"I'll be back in an hour, that enough time?" Hunk asked as he pulled off on the shoulder of the dark road. 

"Plenty. Thanks again man." Lance said. They had just drove from Romelle and Allura's place and Lance said he wanted to see Keith that night. 

"If you need me earlier, call. Alright?" Hunk asked as Lance got out. 

"Yeah yeah of course. Now go off to Shay's  like I know you are." Lance smirked. 

Hunk blushed. "I- you-" he sputtered. "Get out of here." He said trying to hide his smile as he pulled off the shoulder. 

"Be careful!" Lance called after the car before heading towards the shore. 

He walked up to the oval shaped rock, the siren already splayed across it, pale arms holding up a head of dark hair, looking towards the moon. His tail glowed a deep red and purple, lighting up the gloomy waters around him. 

He looked up at Lances arrival. He nodded, the water churning with the slow sweep of Keith's tail, back and forth. 

Lance sat in the crook of the rock, comfortable and oddly satisfied. He looked down at Keith who was running his hand through the water. The ripples broke the smooth reflection of the moon and stars up above. 

"So..what's up?" Lance asked, breaking the silence. 

Keith shrugged. "Nothing much. Everyday is worse, the Academy is full of bullies at every corner. I'm sure people are starting to wonder about my purpose." He said quietly not looking up. 

"Well they can keep their mouths shut, I'm sure you're the coolest siren down there, purpose or not." Lance said. He had meant it as a compliment but it didn't come out as pleasant. 

Keith grimaced. "Thanks..Lance." He said awkwardly. He finally looked up. 

"How are you doing? How'd your friends take it when you told them about me?" 

"I've been doing fine, my friends were shocked and confused but they think it's pretty cool. They won't say a word to anyone else. Promise." Lance said. He left out the part about how his friends thought it was dangerous interacting with Keith. 

"Nice." Keith said. His brain seemed to be working with questions. He spoke. "Can..can you tell me about your family Lance?" 

Lance was taken aback. He didn't expect Keith to ask about something as personal as his family..to even care in the first place. 

"Yeah of course. So there's my parents- Elaine and Jorge." Lance started, automatically imagining the warm house and loud laughter. "My dad owns the last name, McClain, from his grandfather, and then my mother Elaine Sanchez." Lance didn't look at Keith but instead at the stars up above, subconsciously counting them as he spoke out every detail of his family. 

"She is the sweetest, strongest woman I've ever known, and won't hesitate to fight for us. My dad, he is stubborn and strict but soft at heart, he loves us more than we can imagine..he claims." Lance chuckled. "Then there's my older brother Rico. Who I used to think of as my hero- always straight a's, super athletic and the girls always liked him...then he moved away after college to New York with his wife Melissa. She is kind of shy and reserved, but hilarious when she does open up. They have two kids, Lola and Isabel, two of my favorite people in the world. 

"And then me of course, the best in the family, though" Lance winked at Keith. "They don't like to admit it." Keith rolled his eyes but continued listening, his eyes glued to Lances faint smile. "Then there's Ronnie, Veronica, she's 17. Super smart and almost on the same level as me. I...I miss her the most." Lance paused, and Keith could've sworn he caught a faint tinge of sadness in the boys eyes. He cleared his throat. "Anyways, then there's Bryce." He rolled his eyes. 

"She's painfully annoying, more stubborn than my dad and the most persistent girl I've ever met. But she loves art and doesn't hesitate to show it. She is bold, and I love that the most about her. Then, Marco, soccer freak and adorably courageous. He is creative and one of the sweetest boys on this planet. I miss him a lot too. And last but not least, Gabriella, super sweet and loud. She used to always wake me up by coming into my room and jumping on my bed and..." Lance looked up smiling sadly. "It's been a while." He coughed looking into the water. 

Keith quirked an eyebrow. "Can I ask you something else?" He asked cautiously paving his way through Lances emotions. 

Lance nodded not looking up again. "You..seem to miss your family a lot. It also seems like a pretty big family.." He chose his words carefully. "Uh..what's that like?" 

Keith watched Lance's upper lip twitch before he looked up. "Heck it's amazing." He said grinning now. "They're amazing. My family is the best family ever and I wouldn't trade them for the world. They're loving and funny and annoying and awkward and weird and..." He took a breath. "Just great." 

Keith felt a small smile creep onto his own face watching Lance get so happy again. "Do you like being around people?" 

Lance nodded. "Yea. My mama always said I'm just an outgoing, free spirit. My friends say I'm super charming and flirtatious. But honestly? I just love people. The stories they tell, feelings they share, and the dreams they have. I love making people smile and seeing them laugh. It's almost like a weird goal of mine..and I feel so different when I'm alone. And not in a really good way ya know?..." He paused. 

"Why am I..why are you asking about all this?" 

Keith's eyes widened and his cheeks tinted in embarrassment. "Well it's just." His illuminesct pulsed a deeper shade. "I've never met a human before and..I don't know I don't think of myself as really a getting attached person but I wanted to know what that's like." 

Lance blinked in slight confusion. 

"To like being around people." Keith emphasized. 

Lance scratched his head. "Well there are introverts and extraverts right? You're just an introvert then right?" 

"I..I guess." 

"And that's cool, my best friend is an introvert. Mostly because he likes to just cook and cook on his own." Lance laughed. 

"Hunk right?" Keith asked going back to when Lance had explained each of his friends to Keith for the permission to share the secret. 

"Yeah. That's him, the cuddly guy." Lance said, a faint smile on his lips. 

"I'd like to meet him sometime.." 

"Oh?" Lance said, eyes wide. He paused for a while. 

"Well..maybe some day you can." He said awkwardly. 

Keith nodded. "Some day." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's got you in a mood?" Hunk asked when he picked Lance up about fifteen minutes later. Lance and Keith had spent the rest of the time talking about human activities and food. Lance was determined to start a list of his favorite things to share with Keith some time. 

"Or..not a mood." Hunk said thinking. "You're deep in thought. Is it him?" 

Lance bit his lip."Tonight, he told me about how he wondered what it was like to be an extravert, and I told him about my love of people, and my family." 

"Okay..so what's the issue?" 

"Well. I- I just feel like he is uncomfortable? Which I get of course, he is a siren talking to a human and he doesn't have that purpose thing and his council doesn't know at all and stuff but...I want him to be comfortable.." 

Hunk smirked. "Lance." He said. 

"Yeah?" 

Hunk chuckled, "I think you're getting attached already." 

"No I'm not!" Lance cried, his voice cracking a little. "I just met the guy. Whose not even technically a guy..cuz he isn't a human..but..well whatever. And his mullet. Did I tell you he has a mullet? It's so stupid. But his eyes are like galaxies its so cool and.." 

Hunk shook his head as his best friend continued on about the creature. He was just glad Lance wouldn't be so alone much longer. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks were spent with Lance pleading and arguing with Dayak everyday on the reduction of nets in the system. She was persistent and wouldn't let on, not matter how many times he asked. But he didn't give up. He asked for extra hours to show his commitment and happened to be late only twice a week. 

He started saving his money up for Matt's headphones, which would go out of stock sooner or later, and spent his nights talking to Keith in the secluded spot on the water. 

Every night, close to midnight he would fall asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, exhausted but he was content. He was helping so many people, he knew. 

"Good morning." Lance said, yawning. He was heading out to work, taking the bus again because Hunk would be taking the car to his new catering event a few towns away. His business had been expanding immensely, and he was extremely popular now. And Lance didn't mind the bus, the driver gave him a discount because he was on so often. 

"And to you." Hunk said, flour on his deep yellow apron, mixing some concoction on the counter. "I made muffins last night, blueberry, your favorite." He nodded to the wrapped plate across the sink. 

Lance grinned, grabbing two. "Thanks man, you're the best. Have fun at your event!" 

"Thanks, have a good day!" Hunk called as Lance hopped out the door. 

The day was slow, as always, but Lance was back into his rhythm, of catching multitudes of fish though he had bought himself a fishing rod instead of the usual net. It took a lot more work, but because of his extra hours and hard work, he kept up with his previous amount. 

He felt with it, he was making a stand, and his friends and a few other coworkers had already switched too.

By the end of the day, it was late and he was last at work as always. Dayak had given him the job of closing up every night, which made it easier for him to go down to the rock and talk to Keith. 

"Hey man." Lance said, the joke a usual, though he did consider Keith as a friend now.

"Hey." Keith said. "How's it going?" 

"Same old, same old. Today was extremely hard, the rod catches like maybe 1/16 the amount of the net? But it's cool, I want to help you. And plus, almost half the crew has switched too. It is definitely a sign to Dayak." Lance grinned. 

Keith smiled. "Thanks..that's great." 

"So how's it going down there?" Lance asked. 

"Also, the same. Academy, Shiro and Adam are still on the verge of marriage. I just wish they already got married, I don't know what they're waiting for honestly." Keith chuckled. 

As Keith talked about the mushy things the two did, Lance thought about how good Hunks muffins were and added them to the mental list of things to somehow show Keith. 

"I have so many things I'd love to show you, gosh. Somehow, I am going to get you Hunks muffins." Lance thought aloud. 

For some reason, it obviously struck a nerve in Keith. The siren started tapping his finger on the rock and running his hands through his hair. 

"Hey so Lance." He said quietly. 

"Mhm?" He hummed in response. 

"Well..maybe..well.." He took a deep breath. 

"Okay. So it was Adam and Shiro's idea originally but I was just thinking it was a pretty good idea..." He looked Lance in the eye. 

"I want to go up there. With you." Keith said nodding to the world behind Lance. 

Lance furrowed his brows, listening as Keith explained his reasons. 

"I'm useless down there-"

"You're not useless Keith don't say that." 

"Yea, okay. But if I were to go to the surface, I could learn so much and you could help me learn all those things you wanted to teach me and show me and I'd have such a great time, and it's a good opportunity for me to see the world, and maybe find my purpose." 

"The council wouldn't be suspicious of your absence?" 

"They wouldn't know." Keith said softly. 

"You'd actually put all your faith in me to keep you safe up there?" Lance pushed. 

Keith blushed, "I- I trust you yes."

Lance smiled. "That's all I needed to hear. So. How do we do this?" 

Keith grinned. He almost looked like he wanted to hug Lance, but hesitated, jerking back again. Lance tried to hide his frown. 

"So pretty much, any siren can change into a human by the mere touch of a human, we would split our tails and skin would grow over my scale and I'd have legs..it's supposed to be painful and stuff but I'd be fine I'm sure. I'd have a little trouble walking at first..but you can teach me all these things." Keith said. This was the most excited Lance had ever seen the siren and he loved it. 

"You sure it wouldn't be too painful?" Lance said, concerned. It sound horrifying.

"Probably not..?" Keith shrugged. "But..um.." He bit his lip, blushing. 

"I'd be naked soo."

Lance blushed. "Oh-uh-I-." He sputtered. "I could bring you stuff and.."

"I told Adam and Shiro I'd be leaving tonight." 

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Seriously? What if I couldn't do it?" 

"I mean I'd just go back..but you can soo..." 

Lance rolled his eyes. "Let me go see what we have." 

He rushed back to the house and searched for anything. 

He came up with his yellow poncho and..a trash bag. 

He figured Keith could just wrap it around his legs until they got home? Hunk would be spending the night away in the other town so he would be warned before Lance just showed up with the former siren boy. 

"This is all I have." Lance explained, holding up the two materials. 

Keith squinted at them as he swam up to the shore. He placed his hands on the moist wood of the deck. "What's that?" He pointed to the trash bag.

"A trash bag..I know I know.. but it's unused and-" he explained. 

"It's fine. Perfect." Keith whispered.

"Trash bag." He said smirking. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellooooo 

Been super busy lately sorry about that, but I should be back on somewhat track by now. Yee Keith is gonna be spending some quality time on the surface now so it's gonna be super fun. Hope you like it so far!

Love ya! 

SNS out