fourstrings | (no subject)

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[ Shiro loves Keith. It's a bone-deep thing by now, all tied up with pride and admiration, something that sparks from the warmth of a hearth fire into a blaze with very little provocation – and increasingly at very inconvenient times.

Shiro loves Keith, loves all that passion and forward motion. The problem is when forward isn't something the world doesn't immediately provide. Getting Keith to stay in the hospital wing until the doctors were satisfied with his recovery had been hard enough. Now that he's fully recovered and active, he's... well. A handful. The immediate threat to Earth has been contained, the people who'd been in Galra camps have been collected and brought to safety, and all the work that needs doing now is planning and organizing. Pidge has thrown herself into working on new designs with the rest of the Holts, Hunk and his family are eyes-deep in helping the freed prisoners, and Lance is introducing aliens to the way things work on earth in an effort that Shiro is pretty sure started out as an attempt to take Allura on a date. Shiro himself is still learning his way around Atlas, who despite being the size of a small moon had started reacting to his thoughts with all the enthusiasm of a new puppy until he had to get a “casual” prosthetic that doesn't amplify the connection. Keith, though – Keith seems to chafe against the new setting, fighting against the borders of this new way of doing things until he's sharp and snappish in a way that he'd left behind some time ago. Shiro's pretty sure Griffin was cruising for another beating at their last meeting, and there's not really much they can do short of letting Keith off the leash to get back into space and burn some of it off – which is something Shiro isn't willing to consider, not after they've spent so long apart and in danger.

So he does the only thing he can think to do. After the next outburst, he asks Keith for a moment of his time, leads him into an empty office, and slams him up against the door to kiss him with bruising force. ]

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[ his next breath shudders out of him in a long sigh, the sound of someone utterly sated. just being close to shiro is everything he wants right now; he turns his head just enough to press a lazy kiss against the older man's collarbone, warmed all over with adoration.

... but.

there's just enough there to make little distant alarm bells start to go off through the fog of his afterglow. he's too fucked out for the kneejerk embarrassment that might otherwise have come roaring to the forefront, but that doesn't start his brows from knitting. ]

... you thought it was weird.

[ Before - when they were new - Shiro would have rushed o tell Keith no, of course not, nothing about Keith is weird and he loves every part of him. Now, though -

they've been through so much together. Keith already knows Shiro's utterly gone on him. So he leans back, just a little, and cocks one eyebrow at Keith with a little smirk. ]

Did it feel like I thought it was weird? My technique must be slipping.

[ and just like that, relief. ]

Nah. Felt like if it was weird... [ pushing himself to sit up, just a little, enough to press a lazy kiss against shiro's mouth. and when he speaks again, it's still close enough for their lips to be touching -- his grin is a slow thing, a drowsing predator. ] ... then you like weird.

Mm. A whole lot, apparently.

[ and really, if Keith's going to stay that close, what else is there to do but kiss him? It's a slow thing, possessive in the way that comes not from feeling like you have to defend what you have but from simply being proud you have it, and he ends it with a tiny bite to Keith's lip. ]

You look like you're feeling better.

[ shiro kisses him, slow and deep and wonderful, enough to make keith's toes curl as the pleasure of it washes through him. it's the drowsy well-fucked afterglow feel-goods that he likes; all the urgency of before has bled out, and he's not required to do anything more but bask in it like a cat napping in the sun.

the little nip is a reminder that he must've bitten down too hard at some point; he licks his lips and tastes iron there, scrubs an arm across his mouth and winces at the sting. it's rare that he loses control enough to have the galra in him show, but that last bit must've done it. (and there's a little prickle of shame that comes with the realization, a relief that shiro most likely didn't see with the way they were positioned.)

he decides to play it off, dropping his cheek back down against shiro's shoulder. ] Yeah. Needed that more than I realized.

[ but... now that it's been brought to his attention? ] Take the rest of the afternoon off.

[ they aren't the type to play hooky, but fuck it. no one on the base could possibly claim that they haven't worked hard enough to deserve it. so he slides his arms around shiro's waist and presses an open-mouthed kiss at the hollow just below his ear, coaxing. ] I bet we can do better than three.

[ Keith's playing dirty. Shiro sees the movement, sees the wince, and his had is halfway up to Keith's face to hold him so he can look when Keith drops his face to Shiro's shoulder and says that. The concern is all but forgotten, and he laughs. ]

God, you're insatiable.

[ It's meant to be teasing, but he says it like another person might say wonderful, beautiful, sacred.]

As a matter of fact, I already shuffled my afternoon free. I thought I could scrounge up whatever feels the most like junk food around here and we could dip into the folder Veronica showed me where they keep all the movies they're not supposed to have on the Garrison network, but I guess as long as we're in bed your plan works too.

Anyone who could ever get enough of you is an idiot.

[ definitively, because it's more of a fact of life than it is a compliment. every single time shiro kisses him, touches him, wakes up next to him -- keith is hit with that burst of wild gratitude all over again, like someone who's been given a gift they never expected to deserve.

but... honestly? keith also wouldn't complain about curling up with shiro in bed and watching movies on the datapad. just curling up snugly against shiro's side, so that he can pillow his head on shiro's chest and listen to him breathe is one keith's absolute favorite things -- he's long since written it off as being part of the package that comes with being stupidly, incomprehensibly, head-over-heels in love with someone.

it'd be nice if he could reach into his chest and carve out how much he feels, just so he could show it to shiro and make sure he understands it. there aren't words for it (at least not in keith's vocabulary), and sometimes i love you feels like it can't possibly sum up all the things that shiro fills his heart up with.

but keith also figures that every day he gets with shiro is a day he gets to try and make sure he shows him, so. instead of trying to put anything into words, he just bumps his head against the other man's shoulder and squeezes his arms a little more tightly around shiro's waist, voice muffled up against his skin. ]

I'm glad you're here.

Me too.

[ He cradles the back of Keith's head in his hand, presses a kiss to his forehead, warm and lingering. He's not going to say aloud that he wouldn't be here without Keith, because any time he ventures into that area Keith tries to turn it around and make it about Shiro - but they both know it, really, and that's enough.

He loves these quiet little moments. Being with Keith is a thing of wild extremes, all fierce, burning passion or complete, melting tenderness. Shiro would have thought that would be exhausting, not so long ago, but it turns out to be perfect. Keith isn't a person with middle gears, and his intensity just makes the soft times all the more precious. He dips his head to press a kiss to Keith's nose, angles his face down until he can peck one onto his lips, too. ]

I love you, Keith. So much.

[ surely one person can't be filled up with all this love, surely there's a limit to how much one heart can take. but keith hasn't found it yet, not with shiro -- shiro says i love you, and every beat of keith's heart echoes it back to him.

i love you. i love you. i love you.

until the ends of the universe and beyond, until the stars burn out and there's nothing left. ]

Enough to take the whole weekend off? [ might as well press the advantage while he has it, and shiro's still leaning down at the perfect angle for keith to tip his chin up and rub their noses together. an eskimo kiss, childishly affectionate. ]

[ It's an honor to see Keith like this, really. He can be kind and supportive with others, as Hunk is more than willing to testify, but Shiro is aware he's one of three people (yes, Kosmo counts as a person) who gets to see him like this, gentle and sweet.

And the only person who gets to see him gentle, sweet, and naked, which makes Shiro about the luckiest guy in the universe. ]

Maybe not the whole weekend. They're still testing some non-essentials from the garrison, checking what works and what should just be repurposed.

There's a hoverbike or two that really need to be put through their paces.

[ it's about what he expected, and keith isn't really going to complain --

but then shiro says that, and the hazy smile on keith's face sharpens itself into a grin. ]

As long as you don't complain when I leave your ass in the dust.

I'm counting on it.

[ Really, it was only ever experience that made the difference for Shiro before. now that Keith's had his time flying Red? It'll be a miracle if Shiro manages to keep him in sight. ]

We could make a day of it. Take a picnic. You think Kosmo could meet us out there?

Meet us?

[ with a nose wrinkle that suggests he's offended by the suggestion. ]

We can just use one of the hoverbikes with a sidecar. [ if he can find an extra pair of goggles and pull the strap tight, that'd be enough to keep the dust out of his eyes... ]

Cute.

[ It's a whispered thing, almost involuntary, because the image of Komso in a sidecar, leaning into the wind, tongue hanging out - it's irresistible. ]

If he gets excited and teleports your bike ahead, that's a forfeit.

[ he snorts, elbowing his boyfriend playfully in the gut. ]

We don't need to cheat just to beat you.

Oof! Somebody report this guy for elder abuse.

[ And because Shiro is very clever about certain things and exceedingly stupid about others, it's only now - years and galaxies later - that it occurs to him all Keith's old timer remarks were probably his attempt at baby gay flirting. The thought makes him smile even wider, and he presses a kiss to Keith's forehead. ]

Okay, okay. Let's try and get you dressed and head somewhere more comfortable.

[ Dressing Keith according to regulations is probably a lost cause, but if they use his belt to secure the torn waistband of his pants, Shiro's jacket should be long enough to hide the damage.

And if not? Well, the sight of them's probably enough to forestall any questions, anyway. ]

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