Broken

I'm A Whole Lot Of Work

I'm A Whole Lot Of Work

Keith, having been told that Shiro didn't leave until three (school ended at two), somehow managed to find the library and promptly chose an out-of-the-way table to begin his homework on. It wasn't much, thankfully, so he could take his time and listen to a bit of music while doing the work.

The school's library was a nice one, one of the best Keith had seen. Soft chairs were scattered across the room and between the shelves and the light wasn't too bright, making for a cozy feel. It was just what a library should be: an escape, a safe place.

He got out his binder, flipping to the physics tab, hoping to get it out of the way before Shiro let him know that they were leaving. He put on his headphones, switching on the noise cancellation feature and turned on twenty one pilots.

Just as Truce began to play, someone sat down in front of him. Keith lifted his headphones off of one ear, glancing up. The boy from earlier – Lance – waved to him.

"Our last conversation was cut short," he said, diving into chatter without preamble. "There's no crazy gremlin kid around this time though. We can get to know each other." He gave a bright smile, which Keith mimicked half-heartedly. Keeping one ear free out of courtesy, he ducked back to his homework.

"Oh, you've got Shirogane for physics, too?" Lance asked, trying to spark conversation. "He's like, the best teacher in the school. You know he went to school to be a pilot? He's apparently crazy smart in astrophysics and all that." Keith glanced up at Lance, who looked more animated than a hamster on caffeine.

It was then that Keith realised that Lance never sat still. Some part of him was always moving, whether it be his fingers drumming on the tabletop or fiddling at a piece of curly hair or his foot tapping at the chair leg. It was interesting to watch, to say the least, trying to guess what his hands would find to mess with next.

"What do you want to do?" Lance asked. "I want to be a musician, 'cause I love my guitar, but realistically, probably working with kids. They're so great." He stopped his rambling there, blue eyes looking expectantly at Keith. The shorter boy swallowed dryly.

"I dunno," he muttered. "Prob'ly a mechanic or something. Get my hands dirty."

"Really?" Lance asked. "That's kinda cool. You could go for, like, mechanical engineering. I've got a friend who's great at that. Big, friendly guy, goes by Hunk. You know him?" Keith nodded. He would have thought Hunk would go forward with baking (since he was an absolute master already), but he could definitely see him as an engineer.

Lance grinned when Keith nodded, clearly winding up for another long string of sentences.

"Awesome, you've already met half of the crew!" he said. "Well, wait." He counted on his fingers, a look of concentration overcoming his face before he lit up again (this was rather cute, Keith noticed, but didn't dwell on the thought). "Yeah, exactly half actually! We've gotta get you into the team." Keith nodded awkwardly, trying to go back to his homework.

"Yeah, come to think of it, we're short exactly one red paladin," Lance continued. "And you're all broody and lone wolf-y. You'll be perfect!" Keith raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not broody," he countered simply, punching numbers into his TI. Lance laughed.

"Yeah, sure, and I'm Puerto Rican," he grinned. Keith was just more confused.

"You look like you could be?" he said cautiously. Lance faked offence, putting a dramatic hand to his chest.

"Ex-cuse you!" he gasped. "I am Cubano through and through." Before Lance could launch into a spiel about the wonders of the Cuban race, Shiro came into the library.