saints and soldiers » klance

16: This is How I Disappear

And without you
Is how I disappear

The sun rose again on Keith still staring out his window.

The sky was painted in rosy shades of pink and orange, fading into gray as the sun peered over the edge of the horizon. Keith wasn't sure when the last time he slept was, but he watched now as the city woke up all around him. It was vibrant and alive, such stark contrast to the dead grays and silence he had grown up with.

Breakfast prep had started half an hour ago. Keith glanced at the door before looking back out over the city.

At six, he stood up, leaving the white windowsill empty and forlorn in the pale light of the dawn. He was careful of the letter in the pocket of the jacket he still had not taken off.

The dining hall was already half full, even though he walked in at 6:03. The people standing behind the counter serving food looked cheery and eager, despite the time and the fact that they'd already been here for at least an hour.

He took a plate and surveyed the spread. It looked and smelled amazing. He was suddenly ravenous and thought back to the last time he had eaten- he'd done little more than poke at his food at the only dinner he'd yet attended here, almost a week ago. He was half amazed that he was even conscious now.

He went down the line taking everything that looked good, piling his plate high with food. His mouth was watering, and it was taking all his self-control not to dig in with his hands while he was still in line.

He stopped at the waffle station, holding out his plate and looking up to see the face of the person serving the waffles.

It was a tall boy in a yellow t-shirt and an apron, the one from the night at dinner, looking at Keith with a slightly dumbfounded expression, lips parted.

"Um, hi," he said, dropping two waffles onto Keith's plate.

Keith turned and continued down the line, flinching inwardly. He probably should have said something, or at least nodded. This boy was a friend of Lance's, who would probably be at dinner if not breakfast. For some reason, he found himself caring what Lance would think of this- Keith walking away from his friend without so much as a nod in greeting.

He pulled the jacket tighter around himself. If he was going to have to give it back, he wanted to get as much use as possible out of it first.

***
"LANCE LANCE LANCE!" Lance heard someone shouting behind him, accompanied by the sound of pounding feet.

Lance, Shiro, and Pidge turned around. Hunk was barreling toward them, face red, panting, but moving as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Oh my god Lance it was at breakfast and I was serving the waffles because Jem always serves the bacon and the new girl- her name is Kaylie by the way she's cool- they didn't want her to serve the waffles because last week she smashed the pancakes and Archer called orange juice and coffee so he was out and everyone was doing something so I was stuck with the waffles so-"

The three of them looked at each other, then shouted, "HUNK!" The other boy's hysterics halted and Lance said, "What's going on, buddy?" bouncing over to sling an arm around his friend's shoulders.

"The guy is at breakfast!" Hunk burst out excitedly. Lance's eyes widened, and then he turned on his heel and rocketed away toward the dining hall, leaving the other three to stare after him.

***
Keith sat at an empty table, shoved as far back into a corner as he could find. There weren't many people in this vicinity, though the room was growing steadily more crowded as people trickled in from upstairs and outside.