#deecherrywolf

It’s just it’s been a weirdday. Allura kicked them all out of the Castle first thing this morning with thewords, “get out now before I murder you all.” Which isn’t asharsh as it sounds. Pidge and Hunk nearly blew up the entire shuttle bayyesterday, trying to retrofit something into something – what with the avertedexplosion, Shiro hasn’t gotten around to prying an intelligible explanation outof them. Lance has been sulking around the Castle all week, sighing anddisappearing off on his own a lot regardless of what they’re trying to do, butstill always seems to be around to wind Keith up. And Keith’s been trying, hehas, but he’s been annoying everyone, too, pushing everyone to train pastexhaustion and giving even Shiro half a minute of a lecture on being preparedfor what’s coming before he remembered who he was talking to and flushed as redas his Lion.

Shiro had tried to stay inthe Castle with Allura, had said, “Princess, please, what if the Galra attack?”

She’d hooked a foot behindhis ankles and he was flat on his back looking at the ceiling before he knewwhat hit him.

“I will be just fine on myown, Shiro,” she’d told him. She offered him a hand up and shoved him into theshuttle with the others before charting them a course for the Space Mall.

So now here Shiro is, staringdown at something he’s pretty sure is hair dye from the context, the row ofsimilar bottles lined up on a shelf in what’s something like a pharmacy, allwith pictures of aliens with nearly-hair in different colours. He’s rememberingthe girl in his class in his first year at the Garrison with a bright purpleshock of hair. He remembers he’d thought it looked cool before Iverson made herdye it back to blonde; he’d thought so in a slightly envious way he sometimesgot when he looked at non-regulation things back then. In the way he gets nowsometimes when he looks at pretty things, like people used to tell him he wasbefore all the scars and the limb-loss and the trauma.

 And before the white hair.That doesn’t help.

He hears someone coming justa tiny bit too late, shoving the dye back on the shelf and turning towards themwith affected nonchalance pasted on his face.

Keith meets his eyes withmuted curiosity, glancing at the hair dye for a moment and pausing, taking amoment to consider it. When he looks back at Shiro his eyes go first to hishair and Shiro feels his cheeks warm.

“What’s up?” he asks, takinga step closer to Keith and taking advantage of how that always distracts Keithjust a little. Keith’s lashes flutter minutely, he firms his shoulders, andShiro’s pretty sure he’s succeeded in distracting him. If part of him thinksback to Keith’s bitten off lecture – the one on taking advantage of any openingyou’re given and fuck morality – with amusement, he’s never claimed to be abovea little friendly vindictiveness.

“Nothing,” Keith says,because like Shiro his first thought is always that something’s gone wrong andhe knows to get reassurance that it hasn’t (yet) out of the way first. Shirohad known from the measure of Keith’s footsteps, but appreciates it anyway. “Hunkknows a guy and said he’ll get us free lunch. Want to join us?”

Shiro smiles easily, puts ahand on Keith’s shoulder and squeezes as he turns him back towards the door outof the pharmacy as he nods, saying, “sure, you won’t catch me turning down freefood.”

Keith grins at him, leaninginto him just a little, tongue flicking out to wet his lips. Shiro feels hispulse jump a little, feels his own smile soften, and silently acknowledges thetwo-way street that is their weakness for each other. 

~

Later, back on the Castle,Shiro gives Keith’s hip a parting kiss as he makes his way back up Keith’sheaving chest. He kisses Keith’s throat and the corner of his lips, lifting hisweight off him to where he can grin down at him, pushing Keith’s hair out ofhis eyes.

Keith’s lips are red andswollen as he smiles back, lazy, the way he only really gets in their quietestmoments alone or when he’s just had really good sex. He pulls Shiro down withhis fingers tangling in the white tuft of Shiro’s hair for a wet, open-mouthedkiss that Shiro laughs into, wrinkling his nose, saying, “you hate the taste-”and getting cut off by Keith’s insistent tongue.

Shiro lets him have his kissthrough several long, slow moments that are way too easy to sink into. Finally,though, he pushes himself up, lips still close enough to Keith’s to brushagainst each other as he says, “I’m going to go brush my teeth. 

Keith mock-frowns indisapproval, watching Shiro get up, stretch, and walk into the bathroom. Hecalls, “brush mine for me too,” and laughs when Shiro reaches back through thedoor to flick him off.

Shiro notices the bottles ashe turns back to the sink. There are three of them, one each in purple, pinkand blue. He definitely didn’t buy them, and there was only one person who sawhim looking.

Keith loops an arm aroundShiro’s waist, holding onto his hip with one hand as he reaches past him fortheir working replacement for toothbrushes and toothpaste with the other. Shirolays a hand over Keith’s on his hip, tangling their fingers together, and asks,“why did you get them?”

Keith takes his time inanswering, waiting until they’re both done brushing to hug Shiro with both hisarms, chest pressed to Shiro’s back and presumably standing on his toes so hecan dig his chin into Shiro’s shoulder as he watches him in the mirror withserious eyes.

“I got them for you,” Keithsays. “For if you wanted to try them.”

It’s hard not to look awayfrom Keith, to not look at what Keith’s watching so intently, to try to figureout what Keith sees with his serious eyes when he does.

“Do you not like the white?”Shiro makes himself ask, and is grateful that Keith’s reaction is muted; hiseyes flash with confusion and concern for a split second and he digs his chinin a little harder.

“Don’t make it about me,”Keith tells him. Shiro ducks his head, half a nod and half ducking away fromKeith’s eyes.

“Sorry,” he says. Pauses,then admits: “it’s easier.”

The thumb on Shiro’s hip pressesin, starts stroking up and down in a tiny, comforting movement as Keith says,“I know,” and kindly leaves off the idiot implied by histone. He doesn’t say, I’m part-Galra and you don’t care, either, but that’s implied, too.

“You could have got black,”Shiro says, and continues watching Keith’s hands on his skin as Keith replies,“that’s not what you were looking at,” and as Keith’s fingers meet and tracedown one of Shiro’s biggest and ugliest scars like it’s the most precious partof him. Sometimes Keith gets like this: intense and gentle. It drives Shiro tothe brink every time.

Keith fills the silence withsimple reassurance: he’s had Coran look over the ingredients and he’s prettysure there’s nothing in them, and Lance had suggested doing a patch test justto be sure before using it if he decides to. Shiro spends half a second thinkingabout getting annoyed that Keith got the others involved before he remembersthey’re seven people on a single ship and no one has any secrets.

“I can’t have pink hair,”Shiro says, ignoring the budding twist of nervous excitement he feels at theidea even as it makes him smile. “This is dumb, Keith, I’m having amid-twenties crisis and you’re encouraging me.”

A kiss to the sensitive spotunder Shiro’s ear has him squirming, squeezing Keith’s hand in reprimand fortrying to distract him. Keith smiles against Shiro’s skin and says, “I thinkyou’d look pretty with pink hair.” He kisses him again in the same spot andit’s just a coincidence that Shiro forgets to breathe for a moment.

“You’re my second-in-command,Keith; you’re my Spock. You’re meant to be the voice of reason.” Shiro findshimself tilting his head to the side so Keith can get at the skin he’s sointent on kissing. It’s easier than normal to look at himself in the mirror, tosee the white shock of hair he doesn’t remember happening and the scars hedoesn’t remember getting alongside the ones he does and the arm. It’s easier tobear with Keith’s arms wrapped around him and his distracting mouth holding himtogether and here.

“Allura is your Spock,” Keithtells him. Shiro waves him off; they’ve had this argument before.“I’m your Bones.”

“You’re supposed to talk meout of this,” Shiro says, meeting Keith’s eyes in the mirror as presses hislast open-mouthed kiss to Shiro’s neck before turning Shiro around with thehands on his hips.

“You hate this,” Keith tellshim, running his fingers through Shiro’s white tuft. He presses a firm, chastekiss to Shiro’s lips, then says against them, “don’t ask me to argue againstthings that might make you happy.”

Shiro shakes his head, halfautomatically just at Keith’s tone. He kisses Keith, says, “okay,” kisses himagain, and adds, “sorry,” and “I won’t,” and “let’s stop talking about my miledeep issues and go back to bed now,” between kisses.

Keith lets himself be pulledthat way, lets himself be bundled into bed where their limbs fall tangled andShiro gentles his touch against Keith’s skin as he nuzzles and nips at thesensitive hollow of Keith’s throat; quid pro quo, after all.

Their last serious moment ofthe night comes when Keith takes Shiro’s hand, pressing the metal palm to hislips, and says, “I like you so much, you know, and that includes all yourissues.”

“That’s so not fair,” Shirotells him after taking several moments to recover from how that’d made hiswhole body tingle. “You’re my favourite person in the universe and I stillcan’t think of anything I can say that’d beat that.”

Keith rolls his eyes, says,“we are not competing,” which is a lie, and, as if to prove it, “every time yousay something that dumb I’m going to tell you how pretty you are until youbelieve it,” and grins at Shiro’s furious blush.

“You’re evil,” Shiro tellshim. “I’ll find your weakness one day, too.”

Keith laughs. Says, “sure,babe, and on that day I’ll regret this.”

“No you won’t,” Shiro says.

“No, I won’t.”

~

Some days later, when Shiroleaves his room he passes Lance in the hall and asks if he’s okay because he’sflushed and dropped his towel, then sees Hunk and is concerned when he has torepeat what he said three times before Hunk answers. Coran acts normally andPidge is too busy with some tech thing to do more than grunt when he says goodmorning. Allura stares at him, though, until Shiro’s left trying not to squirmin his seat and asking, “are you okay, Princess?” She startles, eyes widening,and hurries to say, “yes, of course. Good morning, Shiro,” in her most regalvoice. 

Keith, when he arrives, sitsnext to Shiro close enough that their thighs are pressed together. He takes alook around the table, turns to Shiro, threads his hands through Shiro’s newlycoloured hair and pulls him in for a heated, proprietary kiss.

“Pretty,” he breathes againstShiro’s lips when they part. “Told you.”