(( Fluffy chapter? Fluffy chapter.))

Even in spite of Keith trying to keep it from him, Lance had gone and done it. He'd found out the date of Keith's birthday, and he was prepared to go all out for him.

That was why he'd planned the whole thing out ahead of time, and stayed up late with Keith the night before to ensure he'd sleep through most of the prep work.

A treasure hunt. That was what Keith would have to go through to find his gift. His boyfriend was turning 21, and Lance wanted it to be perfect for him. They deserved a nice evening together after all of Lotor's shenanigans. Who knew when he'd decide to strike again, right? They had to enjoy peace while they had the privilege of it.

Once everything was set, all Lance had to do was wait.

...

Keith found himself waking up in his own bed, and that wasn't usual since he and Lance had begun seeing each other. He rubbed his eyes, groaning while sitting up.

Kosmo perked up from the foot of the bed.

It wasn't typical for him to sleep in so late, but Keith wasn't concerned with that at that particular moment.

There was a box at the end of the bed, and Keith was obviously confused while switching on his bedside lamp. He pulled it toward himself, squinting and looking at it more inspectingly.

There was a tiny card taped to the top of the black, for the most part flat box. Keith's name was written on the outside of it, then there was a message written on the inside.

Happy birthday. This outfit reminded me of you... so I figured you might like to wear it tonight. That is... if you can find me. Your first clue is hidden somewhere in your room, somewhere you go for a good time. Find me at the end of this hunt and you can have your real present~

-Lance

Keith made a face at first, wondering who'd told Lance about his birthday. It wasn't a big deal at all, his birthday. Keith didn't like being the center of attention for turning a year older. It just didn't make sense to him.

But now Lance was going to create a huge deal out of it and had probably put in way too much effort.

Okay.

Keith would play his game, but only for the sole purpose of not wanting the work to be in vain.

" Somewhere I go for a good time?" He reread it aloud, puzzled and stumped. Keith decided he'd come back to the note later while taking the top off of the box.

This stuff was from Hot Topic, Keith could already tell. Lance had just put it inside of nicer packaging. Lance had probably went through Keith's closet and stalked his wardrobe to find his sizes for everything.

Keith sighed while pulling out the black and red flannel that was almost as soft as Lance's green jacket. Along with the flannel there was a pair of ripped black skinny jeans. It would be a miracle if he could squeeze in them and manage to get out ever again.

Nevertheless, Keith got out of bed. He'd only just woken up, but he was intrigued with Lance's little game. He was beginning to wonder what the final gift was. He assumed that it was probably going to lead to Lance sprawled out somewhere with a bottle of wine, naked and laying in a pile of red rose petals. Or maybe the taller boy would surprise him with something less cliché.

After brushing his teeth and going through his usual morning routine, Keith came back and put on the clothes Lance had asked him to. It was literally dinner time, but his day was just starting.

He was astonished that the clothes were actually comfortable, and that the jeans weren't squeezing around his ass like a boa constrictor.

He pulled back his mullet with a ponytail holder, making a tiny messy bun back there.

Now, the clue.

" Kosmo, do you have any ideas?" Keith asked his husky hopelessly. He was too oblivious for these kinds of things.

Kosmo sneezed in response, and Keith deadpanned, assuming that his dog was saying no.

" What do I even do for a good time?" Keith asked himself while pacing around the room somewhat. There was Netflix, drawing, and food, and sometimes working out. But... then it hit him. Sex. He and Lance were always finding excuses to get it on somehow.

But how did that relate to somewhere in his room?

The bed, maybe?

Keith went over to the bed, looking through the covers and sifting through the sheets. He checked under the pillows and even under the mattress. Nada.

" God damn it, Lance." Keith growled to himself. But then he glanced over at his nightstand, looking at the drawer where his toys were kept. He smirked, moving to open it.

Bingo.

With the vibrator and lube, there was a slip of paper.

Keith pulled it out, unfolding it and reading it.

Good work, Baby. Do you have a hankering for another clue? Go where your cravings will be satisfied

" What the fuck is this supposed to mean?" Keith sighed, standing up. Lance was so confusing and vague.

He looked over the words, wondering if there was anything he'd missed. Word choice seemed very specific, and Keith was thinking about food just from reading it.

" Duh!" Keith facepalmed.

The kitchen.

Keith swiftly walked from his room, getting more eager to play this. It was getting him worked up, and the anticipation was eating at him. This was Lance's game. It should've been a piece of cake, right?

Kosmo trailed Keith down the stairs and followed him in his clear cut path to the kitchen. Where was everybody? It was unusual to walk through the mansion at that hour without bumping into someone, especially in the kitchen.

Keith came into the kitchen, looking around and not seeing anything obvious. He opened the fridge, letting his eyes scan over the food and various beverages.

" Aha!" He exclaimed, seeing the paper was wedged underneath one of the bottles. " Come here." Keith smirked while pulling it out and opening it.

Go where you're most creative.

Keith's expression wore obvious perplexity. When he thought of being creative, he thought of the tattoo parlor. He was brought back to those many late nights he'd spent drawing up sketches for clients, and to all the good times he'd had there.

But wait... sketches!

Lance couldn't have been telling him to drive to the parlor. It must've been his sketchbook. But where had he left it? Probably his room. Damn Lance for making him run around so much.

Once Keith got back to where he started, he opened up his dresser and grabbed the sketchbook that Lance had given him. It was on top of the other ones he'd swiped from his apartment on their little... field trip.

As soon as he picked it up, a note fell out from in between the pages.

Keith smiled while picking it up.

It's dark. Rather ambient~ Come find me. You're so close

Where in the mansion was dark and ambient? Keith began thinking and retracing his steps. Lance hadn't been in the kitchen, so that option was a no go.

He went wandering through the vacant halls, peeking inside Lance's room to find it void of his presence. And after searching the whole upper level, Keith went back downstairs to the main level.

" Lance! Come on!" He called out. " I'm not a fucking detective."

No response, even though Keith had half expected one. He rolled his eyes while strolling around, not knowing where to start. Once he looked down one of the many hallways, Keith saw that all of the rooms were illuminated except for one.

He smirked.

While he approached the room, he saw that it was the large dining room. It wasn't the small eat in area by the kitchen. It was the more formal place where many people could be seated comfortably.

Keith peeked inside the doorway, finding candle light and the smell of Italian food welcoming him. His eyes widened a bit as he hesitantly stepped in.

" L-Lance...?" Keith stammered, walking more inside.

That's when he felt arms around him from behind, but instead of them forcing him a certain way, it was embrace-like. Keith, for once, wasn't getting kidnapped.

" Hey~" Lance affectionately whispered. He leaned to press a kiss on Keith's cheek and pepper a few of them down the smaller boy's jawline and neck.

" What is all this?" Keith asked, dumbfounded.

" I made us dinner. Your birthday should be really special." Lance said, smirking once his eyes looked over Keith's clothes. " I see you found your first present."

Nobody had ever done anything like this for Keith before, and though he wanted to be irritated that Lance had made a huge fuss over him, it was romantic and made his heart swell with appreciation.

They'd barely been dating for a couple weeks, yet there Lance was treating him like royalty.

Keith's face was overtaken with blush as he stood there in Lance's arms. How could someone who went through the significant trauma Lance had bounce back to become such an amazing person? He was at a loss for words, having not the slightest idea in the world.

He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but no words came out. Only a repressed breath released from him as he gawked.

Lance smiled to himself proudly.

" Come take a seat, Baby." He said, ushering Keith toward the table. Lance pulled out Keith's chair like the gentleman he was, letting his boyfriend sit down.

As Lance sat on the other side of the table from Keith, the shorter boy was still shocked.

" How did you do all this?" Keith asked. His eyes were zig-zagging all around the table to eye the confections Lance had prepared for the two of them. Somehow he must have known that Keith was a slut for Italian food, because there was a great amount of it set out.

" I have my ways." Lance teased.

How he could be so casual after organizing something like this, Keith didn't know.

It was only then that Keith saw Lance was dressed nicely in a button up shirt. He blushed even more, seeing how sexily cleaned up his boyfriend was.

" Where is everyone? I haven't seen anyone." Keith was still puzzled about why the mansion was a practical ghost town aside from Lance and himself.

" I had them go out. Shiro took them on a mini vacation for the night." Lance devilishly leered at Keith. At least with everyone gone, they wouldn't have to worry about keeping down their volume. They could do whatever the hell they wanted. Though it had taken a lot of convincing on Lance's part to get Shiro to agree to it, he'd managed to pull it off.

" Shiro really left us here alone?" Keith's eyes widened in surprise.

" Yeah." Lance bit his lip excitedly.

Keith had so many questions, but he knew that if he kept asking them, he had the potential to ruin the mood Lance had worked so hard to establish. He shied away from asking anymore things that pertained to how he'd done it, and focused on enjoying the end result.

A little later, Keith had loaded up on caprese salad, as well as the mysterious pasta dish Lance had put together. He also had been feasting on the cheese bread, which was phenomenal to say the least. Thankfully he'd gotten some tips from Hunk about it all, so it added some extra pizazz to the already vibrant flavors.

" So..." Lance said after conversation died out. " I got you something..." He blushed, hoping that he'd done the right thing.

Keith perked up with a mouthful of pasta.

" There's more?" He asked in a muffled voice.

Lance had talked to Shiro, along with Pidge in his attempts to find a fitting present for his boyfriend. He was tempted to do something crude and get him a sex toy or something like that, but Lance ultimately let his more romantic and caring side make the decision for him. He wanted to get Keith something that he would've realistically enjoyed.

He pulled out a box, one that he'd tied a red ribbon around.

Keith nearly choked on his pasta as he swallowed.

" You're so extra." He told Lance, covering his mouth and getting shyer. He wasn't used to being spoiled, and that said a lot considering that they lived in a mansion. People rarely went out of their way to do things like this for him, and Keith greatly admired Lance for having made an effort, even if it made him greatly flustered.

" I know I am." Lance beamed, handing the box over the table to Keith.

Keith looked down at the box while raising an eyebrow. He wasn't sure what to expect from Lance.

Slowly, cautiously, Keith pulled the ribbon and undid the bow Lance had tied it in. He laid it atop the table and opened up the box.

Inside of it, there was a beautiful knife. It had obviously been customized from the looks of it. The handle was iridescent, and reflected back with a rainbow of different colors. The blade was a very shiny and imperfection free silver-steely color. Keith gasped a bit, knowing that a knife like that would've costed a fair amount of money. Especially with his name engraved into it.

" Lance-" Keith tried to say.

" Shiro told me about your knife collection..." Lance blushed.

Keith thought back to his apartment, and how he hadn't taken his knives when they'd made the very brief trip back there. He had a whole drawer of them. But this knife- Keith had never seen anything like it before.

" It's beautiful." Keith fondly smiled at Lance.

" I'm glad you like it." Lance fiddled with the bottom of his shirt underneath the table.

After he'd fallen for Keith, he began spiralling and tailspinning. He couldn't control the growth of his ever deeper feelings for him. Though they'd only been skin deep at first, Lance found that they were digging more into him everyday to anchor onto his heart. It was like his feelings were a tree, and the roots were wrapping and tangling around his entire being until he was overtaken. The seedling that the emotions had been before was getting larger everyday, getting more mature with every passing moment he spent by Keith's side.

Never had he ever been so enamored with someone before. He could've sworn that they were moving too fast, and that the feelings he harbored should've taken months, if not years to develop. But that was only if Lance didn't believe in love at first sight. Or in their case, love at first fuck. Close enough, right?

Keith admired the swirling designs in the handle. It reminded him of what opals looked like.

He closed the box, stood up, and rounded around the table.

" Keith?" Lance asked.

Keith kissed his cheek a couple times, smiling and chuckling like a lovestruck idiot.

Lance felt a grin creeping onto his face as Keith brushed a light kiss over his lips.

" Thank you..." Keith told him, and the most grateful, most fond look was unshakable on his face while he looked at Lance. " I've never had anyone do anything like this for me... like... ever."

Lance could've sworn that he'd never felt closer to anyone than he did to Keith in that very moment. His feelings were growing exponentially, and he already couldn't imagine his world without his hot, bitchy, standoffish, yet secretly shy boyfriend.

He reached up and raked Keith's bangs back with his hand, only then noticing that his hair was pulled back. He felt an invisible Cupid's arrow pierce his heart while seeing it.

Lance's mind drew a blank, and his mouth was agape for a moment.

" What?" Keith asked him.

" You're so cute." Lance told him, playing with Keith's mullet. It was a tuft of raven black hair right then, and Lance was fascinated with it.

Keith couldn't help but blush. He and Lance might've had a lot of differences, but when it came down to it, he knew that nobody else in the world understood him the way Lance did. No one else made him feel as good as Lance could.