Voltron Legendary Defender - Shining Like the Stars [20] [Klance]

[scriveyner]

Title: shining like the stars [20]
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender
AU: slts
Characters/Pairing: Keith/Lance, Team Voltron
Rating: NSFW/E
Length: 4080
Summary: There was nothing physically wrong with either of them, Coran had declared, although neither Shiro nor Lance had stirred since being expelled from the memory core. That was worrying enough on its own, but Allura had decided the best course of action would be a night's stay in the medical bay. Keith had originally decided to stay put and observe, but Hunk had picked him up under one arm and said they all needed to eat and rest, and that they could trust in the Altean technology to do its job in the interim.

There was nothing physically wrong with either of them, Coran had declared, although neither Shiro nor Lance had stirred since being expelled from the memory core. That was worrying enough on its own, but Allura had decided the best course of action would be a night's stay in the medical bay. Keith had originally decided to stay put and observe, but Hunk had picked him up under one arm and said they all needed to eat and rest, and that they could trust in the Altean technology to do its job in the interim.

He wasn't really hungry, but Keith ate because Hunk was watching him. They were all tired, and worried, and there were so many unanswered questions that would bubble up but no one really felt much like talking. Keith sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees and stared at his dangling hands. Unable to sleep, really, he put his boots on and slipped out of the pilot's quarters, heading back toward the medical bay.

The doors to the training room were open, and Keith hesitated there. The Galra memory core was still sitting where they had deposited it, garish purple standing out against the clean white of the Altean ship's design. To his surprise, Allura was standing in front of it, her hair unbound and her hands on the column. "Princess," Keith said, automatically, and Allura straightened and dropped her hands as Keith stepped into the room.

"Keith," Allura said, half turning and folding her hands in front of her automatically. "What are you doing up? You should be resting, like the others."

Can't sleep, Keith thought but the words never actually left his mouth. He stared past Allura at the obelisk, felt a sick feeling in the pit of him stomach, something solid and black that didn't have form. "What are you doing?" he asked, and Allura closed her eyes and glanced to the side.

"It's foolish," she admitted. "I was trying to see how to make the core activate. I was able to withdraw Shiro and Lance, and I'm unsure how I knew the proper way to do so."

"You didn't know how?" Keith said, surprised.

"No." She turned back around to look at the obelisk, and Keith stopped a few steps away. "It's like ... it told me what I needed to do, what I had to say. Almost like it is sentient, in and of itself." She touched the pillar again with no hesitation, but the writing scrawled along it did not light up. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and Keith thought he saw a flicker of white along the base of the column. He caught Allura's elbow and tugged her arm gently, and she opened her eyes in surprise as her hand came away from the column.

"It's been a long few days," Keith said. "The memory core isn't going anywhere, Princess. Hunk and Pidge were going to get started on it in the morning, anyway. You should go back to bed."

Allura frowned at him, and Keith released her arm as if suddenly realizing what he was doing. Then she sighed and turned away from the column. "You're right," she said after a moment. However, she didn't move, staring away toward the far wall, before glancing back to Keith. "I meant to ask," she said suddenly, awkwardly, and Keith could feel the tonal shift of her voice. "How is your... heat?"

Keith liked to think he didn't blush too easily, the last week of his life aside, but he was making turning pink into an art form. He forced himself not to look away, even if he couldn't stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks and ears. "I think it's over," he said. "I don't really know how to explain a lot of it, but I need to talk to..." Lance's name stuck in his throat, like he couldn't get it out and he let the sentence lay, incomplete. "I won't let it interfere with out missions again."

Allura's mouth twitched up into a smile, and if anything that made Keith blush more. "I am certain you won't," she said kindly. "But please don't feel that you need to hide any part of yourself from us, Keith. Now, or in the future."

Keith nodded his head, feeling just as awkward by the moment. Allura yawned suddenly, covering her mouth quickly with one hand. "Goodness," she said when she finished. "I think I will excuse myself to sleep. You should do the same," she added, glancing at the memory core again suspiciously, as if thinking that Keith was coming here to do the same thing that she was. "It will be morning before we know it, and I am sure Shiro and Lance both will need all of our support."

"Yes," Keith said, as he started to follow Allura from the training room. He hesitated only a moment as he saw a flicker of color from the corner of his eye -- and when he glanced back at the memory core he swore he saw a hint of gold color in some of the runes, but when he blinked his eyes it didn't appear to be there. A trick of the light? "Goodnight princess," he said as Allura headed off down the corridor to the royal chambers.

She waved a hand but didn't look back at him, and Keith touched his hand to the door plate that closed the doors to the training room, leaving the corridor lit only by the dim glow of the track lighting.

#

Hunk found Keith sleeping against Lance's medical pod, his arms folded and his chin to his chest, legs stretched out as far as they could and the tip of his boot brushing Shiro's medical pod. "Aw," Pidge said, peeking around Hunk's side. "That's adorable."

"Shh," Hunk hissed, as Pidge aimed her phone at the scene. "You'll wake him."

"Probably." That didn't stop Pidge from taking a few pictures, and the quick click of the shutter on her device did make Keith stir a little, head rolling on what had to be a very stiff neck. Pidge had her phone safely squirreled away by the time Keith lifted his head and blinked gummy eyes, squinting at the fact that the lights had gone from running the much-dimmer night cycle to the brighter day one.

"Good morning," Hunk said cheerily, and Keith's gaze swept over to the doorway. He blinked a few times, clearly processing and then woke up all at once, flailing fully upright.

"Jeez," Pidge said, as she walked over to the pods and looked at the diagnostic displays. "Did you sleep here all night, Keith?"

"No," Keith croaked, his voice off. He cleared his throat a bit and climbed to his feet, stretching his arms over his head. "No," he said again, and rotated his shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Hunk didn't sound like he believed Keith at all but wasn't going to challenge him on it.

"Their vitals seem good," Pidge said. "Allura wanted them in these things until lunchtime, but I think I'm going to spring them early." She started pressing buttons on the front of Shiro's pod.

"Hey, wait a sec," Hunk said. "I thought we just came here to pick up Keith and make sure he wasn't sleeping in front of Shiro's pod." Hunk gave Keith a sidelong look, and Keith refused to look back at him, instead leaning over Pidge's shoulder and watching her puzzle out the controls.

"Yeah, well, I'm going rogue on this one," she said, and pressed one final button. The pod dinged, and she took a step back as it hissed, and then caught Keith's arm and pulled him a step back as well. The medical pod hummed for a moment, then the front shielding sliding aside.

There was a long moment of silence, then Shiro groaned and touched his forehead with one hand, before cracking open his eyes. Keith let out a breath that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, Pidge's hand still on his arm and keeping him in place with a simple touch.

"Shiro," Keith said, and Shiro looked up and focused on him, like it took a moment to return himself to the present.

"Keith," he said, and there was an undercurrent to his voice that just felt right, and Keith could relax again. Shiro's eyes lingered for a moment, then flickered down to Pidge beside Keith, and his face shifted into something normal again. "Pidge," he said, and looked up to see Hunk a little behind them. "Hunk." Shiro looked around again, his brow furrowed and then a sudden worry. "Where's Lance?"

"I haven't woken him up yet," Pidge said, as Shiro staggered forward, out of the pod. Keith put out his arms out of reflex and caught Shiro against himself, braced just enough so that he could take his weight. Shiro held on to him for a moment, arm looped over Keith's shoulder and prosthetic hand gripping Keith's shoulder tightly, before he could straighten under his own power. He didn't remove his arm right away, though.

"Where is he?" Shiro said, as he looked back and then saw the other medical pod. Pidge had pulled up the controls on it and now Shiro stepped away from Keith, going to the pod and putting his hand on it, peering down at Lance inside. Pidge looked up at him as he stared down into it, and then sighed in relief. "He wasn't shot when we came out of it, was he?" It was more a statement than a question, directed at Pidge.

"Shot?" Hunk squeaked.

Pidge shook her head. "You two were entirely intact, just out cold."

Shiro sighed again in relief, then nodded. "Lance got shot?" Hunk said again, and Shiro looked back toward him, and Keith, then looked back to the pod.

"It was my fault," he said, and stepped back from the pod. Pidge continued to type away at the controls, then Lance's pod made the same soft chime and opened. Lance tilted forward, eyes still closed and Keith moved forward without thinking, but Shiro stepped in front of him and caught Lance before he could pitch face first into the floor. Hunk and Keith crowded behind Shiro as Lance clung to his arm and groaned.

"Lance?" Shiro said. "You all right?"

"I feel like Hunk sat on me," Lance mumbled, then opened his eyes and squinted past Shiro's bicep at Keith. "Oh," he said, and turned pink.

"Hey!" Hunk said, injured.

"I think Lance is okay," Pidge said. She smacked Lance's side, because he was staring at Keith still, eyes wide like he had been caught out at something. "Okay, come on," she said. "I bet you two need to clean up and refresh. Hunk and I will start breakfast."

Keith's eyes had gone from Lance's face to Shiro's. He'd noticed the smell right away, although it was fainter than he expected; probably because his heat had finally ended. Shiro had clearly noticed it, the muscles in his jaw were tight. Keith put his hand on Shiro's shoulder, even as Lance finally pulled himself fully to his feet, face still flushed pink.

"That sounds like a fine idea, Pidge," Shiro said, his voice remarkably level. Hunk had noticed too, Keith thought, because he was staring at Shiro as well. "I'm absolutely starving."

"Yeah," Lance said. "I feel like I could eat an entire horse. Hunk You better bring your 'A' game, where that goo is concerned." He inhaled and held it, then smirked at Hunk. Hunk eyed him with suspicion, then stepped closer and peered at Lance.

"An entire horse?" he said.

"Don't test me," Lance retorted, and shoved Hunk with one hand.

In response Hunk immediately hugged Lance and said loudly, "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY."

Everyone laughed in relief as Lance struggled a bit in Hunk's embrace and finally went limp.

#

The door to Lance's room was unlocked, it parted instantly when Keith put his hand on the pad outside. It was a bit presumptuous to let himself in without knocking, but Keith had spent a good few minutes standing outside the door trying to decide what he was going to do, so he wasn't going to let himself get turned away by Lance telling him to go.

He had walked Shiro to the showers, trying to get him to talk but he had been mostly quiet. He didn't shrink away from Keith's touch, and had looped his arm over Keith's shoulder and pressed a kiss to the side of his head before disappearing into the locker room. With his heat over, Keith hadn't felt the almost maddening urgency to push Shiro against the wall and kiss him, to climb on him and do things that shouldn't really be thought about it public, but he still wanted... he still wanted, and it burned more fiercely than it had.

Shiro was distracted by Lance's scent, and it bothered him. He wasn't going to be jealous, he wasn't, but he lingered outside of Lance's room and finally just let himself in. They needed to talk, anyway. At least, that's what he told himself.

The lights were on in full in Lance's room. He'd been sitting on the bed, clearly, his legs over the side but he'd flopped over backwards and both his arms were folded over his face. Keith stood awkwardly as the door closed behind him, and then the scent washed over him and he realized, oh. This was how Lance had known he was in heat.

God, he hoped the others couldn't smell that.

"What do you want," Lance said, voice tired, without lifting his arms from his face. "You do know knocking is an option, right? This is still my room, mostly."

"Are you all right?" Keith asked.

Lance let out a low laugh, but it didn't sound healthy. "Yeah, the suppressants haven't kicked in yet, I missed one because of all this and that's fucked everything up." He sighed and shifted, clearly uncomfortable.

He had come to talk, Keith reminded himself. All the same, he felt his heart beating in his throat, remembering the way Shiro had been looking down at Lance in his arms, and felt the strangest, fiercest pull. "Do you want me to help?" he asked finally.

"If I say no, will you go away?" Lance still hadn't moved his arms off his face. Keith walked over to the bed, and looked down at Lance.

"No," he said. "I won't touch you if you say no, but I'm not going to go." He sat down on the edge of the mattress next to Lance and let out a long sigh, then leaned back on his hands.

They sat in silence for a little while, Lance's breathing coming harder than before. Finally he let out a low noise and lifted his arms, face flushed red from his chin to his hairline. "Why can't you just pick Shiro?" he said finally. "Why do you have to keep confusing me with all this, I don't want this!"

"I have picked Shiro," Keith said, surprised at how calmly the words came out. Lance's face crumpled weirdly, like he hadn't been expecting Keith to say that, despite the words that had come out of his own mouth. Keith twisted a little, weight braced on one hand so he could look Lance full in the face. He leaned over Lance and stared down at him, his flushed face and distraught expression. "But," he said softly, "I also picked you."

"...what?" Lance said.

"I had a lot of time to think, last night," Keith said. He touched Lance's face softly with his fingers, brow furrowed with the importance of the message he was delivering. "I decided I'm not going to choose, that's stupid. I like you both."

If Lance turned any more red, Keith was worried he'd burst a blood vessel. "B-but you gotta," he said. "You have to! That's the way these things work-" he gestured one hand in the air off to one side, but Keith didn't look away.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you gotta-"

"Why?" Lance let out a frustrated noise as Keith lowered his head more, eyes narrowed. "Do you not want me?" he asked, and the frustrated noise went strangled.

"Of course I do-"

"Then this is the best solution, don't you think?" Keith's nose was practically brushing Lance's.

Lance was breathing very hard. "Oh, fuck me," he said, and surged up the little bit to close the distance between their mouths.

Keith hadn't entirely been expecting it, he had planned it that he would kiss Lance while Lance was still lying back on the bed, and as a result their teeth clicked together and foreheads cracked against each other. "Ow, shit," Keith said, as Lance's head thumped back into the bed and he whined, palm going to his forehead.

"That wasn't nearly as sexy as I thought it was going to be in my head," Lance said, petulantly.

"Do you still not want any help?" Keith asked, putting one hand on Lance's chest. His skin was so warm, even through the thin material of the shirt he was wearing. "Because this is the last time I'm offering before I go see what everyone else is doing."

"Did you not hear me say 'fuck me'?" Lance said.

Keith's eyebrows lifted. "I thought you were just..." he said, and then paused. "Really?"

Lance let out a very frustrated noise. He shoved at Keith, who sat all the way back up, and then lifted his hips up off the bed. "Whoa," Keith said, as Lance shoved his pants down his hips and thighs and then got himself tangled up around his ankles. "Whoa, Lance, there's this thing called foreplay-" Keith said, as Lance got his pants off one ankle.

"I'm in heat," Lance snarled. "The suppressants haven't kicked in again, and if you aren't going to put your dick in my ass I'll find something else to-" He was cut off as Keith caught one of Lance's flailing wrists and pulled him to Keith, so that Keith could actually kiss him properly. Lance struggled a moment then stopped, his unrestricted hand going to Keith's head and his fingers tangling in Keith's dark hair.

"You didn't want to before," Keith said. "Are you sure...?"

"Can we not psychoanalyze this?" Lance asked. "Can you just help me out, here?"

Keith caught Lance by the back of the head, kept him close. "You freaked out on me before," he said. "I don't want to hurt you, Lance. I-" he couldn't say the rest yet, and his face turned pink.

Lance closed his eyes and leaned forward enough that their foreheads rested together. "It was my first time," he said softly. "Since ... since then." He was quiet, eyes closed tight, reliving something that made Keith want to pull someone's scrotum through their nostrils. Lance opened his eyes slowly. "You won't hurt me," he said. "I know what I'm asking for."

He took one deep breath, then two. "I've never," Keith started to say, and Lance kissed him quiet, falling back onto the bed and pulling Keith down on top of him.

#

Keith's hand was warm, but not as warm as Lance's skin. He felt like his blood was boiling, as Keith's hand traveled higher, rucking up the hem of the loose white shirt Lance was still wearing. His fingers were exploring slowly, his mouth on Lance's erection, the fingers of his other hand spreading him open. There were so many other things he should be thinking about right now, things to unpack and go over in his mind but right now it was all Keith; Keith's hands, Keith's mouth, Keith's fingers.

Lance kept one hand over his mouth, clamped tight, the other was on Keith's head, holding him there. He wanted to surge up off the bed, thrust himself into Keith's mouth again and again until he choked but the fingers inside of him made his knees tremble too much to get him leverage up off the bed. He wanted more, and he knew that Keith knew that he wanted more, and now he was just being a dick about it and stringing him along until he came again.

Keith picked him.

That was a thought that did rattle around. Yes, Keith picked Shiro too but he actually, honestly, wanted Lance too? It was a feeling he'd been circling for a week now, too big and bright for him to really take it all in.

Keith's fingers reached something, and even the hand over his mouth couldn't keep the noise in his throat. Lance came hard, and Keith kept his mouth on him, swallowing. "Fuck," Lance almost sobbed. It was his third orgasm, and he was shaking because he needed something more than fingers.

Keith licked up the side of his still-hard cock. "How many times did you make me come in the shower?" he asked conversationally, as if he wasn't cleaning Lance's cock like a cat.

Lance panted to the ceiling, recalling the image of Keith sprawled out of his lap, cock constantly leaking fluid onto the wet tile floor in the showers. "I don't remember," he lied.

"Mm," Keith said. He shifted a little and pulled his fingers free. "We really should use a condom," he said as he got up on his knees, pushing Lance's thighs back and exposing his wet hole. He didn't seem interested in moving though, staring down at Lance like he was captivated.

"You can't get me pregnant if that's what you're worried about," Lance said.

Now Keith's brows came together again. "I didn't even think about that," he said.

"Well, omegas generally can't get other omegas pregnant so we're fine." Lance wiggled a little. "This position is embarrassing, can't you do something, or are you just gonna stare?"

Keith used his thumbs to spread Lance's hole just a bit. "Are you sure?" he said. "I can still ride you, I don't mind-"

"Are you scared?" Lance said. "I mean, if you're scared it's cool, but you realize you're never not going to be the bottom again if you admit to it-"

"Oh god just shut up," Keith said, pressing his hips against Lance, and dragging his cock through the fluid that had run down his crack. Lance did, thankfully, shut up at the sensation of Keith's cock prodding at him, and when Keith looked back up at him, his expression was unreadable.

He kept his eyes on Lance's, and went by feel. Watching the strange expression melt into something else entirely as the head of Keith's cock slipped in was a little bit amazing, and even more so as he sank into the warm, wet heat.

Lance closed his eyes and bit his lip, then moaned something reverently that Keith didn't really understand but recognized as content. His legs came up and hugged Keith's hips, holding him in place. "Okay?" Keith asked finally, his own chest heaving at the sight of Lance blissed out beneath him. Sweat traced down the back of his neck and his tee shirt stuck to him. If he'd thought more about it, he would have pulled it off sooner.

"Yeah," Lance said finally, and opened his eyes to meet Keith's. "Yeah." And then he grinned, and Keith was absolutely dazzled by that expression on his face, and felt like the most ridiculous thing ever when he returned the grin, and they were both grinning stupidly at each other until Lance smacked his thigh with one hand and groaned, "fucking fuck me already, god-" and Keith had to remember yeah, yeah that's what they were supposed to be doing here, after all.

#

"This goo is pink," Lance said, eyeing the plate of goo that Hunk put in front of him.

"You were late to breakfast," Hunk said sharply.

Lance looked up at Hunk absolutely shamelessly. “Something really important came up," he said, and leaned out of elbow-digging room before Keith could elbow him. "Really important."

"I bet it did," Pidge muttered from the end of the table. "I bet it came up repeatedly."

Lance really couldn't decide if Shiro choking on his mouth full of food or Keith turning as red as his favorite jacket was his favorite part of that meal, so he stuck a spoon filled with wobbly pink good in his mouth and grinned.