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Terrorizing people for fun was Keith’s dream. Hence how he got a job at the haunted house his brother had helped set up. Was it a lot of money? No, but it was better than nothing. Besides, he didn’t really have a choice. He “needed to socialize more” according to Shiro. It was this or whatever next, worse thing his brother could come up with. It was only a couple nights away.
“Thank you again for coming, Keith! It’s a bit of a struggle for us to get actors in here,” Allura said cheerfully. She and Shiro were longtime friends.
“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Keith said, thumbs tucked into his pockets. “It seems fun and all. Got nothing better to do.” It was true. Shiro was always on his ass about never socializing or being around people. He preferred the outdoors and his dog. So what?
It didn’t take too long to set up. The costumes and makeup were fairly simple and easy to put on and all he had to do was wait for the people to flood in. It was an easy job, he found. Wait to hear footsteps and jump out at people. The screams were funny and a couple times there were tears. Nothing could have prepared him for the group of three near the end of the night though.
Footsteps approached slowly, mutters of ‘oh my god’ thick in the air. As usual, he jumped out from behind the corner and was met with a firm punch to the face, accompanied by a loud shriek.
“Fuck!” Immediately, he felt the tickle in his nose and held up his hand to catch the blood.
“Fuck shit, oh my god. I’m so sorry, shit,” the boy said, gasping and placing a hand over his mouth. Keith hadn’t thought shit like this actually happened.
“What the fuck’s your problem?” His voice came out nasally, blood gushing out of his nose. Hands weren’t very good at catching blood, he thought as it dripped onto the floor.
“Lance! Jesus,” a young girl spat. The room was so dark he couldn’t make out the faces of the three. That hadn’t bothered him before but now he wanted to at least know what his attacker looked like.
“I’m so sorry dude, oh my god. This is my first time going to a haunted house, I’m so sorry! It was instinct,” he babbled. The name Lance rang a bell but all he could currently think about was the ache in the middle of his face.
“If your first instinct is to punch,” Keith said slowly, gritting his teeth, “then don’t go to a haunted house! Fucking hell.”
“I feel so awful, I’m so sorry man. There’s emergency exits, right? We’ll take you to one, I’m truly sorry,” he insisted, placing a gentle hand on Keith’s back. After that punch, he was unsure if the boy was capable of gentleness. Shiro was never going to live this down if Keith had any say in the matter. Get out for once Keith, do something new Keith. Oh, he was in for it.
“Whatever, fine,” he grouched, letting his hand drop as he gave up on trying to catch the blood. The red liquid dripped down his face, catching on his lips and he grimaced at the taste.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered again, eyes lingering on the blood.
“Not cool dude,” the third muttered, shaking his head.
“You gonna punch the next actor who jumps out?” Keith side eyed him, watching him grimace. It was a fair question. “I’ll go first just in case.”
“Okay,” Lance squeaked. This part of the house was the darkest, nearly impossible to see in. He could hear the others whispering behind him but he paid it no mind. He led the group through the dark winding hallways, wiping his bloody hands on his pants. Hopefully Allura didn’t mind. They came up on a fake glass case and, as expected, an actor banged against the glass abruptly.
Lance, if he was remembering correctly, shrieked and grabbed his hand. They were sweaty which didn’t surprise him but they were also soft, long fingers gripping his hand tightly. Something about how earnestly scared he seemed made Keith do nothing about this situation. “You’re such a scaredy cat,” he said, shaking his head.
“Easy for you to say! You work here,” Lance bit back, leaning away from the actor in the window. “Just… hold my hand until we’re out, okay? And then I’ll like… pay you back somehow.”
The anger and irritation had mostly faded to an exasperated kind of frustration now. “Yeah, yeah,” he said dismissively, tugging him farther into the house. Keith knew where the emergency exits were, of course, as he’d been shown them before opening. They still had quite a few scares to go and Lance wasn't looking too hot.
“We’re sorry about him,” the tall one said sincerely. “He’s a wuss but we didn’t think he would punch anyone.”
“Leave it to Lance to break the one rule they have here,” the shortest said, snorting.
They seemed nice enough, despite being friends with the kind of jerk whose first instinct was to punch. On second thought, Keith couldn’t judge for that. He’d gotten into plenty of fights back in school. “It’s fine, I’ll just sue,” he deadpanned. Lance gasped, looking truly affronted. “I’m joking.”
“Oh,” he said, blowing air out in relief. “I have enough debt from student loans. Thank god.”
Keith snorted and then grabbed his nose, wincing. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“That’s gonna be impossible for me, I’m the funny guy,” he said, fingergunning with his only free hand. Keith shook his head, tugging him farther along.
“That automatically makes you unfunny and uncool, you know that, right?”
“See? Told you,” the girl said. “I’m Pidge, by the way. I feel like I should at least introduce myself. I like you already.”
Not many people said that about Keith so it put a pleasant smile on his face. “I’m Keith.”
“Wait, Keith? Like from Garrison?”
That made him pause, causing Lance to run into his back. “Lance?” He knew who this was now. They’d gone to school together and they’d had an odd rivalry throughout the years. It had been mostly one-sided, Keith not really caring for it much, but he couldn’t deny that he’d always been able to get under his skin.
“Oh god,” Lance mumbled. “Yep, punch the hottest guy you can find.”
“What?” That only made him still more. Lance thought he was hot? No, the hottest guy he could find? And why exactly did that give him so much pause?
“You didn’t hear that,” he rushed out, squeezing his hand harder. “Please keep walking before I die of embarrassment." Keith obliged, if only to let himself think about what had just occurred. Pidge and the tall friend of theirs snickered behind them and he found himself fighting the urge to join them.
“Anywho… I’m Hunk.” The tension seemed to dissipate a little at that, but Keith could still sense how tense Lance was, gripping his hand tightly.
“I think I remember you,” Keith said, contemplating. “We had a class together, I think.” It had been a few years since school now so it was a little fuzzy but he could definitely remember Hunk.
“Yeah! Funny running into you here,” he hummed. “Although, we never would’ve known it was you if not for Lance here punching you in the nose.”
Lance made an indignant noise. “Come on!” Just then, another actor jumped out at them and Lance screamed, tucking his whole body into Keith’s back, face hidden in his jacket. “This place is hell!”
“This is quite literally what you signed up for,” Keith said, moving forward as Lance huddled behind him, as close to the wall as possible. It was funny and a little cute, admittedly. His mind was still stuck on the whole hot thing.
“Hey, can’t you just warn me when someone is gonna jump out? You work here,” he said pointedly, peeking out from behind him.
“I don’t know this place like the band of my hand,” he argued. “I just do my job and everyone else does theirs. Also, it’s kinda funny to watch you get scared.”
“All of you people are evil,” he muttered, following closely behind. Pidge and Hunk were scared too, he could tell, but they screamed far less than Lance. Hunk seemed to mostly keep his eyes closed. Thank god he was leading and not Lance anymore.
“The emergency exit is coming up soon, don’t worry,” he said assuredly. Lance nodded against his back, squeezing his hand harder. This certainly wasn’t how he imagined his night going. Make some easy cash and scare the shit out of people? Yes. This? No.
A clown popped around the corner and Lance buried his face into Keith’s back. “Make it stop.” Keith giggled and kept walking, leading them to the emergency exit to the side.
“We’re out now,” he said gently, looking behind him. Lance put a little distance between them, no longer huddled against him but still clutching onto his jacket and holding his hand. “You gonna be okay?”
“You’re asking me? You’re bleeding!”
“It’s fine, really,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve taken worse punches. Once we get to the front, my brother will help me out. He always carries a first aid kit.”
Outside, there were more lights overhead and Keith could see the flush on Lance’s face. His own mind wandered back to his earlier words and he looked forward to avoid showing his own flush. As a pale person, it was much worse than the faint blush on Lance’s tan skin. “Is your brother gonna kill me?”
“Nah, he’s a big teddy bear,” Keith said, waving his hand. “He only looks scary.” He pointed towards the front of the house that they were now approaching, where Shiro was selling tickets next to Allura at a little booth.
It didn’t take long for his brother to spot him and frown. “Keith, what are you- Is that real blood?” He looked down at himself and the blood staining his whole front. What a dramatic nose, he thought.
Lance stepped next to him, hand still inexplicably wrapped around his.”That’s my fault. Um, I may have punched your brother. A little bit. In the face.”
Shiro stood up quickly, opening up a bag on his hip. “I’ll kick him out after I check out your nose,” he said sternly, pulling out some gauze and dabbing it under Keith’s nose.
“One, don’t kick him out. Two, I think it’s stopped bleeding already,” he said, wiggling his nose around. He didn’t miss the way Lance’s hand tightened when he said the first part. “Is Allura gonna kill me for getting blood all over the costumes?”
“No,” he said, sighing. “But why exactly am I not kicking this kid out?”
Before Keith could get a word out, Lance blurted. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to, it was instinct! It’s my first time going to one of these and I’m very sorry and I would never intentionally hurt Keith.”
Shiro looked between the two of them and down at their hands. “This is Lance. From school. Remember him?” Understanding dawned on his face and Keith could feel his face heating up. Great.
“Oh, I remember,” he said slowly. That tone, it was one he knew well. Shiro used to consistently tease Keith about Lance. Things were no different now, clearly. “How do you get yourself into this shit, Keith?”
“Don’t even start! You made me do this job,” he said, pursing his lips. “And if you think I’m ever gonna let you forget it, you’re dead wrong.”
Shiro groaned, running a hand down his face. “As if you needed more things to hold over my head. Alright, I won’t kick him out. But I can’t really let you go back in either,” he said, directing the end to Lance.
“That’s okay,” Lance said quickly, shaking his head. “I don’t wanna go back in there.”
“You know Pidge and Hunk kept going, right?” He’d noticed a while back when it had gotten too quite after the exit. Truthfully, he was surprised Hunk had kept going with the way he was covering his eyes the whole time.
“Oh, that’s no surprise,” he moped. “I knew they’d abandon me. Traitors.”
“At least you had me to guide you through,” he teased, nudging Lance’s arm. Shiro raised an eyebrow at him and silently went back to the booth. Not without a wink though. He was sure he’d be getting an earful about it all when they returned home later that night.
“My knight in shining armor,” Lance said, huffing a laugh. “Thanks though, seriously. I punched you and all you’ve done is be nice to me.” WIth that, he released Keith’s hand sheepishly.
“It’s not a big deal, Lance,” he said softly. The earnestness was endearing. “Consider it forgiven.”
Lance shook his head fiercely, a disapproving look on his face. “Absolutely not, sir. I said I would make it up to you and I’m keeping my word. What do you say to a nice dinner at my place tomorrow?”
Keith froze a little. Was that a date? It sounded a little like a date. But what did he know? “You really don’t have to do that,” he said sheepishly, looking down.
“It’s my way of making it up to you,” Lance repeated softly. “It’s the least I can do. And maybe I can change your opinion on my unfuniness and uncoolness.”
He looked up at him hopefully. Who was Keith to say no to something like that? “It’s… a date?”
“It’s a date,” Lance confirmed, smiling brightly. “Now, is there a bathroom around here? I feel like I should at least also help you wash that blood off.”
Funny, cute, and sweet. Keith was officially a sucker. “There’s one in that building over there," he said, pointing next door. “I feel like I might startle some people walking in like this though.”
“You rock the bloody look,” he said, holding up his hands to frame Keith’s face as if taking a picture. “Come on, let’s go.”
He led this time, grabbing Keith’s hand again, no longer plagued by the fear of being jumped out at. Indeed, he got some strange looks as they walked into the store. Lance paid them no mind, dragging him to the nearest bathroom. The clothes were unsalvageable but Lance wet some tissue paper and gently wiped around Keith’s nose. “Not broken?” He cracked a smile.
“Not broken,” Lance said, giggling. “There you go, pretty boy. Blood free. Your face, at least.”
Keith tried to ignore the pleasant tingle that ran up his spine at the name. “We should get back. Pidge and Hunk will be wondering where you are probably.”
“Good! Let them wonder. They ditched me,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’d say they suck for taking me but… I’m kinda glad all this happened.”
“Oh yeah? You’re thrilled to have punched me in the face?”
Lance flushed, smacking his arm. That reaction would never get old. “Shut up! I meant seeing you again.”
Keith grinned, looking down at Lance softly.. “Well, I’m kinda glad too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. Lance let his fingers brush against Keith’s and this time he was the one to interlock their fingers. “Let’s get back.”
“Lead the way, my knight in shining armor.”