Chapter Text
Shiro was under a lot of stress at the moment.
To be honest, he was under a lot of stress almost all the time, what with leading Voltron and the year of being a prisoner to the Galra sans therapy.
But this particular kind of stress was practically a vacation from the norm. A stresscation as Lance would have called it. In fact, Lance was exactly 50% of the reason why Shiro wanted nothing more than to throw himself into the nearest airlock and accept his fate in the void.
Keith was the other 50%.
Being Keith’s older brother meant a lifetime of stress, especially given his brother’s omega status. When Keith had presented as an omega, Shiro had immediately helped him get suppressives and doubled the amount of sparring they did, but Shiro knew that it was only a temporary fix, a band-aid over the root of the issue. Shiro wanted to be the one to protect Keith from wayward Alphas, but they were both in the Garrison’s pilot program. One day they would be separated by a mission and Shiro wouldn’t be there if anything went wrong. Keith also didn’t take notice of a single Alpha during his run at the Garrison, which meant that Shiro didn’t have anyone to fall back on for caring for his younger brother. So Shiro taught him everything under the sun about combat until Keith was beating him down in fights and the Kerberos mission was announced.
Shiro had expected to be gone a few months and had worried about Keith up until his younger brother had all but shoved him out to the launch pad (following a spine-cracking hug). That worry hadn’t disappeared when he was taken by the Galra.
When Shiro had woken up to his younger brother standing watch over him in the Kogane shack, he’d felt relief for the first time in over a year. Coming home to Keith happily unmated was one relief in a frantic sea of worry. Leave it to Keith to refuse to make Shiro worry.
Finding the Blue Lion and being whizzed up to space was a completely different story. After sorting through the first few days of training and realizing that their makeshift team could be there for longer than previously expected Shiro had grabbed Keith in a private room and sat him down to talk.
“How long until your next heat?” Shiro had asked. Keith frowned, crossing his arms and shrugging his shoulder in what Shiro knew to be a nervous habit.
“8 months tops?” Keith answered, before going silent. Neither of them spoke. Lance was an Alpha, unbonded and, as far as Shiro could tell from just meeting him, completely irresponsible. He was also the only other Alpha on the ship, meaning that if Keith’s suppressants wore off...
“We’ll think of something,” Shiro assured him, causing a smile to twitch at the corner of Keith’s mouth. “For now focus on training and forming Voltron.”
Keith did as he was told, and the months ticked by. Shiro was no idiot though. As the team became friends and grew closer he immediately noticed the way Keith’s gaze lingered on Lance.
There were a million and one restrictions on romantic relationships at the Garrison. One of the main reasons was because romance could interfere with the mission, and their team was part of a huge one. Not to mention that even though Shiro now knew that Lance was dependable and loyal, Keith had zero experience with anything concerning romance. The last thing their team needed was for the pair’s bickering to evolve into a frenzy of heartbreak and regret. Shiro had to nip things in the bud.
“Keith. You can’t become involved with Lance. We can’t have something like this affecting Voltron.” Shiro had said, insisted. If they’d been back on Earth, Shiro would have let things grow on their own. If things turned out well, he’d be glad. If they didn’t, he’d have done the standard older brother thing and broken Lance’s legs. Easy as that.
Keith had agreed with Shiro, and Shiro had taken his word and now Shiro was forced to consider the possibility that maybe he couldn’t trust Keith to follow orders while he was in heat. Especially not with another Alpha around, one that had apparently grown on his brother to the extent that even though Shiro was about to lay into the pair, the two were barely hiding the smiles on their faces.
Shiro sighed.
“I can not believe you two would do something like this.” He began before he reconsidered. “No, I should have expected this the moment Keith ran out of his meds. I should have locked the both of you up in your rooms and left it at that.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“You wouldn’t have been able to forever.” Keith pointed out. “What if you needed us to form Voltron?” He pointed out. Shiro sent him a glare and Keith shrugged back at him. Both he and Lance were still damp from the shower, and they’d taken an extra fifteen minutes to report to Shiro. A lot could happen in that time frame.
Lance, at the very least, looked guilty about the whole thing. He also was watching Shiro like he was prepared for Shiro to rip his head off at any moment. Shiro had considered it, but the look in Keith’s eyes right now was on par with when he’d been eight-years-old and Shiro had taken his stuffed hippo toy. Shiro still had scars from Keith’s teeth on his left arm.
“We also can’t form Voltron if one of our Paladins gets pregnant.” Shiro pointed out, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I mean, we could,” Keith responded dryly. “I don’t think Red would have an issue with that.”
“Is that so?” Shiro asked dryly, turning his attention to Lance. “And how would an Alpha feel knowing that their pregnant omega was going into an active war zone?” He asked. Lance actively grimaced, shaking his head.
“Lance and I aren’t bonded yet.” Keith pointed out angrily. Yet . Shiro groaned. “He doesn’t have a right to say what I can and can’t do. And even if we were-”
“Bonded or not, if you end up carrying his child, then he has a duty, an instinctive need, to ensure that child’s safety, as do you,” Shiro argued back. “And your fighting styles aren’t ideal for that. You’re the point man, and he’s our fire support. How well are the fights going to go if Lance feels the need to defend you at every moment?”
“Shiro,” Lance spoke up, “I can protect Keith from a distance, I’ve been doing it since we’ve started fighting the Galra in missions like these.” He insisted, stepping forward. Shiro leveled him with a flat glare.
“Can you now?” He asked. Lance’s gaze sharpened as the Blue Paladin took a step forward.
“I am standing right here .” Keith hissed, stepping in between the two of them. He bared his teeth. “I can speak for and defend myself just fine! Once you two stop your bravado games then you can come find me and bitch about the fate of the universe.” He snapped, before whirling on his heel and striding away.
Lance and Shiro stared after him for a moment, before exchanging a look. Lance stepped forward, intending to follow Keith, but Shiro reached out to grab onto his hood, yanking him back.
“Unless you want Keith’s boot shoved down your throat, I’d give him a moment to cool off,” Shiro suggested mildly. Lance sent him a sour look, turning around to face him completely.
“Listen, Shiro. I get that you’re our leader, and Keith’s older brother, but Keith and I have the right to decide what we want.” Lance said, sounding far more reasonable that Shiro had expected.
“Even if that relationship could jeopardize the entire universe?”
“Why’d you even let Keith and I both be a part of Voltron if you didn’t trust us enough to be responsible enough for it?”
“To be fair, I didn’t choose any of us for this mission,” Shiro said coldly before he let out a long sigh. “I wouldn’t have even chosen myself, you know. But here we are, trying to save countless lives while trying to live our own.” Shiro scrubbed his hand over his face, before looking at Lance wearily. “...Do I need to have the standard ‘hurt my baby brother and I’ll help him hide the body’ talk?”
“Nope,” Lance answered quickly.
“Good.” Shiro said, “Dismissed.” He added, turning and heading towards the training deck.
“Wait, so you aren’t going to murder me?” Lance called out to him. Shiro paused, looking at Lance from over his shoulder.
“No,” Shiro answered simply. “Now you can be the one to deal with Keith when he’s pissed. I’m going to go train for a bit. Have fun.” He added at the way Lance paled.
Shiro left Lance to his own devices, wondering how many hours he could get in before dinner time.
The fact that Lance had figured out Keith’s current location was based entirely on the fact that Keith was still in heat, his scent leading straight to the Red Paladin’s quarters.
Lance knocked on the door, waiting a moment before he decided to bite the bullet. Hell, maybe Keith would beat him up and they could have awesome makeup sex. That’d be worth it, right?
He stepped inside, looking around for Keith. His room was empty and bare, despite his scent dragging Lance in like a fish on a line. He sniffed at the air, his gaze drifting to Keith’s closet.
Keith had said that he had a nest. Closets were large enough for a nest but small enough to provide that sense of comfort. Lance slid the door open, his gaze softening at the sight before him.
Keith’s definition of proper nest must have included the words ‘fluffy’ and ‘soft’ because Lance counted at least seven pillows and enough towels and sheets to stock half the Castle. Keith was curled up in the middle of it, his face relaxed as he napped.
Lance sat down next to the nest, reaching out to pet at Keith’s hair. Keith mumbled in response, curling up into a tighter ball than he already was. Lance continued petting at his hair, his face, everywhere really. It wasn’t like he’d been allowed to run his hands across Keith’s body prior to their quickie a little earlier. So he let his hands wander, running down Keith’s arms, noticing the small scars that he hadn’t seen before.
Keith stirred awake before too long, and Lance offered him a smile when the omega blinked up at him sleepily.
“What are you doing in my nest?” Keith deadpanned. Lance blinked, before pouting at him.
“I’m not in your nest, I’m sitting outside your nest.”
“Your hands are inside my nest.” Keith pointed out dryly as Lance stroked his cheek. “I thought I told you this was my space?”
“But you’re mine.” Lance pointed out with a grin. Keith blinked awake at that, sitting up roughly and slapping Lance’s hands away.
“I am not yours !” He snapped, glaring at Lance. Lance stared at him with wide eyes. “I don’t belong to you!” He added sharply, swatting away Lance’s hands when he reached back out to him.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Lance replied because he hadn’t. He pitied the Alpha that thought they could control Keith, only in Keith’s mind Lance was apparently that Alpha.
“You and Shiro were certainly acting like it earlier.” Keith hissed lowly, turning away from Lance. Oh shit. It hadn’t even been a day and they were already arguing. Lance didn’t know what he’d expected, but fuck.
“Shiro’s just worried,” Lance answered evenly. “About you and Voltron and the whole universe thing.”
“Yeah,” Keith agreed after a moment, “what about you?” He asked coldly. Lance paused, considering his next words carefully, which was a rare occurrence for him.
“I’m worried about you breaking my spine over your knee for insulting you,” Lance said because it was true. Keith snorted out a laugh at that, so Lance continued. “I worried that you’ll get a grudge and fall out of love with me over a misunderstanding and that’s honestly the worst thing that could ever happen to me,” Lance said, reaching out to cup Keith’s cheek in his hand. Keith made a soft noise, letting his eyes slip closed.
“If I could fall out of love with you that easily then I would have done it ages ago.” Keith pointed out gently. Lance grinned.
“You loooovvveee me-”
“Shut up,” Keith said mildly, moving to lie back down in his nest. Lance paused, unsure if he should follow. Keith closed his eyes and hummed softly under his breath, before looking back up at Lance. “Ground rules,” was all he said.
“Um,” Lance answered.
“No shoes while you’re in my Nest. No acting like you’re the Big, Bad Alpha in general. If you do I will break your spine.” Keith promised, before turning onto his side, away from Lance. “Also I get to be the little spoon.” Lance grinned at that last one, tugging off his jacket and kicking off his shoes.
Climbing into Keith’s nest felt like its own personal mini celebration. Lance hesitated for only a moment before snuggling into Keith’s side. Keith was warm, giving off heat like a hot water bottle. Lance cuddled up to him, smiling when he felt Keith relax in his arms. Lance leaned in to nose at the junction of Keith’s neck and shoulder, breathing in that ocean scent that he gave off.
“You smell so good,” Lance told him, resisting the urge to mark Keith then and there. Keith paused, shifting in Lance’s arms.
“What do I smell like?” Keith asked curiously, shivering as Lance continued to nose at his scent gland.
Scents were different for everyone, one person could smell completely different to another since their body released different levels of hormones when in contact with different people. Pidge smelled like pine needles to Lance but to Hunk they smelled like moss on a tree trunk. Shiro smelled like how warm steel felt to Lance, but Keith had one day commented that his brother smelled like toasted marshmallows when he was happy.
“Like the ocean. The beach and the salty air.” Lance said, cuddling him tightly. Keith snorted at that.
“Are you calling me salty?”
“Yes, because it’s true. But you also smell like sea salt ice cream.” He added on a sweeter note. Keith turned around at that, looking up at Lance with violet eyes before he was sniffing at Lance’s neck as well.
“It’s the same scent as before,” Keith noted quietly. Lance blinked.
“What do I smell like?” He asked curiously. He and Keith had never been comfortable enough to scent at each other, especially due to their dynamics.
“Smoke,” Keith said, leaning in to scent at Lance again. “Campfire smoke and the night air.” He added after a quiet moment. “My dad used to take me and Shiro outside at night time. He’d make me s’mores for us as we pointed out the stars on his charts. He didn’t want me to burn myself.” Keith murmured into Lance’s collarbone. Lance’s heart clenched at the quiet longing in Keith’s voice.
“I can make a mean s'more.” He blurted out.
The long beat of silence that followed was enough to choke Lance with, but he just kept on rambling.
“I mean, not a mean s’more. A nice one. The nicest you’ll ever taste, well, I mean, I guess that’s up to you but I’ve been tol-Mmph!” Lance grunted as Keith shoved their lips together, the omega’s tongue licking his mouth teasingly before Keith pulled away.
“Shut up, Lance,” Keith said, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. Lance grinned.
“I got you to smile.” He said, pleased with himself. Keith huffed out a breath, turning back away from him and snuggling back against him. His hips wriggled against the front of Lance’s pants in a way that made him pant.
“I can get you to do plenty more than smile.” Keith tossed over his shoulder smugly.
“Yeah,” Lance agreed, his teeth nipping at Keith’s neck, “like what?” He asked. Keith shivered, squirming in his arms again, before settling down. Keith sent him a look.
“What if I get pregnant?” Keith asked suspiciously, reminding Lance that they hadn’t solved the start of their original argument. Lance froze, taking a long moment to consider.
“If you got pregnant it’d be your decision.” Lance finally said. “I won’t lie, I’d want you and our kits to be safe, but I also know that you would never be happy if I tried to play the Alpha card and make you hide away on the Castle during a fight. Also, you’d probably shatter my kneecaps.” He added critically. Keith snorted at that, shifting to sit up.
“You’re right about that.” Keith agreed, taking a moment to kick off his pants before turning to shove Lance onto his back. Lance began to pant when he realized that Keith wasn’t wearing any underwear. He watched as Keith spread his legs, throwing one knee over Lance’s hips to straddle them. Oh god, Keith’s thighs were soaked. “Even if I broke your kneecaps I’d still keep you around.” Keith’s hands went to the bulge in Lance’s pants, rubbing at it through the fabric possessively. “Your knot’s too good to put to waste.”
“Fuck,” Lance replied elegantly, watching as Keith licked his lips hungrily. Keith tugged open his pants, pulling Lance’s erection out of his boxers.
“I’m going to blow you,” Keith announced, and Lance all but screamed in joy. “Later.” Lance cried internally. “Right now I just want to fuck.” Nevermind, the universe was great again.
“Okay.” Lance agreed happily, moving to sit up on his elbows. Keith shot him a look.
“Lie back down,” Keith ordered roughly. Lance paused. “If you’re going to get me pregnant with this stupidly big dick then I’m going to sit on your knot myself,” Keith said, shifting forward so that he was rutting against the underside of Lance’s dick. It was a tease of wetness and heat and Lance growled.
Keith growled right back at him, and Lance wanted nothing more than to put this disobedient omega over his knee and remind him who the Alpha was. Keith shifted forward, grabbing Lance’s shoulders and forcibly shoving him back into his nest.
“You better listen to me, or when you knot I’ll leave it outside.” Keith threatened, still rutting against Lance’s cock. His breath was coming out in soft pants. “Hell, if you’re an asshole about it I won’t even let you come inside at all.” He hissed. Lance groaned.
“Don’t,” Lance wasn’t begging, he totally wasn’t. He was making a strategic compromise, even with his brain leaking out of his ears. “I’ll make you feel good, baby.”
“Yeah?” Keith’s tone was amused as he grabbed onto Lance’s dick to line him up with his hole. “Prove it.”