Work Text:
Laney's wedding is, in a word, sparkly.
She's certainly her mother's daughter.
Keith is half afraid that he's going to accidentally rip the weird glittery tulle fabric they've got tacked up everywhere, or even worse, rip the weird glittery tulle that he's pretty sure is her veil all piled up in the corner.
“ Isn't that going to get all wrinkly over there?” he asks her as he slips into her waiting area and closes the door behind him.
“ Uncle Keith!” She whirls around so fast that she teeters in her shoes, and the relief on her face would be flattering if she didn't also look wildly desperate. “Thank goodness you're here.”
“ Well, you rang for me, kid.” He shrugs and looks around the room, not seeing any spiders to remove or dragons to slay. “What's the deal, cold feet? I can smuggle you out of here in like five minutes if you want. We'll tell him it's him, not you. Or better yet, we'll tell him nothing and let him wonder.”
That at least earns him a laugh as she shakes her head.
“ No, no cold feet here.” She hikes her gown up and wiggles her foot, showing off a pair of socks that Keith recognizes immediately. “Uncle Shiro got me these blue fleecy socks, he says they're good luck.”
“ They sure are,” Keith snickers, tugging up the leg of his own trousers to show her his matching red pair. “Toasty warm.”
“ We match!” She claps her hands together, looking at once just like her mother, and like the little girl Keith has watched grow into the woman standing in front of him. “Dad is gonna be so annoyed.”
“ I'll make sure to tell him right as he's about to enjoy his dinner,” Keith assures her with a wink. “Now, if we're not running away, what can I do to help?”
“ It's my hair,” she groans, lifting a blonde lock with a grimace. “It was curly this morning, but then it got all humid, and now it's a mess.”
“ I think you still look nice,” he offers, knowing it's the wrong thing to say but saying it anyway. “Did you want me to go kidnap a stylist for you? I've got my knife in the truck...”
“ Tempting, but no. I think I've had enough of professional flies hovering around me today.”
“ And here I thought you'd enjoy being pampered.”
“ Well, it was nice at first,” she concedes, waving a hand toward the tray that holds the remains of some fruit and chocolate, “but then it was just too many people I didn't really know, and it kinda felt fake.”
“ Ah, so you decided to call in the only person you know who doesn't give a single shit about what his hair looks like.” Keith nods sagely, rubbing at his chin with a grin. “I totally get it.”
“ Uncle Keeeeiiiiittth,” Laney whines, her nose wrinkled up as she plops on the chaise lounge with a huff. “I know you can do braids, you do Aunty Melle's all the time.”
“ Oh, you need a rope, why didn't you say so?”
“ Ugh .”
“ Just teasing you, kiddo.” Keith chuckles and strolls over to the chaise, settling himself at her side as he twirls his finger in a circle to get her to turn around. “What kind of braid do you want?”
“ I dunno, a pretty one?”
“ You're gonna have to be more specific than that, it's your wedding and if it's the wrong one then you're gonna be grumpy, and then your mom is gonna chew my ear off, and even worse if Lance gets going-”
“ Okay, fair, but I like all the ones you do.”
“ Right, but I know a lot of them, and you've only seen a few of them on Rommie's head. Can you give me a description at least?”
“ You know... twisty?”
Keith can hear the grin in her voice. The obnoxious trait she inherited from her father.
“ Har har.” He lifts two strands of hair in his fingers before deciding it probably needs to be brushed first. “I'm just gonna give you a big ol' knot.”
“ No you won't, Uncle Shiro says you're a softy.”
“ Uncle Shiro is a traitor,” Keith grumbles, letting the hair flop to her back again. “Hand me that brush.”
She does with a happy hum and soon he's dragging it through the golden strands, taking him right back to how he used to help with Rommie's hair after she'd had a bad day. He really can't say if the process is more soothing for him or Laney at this point as she begins to chatter.
“ So, are the decorations pretty? I think they're gonna be pretty, I spent an awful lot of time picking them out, and I saw them yesterday, but maybe they're not so pretty today and-”
“ Don't worry, kiddo. The only thing prettier than those decorations is you.”
“ Really? I thought you didn't like sparkles.”
“ Well, I don't not like sparkles... they just kinda get everywhere, and your mom and Uncle Shiro like to go get sparkly things together without considering the collateral glitter damage.”
“ Well, most of the sparkles today are fixed on something, so you shouldn't have to worry about that,” she assures him, like it's Keith that has anxiety about anything happening today.
“ That's great to hear. I'm sure Shiro will manage to get some in his hair anyway.”
“ Like sparkly dandruff!”
“ He prefers to think of himself as angelic, but yeah, pretty much.”
It's a good thing he's used to accommodating for giggles and gesticulation as he works, because she's got it in spades.
“ Soooo,” she begins again, fingers tapping out a manic rhythm in her lap, “he's still up there, right?”
“ Who, Chester?”
“ His name is Charlie-”
“ Yeah, ol' UpChuck is still out there, looking like he's about ready to prove his name again.”
“ Uncle Keeeiith, that was one time!”
“ And what a spectacular time it was,” Keith snickers, recalling the nauseated look on the kid's face after spending an afternoon getting hazed by him and Shiro on the raceway. Truth be told, the kid held out a pretty long time, especially considering they took him to lunch first on purpose. “I don't think I've ever seen chili go that far.”
“ Eeew! It's my wedding, you have to be nice!”
“ Nice to you,” he agrees, giving the end of her hair a gentle tug, “I'm legally obligated to give him shit. Shiro's got a tarp ready and everything if this turns sour, just you say the word.”
“ Awww, that's kinda sweet?”
“ Isn't it? His one hand doesn't have any fingerprints either, it's the perfect crime.”
“ Heh... I'm starting to think Dad was right, maybe you are a little crazy.”
“ Lance wouldn't know crazy if it bit him,” Keith grumbles, having been on the receiving end of more than enough of his nonsense after growing up on the same little road. “I'm pretty sure your Mama is the only thing keeping him out of the loony bin.”
“ She says the same thing sometimes,” Laney agrees with a laugh, “Did you see her yet today? I helped pick out her dress.”
“ I sure did, pretty as ever. Looks just like homecoming, but classier.”
“ That's what Uncle Lotor said, and then Dad got all sulky.”
“ Your dad's a sulker.”
“ It runs in the family.” She aims her best sulking face at him in the big mirror across the room before breaking out in giggles.
“ You got any shiny bobby pins in here?” Keith asks, craning his neck in an effort to see the top of the dresser.
“ Oh! Yes, that was my backup plan in case I did an up-do... which, I guess this is, isn't it?”
“ Dunno what an up-do is,” Keith grunts as he clamps the ends of her hairs tightly before ushering her to stand. “Here, you get them and I'll follow. Don't want any of this escaping yet.”
They trail around the room, Laney plucking up every sparkly hair pin she can find and Keith dutifully trailing. He plucks a flower or two from the vase on the table as they pass, just in case.
“ Okay, I think that's all of them!” She plops herself back on the chaise, narrowly avoiding yanking at her own hair by the grace of Keith's reflexes. Her father's daughter. “Make me pretty!”
“ You're already pretty,” Keith grumbles, though it's muffled by the pins he's got stuck between his lips. “Quit wiggling.”
“ Sorry,” she chirps, sounding utterly unapologetic.
Keith can only huff a laugh and shake his head, his fingers making quick work of the last of the strands before he's fastening the little clear band tight around the bottom. “Alrighty, now the pins. Sorry if I poke you.”
“ That's okay, Aunty Melle says you always feel bad about it at least.”
“ I do, but that's cause she screams like a banshee at the slightest graze... like your Dad.”
“ Mom says that too!”
He grins around the pins, plucking each one from his lips and the tray on the chaise, tucking them strategically for maximum sparkle. “Flower or no flower?”
“ Mmmm... flower!”
The flower gets tucked in by two pins near her temple, enough to enhance but not overshadow the rest of her effort.
“ Alright, I think we're done. Go have a look.”
She hops up with more grace than anyone should have in her teetery shoes, squealing when she turns to see the back of it in the mirror.
“ Oooh, Uncle Keith it's so pretty!”
“ Gotta bring my best skills for your wedding day, right?” he jokes, scrubbing at the back of his head as she preens. “Plus your mom would kill me if I- oof- ”
“ Thank you!” she muffles into his suit jacket before staring up at him like she used to from around his knees.
“ Aww, you're welcome, kid. But don't smear your face on there or we'll both be toast.”
“ Don't worry, I won't let mom beat you up.”
“ I'll hold you to that, she's scary as hell when she's mad.”
Laney giggles again, bright and beautiful where she's wrapped around his middle. Keith can almost see the gap-toothed, skinned-kneed, wild-haired feral kid who ran around with his, giving her parents all kinds of heart attacks.
“ Better get out there, kid. They're gonna be looking for the showstopper soon.”
“ Will you walk me over to Dad?”
“ Sure, it'll drive him nuts.”
They share a conspiratorial smile as they link arms, breezing out of the dressing room and down the hall toward the reception entrance where Lance appears to be pacing a hole through the carpet.
“ What, don't tell me you're getting cold feet,” Keith jokes as he ambles up with the bride on his arm. “We don't have any more socks for you.”
Lance's head snaps up, but the retort dies on his lips as he takes in his little girl.
“ Aww, Laney-”
“ Don't cry! Do you know how long it took to get my eye makeup right! If you cry I'll ruin it!”
“ Right, right.” Lance sniffles manfully and clears his throat with a gurgle. “And then your mother will kill me.” He stares at the ceiling for a moment and adjusts his lapels before looking at them again. “Wasn't your hair curly?”
“ It got frizzy so Uncle Keith braided it for me!”
“ Bold move to take hair styling from someone with a mullet.”
“ It hasn't been a mullet for a decade,” Keith grumbles as he fiddles with the end of his own simple ponytail. “Besides, I'd like to see you try that.”
“ I bet I-”
“ Ooh! That's the music starting, isn't it?” Laney cuts in with a pained grin that's all her mother. “Better get to our places.”
It isn't, but Keith huffs a laugh and gives her one last hug before passing her off to her father. “Sure thing, little peacemaker. See you soon.”
Lance looks like a man ready to melt as Keith grins and turns away, wandering out to the main hall where the guests are all settled. His husband's starlight hair is a dead giveaway right in the second row.
“ Hello handsome, come here with anyone?” he teases as he slides into his chair.
“ There you are!” Shiro beams as he takes his hand. “I was getting worried you were going to miss it. What did Laney need, are we running away? Disappearing UpChuck?”
“ Not yet. It was a hair emergency.”
“ Ah, she needed the expert.” Shiro nods and presses a kiss to Keith's temple. “You're in high demand these days.”
“ I know, the third wedding in a row, right?” Keith laughs, shaking his head. “One of these times I'm just gonna tell them to stop paying someone else first.”
The first strains of music cut off further conversation, but Keith doesn't mind. Their own kid wiggles a little wave as the wedding party passes through, and then there she is.
Bubbly little Laney and blubbering Lance, practically skipping down the aisle together toward her future.
“ Her hair looks cute,” Shiro whispers, squeezing Keith's hand.
Keith knows, it was a labor of love.
But Laney's smile is radiant as she steps up to the altar, and his own husband is warm against his side.
Sometimes love isn't labor at all.