Lance's first experience with Black Friday wasn't his favourite day but he had to get great gifts for his friends. He didn't want to disappoint them, especially since he suspected that they would all outshine whatever he got them.
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Normally Lance tried to avoid Black Friday and all of the sales. He heard all of the horror stories and they scared the absolute shit out of him. This year, however, he had to get the perfect gifts for his friends. All of them have finally graduated and joined Allura at her company Voltron. She was the CEO of the company Voltron, inheriting it from her father, alongside Coran who worked as a COO. Voltron was a space exploration company that was working on trying to explore the further reaches of space.
Shiro worked as Allura's contracted bodyguard and it didn't hurt that they were also dating. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge all graduated last year but he wanted to stay an extra few years to make sure he was as qualified as he could be before he joined them. Keith worked as Allura personal pilot, Hunk as an aeronautical engineer and Pidge as an ethical hacker.
However staying as a student meant that he wasn't able to get a lot of the money that he needed or wanted. This year whenever one of his friends saw them, they got a very excited and happy smile on their face. Not that they weren't always happy to see him but since it was growing closer and closer to Christmas, it probably had something to do with their gifts for him. Considering all of them were making over $100,000 a year now. That's why he had to get the best deal possible, it might be the only opportunity he has to get a decently expensive product in his price range.
"Excuse me," he said meekly as he tried to push through the crowd. People were pushing and shoving trying to snatch up the best deals. Every time Lance would reach his hand out to try and pick up a product off the shelf, it was either snatched off of the shelf or even directly from his hand. He would have tried to defend himself against the other shoppers but they were almost foaming at the mouth and he wasn't sure about his own safety.
"Damn it," he muttered when another shopper pushed past him to grab the leather jacket he wanted to get for Shiro. This was a lot more frustrating then he thought it would be, he just really wanted to go home right now. He sighed and glanced at his side and gasped. That was Killbot Phantasm Re-Mastered. Pidge would love that, she never had the time to go out and but it, and wasn't being offered online. He had to get it for her. He started forward, if he didn't get this for her, he would never forgive himself.
He got his hand on the very last copy and pulled it off of the shelf. He didn't get to put it in his basket though before someone tried to grab it from his hand. He didn't get the chance to look up at the person's face before he was punched in the face and he fell to the ground in a heap. He quickly pressed a hand over his nose as he felt blood starting to slip down his face. He struggled to his feet and started towards the exit. This was too much for him. He walked through the parking lot, tears and blood rolling down his face. What was he going to do now?
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He quietly closed the door to his apartment, Blue walked up and rubbed her head on his leg.
"Hey beautiful," he said fondly before moving into the kitchen to rip off a piece of paper towel and wet it to try and clean the blood off of his chin. He sighed and leaned back onto the counter.
"God what am I going to get them now?" he asked himself, staring up at the ceiling. He looked back into his living room, his eyes catching the rolls of yarn and his knitting needles sticking up from the basket.
"Maybe..." he trailed off before looking over at the entrance way. His hat and mitten sat there innocently but they immediately shot Lance into action. They wouldn't be as expensive or nice as what his friends were going to get him, he was sure but at least they would have a use. He would definitely be cutting it close with a month and six hats and six pairs of mittens, but he would be able to do it.
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He wasn't exaggerating when he thought that his friends were going to spoil him this year. They decided to meet at his place, the comfortable area familiar to all of them. Lance's roommates had already gone home to their families and wouldn't be back until school started again. When they sat down around Lance's Charlie Brown Christmas tree after their meal, they decided to ignore the gifts to and from each other and started handing their gifts over to Lance.
He gaped in awe at the presents that he unwrapped. A round trip voucher from Coran so he could go visit his family, a drone from Keith, a brand new laptop from Shiro, an Xbox One from Pidge, an Apple watch from Hunk, and a fucking Louis Vuitton peacoat from Allura. They looked at him with sparkling eyes as he unwrapped his gifts and stuttered out grateful thank you's and let out a few tears.
His eyes caught his own wrapped gifts sitting under his small plastic tree. He walked over and picked them up handing them over to everyone, each one wrapped in color-coded wrapping paper.
"Don't open them yet," he said when he saw Keith about to tear into the package. He stopped and looked up at him expectingly.
"Okay, so I couldn't get you guys really good stuff, but I'll be able to get you guys something when I get enough money, so please don't be disappointed," he rushed out.
"We won't be disappointed," Shiro comforted him. Lance shook his head but waved his hand for them to go ahead. Immediately he heard the sound of ripping paper and decided to look down at the ground instead.
"Are these?" Pidge started, but as soon as she started talking she ripped the rest of the package open with an excited squeal. Lance blinked and looked up at the cheer and his eyes widened seeing Keith and Pidge had already pulled the cat-eared knit hats over their heads and the rest of them were pulling on the paw mittens with excited grins.
"These are just like yours!" Hunk cheered with a smile. Lance faintly nodded his head still confused at their reactions.
"You actually like them?" He asked. They stared at him blankly.
"Lance, I've been jealous of those things for like, two years," Shiro deadpanned. The eared hat on his head ruined the image though.
"Oh," he trailed off. They got off of the couch and gathered around him in a group hug, many words of gratitude falling from their mouths.
He looked at each of them, smiles on their faces and small laughs coming out of their mouths. Christmas had always been important to Lance and his family and now he had another family to share new memories with.
