You and I, We Mer-Maid for Each Other

≋ chapter three: bizarre can be beautiful

Seeing Lance nearly every day, whether it was for a long while or a short while, became a part of Keith's routine. He expected to see him. And horrifyingly, he started to worry or feel a bit sad when he didn't. Lance was always entertaining if nothing else. The days where he didn't see him were now boring.

Keith was thinking about that when he showed up for the organization meeting. Shiro was answering phone calls from somebody somewhere. He sat in the "conference room", which was really just the biggest room they had in their little office full of a bunch of folding metal chairs and the rolling ones dragged from their respective desks and computers, and waited. People arrived slowly, usually one at a time, and formed their little cliques to talk about work and their families and sports games.

Keith got bored. He stood and headed for the hallway so that he could get a soda from the vending machine, maybe a candy bar. There, he nearly bumped into a young woman. She smiled as soon as she registered that it was him, and he feigned annoyance. Which was a harmless part of their banter. She knew he didn't meant that.

"Keith! It feels like it's been forever. We've been so swamped here lately that it feels like it's been three or four months, not just one."

"Shiro said something about that. The guy's been up all night. How've you been?"

"Good. Great, actually! Do you remember that pretty blonde I told you about?"

Keith was interested now. His eyebrows raised.

"I do."

"She agreed to go with me for coffee!"

"That's— that's great, Allura. I'm glad to hear it."

Keith would never quite understand people like Allura, like his brother, like Adam. They were so honest. With themselves. With everyone around them. Allura could walk right up to a pretty girl and ask her on a date, having no idea whether or not she would be open to it, and feel no fear. No apprehension.

Keith had never asked a boy out. He'd agree if the right person asked, but he didn't know that he would ever have the guts to make the approach. Men were often self-conscious about their perceived masculinity. What if he asked someone out and they were offended, even disgusted? He didn't want to risk it. Allura had no such fear of rejection.

He had also never told anyone that he suspected he was some sort of asexual. People barely understood or accepted what being gay was. And most people seemed to have no concept whatsoever of what asexuality was. What would they say if they knew? Keith had a feeling he'd be single for a long time, but it was nice to see Allura's confidence.

Allura, however, wasn't about to accept that as their status quo. As they walked to the vending machine again she went on her usual spiel. That she knew Keith was a hopeless romantic even if he didn't admit it, that she knew he would be popular if he'd just put himself out there, that she knew a boy who was just his type and would tell him that Keith was cute if he'd just let her. And as usual, he told her to give it a rest, though he laughed as he did so. Even if he wasn't ready to take the plunge, he DID appreciate the fact that someone thought so highly of him.

The meeting, while dreadfully long, passed without trouble, and there was good news all around. Allura dragged Keith to a late lunch with her. One of those tacky little places that had hoped to become a tourist trap and failed. She talked about her date for a while. Allura had a thing for intelligent women, which made sense because she was an intelligent woman. Some kind of scientist. Keith knew it had something to do with the coral reefs.

"And you?" Allura asked. Something in her tone made Keith nervous.

"What about me?"

"I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone else, but your brother tells me you've been talking to some strange man on the beach."