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To be fair, he just wanted to buy his stupid Spike figurine.
This was not how he expected his first convention would go.
Keith had recently gotten into cowboy bebop and was slowly falling down the fandom hole, much to his friend Pidge's amusement.
Earlier that week during one of their calls, they had mentioned that a convention was to be held near his area. Pidge was mainly complaining about the fact that they couldn't go, but they had still convinced Keith to try and check it out for himself. Especially since there was no entrance fee, which according to Pidge was 'Too good of an opportunity to miss'.
So he reluctantly made his way to the designated mall area where the event was being held. It was a small event, more like a small fandom market than an actual convention. But Keith found himself actually enjoying his time. He mainly just made his way from stall to stall to look at little character trinkets.
He was looking at this artist's panel when he overheard some people talking nearby.
"But I'm broke so I guess I'll just cry." one voice had said, catching his attention.
"Aw man, but I thought you really wanted to get that thing. It's the only reason you came here!" another voice chimed in.
"Dude, my mom would kill me if she found out I spent two hundred bucks on a mere Spike figurine. She'd lose all respect for me. " the first voice replied again.
"Bold of you to assume she has any respect for you left." the second guy said, "And besides, if we join our money together, we could afford it.".
"I'm plenty respectable! And anyway, you don't have to waste your money on me. Didn't you want that sailor moon plush? You don't even watch cowboy bebop.".
Keith stopped listening then. All he knew was that apparently, there was a Bruno figurine somewhere in this market. And if those two idiots weren't going to get it, he was. He had the money jangling in his pocket and the love for Spike in his heart.
So he set off, aggressively scanning every stall he could find for figurines. And stopping at every stall that had them to search for the item of his enrapture. For Spike.
It didn't take as long as he expected to find him. And he was beautiful. Caught in a standing position against a small pile of bricks, gun ready in his hand.
"Hii," the lady at the stall waved at him, "Anything that catches your eye?".
He nodded dryly, still eyeing Spike. "How much is this one?" He asked, pointing at it. Just to confirm the price.
"That one? Two hundr-".
"Sorry, man. He's not for sale." A familiar voice said, the same voice of the first guy he had heard earlier. Great, so that guy changed his mind.
He should let it go. The other guy saw it first and everything, but he'd already caught sight of Spike, and he was never going to let him go.
He turned and regretted not turning around sooner, or earlier. The guy was just.. Wow. Keith felt the words die on his throat. Unfortunately, the other guy didn't have this problem.
"Allura, pass him over. I have the money now.".
That snapped Keith back to attention.
"Hold on, What? I was just buying him." He tried to put himself between the guy and the stall.
"Move, man. Sorry, but that figurine is mine. Allura was just holding onto him for me." the guy said, moving closer to him in an attempt to intimidate him, and Keith wasn't having any of it. He moved closer too, but kept himself blocking the stall.
"Last I checked, he was on sale. And I don't remember there being any policies allowing theft of a purchase." He hoped that maybe if he made it sound complicated, the guy would just walk away. Seemed like he had other plans, though.
"I call dibs over him, he's mine.".
"Dibs?" Keith asked, indignant.
"Yeah, I've claimed him." The guy answered, sounding way too proud despite his bad horrible response.
"Pretty sure I have custody over him." Keith grumbled, moving closer to give the guy a taste of his own medicine. They were so close now, they'd be touching if any of them moved another inch.
Which is why when the guy shrieked "HE'S the love of my life!!" mere centimeters of his ear, he felt it rattle throughout his body. Physically.
"What the hell?! " He yelled back, "You almost broke my eardrum.".
"Um, boys? The-" The lady at the stall piped up. The guy in front of him shook his head.
"No, Allura. This is my fight. You don't have to get yourself involved." He cut her off, and offered her a smile. Something about that really pissed Keith off, so he retorted back.
"This is hardly a fight. It's just some random guy bugging me and trying to steal my stuff.".
"Your stuff? He is Not yours." the guy huffed, crossing his arms. Keith moved closer again, even though the guy screamed in his ear the last time he got close. Something about the guy just drew him in. He hated it.
"He could be. And he will be. Just as soon as I buy the stupid thing." He argued, causing the guy to gasp almost dramatically.
"Stupid thing?! You take that back right now! Spike is a national treasure and should be respected as one." This guy seemed a little too invested in this character to be normal. Didn't matter, Keith was just as invested.
"A natural treasure that I will be taking home with me." He argued back, unaware of the small crowd that was forming near them.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." the pretty guy gritted his teeth, walking closer and pointing to himself, "He belongs to me.".
"I don't think so." Keith balled his fists, leaning closer so they were breathing in the same air, "He belongs to me." He whispered, low.
If he wasn't so close, he wouldn't have noticed the shiver that ran through the other guy's body. Or the way his eyes dropped to linger on his lips for a split second before shooting back up to reach his eyes.
"He," the guy whispered, sounding breathless even as his breath brushed against Keith's mouth, "is mine.".
They stayed like that for a moment, neither knowing what to do. Keith's brain felt like it had stopped working but was working at double the usual speed all at once. Keith found himself pulled a little closer, feeling the guy's eyelashes flutter against his skin.
"LANCE!" A voice broke them out of their stupor, and the guy jumped back so quickly it was like he was never even there.
"Um, right- uh.. As I was saying.." the guy tried to regain himself, glancing at his friend that must have been the voice from earlier making his way to them. Keith didn't bring up the red tinge on the tip of his ears. He was
sure he was wearing that look, himself.
"Ahem, umm.." Keith cleared his throat, trying desperately to come up with something. He wasn't even sure what he was doing for a moment. Trying to explain what happened? What exactly was that?
"Lance," the friend finally reached them, and turned to the guy, barely acknowledging Keith, "I leave you alone to buy your figurine for ten minutes, and you're in a fight?!" The guy sounded disbelieving, and Keith couldn't blame him. He couldn't believe he was in this situation, himself.
"Actually, I'd like to think of it more as a custody battle. One that I am winning." The guy had the nerve to smirk at Keith. He quickly opened his mouth to retort back, but was cut off by the lady at the stall.
"BOYS. I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT I HAVE MORE THAN ONE SPIKE FIGURINE IN STOCK." She bellowed, surprisingly powerful in her voice. Almost like royalty.
Keith blinked, and the other guy loomed sheepish.
"Oh." They both said at once.
"Please, just take one each and leave my stall." the lady pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'll even give you a free pokemon keychain each if you leave quickly.".
He turned back to the stall, horribly embarrassed. This was the first time he'd ever voluntarily made a public scene. He just got carried away. There was something about the guy that just.. He didn't know.
He couldn't make eye contact with the lady as he paid for his Spike figurine and chose a charizard keychain. He didn't know much about pokemon, but it looked pretty cool. She nodded and placed both items in a white paper bag and handed it to him.
He didn't hesitate to turn around and walk away, not sparing the guy (Lance, his mind unhelpfully supplied) another glance. He didn't know what would've happened if he caught the guy's eye again. He wasn't even sure what the hell had Just happened.
Once he was far enough away, he pulled out his phone and began furiously typing. He texted Pidge about what just happened. She responded only a few seconds later with a video of her laughing. He was as helpful as ever, it seemed.
He groaned and decided to try to forget it. Dropping his phone into the paper bag and walking towards the other stalls. He still had some money left to spend and he intended not to let this inconvenience ruin his first convention experience.
—
The sun had set sooner than he had expected it to. He decided to head home when he had seen how dark the sky had become through the window.
Making his way back to the exit, he overheard someone's phone ring and play the Dr Stone opening. That's probably what distracted him considering he bumped into someone at that very moment.
"Oof-" He heard the other mutter as they collided, and felt his gut gnaw at the familiar voice. He stepped back and grumbled, "You again?".
The guy looked as shocked as he did. "Oh come on! What the hell?".
"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, only then realizing he had dropped his bag.
"You're the one who bumped into me, mullet. Don't try to pin the blame on me.".
Keith scowled as if he had just tasted something bad, "Mullet?".
"I'm so sorry for my friend here." said the guy behind his guy, the same friend from earlier, "We'll just get going.".
"Wh- Hunk! I'm not letting him win-" The guy planted his foot into the ground, but was still being shoved by his friend who answered, "And I'm not going to let you be late for curfew again.".
His guy groaned and stuck his finger in Keith's face. "This isn't over." He said, pouting slightly in a way that shouldn't have been anything but infuriating.
Keith tried to bite and the guy pulled his finger away, glaring at him with disbelieving concern.
He opened his mouth to say more when his friend started pushing him again, picking up his bag and calling out to Keith once they got far enough away, "Sorry again! Have a nice day!!".
Keith sighed to himself, glad that the whole situation was over with. If he ever saw his guy again, it'd be too soon.
—
When he got home, Pidge was already bothering with text after text on his computer. He turned on his camera and called them instead, and was greeted by the sight of their disgusting mess of a room before their face came into frame.
"Sooo, how was it?" they said in lieu of greeting. He quickly recounted everything he could remember from the day, watching them listen as they finished off the last of their homework.
After a while, he pulled out his bags to show them the stuff he got. They were expressing their jealousy for the 5th time as he got to the white paper bag.
"And this is the guy I had to fight over, but he was definitely worth it." He said, pulling out Spike.
"Bro, he looks so cool. What kind of gun is that?" They asked, trying to examine the figurine through the screen.
"I don't know. It's just a gun, I guess." He muttered.
Pidge guffawed, "Says the one with a knife collection that can name the country each of his 'babies' were manufactured in.".
He rolled his eyes, "Shut up. I also got a free key chain for being a public nuisance." He said, and Pidge cheered.
"Woo, show me the charizard!".
"How did you know I picked a charizard?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Pshh, dude I know you. Just show me the lizard." They urged.
"Okay okay. " He said, pulling out the keychain.
Pidge snorted, "Dude, I know you're not into pokemon, but how did you mistake squirtle for charizard?". This caused Keith to startle and realize that the keychain in his hand was not the one he picked out.
"No I- this isn't mine?" He asked, as if Pidge could offer him an answer. His hand dug back into the bag, looking for his phone while hoping that this wasn't what he thought.
He almost pumped his fist in the air when he pulled out a phone, but quickly dropped it when he realized it wasn't his phone.
"Keith? What's going on over there?" Pidge asked from the screen, noticing his change in demeanor.
This wasn't true. There's no way the universe thought it was funny to pull this. He cursed whatever higher being was making him go through this shit.
"Keith?? Hello?" Pidge called his name again, and he shot up to look at her.
"That asshole has my phone!".