"You've gotten sloppy," Shiro laughed as he grappled Keith into an arm bar.

Keith held out for a few moments before wincing and tapping out. Shiro immediately released him and Keith bent his elbow a few times to stretch it. "I haven't practiced in a while." He scowled.

Shiro sauntered to his gear and snatched up his water bottle. "Guess that means you'll have to practice double as much to make up for it." He chuckled.

"As if," Keith sat on a bench and stretched feeling every muscle in his back wail. Extra curricular activities were neglected when second semester hit and his grades started to slip. The college life got a little rough and it was touch and go for a while, but he managed to bounce back. Not to mention, exams were over and now he's free. With a part time job at a local flower shop, he still had some free time on his hands and was more than happy to rejoin Shiro in Karate.

Shiro owned the karate studio, it was small but it made good profit. The building actually had a few businesses, one was a small office for a local paper company that was definitely going out of business, there was a dance studio, and a doggy daycare. Keith liked it because as you'd walk through the hallway, you could often look through the windows into the other establishments. Sometimes he'd stop to watch the dogs, and, while more rare, he'd watch some of the dancers. They were probably used to being watched, but Keith still felt weird about staring at them. He would probably be uncomfortable if someone watched him workout through the windows of the karate studio. However, what was possibly the all time best perk of having the businesses there, is how, on occasion, dogs would get loose and run rampant.

Keith always kept his eye out for when Pidge was working in the daycare. Sometimes, when she's there and he has the time, he'll go in and play with the mass of dogs. Tug o' war, fetch, chase; he probably got more exercise playing than by doing karate.

Shiro swished some water in his mouth before swallowing. "Adam and I were at the market yesterday and the worker who checked us out was very cute and your age." He gave Keith a nudge with his elbow.

"And your point is?" Keith folded his arms.

"Oh come on," Shiro rolled his eyes, "it wouldn't kill you to at least try."

"Are you sure about that?" Keith deadpanned.

"Whatever, you're so stubborn." Shiro sighed pulling out a set of keys. "I'm gonna take off, it's date night and Adam will kill me if I'm late. Mind locking up when you're done?"

"Sure," Keith looped the ring of keys on his finger and spun them. He waved Shiro off and tossed the keys in his gym bag. He stretched for  a bit before putting on a pair of gloves and practiced sparring against a punching bag.

Keith launched a half assed roundhouse and slumped against the punching bag exhaustedly. He'd been going at it for over a half an hour. Checking the time, he realized it would be dinner shortly and he was actually pretty hungry.

Keith put away the equipment, grabbed his things, and locked up the studio. He was tired, and his walk through the hallways almost felt like a shuffle. He tipped his head as he passed the dance studio to see if there were any dancers out.

Keith swallowed hard at the sight. Coco brown hair, caramel tanned skin, his eyes like blueberries tipped down at the ground. He's tall but slender and seemed to be in some type of ballet position. He had on the boxy ballet shoes so that's all he had to assume that's what he was doing.

Keith briefly stopped as he continued to stare. He hadn't seen him before. The boy was wearing black leggings with stripes of mesh so you could see his smooth, thin, legs in all their glory. His sweater said 'stretch, sweat, pirouette' and the sleeves were bunched up at his elbows. His legs were elegantly crossed, and he was on the tips of his toes which had to be painful. However, if it was, he didn't show any sign of pain, in fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. His hands hung in the air gracefully and his body curved beautifully.

It wasn't until he moved that Keith was truly breathless. The toe of his left foot glided across the floor and he turned with his other foot lifting in the air. This kid was beyond flexible, his leg was straight in the air and it seemed effortless to him. The boy's eyes moved up from the floor only to meet with Keith's.

Keith flushed deeply when the boy flashed a small smile. Caught staring, Keith awkwardly returned the gesture and sped away. When he made it to his car, he closed the door feeling like a disaster. What was that? What did he just witness?

He considered brining it up to Shiro the next day, but decided against it. Knowing him, there would be an onslaught of teasing and would demand he get his number.

Keith was feeling slightly more nervous when he walked into the building today. He decided he'd check to see if Pidge was working before starting his workout. He opened the door to the doggy daycare seeing ginger hair. But he froze when he caught sight of the boy from yesterday sitting on the front desk. Pidge and the boy seemed to be laughing about something and when he heard the sound of the door, he looked over his shoulder.

Keith's heartbeat picked up and his legs turned to noodles. "Sup," Pidge greeted, she looked down at a few papers, "good timing, your favorite dog, Bruce, just got dropped off..." she looked up to see Keith was no longer there. "Where'd he go?" Pidge frowned.

Keith sped down the hallway trying to remember how to breath. Since when did he have to remind himself to blink? Just seeing the boy made him forget how to function! Keith was beginning to panic, he'd never gotten so flustered over someone in his life!

He walked into the karate studio and let out a breath of relief. Shiro was teaching a class of kids and he waved when Keith walked in.

Keith decided to spar with a bag like last night to try and get his mind off the embarrassing encounter.

When the kids class ended, the adult class followed suit. "Hey, would you mind teaching a class tomorrow?" Shiro asked.

"Sure, kids or adult?" Keith grabbed the punching bag to steady it.

"Kids." Shiro grinned. "Thanks a lot."

Shiro started teaching the adult class and Keith sighed deciding to call it quits for the day. He headed out waving bye to Shiro.

He started past the window of the dance studio and his eyes landed on the boy instantly. His walk slowed into a halt as he watched him glide across the floor. He was wearing black spandex shorts with a very loose white shirt.

This time his routine appeared to be more difficult. His skin was shiny with sweat and his body moved fast and swift. They boys head turned in the direction of the window and Keith immediately looked away and sped walked off. The boy probably thought he was a stalker at this point, and Keith couldn't blame him.

He sighed to himself and was about to walk past the doggy daycare before deciding he'd see Pidge. After all, his morning visit only lasted a whopping three seconds before he fled.

Keith opened the door and saw Pidge sitting up to the front desk looking bored. She perked up when she saw Keith. "Gonna stick around this time?"

Keith smiled, "Only if Bruce is here."

They went back to the dog pen and Keith hopped in only to be bombarded by every dog there. He tried to give attention to as many as he could and Pidge laughed at him.

"So... uh," Keith rubbed at his neck with embarrassment, "who was the guy here this morning?"

"You mean Lance?" She leaned against the edge of the dog pen.

"Uh, yeah, the dancer." Keith scratched behind a dog's ear.

"Yup, that's Lance." She gave a cocky grin. "Why you want to know?"

"I was just asking, I mean, he seems nice." Keith tried to side step whatever she was hinting at.

"Oh, 'he seems nice,'" Pidge mocked. "Bull, you came for intel."

"Okay, okay, just don't say anything, don't even mention me." Keith pleaded.

"Too, late." She cracked a grin. When Keith gave her a nervous look she rolled her eyes. "He was asking about you. But don't worry, I told him you're single and awkward."

"Gee. Thanks." Keith deadpanned. However, he felt a surge of excitement. Lance? Asking about him?

And the name, Lance. It was a lovely name and suited him better than any of Keith's lame guesses. It was elegant and smooth, much like him.

It occurred to Keith that maybe he was building Lance up in his head, and that he wouldn't be anything like he pictured.

"What's Lance like? Like when you talked to him," Keith asked tossing a toy and watching the mass of dogs all chase after it blindly.

"I don't know, maybe you should grow a pair and talk to him yourself." Pidge raised her eyebrows.

"Fair enough." Keith sighed. "Where's Bruce?"

At the sound of his name, the very old and grumpy looking St. Bernard stepped out of his doghouse. Upon seeing Keith, he broke into a small trot and Keith immediately began scratching under his collar just like he likes.

"Who's a good boy?" Keith cooed. They heard the door open and close up front,

"Hey Pidgeon, you still here?" Rung out a voice. It was male but slightly higher.

Pidge gave him a very mischievous look and Keith quickly shook his head. "Yup! Back here!" She called.

In a split decision out of self preservation, Keith lunged to get out of view. This of course meant he was now knees to chest, scrunched, cramped, and in Bruce's dog house. He heard the light footsteps enter the room and gulped.

"Hey," Lance sauntered in.

"Sup," Pidge said while reaching into the pen to give a golden retriever a few pets.

"Back here alone?" Lance smiled leaning over the edge letting half his body hang in with the dogs. He ran his hands everywhere to give them attention.

"Nope! Keith is here too! Aren't you Keith?" She yelled a little to happily.

"Uh, yup!" Keith stuck a thumbs up out of the dog house. What was he doing? He was making this even weirder!

"Keith?" Lance stood up straighter. "Wait, what are you doing in a dog house?" He laughed.

"Right, um, Pidge asked me if I could check it out. Looks great in here Pidge!" Keith stuck out another thumbs up. What was wrong with him?! He forbade himself from giving a thumbs up ever again. He shifted and he felt his hand plunge into the water bowl.

Keith shuddered. "You okay?" Pidge laughed.

"Yup, just stuck my hand in the water bowl." Keith gave another thumbs up. At this point he was seriously considering chopping off his hand. A thumbs up is not cool. Why does he keep doing it!

Lance let out a genuine laugh and it made Keith's head go blank. "Well, I'm going to take off, I have work in an hour. Bye Pidge." Lance looked to the dog house. "Bye Keith, enjoy your doghouse." Lance waved.

"Oh it's not my dog house- it's just I'm..."

"He already left, Keith." Pidge was holding back a deadly laugh.

Keith stuck his head out with a large frown. "Not a word."

Keith went home and happily took a shower. As disastrous as the encounter seemed, Lance noticeably didn't care.

Keith dried his hair and tied the towel around his waist. He went to walk to his room but Shiro stopped him. "Hey, Adam and I are going to the market, wanna come with?"

"Sure, I'll just change quick." Keith put on a pair of black ripped jeans and a NASA shirt that said 'Houston, I have so many problems', a red flannel and a dark jean jacket over the top. He pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail and called it good. He walked out to find Shiro and Adam ready to go. Keith slipped on a pair of boots. It was still very early in spring and a thin layer of snow was still on the ground and the air was still chilly enough to bite at your cheeks.

In the car, Keith finally decided to tell Shiro about Lance. "Ooh, a dancer huh?" Shiro looked at him teasingly.

Adam was driving and glanced at Keith in his rear view mirror. "Is he nice?"

"I've only talked to him once and it was from a doghouse." Keith mumbled. Shiro opened his mouth to question it. "Don't ask."

"Well, I think he sounds lovely." Adam smiled.

"I don't know, you should still give the boy at the market some consideration too." Shiro hummed.

"Is that why you wanted me to come with?" Keith frowned.

"Only partially," Shiro smiled as they parked.

"I can't stand you." Keith huffed as they got out.

Adam pushed the cart through the aisles and Shiro and Keith blindly followed.

Keith was looking around slightly bored and he nearly choked when he saw Lance wearing a uniform and stocking shelves.

Shiro was trying to sneak a package of Oreos into the cart when Adam wasn't looking and looked up to see what Keith was staring at. "Hey, that's the boy I keep telling you about." Shiro smiled.

Keith's eyes went wide. "That's Lance! The boy I keep telling you about."

Shiro seemed to light up. "Do I know my brother or do I know my brother?" He grinned cockily.

"Can it." Keith rolled his eyes.

Lance's head lifted and he started to turn around. Keith dove behind a row of shelves without a second thought.

"Keith, stop being weird and go talk to him." Adam said not even looking up from the grocery list.

"Absolutely not. I'm not prepared!" Keith whisper yelled despite them obviously being out of ear shot.

"You'll never be prepared. Just go." Shiro leaned against his husband.

"No way." Keith grumbled.

"What? You're so cute Keith, he'll be thrilled if you do." Adam pinched his cheek and Keith pouted. "Unless you make that face."

"I'm not doing it." Keith said. "That's final."

Adam and Shiro both looked at each other in mutual agreement.

Shiro hauled Keith over his shoulder and set him in the cart. "Shiro! No!"

"Bet you wished you trained more!" Shiro ran the cart straight in the direction of Lance. When he had enough momentum, he let go and Keith was on his way into possibly the most embarrassing encounter in history. The cart slowed to a roll and barely tapped the shelf bringing him to a halt. Lance immediately turned to him.

"Keith?" Lance looked surprised.

"Uh, hi?" Keith smiled awkwardly gripping the edges of the cart tight.

"That's one way to make an entrance," he grinned holding a can of diced tomatoes in his hand.

"Well, I just needed..." Keith looked forward to see cans of corn, "corn!" He grabbed one and set it in the cart.

"Right," he grinned and set the can in his hand on the shelf. "Well, since you're here, are you going to karate tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to teach the kid's class." Keith calmed a little at the normal conversation.

"Teach?" Lance seemed to be intrigued at that.

"Uh, yeah. My brother owns the karate studio." Keith explained.

"That's awesome! I thought I recognized him." Lance said glancing in the direction of where Adam and Shiro were hiding behind the shelves. "You must be like a ninja if you're teaching it."

"A ninja?" Keith chuckled. "I don't know about that,"

"Well, I guess I'll just have to see for myself." The corner of Lance's lips curled up into a devious smile. "When you finish teaching, are you free?"

"I mean, I have to work later but I have an hour spare." Keith answered excitement bubbling through his body.

"Well in that case, you should stop by the dance studio." He winked making Keith's cheeks turn a deep crimson. "Where do you work by the way?"

Keith was still getting over the obvious flirting and took a moment to comprehend the question. Should he tell him? Flower shop isn't exactly the most masculine. Lance didn't seem like the person to care about that though.

Keith opened his mouth to answer but he stopped when Shiro and Adam cut in; their arms full with groceries. "Sorry, we tried to get what we could without the cart." Adam apologized as they dropped everything in the cart and burying Keith in the process.

"Uh, hi, I'm Lance," he extended his hand to Shiro and Adam. They both shook it introducing themselves as well. "Right, well I should get back to work. My manager is giving me the stink eye," Lance smiled and waved while he walked away. "Was nice to meet you, see you tomorrow Keith." He winked.

Keith felt his cheeks go bright at the gesture and sighed when Shiro gave him a smug look. Adam started pushing the cart despite Keith's struggle to get out.

The next day, Keith felt especially nervous. He spent a little extra time pulling his hair back and picked out his favorite workout clothes. He started the kids class upbeat. He actually preferred teaching them over the adults, they were far more entertaining and he didn't have to worry so much about being awkward.

He had them start with the warm ups and demonstrated in the front so everyone could see. All the kids followed along wearing their uniforms with belts of all colors.

One kid let out a pained noise as he attempted to touch his forehead to his knee when stretching. Keith let out a chuckle, "Take it easy,"

Keith happened to look up and caught a glimpse of someone familiar in the window. Lance. He felt his chest tighten and he became a little more nervous with him watching. Why not embrace it though?

Keith locked eyes with Lance and waved him to come in the studio. Lance almost seemed a little hesitant but smiled as he opened the door and walked in. He was wearing black leggings and a tight fitted white shirt. Lance had his arms crossed and had a small grin as he watched Keith lead.

Keith's favorite part was doing the splits. Simply because the kids would make the funniest comments and often push themselves to the absolute limits. Keith went down all the way into the splits and laughed hearing the wails of his students. He looked up to catch a specific look from Lance, impressed but knowing that he could do it better.

"Hey Lance, why don't you show us how it's done?" Keith smirked. Lance raised his eyebrows and dropped his arms as he slowly walked onto the mats. He grabbed onto a bar that was holding up a punching bag and lifted his leg slowly. Keith expected it to stop when his leg was straight in the air however his leg bowed in enough for his toes to touch the top of bar. Keith was impressed and even felt a small blush rise to his cheeks at the view.

Lance lowered his leg and smiled at Keith. "There's a little drool on your chin." He mocked.

Keith pulled a sarcastic laugh, "Alright, time to actually get into it. Line up at the punching bags." The kids split up into even lines in front of a set of three bags.

Keith walked up to one, "Alright, time to learn the actual cool stuff. You're going to slide in like this..." he skimmed his foot across the ground, "hit with your elbow, then slide back and throw a roundhouse." He demonstrated slowly. "Start off at your own pace and then speed up." He then did it again all in one swift movement so quick you'd miss it if you blinked.

Keith set them off on their own to practice the movements and sauntered up to Lance. "So? Come to join the kids class?"

Lance chuckled, "I actually came to watch the teacher,"

"I can't focus with you watching me from the window." Keith smiled and folded his arms.

"Now you know how I feel." Lance nudged him laughing.

Keith went to protest but had nothing, "Fair enough,"

"Keith! Keith! Watch!" A little girl jumped in the air and attempted to kick the bag with both feet. She let out a loud 'OOF' when she fell on her butt.

"Executed like a true future karate master." Keith complimented holding back the laughs that were threatening to erupt.

When they finished, they had a bit of fun learning blocks and other moves. Lance helped and even attempted a few with the help of Keith.

When the class finished, most parents were already there to pick up their kids. Only two were still waiting. In the meantime, they entertained them. Keith hauled a kid on his shoulders by his legs and shook him around causing giggles to erupt. Lance watched laughing as Keith happily entertained.

Not a bit later, all the kids had been picked up and left the two boys alone together in the studio. "Those are probably the goofiest kids I ever met." Lance laughed.

Keith chuckled quickly locking up the supplies. They walked out together and Keith locked the studio.

"My turn!" He pulled Keith toward the dancing studio.

"W-what?"

"You heard me." Lance smirked as he dragged him inside.

Keith sat on the benches and watched as Lance worked through his warmups. He'd lift his pointed toes to his knee and extend it with swift precision. Even after doing it numerous times, his balance didn't waver, and his legs didn't shake with exertion.

Keith quickly decided that he was very fond of listening to Lance talk. He liked his voice and how animated it could get. The way it would get a little higher when he was embarrassed or grow softer when he talked about his family.

"I've been rambling," Lance blurted with a chuckle. "You've barely told me anything about you."

"I like hearing you ramble." Keith tilted his head and smiled. Lance blushed a light pink.

Keith glanced at the time and shot up startling Lance. "I gotta go, I don't wanna be late for work." He collected his workout bag and threw it over his shoulder.

Lance frowned slightly. "Okay,"

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Lance gave an excited smile and Keith returned it with just as much enthusiasm.

As Keith left and passed in front of the studio window, he saw Lance doing a series of spins happily. It made his heart pound a little harder.

When Keith made it to work (almost late), he was practically in a daze. He'd find himself getting lost in thought and tripping or overwatering the flowers. He changed into a white button up tucked into dark jeans and wore a red apron over the top. His sleeves were carefully rolled up to his elbow and he was wearing a pair of gloves as he arranged an assortment of 'get well soon' flowers. He snipped off the ends and carefully placed them in the vase one at a time. Delicately moving them to show off the array of colors and unique petals.

The bell above the door rang and Keith looked up to greet the customers. "Afternoon!" He called out, but he froze seeing who walked through the door. Pidge led the way, and following her was, the one and only, Lance.

Lance didn't notice Keith until he had greeted them. But when he did, his cheeks turned a bright sherbet pink. "I-I didn't know you worked at a flower shop." A wide grin slowly spread across his face.

Keith flushed. This was incredibly embarrassing. He cut Pidge a glare while she simply shrugged with a small guiltless smile. "Lance and I are hanging out, we were passing by and I figured we could pop in and say hi."

"Did you now?" Keith snipped the stem of a flower 'threateningly'.

"I'll admit Pidgeon, you had me confused for a minute there. But you're right, I was not disappointed." Lance grinned brightly and Keith had to look away, the embarrassment too great.

"I don't know why you losers ever doubt me." She rolled her eyes as she swatted at a fly buzzing too close to her face.

Lance sauntered up to some of the flowers and inspected them carefully. Occasionally he leaned down to give them a sniff.

Pidge elbowed Keith who was staring shamelessly. "Make your move loverboy." She said through gritted teeth. "I'm being a total wingman right now and you're letting the opportunity go to waste."

"You're right." Keith swallowed hard as he eyed the beautiful boy. He shakily moved to grab some flowers, only picking the most suiting and perfect ones and carefully arranged them. He tied around the stems with a complimentary blue ribbon to accompany the luscious white lilies, violet lilacs, and some beautiful greenery to fill in the gaps.

Keith gave Pidge a worried look and she nudged him encouragingly.

"Uh, Lance?" Keith cleared his throat and when Lance's beautiful blue eyes met his he almost melted. "Will you go on a date with me?" His voice shook a little, but otherwise he spoke flawlessly.

Lance appeared to be in shock for all but a fraction of a second until he was was smiling widely and pulling Keith into a toothy kiss. He felt Lance's hands resting on his forearms as Keith held the bouquet between them proudly. He couldn't believe it actually worked!

Every time he began to question if Lance was just a perfect dream, he was brought back to the soft lips pressed against his. This was reality, and the reality was, that someone as beautiful and exquisite as Lance liked him and wanted him just as much as he liked and wanted Lance.

When they pulled away it was slow and Keith swore Lance was genuinely glowing. "I'd like that." He answered with a look of pure happiness and hope that wrapped it's claws around Keith's heart and squeezed mercilessly.