Everything has almost settled. Injuries are healed and Earth is slowly recovering and a new normal is being established. Convoys arrive from other planets as well. They're still sorting through what happened in the final battle, the strange mech that arrived at the end.
The biggest relief is that the paladins have all finally been released from the hospital, injuries healed, back on their feet. Shiro has never been more grateful for anything in his life. That moment when he'd watched the explosion, watched the Lions fall has been burnt to the back of his retinas, haunts him in those moments when he shuts his eyes at night. It's better now that they're healed and whole.
But relief and all aside, Shiro has no idea how he's gotten into his current situation.
Lance had suggested something about a team building game, one whose rules he'd been vague on -- at least until Shiro had found himself shoved into a thankfully mostly-empty storage room, along with Keith. And then the sound of the door being slammed and a lock being thrown.
Shiro turns back to the door in time to be told, 'Sort yourselves out already! You've got seven minutes!'
Wait. This is. He hesitates before glancing back over his shoulder at Keith. Is this actually really happening? Normally he'd laugh something like this off, but the problem is he's been doing his damnedest to avoid thinking about a few things that he's now very much thinking about.
Keith had never been so glad to open his eyes in a hospital than he had then. To have Krolia and Kolivan there, waiting for him to wake up? Even better. As a young boy Keith had never expected to have as much family as he does now. With his father gone and his mother someone he'd only heard about in stories, he'd convinced himself that he'd only have himself to rely on from then on out. And for a while.. that had been the case. Of course it had. At least until Shiro had come to his school, and he'd stolen his car in a fit of anger at his teacher for shrugging off his natural talents...
And then Shiro had disappeared, and returned, and Voltron had happened. He'd found the Blade, and his mother, and somehow Kolivan had grumpily come along for the ride somewhere in there.
All along it though they'd been dancing around.. whatever this was, though. Keith had always shrugged off his deeper feelings for Shiro thinking that there was no way the older man would ever be interested in him. Yes, he'd broken things off with Adam before he'd left, and all of that, but.... in his mind he's still just that angry kid that Shiro had mentored instead of a grown man who'd come so far from that angry child.
... Not that it's easy to tell as he kicks at the storage room door and yells at Lance in terms that would be insulting to anyone outside of the team. Sure, he could probably easily knock it down, but then he'd be putting it back up and all of that.. and..
He turns to look at Shiro too, sort of half glowering at the storage closet around them. Just as fast, though, he shrugs, shoulders coming up as his palms turn out in a 'what are we going to do' motion before he asks :
Shiro has not missed the fact that Keith has grown up, that he's a remarkable man in his own right. It's not a new realization. He remembers watching that drive in him, the fire that he sometimes thinks will consume Keith entirely. He saw it clearly during the Trials. He's seen it since then, over and over again.
He's told himself that there isn't time for the way he feels, that he can't put their friendship at risk. It's too important to him, a piece of the foundation that his world is built on these days. Keith saved him. Keith is... everything.
Right now though, he's ducking his head to hide a smile at Keith's assault on the door and the choice words he has for Lance. He looks back up in time to meet Keith's gaze at that question. Well. He considers the question before looking away, back to the door, trying and failing to fight the blush that rises in his cheeks, following the line of his scar across the bridge of his nose. "Well. He said seven minutes." ...they aren't teenagers anymore. But that doesn't make it any less obvious.
Apparently his well-kept secret is not so well kept after all, if the others have caught onto it.
"Seven min-" Keith's eyes squint for a moment as he tries to figure it out, basically, the game title not quite clicking. To say Keith is oblivious would be a kindness. Literally everyone around them could see what the two of them were dancing around and how mutual it was... except the two of them. Except Keith, who'd even missed the little smiles that his mother would give him when Shiro would come to visit him in the hospital while he was there. Hell, he'd told him that he loved him, but...
They'd never talked about if Shiro remembered that because Keith had been too scared to ask and possibly hear 'no.' What they were together was way too important, what they were was far too near and dear to Keith's more delicate than it seemed little heart that's dealt with too much in his short life already.
But they both have, haven't they?
"Oh." Keith seems to realize very suddenly what's implied here, eyes going wide and his cheeks turning pink near simultaneously as he densely repeats almost like a wheeze : "Oh... right... "
"I, listen, Shiro - " Keith, who's been so put together and leader like recently, suddenly becomes a fumbling teenager again with all of three words. "It's... we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."
Shiro is ready to lay it out and explain it to Keith when he sees it click in the younger man's eyes. Okay. Good. That makes it at least slightly easier, doesn't it? Except there's Keith blushing at him, and Shiro can feel his own cheeks heating.
It's hard not to picture it, stepping close and caging Keith against the wall, of finally tasting those lips, finding out what it will feel like to have Keith in his arms, to kiss him. But no. Deep breath. Rein it in.
But as he watches Keith, sees that fumbling, something in him softens. Maybe that's why what he says next is probably more than he ought to say, "It's not a matter of not wanting to." It's a confession he only realizes the moment he's finished speaking the last word, and he abruptly falls silent.
"You..." Keith pauses after Shiro says what may seem like too much to him but to Keith is.. well. Everything. He thinks he understands what the other man means, what he intends by that sentence, but... he doesn't want to assume. Some small part of him still believes he's that young kid who could never attain someone like Takashi Shirogane, and yet... here he is basically saying that he.. wants to kiss him?
Wants to spend seven minutes doing.. who knows what, with him? He feels an odd clench in his chest at the thought. A part of him wants to tell Shiro to stop messing with him, but another.... is stupidly hopeful.
"It's... the same for me, Shiro... " And now it's time to look painfully shy about actually putting that in words, a hand coming to rub at the back of his neck. "I guess that's.. what Lance meant by working it out, huh?"
The pause nearly ends him. After everything that he has been through, that's going to be the death of him, the quiet in this enclosed space, watching Keith's face without knowing what to expect, what he's going to say. And then Keith speaks and a cool wash of hope and relief slams through Shiro, like a rush of cool water.
He's still going to have a talk with Lance after this.
But right now the only thing that matters is Keith. Shiro steps closer, hand reaching up to brush some of that dark hair back from his eyes, fingertips following along the scar of his cheek. "Then we're wasting our minutes..." Shiro murmurs, voice soft before he closes the last bit of distance and finds Keith's lips with his own. It's a soft, light touch, all sweetness and affection. For the moment. There's an undeniable current of desire and need below it though.
Keith is almost ready to pinch himself. Honestly, it's a little bit much for him to grasp how long they might've been dancing around one another for absolutely no reason other than their own misgivings. Or the fact that there was just no chance, or too much to lose when it came to the mission if they were too wrapped up in each other. There was still a mission to keep in mind, but right now, in this 'intermission' so to speak...
Shiro's fingers touch his cheek and Keith leans instinctively in to it, eyes fluttering closed as he soaks in the touch. They've been so close and yet so far for too damn long, hadn't they? Dancing until they're toe to toe with the subject and then finding a reason to divert away.
He soaks in a few moments of that soft attention, humming gently his approval. But of course in true Keith form he can't just leave it there, his hands coming to rest on Shiro's upper arms as he leans back in against him. There's no telling how much Shiro wants or what he'll allow this to go to right here in a storage closet, but...
Keith, clearly, isn't opposed to what's happening right at the moment.
It's not lost on Shiro, the realization that they've both been playing mirror images of the same game, wanting but not allowing themselves to want for fear of what it might do to what already existed between them if their feelings weren't returned. Keith is precious to him, and the other man's presence in his life has become a fixture, a touch point that keeps him on course no matter where he is out in the blackness of time and space. He'd never have wanted to put that in jeopardy. More than that, he'd never want to ask Keith for more than he was willing to give.
But Keith meets the kiss, kisses him back, and all those doubts and misgivings and inhibitions shatter into pieces too small to be seen. Those hands grip at his arms and Shiro can feel the threads of his self-control pull taught and fraying, snapping one by one.
They're still in a closet. They definitely have an audience separated by nothing more than the door between them. This isn't the best place to chase something more. They should talk about this. Sort it out. Slow down.
And in this moment he doesn't care. Shiro steps forward, towards Keith, into him, backing him up until he can trap the shorter man against the wall. One hand drops to his hip, metallic fingers gripping tightly. His other shifts to press his weight against his forearm at the wall, fingertips still lingering in Keith's hair. The kiss turns less chaste, more insistent pressure, a brush of his tongue in silent supplication to be allowed more.
Slowing down has never been Keith's forte. Whether it was physically, on bikes, or even when it came to the possibility of a relationship. Yes, he knows that they should at least talk, or something, that it gave them a better chance at establishing something lasting if they went through with things like that. But right now? Right now he's living out part of something he's thought about.. fantasized, even, from time to time since he'd been a much younger teen. He'd obtained something he'd previously thought unobtainable, and though he doesn't want to mess it up, he also finds it near on impossible to wait. At least not for this. Not for finally being able to grip on to Shiro's arms and pull him closer, to lean himself against him for something other than support because he was injured.
No, instead he gives as Shiro pushes them back, allows his back to meet the wall. Normally Keith might be hesitant to allow something like this, but it's Shiro.. and if there's one man in the entire universe Keith trusts so fully it's painful.. it's Shiro.
Which is why he's so pliant, now, so willing to let Shiro have everything he wants and more. His hands drift from his arms to Shiro's waist, his back, as he pins him to the wall so sweetly. It's everything he could've wanted in the moment.. except maybe knowing that the others were probably on the other side listening for every little hint they may get.
Shiro's tongue probes at his lips and Keith moves a hand to cradle Shiro's jaw as he turns, ever so slightly, and allows him the room to explore, so to speak. Keith will meet him in the middle, playful and yet insistent even as he does so.
Shiro will remember himself. He wants to do this right, to give it as much a chance to succeed as it possibly can. It's too important not to. Keith is too important not to. But he allows himself this moment, allows it because he doesn't have it in him to break away from Keith's lips. Not now. Not yet.
He can even forget about the others, about the fact that they were put on a very specific clock. Time feels like it's lost any meaning anyway. How does account for seconds and minutes when even his heartbeat can't keep a steady rhythm at all.
His hand at Keith's hip strays up, fingertips catching the hem of his shirt, straying up. Shiro fully takes the invitation that Keith makes, exploring, tasting, trying to swallow back the low rumble of sound it draws out of him. It's when he hears himself that he realizes he's gotten away from himself entirely. Breaking the kiss -- with a reluctance that screams of how difficult it is to manage -- he lingers closer, leaning his forehead against Keith's as he tries to catch his breath back. "Keith, I..." Words. How do those go again? "I should tell you..."
At least one of them is responsible, right? Keith, for one, is a bit like a kid in a candy store right at that moment, giddy to be able to do this. To have Shiro close to him bodily, to know that this isn't just something he's been chasing after for nothing all this time.
Not that he'd blame Shiro if he didn't return his feelings.. he is, after all, his own bucket of problems with his own issues to sort out irrespective of Shiro's.
A shiver runs through Keith's abdomen as Shiro's hand strays higher, pushing at the hem of his shirt, Keith's body arching to allow him eagerly. Lost in the moment as he is, Keith doesn't miss the low rumble of sound that moves from Shiro's mouth to his own - or the croon that he can't help that comes in return. His own little sound that he agrees, that he wants as much as Shiro does.
- - At least until he pulls away, and then Keith's brows move to wrinkle in the center, equal parts confused as concerned when Shiro stumbles over words.
"You don't .. have to right now. If you don't want."
Oh. He's made him worry. He hadn't meant to do that. Somehow though, seeing that expression on Keith's face, hearing the uncertainty in his voice, it settles something in Shiro. His expression softens and he shakes his head, barely a movement at all, not wanting to lean away from Keith to manage it. Brushing the back of his fingers along his cheekbone lightly, he smiles.
"I want to. I want you to know." It's important that Keith understands it. "I want you to know that I want you. I want you to know that you're everything to me." Keith is the one who has always been there, each time his eyes have opened when he thought he'd never see the light of day again. It's been Keith's voice guiding him out of the darkness. Shiro needs Keith to know it, just how much he means to him, how much Shiro needs him, how much he loves him. He remembers those words spoken to the other him through the haze of the witch's control.
"I love you too, Keith." The way he phrases it is probably evidence enough that he remembers, at least to some extent, that battle, that day. "I should've said it before now."
All of Keith's misgivings about what Shiro could possibly want to say to him so badly swell as he insists. Immediately there's a little niggling thought that maybe he'd thought better about it all, that maybe he's come to realize something even if his kisses were hungry and borderlining on needy. Maybe he'd come to realize that he just wants something more physical and they shouldn't -
But then it's all blown out in pretty short order as Shiro continues, that voice calmly breaking through the din in his mind. It's everything he wants to hear, absolutely, but it seems to surprise him. Those violet eyes go a little wider, surprised even though his mouth is near immediately moving in to one of those shy smiles. Like he might want to tell him that he's being too giving, or something akin to that. It's still true, honestly, but he doesn't expect what comes next, either.
Shiro tells him he loves him and Keith.. can't quite seem to decide how to react. Thrown back to that moment, where he'd thought that may be the last thing he said to him, that he'd wake up dead.. it pangs painfully in his chest even as it swells with hope and happiness, that little smile tugging slightly downward at the thought.
"There's a lot I .. want to ask you, but..." He wants to ask how much Shiro remembers, how much he knows, but he also.. just wants to kiss him again. So Keith instead presses in close again, murmuring between them a few soft words before he moves to kiss him again.
"There's a lot I want to say. We need to talk. I want to do this right..."
It's too important to leave to chance. Keith is too important to him. That shy little smile on his voice, rare an precious as it is, he thinks he'd travel across galaxy after galaxy, universe after universe to see that smile.
But Keith has a good point too. "But you're right," he admits, leaning in to meet Keith's lips iwth his own. The door will open soon, he's sure. He doesn't care. He's too caught up in the taste of Keith's lips on his again. He steps closer again, too close, if they're not going to wind up taking this somewhere they probably shouldn't in a closet with an audience nearby.
Keith is ruining his self-control though, and some part of him realizes that. He'll have to rein it back in, he tells himself, but not just yet. In a moment.
They really do need to talk and sort things out between them. There's been a lot that's gone unsaid in their time together in Voltron. Hell, since Shiro had shown up back on Earth there's been a lot unsaid. They've been too wrapped up in the mission, in saving one another when they needed it, to even begin to think about what was going on, or growing, between them. Hell, for a while there he'd wondered if they might've squandered any chance at all together after the whole 'that's an order' episode and his leaving for the Blade.
Thankfully Shiro doesn't insist they talk right this second, while they're locked in for an unknown amount of time more, meeting his lips. Keith's smiling softly even in to this kiss, thrilled to a level he hasn't experienced in the longest time just by having Shiro so close.
His arms snake around the other man's waist to hold him close, as usual preferring to express things physically. Yes, this might mean that they're in a compromising situation when Lance opens the door again but.. he'd kind of asked for it, hadn't he? Locking them in here and all.
Right now, though? All Keith is focused on is the feeling of Shiro's lips on his, this time being the one to run his tongue along the seam of Shiro's lips to ask permission.
They will talk. Shiro is determined. He needs Keith to understand how much he means to him, to know how important he is to Shiro. They've been through so much, and much of it has been sharp-edged, enough to leave the sort of scars that can't be seen. But they've found each other, finally, and Shiro is a stubborn enough man that he'll hold onto this chance now that he has it, like it's the last lifeline left in this universe.
For now though his lips part, welcoming, all invitation for Keith to do as he likes, take what he wants. There isn't anything that Shiro can imagine himself denying Keith now, especially as that lithe, toned body presses close to him, as he runs his fingers up to the small of Keith's back, pressing him close.
God there's no close enough right now. Lance can deal with what he finds, given that he's the one who opened the door to it, or well, closed the door on them. Same thing. Still, he probably should think twice before his hand wanders lower, gripping at Keith's ass.
He should think twice. But he doesn't think at all, instead just acting.
They're both going to be stubbornly gripping on to each other after this is all said and done. Keith can feel it in his bones practically, even if this is only the beginning. Will only be the beginning of something much longer if they both have anything to say about it. Normally Keith might be a bit more hesitant to jump in head first, but here and now, with Shiro by his side and their friends no doubt behind them... they can take on the planet, the universe, all of Earth and Space and Keith is confident they'll come out the victor.
Right now, pressed together and able to play against Shiro's tongue, as he is right now? Keith is as close to heaven as he may ever be. One hand moves to take a greedy moment to run through Shiro's short, now white hair, feeling the soothing, velvety texture of those close cut sides that feed in to the longer top.
He doesn't expect Shiro to get quite that handsy - but he's definitely not complaining. Not one bit, not even a little, and especially not with how quickly he's mewling in to Shiro's mouth at the sensation. But, of course, with that broached.. Keith presses in a bit more intensely, nipping at Shiro's bottom lip and giving him a bit of a tug, the hand that remains at his waist lingering further toward Shiro's middle and down, lingering just above the apex of his thighs.
... And, of course, Keith being Keith, tips his hips back and in to Shiro's touch. Just.. because he can.
There is a flicker of thought that the door is going to open soon that Shiro immediately pushes away in favor or focusing all his attention, every last shred of his being swept up in the other man. He explores his mouth, wanting to commit the taste of him to memory, to commit all of this to memory, for those times when he has to let Keith out of his arms.
Eventually he'll have to do that. But not now.
Now, he's realizing he probably ought to not get quite so bold with his touch, but then Keith presses back into him and Shiro can't possibly resist. He also doesn't try. He grips at his ass, stepping closer to press against him.
He breaks away from Keith's lips to catch his breath. He breathes his name softly, one hand moving to catch in the front waistband of Keith's pants tugging. "Seven minutes isn't going to be enough," he admits, having the grace to sound sheepish.
Keith can't help the pleased little sound that rolls up his throat as Shiro's body presses him firmly in to the wall. How many times has he imagined it, now? He isn't sure, but right now it doesn't matter because all those memories of his fantasies don't even come close to think actual moment. His mind is far from their time frame or any knowledge of how much time has passed - probably not a great thing, considering their situation at the moment, but, well..
This is Keith and Shiro probably expects no different.
Shiro breaks away and Keith's revealed to be more than a little caught up, face flushed slightly and lids heavy as he takes him in. For now he's not even miffed at being stopped, since... well. Shiro's right, after all. Even if he doesn't want him to be, he really doesn't want Lance to walk in on him with his hand down Shiro's pants.
It's bad enough he already had to lock them in a closet for them to do this, isn't it?
"Less than 7 minutes by now.." Keith has to chuckle lightly at that, though he does lean in for another gentle little kiss, because he just does not want to be away from him. "We can go to our rooms after this.."
Shiro doesn't think he's ever heard anything half so sweet as the sounds that Keith makes just now. He's having visions of slowly peeling him out of his clothes, taking his time exploring every last inch of his body and see what other sound he can coax past the other man's lips. OH they will definitely need to relocate after this.
He lets his gaze roam over Keith's face, at how overcome Keith looks. It's almost enough that Shiro decides he doesn't care who might be opening the door.
A breath to settle himself and he nods, managing a sheepish grin in the wake of that sweet kiss. "Yeah. We can. I don't want to let you go." He admits in between each soft kiss, waiting for the fire in his blood to dwindle at least slightly.
It's not working. And Shiro lingers at Keith's lips longer and longer, and soon he's looking to deepen the kiss again. He's distracted enough that he misses the sound of the door opening.
At least until Lance speaks up. "Huh. This actually worked. That was easier than I thought." Hunk owes him five bucks.
Keith may owe Lance a thank you later on in the month when he finds time to unwind himself from training and Shiro, but right now? He's more soaked in to that kiss than anything else in the world. He does, however, manage to note the fact that the door opens while Shiro has him pulled in to another deep kiss, and there's precisely no way in hell he's pulling back from that.
So, as he hears the door open, and then Lance's little comment, Keith does the best thing he can do -
Which is give Lance the one finger salute even as he keeps his attention focused on Shiro. They'll thank Lance later.. maybe. Or probably give him a lecture if it's Shiro. Regardless, Keith finally manages to pull himself a little bit away, a little flush spreading across his cheeks as he realizes that he'd just been kissing the life out of Shiro in front of Lance.
Shiro feels Keith's hand move, even if he can't see it, and he knows full well what's going on, especially as Lance lets out a scandalized gasp like how dare Keith be so crass, stifling a snicker as he does.
With a visible reluctance as the kiss ends, he draws himself away from Keith, though he does it like it's physically painful to allow any distance between them at all. Even then, he doesn't go far, his human hand reaching for Keith's to tangle their fingers up together. A breath, and he glances back at Lance.
"We're going to have a talk about this later," he informs Lance, attempting to at least sound a bit ominous, but having trouble keeping the smile off his face. Funny how that works, even if he's fighting a blush of his own. He tightens his fingers around Keith's lightly, nodding. "Yeah, we're leaving." And with that, he moves to lead Keith from the closet.
Behind them Lance, who has apparently decided he's already in for it, so why not go for broke, adds, "You kids have fun!"
Keith's glad for Shiro's immediate insistence they stay close. He'd thought of doing the same, but hadn't wanted to seem too clingy too soon. Thankfully Shiro takes away his concern over that fairly easily, inspiring one of those shy little pleased smiles from the typically straight-faced Black Paladin. There's a chance that Shiro will see more and more of those, with time, but for now he's just focused on going somewhere where Lance can't pester them or make his little jokes anymore.
Shiro's fingers get a little squeeze, both reassurance and eagerness in the motion, as Shiro informs Lance that this won't be the end of the subject and leads them out.
But then Lance can't help himself, and Keith throws a look over his shoulder - not that it'll probably do much to Lance by now, but the comment might -
Shiro could rather happily do with more of those small smiles from Keith. In fact, it may be one of his overall goals in life. So far, so good, he supposes. He manages to keep from looking back at Lance again, though he has to swallow back a laugh at Keith's admonition. Lance has already found himself trouble. Trouble and likely a genuine dose of gratitude.
But that trouble will have to wait. Shiro has a different priority right now.
He squeezes Keith's hand before lifting it until he can press a kiss to the back of his knuckles, an incidental little gesture, affection simply because it turns out he can. "My room or yours?"
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timeasmymeasure
for webonded - 7 Minutes In Heaven (Voltron S7 spoilers)
Date: 2019-01-20 03:46 am (UTC)The biggest relief is that the paladins have all finally been released from the hospital, injuries healed, back on their feet. Shiro has never been more grateful for anything in his life. That moment when he'd watched the explosion, watched the Lions fall has been burnt to the back of his retinas, haunts him in those moments when he shuts his eyes at night. It's better now that they're healed and whole.
But relief and all aside, Shiro has no idea how he's gotten into his current situation.
Lance had suggested something about a team building game, one whose rules he'd been vague on -- at least until Shiro had found himself shoved into a thankfully mostly-empty storage room, along with Keith. And then the sound of the door being slammed and a lock being thrown.
Shiro turns back to the door in time to be told, 'Sort yourselves out already! You've got seven minutes!'
Wait. This is. He hesitates before glancing back over his shoulder at Keith. Is this actually really happening? Normally he'd laugh something like this off, but the problem is he's been doing his damnedest to avoid thinking about a few things that he's now very much thinking about.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 04:45 pm (UTC)Keith had never been so glad to open his eyes in a hospital than he had then. To have Krolia and Kolivan there, waiting for him to wake up? Even better. As a young boy Keith had never expected to have as much family as he does now. With his father gone and his mother someone he'd only heard about in stories, he'd convinced himself that he'd only have himself to rely on from then on out. And for a while.. that had been the case. Of course it had. At least until Shiro had come to his school, and he'd stolen his car in a fit of anger at his teacher for shrugging off his natural talents...
And then Shiro had disappeared, and returned, and Voltron had happened. He'd found the Blade, and his mother, and somehow Kolivan had grumpily come along for the ride somewhere in there.
All along it though they'd been dancing around.. whatever this was, though. Keith had always shrugged off his deeper feelings for Shiro thinking that there was no way the older man would ever be interested in him. Yes, he'd broken things off with Adam before he'd left, and all of that, but.... in his mind he's still just that angry kid that Shiro had mentored instead of a grown man who'd come so far from that angry child.
... Not that it's easy to tell as he kicks at the storage room door and yells at Lance in terms that would be insulting to anyone outside of the team. Sure, he could probably easily knock it down, but then he'd be putting it back up and all of that.. and..
He turns to look at Shiro too, sort of half glowering at the storage closet around them. Just as fast, though, he shrugs, shoulders coming up as his palms turn out in a 'what are we going to do' motion before he asks :
"So... what is this?"
no subject
Date: 2019-01-20 10:39 pm (UTC)He's told himself that there isn't time for the way he feels, that he can't put their friendship at risk. It's too important to him, a piece of the foundation that his world is built on these days. Keith saved him. Keith is... everything.
Right now though, he's ducking his head to hide a smile at Keith's assault on the door and the choice words he has for Lance. He looks back up in time to meet Keith's gaze at that question. Well. He considers the question before looking away, back to the door, trying and failing to fight the blush that rises in his cheeks, following the line of his scar across the bridge of his nose. "Well. He said seven minutes." ...they aren't teenagers anymore. But that doesn't make it any less obvious.
Apparently his well-kept secret is not so well kept after all, if the others have caught onto it.
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Date: 2019-01-21 02:00 am (UTC)"Seven min-" Keith's eyes squint for a moment as he tries to figure it out, basically, the game title not quite clicking. To say Keith is oblivious would be a kindness. Literally everyone around them could see what the two of them were dancing around and how mutual it was... except the two of them. Except Keith, who'd even missed the little smiles that his mother would give him when Shiro would come to visit him in the hospital while he was there. Hell, he'd told him that he loved him, but...
They'd never talked about if Shiro remembered that because Keith had been too scared to ask and possibly hear 'no.' What they were together was way too important, what they were was far too near and dear to Keith's more delicate than it seemed little heart that's dealt with too much in his short life already.
But they both have, haven't they?
"Oh." Keith seems to realize very suddenly what's implied here, eyes going wide and his cheeks turning pink near simultaneously as he densely repeats almost like a wheeze : "Oh... right... "
"I, listen, Shiro - " Keith, who's been so put together and leader like recently, suddenly becomes a fumbling teenager again with all of three words. "It's... we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."
no subject
Date: 2019-01-21 04:01 am (UTC)It's hard not to picture it, stepping close and caging Keith against the wall, of finally tasting those lips, finding out what it will feel like to have Keith in his arms, to kiss him. But no. Deep breath. Rein it in.
But as he watches Keith, sees that fumbling, something in him softens. Maybe that's why what he says next is probably more than he ought to say, "It's not a matter of not wanting to." It's a confession he only realizes the moment he's finished speaking the last word, and he abruptly falls silent.
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Date: 2019-01-21 01:25 pm (UTC)"You..." Keith pauses after Shiro says what may seem like too much to him but to Keith is.. well. Everything. He thinks he understands what the other man means, what he intends by that sentence, but... he doesn't want to assume. Some small part of him still believes he's that young kid who could never attain someone like Takashi Shirogane, and yet... here he is basically saying that he.. wants to kiss him?
Wants to spend seven minutes doing.. who knows what, with him? He feels an odd clench in his chest at the thought. A part of him wants to tell Shiro to stop messing with him, but another.... is stupidly hopeful.
"It's... the same for me, Shiro... " And now it's time to look painfully shy about actually putting that in words, a hand coming to rub at the back of his neck. "I guess that's.. what Lance meant by working it out, huh?"
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Date: 2019-01-22 03:43 am (UTC)He's still going to have a talk with Lance after this.
But right now the only thing that matters is Keith. Shiro steps closer, hand reaching up to brush some of that dark hair back from his eyes, fingertips following along the scar of his cheek. "Then we're wasting our minutes..." Shiro murmurs, voice soft before he closes the last bit of distance and finds Keith's lips with his own. It's a soft, light touch, all sweetness and affection. For the moment. There's an undeniable current of desire and need below it though.
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Date: 2019-01-22 02:35 pm (UTC)Keith is almost ready to pinch himself. Honestly, it's a little bit much for him to grasp how long they might've been dancing around one another for absolutely no reason other than their own misgivings. Or the fact that there was just no chance, or too much to lose when it came to the mission if they were too wrapped up in each other. There was still a mission to keep in mind, but right now, in this 'intermission' so to speak...
Shiro's fingers touch his cheek and Keith leans instinctively in to it, eyes fluttering closed as he soaks in the touch. They've been so close and yet so far for too damn long, hadn't they? Dancing until they're toe to toe with the subject and then finding a reason to divert away.
He soaks in a few moments of that soft attention, humming gently his approval. But of course in true Keith form he can't just leave it there, his hands coming to rest on Shiro's upper arms as he leans back in against him. There's no telling how much Shiro wants or what he'll allow this to go to right here in a storage closet, but...
Keith, clearly, isn't opposed to what's happening right at the moment.
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Date: 2019-01-22 03:26 pm (UTC)But Keith meets the kiss, kisses him back, and all those doubts and misgivings and inhibitions shatter into pieces too small to be seen. Those hands grip at his arms and Shiro can feel the threads of his self-control pull taught and fraying, snapping one by one.
They're still in a closet. They definitely have an audience separated by nothing more than the door between them. This isn't the best place to chase something more. They should talk about this. Sort it out. Slow down.
And in this moment he doesn't care. Shiro steps forward, towards Keith, into him, backing him up until he can trap the shorter man against the wall. One hand drops to his hip, metallic fingers gripping tightly. His other shifts to press his weight against his forearm at the wall, fingertips still lingering in Keith's hair. The kiss turns less chaste, more insistent pressure, a brush of his tongue in silent supplication to be allowed more.
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Date: 2019-01-22 04:31 pm (UTC)Slowing down has never been Keith's forte. Whether it was physically, on bikes, or even when it came to the possibility of a relationship. Yes, he knows that they should at least talk, or something, that it gave them a better chance at establishing something lasting if they went through with things like that. But right now? Right now he's living out part of something he's thought about.. fantasized, even, from time to time since he'd been a much younger teen. He'd obtained something he'd previously thought unobtainable, and though he doesn't want to mess it up, he also finds it near on impossible to wait. At least not for this. Not for finally being able to grip on to Shiro's arms and pull him closer, to lean himself against him for something other than support because he was injured.
No, instead he gives as Shiro pushes them back, allows his back to meet the wall. Normally Keith might be hesitant to allow something like this, but it's Shiro.. and if there's one man in the entire universe Keith trusts so fully it's painful.. it's Shiro.
Which is why he's so pliant, now, so willing to let Shiro have everything he wants and more. His hands drift from his arms to Shiro's waist, his back, as he pins him to the wall so sweetly. It's everything he could've wanted in the moment.. except maybe knowing that the others were probably on the other side listening for every little hint they may get.
Shiro's tongue probes at his lips and Keith moves a hand to cradle Shiro's jaw as he turns, ever so slightly, and allows him the room to explore, so to speak. Keith will meet him in the middle, playful and yet insistent even as he does so.
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Date: 2019-01-22 05:01 pm (UTC)He can even forget about the others, about the fact that they were put on a very specific clock. Time feels like it's lost any meaning anyway. How does account for seconds and minutes when even his heartbeat can't keep a steady rhythm at all.
His hand at Keith's hip strays up, fingertips catching the hem of his shirt, straying up. Shiro fully takes the invitation that Keith makes, exploring, tasting, trying to swallow back the low rumble of sound it draws out of him. It's when he hears himself that he realizes he's gotten away from himself entirely. Breaking the kiss -- with a reluctance that screams of how difficult it is to manage -- he lingers closer, leaning his forehead against Keith's as he tries to catch his breath back. "Keith, I..." Words. How do those go again? "I should tell you..."
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Date: 2019-01-22 05:47 pm (UTC)At least one of them is responsible, right? Keith, for one, is a bit like a kid in a candy store right at that moment, giddy to be able to do this. To have Shiro close to him bodily, to know that this isn't just something he's been chasing after for nothing all this time.
Not that he'd blame Shiro if he didn't return his feelings.. he is, after all, his own bucket of problems with his own issues to sort out irrespective of Shiro's.
A shiver runs through Keith's abdomen as Shiro's hand strays higher, pushing at the hem of his shirt, Keith's body arching to allow him eagerly. Lost in the moment as he is, Keith doesn't miss the low rumble of sound that moves from Shiro's mouth to his own - or the croon that he can't help that comes in return. His own little sound that he agrees, that he wants as much as Shiro does.
- - At least until he pulls away, and then Keith's brows move to wrinkle in the center, equal parts confused as concerned when Shiro stumbles over words.
"You don't .. have to right now. If you don't want."
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Date: 2019-01-22 07:56 pm (UTC)"I want to. I want you to know." It's important that Keith understands it. "I want you to know that I want you. I want you to know that you're everything to me." Keith is the one who has always been there, each time his eyes have opened when he thought he'd never see the light of day again. It's been Keith's voice guiding him out of the darkness. Shiro needs Keith to know it, just how much he means to him, how much Shiro needs him, how much he loves him. He remembers those words spoken to the other him through the haze of the witch's control.
"I love you too, Keith." The way he phrases it is probably evidence enough that he remembers, at least to some extent, that battle, that day. "I should've said it before now."
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Date: 2019-01-23 07:14 pm (UTC)All of Keith's misgivings about what Shiro could possibly want to say to him so badly swell as he insists. Immediately there's a little niggling thought that maybe he'd thought better about it all, that maybe he's come to realize something even if his kisses were hungry and borderlining on needy. Maybe he'd come to realize that he just wants something more physical and they shouldn't -
But then it's all blown out in pretty short order as Shiro continues, that voice calmly breaking through the din in his mind. It's everything he wants to hear, absolutely, but it seems to surprise him. Those violet eyes go a little wider, surprised even though his mouth is near immediately moving in to one of those shy smiles. Like he might want to tell him that he's being too giving, or something akin to that. It's still true, honestly, but he doesn't expect what comes next, either.
Shiro tells him he loves him and Keith.. can't quite seem to decide how to react. Thrown back to that moment, where he'd thought that may be the last thing he said to him, that he'd wake up dead.. it pangs painfully in his chest even as it swells with hope and happiness, that little smile tugging slightly downward at the thought.
"There's a lot I .. want to ask you, but..." He wants to ask how much Shiro remembers, how much he knows, but he also.. just wants to kiss him again. So Keith instead presses in close again, murmuring between them a few soft words before he moves to kiss him again.
"We don't have long in here.. "
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Date: 2019-01-24 12:59 am (UTC)It's too important to leave to chance. Keith is too important to him. That shy little smile on his voice, rare an precious as it is, he thinks he'd travel across galaxy after galaxy, universe after universe to see that smile.
But Keith has a good point too. "But you're right," he admits, leaning in to meet Keith's lips iwth his own. The door will open soon, he's sure. He doesn't care. He's too caught up in the taste of Keith's lips on his again. He steps closer again, too close, if they're not going to wind up taking this somewhere they probably shouldn't in a closet with an audience nearby.
Keith is ruining his self-control though, and some part of him realizes that. He'll have to rein it back in, he tells himself, but not just yet. In a moment.
Maybe two.
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Date: 2019-01-24 01:53 pm (UTC)They really do need to talk and sort things out between them. There's been a lot that's gone unsaid in their time together in Voltron. Hell, since Shiro had shown up back on Earth there's been a lot unsaid. They've been too wrapped up in the mission, in saving one another when they needed it, to even begin to think about what was going on, or growing, between them. Hell, for a while there he'd wondered if they might've squandered any chance at all together after the whole 'that's an order' episode and his leaving for the Blade.
Thankfully Shiro doesn't insist they talk right this second, while they're locked in for an unknown amount of time more, meeting his lips. Keith's smiling softly even in to this kiss, thrilled to a level he hasn't experienced in the longest time just by having Shiro so close.
His arms snake around the other man's waist to hold him close, as usual preferring to express things physically. Yes, this might mean that they're in a compromising situation when Lance opens the door again but.. he'd kind of asked for it, hadn't he? Locking them in here and all.
Right now, though? All Keith is focused on is the feeling of Shiro's lips on his, this time being the one to run his tongue along the seam of Shiro's lips to ask permission.
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Date: 2019-01-25 01:21 am (UTC)For now though his lips part, welcoming, all invitation for Keith to do as he likes, take what he wants. There isn't anything that Shiro can imagine himself denying Keith now, especially as that lithe, toned body presses close to him, as he runs his fingers up to the small of Keith's back, pressing him close.
God there's no close enough right now. Lance can deal with what he finds, given that he's the one who opened the door to it, or well, closed the door on them. Same thing. Still, he probably should think twice before his hand wanders lower, gripping at Keith's ass.
He should think twice. But he doesn't think at all, instead just acting.
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Date: 2019-01-25 01:49 am (UTC)They're both going to be stubbornly gripping on to each other after this is all said and done. Keith can feel it in his bones practically, even if this is only the beginning. Will only be the beginning of something much longer if they both have anything to say about it. Normally Keith might be a bit more hesitant to jump in head first, but here and now, with Shiro by his side and their friends no doubt behind them... they can take on the planet, the universe, all of Earth and Space and Keith is confident they'll come out the victor.
Right now, pressed together and able to play against Shiro's tongue, as he is right now? Keith is as close to heaven as he may ever be. One hand moves to take a greedy moment to run through Shiro's short, now white hair, feeling the soothing, velvety texture of those close cut sides that feed in to the longer top.
He doesn't expect Shiro to get quite that handsy - but he's definitely not complaining. Not one bit, not even a little, and especially not with how quickly he's mewling in to Shiro's mouth at the sensation. But, of course, with that broached.. Keith presses in a bit more intensely, nipping at Shiro's bottom lip and giving him a bit of a tug, the hand that remains at his waist lingering further toward Shiro's middle and down, lingering just above the apex of his thighs.
... And, of course, Keith being Keith, tips his hips back and in to Shiro's touch. Just.. because he can.
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Date: 2019-01-28 06:05 am (UTC)Eventually he'll have to do that. But not now.
Now, he's realizing he probably ought to not get quite so bold with his touch, but then Keith presses back into him and Shiro can't possibly resist. He also doesn't try. He grips at his ass, stepping closer to press against him.
He breaks away from Keith's lips to catch his breath. He breathes his name softly, one hand moving to catch in the front waistband of Keith's pants tugging. "Seven minutes isn't going to be enough," he admits, having the grace to sound sheepish.
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Date: 2019-01-28 07:18 pm (UTC)Keith can't help the pleased little sound that rolls up his throat as Shiro's body presses him firmly in to the wall. How many times has he imagined it, now? He isn't sure, but right now it doesn't matter because all those memories of his fantasies don't even come close to think actual moment. His mind is far from their time frame or any knowledge of how much time has passed - probably not a great thing, considering their situation at the moment, but, well..
This is Keith and Shiro probably expects no different.
Shiro breaks away and Keith's revealed to be more than a little caught up, face flushed slightly and lids heavy as he takes him in. For now he's not even miffed at being stopped, since... well. Shiro's right, after all. Even if he doesn't want him to be, he really doesn't want Lance to walk in on him with his hand down Shiro's pants.
It's bad enough he already had to lock them in a closet for them to do this, isn't it?
"Less than 7 minutes by now.." Keith has to chuckle lightly at that, though he does lean in for another gentle little kiss, because he just does not want to be away from him. "We can go to our rooms after this.."
Another little kiss, and then another.
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Date: 2019-02-04 05:04 am (UTC)He lets his gaze roam over Keith's face, at how overcome Keith looks. It's almost enough that Shiro decides he doesn't care who might be opening the door.
A breath to settle himself and he nods, managing a sheepish grin in the wake of that sweet kiss. "Yeah. We can. I don't want to let you go." He admits in between each soft kiss, waiting for the fire in his blood to dwindle at least slightly.
It's not working. And Shiro lingers at Keith's lips longer and longer, and soon he's looking to deepen the kiss again. He's distracted enough that he misses the sound of the door opening.
At least until Lance speaks up. "Huh. This actually worked. That was easier than I thought." Hunk owes him five bucks.
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Date: 2019-02-04 01:10 pm (UTC)Listen.
Keith may owe Lance a thank you later on in the month when he finds time to unwind himself from training and Shiro, but right now? He's more soaked in to that kiss than anything else in the world. He does, however, manage to note the fact that the door opens while Shiro has him pulled in to another deep kiss, and there's precisely no way in hell he's pulling back from that.
So, as he hears the door open, and then Lance's little comment, Keith does the best thing he can do -
Which is give Lance the one finger salute even as he keeps his attention focused on Shiro. They'll thank Lance later.. maybe. Or probably give him a lecture if it's Shiro. Regardless, Keith finally manages to pull himself a little bit away, a little flush spreading across his cheeks as he realizes that he'd just been kissing the life out of Shiro in front of Lance.
"We leaving, Shiro?"
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Date: 2019-02-04 02:00 pm (UTC)With a visible reluctance as the kiss ends, he draws himself away from Keith, though he does it like it's physically painful to allow any distance between them at all. Even then, he doesn't go far, his human hand reaching for Keith's to tangle their fingers up together. A breath, and he glances back at Lance.
"We're going to have a talk about this later," he informs Lance, attempting to at least sound a bit ominous, but having trouble keeping the smile off his face. Funny how that works, even if he's fighting a blush of his own. He tightens his fingers around Keith's lightly, nodding. "Yeah, we're leaving." And with that, he moves to lead Keith from the closet.
Behind them Lance, who has apparently decided he's already in for it, so why not go for broke, adds, "You kids have fun!"
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Date: 2019-02-04 05:03 pm (UTC)Keith's glad for Shiro's immediate insistence they stay close. He'd thought of doing the same, but hadn't wanted to seem too clingy too soon. Thankfully Shiro takes away his concern over that fairly easily, inspiring one of those shy little pleased smiles from the typically straight-faced Black Paladin. There's a chance that Shiro will see more and more of those, with time, but for now he's just focused on going somewhere where Lance can't pester them or make his little jokes anymore.
Shiro's fingers get a little squeeze, both reassurance and eagerness in the motion, as Shiro informs Lance that this won't be the end of the subject and leads them out.
But then Lance can't help himself, and Keith throws a look over his shoulder - not that it'll probably do much to Lance by now, but the comment might -
"Don't wish yourself in to trouble, Lance."
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Date: 2019-02-05 02:29 am (UTC)But that trouble will have to wait. Shiro has a different priority right now.
He squeezes Keith's hand before lifting it until he can press a kiss to the back of his knuckles, an incidental little gesture, affection simply because it turns out he can. "My room or yours?"
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