shining like the stars

50

Despite how carefully he wiggled out from between them, Lance woke when Keith moved. He blinked his eyes sleepily at Keith, who had made it to the end of the futon and was sitting on his knees, considering whether or not he would make it to the bathroom. "Mm, Keith?" Lance murmured, rolling onto his back from his side and then stretching one arm out, above his head, arching his back to the futon.

Keith shook his head. "Go back to sleep," he said, although his flat tone sounded more like an order than a suggestion. Lance promptly ignored his words and sat up on the bedding, now stretching both arms over his head and cracking his neck. Shiro, surprisingly, did not stir; and Keith shot him a glance, waiting for him to wake as well.

Lance scooted to the edge of the bedding and stood up on shaky legs, before offering his hand to Keith. Keith stared at him, and Lance said, "c'mon, man, you got knotted twice, I know you gotta be hurting."

Reluctantly, Keith gave Lance his hand and let him pull Keith to his feet.

He was very sore, but he didn't want Lance – or worse, Shiro – to realize the extent of it, so Keith gritted his teeth and dealt with it. Lance shot him a few knowing looks from the refresher, but he ignored them and vigorously brushed his teeth and tried not to count the small red marks that peppered his collarbone and chest.

Shiro was still asleep when Lance took Keith by the hand and drew him quietly out of the room, to the baths.

Keith wasn't entirely sure what time it was. It was quiet outside, the planet they orbited taking up much of the sky. The lights appeared to be off in the other rooms. "Did you even look at a chrono?" Keith asked as Lance slipped casually into the water, settling on a bench and sighing.

"Does it matter that much?" Lance asked, eyebrow raised. "Get in, it'll make you feel better."

"I've been in the water before, I know how it feels." Keith sat very tenderly on the edge of the bath and put his feet in the water, then winced as he couldn't figure out how to get his weight arranged comfortably. The water did feel good, the rest of him definitely did not. He sighed out a small noise, and then started as Lance rose up out of the water in front of him, arms crossed.

"I'm fine," Keith started to say, but then Lance stepped closer, staring at him, and Keith felt himself going red and he hated it. "What?"

Lance put his hand on Keith's knee and pushed it gently. Keith managed not to yelp but spread his legs with only a small difficulty. "What are you doing?" he said, as Lance studied his nudity. He wasn't aroused at the moment; in fact for the first time in days he felt completely sated. "You're a pervert."

"I'm not the one who gets off on being called a slut," Lance said.

"Yeah, well," Keith crossed his arms and started to pull back as far as he could. "Why are you staring?"

"Because I can." Lance grinned at him, and very gently brushed his knuckles up Keith's flaccid cock. "I only get to see you when you're hard and dripping, this is different." A strange expression crossed Lance's face, and his eyes went up to Keith's. "... are you still in heat?"

Keith shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "Probably? I dunno, I just woke up, I haven't had time to get going yet...."

"Keith." Lance touched him again, and this time it was on his face, fingers guiding his gaze back to Lance's.

Lance being tender with him was something he still did not comprehend. "I'm not," he said finally. "I woke up this morning and felt normal." He closed his eyes instead of looking away. "Well, really sore, but normal."

"Oh hell," Lance said.

"I'm not pregnant," Keith said forcefully. "I think my heat is just naturally over. You're freaking out over nothing."

"We have to tell Shiro," Lance said. "If there's any chance at all-" he started to climb out of the water, and this time Keith caught his arm.

"Lance, no," he said.

"You want to keep this from him?"

"I'm not pregnant," Keith said again, firmly. "But .... we'll talk to him. After the temple quest, okay? I don't want him acting weird during any of this. I don't want you acting weird during any of this."

Lance glared at Keith. "That's not fair to Shiro," he said.

"I don't care," Keith said, and looked away. "Why won't you trust that I know my own body?"

"You didn't even know you were an omega until like, a month ago!" Lance tore his arm from Keith's hand, but let out an exaggerated sigh and sat on the edge of bath with him. "This isn't cool, Keith," he said finally.

"Just, until we get done with the temples, all right?" Keith said. "I promise I'll talk to him after. We'll talk to him, I want you there too."

Lance flushed and looked down, then back at Keith, then shook his head once. "If you start exhibiting any signs..." he warned.

"Even if I were I wouldn't show any signs for weeks, jeez," Keith said. "Weren't you the one lecturing me on passing health?"

"We've gotta get some condoms somewhere," Lance said with a groan. He ran a wet hand back through his hair and cracked a watery grin. "The last thing we need is pregnant paladins."

#

Shiro joined them a while later, sitting on the edge of the bath as Keith had before Lance finally encouraged him into the water. "Gotta say," Shiro said with a yawn. "It's good to see you two getting along."

Keith let Lance surface for air, and made every attempt to look innocent. "Right," he said. "Getting along."

"Fucking, don't try to drown me-" Lance wheezed, making a grab for Keith's throat before Keith dunked him in the water again.

"I think I need coffee," Shiro said. "Keith, don't actually drown Lance."

"It's not drowning," Keith said, but released Lance, who broke the surface and gasped for air exaggeratedly. "I mean, what if the water temple has some kind of underwater challenge? I'm helping him train to hold his breath longer."

Shiro gave Keith the look he usually reserved for Lance, and Keith maintained his innocent expression. "I think Lance might be a bad influence on you," he said, and Lance coughed water and then splashed it violently toward Keith.

"See if I try to suck your dick underwater again," he said, and folded his arms.

"Really?" Shiro said. "In the water that we all use?"

"Keith got handsy first," Lance tattled, and Keith seethed a moment, before grabbing Lance by the back of the neck and attempting to dunk him again.

Shiro got up from the edge of the bath. "Coffee," he mumbled, and hoped that whatever the Eaphus equivalent was, was strong, because he was gonna need it.