Tried something a liiiittle different with this one. Prompt was vet!Shiro. (I think she was expecting something like Yukinayee’s AU, but got this instead. In which our collective children are presh.
Warnings: Basically my toeing the waters of writing ASD!Keith. Mentioned character death, therapy doggos, disjointed fic~
Rating: Teen
Pairings: Sheith, historical Shadam
Keith was anxious. He knows he shouldn't be anxious. Rosie is a great girl. But Dr Shirogane was a new vet, and even though Matt assured him he was a really nice guy, and Keith was sure he was... But they'd been seeing Dr Allura since Rosie's very first puppy shots... Keith sighed in relief as he pushed the door open and saw Matt at the receptionist desk--err not Matt. Girl Matt? Matt came through the employee door behind it. "Oh hey Keith!! This is my baby sister Pidge. She's doing her summer internship here!"
The girl pushed her glasses up her nose and gave him a smile. Her name tag said Katie. This was too many new people in one day...
"H-hi" he stuttered "I'm Keith." A hard swallow. "And this is Rosie." He gestured at the compact pit sitting calmly at his feet.
Katie-Pidge stood up and peeked over the counter. "Well aren't you a pretty girl?"
She offered Rosie a treat and Matt disappeared into the back to let the doctor know they were in.
Matt waved them back into a room and took Rosie to get her weight. When he returned Keith helped him lift her onto the table. She wasn't very big, but she was solid, and Matt, he would joke, was a string bean.
Keith looped her leash around the holder and pet her to distract her from being so high up.
He heard a soft click and looked up to see a man, Dr Shirogane, coming in. He was a head taller than Keith and wider and the white coat was pulling across his shoulders over his black scrubs.
"Hi, I'm Dr Takashi Shirogane. You can just call me Dr Shiro though. You must be Keith? And Rosie?"
Keith curled his fingers more tightly around Rosie's collar. "That's us."
"Allura has all sorts of wonderful notes about the two of you in her file. I'm glad you decided to stay with the practice.” His hand landed firmly on Keith's shoulder. "Just an annual today, right? Nothing you want me to look at extra close?" He held his hand out to Rosie, waiting for her to give him a sniff and an excited tail wagging before petting her head.
"Just the usual. I have her ESA recert papers too, if you don't mind."
"Of course. My Kuro's are up this year too, too bad I can't sign my own." He laughed and gently pulled Rosie's mouth open to look at her teeth.
Keith squirmed a little and glanced at Dr Shiro's metal hand, holding one of Rosie's ears back so gently.
"They're connected," he said softly.
"What, I--"
"My arm and having an ESA. It's okay. I don't mind." Shiro gave him a calm smile and went back to peering into Rosie's ear.
Keith felt himself burning with embarrassment. He mentally talked himself through how he must have gotten weird looks and questions all the time and how its not that embarrassing to get caught looking at such a high tech prosthetic and... Talking himself through it was not working as well as he was telling himself it was.
Dr Shiro signed the ESA papers and handed them back to Keith once he'd finished checking Rosie over.
"Um, Keith, this..." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck as Keith folded up the papers and shoved them into his back pocket. "This isn't standard, but uh... Would you like to get coffee? I'm new in town and... Well I'm sure you know how hard it is to find people who want to socialize when you always have a dog with you." He gave Keith a smile.
Rosie nudged his hand, making him remember he needed to respond. "Yes! Yes please-- I--" he reached up and scrubbed his hand over his face. "Coffee would be good."
Dr Shiro’s friendly smile was too bright and his hand was on his shoulder again. "Relax. No pressure." He held a card out to Keith.
Keith took it, unsure of when a number had been scribbled on the back in dying black pen, and left with a quiet “thanks.”
Matt checked them out and gave him a wink, mouthing 'call him!'
-o-
"Well," Dr Coran started during their session two days later, "I take it since we are talking about it now, that you haven't called him?"
Keith sighed. "I suck at talking to people. I've been seeing you for three years now and it took the better part of that to get comfortable. I can't even keep a normal friendship, let alone date."
"What about Lance?"
Keith snorted. "The jerk whose ass I kick in WoW every other day? Hardly. He thinks we are sworn enemies."
"Well then what about Hunk?"
Keith hummed. Hunk lived next door and brought him cookies and Tupperware full of delicious food in exchange for watching his apartment when he flew out to Hawaii to spend the winters with his family. Hunk.... Hunk could be a friend. "Maybe."
"Or Matt?"
Keith shook his head. He'd never seen Matt outside of where he worked, even though they followed each others social media now.
Matt's little sister had friended him the other day, but he hadn't decided what to do about that. She seemed nice, and she liked Rosie.
Coran sighed. "Keith, if he needs a support companion, he's bound to have as many difficulties as you do. Especially with having lost a limb. It might do you well to find someone besides me to talk to about things?"
Keith nodded. "Can I?" He held up his phone.
"Please!" There was a twinkle in Corans eye as Keith tapped out a quick message.
Hey, This is Keith. Rosie's owner. Would you like to go to the park sometime?
He held the phone out for Corans approval. He handed it back with a nodd. Keith took a deep breath and hit send.
The response was almost instant.
I'd like that a lot. Maybe Voltron Metro park? It's not too far from the office. I could pick you up if you wanted though?
Keith made a noise that had Coran lifting an eyebrow and he waved the phone in front of the therapist.
Coran only laughed good naturedly. "That, my boy, is called a gentleman!"
Keith's phone pinged again.
Or we could meet at the office, or if you'd prefer to drive that's okay too. Whatever you want.
And again.
Sorry to be so weird, I don't get out very much. :o)
That had Keith smiling. Who used o noses on their smileys anymore? He shared the thought with Coran who insisted that was a perfectly normal thing to do.
Keith had a small smile when he typed out... If we meet at the office it has to be a day Matt doesn't work. :)
Good point! Would tomorrow work? Text me your address, I get off at 6. :o)
Sounds good
Keith felt like throwing up as soon as he hit send and dropped to the space between Corans armchair and the coffee table next to Rosie. He looped his arms around her neck. What on Earth had he just done.
He felt Coran move around to sit on the couch, hand lightly touching his shoulder blade.
"It'll be all right. And if not, then you will do better next time. Would you like to schedule for the day after tomorrow just in case? I'm sure I can fit you in."
Keith nodded. "Just in case."
Shiro pulled up in front of his apartment building at 6:45. A hulking black Sheppard sat in the back seat. Shiro got the dog out of the car and let him and Rosie sniff each other out for moment before shoving them into the back seat together. But they made seemingly fast friends, easily starting to yip playfully and tug on ears as they tussled.
"She thinks she's bigger than him, doesn't she?" Shiro laughed at the antics as he and Keith got back into the front.
"Definitely."
"So, Keith, what do you do?"
"I'm a student.... Should I um... Dr Shiro still or?"
"Oh just Shiro is fine!" Shiro laughed. "This is social. What do you study?"
"Astronomy and aeronautics."
"That's amazing. Do you want to be an astronaut?"
"Oh I uh... I couldn't. ASD and needing Rosie and all that. Maybe design rocket ships or something though."
Shiro smiled. "I was a pilot before I was a vet. Briefly anyways." He held up his arm as if to explain. "My boyfriend at the time was too and he was ASD. It’s definitely still an option, Keith.”
This was too deep for first date? Social outing? He hummed noncommittally. "How did you go from being a pilot to a vet?"
"Well after wallowing for a month, my brother dragged me to a therapy group. They talked about service animals and stuff, but being a vet didn't click until I was offered a full ride at a school of my choice due to my injuries. Basically the Garrison didn't want to get sued." He snorts. "Nine years later and I'm a vet!"
When they got to the park they walked around the outskirts of a field centered with a jungle gym. The dogs romped along beside them, pouncing each other and playfully chasing.
Keith watched them fondly, playing nervously with the leash he had brought along in case.
"Do you mind if I...?" He gestured towards Keith's hand. "I'm sorry about being so touch forward at your appointment. I know that can be... A problem."
Keith glanced and offered his hand. This he could do. Coran would be so proud.
A blush stained Shiro's face.
"Is this a date?"
The blush darkened. "I-if you want it to be?"
Keith surveyed him. "I would like that." He was definitely doing that thing. That made most people freak out. Where he said things too plainly. Mmmm Shiro must have been uncomfortable if he was blushing. Maybe he should stop talking.
Shiro gave him a fond smile.
"You remind me so much of Adam..."
Keith tilted his head in question.
"Um my uh... Copilot. During the crash." He flexed his hand tellingly. "And my boyfriend."
Shiro bought them coffee's from a snack vendor and they settled together under a tree, the dogs curled together nearby. Kuros much larger form curled completely around Rosie's wriggling one.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable earlier, Keith."
It's okay was the right thing to say in this situation.
He took Shiro's hand instead.
Shiro gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I have to get used to being uncomfortable to make things more comfortable..."
"I suppose that’s true. But I wouldn't want to overwhelm you..."
Keith swirled his coffee in it's paper cup and gave a crooked smile.
"I think I wouldn’t mind that so much."
Keith positively gushed about Shiro and Kuro at his appointment the next day.
Coran talked him through his feelings about the initial stages of relationships, friendships and romantic ones, and wished him luck.
Keith found himself on park benches with Shiro into the evenings with more and more frequency through the next months. Shiro never pressed past holding his hand, and Keith had initiated tucking himself close to Shiro's side with Shiro's arm wrapped tightly around his shoulder.
"I want to kiss you." Keith said one day, when he climbed into Shiro's car.
Shiro made a choking noise. "Keith?"
"Can I?" There was a look of determination on his face.
"Of course."
Keith turned in his seat, and pushed himself into Shiro's space. Before fumbling with where to put his hands. Shiro gently helped guide them to his shoulders.
Keith licked his lips nervously and leaned forward.
It was a feather light brush and when Keith pulled back Shiro was twitching with his effort not to chase him.
"Can I?" He asked before cupping Keith's chin.
Keith nodded and Shiro leaned up, gently pulling him close again. He kissed Keith chastely, sweetly. Brushed his fingers across his cheek and into soft black hair.
He let Keith pull back after a moment.
Keith situated himself back into the passenger seat and Shiro pulled out of the parking lot without saying anything else. It could wait for the park bench under the stars, when Keith tucked himself against Shiro's side to hide from the cooling autumn and let Shiro run his fingers through his hair.
And they did... Shiro nuzzled into Keith's neck, planting soft kisses. Keith felt at ease and snuggled close to the older man.
"I like this."
"Me too, baby..." Shiro was enjoying each touch he didn't feel Keith flinch away from and had his fingers tangled in his hair. "Thank you for trusting me."
Keith hummed. "I like when you play with my hair."
"It's very soft." Shiro gently pulled Keith into his lap.
"Special conditioner. Lance recommended it. I told him it sucked."
Shiro laughed at that.
"I like that too... When you laugh."
"Stars are coming out, baby." Shiro glanced towards the sky.
Keith looked up and took one of the hands circled around him. He used Shiro's hand to point out different stars and rattled off facts about them.
When they finally made their way back to Shiro's car, sleepy puppies in tow, Keith looked at Shiro rather bashfully.
"I want you to stay."
"Stay?"
"At my apartment."
He noticed Shiro's heavy swallow. "Keith, we kissed for the first time today... I don't want to rush anything."
Keith shook his head. "No pressure." He quipped back to that first day in the exam room.
Shiro got it and leaned across the middle console to press a playful smooch to Keith's cheek. Keith grinned and scrambled to kiss Shiro in turn.
"You're sure?" Shiro surveryed him carefully when they pulled up to the apartment building.
"Yes."
Keith tugged Shiro's hand shyly as he unlocked his front door.
"This is cosy." Shiro toed off his shoes and looked around the little studio apartment. Most of the walls were littered with star charts and posters of nebulas.
Kuro began sniffing everything out and wagging his tail. Rosie planted herself as the foot of the bed, on a red throw that was very clearly Hers.
Shiro let himself be pulled over to Keiths unmade bed, and let the smaller man cocoon them in blankets.
"This is nice." Shiro rubbed his hands slowly but firmly over Keith's back.
Keith made a quiet noise and pushed himself up, hovering over Shiro.
"This is okay?"
"Yeah, baby, this is perfect."
Keith leaned down to kiss him with a smile that made Shiro's chest hurt.
"Can you stay?" He whispered, tucking himself back around the older man.
"If that's what you want... I should probably warn you that sometimes I have nightmares."
"Oh... What do I do... If that happens?"
"Talk to me, don't startle me... Sometimes I lash out. Kuro usually barks to wake me up."
Keith nodded seriously. "Do you want...not jeans?"
"I'm not sure I'll fit in your pants, baby..."
Keith hummed and sat up. His hands were on Shiro's waistband, unbuttoning and unzipping and tugging before Shiro could process it.
"Jeans aren't comfortable."
Shiro chuckled. Keith always wore track pants. He supposed he wasn't wrong though.
He helped Keith get them off and let the boy settle back against him.
"Thank you, Keith."
"You’re welcome...For what?"
"Letting me into your space, baby."
Kuro hopped up on the bed then, settling next to Rosie along their legs.
Keith slept easier than usual that night, and Shiro slept more soundly. They only woke up when the dogs started whining to go out, and Shiro pulled his jeans back on and sleepily nuzzled into the back of Keith's neck at the doorway while they watched the dogs pad out into the grass.
"Next time, maybe you can stay at my house?"
"Okay." Keith said simply, relaxing against Shiro.
"It's Saturday... Do you want to do something together? Besides go to the park?"
They ended up at an arcade. Keith was way too good at racing games, and Shiro handed Keith his ass on a platter at the fighting games. They had dropped Rosie and Kuro at Shiro's and Keith talked absently about how one day he'd have a yard like that for Rosie to run in.
Shiro had to hold his tongue on saying he would for this to be Rosie's yard too.
He was finding more and more that Keith made him act without thinking. And knew eventually it would probably be to Keith's detriment. So for now he kept the thought to himself.
Shiro knew his luck had run out when he sat up in a cold sweat at 3am. He'd been dreaming about Adam. The crash.
Kuro pushed into his lap and Keith sat close, but not touching, trembling just as hard as Shiro. His hands were gripped tightly around Rosie's collar.
"I'm sorry," Shiro said thickly.
Keith knew this was where he was supposed to say 'its okay.'
This time he said it, and touches Shiro's arm with the lightest fingertip graze.
Rating: nsfw/E
Pairing: Sheith (BG Allurance)
Prompt: Literally just “firefighter AU” which I did in the vaguest of senses.
Lance and Keith might bicker like NOBODYS business, with each other, and the dispatch guy, Hunk, and the head ER doctor, Katie --Pidge, and even the unit chief Kolivan.
But they Do Not Bicker with Allura or Shiro. They both know each other's crushes are miles wide, and when Allura presses an oxygen mask to Lance's nose or Shiro helps Keith wipe the soot off his face... Well.
That's a line they don't cross with each other.
Hunk seems to be routing their truck and Ambulance number 1A to the same scenes with increasing frequency.
Pidge hums and sticks Keith and Shiro in the same tiny curtained off area after a particularly bad run.
The two first responders sit there in the makeshift room. Shiro's entire arm is covered in severe burns. Keith can hardly breath he's inhales so much smoke after putting his own mask on a little girl.
He'd passed her to Shiro. His suit was on fire. And dropped to the ground.
He wanted to know what happened to her... He had inferred that Shiro's burns were from pulling off his thick jacket
Shiro's hand found Keith's in the space between them.
"Kogane...? Right?"
"Yeah," he rasps, pulling up the mask just enough so he isn’t so muffled.
"We've been going on calls together for what... Three years now?"
Keith grunted again, pulling the mask Pidge has fastened around his face up for another moment. "Somethin' like that I think."
"Can I buy you a drink?"
Keith barked harsh laugher that dissolved into coughing. "Yeah. Yeah you can."
"Im Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro."
"Keith."
Pidge bustled in with a breathing treatment for Keith and a sleeve of blue goo for Shiro. "Goes on your arm. You're gonna be off duty for a minute. Can't take this shit off," she warned, adjusting some settings on the band that kept it in place just below his bicep. "You two good?"
They both nodded.
"Cool. Soon as beds open up you're being admitted, but I suggest getting comfy. The morons upstairs have no hurry in them." She furiously riffled through a stack of papers.
Keith flopped onto his side on the hospital bed. "Tell Lance to feed Red?"
"You room together, I'm sure he will feed your needy cat." She didn't look up from the charts. "Shiro, I'm gonna start you in antibiotics, sit tight." She didn't bother with anything more than a vaguely dismissive wave as she left.
"You mind?"
Keith shook his head, yawning widely as Shiro settled behind him
Keith felt him fidgeting awkwardly as he succumbed to the colorful dreams that too much oxygen gave him. He reached back and tugged gently at the silicone and gel sleeved arm and pulled it around him.
"We saved her. That's what matters." He whispered.
-o-
A drink was set in front of Keith and the bartender nodded towards the end of the bar. "Gentleman sends his compliments."
Oh. At the end of the bar sat Shiro. He waved and gave Keith a friendly smile before getting up and coming around to stand next to his seat.
"Thanks!" Keith shouted over the music in the noisy club.
"I did ask if I could when we were at the hospital last month." Shiro leaned in close so he didn't have to yell. "Didn't think I'd see you here. You don't seem like the type."
Keith snorted and jerked his thumb towards the dance floor. "Lance and Hunk. And I could say the same to you."
"Allura's idea, but they can be fun. Do you want to want to get out of here?"
Keith held up his drink and grinned lopsidedly. "Gotta finish this first. Cute guy bought it for me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I was actually hoping he'd come ask me to dance..." Keith hid his grin behind the drink.
Shiro laughed at that and casually draped an arm around his waist. "I'd love to dance."
-o-
Keith had had his fair of one night stands but watching Shiro sleep, his arms curled tightly around his waist and his hair adorably mussed on the pillow, he really hoped Shiro wasn't going to be one of them.
They'd danced at the bar, and he wished now he'd drank more so he didn't have to remember the way he'd moved his hips brazenly against Shiro's. Shiro had ran searing kisses from his mouth to his chest and he'd threatened to pick up the larger man and carry him out if he didn't take him home soon.
He remembered Shiro telling him there was no way he could pick him up, but pulled him out of the bar.
When they stumbled into the apartment Keith had taken Shiro up on the dare and pinned him against the wall, bringing his legs around his waist and holding him off the floor while they kissed.
Shiro was quick to tell him how hot that was.
To which Keith had made an embarrassingly bad joke about being a firefighter.
He groaned and turned his face into the pillow. He hated drunk Keith. Drunk Keith was such a slut. Why couldn't he be like drunk Lance and order his sober self really nice face creams or something?
"Morning Baby..." Shiro mumbled and a kiss was pressed to his hair
"Hey." He slowly looked up.
"So that was a pretty great night..."
Keith blushed, all his bravado gone with the alcohol.
Shiro nestled him closer, fingers trailing lightly up and down his back. "Unless you didn't think so. Then we can just forget it happened and I can take you out on a date first next time...?"
"No, I uh..."
"That bad?" Shiro looked completely guilty.
"Oh fuck. No. No, I meant I don't want to forget. It was really great..." Keith could feel his face burning.
Shiro looked at him, clearly confused.
Probably trying to reconcile the straightforward work Keith with slutty drunk Keith with shy naked Keith. God he was such a loser.
Shiro kissed him instead of actually responding, pulling Keith under him and pinning him solidly between Shiro's larger body and the mattress.
Shiro rocked his hips against Keith’s. Keith eased his legs apart, giving Shiro the permission he was asking.
He broke the kiss, leaning down to Keith's ear. "I'm so glad I didn't fuck that up as thought I did... But I do really still want to take you on a date... If that's all right." He rolled his hips as he spoke, and Keith tipped his head back in a relaxed groan of appreciation.
So not a one night fling. And Shiro though HE had been the one to mess up last night. This stupid precious boy was going to wreck him.
Preferably sooner rather than later.
Warnings/Notes: Keith Kogane is A Little Shit, I do not know SHIT about physical therapy yall, Allura and Keith are bros, No.... actual warnings? I don’t think
The first time Keith sees buff armless dude, Allura is walking him out to the lobby while he goes to see if Dr Kolivan's 2pm has gotten there yet.
He's not, but he's allowed to be late. Kolivan has only been seeing Antok for like. He doesn't even know. Stupid amounts of years. He's pretty sure physical therapy for the ridiculously huge man is actually just how the two hulking exmilitary men schedule sec into their busy schedules but he is going to keep his nose down about that and shit buff armless guy has the nicest ass...
He's definitely staring because Allura jabs him in the side with her pen as she rifled through paperwork. "I have his number if you want it."
"Isn't that some kind of HIPAA violation?"
"Yes, but he's cute. And you need laid way worse than Lance."
"The hell?!" He hisses.
"He has a bet with Matt whether you or he will get laid first. I want him to lose."
Keith rolls his eyes. "Just because he only wants you...?"
"Yep. Here. His next appointment is Friday at 1."
"You don't work Friday at 1?"
"I know. Scheduling error." She handed him an appointment card with a wink and waved a grouchy looking young man with platinum hair after her. "Thank you for your patience, Lotor!"
The second time he sees him it's at the food cart on the corner of their block after he gets off. He's chatting with Hunk and as soon as their eyes meet his face turns red and he all but runs away. Keith takes his ear buds out as he approaches a confused Hunk.
"Hey man," Hunk smiles at him.
"Hey, c'n I get a falafel and a water?"
"Sure thing. Extra sauce?"
"Mhm." Keith waits patiently."Hey, Hunk, do you know that guy with the white hair?"
"Oh yeah. That's Shiro. He's been stopping by a lot. Trying to work up the nerve to ask someone out or something. He's... Well he's been super shy since he got back from what Pidge says. Nice guy though."
Keith takes his food and shoves a five into Hunk's tip jar.
The next time it's Friday at 12:57pm. Buff armless guys name is Takashi Shirogane. Keith rolls it over and over in his head.
"Takashi?"
He stands sharply. "Oh... Um... I see Lance and Dr Allura?"
Keith swallowed. He knew this was where he said, "I'm sorry. They don't work Fridays. There must have been a mistake... Do you still want to? If not it's okay," but his voice sounded distant.
"No, that's okay I guess." Takashi picked up his coat and followed Keith back to one of the rooms.
Keith ran through the standard questions and made notes for Kolivan to go over. "Just uh... Dr Kolivan is a little more old school than Dr Allura... Just so you can't say you weren't warned."
"He can't be worse than my instructors back at the Garrison."
Well that explained the arm.
Keith gave a smile. "I'll help you go over the exercises Dr Allura gave you last time and then Dr Kolivan will be in and we will do the new ones. Sound good?"
"Sure."
He stood behind Takashi and rolled his shoulder gently, feeling where the muscles pulled and needed to strengthen. Thank God Takashi couldn't see how red his face was.
He showed Keith what Allura had asked him to do the week before, and Keith corrected his movements on a few of them.
"You're getting one of the Holts new super high tech prosthetics, right?"
"Yeah, Matt's been friends with me since before all this. He and Katie are bound and determined to make it just like another part of me."
"I have no doubt they'll make good on it." Keith set a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks."
They locked eyes and soft smiles and Keith was about to ask if he wanted to get dinner when Kolivan walked in with his usual grace.
"Captain."
Shiro blushed darkly and looked a little nervous about the amount of space Keith had immediately put between them. "You don't really have to call me that, Kolivan.... I'm not at the Garrison anymore."
Kolivan grunted. "Keith can you get the TENS unit set up for Captain Shirogane?"
"Sure thing." He ducked out the door with a nod to Shiro.
That could have gone better.
-o-
"So when is dinner?" Allura asked him the following Monday.
"What?" Shiro blinked in confusion.
"With Keith?"
"Keith?"
She scowled. "Nevermind. Let’s see what Kolivan had you do over the weekend."
Keith was nursing a midday coffee when Allura barged into the break room.
"Get out there and schedule with him," she hissed.
"What?"
"Shiro!"
"Lura, you can use the computer system..."
"No, you insufferable jerk! A date. Go set a date with him!" She yanked him from his chair and bodily shoved him into the lobby, where Shiro was looking utterly confused.
"Is Dr Allura okay?"
Keith was glaring at the coffee that had sloshed on to his scrubs. "She's peachy. I'm going to schedule you for next week."
"That makes sense. She said something about Kolivan's exercises alternating with hers strengthening different muscles groups and being beneficial." He gave a smile as Keith went around the desk to pull up a calendar.
"So she wants you to schedule with Dr Kolivan next?"
"Yeah, if he has any openings."
"I'm sure we could make time for you." He clicked through to Friday's appointments.
"Does morning or afternoon work better?" He glanced up and noticed Shiro was bright red. And then realized what he'd said. "Oh uh I'm so sorry, that wasn't meant to sound..." He flushed to match.
Shiro coughed awkwardly and the blush started to move down his neck. "I-I mean I wouldn't mind if... That was what you meant."
Keith thought his head might explode at that. "Yeah?"
Shiro's phone began to whine loudly then, "I uh. I have to go. I'll call in to schedule." And with that he ran out the door.
Keith sat there, bright red, and let Antok chuckle at him fondly from where he was waiting.
"Shut up."
-o-
"So when is dinner?"Allura asked him the following Monday.
"What?" Shiro blinked in confusion.
"With Keith?"
"Keith?"
She scowled. "Nevermind. Lets see what Kolivan had you do over the weekend."
Keith was nursing a midday coffee when Allura barged into the break room.
"Get out there and schedule with him," she hissed.
"What?"
"Shiro!"
"Lura, you can use the computer system..."
"No you insufferable jerk! A date. Go set a date with him!" She yanked him from his chair and bodily shoved him into the lobby, where Shiro was looking utterly confused.
"Is Dr Allura okay?"
Keith was glaring at the coffee that had sloshed on to his scrubs. "She's peachy. I'm going to schedule you for next week."
"That makes sense. She said something about Kolivans exercises alternating with hers strengthening different muscles groups and being beneficial." He gave a smile as Keith went around the desk to pull up a calendar.
"So she wants you to schedule with Dr Kolivan next?"
"Yeah, if he has any openings."
"I'm sure we could make time for you." He clicked through to Fridays appointments.
"Does morning or afternoon work better?" He glanced up and noticed Shiro was bright red. And then realized what he'd said. "Oh uh I'm so sorry, that wasn't meant to sound..." He flushed to match.
Shiro coughed awkwardly and the blush started to move down his neck. "I-i mean I wouldn't mind if... That was what you meant."
Keith thought his head might explode at that. "Yeah?"
Shiro's phone began to whine loudly then, "I uh. I have to go. I'll call in to schedule." And with that he ran out the door.
Keith sat there, bright red, and let Antok chuckle at him fondly from where he was waiting.
"Shut up."
-o-
"Sorry, Kolivan, I need Keith right now!" Allura excused, all but snatching Keith up by his scrub collar and dragging him from the exam room.
"What the hell?!"
"Shiro is on the front desk phone and asked to speak to Dr Kolivans assistant. You are welcome!" She swatted his arm playfully and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder as she walked back to her office.
Keith walked a little quicker than was strictly necessary up to the front desk. He missed the days when Katie interned for them and they didn't have to split up desk duty with everything else at the little practice.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this, ah... Keith?"
"Yeah, did you still need to set up your next appointment with Dr Kolivan?"
"Yeah, um... Could we do Friday right before close?"
"Sure? Latest we do is 5:30. Does that work?"
"Yeah."
"Anything else I can help you with? It's Mr Shirogane, right?"
"Yeah." Keith could hear the thick swallow from the other end of the line. "I uh... Yeah no. I'll see you -- ah IlDr Kolivan-- Friday."
The line went dead and Keith let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
-o-
As fate would have it, Kolivan kicked Keith out of the practice on Thursday afternoon after he had sneezed so many times and gone through enough tissues that he could no longer pass it off as allergies. The older man had been pestering him all morning and he finally gave in when he threatened to call his dads on him.
Keith under no circumstances wanted to be locked up in the tiny farmhouse all weekend with an overanxious Thace and Ulaz with a fully stocked doctor bag. Nope.
So he went to the store and bought a case of Gatorade, tissues, and cold medicine and made himself a blanket nest on the couch to hide in for the weekend so he didn't contaminate his bedroom.
Monday morning, when he was officially allowed back on company property, he was met with a very concerned look from Kolivan.
"A patient brought me flowers."
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Allura gets flowers like every other week when a patient is cleared."
"This one wasn't."
Keith raised an eyebrow, trying to remember who all was on the schedule Friday when he had looked at it last with his fever brain. The only one he knew definitely was was Kolivans 3:30pm Friday regular, Antok. The one who Keith was pretty sure Kolivan was screwing. And had been. For years.
"You know that's the biggest open secret I've seen in my life, right?" He tested. He'd probably get a pissy text from Thace later. Screw it.
“Excuse me?"
There was not enough coffee in the world to have this conversation with his 6'8" 200-something pounds of apparently closeted uncle at 8:30am. "Antok and you have been a thing since I was like 12," he challenged.
Kolivan promptly spit his green tea all over his desk, both indignant and shocked. "Keith Tex Kogane, I was not talking about Antok."
Okay, now Keith was confused.
"I meant Captain Shirogane, and for your information, it's been since you were eleven."
-o-
Allura gives him All The Judgemental Glares at the table in the break room. Lance is rolling his eyes dramatically.
"Allura, can we just give Shiro his number? This is pathetic."
"I was sick, asshole."
"No, I think Lance is right. It's time for drastic measures."
"And we are still on for coffee Friday, right?"
"Only if Shiro and Keith go out before then." Allura clicks her Tupperware closed and gives Lance a soft smile.
Keith hates her.
"Dude if you fuck this up for me, I will never forgive you." Lance gives him the biggest fucking glare.
Keith rolls his eyes.
-o-
Kolivan gives him a lecture about professional behavior with patients that Keith gives him an extremely nonplussed look throughout. He ends it with a clipped. "Antok." And leaves the room.
He gets a call from an unknown number right before his shift ends on Wednesday. Ignores it.
Thursday there's an edible arrangement delivered to "K."
Keith sets it on Kolivans desk and watches Lance’s face crumple as he says with an all too pleasant expression, "I think he wants things to get serious, Kolivan. Do you want me to ask Thace and Ulaz to invite him for Sunday supper?"
Kolivan sputters.
Friday Kolivan asks him to leave before Antok gets there so he "can't make any stupid remarks."
Shiro is standing by his motorcycle, with flowers and chocolates and a card and there's music playing on his phone from his back pocket.
"Hi, Keith."
Keith frowned in thought.
"What are you doing?"
"Um... You know... You're really difficult to get ahold of..." Shiro blushed. It made the pale of the scar across his nose stand out and Keith couldn't help but want to run his finger across it.
"I'm here Monday through Friday 9 to 6...?"
"But..." Shiros jaw clenches and Keith kicks himself for noticing. "Every time I try..."
"Do you want to get dinner?" Keith asks, lips quirked into a half smirk.
Shiro deflates with a smile. "Yeah... Dinner would be great."
"I assume you bussed. Or walked?" Keith looks around the parking lot. It's only his bike and Kolivan and Antoks cars.
"Walked...."
"Are you scared to ride?"
"Not with you."
Keith full on smirks this time.
They end up at Steak n Shake until Way Too Late. Keith intends to take Shiro home, but ends up totally innocently sleeping over because "you cannot drive home at 4am. No."
They fall asleep on opposite sides of the bed like Responsible Adults.
Wake up tangled around each other.
Keith wakes up first and makes coffee. It's like 11. Shiro drags himself out of bed later and drinks coffee over Keith's shoulder half asleep because "damnit Keith I'm old" while pinning him against the counter.
Keith leans into Shiro and sips at his own coffee. Shiro is freaking adorable. Everyone can fight Keith.
Shiro lets Keith shower and gives him sweatpants and a tank top.
This was A Mistake.
Keith has his hair in a ponytail and the tank top is nearly falling off his shoulder and the pants are just loose enough that Shiro can see a teeny bit of skin between them and the shirt.
He doesn't respond when Keith thanks him for letting him borrow the clothes.
Shiro says Not A Word and all but runs to the shower.
When he gets out Keith has demolished his high score in Sonic and is giving him a very judgemental look. Keith offers to show him how it's done and Shiro readily accepts his place resting his head in Keiths lap as he walks him through everything. Shiro isn't paying attention and eventually leans forward and bites the hip bone that's cutting above the elastic.
Keith jumps and shudders. Automatically pausing the game.
"I don't want to be too forward, but... I really like you, Keith." The grin is playful.
"Shut the hell up and kiss me, you idiot."
Keith sends Allura a picture that evening of Shiro asleep on his bare chest.
/Tell Lance he lost.
/Ugh. Sorry Keith, unfortunately he still won.
/But congratulations!
It kills Keith to hand over the keys to his cherry red fully customized mustang to get a trade in quote, but he knows it the practical thing to do.
They're due to get the kids they were matched with for adoption at the end of the month. And he can remember the look the caseworker, Ms Allura, had given his car. Shiro bussed to work, but they definitely needed a... He cringed... Sensible car that could fit a booster and a car seat and all the gear they would need when they got into sports or dance or whatever else they could spoil Matthew and Katie with.
He could of course fit all that in his car now... It just... His pride and joy wasn't worth the safety of their kids. He swallowed thickly watching the salesman ooh and aah over his car.
"Dude, I'm gonna be honest. Don't sell this to us. We could never cover what it's worth. I know a guy, my best friend, Hunk... He'll actually give you what it's worth. I can give you his number."
Keith blinked, shocked. "Uh... Sure? How much would you give me here?"
"I can write up a quote for you, but Hunk and Kolivan will double it. Easy. This thing is a street racers dream."
"Yeah... It is..."
The next evening he drug Shiro off the bus and to the lot Lance had all but chased him off of the day before.
"Keith, what did you do?" Shiro was finally putting the pieces together. The disappearance of Keith's prized red mustang, Keith taking the bus to work this morning, the weird call they'd gotten from the bank on the way over.
"We need a family car... For... For Matt and Katie." He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.
"Baby..." Shiro's face softened and he leaned forward to give Keith a gentle kiss. "You didn't have to..."
"I wanted to."
"All right..." He thumbed over the scar that ran across Keith's cheek. "Let's try some out, baby."
"Hey man!" Lance's cheery voice carried across the lot. "I've got all the models lined up out back for you."
Lance led them through the small waiting area to the mechanics bays. A line of bright red suvs and crossovers waited for them to test drive.
"Thought if nothing else I could get the color right!"
"Perfect."
"Well let me give you the specs." Lance started rattling off a list of things about the first suv, but Shiro stopped him as soon as he heard the gas milage.
The second they drove around the lot, but the size of the blind spots irritated Keith. With two little kids running around he needed to feel like he wasn't gonna hit them pulling out of the driveway.
Eventually Keith was ready to punch out a car window with how annoyed he was. Screw car shopping.
"What about this one?" Shiro paused at a black SUV.
"It's not red, but if you want to try it!!"
It was big for a hybrid. And had a back up camera. And had good crash ratings.
Keith practically threw his debit card at Lance when they got out.
When they got to the adoption agency in their shiny new black SUV Allura gave it a once over and a small sniff of appraisal.
"Much better, Mr Shirogane." She directed the comment at Shiro, who gave her a friendly if diplomatic smile.
"It was time."
"My husband seems to have acquired a hobby car that resembles your old one... Funny car, that one."
"Strange...."
"At any rate, Matthew and Katie are this way."
She let them to a small room where a little boy with glasses was helping a littler toddler with pigtails build a huge block tower.
"Matthew, Katie, meet Mr Takashi and Keith Shirogane. Your new fathers."
The kids both looked away from their blocks.
"Hi, I'm Matt, and this is my sister Pidge... Do you have Legos?"
"We do!" Shiro lit up and knelt down. "A whole table full."
"Okay, we can go then." He took Katie's hand and walked past Shiro and Keith towards the door.
Shiro and Keith shared a smile.
"Okay, let's go home."
"Home?"
Keith scooped both children up. "Yeah, Matt.... Home."
Warnings: Student/Teacher, Kissing, mild dirty talk and Keith’s filthy 18 year old brain, implied blowjobs, quite a bit of curse words, Keith is A Tease
Summary: Keith’s physics class gets a new student teacher. Keith has every intention of being as annoying as possible, but Oh Shit He’s Hot.
Keith fucking hates this class.
He hates math.
He hates fucking "I did not spend twenty years in school for you to call me Mister" Dr Slav.
He hates that it's fucking first period.
He hates that fucking Lance McClain sits behind him and pokes him in the back of the neck with a pencil whenever he falls asleep.
If this class wasn't literally required for him to take for the degree he needed to work at Space X he Would Not be taking it.
So when they come back from spring break and Dr Slav introduces his new student teacher he has decided he is going to at the very least have a little fun during it by annoying the shit out of them.
He damn near chokes on his own tongue when Dr Slav introduces Mister Takashi Shirogane as his new student teacher though. No one should be able to make purple argyle look that fucking good. No one. Mister Takashi "call me Mister Shiro" Shirogane had silver hair that made Keith question if he needed to change his career path to sugar baby and dark eyes that hid behind glasses and a sharp scar across his nose that made him look just a little bit dangerous and fuck if that wasn't a thousand watt smile. Ugh. Yeah. He needed to change his plans.
Scratch operation annoy the shit out of the peppy student teacher.
Begin operation get the student teacher to bend him over the desk.
And from the looks of the rest of the class. He had competition.
Something was on his side though, because the next day Dr Slav asked him to hang back after class.
"Mister Shirogane, this is the top of the class, Keith Kogane. He has a bit of a disciplinary problem. And a mouth." Keith could feel Slav glaring. " But if you're looking at my seniors for a research assistant. This is the only one worth glancing at."
Shiro laughed good naturedly. "I think you have a great group of student, Dr Slav." He adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose. "But, it's good to meet you Keith. You must be some student to catch Slav's attention."
Keith hoped he looked as effortlessly cool as he was trying to with his hands in his pockets and his gaze towards the door. "Yeah. Same."
"Um, I'm looking for a research assistant to help me with my senior thesis. I'm an astrophysics major and I'm really hoping to help send the first manned mission to Kerberos... Its--"
"One of Pluto's moons. Is it paid?"
That seemed to catch Shiro off guard and he blushed. "N-no! But I'd be happy to give you rides to the lab at campus and meals and stuff while you're there. I uh... Yeah. The schedule is flexible, but you look like you're a flexible kinda guy and well if you're interested..."
Keith had to mentally force himself not to Flip Out at the student teachers seemingly completely unintentional double entendre. He had no problem showing Shiro just how flexible he could be.
He grunted. "Guess I'm interested. What are the hours."
Shiro scribbled down his number on a sticky note with a quick "text me tonight, you're going to be late to English!"
It wasn't until half way through English that he questioned how Shiro knew that’s what he had next.
The new english lit student teacher was here on a visa if her accent was anything to go by. He thought about annoying her since Shiro had been a busy, but Lance wouldn't stop hitting on her. He pitied the heck out of her for that.
Thank God his next class was not with Lance.
"Heard you new student teacher is hot," Pidge stated without pretense.
"Yeah, Lance says he looks like a nerdy Adonis."
Keith shrugged, and passed Pidge a white powder to mix into their solution. "I guess."
"And then slav asked you to hang back." Pidge wriggled her eyebrows at him. "What's up with that?"
Keith smirked, hand reaching into his pocket for the sticky with Shiro's number.
"Wouldn’t you like to know.
He texts Shiro an "its Keith from Slavs class" that night and falls asleep thinking about Shiro's strong hands pinning him to the chalkboard and asking him why his homework is late.
When he wakes up he has a text "Hey Keith, Hope We can meet up soon to discuss specific hours. I'd love to give you a tour of the lab and observatory! --Shiro"
What kind of dork signed their texts? He'd see him in class today. No point in texting back now. He scrounged through the closet for the jeans that were both the least dirty but also the tightest, a black pair, and grabbed the first shirt he found. He'd wear his jacket all day anyways.
When he pulled into the school he was early and he strategically hung out on his motorcycle near the teachers lot until he saw Shiro get out of the noisiest station wagon the school had ever seen. He was shocked the thing was still running.
Time to make his entrance.
Keith ran full force into his student teacher. And then proceeded to cuss as said student teachers nose started bleeding where he’d for all intents and purposes headbutted him.
“Shit, Mr Shiro!” He was helping pull the man up and pressing the sleeve of his hoodie to his nose before the older man could stop him. “You okay?” He straightened the man’s bangs as he continued to press the cotton of his hoodie to his face. “Maybe we should go to the nurses office?”
Shiro looked defeated, clearly not wanting to talk with his students hand pinching his nose shut. “’s go to the nurse.”
Shay helped Keith slip off his black hoodie and continued to keep the pressure on Shiro’s nose.
“You’re lucky Keith here knows a decent amount about first aid.” She smiled. “He’s gotten his fair share of bloody noses.”
Keith snorted. “I give more than I get.”
“Well I can see that.” The secretary ruffled his hair. “Now what happened here? I really hope you’re not picking fights with teachers.”
“It was an accident, just ran into each other in the parking lot not paying attention.”
Shiro nodded in agreement, slowly releasing the pressure on his nose to see if the bleeding had stopped.
“Keith, I’ve got to go field attendance calls. You take good care of Mister Shirogane.” With that Shay slipped out of the room.
“I think it’s stopped,” Shiro said hesitantly.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It was an accident.”
It wasn’t. But they were in the basically closet that served as a nurses office and he was close enough to see the creases next to Shiro’s eyes when he smiled and he couldn’t feel even a little bit bad.
“Yeah–” Keith wetted some paper towels in the small sink and passed them to Shiro “– but I should’ve been more careful.”
Shiro shrugged, and then gave a small smile as he wiped at his face and hands. “I mean if you really want to make it up to me, you can always take me up on that assistant position.”
Keith took another step into the man’s space and held his hand out for the red tinged paper towel he was holding. Shiro handed it to him. He put two fingers under Shiro’s chin and tilted it up.
He licked his bottom lip and dabbed the damp towel under Shiro’s nose again, gently, and then across his bottom lip.
"Missed a spot.” He smiled.
Shiro flushed the most brilliant red and gaped.
Keith stepped back easy, tossing the bloody towels into the trash can under the sink.
“And I think I’d like to see that lab, Mister Shiro.”
Keith skipped first period and spent it hiding on the roof with Ezor, who was doing an art independent study and had her corner litteredp with paints and bright stained puddles where chalk pastels had been left in the rain and a smattering of scarf scraps that had been hacked up for their fringes.
He couldn’t pretend to be cool in front of Shiro any more today than he had. Maybe skipping class would make think Shiro think he was mysterious or something though. Fuck it.
“Ugh I wish the models Mr Iverson used in class had your bone structure.
"M not modeling Ezor, I’m ditching.
"Well you’re sitting perfectly still in my space, so I think that makes you my model.” She winked.
He grunted and made an effort to move every thirty seconds after that.
By the time lunch rolled around Lance still hadn’t seen him that day and was shocked when he plopped down next to Pidge and started shoving fries into his mouth.
“Dude where were you this morning? Mr Shiro said he needed to give back your hoodie. You left it with him this morning?”
Hunk choked on his milk and Pidge gave him the most conspiratorial of grins.
“Yeah, so? Didn’t feel like listening to the Slave driver. Sorry.”
“Are you…?” He waved his hands vaguely in the direction of the building where their physics classroom was.
“Waving my hands?”
Lance glared and lowered his voice. “Are you sleeping with the student teacher?”
“Not your business, Lance.”
Lance looked like his head was going to explode.
“I’m gonna have to ditch game night, by the way, guys,” he changed topics, sort of. “Shiro has something to show me at campus.”
He was definitely going to give Lance an aneurysm.
“Okay. Suit yourself. We were gonna plan Monsters and Mana. Matt even volunteered to be the Dungeon Keeper.” Pidge got up to bus her tray.
“Damn.” Keith did love M&M… But hot TA and fodder to hang over Lance’s head. “I’ll have to catch it next week.”
He waited until most of the students had left the school to move his bike to the teachers lot next to Shiro’s car. He debated the pros and cons of positioning himself leaning against the hood of the car or straddling his bike when Shiro came out and opted for the bike. When Shiro stepped out of the school he caught Shiro’s swallow even as far away as he was.
Keith grinned to himself and pocketed his phone. “Follow you?”
“Yeah, it’s not too far.”
Keith pulled his helmet on and waited for Shiro to get into his car before revving his engine just slightly more than he maybe necessarily needed to.
It was indeed not too far. He was pretty sure this was the school Pidge’s brother went too.
They parked in a garage and Shiro let him stash his helmet in his back seat while they toured the lab. Shiro talked animatedly about rocket ships most of the walk to the building and he promised he would wash his hoodie and get it back to him tomorrow.
Keith shrugged.
"So you'd have to be in the lab at the same time as me since you're not a student but I'm usually here by myself unless Dr Holt comes in on the weekends--"
"As in Sam?" Keith cut him off
"Uh... Yeah. Samuel Holt."
"Sorry, I'm just. His daughter is one of my best friends."
"Oh yeah! Katie’s a sophomore now, right? And at your school too."
"She goes by Pidge now, but yeah."
Shiro laughed. "She used to hate when Matt called her that."
Well. There went all his grand plans for trying to be the The Cool Guy. As soon as he talked to the Holts, that was going to be out the window. Shit.
Might as well do what he could while he could then.
He perched on the side of Shiro's L desk kitty corner an ancient desktop as he pulled up data spreadsheet after data spreadsheet. "What--" he leaned forward, bracing one arm on the back of Shiro's chair and letting his breath ghost over the side of Shiro's neck and ear "--does this spike here mean?" He pointed out a blip in the data on the screen.
He could see Shiro's shoulder tense under his thin sweater. "Um, it's a fraunhofer line from an element suspected to come from Kerberos."
He leaned in a little closer. "Doesn't look like one I've ever seen."
Shiro swallowed and turned his head to look at Keith. "No. No, it doesn't. Is this. Um are... Am I reading into this?" His face was positively red.
Keith tilted his head just enough to question and seized this perfectly presented moment. "No, Mister Shirogane, I'm really interested in accepting this position under you..."
There was only a few inches between their faces and Keith wanted nothing more to kiss this adorable man, but it was too soon.
He sat up, never breaking the eye contact he had with Shiro, and slid off the desk. "What hours are you wanting me here?"
His student teacher couldn't look him in the eyes the rest of the week. His hoodie was folded neatly on his desk Friday morning, smelling of detergent and Shiro. He was probably making up that last part because he was crushing like a thirteen year-old girl. But fuck it.
His friends teased him about this as he burrowed his nose into it for the tenth time during lunch.
He begrudgingly called Lance for help that night. "Black or blue jeans?"
"Uh...."
"Lance just tell me which one makes my ass look better. I know you know." Keith could practically see Lance putting the pieces together in his head.
"Why~?"
"Just tell me."
"You're going to go see Mr Shiro, aren't you~?" Lance sing-songed into the phone.
"Lance." Keith warned.
Lance laughed. "Nah man, if this works, there's hope for me and Allura. Blue jeans. The dark ones. They bring out your eyes. And wear that baseball tee you think makes you look girly. The red one. Don't wear your bike boots. Sneakers. You've been doing that bad boy thing and it's dumb."
"Have not." He hope Lance couldn't hear him pouting.
"Have too. Mr Shiro is a nerd. Bad boy will catch his attention, but it won't keep it."
Okay so maybe Lance had a point. "Thanks."
"No problem! Let me know how it goes tomorrow!"
Keith bused to campus bright and early the next morning and could have kissed Shiro when he pressed a large iced coffee into his hands. Shiro laughed as he sucked down half the drink in five minutes.
"I know, but it's best we get as much done in training as we can before Matt gets here and tries to tell you how to use a 'flux capacitor.'"
Keith nodded and leaned against the wall of the elevator.
"I think this is the first time I've seen you without your bike jacket. Didn't ride today?"
"Too tired."
"I'll give you a ride home when we are done here then."
It wasn't a question, so he didn't respond, but he tried not to think too hard about how Shiro had noticed that he wasn't wearing his jacketo
They ended up at a diner off campus and Keith was mildly less attracted to Shiro watching him try and fail to fit a burger covered in mac and cheese into his mouth without making a mess.
However this gave him the opportunity to reach out and wipe cheese sauce off off Shiro's cheek with his thumb and the bunny in headlights look he got in response was so worth how disgusting he thought it was to lick it off his thumb.
"What?" He asked when Shiro put his flushed face into his hands.
"That was um..."
"It's not my fault you're a messy eater." Keith did his best impression of Shiro's thousand watt smile.
Shiro just nodded, then squeaked when he felt Keith's sneakered foot rest gently on his knee under the table.
"So how do you like student teaching?"
"Uh, it's good. Overall I mean. Everyone has been really great. Slav’s difficult, but..." Shiro shrugged.
"And the students?"
"Oh, um. You guys are a good class?" He offered weakly.
Keith grinned. "Nah, I skip once a week and Lance is an ass. And I'm pretty sure half the girls have given you love letters by now."
Shiro squirmed in his seat. "Well I'm not..."
"Straight?"
"How...?"
"Straight men do not wear argyle, Mr. Shiro."
"Um... You can just call me Shiro. When we aren't at school. All my friends do."
"Are we friends?" Keith didn't bother to hide his smirk.
"I'd like us to be.... Friends" Shiro said thickly.
"Yeah?" Keith let his foot fall --dragged it-- down the inside of Shiro's calf.
"Is this something..?"
"I mean I'd say an assistant is more of a working relationship, but if you wanna be friends we maybe do something fun sometime." Smooth, Keith, so smooth.
"Ah, I guess you're right... Maybe a movie? Or the arcade? What do people do to socialize these days?"
Keith smiled. "Too much time in your books?"
"You have no idea."
When Shiro pulled up to his house to drop him off he wasn't quite sure what to do.
A hug seemed too forward, but nothing weird too?
"See you Monday, right?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah. Monday." He nodded.
He hesitated for a moment, but reached for the door handle, opting to not push his luck any further than he already had.
He stretched as he got out, feeling his shirt lift a bit and smiled to himself where Shiro couldn't see him when he made a noise in his throat.
He'd have to make it a point to wear this shirt more often. He almost had the door shut when Shiro blurted out his name.
"Mmm?" He hummed and reopened the door.
"Do you uh... Maybe want to catch a movie tomorrow?"
"I think I'd like that a lot," he paused, "Takashi...." And gave Shiro what he really hoped was a sweet smile. Pidge would probably tell him he looked constipated.
Definitely the most red he'd ever seen Shiro's face. Noted.
"Co-ol," his voice caught half way through the word. "Text me?"
"Sure thing." This time he shut the door and walked into the house before Shiro could respond. He was going to have his own personal flailing freak out and he needed the door between them when that happened.
Keith text Lance to tell him it went well and put his phone in his desk drawer to avoid texting Shiro too soon.
When he did text Shiro, an hour later, it was with a short "you have anything you want to see tomorrow?"
Fantasy Shiro in his head responded "You, baby, in my sheets."
Real Shiro text back "there's a new horror movie out that looks pretty intense, but there's a sci-fi one that Matt says is really good too"
Keith looked at the movie at their tiny local theater and could not find any horror movies. What the heck. "Horror sounds good, I can pick you up on my bike if you're not scared of riding." Also because Shiro's thighs around his hips. Keith groaned at the thought. Hell yeah.
Shiro sent back an excited smiley and a "3:30 or 6?"
Shiros thighs around his hips and his arms tight around him in the cool spring evening. 6:00pm. DEFINITELY 6:00pm.
He arrived at 5:30 on the dot the next evening, back in his usual leather riding gear, hair tied up in a ponytail.
He handed Shiro a helmet and let him get situated before warning him he was going to want to hang on, smirk entirely devious. He was a speed demon without the desire to get Shiro to curl around him as he took sharp turns and whipped through yellow lights.
Shiro was a surprisingly good sport about it whooping excitedly and shifting his body smoothly behind Keith.
Having Shiro pressed against him felt as good as expected and he may have done a few unnecessary turns in the parking lot just to enjoy it an extra moment. Keith bought the tickets despite Shiro insisting that he had been the one to invite Keith.
"You can get popcorn."
"We are getting popcorn? What do you think I am, made of money?" Shiro tease, poking him in the ribs. Keith swatted his prosthetic hand away with a yelp.
"Well I was kidding, but clearly not, since my assistantship isn't paid." Keith pouted
"Hey, I offered to pay for the tickets!!" Shiro put a hand on his lower back and guided him towards the concession lines. Keith leaned into it, and practically melted when he didn't move his hand as they came to a stop at the back of the line.
"Soda?" Shiro asked when they were up next.
"Coke. I'm not an animal." Keith replied without hesitation.
"God, you're perfect. Matt always makes us get diet fanta. I didn't know there was diet fanta." Shiro gave a shiver.
Keith laughed. "Yeah, that's Pidge's favorite too. Nasty."
They collected their things and Keith strategically lead them to a set of seats that already had the middle armrest raised so he wouldn't have to try to be sneaky about it. They sat shoulder to shoulder with the popcorn on Shiro's lap and the soda balanced between Keith's thighs.
Shiro knew a shocking amount of movie preview trivia, which he blamed on Matt. And Keith insisted that he was unfit to teach physics because he liked Star Wars better than Star Trek.
It was not nearly as thick as he had been laying it on, which, he would later decide after a four way call that lasted the better part of two hours, was probably good. This was fun and easy and even though less direct "Takashi" was still blushing and smiling an awful lot.
He did set his hand on Shiro's thigh about halfway through the movie though. And to his credit Shiro only tensed for a second before realizing Keith wasn't going to do anything else, and relaxing.
The "horror movie" was actually a thriller with ghosts. It was not scary, but Shiro startled repeatedly, and Keith could feel him twitching every time a character did Something Very Stupid onscreen.
Keith shifted and leaned over to whisper in Shiro's ear, "Ya know, he looks kind of like Slav... And the blonde guy looks like Mr Iverson with hair."
Shiro snickered and turned to whisper back, "You're totally right!”
Keith leaned into Shiro's shoulder a little more after that.
When it was over it was completely dark outside. "You want to grab food or...?" Keith let the question hang, holding the extra helmet out to Shiro again.
"Sure, there's a Waffle House a few streets over?"
Keith hummed and lifted his leg over his bike.
"And I will pay!" Shiro readily settles his hands on Keith's hips when he situated himself again. And his brain was telling him how easily those hands.... Ugh. Why did he think riding his bike was a good idea again?!
But then Shiro's legs settled along side his and he remembered exactly why. He just had not very thoroughly thought out the nuances of this decision.
Thankfully it was a short ride to the Waffle House, but it was bittersweet.
He had to turn things back up juuuuust a little when the waitress told them they were just the cutest couple.
"Yeah, Takashi is gorgeous. I'm a lucky guy."
Shiro fumbled, clearly wanting to play along, but missing the beat as she asked for their drink order.
"It's uh... I'm sorry." Shiro fiddled with his placemat.
"For what?" Keith raised an eyebrow.
"That she thinks we are a couple."
Keith shrugged, trying to figure out how to best play that. "I don't mind. I meant that... You're gorgeous. And smart to boot? You're a hell of a catch." He winked.
"Like you're not."
And there was the hand over his mouth.
"Takashi, are you flirting with me?"
Well that sulky glare was probably deserved.
"Are you?" He pushed.
"Are you?" Shiro hedged back.
"You're too smart to have any doubt that I'm not."
Shiro let out a huge sigh. "Oh thank fuck. I thought I was being a creepy pervert."
Keith laughed aloud at that.
"I'm 18. No harm, right?" He gave Shiro a lopsided grin.
"I know. Your birthday is on the class roster." Shiro sighed. "If you weren't 18, I wouldn't have asked you to be my research assistant. Matt can get a little... Weird.... Sometimes. "
"Yeah he gets it from his sister."
"Wouldn't it be the other way around?"
"Absolutely not."
"So um...." Shiro started after the waitress interrupted to take their orders. "I know you're 18, and it's not for lack of... Ah... Attraction. " He cleared his throat. "But I think it may be best to wait until after you graduate to uh... Start anything."
Keith raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Think you can keep your hands off me for that long?"
"No, but I'm going to try." Shiro sulked.
"Challenge accepted." Keith grinned wolfishly and took a drink for his water
Shiro groaned. "You're gonna kill me.”
Keith tongued at his straw between his teeth, still grinning. "Only if you don't fuck me."
"KEITH!"
He laughed again. "What?"
Keith drove Shiro back to the apartment where he apparently lived with the Lit student teacher, Allura, and leaned back against him, dreading the moment Shiro would uncurl from around him and get off the bike.
They took their helmets off and Shiro twirled his short pony tail, humming thoughtfully. "I had a lot of fun tonight."
"I did too..." He tilted his head up a bit and Shiro made a noise of protest before he pressed a firm kiss to Keith's cheek.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah..." Shiro watched as Keith secured the spare helmet.
"See that star up there?" Shiro nuzzled his neck, a little hesitant. "Between the far one on this constellation here..." He took Keith's hand and pointed. "And this real dull one here?"
"Yeah?'
"That one's ours, baby..."
Keith blushed and sunk back against the solid mass behind him.
"It should be about... There" he took Keith's hand to another point in the sky. "When you graduate."
Keith nodded, understanding.
Shiro pressed a kiss beneath his ear. "That's when I bend you over Slav's desk and fuck you until you forget everything but my name."
"Oh fuck."
Keith felt like the wind got knocked out of him as Shiro got off the bike.
"What?" Shiro winked and grinned, looking at him over his glasses. "You started it."
Keith swore the entire way home.
And that is how the next two months went, they would whisper salacious something's into each other's ears and press kisses along jaw lines and go home and pant the others name until they were an utter wreck, but Shiro kept fast on his promise of not until Keith graduated. And Keith was doing his best to break him.
Prom night was close.
Matt had bought Pidge a shitty handle of vodka and she had split it between the four of them before forcing her brother to drive them to the dance.
They were all sloshed and he absolutely stole his chance to ask Shiro to dance with him. Shiro twirled him around, innocently enough, while Allura led Lance with a hand on his waist and Hunk roped Pidge into some semblance of sober slow dancing, staring longingly at secretary-slash-nurse Ms Shay.
Shiro leaned close, and his hand tensed over the thin sweater covering Shiro's muscles. "Exams are next week. Have you thought about what you want if you get an A?" His lips just closed the barest bit over the edge of Keith's ear lobe and he about died in Thace's borrowed suit.
"Shit. Whatever you're willing to give me."
Shiro chuckled. "Now where's that cool, in control Keith I met the first week of class?"
"You've fuckin ruined him," Keith huffed.
"Tell me, baby." Shiro spun him and pulled him close. God, this man.
"Want you to--"
"My turn!"
"Pidge, we are--"
"Shhhhhhhhhhh. Best friend privileges. I have to protect your honor. Go dance with Hunk. Help him impress Miss Shay. He's trying. But it sucks."
"Hi, Katie," Shiro greeted evenly.
"If you hurt him, I will ruin your fucking life. Takashi Shirogane. Born 2/29/2031 to Mira and Kunikazu Shirogane in Osaka Japan. Immigrated to America in 2035. Dropped out of Galaxy Garrison's pilot program due to a suspicious training accident and relegated to Altea Tech's Astrophysics undergrad."
"You've done you research?"
"My brothers labmate or not. Keith is special."
"I know, Katie. I mean to do right by him. I swear."
She nodded and settled her head on top of his chest for the remainder of the song. "I'm gonna hold you to that...."
Shiro held his pinky up. "I swear, Katie."
She nodded and linked her pinky. "I trust you."
They left Shiro's station wagon in the teachers lot and Keith drove Shiro back to his house just off campus on his bike.
"You uh... Want to come in?"
Keith got off without question.
"So uh... Katie....?" Shiro started, cracking open a beer and passing it to Keith. It was prom night. Fuck it.
Keith groaned and took a long drag. "What did she do?"
"More or less? She is going to fuck me up if I hurt you...?"
Keith nodded sagely, staring into the distance. "Holts scare the shit out of me."
Shiro lifted his beer and they clinked in a cheers.
"Shiro....?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to be cliche as hell... But... Could you. At least kiss me tonight? I mean… for real?"
Shiro wasn't half a step away before he finished the question.
"Thought you would never ask."
Shiro sealed their lips together, trying in all his pent up frustration to not push too much, and hoping the last two months of WANT came through..
And it did, Keith was practically melting with Shiro's hand cupping his neck and his prosthetic tight around his waist.
Shiro pulled away heavily. "You have me so fucked up..."
"Huh?" Keith wanted back.
Shiro snorted and spoke against Keith's plush lips. "'m torn between wanting our first time to be slow and loving, on my bed 'pstairs... Show you how beautiful you are to me... And fucking you stupid over that fucking morons desk. For spite."
Keith groaned and dropped to his knees in an instant.
"Let me show you instead?"
Shiro couldn't look Keith in the eye during class after that and Keith took joy in asking a ridiculous amount of questions during prep for the AP exams.
He passed with a 4. Probably because Slav was insane and force them to know exceptions to the exceptions.
Thace and Ulaz threw a modest graduation part for him, and he was glad for the year to fucking FINALLY BE OVER WITH.
Shiro took him on an official proper date.
Where he drove.
To a restaurant with cloth napkins.
And then to a bar with a band.
Shiro twirled him around the dance floor again. Except neither of them wore an an uncomfortable suit and he could definitely roll his hips against Shiro's without another chaperone flipping their shit.
Shiro nips at his earlobe when he does that.
He did it again. Smirked when Shiro's thumbs dig into his hips to pull him closer.
"You are the worst."
"You're not my student teacher."
Shiro growled against the column of his throat. "You're right, Baby. I'm not."
Prompt: AU where Shiro and Keith meet at Allurance’s wedding.
Rating: Teen, there’s a singluar line that could maybe be classified as M.
Pairing: Sheith, what else. BG Allurance
Side note: I HC human!Allura as being Indian. Briefly mentioned here.
Keith did not understand the hype around weddings. They were expensive and you had to invite everyone you or your family had ever met and if Lance didn't Shut The Fuck up about ecru he was going to kill himself.
And what was even the point of a rehearsal dinner? That just seemed like a really good way to waste a whole lot more money. Especia-fucking-lly if the maid of honor he was supposed to be escorting down the aisle didn't show up.
If it wouldn't absolutely destroy Lance he wished the woman fell in the ridiculously high heels that he (and Allura! Lance would insist, but more likely it was Coran...) had the girls wearing.
At least Hunk was cool. When he wasn't sobbing about oh my god my best friend is getting married or committing for nerves. And Pidge, who Lance was technically borrowing from Allura's friend group, and her brother Matt apparently loved to pester Lance, making them his new favorite people.
Her cousin Lotor was creepy as shit. He'd met him before at some art thing Lance had dragged him to when he and Allura had first started talking. He basically told both of them they weren't good enough to being his and Allura air and that she would be done with her little charity case in hanging out with then soon enough. Then he'd had the gall to ask Keith to dance. Fucking creep.
Keith was just glad he didn't have to walk with him. And so glad all of this would finally be over tomorrow. And then he'd send Lance's crazy and Allura's patient asses on a plane to the Bahamas and be on with his life again.
He was at the church at 8am, sitting in chairs that had been shoved against a wall in a room that he was sure was much smaller than the one Allura and her party was in. He and Pidge were both nursing coffee's, understanding that they were not on speaking terms until the whole pot on the cart by the door was gone. Lance was pacing around the room talking about he needed to put on his suit but then he couldn't put it on too early because it would get wrinkled.
Hunk was blissfully unaware of all of this in the kitchen.
He could not wait to get this shit over with.
At 10am, he was helping Pidge zip up her dress while Lance babbled nervously as he tried to button his pale blue dress shirt.
"Lance." He and Pidge scolded together, for at least the tenth time.
Keith stepped over and swatted Lance's hands out of the way, unbuttoning and rebuttoning the shirt with ease. "Pidge, tie." He flicked Lance's collar up and stepped out of the way.
"On it." She looped the fabric around his neck and knotted it easily.
Keith stepped back over with Lance's jacket as Pidge smoothed his shirt collar back down. He helped Lance into it and clapped him maybe a little too hard on the shoulder. "Shut up, Lance. You are going to get out there and do fine. Allura loves the fuck out of you and she is not going to leave you at the altar. And if she does Hunk and I will..." He trailed off, not wanting to threaten to beat up his best friends almost wife.
"I'll beat her up for you." Pidge snickered and shoved them towards the door, purple dress bouncing when she walked.
Hunk met them at the foyer and helped them pin flowers into their lapels, or in Pidge's case into her hair. He smelled like chiles and curry. Well there was that to look forward to at least.
Eventually music started to fill the halls and this brought Lotor, followed by Matt, and then the most attractive man Keith had literally ever seen.
Allura had a Man of Honor?
"Hi!" The man said a little breathlessly. "You must be Keith! Sorry I missed rehearsal last night. I've heard a lot about you..."
"Yeah I'm Keith."
Ugh that jawline and the broad shoulders and his smile and well there went Keith's entire intention of leading down the aisle. He couldn't lead this guy anywhere if he wanted to. He was solid.
"I'm Shiro." Then the music started playing and Pidge and Matt shoved Lance through the doors so he wouldn't see Allura, before retaking their places at the tail end of the group.
Shiro offered his arm and he had no choice but to take it with the doors now open and the crowd watching. Hunk and Lotor were behind them, and the siblings were in the back.
He tried to focus on his steps and breathing the short walk to the altar because this gorgeous man next to him was holding his arm easily, and their arms were touching... (Lance would remind him he needed to get laid if arm touches did it for him. Ugh.) A large hand on the small of his back guiding him to Lance's side of the altar when they parted was the last nail in the coffin.
He didn't interact with Shiro again until they were in the massive banquet hall where the reception was. That's right, they were expected to dance.
Shit.
Shiro took his hand with a warm smile and no questions, setting the other on Keith's waist as the DJ said some corny stuff about the new Mr and Mrs VonAltea-McClain. Keith settled his a little nervously on Shiro's shoulder. He didn't go to prom, but if he had, he imagined it would have been like a more tackily decorated version of this.
"So you're Lance's best friend, brother, cousin, coworker...?" Shiro started after a moment of smiling at him in silence.
"Foster brother." Keith swallowed and glanced away knowing what would follow that comment.
"Cool. I hear your abuela is an amazing cook!"
Well that was not the standard reaction.
"Uh yeah... How do you know Allura?"
"She um... My ex actually. Our fathers set up an arranged marriage when her family immigrated from India."
Keith must have been looking at him like he was crazy because Shiro laughed.
"I'll understand if you want to stop dancing with me, but I'm gay. It wasn't going to work for anyone."
"Oh." Keith said simply.
"Oh?"
"Nothing, I'm just not used to gay men who look like they could snap me in half."
Shiro laughed again. "I'll take that. You uh... Don't mind though? The dancing and all the other crap we have to do together tonight? Me and Matt can partner up and you have Pidge. Or vice versa. I've known them for years so..."
"No, it's cool. I'm not straight either, so you're safe with me." He tried to give him the smile that Allura called "roguish" once. "Besides watching Matt and Pidge bicker was the highlight of the rehearsal dinner. I'm not missing them ramp it up tonight."
"What are you? If you don't mind me asking?" Shiro leaned in close, probably with Keith's privacy in mind.
Fuck he even smelled good.
Keith shrugged in response to the question. "It sounds stupid as shit, but I never really thought about it? Just like who I like."
And right now he'd happen to like to do the dumb cliche thing where he fucked a bridesmaid on the wedding night. Bridesman? Fuck it. Whatever.
Shiro raised an eyebrow. "How old are you? Am I dancing with a teenager?"
"No you ass, I'm twenty two."
Shiro nodded sagely. "Not a teenager. Still a child."
"Oh fuck you."
"Anything you want, Baby."
Shiro winked and Keith was done for.
He spent the rest of the night in Shiro's periphery.
And then, as previously planned, he went home. Drove Lance and Allura to the airport in the morning.
Had basically forgot about the other man until Lance and Allura threw a cookout.
And if Shiro looked good in a charcoal grey suit, Keith must have been in heaven seeing him in a tank top and swim trunks.
He definitely gave an audible "oh fuck."
Before getting hit squarely in the face with a volleyball.
"Hey! Keith, right? I'm Shiro we--"
"I remember you." Keith pinched his nose in hopes of stopping his watering eyes and shoved the volleyball back at Shiro.
"Are you okay? Let me see..." Shiro pulled his hand away from his face and cupped his chin. He tilted Keith's face side to side slowly, looking at the red mark. He looked into Keith's eyes with just the barest hint of a smirk. "Looks good to me."
Keith's cheeks turned as red as his forehead.
"Shiro are you gonna bring the ball back or what?! Allura and I aren't finished kicking your asses yet!" Pidge yelled from the net.
"Sorry, Baby. Duty calls."
Keith blinked as Shiro jogged off and tossed the ball to Matt to serve.
Keith headed over to where it looked like Lance or Hunk had put together pitchers of mixed drinks. "Coran which one of these is the strongest?" He said over his shoulder.
"Nunvil. The purple one." The man slurred from under the straw hat he'd pulled over his face.
He gulped down half a cup before starting to look for Lance.
"Hey man!" Lance was manning the grill under Hunks watchful eye.
"Hey. Didn't realize you were having reception part two."
"Haha, but nah. Lotor isn't here."
He and Lance cheersed to that.
"You bring trunks? I need a chicken partner for later against this guy --" he clapped Hunks shoulder "-- and Pidge."
Keith snorted. If he remembered that correctly Allura had expressly forbids both herself AND Lance from playing chicken after they both ended up with matching broken arms for four months.
"Sure, man. How is married life?"
"It's great. A few more months and we think we are gonna start trying for Lancey Lance Jr."
"That's great!" Hunk lit up.
"Yep, you and Keith gotta arm wrestle for god dad."
"What about me and Matt?" A playfully sulky voice came from right behind Keith.
"Ehhhh. Matt's out. Pidge's god mom anyways."
"It should probably be Hunk." Keith sidestepped to let Shiro into the circle.
"Awwe Keith doesn't like my unborn child!!!!" Lance hung himself around Keith's neck dramatically.
"Get off, weirdo!"
Lance grinned. "You love it, dude."
"Yeah yeah, Hunks about to give away your grill privileges. You're burning the mushrooms."
"Oh shit!"
Shiro plopped into the grass beside Keith's lawn chair with his plate a short while later. "Hey."
His shoulder was pressed against Keith's knee warmly.
"Hey..."
"So can I take you out sometime?"
"That was forward."
"You seem like a guy who doesn't like too much beating around the bush... And I've called you 'baby' and had my hands on you quite a bit with dancing and wedding photos and playing nurse... Seemed like you were into it."
Keith shrugged. As if anyone wouldn't be into it.
"So... Can I take you out sometime?"
"Sure."
"Okay, what are you doing after this?"
"Uh... Lance bought fireworks, so I'm pretty sure going to bed?"
"Mmmm come with me instead?"
"To bed?" Keith raised his eyebrows. Knowing that was NOT what Shiro meant, but wanting to throw him off his game.
Shiro blushed. "Not unless you want to, but I was thinking I could take you on a night drive? I rode my bike over."
He sat close to Shiro on the bike, letting the wind whip through his hair and tug at his thin shirt. He was thankful to have the bulk of Shiro in front of him as a shield. Shiro eventually pulled onto a dirt road and they ended up spread out in a field not too long after on a blanket Shiro pulled out of his saddle bag. He pointed out constellations to Keith and Keith watched him talk excitedly more than he paid mind to the stars.
Keith hummed and shrugged his shoulder to nudge Shiro. "Hey..."
"Yeah?"
"Can I take you up on that offer?"
"What?"
"Sleeping."
"Well that was forward." Shiro mimicked his earlier sentiment.
"No. Not that. I just meant I'm tired, but I don't..." He could feel his cheeks darken.
"Want this to end?" Shiro rolled to his side and boxed Keith in with a hand above his shoulder.
"Yeah..."
"Doesn't have to, Baby..." Shiro leaned down and Keith forgot all about being tired and cold and the lumpy ground under his back when Shiro kissed him.
Warnings/Notes: Werewolf/Vampire AU. vampires so blood stuff, implied character death, werewolf courtship, this got weirdly plotty and I don’t want to talk about it, werewolves don’t mess with clothes, twisted for my own use lore, Alpha wolfs, mating, Vampire Sire/Fledgling mmmm yep.
When Shiro wakes up he reeks of stale vampire blood. His neck and abdomen are coated in it. He's doesn't recognize the cabin he's in or the cot he's on, but there's an unopened bottle of water and a bottle of aspirin sitting neatly atop a set of jeans and a thick flannel on the nightstand. Socks and boots sat on the floor below.
"You should be safe here until your pack find you" the note next to it reads.
As if he is going to wait for his pack to find him to leave.
He crumples the note and stumbles into the bathroom. He looks like shit. "The hell did I get into?"
He cleans up, nose crinkling at the scent of the blood and sweat he's caked in. At least the water works in this place.
He noses into the flannel, trying to figure out who brought him here. He vaguely remembered running with Matt and Pidge to his left, and then they split up to surround something. A doe if the scent was right. And then there was a fight and a hunter and there... The smell was on the flannel too... Burnt pine and sorghum and the faint hollow scent of death than clung to vampires and something else he couldn’t discern. Why would a vampire bring him here? This had to be a trap. And he needed to find Matt and Pidge. Before the vampire’s nest did.
He tugged on the clothes in a hurry. Thankfully it was near nightfall again. He was deep in the woods now, but not so far that he couldn't make out the river nestled in the crux of the foothills that would lead him back to town.
So he started off. As soon as the stars rose he'd be able to adjust to get back to their home more easily. He was hesitant when he got to the quiet little farmhouse. There was a light on in the kitchen and he could hear their cow mooing in the field. That was a good sign at least. When he crept onto the front porch Black and Rover rubbed against his ankles. He could hear Katie yelling inside and felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as he stepped across Hunks ward barrier. Hunk had old fae blood somewhere in his family and his protective charms had been invaluable in keeping their secrets secret. He wasn't a wolf, but he was definitely pack.
He had just barely gotten his fingers on the door when it opened. Katie launched herself at him. "What happened to you!?" He patted her back, letting her hang off him as he stepped through the threshold. He offered Matt and Hunk a smile and nodded a head towards the living room where he settled onto the worn sofa, the littlest packmember resituating herself into his lap. Matt curled up to his left, throwing his arms around Shiro and his little sister.
"We thought they got you too..."
Shiro could hear the tears caught in Matt's throat.
"I don't know what happened." He kissed the top of Katie's head and rested his forehead against Matt's. "But I'm here. I'm safe..."
Hunk brought in a tray with mugs of coffee and tea and cocoa and sat down on Shiro's right. Katie quietly moved herself out of Shiro's lap to snuggle against her brother's side.
Shiro took a cup of coffee. "Do you know what happened?"
"Pidge saw more than me," Matt admitted.
She told him about the huge Hunter who had pounced on him. How she and Matt we're on the edge of a clearing when a vampire blurred out of nowhere and told them to run, there were more coming. She had told him to get away and he'd said you would be safe Shiro... And they had to leave and I was so scared I thought it was gonna be like mom and dad...
Shiro shushed her gently. "It's okay. I'm here. You and Matt did exactly what I would have wanted you to."
She took a shaky breath and nodded.
"Katie, do you know what the vampire looked like?" He needed to know what he was dealing with. Why he woke up covered in a vampires blood. Why he'd been saved.
She shrugged. "It was dark. He was short for a vampire. Black jeans, red shirt, ummm black hair, real shaggy. Really dark eyes. They weren't that weird bright blue that vamps always are…
Shiro patted her head in thanks. "And everything here is safe?"
Matt and Hunk nodded.
"Good. I'm gonna shower. And then I want to sleep. Bed?"
Shiro showers the last of the smell of blood off of him. He'll still be smelling it for days. He looks longingly at the prosthetic he'd left on the dresser before he shifted last night, but knew his pack needed the comfort of him shifted now. He tosses his towel in the hamper and rolls his shoulders, letting the energy of the mostly full moon guide his shift until he dropped to all three and shook his body fully.
When he goes to the den Matt and Pidge are curled up together under one of Hunks arms. Pidges snout is tucked under Matt's and Shiro is sure her boney legs are jabbing his soft belly. He situates himself over them, his head on Matt's hip and his tail curled around the siblings heads. Hunk reaches out and sets a hand atop his head, thumbing over the white spot there with a magic of calm that he seemed to instill in everything he touched even though he tended to be a nervous wreck.
"I'm so glad you came back, Shiro. Matt and Pidge... They need you." The 'I need you' was left unspoken, but Shiro nuzzled the inside of his wrist. He understood. He needed them too.
-o-
"What in blazes were you thinking?! He could have killed you, Keith!"
"Allura, he was gonna kill him. Hunters like Sendak are dangerous to us too. We can't just let them--"
"Dude, Allura's right you put the whole nest at risk. What if his pack had come after us?!"
"Well they didn't, did they, Lance?"
"All right. All right. Everybody settle down. It wasn't the smartest decision, but we are okay. Let's get some rest for today and talk about it tomorrow evening? Hmmm?"
"That's an excellent idea, Coran." Allura pulled a pin from her hair and let it fall down her back. "Come along, Lance."
"Just go to bed. Don't make any other rash decisions." Lance glared.
Keith rolled his eyes and stalked off to his room. He was... New at this. The vampire thing. He didn't know who turned him or what exactly happened, but Allura and Lance had found him wandering the streets, sick as sin and not sure what was happening to him. By the time Coran had gotten him back to good health, he wouldn't have even known his name if not for the school ID in his wallet.
Kogane, Keith
10th grade
Balmera High School
The Keith in the picture had a crooked unsure smile and his hair fell into his eyes. He had on a hoodie and a red t-shirt. He didn't know who that Keith was, but at least he still liked red... And figured he'd been 15 or 16 when he'd been turned. But no matter how many times he googled himself, it was like he didn't exist except for that.
Coran suggest he may have been a ward off the state. He decided it didn't matter much anyways now.
And the four of them tried to stay out of that vampire-werewolf turf war shit. They left wolves along, wolves left them alone. But that didn't mean they should let them get killed... Hunters were dangerous to all of them. Wolves, Vamps, Fae. Didn't make much sense to Keith.
Plus. Something about that wolf... Keith could tell from his size he was the pack’s alpha. And it was a full moon, so the others had to be nearby. But that meant the forest was full of hunters out searching for them and vamps out searching to settle scores in the stupid rivalry.
Their nest had had a few close calls with Sendak before, and when Keith saw him attack the wolf. Well. He didn't have any issue settling a score with a hunter. When he appeared two copper colored wolves had jumped out of the brush, and he'd yelled. For some reason they listened... And he had been able to mail Sendak and escape. But not without almost getting killed himself. The wolf was heavy, but he'd managed to get him settled on the cot in the cabin and wipe off some of the blood he'd gotten on him. It was a lost cause with his furred form though. He set out clothes and had left. He needed to feed so he could heal. Besides he'd said he was going on a walk. The nest was probably looking for him since sunrise wasn't far off at this point.
But of course, now he just dreamt of giant black three legged wolves chasing him. It was a fitful rest.
Shiro and Matt and Hunk work at a bar. A wolf haven. "The Den," it's called. It’s filled with smoke and musk and the owner, an old Alpha by the name of Kolivan let's Pidge do her homework in the office while they're on shift. They know 14 is old enough to be home alone, but it's hard with all the trouble that's stirred up around town lately.
He was wary about hiring a part fae, but the customers loved Hunk's cooking, and with his bouncer (Shiro) and bartender (Matt) claiming him as pack there wasn't much he could do but let it happen.
When Shiro and Matt came to ask him if he'd heard about a little vamp with dark hair and eyes, he honestly didn't know, but he said he would ask around. Half the patrons had their vamp tallys tattooed on them. Someone was bound to know something.
Of course, all he needed to do was ask his packmate Thace to send his partner Ulaz a text.
The Marmora were the most secret of secret between the feuding monster clans. Wolves and Fae and Vampires working as a team to take down hunter factions and dangerous groups of their own that threatened to expose them to humans.
Some things are better left unknown but to a few.
Ulaz didn't know anything, but said he'd keep his ears open.
Shiro had Katie hack into the security feeds at the local blood banks, hospitals, and other vamp hot spots. Wandered the streets trying to catch a whiff of burnt pine.
He needed to know why him and if his pack was at risk.
"Maybe you should let it go?" Hunk said one day.
"Not until I know you're all safe," Shiro insisted
"Katie said he was short. What if he's just a kid? Doesn't know shit?" Matt tipped his chair back a.bit so he was balancing on the back legs.
"Just cause he looks like a kid doesn't mean his is one. Vamps don't age normal like we do," Katie piped up from behind her textbook.
"Guess that's true."
"Whoever he was he wanted me to wait for my pack. It seems too much like a trap."
"Yeah..." The other three sighed together.
"We could always go back to the cabin?"
"Absolutely not."
"But Shiro--"
"No, Katie."
She growled softly in response but dropped it in favor of shoving another forkful of potatoes into her mouth.
"I could call Lance?" Hunk said quietly.
"Dude, that's a worse idea than going back to the cabin!"
"He doesn't have to know I'm pack." Hunk looked to Shiro now. "I could just say a friend saw something weird. Wanted to make sure nothing crazy was happening..."
Shiro looked thoughtful for a minute. "He would smell us on you."
"I haven't actually seen him in years... Just a call. His number may not even work anymore to be honest... Just so we can try to get you an answer. I want to lay this to rest..."
Katie snorted. "Pun unintended?"
Hunk smacked his forehead. "Shit. Uh yeah. Definitely unintended."
Shiro shoved the peas around his plate like they were going to help him make up his mind.
"Yeah... We will skip town for a few days. He hasn't seen you in years. He'll want to visit your grandma... The farm..."
"I promise it'll be okay." Hunk put his hand over Shiro's.
-o-
"Hey, Thace"
"Hey kid, you got our order ready?"
"Yup, it's all here. Threw in a couple of good cuts for that magical chef you're always on about." Keith hefted the box into the back of Thace's SUV. There were already crates of produce stowed in the back seats.
"I'll be sure to tell him!" Thace reached out to ruffle Keith's hair. He was definitely a runaway, but he seemed sweet. If Thace thought he had any intention of sticking around longer than the summer he'd be trying to pick him up for The Den.
Keith knew Thace was a wolf. But he gave Keith that fond smile that Keith thought dads were supposed to give to their kids. Coran always gave it to Allura anyways, and even though he wasn't her dad he was close enough. He'd turned her.
"Same time next week, right?"
"Yeah, want me to look out for anything for you?"
"Nah, but here." Thace handed him a $20. "Come by the bar sometime. On me. I'm sure Hunk would love to meet our supplier."
Keith stuffed the bill into his blood spattered apron pocket and gave him a sloppy salute. "Sure thing." He ducked back into the back door of the butcher shop and sighed heavily. Wolves were so friendly. Coran and Allura and even Lance we're great but there was a lot of... boundaries. They never touch each other aside from Allura and Lance. And Lance was her fledgling so it was acceptable. Coran occasionally touched Allura, but only for the briefest of moments now that she had a fledgling of her own. He'd touch Lance and Keith too, but only if necessary. Clinically. Not like how Thace ruffled his hair and clapped him on the shoulder and squeezed the back of his neck. It was nice.
He could never see Thace not cloaked in the scent of animal blood though. He'd know what he was. And even though Keith didn't have anything against wolves, he didn't know if Thace had something against Vamps.
"That's the last pick up, you guys good?" He called to the guys up front. He gathered his things after their noncommittal agreeances and headed back to the airbnb they were using as their nesting grounds.
Allura and Coran weren't back from their shift at the blood bank yet and the note on the whiteboard said Lance was going to be late from the boats. So that left him on his own.
So when he heard a cell phone ring it surprised him. He found Lance's phone wedged between the couch cushions and debated on answering for half a second before his thumb clicked accept.
"Lance?" It was a soothing male voice. "I'm surprised your number still works buddy! How have you been?"
"Ah... Actually, Lance forgot his phone. I'm Keith. His...um. Roommate?" He hadn't meant it as a question, but it had come out that way.
"Oh" the voice on the other end snickered "Roommate. Got it. Well, roommate Keith, I'm Hunk. Lance and I go way back!! I was gonna ask him a quick question. See if there was..." He paused "um.. anyone /new/ in town. A friend saw something kinda weird around Nana's old folks home, just want to know if I need to /add on some extra layers of protection/ or anything. Ya know, man?"
Yeah. Keith know exactly what he meant. Hunk was a fae. He knew about Lance. Wanted to know If Lance knew something.
"Yeah man, I'll ask him to call you. I hope your friend is okay. Shit’s been weird around here lately."
"Yeah man you're tellin me. Thanks for passing it along man!"
The line clicked close.
-o-
The first thing Keith notices when they pile out of Allura's Buick is that this is it smells like cinnamon rolls. Hunk ushers them all into the old farmhouse and ever surface in the kitchen is covered in cookies or rolls or bread of some sort. He urges them to tuck in, which they all do.
"This is Allura, and Coran, and mullet hair is Keith." Lance's shoulders are tight when Hunk hugs him warmly. "So what happened? I can't believe Nana's in a home man, I'm sorry to hear that. You by yourself here now?"
Keith crunched into a crusty roll and wished food tasted as good as it smelled. Everything smelled amazing.
"Well I have some roommates but they're with family for the weekend. And yeah. It's been. Couple of years now. But anyways yeah." He explained how one of the nurses had seen this guy just appear out of nowhere in their court yard and then she had blinked and he was gone. Keith didn't pay much attention.
"I mean, short with dark hair could be anyone... I don't really know anyone new around. We tend to keep to ourselves." Lance gave him a sheepish grin.
"Nah man, I knew it was kind of a long shot!! No worries. I know stuff’s been weird and us fae are always out of the loop. Figured it just didn't hurt to ask."
They finished out the day with Hunk showing them Kaltenecker and the hen house and his garden. He sent them home with eggs and a basket of peppers and corn and tomatoes and Keith found himself fascinated by Hunks free warmth.
Maybe it was a fae thing? But when Hunk hugged all four of them without question he hoped they visited again.
Shiro got out of the old pickup and knew.
"He was here?!" He grabbed Hunks shoulder harder than he meant to.
"Dude, yeah I told you he was gonna come visit?"
"Not Lance."
Hunk shifted uncomfortably. "Well I mean he wanted me to meet his... What's the parent vampire called again?"
"Hunk."
"His nest came with him I didn't want to say no and he get spooked!!"
"Who was with him?"
"Shiro, man, ease up." Matt put his hand on one of Shiro's.
Shiros hands dropped to his sides. "He was here. The one from the cabin."
"What does that mean?"
"The vampire who took Shiro to that cabin is in Lance's nest," Katie mumbled.
"I need you to tell me everything."
-o-
"Hey Kolivan? Ulaz thinks he has a lead on a fledgling." Thace sunk into the single extra chair in his alphas office.
"Yeah, kid who disappeared from a football game last year. According to one of our Fae who's in with the hunters he was sighted during an attack on the full moon."
"Which Fae?"
"Krolia."
"How does she know it's him?"
"Apparently it's her kid."
"Fuck.”
-o-
"He smells like burnt pine and sorghum."
"What's sorghum?"
"It's... Kinda like molasses?"
"So kinda like Hunk?"
Shiro frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe a little. Hunk smells bright. He smells richer, darker."
"So like Jack versus Brandy?" Matt supplied.
"Yeah."
"Okay but I don't drink so that doesn't help." Katie put her forehead on the table.
"You'll understand."
"Hunk, ask Lance to come over again."
"Alone?"
"His sire and hers are older. I don't want to tangle with them if we can avoid it."
"They work as nurses at a blood bank... Maybe he can invite them over when they have a drive going on?" Katie suggested.
"Good idea." Shiro gave her a smile.
"Guess we can tell Kolivan we got it covered then?"
"No we may need his help... He and Thace are strong. If things go wrong, I want them on our side."
-o-
"You were right to involve us, Shiro." Kolivan nodded in approval. "There's rumors of a fledgling that matches the description of the vampire you're looking for. He also appears to be... Important to an associate."
"What do you mean?" Matt asked.
Kolivan and Thace shared a look. "We know your pack tries to stay out of the fray entirely, so if we tell you this..."
Shiro answered without hesitation. "If it means my packs safety then I'll do it."
Thace huffed a laugh.
"You've heard of the Marmora?"
"What?! No way!! My Nana told me stories about them as a kid!!" Hunk basically yelled.
"Well. Sometimes fairy tales are real..."
"So what do you want from us?" Matt asked, skeptical.
"An alliance."
"Deal."
"Shiro--"
"I said deal. We know his name is Keith and he's a member of the Altea-Smythe nest. What do you know?"
"He's a fledgling, the Altea-Smythe nest is much like your pack. Small. Keeps to themselves. The vampire you're looking for is half Fae."
"That's so cool!!" Hunk was gushing again.
"But the older two?"
"The older two are more dangerous. Your Lance seems to be the younger sire’s first fledgling, but she is quite old. According to our source the older sire changed her at her father's request when she was quite sickly."
"Who is this Keith's sire? Aren't sires usually..." Shiro waved his hand.
"Like Alphas?" Thace laughed. "It's not the same. Alphas are compelled to protect their pack. Sires protect their own progeny."
"So where was his sire when he almost bled out stashing me in a cabin in the woods?"
"That is the question of the evening." Thace shrugged. "No one seems to know who his sire is, so their no way of knowing."
-o-
"Who even drinks this shit?" Keith grimaced at the case of PBR he was tasked with carrying up the steps to the farmhouse.
"Dude, PBR is a delicacy."
"Are you sure you just can't taste for shit? Hunks a good cook. He's definitely going to side with me."
Lance rang the doorbell and shouted "HUNK! YOU HAVE A DEBATE TO SETTLE OUT HERE!"
Something in the back of keith's mind piped up. Hunk... Wasn't that...
"Fuck!"
And then everything was burning and the world went black.
-o-
"The fuck..." Keiths head throbbed.
"How did you not smell it on him?!"
A woman and... Mmmm. Fucking shit. He could smell Lance's blood. Thace? That was definitely Thace.
"He was always covered in blood how was I supposed to know?!"
He took another steady breath. Cinnamon. Hunk. And there was something like linen and scotch... And a similar scent... But with carmel...
What what did they hit him with. He hadn't been this fucked up since he'd been turned.
"Hey guys, he's waking up."
That was definitely a girl.
And then a firm hand gripped his chin.
Smokey Maple and snow and...
The alpha he'd left at the cabin.
"I'm Shiro, and you're going to tell me everything, Keith."
He blinked slowly, trying to get six grey eyes to merge back into two.
"A thanks would be nice..." He rasped.
"Sorry, man, I think my wards may have been a little too strong. I wanted to be sure we would have enough time..."
A giant alpha put a hand on Hunks shoulder, quieting him. "Keith, we have some questions. We won't hurt you or Lance as long as you're honest."
"You won't hurt him period." The woman spoke. She had short dark hair and Keith could practically see the fae magic emanating from her.
"You know we will do what we need to." The only vampire besides he and Lance spoke up. He hadn't even realized he was there before.
"Take them upstairs," the large alpha gestured at the older of the two wolves that were clearly related. The copper ones he'd seen in the woods maybe?
He and Lance were tied to fold up chairs in what he guessed from the river rock walls was the basement of the farm house. The ceilings were low and the two dangling unshaded light bulbs threw a harsh glare over everything. It was just the two alphas now.
Lance muttered a bunch of curse words as the footsteps on rickety wooden stairs woke him
"Hey man, don't know what the fuck you got us into this time, but it's definitely your fault," he hissed at Lance.
Lance coughed a weak "fuck off mullet"
"Last full moon you saved a Wolf from a Hunter." The taller one approached Keith. "Why?"
"So not my fault!" Lance huffed.
"Because he was set up and Sendak's a piece of shit."
"The hunter. Sendak is the Hunter." Lance explained, rolling his eyes. " Keith here is new to this shit, so he doesn't--"
"Like you're more than two months older you fucking--"
"Quiet."
They glared at each other.
"You know Sendak?"
"Hell yeah. Piece of shit has been hunting us since two towns over." Lance groused.
"He's been hunting my pack for a while now too." Shiro flexed his prosthetic hand. "He's why I have this. Why my pack is two short."
"Yeah, well, happy to help or whatever. I wasn't trying to hurt you." Keith's voice was thick. "Or your pack." He added.
"How do we know you aren't lying?" Shiro looked like he hated asking.
"Uuuuuugh." Lance groaned.
"I don't know you, you don't know me. But no one likes that creep. I figure it's common ground."
"He is his mother's son."
"You know my mother?"
"I didn't think you recognized her."
"Dude he wouldn't know his name if he hadn't had a school ID in his wallet when we found him wandering the rail yard."
"Thanks, Lance. Real sympathetic of you."
"Krolia!"
Light steps came downstairs and the woman from before cupped his chin when she got close enough. "Keith..."
A wave of her hands and the itching feeling that bordered on painful over his body stopped, the last of the wards released.
She pulled him up from the chair slowly. "We have a lot to talk about."
"How do I know this isn't made up to get me to cooperate or whatever?"
"Same way we know you aren't lying about why you helped Shiro," she quipped.
Keith frowned.
She waved her hands again and Lance fell forward, being released. Keith offered him a hand, but he didn't take it, pushing off his knees instead.
"Well. I guess that's a start." Keith looked back at the woman, Krolia.
"I know it's difficult to understand, but you never should have been able to be turned... I left you, and that left you vulnerable. But I'm not leaving you again. I'm sorry, Keith." She held her hand out to him.
Keith looked between Lance, arms crossed and face suspicious.
"You can't possibly be his mom. If he's fae, he wouldn't be able to be turned."
The bigger of the wolves stepped forward. "It's possible, rare and dangerous, but it's possible."
"How?" Shiro asked.
Keith startled. When the hell had he gotten that close to him?
"By another vampire who has Fae blood," he explained.
"There aren't many..." Krolia looked at him.
"Lance, how long ago did your nest find Keith?"
"About six months..."
Krolia growled.
"Lotor."
They were herded upstairs where Hunk flung himself at Lance, bawling.
Lance patted his back and teased him about having a pack.
Keith took a glass of tea from the girl -- "Katie, unless I'm Pidge, thanks for... Saving Shiro." -- and settled on the couch between her and the woman claiming to be his mother. The bald vampire was hip to hip with Thace in front of the fire place, Kolivan just to their left. Lance had peeled Hunk away from him and was slouching in a chair and Shiro stood behind the other end of the couch where the girls brother sat with Hunk at his feet.
"Call your Sire." Kolivan gestured at Lance.
"Not until you tell us who the heck Lotor is and what we are supposed to do about all of this."
Kolivan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nothing. You need to go back to your nest."
"No," Keith protested. "If he's who changed me then I have a right to know, don't I?"
Kolivan, Krolia, Thace, and the strange vampire all looked at him with a chorus of "Nos"
"I think he does." Shiro challenged. He put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "What makes Fae Vampires so special that he's making more, if they're so difficult to turn?"
"Fae have to be drained completely before they're turned. It usually doesn't work because the timing between when the body is drained and can be turned is short. Usually it's just death." Krolia sighed. "You're lucky, Keith..."
"Okay..." He sure as shit didn't feel lucky.
"Usually when they turn they..." Krolia grimaced.
"They aren't the same after they turn." Kolivan supplied. "They attack."
"Keith isn't all Fae. That much be why..."
"What else am I?!" Keith wasn't really sure how many more surprises he could take.
"Your father was human. I'm fae. Now you're a vampire."
"Kid." Thace looked him square in the face and he was suddenly thankful for Shiro's hand still on his shoulder, grounding him. "You're whatever you want to be, but I think you should think about being Marmora."
Krolia and Kolivan started yelling at him at the same time.
"What's Marmora?"
"Magic spies," Katie mumbled next to him. She stood up and walked out.
Lance followed her and Hunk followed him. Matt shrugged and looked at Keith. They both stood and followed the rest of the younger half of their group.
"Hey," Shiro's hand fell on his shoulder as he was about the join the others on the porch. "I um... Wanted to properly introduce myself--"
"You're Shiro, I have to tell you everything I know," he mocked back the words Shiro had growled at him when he woke up in the basement, tilting his chin defiantly.
"Yeah... I'm sorry." He had the decency to look sheepish. "It's ah... An alpha thing...."
Keith gave him a crooked smile. "You said you'd lost some of your pack... And thought I was a threat. I get it."
"Well I appreciate that. And I wanted to properly thank you for saving me." And the Keith was scooped up into a hug that was warmer than anything he could remember experiencing. "Thank you for helping me.. my pack." He released the vampire. "You were hurt. Are you...?"
"I heal fast."
"What happened?"
Keith pulled his shirt collar to the side to reveal a neatly knitted scar over his shoulder and collar bone. He smirked. It was a pretty impressive scar.
Shiro flushed dark red. "Keith!" He grabbed the hand pulling at his shirt collar, sputtering. "That um. Sorry. Your shoulder is. That's a /thing/."
"Thing?"
Shiro let go of his hands. "Its... Um... Like flirting."
"Oh." Keith blushed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"No, you uh... Didn't know." He let go of Keith's hands abruptly. "I didn't mean to grab you, I know... Vampires don't like that."
"I do."
They locked eyes and Keith stammered, realizing how that sounded.
"I don't mind... The touching... I mean."
"Yeah?" Shiro's eyes lit up a little before he clapped a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Cmon, Matt's going to make jokes for days if we don't join them."
-o-
Keith was unintentionally distancing himself from his nest over the next month. Much to his mother's chagrin he had determined the Marmora were a good fit for him, and as a result most of his things had migrated to Thace and Ulaz's spare bedroom.
Lance and Hunk’s friendship had rekindled despite Allura's hesitance to fraternize with wolves and Allura was slowly forming a tentative friendship with Katie as the lone women of their respective families.
And Shiro found himself drawn more and more to the quiet early morning meetings in Kolivan’s office where Thace and Ulace would squish themselves into the lone armchair while Krolia perched on the corner of the desk and Keith would sit with his back pressed against the door and his arm against Shiro's. Shiro was still drawn to his smell even though he knew who Keith was now. And when they mingled during their meetings, it always made what the Holts would call his “inner puppy” wriggle with delight.
Shiro knew he had a crush. He just didn't know what to do about it. He hadn't found himself attracted to anyone since before he'd gotten attacked by Sendak.
But Keith was... Refreshing. He was young and sometimes painfully blunt and kind and he didn't seem to care a single but about speciation which gave Shiro more hope than he cared to admit.
Plus he fit in so well with his pack, and his nest was starting to as well... Hunk and Lance we're friends, and Coran simply adored the farm. Had all sorts of stories about his families in England that hunk and Katie ate up. Allura was... Polite. She seemed to want to mentor Katie. She kept Lance and Matt in check too which was nice. Matt and Keith and Lance seemed to love to antagonize each other, and though he knew Keith understood none of it, he was always happy to keep Katie company while she did her school work and shuttle Hunk's snacks between her space and the kitchen for her.
It was simple and harmonious and he wanted to cement it.... But he didn't want to scare them away either.
So he did the only thing he could think of-- asked Krolia for permission.
"Absolutely not."
"I--"
"You may not court my son."
Shiro swallowed down his growl. "May I ask for your reasoning?"
"He's Marmora."
"You had a son... You must have had a..." He blanked on the fae word.
"No. There were stolen moments between assignments. Keith was a mistake. I left him with his father because I wanted him to be safe. If his father couldn't when he was an infant, you certainly won't be able to now that he's Marmora."
Shiro could feel another growl rising. "What if Lotor’s gone?"
"It's awfully bold to think that you'll be able to do what the Marmora have been trying to for years."
And that was how Shiro found himself at the dining room table with Coran and Katie discussing the intricacies of tracking a Sire.
"It would be easier if you knew of all his fledglings." Coran had suggested initially after hearing his predicament. "But since he only seems to try to turn Fae and most of them simply attack until they're disposed of by law enforcement that will be difficult."
"Too bad you don't have a scent to track. That would be the easy way."
Coran thought for a moment, and then started counting back on his fingers.
"Katie that's brilliant! We don't track by scent, but you do!!!"
She looked confused for a moment.
"Fledgling's bodies take close to a year to fully mature. Until then they carry their sire’s blood! It's why Matt sometimes has trouble telling Allura and Lance appart by scent. It's the same for you and Matt with us. You're related."
"Keith's blood will smell like Lotor until he fully matures!" She pieced the information together.
Keith agreed without hesitation and readily cut open the back of his forearm for the pack to get the scent. Shiro recognized it as the too sweet rotting scent mixed with ozone he'd been covered in at the cabin. Tomorrow they would begin hunting.
That night Shiro couldn't sleep. They were all curled up together in their den, but he couldn't get his mind off the prospect of finding the vampire who had turned Keith. He got up, carefully slipping out of the room and padding out to the porch.
He figured Keith was probably having trouble reconciling things too, but he didn't actually think he'd find him. But there Keith was, curled up on the porch swing and looking at the stars. Shiro padded over quietly, giving a soft wuff to get Keith's attention.
"Hey Shiro," Keith gave a soft smile and patted the swing. "Can't sleep either?"
Shiro hopped up and shook his head.
"I haven't seen you up close like this since then... Can I..?" He reached up hesitantly towards Shiro's head.
Shiro ducked down, pushing the top of his head under Keith's hand.
"Soft...This is okay right? Not ah... Too personal or anything?"
Shiro gave another soft wuff, leaning into Keith's pets. It was, actually. No one but pack did this. But Shiro really wanted Keith to be.
"I forgot how big you were as a wolf."
Even as a wolf Shiro was bigger than Keith. The throw blanket around Keith's shoulder slipped down Shiro let out a slight growl and nosed at the bandage around Keith's forearm.
"Oh... Yeah. I uh. Haven't fed today. Makes it hard to heal."
Shiro had shifted back within the minute.
"Then you need to feed."
Keith was staring silently.
And then Shiro followed his eyes. Shiro was nude.
"Oh."
Keith quickly handed him the throw blanket. And Shiro pulled it over his lap.
"Um. What... Do you need to eat?"
Keith raised an eyebrow. "I'm a....?"
"Oh!!!" Shiro blushed. "Blood. Right. Well. Um..." He took a deep breath and raised his wrist towards Keith. "I don't know if it's... But I dont..."
"You don't what?" Keith took Shiro's hand gently.
Shiros face was impossibly red. "His smell... I don't like his smell on you... And with that not healed."
"Oh." Keith's jaw flexed uncomfortably. "I can uh... I can go hunt. It's okay."
"No!"
Shiro grabbed Keith's wrist.
"Let me do this for you..."
Shiro stood, drawing Keith close.
"You're already going to find him..." Keith could feel the blood pulsing under Shiro's skin, his heart beating. It was quick and warm and... Shiro smelled good.
"Please? It's nothing to me."
"Remember... When I showed you my scar on my neck? From that night?" Keith looked up, hand over the scar and expression caused between amused and embarrassed. "This is for me like that was for you...?"
Shiro ducked his head down and pressed his forehead and nose to Keith's.
"I know..."
Keith inhaled sharply. "You're... Sure?"
Shiro pulled Keith back towards the swing, tucking the blanket more securely around his waist.
"Let me do this for you?"
Keith snorted softly and leaned over Shiro on the swing, one knee between Shiro's thighs and the other foot planted firmly on the ground. "My nest is sleeping in your pack’s home and we are going to be hunting my sire tomorrow. I'd say you've done enough... I can seriously go pick off some drunk coming home from a bar..."
Shiro bristled at that. "No."
Keith snickered. "No?"
"Keith..." Shiro tilted his head to the side. "I'd really rather you didn't."
Ugh why did Shiro have to be to cutely possessive and accommodating and oh his hand was definitely on the small of Keiths back and Keith leaned forward. He brushed his lips over Shiro's pulse on his neck, skimming down until he found a smaller, less lethal vein. He found one just under Shiro's collar bone and licked his lips.
He pulled back. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
Keith bent his head down and let his fangs drop, sinking through skin and just nicking the edge of the vein Keith had found. He pulled them back slowly, letting his mouth fill with Shiro's blood.
Shiro gave the barest of flinches and sighed a breath before bringing his hand up to the back of Keith's head.
"That's it, baby... Drink. I've got you."
Keith made a choked noise and Shiro felt him press closer. He could understand why this was so intimate. He hoped Keith would forgive his boldness in the morning.
"Well, it's nice to see my progeny and I share a love for intermingling of species."
Keith pulled away with a start, fangs dropped again in a bloody snarl at being disturbed during a feed.
"Now that's no way to talk to your sire, little one." A man with long white hair and yellow eyes was walking towards the house.
Shiro flung the blanket aside and was transformed in an instant. He leapt off the porch, putting himself between Keith and the man who couldn't have been anyone but Lotor. Shiro growled loudly. The overly sweet smell of rot was coming off him in waves.
"You had no right!"
"Silence." Lotor waved a hand at Keith dismissively and walked straight for Shiro. "You know, I've never turned a were. Want to find out what happens?" He lunged at Shiro.
Shiro jumped to the side and circled with Lotor, looking between him and Keith. Keith took the moment to react, leaping forward and grabbing for Lotor, only narrowly missing, but giving Lotor the opportunity to shove him forward into Shiro.
"Well you've certainly developed faster than usual. Most of my fledglings couldn't dream of catching me at your age, and you were... Close."
Keith ran a hand into the ruff of Shiro's fur and glared. "What do you want with me?!"
"To create harmony between the species. Vampires, Wolves, Fae, even humans. To create as many hybrids as I can and allow us to stop squandering in secrecy like rats."
"If vampires and wolves can't get along, how can you expect all four?!" Keith shot back
"Now... Child. Your name is Keith, right? It's so hard to keep track these days with all the weaklings who die... That's why I've chosen the fae. No one minds them. They're peaceful and few. Unthreatening. And their powers cross all bloodlines."
Shiro growled and lunged again, Keith at his side. Keith at least managed to punch him in the jaw before Lotor danced out of reach again.
"I'll say, you have at least chosen a worthy partner."
Shiro wished Lotor wasn't The Bad Guy for a second, so he could have asked him for permission to court Keith instead of Krolia.
He whirled and snapped at the man's leg, distracting him enough for Keith to catch him off guard and shove Lotor toward the porch, where Hunk and Krolia had tailored a slew of wards to their weird new pack-nest.
Shiro instantly understood and rushed the man before he could catch on too. When Lotor reached up to steady himself on the porch it looked like a lightning bolt had struck him. He tensed and slumped to the ground. Shiro shifted and stepped back to Keith, paying no heed to his nudity or the blood clotting on his chest.
He leaned down with absolutely no pretense and caught Keith in a searing kiss. "Go inside. Get Allura, Coran, and Matt," he whispered against Keith's lips when he pulled back.
Keith nodded, pupils blown wide, and ran into the house without question, bare feet stumbling on the dew wet grass. Shiro hauled Lotor up by the back of his shirt collar and pulled him up the stairs. Matt was the first to the door, halting mid shift when he saw Shiro wasn't in need of that sort oh help. His tail swished slyly as he took in the punctures on his alpha, but wisely kept his comments to himself until Shiro looked less like he wanted to rip something to shreds. Allura and Coran rushed out next, Lance and Keith not far behind. Coran and Matt got Lotor secured in the basement while Allura called Kolivan and Shiro went to put on sweatpants and a shirt. Hunk and Katie had joined Lance and Keith in the kitchen. When Shiro rejoined them, he took Keith's bandaged forearm and pulled the wrapping off, making sure the cut had sealed.
"Thanks"
Shiro closed him in a hug that Keith returned hesitantly, hyper-aware of everyone else in the room. "You did it for me..."
-o-
It didn't take long for the Marmora to arrive.
Krolia frowned when she took in the way Shiro kept touching Keith. A brush of fingers on his hip, calves and arms settled against each other as they leaned against the counter, hands not bothering to move away from each other during incidental touches.
"We did what you couldn't." Keith levelled the four adults with a look as they entered the kitchen.
"Keith and I did what you couldn't." It was hard for Shiro not to smirk at the glare Krolia was giving him.
Kolivan and Ulaz ignored the posturing in favor of following Coran and Allura to the basement. Krolia looked at Keith like she wanted to say something, but stalked after them instead.
Thace congratulated them with an easy smile and a ruffle to Keith's hair. He winked at Shiro before following too.
Allura came back up shortly, muttering angrily under her breath, and grabbing Lance's arm, dragging him up the stairs to the loft they were staying in.
"You should get some rest as well." Shiro addressed his pack. "Take Keith with you."
Keith started to protest but the look Shiro gave him didn't leave any room, and the Holts were already dragging him along anyways.
Hunk flopped into the giant bed and was tackled by Katie. "C'mon Keith. New pack gets the middle. That's the best." She shucked her nightgown over her head mid transformation, he assumed to give him some sense of propriety, before the little copper wolf he had been directed to call Pidge pawed impatiently. He was really going to have to get used to the nudity that seemed to come with werewolves.
"Pidge don't lie you always get the middle and Hunk is definitely newer." Matt groused as he tossed his shorts on top of his sister's nightgown. Keith tried not to stare as he transformed, but it was so strange. Looked painful.
"Nah I get too hot." Hunk reached out to ruffle the fur between both of their ears. "C'mon Keith. Shiro says you're in here tonight."
Keith sat on the side of the bed opposite Hunk and was pounced on by the smaller Holt.
"She's just excited to have someone close to her size." Hunk laughed. "Matt's trying to convince her she's done growing."
Matt leaned over and licked up the side of Hunk face.
"Gross, man." He wiped at his face.
Keith tried to make himself comfortable and quickly found himself at the bottom of a pile of fur. Hunk smiled and shut off the light.
"Don't worry," he laughed again, "we don't bite."
"Haha so funny."
He could hear Hunk smile. "I thought it was"
He couldn't recall when he'd fallen asleep, or when Shiro had come in, but waking up surrounded by warm and pack with Shiro's heavy head on his shoulder and breath huffing softly against his neck was something he would remember forever. He'd never felt this much... This was pack.
He let himself relax in it until Shiro woke and nosed his sleeping pack off Keith, urging him to get up and follow the massive black wolf. Shiro padded over to a pile of laundry and nosed out a pair of mostly clean sweatpants before leaving the room. Keith followed, turning to give Shiro some privacy when he shifted to dress in the empty kitchen.
"Lotor's gone."
Keith poured out the remnants of yesterday's coffee and started filling it up to make a new pot. He wasn't sure he wanted the details.
"Keith? I want to court you."
His breath hitched. He wasn't sure if it had all been the adrenaline last night or not.
"I... Asked Krolia. And she said no."
Keith turned to look at him, mildly annoyed that he'd asked his mother.
"She said I wouldn't be able to protect you from him. You didn't need it."
Keith didn't know what to say to that.
"You're strong and kind and... amazing."
Well now he was definitely blushing. "Shiro... I.."
"Courtship is... Serious Keith. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure."
Shiro was like home. What he thought home should be anyways. Warm and safe and protective and Keith had to admit he liked his pack. He'd never quite fit in with the nest... And maybe...
He tipped his neck to the side and gave Shiro what he hoped was a playful look. "I'll let you try."
Shiro growled softly and stepped into his space, nosing into Keith's neck almost like Keith had done to him the night before.
"Tease."
Keith grinned, relaxing his shoulder further, but shifting just far enough away from Shiro to get skin contact. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You want to skip courtship and go strai--"
"Morning lovebirds." Lance shuffled into the kitchen, stretching.
Keith was glad Shiro seemed to have endless reserves of patience because he leaned in to kiss Keith, soft, but solid under his jawline, before pulling away and giving Lance a bright smile.
"Shove it, Lance." Keith turned around, still between Shiro's arms and finished setting up the coffee pot like it was nothing out of the ordinary to do so with a huge alpha wolf boxing him in against the counter.
Lance shrugged and plopped down at the table. "Think Hunk will kill me if I cut into the cinnamon rolls he stashed in the oven before he warms them?"
"What are you, an animal?" Matt was plopping into the chair beside him. "Yaaaas Keith-trucker-coffee is the best." He groaned as the drip started.
Shiro and Lance both grimaced.
"I'm inclined to agree." Allura and Coran were shuffling in now. Allura leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Lance's head.
"The Marmora leave last night?" Hunk asked as he finally came into the kitchen, yawning widely. Katie was koalaed on his back, but he deposited her next to her brother.
"Early this morning." Coran corrected
"So what now?" Keith asked what everyone was thinking.
They'd all become accustomed to being in each other's space the past month.
"Shiro and I discussed it last night. We think it would be in our best interests to form a Haven," Allura supplied.
"Haven?"
"A Haven is a collective of werewolves and vampires that functions as a combined pack or nest unit," Coran supplied. "In my fledgling years in England they were quite common."
"The Marmora is one."
"Would ours get a cool name?"
"I don't think that's the point, Lance..."
"We were thinking Voltron." Shiro did his best to keep from watching Keith directly the entire time.
"Sounds cool to me." Katie shrugged. "But we are gonna have to rearrange the house."
They spent the next several hours hashing out where they would need to rearrange bedrooms, simple ground rules, and making sure everyone understood the implications of what they were choosing to do. They hedged a more lengthy discussion on household duties and responsibilities within the haven, but stopped short of anything permanent. It was clear without being said explicitly that Allura and Shiro were in charge and that the groups safety was incredibly important to both of them.
Eventually the wolves had to leave for work at the bar and Coran and Allura were blessedly on a night rotation, leaving the three youngest, Lance, Keith, and Katie to watch shitty horror movies eat popcorn and drink the case of PBR they'd found stashed under a sink from when they'd been ambushed.
"So what exactly did I interrupt this morning?" Lance asks after his third beer.
"Dunno. Shiro wants to court me? Which is I thought he'd been doing but I think it's a wolf thing?" He'd only gotten half way through his second and Lance was pestering him about it.
"Definitely a wolf thing, mom." Katie grinned before pounding her fifth.
"Don't get cocky with your weird wolf metabolism." Lance pouted.
"Mom?"
"'mean Shiro's our Alpha. If you go through with it you'd be mated. Basically his spouse." She shrugged.
"So what....does it involve?" Keith asked. Lance leaned in too, equally curious.
"It's not too far off from human dating. Gifts, showing off to prove you'll be a good partner, wolves are very tactile, so body language and touching is important. I mean he kinda skipped straight to the end though, having you sleep with the pack." She curled in on herself a little. "That's really big and it's supposed to be one of the later official steps if you're courting outside your pack..."
"What about bearing your neck?"
And at that she turned a pretty comical shade of fuschia. She took another long drink before answering. "That's basically asking for sex."
It was Keith's turn to flush. Okay so maybe he had accidentally been more forward than he meant to be.
"Awww did Keith accidentally ask Shiro to screw in were?" Lance cackled.
Katie snickered too. "He totally did."
"Fuck off. Both of you."
"Keithers I'm the werewolf encyclopedia and even if you don't remember it I think it's a safe bet that Lance has dated more than you. Utilize your resources."
When the real adults returned Keith was spooning Pidge on the couch and Lance was sprawled out on the floor, all three were passed out and reeked of shitty beer
Matt and Hunk hauled Lance to what was now his and Allura's bedroom and headed back towards the den where Shiro was depositing Katie onto the middle of the bed while a half-asleep Keith clambered into the other side.
Shiro practically wriggled in excitement when Keith shucked off his t-shirt and repositioned himself around Pidge, perfectly for Shiro to spoon behind him. When Shiro leaned down, Keith dropped his shoulder down just a little, and Shiro pressed a soft kiss above his ear. "Tease" he huffed and pressed himself close.
Keith mumbled something that Shiro thought was "not in front of the kids" before he was completely out.
Matt and Hunk were a tangle of limbs and knowing smirks on the other side of the bed and Shiro avoided making eye contact with either of them in favor of over thinking about the way Keith's hip felt like the perfect place to rest his hand.
As they eased into the new routine with double the people in the house, it was clear that Shiro was going to be in Keith's space At All Times. And if he wasn't, then one of the other wolves was. It became increasingly difficult for him to slip away to feed, and Keith knew it was becoming noticeable.
So when Hunk caught him taking what had to have been his third nap of the day, empty coffee cup balanced precariously on the arm of the chair he was curled up in, of course he had brought it up to Lance.
Lance rolled his eyes and told Hunk Keith was prioritizing them needing to be near him for this courtship stuff over his health.
Shiro was Not Happy.
And that was why Keith was curled up on his lap, looking thoroughly admonished as he drank from Shiro's wrist.
He had insisted that he could just go hunt, but Shiro had none of it, wrapping his arms solidly around Keith and anchoring him down in a way that would have much different implications had Keith not been so exhausted.
"How often do you need to feed?" Shiro had pressed gentle kisses to his temple.
Keith pulled away. "Every few days... Not as much as I am... Right now."
"We can take care of that." Shiro was practically pouting.
Keith gave him a questioning look, but lowered his mouth back to the sluggishly bleeding punctures on Shiro's wrist.
"The pack. There are four of us..."
Keith squirmed just a little. He couldn't ask that....
"I don't like when you come home from hunts. You smell like others. It's not safe." Shiro shifted to pull Keith a little closer. "We want to take care of you."
Keith knew Shiro was giving him puppy eyes. Damn wolf. He wasn't going to be able to say no.
"Just try it?"
He gave one last lick to Shiro's wrist. "Fine. But if it's too much we call it off immediately."
Hunk had been the first to offer, two days later. They'd both felt a little strange, curled up close on the couch. Hunk asked a dozen questions, nervous, but determined. He'd given Keith a woozy smile afterwards, and had thrown up when Keith returned the gesture, teeth stained red.
Matt and Katie had come to him a few days after that. Katie insisted despite Matt's protests of being the big brother that she would go first and made herself comfortable snuggled up behind Keith while he fed from her arm slung around him loosely.
Matt ruffled his hair when he watched the two tiny pinholes on his sister's arm close up. "You come get me when you're hungry, okay, man?"
And he had, hesitantly. Matt made too many jokes to try to make himself seem less nervous and Keith prodded his ribs to get him to actually calm down. "If you're nervous, it tastes bad."
Matt had launched into a series of questions about the possible effects of different hormones and physiological responses on blood palatability that Keith mostly ignored, nodding along periodically.
Shiros tasted the best anyways.
He knew that Shiro knew that he was "up next" and he was going to wait for Shiro to come to him.
Shiro did, after four days, and had bodily dragged Keith to what he was stubbornly calling their room. Keith let him, enjoying the strong arm around his waist and being pulled up and kissed gently on the forehead was nice, but he had noticed Shiro's formal Courting was leaving them both a little frustrated otherwise.
Luckily Keith had become an expert in getting Shiro to shakily call him a tease. He just had to find Shiro's limit.
"You want my wrist?"
Keith kissed him instead of answering, rough and biting. Shiro groaned and he felt his fingers twitch on his hips.
Keith pulled Shiro's head back. Exposing the column of his neck and started planting wet kisses down one of the pulsing arteries. Shiro pulled his shirt off, giving Keith the space he needed to find a place, clearly not wanting his wrist.
Keith ran his thumb across the spot where he'd first bit Shiro, and shoved the wolf onto his back.
"Baby--"
Keith hushed him with more kisses down his chest, nuzzling into the soft skin below his navel.
Shiro reached down and burried one hand in Keith's hair and started shoving at the waist band of his sweats with the other.
Keith grinned and stopped him, bringing the other hand to join the metal one in his hair.
He kissed a line over to Shiro's hip, drinking in the soft groans and "baby"s he was panting. Poor alpha. Keith nosed against his hip bone, feeling the quick pulse of arousal thrum through the man below him. His thumb caught into the crease of his other leg and Shiro let out a broken moan as he bit down into the skin of Shiro's hip and drank.
Two days later Shiro finally could approach him without turning bright red again. He'd spent two nights snuggled between Hunk and Matt and he was all too pleased with himself.
"That was dirty."
Keith shrugged, hiding his smile behind his coffee.
"I swear I haven't done that since I was a kid..."
"Vampires can tend to have that effect on people. Weres too I guess. Nothing to be ashamed of." Keith surveyed the thoroughly embarrassed man on the couch next to him.
"Okay but I'm not 12, and I was clearly reading too much into it."
Even his ears were red. Maybe he'd pushed too far...? Well shit.
"Shiro, we are courting, I should have asked you before doing something like that."
"I liked it..."
Keith snorted. "Well clearly." He made a vague gesture at Shiro's pants.
"Ass."
"I thought I was baby?"
They both caught each other's eye and dissolved into laughter.
"Can't wait to make you my mate." Shiro snuggled into Keith's hair. They'd launched into something half way between wrestling and a tickle fight (because Keith fought dirty, as Shiro had already discovered.) And were lazing on the couch, waiting for the rest of the Haven to return to the farmhouse.
"What's stopping you?" Keith asked.
"You're so young... And Krolia would never approve."
"Technically. I'm a Vampire. You should be asking Lotor. And since he's out of the picture, Allura." Keith corrected. "But since I've fed from you, and I sleep with your pack and you let me pet you full furred and--"
Shiro put a hand over Keith's growing smile. He was going to kill Katie and Lance.
Keith gently pushed the hand away and sat up, motioning for Shiro to do the same. Shiro let Keith situate himself in his lap, facing away, and inhaled sharply when he began carding his hair so it fell away from his neck.
Keith began unbuttoning his shirt and shrugged half way out of it, fully exposing his neck and shoulder to Shiro.
"I want this..." His voice was low and thick. "I don't care who says what or what stupid rules we are breaking... I love you, and your pack, and my nest and this... All of this."
"You're sure?" Shiro felt stunned. Keith was too perfect.
"Please?"
Shiro leaned down, pressing kisses to the pale skin of Keith's shoulder before growling softly and biting down to mark his mate.
Omake:
"Oooooh yeah, right there."
"Like that?"
Shiro keened a loud 'yeeeeeees.'
"You're so sensitive."
"Please?"
"OKAY WE GET THAT YOU'RE MATED NOW BUT--" all the wind left Lance and Matt's sails as they actually surveyed the couple.
Shiro was partially shifted, just enough that his ears and tail were wolf, and Keith's hands were both cupped softly around them, scratching.
"What the hell did you think was happening?! We are in the living room for fucks sake!" Keith growled at them.
"Ah..." They looked at each other for excuses before running out of the room.
Literally a self gratuitous universe where Keith is a Pizza Delivery Boy.
Shiro and Matt are the college kids who order Way Too Much pizza from the place with the cute delivery guy.
Lance is the BFF Host/Waiter who
Pidge and Hunk are his roommates who do not understand why Keith has not written a cute note on the inside of a pizza box because "Dude there is no way there is more than one person on the face of the Earth who gets pineapple, olives, and spinach with stuffed crust you wouldn't even have to deliver it."
Pidge knows there are actually two. Because her brother and Shiro are both disgusting. But she's going to keep that to herself because this is way more fun.
Keith refuses to do this on the principle that the only other driver is his Uncle Antok. And that, children, is a Very Bad Idea.
Also Lance and Regris would never let him live it down if they found out.
Instead Thace takes it upon himself to arrange the toppings on the next abomination of a pizza into Keith's number.
/You know, numbers are not a very good way to distribute pizza toppings. Also you could have just text me. My number is on the receipt. ;) I'm Shiro. Coffee sometime?/
