The Silent Kind

Episode 5

"Maybe I just wanted to experience your magic couch." Lance patted the back of the couch. "Hunk won't shut up about it. Says it's the best sleep he's had in years."

"We have a guest room." Keith offered but Pidge cut in.

"Nope. That's the sex bed. He sleeps on the couch."

Lance blinked. "Sex bed?"

Keith just sort of avoided eye contact with a slow shrug but Pidge. She purred, "It has bars. And traction."

Get a look into the mind of an introvert at Shiro's birthday dinner then an estranged Lance shows up on Keith's doorstep.
Notes:

This chapter introduces a whole mess of characters along with some new tensions and slightly faster pace. Hope y'all like it.

Let me know in the comments how it sits with you. I'll lean more toward a plot-ish if you like it or back off into pure fluff again if you don't.

I'm writing this for you guys so please don't be shy about giving your opinions or even requesting things.

Seriously. I'm more of a game master than a writer, really, so I do better with a little direction from an audience.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Beginning of story
Chapter Text
It was less green here but even in the rocky hill country of central Texas, winter was still the rainy season. Water poured in heavy sheets from an angry sky making rivers in the gravel beds outside the window. The cactus and yucca planted there took it in stride but the delicate flowers spaced between them were being ripped to shreds. Keith sat with his arms folded over his chest, head tilted toward the window and ignored the conversation around him in favor of watching the rain tear apart the fragile plant. It belonged out there about as much as he did in here. Not that he wasn't welcome. Of course he was. It's a public place, just a restaurant, but Keith never felt right in crowds. It wasn't anxiety, not really. He just didn't feel like he belonged. He wasn't really a part of it. And didn't want to be. Crowds are loud, messy, boring things that carelessly sucked the energy right out of him and were more likely to be offended that he was tired than apologize for making him so. He much preferred the meaningful interaction of a small group over the vacuous din of a crowd. But he couldn't just avoid them altogether. Every now and then he had to suffer for the people he loved. Such is the plight of an introvert.

This year Keith had managed to get through most of the winter with hardly any socialization at all. Shiro and Allura were on holiday with Coran's family in England and Shay took Hunk to visit her extended family in Pakistan so they didn't have the usual circus of dinners, parties, and massive gatherings that just seemed to get bigger every year. That's what happens when you let the branch manager and head chef of the second largest venue service in Texas plan your holiday schedule. With those two out of the country, all Keith had to worry about was Pidge's family and they had been busy. Matt was away on some sort of field research in the Bush and their mother had decided it was a good time to check that Mediterranean cruise off her bucket list. So Keith took the holiday shift this year. He got paid time and a half to sit in his truck and watch deer graze under the hunting stands. They knew as well as he did that no one was going to be out there for the holidays. And it was sublime.

Now that everyone was back though, Allura had decided Shiro's birthday was the perfect excuse to make up for lost time. So Keith found himself sitting in one of those pretentious, upscale 'Tex-Mex' restaurants the hipsters in Austin flock to because they've never had a taste of the real stuff in their lives and couldn't handle the heat if they tried it. Real Tex-Mex doesn't come with table cloths and wine glasses. It's like BBQ, the best stuff wouldn't pass health inspection. But Shiro liked going to these places. He'd convinced Hunk it was to 'keep an eye on the competition' though Keith suspected he might just be making excuses to eat food that isn't going to melt his tongue.