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Keith had never really cared for his birthday. But, he cared about Lance. Which is why he was currently letting himself be dragged up a very, very steep hill by his overly excited boyfriend on this very, very cold October evening.
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The wind nipped at his nose from where it peeked from above his scarf, bright red and sore under the soft light of the moon. He shivered in its aftermath, squeezing the hand that Lance held loosely ahead of him, chasing its warmth. They had been walking in silence like this for about 11 minutes now (not that Keith had been counting), and he was starting to get a little antsy. Just as he was about to complain, Lance turned around with a smile.
“We’re here.” He huffed. His breath came out in a flurry of white, turning cold as it met the night air.
“Oh! Good.” Keith’s reply came automatically, although he wasn’t entirely sure where ‘here’ was. He paused for a moment as the realization sunk in. “Wait… where’s here?”
Lance squeezed his hand, pulling him forward. He guided Keith up the last bit of incline until he was directly in front of him.
“Here,” Lance repeated, stepping aside in one, fluid motion. As he did, Keith was greeted to a sky full of stars. From the top of the hill, the city lights below barely touched the dark expanse of the sky before them. It was clear enough to see the patterns of the Milky Way, and to make out each constellation as they rose and dipped above and below the expanding horizon. It was the closest he’d felt to being in space in a long time.
He gasped, soft and quiet, before he even had the wherewithal to catch it.
“I know, it’s something, isn’t it?” Lance said, barely containing his pride. Usually, Keith would respond to Lance’s ego with a snappy comeback. Instead, he simply turned to face him, eyes still wide with surprise. At his expression, Lance’s bravado quickly faded into a sweet, easy laugh that melted the cold air between them. His laughter trailed, and for a moment, he looked like he was going to say something. Instead, he smiled wide, leaning in and planting a big, dramatic kiss to each of Keith’s cheeks.
Keith drew down his scarf with a finger, responding with a soft smile and a curious raise of his brow. “What was that for?”
Lance shrugged, twisting on his heel and setting himself down on the grassy hillside. He sat in silence for a few moments, mouth quirking to the side as though he was contemplating something.
“It was your fault,” was his well thought out conclusion. When he realized that Keith hadn’t followed him into the grass, he turned at his waist and held out his arms. He pouted, making grabby hands in Keith’s direction. “Come sit with meeeeee,” he whined, and Keith was almost ashamed to say that he found it endearing. Almost.
“Oh, it was?” Keith couldn’t help but laugh, planting himself between Lance’s bent knees and long arms in the grass. As he settled, Lance let out a contented hum, enveloping Keith in his arms and nuzzling into the hair at the side of his neck. Keith relaxed into the warmth of his chest and rested the back of his head against Lance’s collarbone, eyes never leaving the sky.
“Yes.” Lance squeezed him tight and planted another kiss to his cheek, causing Keith to giggle and squirm. After a few seconds, he loosened his arms to hug Keith properly.
“Are you going to tell me why?”
“Yes.” Keith waited as Lance cleared his throat. “Just kidding. I don’t want to.”
“Don’t make me play the birthday card.” Keith’s response was rapid fire, and he laughed when Lance winced around him. He pushed further into his neck, mumbling in a way that was hard for Keith to make out. But, what he did catch was: “this boy… messing with the sanctity of the birthday card… lucky he’s cute…” With a grumble, Lance finally relented.
“I know you don’t like it when I compliment you… but Keith, sometimes, I don’t think you understand how gorgeous you really are.” He stated, matter-of-fact. Keith huffed in mock annoyance, elbowing him playfully in the ribs.
“Shut up.” Although his voice sounded exasperated, his smile betrayed him.
“I’m serious.” Lance said, nonchalant, before lifting his head and resting his cheek against the fuzzy beanie covering Keith’s head. “I was compelled.”
“Hmm. Well, in that case, I guess I forgive you for dragging me up this hill.”
“Oh please, you forgave me the second you saw the view.” Keith laughed, letting him have it. They both knew that they’d each climb a million more hills with a million more views less stunning than this if the other simply asked. They’d done it before, and they’d do it again, and again, and again. It was something that made the good views, especially the ones they got to share together, all the more special.
---
Although Keith could tell you that they had spent exactly 34 and a half minutes climbing to the top of this hill (not that he’d been counting), he’d completely lost track of time the second the two of them began exploring the sky.
They talked about the constellations together, tracing them with their fingertips.
“You see that red star - Orion’s shoulder? It’s going to explode one day.”
“Very technical term for a supernova, Lance. What did you even do all those years at the Garrison?”
“Hard to focus when you have a hot rival to beat…”
They quickly spotted Mars and Jupiter hanging high and low in the sky, the lights of the planets clear and free of the telltale flicker of stars.
“I wonder how Matt, Pidge, and Hunk are doing up there.”
“It’s them – you know they’ll have Jupiter’s moons colonized in no time.”
“They tried to describe the technology they were developing to me last week… I swear, I’ve never been so lost in my life.”
“What about that time we went to Disney?”
“Keith, what happens in Disney, stays in Disney.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
After what could have been half an hour, or maybe three hours for all they knew, Lance spread his arms to his sides, stretching and falling to his back with a dramatic sigh. Keith smiled, crawling on top of his stomach until they were nose to nose.
“We’re going to be back up there soon.” Lance whispered, warm breath tickling Keith’s cheeks.
“I know.”
“Do you miss it?”
Keith thought about it for a few moments. “Yeah, I think I do,” he said thoughtfully. “Do you?”
“Honestly… I’m pretty happy wherever I am, as long as you’re with me.” Lance’s tone was playful, but his eyes bore into Keith’s with an intensity that made him blush.
“You sap.” Keith laughed, but then his voice trailed off in a way that had Lance swallowing back his retort. Instead, Lance took a few moments to admire the crinkling at the corner of Keith’s eyes as he smiled, and the flushed red of his wind bitten cheeks. His face softened, and without fully realizing it, he reached upward to stroke Keith’s cold cheek with the warm pad of his thumb.
“Happy Birthday, Keith.” He said, voice just as soft.
For the second time that night, Keith hooked a single finger along the edge of his scarf to draw it down. But this time, as he did, he leaned in to capture Lance’s mouth with his own. Lance’s lips were warm and soft, and Keith melted into them. Lance cupped his cheek and drew him further down, and for a few moments, they lost themselves to each other’s warmth. When they pulled away, Keith met Lance’s eyes.
Whenever asked, Keith had always described Lance’s eyes as warm. It was something that no one had ever understood, usually responding with some variation of how they couldn’t wrap their heads around why Keith would choose to describe such a bright, cool blue with something so seemingly opposite. But then again, Lance never looked at them like this.
“What was that for?” From below him, Lance’s face almost looked star struck. Keith took pride in knowing that it was him who made him look that way, and not the gorgeous, glowing expanse of literal stars at his back.
“It was your fault,” he whispered. “I was compelled.”
---
Keith had never really cared for his birthday. But, he cared about Lance. And, he’d never admit it to him, but that night, under the stars and with Lance warm and soft beneath him, he might have started to change his mind.