Chapter Text
Lance pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and gently rubbed his tired eyelids with his thumb and middle finger. He’d been staring at this company’s financial documents all morning, pulling the necessary data into a spreadsheet so he could run an analysis, and his poor eyes were starting to get bleary despite the blue light glasses he’d bought to help keep this from happening. He’d already had two cups of coffee, and was seriously considering getting himself a third when a hand suddenly slapped the top of his desk, making the poor unsuspecting analyst nearly jump out of his skin, his glasses falling haphazardly over his face with his sudden jolt.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty!”
Lance quickly removed his skewed glasses and glared up at his supervisor, Adam, who was grinning down at him with an excited gleam in his eyes.
“Come on! It’s almost 11:30! You don’t want to miss break time, do you?” the older man asked, already starting to walk backwards down the hallway. Lance’s blue eyes widened and all of his tiredness instantly disappeared as he quickly glanced down at the clock on his computer.
“Oh shit, I can’t believe I almost missed break time,” he said as he scrambled up from his desk and stumbled after Adam.
In the two years he’d been here, Lance had discovered that there were many perks to working at Altea Finance: the hours were flexible, his supervisor, Adam Wright, was amazing to work with and learn from, his commute from home wasn’t too bad, and he generally got along with almost everyone in the office (except James, but he’s a dick, so no body likes him). But the thing Lance loved most about this job was the little break time ritual almost everyone in this area of the office took part in.
Despite having a head start, it didn’t take Lance long to catch up to his supervisor, the two of them practically speed walking down the hallway towards the steadily growing crowd near the windows. Their offices were on the back side of the building and normally, their view was nothing special: just an alley and the loading docks for several businesses. However, one business in particular, Marmora Garage, managed to peak the interest of almost everyone on their floor for a very specific reason. Well, two very specific reasons.
“Are we late,” Lance asked as he and Adam made their way over to the crowd. “Did we miss it?”
A woman with short cropped dark hair turned to them and smiled. “Not yet, you guys got here just in time!”
As if on cue, the back door to Marmora Garage swung open and the crowd’s full attention snapped to the two figures who walked out. The first was a tall man with short cropped black hair that had a tuft of white right in the front. He looked like he could have been a body builder, his muscles practically screaming through the fabric of the dirty jumpsuit he wore. He had a scar across the bridge of his nose and his right arm was a prosthetic, so the break time crowd had nicknamed him Bucky. Behind him strode a shorter man with a big scar on his right cheek and long black hair that was always pulled back into a ponytail, carrying two water bottles. Though not quite as built as Bucky, Ponytail was also in good shape, his well toned arms and a well defined chest making the gathered crowd salivate. The group had often debated that perhaps the two of them were work-out buddies, many of them often waxing for hours about what it would be like to see them both at the gym shirtless and sweating as they toned their already amazing bodies. As soon as the two men stepped out into the alley, the chatter started.
“Mmmm, looking good today, boys.”
“God, it should be illegal to be that hot.”
“I wonder if they’ll show us some skin today?”
“Well it is warm out. And they do look sweaty.”
Lance grinned glancing over at the small crowd of women next to him. “Don’t worry ladies. It’s supposed to be 85 today, so I’m sure we’ll get a show.”
As if the two men below could somehow hear them, Bucky reached up and unzipped the front of his jumpsuit, pushing it off of his toned shoulders to reveal the thin, white tank top he was wearing that did nothing to hide the rippling muscles underneath. He tied the arms of the jumpsuit around his waist before taking the two bottles of water from Ponytail so he could do the same, revealing to the very pleased crowd a black sleeveless t-shirt that looked painted on him and showcased his oh-so delicious looking biceps. There was a tattoo on his right shoulder, but the details of it were impossible to make out from this distance. Lance let out a deep sigh, resting his forearm against the glass as he leaned forward. When he first started joining everyone at the window, he couldn’t decide which man was sexier. Over time, though, the young analyst found himself completely taken with Ponytail. There was such an intensity in his dark eyes that could be seen even from this far away, and his whole face lit up like Christmas morning when he laughed at something Bucky said. His alabaster skin was smooth and shone with a thin sheen of sweat, and his thick black hair looked so impossibly soft that Lances’ hands ached with the desire to run his fingers through it. Not to mention his arms looked so toned that he often fantasized about what it would be like to have them wrapped around him… or to be pinned down by them. That thought made heat curl low in Lance’s gut and the younger man sighed forlornly.
“Uh, I bet Ponytail could bench press me. I would pay cash money for that man to bench press me.”
“I bet Bucky could crush a watermelon with those thick ass thighs,” Adam said from next to him, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The women gathered with them all nodded and hummed their agreement at the two men’s statements, everyone too transfixed on the gorgeous men below to respond with words.
The crowd watched as Bucky passed one of the water bottles back to Ponytail, then the two of them clanked their bottles together before twisting off the caps and tilting them towards their mouths. After taking several long draws from the bottles, both men reached back and poured some of the water over the backs of their necks, soaking their already tight shirts and allowing more muscle definition to show through the now paper thin material. The crowd cheered and began thanking various gods, while Lance felt his knees go weak and his mouth salivate with the fantasy of slowly licking that water off of the back of Ponytail’s neck running through his mind.
“You guys are pathetic.”
The sound of James’ voice was like a record scratch and whatever heat had been building within Lance was suddenly doused with a bucket of ice water, leaving behind nothing but disappointment and tendrils of steam. Pushing himself off of the glass with a grumble, he turned to face the bane of their good time, his face crumpling into a scowl.
“Nobody likes a douche canoe, Griffin,” he said, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. The other man scoffed, his own dark blue eyes narrowing as he folded his arms to match Lance’s stance.
“Don’t try to defend yourselves, McClain. If it were a couple of women who were being ogled and catcalled like this, the guilty parties would be reported to HR in a heartbeat. In fact, I have half a mind to do just that.”
Ugh, seriously, fuck this guy. Releasing an exasperated sigh that nearly folded his body in half, Lance rolled his eyes then began ticking his responses off on his fingers.
“First, no one here is taking pictures or recording those two men without their consent. Second, while we may be making comments, we are across the street and five floors up inside of a building with sound dampening glass, so they can’t hear us. Third, they are standing in a public alley way, so we aren’t invading their privacy. Now kindly shut your cake-hole and piss off. If you feel like ruining someone’s day, you can always go tell Jennifer she’s fat again.”
“I never said Jennifer was fat!!” James’ voice rose an octave with his ire, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I just said the building had a gym on the first floor when I saw her using the stairs instead of the elevator!!!” Lance rolled his eyes again and shook his head.
“Whatever you say, Griffin. Now, if you’ll excuse us,” he said, waving his hand in a shooing gesture as he began turning back towards the window. Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, James’ relaxed into a casual stance and a wicked grin spread across his face.
“You know, maybe if you spent less time ogling filthy mechanics and more time on your actual work, then you probably would have made Associate by now, like me.” Lance spun back around to level his glare at the pompous man, and James’ grin widened.
“On second thought, you just keep enjoying the view. I’m sure I’ll make Director while you’re busy.” Lips quirked in a triumphant smirk, James spun on his heel and walked back down the hall towards his desk. Lance glared at his back, his eyes following the other man’s form as he disappeared around a corner.
“You know, James would be fine as hell if his personality wasn’t complete garbage.” Beside him, Adam gave a snort.
“He’s not really my type, so I’ll just take your word for it. Come on, Loverboy,” he said patting Lance on the shoulder. “Break time’s over.”
“What?!” the younger man squawked, turning quickly to face the window again. His eyes widened in dismay at the empty alley that greeted him. He’d missed it. God fucking dammit, Griffin! A groan of disdain rumbled out of his throat as he turned and started walking down the hallway with Adam sympathetically patting him on the back.
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Keith sighed as he tossed his empty water bottle into the break room trash can, then moved to the fridge to grab a fresh one. The garage was stuffy, but outside there had been a nice breeze and it felt good to peel out of his jumpsuit for a few minutes and let the air cool his skin. Behind him, he heard Shiro toss his empty bottle as well, then move to the sink to wash his hands. Regris, who was sitting at the table nursing his third cup of stale coffee regarded the two men with a knowing smirk.
“You guys are such fucking teases.”
Both men paused in the middle of their actions. Keith’s normal scowl twisted in confusion as he turned to Shiro, whose face wore a similar expression. The two men looked at each other for a moment before Keith turned back towards the blue haired man seated at the table, one thick eyebrow raised in question.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Regris chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. “Oh like you two don’t know about your little fan club.”
Keith turned back to Shiro, who had moved away from the sink, drying his hands on a paper towel. The older man’s face continued to contort in confusion as he looked at his equally perplexed younger brother, then turned back to address their seated coworker. “Regris, we have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Regris let out a raspy chuckle as he leaned his chair onto it’s back two legs. “You mean to tell me that all the times you have gone out to that dirty little alley for a break you’ve never noticed the crowd gathered on the fifth floor of the highrise across the way?”
Shiro’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, but Keith merely scoffed and folded his arms over his chest. “Oh please. Like we give a shit about a bunch of lonely office wives ogling us to break up the monotony of their day.” This only made Regris laugh harder.
“Well if you two oblivious fucking idiots bothered to pay attention, you’d notice that at least two of them aren’t ‘wives’. It’s hard to make out details because of the distance, but one of them has a narrow waist and legs for days and the other has an ass I would love to bury my face in.”
At Regris’ bold claim, Shiro’s face went red and Keith’s indignation slowly shifted to cautious curiosity. He had always been a sucker for nice legs. “Really?”
The front legs of the chair Regris was sitting in hit the floor with a loud clang. He then rose to his feet and made his way to the sink to deposit his half finished cup of coffee. Before he left the break room, he turned to face the two surprised men with a smirk.
“The next time you guys go out for a break, do yourselves a favor and look up.”
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The next day Lance sat at his desk hyper focused and furiously typing away at the analysis report he had been working on yesterday. Despite his casual demeanor about the encounter, James’ words had crawled under Lance’s skin and taken up residence in his subconscious. He’d spent the better part of his evening on the phone lamenting to his best friend Hunk about how he had been working at Altea for two years but had yet to receive a promotion. He and James had started around the same time, but two weeks ago James had been promoted to Associate while Lance hadn’t heard so much as a peep on whether or not he was being promoted. He complained that his work not just as good as Griffin’s but better and grumbled that the fact that he hadn’t moved up yet was because Allura, the owner of the company, was holding a grudge against him for getting tipsy and hitting on her at the company picnic last year.
In a display of his never ending saint-like patience for Lance’s dramatic behavior, Hunk had reassured him that Allura had forgiven him after he’d apologized profusely and that the two of them were even on friendly terms now. He’d also assured him that his lack of movement within the company had nothing to do with his quality of work (because Lance’s work was top notch), and likely due to a lack of open positions currently available. He had also reminded Lance that James had in fact started a month before him, so that was probably why he got promoted first. Hunk’s words had settled Lance’s nerves enough for him to relax and go to bed (God bless Hunk!), and when he’d awoken this morning it was with fierce determination and resolve. He was going to make Associate, and nothing was going to stop him.
With one last glance over his report, Lance uploaded it to the company share file and hit send. With a sigh that seemed to resonate from deep within his soul, Lance tossed his blue light glasses onto his desk and sank back into his chair. Now all Adam had to do was review the report and barring any changes, present it to the client. A deep feeling of accomplishment settled in Lance’s chest as he gently twisted his chair back and forth. He’d finished that analysis a full day ahead of schedule, which meant that if there were no major changes, Adam would be able to present it to the client early, making his boss, and the company look good. Speaking of his supervisor, he should probably let Adam know the report was finished and ready for review.
Lance stood up from his desk and began making his way down the hall towards Adam’s office with a smile on his face and a hop in his step. On the way, he passed by James’ desk, who glared up at him as he strolled passed. Lance simply rolled his eyes and continued on his way, choosing not to engage with the fun police today. The door to Adam’s office was open, so Lance knocked on the door frame to get the older man’s attention.
“Hey Lance,” Adam said, not looking up from his computer. “I see you uploaded your report for the Daibazaal account. Nice work!” At that, Adam looked up with a warm smile on his face.
“I’ll review it this afternoon and shoot my notes over to you, though I can’t imagine there will be many. With any luck, I’ll be forwarding this to them ahead of schedule,” Adam said, glancing back at his computer. Lance nodded.
“This is what, the fourth company this year they are considering buying? Must be nice to be filthy fucking rich.” Adam chuckled, nodding his head in agreement.
“Yeah, no kidding. I heard a rumor once that they tried to buy us at one point, but Allura’s father refused to sell to them.” Lance’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Really? Wow! Wait, if that’s true, then why would they have us managing their portfolio?” At this question, Adam simply shrugged.
“Like I said, it’s just a rumor. I doubt they would have us managing their finances if they had ever intended to buy us.” Adam’s hazel eyes shifted down to his computer, then back up at Lance with a mischievous gleam. “By the way, it’s almost break time!”
Lance straightened from where he had been leaning against the door frame, his lips curving into a dazzling smile. “Awesome! Let’s not keep our guys waiting!”
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Keith emerged from the break room with two water bottles in hand. Shiro, who had been leaning on the wall just outside the break room doors waiting for him, fell into step next to him as the two made their way to the door that led to the alley.
“So,” Keith started as they neared their destination, "do you think Regris was bullshitting us?” Shiro’s shoulders rose up and down in a shrug, a playful smile warming his facial features.
“Guess we’re about to find out.”
Keith tried not to grimace as the older man pushed open the door to the alley, flooding the room with light. A warm breeze greeted them and Keith couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh at the feeling of it caressing his skin. Despite the various fans positioned around the garage, it still got stiflingly hot in there during the summer. But out in the alley there was plenty of shade and a nice breeze that he got to enjoy with Shiro when the two of them came out for their break.
After giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the bright sunlight, Keith took a deep breath and glanced up at the building across the alley way. Sure enough, there was a crowd gathered at the floor to ceiling windows on the fifth floor, looking down at the two of them. His amethyst eyes widened in shock as they scanned the crowd, seeing only women initially.
Then he saw him.
Legs for days, a narrow waist, and as he allowed his eyes to travel up he could also see broad shoulders and short cropped hair. He couldn’t make out any details from this far down, but what he could see he was not disappointed with. Nice legs and broad shoulders were Keith’s kryptonite, and in the back of his mind he wondered if the man was half as sexy up close as he was from a distance.
“Huh. I guess Regris was telling the truth,” Shiro spoke next to him, drawing the younger man out of his thoughts. Keith nodded, tearing his gaze from the windows to look over at Shiro, whose eyes were still transfixed on the building. He watched as his brother raised his hand in a wave and looked back up in time to see several of the women, as well as Legs and a man with glasses, wave back to him. He then heard the sound of a zipper and turned back to see Shiro peeling out of his jumpsuit. When the older man caught Keith’s skeptical eyebrow raise, he merely chuckled and shrugged.
“Look, it’s hot and I want to cool off,” he said, tying off the arms of his jumpsuit. “Plus I’ll admit, it feels kinda good to be ogled instead of just stared at.”
Shiro’s words had Keith’s features softening immediately as he handed the two water bottles to his brother. Ever since his accident, Shiro had been self-conscious about his appearance no matter how many times Keith had reassured him it wasn’t that bad. Despite the fact that his prosthetic arm was top of the line, people still tended to stare and Keith knew it made Shiro uncomfortable despite the fact that he never said a word about it. Being looked at not as a charity case, but as someone to be desired, must be doing wonders for Shiro’s self esteem. Honestly, the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea himself. With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Keith reached up and tugged the zipper down on the front of his grease stained jumpsuit, then shrugged his way out of it.
The light breeze from earlier felt heavenly on his sweat soaked skin and Keith let out a satisfied sigh at the sensation. He took the water bottle Shiro offered him, twisted the cap off, and took a long draw from it. He then poured some of the water over the back of his neck, relishing in the sensation of the cold liquid against his overheated skin. His gaze slowly traveled back up to the building across the way and he let out a chuckle when he noticed the crowd appeared to be cheering and clapping. He glanced over at Shiro, who was currently pouring water over the back of his neck, and nudged him with his elbow. The older man glanced over at Keith, who nodded in the direction of the building with his mouth quirked into a grin. Shiro’s eyes traveled up towards the crowd and he let out an embarrassed laugh at the sight of them applauding.
“Good to know they approve of us cooling ourselves down,” he said, his lips curving into a grin of their own. Keith let out a low chuckle and shook his head, because of course Shiro would think that’s why they were cheering. He let his eyes drift back up to Legs and even from this far down, could see the dazzling smile he wore as he clapped. Check one more box on Keith’s Hot Guy Must Haves List (tm). It felt like their eyes locked for a moment and Keith couldn’t stop his lips from curling up, returning the smile that Legs was giving him before downing the rest of his water and turning back to his brother.
“Well, this was fun, but we should probably get back inside before Kolivan sends someone to get us.” Shiro nodded and finished off his own water.
“Yeah, we should get going.” He chanced another glance back up at the building and waved again to the crowd. This time, everyone waved back and the man with the glasses blew a kiss right at him. Shiro flushed bright red, and Keith threw his head back in a full bodied laugh. He was still laughing when they reentered the garage, catching the attention of a few of their coworkers.
“So,” Regris said as he walked over towards them, “I take it you saw your fan club?” Keith nodded as he chucked his empty water bottle into the trash.
“Yeah, you weren’t kidding about the guy with legs for days. I couldn’t see much of his face from this far away, but man, he had some killer fucking legs.” Regris nodded sagely.
“Indeed he does. Honestly even if he ended up being a butterface, I still would love to feel those long legs wrapped around my head. What about Bootylicious? Was he there today?”
“Okay, we are not calling him that,” Shiro said as he walked over to where Keith and Regris were standing. “He had glasses, so if we are giving him a nickname it’s going to be ‘Glasses’, not ‘Bootylicious’. And yes, he was there today.”
“He blew Shiro a kiss,” Keith said with a grin, unable to resist teasing his brother, who promptly scowled at him. “It made him turn red as a fucking stop sign.”
Shiro opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Regris’ laughter. When Keith started chuckling as well, Shiro let out an indignant huff and folded his arms over his chest.
“You know what, screw both of you! And watch your mouth, Keith,” he said before stomping away, his childish behavior only making the two laugh harder. It was rare when Keith was able to tease Shiro, the older man usually the one making him grumble and stomp away like a kid, so it felt nice to get a rise out of him for once. He couldn’t help but grin as he made his way back to his work station. Despite the heat, today was shaping up to be a good day after all.
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“No, nonononononono, pleeeeeease, pleeease start for me, girl”, Lance begged as he turned the key again and pumped the gas, but nothing happened. “Come on, Blue! Have I not been good to you? I just washed you last weekend! Please, please start for me?”
Holding his breath, Lance turned the key again, but alas, his car refused to start. It was just after five, he was actually going to be leaving work on time for once, but alas, Blue, his beloved hand me down ‘67 Chevy Impala was refusing to start. Lance ran his hands down his face and bounced his head against the headrest, an irritated growl slipping through his lips. He rolled his head to the side and glared over at Adam’s black Audi parked a few spaces away. Maybe his supervisor could give him a jump. With an agitated groan, Lance climbed out of his car and stomped his way back into the building. Luckily, the older man was still in his office, though he was clearly packing up to go home. He looked up when Lance knocked, his face contorting in confusion at the sight of the young analyst.
“Hey, I thought you left already,” he said, shoving his laptop into his bag. Lance sighed and held up his keys.
“Can you give me a jump? I think something’s wrong with my battery.”
Adam immediately froze in his preparations to go home. “Did you just say you’re having car trouble?” Oblivious to Adam’s change in tone, Lance sighed and nodded, running his empty hand through his hair.
“Yeah, it took me a bit to get her started this morning, but I thought it was fine after I got it going. Turns out I was wrong.” Adam’s face molded into a wolfish grin and the light gleamed off of his glasses.
“Lance. You know what this means, don’t you?” The younger man arched a thin chestnut eyebrow in confusion.
“… No?”
Adam’s elation was palpable as he flung his bag over his shoulder and quickly rushed over to Lance, grabbing him by the shoulders. “It means we have an excuse to walk over to Marmora Garage and talk to Bucky and Ponytail!!!!”
All of the color drained from Lance’s face and he began shaking his head as he tried to pry himself from the older man’s grip. “Oh hell no, that is not happening. We are not going over there!! Not now, not ever!!”
“Why not?” Adam questioned with a pout, releasing Lance’s shoulders so he could fold his arms over his chest.
“Because! After what happened this afternoon it would be super awkward!! They saw us watching them!” Adam rolled his eyes and shrugged.
“So what? They didn’t seam bothered by it. Hell, Bucky even waved at me.”
“He waved at all of us.”
“At ME! Anyway, it’ll make for a great ice breaker!! Come on, this is happening,” Adam said, turning off the light in his office and ushering Lance out. The younger man groaned and tried to drag his feet as he was practically pushed to the elevators by his supervisor.
“Aaaaaaadaaaam, why are you doing this to meeee? I thought you liked meeee?” Lance whined as they came to a stop in front of the elevators. The older man scoffed and pushed the down button.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Lance. I’m doing this because I like you! Come on, how serendipitous is this? You’ve been pining after a hot guy since you started here and on the day he notices you, your car breaks down, giving you the perfect opportunity to walk next door and actually fucking talk to him! It’s like the universe heard your pathetic pleas-”
“Hey!”
“-and is giving you the chance to have what you have been dreaming about! Do not deny the universe it’s gifts, Lance!”
The doors to the elevator dinged open and Adam practically shoved the younger man inside before slapping the button for the first floor. Lance sighed and shook his head. He knew arguing with Adam wasn’t going to get him anywhere, especially when he knew the real reason why his supervisor wanted to do this.
“You just want me to do this so you can come with me and talk to Bucky,” he accused, crossing his arms.
“Well of course,” the older man said with a roll of his eyes, not even bothering to try and deny it. “You aren’t the only one whose been pining around here! Here’s hoping they’re more than just a couple of pretty faces and rockin’ bods.”
“’Rockin’ bods’? Okay boomer,” Lance said with a snicker, to which Adam responded with a swat to his arm. The elevator signaled their arrival at the first floor and the doors slid open. With a final sigh as they crossed to the main entrance of their office, Lance followed Adam out of the front doors and down the street towards Marmora Garage.
“You know, they may have already gone home for the day. And it’s not like we can ask for them, we don’t even know their names,” Lance said in a last ditch effort to get out of this. Adam hummed and nodded, his brow furrowing as he considered Lance’s statement.
“True. It’s not like we can just ask if Bucky and Ponytail are available to help us. Still, I refuse to let this golden opportunity slip past us!”
With the last of his excuses exhausted, Lance resigned himself to his fate, just in time for the two of them to walk through the glass door of Marmora Garage. The front room was small, with a tall counter off to the side that blocked the way to what looked like a back office. Along the back wall was a window that let those seated in the waiting room look out into the huge garage that was still bustling with activity. Next to the window was a metal door that was being propped open with an old car battery, letting the ambient noise from the garage fill the small room. The two men approached the window, hoping to spot Bucky and Ponytail, but alas, neither man was anywhere to be seen among the many men and women moving about, focused on their work.
“Damn, they should change the name of this place to Hard Body Garage,” Adam said, leaning towards Lance so the younger man could hear him better. Lance let out an amused snort and nodded his agreement as he watched a huge woman with short cropped blue hair and a serious expression on her face lift up a tire with one arm and carry it over to the car she was apparently working on.
“Can I help you?”
Both men jumped in unison and turned towards the source of the booming voice that had spoken to them. Behind the counter stood what had to have been the most intimidating man Lance had ever seen in his life. His entire torso was visible from behind the tall counter and he had a long, white braid that hung over one of his massive shoulders. The intimidating man scowled at them and folded his arms over his barrel chest as he waited for them to answer. Lance managed to swallow the nervous lump in his throat and gave what he hoped was a friendly and not at all terrified looking smile to the man as he and Adam moved away from the window. As he neared the counter, Lance could see the patch sewn onto the front of the intimidating man’s jumpsuit said ‘Kolivan’.
“H-hi. Um, I was hoping someone would be able to help me. My, uh, car won’t start.”
Kolivan simply stared at Lance for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes briefly shifting over to Adam, then back to Lance before uncrossing his arms and leaning forward to grab something from behind counter.
“Put your info in here,” he said setting a tablet on the counter top and tapping the screen to wake it up before sliding it towards Lance, “then have your car towed here and we’ll take a look at it.”
“Okay, sure,” Lance said as he started quickly entering his contact information and the details about his car on the bright screen. When he was done he slid the tablet back over to Kolivan, who picked it up and tapped at the screen a few times before turning his attention back to the two men before him.
“We close in an hour, but we open at 7am tomorrow. Have your car brought in then.” The intimidating man turned to leave, but Lance quickly spoke up again.
“Actually, I was wondering if someone could take a look at it now? I work next door at Altea Finance and my car is actually in the parking garage. Would someone mind walking over there with me and taking a look?”
Kolivan raised an eyebrow at Lance’s odd request, staring at him for a moment before responding.
“We don’t normally do that sort of thing.”
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Keith sighed as he replaced the oil filter on the Honda Civic he was currently working on. It was the third one today and while he didn’t mind it, hell the work was so simple he could do it in his sleep, he couldn’t help his desire for something more exciting. Shiro was currently finishing up putting new break pads on a Porsche that had been brought in, and what Keith wouldn’t give to work on a car like that instead. You would think that having a garage near the financial district downtown would mean that all they saw was fancy cars, but in truth, most people who worked here drove sensible, fuel efficient cars instead. Still, he can daydream about what it would be like to work on something a little sexier. Maybe someone in that fancy office building next door had a cool car he could work on. The thought of the office building brought back memories of his and Shiro’s fan club, namely Legs. Keith started to wonder what kind of car he might drive when the loud ring that signaled to the interior of the garage that someone had come through the front door yanked him from his thoughts.
From where he was laying underneath the Honda, he could see through the open door into the waiting area. He watched as Kolivan walked out of his office and started talking to someone, then a pair of long slender legs crossed in front of the open door and came to a stop in front of the counter. Nice long legs, wrapped in a pair of slim fitting black dress pants that showed off their delicious shapely features. Legs that flowed up to a narrow waist, the slim pants hugging around cute, tight little ass. His eyes lingered on that ass for several seconds before reluctantly traveling upwards, following a slender back clad in a light blue dress shirt up to a pair of broad shoulders and the back of a head crowned in a mop of short, messy brown hair.
Wait a minute.
Long legs, narrow waist, broad shoulders, short hair.
No way.
No fucking way.
Oil change completely forgotten, Keith wheeled himself out from under the car he was working on and stood up a bit too quickly. Black spots swam in his vision for a moment as he made his way to the open doorway, catching the tail end of their conversation.
“Actually, I was wondering if someone could take a look at it now? I work next door at Altea Finance and my car is actually in the parking garage. Would someone mind walking over there with me and taking a look?”
The man’s voice was like warm honey and Keith could barely contain the jolt of excitement that shot through his body like lightning. It was really him! Legs was here! He was here in Marmora Garage and he was having car trouble! Holy shit! Was this really happening? Was he being given the opportunity to meet the sexy guy from the office building across the street? And maybe even walk next door and take a look at his car for him? Wait, this was how cliché romantic comedies started, right? Ugh, Keith did not want to be a lame Rom-com! On the other hand, this is also how porn starts, and Keith could one-hundred percent get behind that. Heh. Get behind that. He let his amethyst eyes roam back down to that perky little ass and grinned. Yeah, he definitely wanted to get behind that.
“We don’t normally do that sort of thing.”
Or maybe his boss was going to cock-block him and ruin the whole goddamn thing. He watched as the man’s broad shoulders sagged and panic started to bubble up inside Keith’s chest. Before he could lose his nerve he stepped through the open doorway and spoke up.
“I’ll do it.”
A husky voice cut through the room, drawing everyone’s attention, including Lance’s. As he turned towards the sound, he felt his breath catch in his chest and his mouth suddenly dried up like the Sahara. Standing in the doorway to the garage staring right at him, was none other than Ponytail himself. If Lance had found him attractive before, being able to get a good look at him now he could safely say that attractive was an understatement. This man was downright gorgeous, even in his stained garage jumpsuit. Speaking of, Lance forced his eyes to travel down to the white patch sewed onto the left side of his chest where he saw the name ‘Keith’ stitched in red. Ponytail’s name is Keith. Lance’s lips curved into a smile as he lifted his gaze to meet the surprisingly beautiful eyes of the man he’d been pining for since he started working at Altea Finance.
When Legs turned around, Keith could have sworn time slowed. Eyes as blue as the deepest parts of the ocean turned to look at him and it took every ounce of Keith’s willpower not to let his jaw hang open. This man was positively stunning. Everything about him, from the cute upturn of his nose, to the sharp cut of his jaw, to his impossibly smooth looking tanned skin was more than Keith could have ever hoped for. Then his lips parted, pulling into a dazzling smile and the poor mechanic felt his knees go weak. Fuck, he was a goner.
“You’d do that for me?” Lance asked, hoping he didn’t sound as breathless as he felt. Holy shit, he might pass out. Meanwhile, Kolivan’s gaze shifted between Keith and Lance, his face unreadable as internally, he tried to figure out what the hell was happening right now.
“Keith, you finish the oil change on that Honda?”
Once again the gruff and booming voice of Kolivan shattered Keith out of his trance. Reluctantly, he turned his attention to the older man whose narrowed gaze was sobering enough to yank Keith the rest of the way back into reality. For the briefest of moments he considered lying, but given his boss was already glaring at him, he decided not to try his luck.
“Almost, sir. I should be done in about ten minutes.”
“As I said before, we don’t normally do this sort of thing,” Kolivan said as he folded his massive arms over his chest.
“We understand,” Adam said, speaking up for the first time and drawing the attention of everyone in the room, “and I promise, this isn’t something we plan to make a habit of. But if Keith here is willing to help us, we certainly don’t mind waiting.”
Keith had been so completely fixated on Legs, that he didn’t even register the other man standing next to him. It didn’t take him long to recognize Glasses, though, and he couldn’t fight the grin that tugged on the edge of his lips.
“I’ll bring Shiro with me just in case.”
Kolivan raised a single eyebrow, his gaze once again shifting between Keith and the two customers in front of him. After what felt like several long minutes, his broad shoulders relaxed ever so slightly and he uncrossed his arms.
“Finish the Honda first, then you and Shiro walk over to the parking garage with Mr. McClain here and see if the two of you can figure out what’s wrong with his car. Be back here before we close.”
Without another word, Kolivan turned and walked back into his office. His boss could be a no-nonsense hard-ass sometimes, but deep down, he was a good man who liked helping people. Keith’s grin widened at the older man’s retreating form before he turned his attention back towards the two men standing at the counter.
“I’ll just be a few more minutes, then Shiro and I will take a look at your car, Mr. McClain,” he said before turning back towards the garage.
“Lance.”
Keith froze mid step and turned back to face the young man who’d spoken. Realizing he now had Keith’s attention, Lance’s posture straightened with an air of confidence, his lips curving into a flirtatious grin as he shot him a pair of finger guns.
“The name’s Lance.”
Oh no. He’s a dork. Keith snorted, his grin turning into a full fledged smile as his shoulders shook with his soft laughter. Ugh, how was this guy managing to check all of his boxes?
“Okay, Lance. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
As Keith turned and headed back into the garage, Adam sighted and rubbed his temples.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Lance, why are you like this?”
“What?” Lance questioned with a pout as he rounded on Adam. “I was trying to play it cool!”
“Ugh, this is the company picnic all over again,” the older man said with a groan, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. Lance huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, turning his pointed nose up in the air.
“Screw you! Keith liked it and that’s all that matters.”
Back at his work station, Keith proceeded to perform the fastest oil change of his life. Just as he was finishing, Shiro walked over to him, wiping his hands off on a rag.
“Hey, kiddo!” Keith grimaced at the greeting, but didn’t say anything. He hated when Shiro called him ‘kiddo’ but there was no way for him to retort without looking like a petulant child. “I was thinking maybe we could hit Sal’s after work if you’re interested. I could really go for a beer and maybe we’ll grab a couple of burgers while we’re there.”
“Sounds great,” Keith said with a smile as he slammed the hood of the Honda closed. “But I need your help with something first.”
Shiro opened his mouth to ask what, but the words froze in his throat as he watched his brother frantically start gathering his tools and tossing them into his bag before stopping to check his reflection in a hubcap that was hanging on the wall. The older man let out an amused chuckle as he watched Keith feverishly rub at a small smudge of oil on his cheek until it was gone.
“Keith, what in the world has gotten-”
“Come on!” Keith practically shouted as he turned back to face Shiro before grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards his work station. “Kolivan says we have to be back by close!”
He released Shiro’s arm and bent down to grab his bag of tools, not even slowing down as he headed towards the door to the lobby. He stopped when he realized the older man wasn’t following him and rolled his eyes with a huff.
“I promise, you’ll thank me later.”
Shiro’s dark eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he followed after Keith none the less, driven mostly by curiosity at his younger brother’s odd behavior. It turns out, Keith was right, because as soon as he passed through the doorway and into the lobby he felt all of the blood in his body rush to his face. Glasses, the man who had blown him a kiss earlier today was standing in the lobby talking to Legs. Keith turned and offered Shiro a smug grin as the older man was rendered speechless. He then cleared his throat to get the attention of the other two men and couldn’t help but notice the way Glasses’ cheeks flushed at the sight of them.
“Guys, this is Shiro. He’s going to come with me to take a look at your car. Shiro, this is Lance and…”
“Adam,” the other man said, stepping forward and offering his hand out to Shiro. “My name’s Adam.”
“I-I’m Shiro,” he stammered like the absolute fucking loser he was, slowly shaking the proffered hand. Of course Adam chuckled because he positively adored the flustered look on Shiro’s face when he realized his mistake, while Keith sighed and shook his head before continuing.
“Now that that’s been established,” he said, ignoring the glare Shiro shot his way, “Lance, we’re ready to walk over and take a look at your car for you.”
Lance beamed and headed for the door, holding it open like the gentleman he was. Keith offered him a bashful smile and a quiet “thanks” as the four of them headed towards the parking garage at Altea Finance. Adam struck up a conversation with Shiro, but the younger two men walked in silence for a few minutes before Keith cleared his throat and spoke.
“So, uh, what sort of issues are you having with your car?”
“Oh, well, I can’t get it to start,” Lance said, scratching the back of his neck. “I had trouble with it this morning, but I was finally able to get it going, so I thought it was fine. I think something is wrong with the battery but I’m not sure. My car is pretty old, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world!”
Keith nodded his head with a chuckle as they passed the gate and started up the ramp of the parking garage.
“I get it. I feel the same way about my bike. What kind of car do you have?”
“There’s my baby Blue right there,” Lance said, his smile nearly taking in his ears at the sight of his beloved car. She was old and definitely needed a new paint job, but she was his and he absolutely adored her. “She’s a-”
“’67 Chevy Impala…” Keith said barely above a whisper. His eyes were as wide as saucers and his mouth hung agape. Lance drove a powder blue ‘67 Chevy Impala. Holy fucking shit. He hardly registered Shiro’s quiet “whoa” from behind him. Keith gently set his bag of tools on the ground before turning his stunned expression on Lance.
“This is your car?” he asked as Lance preened and patted the hood.
“Yep! This is my girl! She may be old, but she’s been good to me! Well, until today that is.”
“I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these,” Shiro said, clearly just as awestruck as Keith was. The garage saw a few expensive luxury cars, but sexy classic cars were far more rare.
“She’ loud as hell, too,” Adam said with a chuckle. “You can always tell when Lance is here.”
“Hey, she’s a classic muscle car,” Lance said pulling his keys out of his pocket. “She’s just asserting her dominance.”
He opened his driver side door and pulled the lever to pop the hood, the sound drawing the mechanics out of their daze. Shiro moved to the front of the car to prop the hood up while Keith bent down to dig around in his bag of tools for his battery tester.
“Go ahead and try to start it up for us,” Shiro said as he leaned forward and examined the engine.
Lance climbed into his car, slid his key into the ignition and gave it a turn. Nothing happened and Shiro hummed, scratching his chin. Finally locating his battery tester, Keith stood and made his way over to where Shiro was leaning over the engine. He hooked the device up to the battery and pressed a few buttons. After about a minute, he nodded and disconnected the device.
“Your battery is definitely dead. It looks old, so I’m guessing if we replace it your car should start right up.” Shiro nodded as he leaned down to get a closer look at the radiator.
“Luckily we have plenty of those back at the garage. Keith, why don’t you and Lance walk back to the garage so he can buy one from Kolivan while I take a look and make sure there aren’t any other problems.”
Keith nodded at Shiro before setting his battery tester back in his bag, then turning to face Lance.
“Let’s go get a new battery for your girl and see if that fixes the problem.”
Lance beamed and nodded his head, before turning speak to Adam.
“Do you mind waiting with Shiro for a minute?”
Adam responded with a knowing wink before making a shooing motion with his hand and turning back towards Shiro. Lance sighed and shook his head as he followed Keith out of the parking garage. The two of them walked in silence for a minute before Lance finally spoke up with a question he’d been meaning to ask for a while now.
“So, um, does it bother you?”
“Does what bother me?” Keith asked, turning his head to look at Lance as they headed towards Marmora Garage. Lance cleared his throat.
“Us, you know, looking at you and Shiro from the windows. Does it bother you? Because if it does, just say the word and I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen anymore.”
Keith chuckled and he could see the tension in Lance’s shoulders relax some. Honestly, he hadn’t been expecting Lance to ask that and his flustered mannerisms were truly adorable.
“Oh. No, actually, it doesn’t,” he said, reaching up to tuck a loose lock of hair behind his ear. He didn’t miss the way Lance’s eyes followed the motion and he tried very hard not to break into a smile. “I’ll be honest, I thought it was a little weird at first, but it’s harmless. Plus I’ll admit, it feels kinda nice.”
“I’ll be sure and let the ladies know,” Lance said with a chuckle. He was honestly worried Keith would have been offended or something.
“Well”, Keith started, his lips curving into a sly grin. “I don’t really care what they think.”
“Wha-” Lance started to say before walking right into the door to Marmora Garage just as Keith started to open it. Keith laughed out loud while Lance rubbed the side of his head, his face burning with embarrassment.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Keith managed once he’d calmed his laughter.
“Yeah, not my proudest moment, but I’m fine,” Lance said as he opened the door and tried desperately to will the redness out of his cheeks.
“Wait here,” Keith said as they entered the lobby. Lance leaned on the counter and watched Keith disappear into the garage with a wistful smile on his face. On top of being gorgeous, Keith was also sweet and didn’t seem at all put off by all of Lance’s Lanciness (a term coined by one miss Pidge Holt that she used to describe any and all of Lance’s random shenanigans that he used to hate but now found oddly endearing). Maybe he’ll try and work up the courage to ask him out before they finish working on his car.
“Back again, Mr. McClain?”
Lance let out a very unmanly shriek and nearly peed his pants at the unmistakable sound of Kolivan’s gruff voice sounding off directly behind him. He spun on his heels and found the hulk of a man standing with his arms folded over his chest and a very unimpressed look on his face. It took Lance several minutes to calm his heart and find his voice while Kolivan simply stared at him. Honestly, how was it possible for a man the size of a building to move without making any sound at all?
“I-I’m waiting for Keith. He and Shiro took a look at my car and they think it needs a new battery, so Keith’s getting one out of the back and I came along to pay for it. Which I can totally do right now, if you want,” he said reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet, but Kolivan simply shook his head.
“I’ll let Keith take care of it,” he said before turning around and heading back into his office. Thankfully, a few minutes later Keith emerged from the garage carrying a car battery. He set the battery down on the counter, then grabbed the tablet and began typing on it.
“The total with tax is $192.64,” Keith said setting the tablet down and turning it so Lance could see the total on the screen. He then tapped a slot at the bottom of the tablet. “You can insert your card here.”
“That’s a lot less than I was expecting it to be,” Lance said as he fished his debit card out of his wallet and slipped it into the slot on the tablet. They watched a white circle spin on the screen for a moment before a green check mark appeared in the center and Lance was able to remove his card. Keith tapped a few buttons on the screen before setting the tablet back down and grabbing the battery.
“All set. Let’s get back,” he said, making his way towards the door. The two of them walked back to the garage making idle chit-chat, and Keith had to force himself to look straight ahead rather than at Lance’s radiant smile or else he risked tripping and embarrassing himself. As they made their way up the garage ramp the two caught sight of Shiro bent over looking into the engine of Lance’s car while Adam stood behind him shamelessly staring at his ass. Keith chuckled and Lance sighed and shook his head before clearing his throat and announcing their return.
“We’re back. Did you find anything else that could be a problem?”
Shiro stood to his full height and smiled warmly at them as they approached the car.
“You’re car is in really great shape, Lance. It does look like you’re about due for a tune up though,” he said, stepping aside so Keith could hook up the new battery.
“Well, Kolivan said I could bring it by in the morning. Would it be okay if I brought it in for the tune up tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Shiro said with a shrug, resting his hands on his hips. “Keith and I both work in the morning so we’ll make sure to take care of Blue for you.”
Lance beamed and was about to respond when Keith stood up and dusted his hands off.
“Okay Lance, try starting her up.”
His smile widened as he climbed into the drivers seat and slid his key into the ignition. The dome light immediately came on, which was already a good sign. Nervously chewing his bottom lip, Lance turned the key. When Blue roared to life, filling the quiet garage with the sounds of her rumbling engine, he let out a whoop of joy and lovingly patted the steering wheel.
“That’s my girl!”
After a minute of listening to her purr, he cut the engine and stepped out of the car. Both Keith and Shiro were smiling, while Adam grimaced and rubbed his ears.
“Man, that thing is so loud!” he complained before pushing his glasses up on his nose and turning to Shiro with a dazzling smile. “But I’m glad you guys were able to get Lance back on the road.”
“Oh, well, it was an easy fix,” Shiro said, his cheeks turning a rosy pink as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “And besides,” he said turning towards Keith, “Keith, here did most of the work.”
“Yeah, I did,” Keith deadpanned as he let the hood slam shut. Lance couldn’t help but snicker at the way Shiro’s eyes narrowed at the younger mechanic. He cleared his throat and stepped forward, feeling emboldened now that he had his baby back.
“Why don’t you let us take you out for drinks? As a thanks for getting Blue running again.”
Both mechanics froze, their eyes widening and cheeks slowly turning pink, while Adam looked at Lance like it was the proudest he had ever been of him.
“That’s a great idea Lance! We know this isn’t something you normally do, so let us treat you to drinks as a thank you!”
Maybe it was the way Lance was looking at him with those hopeful ocean eyes coupled with the thrill of hearing that muscle car engine running a moment ago, but Keith found his mouth moving before his brain could catch up.
“Actually, we were planning to go to Sal’s after work this evening. If the two of you don’t already have plans we could meet there.”
The look of pure shock on Shiro’s face would have been laughable if Keith weren’t internally freaking out right now. Holy fucking shit, did he just say that? He watched as Lance and Adam looked at each other for a moment, before Adam gave a slight nod and Lance turned his gorgeous smiling face back to Keith.
“That sounds wonderful! It’s been a while since I’ve been to Sal’s! What time would you like to meet there?”
“Oh,” Shiro said, finally snapping out of his daze and finding his voice. “Well the garage closes in…” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time before continuing. “15 minutes. Then Keith and I need some time to get cleaned up, so would 7:30 work?”
“That sounds perfect,” Adam said stepping forward and digging a card out of his laptop bag. “Here, in case you need to get a hold of us before hand. This has my cell number on it.”
The sight of Adam handing his business card to a blushing and stammering Shiro snapped Lance out of his daze. He dove back into his car and rummaged around through his own bag for a few minutes before reemerging with one of his business cards in hand.
“Great idea, Adam,” he said, handing the card to Keith and offering up one of his signature dazzling smiles. “Here, this has my cell number on it too. Looking forward to seeing you later.”
It took a solid minute for Keith’s brain to reboot while his body moved on auto pilot and accepted the card from Lance. After staring at the hot guy who’d just given him his phone number for far longer than was socially appropriate, the part of Keith’s brain responsible for speech finally kicked in and searched it’s database for an eloquent anecdote before finally deciding on, “Uh, I don’t have a business card.”
Nailed it.
Thankfully Lance laughed and oh, what a beautiful sound that was.
“It’s okay. You can just text me and I’ll save your number that way.”
“R-right,” Keith stammered, keeping with his eloquent banter of late, and reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. While he was busy typing in Lance’s number, Shiro bent down to pick up his bag of tools and the dead battery, then grabbed Keith by the shoulder and began steering him out of the parking garage.
"Okay, thanks. We’ll see you two at Sal’s in a bit.”
Without another word, the two mechanics made their way out of the parking garage. As soon as they disappeared from view, Lance and Adam turned to each other and let out silent screams.
“Holy shit, that just happened!!!!” Lance was practically vibrating in place with excitement.
“I know!!!” Adam nearly shrieked as he started fanning himself with both hands. “Holy shit, I’m so fucking proud of you for asking them out for drinks!!!! You have no idea!”
“I know, me too!!!! Oh my fucking god, I can’t believe I had the balls to-” Lance was interrupted by the sound of his phone pinging. He slid the device out of his pocket and tapped the screen to see what it was, only to be greeted by a text message that said Hi this is Keith from Marmora Garage. We were thinking of getting dinner while we were there if you guys are interested. If not, it’s cool. His smile nearly took in his ears as he typed a quick reply and saved Keith’s number to his contacts as ‘Ponytail/Keith’ before pocketing his phone once again.
“Oh my god, Keith is so cute! That was him sending me his number!”
“Aww! That is cute! Also, oh, my god, Shiro is way, way, way sexier in person than I ever could have dreamed! Did you see that booty? I would eat that man for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!” Lance chuckled and shook his head as he shut the door to his car.
“Please don’t embarrass me tonight.”
“Excuse you, but which one of us has a track record for embarrassing themselves in front of their crushes?” Adam sassed, cocking his left hip and folding his arms over his chest. Lance held up a finger ready to protest, but deflated when Adam smirked and lifted his eyebrow.
“Okay fair, whatever,” Lance huffed, waving off Adam’s smug grin. “I’m going to head back inside and freshen up a bit. It doesn’t make sense for me to drive all the way home just to turn around and come back.”
“Good idea,” Adam said, making his way back towards the office with Lance. “Sal’s isn’t far from here so we’ve got some time to kill before our date!”
---------------
As they made their way back to the garage, Shiro steered Keith by the shoulder while the younger man typed on his phone, barely aware of his surroundings.
“Man, Adam is so beautiful! I can’t believe we’re about to have drinks with them! You know, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had drinks with someone other than you or the guys at the garage.” Keith snorted as he finished typing and pocketed his phone.
“Yeah, that doesn’t really count. But honestly, same. Wait, is this a date?”
Shiro’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond, but they were interrupted by Keith’s phone pinging. He slipped it out of his pocket and smiled at the response from his new contact ‘NiceLegsLance’ that said Hey Keith from Marmora Garage! This is Lance from Altea Finance! Dinner sounds great actually! Looking forward to seeing you tonight! Keith’s amethyst eyes sparkled as he turned his smiling face back towards his brother.
“Yeah, I think we can count this as a date.” Shiro’s grin nearly took in his ears.
“Then let’s not keep them waiting!”