Chapter Text
“So did you pick your major yet?” Hunk spoke around a mouthful of potato chips, Lays Original of course. The crunching sound used to annoy Lance, but now he almost enjoyed it. The way Hunk would chew his food said quite a bit about the other man. Angry chewing was quick and harsh, each bite met with teeth clicking harshly. If he was happy or relaxed, it was a slow chew and usually included some babbling with his mouth full. Lance lifted his sunglasses off of his face maybe an inch, wiping the sweat away before pushing them higher on his nose.
“No way dude, too many options.” Lance laughed softly as he spoke, bouncing his knee lightly. “Can’t decide between photography or painting…” He snickered.
“Yeah yeah, very funny.” Hunk shook his head, standing up to throw his trash away. “But really, we aren’t going to be college freshmen forever y’know?” Hunk walked away to the bin, leaving Lance to just sort of listen to his surroundings.
Lance tuned in on the several different footstep patterns around himself, the heavy steppers, the light steppers, someone was skipping for God’s sake, then he heard the familiar steps of- “Pidge!! Jeez, I thought you for sure died in that midterm. We already had your funeral all planned out, Blue was gunna spread your ashes in the dog park.”
Pidged laughed, then flicked Lance’s ear. “Oh please, I wasn’t gone that long. Besides, have you seen Iverson’s midterms?? They’re inhumane...”
“ No, I obviously have not.” Lance stood up as well, adjusting his glasses once again before strategically backing out from where he had been sitting. Blue, his 2yr old Great Pyrenees, stood quickly and backed out of her area while maintaining a left-side heel the entire time. Lance sorta fumbled to find the leather coated guide handle on Blue’s neon-pink harness, grumbling softly when he felt Pidge lift it to his fingertips. “I don’t need help-”
“There’s a crowd of people coming up to your left so it’s better than her getting trampled isn’t it?” Pidge sighed. “Sorry. Did you guys still want to get coffee? I know it’s later than usual but, eh. It’s ritual.” Hunk softly ‘mhm’d and Lance nodded his head.
“Yes please, I don’t think I could decline even if I wanted to.” Lance waited until the crowd passed, and until he heard Pidge and Hunk walking ahead of him.
Hunk snapped his fingers, speaking softly, “Blue, follow.” and Lance felt himself being gently led around by his guide dog. She paused at each step, pushed or pulled to either side to avoid obstacles and keep him safe. With his friends nearby, she really didn’t have to work as hard as she did, but it was comforting to Lance that she still did her job- and did it well. As Lance, Pidge and Hunk walked to their favorite coffee hut, each of them groaned at least once, each time some dumb student excitedly shouted ‘puppy!!!’ or ‘can I pet her!?’ despite the numerous patches on Blue’s harness expressing that they could not. It was something the trio was unfortunately used to.
Upon arriving at the shop, Hunk held the door open, Pidge walked in first, Lance entering after her and dropping the guide handle. He looped the thick, leather cross-body leash up over one shoulder and across his torso. It was easier in tighter spaces to just use that rather than the actual harness bar. Besides, he was in a familiar area with minimal obstacles, so he felt secure enough to move around mostly on his own. Lance stepped up to get in line, putting Blue into a front block to keep him from stepping too far forward and running into someone while waiting for it to be his turn.
“Evening, sir! What’ll it be today?” Sir? Sir? What the hell? Lance suddenly frowned.
Lance hummed quietly. “You don’t sound like Jamie.” He put a hand up on the counter, fishing his wallet out of his pocket with his other hand. “You can call me Lance since it’s my name and all.” The character behind the counter softly laughed and Lance smiled again. That was a nice laugh. He’d definitely store it away in the memory banks. “Your name is..?”
“Shiro. Nice to meet you, Lance. I’m assuming you come here often?” He could hear Shiro tapping his fingers on the counter, so Lance traced his fingers along the cards in his wallet. He had a punch card here somewhere…
“I do, yeah. Every day. Meaning you probably started here this morning, right?” Lance smirked. “Welcome to the Altea campus, dude. Anyways, I’ll have a white chocolate mocha frappe, whip cream, extra caramel, and white chocolate syrups, almond milk sub...and that. Is my usual.” He grinned, sliding his punch card across the counter as well as his debit card. Lance didn’t carry cash on him anymore, even when he was out with friends. Too many dishonest people who took advantage of him being unable to see the bills he had or was given.
“Oh! Actually, your coffee today is free. So…” Lance heard the man punch a new card with one lil weird shaped punch. He still hadn’t figured out what it was supposed to be and he didn’t want to look stupid and ask. Shiro slid both the new punch card and the debit card back over. “That’ll be right out, Lance!”
Lance reached out for the cards, hands shaking just a bit when he tried to grab them and put them into his wallet. He could tell Shiro was about to try and help- so he swiped the cards off and just stuffed them into his pocket. “Thanks.”
Blue led him over to the second counter, where Lance waited patiently for his coffee order. He listened to Hunk order for himself and Pidge, blinking a couple of times behind his shades.
“Lance!” Lance’s ears twitched and he walked toward the counter.
“Thank you, Niko.” Lance grabbed his blended coffee, always appreciating that this specific worker held the cup a little longer than anyone else to assure that Lance had a good grip on it. “Blue, find seat.” He sighed as Blue led him around, rolling his eyes when it took her longer to find a place to sit, assuming she was just being ditsy. “Find seat, Blueberry.”
But then Hunk was behind him with a warm hand between his shoulder blades. Like he’d been holding his own hot coffee in that hand. “It’s packed dude, we’ll have to go up a level or sip outside.” Lance shrugged, letting Hunk know that he didn't care either way.
“I don’t really mind where we sit. It kinda smelled like it was gunna rain here soon when we were walking over.” Lanced shifted his weight from one foot to the other, popping his hip out as his little kick-stand.
“Let me grab Pidge and we can head upstairs then. I know better than to doubt your weatherman skills.” Hunk and Lance both laughed softly before Lance was left there with his pup. He idly played with her fur while he waited for the pair to come back to him. Blue wasn’t great at finding an elevator on her own, and Lance wasn’t feeling like walking around aimlessly when it would cost less energy and time to just wait for the others. He heard some loud chatting to his left. Some annoying girls talking about a cute boy they’d seen. To his right, a young kid was reading a book to her mom. He heard someone texting loudly on their phone-
Suddenly Lance was knocked backward by a blunt force to his chest, causing him to hit his head hard against the wall before plopping onto the floor. Having squeezed his coffee on the way down, it erupted onto his face and all down his chest. He gasped loudly, it was cold as hell, and now he was soaked. He had no idea who or what hit him, but he was immediately burning with embarrassment and irritability.
“Lance!!” Pidge ran over, grabbing Lance’s cup and probably throwing it away before helping him up. Then she turned her attention toward whatever knocked him over. “Can’t you watch where you’re going, dude!?” He heard her shove this ‘dude’ and tried to reassure her that it was alright, reaching out to touch her shoulder or back or something, but she was too far away and he knew he looked so stupid right now covered in frappuccino.
“Well maybe if he wasn’t taking up the entire walkway...besides, it was an accident okay!? I can buy him another.” The guy huffed, he had the temerity to act as if this was some huge inconvenience to him. Even though Lance was now shivering and very close to needing to hide in a bathroom.
“Hey, it’s fine really, no big deal. You didn’t mean it- I can get cleaned up in the washroom…” He fumbled again for the guide bar, hand shaking. Once again, there was a sudden contact at Lance’s back. He hated that. He hated when things unexpectedly touched him. But this time it was warm and comforting.
“Hey! That was a nasty fall, are you okay?” Shiro. “Here, a warm wet cloth should at least lift most of the frappe out. They’re already making you another so don’t even worry about it.” Lance sighed, taking the cloth and wiping where he felt the freezing cold liquid.
“Thanks…” He tried to turn his face as best he could in the direction of Shiro’s voice. “You didn’t have to do that…”
“I know, but I did. And I think your girl might need a bath later…” Lance furrowed his brows, reaching out to touch Blue. Oh god. She was absolutely covered in coffee. How could one 16oz cup spill this much shit everywhere!? He let out a snort, then full on laughed. He was embarrassed, horribly embarrassed, but by laughing it off he could pretend that the tears in his eyes were a result of his laughter. Shiro hummed, taking the cloth from Lance’s hand and wiping at his face gently. “You sure your head is okay? That was a pretty loud smack.”
“I’m sure I’ll be okay. What’s the worst that could happen? Think it’ll make me blind?” For a moment Shiro stopped laughing, but Hunk cracked a snorty laugh and Shiro followed suit.
“I admire that you can find humor in this kind of situation..” Shiro set the cloth down. “You know what, I actually have a spare shirt. I usually hate going home covered in the coffee smell. I used to bring a spare all the time when I worked at the other coffee shops in town, just so happened to remember to do it today too. I’ll be right back!” Shiro ran off before Lance could stop him, then he turned to try and find Hunk. But Hunk was right on top of it, a hand against his back as soon as he’d turned around.
“Dude- he is so nice. And cute too.” Hunk snickered and Lance groaned at him.
“Can we just get the hell out of here before I cause something worse..?” Lance’s voice was shaking, so Hunk reached out to take his hand. Hearing that this Shiro guy was a total cutie definitely didn’t make it better. If anything, it was worse. Embarrassing himself in front of this supposedly hot barista guy? No thanks. But it was too late for that.
“It’s alright, dude. Let him get that spare shirt. We can wash it tonight and bring it back tomorrow morning or something. Then we will go upstairs and have our coffee.”
Shiro brought the shirt, and the replacement coffee for Lance, who had thanked him plenty. Hunk got Shiro’s number so they could return the shirt later on, and upstairs they went. Lance sunk into his seat, Blue tucking under their table with her tail underneath one of her hind legs. Lance took a moment to breathe and settle, to calm his shaking hands before he spoke.
“Is anyone else up here?”
“No. We’re on level three so that we could be alone.” Pidge was tapping her toe on one of the table legs, Hunk drumming with his fingers on the back of his phone case.
Lance still had the damp rag, so he peeled his sticky shirt off and put it in his bag, wiped his chest, shoulders, neck, face, then put on the new shirt. “Backwards?” He got two ‘no’s so he left it. “Thanks, guys. For your help down there…”
“Of course, Lance. You know we are always here to help. Besides, that guy was a total dickweed. How do you completely miss a lanky string bean and his 110lbs dog.”
“Excuse you, Blue is 103lbs thank you.” Lance sighed. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. I’m already traumatized as is…” He rubbed the back of his head, which definitely felt like it would get a lump if the headache that pulsed to the surface was any indication.
On the way back to the dorms, Lance couldn’t help but quietly laugh a little bit every time he caught a whiff of his coffee-dog. Thinking of his poor guide dog covered in coffee just like he was, what a sight they must have been. At some point, Pidge parted ways with the boys, kissing Hunk goodbye, and giving Lance a quick hug, telling him to have a good evening and such. As much as she picked on him, he knew she cared and it meant a lot to him that he was surrounded with people he loved and trusted. She just showed it in her own special and slightly aggressive way.
Hunk and Lance walked back to their dorm quietly, Hunk hooking his arm with Lance’s as they went up the stairs. Lance let Blue off her leash and harness so she could freely walk through the halls. She stayed close, but he couldn’t imagine having to keep that gear on all day. Besides, with Hunk, and even ground, he didn’t have to worry about running into anything. According to various descriptions from Hunk and Pidge both, the halls weren’t decorated with much anyways. Once inside the dorm, Lance relaxed. He knew this room like the back of his hand. He knew exactly where Hunk kicked off each pair of shoes. Which cords were across which sections of the room, and thank god he knew where his bed was. He ran for it, jumping and plopping onto the mattress with a loud groan.
“Please tell me you’re going to be the nicest roommate ever and help me wash the Berry..?” He whined a little bit for added effect. Hunk laughed for a moment and mumbled his ‘yes’ before calling Blue to him to remove her collar.
“Poor girl, did your daddy spill on ya? Yeah? You big stink, look at you.” Hunk fluffed up her fur, smooching her big black nose and making her bark excitedly.
“ Hunk! Stop riling her up, dammit, you’re the one who’s always getting us noise complaints.” Hunk only snickered before pushing the big fur baby into the bathroom. Lance stood eventually and went to help. Which really just meant he held the towel, and when commanded, he shielded both himself and Hunk from Blue’s watery wrath whenever she shook herself off.
After her bath, the three roommates snuggled up in their respective beds, exhausted from the day. Lance was on his back, staring at nothing. “Hunk..?” He whispered, almost embarrassed of what he was going to say next.
“Yeah, man?” Hunk rolled onto his side to give Lance his full attention. “What’s up?”
“Will you uh...describe Shiro?” Lance removed his sunglasses, putting them on his bedside table before gently fiddling with the hem of the borrowed shirt.
“Oh dude, of course! Which part? Head-to-toe or just face?”
“Shoulders and up.”
Hunk went into detail on every part of Shiro’s bust and up. His broad shoulders, and prominent collar bones. His sharp jawline, the shape of his lips, now kneeling by Lance’s bed with one of Lance’s hands in his own, having him touch each part of his own body that he described so Lance could better picture it. “And this part of his hair…” He bunched up his own bangs and put the chunk hair in Lance’s fingers. “It’s all white. Like a streak but only his bangs. It’s kinda cute, falls over his eyes a little bit to about here.” He touched Lance’s forehead, tracing a sort of triangle where Shiro’s hair would have fallen. “The rest is blackish, and like an undercut. Looks all fuzzy and buzzed.” He described each little piercing on Shiro’s left ear, then his right. He used his pointer finger to trace the shapes of the earrings into Lance’s palm. “I think his septum was pierced, Lance. I know how weak you are for that sorta thing.” Lance laughed. His best friend was always so observant. Lance’s favorite part of the day was having Hunk recall any detail about the day, any person’s appearance that Lance wanted to know about. And the way Hunk told stories and explained things Lance had never even seen before, it was incredible. His attention to detail was something that never ceased to amaze Lance. “And by the way...you should have seen his eyes light up as soon as you opened your mouth. And the way his smile just kept growing when he watched you.”
“Oh stop it, you always say those things.”
“Well, maybe this time I mean it.”
“You made it up every other time!?”
“Goodnight Lance!” Hunk got up and moved back to his own bed.
“Hey!!”
“Whoop! Light’s out, gotta sleep!”
“You suck...night.” Lance curled up again in his bed, smile wide as he thought about all of the amazing things Hunk had described. He really hoped to meet Shiro again so he could match the mental images with his voice this time. That was the best part, but he didn’t always get his wish. People had their own schedules...
His dreams that night were filled with Shiro, helping him clean, petting Blue, doing various sweet and kind things, even beating up that stranger. He’d woken up in a good mood for once, a smile on his lips. He just had to meet that barista again.