There has to be an After for Us ~ (shadam / klance)

Chapter 42 - Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming

"Adam!" yelled Veronica tearing through the kitchen of their shared apartment. Garrison apartments are meant to house two people and since Adam found himself in need of roommate when Veronica had just graduated it seemed like a natural fit. That and Veronica said if she was assigned to live with one of her "lizard-brained classmates" she would quit the Garrison and go to flight attendant school. Obviously Adam couldn't let one of their best and brightest get away so Veronica moved in with him. "I can't find my glasses! Tell me you're not wearing them again!"

"I guess that's why everything is slightly blurry," said Adam, coming out of his bedroom and pulling Veronica's glasses off his face.

"That didn't clue you in?"

"I thought I was just that hung over," said Adam. The Kerberos mission had successfully landed the night before and the two of them had had a celebratory toast which was more or less a 'screw you for choosing a moon over me' party. "So where are my glasses?"

"Freezer," suggested Veronica, accepting her own back.

"Freezer?"

"Vodka," said Veronica inspecting her lenses for smudges.

"Ah," said Adam, heading to the freezer. He had a tendency to take off his glasses while mixing drinks. He opened the freezer. "Bingo!"

Veronica put on her glasses and relaxed, able to see again. She looked down at the counter and noticed some papers. "Oh, what's this?" she asked, picking them up to inspect them. "Adoption papers? Addy, are you finally going to adopt me?"

"Those are for Keith," said Adam. His glasses were all fogged up from the temperature change so he took them back off to rub them on his Garrison issued shirt.

"Keith's adopting me?"

"I'm applying to adopt Keith," said Adam. "Takashi and I applied when we were engaged, but had to withdraw when we broke up. Then Takashi tried solo, but between being terminally ill and never being on-planet they rejected him. So now I'm giving it the old college try."

"Wanna put my name on it too?" asked Veronica. "Give it a heterosexual couple edge?"

"Thanks," said Adam, snatching the papers away. "But I'm not looking for a sham relationship... Though ask me again when I'm thirty and still single."

"Hey, so isn't Keith going to be seventeen on October 23rd?" asked Veronica.

"Yes, but... Wait... why do you know Keith's birthday?"

"Because Lance knows it and he talks constantly about Keith so my brain is filled with useless Keith facts."

"Aw, so my ship is doing well," said Adam with a soft smile.

"No, they're rivals. Lance's stalker behaviour is a know-your-enemies kind of deal."

"Ummmm I think you're interpreting that wrong."

"Ummmm no, I think you're interpreting it with a gay-lens."

"I don't think your lens is gay enough," countered Adam.

"You don't know my lens's sexuality."

Adam was speechless. He really didn't know what Roni's attractions were, if any. She hadn't shared any such info. He was the one who was the Tell All Book. "Excuse my heteronormative assumption," said Adam. "That's a first for me."

"I'll give you one pass," said Veronica. "So why adopt Keith when he's seventeen? He's nearly all grown. What's the point?"

How to explain this? "You know how in a sports ball game, -?"