shining like the stars

21

Keith seemed to have moved into Lance's room properly now. Not that anyone had much by way of belongings, but every time Lance popped in to his quarters Keith was already there; sitting on the floor sharpening his knife, sitting at the desk (when did he get a desk?) poring over readouts in script that Lance couldn't read even if he tilted his head, or his absolute favorite was to find Keith curled up in the middle of his bed, wrapped up in his covers and drooling on his pillow.

They weren't even going to discuss that time he found Keith sleeping under the covers with his boots on. With his boots on. Absolutely savage.Lance had rolled him out of bed, dumped the sheets in the chute that opened from the wall and pulled the fresh sheets he had found in a drawer out, all without saying a word to Keith who sat on the floor with a sleepy, puzzled expression.

Despite Keith saying that he also 'chose' Shiro, he never seemed to take over Shiro's quarters. Lance snorted to himself as he stalked down the corridor, hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans as he sulked. He didn't mind Keith in his space, it was comforting, but ... he still hadn't figured himself out. Lance stalked past the final room in the corridor and then hesitated and spun on his heel. Shiro's room was the last (or the first, depending on which direction you were coming from), and despite his nominal status as team leader it was pretty much identical to everyone else's quarters.

He had been avoiding Shiro for the better part of two days. It was kinda shitty for him to do, and Lance would be the first to admit it, but a lot had happened in a short time frame and, well... he was in heat. It was waning by now, he wouldn't even need his suppressant tomorrow, he'd be in the clear and not feel as on-edge as he had been. Lance raised a hesitant hand, then felt silly and knocked confidentially on the outer door.

"It's open, Lance," Shiro's voice came from inside, slightly out of breath. Lance turned pink as the doors opened to allow him in, only to see Shiro doing push-ups on the floor. He hesitated, mid-push, his head turned to the door to verify Lance's identity, before he turned his face and attention back to what he was doing.

"How did you know," Lance said, hands shoved into his jeans and shoulders held tight.

"Could smell you," Shiro said, and didn't stop.

"My heat's almost over," Lance said. "Plus, with the suppressants you shouldn't be able to smell anything, that's half the point of the stupid things!" The doors hissed closed behind him, and Lance felt his heart jump a little but forced the calm into his voice.

Shiro stopped his push-ups and hiked himself to his feet. Lance could still smell him, just a bit – but he wasn't certain how much of that was the sweat in the air versus his sensitivity to alphas during a heat. "I've always been able to smell you," Shiro said finally, and picked up the water bottle that was sitting on his desk. Lance frowned at the desk, he swore he didn't remember having a desk but now everyone seemed to have one, and that bothered him. Shiro turned around and leaned his weight against it. "Keith too. I can smell everyone, Pidge, Hunk... even the princess, and Coran."

"Even the mice?" Lance asked facetiously, and Shiro's brow furrowed as he thought about that, and Lance held up a hand. "Wait, you can smell all of us? Hunk's not an omega, and I don't think Pidge has even presented-"

"I'm not..." Shiro's left hand touched his arm, and almost automatic, unconscious gesture. "I'm not a normal alpha," he said after he had collected himself. "Not anymore."

"All this time, you could smell me." Lance shook his head and folded his arms. Then, Shiro's words seemed to sink in and he raised his eyes to Shiro's face quickly, but Shiro wasn't looking at him, exactly... he was looking away, through the bulkhead of the ship and into something that only he could see. "I should have come by sooner," he said. "To see if you were okay."