"What the fuck..." Keith wasn't even able to censor his language with 'quiznak', too bewildered to process things properly at this point as he stared at the shocking yet enticing scene before him.

Lance was laying back against the pillows on the bed, Keith's bed, arms casually tucked back behind his head with the cockiest little smirk on his face he'd ever seen—and that was saying something. His knees were bent on the bed, spread apart to show off his hard cock, swaying temptingly between his thighs and pointing straight up at full arousal, and the red and blue ribbons weaved around his entire body was the icing on the cake of what was the most jaw-dropping sight Keith had ever set eyes on.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to moan or scream, so he ended up just standing in the doorway, and between his shaking knees and his light head, he was pretty sure he could faint at any moment.

Instead of voicing any type of concern for what he was doing to him or offering any real explanation, Lance just winked at Keith and spread his legs wider, drawing attention to the small card attached to a red ribbon that was wrapped around the base of his cock, on top of his balls. It read, 'To: Keith'.

Lance grinned like he was the most clever being in the entire universe. "Merry Christmas!"

Keith paused at that, racking his brain for any type of explanation for what was going on.

***~Earlier that morning~***

Waking up to the sounds of Lance and Hunk running through the halls of the castle screaming and laughing wasn't the most pleasant start to a morning, but it was better than having Allura running them through another false alarm, so he just went with it. They'd all learned to be ready for anything to wake them up in the middle of sleeping, honestly.

At least he'd taken the time to actually wake up and get ready; when he stepped out of his room, the first thing he saw was Lance and Hunk running around tossing ribbons into the air, still in their pajamas.

"Are you serious right now?" Pidge yawned, appearing from her room with bags under her eyes. "I literally just got to—ah!" She yelped suddenly when Hunk ran straight up to her, although he was looking tired now as opposed to Lance, who was still jumping around everywhere with pink and orange ribbons.

"Sorry...we just...merry…" Hunk breathed out, leaning one hand against the wall to catch his breath as Pidge rose an eyebrow.

"Merry…? Merry Christmas? Those aren't even festive colors!" She gestured pointedly at Lance, who was nos tossing blue ribbons all over the hallway for seemingly no reason at all.

He paused to rest a hand on his hip, waving Pidge off. "Who says you get to choose what colors are festive and what colors aren't?"

"I'm not? It's just culture? Why do you have ribbons anyways?" Pidge scowled.

"What is going on? Are we under attack?" Allura appeared in the hallway, hand clutched to her chest as she looked around at the messied hallway, Coran following behind her.

Keith thought he was going to have a headache as Lance shouted loudly and ran over to the two very confused Alteans, offering them ribbons. After forcing them to accept his decorations, Lance turned and ran to Keith.

"Keith! There you are!" He exclaimed.

"I've...been here—"

"Here, take this! It's red, just for you!" Lance shoved a long red ribbon into his arms.

He stared down at the fabric quizzically. Why would he want this?

He was inclined to give it back, but one look at Lance's wide smile made him change his mind. This was all a bit much for him in the morning, but Lance seemed excited, so he figured he'd at least accept the ribbon as the blue paladin continued tossing ribbons (and apparently confetti, now, too) into the air.

"Stop!" Allura's voice cut through the craziness, freezing even Lance in his tracks as she clenched her ribbon in her hands. "Will somebody please tell me what's going on?!"

They all glanced at each other, suddenly less energetic about everything with Allura's judging eyes on them. Even Lance seemed hesitant to explain to her—for good reason. He did basically vandalized her castle.

Luckily for them, Shiro came to the rescue, peeking around the corner without even questioning the scene of pure chaos before him. Instead, he gestured for them to follow him.

"Guys...you should come look at this."

***~One walk to the bridge later~***

"...I see. So this is an annual Earth tradition." Allura summarized, much more calm now that they'd explained it to her. "And all this...this is a part of your tradition?"

She gestured to the Christmas tree standing in the middle of the bridge, along with the red and green ribbons draped all around the room.

"Well, something like that. But...where and when did you get the tree?" Shiro asked, eyebrow raised at Hunk and Lance, who grinned at each other.

"Never underestimate Christmas spirit, Shiro!" Lance proclaimed, proudly placing his hand on his chest and doing absolutely nothing to answer the question despite them all waiting for him to answer.

Hunk cleared his throat. "We wanted to get more stuff, but it would've been impossible to keep this all a secret if we brought everything onto the castle one day, so we just settled for a tree and ribbons. We were actually hoping we could go out and get everything else we need today?" He turned to Allura and Shiro, hoping for permission.

"'Everything else'? You mean presents?" Pidge asked, eyes lighting up.

Shiro and Allura exchanged a look as Lance, Pidge, and Hunk talked with each other excitedly. Keith couldn't really share their excitement; Christmas wasn't something he ever really celebrated, and he didn't understand the appeal of going through so much work to put up decorations and getting gifts for other people. He wasn't against it or anything, though. After all, Lance seemed very happy with his work, and watching him babble on and on made Keith smile.

"Well, I was hoping we could get some work done today...but on Altea, we strongly believe in sticking to customs." Allura suggested.

Coran popped forward with a raised finger. "Not to mention you paladins could use a break! Also, if we are going to be getting each other gifts, ah, maybe one of you could find me a pet nalgar? They're quite plentiful on planet Krell, and I've always wanted to tame one!"

"Coran, I don't think it'd be wise for anyone to be bringing back an animal…" Shiro advised.

Lance beamed at Shiro, practically bouncing up and down, much to Keith's amusement. "Is that a yes, then, Shiro? Could we make a trip to the space mall for presents?"

Shiro and Allura looked at each other once more before he sighed. "Alright. We can do it, for Christmas."

"Yes!" Lance exclaimed, suddenly next to Keith. Apparently he'd been inching his way closer the entire time without Keith even noticing. "That means it's gift-time for everyone! And that includes you, Mr. grumpy pants!" Lance pressed his finger up to Keith's chest, backing him up a little as he rose an eyebrow.

"But—"

"No buts! Everyone is getting everyone presents, so that means you better get me something!"

Keith momentarily panicked because, hell, he had no idea how to do this type of stuff, but he saw Shiro looking at him and nodding from over Lance's shoulder, resigning his fate.

He sighed. "...okay. Guess I better come up with things on the fly, then…"

Lance waved him off. "No worries, it's not like I know what I'm getting everyone, either!"

Keith blinked in both surprise and relief upon hearing that, following Lance as he began to walk off while Allura and Coran prepared to wormhole to the nearest space mall.

"Wait, really? You don't know what to get everyone, either?"

Lance glanced back at him from over his shoulder, grinning. "Of course not, spice-boy. It's a space mall, who knows what type of junk they've got there. Oh, but, you're the exception." He winked suggestively. "I know exactly what I'm getting you for Christmas. Can't wait. Smell ya later!"

He disappeared into his room, leaving Keith alone with that enigma.

He had no idea what Lance meant by that, and he didn't even know if he wanted to know, so he paid it no mind and decided to spend the rest of the time he had trying to figure out what he was going to get for the other paladins, and specifically, for Lance.

***~One Space Mall trip later~***

Their trip to the space mall went relatively well. In the end, Keith couldn't really think of anything to get the paladins except for items associated with their color, so Shiro ended up buying two things for each person, agreeing to let Keith take half of his gifts to give out.

There was no use in trying to wrap their gifts, so as soon as they got back to the castle, they started handing out their presents while partying in the bridge.

"Here," Keith said, offering Pidge a stuffed toy of a stereotypical alien.

She rose an eyebrow, but accepted it with a smile and handed Keith a stress ball.

"Um…?" Keith held the ball in front of his face quizzically, prompting the shorter girl to roll her eyes with a sigh.

"I'm giving you a present to give to Shiro. You and I both know he picked out all your presents, so you probably didn't get him anything, did you?"

Keith was taken aback, but didn't even try denying anything she said as he glanced over at Shiro. She had a point—he didn't have anything else to give Shiro. It wasn't like he'd picked out something for Keith to give him.

"Okay. Thanks?"

She waved her hand from her head in a type of salute before running off to give Allura and Coran their gifts.

"Keith! How're things going? Is everyone liking your presents?" Shiro asked, walking over to him.

He jumped a bit, but was quick to turn around to greet Shiro. "Uh, yeah, they are. And uh...here." He offered Shiro the black stress ball given to him by Pidge, smiling a little when he saw Shiro was genuinely surprised by the gesture.

"Keith…" He looked up at him to make sure he wasn't imagining it before accepting the present with a smile. "Thank you."

Keith nodded, content with himself as he looked at the two presents he still had to give out—a guidebook to alien herbs for Hunk, and a scrapbook from the Earth store containing multiple pictures taken from the shop owner himself of the blue planet.

"They're both in the kitchen, preparing the food for the party." Shiro said, squeezing the ball in his hands a little and nodding in the direction of the hallway.

"Thanks, Shiro. Merry...Christmas?" The words sounded awkward to him, but he did his best to fit in, and the smile on Shiro's face upon hearing him say that was certainly worth the effort.

"Of course, Keith. Merry Christmas. Now go."

That was all he needed to hear. For whatever reason, Keith was incredibly eager to get his presents to Hunk and Lance—especially Lance. Most likely because the Earth scrapbook was the one present that he didn't need Shiro to get for him; he already knew that that was what he needed to give Lance.

If he didn't know his way around the castle, which he obviously did, it still would've been simple to locate Hunk and Lance just by following the plethora of delicious aromas leading straight to the kitchen. And then, there was the loud banter that was sure to be around whenever Hunk and Lance were together.

"Butter, butter! I need the butter!"

"It isn't butter, Hunk, it's like...something else. But you know, I've been thinking, couldn't we technically try making butter out of Kaltenecker's milk?"

Keith poked his head into the kitchen, momentarily ascending to another plane of existence. There was no comparing the smell of the food in the hallway to how it smelled in the kitchen—it gained a completely different level of pleasantness up close.

"Oh, hey Keith! Smells good, doesn't it?" Lance waved from where he sat on a counter, and Keith was quick to shake off the embarrassment of just standing there sniffing the air.

"Yeah, hey man. If you're checking up on the food, it should be done in like, ten minutes, tops." Hunk assured, briefly looking up from the pot in front of him. "On another note, though, check out this apron Coran got for me! I don't understand half of what comes out of his mouth, but I guess even old guys can get fashion right every once in a while!"

Lance waved Hunk off, pointing down at the red sweater he was wearing with blue lion designs on it. "Speak for yourself! I mean, just look at what Coran got me? How could you even say he has fashion?!"

He groaned and clawed at the sweater for more dramatic effect, but anyone could see the adoration and appreciation in his eyes.

Keith couldn't help but smile at that, walking towards them with their presents held behind his back.

"I didn't come in here for the food," he insisted, bringing their attention back to him. Hunk was already beaming, clearly knowing where this was going, while Lance just waited for him to elaborate.

Keith bit his lower lip, suddenly nervous and unsure of himself. Christmas was so weird—he had to walk around giving out gifts to everybody, and he never knew what he was supposed to say. Was he even supposed to say anything since they already knew what the gifts were for? It was the most confusing thing in the world. But...he did want to try.

"Um...here. This is yours, Hunk." He handed the chef the alien guidebook, earning him several gasps and cheers of excitement before Hunk had even seen what it was.

"Thanks a ton, Keith! Come on!" He stepped away from the pot to engulf Keith in one of his famous hugs.

Keith groaned in surprise, but sudden Hunk hugs were pretty common, so he went along with it and smiled as his friend cheerfully patted his back and squeezed him before pulling away to actually give the present a quick overview.

"Ooh!" He gasped, somehow managing to turn around to keep one eye on the pot while flipping through the pages.

That left just Keith and Lance.

"So…" Lance swung his legs forward, jumping off of the counter with a hand on his hip. Obviously he knew what was coming.

It was a battle of nerves and passion inside of Keith as he held the scrapbook close to his back, trying to come up with a last minute script for what to say. Only now did he realize he should've thought this through more sooner instead of blindly looking forward to it. He didn't even understand why it was so nerve-wracking—sure, it was weird to just walk up to someone and give them a present, but surely it shouldn't be this hard—

"Here!" Lance interrupted him, holding out a small, delicately wrapped box that was taller than it was wide, sparkly red ribbons wrapped around the underside and over the top to make a bow.

Keith glanced from the present to Lance and back again, having completely forgotten that Lance hadn't given him his present yet, since, they were all apparently duty bound to get a present for everyone.

"For you." Lance emphasized, shaking the box in front of his face when he didn't take it.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Thank you." Keith brought his hands out from behind him to accept the present, revealing his gift for Lance in doing so. "Shit—!"

He swiped the small box from Lance, hoping to redo the reveal of his present, but quickly realized it was too late and there was no point in trying to hide it. He'd messed up. He ended up just standing there, not quite sure what to do, and Lance certainly wasn't helping, either. He was staring at Keith expectantly, but silently.

"...I guess you can already guess what this is." Keith awkwardly handed the scrapbook to him.

"So then what are you waiting for? Give it here!" Lance eagerly reached for the book, beaming at Keith with the radiance of a thousand suns—how could Keith not smile when looking at that?

Lance was immediately fawning over the book. "Wow...say, you got Hunk a book too, right? Are you actually a book-person? Because I didn't get you anything even remotely literature related."

"No, of course not. I'm more of a...hands on person," Keith explained, as if being hands on and a book lover were mutually exclusive.

"Hmm, I figured. Really though, it's...it's nice." Lance muttered, pausing a bit as he flipped through the scrapbook, eyes quickly gluing to the pictures of bodies of water.

Hunk leaned over from where he was cooking. "Woah...I don't wanna say I almost forgot what the Pacific Ocean looked like, but—"

"Hey! No, no, no, no you don't! This is my present! Keith got it for me!" Lance protested, leaning away from Hunk and closing the book.

"What? Well what if I wanna see pictures of Earth?"

"You can look at it after I look at it!" Lance was stretching his arm as much as he could to keep the book away from Hunk as the aproned paladin reached for it, muttering about how unfair that was.

Keith let a small snicker erupt through his shoulders before he remembered Lance's present, curiously raising the small box in front of his face. He couldn't really discern anything about what it might be from shaking it…

"Hey!" Lance exclaimed, finally jumping away from Hunk with a hefty sigh. "You can't open that!"

"What?" Keith looked up from the box immediately, wondering if he had somehow misinterpreted this entire Christmas thing. "Why? It's mine, isn't it?"

"Well, sure, but it's a little...special. You can't open it until I tell you to open it. Got that?"

Keith pursed his lips together in a pout, finding the sudden conditions attached to this whole gift-exchange thing completely unfair, but didn't argue.

Lance laughed and slung an arm around Keith's shoulder, instantly getting him to perk up in alarm. "There, there, you'll probably be able to use it by the end of tonight."

"'Use…?'" Keith questioned, but his only answer was Lance waving him off.

"Anyways, that was my last present to give out, so I'm off the chopping block now! Oh, and uh…" He lifted the scrapbook up between the two of them. "...thanks, Keith. Thanks a lot. I'll definitely look through it more later and...yeah."

Keith thought he detected a hint of grief dripping into Lance's voice, but it was quickly erased as he squeezed Keith's shoulder more with a laugh.

"Right now, though, it's happy time! Party time!" He pumped a fist in the air and released his arm from around Keith's shoulder, allowing him to breathe normally again.

"Speaking of party time, why don't you two head down to the bridge?" Hunk suggested, nodding when Lance whipped around with a questioning face. "Don't worry, I got the rest here. You two go have fun."

Hunk and Lance just stared at each other, as if having a silent conversation—a long silent conversation. Eventually, though, Lance grinned and waved Keith along. "Whatever you say, bud! Come on, Keith."

Keith glanced at Hunk quickly, uncertainly, before shrugging and following Lance out of the kitchen.

"Hey! You still haven't said 'thank you' for my gift!" Lance accused, suddenly in Keith's face.

He rose an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I was supposed to say thank you when you haven't even let me open it yet."

Lance scowled before tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Hm...alright, fine. In that case, I'll make you say 'thank you' when you do open it." He nodded to himself and walked ahead. "Yeah. That sounds good."

Keith had no idea what Lance was talking about or what he was planning, so he just followed him back