Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

~Lance~

Lance was furious. It took a lot to actually make the young man irate, but somehow Keith was able to tick him off every single time.

With a huff, Lance looked down at his loafers as he made his way down the hall to the Classics library. The soft bottoms on his shoes slipped a little with every step, just enough to throw off his gate. And gosh darn it wasn’t that little bit just enough to cause Lance to descend into full blown bitch mode. 

Nothing was going right for Lance today, and the freaking floors were just the icing on the damned cake. First, Professor Smythe had announced the groupings for their final project, and while he lucked out getting Hunk in his group, he of course was also stuck with Mr Gorgeous Asshole Keith-I’m-Too-Cool-For-School. Pidge was also in the group, and while Lance didn’t know the guy all that well, he seemed cool and pretty smart in the classes they had shared before.

Next, when Lance had gone to greet the TA who would be overseeing their group, he hadn’t even been able to meet the guy! Nearly forty whole minutes Lance had stood outside his office door, leaned against the doorjamb nicely, just to say hi. Even after knocking loudly quite a few times, the TA wouldn’t even open the door.

Lance had tried jumping up just to peek a little bit through the window of the dude’s office, but he was only able to make out two vague shapes sitting at the desk. The guy was obviously in there, why couldn’t he open the door even just to say hi to Lance?

Lance was a fairly popular dude, and was generally well liked in the physics department. And while Lance had never heard of this TA that was supposed to be guiding their research this semester, he certainly thought that the TA would have heard of Lance, the hardworking up-and-coming under dog of New England astronomy! Lance was doing the guy a freaking favor by introducing himself before the entire group met: this way he could graciously allow the TA to get over his awe in private.

One foot slid out as Lance turned a corner, nearly sending Lance to his knees. With a curse Lance decided to just fuck it, and he kicked his shoes off.

“No good, freaking, moldy-ass Humanities…..” Lance grumbled as he snagged his shoes and walked to the closest bench. “Who even finds history interesting? Why are even these buildings so freaking ancient?”

Lance winced and tried to hold his head high as his bare feet slapped against the wood floors. Dio, was this worse than wearing the slip ons? Quite possibly.

In the distance Lance could hear a pair of heels clicking down the corridor towards him, and Lance shuffled to the bench quicker. Just as the woman turned the corner towards him, Lance slid onto the bench and relaxed back against the wall.

Neither said anything as she walked by, her attention kept by the sheaves of papers cradled in her arms. Sometimes Lance wondered if there was anything sexier than hearing a woman in heels, all powerful and sexy and meaning business. And damn, watching her walk away? Sometimes even better, especially if she was wearing tights with a visible back seam that made it look like her legs went on for days.

Catching his wandering eye just in time, Lance reached down to pull out his phone to appear busy. As she passed, Lance snuck up his eyes and woah mama, she was a looker alright. The usual academic fare, but worn with such an easy style that she looked like something out of a magazine.

Black kitten heels, sheer black tights, and a tasteful plaid skirt that hit just below her knees. An airy white shirt was tucked in, highlighting her killer curves. And Lance couldn’t even with her face. Bright blue eyes that darted across her papers: stunning white hair drawn up into a messy bun.

Lance was in love, he knew it this time. This girl, this wonderful angel emerging out of the dusty cobwebs of the Classics department, she was the one for him. At least for this semester.

As if Fate herself approved of Lance’s plans, a sudden gust of wind blew through one of the many open windows lining the hall. As her papers fluttered to the floor, Lance saw his chance like a beam of light from heaven: the unexpected event drawing the lady to a halt right in front of him! Lance grinned at her perplexed expression. A perfect moment for Lance to swoop in and—

“Oh, Allura, let me get those for you,” a rich voice spoke just to Lance’s left.

“No, no let me-” Lance bent forward off the bench to reach for a paper when a large hand reached it first. Lance’s eyes couldn’t help but trace up the rival man’s wrist, shapely arm, to —holy guacamole— a chest of epic proportions.

Lance froze, arm outstretched, as he got to the man’s face. What on earth had he done to deserve two such beautiful people crossing his path today? If the woman was an angel, then surely this man was a god. Strong chin, smiling lips, sparkling black eyes all topped off with a shock of white hair. Individually the attributes were a bit odd, but together this man pulled it off fantastically. Even the scar across his nose added to his beauty.

“Shiro? Oh my goodness, when did you get back? I am signed up for the P&A faculty email, but I didn’t get any word that you returned!” The woman —Allura, Lance’s mind supplied— ignored her mess in preference to giving the god a hug.

Lance shifted forward and began picking up her papers, ears perked towards their conversation.

“I know, I know, I should have told you right away. It was all rather sudden, I was asked to return to help translate.” The god kept an arm around Allura as he spoke, and he flashed those pearly whites of his to glorious effect.

Lance shuffled closer on his knees and reached for more papers.

“Oh, I see. I am still upset at you though! You know I had to learn from Matt that you were away getting fitted out; you really need to get better at this whole keeping friends updated thing.” As the god’s rich laughter rang out, a new pair of combat boots entered Lance’s line of sight and arms reached down to pluck papers off the floor.

Lance tucked his head down, and focused on grabbing the last few papers near him. The helping hands had already finished up in their area, and were walking back towards Allura and the God.

“Oh my! Keith too! It is so good to see you both together, it really has been far too long since we all got together.” The boots sidetracked over to Lance, and shapely hands reached out to tug away the papers he had collected. Frowning, Lance looked up to argue with the hands only to stare into the face of his arch nemesis.

Damnit, why was it always Keith? He got the front row seat, teachers barely called on him, and he always managed to skew the curve by being just a few points better than Lance in every course they shared. And now he seemed to know both Allura and the god! Lance glared at Keith, tugging the papers back towards himself.

With a growl —seriously, who does that? Lance chalked it up to Keith’s rude-ass attitude— Keith yanked the papers out of Lance’s grip. In the background Lance could hear Allura and the god chatting away, but his focus had shifted to the problem swaggering around in front of him.

Muttering angrily as he pushed off the floor, Lance could only watch in silence as Keith walked over to the reuniting pair, and handed over the papers. Sitting back down on the bench Lance fumed as the three turned towards each other with a familiar ease, and Allura reached out to pull Keith into a hug.

Lance was certain the day couldn’t get any worse, but here it was, right in front of him, practically erupting into flames as his girl-of-the-term was getting stolen away by a god and an asshole. The three began to walk away down the hall, and other than Allura tossing a wave over her shoulder in thanks, they ignored him completely. Tipping his head back, Lance jumped as he accidentally hit a pushpin in the wall.

Without thinking Lance reached down and threw one of his loafers against the opposite wall. The resulting soft whump sound was not nearly loud enough to cool Lance’s anger. Why did nothing ever go Lance’s way? That was the perfect opportunity for Lance to slide into Busty Blonde’s life, but nooooo the cosmos decided even that was to be stolen by Keith too.

Grinding his hands over his eyes and sighing, Lance pushed off the bench and tried to brush away his anger. The day was almost over: he just had to make it through this meeting and then he could go home. Just two more hours or so and he would be back in his and Hunk’s cozy apartment.

“Just two more hours,” Lance muttered as he crossed to where his shoe had landed. “Just two more, you can do this.”

Resigning himself to slipping and sliding all the way to the library, Lance looked down the hallway towards where the trio had headed. The god and Allura were turning down a side corridor, but Keith was still there, only a few yards ahead. Lance watched dumbstruck as Keith waved, held up his phone to snap a picture of Lance hopping around to pull on his shoe, and then had the gall to wave goodbye as he continued on his way.

What the hell….. Lance shouted again and threw his slipper down the hallway towards Keith. Once again the shoe failed him, and fell uselessly to the floor only a few feet ahead. Lance couldn’t help it: he slumped back the bench and had to sit for a few more minutes, muffling screams into his backpack.

———————————

“I mean, who does he think he is? Strutting around like he rules the school when everyone knows he is some socially-awkward dickhead with ass for brain!”

Hunk and Pidge continued pulling notebooks and pens out of their bags as Lance ranted.

“Walking around and charming ladies… I picked up those papers, I should have been the one who escorted the damsel back to her castle! What the frick, right?” Lance tipped back in his chair, flicking his pencil against the metal arm repeatedly.

“Well it seemed like they knew each other, Lance, it makes sense for Keith to help her,” Hunk tried to calm his friend but his words only riled Lance further.

“Why in the world would a guy like him know an angel like her? You didn’t see her Hunk, she was like an angel from heaven, or even yet, a angel for Victoria’s Secret! Legs for days, an ample chest, shapely ankles … trotting around in little heels, fuck guys, she was perfect!”

“That’s gross Lance,” Pidge butted in, “Allura is a person, not some sex doll for your enjoyment.”

“But you didn’t see her, Pidge,” Lance waved his hands in an hourglass shape. “Any guy would drool after that bombshell!”

“Really Lance,” Hunk frowned, “gross.”

“Aw come on you guys! We are all men here, we can appreciate a good female form every now and then!” Pidge held up a finger and tried to interrupt but Lance was on a roll. “Every term I set a goal cutie to have by the time finals come around. Seriously, like, hashtag Term Cutie. She is like a reward for getting through the semester! Allura will be a challenge, certainly, but my lord she will be worth it.”

Lance could see Pidge trying to speak again, but he was talking at the moment so Pidge would just have to shush for another minute.

“Hunk, you have to help me with the seduction. I could invite her over for supper, show off my —ahem, your— cooking skills and wham bam wouldn’t you know suddenly she is trying breakfast too if you know what I mean!” Lance waggled his eyebrows and nudged Pidge in the side. Pidge only frowned, and leaned away slightly. Well then.

“Shouldn’t we just focus for now on our project, Lance? That is what we are here for after all, not to hear your gross plans of bagging a girl.” Hunk tried to move Lance’s attention to his own notes, but seeing the project layout only made Lance angry again.

“About that! Where the hell is Keith and our TA? The asshole was in the hall with me just a few minutes ago, he should have been here by now. And our TA? Has anyone even met the guy?” Caught up in his rant Lance didn’t notice Hunk and Pidge look towards the door.  “For all we know he is some idiot who just wants to look good on a resume.” Pidge smirked and stood up while Hunk sunk lower into his chair.

“He stood me up for nearly an hour, did I tell you that yet? What kind of teacher doesn’t have time for his best students anyway.” Frowning, Lance crossed his arms and tipped back in his chair to watch Pidge trot away from the table.

“Pidge, where the hell do you think-”

“Shiro!” Lance tipped further back to watch Pidge jump into the arms of someone just outside the doorway. Shiro? Why was that name familiar?

“Katie? I didn’t know you were studying here!” Why did that voice sound familiar.

“I know I know! I asked Matt not to tell you so it would be a surprise! I also may have asked Coran to put me in the same group as Keith so I could work with you too.”

“Pidge, you know you shouldn’t hassle Coran like that!” Lance’s jaw dropped as the god from earlier walked into the library, Pidge clinging like a limpet to his side. “He has a soft spot for you for sure, but while you are here you should at least try to pretend to follow the university rules.”

The god stepped up to the table and raised an eyebrow at Lance.

“I couldn’t help but overhearing you earlier, student, and I assure you that I am qualified. I did my undergrad in basic Astronomy and Celestial Mathematics at Williams, my MA in Astrophysical Sciences at Rochester, and am now working towards a PhD here at BU. While I have TA’d before, this is the first time I am steering a research project on my own, so it will be a learning curve for both you and I.” With a grin that melted Lance’s insides, the god reached out his hand for Lance to shake.

“Takashi Shirogane. My friends call me Shiro,” Lance’s chair landed back on four legs with a thump. “And you can too.”

“Hi there! My name’s Hunk… seriously! Hunk Garrett, nice to meet you.” Shiro smiled again as he stretched across the table to shake hands with Hunk. Gay panic began to spark through Lance’s mind as he watched Shiro’s shirt ride up as he bent forward.

“That idiot over there is Lance McClain,” as Pidge introduced him Shiro grinned at him again. Holy fuck maybe this day wasn’t so bad after all. “Don’t listen to anything that comes out of his mouth, I know I don’t!”

With an indignant squawk Lance sputtered as his flustered brain tried to come up with a clapback. “Yeah? Pidge? Well, well, you …. you….!”

Hunk, the good friend he was, saved Lance from his failing retort and turned the attention back to Shiro.

“Not to bombard you the second you meet our group, but could we actually get to what this assignment is? Professor Smythe was pretty vague in class about it, and we have already been waiting here for a while, we would love to just get going on it!”

Bless Hunk’s big heart, Lance thought. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, Lance blew a kiss to his savior.

“What about Keith though? Shouldn’t we wait a bit longer for him?” Lance rolled his eyes at Pidge’s question.

“If the asshole was going to show up by now,” Lance spoke louder when Pidge tried to gesture to stop talking. “He god damn would have. Let’s just get this show on the road.”

Pulling out his notebook and course outline, Lance focused back on Shiro. There. He had shown Shiro he was a conscientious, go-getting student. Lance returned Shiro’s wide smile at his remark: one point for Lance, heck yeah!

“Alright then. Heliophysics. We are going to be studying all aspects of the sun, our closest star,” Shiro began. Lance let his eyes wander over Shiro as the man kept explaining.

“This semester follows the total solar eclipses of August 21, 2017, whose totality crossed the U.S. from coast to coast, and the July 2, 2019, total solar eclipse that crossed Chile and Argentina.” Damn, Shiro probably lifted what, 175? 200? Lance drooled at the thought that Shiro could most certainly lift him.

“In addition to discussing our observations of these eclipses and what has been learned about the solar atmosphere from eclipse research, we will discuss the solar interior (including the Nobel-prize-winning solar neutrino experiment and helioseismology), the photosphere, the chromosphere, the corona, and the solar wind.” Lift him against walls, doors, bent over his desk, the list went on. Lance’s eyes glazed over as he imagined finally fulfilling his fantasy of fucking a teacher during school hours. And god, if Shiro’s muscles were that big, that suggested mighty fine things about the size of Shiro’s-

“Lance,” Shiro slapped a hand on the table in front of him, “please pay attention. This may just be our first meeting but it doesn’t mean we can’t be productive.” Lance vaguely nodded his head, and tried to focus but god those pecs made it so hard. Shiro wasn’t wearing a jacket, just a well fitted button up and a slim black tie. Lance shivered as he imagined watching Shiro loosening that tie, running a hand through his hair, and prowling forward to devour Lance whole.

“Furthermore, we will discuss the role of solar observations in confirming Einstein's General Theory of Relativity with the bending of light at the 1919, 1922, and 2017 total solar eclipses as well as gravitational redshift measurements in solar spectral lines, extending our discussion to the recent "chirp" of gravitational radiation reported from several colliding black holes and neutron stars observed with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.” Fuck yes, even Shiro’s voice was attractive. Talking about space and shit, holy fuck. Lance shifted in his seat as his pants grew tighter. Shiro sounded so commanding, but was also warm. There was hint of humor tugging at the lines of Shiro’s mouth, and Lance could only imagine the rough tones of Shiro’s voice when he was whispering dirty talk. Lance couldn’t help but close his eyes and let slip a small moan at the thought.

“Lance!” This time the hand landed on the arm of his chair and Lance nearly shot out of his seat in alarm. Shiro was leaning down towards him, and Lance gulped as he stared right at Shiro’s godly face.

“Seriously Lance, this is important! This is a team project, which means you will be partly responsible for the success of your peers and vice versa. To be honest this has been a pretty poor first impression of you, and I hope this trend will not continue through all our meetings.” Lance gulped and looked across to Hunk for help. Hunk merely shook his head and Lance could see Pidge mouthing “Gross.”

“I’m sorry, Shiro.” Lance moved his hands over his lap to stop their nervous tapping and to hide his little problem. “I don’t know why I am so distracted today…” Lance gave Shiro his best innocent eyes: they worked on most teachers. Lance did a victory dance in his mind when Shiro cracked a small grin and went back to his place at the table. Waiting until Shiro looked back down at his notes, Lance turned to leer at Pidge and Hunk. That’ll show them not to believe in the seductive powers of Lover-Boy Lance!

“Anyway,” Shiro started up again, “this assignment will make up 45% of your final grade for Heliophysics 412, and will primarily be a research project. While you can undertake practicals to help with your understanding of the eclipses, they will not be taken into account when calculating your final grade. At the end of term the four of you will present your research to the class, receive peer review, and then receive your grade.”

Lance nodded along with Hunk and Pidge, they would take a research project over a final exam any day! But something Shiro said irked him: the four of them. Keith wasn’t even here and it was Lance getting chewed over by the cute TA about bad first impressions!

“As it is, I am also your TA for a second reason. I am-” Lance couldn’t help but interrupt Shiro before the group could glide over what Shiro said.

“Whoa whoa whoa hold your horses there my friend! The four of us?” Once again Pidge reached out to shush Lance, and he wagged his hand away. “What the hell are we to do about Keith? He hasn’t even shown up yet! Talk about a bad first impression.”

Lance watched Shiro sigh, and fold his hands together on the table.

“If you had not interrupted me, you would know why Keith is late today.” Lance rolled his eyes, waiting to hear the next excuse for Keith’s loner behavior. “Keith has special learning conditions, and so he was prepped for the project privately just a short while ago. I sat with him myself for over an hour explaining it, and so he will be arriving in a bit once all this initial explanation to you all is done.”

Lance grew red in the face as all the anger from earlier in the day came rushing back. “Why the hell should Keith get special treatment? If he is such an idiot that he needs extra help, why the hell is he even in this school!?” Lance was furious. Again, it was all about Keith!

Lance watched as Shiro’s eyes grew pinched, and his mechanical hand clenched on the table. But damnit, Lance’s concerns were legitimate! Lance didn’t want to be stuck in a group with a loner asshole who couldn’t carry his own weight. Lance crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow as he waited for Shiro to speak.

Instead, it was Pidge who piped up. “Lance, you bonehead, Keith is deaf.”

The hell? Lance didn’t know how to answer.

“Yes, Lance, Katie is right,” Shiro added in. “As I never got around to explaining, Keith is hard of hearing, and I am here as your TA in particular because I can act as his ASL translator. While he has hearing aids, he prefers to communicate in sign, so I am here to speak on his behalf.” Lifting an eyebrow, Shiro waited for Lance’s next outburst. And Lance didn’t stop to think before he spoke.

“The fuck? How are we expected to present when one of us can’t even talk?” Hunk groaned and dropped his head into his hands at his idiot friend’s outburst. “Seriously you guys, he shouldn’t even be here. I bet that is why his grades are always so good: the teachers give him pity passes.”

Getting worked up, Lance continued on, waving his hands to punctuate. “I worked so damn hard to get here. So damn hard! You two know what my home life is like: I am the first to go to college! I am here nearly entirely on scholarship! And here comes Keith swanning in just because he is special. Give me a fucking break.”

Shiro roughly pushed back from the table and threw up his hands. “Fine. This meeting is getting cut short.” Pidge reached out to calm Shiro but the TA ignored his outstretched hand. Lance watched on in anger, belief in his arguments lending him strength to stay stubbornly in his chair, glaring.

Shiro rummaged through his shoulder bag and pulled out several booklets, and threw them onto the table. “Read through those before our meeting next week. It was nice meeting you Hunk, good bye Pidge.” Returning the snub, Lance refused to turn to watch as Shiro walked out of the room.

Silence rang through the room for a moment before Hunk groaned and Pidge began to angrily swear as he packed away his things.

“Seriously Lance,” Pidge grumbled, “are you that much of an ableist ass to not even give working with Keith a chance?” Pidge tugged one of the booklets closer and quickly flipped through it before tucking it away. “I hope that you can get over yourself soon, because when it comes to asking for a switch of members for this group, I will go to Professor Smythe and ask for you to be removed, not Keith.”

Lance kept his arms folded and stared straight ahead as Pidge left.

Slowly he swung his head to look at Hunk, who was not meeting Lance’s eyes.

“And? What do you think?”

Hunk fidgeted and stood up. “I think you crossed a line this time, Lance.” Hunk took the few steps around the table to place his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I love you man, but I will side with Pidge if push comes to shove about this.”

Lance tucked his head down: even his best friend was turning on him. All about fucking Keith, as fucking always! He ignored Hunk’s goodbye and promise to chat more at dinner, and glared angrily down at his lap.

What a freaking rollercoaster of a day. The highs were sky high and the lows were, like, Marianna’s Trench low. It seemed like every little thing was setting him off like a rocket, even more so than was usual for normal start of school stress. Even the quiet of the old library was beginning to wear him thin now that he wanted to scream and cry and kick and generally moan about the unfairness of life. It was just one of those days.

He knew that he really wasn’t being fair about Keith. Lance had a deaf cousin, and while it was always awkward trying to communicate with her, she wasn’t a bad person because of it. Lance knew he should have stopped talking because it was easy enough to see that Shiro was getting angrier and angrier, but it was like he was on autopilot and all his rage and frustration that had built up during the day spewed out in the form of utter ridiculous garbage that he didn’t even really mean. Lance corrected himself: he did hate Keith and his dillweedy ways, but not because he was deaf. Lance didn’t even freaking know Keith was deaf. But god, it is just like Lance to put one wrong foot in front of the other and dig his grave as quickly as he could.

Lance groaned and leaned down to slump over the table. That outburst probably cost him all his chances with Shiro. But why did Shiro even care so much to begin with? Shiro and Keith had probably only met today, it wasn’t like they had time to become friends or anything really.

Lance smushed his face deeper into his notebook, getting some pleasure out of the crinkling and tearing noises of the paper ripping away from the spiral binding.

Maybe if Keith wasn’t so freaking attractive and yet assholey Lance wouldn’t hate him so much. Keith had been his first Term Cutie last year when Lance had come to Boston. And Keith had ignored pretty much all his advances and then rubbed it in Lance’s face that he had better grades. Since then they had been bitter rivals, and it infuriated Lance because it seemed like Keith always edged Lance out to steal first place.

But enough about Keith, Lance thought. What about Shiro? Should he take up the challenge and pursue his new TA, or go after that hottie from the hallway? Alliya or something. Lance rolled his face back and forth. Alicia was drop-dead gorgeous, but Shiro was the more tempting catch.

Plus, and this thought had Lance shooting up straight in his chair again, if Lance bagged Shiro, he would finally be victorious over Keith. Not that they were in a relationship and probably wouldn’t ever be, Lance mused as he quickly shoved all his books back into his bag, but surely a hottie like Shiro would raise Lance above Keith.

Fuck yeah. A smirk grew on Lance’s face as he stalked towards the door. Shiro it is then.

Chapter Text

~Keith~

Keith grinned over at Shiro who was sat behind his desk, looking all serious and teacher-y.

“Keith,” Shiro said sternly, “you really shouldn’t rile Lance up like that!” Keith’s smile grew wider as he moved forward towards Shiro. Keith could tell that Shiro was trying his hardest not to smile back: his lips were twitching to hold in the grin and his eyes were giving him away.

“Really now, the group has been meeting for nearly four weeks now and you still aren’t even trying to get along!” Shiro shook his head in mock consternation. “What am I to do with a bad student such as yourself?”

Keith slid along the side of Shiro’s desk and used Shiro’s tie to pull the man in close.

“Why, Professor,” Keith whispered directly into Shiro’s ear. “I do believe a naughty student like me should be,” Keith paused to lick the crest of Shiro’s ear, “punished.”

Keith could feel Shiro shudder under his hands, but still the older man remained seated. Keith slipped down until he was resting his weight on the arm of Shiro’s chair, nudging Shiro’s arm with his bottom.

Like clockwork, Keith could feel Shiro’s arm twist around his waist and tug him into Shiro’s lap. Keith let himself fall, and as he settled made sure to squirm just so to begin driving Shiro mad.

“Keith, I know this isn’t maybe what you want to hear right now, but truly, I think you should try to get along better with Lance.” Keith balanced himself against Shiro’s chest, and began pressing wet kisses up the older man’s throat.

“It would be good for you, ah, to have, oh my, more friends here.” As Shiro spoke Keith could feel the vibrations rumbling through Shiro’s throat.

“I know he was a complete ass to you at the start of term,” Keith pulled on Shiro’s tie, cutting off his next words. Shiro’s hands were wandering up and down Keith’s back, tracing a route between his hairline and the studded belt he was wearing.

“But I think he, holy fuck right there, didn’t actually mean most of what he said.” Keith pulled back to give his TA the stink-eye.

“Seriously! Katie even hinted to me at the end of our last meeting that he might be pulling pigtails, if you know what I mean.” Keith pulled off of Shiro’s lap and slid backward onto his desk. Shiro reached out a hand to cup Keith’s chin.

“Of course, that doesn’t excuse the things he said,” Keith turned into the hand, rubbing his cheek against the large palm.

“But still, you aren’t handing over an olive branch either, Keith!” Keith nipped Shiro’s fingers and leaned back against the desk, pushing aside papers and pamphlets as he did so. He grinned at the small frown Shiro sent his way.

“I think,” Keith cocked his head to the side and looked at Shiro through hooded eyes, “we should be more concerned about his pursuit of you, Shiro, hmm?”

Keith loved it when Shiro blushed like that. From experience Keith knew that that blush extended all the way from the tips of Shiro’s ears down to his waist, and the thought made him lick his lips. Keith loved how Shiro wore his heart on his sleeve, and while he seemed all stern and composed in public, in private he was Keith’s little lovebug.

Shiro glanced up into Keith’s face and scowled. “He doesn’t like me, Keith. He admires my accomplishments in the fields of astronomy and physics, but he doesn’t you know, like like me.”

Keith snorted. “As if! The boy practically drools every time he sees you, and don’t think I haven’t noticed him swooning like a lovesick maiden in every meeting!” Shiro’s blush deepened.

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way, really.” Keith reached out to take ahold of Shiro’s tie again. “You are mine.” His feet came up to nudge Shiro’s sides and draw him closer. “You are mine, Shiro.”

Keith used his grip to pull Shiro until he was braced up and over Keith on the desk, blotting out the gray sunlight filtering in from the rain soaked courtyard behind the building.

As their lips brushed Keith whispered: “And I am yours.”

This close Keith could watch Shiro’s eyes dilate in lust. Just a centimeter closer and they would be kissing, and it would be so good, just like always. Keith could feel Shiro’s breath puff against his cheek, and his insides began to squirm in excitement. Years on and Shiro could still turn him on faster than a light switch, and Keith was never one to complain about that. Keith flicked out his tongue to moisten his lips—

Bang bang bang! Both boys jumped at the sudden knock on the office door. Hurriedly Shiro glanced up to check the lock, and slumped back down in relief when he saw that Keith had in fact remembered to turn it when he had come in.

Keith pet around Shiro’s face to draw the man back in to him, but they were both distracted by a familiar whiny voice shouting out in the hallway.

“Shirooo! Shirooooo you said you would go over the basics of coronal flattening again!” Keith thunked his head back onto the desk at Lance’s plea. Keith lifted an eyebrow up at Shiro: what was the man saying again about Lance not having a crush?

The man in question stood up from the desk and made to answer the door, but Keith quickly stood and pushed Shiro back into his chair. Was Lance kicking at the door? What was he, a child?

“Keith,” Shiro began but Keith was quick to cut him off with a quick peck and finger waggling.

“Let me have the honors, Shiro.”

Keith sauntered over to the door, flicked the lock, and swiftly pulled the door open. Lance stumbled into the room only to straighten up and sneer when he saw that it was Keith taking up Shiro’s time.

Keith crossed his arms and moved to the side as Lance walked towards Shiro’s desk, smirking at how Shiro tried to pull himself quickly into teacher-mode.

“So, Shiro, you said to come to you with any questions,” at this Lance flicked a look back at Keith before sliding one hand along Shiro’s desk. “And, well, I seem to find myself…. positively bamboozled.”

Keith snorted at Lance’s attempts at subtly flirting with Shiro. He held his hands up when Lance whipped his head around to glare at him. Keith could see that Shiro too was trying to keep it together for the sake of professionalism.

Lance tried again: “Coronal flattening, huh? You don’t see that every day… Remind me what makes such a shift significant enough to be worth labelling as such?”

This time Keith couldn’t keep in the giggle at Lance’s ridiculous posture as he bent over the desk to hang in Shiro’s space. Keith held a hand over his mouth as he chuckled, but when Lance spun around he could obviously hear and see shaking in Keith’s shoulders.

Lance grew red in the face —almost as cute as Shiro’s blush, Keith noted offhandedly— and took two long strides to get up in Keith’s face.

“What are you even doing here, Keith? Shouldn’t you be in the library doing your part to research fluctuations?” Lance wove back and forth in front of him like he was ready to throw hands at any moment. Keith looked over Lance’s shoulder to see Shiro grinning and shooing Lance away. They both knew that Keith could whoop Lance’s ass any time he chose to.

“At the last meeting you didn’t have anything ready for us-” Keith rolled his eyes. He had forgotten his notes at his apartment at lunchtime, and he wasn’t going to run back across town just to get them for their quick meet up.

“I don’t want to fail this project because you aren’t doing your share. And don’t expect to be able to get a pity pass from Professor Smythe! I heard he is one of the most difficult professors in the department. And don’t you go trying to be all buddy-buddy with Shiro either just so he can put in a good word for you, that wouldn’t be-” Keith reached up and flicked his hearing aids off. Ah, so much nicer now.

Lance was still shouting at him, but it was all a pleasant bland hum now. Keith stretched his arms above his head and yawned, cracking his neck from side to side as he watched Lance get more and more worked up. Making sure to keep eye contact with Lance, Keith reached up and pulled out each hearing aid, tucking them into the case he carried in his pocket.

That had stopped Lance in his tracks for a second, and he looked like a big mouthed bass with his mouth gaping open. Keith snickered again and looked back to Shiro. The older man was shaking his head and coming towards the two of them. Keith kept a grin on his face as Shiro escorted the dumbfounded Lance out to the hallway, pausing for a moment in the doorway before sending him on his way.

Keith strolled over to sit on the desk again, and waited patiently for his lover to turn back towards him. And oh boy, Keith was not disappointed. When Shiro turned towards him he was positively predatory. A curved grin drew across his face, and his eyes shone with lust.

Every line of Shiro’s body was taut with anticipation and it always thrilled Keith to know that he was the one who riled Shiro up to that point.

“How do you want me?” Keith signed out as he began to pull off his own shirt.

Shiro paused mid-stride to answer: “On your knees, in front of my chair.”

Keith felt heat course through his body at what he knew Shiro wanted from him. Keith loved sucking dick, and Shiro knew it. Keith kicked his feet to spin over the desk and sank down onto the hard plastic pad that the older man’s office chair rolled on. From the corner of his eye Keith watched as Shiro rounded the large desk and came to stand in front of him.

With one hand Shiro tilted Keith’s chin up, and with the other gestured out a thumbs up and a finger rubbing across his chin. “Good boy.”

Keith shuddered at that: he loved being Shiro’s good little boy. A lot of people saw Keith as an aggressive loner who didn’t bow to anyone, but in reality Keith loved being submissive. Maybe it was just a Shiro thing, that Keith just wanted to please Shiro however he could. But it was also a trust thing. He trusted Shiro more than anyone else and he felt like he could give in to his urges when he was with Shiro. Shiro just got him in a way no one else ever had.

Rolling his head back, Keith closed his eyes to focus on the feelings that were quickly drowning him. Shiro’s metal hand sent a chill down Keith’s neck as it slid up into his hair, and briefly Keith could feel the smooth roughness of the older man’s dress pants on his cheeks as he slid down to sit. Shifting his knees wider apart on the stiff plastic, Keith couldn’t help but rut a little bit into the now tight crotch of his jeans. Even the way his belt was cutting into his waist just so sent frissons of heat curling through Keith’s stomach.

Letting Shiro’s strong hands guide him forward, Keith began to nose at the buttons on Shiro’s slacks. Bracing his hands on Shiro’s knees, Keith just let his head rest for a moment on Shiro’s stomach. This. This is what it was all about. Moments of calm amidst a storm of lust. Keith’s heart beat fast as the realization of how deeply he cared for Shiro washed over him.

Shiro’s hand tightened in Keith’s hair and pressed Keith harder into his crotch. This green signal set Keith’s nerves on fire and he knew it was time to go. Slowly he pushed his hands up Shiro’s thighs, teasingly around Shiro’s groin, and then hooked his thumbs into Shiro’s polo.

With a quick tug the shirt was pulled from Shiro’s slacks, and Shiro’s midriff was bare to Keith’s restless tongue. Beginning to nibble and lick his TA’s lower stomach, Keith could feel Shiro’s abs cramping and tightening. Swiping a lick through Shiro’s belly button caused the older man to flinch, but the small bites Keith trailed up towards Shiro’s chest soothed away the surprise.

Feeling cloth moving over his hands, Keith looked up to see Shiro slowly pulling open each button on his polo. Keith helped by reaching up one hand to push the offending garment off of the older man’s shoulder.

God that was a gorgeous sight. A long unimpeded view of soft skin, pebbled nipples, and then a strong jaw culminating in the face of the person he loved most of this world. And he, Keith, had put that breathless expression on Shiro’s face.

After taking a moment to suckle at Shiro’s nipples, Keith turned his attention back down to Shiro’s belt. He made sure to lick his way down Shiro’s chest in one smooth line, and looked back up to blow a puff of cool air on the wet trail. Just a simple hook and four buttons stood in the way of his prize. The belt wasn’t difficult, and he had plenty of practice opening buttons with his mouth.

Nudging into the small opening of the pants, Keith once again paused to rest his head against Shiro. It was getting difficult to ignore his own arousal, but he tried as well as he could. This was supposed to be a punishment after all.

He could feel the bulge of Shiro’s cock against his cheek, and could practically taste its salt on his tongue. He began to mouth at the member through Shiro’s cotton briefs. Teasingly he nibbled gently through the fabric, pulling it away from Shiro’s cock only to breathe warmly against it as the cotton fell back into place. His tongue began to drag up the length, and Keith could tell that the damp texture was riling Shiro up. When Keith used one hand to pull the underwear away from Shiro’s skin just enough to give a kitten lick to Shiro’s tip, Shiro couldn’t stand it any longer.

Keith was shoved away from Shiro for a moment as Shiro reached down to pull his cock out. The office chair bumped Keith, and for a moment he felt the ache in his knees from kneeling so long. But the thought passed swiftly as Shiro reached out to drag his face back in.

Finally, Keith was getting what he wanted.

Keith wasted no time getting that cock in his mouth. He loved the weight of it choking in his throat, laying heavy on his tongue. When he was like this he didn’t have to think: just feel.

Shiro tasted fantastic, as normal. The mix of soap, sweat, and musk was so Shiro that Keith felt at home when he smelled it. The slight tang of the day dissipated quickly as Keith held the cock in his mouth.

A nudge of Shiro’s foot against his knee set Keith into motion. Long licks up the length of the shaft, teasing wet kisses at Shiro’s crown, and a quick suck at the very top. Every now and then Keith bent even closer to nose at Shiro’s groin and balls. One of his favorite things to do was to sneak a hand towards Shiro’s waist, and run a finger gently down the sensitive crease of Shiro’s hip. It never failed to make Shiro shiver.

Soon Keith was in a rhythm: licking up, slurping down, rubbing his fingers over Shiro’s balls and taint. He could feel Shiro tensing up and growing thicker in his mouth. Keith groaned and the rumbles sent Shiro over the edge: salty heat spewed into Keith’s open mouth.

Vaguely over the tension of his own lust, Keith could feel Shiro’s torso heaving with harsh breathes, and he ticked this encounter off as successful.

With a saucy grin, Keith looked back up at Shiro. Making sure he had caught the older man’s eye, he opened his mouth to show the cum still on his tongue. If it was possible, Shiro’s eyes widened even further and he swooped down to engage Keith in a filthy kiss. Keith just sat back and let Shiro dominate him, happy to provide such pleasure to his TA.

After a few moments, Shiro pulled away from Keith, and Keith felt a damp string of saliva and cum fall to his chin. Shiro reached out one of his big hands to cradle Keith’s jaw and used a thumb to wipe it away.

“No hands,” Shiro signed above him. A shake of his head punctuated the pinching shut of his fingers. Instead, Shiro offered forward one of his legs.

It was Keith’s turn, finally! Just sucking Shiro off made Keith feel about ready to burst, and he knew he didn’t need much to push him over the edge. Eagerly he shuffled forward, straddling Shiro’s right leg and shin.

With a sigh of contentment he began to rut against Shiro’s leg, near crying in pleasure as his ignored cock was finally able to get some friction. He had been dripping inside his jeans since the moment Shiro ordered him onto his knees. Tipping his head back to look up at Shiro, Keith felt like such a slut as he humped the older man’s shin. It felt so good though, and he knew Shiro got off at seeing Keith acting so wantonly.

Keith couldn’t help but open his mouth and pant as he grew closer to his release. So close so close..!

All of a sudden Keith was being pulled up and pushed down onto Shiro’s desk. Flashes of pleasure shot through Keith as the older man tugged him around like a rag doll. God Shiro was so strong.

Almost roughly Shiro tugged open Keith’s pants, and without any warning, swallowed down Keith’s prick. Keith choked on a shout as he came near instantaneously, and could only reach down to tangle his fingers into Shiro’s hair to anchor himself from flying away.

Keith shuddered as Shiro kissed along his crotch up to his waist, and then gently tucked Keith back into his pants. Slowly, Shiro came up to once more lean over Keith, and bent to nuzzle and press kisses into Keith’s neck as he came down from his high. Keith’s head thumped back onto the desk as his head swam in a daze, and his body began to shiver as it cooled down.

A rumble in Shiro’s chest caused Keith to turn his head to look at the older man, and it was no surprise to him that Shiro was smiling once again. For several minutes the lovers stayed lying on the desk, just enjoying each other’s closeness. Every now and then Shiro would tip Keith’s chin up for a kiss, and Keith would reciprocate in kind with hands gently rubbing Shiro’s back.

For now, everything was right in the world.

———————————

Fifteen minutes later saw the two men fully clothed and setting the office back to rights. As Shiro began righting the papers on his messed up desk, Keith pulled his hearing aids back out of his pocket. He didn’t love wearing his aids, but they did make his day to day life around the college a little bit easier. It was frustrating walking that line between hearing some and not hearing at all, especially when other folks assumed he either completely could or could not hear. Why did they care so much anyway? Keith oscillated between wanting to just flip them off angrily and just give in and beg them to speak to him like they would anyone else.

At least Shiro understood his struggle. Wearing the hearing aids hurt. Often the stiff forms pressed into his ears and ached, and the constant feedback from even the littlest noises was a recipe for frequent headaches.

With a sigh, Keith tucked them behind his ears and flicked them back on. Those first few seconds never failed to be a bit disconcerting as all the staticky sounds of the world began to rush into his head. Sighing again he swung around to collect his bag, coming face to face with Shiro’s big dopey grin.

Keith tried to maintain a grumpy face to reinforce his annoyance, but with Shiro looking at him like that it was just so hard. How could a man so big look so young and sappy? It was a continual mystery for Keith.

Shiro bent across the desk for one last kiss, and Keith met him halfway. There it was again. Here, in this office, was a quiet little bubble all of their own.

Pulling away, Keith quickly flipped his hand up to mime eating, then down to push forward before pointing ahead. “I am going to the grocery store.” Keith tugged his book bag closer. Again he pointed towards Shiro, this time bringing his hands up flat and giving them a little shake. “What do you want to eat?”

Keith slapped Shiro’s hand away when all he did was point back. Keith held his hands in fists and spun his pinkies out. “Spaghetti?” Hands pinched back and then came up in a tossing motion. “And salad?”

Shiro nodded and reached out to snag Keith’s hands, placing a small kiss on each palm. With a blush that ran down to his toes, Keith pulled his hands away and slid off the desk before he ended up staying longer. Shiro’s office hours were nearly up, and Keith really did have to go run some errands before his evening class.

The walk to the door felt longer than usual, and the lingering coils of warmth in his stomach tried to pull Keith back to the man behind the desk. Pulling himself together, Keith opened the door and just as he was stepping into the hallway made the mistake of looking back at Shiro.

There was his big lug, grinning ear to ear, fingers up and shaking “love” at him like some besotted idiot. Blush deepening to the color of a tomato, Keith pulled the door shut and had to catch his breath before starting down the hallway.

At least Shiro was his big idiot.

———————————

Several hours later Keith was waiting for his seminar on lunar stratigraphy to begin. He was about half an hour early, and weighed down with the groceries and toiletries Shiro had texted him to pick up. Instead of waiting by the doorway to his class as usual, Keith had slumped into one of the armchairs in the small break room at the end of the hall. Keith didn’t often hang around in here because many of the doorways leading out of the room were actually offices for the professors, and he always thought it felt just a little weird to be in space that felt like theirs.

It did feel good though, he admitted, to let his tired body just melt into the cushy armchair. The room was pleasantly warm compared to the rapidly chilling October air outside, and with dusk falling around him the room was painted in soft golden light. Yeah, Keith could just stay right here, quiet and secluded…

“I am telling you he is doing it on purpose!” Fuck no. The loud voice came from just around the corner from Keith and jolted him out of his haze. Not again.

“Lance, chill out. He is a student just like you, going to his advisor for help.” No no no no no. Keith shook his head and hoped that it wasn’t actually Lance’s and Hunk’s voices he could recognize.

“Hunk you don’t know either? It is more than that between Shiro and Keith, Lance.” Fuck Pidge was here too. Keith only had an hour and a half left at school, why couldn’t he have avoided them for just a little bit longer?!

“Yeah yeah, Shiro knows sign language too and so is helping Keith speak. Blah blah blah.” Keith could practically feel Lance roll his eyes when he spoke.

“C’mon Lance. It isn’t just blah blah blah!” Keith could picture Hunk, peacemaker that he was, trying to quiet Lance down. “And we both know you really aren’t as upset about Keith anymore. I even helped you practice a few basic signs, remember?”

Well that was news to Keith. A lot of people did that when they got close to Keith, but very few pursued it enough to actually carry out conversations in ASL.

“That doesn’t count, Hunk!” Lance’s voice shifted up in pitch, and began to grate on Keith’s ears. “That is just a friendly colleague doing friendly peer, erh, things!”

The crunchy sound of chuckling filtered down the hall. Keith heard Lance squawk, and then a flustered susurrus of chatting and slapping noises.

Keith unfurled his legs and reached down to grab his bags. Tensing to go, Keith was torn between staying hidden around the corner and moving past the loud-mouthed trio.

“They’re brothers, Lance.”

Keith froze where he stood, and the commotion in the hallway died at Pidge’s words.

“They are brothers.”

Keith inched back away from the wall, and slunk back down in his armchair, waiting for Lance’s next outburst.

“What?” Something thumped to the ground out in the hall. Lance’s high voice squeezed again. “Pidge, no way they are brothers, they have different last names!”

Keith nodded along, most people did get confused about that. He could go out and explain it, but it was more fun to eavesdrop on the drama. Never mind that he was the drama: it wasn’t like he and Shiro kept their relationship a secret. No one just ever thought to ask about it. Besides, Pidge knew him and Shiro well enough to explain it just fine.

Tucking his feet back up, Keith rested his head against the bulletin board behind him and waited for Katie to go on.

“They have different last names because Shiro took their mom’s name, and Keith their dad’s, when their parents passed away.” Keith waited for a reaction from Hunk and Lance. He couldn’t hear much from them, but that wasn’t anything new. Keith sighed and curled up tighter. He was used to this story —heck, he had lived it— but that never made it easier to hear.

“When Shiro and him were teens, the whole family got into a car accident. I think they were driving back from an outing to a planetarium, actually, but that doesn’t really matter. They were almost home when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit them. Ryou and Aiko were killed almost instantly. Shiro was thrown from the car, and Keith, poor Keith, was trapped inside with his parents for hours before another car found them and called 911.”

“I never would have guessed,” Hunk injected. “Shiro seems so …. normal and happy. I mean, everyone can see his prosthetic so we all know something happened, but I would never have thought something as horrible as that.”

Keith hung his head. Yeah, Shiro was a trooper. And god, Keith loved him with all his heart, but sometimes he also hated that Shiro’s injury was so visible. Most folks didn’t bring it up, because they could see that obviously something had hurt Shiro. But no one could ever look at Keith and just see his past trauma: every single person he got close to he had to explain this to over and over again.

“Those first few years after the accident were rough. Keith was going into high school, and Shiro into college. The two had pretty much no family left in the States, so it was just them muddling through together. Shiro began volunteering as a test subject for an applied biomechanics company, and he received his prosthetic arm that way. My dad actually was one of the engineers who built Shiro’s first arm, and our two families have been close since then. Matt, my older brother, was the same age as Shiro and they went away to university together.”

For the first time in a while, Keith heard Lance pipe up.

“What happened to Keith though? You are barely mentioning him.” The trio shuffled closer to Keith’s hiding place, and he once again tensed to run.

“He had it tough. Only 14 and both parents were gone, his older brother was laid up for months, and he suddenly had to deal with hearing loss. If I remember correctly, he didn’t suspect that anything was wrong with his ears at first. He had to deal with a few broken bones, and attributed the dizziness and changes in hearing as just oversensitivity and trauma.” Pidge slid down the wall to sit on the floor, one leg kicking out into the break room.

“It was nearly a year after the accident —and after I met him— that Shiro forced Keith back to the doctors. He was rebellious at the time, that I remember, and he put up a fight about pretty much anything. Only Shiro could calm him down. They were close as kids, but I have never seen two people as codependent on each other as those two siblings at that time. We fell a little out of touch in those years, as Keith followed Shiro away to Williams, and then on to New York. Shiro was on top of the game about getting Keith the best hearing aids and attending ASL classes. It was Matt’s idea for us to also learn some sign, and we surprised the two of them with it when they came back for Thanksgiving one year. I am ashamed to say that I have gotten a little rusty with it, but Matt and my parents still are passable.”

“Gee whiz,” ugh, there was Lance again. “You don’t think this would have been handy information for us to know earlier? You know how important family is to me, I wouldn’t have been so tough on him so much if I knew how rough he had it.”

Keith vaguely heard Hunk whisper to Lance, and Pidge also pitched in with “Aw Lance, you sort of have a soul!”

Keith grinned a little bit at the squawks coming from Lance, and chuckled when out of the dog pile in the hallway a book bag and a shoe were thrown into the break room. Idiots, all of them.

“But Pidge!” Lance continued as the giggling group settled down again. “Why on earth didn’t you tell us this earlier? This is vital information for my quest!”

“That’s ‘cause your quest is gross Lance. I have said it before and I will say it a million times more. Besides, the link between our families was primarily Matt and Shiro, so while I kind of knew that Keith was studying here, it wasn’t until Shiro also showed up that I started hanging out with Keith again too.”

“But Piiidge! You could have been my inside man all this time! I could have ridden you all the way to Shiro’s bed!” Pidge made a retching noise as Hunk laughed and added: “Or Keith’s!”

“Hunk! How dare you betray me you foul fiend!” Keith sat quietly while the trio began scuffling again. It was one thing to joke about Lance’s crush on Shiro, but another to hear it straight from his mouth. A door slammed down the corridor, and the gaggle in the hallway fell silent.

“Shit, I was supposed to meet with Professor Ifarl almost fifteen minutes ago!” Keith stood up and grabbed his things at Lance’s outburst. He had to go too. Just as he was rounding the corner to finally pass through the group, Lance bounced into the break room to retrieve his bag. Smirking, Keith watched as Lance skidded confusedly to a halt, sputtering.

“What the…” Lance tripped over his words. Keith turned to walk through Hunk and Pidge, patting Katie’s shoulder as he walked by.

“What the hell, Keith?!” Keith only acknowledged Lance’s screech by continuing to walk away, flipping the bird over his shoulder as he turned the corner.

Yeah, the rest of term was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

~Pidge~

“Hey Matt! Got a minute? I need your help airing out the attic bedrooms!” Pidge was excited to be home again, and even more so that her newfound uni friends would be staying the week. Sure, it was so that they could spend the entire week working on their presentation, but still.

“Matt? Come on they are going to be here soon!” Pidge huffed and began the ascent up the dusty stairs on her own. 

Shiro and Keith had come over many times before, and Colleen had always set up the attic as a mini-apartment for them. For the most part the attic was still organized that way, but over the last few years miscellaneous boxes had somehow gathered up there. Sure the boxes might be filled with her old and broken robots and such, but really, Katie had no clue how all that had piled up there….

Lifting the lid of the cardboard box nearest her released a plume of green dust into the air. Rightio, not going to touch that one!

Rubbing her nose to ward off an oncoming sneeze, Pidge moved further into the kitchenette. The stairs to the attic apartment opened onto the small living room and kitchen, with the doors to the two bedrooms tucked away to the left. A small bathroom was hidden on the far side of the living room.

When she was younger and the Shirogane brothers were over more often, many afternoons were spent up here tinkering with robots and playing video games. Oftentimes she would beg Matt to let her stay later into the evening, but he always sent her down to bed around 9:00 as if she was still a child.

With a sad grin, Pidge remembered how Keith would usually grab her on her way back down the stairs and sneak her into his bedroom. They would laugh and talk for hours about favorite movies, monsters, the stars… anything really. She was sure that from the living room their older brothers could hear their snickering, but they always let the pair be. When she and Keith had drifted apart towards the end of high school it was sad, but it was so gradual that it wasn’t all that noticeable. Now though, nearly three years later and faced with the fact that come tonight the brothers would be back as if they had never left, Katie could really feel the long years apart.

Shaking her head to clear the depressing thoughts, Pidge climbed on the counter over the sink to shove open the old windows.

“Pidgeotto! Where do you want me to throw the towels?” Matt gleefully shouted upon his entrance to the attic. Startled, Pidge lost her balance and slid into the old sink.

“Matt!” Pidge scrambled to regain her balance as her nitwit of a brother giggled in the background. “You rotten turnip you did that on purpose!”

With a dramatic moan Matt dropped the towels onto a nearby box and pretended to swoon. “My dear sister, I would never!” He clasped his hands over his heart and spun in a slow circle, peeking with one eye to watch for her reaction. “How could you accuse your loving older brother of such a dastardly thing? Why, the very thought of it chills me to my bones!”

“Oh come off it you ham.” Flapping a hand, Pidge reached out to Matt. “Just help me out of here. We need to finish tidying up: they will be here soon!”

Matt shuffled forward solemnly, and Pidge tried her best not to crack a smile at his acting.

“Ah! Pidge!” Matt shouted as he grew closer. “They’re here!” Pidge whipped her head around to see out the window, missing the glee building on Matt’s face. “Gotcha Pidgelette.”

Matt snuck his hands under her arms and hauled her out of the sink. Breathless from the sudden movement, Pidge could only hold on as her brother spun her around like he had done when they were kids.

As the two stumbled to a stop, Matt’s arms curled around her and she could feel him tuck his chin on her head. Pidge fought back for a moment, but soon relaxed into her brother’s arms.

“It’s been awhile since Shiro and Keith have been here, huh?” Pidge looked out towards the cozy seating area and old tv. Dust slowly spun through the sunlight filtering in from the windows, and music wafted up through the stairwell.

“It has.” There, stuffed under one side of the couch to hold it up were Shiro and Matt’s first year calculus textbooks. And over there on the wall, hidden behind a carefully placed bookcase, were Keith and Pidge’s scribbles of their favorite constellations.

Misty eyed, Pidge could see phantoms of their younger selves bounding up the stairs, or cuddling together on the sofas. Briefly she tightened her grasp on Matt’s arms, then pushed away firmly. No use dwelling on the past.

Stepping forward she pushed up her sleeves and shoved her bangs away from her face. “C’mon, let’s get these boxes out of here.” She turned back to smile at Matt, “Hide them in the linens closet?”

Her older brother had that same subdued look in his eyes, but he too cheered at the thought of returning to their old shenanigans. Colleen would throw a fit when she found out, but they would deal with that ogre when they crossed that bridge.

“Of course, where else?”

———————————

The first meeting between her parents and Hunk and Lance had gone pretty well. Hunk had charmed their socks off with his big smile and open demeanor, and well, Lance tried his best. Hunk had then whipped out a hostess gift of homemade bread —still warm!— and offered to help with the cooking and grocery shopping for the week.

Pidge tried to extricate the duo quickly so they could escape from the excitement that was causing Colleen to near bounce in the foyer, but Hunk seemed content to hang around and chat. Pidge could see Matt snickering in the entry to the kitchen, and she stuck her tongue out at him. And gee whiz, her mom must have eyes on the back of her head because nearly instantaneously there came a sharp “Katie!” from the doorway.

Mumbling a sorry under her breath, Pidge looked around and noticed Lance’s attention had strayed to the house itself. Pidge knew her family was well off, and she enjoyed a lot of the luxuries that came with having a bit of surplus wealth, but it was at times like these she felt self conscious about it.

The entry to the house had marble floors, and looked directly towards a wide walnut stairway leading up to an overlook. If you looked past the stairs towards the back of the house you could get glimpses of the living room, and the garden beyond. An old apple tree was framed in a semicircle window that aligned perfectly with the hallway through to the living room, and it was one of Pidge’s favorite things about her family home. While Pidge was used to the grandeur of her house, she knew it was a bit extravagant compared to most.

Watching Lance frown a little as he craned his neck to look up at the silver planetary mobile hanging from the ceiling, Pidge hoped Shiro and Keith would get here soon. To be honest, she wanted Shiro for his calming vibe, and Keith so that Lance’s attention would be focused elsewhere. The longer she didn’t have to talk to Lance about personal stuff the better.

With renewed vigor Pidge began pulling Hunk and Lance towards the stairway. Lance scowled as she grabbed hold, but thankfully didn’t complain as she made her excuses to her parents. Hunk lingered a second longer, promising Colleen to return to help with supper later. And then finally, finally, they were on their way up to the attic.

Matt walked with them a bit, and then saluted Pidge as he veered away to continue towards his study to the right of the living room.

As the trio began the walk down the second floor hallway, it seemed like Lance couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Nice house you got, Pidge.”

“Yep. Comes from having an inventor dad and doctor mom-”

“I love your mom!” Hunk butted in. “She said we could try making a bread pudding for dessert, and while I normally wouldn’t use fresh bread for that, I do want to make a good impression and she said something about maybe Keith liking it? I hope she likes adding chocolate to it, some people think that is going overboard but I-”

A stink eye from Lance shut Hunk up real quick, and he fell back to walk behind the other two.

“You were holding out on us again, Pidge! Why didn’t you tell us your family was loaded?” Jeesh, Pidge could probably count the number of nice things Lance had said on one hand. Thankfully, Hunk jumped back in.

“Don’t be crude, Lance. Why should it matter?”

“It doesn’t reeeeeaally matter, but it is just one of those things that friends should know about!”

“Oh yeah? What else should friends know about?”

Pidge watched as Lance screwed up his eyebrows into his thinking face, before listing out: “Well, friends should know basic things like favorite colors, movies, foods, etc. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Friends should also know slightly more in-depth things like where you’re from, what your hobbies are, where you work, or what you do in school.”

“Mmhmm.” Pidge paused in the hallway a moment, nudging open the bathroom door behind her. Gesturing in vaguely, she turned to keep walking as Lance continued.

“Further, close friends, such as we, should know even more in-depth and personal things, right? That is how we pass the best friends quiz.”

Hunk snorted from behind them. Pidge wished they were in the attic already, so she could ditch them under the guise of letting them settle in. God, even when you liked Lance he was difficult to handle for prolonged periods of time.

“Such things include torrid romantic interests, juicy scandalous secrets, and basic family affairs! Come on Hunk, even you were surprised when we realized the address he gave us was in Roxbury!” Pidge stopped short, Hunk bumping into her before he realized she wasn’t moving anymore.

“What did you say there, Lance?”

“What, that we thought the gps glitched when we typed in 02132?” Pidge turned her eyes up to the moulded ceiling panels and held in a sigh.

“No, Lance. It has to do with the basic things friends should know about each other.”

Lance began ticking things off on his fingers. “Your height? Sibling status? Favorite Chinese take out?”

Pidge heard Hunk gasp and she turned to him, and Pidge knew he had realized too. Hunk swung his head down to look at Pidge, then back at Lance in disbelief.

“No Lance,” Hunk groaned, “You said ‘when we plugged in his address.’” Pidge could practically see the cogs turning in Lance’s brain. “Dude, it’s been over two months.”

When Lance just continued to stand there, confuddled, Pidge realized she would have to take matters into her own hands. She could string Lance along and enjoy his confusion, or she could tell him all at once and bask in the chaos her revelation would surely bring.

The latter was an easy choice.

“Lance. I am a girl. A she. A her.”

The cogs crashed to a halt in Lance’s eyes, and for once Lance’s motor mouth was silent. Pidge stood there and endured it as he raked his eyes up and down her small body, but crossed her arms the second time he did it.

“Well?”

“Pidge, I want you to know that I never thought you were a guy.” Hunk, the sweetheart, was apologizing for something he didn’t even do. Pidge held up her hand, and looked back to Lance.

“Did I break him?”

“You might have.”

“At least he shut up for a second.”

“Haha, You can say that again!” Fist bumping Hunk, Pidge turned into the alcove that lead to the attic stairs. Leaving Lance below, Pidge made her way up.

“You know, I really do love your house,” Hunk chattered as they climbed. “The view of the park out back is gorgeous, and so refreshing when ninety-nine days out of a hundred you are stuck in a concrete jungle. And I truly can’t wait to get my hands on the kitchen: I have always wanted to use a double-height oven! And I think I saw Le Creuset crockery, I think I will have to make you all some short ribs while I am here.”

“Well, I think you are going to like being here for the week, Hunk,” Pidge grinned as she opened the door to the attic. “Welcome to Holt-Kitchenette Part Deux!” 

Hunk looked around in awe at the open space, but immediately wandered over to skim his hands across the granite countertops.

“You call this a kitchenette?” He rans his hands over the farmhouse sink she had fallen in not 45 minutes earlier. “This is better than the kitchen at Lance and I’s place, hands down!”

Pidge flopped on the love seat, and mashed her head into the throw pillows that Colleen had chucked up the stairs at them when they were getting the area ready.

Echoing from below the duo heard Lance’s high-pitched shriek. Pidge grabbed a second pillow to shove over her head too.

“A GIRL?” Heavy steps scrambled up the stairs, and an out of breath Lance popped out into the attic.

“Piiiiidge? Why wouldn’t you tell me that when we first met?” Lance fell down on his knees in front of the couch, looking remarkably like Matt had earlier when he was hamming it up.

“Well Lance, I didn’t think it was something that I had to tell you.”

“Yeah dude, I knew from like, the second time I had Pidge in class that she was, well, a she. Just because she dresses kind of tomboy-ish doesn’t mean she actually is, you know, a guy.”

Lance whipped his head back and forth between Pidge and Hunk. “You knew and didn’t tell me either? Hunk! How could you! I thought you were my best friend! You let me make a fool of myself-”

“You don’t need me to do that.”

“And worse off, you let me embarrass Pidge!” Pidge actually was a little shocked by Lance’s reaction, and she lifted her head from her pillow protection to see Lance shuffle on his knees toward her.

“If I had known Shiro and Keith had seen Pidge like a little sister, I would have totally used you in a different way!” Hunk groaned and Pidge threw her pillow at the smug face.

“But seriously Pidge, I really am sorry to misgender you, and I want you to know I wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt you with it.” Lance sounded sincere, and he looked miserable when he rested his chin on the arm of the sofa. “I know I am a dick about a lot of things, but I am trying to learn to be more inclusive. From here on out, will you call me out when I act the fool?”

Pidge looked at him, and tried not to be pulled in by his puppy eyes. But, Lance had actually been a good friend these last few months, and he was a really good study buddy too. He hadn’t done anything cruel to her other than being bitchy in general, but that was part of what made Lance so fun to be around. He had also been making strides to mend bridges with Keith, and how could she fault him for that?

After a moment’s deliberation, Pidge gave her verdict. “Fine, we are still friends. And yes, I will slap you whenever you are an ass.”

Lance grinned and leaned in close to bump Pidge’s fist. “Great. Now teach me how to sign ‘girl’ so I can impress Keith.”

The target was so close this time Pidge felt a satisfying thwack when her pillow made contact.

———————————

Keith and Shiro arrived about half an hour after Hunk and Lance, and were met with an even warmer reception. Colleen kept hugging them and patting them down and complaining that they both weren’t eating enough. Did her mom not have eyes? Jeesh, Pidge didn’t swing that way but even she could admire the pure hunk of muscle that was Shiro.

Sam was in a good mood too, tossing arms around each boy and ruffling Keith’s hair. Keith scowled up at Pidge’s dad, but it melted into a grin quickly enough.

Lance had tried to act as tour guide and show Shiro up to the attic, but the poor boy didn’t know that the Shirogane bros had been here millions of times before. He played doting host as he walked the boys up the stairs, and the brothers just played along.

Supper had also gone surprisingly smoothly, with the exception of Lance’s awkward attempts at flirting with Shiro. The table had been set as it usually was to accommodate the brothers, with Pidge’s parents at either head, Keith sitting across from Shiro, and Pidge, Matt, Hunk, and Lance filling in the sides. Lance wiggled his way into the seat next to Shiro and kept reaching into his space for the salt, or the rolls, or whoops! He accidentally dropped a napkin into Shiro’s lap! 

Pidge watched on with glee as Shiro ignored most of Lance’s advances with perfect charm and grace. Through the entire dinner he, Matt, Sam, and Colleen spoke with both their voices and their hands, and translated for Keith what the others were saying too. That alone kept Shiro’s attention off of Lance, but Pidge noticed that Shiro seemed distracted on top of that.

Shiro fidgeted a little more than usual, and his voice was slightly tight. While it was barely noticeable, Pidge knew Shiro well enough to pick up that he was on edge. A quick glance around the table told her that Matt had noticed it too.

She quirked an eyebrow up.

Matt shrugged his shoulders and flicked his eyes towards Keith.

Ah, there was the problem. Keith’s intense gaze was focused entirely on Shiro. And as if he was lured in, Shiro couldn’t stop staring back. Every bite of food Keith took he took with obvious pleasure, licking his lips and swallowing slowly. A look back at Shiro saw he traced every bite with his eyes, and stayed locked on Keith’s mouth as he dabbed it with a napkin.

The brothers had always been close, but Matt and Pidge had always wondered if they were … too close. For the most part their codependency could be blamed on caring for each other after the loss of their parents, and learning to support each other through both their injuries, but sometimes there felt like there was an even deeper connection.

Pidge had never outright asked Keith if anything was going on, I mean, how would you even go about breaching the subject? Hey, I noticed you and your brother sending each other heated glances and every now and then I hear rhythmic thumping in the attic and when I was younger you told me you were wrestling but I don’t quite believe that anymore soooooo…?

By the time she had ramped up enough courage to ask Keith about it, the brothers had left for Shiro’s first year of college. Since then she hadn’t thought about the two that way too much, and she found that she still maintained an ambivalence to the possibility.

———————————

“So how do you say race car? Mmhmm. And what about tuna fish?”

Pidge smiled as she looked over to where Lance was getting a lesson in ASL from Keith and Shiro. They were all back up in the attic after supper and an hour or two of presentation work. Shiro was sitting on the couch, Keith on the floor resting between his legs. Lance sat cross-legged on a cushion in front of them and was trying to mimic their fingers.

Her mind had been swirling with thoughts of Shiro and Keith since they arrived, and it was difficult to ignore them the way they were sitting.

Hunk had tried to engage her in a game of war, but the basic repetitive motions meant that her mind could wander where it pleased.

When she was younger she never questioned how close the two brothers were. She saw them as reflections of how she acted with Matt: touchy feely, always pranking each other, could fight, but always made up in the end. That is just how close siblings are.

She had found kinship in Keith as the baby of the family, and they could — and often did— team up against their older brothers in ways only little siblings could dream up.

And when the brothers asked for some time alone or if they went off for days at a time, well, the entire Holt family just chalked it up to the boys needing some private time to grieve.

Now though, Pidge was second-guessing what she thought she knew about the relationship between the two young men.

A joyous laugh jerked Pidge out of her thoughts, and a chuckling Hunk pointed to Lance on the carpet.

The idiot was pointing his index fingers up at the sky, and pulsing them up and down. Was he trying to sign something…?

“Look, guys, they taught me stars!” Lance began to point and gyrate in various directions. “It is like a finger disco!”

Dumbstruck, she turned to Keith for clarification. He extended his pointer fingers and lifted his hands to about as high as his face. Mouthing “stars,” Keith began to raise and lower his hands alternating between left and right. “Stars.”

She watched on as Lance kept wiggling and pointing, until Matt stopped him with a laugh. Kicking his feet off the couch to sit upright, Matt corrected Lance.

“When you point upwards with your palms facing out it is stars, but when you point downwards with your palms facing in Lance,” Matt demonstrated quickly, “it means socks. Much less cool, eh?”

Lance flicked a glance over to Shiro for verification. The older man nodded and also demonstrated pointing down. “Are you kidding? Socks are freaking awesome! This is like two words in one!”

Lance got up and danced around the room, shaking his butt and jabbing his fingers in everyone’s personal space. As he passed by Keith, Keith grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him back down.

“Hey man, what gives! I was on a roll!” Keith gave Lance a glare, and held up his hands. Slowly, Keith began to move.

The whole group watched on as he spun one index finger above his head before flaring his hand out. He then brought both fists together before pulling them apart and down.

Keith repeated the motions a few more times, before Lance caught on and began to try it himself. At one point, Keith reached out to correct Lance’s orientation as he brought his fists down.

After a few more tries, Lance brought one finger to his chin before holding his hand out with a slight shake, a questioning look on his face. “What did you just say?” Pidge watched in shock as Keith blushed, before signing something quickly and choppily.

Lance turned to Shiro. “Sorry, man, I didn’t catch that. What did Keith just teach me?”

Shiro grinned and leaned down to pat Keith’s head like he was a small child.

“Solar system.” Shiro repeated the spin, flare, and fists before continuing. “Keith’s favorite sign.”

———————————

“Katie you still like bananas in your pancakes, right?” Pidge yawned as she muttered a yeah. It was way too early to be up on a Sunday morning, but her mom had dragged her out of bed to be “ready and available” for her guests.

She wasn’t the first one up though: that award belonged to Shiro, who was currently standing in front of the stove, fresh from a shower, mixing pancake batter. It was something he had done many times before when Pidge’s parents went out to work early in the morning. Even though Matt was technically older by a few months, whenever Shiro was over he took on the guardian role when Sam and Colleen were gone.

“Did you sleep well?” Shiro dropped off a cup of hot cocoa to Pidge as she slumped at the kitchen table. “Hopefully everyone feels up to doing a little work today, maybe we can think about where to set up the practical tests. Pidge, do you think your parents would be averse to us using the back fields for our test area and the gazebo as our base?”

“Nuh,” Pidge slurped on her still near-boiling hot chocolate like her life depended on it.

“Oh good. If we at least manage to mark out the borders-” Shiro dropped off a second cocoa and a plate of pancakes, ruffling her hair as he stepped away again. “You know what? We’ll chat later. When everyone is alive, awake, alert, and enthusiastic. Hmmn?”

Pidge just reached out for the second mug, and snuggled both to her chest for warmth.

The first day of fall study break had gone well, and having everyone hanging out back up in the attic was like a blast from the past. The two new additions fit in well, and Pidge could honestly say that she was beginning to enjoy Keith and Lance’s bickering. For the most part the two had softened towards each other, and their pranks and rude gestures now carried an air of humor instead of spite.

Lance was also trying his best to become more open minded. And, following along with Lance’s basic asl lessons was helping Pidge remember more of what she had learned as a teen. The situation was turning out into a win-win. Yeah, Lance was shaping up to be a much more pleasant guy to be around than she had first thought.

“I cannot believe that guy!”

Or maybe not. It was too early to enjoy Lance’s dramatic side. She needed more sugar to deal with this.

“It is only 7:30 in the morning, Lance,” Pidge drowned her pancakes in syrup and reached for the whipped cream. “Surely Keith hasn’t already done something to piss you off.”

Lance fell into the seat across from her and reached out to pull a plate towards himself. Shiro bent down and filled his glass up with orange juice, causing Lance to smile and bat his eyelashes in response.

“I waited for over an hour to use the shower, and you know who was in there the whole time?”

“Keith?”

“Keith! The bastard took absolutely forever and when he finally came out he had used up all the —Mmm Shiro these are so good!— all the hot water.”

“I used to make these all the time when Pidge here was in high school. I am glad you like them.”

Lance watched Shiro walk back towards the fridge, ogling his rear the entire way. He tipped back in his chair to crane his neck to watch, pushing on the table for balance.

“Hey, watch it! You almost knocked over my cocoa!”

“Sorry Pidge.” Lance turned back towards her and put on a serious face. Whispering, he said “But I think Keith has a boyfriend. When he passed by my room when he was done with his shower he was only in a towel. And holy moly he has a gorgeous bod, as I thought-”

“Really Lance, do we have to do this at breakfast?”

Lance reached out to cover her mouth with syrup-sticky hands. “Shhh Pidge! Not so loud! I don’t want Shiro to overhear!” Pidge rolled her eyes, and he pulled his hands quickly away when she stuck her tongue out to lick them.

“Gross. Anyway, as I was saying, when that beautiful fellow walked by me, I saw love bites and scratches all over his body! Seriously, ankle to neck, he was covered.”

“Lance, I really don’t want to hear this either-“

“And he smirked at me as he walked by! And I could swear he did it on purpose, because just as he was leaving my field of vision he dropped his towel, Pidge! He. Dropped. His. Towel!”

Pidge leaned away from her excited friend and shot a look towards Shiro. His back was to them, and he was standing still in the door of the open fridge. Was that a blush she could see creeping around the back of his neck?

“I saw ass. For a glorious millisecond I saw the smooth curve of his back —still dripping wet from the shower— and the cutest damn bubble butt I have ever seen! And don’t get me started about those legs, Pidgey, they were heavenly too my god-”

This time it was Pidge that shut Lance up: a slice of cantaloupe to the throat tends to do that.

“Lance. Shut up. I don’t want to hear about your taste for voyeurism.” A glance back towards Shiro saw he was moving again, but slowly, and definitely keeping an ear trained on their whispered conversation.

“But Pidge-”

“No, Lance. Get to the point or please, just don’t talk at all.”

“Fine. Well, this obviously all points to a lover or at a least a fwb because some of those marks were definitely new. And like, really new.”

“So what? I thought your primary goal was Shiro anyway.”

Lance frowned and poked at his pancakes. “Well, yeah, but, well, I kindalikeKeithtoo.”

“What was that Lance?” Hunk jumped in as he came into the kitchen, Keith and Matt entering too. “Morning all!”

Matt collapsed into the chair next to Pidge, and Hunk took the one beside Lance. Sipping her cocoa, Pidge dramatically whispered: “Lance just admitted to liking Keith as well as Shiro.”

“Pidge!!!”

Ignoring Lance’s outburst the group turned as one to watch Keith make his way over to Shiro and slump against his back. Shiro just held up a cup of coffee to Keith’s grabby hands, and continued to putter around the stove, Keith clinging like a limpet to his back.

“He also thinks that Keith has a significant other because of some spying he did on Keith this morning.”

“Ew, Lance.”

“I know, Hunk, okay? But he was right there, glistening and naked and-”

“Whoa whoa hold up,” Matt held up his hands to shush Lance. “You were spying on Keith when he was naked?”

“Yes! Well, no, he walked by-”

“Nuh uh. No. I do not want to hear this again.” Pidge aimed another slice of melon Lance’s way and he shut up. “Long story short, Lance saw Keith as he was coming out of the shower, and blah blah blah Lance is worried Keith may have a lover.”

Matt steepled his hands and gazed solemnly at Lance. “I think….”

Lance leaned forward: “Yes?”

“I think I need more sugar to deal with this.” A round of groans went up around the table.

“Seriously Matt?” Lance pouted even as he nudged the syrup towards Matt. “You have known Keith and Shiro the longest, surely you would have picked up if Keith —or heck, if Shiro too— had a lover! Come on, tell me pleeeease please please please-”

“Lance, it isn’t polite to whine at the breakfast table.” Hunk paused to load more fruit onto Lance’s plate. “Mind your p’s and q’s, we are guests after all.”

Pidge snickered as Lance glumly nodded and took a bite of strawberry.

“Fine,” her brother sighed. “I don’t know for certain, so don’t quote me on this, but I think that both brothers are dating someone.”

Pidge watched on as Lance’s face fell. “Both…?”

“Yes, both.” Matt glanced over to the pair of brothers, before focusing back on Lance. “Actually, I think they are both in long-term relationships, and have been for years now.”

Pidge focused on her brother. Was she implying what she thought he was?

Lance chewed for a moment, then lifted an eyebrow. “You think? You sound like you know more than you are telling us.”

“Well, it really isn’t my place to tell you Lance. And truly, I don’t know for certain. Call it a very strong hunch.” Matt shoved a dripping piece of pancake into his mouth. “And that is all you are getting out of me. Want to know anything else, you have to put on your big boy pants and ask them yourself.”

Lance dropped his head down. “I guess I really don’t have any chance with them. Either of them.”

“It might be a long shot but polygamy is getting more common, Lance, if you really wanted to try going for it. Them being brothers might complicate things, but you won’t know until you try.” Hunk reached over to pat Lance’s back. “As long as you approach this with sincerity and you drop your gross term-cutie hunt, I think you will have a better chance.”

“But it still doesn’t mean anything as long as Keith already has boyfriend! So does Shiro! How am I supposed to choose?” Lance spun in his seat to lean closer to Hunk. Pidge heard him whisper sadly, “How can I ask them to choose?”

Pidge watched as Lance shifted to rest his head on Hunk’s shoulder, and stayed still until Hunk began to lift up to his mouth bites of pancakes. 

“It’ll be okay buddy,” Hunk spoke softly as one hand came up to rub Lance’s back. “These things tend to work themselves out in time, you’ll see.” Their conversation descended into whispers as the two turned in closer to each other, and blocked out the rest of the table.

Pidge watched Lance for a moment, before contemplating the remaining mushy syrupy mess on her plate.

“You know, Pidge,” Matt raised his coffee cup to cover his mouth. “I don’t think Lance should be all that worried about the fact that they are brothers, hmmn?”

Pidge turned one last time to look at Keith and Shiro. They were still standing together, heads bowed over some pancakes on the griddle. Keith tried to flip one but it flopped onto the counter, causing Shiro to laugh wildly. Pidge looked on as Shiro pulled Keith in close to sling an arm around his waist, and she found herself agreeing with Matt.

Well, this week was turning out to be a lot more interesting than she first thought.

Chapter Text

~ Shiro ~

“Keith, I really should be going soon.”

“A few more minutes.”

“How many times have you said that already?”

“Not enough.”

Keith snuggled closer to Shiro’s chest.

“Even eternity will not be enough time.”

Shiro dropped his head onto Keith’s shoulder and blushed. The line was so cheesy, but with Keith curled up in his lap basking in the afterglow of orgasm, all warm and soft and sleepy, it rang with true intent.

His brother had a mouth on him: always had. Shiro had always loved that about Keith. Even as a small child Keith had been feisty and quick-witted, which annoyed most people, but Shiro only found it adorable. Like a wobbly kitten that thought it had claws.

As Keith had grown up it had lead more and more to fights in the school yard, or to scoldings from their parents. And yet, Shiro never lost the thought that Keith was like an angry kitten. So small. Harmless, really.

And when they had begun to… well, you know…. that mouth had turned filthy in more ways than one. Though it had always been followed up by some of the sweetest and silliest words of devotion that Shiro had ever heard.

Keith tapped on the arms Shiro had wrapped around his waist.

“Could I come with you to your meeting with Lance today?”

“He did ask for it to be a one-on-one study session.”

“I would be on my best behavior.”

“Well, that decides it, doesn’t it.”

Keith twists his neck to grin widely up at Shiro.

“Of course it does.”

Shiro sighed, and tightened his grip around Keith.

“What if he really needs my help as a teacher right now?”

“You know he only wants to get you alone.”

“Not everything is about that, Keith.”

Keith shifted on Shiro’s lap, drawing groans out of both of them. Things were beginning to get sticky down there, but neither wanted to move just yet.

“What if I want it to be like that?” Keith ground down again. “We could have so much fun, the three of us.”

Shiro sighed again, and bent down to nibble at the nape of Keith’s neck. “And us being brothers? You don’t think that would scare him away?”

“It didn’t scare Adam away. He was fun. For a while, anyway.”

“Adam was just a fling. You don’t think Lance wants something more than a few nights of taboo sex?”

“Let me come to your meeting later and I will tell you then.”

Darn Keith’s cockiness.

With a smirk, Shiro stood from his chair, using one firm hand to push Keith forward and down over his desk. The motion finally pulled Shiro’s cock from his little brother’s ass, and damn, wasn’t that a beautiful sight? The small groan that slipped out from Keith was music to Shiro’s ears.

Keith was stretched out over Shiro’s desk once again, face down in the essays Shiro was supposed to have been looking over. His hair was in disarray, clinging in clumps to Keith’s sweaty neck. His tight black jeans were still shoved down around his ankles, effectively limiting Keith’s range of motion.

With one hand Keith spelled out “jerk,” and then flipped Shiro off.

But like the good boy he was, he stayed laying there, waiting for Shiro’s next move.

Shiro leaned forward, ghosting his hand over Keith’s back as he reached for a tissue. Keith shivered and tensed as Shiro slowly moved his second hand to run down over the small of his back, over the globes of his ass, and lightly down his thigh.

Wiping himself off, Shiro tucked himself back into his pants and pulled his shirt up off the floor. Keith trembled as beads of sweat cooled on his body, the chill of November in Boston slowly seeping back in after the heat of a good fuck.

It was only when Shiro was fully dressed that he moved back closer to Keith. Pressing in against the back of Keith’s knees, the cold sting of Shiro’s belt buckle caused Keith to jump.

Shiro ran his hands over Keith’s backside, rubbing firmly into his lower back and massaging his thighs. Keith arched his back to push into Shiro’s hands.

Finally, Shiro reached out to pull apart Keith’s pert cheeks.

Keith’s ass was gorgeous, as always. The used hole was red and raw, shiny with lube and cum. The sight of it had Shiro’s dick perking to attention again, but he really didn’t have time for round two.

Rubbing a thumb over the stretched hole caused it to wink, and a pearl of cum to drip out. Well, Shiro couldn’t have that. Chasing the drop with his hand, Shiro pressed it back into Keith’s ass. And if he happened to stay a moment longer to rub a little against Keith’s prostate? No one would know.

Shiro kicked open the lower left drawer of his desk and briefly diverted his attention to the black bag that was inside.

Fishing out the small bottle of lube they kept in his office, and the small black plug that was there just in case, Shiro set both down on the desk by Keith’s waist. Keith turned his head to look back at Shiro, and moaned a bit when he saw what Shiro was planning. Reaching back to hold his own ass open, Keith gave the go ahead to the older man.

Shiro and Keith had done this many times before, when Shiro wanted Keith to have to walk around with Shiro’s cum inside him. It usually meant that Shiro wanted to go for round two later in the day, and it got him off watching Keith as he tried to maneuver his daily life constantly being reminded of fucking his older brother.

Grinning, Shiro thought back to several years ago when he had first tried a plug out on himself: there was no way he was going to do anything to Keith without giving it a test run first. Anyway, the entire day Shiro had felt constantly on edge, jumpy, horny, and breathless. Shiro had lasted maybe four hours before begging Keith to fuck him. Since then it had become a fairly common toy in their arsenal.

Dribbling a bit of lube onto the plug, Shiro once more reached out to run a finger across Keith’s hole. Pulling it a bit, Shiro slowly slid the soft silicone into his baby boy. He could feel Keith beginning to pant as he pushed the toy deeper until it sat flush with his ass.

Keith rolled his hips a little to get used to the feeling, but Shiro stopped his grinding with a small pinch to his ass. Soothing the sting with a quick kiss, Shiro began tugging Keith’s pants back up his legs. Lifting Keith bodily up off the desk, Shiro pulled him back into his arms. Taking care not to get too close to Keith’s wanting prick, Shiro fiddled with Keith’s belt for a minute.

A quick rub of his hands across Keith’s stomach and Shiro stepped away to begin to gather Keith’s clothes.

They really needed to stop having these rendezvous in his office. So far they had always managed to lock the door, but enough people had knocked that there was a constant worry of getting caught. But gee whiz, when Keith stopped by with a cup of coffee and a kiss it was hard to stop himself.

Dropping Keith’s socks, turtleneck, and sweater off at his desk, Shiro passed by and peeked out the blinds towards the small quad. Gray skies, potential for rain or even a bit of a flurry later. Nonetheless, Shiro opened up the small transom to help air out the room.

Keith tapped on his shoulder. “Does this mean I can come too?”

“Do you promise to actually just sit quietly and do your shipwreck essay?”

Keith pouted, “I don’t even understand why we need to take electives. If I am here to study the planets and stars, I should be studying the planets and stars damnit!”

Shiro laughed, and turned to pack his messenger bag. Keith shuffled around to the front of his desk and kept on his tirade.

“I mean sure, learning about the—” Keith scrunched his nose as he tried to remember how to spell, “Uluburun was neat, and it was really cool when Professor Luka brought in those old glass beads and jewelry and stuff, but it feels like I am wasting my time when I could be working on astronomy! I bet you never had to anything like this.”

Shiro moved over to the coat rack before answering. “Actually, Keith,” he pulled on his jacket and coat, “I did. I studied some Eastern religions for a while.”

Keith stepped forward again to face Shiro.

“I mainly focused on South Indian Buddhism. I loved it, and continued to take courses on it even when I had completed all my necessary elective credits.”

Stepping out the door, Shiro flicked his head towards the hallway and watched as Keith’s eyes lit up. His little brother positively bounced to pull on his shoes and coat, and haphazardly flung his scarf over his shoulders.

“And of course, that is when I met Allura. Widening your horizons is important, Keith. You never know when you may need to call on knowledge other than simple physics.”

“Still, I bet I will never need to know anything about ancient Mediterranean trade.”

Shiro waved at a group of students lingering around the door to the Archives room. Poor kids, Shiro had heard stories from Allura about how Professor Vetch could be gone for hours without leaving a note. They might be standing there all day.

“You need to think outside the box, Keith. Learning is not just sitting in class and reading your textbook, but absorbing and using that knowledge in a day to day scenario.”

“That is what I am saying, Shiro! When on earth am I ever going to need to know that the mud in Norway has preserving properties? Or that Cyprus was one of the ancient world’s most common exporters of copper? Huh?”

“Keith.”

“What Shiro?”

“Keith. Calm your tits.” Shiro smiled wide at Keith’s aghast expression.

Stopping just before the sliding doors that would let them out into the cold, Shiro reached out to wrap Keith’s scarf properly around his neck. Then with a flourish Shiro pulled out a knitted cap from the pocket of his coat and snugged it down over Keith’s ears.

Blushing, Keith turned away to push out the doors.

“I’m not a baby anymore, Shiro.”

Shiro caught up easily. “No, but you are my baby.”

The first minutes of their walk over to the learning commons was silent. Shiro kept casting glances at Keith though, enjoying how every few steps Keith’s breath hitched and and his blush darkened.

“Anyway, let’s get back to shipwrecks.”

“Shiro, really? I thought we were done with this!”

“No no, you haven’t figured it out yet. What types of things do you study in this class of yours? Trade routes? Cargo manifestos? Ship structure and build?”

“Among other similar things, yeah.”

“And that doesn’t sound familiar too you? Keith, a hundred years or a thousand or even ten thousand years from now the focus of study will be on our first missions into space. They will be studying how we built our rockets, what we carried, why it was important to us, where we were going, etc.”

Shiro pulled Keith to a stop.

“You are crapping on studying people who were working to do the exact same thing you are trying to do. Sure, those guys are long dead and gone but humans haven’t changed all that much in the last few thousand years! Their concerns were real and legitimate, and you should learn from their skills as well as their mistakes so that you can avoid making the same errors. You think you can learn nothing from them? Then you won’t. Unless you keep an open mind, you are doomed to fail in whatever it is you try to pursue.”

Abashed, Keith hung his head.

“I know it sounds harsh, but schools force you to take electives for a reason.” Shiro lifted Keith’s chin before cupping his face for a moment. “All these classes provide you a wider background of knowledge to draw on. So take your time, learn as much as you can, and you will come out all the better for it. Remember, little bro-”

Keith chuckled as he brought his thumb down over his mouth, twisted his fists, and then brought his hands to a point. “Patience yields focus?”

Shiro drew Keith in with an arm around his shoulders, roughly signing while holding the younger man. “Patience yields focus.”

———————————

It was thirty minutes into his study session with Lance, and Keith had been behaving himself. For the most part. Other than a saucy finger wave towards Lance when the younger man joined them, and a few gratuitous bites onto his pen every now and then, Keith was working quietly on his research.

The small study room was set up for maybe five people max, so they were all settled in at the one table. Their books covered the small workspace, and with their bags leaning up against the walls there wasn’t all that much extra space to move around in. Shiro loved the study rooms in the commons though: they were at the back of the Biology library and so were pretty secluded. And for the most part students chose to hang out in the communal lounge areas, not the study rooms, so it was usually fairly easy to reserve a room.

There was a whiteboard against the back wall —which had two markers but no eraser, figures— and a small window looking out into the stacks. The room itself was cozy and warm, and with the soft golden light from the fixture above painting them all in its friendly hues, it was easy to feel comfortable here.

“So….” Lance interrupted Shiro’s perusal of the room. “TSI actually decreased at the end of the 19th century, not increased?”

“Well, that is one theory. Foukal argues that the current method of measurement is skewing the data because the magnetic structures that test sunspots are dark, which in turn makes the brighter areas seem even brighter.” Shiro rifled through the various piles of papers, grinning quickly at Keith across the table when he looked up from his laptop. “Foukal says we should rely more on the results produced by the white-light facular record because it only focuses on amount of light produced, not brightness in comparison to something else.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Lance flicked through his textbook before pointing out a passage to Shiro. “But don’t we only have TSI records from 1978 on? How can we even theorize that our previous records —which are only guesses in themselves— are incorrect?”

“Good question. So we estimate earlier solar irradiance by reconstructing how sunspots dimmed and brightened during peaks in their cycles. It is relatively easy to reconstruct the dimming because we can measure it against their projected areas.” Shiro flipped two pages forwards in the book and tapped on an image. “It is harder to reconstruct the bright component of TSI because the small size in their fluctuations make measurements more difficult.”

Lance stuck his tongue out while he scribbled down some notes. Huh, cute.

“For the most part, we use photometric imaging —you have heard that term before, Lance, right?— to measure the contrast between light and dark.”

Shiro reached down to scratch his ankle. It felt like something kept tickling him down there. Maybe he had accidentally grabbed a pair of Keith’s socks this morning? They were usually a little too tight on him.

“And in layman’s terms, the magnetic field used in early photometric work proved to be adequate for measuring dimming, and for measuring brightening in a quiet network or small cycle.” Darn it, there was that itch again! Still speaking, Shiro reached down to feel around his foot. “When it came to measuring larger cycles however—”

He bumped into Keith’s foot. Keith’s socked foot. Where did his shoes go? With an eyebrow arched towards Keith, he opened his mouth to finish explaining.

Lance leaned in towards him and rested his chin on his hand. Wowzers, when did Lance get so close?

Shiro cleared his throat and sat straighter in his chair. “Pardon me. As I was saying, when it came to measuring larger cycles, more and more often dark spots showed up in the imaging.”

Feeling Keith’s toes begin to trail up his shin, Shiro forged onward. “I don’t mean dark spots as in dim spots, I mean negative space was surrounding the proxies. Nothing was there: the data was missing. This skewed the way scientists of the time interpreted their results: they described the sun to be brighter than we now think it was.”

Keith rubbed his foot up and down Shiro’s leg, all the while innocently typing away at his report. Glaring, Shiro kicked himself for not seeing this coming. Keith loved teasing Shiro when his brother tried to act professional.

Lance also slid closer to Shiro. Was this some kind of pre-planned team attack? No way, Keith would have talked to him about it first.

Lance looked up at Shiro from under his lashes, “But it wasn't by a large margin, was it?”

Shiro stared back and held his ground. “Again, yes and no. The difference in TSI measured by the chromospheric proxies and the white-light record is only a few percentile points, but when you are dealing with something as massive as the sun, that is quite a large difference.”

Whipping his head over to glare at Keith when he felt Keith’s foot move closer to his groin, Shiro jumped when Lance suddenly laid a hand on his arm.

“So when Professor Smythe talked about the general heating and cooling trends of the last few decades, we can theoretically link them to fluctuations in TSI?”

“Yes,” Shiro ground out. Keith’s foot was rubbing damming circles right over his crotch, every now and then pressing a little more firmly against his pelvis. Shiro’s lower half was tense, and Keith’s every move sent little jolts of lightning straight to his cock. His dick was beginning to tent his slacks, and thank god for his preference to sit close to the table, because if he didn’t there was no way to hide his erection from Lance.

“Oh how fascinating.” Lance patted Shiro’s arm and beamed up at him. Lance pulled away then, to write down another note.

Angrily, Shiro turned to Keith and tapped the top of his laptop. “Stop it!”

Keith blinked at Shiro, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Stop what, Shiro?”

Shiro flicked his head towards Lance who had bent down to pull something out of his bag. Both brothers were distracted for a moment by the thin sliver of tanned skin that appeared at the base of Lance’s back when he bent.

Shaking his head, Shiro turned back to Keith. “You know what!”

“Hmnn, this?” Keith lightly ground the ball of his foot into Shiro’s cock.

“Yes, that!”

“You know, Shiro, you look like you are constipated. How Lance could think you pretty I just don’t know.”

“Yes that what?” Lance joined in signing, hands a little slow.

Shiro blushed up to his ears, and Keith’s smirk turned into a full blown wide-toothed grin. Shiro dropped his head into his hands and gave up for a moment. These boys would be the death of him.

“Constipated.” Keith repeated the motion: his right hand held with fingers outspread, his left making a fist while grabbing onto the right thumb.

Lance mimicked it back, then held his hand flat and moved his fingers up and down while sliding left and right. “Fingerspell it?”

The sign was a little wonky, but Keith was more than happy to oblige Lance. Shiro watched on in horror through a crack in his fingers as Keith began to sign out c-o-n—

And that was enough of that. Shiro reached out and grabbed Keith’s hand, and moved it down to the table. Ignoring Keith’s victorious look, Shiro turned to Lance.

“What Keith is trying to tell you,” and here Shiro paused to glare at Keith, “is that I am feeling a little tired today and my mind is a bit all over the place.”

Lance frowned and reached out to cover Shiro’s hand with his own. Keith’s toes pressed firmly against Shiro’s zipper, pushing it against his older brother’s straining member.

“I apologize if this lesson has seemed a bit all over the place, I haven’t been bringing you my A-game and you deserve it.”

Lance cooed and trailed his hand up to Shiro’s shoulder. “No no! Don’t apologize, I think it is great that you even agreed to come when you weren’t feeling 100%! It shows your dedication as a TA, Shiro.” Lance cocked his head and smiled.

“Hey,” Lance continued, “How about I go and run and get us some coffee? I will even run across campus to the good cafe. That will give you a few minutes to gather yourself, and when I return, coffee! Sound good?”

Shiro opened his mouth to argue but clamped his lips shut when Keith pressed his toes back towards his balls. With a blush he could feel heating his face, Shiro merely nodded towards Lance in concession.

“Great!” Lance chattered as he grabbed his wallet from his book bag and reached out to pull on his coat. Like a whirlwind he spun out of his chair and towards the door. “I will be back in just over half an hour, do you have anything in particular you like? No? Okay I will just pick up some basic coffee for you, and probably a black for Keith.”

Lance rushed out the door. A moment of calm settled before Lance pushed his head back around the door. “Dark roast,” he said lowly. “Like Keith’s soul.” With a final waggle of Lance’s eyebrows he was gone.

Keith withdrew his foot as the door closed behind him, and sat smugly across from Shiro.

Shiro needed a moment to breathe. Hanging his head again, he didn’t notice as Keith pushed away from the table. He did, however, feel as the papers underneath his elbows were pulled away. Keith stacked them in a neat pile, and placed them along with their textbooks on an unused seat. Keith ran a hand along the table as he backtracked towards Shiro, dragging his hand across Shiro’s shoulders as he passed him by.

Keith pulled the curtains shut on the window facing the library.

“No, Keith.”

“Yes, Shiro.”

“No, Keith! These study rooms aren’t locked! Anyone could come in!”

“Don’t worry so much, Shiro, no one will come in. Except maybe Lance, and that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

Shiro grit his teeth as Keith took the two steps need to return to the table.

“Keith, I am a teacher! I can’t take these kinds of risks!”

“But Shiro, big brother,” Keith sat on the table in front of Shiro. “I have been teased by you all afternoon! The way you walk, the way you teach, even the way you point out notes is fucking sexy to me.”

Keith leaned closer and Shiro leaned back in his chair, away from those intoxicating lips.

“And not to mention this big plug inside me.” Keith leaned back and ran a hand down his torso, rolling his head back. “I have had to deal with it inside me now for over an hour! Shifting in me, stretching me, making me jump in pleasure… All the time I have been imagining it was you, big brother.”

“I can still feel your cum in me, you know?” Shiro caught himself reaching out to lay a hand on Keith’s thigh, but pulled back just in time. “I feel all warm and wet and loose, and every now and then I feel a little bit of your cum leak out. Do you know what it has been like, big brother, to have to sit here and keep a straight face while I can practically still feel you fucking me? It has been sweet, sweet torture, brother.”

Keith reached out and grabbed Shiro’s chin, turning his head to look Keith in the eye.

“It just isn’t fair, is it, big brother?”

At Keith’s whispered words, Shiro surged in for a kiss. Forcing his tongue past Keith’s parted lips, Shiro damned his poor willpower. He was a slave to Keith’s voice and his little brother knew it.

“We have to make this quick.”

“How quick?” Keith leaned away to pull off his scarf and unbuckle his belt.

“Lance said he’d be back in thirty minutes. Probably less now.”

“I think that’s doable.”

Keith stood and braced himself against the whiteboard. Looking back at Shiro, Keith cocked his head and pushed his rear out. No words needed: come get me.

Shiro stepped over and kicked Keith’s feet out wider before pushing in close. It wasn’t difficult to work open the zipper on Keith’s pants, freeing his little brother’s weeping cock from its tight prison.

Shiro loved his brother’s dick. It was average in size, or perhaps a little on the slim side, but it fit perfectly into Shiro’s large hands. When aroused Keith’s cock was a delicious shade of pink, and it began dripping almost immediately. Keith had been embarrassed about how quickly he got aroused when he was younger, but he had few inhibitions like that now.

Shiro curled his fingers into a loose ring and pumped up and down that length once, then twice. A full body shiver wracked Keith’s trim frame.

Seeing this made Shiro want to watch him tremble more, so he bit the back of Keith’s neck, soothed it with a lick, and then blew across. From this close Shiro had the pleasure of watching as Keith’s mouth fell open in a quiet moan, watching his tongue loll out as he panted with desire.

His baby boy wouldn’t last long, Shiro could tell.

Spinning Keith around so his back pressed up against the whiteboard, Shiro began to push down his little brother’s pants. Slim hands pushed Shiro back a foot.

“Now imagine if Lance was here too.” Keith rolled his body against the wall. “Maybe you would be fucking him right now.”

“Keith….”

“Imagine me kneeling under him, sucking him off, as you pressed into him. I would have a finger or two in my ass while I did it, so that I would be ready for you when you finished with him.”

Shiro made to reach out for Keith again, but Keith pushed his hands away.

“Or imagine if both of you fucked me. I bet I could take it, huh big brother? You could plug me up beforehand, and then stretch me out so good on that tongue of yours. Then I would be pressed tight between you two, as you fucked me sloppy like never before.”

Eyes glazing over, Shiro saw the scene play out in his mind. Keith was right, he would be used like never before. Shiro’s mouth watered as he thought about having to clean the cum out of Keith’s ass afterwords. Keith would be so wet, dripping with the slop of two men. The image was heady, near intoxicating.

“It would be so good, Shiro.”

Scrambling with his own belt and zip, Shiro shoved Keith against the whiteboard. The cheeky grin on Keith’s face was driving him wild, taunting Shiro to fuck it off of him.

With a chuckle, Keith reached out to loop his arms around Shiro’s broad shoulders. He slid one knee up to hook around Shiro’s waist, and presented his neck for kisses. Who was Shiro to refuse him?

Sucking a hickey below Keith’s ear, Shiro slid his hands down to give Keith’s prick a quick tug, before moving even further south. Nudging the flared end of the plug sent jolts sparking up and down Keith’s body, and he pressed down into Shiro’s hand for more.

Shiro began to tease the toy gently in and out of Keith’s hole, encouraged by the hitch in Keith’s breath.

“Stop it!” Keith smacked Shiro’s shoulder. “I won’t last long, and I want to feel you in me again.”

Smiling against Keith’s neck, Shiro took his time pulling the plug all the way out. A quick check and Shiro could feel that Keith was still wet and loose down there: the plug had done its job well.

Using one arm to line up his cock, Shiro pressed into Keith in one smooth glide. His little brother choked on his breath, head tipping back to rest on the whiteboard.

Shiro could feel he wouldn’t last long either. Keith was so soft and warm and perfect, and he had riled Shiro up all through the meeting.

Keith began trembling on his cock, and came after not even five strokes. Shiro fucked him through it, chasing his own orgasm with faster and harder thrusts. Dimly he could hear his younger brother panting in his ear, shuddering as began to become overstimulated.

Keith reached down with one hand to finger the joint between Shiro’s dick and his own hole, and Shiro came almost immediately. Pausing his thrusts he once again filled up Keith’s ass, imagining what it would be like if there was a second cock pressed in next to his. He could practically feel the wet heat spilling over his cock, dripping out and running down Keith’s thighs.

Shiro held his brother up against the whiteboard for a few minutes as they both caught their breath. Every now and then Keith would lay small kisses on Shiro’s shoulders, jaw, and lips.

With a groan Shiro pulled out of Keith and quickly replaced the plug. Startled, Keith smacked Shiro in the shoulder again, but Shiro just grinned and took a step back.

“I don’t have time to clean you up right now,” Shiro tucked his own dirty prick back into his underwear. “This is our best option.”

Keith glared for a second, before sighing. Pulling up his own jeans, Keith stumbled towards the table.

“I will probably head home. While this study session has been fun, I find myself wanting and needing a bath.” Keith pulled out his chair and gingerly sat down, slowly reaching out to collect his work.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Shiro dropped a kiss on Keith’s head as he went back to open the curtains. “I will meet you there in probably an hour and a half.”

Perfect timing, Shiro could just make out Lance stepping onto the landing that opened onto the stacks. If they had taken even a minute longer, they would have been seen.

Hearing grunting, Shiro turned to watch Keith shrug into his jacket while grumpily rubbing at the cum staining the lower part of his shirt. Keith finally just tucked that bit into his pants, and was zipping up as the door opened.

“Hey guys! I made it in record time, don’t you think!” Lance bustled in and set a tray of drinks on the table. He pulled a bag from behind his back, and swung it enticingly. “I also grabbed some treats! Cinnamon buns, chocolate croissants, a slice of pumpkin bread… Hey what happened to our notes?”

The brothers followed his sightline to the whiteboard. Half of the board’s diagrams and equations had been rubbed away completely, and the other half was in pretty rough shape.

Shiro watched Keith hide his smirk as he wrapped his scarf around his neck. He was leaving Shiro to explain again!

Keith pulled a coffee out of the tray and stepped towards the door.

“Thanks for the coffee, Lance.” With a cocky salute to Shiro, his little brother was gone.

Shaking his head, Shiro turned to Lance again. Lance stood gobsmacked, watching as Keith walked away.

“He can talk?!” Lance spun to face Shiro. “He can talk!!?”

Shiro sighed, and rubbed his temples as he sat down and pulled the textbooks close again. “Yes Lance. He frequently chooses not to, but sometimes speaks amongst those he feels comfortable with.”

Lance looked starry-eyed as he struggled out of his jacket and dropped into his chair.

“He can talk.”

Shiro flipped to the page they had left off on, startling as Lance spewed coffee onto the table.

“That asshole! He took my super special cherry mocha cinnamon swirl latte!”

It was certain. These boys were going to send Shiro to an early grave.

Chapter Text

~Hunk~

“Just speak loudly. Project.” Hunk paced down the old hallway. “Shoulders back, relax, take a deep breath, and just do it.”

Stopping off to the side Hunk struck a power stance and tried to channel his inner Lance. Self confident, assured, talkative. He could do this. Yeah, man, totally he could absolutely do this.

Strutting down the hall, Hunk made it about ten feet before he spun back and curled in on himself again.

“Who are you kidding? You are going to flub this presentation like the last two!” Hunk scrubbed a hand over his face. “You know whenever you get in front of people you practically melt into a puddle of tongue-tied goo.”

Hunk clapped and turned back down the hallway. “But there are so few people in Heliophysics! You are literally only presenting in front of maybe ten other people. You have more people than that in your Baking X Chemistry club! You teach in front of them all the time, what is up with that?”

Slumping onto a nearby bench, Hunk tipped his head back to lean on the wall. Ouch! Who put a notice board right behind a bench? Rubbing his poor head, Hunk once more wiped his hands across his tired eyes.

The end of the semester was always so stressful. Even though he had completed the majority of his final exams and handed in term papers and the like, this last presentation was hanging over him like a personal storm cloud.

What made it even worse was that all of his prior finals had been scheduled for early in the season, the only exception being this group presentation that was nearly three weeks in.

That meant that Hunk had three extra weeks to worry over what he would say, how he would act….. Lance and Pidge were already celebrating their release from classes never mind the fact that they too had to present in two days time. They were confident in their work, and Hunk was too, so there was nothing wrong on that front, but it was just …. nerve-inducing to have to actually present their research aloud.

Why couldn’t they just hand in a written report on their findings? If their professor wanted it to be peer-reviewed why didn’t they just circulate it amongst their classmates? Surely that would provide better feedback, as the class could all practice reading and writing a journal article.

Ugh, this seriously was the one aspect of academia that Hunk abhorred. It was something he was going to have to get over if he wanted to stay in a research heavy field: conferences were an eventual part of his future.

Hunk knew he shouldn’t worry about it so much. Really, their research was solid, the practical they did back at Pidge’s house went terrifically, and they had practiced the presentation several times over. Plus, he was proud to now call every member of his group a close friend, and he knew they would have his back when it came to actually explaining their work during class.

So why was he still so dang tootin’ nervous!?

With a sigh he pushed off the bench and trudged further down the hallway.

His original goal in coming this way was to stop by Shiro’s office for some advice and a pep talk, but several times along the way he had nearly talked himself out of it by thinking he was confident enough. The nerves were getting to him so much that he was antsy just thinking of giving a practice run through.

Hunk pondered Shiro a moment. Sure, the older man was their TA guiding them through this project, but he had always felt a lot closer than that. Probably because he was always around due to interpreting for Keith, unlike most other advisors Hunk had had. But it was more than that. The man was kind and helpful, and he didn’t talk down to any of them. Even Lance when he asked a dumb question!

Turning the corner towards Shiro’s office Hunk scoffed. No such thing as a dumb question? The person who said that must have never met Lance before. He loved his best friend, he really did, but Lance could be dumber than a block of cheese sometimes. He blurted things out, was terribly insensitive, and sometimes Hunk had no clue why they became friends in the first place. But there was also some kernel of goodness in Lance, some kind of undertow of sunshine and good vibes that pulled you in.

Knocking twice, Hunk called out as he opened the door.

“Shiro? Are you busy? I was hoping you could… help me…” Holy moly. Hunk slammed the door shut. Holy moly holy moly oh wow. Vaguely Hunk could hear Shiro calling to him from inside.

Nope. Hunk was just- nope.

Minding the slippery floors, Hunk began striding away as fast as was possible.

“Hunk!”

At the sound of Shiro’s shout Hunk froze like a deer in the headlights.

“Hunk wait, please!”

Turning around Hunk saw Shiro leaning out of his office, tie undone and shoes off. Erh, yep, still a nope from him.

“Hunk!”

Waving awkwardly at the people beginning to crane their necks in the main hallway, Hunk shuffled back towards Shiro.

“Sorry Shiro. I just remembered I have to go.” Hunk tried to look everywhere but at his TA.

“Wait five minutes and then we can talk Hunk, please.”

“No, no no sorry no. I really do have to go. Erh. Shopping! I need to go get some groceries. Yep! Food! Right now! Uh, gotta go, bye!”

And with that Hunk spun around and practically ran out of the Classics department.

———————————

“Thanks for coming with me, Pidge.”

“Any time, buddy.” Pidge pushed off with one foot and rode the cart down the aisle. “You wanted dark chocolate, yeah?”

“Yeah, for the macaroons.”

“Yum, haven’t had those in ages.” The duo walked in heavy silence towards the confectionary, Pidge every now and then humming along to the carols playing overhead. Hunk zoned out as they moved down, not noticing the glances Pidge kept throwing his way.

“Alright, what is up with you?” Pidge spun the cart to block Hunk’s path down the baking aisle.

“You know I stress bake. And I also have to pick some things up for the party on Thursday.”

“Yeah, but we made plans to do that shopping tomorrow night, as a break from our practicing. And you don’t seem to be worried about presenting anymore: you haven’t run through your lines this entire trip. What is really on your mind?”

Hunk shuffled, and looked down towards his feet. “Do we have to talk about it? I am still not sure what I think about it myself.”

Pidge eyed him a moment, before spinning the cart and ushering Hunk down the aisle.

“That’s okay, but I hope you know you can trust me, Hunk. I am your friend: I am here for you to lean on if you need it.”

“Thanks Pidge,” Hunk bent to peruse the sugars. “It really means a lot to me.”

The bright incandescent lights and the Christmas music the shop was blasting through its speakers began to wear Hunk thin. Christmas cheer was difficult to feel when you still were in class on the 21st of December. He and Pidge took turns steering the cart up and down all the aisles, and by the time they got to the frozen section Hunk could feel the words bubbling up.

“What do we need from here?” Pidge began perusing the shelves.

“Just two packets of phyllo dough, that’s it.” Hunk walked slowly down past the frozen veggies. “Hey Pidge?”

“Yeah Hunk?”

“What would you do…. No, how would you react if…” Hunk’s worn out brain couldn’t get the right words out. Pidge continued to look over the ice cream cabinets, letting Hunk take his time.

“Theoretical situation here. What would you think if you suddenly found out that two of your close friends were dating?”

Pidge straightened up, but didn’t turn back to Hunk.

“Well, I would probably be happy for them. Unless, theoretically, there is some reason I shouldn’t be?”

Hunk stopped in front of the prepared hors-d’oeuvres section and let his eyes blindly run over the offerings.

“Well, not really. It is more just shocking that you have known these friends for a while, and they never mentioned anything to you about it.”

“Are you upset because they didn’t tell you about it, or because you didn’t see it before?” Pidge dropped three pints of Ben & Jerry’s in the cart. “Theoretically, of course.”

Hunk pulled out a carton of spinach puffs, read over the ingredients, and put them back.

“It doesn’t really matter either way. I think it just came so out of left field for me that I wouldn’t even think dating was an option on the table.” Hunk let the door slam shut as he quickly turned to Pidge. “Theoretically, I mean!”

Pidge mulled over his statement for a moment, propping herself up on the end of the cart.

“Why wasn’t it an option in your mind? Were they hurting each other? Cheating on other people?”

“Well, no, but,” Hunk wasn’t sure if he should just spit it out or not.

“Were they brothers, by any chance?”

Hunk snapped up to look at Pidge. She just looked back, face blank, stance open.

“You knew?”

Pidge looked down to shuffle some items in the cart, scooting the ice cream back closer to the milk and eggs. “If you mean we are dropping the theoretical and talking about our favorite TA and his deaf little brother, than yeah.”

“For how long?”

“How long since I noticed? Or how long have they been together?”

“Both, I guess.”

Pidge came around to push the cart, moving them closer to the phyllo.

“Well, I had my suspicions during that week you were all at my house, and my brother and I had a bit of an enlightening chat. I didn’t know anything for sure, however.” Pidge tapped her chin. “If I had to guess a time frame for how long they have been together, I would guess years. Maybe even before their accident.”

“Matt did say back then that he thought they were in long-term relationships… Did he mean with each other?” Hunk was really struggling to wrap his head around this. Pidge was right, they weren’t hurting anyone with their relationship, but…. “My god, if they were dating before the accident Keith would have been so young!”

Pidge hung her head. “I know. But like I said, I don’t know anything for certain.”

“Do you think…. I mean Shiro is a great guy and all, but do you think he pushed Keith into doing anything?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. Shiro is too good to do something like that. And do you really think Keith would put up with something he didn’t like? You know how he is. He was worse as a teen.”

They fell quiet as they reached the pre-made pastry section. Pidge rocked the cart forward and back in time to the music. Hunk took his time sorting through the different types of phyllo.

“Flat or little cups?”

“I don’t know, what are you planning on making?”

“I was thinking spanakopita, but I could either make the traditional little pastries or little bite-sized cups of them.”

“Hmmn,” Pidge thought for a second. “The normal flat sheets. You can get more filling in the traditional triangles.”

She offered a grin to Hunk, but he could only send a weak smile in response.

They started towards the registers.

“I guess,” Hunk started, “I guess it doesn’t bother me. Not really.”

“Mmm?”

“They are great guys, and I want my friends to be happy and experience love. As long as they make each other happy, I really don’t see why it is any business of mine.”

Pidge arched her brow.

“No! I guess that came out wrong. It is my business, ‘cause they are my friends and I am fine with them, but I really have no say in who they date. Yeah?” Hunk began scanning their food as Pidge shook out her canvas bags. “I hope one day they will be open about it with us, because I want to be able to support them and it must be difficult having no public outlet and-”

“Hunk. Calm down, I know what you meant.”

Hunk deflated at Pidge’s words. Swiping his card Hunk continued: “It just feels so, so… out of the blue.”

“I know big guy, I know.”

Hunk began to chuckle quietly as they gathered their bags.

“Anything else to share with the class Hunk?”

He just zipped his lips and pointed outside the store. “I’ll tell you in a bit. In other news, what do you think this means for Lance?”

“Hmmn. Well. I guess the fact that they are related isn’t as big a problem as we were previously thinking. But, he still has to have the guts to ask both of them out. Think he can do it?”

“Maybe. He is usually so forward about this kind of thing, and while he has been flirting up a storm with them both the last month or so, it feels like he has been waiting for one of them to make the first move.”

“They are all idiots,” Pidge laughed as she shut the trunk of Hunk’s Toyota.

“You can say that again.”

Sliding into the car was a pleasant relief from the blustery wet wind outside. Unfortunately, it was nearly as cold inside the car as it was outside.

“Brr, I can’t wait to get back to your apartment. I really appreciate you and Lance letting me stay these last few days, it has made prep for our presentation a lot easier.”

“Sure, of course Pidge. I should have probably asked you inside the store, but any dinner requests tonight?”

“Nah, I am good with anything you mix up, Hunk. Say, does this mean we need to make a plan to get our three idiots together?”

“I do believe it does, Pidge. Maybe over some cocoa and parcheesi while Lance is at his celestial calculus exam this evening?”

“Sounds good to me. Hey, you never mentioned how you found out about Shiro and Keith?”

Hunk groaned and knocked his head against the steering wheel.

“That bad, huh?”

Pidge cackled as Hunk slowly pulled them past the snowbanks and onto the road home.

———————————

The day of the presentation found Hunk once again standing at the door to Shiro’s office. He had avoided both Keith and Shiro since that afternoon, but found himself needing to talk before they presented together. He had to get things smoothed out between them.

Taking a steadying breath, Hunk knocked on the door. He waited this time, scrubbing his toe on the wood floors, letting whoever might be in there have time to … straighten up.

Thankfully, when Shiro answered the door a moment later he is fully dressed.

“Hunk! Oh, what can I do for you? Please,” he held open the door, “we need to talk, come in.”

Hunk stepped through the doorframe and saw that Shiro was alone in the office. Hunk had been in here several times in the past, but he found himself looking around as if everything was new.

Shiro’s cluttered desk took up most of the space at the far end of the narrow room, with bookshelves lining each side of the office. A window looking out at the small quad that the humanities building circled was behind the desk. As usual, two chairs faced the desk —one obviously stolen from the coffee place down the hall— and Shiro’s large chair was spun off towards the back.

“Uh, here, let me take your coat.” Shiro was hovering nearby, looking unsure of himself for the first time since Hunk had met him.

Hunk shrugged and passed it off to the older man, who hung it on a tree by the door. Hunk could see a red scarf hanging there too: one of Keith’s favorites, he thought.

Stepping forward to the chair on the left, Hunk looked closer and could see more of Keith around the room. There, by the door leading to the courtyard, was a pair of Keith’s trademark black boots. And tossed onto the side of Shiro’s desk was a textbook titled Classical Trade, surely belonging to Keith as well.

Shiro settled in his chair, and swiveled to pull himself closer to the desk.

“So, uh.” Shiro rested his hands on the desk and looked at his palms. “I know what you saw was shocking and most definitely out of place in what was supposed to be a place of academic learning, never mind the nature of the relationship between the two you saw-”

“Shiro, I am fine with it.”

Shiro hung his head, and seemed so much smaller than usual. “I am your teacher, first and foremost. Your advisor, your tutor, your senior. It was utterly inappropriate to put you in a position where that student/mentor relationship was breached, and I apologize whole-heartedly for it.”

“Shiro, I-”

“I understand completely if you desire to have me brought before the ethics board,” Shiro clenched his hands into fists before looking up at Hunk. “But please, don’t drag Keith into this. He is so young still, has so much to learn. So much life ahead of him.”

Hunk was shocked at how wretched Shiro sounded. “Shiro, take a deep breath.”

Shiro just watched Hunk, braced for his judgement.

“Shiro.” Hunk sighed. “Shiro, I am fine with you and Keith. Sure it was a shock at first, but mainly because I caught two of my good friends in such an explicit entanglement!”

As if his eyes had a mind of their own, Hunk’s gaze kept wandering to the edge of the desk where he had seen Shiro bending Keith over. Following his gaze, Shiro blushed and shuffled some papers to cover the blank section of wood.

“I am not going to lie, Shiro. I was a bit taken aback, but after a talk with Pidge, most of my worries were laid to rest.”

“Pidge knows too?”

“Mmhmm, and I think Matt as well.”

Shiro’s blush intensified, and he hung his head again. Hunk could tell that Shiro was slowly becoming less tense, but his friend had a long way to go before he was completely comfortable again.

“Pidge and Matt have had suspicions about you guys going back years, maybe even before your accident…. And Shiro? That is one thing I have to ask about. Keith was young then, just beginning high school. Did you pressure him in to anything?”

“No! I could never!” Shiro sounded horrified at the thought. “I could never harm Keith, he is my little brother. I could never. I love him.”

Hunk watched the play of emotions swirl across Shiro’s face. Terror and genuine concern warring in his eyes.

“Okay, I believe you. I don’t really think you have it in you to do that to anyone. You are one of the best men I know, Shiro.”

Relief began to bleed into Shiro’s face. “You…. really do accept us?”

“Yes. Well, I can see that you are good for each other right now. And that is all I have to base my opinion on. So I support you,” Hunk paused, “but I will be asking Keith these same questions when I see him next. It isn’t my place to police you, but I am allowed to show concern for my friends.”

His TA nodded. “Yes, yes, certainly...”

A smile began to spread across Shiro’s face, and the weight seemed to fall from his shoulder by the ton. “God, you don’t know how good it feels to have someone know. It has been so hard all these years: hiding from everyone we met. Having just one person know and smile and tell you it is okay makes all the difference.”

Hunk grinned at his friend, and reached over to clap him on the shoulder. “I want you two to feel comfortable to be yourselves around me. I am sure Pidge and Matt feel the same. Never feel like you have to hide when you are around us.”

“Thank you, Hunk,” Shiro covered the hand on his shoulder. “Your support really means the world to me.”

Pulling back Hunk relaxed into his chair, grinning widely. “So….. As your friend, I want all the deets.”

“Deets? You have been hanging around Lance too long.”

“Does it really matter? I want to know all about how my best friends fell in love!”

Shiro smiled back shyly, reaching out to fiddle with his pen while he gathered his thoughts. It was only after another reassuring nod from Hunk that Shiro began to quietly speak. “Keith and I were always close growing up. We were each other’s best friends, and Keith relied on me for most everything. Cutting up his food as a baby, helping with homework in elementary, getting him all cleaned up for his first middle school dance.”

“Aw, I can just imagine a young grumpy Keith being wrestled into slacks and a bow tie!”

“He was very cute, yes. By the time he was 13 or so, we were closer than ever. I had had a few boyfriends and girlfriends by that point, but they never lasted long. Keith was always so great to come home to —gap-toothed smile, filthy from his latest experiment— that it never bothered me that I never really wanted a life outside of my family. I didn’t think of him in that manner yet: the thought didn’t even cross my mind.”

Shiro’s eyes clouded over briefly. “And then the accident happened. Our parents ripped away from us, myself in the hospital for months. Through it all we held on to each other. I was 18 at that point, and luckily was able to keep our house. We grew totally codependent on each other. Keith literally was my hands for that first year or so. And just as we thought we were managing to heal and move on from that, another hurdle cropped up.”

“Keith’s hearing.”

“Yes. Immediately after the car accident Keith had some minor scrapes and bruises, and the doctors assured us that Keith’s hearing was probably fine. That it was just the shock of the crash that was messing with his mind. He stayed strong for several months, pushing his issues aside to care for me. But as the months went by and he began noticing he heard less and less… It was horrible, watching Keith break down and cry, and only freak himself out further when he couldn’t hear his own screams.”

Shiro paused, wryly grinning as he recalled the memories. “Luckily we knew the Holts by then. With their help I was able to give Keith a more stable teenage life, and we were able to get him hearing aids and ASL courses. The rest is history. Keith followed me to university, and we have been hopping around from school to school ever since.”

“I am sorry for your loss Shiro,” Hunk whispered, “I can’t imagine what it is like to lose one parent, let alone both.”

“It’s okay. I miss them everyday, but I think they would be proud of what Keith and I have achieved in the last few years.”

“They totally would be! Don’t you worry about that.” Hunk lifted an eyebrow: “But don't think I haven't noticed you avoiding the juicy bits: you still haven’t told me how you and Keith got together.”

Shiro blushed and squirmed in his seat. “Do you really want to know? It isn’t as exciting as you might be thinking.”

“Yes!” Hunk said exasperatedly. “Yes, I really want to know!”

“Okay. Keith was 16, I was 20, and it was our second summer at the Holts. I was returning with Matt from a shopping trip, and wanted to surprise Keith with his favorite cookies. Pidge told me he was out by the gazebo, so out I traipsed through Mrs. Holt’s rose garden towards the back yard. It was like any other summer day until I rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of Keith’s black hair by the gazebo. He was napping on one of the steps. My heart skipped a beat just at the sight of him, and my mind thought ‘Aw, there is my little ray of sunshine.’ ”

“Aw, so cute! Go on, go on!”

“Well, that is actually the end of that. I was horribly confused at what I had just felt, and my brain kind of shut down for a few hours to try to process why I had just thought that. I mean, I had felt affection for Keith before, but it was always of the familial persuasion. This though, this was something different. I had no clue how to deal with it and so I avoided Keith as best I could for a week or two. Keith didn’t take it too well, understandably.”

“Mm, I bet.”

“So, one evening after the Holts had gone to bed, he cornered me in the living room. He began to cry and tried to hit me, asking me why I had finally decided to leave him too.”

“No! He thought that?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I pulled him into a hug, and held him until he calmed down. I was peppering kisses on the top of his head —as usual— but something about the atmosphere changed. Maybe it was how his hands tightened on my back, or maybe I just couldn’t stand keeping myself apart from him. There was like a magnetic pull between us. But I began to kiss more. By his ear, on his cheek. I pulled away, but Keith pulled me right back in, and plopped a big smooch right on my mouth.” Shiro laughed at the shocked look on Hunk’s face. “He’s a cheeky bugger: always has been, always will be.”

“So Keith made the first move?” Hunk was relieved to hear that. He trusted Shiro, really, but it was good to know that Keith wanted it too.

“Well, I mean, he initiated the first kiss, but I was right there, practically begging him to do it.”

Hunk slapped his knee and pointed at Shiro. “From what I hear it seems like you both fell in off the deep end. I think-”

A knock sounded through the room. The door opened immediately, and Keith stuck his head in. Hunk could tell he was startled to see Hunk there, so he was quick to wave Keith in. Shiro stood and reached out to Keith also, encouraging him to come in.

Slowly, Keith edged into the room. He looked nervously between Hunk and Shiro several times, before moving around to stand by Shiro. He signed something to Shiro quickly, eyes flicking over to Hunk as if searching for an answer.

Shiro translated: “He knows?”

Shiro signed to Keith and spoke aloud as well. “Yes, he knows.”

Hunk butted in, “Keith, I am okay with it.”

Keith turned to his brother for clarification. Hunk watched as Shiro spoke to Keith. As Shiro’s explanation went on, Hunk watched the tension drain out of Keith. Finally, Shiro stopped signing and grinned up at Keith. He reeled Keith closer by an arm around his waist, and Keith turned to face Hunk.

“Thank you.”

Hunk knew that one, and he was more than happy to respond in kind. “You, my friend, are very very welcome.”

The answering smile on Keith’s face blew away the rest of Hunk’s doubts.

“So Keith,” Shiro spoke as he signed, “what’s up? I thought the presentation didn’t start until 1:30?”

Keith sat on the edge of the desk and his hands started moving.

“That’s just it,” Shiro translated, “the presentation is only two hours away! Pidge, Lance, and I met up in the LC to go over the report one more time, but neither of you showed up. Didn’t you get the text? We sent one to the group chat.” Keith looked expectantly down at Hunk’s lap.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Hunk grinned sheepishly when he did see several missed messages.

“Ah, sorry Keith,” Shiro said, “We had some important business to talk through.”

Hunk nodded. “Very important. And speaking of that, there is one more thing I have to ask you about before we head over to rehearse…”

Keith leaned forward across the desk, arching his eyebrow.

“What are you two going to do about Lance?”

Hunk laughed uproariously when both brothers reared back, matching blushes blooming on their faces.

———————————

“Huuuuuuuunk! What if they don’t show uuuuup!?”

Hunk gave the spice cake a good drop on the counter before sliding it into the oven. Wiping his hands, he turned to look at his best friend.

“Lance. They will come. They want to celebrate the semester being over just as much as we do.”

“But don’t you think they should have been here by now? Our presentation was over nearly two hours agoooooo!” Lance the drama queen had draped himself across their breakfast bar, stretching out between Hunk’s various mixing bowls and platters.

“They probably wanted to run home and freshen up first. Who knows, maybe Shiro had teacher-y things he still had to do today.” Hunk knew otherwise, of course, but he wasn’t about to tell Lance that.

Hunk reached for the spinach as Lance puffed up his cheeks and pouted. “This is the last day in term, Hunk!”

“I thought you gave up that Term Cutie nonsense months ago!”

“Well, yeah, but…” Lance’s voice drifted and Hunk glanced over to watch his friend idly play with one of the spoons. “I feel like this is my last chance, you know? Like, if anything was going to happen between any of us it feels like it would’ve by now. By next semester, we will be established as friends, Hunk, just friends.”

“Being friends isn’t the end of the world, Lance.”

“I know,” Lance came around the island to lean next to Hunk. He poked at the mix of cheese, mushrooms, and spinach, and stole a bit before Hunk could slap his hand. “Mmm, tasty. But still. Hunk! Huuuuuuunk Hunk Hunk Hunk Hu-”

Hunk flicked a mushroom at Lance’s cheek. Lance drew back in shock, and Hunk pointed his spatula at him. “No. Nibbling. The majority of our guests will be here in just over an hour, and I need to have this done by then! You can wait until these are done before you steal them.”

Lance perked up when the door to their apartment opened, but deflated when only Pidge walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Hunk, I picked up the extra butter you asked for. I don’t know what you are making, but anything that needs extra butter is bound to be delicious!” She dropped her offerings into Hunk’s awaiting hand, and wandered over to the fridge for a drink. Cracking open a Sprite, she leaned up next to Lance, flicking her chin up in a hello.

———————————

The party was in full swing. Pidge had the stereo system booming, and Matt had helped her rig up some party lights. Their tiny apartment had turned into quite the hopping place!

They probably had over thirty people crammed in to the small living room and kitchen, and yet, still no sign of Shiro or Keith.

Hunk had held sway in the kitchen, socializing and catching up with folks as they swung by to get a new plate of treats. He was currently taking his frustration out on some apples: roughly chopping them for apple crisp. Hunk muttered as he de-cored the honeycrisps, and perhaps diced them a bit too finely as he let his mind rage about the brothers.

They said they would show up! Who did they think they were, to stand up his best friend like that? Hunk sighed. Well, it wasn’t like an actual date or something, you couldn’t really stand someone up if you didn’t have set plans in the first place.

But still! Hunk swiped the apples into a mixing bowl, barely registering that several missed the mark. They had told Hunk they were coming, so by proxy, they were going back on their word to Lance.

He stirred in the cinnamon and sugar, popping a piece in his mouth to test. Good. Sweet. But still! If those brothers didn’t show up tonight, he would round Pidge up and they would leave a muddy, gritty snowman in their idiot TA’s office. Maybe also pour some slush into Keith’s boots. They would find a way.

———————————

The night was almost over, and Hunk was near fit to bursting in anger. Lance had popped into the kitchen several times to ask if he had heard from either man, and Hunk hated that all he could say to Lance was no.

He could tell that Lance was becoming more and more downtrodden, and last he had seen his friend he was just sitting at the end of the sofa, chin in hand, watching as the party played out in front of him. Hunk had never seen Lance sit out of the fun before.

The doorbell rang, and Hunk watched as Lance didn’t even perk up to check who was coming in.

Wiping his hand on the rag on his shoulder, Hunk turned out of the kitchen into the small entry hallway to get the door. And wouldn’t you know?

Standing there sheepishly were the two missing brothers.

“In, now!” Hunk grabbed their arms and pulled them through to the kitchen.

“Do you have any idea how late you are?” Hunk glared at them while Shiro translated for Keith.

Keith signed a bit, before blushing and holding out a small gift bag.

“A host gift,” Shiro explained. “Just some vinegars we thought you could add to your collection.”

Hunk took the bag, and without looking inside it, tersely thanked the men. “I don’t care why you are late, no! Shh!” He held out a hand to stop Shiro’s excuse. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that my best friend has been moping for hours and it’s all your fault!”

Hunk steered the brothers to peek out the breakfast bar at Lance. A girl was at his side, chattering away, but Lance couldn’t look less interested.

Spinning, hands on hips, Hunk glared at the two men. “Fix. This.” When the brothers didn’t move for a moment, Hunk pointed back at Lance. “Now!”

Chastised, the men scuttled out of the kitchen. Hunk watched from the bar as they moved towards Lance.

“So they finally showed up, huh,” Pidge appeared at Hunk’s elbow.

“Yep.”

“Think this is going to go well?”

They watched as Lance noticed the men, perking to sit up straighter.

“I hope so.”

Keith and Shiro came to a stop at the end of the sofa, and offered Lance some smiles. He grinned in return, and moved to kneel on the cushions and lean up against the arm of the couch. Leaning in towards the brothers, Hunk could see him greet the men.

Shiro pulled off his hat, fiddling with it as Keith began signing to Lance.

Pidge groaned. “Ugh! I can’t see what they’re saying from here!”

“Shh Pidgey, I am focusing right now!”

Whatever Keith said had Lance hopping off the couch, and swinging an arm around Keith’s neck. A wide grin split Lance’s face, and he looked back and forth between Shiro and Keith. With a cock of his head he began herding the men towards the darkened hallway that lead to their bedrooms.

“I guess it went well!” Pidge hid a smile behind her drink.

Lance turned back to give Hunk a big thumb’s up and kissy faces before following the brothers away from the party.

Hunk grinned, and turned away to finish wiping down the kitchen. “I guess it did.”

Chapter Text

~Lance~

“Whew! That was good!” Lance rolled over and stretched out his arms and legs. He turned his head for a kiss with Keith, but Keith was watching as Shiro signed something. Pouting, Lance rolled back towards Keith and curled around him, reaching with one arm to tip Keith’s head back for a smooch.

Keith closed his eyes as Lance drew in close, and Lance was thrilled at how easily Keith succumbed to his desire. Slowly, Lance kissed Keith, first nibbling his lower lip before bending into it further and slipping his tongue into the older boy’s mouth. Lance felt Keith shift underneath him, and was proud that he was the one who could make Keith squirm.

Pulling back, Lance grinned towards Shiro and stretched over Keith to reach for him too. Shiro met him halfway, and Lance could feel Keith’s hands exploring his stomach and lower back as he kissed Shiro.

Dio, this moment was perfect. Two of the most beautiful men in the world had invited him into their bed, and even better, into their world.

Lance smiled as he looked into Shiro’s eyes. He gave Shiro one more quick peck, then snuggled down behind Keith. Lance tangled their legs together and reached an arm over Keith to wrap around his chest. Yeah, he could get used to this.

Lance relaxed onto the pillow, and let the warmth of the bed lull him into a sleepy daze.

Life for the past three weeks had been blissful, to say the least. Well, they had really only been together maybe one week out of that because Lance had flown home for Christmas, but still! They had messaged nearly every day they were apart so it counted as three weeks, right?

This was only the third time they had fucked, but Lance was hoping to up that number soon. Now that winter term had begun they could see each other much more frequently. And Lance still hadn’t been fucked on school grounds: that item was high up on his bucket list.

Shiro had proven himself to be just as strong in bed as Lance had been hoping, and Lance was seeing a sassy and playful side of the older man come out in their private time that he hadn’t seen before when they had just hung out as friends. Likewise Keith was showing himself to be voracious and demanding in bed, but also surprisingly soft and cuddly when they were alone. It was easy to see the closeness between the brothers: they could move around each other in perfect harmony, and their attitudes balanced each other out. They always seemed to be aware of the other, and knew just what to say or do to make the other smile.

And Lance, well, Lance couldn’t yet boast of that same level of intimacy with the two men, but that was to be understood, Lance tried to convince himself. Keith and Shiro had literally all their lives to get to know one another, and Lance had only known them for five months. Three weeks, if you are counting only the time they had known each other in the biblical sense.

Lance didn’t think it was love, not quite yet. He hoped it was something serious, but right now, it probably wasn’t love. He could easily imagine whatever this was growing into love over the course of the next few months or even years, but no, right now there was only physical attraction and the achy tendrils of a crush twining their way through his ribcage.

A pat on the arm from Keith caused Lance to perk up from his cat nap. Giving the back of Keith’s neck a quick nuzzle, Lance pulled away. Bleary-eyed, Lance grabbed his phone off the nightstand and swiped to unlock it. Lance heard chuckles coming from the other side of the bed when he accidentally dropped the phone on his nose.

“Hey,” Lance rolled to face the brothers, “it isn’t nice to make fun of other people’s struggles.”

Keith had moved to press back up against Shiro’s chest, and Shiro’s wide arms were wrapped around his younger brother, alternating signing and caressing. Keith smiled at Lance as he trailed his eyes down their bodies. Gently illuminated by the pale afternoon sun filtering through, Shiro and Keith looked gorgeous together. Their skin looked so soft and glowed from the faint sheen of lingering sweat, and the shock of Keith’s dark hair nestled under Shiro’s chin looked stunning against the airy white of their sheets. And dio, those sheets wrapped around their waists like some kind of renaissance master had placed them there, carefully framing their shapely lines and muscles. Lance’s heart skipped a beat as he took in the angels in bed with him.

Fumbling once more with his phone, Lance pulled his eyes away to check the screen.

“Shit!” The brothers flinched at Lance’s outburst, but Lance didn’t have time for that! “Shit shit shit, I was supposed to meet with a registrar at 3:00: I am gonna be so late!” Tangling in the bedsheets as he tried to move, Lance tripped as he slid off the bed. Crashing to the floors with a thud, Lance scrabbled to reach for his pants.

But Lance had no balance while his legs were tangled up on the bed, so his efforts to reach his pants were futile.

There was something so disheartening about tripping and laying on the floor, and this situation was no different. It was a situation that practically required a moment of despair as you remained prone on the floor, wondering how your life came to this. And this? This was how Lance was going to die. Ass up, face down on the cold wood floor: death by supreme embarrassment. Hunk could put “Well, at least he got some,” on his tombstone. Lance had to look cool, damnit, and this was so totally the opposite of cool!

Suddenly there were hands helping to detangle his feet from the blankets. But even when his feet were free from their constraints, Lance had to take a moment to rein in his blush.

Scooching away from the bed like a worm, Lance reached out to tug on his underwear before spinning to face the brothers.

Keith was kneeling at the edge of the frame, peering down at Lance with a small grin. Lance couldn’t help it, his eyes wandered over Keith’s body again, drinking him in like a parched man at an oasis.

Keith’s hair was mussed, and clinging to his neck. His perky pink nipples stood at attention, looking delicious against his pale smooth pecs. Littering his torso and thighs were love bites and red scratches, and knowing that he had put some of those there sent a bolt of lightening through Lance’s stomach. And there, between his legs nestled Keith’s perfect cock. Slightly small, and adorably pink, Keith’s prick was twitching and standing at half-mast.

Darn it, Lance didn’t have time for round two! Redirecting the hand that had stretched out to pet down Keith’s thigh towards his own chin, Lance quickly signed out “thank you.” And before he could be distracted again, Lance turned to collect the rest of his clothes.

Shiro and Keith watched from the bed as Lance bustled around. It wasn’t until Lance had collected his belongings and slung on his backpack that he turned to look back at the brothers.

Damn it! They had gone on to round two without him. Shiro had pulled Keith back to straddle him in the center of the bed, and had tangled his hands in Keith’s hair. Lance watched on in awe as the two surged together for a wet kiss, Shiro beginning to grind down in Keith’s lap.

“Um,” Lance gulped and pointed out the door. “I, um, I have to go.” The two brothers made no sign they heard him. Lance could see one of Keith’s hands sliding down between their bodies, causing Shiro to throw his head back and gasp. “Um, yeah, um….” Lance shuffled towards the door. “I guess I will call you later?”

Shiro finally looked towards Lance. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

“Um, actually, I guess I will text,” Lance mimed typing with his thumbs. That earned him a nod from Shiro. Keith gave a slight wave before pulling Shiro back down.

“Okay then.” Lance waited in the doorway a second, “bye?”

The two men didn’t come up for air so Lance ducked out.

Wow. Huh. That was hot. But also…. a little upsetting? Lance shook his head as he pulled his coat on. What did he really have to be upset about? They had already fucked once today, and Lance was sated from that, so why was there a small tight ball of tension in his chest?

Tugging his collar up against the cold, Lance pushed out of the brothers’ apartment. Ah well, he thought, it’s probably just start-of-semester stress already creeping in.

———————————

Rubbing his hands together for warmth, Lance stomped a circle into the snow accumulating on the path. He was waiting for Keith to show up: they had planned their first date together! Well, Lance had asked Keith to hang out, and Keith agreed, so that counted as a date, right?

Lance was so excited he was practically vibrating. As of right now, Lance didn’t have any classes with Keith this semester so he hadn’t seen the older student since two days before. He had chatted with Shiro briefly about dropping his class on differential equations and joining Keith in vector calculus, but he hadn’t made a decision yet. Both classes would be handy to have under his belt but he was trying not to let his desire to be with Keith cloud his judgement on his schooling. Shiro had advised similarly, but had also grinned and ruffled his hair as they chatted about it.

Anyways, this was the first time he and Keith were going to be hanging out as a couple! Alone! Not just as friends! He had to look good, he had to act suave, and he had to charm the pants off of Keith. Breathing heavily onto his hands, Lance used the condensation to smooth down his eyebrows. Every little bit helped!

And holy cheezus, there was the man of the hour himself. Turning the corner was Keith, looking cute af in an oversized sweater. Lance didn’t think Keith had noticed him yet, so Lance was free to stare all he wanted. In his normal black combat boots and skinny jeans, Keith’s figure looked banging as always. His usual red scarf was snug around his neck, and that adorably out of character beanie with pom pom topped it all off.

The snow crunched under Keith’s feet as he drew closer, and he looked like some kind of supermodel as he strutted down the sidewalk. Even though the sunlight on the snow was near blinding, the smile Keith shot Lance’s way when he noticed him was brighter than anything else Lance had ever seen.

Lance stepped forward to meet Keith when the older man grew near, and leaned out to draw Keith into a quick hug.

Bumping shoulders with Lance, Keith waved a quick hello and twined his own arm around Lance’s torso.

“I was thinking we could head over to Balmera Brew,” Lance reached up to tuck a piece of hair back into Keith’s beanie. “That sound good to you?”

Keith nodded, and snuck in close for a quick peck on the cheek. Lance could feel a blush spread across his cheeks and hoped it was disguised by the chilled air.

Ducking his head down, Lance turned towards South St. to begin the small walk. “I know grabbing coffee seems kind of simple after what we have already done together, but I still want to just hang out with you and get to know you better know and-”

Lance was stopped by Keith’s gloved hands covering his mouth. Lance watched as Keith moved to stand in front of him, and complied as Keith tipped his chin up.

“I have my hearing aids in right now,” holy cow Keith was talking. Holy moly, Lance had forgotten how nice Keith sounded. “But I still have difficulty understanding what I hear. Please, if you are going to speak, make sure to face me when you do so.” Keith looked Lance in the eye as he spoke, and waited as Lance processed what he had said.

Lance just nodded, and couldn’t help himself when he leaned in to give Keith a kiss. His heart was beating practically out of his chest, and he had been waiting to do that all day. Lance could feel Keith smiling into the kiss. Fuck yeah.

Pulling back, Lance tried again. “I said,” and he tried to accompany it with some basic signs, “thank you for coming with me. I want any occasion to hang out, and coffee seems simple enough.” Lance paused after rubbing his right fist on top of his left, hoping that Keith had understood him.

Keith grinned, and signed back. “Coffee sounds great.”

With a huge smile, Lance wrapped an arm around Keith and the pair began walking again. Every few steps they paused as Keith taught Lance some new words. Sometimes Lance was blessed and Keith spoke as he explained, sometimes he just gestured and finger-spelled.

By the time they reached the front door of the coffee shop, both boys were breathless from laughter and grinning ear to ear at Lance’s fumbling fingers.

With great relish, Lance opened the door and gestured inside for Keith, who dropped a curtsy and held a hand to his forehead as he passed by.

This date was going great so far! Lance was thrilled at how easy it was to chat with Keith: they had so much in common! Like a love of physics and astronomy, smokin’ hot bods, a hatred of the cold, a……. well, they could work on more of that later.

Rubbing his hands together in excitement, Lance stepped through the door and came up behind Keith who stood in line. Grinning, Lance was excited to see that Balmera Brew was hopping like always. Nearly all the tables were full with returning students, and that meant that the atmosphere was lively and vivacious. The warmth of the shop and the smell of the fresh muffins and coffee was sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Except for Keith’s, it seemed. Lance’s good feeling dwindled at seeing Keith’s pretty face pinched up in a frown. The older man was looking around at all the people in the store with his eyebrows drawn, hands tucked into his pockets.

“Um,” Lance reached out to pull on Keith’s arm. Keith’s eyes flicked up to stare at Lance’s mouth. “Are you okay? We can go somewhere else if you don’t like it here…?”

Keith took a moment to glance back out the door at the snow blowing around, before shaking his head. “No.” He moved on to sign some words, but moved too quickly for Lance to follow.

Holding his hands up, Lance gestured out something he had much practice in: “Again.” His right hand bent to tap his left palm. “Go slower.” The right hand slid from the tips of his left fingers to his elbow. “Please.”

Keith repeated his motions, but Lance still only caught several words. Well, actually, Lance only caught coffee again.

With a huff, Keith turned and walked towards the barista, reaching for the scraps of paper they always had on the counter. Peeking over his shoulder as Keith scribbled, Lance made out that Keith was writing down his order for an espresso and a lobster tail.

Jumping into action, Lance turned to the girl behind the counter. “Hi there,” Lance squinted at her name tag, “Shay. I will have a cherry mocha cinnamon latte with almond milk and two sugars, as well as two of your shortbread cookies. Keith here will have a shot of espresso and a lobster tail.”

Ignoring Keith’s glare, Lance nodded when Shay asked “For here or to go?”

“Here.”

“Alright. $14.37 when you are ready.”

Keith made to pull out his wallet, but Lance whipped out his card first. Once again pretending to not see Keith’s actions, Lance paid quickly and turned to push them towards the pickup counter.

Keith shoved back though, and reached out to grab a handful more of the scrap papers. Lifting an eyebrow in challenge, Keith stood his ground as Lance tugged once more towards the pickup.

Placing his hands on his hips, Lance merely arched an eyebrow back.

The two stood at an impasse for only a few moments before Keith’s stern face melted into a smile. Feeling his own lips quivering, Lance reached out to tug Keith forward again, this time tossing another arm over his shoulder and tugging the man in tight for a hug. Keith tipped his head onto Lance’s shoulder for just a second, before firmly punching Lance in the side.

Doubling over in pain and in laughter, Lance slipped his arms down to Keith’s waist and held on as Keith steered them through the crowd of hungry students.

———————————

Well…. To say that the date had gone downhill would be an understatement. Conversation had become stunted and awkward, and while Lance had tried to remain flirty and receptive, it seemed like Keith had just clammed up the instant they had stepped inside the coffeehouse.

They had managed to grab a prime table in the back corner of the shop. Tucked away by some bookshelves and near enough to the fireplace to be pleasantly warmed, Lance had snagged it while Keith waited for their drinks. It was a perfectly romantic location: so why was Keith so upset?

At first they had picked up their lesson from outside, and it went well for a while. But Keith seemed distracted, and his responses to Lance’s questions were getting choppier. Lance was getting frustrated asking Keith again and again to repeat himself or to finger spell things. Why wouldn’t Keith just talk to him, it would be so much easier? But noooo, Keith was only communicating through writing notes and basic asl.

Drumming his fingers on the table, Lance waited while Keith scribbled another note. Lolling his head, Lance perused the other customers. He recognized one or two of them from previous classes, but no one he really knew well enough to go say hi to.

Keith’s fingers double tapped in front of Lance’s mug, and he pushed forward the newest note. ‘Have you thought any more about transferring classes?’

Lance flicked his pen back and forth before scribbling a quick ‘not really’ down and sliding the paper back to Keith. Maybe he could get a refill on his coffee? Or perhaps another cookie, so he would have his hands full.

When Lance looked back towards Keith, the older man was staring at the paper with a frown tugging on his mouth. Ugh. Now what?

‘We don’t have to stay here if you aren’t having fun, Lance.’

Lance frowned, and his leg began to bounce as he wrote back. 'No, I want to stay. This is a date, we are having a good time, right?’ Lance shoved the paper back towards Keith who took it with a grimace.

‘You just seem bored, that’s all. Maybe a little angry.’

Lance’s eyes widened as he read the note. “Me?!” He slapped the table and pointed at Keith. “I seem out of it? Look around mister, everyone else here is having a great time and it is you who is bringing the mood down!”

Keith’s eyebrows drew down as Lance spoke, and he tapped his right hand to his left. Ha! Lance knew that one alright. “Again.”

“I said,” and this time Lance spoke louder, “if anyone looks uncomfortable here, it is you.”

Keith was staring at his mouth again while Lance spoke. A few students looked towards them at Lance’s outburst, but soon turned back to their own conversations. Keith reached out to grab another slip of paper, but Lance had had enough.

“No! Stop that!” He reached out to pull the paper from Keith’s hands. “You have hearing aids, use them! You can speak, why don’t you? You are only making this harder for us both!”

Lance glanced around the room: people were definitely watching them. This was supposed to be the perfect, easy first date and it was going so wrong! Shay was watching from behind the counter, and a coworker slid up to whisper in her ear.

“I am the only one putting in any effort here, Keith!” Out of the corner of his eye Lance watched Shay begin to weave through the tables. “I am trying to learn to sign but it is hard and my brain is tired and this was supposed to be just a fun little afternoon but you have made it so complicated!”

Lance pushed back from the table and stood as he spoke.

“You need to meet me halfway, Keith.” Lance held up a hand as Shay neared their table. “Don’t bother, I am leaving.”

Grabbing his coat, Lance spun to head towards the door. In the window’s reflection he could see Keith slowly stand up and look towards Shay. With a shake of his head Lance pushed out into the cold.

After spending an hour or two in the cozy warmth of the coffee shop, the chill of January in Boston was a shock to his system. Kicking the snowbank, Lance swore as the icy wind tore through him like sharp teeth.

The bell to the coffee shop door chimed behind him. Lance remained hunched into his coat though, staring out across the road.

“You don’t think I am meeting you halfway?” Lance ignored the small thrills that ran through him as Keith spoke. “You don’t think I am also trying?”

Lance didn’t budge when Keith tugged on his sleeve.

“You don’t know how difficult this is for me, Lance.”

“Difficult for you?” Lance spun around and shoved Keith out of his personal space. “Difficult for you?! I sat in there looking like a fool while you just scribbled away. You could have at least talked to me, for god’s sake!”

Keith crossed his arms and stood his ground. “You don’t get it, do you?”

The way Keith was looking at him made Lance feel two feet tall.

“Every minute that I am out and about in the hearing world is difficult for me, Lance.” Gesturing to his ears, Keith went on. “My hearing aids aren’t magic. They only amplify sound. That is fine for a situation like this —when it is just you and me and the falling snow— but is shit in situations like that.”

Cocking his thumb back at the coffee shop, Keith stepped in closer to Lance. “Even when it is quiet around us I have to struggle to understand what you are saying. Now imagine, every sound in that shop, from the clatter of the silverware to the whirring of the coffee machines to the chatter of all the patrons, amplified into one static-y mess being shoved in your ears. Do you think it is easy, Lance, to sort out one voice from that tidal wave of noise? Huh?”

Chagrined, Lance looked away from Keith, but he lifted Lance’s chin right back up. “Do you think it is easy, Lance, to step out of your comfort zone and take a chance on someone in the hopes that they have you in mind when they plan your first date together?”

Keith stepped back from Lance, and turned to go. “You can learn to sign, Lance, but I can never learn to hear. Accept that, or we will be over before we have even really begun.”

Lance watched as Keith walked away.

The cold wind froze the tears falling from Lance’s eyes before they could even reach his chin.

———————————

From under the pile of pillows smothering his head Lance heard the front door slam. What time was it? Was Hunk already coming home? Whatever. It didn’t matter.

Lance burrowed deeper into his mountain of blankets. The temperature in his bed was perfect: that sucked. He was tired and frustrated and he didn’t want to be comfortable, he wanted to be uncomfy and angry and raaaagh. What right did he have to be cozy when his emotions felt like heeeeeeeerrrgggggh?

“Lance?” Lance ignored his best friend. Blankets are impenetrable: he would never be found if he just snuggled in deeper. “Lance, are you home?”

The door to his bedroom bumped open, and Lance felt Hunk sit at the edge of his bed. Poo: he was found.

“I saw your boots and coat by the door, dude, I know you are in here.” Hunk’s big hand began patting down on the comforters to find Lance. “I wanna know all about your date yesterday with Keith! And about classes this morning: I heard that Professor Branko can be ruthless.”

Lance turned his head and used one hand to push a pillow a little away from his face. “I didn’t go.”

“What’s that? I can’t hear you under all that alternative down, Lance.”

Lance huffed and smushed his face back down.

“You okay buddy?” Hunk shifted above him. “Does the tickle monster have to make a midwinter appearance?”

“NoooooOOooOOoooo….” Lance kicked a foot towards his friend, but got tangled in the layers of sheets. “EuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMPH!!!”

“Okay, seriously Lance,” Hunk tugged down the blankets around Lance’s shoulders. “What on earth is going on?”

“I didn’t go.”

Hunk’s hand came down to rub between Lance’s shoulders. Bless the man for dealing with Lance’s mood swings. “To class today?”

“Yeah.”

“But it was the first day of the term! How could you skip the very first day?”

Lance pulled down his pillows and flopped to face Hunk. Curling towards Hunk’s lap, Lance wiggled around in the blankets to be able to throw one over Hunk’s shoulders.

“It is easy, actually. The entire first week of term is skippable because there are so many kids transferring in and out of class that profs never really keep track of whether you are there or not….”

Hunk’s hand never paused its soothing rub. “Oh. I never thought of it like that. But, Lance, you know that isn’t really what I meant. Do you want to tell me why you skipped the first day of class?”

Lance pouted and closed his eyes. All the squirming around had let cold air under the blankets, and his feet were going clammy.

“Didn’t feel like going.”

Hunk’s hand began to press and curl into his shoulder blades, working out the knots of tension in Lance’s back. The two sat for several minutes in companionable silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

Lance sniffled when Hunk pulled his hand away, his back suddenly feeling extra cold without the reassuring warmth of his best friend’s touch.

“How about some hot cocoa? With leftover candy canes?” Hunk patted Lance’s shoulder as he stood from the bed.

Pitifully Lance lifted his head to watch Hunk move towards the hallway. “With extra chocolate? And whipped cream?”

“Of course, man.” Hunk’s big grin was like a ray of sunshine on this cloudy day. “Meet me in the kitchen, I will get the milk heating up.”

Lance followed his friend into the kitchen slowly, tucking his blanket closer to his torso as he moved. The ends fell around his ankles, twisting and curling and trying to trip Lance up. With some fair effort he managed to drag his body over to the bar.

“Dude-”

“Yes, Hunk?” Lance glared as he hopped onto a stool. A little more adjusting had the blanket wrapped nicely around his neck, but had openings for his arms to poke out of. One more wiggle had the blanket bunched nicely under his bottom so it didn’t pull too far down.

“You look like shit, dude.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Hunk dropped off Lance’s favorite mug at the bar, and swung back around to grab their basket of candy. His third run brought over the jars of chocolate and the pot of steaming milk.

Ignoring each other for the moment, both boys worked on building their perfect cup. For Lance, it was a mixture of about two-thirds milk chocolate tabs to one-third dark, filled all the way up to the brim with hot milk. A candy cane to mix it all together, and a squirt of whipped cream to top it all off. Perhaps two squirts. What the hell, Lance thought, and tipped his head back to fill his mouth with the cream.

“Dude.”

“Shut up, it has just been that kind of day.”

Hunk, with his weird ability to handle boiling liquids, took a slurp of his chocolate. Lance shuddered as he looked over and saw the white-ish cast of his friend’s drink: how anyone could think white chocolate made good hot cocoa was beyond him.

Lance peered down at the sweet mess that was his own cup and sighed.

“Hunk…. I think I messed up, man.” Hunk waited while Lance curled in deeper to his blanket. “My date with Keith yesterday went terribly. I acted horribly, he left upset, and I think I may be in love.”

“Ah.” Hunk pushed the whipped cream canister back towards Lance.

“Yeah. I really stuck my foot in it yesterday, and I think I ruined my chances with Keith.”

“You have only been dating what, a month? Less than that. Every relationship has some hurdles in the beginning. Give it some time, you two will work it out.”

“No man, I really insulted him yesterday! I think.” Lance cupped his mug and bent to rest his chin on the counter. “I took him to Balmera Brew.”

“I love that place! I think that was a great choice for a first date.”

“That is what I thought too! And things started out fantastic. He looked adorable, and seemed excited to see me too. Things went downhill when we actually got there though. Long story short, he couldn’t hear anything because it was so noisy in there, I yelled at him because I thought he was half-assing the date, he set me straight.”

“But what about his hearing aids?”

“That was mostly what our fight was about. I thought he could hear just fine with them, and it wasn’t until after our fight that he told me that wasn’t really the case.” Lance pushed his mug back and forth on the granite. “God Hunk, I know so little about hearing loss or being deaf. We were together barely two hours and I already managed to ruin what little friendship we had built.  How on earth would he ever want to be in a relationship with me when I am sure to do it again in the future?”

“Well, I think-” Hunk slowly took a drink and gathered his thoughts. “I think he knew what he was getting into when Keith asked you out.”

Lance tipped back to look at his friend.

“You really don’t have the best track record, Lance, when it comes to being sensitive about these kinds of things.” Hunk held up his hands at Lance’s glare. “Hey! You know it is true just as well as I do.”

Slumping back down, Lance agreed. “Yeah. And that is what I am saying. I am scared, Hunk. I think something far greater than a crush has come over me when it comes to Keith. And Shiro, for that matter. But pursuing this relationship is going to be so hard, Hunk, so difficult. From signing, to maneuvering threesomes, to trying to compete with the intimacy the brothers have. I know myself, Hunk, what if they don’t think I am worth all the trouble?”

“Hey, hey now! Don’t sell yourself too short. You have been trying damn hard these last few months to be more pc. And you have been taking class after class in ASL, and they know it! They don’t expect you to be fluent in such short amount of time, Lance.” Hunk leaned down to catch Lance’s eye. “And like I said earlier, they knew what they were getting into. They know you don’t have much knowledge about the deaf community, and they still want to make things work between you. Just look at myself! I thought the same way you did when it came to taking Keith to Balmera. You guys are going to have to work through a lot to get to a point where you are all comfortable together. But it is going to be so worth it, so worth it Lance, when it happens.”

“If it happens.”

“If you work at it, Lance, and you don’t just give up, it will happen. Probably.” Hunk tapped his chin as if pondering something deep. “So long as those two don’t find some other cute astrophysicist-”

Lance chucked a piece of candy cane at Hunk. Laughing, Hunk grabbed the candy and stuck it in his mouth. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

Spinning around to put the whipped cream back in the fridge, Hunk tossed one more piece of advice over his shoulder. “Just take it slow, Lance. They are just as nervous and new to this as you are. Go slow, be patient, be understanding, and it will all work out in the end.”

———————————

Hurrying down the hallway, Lance grimaced at the squeak of his wet boots against the waxed floors. Lance had been clear on the other side of campus when Keith had texted and asked to meet Lance in Shiro’s office in just a few minutes at 10:00, and the ensuing race across city blocks had left Lance winded and nervous.

He looked a wreck too, with mud and slush splashed up his legs from his run. Lance had tried to pat down his windswept hair and smooth down his jacket, but the result still looked far more unkempt than Lance would normally desire.

There was nothing for it, though, because Lance had to make this meeting. He had to apologize to Keith and he had to try to make it work. For all three of them.

Sliding to a halt next to the door to Shiro’s small office, Lance took a moment to breathe. He could do this. It would be okay. Raising his hand to knock, Lance hunched his shoulders and slid his damp scarf from around his neck.

“Come in, door’s open.”

Right. Okay. This was it, go time.

“Shiro?” Lance pushed on the heavy wooden door. “Is Keith here? He asked me to meet him…”

“Yeah Lance, come on in, he’s here.”

Head down, Lance shuffled into the office. Bumping the door closed with his butt, Lance waited just inside the doorway for one of the brothers to speak up.

When no words came his way, Lance peeked up through his bangs towards the older men. Shiro was sat in his office chair behind the desk, and Keith was perched on top of the desk twisted at the waist to peer over at Lance. Neither brother seemed like they were going to speak, so it was up to Lance.

Okay. He could do this.

“I’m sorry!” Lance bowed his head and twisted his scarf nervously in his hands. “I am so sorry I snapped at you, Keith, on our date. It is all my fault and I don’t know anything, and I am sorry, and I-”

Keith had moved off the desk to stand in front of Lance. Lifting Lance’s chin, Keith waited until Lance’s ramblings faded away. “Look at me when you are speaking.”

Ducking his head in shame, Lance mumbled an apology.

“No.” Keith pulled Lance’s chin back up. “What did I just say?”

“Lance,” Shiro chimed in, “it is really helpful for him to be able to read your face —your emotions, your stature, etc — when you are speaking. Seriously, he isn’t trying to chastise you: he needs to be able to see your face.”

“Oh…” Lance gulped before glancing up into Keith’s eyes. Lance slowly brought his fist up to his chest, and rubbed it in a circle. “I am so sorry. This is exactly what I was talking about. I don’t know anything about how to act around you, Keith, and I keep making these dumb mistakes.”

Pushing Keith away, Lance hugged his arms around his stomach before he continued.

“I ruined our date,” Lance held up a hand when Keith tried to move closer again, “And I am probably going to continue being a terrible date. I understand completely if you want to stop this and pretend like nothing ever happened.”

Lance scoffed, and tried to control his wobbling lip. He wasn’t going to cry. Lance was the one who had been an asshole, he deserved whatever Keith and Shiro decided to give him.

Surreptitiously, Lance tried to bring up a hand to wipe away the tears that began to leak. “It’s not like we were even together that long, it won’t be hard to forget.”

Turning to leave, Lance was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t be so tough on yourself.” Keith bent closer and wrapped his arm around Lance’s chest, pressing into him from behind. “You only shoulder half —well, a third— of the weight in this relationship.”

Keith leaned in to tuck his forehead onto Lance’s shoulder.

“We should have had this chat long before we fell into bed, Lance.” Shiro spoke up. “We all knew that there would be unique challenges to making this work and we all tried to brush them aside thinking they would work themselves out. We should have all sat down and talked about how to make this work so that we could have avoided this whole mess.”

With Keith stuck to his back, Lance shuffled around to face Shiro. At seeing the tears in Lance’s eyes, Shiro jumped up and moved over towards the duo.

“We should have told you about what situations Keith felt comfortable or uncomfortable in, Lance.” Shiro reached out his big hands to cradle Lance’s face, and used his thumbs to brush away the tears. “We don’t expect you to know everything there is to know about us, our relationship, or dealing with Keith’s hearing loss. The date-astrophe was just as much our fault as yours, Lance.”

Lance let himself be pulled over to one of the small seats in front of Shiro’s desk. Keith plopped into the other one and scooched it over to be able to reach out and press a hand onto Lance’s knee. Shiro went to lean against his desk, angled between the two boys.

Pressing his head into his hands, Lance took a moment to calm down and find his brain.

“Still,” he said and looked back up at the brothers, “there is no excuse for how awful I acted that day. I am a grown-ass man, I should be able to handle myself better than that.”

Keith chuckled, and smiled at Lance. “Well, that temper of yours is one reason we like you. Your passion makes you you, Lance. I mean, even though we like you you still can be an asshole, but…”

Shiro translated Keith’s words for Lance, and added on: “Plus we all know Keith has a hot temper too. It is one of the reasons you guys get on so well, but is also one of the reasons you two fight. It will probably happen frequently in the future as well.”

Keith blushed, and continued. “Yes. I also never apologized about scolding-”

Lance butted in, “Again? Fingerspell please.”

Keith grinned, and was happy to comply. “Scold. S-c-o-l-d. I also shouldn’t have lost my temper over something you didn’t even know about.”

Lance nodded and filed away the word in his brain.

“I try to keep up,” Lance fumbled out, “but it is difficult. But practice makes perfect. So we will just have to go on a lot more dates, yeah?”

Lance sent a tentative smile towards the brothers. Keith seemed to have caught the gist of what Lance had attempted, and grinned back sharply. “Oh yes, many indeed.”

“What about threesomes?”

Keith and Lance swung their heads to gawk at Shiro. The older man blushed, but forged on.

“I meant, what about going on dates together, all three of us?”

Keith nodded, “I thought that was a given.”

Shiro spoke as Keith gestured, checking in with Lance every now and then to make sure he was keeping up.

“Well,” Shiro went on, “we never talked about that earlier. I think we should eventually all go on twosome dates, but maybe we should hold off on those for a while.”

“What?” Lance squawked, “Why?”

“Well, if we went out as a thruple — yes Keith, thruple. It is a word, deal with it — I would always be there to be able to translate between you two. At least in these first few months while we are all getting used to each other.” Shiro looked between Keith and Lance for agreement.

“Dude, no offense, I love you Shiro but you can’t coddle me forever. I need to learn to speak for myself.” Lance stared Shiro down for a moment before the reality of what he said hit him.

Oh god, oh dio, did he really just…?! Lance’s face was on fire and he was sure he was as red as a freshly steamed lobster. Hiding his blushing cheeks in his hands, Lance missed the wide grin that spread across Shiro’s face.

Keith tugged on Lance’s sleeve with a frown. “What did you just say? I missed it.”

Lance wasn't sure his face could possibly get any redder.

Shiro leaned down and pushed his brother's face away. Ignoring Keith’s grumbles, Shiro got up close and personal with Lance.

“Yeah, Lance, care to repeat that?” Shiro smiled widely, and leaned even closer.

Lance tightened his lips into a thin line and shook his head. “Uh uh. Nope, uh, I didn’t say anything.” At Shiro’s arched eyebrow Lance just shook his head and pushed back from Shiro’s pretty face.

“Are you sure, Lance?” Shiro cocked his head to the side. “‘Cause I thought you said you loved me.”

Lance pushed Shiro away who stumbled back with a laugh.

“It slipped out, okay?” Lance pouted up at Shiro. “I think I mean it, but it still feels way too early to say it.”

Shiro’s eyes crinkled into a smile, and he moved back in towards Lance. “I think I know just how you feel.”

Lance sucked in a breath as Shiro moved closer. They had kissed before, but this one felt like it would be different somehow. The seconds seemed to stretch out as Lance waited for Shiro to finally press their mouths together.

Shiro’s lips were warm and dry, and the large hand that came up to tilt Lance’s face up cradled his chin just so. Lance let his eyes drift shut as he leaned into the kiss, trusting Shiro to keep them steady. Shiro’s kisses always felt like the ocean, deep and full and slowly dragging you in. They were heady and intoxicating, and Lance was sure that he could happily spend all day just snogging the living shit of of Shiro. Mmm, and the things Shiro could do with his tongue…..

A punch to the arm jolted Lance and Shiro apart. Shiro winced as he moved back, having bit his tongue when Keith split them up.

“What gives, Keith!” Lance turned a glare on him. “Couldn’t you see we were in the middle of something?!”

Keith crossed his arms and pouted. “Well duh, I could see that.”

Shiro smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“What I want to know,” and here Keith turned his pout on his big brother, “is what Lance could have possibly said that would cause that reaction! I thought this was a serious conversation!”

Lance turned a frown on Shiro too when the older man didn’t interpret, and instead just stood there chuckling.

“What!” Shiro laughed, “I thought you didn’t want me coddling you, Lance, hmmn?”

“Don’t make me punch you in the arm, Shiro.” Lance grumbled. “Come on, just tell me what Keith said, please?”

“Do I get another kiss out of it?”

“You absolute scoundrel.”

“All right, all right! Keith just wants to know what you said that spurred my … amorous actions.”

Lance’s blush came back full force at Keith’s curious stare. But Lance was in this for the long haul and so there was no reason to feel embarrassed, Lance tried to convince himself.

“I like you.” Lance choppily signed out. “I think…”

Keith’s jaw dropped. “What?”

Lance made sure to move slowly and clearly, to not fumble any of the words. “I said, I think I like you.”

Keith slowly slid forward to sit on Lance’s lap, straddling his thighs. From this close, Lance could watch the pink blooming on Keith’s own cheeks, and could see the amazement in his eyes.

“Again.”

“I like you.”

“Again.”

Lance grinned. “I like you.”

Keith leaned in for a kiss. “Again.”

“I think I love you.”

Lance could feel Keith’s lips move on his as the older boy spoke quietly. “Again.”

“Keith, I think I-”

“Lance!? Are you okay in there?!” Hunk’s loud voice burst through the private bubble of the office. Hunk began knocking on the door, and Lance accidentally knocked foreheads with Keith when he startled from the noise.

“Lance? Are you in there?” Hunk continued knocking. “I will come in there for you, I am that kind of friend. On the count of three I will walk in. 1, 2, 2.5 ….. 3! Alright, I am coming in!”

The three men just stared, slack-jawed, as Hunk bustled into the office. What in the world was Hunk doing here? Wait a second….. Lance fished his phone out from his pocket under Keith’s rear. Ah…. Woops.

“Jesus, do you guys never keep your clothes on in here?” Hunk wagged his finger and frowned.

What was his friend talking about? Dumbly, Lance looked down at himself. Lance: full dressed.

He checked out the beautiful boy in his lap. Keith: fully dressed.

And when he swung his head towards Shiro….

The older man was smiling dashingly, and holding his balled-up shirt in front of his open pants. Trailing his eyes down, Lance could see that Shiro had already undone his belt and zipper, and had toed his shoes and socks off.

“What?” Shiro dropped the shirt to be able to sign. Ooh, what a lovely sight. “With the way things were going in here, I thought ‘hey, why not be prepared for whatever the future may bring?’ Better safe than sorry, right?”

Hunk just watched on with the eye of a disapproving parent as Shiro smiled his way through his explanation. “Right… Well, Lance. You never sent me the ‘all’s good’ text so I made my way over here to save you. But by the looks of things,” Hunk cast his eyes over Keith in his lap, “things seem to be working out okay.”

“Uh yeah,” Lance pulled Keith closer, “Yeah, things are working out okay.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad.” Hunk awkwardly began to shuffle back towards the door. “Um. Well. Congratulations, I guess? Um, I am going to go now…. bye!” Hunk was gone as swiftly as he had arrived.

Lance tipped his head onto Keith’s shoulder as he tried to rein in his giggles. Lance felt Keith’s chest heave in laughter under his hands, and Shiro tried to hold it together above them.

It look a few minutes for the men to all calm down. Eventually, Keith pulled back from Lance’s embrace and caught their attention. “You know…. I think Shiro had a really good idea back there.”

Keith slid off of Lance’s lap and began to undo the buttons on his large sweater. Standing between Lance’s knees, Keith slid that sweater off his shoulders, and let it fall to the floor. Shiro came to stand behind Keith, and the two men began to work together to get undressed.

Watching in awe as the brothers ran their hands over each other, Lance could only gulp and begin to wrestle his own jacket off.

“Lance?” Shiro looked at Lance from where he was mouthing at Keith’s neck. “Go lock the door.”

Shivers raced down Lance’s spine at Shiro’s tone, and he scrambled to get out of his chair. He took one more glance at the brothers before replying.

“Yes sir.”