Keith was panicking. He'd been casually sitting on his surfboard, legs dangling into the ocean, quite a ways out, when something slick and smooth had rubbed against his leg. He nearly dropped his sketchbook and phone in the ocean in his rush to shove them back into his small, waterproof fanny pack (which he wasn't at all ashamed of, he loved it).

Searching the calm, morning water, his pulse raced. He knew better than to jump to the conclusion that it was a shark, but still.

It was 5:45 a.m.

No one else was in the ocean.

He was completely alone on the calm water.

"It was probably just a fish," Keith thought, panicky, "A tiny little harmless guppie, that's all." Keith looked around once more, then slowly lowered himself back to a kneel, not daring to drag his legs in the water anymore. Gulping, Keith slowly dipped his hand into the crystalline water to start paddling to shore.

Suddenly, something slid up his hand, grabbing his forearm. Keith yelled and jerked back, nearly falling off his board. A brown-haired, blue-eyed face popped up out of the water, glowing with laughter, gills fluttering with glee.

"You should've seen your face!" Lance managed to shout between giggles.

"Lance!" Keith yelled angrily, his hand over his pounding chest.

Lance bobbed in the water, a devilish grin on his lips. "I just had to. Priceless." Keith raked a hand through his hair, still reeling from the shock.

"I'm evicting you from the house," he sputtered, frowning at the mer. He surreptitiously glanced down into the water and saw the blurry form of Lance's sleek tail. The stripes on the boy's cheeks glowed softly as he floated in the water, gazing up at the streaked clouds in the pink sky.

"Only Lord Shiro has that authority," Lance pointed out, and swam to the front of Keith's board, resting his chin on it and letting his lips settle into a smirk as he wrapped his fingers around the edges of the board. "So... you can't really do anything to threaten me," Lance added slowly, then continued, "But it would be a real shame if this board started tipping."

"Don't you fucking dare," Keith hissed nervously, clutching the board. Lance wrenched one side of the board up and Keith shrieked, scrambling to get purchase. "Do it one more time, I dare you," Keith threatened darkly.

"Oops," Lance replied, tipping the board the other way. Keith's face was unadulterated terror- and Lance was loving every second. Keith glared at him, ripples of the motion fanning out across the water. "Okay, okay, I'll stop," Lance laughed, a glint in his eyes.

Seconds later, he slapped his muscled tail on the underside of the surfboard, sending Keith stumbling forward. Lance realized his mistake as Keith lost balance and came falling down, right on top of him.

The impact sent both boys plunging under the surface in a flurry of tiny bubbles. Lance winced- Keith had landed right on top of him. He opened his eyes gingerly, then gaped at Keith.

The teenager no longer looked upset. His body floated above Lance's, still and... gorgeous. His hair swirled around his head like a halo, and the angelic pink sky above him only made him look more ethereal. His pink lips parted, dark eyes wide. Lance felt his gills flutter nervously, and he noticed he was holding Keith by his biceps, keeping him close.

Flustered, Lance let go and nudged Keith up to the surface again, pausing a few seconds before surfacing too. Keith lifted himself onto the surfboard, briefly glancing back at Lance, who bobbed in the water beside him.

"I'm gonna... go home. You can come with me." Keith said. His face was flushed, but he was frowning.

Lance nodded, "I'll be out in a few minutes." He promptly dove underwater, gasping for oxygen as he gripped his head.

What the fuck was that?

...

"Shiro, I swear to god," Matt started, "You passed your drivers ed. class flawlessly in high school, why are you choking up now?"

"Matt, this is different! I'm not driving a car! I'm driving a plane! It's not like I'm meandering downtown, stopping for old ladies at stop lights! I'm taking off and trying not to yeet myself into the stratosphere!" Shiro threw his hands up, exasperated, then let them fall with a slap on his thighs.

"I'm just saying," Matt said matter-of-factly, "It can't be that hard."

"I'd like to see you try to fly a jet, genius," Shiro grumbled, snorting. They were sitting in the living room, Shiro's laptop in front of him as he leaned over his outstretched legs, reaching for his toes. He grunted as something in his back popped and he was able to wrap his hands around his sneakers. Matt was half-heartedly leaning over his knee, looking at Shiro's laptop that had a diagram of a plane on it, hundreds of arrows that labeled different parts.

"This looks way too confusing," Matt said tiredly, and flopped onto his stomach, wriggling closer to Shiro so he could close out of the picture of the plane.

"I was studying that!" Shiro protested, but Matt ignored him.

"Yeah, well I wanna watch Rick and Morty and you're the one who has to help me make breakfast so get off your flexible ass and come help me."

...

"We're back! I have Lance," Keith called as he entered the house, kicking off his shoes and hanging his keys on little hooks on the wall. Pidge, Matt, and Shiro's were there too, which meant that everyone was home.

"Just in time! We just finished the pancakes!" Pidge called giddily from the kitchen, followed by a manly belch from Matt.

"Lovely," Keith muttered under his breath, walking into the kitchen. Lance followed behind him.

"That's alright!" Shiro said in a sing-song voice, "I'll make more!" Upon entering the kitchen, the two were hit by the warm smell of fresh pancakes and syrup. Pidge sat on the counter, Matt leaning on it beside them, and they both held white plates with maple syrup residue on them. Shiro was certainly a sight- a bright pink apron on over his plaid boxers, accompanied by white athletic socks and two spatulas. He'd just poured the batter onto a high-tech, fancy-looking griddle, and watched in interest as they sizzled into perfect circles.

"Pancakes," Lance said slowly, eyes closing. "They smell delicious." He had no idea what they were, but he was already ready to eat about 15 of them.

"Thank you, Lance," Shiro said airily, as if he was a world-famous chef looking down at Plebian customers. Pidge giggled uncharacteristically. "So," Shiro said, flipping two pancakes at a time, "Did you two meet up at the beach? I was planning on swinging by later, Lance, to pick you up, but I'm glad you got a ride already."

Keith hopped up onto a stool, nodding, "Yeah, I picked him up while I was surfing." He pulled out his phone, acting uninterested, but secretly glanced up at Lance every few seconds, who's eyes shone as he hovered behind Shiro, Master Chef. "I have to say, though," Keith said slowly, "It'd be nice if Lance could get his liscence soon. I'm not a chauffeur and he always gets sand on my seat," Keith wrinkled his nose.