shining like the stars

2

Lance stood in front of the door to Keith's room, holding a tray with a covered dish of leftovers. Hunk had put it together specifically for Keith, so Lance knew at the very bare minimum it was edible if not actually incredibly tasty; and it didn't smell as bad as what Coran had attempted to feed them for dinner. A month into this madness and Lance still wasn't quite used to the cuisine.

The list of things he was willing to barter away for a decent cheeseburger was growing worryingly longer by the day.

Keith hadn't shown his face for dinner. Lance figured that he wouldn't show, but the others were worried and it was left all up to him to come up with the most devious and convincing lie to throw them off scent. He might not like Keith all that much, but now they had an important bond; more so than being teammates - they were both omegas. Lance had a responsibility to show newly-presented Keith the ropes. Yes, a responsibility. He liked that. Preening a little, Lance balanced the tray and banged on the bulkhead door a second time. "Keith, open up."

"No."

This time a response, at least. "I brought you food, you ungrateful dick."

A long silence followed, and then the tone chimed that indicated the door's lock had been disengaged. Lance rolled his eyes as the door parted, and he stepped through into Keith's room.

He had been in here a few times before, but most notably just earlier in the day, Keith's arm slung over his shoulders and Lance grateful to whatever he was supposed to be grateful to for the fact that not a single person intercepted them between the showers and Keith's room. Keith had been barely there, relaxed and supple, and Lance had tucked him into bed before returning to the showers to take care of himself under the spray of water while very determinedly not thinking about what had just transpired.

Currently, Keith was seated on the bed, the covers puddled about his waist. He was at least partially dressed in one of his black tee shirts and even his stupid gloves, but the shirt was sticking to him a little too much to be comfortable. Lance stood just inside the door for a moment, uncertain where to set down the tray of food and finally deciding that on the bed beside Keith would be best. Keith folded his arms and stared doggedly at the far end of his bunk and didn't look at Lance.

"I'm not ungrateful," he said and then, finally, looked at Lance. His face was bright pink.

"Yeah, yeah," Lance said. "You're embarrassed, I don't need a road map." God, he could smell Keith's arousal hanging heavy in the air, and he was an omega . No wonder he was so pink, it was a miracle Shiro wasn't at his door already. "I covered for you at dinner, so now you owe me two." He held up two fingers illustratively.

Lance took a step back away from the bed now that he had made good on his promise to Hunk and delivered the food. With how he was flushed and the shirt sticking to him with sweat, Lance knew he was back in the throes of his heat and he did not want to stick around. He had a history of being badly affected by other omega's heat cycles, and the last thing he wanted was an early heat. Being regular was nice , Keith better not ruin it for him.

"Thanks," Keith said softly, and looked away. "I owe you a lot."

"What I wouldn't give for a recording of that ," Lance said, and waved his hand in the air dismissively. "We're supposed to be a team, right? We've gotta look out for each other." He put his hands on his hips and surveyed Keith, and then grinned sharply. "I can still go get Shiro, if you want," he offered slyly.

Keith flushed bright red, faster than Lance thought possible. "Do not tell him," he hissed, and Lance shrugged.

"He'll figure it out eventually, if he hasn't already. Then you two can," Lance waved his hands in the air illustratively and punctuated the gesture with a lewd grunt and a hip thrust.