{ I smell tea... a lot of it... }

" This is bad... so bad. I'm sorry we had to see the new place under these circumstances." Shiro apologized as he hugged Keith in the doorway, Keith really having to stand on his toes to even reach him. Behind Shiro, Matt and Pidge were on the doorstep as well.

Lance stood behind Keith and got a hug from Shiro as well after everything. It seemed like a hug fest for a while there, but after they'd gotten it all out of the way, Lance invited them to the large dining room. There, they all took a seat. It was a moment of silence that went by in the room as they all thought about the events that had come to pass in the recent hours.

Dramageddon 2.0 was quickly on its way to becoming a thing as Allura's convention/party or "Alluracon" approached. What with Twitter campaigns to storm the building and take her out, as well as Allura's followers marketing anti-Klance merch, things were coming close to a climax that no one wanted to even think about.

" It seems like they are going to riot no matter what you tell them." Pidge finally said from across the table, Kosmo being curled up by her feet and hiding beneath the table.

" This is ridiculous, though. Can't the cops shut the event down?" Matt asked, shaking his head. There was no way that it could take place with people planning such drastic measures and even attacks.

" I already checked on that...  they can't impede on her right to throw an event because she hasn't committed a crime, and she's also not marketing it as a hate rally. Her followers just took it to that point. Technically they're not breaking any laws yet because everyone has free speech..." Shiro said, leaning more over the table. He knew that he was an important player in all of this, being that he had a lot of influence over the public and money to change things.

" Well... if me and Keith telling them not to go isn't going to work..." Lance began. " We need to figure out a way to keep them away from the convention."

Keith sat there and stared at the table for a moment, but it only took a few seconds before the idea hit him smack dab in the face.

" What if Lance and I throw our own convention?" He asked the group. " That would make them want to come and see us more than attack her, right?"

" I mean... yeah... it's an idea. But on such short notice? We only have a week until this shit-show goes down." Pidge scratched her head and tried to think about it.

" I could probably get this done... I have people in the right places... but if you make the price like hers, you're no better than she is for her outrageous tickets." Shiro looked over to Keith and gave him the kind of stern look only an older sibling could. It was one of knowledge and more experience, and knowing things Keith and Lance wouldn't have thought about themselves.

" That's true." Matt added. " You have to make yours more appealing..."

" Let's just make it free, then." Lance suggested. That was a bold move... but as he thought about it... it made sense. " It would be an insult to Allura, and it would make them flock to us. Win win."

" We have the money for that?" Keith asked.

" I think so..." Lance replied.

" And if you don't, I could maybe help. The venue and marketing will be the most expensive part, so if I take care of that for you both, the food and goodies and other essentials would be on you." Shiro told them all, and Keith and Lance exchanged a glance. It was almost like a telepathic connection had formed between them as they agreed at the same time, and with that, both of their scent glands were tingling.

" Okay then." Shiro said. " I'll make some calls and find a venue in LA and get my PR people on the marketing."

" Thank you, Shiro... I can't tell you how much this means to me." Keith told his brother, who put a hand on his shoulder.

" I've been saving your ass since before you could even walk." The older brother chuckled. " It's fine."

Keith deadpanned and Lance laughed a little, earning a punch in the arm from his omega. And Shiro left the room with his phone out, weaving into the front entryway.

" So... now that we have that hammered out... where's Romelle?" Pidge asked.

" She left for Lotor's place last night... said not to wait up." Keith responded, and Pidge and Matt looked at each other.

" You are totally right." He said.

" I know." Pidge beamed.

" About?" Lance raised a brow from across the table.

" That they're way more than just friends. That's what." Pidge said. The look on her face read that she was proud of herself, even if the effects of Romelle and Lotor being in a relationship would've caused another PR problem.

" I've had my suspicions... but I haven't asked her about it." Keith sighed. " I don't want it to be true, but at the same time... he makes her happy. I'm not going to get in the way of that, but if she wants to keep it a secret from me... it's kind of dumb."

" I want to hear it from her. Plus, people would say we were lying in our series if this got out too soon..." Lance added. " I mean... if this lasts... the public will figure it out eventually. We just have to make sure that there's enough time in between so we can say it didn't happen until well after the series was over..."

" I agree." Pidge said. " I knew at the pregnancy announcement that there was something going on..."

It was a few hours later by the time Shiro had gotten the marketing handled and his people had come up with things for Lance and Keith to post on Instagram and Twitter. It would be the same time as Allura's party, but at a venue on the other side of LA, and at a time when traffic would've caused it to be an hour's drive at least.

" Sweet... when should we post it all?" Lance asked Shiro over the phone, where he was currently cuddled up with Keith and Kosmo. By that time, Shiro and the others had left, and he had only texted the marketing image to them and called them.

" Now. Get it out as soon as possible. We need as much damage control as we can get..." Shiro told them, and after the phone call was over, Lance and Keith updated their social media with all of the information.

" I'm just happy that we have that all sorted out... now we just have to handle the other small stuff." Lance leaned back in the couch pillows, relieved, but Keith's mind wasn't as clear as his boyfriend's. As much as he wanted to drop it, he was stubborn and was bad about letting certain things go. Living in the house since his question had been left unanswered didn't help inhibit the curiosity, either.

" Lance..." Keith sat up. " Can you tell me the truth?"

Lance furrowed his brows.

" About? What, I said my dick was 7 and ¾ and if you don't believe me I'll grab the ruler and-"

" Not about that... I know that one was true." Keith gulped and looked to the side. He didn't want to sound like he was accusing him of something, even as he came off that way.

" What about then?" Lance asked.

" About how we afforded the downpayment on this place, about how we're not going to bankrupt ourselves just by  paying the mortgage and property taxes... I know we made a lot of money, but not enough for this..."

Lance felt himself breaking into a nervous sweat. He knew that he would've had to tell Keith about the Shiro deal eventually, but he was just praying that his omega wouldn't be mad. He didn't want it to turn into a power struggle or something else.

" Listen... I didn't want to bring it up right away... but Shiro loaned us money for this..." Lance confessed, sitting up as well and scratching the back of his neck anxiously.

" Why would you ask him for money when we could've just bought something smaller?" Keith asked him.

" Because I wanted the best for you... and Shiro and I had an important talk about yours and my future together... basically he was trying to make sure that I was going to be the one for you... you know?" Lance began. " I told him that I'm planning on getting in contact with a record label and following my dreams soon, and when that happens, we'll have the money for this place long term."

Keith sat there with wide eyes.

" You mean... you're finally going to sing?"

Lance nodded.

" I'm getting older and I don't want to let my young life pass me by. I want to put myself out there... I want to make a life for us. I want to give you what you deserve and build a foundation for us to... you know... maybe have a family someday... get married, bond... all that..." Lance couldn't say that he wasn't nervous about everything, but he knew that if he made his music, the fanbase he already had would've loved him and supported it.

Keith thought about everything and his face began to grow red. He had never had someone go through all that just to make him happy.

" So you kept it from me why?" He asked.

" I... I don't know. I wondered if you'd be mad... plus, I didn't want to worry you..."

" I'm not mad, Lance... it made me more worried that you were hiding it." Keith chuckled.

Lance felt himself finally able to breathe as Keith told him that. They cuddled again afterwards, and thoughts of the future ran through their minds as they did so. There was nothing that could stop their happiness, and they were going to make sure that no one else tried to.

...

" Just try to calm down, okay?

" They can't fucking do this!" Allura exclaimed. She practically had smoke blowing from her ears as she stared down at Lance's Instagram post. Of course he had her blocked, but there were screenshots of it all over Twitter.

" They are." James replied. He was laying on the bed in his house, and Allura had come by, sitting by him. They obviously couldn't hang at her place anymore what with his ankle bracelet and everything.

" THIS IS BULLSHIT!" She yelled. Things were not good in the slightest and she was beginning to spiral. This war just got to a new level of petty and she was prepared to make it even worse, even if at a loss to herself.

" Lower your voice and breathe." James told her.

Allura was fuming and threw her phone across the room, clenching her fists. She was almost like a wild animal as her temper got worse and she pulled at her own hair. There was nothing she hated more than being one upped.

James' eyes bulged and he realized she had an even worse temper than Keith. He knew what always worked to calm an omega down, so that was his next resort after asking her and telling her what he wanted didn't work. He thought about the look in Keith's eyes and the calm that washed over him whenever he used it and hoped that Allura would be the same.

" STOP!" He yelled back in his alpha voice, making her freeze. " JUST KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF AND BREATHE!"

She stood still for a moment before sitting back on the bed and not making a sound. Well... that had worked? Sort of. He sighed and got up, circling around and putting his hands on her shoulders. In her eyes, it spoke to him that she was done yelling.

" We're gonna figure this out. I know you're embarrassed, but we'll get those bitches..."

" H-How?" She stammered, wiping her eyes. It was almost a daze-like state that she'd been in after James had raised his voice at her, but it was all melting away by then. It weirdly didn't make her made that he had done that, rather, she was thankful that she'd been broken away from her temper.

James tried to think (for once), and looked to the side.

" Well... based off of what you showed me... they're banking on the fact that theirs is free and yours isn't. What if you made yours free, too?" He asked.

" I already sold out of tickets and collected the fees, though... returning it all would be a hassle." She replied lowly.

" I don't know what else you can do, then... I tried." He told her. " You'll just have to make them look bad and desperate for copying you..."

" That's exactly what they did, too. They're only doing this to be petty pieces of shit and it's fucking dumb... I can't have anything in life." She huffed.

" So tell everyone that." James smirked a bit.

That was all it took for Allura to get up and find her phone, which was somehow unharmed after slamming into a wall. She went straight to Twitter again, feeling even more infuriated than before as she saw the tweets.

Totally going to Klancecon. Allura can go lick some crusty toes

I would rather star in Shrek is Love Shrek is Life than go to Alluracon

Eat my shit @ Allura

Lance and Keith are the petty queens I aspire to be in life

Allura grit her teeth and went to go type her tweet. There was no way she was letting them get away with this, not without a fight.

...

Lance was just scrolling on Twitter with Keith asleep on his chest when he was suddenly flooded with more tweets. He rolled his eyes and thought about anything that would've been happening, then went to check it out. He was led to Allura's page, where she found that she had tweeted and tagged both Keith and himself.

To think that I even have to be saying this at this point is disgusting. I can't even have a party without people who I've tried to cut out of my life for good coming in to steal my victory. The whole reason for me throwing Alluracon is to celebrate my strength through the Lance situation. Yet... why can't he let it go? You and Keith have some serious issues that you should be working out with each other instead of coming for me. Thanks.

Lance rolled his eyes when he read the tweet. She sure wasn't looking to do him any favors, was she? The people were only going to be even more worked up and she wasn't making any effort to calm them down, only adding fuel to the fire.

The alpha would've been mad had he not come up with a solution to divert his and Keith's fans already, but instead... he let Keith sleep and settled back.

That was until he heard the front door open. When he heard the footsteps, though, he knew that it was Romelle. He eased back and decided not to ask her about staying at Lotor's or tell her that they all knew.

They had much bigger fish to fry, and he wasn't going to be able to get through the week without sleeping. Or at least... attempting to.

{ Do ya'll hear the tea kettle screeching? I do... ;) }