Chapter Text
Keith had his elbow on the table, fingers rubbing his forehead as he released a sigh. Coran sat opposite of him, other employes at Altea spread around the large table. The room was lowly lit, walls a faded steel blue and the table cold under him. It was early morning outside and Keith turned his head to observe the warm, orange sky behind the buildings on the other side of the street.
“But, sir… didn’t they just admit it? That it was the technician's fault,” a pesky bald-head said to Coran, holding out his hands, gesturing to the documents in front of him. Keith was so fucking tired of his voice already, he didn’t even bother looking away from the sunrise.
“It doesn't make a difference,” Shiro said beside Keith and he could tell the alien was reaching the end of his attention span. And Shiro had a pretty long one to begin with. Especially compared to Keith who had punched one of the assistants in the break room two days ago.
“It’s a matter of prioritizing security rather than to win before the Russians,” Shiro snapped, Keith curious enough to gaze around the room now. Most people looked a bit on edge in their seats, the bald man now frowning. He then turned to Coran again.
“We have three, maybe four of them owned by the company,” he hissed, referring to the xenomorphs on earth, “-Do you suggest we send them all up to Proteus with a large crew-”
“I’m not owned by Altea,” Shiro spat, Keith jumping a little as the other stood from his chair, the metal screeching against the floor. The atmosphere in the room changed in the blink of a second.
“Shiro,” Coran interrupted him, giving him a look. He then turned to the bald guy again, eyes narrowing.
“The xenomorphs who are kind enough to help and work for Altea are not ours to command however we want. Shiro is just as much employed here as you, Rick, just so you know,” Coran said, Keith almost raising his eyebrows at the underlying threat. Coran was one of the most peaceful people he knew.
“And we trust them, otherwise this would not work,” Coran said; end of discussion.
“Now, about the security. I agree with you, Shiro. A bigger crew and more time planning the next expedition is crucial. Otherwise what happened now might just happen the next time. Yes, there was a misunderstanding by the crew-”
“Misunderstanding,” a woman whispered to herself in mock, sitting beside Rick.
“-but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst situation” Coran continued, ignoring her remark, “I am not a man who likes violence, but if we have a lack of security we need a better defense; be it weapons or friendly xenomorphs; it’s important,” Coran explained, looking around the room.
“Can we agree on that for now? Because I would very much like to go home and sleep,” he said, Keith snorting. The meeting had been going on since afternoon yesterday and Keith was absolutely beat, just like everyone else. Spending the entire night going through and discussing everything was exhausting, but important.
Everyone was agreeing to the meeting being done and Keith stood, brushing his hair out of his face.
“Have you talked to Lance yet?” Coran asked him and Shiro after walking up to the two, the others collecting their stuff and leaving the room.
“You know how he is,” Shiro started, crossing his arms, “he’s tired and annoyed by being bedridden.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Lance,” Coran sighed, smiling tiredly at the two. “Well, I really need that beauty sleep now. I’ll be in tomorrow… today, I mean, sometime later. If Rick or Joanna tries to pull anything remind them they have to go through me first, okay?” Coran said while picking up his folder of documents, knocking over an empty cup in the midst of it.
“Absolutely. Goodnight, Coran,” Shiro said, Keith mumbling a similar reply. He turned towards Shiro, letting his head bump against his chest, closing his eyes.
“I’m gonna go check on Lance again, you need to go home and sleep. Take a taxi, you’re in no shape of driving,” Shiro said, sneaking one arm around his lower back while his hand came up to brush back Keith’s messy hair.
“What if his family is still there?” Keith asked, his head feeling like lead because of the lack of sleep.
“Then… I’ll just wait a bit, until they leave,” Shiro said, Keith picking up on the uncertainty in his voice.
Lance had brought it up, some time on their way home from Proteus, that his parents opinions was one of the reasons he feared xenomorphs so much. They were proudly apart of the resistance and voted against accepting aliens on earth. Shiro didn’t have the freedom that Keith or Lance as humans did on earth, but he wasn't chained up in a cage. He could not vote, he was allowed to get a driver's license but he had to seek permission for traveling anywhere. He didn’t have a passport but rather a set of papers, much like an animal traveling would have. Lance had called him a dog after learning that and Shiro had only let him off the hook because he was injured.
Oh, how long Lance would play the “poor me I’m injured”-card, Keith mused.
“Don’t worry,” Shiro assured him, “just call me when you wake up, okay?”
“Mhm,” Keith hummed, straightening up to give him a smile before exiting the room.
Keith didn’t take a taxi but settled for the shuttle train into town instead, constantly yawning on the entire trip. He didn’t succeed in falling asleep in his seat but was damn close a couple times.
The 5 minute walk from the shuttle station to his apartment woke him up a bit but as soon as Keith entered through his door he was ready to straight up collapse on the floor. All the coffee he had drank to keep himself awake was now only left in his system in the form of his hands trembling and his heart beating faster than usual. With the mild head ache he was sporting Keith collapsed on his bed without even pulling down his blinds, falling asleep in record time.
There hadn’t been as much commotion as Keith had expected when they arrived home. Or rather, not as much as he had hoped for. The media wrote a couple articles about it but with the affair that France and England's Prime Ministers had been having together it was clearly not as relevant. Keith had been a little curious himself, of course, but soon grew tired of seeing the two old men kissing all over the news.
Lance was sent to the hospital immediately after they landed on earth and the rest of the crew was up for questioning and interviews, the same damn day they arrived. As expected they had to swear secrecy about a couple of things, mostly concerning Proteus. Pidge and Allura were allowed to take breaks after the expedition, as far as Keith knew, but he had still seen the two around Altea. Their information was valuable and even as they had reported and documented everything to their co-workers, they still wanted to continue researching the finds themselves.
Keith himself was tired, and while his computer had continued to give him automatic notifications whenever a job application was up for an expedition he didn’t even read them. He knew they were all probably just week-long trips to satellites, ships or stations in need of checkups. Keith could afford some time off with the fat pay he’d gotten for the Proteus trip. The insurance covered a couple things for him as well and the extra wasn’t exactly something he said no to.
When Keith woke up he stared at the moon outside his window, remembering when he used to do simple trips there instead of outside the earth perimeters. Maybe he could visit his aunt; she was still employed at one of the hotels on the moon, as far as he was concerned. He hadn’t seen her in a while after all.
Turning around in his sheets, Keith grabbed his phone from the table, cursing at himself for not plugging it in for charging before he fell asleep. Rolling back to the other side he attached it to the charger, feeling his stomach grumble.
He should eat something.
Keith entered his kitchen on tired legs, scratching his stomach as he opened the fridge. Oh, yeah, it was still empty. He hadn’t gone shopping yet. Well, all the more reason to order pizza, Keith smiled to himself and went back to find his phone. After entering his code he stared at the notifications; two calls from Shiro and one message.
From: Shiro
> Please call when you see this. Lance had a fight with his mom and he’s rather distressed. We’re at my house now.
Keith sighed loudly, pressing CALL on Shiro’s number.
“Keith,” Shiro greeted him after just one ring.
“Hey, how’s he doing?”
“He’s still restless from the hospital but now he’s gone silent on me. He’s just glaring at nothing.”
“He had a fight with his mom?” Keith asked, sitting down on his bed again.
“It’s my fault. Lance told her… well I’m not exactly sure what he told her but I think he said he was close with me. Apparently it set her off when he wouldn’t promise to quit his job. Neither her nor his sister was there when I got to the hospital,” Shiro explained, sounding like a worried mother himself.
“I’ll come over. Tell Lance we’re ordering pizza, maybe that’ll get his spirit up,” Keith said, half ironically. Then again, Lance was a bit like a child sometimes.
“He just ate like an hour ago-” Shiro started.
“Shiro, if you can’t understand the human’s addiction to pizza you will get banned from earth,” Keith said, unknowingly smiling as Shiro laughed on the other end.
Keith cursed as he realized his car was still back at work when he exited his apartment. He hastily ran back up to grab his gloves and scarf before heading to the bus station. It was sort of strange to have to ask for Shiro’s address, like they were strangers. In a way they still were, but Keith had only gotten to know Shiro and Lance up in space. He knew Lance lived in a shitty area south of town and that Shiro’s house was rather close to Altea. Probably for not a coincidence for a couple reasons.
Keith stared at his shoes as he stood on the bus, the handle he was holding an ugly yellow color, matching the rest of the interior of the bus. He thought about Shiro, about Lance, and sighed out loud when he thought about how weird everything really was. He had not only gotten himself in a relationship with two men, but one was also a freaking alien. How many sins was that? A hundred?
Then again, he wasn’t really sure where they all stood on the matter. On first thought Keith would consider both to be his lovers. He cared for both, had slept with them numerous of times on the road back home and Shiro’s… true nature certainly didn’t bother him. But if someone asked? If he was single? Maybe he would reply yes, maybe. Because Keith, Shiro nor Lance had said anything, put a name on it. Lance was usually a bit awkward about it when Keith brought it up. And Shiro was just… there, hugging and cradling them both like they were babies. He was protective, Keith could tell anyone that for free, but he soon figured it might be a possible trait of xenomorphs.
A voice called out the station he was supposed to get off on and Keith waited until a lady struggling with a stroller got off before he followed. It was a nice neighborhood, he could tell. The houses on Shiro’s street were quite far apart, Keith regarding the oak trees on what had to be Shiro’s lawn. Number 34, yeah, this had to be it. White, two-floor house with a Volvo in the driveway.
Not what he expected.
Keith would’ve stomped right inside but he still was a bit worried he had come to the wrong house either way, and settled on knocking. Soon enough Shiro opened the door, greeting him with a smile.
“He’s been whining about pizza for-”
“Keith!” Lance yelled from inside, Shiro’s mouth closing.
Keith didn’t bother replying and closed the door behind him instead, removing his clothes and trying to inconspicuously look around the place.
It was… nice. Kind of homey actually; clean and spacious and Keith soon noticed a theme of dark, wooden furniture; the table and desks in the living room in the same material. The walls were white and many plants were spread around the room and across the right side of the room. Like… a lot of plants.
“Is this a jungle?” Keith asked, raising an eyebrow, watching Shiro look a bit offended.
“I told you I enjoy gardening,” Shiro replied, walking over to where Lance sat on the couch.
“Keith, didn’t you hear me?” Lance barked, Keith glaring down at him.
“Why do you have to yell?” he asked, crossing his arms. Lance glared right back.
“I was promised pizza like 20 minutes ago, why did you take so long?” he grumbled, leaning back in his seat. Keith scanned the cast over his arm. At least his leg looked uncovered under his pants.
It hadn't been 20, more like 10 minutes though, what a baby.
“Because I can’t teleport, you dumbass,” Keith said, ignoring Lance’s offended gasp. “What do you want?” he asked instead, bringing out his phone.
It didn’t take long before the pizza delivery arrived, Keith feeling like an animal as he dug in. Lance still hadn’t said anything about the incident at the hospital and Keith was itching to ask him. But at the same time Keith was pretty sure he already knew, especially considering what Shiro had told him.
They were sitting in the kitchen, Shiro apparently not very excited about getting pizza grease on his couch. Keith took a gulp of his beer, glancing at the clock behind Lance.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Keith remembered when he heard Lance through the earpiece, back at Proteus. When Lance said he was going to die. Keith recalled how his heart had stopped in his chest; from the moment Lance had mumbled something about the AI needing to restart. Pidge had later said something along the lines of Keith’s eyes had going blank, his face pale as the moon.
He remembered how they ran and how Shiro’s tail kept twitching in front of hem; how frustrated he was with the humans being so slow. And when they saw the ship, the-
“Keith?” Lance asked, Keith looking up, being brought back to Shiro’s kitchen on earth.
“Yes?” he asked, clearing his voice.
Lance looked down at his plate, looking like he was hesitating about something, before he laughed and asked if he could get some of his pizza.
When they were seated on the couch a couple hours later Lance finally dared to ask him;
“What’s your parents view on you being a space pilot?”
Keith looked over at him, watching Shiro look at him too on the other side of Lance.
“They’re both dead,” Keith replied, watching Lance’s eyes widen, “but I’ve got an aunt who works at Marina’s on the moon.”
“Oh… sorry,” Lance replied.
“Don’t worry, it was a long time ago,” Keith merely replied. He was wondering if it was okay to ask about what happened yet but waited for Lance to continue. It took a couple minutes but then he spoke up;
“My mom never liked it,” he started, looking at the pillow he was cradling in his chest. “When I first started studying she was a bit hesitant but our school had a lot of different courses, you know? When I said I was interested in doing something in space she was very… bothered by it. Whenever family asked about my studies during family gatherings she used to joke and say that I would kill the aliens and save earth,” Lance said, Keith glancing absently at Shiro. He had his hand around Lance’s shoulders, gently scratching his arm.
“Then when she learned I was studying to be a technician she was very… not necessarily mad but clearly disappointed. She had such strong opinions about the entire alien matter that she couldn’t even see past that and be happy for me. Like, I know space is dangerous, but so is being a cop here on earth. Hell, probably even less safe.”
“I should’ve known she would flip her shit today,” Lance said, his voice cold, “I just didn’t expect her to straight up leave without hearing me out.”
“About what?” Keith asked, watching Lance lean back against Shiro’s chest.
“That this guy right here is so sweet on the inside. An alien, but also really sweet,” Lance said, pointing at Shiro behind him with a thumb over his shoulder. Keith felt a small smile fall onto his face, Shiro leaning forwards to kiss the top of Lance’s head.
Keith didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything, just watched Lance sigh into Shiro’s embrace, the small wrinkle between his brows slowly but surely disappearing.
“What about you, Shiro?” Lance asked after another minute, his voice now light with humor, “what does your mother think about you coming here?”
Keith snorted, watching Shiro simply smile affectionately at Lance.
“Oh, I think she would be proud that I’m here and alive… but I’d imagine she’s not very thrilled about me not bringing any lifeforms back home,” he said, Lance snickering in his chest.
“So like a kid who goes overseas to make money for the family but then just says fuck it and stays,” Lance suggested, Keith rolling his eyes.
-~☽~~/-*-\~~☾~-
Keith woke up the next morning by the sound of whispers. He took a moment before he opened his eyes and tilted his head in the pillow. Shiro had his back to him and Keith could see Lance lying on his other side. Didn't they go to sleep with Lance in the middle yesterday?
“-he was cool. A little bit stiff but that’s fine,” Keith heard Lance say, at least appreciating their attempt to speak quietly; even if they were the cause of him waking up. Keith grabbed at the sheets covering his body, enjoying the space. He wasn’t really a cuddler, as much as Lance and Shiro were, clinging to each other constantly. Shiro’s bed was a double and while they all fit fine it was mostly because Shiro and Lance stuck to each other in a mess of limbs. And Keith was very much happy with that since it resulted in him getting to hog one of the two covers all for himself.
But it was a little bit chilly in the room and Keith longed for their contact, lazily rolling over to Shiro. He tiredly pulled on his arm, watching the other turn onto his back, Keith taking the opportunity to crawl onto his chest to rest his head there. Lance smiled at him.
“Good morning,” both greeted him and Keith yawned in reply.
“Do we have to go in and work today?” Keith asked, not bothering to open his eyes again as he felt Shiro’s fingers start to massage his scalp.
“Mhm,” Shiro hummed, “I don’t want to either.”
“Then don’t,” Lance concluded. Keith could hear him moving around on the bed, feeling it shift under them. When a gust of air hit his head he opened his eyes, watching Lance take occupation on Shiro’s stomach, facing him. Shiro’s other hand slipped into Lance’s hair too and Keith wanted to joke or scold him for spoiling them but it felt too damn soothing.
“You take such good care of your boyfriends, huh?” Lance asked for him. Keith had expected him to say “humans” but smiled a bit at Lance’s choice of words.
So they were boyfriends then, and Keith had worried over nothing.
Shiro’s reply was only a soft, affectionate hum.
After Keith had taken a shower he went downstairs in a new set of clothes, watching Lance fiddle with the cast on his arm. Shiro’s phone rang and he answered, Keith watching him as he prepared a bowl of cereal.
“Oh, okay then. Should I bring them? We were heading there soon anyway,” Shiro said, leaving the room and going up the stairs. Keith shoveled his breakfast into his mouth, keeping a lazy conversation with Lance about cereal brands.
“Coran called,” Shiro said, appearing in the kitchen doorway with proper clothes, car keys in his hand. “He needs me at work now, it’s pretty urgent
Keith got to ride shotgun in Shiro’s car, watching the cars on the road in front of them as Lance hummed with the music on the radio in the backseat. An ambulance passed them at one point, Keith theorizing whatever mission it was on. Then Lance went nuts as a Spanish rap song begun, Shiro beaming behind the wheel as Lance performed the lyrics in the backseat, adding a weird sort of sitting dance too.
To Keith’s surprise Coran met them by the entrance desk, straightening up when he spotted them. His hair looked a bit messy, no better than yesterday, and Keith wondered at which time he got in to work. Did something happen?
“Keith, Lance,” Coran briefly greeted before turning to Shiro; “Shiro, come on,” he said, turning on his heels and power-walking towards their department on Altea. They continued towards the labs and Keith guessed that maybe Pidge, Allura or one of the scientists had discovered something in their finds from Proteus. But instead they took a right after the labs, Keith now frowning. He had never been in this department.
“Where are we going?” Lance asked behind him, looking just as clueless as Keith as they jogged after Coran.
“I need Shiro on an urgent matter. You can reach us on my phone but for now I need to borrow him. It’s a classified subject,” Coran explained, Keith raising an eyebrow.
They entered a room where security personnel stood, a large,metal door on the other side.
“I’ll see you two later, okay?” Shiro said, turning to give them both reassuring smiles. Keith slowly nodded but Lance took another step forwards.
“What is it?” he asked, Shiro appearing conflicted before he turned to glance at Coran.
“We don’t have time for this now. Come on,” Coran said, continuing past the guards with Shiro in tow. The door slid closed behind them and Keith looked over the guards in front of them.
“Come on, Lance,” he said, turning and taking his arm.
-~☽~~/-*-\~~☾~-
Lance nodded his head to the music, his bright blue earphones on as he wandered up the path to Shiro’s house. His grey scarf was incredibly large and cozy, and had been 50% off too. The world was good to him now, he decided as he couldn’t help help but side-step with the song, grabbing for the handle when he reached the door.
“You were such a P.Y.T, catching all the lights,” he sang, opening it. While inside he moved his headphones to the side so he could hear with one ear, undressing out of his thick coat. Lance had gotten used to dressing with the cast but he couldn’t wait to remove it. The itching was still the absolute worst part. Hopefully he would be out of it next week.
After lazily kicking his shoes in the corner Lance danced into the living room to find no one there, to his surprise.
“Hello?” he called, lowering the volume of his music as he continued into the kitchen, finding Keith and Shiro sitting by the table.
“Hey,” Shiro replied, busy peeling an orange. Lance unpacked the milk and bread he had bought on the way before jumping up next to Keith. His boyfriend was reading something on his laptop, probably the manual for the updated AI pilot, and taking notes on paper.
“Man, you two party too hard,” Lance said, grinning as Keith looked up at him, glasses perched on his nose, giving him a judging look.
“Come on, it’s Friday,” Lance said, throwing out his hands. He looked at Shiro who only gave him an acknowledging look before continuing with his fruit. Lance sat there, with his arms still outstretched, starting at the two.
“Are you two serious?” he asked in a less loud voice, lowering his arms.
“Please let me finish this,” Keith said, not looking up from the laptop as he continued scrolling through the text, Lance looking at a blueprint of some sort of device he didn’t recognize. “I’ll be done in a couple minutes.”
“Okay then,” Lance said, turning to Shiro. The other looked at him, Lance noting the tired look he wore.
“What do you want to do?” Shiro asked, finally done peeling the damn orange. He finished the entire thing in two bites, Lance staring at him. He’d never seen anyone eating an orange like that. Maybe it was illegal for humans.
“I don’t know, Cards against humanity? Monopoly? Continue Game of thrones?” Lance suggested.
“Not without me,” Keith said next to him, still not looking up. Lance chuckled, watching Shiro stand up to throw away the peels. He then took another orange from the bowl, staring at it for a second before eating it too, with the peel and everything.
“Is that tasty?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. Shiro shrugged, exiting the kitchen. Lance jumped down from his chair to follow him
Monopoly it was, Lance grumbling as he was thrown into Jail, Shiro looking over the board in front of them. It started out fairly good for the human but just minutes later he had bad luck after bad luck.
“Let’s play something else,” Lance said, knocking over his player, leaning back into the couch with crossed arms.
“Of course,” Shiro mumbled, Lance looking at him in surprise.
“Do you want to continue?” Lance asked, reaching for his player, the shoe that fell to the floor.
“Nevermind,” Shiro said, starting to collect the cards to put them back in the box. Lance watched him for a moment before helping him pack the game up. Was he angry?
“I’m going to take a shower,” Shiro said after sliding the lock over the box, eyeing Lance.
“Can I join you?” Lance asked, smiling. Shiro shrugged yet again and now Lance was a bit worried. As he followed him up the stairs he stared at his socks, wondering if something had ticked Shiro off. He obviously wasn’t in a very good mood. Lance had figured he was just concentrated during the game or that he maybe had a hard day at work. But then again Shiro didn’t get tired, did he?
Did something happen at work? Was something bothering him?
Lance stayed quiet as they undressed in Shiro’s bedroom, the human grabbing a towel from the drawer after Shiro. He was the first to step under the warm water, shuddering at the feeling. It was cold outside, November just arriving yesterday.
Shiro stepped inside behind him, hands already warm on Lance’s arms. He turned around, pulling Shiro towards him with his left arm. He could move his fingers since the cast was only covering his forearm now, no problem, but they definitely felt stiff. Hell, Lance was getting rather good at doing things with his left.
“I was thinking a new tablet for Keith's birthday, maybe,” Lance suggested, resting his head against Shiro’s upper chest, the water hitting him from the side. Shiro stretched his shoulder for a minute, his muscles moving. After another shiver from the human Shiro turned them so Lance got most of the water on him.
“Sure,” Shiro replied, reaching for something, uncapping it and then starting to wash it through Lance’s hair. The human hummed, hugging his arms around himself and closing his eyes. Shiro’s fingers were comfortable in his hair, but Lance noted a certain anxiousness in his moves. After rinsing out he turned to him, meeting his eyes. Shiro eyed him for a moment before reaching over Lance again to grab shampoo for himself. Pouring it into his hands and then hair Lance took the opportunity to run his hands up Shiro’s chest, over his shoulders.
Leaning up a bit Lance gently pressed his lips to Shiro’s, breathing out as the other replied with his.
“Are you okay?” Lance asked after leaning back, licking his lips.
“It’s just a headache,” Shiro answered, stepping forwards to wash out the shampoo himself.
“Didn’t know you could have those,” was all Lance replied, turning to pick out his favorite shower gel. Shiro moved behind him, warm chest against Lance’s back.
After Shiro leaned down to kiss his neck, Lance was smiling again.
-~☽~~/-*-\~~☾~-
It took another week, however, before it eventually happened.
Lance was finally out of his cast, constantly looking at the scar on his arm, the nurse having removed the stitches. He was still required to cover it up if any sun was out and wrap it if he ever felt discomfort. Lance wasn’t too bothered by the look of his arm. Sure, it was still visible and wasn’t exactly charming but it was just a couple scars, already fading into white lines and marks. It really looked like teeth marks from an alien’s tongue though, added with the scratches around it from their brief scuffle.
Even if Shiro had saved him in the end Lance had still put up a fight for a good couple of seconds; and he was rather proud of that. So he didn’t mind it too much. It was still itching a bit though.
“Stop scratching,” Keith muttered from the other end of the couch, Lance sighing loudly at the other, continuing to scratch just to spite him. The other human looked up at him from his laptop, kicking Lance in the hip. The orange blanket fell from his leg in the move.
“Ow, what the fuck?” Lance yelled back, slapping Keith’s leg.
“Stop scratching. What are you, five?” Keith asked, staring at him.
“What does it matter to you?” Lance replied, glaring right back, getting ticked off.
“It’s gross,” left Keith’s lips and Lance shut his mouth, staring at his arm.
“So I’m too ugly now,” Lance rolled his eyes. The slight stomach ache wasn’t doing anything to better his mood now. It was cold and dark outside and the baldy, Rick, had been riding his ass the entire day at work.
“Are you seriously five?” Keith repeated, Lance standing up from the couch.
“Do I look fucking five to you-” Lance started, stopping as he heard a growling sound behind him.
“Quit fucking around,” Shiro barked from the stairs, a guttural growl just underneath his voice. Lance jumped with the sound, both humans turning to Shiro.
Silence.
“I’m sorry,” Shiro then said, bringing up a hand to rub at his own face. He looked like a wreck.
“No,” Keith started, sounding both hesitant and concerned “it’s fine, sorry… are you okay?”
“Yes,” Shiro replied, looking back at Keith for a moment before he grabbed his phone off the couch table, turning towards the stairs again.
“You sure?” Lance asked, fiddling with his fingers, clearly nervous himself.
“I said I’m fine,” Shiro said harshly, almost a hiss before walking back up the stairs.
Lance stared at Keith in wonder, absently hugging himself. He watched Keith close and put away his laptop, both glancing towards the stairs again. Lance was still a bit taken aback. Shiro had never growled at him, at least not like that.
“That was weird,” Lance whispered.
“We’ve already established he doesn’t like when we argue but that’s… I’ve never seen him this irritated,” Keith mumbled, Lance nodding. He walked up to the couch, eyeing the stairs from this view. Shiro must’ve gone back up to the bedroom.
“Something’s up. This is too strange,” Keith continued to muse.
“You think something happened at Altea today? Maybe it has to do with whatever they’re doing in the underground lab?” Lance suggested, Keith shrugging. They still hadn’t gotten any information from Shiro nor Coran. It was classified, Lance knew that, but he was still dying to know.
“Maybe. But it could also be a… Shiro-thing, you know. Something we’ve just not learned about yet,” Keith said, drumming his fingers against his leg. “I’m contemplating calling Coran.”
“Yeah, okay,” Lance agreed, nodding, “yeah, let’s do that.”
Keith sat up on the edge of the couch, grabbing his own phone as Lance sat down beside him. He could see how red his arm had gotten from his nails and scowled. He knew Keith was right, it was just annoying to be scolded constantly.
“Hi. Do you have a minute?” Keith spoke into his phone after dialing Coran. Lance sat beside him, not really making out what the scientist said on the other end.
“Okay good. Well, maybe it’s nothing but me and Lance are a little worried about Shiro,” Keith started, his voice a bit lowered. Shiro had incredible hearing and would probably hear them well if he focused on it upstairs.
“We- He’s been a little off lately,” Keith said, glancing at Lance to confirm he agreed, to which Lance nodded. Coran asked something and Keith bit his lip.
“Well, he’s been a bit irritated, almost twitchy and not his usual happy self. Which is fine, I mean, everyone has those days sometimes, right? Probably even him. But just now he pretty much snapped at us. I mean we were fighting but he growled and told-... yeah growled, like really low,” Keith explained, going quiet again as Coran spoke.
“Uh, yeah I think so?... No… Yes, a little.”
“Oh,” Keith said eventually, looking like realization hit him as Coran explained whatever. Lance was restraining himself from not acting like a child and demanding Keith to explain what Coran was saying immediately.
Don't behave like a five year old.
“Yeah, no, that sounds fair,” Keith continued, frowning. Lance watched him, unknowingly biting at his thumb.
“Okay. Thank you, Coran. You’re probably right,” Keith finished a minute later, glancing at Lance as he spoke. He then finally hung up, Lance feeling close to dying from the suspense. Was Shiro sick? Had Coran explained what they did at the underground lab?
"And?" Lance asked impatiently.
“So he thinks it’s because he’s constantly wearing his human form,” Keith explained.
Lance felt his own frown smooth out, his mouth slowly falling into an o.
“Apparently it’s a strain on his body to be in human form. A theory the team has is that the reason they can morph into humans in the first place is a predatory one; like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you know? Some think it’s only because of evolution-” Keith cut himself of, closing his eyes, “whatever. Not relevant.”
He turned to sit so he was facing Lance more before continuing; “It’s like constant claustrophobia, Coran said. And he might not sweat or get as exhausted as us but it’s apparently uncomfortable to be in the human form for too long. Coran said something about Shiro being the one who’s in human form the most, out of all the xeno’s. Which I mean, I figured,” he said, gesturing to him and Lance. “But this is probably pushing it.”
“So,” Lance started, looking towards the stairs to see if Shiro had somehow heard them, “he’s just tired, right? Maybe… Shit, it’s gotta be my fault,” he then realized, staring at Keith in realization.
“Because he knows I’m afraid of aliens he doesn’t want to change back. Even in his own house- Keith, this is my fault,” Lance whispered, staring at the other with wide eyes.
“It’s not your fault,” Keith quickly concluded, making sure Lance met his eyes. “Plus, you’re not scared of Shiro, right?” he asked, to which Lance couldn’t help but to nod. Aliens in general? Yes. Shiro? No. Maybe a little at some occasions, when Lance got surprised.
“Maybe we should give him some space?” Keith wondered, Lance slowly nodding. He looked at the other, licking his lips before standing.
“Come on,” Lance said, walking over to the door. They didn’t live here. It wasn’t their place. They were dating, sure, but this was Shiro’s home, his space to be himself. And Lance was keeping him from it.
Shiro had the biggest house, compared to Lance and Keith’s apartments, and he was kind enough to always have them over. Lance was not dumb enough to claim this was his house in any way but if Shiro would ever ask if they would want to move in Lance would immediately jump the gun.
The property was partly funded by Altea but Lance also knew Shiro made a good living from his position at the company.
But this was his house, and with recent information learned Lance supposed it was stupid to assume Shiro wandered around in human form when he was alone. There large wooden beams in the ceiling, both on the lower and upper floor, probably there for Shiro’s comfort too. To climb on.
Yet here Lance and Keith were, hanging in his house whenever they didn’t have work. Lance hadn’t even thought Shiro needed alone time. Sure, everyone does every now and then but this was Shiro. One of the most affectionate people Lance had ever met. Someone who could even compete Lance’s own clinginess. Sure, they hadn’t been cuddling as much lately… or kissing…
Shit.
It was really obvious now that he thought about it.
“Let’s go,” he mumbled, watching Keith pick up his car keys, pulling on his coat. Lance wrapped his scarf around his head, briefly glancing at his miserable face in the mirror. He tried to relax a bit. It was depressing, yes, but this would do Shiro some good.
“I’ll text him that we’re going-” Keith started but stopped as they both heard steps coming from the stairs. Lance watched Shiro appear at the bottom of them, his eyes wide with worry, mouth opening but no words coming out. He hesitated, neither human saying anything either.
“Where are you going?” he finally asked, staying in his spot across the room. Lance frowned. Shiro almost looked… scared.
“We’re gonna go for a drive or something,” Keith explained behind Lance, already standing outside. “Thought we could give you some time alone.”
Shiro slowly took a step forwards, Lance watching his fingers twitch. The look in his eyes was horrible, Lance felt horrible. He looked like a kicked puppy, even with his bulky muscles.
“I’m sorry,” Shiro said, taking another step forwards with his hands slightly raised. As in surrender, like he was making sure he didn’t frighten them. He somehow looked so small suddenly.
“I’m so sorry if I scared you.”
“No, that’s not it, Shiro,” Keith said. Lance could hear his hesitation on how to word it.
“I didn’t mean to yell... or growl at you, I’m sorry,” Shiro repeated, Lance hating the worry in his eyes. Shiro looked like he thought they were going to leave, forever. Like he was close to begging them not to go and Lance cleared his throat, walking up to him, shoes on the floor and everything. He couldn’t handle seeing Shiro this miserable, even as the alien misunderstood them.
“Okay,” Lance started, tilting his head up in slight mock, “then let me speak to the real Shiro,” he demanded, crossing his arms.
Shiro looked clueless, glancing between the two humans.
“I’m sorry?” he carefully asked.
“Give me the real you for a minute,” Lance continued, putting on a brave front.
Shiro slowly straightened up a bit, Lance feeling the cold from outside seeping inside the warm house from the open door. He was on the verge of turning to tell Keith to close it since Shiro wasn’t moving either. But then Shiro’s face turned a bit blank, his eyes looking… regretful.
Then he morphed.
The usual quick movement made Lance dizzy, as it had the other times. It only took a second, a mass of black erupting before Shiro stood hunched over in front of him; black skin shining in the light, sharp teeth visible just behind his lips, tail slowly wagging in it’s usual beat behind his giant body.
And Lance shakily exhaled as a smile fell on his lips.
Walking forwards with two confident steps he reached Shiro, sneaking his arms around his back. It was a little awkward as Lance had to tiptoe, even as Shiro was hunched over and one of his hands bumped into one of the appendages on his back. But Lance made it, hugging him close as Shiro bent down further, appearing to be a bit taken back.
The realization made Lance feel like a complete asshole. He hadn’t exactly fooled himself into thinking Shiro was human, because he knew he wasn’t. But since the attack at Proteus Shiro had always been in human form around him, Lance only remembering one or two brief moments when he was wearing his alien. His real form.
Lance could hear the door closing behind him, Keith unzipping his jacket. Lance himself closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against Shiro’s neck, the strange skin feeling a bit weird against his. It didn’t matter though. This was Shiro, even more Shiro than the tall, muscular man Lance had fallen for. He still smelled like Shiro too; familiar. It was not the version Lance was the most familiar with, but it was the real him.
With a sigh Keith made himself present, knocking his head against the other side of Shiro’s neck, meeting Lance’s eyes,
“What…How?” Shiro tried, Lance humming as he tightened his hold, closing his eyes again.
“I called Coran. Really, it should've been obvious. We’re the ones who’s sorry,” Keith explained, stepping back.
“No. No, you don’t-” Shiro started but Lance reached up to pat him on the side of his jaw to quiet him. He wasn’t brave enough yet to stick his fingers near those teeth just to cover his mouth.
“I don’t want you to ever do something that pains you like this, Shiro. But it’s because you’re worried about me, right?” Lance asked, feeling one of Shiro’s large, clawed hands softly touch against his back. He was so gentle with him, ever since Lance got hurt at the expedition. Even before that. Shiro was such a kind person, Lance thought, sighing at himself.
“It’s not painful,” Shiro replied, his lack of a reply to the second question revealing its answer to Lance nonetheless.
“Well, it’s clearly uncomfortable,” Lance scolded him.
“My existence in the first place isn’t exactly natural,” Shiro muttered back.
“But it’s who you are,” Keith said, standing in front of them with crossed arms, “And we’re both here, aren’t we?”
Shiro crouched down a bit, Lance releasing his hold to take a step back. Giving Shiro a reassuring smile Lance finally felt like something was lifted off his shoulders. It was mostly quiet in the room, Keith sniffling twice, still having a bit of his cold left since last week.
The plants in the living room were as happy as usual, the sun gone for today outside. Lance reached forwards again, looking Shiro’s form over. He carefully trailed his fingers up the side of Shiro’s jaw, proud at himself for not shaking. Continuing up to the dome-shaped head he felt the smooth material with his fingertips.
“We’re both still here,” Lance agreed. Shiro moved into his hand as a reply, sighing loudly.
“I’m sorry. I also-”
“-Okay, stop with the sorry’s-” Keith mumbled.
“-sort of forgot about it. I know I’m not supposed to be shifted for too long but I didn’t give my discomfort that much thought. It’s my fault.”
“Let’s just say it’s everyone’s fault,” Lance concluded with a smile. He watched the tail whip left as Shiro leaned further against him.
“It’s not my fault though, you two idiots can share it,” Keith said behind him.
“Shut up, Keith,” Lance rolled his eyes. “Now let’s stop moping around like a bunch of saps. I want to watch a movie or something. I’m getting a beer too,” Lance said, walking back to remove his clothes again. After throwing his scarf haphazardly on the shelf he entered the kitchen.
“Get me one,” he heard Keith call.
It was bit strange to sit on the end of the couch, Keith lying across it, and Shiro sitting on the floor. Sitting was a bit of a stretch since it didn’t look like he could really sit, more like crouch, arms between his legs. His tail was on the floor, probably helping with the balance.
“Are you really comfortable? It doesn’t look that comfortable,” Lance asked for the second time, staring at Shiro when there was a commercial break.
Shiro simply chuckled at him, Lance raising an eyebrow.
“Okay?” Lance asked, feeling confused, “how would you normally watch tv? If we weren’t here?”
Shiro sat still in his place before suddenly moving to jump upwards, Lance watching him grab onto one of the beams in the ceiling. He just jumped up, like 3 meters, without much effort at all. With his feet holding onto the beam Shiro hung down, dangling just a little bit before stilling.
Keith snorted, Lance turning to him to realize the other human was laughing at Lance’s reaction. Lance shut his mouth in embarrassment, slapping Keith’s ankle for good measure.
“Shut up, it looks cool. Still not comfortable though.”
“Well I am. It’s a good stretch. Do you want to come up here?” Shiro asked, Lance turning his head up again. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of sitting on a ceiling beam but Lance was a sane person with a fear of height. So no.
“No thanks, I’m good,” he replied, grabbing his beer again. This was going to take some time getting used to.
"I know your eyes don't work the same as ours," Keith started, "so do you somehow not see the screen upside down?"
"I don't. It's difficult to explain, I'm sure the researches at Altea has some good theory on how it works, but think of it more as one vision organ, which instead focuses on movement. I don't focus on one thing, but instead look at most things around me. "
When the credits of the movie started to roll Keith had yawned for the third time. Lance stretched his arms above him.
“That was good though, right? I really liked the end-shot. So cool,” Lance grinned.
“Yeah, we know. You were talking all way through the movie,” Keith said as Shiro jumped down from the ceiling with an incredible balance. He’d been hanging up there the entire time.
“Hey,” Shiro called, a warning for both of them not to fight. A tired Keith was a grumpy Keith.
“Wait, how do you sleep in your bed?” Lance suddenly realized, turning to Shiro who stood behind the couch. When the other didn’t reply Keith eventually turned to look at Shiro too, both waiting for an answer.
“Uh,” Shiro slowly exclaimed. Then he turned towards the stairs, looking like he was trying to sneak away. Lance was quick on his feet to grab his tail with both hands, getting pulled along for a second.
“Uh? Don’t play dumb with me," Lance laughed. "I can’t see your face but I still know you,” he said, trying to pull on the tail without results.
“Well… I usually sleep in the basement,” Shiro eventually said, trying to sound casual. Lance stared at him, eyebrows furrowed.
“Wait, you have a basement?” Lance and Keith said at the same time, looking at each other then back at Shiro.
“Yes,” Shiro admitted, sounding almost ashamed, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Lance looked around them, not recalling seeing an extra door anywhere. Shiro walked over to the hallway, both humans watching. And then he simply pushed on the wardrobe, sliding it to the side, revealing a door where the wall should be.
“Uh…” Lance thought aloud. Wasn’t this a bit… weird? What was Shiro keeping in that basement that needed this kind of hiding?
“What… what’s in the basement, Shiro?” Keith asked, suddenly looking a lot more awake as he sat up in the couch.
“It’s dark, so I usually sleep… there,” Shiro said, still looking a bit hesitant.
Lance walked over to the white door, the metal handle cold against his hand, opening it slowly. Peeking inside he could see the set of stairs leading downwards into absolute darkness. No light switch on any wall either.
“No lights at all?” Lance asked, glancing at Shiro behind him.
“I don’t need them,” Shrio replied to which Lance figured fair enough. He walked over to grab his phone, turning on the flashlight.
“Let’s see what kind of dead bodies you have down here, then,” Lance joked, hoping the other two didn’t hear the actual nervousness in his voice. There were many things he didn’t know about xenomorphs, maybe there really was something bizarre down in the basement.
“Why the fuck would I have dead bodies down there?” Shiro asked, grunting.
“A hidden basement is like the plot of every horror movie,” Lance replied as he started descending down the stairs. It was truly pitch black but his flashlight was strong, illuminating the regular wooden stairs and the start of a floor. Then almost at the last step Lance stopped in his tracks, shining over the rest of the room.
“W-what is this?” he asked, feeling Shiro move behind him.
In front of him was a forest. An actual forest.
Or at least something that resembled a forest, in a way. The basement was one big room, as far as Lance could tell, and it was probably just a bit bigger than the living room. Large tree trunks were emitting from the floor and stopping at the ceiling, like they had grown in here. Most of them were not the regular brown color with bark but a dark green, almost shiny shade.
Lance walked forwards and touched the closest tree trunk, knocking on it. It was hard, but still not solid like stone.
“It’s a forest,” Keith mumbled behind them, now at the stairs with his own phone as a light source. Lance shone up in the ceiling to note branches crawling along the entire room, looking down again to see where he was going. He almost slipped on a root the next second nonetheless.
“It’s made by Altea,” Shiro explained; “It’s supposed to mimic a forest on Proteus.”
“Oh,” was all Lance knew to say to that. He continued around a fake tree trunk, eyes catching onto a large circle of roots. It looked like- it almost looked like-
“A bird’s nest,” he mumbled aloud, walking forwards. This was Shiro’s hideout, his safe place. This was supposed to look like his home planet, to be familiar to him. And while Lance had already wandered down here himself he now felt a bit like he was intruding. He wanted to crouch and touch the edges of the nest but it felt… rude.
“Well, I’m not a bird, so half-correct,” Shiro muttered, suddenly right behind him. Lance gave himself a mental pat on the back for not jumping. And it was quite a bit eerie down here, with the darkness and everything.
Keith appeared behind a tree from the left, stopping in front of the nest.
“So that’s where you sleep,” he concluded, the alien nodding next to him.
“So this is all fake, right? Plastic?” Keith then continued to ask, slapping a hand to one of the trunks. Lance shone his light at him, Keith turning and squinting at the light, holding up a hand to cover his eyes. “Lance.”
“And some sort of silicone I think,” Shiro said, Lance moving the light on him instead as Shiro used his claws to climb up one of the trees, crawling above him.
“Why not a hive?” Keith asked.
“Because we make those ourselves and it’ll destroy the environment around it. I’m not sure the following owners of this house would like that either," Shrio explained and Lance scoffed.
"And I don’t have a need for a hive since I’m no longer part of one,” Shiro explain. Lance recalled having heard Keith and him discuss similar things before.
“That’s cool,” Lance shrugged, “this is cool.”
He was noticing a sort of forest-y smell about the place, almost like fresh rain. Lance glanced at his socks on the floor.
“Are we smelling this place up?” he asked, watching Shiro crawl down again, stopping in front of him. Certain trees were close to each other but Shiro slipped between no problem, no matter his size.
“Of course not,” he snorted, sounding offended. Lance couldn’t help but to smile, now crouching next to the nest to feel the roots around it. They were pretty solid, he noted, but the material inside the ring was much softer to the touch. Not like a human bed but not as hard as the rest of the floor.
It was so strange.
While Lance was fully aware Shiro wasn’t human he almost always looked like one and acted like one. It was easy to forget that he was something beyond that.
Lance looked around the place. This was the norm to him; this was comfort to Shiro and how he slept in his real form. It was odd to Lance, to say the least. But surely humans were much weirder to Shiro when he first got here. Probably still were.
Lance turned to him, finding Shiro right behind him. With a smile Lance put a hand on Shiro’s chest, hard ridges like ribs running up along it.
“Thank you for showing us,” he said, Shiro bowing his head a bit before pushing it against Lance who laughed and nearly fell backwards. He ran his hands carefully against the smooth but hard surface. Leaning down Lance dared himself to place a small kiss on his head, heart picking up speed in his chest. With slightly reddened cheeks Lance glanced at Keith at his side, suddenly feeling two strong arms sneaking around his waist.
Shocked Lance turned back to see human Shiro standing in front of him, grinning. Lance looked at him for a moment before he smiled back, embracing him.
“You don’t have-”
“I know,” Shiro interrupted him, placing his lips on Lance’s neck. The human could feel his legs grow weak, leaning heavier on the other. “But I want to.”
Lance smile grew into a straight up beaming one against Shiro’s neck, the human testing the other’s reaction by jumping up to wrap his legs around his waist. Shiro, of course, grabbed him in less than a second, hoisting him up as he turned them around and walked towards the stairs.
“Would you mind… if we slept here with you? Like, maybe we could at least tried it?” Lance carefully asked, looking at the light coming from the hallway upstairs.
“Of course I wouldn’t mind, but-” Shiro trailed off.
“Well, that’s great,” Keith was the one to speak, walking up the stairs behind them. “Because while I really like you both very much I’m dying to sleep alone in a bed-”
“No you don’t. Just sleep with us,” Lance interrupted him, pouting in Shiro’s arms.
“Why don’t we start with the bed and see where we go from there?” Shiro suggested, reaching the top of the stairs. Lance chuckled at him, experimentally rolling his hips against him.
“Someone’s horny,” Keith said as he closed the basement door after him, turning off his phone’s light as Shiro pushed the wardrobe back in place.
“You’re such a dry vagina sometimes, Keith,” Lance teased, receiving a disgusted look from the other human. Shiro simply huffed under him.
Keith still ended up in bed with them both, Lance feeling a bit bad about teasing him so much he decided to blow him, Shiro in turn eating Lance out behind him. The atmosphere wasn’t too sex-crazed considering how the three men sometimes could get (Lance, that was) but more affectionate. Keith didn’t last too long and spent the next minute making out with Lance while Shiro continued pleasuring the youngest.
It was nice, all lying comfortable in the white sheets afterwards. Lance felt at home, dozing off.
-~☽~~/-*-\~~☾~-
However, Lance was still eager to try it.
Shiro was complying to their nagging and now stayed in his actual form a lot more. Lance was the most strict about it and Shiro would eventually grow a bit tired of his nagging whenever Shiro was in human form.
Like, they could be kissing or cuddling on the couch and Lance would be like “It’s time for you to turn back,” and Shiro would straight up glare at him and say no. Lance laughed at his face, his teasing only half serious, and the human knew Shiro just wanted to kiss him. Which he couldn’t exactly do in his xenomorph form. At least it wasn’t something Lance would ever want to try.
“Can you stop,” Shiro said, grabbing onto Lance’s hips on the couch where they sat. He rolled over the human, Lance grabbing at his hands, fear that the other would start tickling his sides.
“But you’ve been human for more than an hour now,” Lance said, trying to conceal his smile, doing a piss-poor job at it.
“Stop,” Shiro still groaned, leaning down to press their lips together again. Lance finally stopped struggling under him, stilling as Shiro licked his lower lip. Lance slowly slid his arms over Shiro’s shoulders, one of his knees slipping from the couch only for him to lift it and trap Shiro’s legs between his.
Lazily making out on a Friday was the best. The making out part would probably be just as good any other day, but it was also Friday. Which made it the best.
Lance heard the door open after a couple of minutes, Shiro now peppering kisses on his neck. He absently listened to Keith removing his coat, boots and whatnot, humming under Shiro’s affection.
“How was work?” Shiro leaned away to ask the other, Keith slumping down in the arm chair beside the couch.
“I hate Ivan so much,” was all Keith replied to that, coming out as a groan. Lance slowly sat up, glancing at the clock, cursing.
“Sorry, I was going to make pasta,” he hurried, jogging over to the kitchen. Shiro always made him forget time like that.
The food turned out a little under-cooked but no one was in the mood to complain about it. Sure, Keith pointed it out but he had been the one with the growling stomach. Shiro, as always, didn’t have a preference in taste and ate pretty much anything.
When they finished up it was a bit later than usual, Keith having explained the ordeal with the AI pilot testers. A bunch of students were just done with their studies and while Keith worked on his own stuff in the workshop he now had “a thousand of snotty kids” to tutor at the same time. Lance couldn’t really come up with a worse teacher than Keith, having no idea why whoever appointed the students to Keith.
“Sorry, I think I’m gonna go crash,” Keith said, looking miserable in his seat as Shiro cleaned the table. Lance reached over the table, grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles.
“You deserve it,” he said, standing from his chair himself to box the leftovers.
Lance stretched his arms above his head after finishing up, his shirt riding up his stomach. The two ended up in front of the TV afterwards, a thriller just starting on one of the channels. It wasn’t that scary, according to Lance, who sat in Shiro’s lap, looking away from the screen every now and then. When the credits rolled he absently slipped into his own seat again.
“I’m really tired too,” he admitted sheepishly, Shiro chuckling at him.
“Let’s go sleep then,” he said, standing.
“What about the basement?” Lance suggested, Shiro stopping in his tracks to look at him. He took a moment before asking;
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I wanna try it. Can I bring a lamp though?” Lance asked, glancing around the room.
“Of course,” Shiro said, smiling. Lance looked at the small earth globe lamp on a table in the hallway. It was battery operated, which would work since Lance wasn’t sure there were any wall sockets downstairs.
Shiro appeared behind him with a hug, giving Lance’s cheek a kiss before disappearing. Lance slowly turned around, wondering, only to see a xenomorph standing there. He smiled sweetly at the other before heading upstairs.
“I’ll go get ready,” he absently mumbled behind him. First on the agenda was brushing his teeth. Then he needed to bring some sheets since it was both a harder surface to sleep on down there, and it was also colder than the rest of the house.
He sneaked inside the bedroom as silently as possible, Keith’s form huddled in one of the sheets. Just the sight of the bed was very tempting to Lance. But he carefully grabbed the free sheet and his own pillow, succeeding in not waking Keith up. It was also respectful, in Lance’s eyes, to at least try to do something Shiro’s way; sleep like he did.
Lance grabbed two rolled up blankets from the cupboard outside the bedroom before heading downstairs. Shiro was in the living room, turning off the lights and hanging up Lance’s jacket that was still on the floor.
Shiro took both sheets and blankets from Lance without question since the humans had struggled with the large bundle in his arms. After turning off the lights in the living room Lance followed him down the stairs, globe illuminating the roots and trees around him so he wouldn’t trip.
“I bought your bottle since you forgot,” Shiro said, taking a step back as Lance dumped the pillow in the pile of sheets Shiro had left in the nest.
“You’re so sweet,” Lance winked, grabbing the water bottle he always kept by his bed to place it just outside the ring of roots. He climbed inside, noting that the floor was kind of rubbery to the feel. It reminded him of one of those gymnastic mattresses they would use in P.E. back in grade school. Luckily didn’t smell like one though.
Shiro bumped into his back behind him, Lance absently reaching back to pat him wherever.
A smile crawled onto the human’s face as he couldn’t conceal it; Shiro was still just as affectionate and clingy, even in his real form. And of course he would be, he was the same person, only his outside appearance had changed. Lance could tell Shiro was holding back a bit on the touching, giving Lance room to breathe and feel secure. Even in this dark-ass basement forest.
Lance arranged the two blankets and sheet, setting the globe just outside the ring. The middle of the nest was just large enough for Lance to lie straight and touch both ends, and he experimentally lay on his side, looking out the room. As he was fiddling with the pillows he felt Shiro move behind him, pushing a bit on Lance to move forwards.
“This is going to be interesting,” he heard Shiro mumble and Lance scooter forwards further to give the other room. Eventually he sat up again, turning to wait for Shiro to get comfortable. The alien lay in a circle with his back to the edge, making room for Lance to lie inside.
With a yawn the human finally settled down, pulling the sheet over him, feeling Shiro against his back. His long tail was hanging over the edge in front of them, Lance tiredly watching it move and wag every now and then.
“Don’t feel any pressure to stay. I know this is weird for you,” Shiro said behind him, Lance wiggling a bit closer.
“You’re weird and I still love you,” Lance replied followed by a yawn, smacking his lips a bit. Then he stilled.
Oops.
That was the first time he had said those words to either of them.
Shiro was silent behind him and Lance could feel his own heart speed up. Shit, he just told him that he…
“I love you and Keith too,” Shiro then replied and Lance wanted to cry out in relief. What if Shiro hadn’t replied or awkwardly said “thank you” or something. Jeez.
Lance couldn't hold back his smile, feeling all warm in his chest. He was almost giddy; didn’t know what to do with himself.
He reached out his hands towards Shiro’s tail in front of him, knowing the other could see his request. Shiro slowly moved his tail forwards and Lance grabbed it, feeling the hard bones against his fingers, examining the exoskeleton. The large spear at the end was sharp and Lance avoided touching it, instead smoothing his fingertips against the black material.
Lance decided to turn the light off in the end anyway. With the darkness, the warm presence behind him and Shiro’s tail in his hands, Lance fell asleep.