushing it out as fast as possible.

                “Really? I just don’t remember telling anyone else besides Katie…?”

                “Nah, you definitely told the group chat. I remember that clearly.”

                “Yeah, you’re probably right. Anyway, it’s fine. It’s just a little discolored now. No pain! Kind of cool actually. Wish I took pictures because that’s the kind of shit that gets like thousands of notes on Tumblr!”

                “You actually use Tumblr?”

                “Well yeah. My selfies get reblogged with plenty of notes. I don’t use it often, mainly for memes, selfies and aesthetic stuff.”

                “Huh. Maybe I should use Tumblr. I won’t post selfies, but still. I’unno. Altean Society is really all I care about lately,” Keith mumbled. If he somehow stumbled across Lance’s Tumblr he would get to see what he looked like. Keith wasn’t sure his heart was exactly ready for that.

                “I’d tell you my URL but that just breaks the anonymous rule. Ugh, next time Allura comes back I say we moved to diminish that stupid rule. It’s been like a year. I want to know who my best friends are!”

                “You know who we are, Lance.”

                “Yeah, but I want a face to text. Just like I have a voice to text for you. I read your messages in your voice now, did you know that?”

                Keith nearly squealed. Instead he said, “Really? Well me too. We haven’t even Skyped that much, but you’re just stuck in my brain.”

                “That’s…really…”

                “Like an annoying song.”

                “There’s the Keith I know and love. You were starting to get a little sappy.”

                “That wasn’t sappy Lance. I could get sappy.”

                “Nah, you’re like the bark of the tree. I’m the sap inside of you. That… did not come out as well as I wanted.”

                “Bark, bark.”

                “Was that supposed to be a dog joke? Poor joke Keith, poor joke.”

                “It wasn’t meant to be funny, dumb shit.”

                “Anyway, I’m starting to feel better. Thank you for talking with me Keith. I hope you weren’t working on homework or something and I distracted you from your precious learning.”

                “D-Do you really have to go? I really like talking to you. And I’m not doing anything interesting right now anyway.”

                “Do me. I’m interesting.”

                Keith literally started choking at that point.  His entire face was a bright red. Lance was erupting with laughter on the other end. Keith had no idea what to say. He knew Lance was kidding, but it still completely surprised him and made him flustered.

                “No thanks Lance. I’m good.”

                Wrong. He would absolutely love to. But that’s not something you can say to your straight best friend. No matter what you may feel for him.

                “Boo you’re no fun. I’d do you. And I don’t even know what you look like. But you have the nicest voice, so I bet you make the best moans.”

                “Lance.”

                “Aw, did I make you flustered? Good.”

                How was this even fair? Lance can’t say things like that to him when he’s Keith. That was stuff he would say when he was Katie. This isn’t fair. Keith couldn’t even hear what else Lance had said. His heart was thumping even louder in his ears. Lance was talking, but Keith’s mind was racing. What did he mean by that? He had to be kidding, right?

                “Keith, I’m sorry. Did I make you upset? You got quiet again. I was just kidding, dude. I won’t say stuff like that if it makes you uncomfortable,” Lance whispered. Keith was able to hear this time. There it was, the just kidding he was waiting to hear. It helped calm him down, reminding him it wasn’t real.

                “No, I’m not upset. I just wasn’t expecting that at all. Sounds like stuff you’d say to Katie,” Keith said.

                “Well, I do say this stuff to Katie. Cause, I really like her. I think we have something special. She’s really amazing Keith. It’s weird though.”

                “What? What’s weird?”

                “She kind of reminds me of you. Like, happier and girlier, but still. It’s weird. She and I connect really easily just like me and you. I feel like I can tell her anything. I feel like I’ve known her for a long time. Keith, she’s really amazing. I really, really like her. Um, it’s different from the other girls, y’know? I haven’t even flirted with barista girls in weeks because I just—I want to be devoted to Katie. Man, can you imagine me, Lance, in a relationship? Heh, it’s been a long time. I think she likes me too! Keith you really need to meet her. She’s great. The whole gang likes her! You really suck at timing. You’re never on when she’s on. Hang on, lemme message her and see if she can get on now. Then, you get on if she can so you can meet her! She’s important to me and I want you to know her,” Lance said, passion in his tone. Keith could feel just how much he likes her in how he speaks about her. Lance has never even seen this girl before, but he still cared a lot about her. Keith really was jealous of Katie, even if he was her. He wanted Lance to talk about him like that. He wanted Lance to be devoted to him too.

                “I might have to go to bed soon. I have class in the morning, y’know,” Keith said, sweating bullets. He was trying so hard to avoid something like this. Did Altean Society chat work on his phone? Then he’d be able to be both of them at the same time, but he wasn’t sure how well it would work.

                “Nope, Nuh uh, you have to stay on if she can get on!” Lance said.

                Keith sighed and minimized Skype. Lance was talking about Katie again and how caring she was. Keith was trying to drown that out as he logged out of his Altean Society account on his laptop. He signed into Katie’s profile, already seeing she had a few unread notifications. He went right to the inbox where there was already a messaged from Lance asking him—well her to get online. Keith sent a quick reply of ‘maybe later on!’ as Lance finished talking about her.

                “Oh! She just messaged me! Aw, later? But I want you guys to meet now! Boo, well, I’ll have to plan something. One day, she and I are gonna Skype! So maybe I’ll add you to the call randomly when we do so you guys have to meet! I want my best friend to meet the girl of my dreams!” Lance complained with a loud sigh.

                “One day I’ll meet her. Our schedules just never add up, dude. It’s no biggie. I’m really glad you found someone who means that much to you, Lance.”  

                “Keith, you’re gonna find a girl one day who makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. Just like me with Katie.”

                “Right, girl.”

                “Why the emphasis on—oh. Keith, my dude why didn’t you say anything?! I mean everything makes sense now because you never mention you have a crush on anyone. You’ve never talked about past girlfriends. You—don’t have much of a romantic history. Bro, you could have told me you were gay. I don’t care. Like, shit, dudes are hot. Girls are hot. Everyone is hot. I feel you, one hundred percent. Well, like forty percent. Girls are like sixty percent,” Lance rambled. Wait, what?

                “Wait Lance, are you telling me you’re bisexual?” Keith said, his throat tight.

                “Yes. Are you telling me you’re gay?”

                “Yes.”

                Are. You. Serious? Was all of this for nothing? He really never had to be Katie. Granted, there was only a forty percent chance as Lance had put it, but still. Katie was all for nothing. Keith really wanted to punch himself in the face at that point. Keith shook his head in disbelief. But it was too late. Lance was so invested in Katie, it would break his heart if Keith dropped her completely. He would have to keep her up a little longer. Make her seem disinterested. Now Keith had a chance. Maybe. Or maybe he was dreaming this whole conversation.

                “Man, if I had known you were into dudes before I probably would have flirted with you better. I mean, you seem to be my type apparently. You’re really similar to Katie after all! Heh, that’s cool though, getting learn even more about you. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone else I liked guys too. You’re the first!” Lance said, a smile in his voice. Now that really wasn’t fair. Keith practically felt his heart break. He was so close.

                “I feel really honored you told me. And I’m proud of you for coming out. I don’t tell many people mainly because I just don’t care. I like guys, sure. It’s no big deal. It’s not a huge part of my life I guess?” Keith explained, shrugging.

                “Man, I feel like this is as close as we’ve ever gotten before. Thanks Keith. This night meant a lot. I’m gonna go to bed now, okay? You should too. You have class in the morning. Sleep well man.”

                “Good night Lance. Message me if you need anything, okay?”

                “Will do!”

End call.

                Keith was still in disbelief. There was a shot. A shot he could be with Lance. He would have to battle literally against himself to try and woo Lance. This was honestly just one big mess he could have avoided if he told Lance how he felt like a normal person. No, he had to go and catfish him and let it go on for too long. Idiot. Keith groaned and smacked himself in the forehead.

                He wanted to just stop logging into Katie at this point. If she stopped talking to him at all then it would destroy Lance. But then he’d probably come to Keith, looking for comfort. It was cruel to Lance. He couldn’t hurt him. But what if Lance had found out? He’d be crushed even more. Man, Keith really had dug himself into a deep hole.

                He shut his laptop closed and crawled into bed, ashamed of everything. Keith decided to lay low from the online world for a few days to figure out his next move.

12-3-16 – 9:38am – alteansociety.com/inbox

MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: ***

[TIME]: 3:10am

[MSG]: We need to talk Keith. Oh sorry, I mean KATIE. Yeah, don’t think I didn’t figure that out from the beginning. What you’re doing is seriously fucked up. With Lance’s public confession to Katie last night I decided it was time to talk. You are messing with Lance, our best friend. This isn’t right Keith. Why are you pulling such a terrible prank? This is low. I never thought you’d do something like this. How did you not realize I would track the IP? You’re an idiot. You’re lucky I haven’t told anyone.

[TO]: PidgetWidget

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: *** (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:46am

[MSG]: god i fucked up i know i fucked up. i can promise you this isnt a prank. this was a stupid idea i let go on for way too long. i wasnt expecting lance to tell the group chat last night that he has a crush on katie. i never meant for it to go this far. i just wanted a chance to be with him. pidge i like him so much. i have for such a long time. so. long. it was a stupid idea i had to try and get him to like me. i didnt think it would work. this is stupid. im stupid. pidge i dont know how to fix this. katie is me thats true but i promise you for a few weeks now ive been trying to show im not into him cause this is so messed up. but im in too deep, way too deep. he likes her so much i don’t know what to do. pidge help me please. dont tell anyone please.

                MESSAGE SENT

MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: *** (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:00am

[MSG]: I don’t think you deserve my help. You fucked up big time. Catfishing Lance, really? You thought that was going to get him to like you? But…I feel bad. You are my friend still. And for some reason I believe you when you say you did it because you like him. I mean, it would explain a lot of things. Keith there’s literally no way out of this besides telling him. And that’s just gonna erase any progress you’ve made with him. I hope he hates you. No, I don’t. But at the same time I do. This is messed up to the extreme. I’ll keep your little gay secret for now. But you have to promise me you’ll tell him. And tell him soon.

 [TO]: PidgetWidget

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: *** (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:10am

[MSG]: thank you pidge i appreciate you not telling anyone. im working on a plan to tell him. i know ill lose him when i do but honestly i deserve it. this is the worst idea ive ever had.

                MESSAGE SENT

12-3-16 – 1:14pm – Keith’s Dorm Room

                He had been reading the message over and over again. Keith had rested his chin on his hands, his reading glasses sliding down his nose. Lance had asked for a selfie from Katie with a promise to receive one in return. What was Keith going to do? One half of him told him to avoid the question like he had before, but another half was dying to see what he looked like.

                Keith and Pidge had been messaging each other all day. Most of it was Keith trying to get Pidge to forgive him. It took a bit, but reluctantly Pidge forgave him. Then they began plotting together. They came to the conclusion together that Keith should play this catfish out a bit longer. But start to twist Katie’s personality. Make her less like the Katie Lance crushed on in the first place. That way, it won’t be an immediate heartbreak to Lance. Pidge said Keith should play it out until Lance loses interest, which can happen quickly, then delete the Katie account. Keith said he would never speak of her again and Pidge said he should tell Lance what he had done. Keith told Pidge that’s what he would do, but when the time came he knew he wouldn’t be able to. It would ruin any chances with Lance and he couldn’t let that happen. He just wanted to dig himself out of this hole as easy as possible.

                Back to Lance’s message. Keith definitely didn’t look enough like a girl to send Lance a selfie of himself, long hair or not. Not to mention, he really didn’t want to send a picture of himself anyway. So Keith got a thought. Lance said he uploaded a lot of selfies to Tumblr, so why not check Tumblr for a girl to use? No harm, no foul. They wouldn’t have to know. It was a temporary thing.

                Keith went to the Tumblr site and in the search bar, he typed in pretty girl and hit enter. Basic enough, right? It should give him plenty of results. He started scrolling through it, not finding any girls that stood out to him. Sure, they were all pretty, but he just didn’t find any of them appealing. Pretty blonde with blue eyes, boring. Dark mousy brown hair and brown eyes, cute, but no. He sighed to himself. Why was he so picky with this? It was a onetime thing.

                It was a few minutes of scrolling when he reached a girl that actually made him sit straight up in his seat. Her skin was beautiful and dark, it contrasted with her bright white hair. This girl had such a beautiful, real smile on her face. It was nothing like some of the other girls. She also had two pink tattoos under her eyes, they kind of reminded him of crescent moons. Her crop top read, “We Exist” and had a little alien head on it. Perfect. This was the girl. As he scrolled a little farther, he noticed she had a few other photos in there too. She was beautiful and Keith knew she was it. She was ‘Katie’.

                He couldn’t really believe he was doing this. Keith saved all of her photos to his laptop that he could find and closed that search out. He opened Altean Society open again to see that he had a few more unread messages from Lance and one from Pidge. Lance was just rambling about how wonderful he thought Katie was and how he really hoped she would send him a selfie. Pidge was just talking more about the plan. Keith didn’t want to think about that. He was on a mission.

                Keith took a deep breath in and opened up Lance’s message. He attached one of the girl’s photos to it and wrote ‘Haha, I hate my smile’ before he sent it. It was done. There was no taking it back. Now, would he really get a selfie of Lance in return? There goes his heart again. He couldn’t wait.

                There was almost an instant reply. Lance was freaking out with plenty of keysmashes. He kept saying how beautiful she was and how he felt ‘hashtag blessed’. Keith couldn’t help but smile at the screen. It was a cute reaction. But then, his notification dinged. Another message. Image received.

                His breathing stopped as he clicked on it. It was a few seconds for the photo to process and open. Keith honestly was not prepared for what came next.

                He covered his mouth with his hands, eyes wide. Lance was beautiful. His skin was tanned and smooth, not an imperfection in sight. He had a shit eating smirk on his face, which Keith expected, but it made his heart melt. His eyes were narrowed just slightly, making Keith sweat. God, he looked amazing. He was the most handsome man Keith had ever seen. He couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t real. He wasn’t looking at Lance at all. This wasn’t Lance. It couldn’t be. He was too perfect.

                All Keith could reply was ‘Wow, nice.’

12-5-16 – 2:43am – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Oh thank god keith its you!

[LANCEALOT]: Katie was here like ten minutes ago dude wtf

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: man we never match up wtf

[PidgetWidget]: Isn’t that a shame?

[Hunkydory1]: lance are you and katie a thing yet btw?^^

[LANCEALOT]: Nah not yet but hey theres hope ik she likes me too!

[PidgetWidget]: Wow, amazing.

[Hunkydory1]: you ok pidge?o:

[PidgetWidget]: Peachy.

[LANCEALOT]: …okay?

[LANCEALOT]: High school must be rough…

[LANCEALOT]: So glad that chapter of my life is finally OVER!!!!!!!

[Hunkydory1]: agreed my anxiety has never been that high since

[Hunkydory1]: haha who am I kidding my anxiety has anxiety :^)

[PidgetWidget]: That’s reassuring college for me.

[Hunkydory1]: you’re going to college pidge >.>

[LANCEALOT]: Yep you gotta to get a good job

[PidgetWidget]: And I’ll also get a bunch of debt with it.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeeeepp cant wait to not be able to afford my student loans after this hell

[PidgetWidget]: Can’t wait to graduate high school thanks guys. <3

[LANCEALOT]: Youre welcome bb <3

[PidgetWidget]: <3 Anyways, I’m exhausted and I have to be up for school in three hours.

[PidgetWidget]: Good night guys. <3

                [ PidgetWidget has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: I wonder what has pidge so upset???

[Hunkydory1]: i’ll talk to them tomorrow.

[Hunkydory1]: lance it’s pretty late for us too maybe we should go to bed?

[LANCEALOT]: Im skipping classes tomorrow so idgaf.

[Hunkydory1]: ):

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: lance please dont skip class think of your education

[LANCEALOT]: I am and i have a test on wednesday i want to study more for!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Guys finals are getting closer too im like shitting my pants????

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im not looking forward to going home

[LANCEALOT]: I thought you liked your aunt and uncle??

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeah but theyre expecting me to bring home a girl for xmas this year

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: …. for some reason

[LANCEALOT]: Bring me home instead ill be your boyfriend for the holidays ;D

[LANCEALOT]: I have a big family and we have a big part for christmas and new years…

[LANCEALOT]: Im gonna be too tired after finals to deal with that x.x

[Hunkydory1]: lance you are more than welcome to come down to florida and spend xmas with me ^^

[LANCEALOT]: Hunk bro you are so good to me…………….tell your mom I love her……………….

[Hunkydory1]: ;*

[XxCrimsonxFighter]: sorry i have to go wipe the vomit off my desk after lance offered to be my bf

[LANCEALOT]: </3

[LANCEALOT]: WTF KEITH

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: its not fair to katie after all

[LANCEALOT]: Ok but i would be your PRETEND boyfriend obviously…

[LANCEALOT]: Im still hurt though…..

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: youll get over it

[LANCELOT]: Someone is sassy today who pissed in your cheerios

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: we still dont have a working toaster in the cafe and i just want to eat my bagel

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: my toasted bagel

[LANCEALOT]: Im getting you your own personal toaster for xmas so you dont have to have sad bagels

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i would gladly accept that if it wasnt against dorm policies

[LANCEALOT]: Neither is alcohol but my friends do it all the time?

[LANCEALOT]: Uh i mean

[LANCEALOT]: I have never touched a drop of alcohol in my life.

[Hunkydory1]: i’m calling bullshit you drunk messaged me like two weeks ago.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: same though

[Hunkydory1]: lance you really shouldn’t drink you’re only 18!

[LANCEALOT]: Im almost 19 and thats canadian legal!

[LANCEALOT]: And i only drink in my home.

[LANCEALOT]: Thats what im allowed.

[LANCEALOT]: I swear.

[Hunkydory1]: just be safe okay?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeah please be safe lance

[LANCEALOT]: Thanks you guys <3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im gonna go to bed guys ill talk to you tomorrow

[LANCEALOT]: Night keef <3

[Hunkydory1]: night keith!! sleep well!

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

12-10-16 – 7:57pm – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Like NYA Keith (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:41pm

[MSG]: Keith im really glad weve been talking even more lately. I miss our chats like this. We havent like messaged for hours and hours like this in a long time?? Probably months. Probably before katie. Ive missed talking to you. My best friend. Oh man thats cheesy. Also im really proud of you for acing your math test!! Im glad our tutoring sessions are working. Youre gonna kick ass on your finals my dude.

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:49pm

[MSG]: I don’t think katie likes me anymore?? Maybe im like overanalyzing. But its been a week since we exchanged selfies???And she wont talk to me???Often?? Like damn we would message as much as we usually do, but now?? Its rare. And when we do talk now she sounds bored. I KNOW IM NOT UGLY SO IT CANT BE THAT?? RIGHT?? What did i do wrong keith im scared dude. Cause i just like her so much what the fuck. Maybe im just not likeable. I mean?? I flirt with plenty of people, but how many relationships have I been in? Literally zero. Okay, maybe two. But they were in middle school so i dont think that counts?? Im so unlikeable apparently lmao. Whatever. Im fine being single I guess.

 [TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: Like NYA Keith (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:50pm

[MSG]: thanks lance i really appreciate all the extra studying time. im really starting to like the sound of your voice now. It used to be ugh annoying but now i can equate it to mathematical success. haha yeah ive missed you a lot too lance. i feel like youre the easiest to talk to lately. Its…nice. youre nice.

                MESSAGE SENT

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:57pm

[MSG]: lance dont you ever say youre unlikeable again. i joke around a lot with you saying i dont like you but its the exact opposite. youre incredible lance. youre so smart and funny. you always manage to make me laugh even if you say a stupid joke. i love being comfortable enough with you to tease you back and forth. youre caring and helpful and you love your mom and your family so much. its amazing. any girl or guy for that matter would be lucky to have you. maybe katie isnt worth your time if she doesnt even want to talk to you?

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: /// (CONT)

[TIME]: 8:04pm

[MSG]: Thanks keith. You really are a great friend. Thank you for being in my life. I dont know what id do without you actually. <3

12-10-16 – 9:17pm – alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: my ray of sun (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:13pm

[MSG]: Hey katie hope things are well. Its been a while since we last chat! I didnt make you upset when i told everyone i liked you right? That wasnt a problem right? Haha cause it seems like it is. Katie i miss you. We dont have to even date. I dont want to make you uncomfortable and all that. But i just want to bring back our old conversations. How we used to talk and click so easily. Now you seem bored like you dont want to talk about it. I hate it.

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: my ray of sun (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:17pm

[MSG]: sorry lance. ive just been really busy and really tired lately. you dont need me anway. you have your voltron squad. im just some girl that showed up. i really like you too lance but we shouldnt date. Im not right for you. youve seen one picture of me and youve never heard my voice. how can you like me. we should be friends lance. i really love our friendship.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: crypticsweetie

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: my ray of sun (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:22pm

[MSG]: So can things go back to how they used to? We can forget this mess of me liking you and you liking me? I just want my friend katie back. id rather have that than nothing!

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: crypticsweetie

[SUBJECT]: my ray of sun (CONT)

[TIME]: 9:23pm

[MSG]: yeah. thats fine.

                MESSAGE SENT

12-14-16 – 1:05pm – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ crypticsweetie has joined the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: oh hey katie!^^ its just us right now I think.

[crypticsweetie]: thats fine how are you doing today hunk?

[Hunkydory1]: really nervous about my final in a couple hours. I’ve been studying in the library!

[Hunkydory1]: like i threw up about ten minutes ago ;;

[Hunkydory1]: my anxiety gets so bad during finals… at least this is my big one and my first one…

[Hunkydory1]: so the biggest one is out of the way first ;;

[crypticsweetie]: ok so heres my advice to you.

[crypticsweetie]: first off dont choke down the vomit. thats always bad.

[crypticsweetie]: and second hunk after my few months of knowing you

[crypticsweetie]: i can safely say you are one of the smartest people i know

[crypticsweetie]: youre an ENGINEER and thats honestly super cool

[crypticsweetie]: you are going to crush that exam because you are a strong dude

[crypticsweetie]: dont let your anxiety get the best of you man

[crypticsweetie]: i believe in you ^^

[Hunkydory1]: thanks katie but um my anxiety just doesn’t go away like that sadly. ;;

[Hunkydory1]: I really appreciate the kind words though. ^^ <3

[Hunkydory1]: honestly sounds like something keith would say LOLOLOL

[Hunkydory1]: im going to log off for now to focus on last minute cramming, but thank you!

[Hunkydory1]: have a great day katie!<3

                [ Hunkydory1 has left the chat! ]

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[crypticsweetie]: so youre  the rumored keith ive heard so much about.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and youre the rumored katie

[crypticsweetie]: its nice to meet you

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: likewise

[crypticsweetie]: well i have to go

                [ crypticsweetie has left the chat! ]

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

12-14-16 – 1:16pm – Keith’s University Library

                Keith closed out his browser on his phone. So at least he knew the chatroom feature worked on his cellphone. It was a perfect time to test that out with no one in chat. Pidge was at school, Lance and Hunk had finals, Shiro was at work, and Allura was still MIA. They would see the chat log and see that the two of them were on at the same time. Pidge…already knew, but the others hopefully still haven’t caught on. This would at least help keep them at bay.

                He let out a big sigh and leaned back on his chair, balancing on his back two legs. Keith was spending so much time online that he was starting to neglect his studies. And his next final was tomorrow. Keith was skipping his classes for the day and spent most of his time in the library, studying hard for his first final. Statistics. He was so thankful he had another tutor Skype call planned with Lance tonight. The last one before the big test. Then, just two more on Friday and his semester was finally over. He was going to go back home, which was only forty minutes from his university. He would drive if he knew how and had a car, but dorming was fine. Keith liked the isolation as he was lucky enough to get a dorm room without a roommate for his freshman year. By sheer luck alone.

                Keith tapped his pencil to his cheek and pushed his reading glasses back up on his face. They were too big for his face after having them for years. Keith sat his chair and looked down back at his worksheet and textbook. He was determined to finish it. Otherwise Lance would yell at him that night.

12-23-16 – 11:58pm – Keith’s Bedroom

                Keith was humming along to the random Christmas playlist he had playing from his laptop. He was stringing Christmas lights around his room as Christmas Eve was tomorrow. Admittedly, he was a little late decorating, but he did only come home on Monday. Now he was home until close to the end of January when the new semester would start. Grades were starting to be posted and he was doing surprisingly well. For some reason his statistics grade wasn’t in yet, but he also hasn’t checked his email all day. Keith was busy helping his aunt and uncle finish decorations around the house. They were older and had a harder time doing things. Keith had no problem helping them around the house. Even if his aunt kept pestering him about how he didn’t bring a beautiful girl home.

                “Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa, la, la, la,” Keith mumble-sang along. There was a couple minutes until midnight. He had planned to send a quick happy birthday to Lance then, even though it was already Lance’s birthday in his time zone and he was probably already asleep. Once he placed the last thumbtack in, securing the lights around his room, Keith stepped off the kitchen chair he borrowed to admire his handy work. He plugged them in, the rainbow lights turning on, not a dead bulb in sight. Keith smiled to himself and pulled on the chain to his ceiling fan light to turn it off. Now his room was only lit by his Christmas lights and with the music playing faintly in the background, he was feeling very festive.

                A moment later, the Skype call notification came ringing over his music. The only person who ever called him was Lance. Keith practically ran to his computer desk, almost jumping into his seat. He muted his music on YouTube and immediately answered the voice call.

                “Lance? Lance what’s going on? Are you okay?” Keith rushed out, worried something was wrong. It was three in the morning for him, what would he want besides the fact he was upset? But, the beautiful peals of laughter that came in response calmed him. Keith’s smile grew, melting in his seat.

                “Wow Keith! That was quick! Key-eeth! Keef! Ha, your name is funny!” Lance giggled.

                “Are you okay?” Keith raised an eyebrow, confused by his behavior.

                “Me? I am okey-dokey, artichoke-y! S’no big deal my dude!” the other slurred.

                “Oh, you’re drunk!”

                “Shh, no I’m no—okay I am! But it’s my birthday now Keef! You answered the call and didn’t even say happy birthday to me! I’m so hurt, sniffle. Dad said I could drink cause I’m a big man! Nineteen is a big year, y’know!”

                “Nineteen also isn’t the legal drinking age you nut. Jesus Lance, how much have you had to drink?”

                “Few beers…few shots…s’all blurry to me tee-bee-h.”

                “Did…did you just say the acronym for to be honest? Lance, please go get some water and get to bed. I’m serious, you need to sleep.”

                “Keith, you never asked me what I wanted for my birthday! Or for Christmas! I’m gonna get you a birthday present next year! What do you want for your birthday? No! Tell me next year! Ask me what I want for my birthday!” Lance said, stumbling over his words a little. Keith was very concerned for Lance. He wished he could be there to make sure he went to bed, but not before he drank some water. Keith himself wasn’t a drinker, he had never touched a drop in his life, so he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. But that he knew was the basics of it. He didn’t know what it was like to be drunk. He wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to be; it just didn’t seem appealing and alcohol smells gross anyways.

                “Fine Lance, what do you want for your birthday?” Keith sighed, giving in.

                “First, tell me happy birthday.”

                “Happy Birthday, Lance.”

                “That’s better. Okay! What I want for my birthday slash Christmas—okay fuck being born on Christmas Eve? Like, what a terrible day to be born. I have a birthmas. Birthmas is not fun. My birthday should be all about me, not shared with Christmas! Wait what was I talking about? Right! What I want for Birthmas! Okay, all I really, really, really, want for it is—hey why are you awake? Isn’t it three in the morning for you? Oh wait that’s me, hehe—,” said Lance, starting to trail off again. Keith hit himself in the forehead and bit hard on his lip. God he was a cute drunk.

                “Lance what do you want for your birthday?”

                “I want to video chat with you. Allura has been gone for months now. The anonymous rule is stupid and I mean we already fucking broke it obviously. I just…really want to see what you look like? And you’d get to see what I look like, which is always a plus. But god Keith I want to see your face? More than anything? Pretty please? Please, please, please?”

                “I don’t know…I didn’t shower today. My hair and skin is really gross. I’m really gross. It’s not the right time for this. I don’t think we’re ready. I-I-I don’t know what to say?”

                “So say yes!”

                Keith covered his mouth with his hand. He couldn’t breathe. Did he want to do this? It’s not like he hasn’t seen what Lance looked like before. He had been thinking about that selfie all the time. Keith would think of it in class, while doodling in his notebook and even in the shower. Plenty of times in the shower and alone in his dorm room. He had gotten that selfie of him through Katie, but this was a video chat. It was new and exciting and all he had ever wanted. But that meant showing himself to Lance as well. Keith felt himself as too plain, not ugly, but plain. Especially when he compared himself to Lance.

                “Keith you have gone silent once again. Please, say yes. It’s all I want for my birthday. For any of my birthdays. Like, if you do this, you don’t ever have to get me a present again. This will completely my entire life!”

                “Alright! I’ll…do it. Give me a second, ok? I’m going to go…fix myself up in the bathroom,” Keith said, giving in once more. He could hear cheering and hollering on the other end. Keith couldn’t help but smile and shake his head. But the smile was fading as he felt an extreme sense of dread and anxiety overcome him. He said he’d be right back and scurried off to the bathroom.

                Keith was already starting to hyperventilate. He clutched at the sides of his face, his whole body trembling as he gasped for air. His eyes were frantically looking all over the room. How could he agree to this? Keith was the first person to side with Allura on the anonymous rule. Why the sudden change of heart? He really had it bad for Lance, obviously. That’s what cause the sudden change of heart and the sudden panic attack in the bathroom.

                He was coughing into his sink at this point, spit flying everywhere as he tried to reach for a good deep breath.  Tears rolled down his cheeks and he couldn’t stop them. Keith was so scared to video chat Lance. What if Lance found him ugly? There goes any hope. What if Lance realized he didn’t like him at all? What if he told all their friends Keith was ugly. What if Lance was actually catfishing him back? That selfie seemed like it was too good to be true.

                All these thoughts kept coming to his head. It literally only made him worse. Keith was thankful his aunt and uncle were fast asleep and incredibly heavy sleepers thanks to sleeping pills. He was making quite a lot of noise in the bathroom. But it’s not like he could help himself.

                It took a few moments, but Keith was able to coach himself into a normal, steady breath. The tears stopped rolling at this point. His whole body was tired now and his head was heavy. Keith turned on the cold water from the sink and looked at himself in the mirror.

                His eyes were red from crying and struggling to breathe. Keith’s skin looked completely oily, with a few stray, but not exceptionally large pimples on his face. His cheeks were completely red from all sorts of feelings. His greasy hair clung to his face and Keith knew he had to get that up and out of the way. He splashed some cold water on his face first, which felt amazing since he was overheating. Then, Keith grabbed a thin white elastic hair band to slick back his long fringe. With the ponytail around his wrist, he tied up the rest of his mullet. There was nothing he could do about this pimples right now without aggravating them, so hopefully his webcam was so low quality they were not noticeable.

                His raggedy, holey, and grey sweatshirt wasn’t not good for a first video chat. Keith quickly discarded it to the growing laundry pile and grabbed a white ribbed tank top that looked much more acceptable. He slipped it on over his head and gave himself one more look over in the mirror. Not handsome, but acceptable. Keith shut off the water and made his way back to his room, trying to keep his cool.

                “Okay, I’m back Lance,” Keith mumbled, sitting back down at his desk.

                “Ugh, fucking finally. Did you di-i-i-i-i-e? I got water, bee-tee-w. Happy?” Lance groaned.

                “Yes, very happy. Okay, let’s…do this.”

                Keith hovered over his mouse pad for a moment before he finally scrolled over to turn the video option on. His heart was hammering in his chest, so scared of Lance’s reaction. As he turned his own camera on, Lance’s clicked on as well.

                And there he was.

                His hand was on the back of his head, his eyes shut, and a big smile on his face, Lance was wearing a plain black tee shirt that was clearly way too baggy on him. Keith gave a small gasp as he looked him over and over again. He looked exactly like the selfie he had received, but in video form…he was even more perfect. The walls behind him were bare white and the lighting was harsh and bright as well, but it help Lance’s webcam quality. Keith could see him perfectly, in HD. It was truly a blessing. He didn’t even realize his jaw was hanging low.

                “Jeez Keith, pick up your jaw from the floor. That’s about the only thing of you I can really see. Your webcam is literally so shitty. Why is it so dark in your room? You only have Christmas lights up that’s dumb! Turn on a real light!” Lance complained. Keith almost didn’t hear what he said because his eyes were drawn to his lips and how they moved when he spoke.

                “What? Oh, sorry! I just put them up for a festive feel. Hang on, lemme…,” Keith said, moving to fumble with his desk lamp. He switched it on and then adjusted it until it lit up his face better on camera. “B-Better?”

                Now it was Lance’s turn to be silent. But it was not the reaction Keith wanted. He didn’t bother looking at his face, he kept his eyes away from the screen, scared of his reaction. He could feel his cheeks grow hotter from embarrassment. This was a stupid idea and Keith should have never agreed to it. He hated himself for allowing this. But at the same time he was so happy he did because he got to see Lance. It was splitting his mind in half.

                “Lance? W-Would you say something?” Keith whispered.

                “You’re…so handsome. I wasn’t expecting this. I just—wow. Holy shit Keith congrats on the face,” Lance praised. Keith looked back at him, in shock, to see a huge smile on his face. Lance mouthed the word ‘wow’ at him and Keith felt his blush deepen.

                “You’re pretty good looking yourself,” smiled Keith.

                “Really? That’s all you can say about me? Well shit I’ll take it!” Lance winked at Keith and he honestly thought his heart stopped for a moment.

                “No, really Lance. You—you are incredibly hot. It’s unfair as to how attractive you are.”

                “Unfair? Have you seen yourself? You’re a total babe Keith. Like holy fuck dude. I may be swooning over here.”

                “You’re just saying that to be nice!”

                “No, dude, I really mean it. I was expecting to be completely grossed out by the mullet, but holy fuck…you with your hair pulled back?” he said, whistling and fanning himself. This boy was literally going to kill Keith.

                “Lance I don’t know what to say.”

                “Don’t say anything. Let me enjoy you. And you can enjoy me, mmmmmkay?”

                Keith nodded and smiled at him. He looked at Lance’s face, noticing the light red color on his cheeks and tips of his ears. That was probably due to the alcohol, but it was so vibrant against his darker skin. And it was so beautiful. He locked that image in his mind, wanting to treasure it forever. Lance bit his bottom lip, just the tiniest bit and a chill ran down Keith’s spine. There was a small shine to Lance’s lips, making them look soft and irresistible. All he wanted to do was kiss them.

                Lance had mumbled something, but Keith was a little too distracted with his thoughts. “What was that?”

                “Baby it’s cold outside! Been hoping you’d drop in. I’ll hold your hands, they’re just like ice!” Lance sang, getting louder towards the end. Keith started laughing hard, gripping his sides. “Holy shit Keith your laugh is even better in person—well on video chat. Well, are you going to continue with me or what?”

                “Oh fine! My mother will start to worry!” Keith smiled, playing along with it.

                “Beautiful, what’s your hurry?”

                “Father will be pacing the floor!”

                “Listen to the fire place roar!”

                “So really, I’d better scurry…”

                “Beautiful, please don’t hurry.”

                “Maybe just a half a drink more?”

                “Put some records on while I po-o-ur!”

                “I ought to say no, no, no!”        

                “Hey, did you skip a part? Oh, uh, mind if I move in closer?”

                Keith laughed before continuing the song, “At least I’m gonna say that I tried!”

                Lance beamed at Keith and sang, “What’s the sense in hurting my pride?”

                “I really can’t stay…”

                “Baby don’t hold out!”

                And then together in unison, “Ah, but it’s cold outside!”

                The two of them burst out into laughter, wiping happy tears away. As they both calmed down, Keith found himself staring at his face again, completely transfixed. Lance stared at him back, eyes slightly narrow and lips in a soft smile.

                “You know? I was right. You do have a nice singing voice. I had called it from the beginning!”

                “Oh shut up Lance. You’re the one with the nice voice after all!”

                “Wait, wait, wait… you won’t do the fucking team rocket motto with me and Hunk, but you’ll sing Baby It’s Cold Outside with me while I’m drunk? At like midnight your time? Bullshit. You have to be mine and Hunk’s Meowth now. Key-owth. Key, that’s a funny nickname for you. Oh-em-gee I’m going to call you Key from now on. Don’t stop me now Key, it’s happening.”

                “Please don’t do this. Key is so stupid. I don’t want to be called Key. I’m Keith.”

                “Key! Key! Kee-ee-y. It’s so cute though. It matches you. ‘Cause…you’re cute.”

                Keith groaned and looked all the way down, his head disappearing from camera view. He knew he was blushing like crazy and really didn’t want Lance to see that. Keith didn’t want him to know how crazy he was about him. And this guy was really making him lose his mind. His heart was out of control and his head was spinning. This really wasn’t fair to Keith.

                “Hey Keith? Can I be greedy? And ask for one more present?” Lance muttered, suddenly serious. Keith slowly looked up. The smile was changed and his eyes were gentle. Lance looked, soft, and reserved. It looked weird, but Keith couldn’t help but love it. He was still biting his lip, but it wasn’t flirty or playful. Lance looked almost nervous. His eyes wouldn’t meet Keith’s. What did he want?

                “Well, consider this video chat your birthday present. What do you want for Christmas then?” Keith asked. Lance looked a little shocked for a second, but nodded, like he wasn’t expecting Keith to say yes. Lance looked down at his lap, then at Keith again. He took a deep breath before he asked him.

                “C-Can we have Skype sex?” Lance breathed out. Keith choked on his breath. There’s no way he heard him right. Keith didn’t hear that at all.

                “You want to what? With me?” Keith said, barely audible.

                “Like, uh, oh god Keith don’t make me say it.”

                “You’re drunk.”

                “And you’re sexy. And I’m incredibly turned on and holy shit. You are just, wow. So, wow.”

                Lance sighed happily and batted his eyelashes at Keith. He blew a little kiss to him and Keith literally melted in his chair. He felt hot, too hot. God, he wanted this. It’s something he’s thought about for ages. Well, not exactly this situation, but close enough. Keith knew that this was the alcohol talking and Katie’s sudden distaste in him. Keith knew he was the rebound, but at this moment he didn’t care. Lance wanted him and that’s been his dream forever.

                Keith’s eyes lit up, his smile wide, as he replied, “Yes, Lance. Please, I’d love to. More than anything.”

Chapter Text

12-24-16 – 12:43am – Keith’s Bedroom

                “I’m in my basement so no one can hear me. Plus, like, my family is asleep,” Lance whispered, his cheeks a dark red. He still wouldn’t look right at Keith. “W-Would anyone hear you?”

                It was in that moment he thanked the stars above his aunt and uncle take heavy sleeping pills to sleep. It was incredibly hard to wake them up if it hasn’t been eight hours. There would be no way they could hear them. But even still, Keith got up and shut his door tight, locking it as well. He sat back down and gave Lance a sheepish thumbs up.

                “All good on my end. Uh, Lance? I’ve—never done anything like this before. So…just um, what do I even say? Don’t… judge me if I’m bad at this?” Keith said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Lance gave him a warm, friendly smile and Keith bit the inside of his lip.

                “It’s my first time doing anything like this too, don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Jesus, I forgot that alcohol makes me really horny for some reason? And It literally doesn’t help you’re like, the most attractive man I’ve ever seen. Keith can you let down your hair? I wanna see it!” said Lance. Keith nodded and reached back to pull out his ponytail, letting his hair drop. It stopped just above his shoulders. He was letting it grow out more now and it was slowly getting there. Keith shook out his hair and looked shyly at the camera.

                “Holy fuck I would love to get a fistful of that,” Lance blurted out. Keith’s eyes bulged out. Keith could imagine fingers going in his hair, twisting and pulling. It sent a great sensation throughout his body. He ran his fingers through his hair. Keith bit his lip and smiled, imaging that it was Lance pulling on his hair.

                “I mean, uh—wait did you like that? That’s good to know, heh,” Lance said, looking nervous at first, but after noticing Keith’s smile at his words, he gave him a flirtatious wink and smirk. Keith’s heart fluttered in his chest. Already he was loving that. Lance started giggling and while some would find that kind of laughter a mood killer, Keith only found that it made him crave him more.

                “God Lance, I love your laugh. I bet your moans sound even better though. I want to hear that,” Keith said, lowering his tone and praying he sound any type of sexy. Although, he was just repeating a line Lance literally used on him. He prayed Lance didn’t remember that. Keith was all too new to this and didn’t have a clue what he was doing.

                “Instead of talking your lips should be on mine. I wish I could kiss you Key,” Lance purred. Keith felt his cheeks light up. “I wish I could kiss your neck, your chest, your stomach. Everywhere.”

                “Oh, god Lance. That—that would be so perfect,” Keith breathed out, getting incredibly flustered and a bit turned on at this point. He bit down on his finger nails nervously.

                “Don’t bite your nails. Bite me. Scratch me. Pull my hair, no wait, let me pull your hair. It’s so long and beautiful. Let my fingers get lost in there,” Lance said. Keith watched him lick his lips at him and it was game over. Lance ran his hand up and down his chest, his longer fingers moving so slowly and gently. Keith wanted more than anything for those fingers to be on him instead. Lance grabbed at the bottom of his shirt and lifted up, slowly reveal his tanned chest.

                He wasn’t ripped, the guy was kind of lanky, but he was toned. It was sleek, sharp, and Keith was sure those collarbones could take out his eyes. Dark sun spots decorated the tops of his shoulders. Keith wanted to kiss every single one of them, careful not to miss any. His eyes were locked on to his long, slender neck.

                “You’re beautiful,” Keith whispered. It caught Lance a little off guard, causing him to jump a little, but was fine a moment later. Keith still couldn’t believe they were actually about to do this. Please god, he thought, let Lance remember this tomorrow. Let him to keep wanting me when he’s sober. Please.

                “God, we’re really gonna do this, huh?” Lance laughed anxiously. Keith nodded, biting his lip. He could feel how hot his own cheeks were. It was hard to see through the webcam, but Keith hoped Lance was blushing too. He prayed he’d get to see that in person one day. “Like, what do we even do?”

                “Uh, dirty talk I guess?” Keith said, looking away. Just saying that gave him extreme embarrassment. This was real. This was happening.

                “Right, um. Fuck, I don’t even know how to do that,” Lance admitted.

                “We’ll take it slow, okay?”

                “Deal. You’re just…wow. Wow, Keith.”

                Happy Christmas Keith.

                The two of them didn’t last very long. And there wasn’t any dirty talk. Well, good dirty talk that is. Keith did end up laughing a bit at Lance which actually pissed him off. Lance accused him of ‘ruining the mood’, but the two still finished. It was sloppy and inexperienced and sweaty. But Keith wouldn’t trade a single moment of it. As he stole a few moments to go to the bathroom to wash himself off, he couldn’t stop smiling. His cheeks literally hurt from smiling so hard. He thought his heart would thump right out of his chest.

                Keith really did just masturbate on camera with Lance, his crush, on Christmas Eve, aka Lance’s birthday. He actually had to pinch himself just to see if he was awake.

                Cleaned and still smiling, he made his way back to his desk, wiping up the little mess he made there with a shirt he found on the floor. Lance was a giggly mess by the time he was done. Keith sat back down, resting his head on his hand and leaning on his desk.

                “What’s so funny?” Keith smirked.

                “This. It’s so weird. But amazing? Literally we just meet on cam and immediately got our dicks out. How crazy is that? The group would never believe us!”

                “Yeah and were not going to tell them, remember?”

                “Ri-i-i-i-ght!” Lance almost sang out. Keith laughed at him. “I’m gonna treasure that.”

                “Treasure what?” Keith asked, caught off guard.

                “Your laugh. S’cute.”

                Keith slammed his head down on his desk and groaned. Lance was literally going to be the death of him. He could hear his loud laugh echo through his speakers, which made Keith pick his head up a little and slam it back down. Obviously it wasn’t a serious slam, just something to be dramatic.

                “Hey Keith sleep with me,” yawned Lance.

                “Alright after what just happened you’re gonna have to be more specific with me,” Keith said, picking his head back up. He looked up in time just to see Lance yawn and stretch his arms above his head. It was so cute Keith stopped breathing for a moment.

                “I mean like, how we do after our calls. Talk until we fall asleep. But this time we can see each other actually fall asleep so it’s like we’re right there!”

                “Yeah, I figured we would do that already. What, you tired?” Keith teased. Lance pouted at him.

                “I’m drunk, it’s like way after four in the morning and I just got off. I get tired when I do sometimes, okay? Jeez, judge me all you want. I’m sleepy. Let the birthday boy sleep!” Lance huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith rolled his eyes and scooped up his laptop. He shut off his desk lamp, letting the only light be his Christmas lights again and crawled into bed.

                “Happy now, birthday boy? You know you’re asking a lot of me for your birthday. I feel like I should be allowed to merciless tease you all I want since I got you two amazing presents this year. Let’s see if Hunk’s Birthmas e-mail card beats that!” Keith joked, climbing into bed. As he settled down, Lance moved to go lay down on a futon in the background, bringing the laptop with him. Lance set it up on what Keith assumed to be a table in front of the futon. The two drew the blankets up over their shoulders and smiled at each other.

                “It’s harder to see you now, but I still can and that’s what’s important!” Lance cheered happily.

                “You’re a dork, did you know that?”

                “Yeah you and everyone has only said that to me about sixty million times.”

                “Then it has to be true. There’s too much astounding evidence.”

                “Oh shut up loser!”

                The two burst out laughing at each other. They got quiet, but kept looking at each other, smiling. Keith was still in complete disbelief. There’s no way this could have been real. He just prayed that if it was, Sober Lance would still feel the same way about him when they woke up.

                Lance yawned and his eyes started to close. He smacked his lips together and wiggled into a comfortable spot. Keith watched him, his heart heavy and full of love. It was truly adorable. He honestly felt incredibly blessed at that moment. And it was honestly the best night’s sleep Keith has ever gotten.

12-24-16 – 10:16am – alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ LANCEALOT has joined the chatroom! ]

[PidgetWidget]: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR LANCEALOT!!!!!

[Hunkydory1]: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEST BRO!!!!!!!!111111<33333

[takashiro3088]: Happy Birthday Lance!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: so the birthday boy finally joins us

[LANCEALOT]: Thank you, thank you~~~

[LANCEALOT]: I had a really late night last night

[LANCEALOT]: Therefore one pm is a perfectly fine time to wake up

[PidgetWidget]: When did you fall asleep?

[LANCEALOT]: God like almost 5 in the morning????

[Hunkydory1]: dude! what were you even doing???

[LANCEALOT]: Oh nothing dont worry about it

[takashiro3088]: Keith had a late night last night too. Were you guys playing that one game again?

[LANCEALOT]: Club penguin? nah not this time ;)

[takashiro3088]: Right Club Penguin. How could I forget you guys play a game meant for 10 year olds?

[Hunkydory1]: shiro you know you are always welcome to join us for club penguin nights!

[PidgetWidget]: Yeah, next time you HAVE to play with us. It’s always fun to see who gets banned first.

[takashiro3088]: As the second eldest of our friend group I feel like I should stop you guys from…

[takashiro3088]: Literally scarring actual children that play on that site.

[takashiro3088]: But shit even I want to play :p

[Hunkydory1]: ALRIGHT SHIRO!

[PidgetWidget]: Next CP Night’s theme is the word fuck. Come up with a fuck pun for your username.

[Hunkydory1]: or try and write it out like F8CKY0U as creatively as possible! :D

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: last theme was the word dick and my username was D1CKYNUGGET

[LANCEALOT]: I think I cheated and used the word cock instead??

[Hunkydory1]: you did which disqualified you from the banning competition ^^

[LANCEALOT]: :(

[PidgetWidget]: Prizes usually include bragging rights. Also, you might not notice because you aren’t

[PidgetWidget]: Super active on this site anymore, but I add a special CP badge to your profile~

[takashiro3088]: Wow what an honor. Can’t wait to steal said honor from you guys next time.

[LANCEALOT]: OHOHO IS THAT A CHALLENGE SHIRO?!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: bring it on bro

[Hunkydory1]: be careful shiro pidge is a five time consecutive winner…

[PidgetWidget]: :) <3

[takahshiro3088]: Then I’m formally challenging the champion~

[PidgetWidget]: *cracks knuckles* Get READY Shiro. You’re going to eat your words.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: this will be one hell of a fight

                [ PrincessAllura has joined the chat! ]

[PrincessAllura]: Happy Birthday Lance. Merry Christmas everyone.

                [ PrincessAllura has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: WAIT WHAT NO. ALLURA!?

[PidgetWidget]: ALLURA WHAT THE FUCK?

[takashiro3088]: YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE AGAIN PLEASE.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: allura holy shit

[Hunkydory1]: she just….left like that…?

[LANCEALOT]: Shes been gone since fucking SEPTEMBER?!

[LANCEALOT]: And just pops in at the end of december LIKE NO BIG DEAL?!

[PidgetWidet]: What just happened? I don’t understand. Allura come back please.

[takashiro3088]: Please Allura. We miss you so much.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i miss her so much the group just isnt the same im sorry

[Hunkydory1]: yeah sorry lance katie just cant replace her I know you like her and all but…

[LANCEALOT]: Dont…

[LANCEALOT]: Dont bring katie into this.

[Hunkydory1]: its been a week since she last logged on right?

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah about

[Hunkydory1]: i’m sorry man ):

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeah me too dude

[PidgetWidget]: Why are you sorry Keith?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: pidge chill

[PidgetWidgter]: Not like you knew Katie. You sent what, like two messages to her in chat?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: pidge

[PidgetWidget]: What Keith?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: stop it. now.

[takashiro3088]: What is going on with you 2? You have been hostile to each other these last few weeks.

[PidgetWidget]: It’s nothing Shiro. Just personal stuff.

[Hunkydory1]: …

[PidgetWidget]: …

[XxCrimsonxFighter]: yeah dont worry about it shiro

[LANCEALOT]: Im gonna go for a bit. birthday stuff. ttyl

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: keith check your inbox now.

                [ Hunkydory1 has left the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shit ill be back guys

[PidgetWidget]: Mhm.

[takashiro3088]: Take your time Keith.

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

12-24-16 – 10:39am – alteansociety.com/inbox

MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: Hunkydory1

[SUBJECT]: Katie

[TIME]: 10:36am

[MSG]: okay keith i have know for a while now. i was letting it slide because you were making lance super happy and i figured you weren’t doing this to be an asshole, but now? now i think you are. you just dropped him like that as katie? how is that fair to him? keith you know how much he likes her. i know how much he likes her. he’s hurting now. because you led him on as katie and dropped him without a care. why did you do that in the first place? why be katie? were you doing it to date him? don’t you know how much he likes you?

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: Katie (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:42am

[MSG]: wait how did you find out????? i thought i was being pretty good at hiding it. pidge knows too. she knew from the start. its why shes been so angry at me. shes been trying to help me wiggle my way out of this fucking mess. i never meant to take it this far. i never meant to hurt lance. hunk you have to believe me on that. lance means everything to me hunk. i never wanted to hurt him. never.

                MESSAGE SENT

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: Katie (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:43am

[MSG]: wait lance likes me?????????????????????????????????????? WHAT. please elaborate.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: Hunkydory1

[SUBJECT]: Katie (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:49am

[MSG]: you have GOT to be kidding me? you were not hiding it well at all. you may have changed somethings about katie to make her seem different but she is still you. from the way you guys type and act to your fucking majors. really? couldn’t have made her major different? keith you are my friend and that’s why i can say this: you are as dumb as space rocks. you’re just lucky lance is completely oblivious. shiro might even know too. you. are. obvious. also katie? really? Katie. Keith. hmmm. god keith you’re also lucky im forgiving and wont blab to lance. because i do believe that you never meant to hurt him. but that doesn’t matter. you did. and you need to fix YOUR mistakes. pidge knowing isn’t surprising in the slightest actually. keith you need to tell lance what you did asap. you don’t deserve to be with him if you don’t. NOPE. NOT BREAKING BEST FRIEND CODE. NOPE. I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING. EVEN IF YOU ARE MY OTHER BEST FRIEND. besides its not my place to tell. and do you really deserve to know the truth???

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: Katie (CONT)

[TIME]: 10:54am

[MSG]: hunk im so sorry thank you for not telling lance im going to fix this i swear i will. i wont hurt him anymore. ill fix this. its going to be fixed. Ill fix this. i swear.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: About last night…

[TIME]: 10:54am

[MSG]: Keith im so sorry for how i acted last night. and im sorry if i made you uncomfortable. Last night was way too weird. It wasnt…me. it was drunk me. And it wasn’t right to do that to you. We should just forget last night. It was amazing for me, but really. We should forget it ever happened. Im so sorry.

                MESSAGE DELETED

12-24-16 – 10:58am – Keith’s Bedroom

                Keith covered his hand with his mouth. The tears were already pouring from his face as he rolled away from his desk. His chest heaved with each cry. Everything hurt. Hunk and Pidge hated him, he was sure of it. All because Keith made a stupid decision almost three months ago.

                He gripped at his hair and shook his head in disbelief. Everything that could go wrong was starting to go wrong. He couldn’t stop crying. He never wanted to hurt anyone. But things were crashing down. He had the best night of his life just hours ago and now all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and scream.

                Why? Why did this all have to happen? Why did he have to have feelings for stupid Lance?

                Keith unplugged his laptop and slammed it shut. He didn’t even want to look at it anymore. Keith never wanted to sign into AlteanSociety again. He wanted nothing to do with that site anymore. It only caused him pain at this point. Keith got up, tears still rolling down his cheeks and climbed into his bed. He pulled his blankets up over his head.

                So what if there was a slim chance Lance liked him? Keith wasn’t even sure that’s what Hunk meant. After all, it could be just friend-like. He knew he was closer to Lance than almost anyone else. They knew things about each other that the others didn’t. Obviously they were best friends. They butted heads sometimes, but Lance was still his best friend. And he hurt him. Badly. And Lance didn’t even know the full truth behind Katie. He just… stopped talking to him.

                Well since Katie dropped off the face of the Earth anyways there was just one last thing to do.

                Sniffling, Keith rolled out of his blankets and back to his laptop. He didn’t bother sitting down. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand as he furiously typed away on his laptop. Keith typed in that god awful email address he made for Katie for the last time. It was over. It was all over.

                He knew where it was. For so many days Keith had hovered over this button, contemplating doing this so long ago. But now? Now he just had to do it. There was no going back. He wanted to earn his friends back. He didn’t want to hurt Lance anymore. The wicked bitch was going to finally be gone.

Delete Account?

>Yes / No

Once this action is done it cannot be undone, continue?

>Yes / No

Your profile has been deleted. Want to sign up again?

                And instead of crying now, Keith laughed. He shook his head as laughter erupted from him. This should have been done a long time ago. It was a choked laugh, but it wasn’t tears. Keith shut his laptop once more and crawled back into bed. Maybe he needed to take a break from AlteanSociety. A good, long, break. It’s not like they would miss him. Keith was convinced Hunk and Pidge hated him anyway and Lance would be too occupied with Katie to notice. No one would miss him.

                And Keith didn’t care at that moment.

Chapter Text

12-24-2016 — 11:00am — Lance’s Basement Bedroom

                A loud scream rose in the back of his throat. He jumped from his seat on his futon, swearing under his breath. Lance paced the floor, shaking his head and cursing himself. Why did he do that? Why did he tell Keith that? Lance covered his mouth, shouting into his palm out of anger. Tears rolled down his cheeks, for sadness or anger? Lance wasn’t sure which. He plopped back down on the futon, slamming his laptop shut. Lance held his head in his hands and rested his arms on his thighs. He sniffled, letting the tears fall.

                “Lance! Mommy says it’s time for lunch—are you crying?” came a little voice from the stairs. Lance looked up and wiped his tears away and turned to smile. Standing at the bottom of the steps was a small girl, no older than nine years old. Her dark hair swung in front of her face, frowning at her brother.
“You can’t cry on your birthday! That’s bad luck!”

                He laughed and held out his arms. The little girl ran into his arms and climbed on his lap. Lance snuggled his little sister tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. She happily held onto her brother.

                “Alysa what do you do when you like a boy?” Lance asked casually, his voice a little hoarse.

                She tapped her chin for a moment before he said, “Well there’s Sammy in my class. I drew him a picture of a horse and gave it to him!”

                Lance blinked at her for a moment before bursting out laughing.

                “I’ll have to do that for my crush!” he snorted.

                 He pinned her down on the futon and tickled her until her giggles echoed upstairs. A voice called out for the two of them and they jumped up quickly, running up the stairs. Alysa was still giggling and smiling as they made it up there and Lance felt better already.

12-24-2016 — 6:09pm — alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ LANCEALOT has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Birthday boy is back!~

[LANCEALOT]: Birthday and Christmas shenanigans are almost done.

[LANCEALOT]: Grandma is talking with all the adults so im watching all the kids in my room

[LANCEALOT]: Ten screaming kids is god awful i never want kids :)

[LANCEALOT]: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[takashiro3088]: Oh hey Lance. Did you hear?

[LANCEALOT]: Hear what?

[takashiro3088]: Katie deleted her profile. There’s like no trace of her anywhere.

[takashiro3088]: Have you talked to Keith? He hasn’t been responding to my PMs???

[LANCEALOT]: …

[LANCEALOT]: So katies really gone then?

[LANCEALOT]: WELL GOODRIDDANCE.

[LANCEALOT]: I mean not really because i liked her but she kinda dropped off the face of the earth

[LANCEALOT]: After leaving things really awkward between us…

[LANCEALOT]: Wait keith hasnt been on? lemme check my messages i messaged him earlier

[LANCEALOT]: Nope nothing weird…. i hope hes okay…

[LANCEALOT]: Probably hanging with his aunt and uncle

[LANCEALOT]: It IS christmas eve after all

[LANCEALOT]: So why are you on?

[takashiro3088]: I’m visiting my mom tomorrow. Today I had the day off so I’m just relaxing.

[takashiro3088]: We’re having dinner tomorrow. We aren’t huge Christmas celebrators.

[takashiro3088]: But I got her a beautiful necklace for Christmas thanks to my bonus. <3

[takashiro3088]: I wanted to get you guys presents too, but sending them would break our rule.

[takashiro3088]: Working full time at 23 has its perks. Like Christmas bonuses.

[LANCEALOT]: I work part time and thats all i need right now college is pretty hard and im ready 4 death

[takashiro3088]: Same. I’m tired all the time. I welcome death.

[LANCEALOT]: GOD STRIKE US DOWN

[takashiro3088]: I mean not really, but still.

[LANCEALOT]: WE ARE TIRED MILENNIALS.

[takashiro3088]: GOD VERY TIRED MILENNIALS.

[LANCEALOT]: Shiro i didnt know you could be this chill

[takashiro3088]: I’m about a bottle and a half of wine down. And I let my hair down every once in a while.

[LANCEALOT]: That was the lamest thing I’ve ever heard.

[takashiro3088]: Ooops gotta go. Roommate finished dinner!

[LANCEALOT]: MERRY CHRISTMAS<3333

                [ takashiro3088 has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Merry christmas everyone and happy birthday to me.

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

12-24-2016 — 6:41pm — alteansociety.com/inbox

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: Hunkydory1

[SUBJECT]: Aliens have sloppy buttsex (CONT)

[TIME]: 3:25pm

[MSG]: first, katie deleted her profile did you see? i’m really sorry dude… maybe it’s for the best? Yknow? idk i just don’t like her since she dropped you so easily… you deserve better. you’re a great guy. <3 my best friend deserves the best just saying??? Also??? i cant believe???? you and keith broke the anonymous rule you assholes. i thought you would at least skype with me first :( </3 you owe me a skype session if were breaking rules here dude. is keith hot? like you’ve been imagining? cmon dude you got to skype one of your long time crushes you need to fill me in on the details. you cant drop a bomb like “keith and i video chatted last night” anD NOT TELL YOUR BEST BRO WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!!! i’m actually a little offended you jerk.

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Aliens have sloppy buttsex (CONT)

[TIME]: 6:41pm

[MSG]: Yeah shiro just told me about katie. It just wasnt meant for the two of us. She was a quick fling for me. Ill be okay. LOOK I DIDN’T MEAN TO ACTUALLY TELL YOU ABOUT KEITH. I WAS DRUNK WHEN I MESSAGED YOU LAST NIGHT. KEITH HAS NO IDEA I TOLD YOU!!!! YOU CANT TELL ANYONE!!! We just video chatted cause I asked him to as a bday present. He said yes. Nothing else happened. yes, hes VERY VERY hot??? even with a mullet can you believe it??  A MULLET! It looks really fucking good though. Ill probably never skype him again tho. I think hes mad at me lmao. Plus??? Skyping is dangerous?? We are just destroying the rule. But I guuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeess we can skype hunk bby <33

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: LANCEALOT

[FROM]: Hunkydory1

[SUBJECT]: Aliens have sloppy buttsex (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:28pm

[MSG]: ok im back I was replying to this troll in my thread. He kept linking back this stupid frog meme as his “credible source for proving me wrong”. Whatever. I like to believe theres a cybernetic alien race and theres PROOF it’s a thing !~~~~~ yes, you owe me a skype session. Also??? a mullet? Im going to have to talk to keith about his hair style choices that’s just awful. Dude you should totally go for keith at this point? with katie gone you can focus on him?? he probably likes you back. he practically flirts with you in chat.

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Aliens have sloppy buttsex (CONT)

[TIME]: 7:31pm

[MSG]: Ah yes because calling me a walnut in chat among other things is great flirting…but maybe youre right. I should talk to him. Hunk thank you so much for being so understanding?? You are like the only person I feel this comfortable talking about this with? Im so glad youre my best friend <3

                MESSAGE SENT

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[FROM]: LANCEALOT

[SUBJECT]: Keith

[TIME]: 7:36pm

[MSG]: Keith im so sorry about earlier. I was panicking. I was stupid. We need to talk.

01-01-2017 — 1:22am — Lance’s Mom’s Room

                New Year’s was a pleasant time with his family. Surprisingly all of his younger siblings stayed awake. Until about thirty minutes past midnight. They were all passed out in the living room, his father included. Lance had helped his mom into her room and back into bed. She couldn’t sleep on the sofa like everyone else anymore. Her body was too frail and weak for such terrible sleeping conditions.

                His mother winced a lot as he helped her in the bed. She had a good day, but it was a very long day and her body was tired. The bags under her eyes were heavier, but she still had the warm, loving smile Lance adored. Smiling, he reached to help his mom take off her wig, but she smacked her son’s hand away. He arched one of his long, thin eyebrows at her, putting his hands on his hips.

                Lance’s mom twirled the end of the wig and said very softly, “Let me wake up looking beautiful. I can sleep in it, at least for tonight. Start the new year beautiful.”

                He rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. “Mom, you always look beautiful. You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever had the honor of looking at!”

                She giggled and sighed, taking her wig off herself. Lance took it from her and put it back on the wig head. Whenever he saw her without her wig on, it always stopped his breath. Her head was bare, completely. The chemotherapy took it away from her. It took away so much from her. The damned cancer took away so much. Lance’s chest grew tight as he forced his smile to stay strong. No matter what, he still loved his mom.

                “Baby, sleep with me tonight? You haven’t slept with your momma in a long time,” she said, pouting her lips. Lance immediately crawled into bed next to her. She pulled the blankets up over him with his help. You’re never too old to sleep with your dying mother. Lance rested his head on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him, stroking his hair softly.

                “How are you doing mom?” he asked.

                “No, no, I’m okay. I wanna know how you’re doing. A mother knows when her babies are upset. And you haven’t been yourself at all for a while now,” she replied.

                Lance groaned, “It’s nothing mom. Just stupid stuff.”

                “You can tell me stupid stuff. We always talk, baby.”

                “I know, but this time it’s different. It’s about relationships and crushes.”

                “The Katie girl? Or the Keith boy?”

                Lance sat up in her arms and looked down at her, his eyebrows furrowing together.

                “How do you know about Keith?”

                “Honey you go on and on about him when you think I’m sleeping. It’s cute. But it’s okay, I love you know matter who you like. As long as they make you happy, they’re good in my book. Although, it seems neither of them are making you happy right now. Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

                “Well, you see, you know all about Katie. How she came into my life like a tornado and then split right as things were getting serious. Dropped me like nothing ever happened. I liked her a lot; I thought we were going to end up together. But here’s the thing, she’s like a carbon copy of Keith. She’s literally Keith if he was a girl and argued with me less,” he explained with a heavy sigh.

                “So? Tell me more about Keith. Explain.”

                Lance suddenly found himself smiling, his cheeks getting warmer. Then he said, “Keith. One of my best friends. I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve talked about him as my friend before. But mom, I’ve always liked him. For a while. He’s… so good to me. Sure we fight and everything, but he’s always there for me at a moment’s notice. He’s funny and really smart. Keith’s stupidly impulsive, like this one time he bought a guitar just because it was on sale. It’s stupid, but it’s kinda cute, y’know? Like I said, I swear Katie and Keith are like, the same person. She’s just like him! It’s so weird, but she looks nothing like him. So they totally can’t be the same person or even related!”

                “Okay, so now go back to Katie. What’s going on with her?”

                “Well, a few weeks ago I told her I liked her and wanted to date her. She turned me down. Awkwardly. And then she just sorta—stopped talking to me. It hurt a lot, but Keith and Hunk and Pidge and Shiro were there for me. Mostly Keith. So it definitely lessened the blow. And definitely made me realize how much I like Keith—but it’ll never happen with us.”

                “And why not?”

                “Because I don’t think he likes me like that. Plus, I think he totally hates me now anyway!”

                “Lance, what did you do?”

                His eyes widened, recalling the wonderful birthday presents he got from Keith and then remembering the stupid message he sent him. Lance groaned, not sure how to explain this to his mom. It’s definitely not a topic to talk about with a parent. He had to be careful.

                “Well, on my birthday we did… something. And for some reason I started to regret it and panicked. Like, complete freak out. It was bad. And I messaged Keith and was just a panicked asshole really. And now he hasn’t been online since my birthday. It’s scary, he’s not talking to anyone. I miss him so much, mom.”

                “You hurt his feelings, he was probably recovering. You guys did… something. Right. I’m not going to ask because I am your mom and you’re nineteen I don’t need to know,” she laughed. A few coughs followed her laugh and Lance felt his heart sink. She didn’t go into a fit, which is good, but still.

                “Thanks mom. But yeah, now I think he hates me? And it hurts a lot, because I like him so much! But I also… still really like Katie? Even if she did dump me like a sack of potatoes and then disappear forever.”

                “Honey, you’ve said a few times that they’re very similar. Maybe you were projecting your feelings for Keith onto her because of that? Maybe you never really liked her, but liked the… Keith qualities of her?”

                “That’s an idea, but I don’t know. I definitely like her too. It’s so stupid! I don’t know what to do.”

                “Talk to Keith. Tell him everything. Don’t be an idiot.”

                “Aw thanks mommy. That’s sweet.”

                “I say this because I love you and know you’re a smart boy. You’ll figure it out, baby. Now, I’m sleepy. Let’s go to bed, okay?”

                Lance nodded and leaned in to kiss his mom’s cheek. He squeezed her tight before rolling over and switching off the light. They whispered a few more goodnights and I love yous before the two of them fell asleep.

01-04-17 — 8:39pm— alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ LANCEALOT has joined the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: Oh thank god you made it Lance. You almost missed it.

[LANCEALOT]: Missed what???

[PrincessAllura]: Missed me.

[LANCEALOT]: HOLY SHIT ITS ALLURA.

[LANCEALOT]: ALLURA HAS BLESSED US WITH HER PRESENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FUCKING MONTHS.

[PrincessAllura]: I can’t be on long because it’s already after midnight here, but I wanted to explain.

[PrincessAllura]: I’m at Uni in London and this semester has been hard on me.

[PrincessAllura]: It was my last semester. I am exhausted, but done.

[PrincessAllura]: Pidge has been running the site on my behalf

[PidgetWidget]: Hate to lie to you guys, but we have been chatting in secret.

[Hunkydory1]: WH A T.

[takashiro3088]: WHAT.

[takashiro3088]: Allura never even messaged ME.

[PidgetWidget]: Strictly business boys.

[PrincessAllura]: EXACTLY. Anyways, my graduation is officially next month.

[PrincessAllura]: Which means I can finally return, but with limitations. As I have an internship

[PrincessAllura]: Starting very soon actually. AlteanSociety is still a very important website to me

[PrincessAllura]: So I will not abandon it entirely. But Pidge and a few others will oversee it more.

[PrincessAllura]: I know my explanation does NOT excuse my prolonged absence with no

[PrincessAllura]: Poor explanation, but I’ve just been far too busy.

[PrincessAllura]: I hope I’ll be able to return with open arms <3

[PidgetWidget]: I mean of course I’m happy she’s back. I knew where she was.

[LANCEALOT]: PIDGE WTF. WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US SHE WAS OK.

[PrincessAllura]: That would be me again. I asked her not to. Don’t ask why. Just roll with it.

[PidgetWidget]: (:

[Hunkydory1]: we’re just glad to have you back <33

[takashiro3088]: Allura we’ve missed you so much.

[PrincessAllura]: Reading past chats I see someone new was among us for a while?

[PrincessAllura]: Katie? Was it?

[LANCEALOT]: …don’t worry about her.

[Hunkydory1]: yeah she deleted and hasn’t been here in a month

[PidgetWidget]: She was…okay. She broke poor Lance’s heart.

[takashiro3088]: C’mon Pidge, don’t tease Lance like that.

[PidgetWidget]: Oh no don’t worry I’m not. I just don’t like her. Haven’t for a while.

[Hunkydory1]: same

[PidgetWidget]: (:

[Hunkydory1]: ^-^

[PrincessAllura]: Has anyone seen Keith yet?

[PidgetWidget]: No.

[Hunkydory1]: i haven’t seen him since like christmas…

[PrincessAllura]: Really? That’s not good. I hope everything’s okay.

[PrincessAllura]: It’s late here. I have work in the morning. Good night everyone <3

[PidgetWidget]: Night Allura!

[takashiro3088]: It’s good to have you back <3

                [ PrincessAllura has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Man i really missed her ; o ;

[Hunkydory1]: me too!! now team voltron is whole again <33

[LANCEALOT]: If keith ever comes back…

[Hunkydory1]: he will ^-^

[PidgetWidget]: He better.

[LANCEALOT]: Im gonna be back in a little bit guys ttyl

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

01-04-2017 — 9:04pm — Skype Chat with Keith<3 (R3DF00T)

[LANCE]: Keith it says youre online.

[LANCE]: Keith PLEASE.

[LANCE]: We need to talk.

[Keith<3]: what does it matter

[LANCE]: JESUS CHRIST THERE YOU ARE

[LANCE]: YES IT DOES MATTER

[LANCE]: I panicked because

[LANCE]: Because

[LANCE]: I didnt know how i felt about what happened

[LANCE]: I wasnt sure about it

[LANCE]: Was it just drunk me who was horny and needed to get off?

[LANCE]: Or do i actually like you and have been dying to see you irl?

[LANCE]: Guess what it was

[LANCE]: The second one

[LANCE]: Keith ive liked you for a really long time now and i thought that was obvious

[Keith<3]: then what the fuck was the deal with katie

[LANCE]: ITS POSSIBLE TO LIKE MORE THAN ONE PERSON AT A TIME BTW

[LANCE]: And thats what happened i liked you and katie at the same time

[LANCE]: except?? ive liked you way longer than ive liked katie

[LANCE]: And with what happened on my birthday i feel like this talk is way over due

[LANCE]: Keith?

                [ Call to Keith<3, no answer ]

                [ Call to Keith<3, no answer ]

[Keith<3]: would you stop calling me

[Keith<3]: im trying to process everything

[Keith<3]: because this all sounds rushed and makes no sense to me

[Keith<3]: so youre tell me that for a long time now

[Keith<3]: youve actually had a crush on me

[Keith<3]: …

[LANCE]: YES?!

[Keith<3]: lance this isnt a very funny joke

[LANCE]: Did you literally forget that on my bday we jacked off together i feel like that was a good clue.

[Keith<3]: i mean yeah but

[Keith<3]: like i said this all seems rushed

[Keith<3]: like youre trying to push forward something

[LANCE]: Honest to god keith i mean every word

[Keith<3]: do you still have feelings for katie

[LANCE]: NO!

[LANCE]: I mean

[LANCE]: I dont know???

[Keith<3]: mhm

[LANCE]: But i mean it when i say i really like you keith

[LANCE]: OK gonna get real for a sec

[LANCE]: *inhale*

[LANCE]: you are honestly the reason I figured out I was bi?

[LANCE]: I mean yeah ive always found guys and girls attractive

[LANCE]: But when I got a crush on you?

[LANCE]: I knew it

[LANCE]: well will you say something

[Keith<3]: lance you are the biggest fucking asshole on the planet

[LANCE]: okay not the response I was expecting

[Keith<3]: ive been crushing on you for OVER A YEAR. A YEAR LANCE. all of this bullshit could have been avoided if you told me sooner. who knows we might even have been DATING. ive been a god damn wreck over you for the longest time. you really hurt me when you told me to forget one of the best nights of my life. im not even talking about what we did. im talking about how i got to see what your face looks like after all this time. i got to have a face for the guy ive been dreaming about forever. i got to see you laugh and yawn. i could see your stupidly perfect smile.  you became even more real to me. i could never forget that. and you wanted to take it away from me.

                [ Call to Keith<3, no answer ]

[Keith<3]: WOULD YOU STOP THAT IM EATING DINNER WITH MY AUNT AND UNCLE

[LANCE]: SORRY IM JUST?

[LANCE]: Keith i never wanted to hurt you. that night was amazing for me too. for all those same reasons. Things are a little blurry but I kept you in my mind. it was always you. katie could honestly never compare to how i feel about you. you understand me the most. you know how to comfort me. you always make me laugh even when i know youre trying to annoy me. youre my best fucking friend. and i like you so much. katie was similar to you but she could never beat the real thing.

[Keith<3]: great now my aunt wants to know why i look like im about to cry at the dinner table

[Keith<3]: thanks lance

[LANCE]: is this a good cry?

[Keith<3]: yes and no

[Keith<3]: yes because my feelings are reciprocated and i never thought that would happen

[Keith<3]: no because youre still an asshole who hurt my feelings

[Keith<3]: mostly yes

[Keith<3]: let me finish dinner and we can skype

[Keith<3]: because holy fuck do we need to talk this out better and i need to eat these mashed potatoes before my aunts head blows off

[LANCE]: YES YES OKAY ILL TALK TO YOU SOON <3

01-04-2017 —10:16pm — Lance’s Basement Bedroom

                It was about an hour later when Keith came back to the Skype chat. Lance was sitting on his futon, blanket wrapped around him entirely and shaking with nerves. He had no idea what was going to happen. Lance wasn’t even sure any of this was real. He kept rereading their conversation. Keith. Liked. Him. Back. He couldn’t believe it. Yet in a weird way he felt as if he knew. Mostly due to what happened on Christmas Eve. But for other reasons too.

Ping!

R3DF00T is calling…

>Answer

                Lance answered the call almost immediately. He clicked on the video chat choice and his webcam kicked to life. Keith on the other hand did not turn on his video. Lance pouted, hoping maybe he’ll switch his on once he noticed Lance was on cam. Keith let out a sigh on the other end and his own camera switched on. Lance grinned excitedly, watching the light adjust as he was able to see Keith. He was looking down at something, his long black hair covering everything. Lance just wanted to brush it out of the way so he could get a good look at him.

                “I didn’t want to video chat, y’know,” Keith grumbled.

                “Why? It’s not like we haven’t before. Now we can just always do it,” Lance smiled.

                Keith looked up at the screen for a moment, his dark eyes wide and bright. His jaw hung slightly ajar, but he quickly looked down, mumbling to himself. Lance let out a silent ‘wow’ and his normal smile turned into some sort of lovey-dovey one. His head cocked to the side as he stared at Keith on the screen. Now that he was sober this time, he planned on trying to remember every detail of Keith that he could.

                “Okay Keith, let’s talk. Because we sure as fuck have a lot to talk about,” Lance said, cracking his knuckles. Keith looked back up again to roll his eyes. But this time his head didn’t go back down and Lance was glad for that.

                “Right, yeah. I think we both just confessed to each other. But Lance, I’m sorry but I just don’t believe you. It just doesn’t make any sense! Why now? Why all of a sudden? You were so invested in that Katie chick,” Keith said, throwing his hands into the air.

                “Katie, yeah. Her. Look, Katie and I just never really connected like you and I have. I’m not gonna say I didn’t have feelings for her ‘cause that would be a straight up lie. But you of all people should know how easily I can like someone and then like, stop liking them. If that makes sense,” Lance said, scratching his head, trying to explain it.

                “I know how you are Lance. Which is another reason I don’t believe you. I’m clearly some sort of rebound for Katie. Because right after she just disappears, suddenly you’re interested in me? Bull. Shit,” Keith said, his voice getting heavy and serious. Lance actually gulped.

                “No you’re not understanding me. Maybe I should explain myself better. Keith, I’ve had a thing for you probably…after like three months of meeting you? It was a little crush at the time and I was confused. Yeah, I’ve found guys attractive and have said ‘yeah I’d date him’, but I never really tried to pursue one? But with you… I wanted to try with you. Then again, I know I get crushes easily and fall out of them easily. But you were constant. I don’t know what it was about you that kept me hooked on you! Keith we’ve known each other for what, going on years now? And I’ve consistently liked you almost all of that. Isn’t that weird for me? I think it is,” Lance rambled on.

                “It is kinda weird for you I guess. But what about every damn girl you flirted with or had a crush on? Explain that,” Keith huffed.

                “I can explain that. It’s super possible to like more than one person. Imagine that, what a weird concept! Plus, most of it was just y’know, flirting. Besides, I thought you and I would never happen until very recently. So probably just shitty ways of getting over you I guess. Which, by the way, did not work. Cause here we are having this conversation.”

                “Are you over Katie?”

                “Keith, let’s not talk about her.”

                “No Lance, let’s talk about her. Are you over Katie?”

                It got silent. Lance didn’t want to look at the screen, but he was sure Keith was glaring at him. What could he say? For weeks Lance had been asking that himself. Was he actually over Katie? This girl who came into his life out of nowhere and left the exact same way. He thought he and Katie actually had something.

                Lance actually lied to Keith when he said he and Katie didn’t connect the way they did. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Lance connected with Katie almost as easily as he did with Keith. It was like he had known her for much longer than two months. Their conversations were deep, whether it was about aliens and cryptids or about their personal lives. She didn’t really talk about herself much, but she sure did let him talk about himself.

                Katie never got know about certain things in is home life. That stuff he reserved mainly for Keith and Hunk. But she was getting closer to him because she understood. She helped him just as well as Keith did. It was scarily how similar the two actually were. Katie was honestly just a female version of Keith and Lance was sure that’s why he crushed on her so fast and so hard.

                But that’s why it hurt so much more when she left.

                He wasn’t sure why everyone hated her because she left. Allura left for months without a word, besides to Pidge in secret, and yet everyone welcomed her with open arms. Like she never left. But with Katie they turned on her so quickly, saying that they never really liked her. But before they welcomed her to the group. What happened? Katie was so sweet and she seemed to fit well when Keith wasn’t around. Lance would even joke and say she was the better Keith.

                So was he actually over Katie? No, he wasn’t. She was still fresh in his mind and probably would be for a while. But Keith was here and Keith had always been there. And he wanted Keith.

                But Keith didn’t have to know he still liked her did he?

                Finally breaking the silence he lied, “Yes Keith. I’m over her, okay? She hurt me and I got over her.”

                Keith scoffed, “Right. Sure, Lance.”

                This time it was the truth Lance spoke, “No really Keith. You aren’t a rebound or anything. Keith, I really, really like you. You mean so much to me.”

                Keith covered his ears and shook his head. Did he always wear biker gloves? He couldn’t remember if he work them on his birthday. That seemed so long ago now. It hasn’t even been a month, but it felt like years. He missed it.

                “Lance I’m not going to listen to you! I can’t believe it!” Keith said, squeezing his eyes shut. He then began talking to himself, probably to drown Lance out. Lance groaned loudly, rolling his eyes.

                “Keith, Keith grow up will you? I thought I was the immature one—Keith.”

                He was literally singing la’s over and over to drown him out. But Lance could see actual tears rolling down his face as he sang out. Lance knew he had to do it.

                “Keith I wanna be your boyfriend!” he shouted out. The singing stopped and Keith slowly moved his hands of his ears.

                “You—You—You what?” Keith stammered, his voice soft.

01-04-2017 —8:20pm — alteansociety.com/modbox

[TO]: Hunkydory1

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: The Great Katie Problem (CONT)

[TIME]: 8:20pm

[MSG]: Hunk do you really think Keith told Lance yet? I mean when we talked about deleting the Katie profile Keith assured me he would tell Lance before he did. We can’t necessarily trust that after whatever the shit this entire mess was. He hasn’t been answering my messages either. I don’t think he’s even been logging into his own profile since Christmas. As mad at him as I’ve been he’s still our best friend. He’s still in stupid Team Voltron. I really hope he’s okay.

                MESSAGE SENT

[TO]: PrincessAllura

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: New Mod Issues (CONT)

[TIME]: 8:22pm

[MSG]: Apparently some of the new mods are having trouble logging in. I’ve been trying to fix that issue, but it’s taking a while. And I have a lot on my plate right now. Please don’t forget I’m just a senior in high school for fuck’s sake. Sorry don’t mean to sound angry, but I’ve got school to worry about. Not to mention our idiot friends need dealing with. But I’ll fix it as soon as possible Allura. You can count on me!<3

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECIEVED

[TO]: PidgetWidget

[FROM]: Hunkydory1

[SUBJECT]: The Great Katie Problem (CONT)

[TIME]: 8:27pm

[MSG]: agreed. i’m worried about keith too, but theres not much we can do honestly. we do have to trust him. i’m sure he’ll do the right thing. i think he really does like lance so that’s good. okay so back to your project. i feel like this is cheating, but whatever. It’s all your idea. okay so if were sticking to helpful around the house…i don’t think ‘robot that pours soda for you’ is the best way to go. its just kinda lazy pidge LOL maybe we can rework that idea tho?? like what if we consider arizona’s dry heat for you.

01-04-2017 —7:28pm — Keith’s Bedroom

                “Keith I wanna be your boyfriend!”

                His heart literally stopped. He couldn’t breathe. Keith let his hands slide off his ears. Did he hear him right? Was that just a microphone malfunction? Keith slowly looked at his screen to see a beaming Lance with red cheeks.

                “You—You—You what?” Keith squeaked out, his voice tight. All he could hear was his heart in his ears. He felt his hands tremble on his lap. Keith’s whole face went numb, he couldn’t say anything else. He was too scared to say anything else.

                “Seriously, I… want to date you. I want to be your boyfriend. You like me and I like you, that’s how this works, right? We become boyfriends. Long distance as hell boyfriends, but boyfriends nonetheless. Yeah, that would seriously be great!” Lance grinned, his bright teeth contrasting with his beautiful darker skin. Feeling returned to his face and he smiled back.

                “You want to be my boyfriend? Lance you literally have zero idea how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that,” he laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

                “R-Really? I, well, uh, I, yeah. So does that mean you’re saying yes?” Lance asked excitedly.

                “I think it does. Maybe, I don’t know. Lance this is moving so fast,” Keith sighed, covering his face with his hands.

                “Then maybe we don’t have to be boyfriends just yet. We can work our way to that then!” Lance said, nodding.

                “So boyfriends-in-training? No, Lance I can’t. I can’t even say that,” Keith said starting off with a smile. But then he remembered. He doesn’t deserve to be with Lance, not after what he did to him. Hunk was right after all. Keith wanted more than anything to say yes to Lance, to get what he’s always wanted. But he spent a lot of time thinking while he took a break from online. Those thoughts crept back into his mind and he looked down at his lap, biting his inner cheek so hard so he wouldn’t cry.

                “Keith? Are you okay? I… thought you liked me?” Lance asked, his voice growing softer. Keith felt a knife go through his chest. He could feel how Lance hurt, as if he slapped him.

                “God Lance I do like you. Way more than you might think. But I can’t do this. I don’t deserve you,” Keith cried.

                “What the hell does that mean? You don’t deserve me? I thought I was the one with self-image issues. If anything I don’t deserve you! You are so kind to me, to all of us. You put up this bad boy front, but we all know you’re soft and caring. You’re impulsive and funny. God damn it Keith you’re down right gorgeous in general. You’re so liked in our group despite what we might tell you sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong with everyone. Like they’re only talking to me because I show up to the chat. But you bring me back from that. You remind me we’re all a big group of friends. Together,” Lance gushed.

                “Lance you are so much more than that. You make us smile and laugh. You even remind Shiro to check the damn group chat. Hell, Allura came back on your birthday to wish you a happy birthday! Where was she on Halloween? Thanksgiving?” Keith said, throwing his hands into the air.

                “I don’t think British folks celebrate Thanksgiving. Like, Shiro has his own in Canada. Do people in the UK have their own Thanksgiving? I’m gonna Google that—”

                “—Lance.”

                “Right, sorry.”

                “You’re missing the point. Lance you are the heart of our group. Without you I’m sure our little group would have disbanded ages ago. You keep us alive. You’ve said that yourself many times!”

                “I guess you’re right Keith. God you’re always there for me. You know just what to say. You always try to make me feel better.”

                Keith growls, “Grraah! That’s because I’ve liked you for so damn long you oblivious dumbass!”

                “Oh yeah. Right. Hey! You can’t call me oblivious when you yourself didn’t even realize I also liked you back! Bet I’ve liked you longer,” Lance smirked, his voice getting sing-songy on “longer”.

                “Oh really?” Keith crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, staring Lance down. “Two months into our friendship when we started revealing… more personal stuff about ourselves. Around the beginning of my freshman year. I told you I wanted to drop out of college. I was having a really rough night to begin with. I was really bad that night. Lance I basically wanted to die. Do you remember what you did? What you said?”

                “Uh—vaguely.”

                “You said you wouldn’t stop messaging me until you knew I was safe. That you would be up all night to talk to me even though it was three in the morning for you. You encouraged me to stay in college and told me I had a future still. That we all have a future. That you wanted me to be in yours. You didn’t give up on me even thought I was giving up on myself. You gave me hope. And I guess I latched onto that because over the next week I… felt myself being attracted to you. I didn’t believe it at first because really? Liking someone you’ve never met in person and have only known for such a short time? Unbelievable. But from that night, we got to learn more about each other and grow closer. And I—kept liking you more and more,” Keith admitted, his voice getting serious and his cheeks pink.

                “You… remember all that? God that was so long ago. It’s crazy to think about how long ago that was. But boy do you have me beat. But by a month,” Lance smiled.

                “Yeah? What was it about me that made you realize you were one hundred percent bisexual, huh?”

                “Okay, okay, let’s start at our first meeting. The Great Mothman Debate. Our first fight. Did you know I thought I was going to hate you for the rest of eternity? That you would be my sworn enemy? God that sounds so stupid. But as we kept talking in chat with the others—you made me feel welcomed. If that makes sense. Like, Allura owns the fucking site. So she’s like, a Goddess compared to us and she and Shiro were tight shit. Hunk and Pidge are super geniuses and bonded easily. I felt really alone. And really stupid. Like, I’m smart I know that, but I felt stupid and boring compared to everyone else. But you—you made sure I was included in chat. You didn’t let me think I was stupid. You may have teased me and we had our fair share of harmless name calling, but you never left me out. You made me feel important. And like I said, I’ve always been attracted to dudes. But has anyone ever made me feel like you did? Nah, which is why I really wanted you. It’s why my crush on you never faded. I’ve always liked someone, but they’ve never needed me. They’d push me away, shoot me down. I felt so worthless, undesirable. But, whether in the public chat or in our private messages, you’ve needed me. You’ve wanted to be around me. And it’s such a great feeling honestly. You made me feel different and happy,” Lance said, rubbing the back of his neck.

                Keith’s heart hammered in his chest. His mouth was hanging slightly open. He didn’t know what to say back. He was sort of seeing Lance in another new light. It was warm, loving and radiant. And Keith wanted to share this light with Lance for a long, long time.

                “You will always be important to me, Lance. No matter what happens. You will always be my best friend first,” said Keith.

                “Promise?” Lance asked, holding his pinky finger at the webcam. Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance pouted. Keith gave in at that point and held his pinky up to his webcam.

                “Promise.”

                “Now do you believe me that I really like you?”

                “Yes. I think I do.”

                “Then will you be my boyfriend?”

                Silence.

                “Yes. I think I will.”

                No Keith, tell him you change your mind. You hurt him you don’t deserve him. You lied to him for months. You pretended to be someone you weren’t. You broke his heart without a care in the world. You made your friends hate you because of this. You don’t deserve to be happy with him. You still haven’t told him the truth about Katie. Pidge and Hunk will freak out. They’ll hate you more. They’ll tell Lance. You’ll break his heart twice. Then you’ll be heartbroken because he’s going to leave your pathetic lying ass, Keith thought to himself.

                “I’ll be your boyfriend Lance.”

                You’re a fucking coward. You deserve any shit that comes your way now, rang his thoughts again.

                “Keith, you really don’t know how happy that makes me. Holy shit I didn’t think this would actually happen ever, let alone today! What do we say to the group? Do we tell them or do we keep it a secret? Oh man, Hunk would love to hear about this though! And now that Allura’s back she won’t miss the great fucking news. I’m just so happy. I would scream if it weren’t for the fact my siblings are asleep right now. My mom will be so happy to hear this. She’s the reason I even talked to you about this in the first place!” Lance rambled, his smile so wide Keith was convinced his cheeks must hurt.

                He smiled at Lance, his heart so full and happy. His head rested on his shoulder as he stared at his new boyfriend. Lance continued talking and Keith listened, but he just let him continue. He was happy and that made Keith incredibly happy. He loved seeing him like this. And he was so glad he was going to see more of this.

01-06-17 — 4:23pm — alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

[Hunkydory1]: holy crap it’s keith he’s actually alive!

[LANCEALOT]: Keeeeeeeiiiiittthhh<3

[PidgetWidget]: Where the fuck have you been since like Christmas dude?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hello lance

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: <3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and hello hunk and pidge

[Hunkydory1]: was that a heart in response to lance???

[Hunkydory1]: this isn’t the real keith he was actually abducted by aliens and brainwashed!!

[Hunkydory1]: that explains his lengthy absence.

[PidgetWidget]: Yeah I’m with you on that Hunk. The only reasonable explanation.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: sorry holidays with my family gets really fuckin stressful

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i hope your xmases and new years were good

[LANCEALOT]: LOLOLOL mine were pretty shit but this year has turned around tbh <3

[PidgetWidget]: I mean I’m in school so I’ve been shitty. You lucky college assholes are still off.

[Hunkydory1]: ahhh highschool. <3 i sure don’t miss it.

[Hunkydory1]: mine were pretty nice actually!

[LANCEALOT]: Keith i cant take it anymore.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: is shiro in by any chance

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: fuck nope hes still at work

[LANCEALOT]: SHIRO GET YOUR CANADIAN ASS IN HERE RIGHT NOW D:<

[Hunkydory1]: what’s up with him?

[PidgetWidget]: Beats me.  Oh KEITH did you hear that Katie deleted? How ODD.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh wow really pidge why dont you message me about it later

[PidgetWidget]: Believe me I fucking will. :)

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: <3

[PidgetWidget]: <3 :)

[Hunkydory1]: <3 :D

[LANCEALOT]: <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

[LANCEALOT]: But seriously do we have to wait for shiro

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yes

[LANCEALOT]: D:

[Hunkydory1]: what’s going on with you two? >.>

[LANCEALOT]: Dont worry about it bb <3

[PidgetWidget]: When you say that we worry more.

[Hunkydory1]: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

                [ takashiro3088 has joined the chat! ]

[takashiro3088]: Lance literally filled my inbox asking me to come in the chat.

[takashiro3088]: Like fifteen messages guys. I’M AT WORK.

[takashiro3088]: You’re lucky this works on my phone.

[PidgetWidget]: You’re welcome for that.

[Hunkydory1]: with a little help from yours truly too~

[PidgetWidget]: I think Allura should make you a mod tbh.

[Hunkydory1]: really? that would be kinda cool ^^

[LANCEALOT]: FUCKING. FINALLY. OK.

[LANCEALOT]: NOW CAN WE KEITH?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yes

[LANCEALOT]: *INHALE*

[LANCEALOT]: Keith and i are dating now.

[LANCEALOT]: *EXHALE*

[Hunkydory1]: WAIT SERIOUSLY?

[PidgetWidget]: You aren’t joking?

[takashiro3088]: God finally.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: what do you mean finally

[takashiro3088]: Wait seriously no one saw this coming?

[takashiro3088]: I saw this coming like 500 miles away guys.

[takashiro3088]: Both from private conversations with the two and the chat here.

[Hunkydory1]: i mean i knew lance had the hots for keith for like ever because he told me but

[Hunkydory1]: i seriously didn’t think they’d do it…..

[PidgetWidget]: This isn’t a joke?

[LANCEALOT]: No pidge its not a joke keith and i are together.

[LANCEALOT]: I asked him like two days ago. <3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: he should have asked me months ago

[LANCEALOT]: Or you could have asked :)

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: nah

[LANCEALOT]: >:(

[takashiro3088]: EVEN STILL. We are very happy for the two of you.

[PidgetWidget]: Thrilled. Elated.

[Hunkydory1]: lance you better be giving me details later in the pms ^-^

[Hunkydory1]: or else

[Hunkydory1]: <3

[LANCEALOT]: DW BBY

[LANCEALOT]: Which brings me to my next topic of discussion

[LANCEALOT]: Dismantling the anonymous rule once and for all~

[PidgetWidget]: Why? So you can see your boyfriend?

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i feel like that was obvious

[PidgetWidget]: Well we can’t make a decision like that without Allura.

[LANCEALOT]: Good thing I messaged her a bunch too.

                [ PrincessAllura has joined the chat! ]

[PrincessAllura]: You DO realize I live in England, right? It’s almost one in the morning for me.

[LANCEALOT]: BUT ALLURA.

[LANCEALOT]: WE NEED YOU.

[PrincessAllura]: Right give me a moment to catch up.

[PrincessAllura]: Well I suppose congratulations are in order! ^3^ <3

[PrincessAllura]: Congrats you two!

[PrincessAllura]: Second, no. We are not taking away our one rule.

[PrincessAllura]: There would be chaos. T_T

[LANCEALOT]: But see keith and i are DATING

[LANCEALOT]: Dont you think we should just stop the rule?

[LANCEALOT]: GUYS ITS GONNA BE TWO YEARS OF KNOWING EACH OTHER SOON

[LANCEALOT]: ARENT YOU GUYS A LITTLE BIT CURIOUS?!

[takashiro3088]: I’m curious to see what Allura looks like haha.

[takashiro3088]: And the rest of you of course. :)

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: mhm sure shiro

[takashiro3088]: > . >

[PrincessAllura]: I understand that you and Keith are together now, but rules are rules.

[PrincessAllura]: Who’s to say you guys didn’t break it in my absence? Hmmm? >_>

[LANCEALOT]: . . .

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: . . .

[PrincessAllura]: Oh my god you did. You guys broke the rule didn’t you?

[LANCEALOT]: IN MY DEFENSE KEITH NEEDED A TUTOR AND I WAS DRUNK.

[LANCEALOT]: Did you guys know keith has a mullet? and looks really fucking good with it?

[LANCEALOT]: Also when he laughs his nose crinkles up and its the??? cutest???

[LANCEALOT]: Also keith got so much better at stats bet he didnt tell you he passed his exam~

[PrincessAllura]: LANCE AND KEITH I LITERALLY CANNOT BELIEVE THE TWO OF YOU.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: LANCE HOW DID YOU CAVE SO EASILY.

[LANCEALOT]: I can feel her anger through her text.

[LANCEALOT]: *shivers*

[takashiro3088]: Princess at this point the rule is void.

[PidgetWidget]: I can’t believe those idiots Skyped each other.

[Hunkydory1]: . . .

[PrincessAllura]: Oh Hunk please not you too.

[Hunkydory1]: no!!! i just… knew about them skyping is all v .v

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: lance what the actual FUCK

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: you better not have told him everything i swear to god

[LANCEALOT]: I know what you are talking about and i swear i didn’t!!!!!

[Hunkydory1]: YOU KEEPIN SECRETS LANCE?

[Hunkydory1]: nah keith he hasn’t told me much ^_^ don’t kill your new bf.

[PrincessAllura]: Great we might as well just forget about the rule since two of you have no control.

[PrincessAllura]: D:<

[LANCEALOT]: Were sorry allura!!! :(

[LANCEALOT]: At least now i can show the rest of you what i look like~

[LANCEALOT]: < IMAGE SENT >

[PrincessAllura]: It wasn’t even two minutes since I angrily canceled the rule…

[PrincessAllura]: Wait I recognize your face. I see you on Tumblr a LOT.

[PrincessAllura]: Interesting.

[Hunkydory1]: can’t believe my best friend is actually super handsome go figure. C:

[Hunkydory1]: and not fifty years old thank god. ;;

[PidgetWidget]: Lance you actually are cute, wow. OoO

[LANCEALOT]: Is that a face?

[PidgetWidget]: Big glasses and o shaped mouth. Cause that’s me.

[PidgetWidget]: < IMAGE SENT >

[LANCEALOT]: PIDGE YOU ARE FUCKING ADORABLE.

[LANCEALOT]: A small angel that’s actual a fucking gremlin.

[PrincessAllura]: I have glasses just like those!^u^

[takashiro3088]: Pidge you look like you’re twelve, I’m sorry.

[PidgetWidget]: Everyone looks twelve to you.

[takashiro3088]: . . . Fair point.

[takashiro3088]: But also you… you look incredibly similar to someone.

[takashiro3088]: Maybe? No, not it’s not.

[takashiro3088]: I guess I’ll go next?

[takashiro3088]: < IMAGE SENT >

[PrincessAllura]: HOLY FUCK.

[PrincessAllura]: I mean,

[PrincessAllura]: Wow Shiro you are VERY attractive. ^3^

[LANCEALOT]: I CANT BELIEVE SHIRO IS THE HOTTEST MAN IVE EVER SEEN.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: first of all ouch

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: second of all fuck you

[LANCEALOT]: With pleasure~

[Hunkydory1]: STOP.

[PidgetWidget]: STOP.

[takashiro3088]: STOP.

[PrincessAllura]: S T O P.

[LANCEALOT]: OKAY WE GET IT.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shiro where did you get the scar?

[takashiro3088]: Another time, Keith. Another time.

[PrincessAllura]: Now I’d say it’s my turn, but I really have to go. I have work soon.

[PrincessAllura]: Another time. ^u^

                [ PrincessAllura has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: Damn so close!

[Hunkydory1]: i guess i’ll go?

[Hunkydory1]: < IMAGE SENT >

[LANCEALOT]: SHIRO I TAKE IT BACK HUNK IS THE HOTTEST MAN IVE EVER SEEN.

[LANCEALOT]: WHO AM I KIDDING?

[LANCEALOT]: ALL OF MY FRIENDS ARE ATTRACTIVE.

[LANCEALOT]: Hell even katie was attractive lmao

[PidgetWidget]: Wait Katie sent you a photo?

[LANCEALOT]: Yeah lmao no big deal anymore though.

[LANCEALOT]: Shes out and keiths in <3

[Hunkydory1]: riiiiiight.

[LANCEALOT]: Now keith just has to send a selfie.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh right lemme find one on my laptop

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: < IMAGE SENT >

[LANCEALOT]: *HEART EYES* <3

[takashiro3088]: Wow. We all just saw pictures of each other for the first time.

[PidgetWidget]: Ahem.

[takashiro3088]: Well most of us at least.

[LANCEALOT]: Feels good to put a face to text.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: were certainly a diverse bunch

[LANCEALOT]: Now we just need allura to send a damn selfie eventually!!!

[takashiro3088]: I’m just glad she’s back.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: youre glad she said HOLY FUCK at you when you sent a selfie

[takashiro3088]: . . .

[takashiro3088]: Okay maybe a little.

[takashiro3088]: But I really need to get back to work so I’ll talk to you guys later!

                [ takashiro3088 has left the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: What an attractive bunch of friends.

[PidgetWidget]: For real though. Go Team Voltron.

[Hunkydory1]: i never thought i’d actually send you guys a selfie ; o ;

[Hunkydory1]: wait does this mean we can have group skype calls now?!

[PidgetWidget]: One step at a time, Hunk my man.

[LANCEALOT]: YEAH BUT WE TOTALLY SHOULD DO THAT SOMETIME SOON!!!

[LANCEALOT]: Keith and i already did it lets all do it

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: god remember when our chats had to be kept in super secret

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: cool i can talk about how lance wears face masks to bed sometimes

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and how he falls asleep in five fucking minutes unbelievable

[LANCEALOT]: Honestly its a talent to fall asleep quickly also excuse me for wanting nice skin.

[PidgetWidget]: Wait you take care of your skin regularly?

[LANCEALOT]: YEAH ACTUALLY! im pretty knowledgeable on the subject *kissy face*

[PidgetWidget]: HELP PLZ. HOW CAN I FIX OILY SKIN.

[LANCEALOT]: SEE KEITH PEOPLE APPRECIATE MY EFFORTS.                             

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ok not once have i ever made fun of you for it

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: all i said was i personally would not go the extra mile for my skin/hair

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i applaud you for doing such

[PidgetWidget]: LANCE ANSWER THE QUESTION. I AM A TEENAGER WITH SHIT SKIN. H E L P.

[LANCEALOT]: Clinique has a good oil control face mask that ive used before!!! look into that maybe?

[LANCEALOT]: Also keep your hair out of your face as much as possible and wash it daily but

[LANCEALOT]: DONT use harsh chemicals too often on your face or youll dry it out!!

[LANCEALOT]: Its hard not to touch your face often but like

[LANCEALOT]: Keep your hands as clean as possible to avoid adding extra oil to your face

[LANCEALOT]: For when you do touch it!!

[LANCEALOT]: I hope that can help?

[PidgetWidget]: So simple stuff I could’ve been doing all along?

[LANCEALOT]: Pretty much. youd be surprised honestly.

[PidgetWidget]: Amazing. Thank you Lance. I’m gonna head out for a bit. Keith check your DMs.

                                          [ PidgetWidget has left the chat! ]

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: aw jeez

                                          [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]

01-06-17 — 5:08pm — alteansociety.com/inbox

MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Fucko and Dicky (CONT)

[TIME]: 4:49pm

[MSG]: I can’t believe I’m ruining our fun chat with this bullshit drama. But you leave me no choice. Dicky what the fuck is your damage? You never told Lance about Katie and now the two of you are dating? And you expect me to be okay with this? And what’s this bullshit about Katie sending Lance a selfie. You are playing a dangerous game dude. Captain Fucko is not putting up with this shit anymore. I should just tell Lance myself. I have all of our conversations screenshotted for this occasion. Hunk does too. Keith what the hell were you thinking? Are you not going to tell Lance ever? How is that fair.

[TO]: PidgetWidget

[FROM]: XxCrimsonxFighterxX

[SUBJECT]: The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Fucko and Dicky (CONT)

[TIME]: 5:11pm

[MSG]: pidge wouldnt it be better if he never knew? hes so happy without her now. we can just forget any of this ever happened. he doesnt have to know. hes better off not knowing. pidge please dont tell lance. and with the selfie thing i just found some random girl on tumblr and sent him a selfie its no big deal. pidge i care about lance a lot and would rather he didnt hear about any of this okay? cant we just go back to roleplaying our space pirate ocs? dicky needs his rough and tough captain.

                MESSAGE SENT

                MESSAGE RECEIVED

[TO]: XxCrimsonxFighter

[FROM]: PidgetWidget

[SUBJECT]: The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Fucko and Dicky (CONT)

[TIME]: 5:22pm

[MSG]: Fine Keith. We can keep Lance in the dark. But should he ever find out please realize I will not be on your side. I will not defend you. You will be held accountable for your dumb shit. Anyway let me do my reply.

                Captain Fucko let out a might roar as he turned the ship to a sharp left, narrowly avoiding the rebel’s lasers that tried to strike the side of the ship. “Yargh! Dicky! Man the canons! Where’s Shits with the force field? Has anyone readied a wormhole yet?! The damned Galra are after our booty!”

                Fucko twirled his big purple moustache around his finger as he thought up of a new plan to escape the clutches of the Galra Empire once more. They had to get the Balmera Crystal Treasure out soon. They stole it and there for it was theirs. They weren’t going to share so easily. “Dicky?! Dicky where are you? I can’t see ye yella head no more!”

01-14-17 — 7:29pm — Skype chat with Shiro (takashiro3088)

[Shiro]: Okay so Keith are you ready to Skype with me? This is super exciting honestly.

[Keith]: youre the first person ive skyped besides lance this is so WEIRD

[Keith]: im going to hear your voice

[Keith]: oh god do you have a dad voice like how you have a dad text voice

[Keith]: shiro youre like my brother please dont sound like a dad

[Shiro]: WOULD YOU ALL STOP REFERRING TO ME AS DAD HOLY SHIT.

[Shiro]: I mean I don’t think I have a dad voice?

[Shiro]: What the hell does a dad voice entail?

[Shiro]: Keith make sure your room is clean and all your homework is done.

[Shiro]: Okay you didn’t hear that but I said that out loud in a deep, gruff voice and my roommate

[Shiro]: GLARED at me.

[Shiro]: Oh you get to meet Matt.

[Shiro]: Cause he literally won’t leave the living room for us to Skype.

[Shiro]: falhbfdsajkl;dsagfadsf

[Shiro]: aslydfbasQSS!~!!!3333378yroiwe

[Shiro]: hello I am shiro

[Shiro]: not his totally hot roommate matt

[Shiro]: who is not only a great cook but the best friend a guy could as for

[Shiro]: did I mention hes hot

[Keith]: hi matt nice to meet you

[Shiro]: damn you got me,,,,,,

[Shiro]: He literally stole my laptop out of my hands. Unbelieveable.

[Shiro]: Anyways, let’s Skype!

01-14-17 — 7:33pm — Keith’s Living Room

Ping!

takashiro3088 is calling…

>Answer

                Keith inhaled deeply before accepting the call with video. His nerves were nowhere near as bad as they were when he first video chatted Lance. That night he had a full blow panic attack in his bathroom. But with Shiro? His heart raced and his palms were sweaty. No hyperventilation and thoughts to run away screaming. It was just one of his best friends. Not the guy he’s crushed on for months. Someone he thought of as an older brother.

                Lance assured him many times in their video chats that he was attractive. They have been video chatting every night since they got together, falling asleep together and talking more and more. It’s been heavenly. So Keith had been preparing himself to Skype with Shiro for a little less than a week now. Shiro had asked him soon after the anonymous rule had been dismantled. It excited Keith at first, but of course, first meeting nerves were bound to happen. But Lance kept assuring him things would go smoothly.

                “Hi Keith! Wow, this is so weird. It’s almost like we’re seeing each other in person! Your hair looks longer than the selfie you sent. That’s… definitely a mullet,” Shiro smirked.

                “Hey you can’t make fun of my hair. Mister Undercut with a Fluff of White on Top. What the hell even is that? Is that allowed in a professional work environment?” Keith said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring accusingly.

                “Sure is. All natural. Surprisingly,” Shiro said, shyly tugging on his white hair. All of a sudden two hands off screen were yanking at his hair, causing the man to yelp out in pain.

                “Don’t listen to Shiro! I watch him dye his hair!” called the voice belonging to the hands.

                “Shut up! No I don’t Matt!” Shiro shouted, shoving the hands off him. It was then Keith was able to see the metal prosthetic arm that they he had seen a long time ago. It caught the light and reflected in the camera. Keith froze for a moment, in shock. He thought for a while Shiro was lying about his arm being fake, but here it was in front of him.

                “So you are a cyborg,” Keith teased, pointing to the arm.

                Shiro stopped playing with Matt’s hands to look at Keith nervously. He replied, “Yep! From the future! Told you I wasn’t kidding.”

                “From the… Shiro what the fuck, still?” Matt asked. Shiro shot him a glare so cold Keith recoiled in his seat even if it wasn’t for him. “Gotcha. Takashi Shirogane, Future Man. Year 3088.”

                “Are you ever going to tell me the truth about it Shiro? I mean, you almost did the one time—.”

                “—No Keith. I won’t. At least not now. It takes a lot out of me to… to tell someone. Matt knows purely because he is the closest person to me besides well, you and Allura of course. Just… play along with it. Please.”

                “Of course. I won’t force you. Still, having a metal prosthetic is kind of cool.”

                “Aesthetically sure. Practically? No. Matt used to stick fridge magnets on it. That definitely fucked with it. Not a fun night.”

                “Shiro I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know writing the word dick with magnets would fuck with the circuitry or whatever? Thank god you work for the folks that—I’m shutting up. I’m shutting up now. Please don’t kill me. Babe, babe, I didn’t mean it,” Matt pleaded.

                Keith raised an eyebrow. “Babe?”

                Shiro rolled his eyes and said, “Matt thinks he’s comfortable enough with me to call me babe.”

                “I mean we are getting married! I feel like I have the right to call my future husband babe. Heh, future husband,” Matt said, still off screen. Keith lurched forward, jaw slightly ajar.

                “You’re engaged?! But—but you and Allura?” Keith asked, not sure what to really ask. Shiro covered his face with his hand and dragged it down.

                “I never agreed to marry you. Yet. I’m highly considering it because I don’t want to see you get deported, but still. Never agreed. You see Keith, Matt’s American and here on a school visa. He’s almost done with school and doesn’t wanna go back home. So he asked me to marry him to allow him to stay here in Canada with me. Which I mean, we’re practically an old married couple at this point. We’ve been living together for a while. I’m just not in love with the guy. Sorry to break it to you Matt,” Shiro explained.

                Matt gasped, “Shiro! How could you say that? Especially since we make sweet, beautiful love every night?!”

                “We don’t. Please don’t believe him. But he’s my best friend and I don’t want to lose the guy. So what we’d do would be like, super illegal but hey. I’ve done worse,” Shiro shrugged.

                “You’ve done worse? I don’t think I want to know actually. It doesn’t sound like much of that makes sense, but I’m going to roll with it. That’s true friendship that you’re willing to marry your best friend to keep him in the country,” Keith smiled.

                “Shiro loves me, duh,” Matt called out.

                “Unfortunately I do.”

                “Fucking rude. Fine, I’m going to eat the last piece of pizza. And you can suffer. Bye Keith!”

                “Finally he’s gone. I mean, he’s just off in the kitchen but jeez. Matt is something.”

                “I can still hear you asswipe.”

                “That was the point.”

                Keith started laughing at that point, his eyes watering. The two kind of reminded him of Lance and himself. Bickering, but loving best friends. Absolute dorks. But this was definitely a side of Shiro he wasn’t used to seeing. Carefree, and a bit harsh, but in a meaningful way. It was different from this mature, dad-like persona he had online. It was a nice side of Shiro. They’ve seen this rarely before. Usually when he’s drunk or tired, but still. He always tried to be the levelheaded one of the group, like a leader almost.

                “So Keith, you and Lance. How’s that going?” Shiro smirked, a thick yet still sharp eyebrow arched up quizzically. Keith couldn’t help but smile as he felt his cheeks get warmer.

                “It’s amazing. I—I never thought it would actually happen. Like, I know you and I talked about before what if it did. But deep down I always thought it would forever be a fantasy. But here I am, in a long distance and online relationship with the one and only Lance,” Keith sighed happily.

                “From the way you two talked about each other in private I’m honestly surprised it never happened sooner. Lance would always tell me in PMs how cool he thought you were. Or how he couldn’t wait for you to get online so he could finally talk to you. It’s very sweet, y’know.”

                “Wait he would talk about me to you? And you never told me? After me telling you night after night how I feel? That’s cold Shiro. I thought we were brothers.”

                Shiro shrugged and replied, “It wasn’t my business to tell. I figured you guys would talk it out eventually. And I mean look! You did! Maybe now the gay whining in my messages will stop?”

                “Shut the fuck up. Just for that you’re going to get even more gay whining in your inbox. You wanna know some of the stuff we did? How about no whining and just straight up gay stuff? I don’t think I ever told you about Lance’s birthday anyw—.”

                “—Keith I’m going to cut you off right there. You are both my friends and I care about you. And I’m happy for you both, but I do not need to know about the shit you two did on his birthday. I really don’t,” Shiro said, his hand raised and his head down, shaking side to side.

                “I don’t mind hearing it!” Matt shouted from the kitchen. Shiro looked up to shoot him a glare from over the laptop and loud laughter erupted from the other side. Keith laughed with Matt, his whole body shaking with it.

                “Don’t worry Shiro, I’ll spare you the juicy details. I’m not one to kiss and tell anyway. Well, Skype and tell I guess. But yeah, Lance and I are good. Really good. But…,” Keith said, biting his bottom lip and trailing off.

                “But what, Keith?”

                “Shiro, if I tell you do you promise not to hate me?”

                “Keith the only way I could hate you was if, oh I don’t know, you killed someone or something.”

                “What a good pretend brother you are.”

                “Get to the point please.”

                Keith nodded and inhaled deeply before he began to tell the story of Katie and Keith, starting from all the way back in October. The whole story telling itself took well over a half hour. Shiro and Matt both had stopped him a few times to ask questions. Shiro sat with his hands folded under his chin, a stern look on his face. Matt was still sitting off camera, but listening to Keith’s story. Keith was a little hesitant telling a complete stranger his tale, but perhaps it would be good to get an outsider’s perspective anyway. When Keith had finally caught them up to everything, the line was silent for a few minutes. Shiro seemed to be staring at Matt, having a silent conversation with him. Keith’s pulse elevated and his palms were slick.

                Pidge and Hunk already hated him for what he did. Keith wasn’t sure if telling Shiro was such a great idea. He couldn’t stand to have him hate him too. Next to Lance, Shiro was the closest one to him. Keith truly did see Shiro as an older brother, a mentor. He could trust him with anything. Except with Katie. Keith was too scared Shiro would think of him as a cruel monster and turn against him. He couldn’t lose Shiro too.

                Was this a good idea?

                “So, you mean to tell me that you, Keith, pretended to be Katie online just to steal Lance’s heart because you assumed he was entirely straight. And that, that would be the only way he could ever like you?” Shiro asked, his tone emotionless.

                “Yes. It was stupid, I know. But I was being stupid that night and by the time I realized how stupid and desperate I was being, it was too late. Lance was hooked on Katie and I was hooked on him flirting with me. Even if it wasn’t really me,” Keith said, rubbing the back of his neck.

                “Why the name Katie? Why that name?” Matt asked, his voice breaking on the name Katie. Pain twitched over Shiro’s face as he looked over at his friend. His arm slowly moved off screen, but there was a light thwack! sound as it quickly recoiled back. There was some shuffling, Shiro’s head following Matt’s movements out of the room. Shiro flinched as a door slammed in the background.

                “Sorry, the name Katie just brings up bad memories for him. He’ll be okay. I’ll let him cool off and then I’ll go talk to him. Back to you. Now I thought Katie was pretty fishy, but I didn’t think she was actually you. But now that you say it, a lot of things make sense. You weren’t all that careful. You’ve slipped up a few times in chat. God, maybe I should have told you how Lance felt. Or at least how I interpreted how he felt. Then this could have been avoided. You mutual pining idiots give me stress headaches, did you know that?” Shiro said, rubbing his temples. His eyes were closed and that’s when Keith noticed something.

                “Dude, are you wearing eyeliner? Why is it winged so perfectly?”

                “Keith is now the appropriate time to point out my eyeliner? Yes, I wear eyeliner. No, I don’t care what you think. Yes, I wear it daily. Makeup doesn’t mean anything. If I want my eyes to look nice, then they look nice. Stop trying to change the subject. So you’re telling me Pidge and Hunk… hate you? I’m sorry but I find that hard to believe. Mad? Yes, but hate you? Imaging Hunk hating anyone is honestly an impossible feat. The guy is too sweet for that kind of negative energy. Pidge? Maybe more likely, but Pidge wouldn’t hate you. We’re a very close knit group. I don’t think we have the capability to hate anyone in our group. They’re going to be mad for a while and have just reason to be mad. You upset the flow of the group and hurt one of our members. Hell, I’m pretty pissed at you for doing something so stupid and out of character for you. I’m just glad it’s over with. Katie has been deleted and Lance is happy again. I agree that we should keep Lance in the dark about this. He’ll forget all about her soon. Especially since he has you now,” Shiro sighed.

                “T-Thank you Shiro. I’m just so glad you don’t hate me,” Keith said softly.

                “Like I said, I could only hate you if you killed someone or something. It’s okay. I’m here for you and will support you no matter what.”  

                “If I could give you an uncomfortable, but meaningful hug right now I would.”

                “It’s the thought that counts. Speak of the devil, Lance is messaging me right now to join the group chat. Wanna hang up for now and call back later?”

                “Why don’t we both join the chat and stay on Skype?”

                “Oh, uh duh. Sure. We better hurry though, Lance is up to fifteen messages in the PMs now.”

01-14-17 — 9:12pm — alteansociety.com/chatroom1

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has joined the chat! ]

                [ takashiro3088 has joined the chat! ]

[LANCEALOT]: FUCKING FINALLY SHIRO

[LANCEALOT]: OH GOOD KEITH IS WITH YOU.

[LANCEALOT]: GOD THATS GREAT TIMING I WAS ABOUT TO MESSAGE YOU BABE

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shiro and i are in skype rn

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: he told me you wouldnt stop messaging him to join lmao

[LANCEALOT]: WAIT REALLY

[LANCEALOT]: CAUSE I WAS ABOUT TO TELL YOU GUYS IM SKYPING HUNK RIGHT NOW!!!

[LANCEALOT]: He started crying when we got on video chat

[Hunkydory1]: hi guys

[Hunkydory1]: hunk here

[Hunkydory1]: lance was the one who cried pls dont believe him

[LANCEALOT]: HUNK WTF

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: honestly im not surprised lance cried

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: if he wasnt already dating me i would be convinced hes in love with you hunk

[Hunkydory1]: we just have such a good friendship<3

[LANCEALOT]: HUNK I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

[Hunkydory1]: aw jeez hes crying again

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: is he drunk again

[LANCEALOT]: NO

[Hunkydory1]: yes ;; but its kind of adorable seeing him like this

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: jesus christ lance

[LANCEALOT]: I GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN LIKE THREE DAYS IM STRESSED

[takashiro3088]: Lance I don’t condone underage drinking you know that.

[takashiro3088]: Even though it's perfectly legal in my country.

[takashiro3088]: Now it is almost 1am in your timezone, right?

[takashiro3088]: Both of you need to get some sleep.

[LANCEALOT]: BUT DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

[takashiro3088]: No butts unless it’s your butt going to bed.

[Hunkydory1]: idk lance maybe we should listen

[takashiro3088]: Honestly you shouldn’t be drinking at all. Drinking is so bad for your health.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i just watched him crack a bottle of wine open

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: do not listen to shiro

[takashiro3088]: Shit.

[LANCEALOT]: holY SHIT GUESS WHAT I JUST REALIZED

[LANCEALOT]: WITH THE ANON RULE GONE

[LANCEALOT]: I CAN GET MY BOYFRIENDS NUMBER

[Hunkydory1]: oh god keith run here comes a shitty pick up line.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: idk it might work on me

[LANCEALOT]: Im no mathematician but im pretty good with numbers.

[LANCEALOT]: Tell you what give me yours and watch what I can do with it.

[LANCEALOT]: ;D

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: wow would you look at that it didnt work on me

[LANCEALOT]: D:

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hey lance i need some answers for my math homework

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: can i have your phone number?

[LANCEALOT]: OH

[LANCEALOT]: MY

[LANCEALOT]: GOD

[takashiro3088]: I’ll have you know Keith read that one out loud to me as practice.

[takashiro3088]: Currently he has his face buried in his hands.

[Hunkydory1]: wow really? so does lance ^-^

[Hunkydory1]: DORKS

[Hunkydory1]: keith maaaaaaaaay have broken lance

[Hunkydory1}: hes sobbing into his hands about

[Hunkydory1]: how keith messaged him his number over and over again

[Hunkydory1]: good going keith >_>

[takashiro3088]: Keith’s face is so red I can see it through the grainy quality of his webcam.

[takashiro3088]: Amazing.

[Hunkydory1]: i feel like these two are only going to get worse the longer they date

[takashiro3088]: Honestly it’s kind of adorable.

[Hunkydory1]: kind of ^^

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: okay im back

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: did matt seriously come back to laugh at me

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: what the fuck

[Hunkydory1]: whos matt? O:

[takashiro3088]: My roommate! He would be a member of this site if he didn’t snap his laptop in half.

[takashiro3088]: Then refuse to buy a new one despite needing it for school.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: for those that cant hear

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: matt is now defending the fact that he can simply use school computers for hw

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i now firmly believe matt doesnt actually do his homework

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: will flunk out of school

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: be forced back into the us of a

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and other horrible things

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and ive only known him for a few hours

[takashiro3088]: Matt just threatened to kick Keith’s ass despite standing at only five foot seven.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i can take him

[LANCEALOT]: WHOS THREATENING MY B OY FRIEND

[LANCEALOT]: ILL KILL HIM

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shiros fiancé

[Hunkydory1]: HIS WHAT

[takahshiro3088]: Thank you for that Keith. Now both Keith and Matt are laughing hysterically.

[takashiro3088]: Matt is not my fiancé. He is my best friend. Who asked me to marry him.

[takashiro3088]: For illegal purposes that I will not discuss.

[Hunkydory1]: this sounds like a wild story you have to tell me sometime shiro

[LANCEALOT]: Aw shiro the four of us could double date~~~~~~~~

[takashiro3088]: HE’S NOT MY FIANCE. I HATE YOU ALL.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: wow we made dad angry

[Hunkydory1]: GASP DAD NO.

[LANCEALOT]: ITS ONLY FUNNY WHEN I CALL HIM DAD

                [ PidgetWidget has joined the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: Jeez I finish my homework and come back to join Shitfest.

[PidgetWidget]: Wait Matt???

[PidgetWidget]: Matt who???

[PidgetWidget]: Nevermind.

[PidgetWidget]: What are you memelords up to?

[PidgetWidget]: Oh Skyping each other.

[PidgetWidget]: WITHOUT ME.

[PidgetWidget]: IT’S FINE. #NotHurt #Lying #HurtALot

[LANCEALOT]: PIDGE YOU WANNA JOIN MINE AND HUNKS CALL

[Hunkydory1]: lance is a little drunk and sobbing about keith again

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh my god lance

[LANCEALOT]: Hunk why do u gotta call me out like that man :(

[takashiro3088]: Oh that’s nothing. Keith was doing that earlier. All blushy and cute.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: shiro i will go to canada and kill you

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: washington is right under canada i will find your house and kill you

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im sure matt would help me

[takashiro3088]: I’m sure you’re right. ^_^

[takashiro3088]: Matt said he would risk deportation to assist in my murder.

[takashiro3088]: Some friends I have.

[Hunkydory1]: if it makes you feel better shiro i wouldnt kill you ^^

[takashiro3088]: Aw thank you Hunk!

[LANCEALOT]: IDK I MIGHT//

[PidgetWidget]: I don’t like leaving the house so I guess I wouldn’t.

[takashiro3088]: . . . Thanks guys.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh my god shiro just took the longest drink from the wine bottle ever

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: we stress him out

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: HE JUST FINISHED THE WHOLE BOTTLE WHAT THE FUCK

[takashiro3088]: It doesn’t help that this bottle was already half empty when I started.

[takashiro3088]: But yes it is empty and now I’m happy. ^_^

[Hunkydory1]: lances little sister just came down to yell at him to go to bed im crying

[Hunkydory1]: she looks just like him shes so cute

[LANCEALOT]: I JUST GOT YELLED AT TO GO TO BED

[PidgetWidget]: What the fuck no. I just logged on. We are going to Skype you absolute fucking walnut.

[LANCEALOT]: DID YOU JUST CLAL ME A W AL NUT AND M EAN IT

[PidgetWidget]: Yes I did. Fucking walnut.

[LANCEALOT]: Im not sure if i should be offended or not. . .

[PidgetWidget]: <3

[LANCEALOT]: <3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: i called lance a walnut once

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: cause i couldnt think of a good insult

[LANCEALOT]: You never think of a good insult

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: lance you are thinking of yourself

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: your comebacks include the ever so popular

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: “i know you are but what am i”

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ah and who can forget such classics like

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: “im rubber ur glue whatever u say bounces off me and sticks 2 u”

[LANCEALOT]: THOSE ARE PRETTY CLEVER IF YOU ASK ME

[LANCEALOT]: CANT GO WRONG WITH THE CLASSICS

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: CAN ALWAYS GO WRONG WITH THE CLASSICS

[LANCEALOT]: CAN NOT

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: CAN TOO

[LANCEALOT]: NOT

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: CAN

[LANCEALOT]: NOT

[Hunkydory1]: yknow i kinda hoped that since theyre dating the bickering would stop. ;;

[takashiro3088]: I knew the bickering was not going to stop.

[takashiro3088]: Honestly they act like how Matt and I are sometimes.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: LANCE STOP MESSAGING ME ON SKYPE WERE IN THE GROUP CHAT

[LANCEALOT]: WE GOTTA ARGUE IN PRIVATE BECAUSE APPARENTLY HUNK IS SICK OF US

[Hunkydory1]: i didnt say that ; o ;

[LANCEALOT]: But it was IMPLIED

[Hunkydory1]: NO IT WASNT LANCE TAKE YOUR DRUNK ASS TO BED HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF THAT

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: damn lance youre pissing everyone off tonight

[LANCEALOT]: FINE IM LEAVING THE GC BUT IM GONNA STAY ON SKYPE W HUNK AND PIDGE

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: message me

[LANCEALOT]: DUHHHH<333

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: <3

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: oh my god matt is making fun of me again

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: im never sending a heart again fuck you matt

                [ LANCEALOT has left the chat! ]

[PidgetWidget]: So Shiro, Matt is your American roommate?

[takashiro3088]: Yes he is! Been with me a while now. ^^

[PidgetWidget]: Interesting.

[PidgetWidget]: Keith, Lance is drunk sobbing over you again.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: thats kind of cute actually

[Hunkydory1]: you guys havent been dating that long jeez!

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: yeah buuuut weve liked each other for a long time yknow?

[takashiro3088]: Keith is blushing again.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: brb booking my plane ticket to vancouver

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: ill have to buy a new dagger there since i cant bring mine with me

[PidgetWidget]: Lance is offended you’re going to fly to see Shiro before him.

[takashiro3088]: But he’s coming to kill me, so does it really count?

[PidgetWidget]: Lance says yes.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: sorry lance dont take it personal

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: gotta take care of business

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: matt said hes gonna pin shiro down for me

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: idk yall shiro is pretty big

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and i havent seen matt yet shiro said hes five foot seven

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: sounds tiny

[takashiro3088]: Matt is tiny. He could never hold me down.

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: idk marriage sounds like he has a pretty good hold on you

[takashiro3088]: BRB booking my plane ticket to Seattle. :)

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: aw thanks shiro saves me the trip

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: hey guys im gonna log off and just skype shiro for a bit longer

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: and then probably crash

[XxCrimsonxFighterxX]: night

                [ XxCrimsonxFighterxX has left the chat! ]