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Shiro honestly enjoyed doing group photo sessions. Sure he was fine on his own, sitting on a chair or lounging in a field or whatever the photographer of the day asked him to do. But with other people around there was a new level of emotion to feel- creating a connection with people he had only met moments before, making the moment feel genuine. The connection between people had a beauty and warmth that he could never quite feel on his own.
The only problem was this time it was starting to feel a little too genuine. Too warm. Oh god, he was feeling much too warm.
Shiro grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling it from his chest to help him air out a bit. The night air was cool yet he couldn’t help the flush that went down his entire body as he looked at the model currently standing about 20 feet from him, talking to the photographer.
Breathe. Breathe. Shiro, just breathe, dammit!
Shiro took in a deep breath. Let it out. In. Out. Whew. He felt okay. He’s got this.
The models began to take their places. The two women took their places to his right, another woman across from him. The final model took his place to his left. The beautiful man who was turning his brain to mush. He looked at Shiro and gave a small smile.
He doesn’t got this.
They were supposed to act natural. Light some sparklers, look at the flame, smile, laugh, have a good time. It was supposed to be a celebration, the joy of youth and spending time with friends. The woman across from him made a comment that Shiro missed which caused the man to his left to laugh, a small breathless sound. Shiro looked up to him, saw the sparklers reflected in the man’s eyes, and he was gone.
x-x-x-x-x
“Keith!” Lance yelled, grabbing Keith’s sleeve and dragging him over to the magazine display.
“Ouch, Lance! What the hell!” Keith yelled, yanking his arm back and giving him his best glare.
“Oh boo hoo, you big baby. Look at this!” Lance pointed at a magazine on the wall.
“Okay? …oh.” Keith reached out and picked up the magazine in question. On the cover was a picture from one of his most recent photo shoots. The cold one with too many mosquitos and really obnoxious music playing to help ‘set the mood’. “Ugh, this one was honestly so annoying I’m not even sure it was worth the money.”
“Really? You’re just gonna ignore what’s happening on the front here?”
Keith gave Lance a look. “What? Lighting sparklers? Wow. Such a fun generic summer evening activity.”
“Okay,” Lance let out an exasperated sigh, “but what about Mr. Gorgeous here staring at you as if you hung the stars?”
“Huh?”
Keith looked again at the cover. He remembered the other man there- he was cute, but Keith couldn’t recall him ever talking to him, despite the man laughing and joking around with the other models. Keith figured it was just his demeaner- he had a tendency to intimidate people and didn’t think much of it.
But that look.
Keith was doing what he was supposed to, looking at the sparkler in his hand. Pleasant expression on his face. Just what he was paid for. So were the other models in the background. The other guy should have honestly been doing the same, but instead of staring at the sparkler, he was staring at Keith. Intensely. As if Keith was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.
Keith frowned.
“I wonder why they chose that photo, out of all of them?” Lance asked. “I mean, it’s kinda gay.”
“He’s just looking friendly,” Keith countered. “We were supposed to all be friends, I guess he was just like… talking to me or something. I don’t know.”
“Keith.”
“Lance.”
“Keith.”
“What.”
“That’s really gay.”
Keith groaned, slapping the magazine back onto the shelf. “Come on, you are literally the only person who thinks that. They wouldn’t put the photo on the front of a big-name magazine like this if they thought it looked too gay, the world isn’t that progressive, Lance.”
Lance frowned at the photo, eyes stuck on the mystery man’s face. “Normally I would agree, but I don’t know man, I think something is there. Something about the eyes.”
Keith’s gaze went back to the magazine one more time before pulling himself away. “Come on, Lance. We’re going to be late.”
x-x-x-x-x
Shiro woke to his door pounding. And pounding. And pounding.
“Please, no,” Shiro groaned, pulling his pillow over his head.
The pounding stopped.
Then his phone started ringing.
Shiro groaned again, reaching blindly to his bedside table. Grabbing the phone, he blindly swiped the screen until he managed to decline the call.
It rang again.
Decline.
Ring.
Finally, he answered.
“What?” He snapped.
“Shiro let me in, I spent like $8 on this magazine. Don’t let this be for nothing.”
“What are you talking about? Matt, it is 6 in the morning. Please go home.”
“No, Shiro! This is important! You need to let me in. It is a matter of life or death.”
“Then perish.”
“SHIRO!”
Shiro chuckled before hanging up, slowly extracting himself from his bed. He shuffled his way over to his front door, turning the lock before pulling the door open.
Matt stood at the other side, finger poised over the call button, surprise drawn across his features. “Shiro!” he cried in joy, throwing his arms around his neck. “You didn’t tell me you found love, you sneaky bastard!”
“What?” Shiro asked, pushing him to arm’s length.
“My boy’s all grown up,” Matt mimed wiping away a tear.
“Okay you know what, just come in already. It’s too early to be this loud in the hallway.”
Matt followed Shiro inside his apartment, practically buzzing with excitement. He waited until Shiro sat down at his table, glass of orange juice poured, before shoving his magazine into Shiro’s face.
Shiro grabbed the magazine, spluttering out his orange juice when he finally focused his vision on the image.
“Is that me?” He squeaked out.
“Uh, yeah? No one else in the world has hair like that, dude. Except for maybe Jason Todd. But he isn’t exactly real. I mean, you do remember doing this photo shoot, right?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Shiro sighed. “I remember staring at that guy for an uncomfortable amount of time while trying to pretend I wasn’t staring then purposely avoiding him to make it not seem like I was staring but then freaking out because I was worried I was going to insult him by ignoring him and frankly it was just a mess.”
“Yikes.”
“Yikes indeed. Now please get out of my apartment and let me cry in peace.”
“No! No crying!” Matt slammed his hands on the table, startling Shiro into spilling his orange juice. “Sorry. But not sorry! I mean, Shiro. My bro. My dude. My dudiest bro. We need to find this man.”
“No we do not need to find this man,” Shiro grit out through his teeth, wiping up the spilled juice with a cloth.
“And what, you’re just gonna let this moment pass you up?”
“How would it be passing me up?” Shiro sighed. “I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me. He could live anywhere and we would never know. And besides, as you recall, I am the one staring at him. He isn’t staring at me. He probably has a girlfriend or something. It’s just pointless.”
“No, no. I mean, he looks familiar. I think I’ve seen him before,” Matt countered.
“Well, yeah. He’s a model. You’ve probably seen him in advertisements.”
“No, I mean actually in real life seen him! I mean, I can’t remember where. But I think I know him. Or someone that knows him.”
“And who do you know? You don’t hang out with anyone other than me or Katie.”
“Hey!” Matt fell back, hands clutching his chest. “That was a low blow.”
Shiro snorted. “And honestly, Katie and I don’t really hang out with anyone other than you. So, you probably just saw him in a magazine.”
“Man, you’re probably right,” Matt sighed. “But still, wouldn’t it be nice…”
x-x-x-x-x
Weeks passed. Keith endured Lance’s light ribbing. Followed by Pidge’s ribbing once Lance showed her the magazine. And the ribbing of other friends once Lance posted it on Facebook and tagged everyone who knew Keith. And then he endured becoming somewhat of a meme as someone posted the picture to Reddit which then moved to Tumblr and actually managed to move onto a few trashy news websites.
Sparks Fly In This Magazine Cover!
You Won’t Believe The Sparks Flying Between These Two Models!
Can Love Really Bloom On A Photo Shoot?
This Photo shoot Broke The Internet! Who Are These Mysterious Men?
This Popular Magazine Was Banned In A Conservative Doctor’s Office For The Cover Being Too Gay!
Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Just These Two Men?!
Sparks Are Flying In This Magazine Cover… And It’s Not Just The Sparklers!
“If I see the phrase ‘sparks fly’ one more time I might puke,” Keith sighed, thrusting Lance’s phone back at him. “And stop laughing, it’s not funny anymore.”
“Yes it is!” Lance choked out through his laughter. “And this is only a few of the titles I’ve gathered, there’s so many places talking about you and the mysterious man!”
“I know, I’ve seen them too. And probably so has the other guy. Who is probably mortified. So let’s just leave it be, okay?”
“Come on Keith,” Lance whined, “if he’s seen this maybe he’s looking for you! Oh, you should change your Facebook picture. It’s just of Kosmo, right? Put your face in there in case he is trying to find you!”
“No thanks,” Keith grit out through his teeth. “I’m not interested in finding someone who just knows me as a meme.”
“Okay firstly, he didn’t know you as a meme, he knew you as that ridiculously hot model sitting beside him at a photo shoot. Second, he is part of this meme too. You are in this together. Find him.”
Keith let out another dramatic sigh as he flopped backwards on their couch, flinging his leg up onto the coffee table.
“Watch it!” Lance shouted as Keith’s foot unceremoniously kicked a stack of magazines onto the floor.
“Oops,” Keith deadpanned, not bothering to look over. “Guess maybe there’s a reason you should clean up after yourself.
There was some grumbling and shuffling of papers coming from Lance’s general direction as he gathered the magazines up off the floor, which turned into an undignified shriek.
“Spiders are good, they eat the even grosser bugs, Lance.”
“No, it’s not a spider! Or a bug. It’s, Keith! You have to see this!”
Keith was forced to look as a magazine was shoved into his face. He grabbed the edges and pulled it back so he could properly see it… and let out a shriek of his own.
“Holy shit! Is that the guy?”
“That’s the guy!” Lance shouted back. “He is the only person with Jason Todd hair I have ever seen and also he is super ripped and Asian so like, that’s the guy!”
Keith stared at the page, mouth agape, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.
A Calvin Klein ad had never looked so good.
“Please tell me you are going to find him now,” Lance begged.
“What, this?” Keith asked, frantically gesturing at the page. “No way. This guy is out of my freaking league. He’s out of this universe.”
“But those abs!”
“I know!”
“Those biceps!”
“I know!”
“His d-”
“Lance, no.”
Lance removed his hand from the page.
“If I ever see him in real life, I am giving him your number,” Lance said, putting the magazine back down on the table.
“No you won’t.”
“You know I will.”
x-x-x-x-x
Half Of The Sparkler Duo Stars In An Underwear Ad! His Boyfriend: Jealous?
The Thirst Is Real! Who’s The One Staring Now?
This View Is Better Than Any Sparkler!
“I Would Pay To See The Light From A Sparkler Bounce Off His Glistening Abs” Says This Reddit User
Finally A Glimpse Into What Our Sparkler Couple Sees In The Bedroom!
Ouch! This Is Hotter Than Any Sparkler!
“I regret every day of my existence.”
Matt leaned over and slapped Shiro on the back. “There, there you big baby. You’ll be okay.”
“Are you kidding me? What if the other guy’s seen these? He must be mortified,” Shiro whined, slumping his head forward onto his laptop. Matt watched as the letter h danced repeatedly across Shiro’s Word document.
“Are you kidding? There’s no way sparkler boy hasn’t seen these. Or at least ones like them. They are everywhere.”
Shiro let out a mournful groan, flopping to the right so the side of his head was resting on the keyboard. The letter e started dancing across the screen instead as the other students working in the library looked at him in concern.
“There, there,” Matt patted his shoulder. “And I mean, is this any more mortifying than having you in your underwear plastered all over my living room wall?”
“Oh my god, Matt, don’t remind me!” Shiro flopped his head the other way, his opposite ear hitting the l button. Matt wondered if he could somehow get Shiro to hit the p next so that he could spell a long drawn out ‘help’. “Why do you even have those up there?”
“Because it’s hilarious.”
“You are the worst.”
“I know. But hey, when I bring girls over at least I can go ‘look, my best friend is a model! Isn’t he hot?’ and impress them!”
“Matt, I think I know why you are single.”
“I might be going about this wrong,” Matt mused, scratching his chin in thought. “But that is neither here nor now. We need to plan your birthday party!”
“Huh? It’s August, my birthday is in February,” Shiro finally lifted his head from his keyboard. He gave a startled look to the long stream of letters before closing the Word document without saving. He’d only managed to write about two sentences, and those two sentences were probably just hot garbage anyways.
“Remember we delayed your party to an unbirthday party so Allura and Ryan could come?”
“Oh riiiiiight,” Shiro had completely forgotten. “Huh, wonder what I should do for it.”
“Definitely Kaltenecker.”
“Oh come on Matt, that place is for children. Would they even allow a bunch of adults to book a party?”
“Oh, definitely. My cousin had a party there last year. He’s 30.”
Shiro frowned. Honestly, Kaltenecker is pretty fun. The food is strangely good, the cake is to die for, and the games are fun, when functional. On the con side, you have to listen to creepy animatronics sing and pretend to play instruments. And a special birthday song performance. Where they circle around you and sing it to you where you feel like you have no way to escape. His 9th birthday might have traumatised him a little.
“If we go I will buy endless supply of Kaltenecker punch, as much as you can drink.”
“Deal.”
Matt’s eyes blew open. “Wow, who knew it was that easy.”
“I am a simple man with simple desires. Anyways, today was a write off and I got nothing done but I gotta get going.” Shiro stood up and began to pack his laptop and books away.
“Wait, where are you going? I still haven’t written anything!” Matt whined.
“Photo shoot. Gotta pay the bills somehow. Oh, and Matt,” Shiro turned to give Matt one final look, “make sure to pick up some extra shifts. I am planning to drink a lot of Kaltenecker punch.”
x-x-x-x-x
Sweet And Saucy! The Modelling World’s Power Couple On A Tropical Island?!
W O W! These Two Look A M A Z I N G Together!
These Two Models Eloped?! What Is Happening Behind The Scenes?!
Who Proposed To Whom? A Wedding Band Tells All!
Love Can Bloom On A Photo Shoot!
Wedding Bells Are Ringing, These Abs Are Singing!
Keith and Lance sat huddled around the magazine, scrutinising the image. “I’m pretty sure that’s just a shadow,” Lance said, squinting at the page. “Who would have a wedding band that dark, anyways?”
Keith squinted at it in turn. “I mean, some people go for really untraditional wedding rings these days. And it is right across the finger, maybe it is a ring?”
“You sure you didn’t see him in person during the shoot?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
That shoot had been rather boring, to be honest. He sat on a chair in front of a green screen and several photos were taken of him, with instructions to pretend he was engaging with other people in certain activities. It’s hard to feel authentic when no one else is actually there and everything is going to be photoshopped in after.
In the final product Keith is one of many models lying on a sunny beach that is apparently supposed to be in Costa Rica. For some reason Keith and the man from the sparkler photo shoot happened to be photoshopped sitting beside each other, Keith casually sprawled on his back, leg hanging off the side of the chair, while Sparkler Man lay on his stomach, arms crossed around his head. The shot showed the back of his chair which prevented most of him from being identified.
This is all good and well, except the internet managed to identify Sparkler Man through the white tuft of hair barely visible past his arms, and Keith through a scar on his left leg that is visible in a photo for a Slip N’ Slide advertisement he had done many years previous which they had decided to not airbrush out for some reason. And while that would fuel the fire enough, a shadow was falling over Sparkler Man’s left hand, making it look like a ring is around his finger.
At least, they thought it might possibly be a shadow?
“Do you remember him wearing a wedding band on the sparkler photo shoot night?” Lance asked.
Keith shook his head. “No, I never even looked.”
“Keith, that isn’t good enough. We have to know.”
“Why do we have to know, Lance?” Keith sighed.
“Because I need to know if me best friend really and truly eloped.”
Keith hit Lance over the head with the magazine, causing Lance to squawk and flail his arms. “Truce! Truce! Oh snap, I gotta go to work.”
Keith rolled his eyes as Lance jolted up and hurried to his room to throw his uniform on.
x-x-x-x-x
In This Moment, We All Want To Be One Of These Two Sexy Men
Now Sparkler Man Isn’t The Only One Staring!
The Sparkler Couple Is Absolutely Glowing After Their Honeymoon!
This Shy Model Is Hiding His Wedding Ring ;)
Watch Out- This Model Snagged A Bad Boy!
A sob escaped Shiro’s lips as he looked at the magazine. “How is he so beautiful?”
“Shiro, stop pining. This is what got you into this mess in the first place,” Matt sighed.
“I think it’s kind of sweet,” Allura giggled.
A hand absentmindedly brushed the page as Shiro stared at the centrefold, at the man who haunts his dreams. He is standing in a leather jacket and artfully ripped jeans, leaning against a cherry red motorcycle, hands in his pockets. With his hair falling out of a ponytail, wind blowing it around, and an easy smirk on his face, he is the perfect picture of nonchalance and coolness.
Shiro was done for.
“Come on, Shiro, stop staring. I think the animals are coming, they’re probably getting ready to do your ritual sacrifice,” Ryan nudged him in the side.
“Don’t call it that!” Shiro sputtered. Sure enough, when he looked up, a staff member was approaching while the Kaltenecker animatronic band stood on stage, instruments in hand. With a quick prayer to whatever god might be listening, he stood and let himself be pulled to the designated ‘birthday child’ area.
While Shiro was busy being subjected to a 4 minute and 58 second Kaltenecker copywritten birthday song, Matt turned to hail the waiter to order another pitcher of Kaltenecker punch. When he got the waiter’s attention, a smile broke across his face.
“Hey, you! You’re Katie’s friend, right? Uh, Lane?”
“Close! It’s Lance,” Lance gave back an easy smile and a salute. “Hey, it’s been a while. Matt, right? What brings you here?”
“Ah, it’s my friend’s birthday. He’s undergoing his sacrifice right now,” Matt nodded over at the stage. Lance’s gaze followed his and he had to put his hands over his mouth to prevent a scream. “Oh my god, it’s Sparkler Guy!”
“Yeah, he’s a bit of a celebrity right now,” Matt laughed.
“No, you don’t understand! Keith and I have been trying to figure out who he is! And you know him!”
“Keith?” Matt asked. “Oh, like Katie’s other friend? Short, moody, Hot Topic?”
“Yeah! God, he’s not going to believe I found his other half!”
“Wait…” Matt had to process this. Shiro’s other half. Keith had been looking for him. Keith, broody emo dark haired Keith. Matt snatched up the magazine again, looking at the picture of Sparkler Man.
“Holy shit that’s Hot Topic! That’s Keith!”
Lance laughed, looking at the magazine over his shoulder. “Wow, I haven’t seen that one yet. I’m a little insulted.”
“No, Lance, you don’t understand!” Matt grabbed Lance by the shirt, pulling him close. “Shiro has been pining after him for months. Please, we have to introduce them.”
“Okay but like, we have to keep this a surprise!” Lance hissed back. “Oh man, can you imagine their faces?”
“Yes!” Matt agreed back. “Maybe like, a party? Oh, a game night! Shiro loves those. I can have Katie invite you two.”
“Yes! Oh, he’s coming back. Here, I’ll get you something and slip you my number.”
“Punch!” Matt shouted back. “Bring us some punch. Then you can give it to me.”
“Roger!” Lance then turned to the freshly returned Shiro. “And how big is today’s birthday boy?” he asked with his widest customer service smile.
“Haha,” Shiro chuckled nervously. “Please kill me now.”
“Don’t worry, those animatronics already took your soul in their demonic sacrifice,” Allura patted his hand gently.
x-x-x-x-x
Lights! Camera! Betrayal!
The Internet’s Power Couple Is No More!
Straight All Along? Their Gaze Is Telling!
Left Heartbroken Mere Weeks After His Honeymoon!
“I Always Thought He Was Too Good For Him” Says Family Friend.
Was It All Just A Publicity Stunt?
Keith shook his head as he scrolled through his phone. How could everyone be so ridiculous? It’s called acting. Just like every single shoot. He didn’t know that girl that he held in his arms below the willow tree in the sunset. He knew her name was Romelle, and that she was apparently another model, but otherwise he knew absolutely nothing. Should could have been an alien from outer space and he would have had no idea.
He looked up to survey the area. More people had shown up and the setting was almost in place. All that was left to do really was to… wait.
Wait.
Keith squinted, was he seeing things?
Standing across the room from him was the man from the sparkler shoot.
THE man.
The man let out a small wave, surprised expression on his face.
Keith waved back.
“Hey,” the man said, chuckling nervously as he approached. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Yeah,” Keith replied, scratching the back of his neck. “It, uh, pays the bills, you know.”
“It sure does. Pay bills. Because it gives money. Which you need.”
“Yeah,” Keith laughed, “sure do. Especially if we’re going through a divorce right now.”
Shiro let out a true laugh at that. “Wow, I can’t believe we broke up before I even knew your name.”
“Keith,” Keith smiled. “I’m Keith.”
“And I’m Shiro. Nice to meet you!” He put out his hand for Keith to shake, which he happily took.
“No ring?” Keith smirked, looking to his other hand.
“Nah, the love of my life left me for some pretty blonde girl under a willow tree,” Shiro laughed.
“Aww, that’s so sad.”
The two talked until they had to take their places, and again after the shoot finished. Keith’s cheeks were hurting from the amount he was smiling, Shiro almost felt like a long lost friend.
“Well, I mean, we were married. We’d better know each other decently well,” Shiro joked.
Keith responded with a jab to the ribs.
They stopped in the parking lot, their cars a few spaces from each other’s.
“So, uh, can I get your number? I liked talking to you,” Shiro smiled nervously.
“Yeah, definitely! Hold on.” Keith brought out his phone and they both exchanged numbers, sending a text to make sure they got it right.
“Oh, by the way,” Shiro said before leaving, “my friend invited me to a game night this Saturday. Want to come? It’s at 7:13 on the dot. Don’t ask. My friend is weird.”
“Oh, I already have… plans… a game night. At 7:13. On the dot.” Keith scrunched up his face. “What’s your friend’s name?”
“Uh, Matt invited me. But I think he is hosting with his little sister, Katie.”
“Oh, for the love of- geez. Lance sounded way too excited about this. I think we were set up?”
“What? Oh. Oh no. No Matt, no. Was Lance the waiter at Kaltenecker? I thought they looked suspicious together.”
“Well, I think the only solution is to get them back. Shiro, let’s go as dates. Super mushy. I can just imagine their smug looks falling right off their faces.”
“Oh man!” Shiro laughed. “We going to make out for an inappropriate amount of time?”
“Hmm, only if you want to. But if we do,” there was a glint in his eye, “maybe we should practice first?”
They did.