Chapter Text
Lance exited his farmhouse and stretched his long arms above his head, watching the sparrows fly away at the sound of the door shutting. He already knew what kind of weather was to be had once he woke up and heard the sounds against the roof, but that didn't stop him from smiling again as he got outside and let the rain hit his face. The Altean markings he got from Allura glowed faintly and was a stark contrast with how cloudy, dark and gloomy it was outside.
Today was a special day. Lance eyed his crops during his mad dash to the stable, happy to see he'd made perfect timing when he'd planted the pineapples as early as he was able. He'd been worried he was too late when they hadn't grown in yesterday. Not originally planted for the reason now planned for, he was glad things worked out the way they had. Knowing he only had so much room in his rucksack, he decided to wait until his other chores were done. He hoped to have a basket by autumn.
Once inside, he'd brush the pony Barley had given him, the animal still a bit unfriendly with him. Lance knew it would take time and was being as gentle as he could with the animal. His family never had ponies on their farm, always having full grown horses, so this was a new venture for him. Leaving the stable, he went back the way he came, hanging a right after passing where his lumber was stored.
As Lance entered the barn, he was greeted almost immediately by Kaltenecker. She nudged him with her nose and mooed loudly at him, a bit distressed by the rain. He gently pet her with one hand while he brushed her with the other, pulling it softly across her fur. Seeming to be in a better mood, he quickly milked her, the golden colored liquid still taking some getting used to. The cow festival had only been two days ago and his bond with her, as well as how well he cared for her, blew Thomas and Barley away. Some villagers thought there had been foul play, as they assumed Lance was a newbie, but little May had stepped in to defend both Lance and her grandfather.
Hearing a tiny bleat in the corner, Lance smiled softly as he went to the little lamb he'd purchased just a few days ago. She was still shy around him, so he crouched down and held out his hand for her to sniff. However, she didn't get much closer to him, so he decided to put his brush away for now. Putting fodder in their feed boxes, he gave Kaltenecker one last pat before he went back outside.
Rounding the corner of the field where his Pink Cats were growing, he extracted honey from the apple tree. Putting it into his rucksack with the milk, Lance quickly fed the fish in his pond before bolting to the chicken coop. He was too new with his own farmland to have had chickens too early; he eyed the egg in the incubator as the lone hen came up to him and squawked happily. Smiling, Lance crouched down and brought his hand to her, Sophia nibbling his finger affectionately with her beak. Giving her a couple pets, Lance stood back up, collected her egg and fed her. Putting the egg in the shipping bin, Lance geared himself up for the rest of his day.
After grabbing the red grass over by the hot spring and chopping some tree stumps, he came back to his property to handle the fields, tossing his meager spoils from the forest in the shipping bin. Harvesting his tomatoes, corn and pineapples, leaving one each for himself, he sent those away for sale as well. Grabbing one Pink Cat for Popuri on his way into town, Lance went around his fields to clear the weeds and cut down some of his pasture for fodder.
Quickly heading back into his house, Lance dropped off the honey, tomato, corn and milk in his fridge. About to head out to run his errands and just enjoy the rainy day, he went over to the dog bed and scratched behind Spud's ears. The Beagle kicked his foot happily a bit, but otherwise was being lazy due to the weather. Lance had already let him out while he was eating breakfast and getting dressed, so he figured Spud would be fine until he came back.
After spending extra time socializing, eating a small lunch in Rose Square with cake Popuri had made and given to him after giving her the flower, and making business at the shops in town, Lance wouldn't get to the inn until dinner time. He could hear the church bells in the distance as he entered the establishment. The air conditioning hit him like a ton of bricks, the rain doing nothing to help the humidity outside.
There weren't many people there on a Tuesday at this time. While he knew there were others, they were on the second floor and not visible from where he stood. Won was already packed up and gone for the night. The only other patron was Duke, eating at his usual table and would drink himself stupid once the alcohol was available for purchase. Lance clearly remembered the night last spring the older man had passed out and the Cuban had to use his trusty watering can to wake him up. Manna had been so embarrassed.
“Hello, Lance! How ya been?” Doug greeted him from the counter and Lance grinned as he made his way over. The two chatted bit before he ordered a salad, still feeling full from Popuri's cake and didn't want the heavy Meal Set.
As more people began to file in for dinner and drinks, Lance could hear the stairs creak as the inn residents came downstairs. Tables filled up and he was suddenly glad he hadn't planned to eat on the main floor today anyway. As Ann made her way around to take people's orders, Lance carried his food with him and he heard a shout from the balcony before he could get through the crowd.
“Lance, my man!” Kai grinned as he leaned over the railing, the tails of his purple bandanna shifting slightly due to a nearby vent blowing out cold air. “Just grab us a table! I'll come to you!” Before Lance could interject, he heard a snort as a nearby chair was taken, the legs screeching against the hardwood floor.
“Why would you want to hang out with him?” Gray asked as he pulled the bill of his cap down over his sapphire eyes.
“He'll just take your girl when you finally find someone!” Duke exclaimed, already starting to get drunk. “Kai's after all our women!”
Cliff, who had taken a seat near the drunkard, shook his head. “Duke, that's a bit far...” However, he turned his cornflower eyes on Lance, his expression none too friendly. “But he's definitely a player. Watch yourself.”
This was nothing new. Since late spring, he was made aware of how the men in town felt about Kai. Lance was no stranger to that kind of treatment, being a bit of a playboy when he was a teenager. He'd since grown from his short lived relationship with Allura and even more since her death. Holding his salad with one hand, he rubbed one of his facial marks with the other, watching Kai's face crumple from the bottom step. Lance's brows furrowed as he remembered the last bar fight over Kai, most of the male populace ganging up on him. It had been from that moment when Lance entered the bar that night and was the ONLY person to defend him that he decided to befriend Kai.
Lance had watched Kai's interactions with the townsfolk. There was something off about the rumors about him. He came to realize Kai wasn't actually a flirt. Kai was just genuinely friendly with everyone and it came off the wrong way when it was with women. Lance had become Kai's only male friend and ally.
“Knock it off!” Ann called out, a hand on her hip, her other holding a serving tray as she put Karen's order in front of her. Her braid swung as she tapped her foot. The ginger girl was glad Rick wasn't there yet; she knew he'd have a heyday picking on Kai. “Kai's not like that! Y'all a buncha jerks!”
“Ann!” Doug called out to his daughter. “Stay out of this!” He pointed in Kai's direction. “You have no business talkin' to him outside of work.”
Lance walked over to Kai and used his free hand to gently push him back up the stairs. “C'mon, man. We can have better company upstairs WITHOUT them.” Kai gave him a weak smile and allowed himself to be steered back to his room on the left side of the inn.
Once in the room, however, Kai finally got a good look at Lance. “Sheesh! Have you been in the rain ALL DAY?!” Grabbing the blanket at the foot of his bed, he threw it around Lance. “The AC's gonna be the death of you, dude. Seriously!” Lance shrugged nonchalantly with a noncommittal noise as he set his salad and rucksack on the table. Kai shook his head with a smirk. “You're crazy. Not sure how you like the rain so much.” As Lance sat down to eat, Kai took up the chair across from him.
“Hey, take a peek in my bag,” Lance suggested with a smile. Kai cocked a dark eyebrow and pulled on one of the shoulder straps. Flipping over the flap, he was greeted with a green, spiky top. His eyes went wide as he pulled the pineapple out. “Happy birthday. Sorry it was kind of a shitshow though...”
“No, dude, I love it! I've never gotten a present from another guy before!” He could tell Kai was overjoyed. Lance took a couple bites of his food before getting up and preparing the fruit to be eaten, having brought his kitchen knife. Kai immediately dug in before Lance could sit back down, offering him some every now and then.
“So,” Kai started as he chewed his treat, “anything interesting going on?” He swallowed as he watched Lance take up a pensive expression.
“Well, the party at the beach is in a couple days. Wanna go?” Kai stared at Lance in disbelief, pointing at himself questioningly. “No, the ghost in the corner of the room.” Lance's eyes rolled as he chuckled. “Yes, you. Dork.” His smiled died almost instantly. “Wait, have you never gone to see the fireworks?” Kai shook his head. Lance was genuinely surprised. Even if no one had asked him, he thought Kai would have at least watched from the window of his restaurant. “I've yet to receive an answer, young man,” Lance smiled, his ocean blue eyes finally catching Kai's gunmetal grey gaze.
“You don't give up easily, do you?” Kai laughed. “Sure! Meet me there at 6pm!”