It’s been two weeks and Shiro has to finally accept it. Adam’s not moving back in. 

Their little spat in the workroom about him going to Kerberos really did break them. Adam filed for new officer quarters and took only the things he cared about with him. Sometimes they guest lecture together, but Adam won’t voluntarily speak to him. It stings but part of him still feels justified in his decision to go on the mission.

If Adam doesn’t want to support his dreams...then he’ll accomplish them without him.

Normally, on Fridays, he would go out to dinner with Adam. Just the two of them. And the past two Fridays, he sat in his quarters reading and working out. But now he’s finally getting stir crazy. Not to mention he hasn’t gotten any in weeks which means he’s on edge a little more than usual.

Maybe it’s finally time to drown his sexual frustrations in a stranger.

He knows exactly where to look. There’s a city near the Garrison and on the far side of that city is a place called Rainbow Row. A little on the nose, but it’s a place known for its gay nightlife. Dance clubs and bars and more. He knows for certain that there are more than a few prostitutes in the area too.

It’s far enough from the Garrison that no one will recognize him if he picks up a hooker. Not that it’s against the rules but it is frowned upon since it doesn’t exactly paint the officer in a good moral light. He goes in civilian clothes with the hope that if someone does recognize him, they’ll at least know he’s off duty and maybe mind their own business. 

He cruises the street a little in his car, looking at the common gathering grounds. No one catches his eye until he tries the other side of the street. From behind he sees a tiny skirt, fishnets, and a crop top. All of it black, just like the dark hair pulled up into a tail and exposing his neck. His eyes scan up from the high heel boots to his neck, checking out everything in between. 

Looks more than satisfactory. So Shiro pulls up and flickers his lights to get their attention.

The hooker heads his way, swaying a little seductively to show off his hips. He taps Shiro’s window and he rolls it down so he can lean his face in and tell Shiro his prices.

“It’s thirty for a blow, ten extra to swallow. Sixty if you want---”

“Keith?” Shiro interrupts with disbelief.

There’s a moment of stunned silence as they both stare wide-eyed at each other. It’s impossible to tell who’s more shocked to see who but Shiro is the first to actually speak.

“What...What are you doing here?” Shiro asks.

“Uh, I...n-nothing,” Keith tries.

“You’re...selling yourself,” Shiro realizes and Keith frowns and averts his eyes. “Why?”

“Why do people usually sell themselves?” Keith huffs while crossing his arms and squeezing. “I need money. It’s not like Garrison tuition is free.”

Shiro is aghast. This can’t be real. The kid he took under his wing is out here selling his body to pay his way through school. This is not what he wanted for Keith when he helped him get into the Garrison. And now that he knows, he can’t let this continue.

“Get in, right now, Keith,” Shiro says and unlocks the doors.

“Shiro, it’s---”

“Right now,” Shiro repeats sternly, brokering no arguments. 

Keith frowns, grabs his bag, and slides into the passenger seat. He clicks his seatbelt and Shiro drives off. There’s a few minutes of silence before Keith clears his throat.

“So...where are we going? Parking garage?” Keith asks.

“I’m taking you where you should be,” Shiro reveals, his tone agitated. “The Garrison.”

“What? No!”

“Do you know how lucky you are that I caught you?” Shiro asks, his anger barely restrained. “If someone else caught you they’d have expelled you!”

“You’re not the first officer to catch me,” Keith huffs and sinks into his seat while hugging his arms close. 

The underlying message being...he wasn’t expelled. He’s still out here selling himself. Which means, Keith bought their complicity somehow and Shiro has a feeling it wasn’t money that Keith paid them off with. 

Shiro pulls into a gas station to fill up his tank and gather his thoughts. 

He has to get Keith back to the Garrison and he’s got to convince him to stop doing this. All it takes is the wrong person seeing him, the kind of person who can’t be bought, and they’ll kick Keith from the Garrison. He’s a bright student, but he’s also an orphan, which means if they kick him out, he’s got nowhere else to go.

There’s got to be something more Shiro can do. He can’t let Keith flush his potential down the drain like this. Maybe he can get a loan to pay the rest of Keith’s tuition. He could co-sign it. Then when Keith becomes a legitimate pilot he can pay it all back without having to risk slumming it on the street.

Shiro takes a seat back inside and puts his key in the ignition. He doesn’t turn it yet. Instead, he sighs and turns to his passenger who is gazing out the window. 

“You can’t do this anymore,” Shiro tells him, trying to keep his tone soft and sympathetic.

“I’m a legal adult, Shiro. You can’t stop me,” Keith says back without moving. 

“Someone will report you, Keith. It’s just a matter of time,” Shiro explains. “Hell, I should do it but I don’t want you to lose out on this great opportunity you have with the Garrison. We’ll find another way to pay---”

“What were you doing on Rainbow Row, Shiro?” Keith interrupts to change the subject. 

“I…” Shiro falters but then shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter.”

“You weren’t there to go dancing,” Keith says, his eyes darting to Shiro finally. “Were you looking to buy someone’s services?” he asks, finally sitting up from the window and fully looking at Shiro. “Were you going to buy me for the night?”

“Yes. I mean--no!”  Shiro stumbles a little over his words. “No, I… of course not,” he finally says.

“But you drove right up to me,” Keith points out and leans a little closer. “You must have seen something you liked before you saw my face and had an attack of conscience. What was it?”

Keith places a hand on Shiro’s and grasps it gently in his warm fingers. He guides the hand up to his face and turns his head.

“My hair?” he asks and brushes Shiro’s fingers through the soft strands of his ponytail. “Or maybe my neck?” he guesses and slides Shiro’s knuckles against his fluttering pulse.

“Keith, I…” Shiro barely utters.

“My chest?” Keith asks and presses Shiro’s palm to his sternum. “Was it my legs?” he continues his query and slides that palm down his fishnet thigh making Shiro hold his breath. “Or maybe...you wanted what’s under the clothes?”

When Keith slides his hand up inner thigh right between his legs, Shiro bites back a noise and finally pulls his hand out of Keith’s. He swallows nervously and wills himself not to get hard.

“You’re not a Garrison officer here and I’m not your student. You’re just a man. And tonight I’m just a whore. Means if you pay, you can have it just like anyone else,” Keith tells him. “If not, I’m getting out and hitching a ride back to Rainbow Row. So unless you’re going to pay to scold me, we’re done.”

Keith pops open the door and swings a leg out to leave but Shiro grabs hold of his arm.

“How much...would you make a night?” Shiro asks, his eyes closed like he’s trying to focus.

“Not much. $150 on average,” Keith shrugs. “And I’ve already made sixty from two---”

“I don’t...need to know the details,” Shiro interrupts and pauses as he takes a deep breath. “If I give you the rest...will you quit for the night? Please?”

 “Yeah, sure,” Keith nods and closes the car door.

Shiro lets go of Keith’s arm and pulls out his wallet. A fifty dollar bill and two twenties. If that’s what it takes to get Keith to stop tonight then it’s worth it. He passes them into Keith’s hand and Keith stuffs the bills into his skirt pocket.

“Great,” Shiro sighs with relief.  “Now that that’s done, we can---”

Shiro doesn’t get the rest of the sentence out of his mouth because a hand grabs and turns his face into receiving a kiss. A soft, wet, hungry series of kisses, with a tongue licking its way into his mouth. Shiro’s too shocked to fully grasp what’s happening or what to do, that is, until a palm goes to his crotch and gives it a firm squeeze. That’s when Shiro gets control of his senses back and grabs Keith by the shoulders to push him back.

“What are you doing, Keith?” Shiro asks him, a little breathless.

“Completing our transaction,” Keith answers as if it were obvious. “You paid for me for the rest of the night, right?”

“No. I mean, yes, in a way. What I mean is…” Shiro collects himself then tries again. “You don’t have to do that. I paid you so you wouldn’t have to do that.”

“I don’t take handouts,” Keith says with a petulant frown and rummages into his skirt pocket. “If that’s what your money is...then you can have it back.”

Keith extends the folded bills back out to Shiro with a serious look on his face.  Shiro stares at the money, uncertain what to do. If he takes it back, Keith’s just going to go back to the Row regardless of what Shiro has to say about it. If he gives the money to Keith, Keith’s going to insist he earns it.

Shiro’s lips on Keith’s, his fingers entwined in dark hair, pulling gasps and sighs out of him with each thrust. Would Keith call out his name? Would he beg for more speed? Plead for Shiro to fuck him deeper?

He was going to buy someone’s company tonight anyway, right? Why not...Keith?

Shiro reaches out and folds Keith’s fingers around the money, pushing it back to Keith with a flush on his cheeks.

“I uh...I have a room I rented for the night,” Shiro reveals and coughs to clear his throat. “We can...do it there.”

Keith nods his understanding and sits. They both click their seatbelts and Shiro pulls out of the gas station to drive them to the motel.

The whole drive is silent but the air is full of Shiro’s nervous energy. Keith seems indifferent to it. Like he’s used to it and that slightly horrifies Shiro even more. When they arrive, Keith hops out of the car with his bag and follows Shiro into the room without a word. 

It’s cheap but it’s clean. Shiro tells him to go ahead and use the shower. To clean up and relax if he wants. Keith just shrugs and takes his bag into the bathroom, the water starting up once he’s closed the door. Shiro takes a seat on the mattress of the twin bed and rests his chin on his folded hands.

What is he doing? What is he doing? What is he doing?

Why is he so nervous about this? Keith’s of legal age. Prostitution is legal here too, though it's still frowned upon for moral reasons. He’s not coercing Keith into doing this. By all accounts, he’s not doing anything illegal, and yet he’s nervous.

Maybe it’s because of Adam, he thinks somberly. He only just got out of a long term thing. Maybe it’s still too soon. 

Or maybe it’s just that Keith is...well, he’s Keith. 

Shiro’s never looked at him like an adult because he’s only ever been ‘that kid that Shiro is mentoring’. But it’s been almost eight years since he first met him. Keith’s not a little kid anymore. He’s capable of making his own decisions and has been for a while and Shiro simply hadn’t noticed the change in him.

“Or I’ve been in denial,” Shiro sighs and shakes his head. 

The bathroom door opens with a squeak and steam pours out. Shiro sits up straight as Keith exits. 

He’s in boxers briefs and tousling his wild hair dry with a towel. Shiro hadn’t realized Keith had been wearing makeup before. With it gone he no longer has a babyface, he looks a little older and less feminine. He looks a hundred times better this way.

And while Keith is smaller than him, he’s still very fit. Well-sculpted muscles with a couple scars on his legs and side. Childhood injuries from the lightness of them. Nothing recent for which Shiro is relieved. No bruises either. Means that despite all the risk Keith’s been taking, no one’s physically harmed him.

Keith steps over to the bed and stands before Shiro, looking down on him while holding the towel ends around his neck. He looks...so self-assured. Confident. It’s like he’s seeing the real Keith for the first time. 

“Ready?” Keith asks him and Shiro gives him a nervous smile.

“As I’ll ever be,” he answers.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite unless you ask me to,” Keith smirks.

Keith crawls into Shiro’s lap, looping the towel around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. Shiro meets the kiss, stiffly at first but relaxing more and more with each subsequent kiss. He thought he’d feel strange kissing Keith back but it doesn’t. In fact, it feels so natural that Shiro’s hand is already curling around Keith’s neck and pulling him in for deeper kisses.

“See? It’s nice, right?” Keith asks and Shiro just barely nods his head before kissing Keith more.

Keith tosses the towel aside and his hands travel down Shiro’s chest. He reaches the hem and pulls it up, inch by inch until he’s peeled it off Shiro’s body. Those glide down again, this time on skin, making Shiro shiver. 

He goes for Shiro’s fly next, unbuttoning it and slipping his hand inside to palm Shiro’s hardon trapped within his boxers. Shiro moans in his mouth, his fingers squeezing Keith’s sides as his cock twitches.

“K-Keith…”

“You’re so big,” Keith whispers and squeezes again. “I want to see it.”

Keith rubs and slowly works Shiro’s cock out of his pants, stroking as he kisses Shiro. He rolls his wrist and brushes a thumb over the sticky pre-come dripping out of his slit. Shiro exhales another weak moan, his face pressing into Keith’s shoulder as he takes heavy breaths. 

Shiro doesn’t realize that Keith’s slipping out of his lap until he suddenly finds that his hands are empty. 

He opens his eyes to find Keith on the floor, up high on his knees. He’s pulling his hair back with a tie and when done he returns to stroking Shiro’s weeping cock. The other hand takes Shiro’s hand and guides it into his ponytail, encouraging Shiro’s fingers to hold there. And then he takes his hand away.

Shiro sees what’s going on here. It’s written all over Keith’s face. Face flushed and eyes deferring downwards. He wants Shiro to take control now. To treat him like the whore he paid for.

Shiro tightens his hold and pulls Keith forward, nice and close to his cock. Keith’s lips part and his tongue darts out, licking a hot line from base to tip and catching that stream of precome in his path. He licks his lips and swallows, his eyes telling him he’s ready for more.

Keith’s face is tugged further by his ponytail and pushed into sinking onto Shiro’s cock. His lips spreading and mouth sucking in his thick girth with a moan. Shiro bites back the initial gasp but can’t restrain the next few when Keith starts to bob over his cock, sloppy with spit dripping down his chin. 

At first, Shiro just lets Keith set the pace but then he gets the urge to rock his hips. He braces his feet on the floor, holds tight to Keith’s hair to keep him from moving, and then snaps his hips forward. Keith lets out an aborted whine, like he was caught off guard, his eyes flying open and then lidding as he looks up at Shiro.

It’s all the permission he needs to fuck Keith’s face. Shiro keeps going, panting as he thrusts and reveling in that desperate look on Keith’s face. 

It’s only a few minutes later that he sees Keith’s wriggled his hand into his underwear. There’s another squelching wet noise in the room and it’s Keith fingering himself. He must have lubed up ahead of time so they wouldn’t have to stop in the event that Shiro wanted to fuck him.

And now he really wants to.

Shiro pulls Keith off his cock, to which Keith coughs a couple times and pants to catch his breath.

“Can I...fuck you?” Shiro asks, his voice raspy with need. 

“Y-Yes, yes,” Keith nods. “Th-There’s condoms...in my bag.”

“I have some in the drawer,” Shiro says, pulling Keith off the floor and onto the bed.

Shiro pulls off the rest of his clothes and quickly puts on the condom. Keith’s already kicked off his boxers. He continues to finger and stretch himself as he waits for Shiro to tell him how he wants him. 

Shiro doesn’t have the stamina most have thanks to his disease, so the only position he can do that won’t be short-lived is riding. He props up a few pillows and lays out before gesturing Keith to get on top of him. Keith clambers over and Shiro takes him by the hips to line him up. Once there, he thinks Keith will go slow, that he’ll ease into pushing that cock inside him. 

He doesn’t.

Keith drops like a rock, that cock spearing into his ass and punching a great moan out of both of them. Without a moment to waste, Keith’s already rocking onto that cock. He braces his hands on Shiro’s stomach, raising and rolling his hips before dropping again. 

With his hands on his hips, Shiro adjusts Keith into a better position and then starts meeting Keith’s drops with thrusts upward. He’s hitting places that Keith didn’t know existed, making the man over him exhale several moans. They keep getting higher pitched until Keith’s biting back whines. He sees that Keith’s own cock is starting to drip uncontrollably and guesses it won’t be long before he erupts.

“Sh-Shiro...I...ahH! I...I’m…”

“Go ahead,” Shiro nods his understanding. “Do it…”

Keith shakes his head with a whine, biting his lip as he rocks and hits the sweet spot again.

“What’s---”

“Not… supposed to… I… ahH! I’ve never… not while working…” Keith tries to explain.

Keith’s never come while doing his sex work before. He’s given several blowjobs, fucked and been fucked a dozen times but he’s never gotten off. No one ever did anything that made him feel this desperate for release. But seeing Shiro under him, flushed, sweaty, and moaning Keith’s name...

This was just a means to get money. He never thought he’d ever actually enjoy himself.

Not until Shiro.

“Never?” Shiro asks again.

“N-Never,” Keith stammers. “O-Only...on my own…”

If that’s the case, then Shiro’s going to be the first. 

He rolls them and puts Keith’s legs over his shoulders. He can’t do this for long so he makes every thrust count. With slow deep rolls of his hips, he’s got Keith fisting the sheets and almost sobbing. Shiro kisses and licks at his neck as he rocks. Then he wraps his hand around Keith’s cock and starts pumping it.

Keith practically screams, his body arching and spasming.  His face nearly disappears into the pillows as his stomach is splattered with come. Shiro buries his face into Keith’s neck with a groan, reaching his own release within moments.

He pulls out and rolls off of Keith, putting his legs down carefully. The towel is grabbed from the side of the bed and Shiro uses it to wipe up the ungodly amount of come on Keith’s body. Keith doesn’t even react, if Shiro didn’t know any better he’d think Keith had passed out. 

But Keith is taking measured breaths, the sound raspy as if his throat were sore. Shiro wouldn’t be surprised if it were after that ecstatic scream.

“Is that...what good sex is supposed to feel like?” Keith finally asks.

“I suppose,” Shiro shrugs with a half-smile. 

“Great,” Keith groans and rolls over to hide his face under a pillow. “Now I’m never gonna be able to pimp myself out again.”

“Are you serious?” Shiro blinks with disbelief. “You won’t go back to Rainbow Row?”

“No,” Keith resignedly sighs. “The only sex whores get is mediocre and now that I’ve been spoiled with the good shit, I won’t accept anything less. So, thanks a lot,” he says, trying to sound annoyed. 

“Keith,” Shiro says sympathetically, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. He snorts out a small laugh when he sees that Keith’s blushing despite his frown.

“Now I’m going to have to find another way to pay my tuition.”

“I can help,” Shiro offers. “And I promise it won’t be a handout. I’ll look into some work-study grants for you.”

“Thanks,” Keith says as he sits up, still maintaining his frown and blush. “Uh, Shiro?”

“What is it, Keith?” Shiro asks and hands Keith his underwear. 

“Is this a one-time thing?”

God, he hopes not...but that’s really up to Keith, isn’t it?

“Do you want it to be?” Shiro inquires.

There’s a long pause as Keith thinks. He stands and sits back down next to Shiro. He lifts his head to look into Shiro’s eyes before his gaze darts down to his hand. He tentatively takes it his own.

“No, I don’t,” he finally answers. 

Shiro dips his head and rests it against Keith’s as his fingers close around Keith’s.

“Your highness,” a handmaiden interrupts Lance’s nap.

The young prince yawns and stretches out on his chaise lounge, not eager to move and not pleased at having been awoken. He supposes its close to lunchtime and that’s why she’s here. That said, he’s not particularly hungry and would rather return to the world of dreams, so the sooner he gets rid of her the better.

“What is it?” the prince asks, tone bored and dismissive.

“Your betrothed has come to call on you.”

“Keith’s here?” Prince Lance asks as he sits up, suddenly alert. “I mean...Prince Keithorak. He’s come to visit? I thought he wasn’t returning for another week.”

“Shall I show him in?”

“Yes, yes, of course, he’s always to be shown in, no need to ask,” Lance reminds her, gesturing her to hurry up. 

Now he’s feeling in a much better mood. Entertaining Keith when he visits always brightens his day, mostly because Keith is so funny without intending to be.

The Galra have some old school views on intimacy that shows itself in incredibly entertaining ways. It’s almost puritanical. When he and Keith are together it's adorable how painfully awkward Keith is about proximity. Even though they’ve been betrothed for several months now, they haven’t done anything more than chaste kisses to the hands. One time, Lance leaned in to kiss him on the cheek and he thought Keith was going to faint. 

It’s been better lately though. 

Keith will offer his arm to Lance so they can walk through the castle gardens together but not without a slight flush to his cheeks as Lance leans on him. It used to be that Keith would avert his eyes if Lance looked up at him amidst playing his lyre but now he maintains eye contact with a fond look. He still very audibly swallows any time Lance tilts to whisper into his big galra ears, but at least he’s gotten past stammering with uncertainty each time they speak.

Keith enters his chambers in long strides with an easy smile and small covered basket under his arm. Last time he brought Lance flowers. And before that some poetry books. Keith never visits without bringing some kind of present for Lance, as if his company wasn’t gift enough.

Full of proper decorum, as always, Keith takes a knee at Lance’s lounging chair. He takes Lance’s offered hand and kisses his knuckles softly.

“Good afternoon, Prince Lanciera,” Keith tells him.

“Yes, it is, now that you’re here,” Lance smiles and laughs a little at Keith’s nervous clearing of his throat. “You know you don’t have to keep doing that? Prostrating yourself before me as if I were the King can’t be good for your knees.”

“Aching knees are a small price to pay to humble myself before your elegance,” Keith says and Lance laughs, lifting Keith’s heart. 

“You always know what to say,” Lance chuckles. “And I’ve told you to stop being so formal. We’re betrothed, you can simply call me Lance.”

“R-Right. I...brought you a gift,” Keith announces and presents the basket. “I was unsure if you’d eaten yet but…”

Lance lifts the covering and peeks inside. Crackers, cheeses, and fruit preserves. They must be popular foods in Daibazal because he doesn’t recognize the contents as local fare. Lance wasn’t hungry before but he is now at the prospect of sharing a meal with Keith.

“Come sit with me up here,” Lance offers while patting the cushion. “We’ll eat it together,” he smiles.

Lance dismisses his maids and his guards to give them some privacy. Keith’s ears always go down initially when Lance does this, uncertain about them being alone as it would simply not be allowed in Daibazal. Not until they were married at least. But they are not in Daibazal, Lance always reminds him, and after a few minutes of conversation, Keith mellows out and relaxes.

They sit on the lounge together a mere foot apart, something Keith would have shied away from months ago. Lance leans in close and watches with interest as Keith prepares the contents. Crackers with a smooth cheese that he spreads on with a cheese knife. He makes a move to offer it to Lance but his Altean prince gives him a playful smirk.

“Feed it to me,” Lance requests and parts his mouth to receive it.

Keith hesitates, warmth creeping onto his cheeks as he looks at that pretty pink tongue.

“Please?” Lance asks, doe-eyed and innocent. 

“Anything for you...your highness,” Keith manages to say as he brings the snack to his mouth.

He feeds the cheese to Lance, holding his breath as his fingers just barely brush Lance’s lip. Lance’s mouth closes around it and chews slowly, eyes closed as he savors the flavor. Keith can’t take his eyes off Lance’s soft lips as he waits for Lance to tell him what he thinks.

“Spicy,” Lance finally comments with a thoughtful look, licking his lips. “Never had a spicy cheese before. It’s good though.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Keith tells him, more than relieved. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“Yeah?” Lance smiles and readies the next cracker. “You have one. Here, open up.”

Keith does that nervous swallow again, but he does lean forward. Eyes closed and mouth open. Lance wants to giggle at that look on his face but doesn’t, instead, he presses the food to Keith’s lips past those sharp Galra teeth and onto his tongue. His fingers don’t linger there and Keith’s mouth closes to chew the food.

“Good, hmm?” Lance asks and Keith nods his head. 

They exchange a few more before Lance asks for the next item. Some tart berries from a bundle on a vine that often get made into pies but wonderful on their own. Again Lance entreats him to place them on his tongue and does the same to Keith, scooting in closer as they feed each other. More than once Lance almost catches Keith’s fingers in his lips but if Keith notices he doesn’t comment.

“What’s this?” Lance asks as he pulls a jar from the basket. He opens it and smells the contents, humming with approval.

“Daibazal spiced apples in syrup,” Keith tells him. 

Before Keith can retrieve a fork to pull one out, he sees Lance--in his impatience--stick his thumb and forefinger inside to just grab one. Very unprincely but Keith is fond of that enthusiasm and just chuckles. Lance keeps the dripping apple over the jar to catch falling syrup and extends it to Keith. 

“You first,” Lance says.

Keith’s gotten so used to taking food from Lance today that he shakes his head with a laugh and leans forward to take it without comment. It’s good but they’re dripping little drops of syrup everywhere, some is even making a slow sticky trail down Lance’s beautiful slender wrist. 

“Good?” Lance asks and Keith nods. “Shame it’s so messy.”

“If you had used a fork, your highness--”

Lance just shrugs and slowly licks his palm with Keith’s enrapt eyes watching him. He breath shallows as he follows that pink tongue sliding over his skin and lips wrapping around fingers to suck off the spiced syrup. Keith swallows and his own tongue just barely peeks out to lick between his lips. Lance takes note of the attention, an idea forming in his head as extends the jar to Keith. 

“Your turn,” Lance tells him with a knowing look. “Feed me one?”

Keith does it the same way Lance did, dips his fingers into the apples and pulls out a slice. He feeds it to Lance, placing the fruit into his mouth. His hand lingers near Lance’s face as he chews, as if unwilling to leave quite yet. 

“What...do you think? Your highness?” Keith asks, his voice barely over a whisper.

Lance swallows and licks his lips slow before opening his eyes. His lidded gaze darts to Keith’s sticky fingers still close by. He takes Keith by the wrist and pulls his hand toward his parted lips. Lance does a tentative lick on the pad of Keith’s finger and when he doesn’t react, he sucks the finger into his mouth with a heady sigh.

Keith’s face suddenly changes shades and his breath catches as Lance’s tongue swirls around his finger. But he doesn’t pull out of Lance’s hold.

“Delicious,” Lance says right before he sucks a new sticky finger into his mouth again. 

“Y-Your Highness,” Keith finally stammers out.

“Lance. I told you...when we’re alone like this...call me Lance,” he insists as he finishes the last of the syrup. “Feed me another, Keith? Unless...you want to stop?”

No, he doesn’t want to stop. Keith shakes his head and fishes a new slice out of the jar.

Lance does it again. And again. He eats the apple and then takes Keith's fingers into his mouth, sucking gently to clean them of syrup. It’s turning the atmosphere into one charged with heat and both are feeling it. This is the most alone and intimate they’ve ever been and it shows on their flushed faces-- and in other places.

The thing about Altean royal clothing is it leaves nothing to the imagination. Luxurious silken garbs and dangling golden jewelry. Keith had almost gotten used to how sheer it all was but suddenly he’s reminded that it can’t hide much. Especially in the area of physical reactions and seeing Lance’s obvious hardon gives Keith a reaction of his own in his trousers.

“Do you want some?” Lance asks, his voice breathy. He’s got a sticky apple slice in his fingers ready to feed Keith.

For once, Keith’s not feeling ashamed like his culture makes him feel about his out-of-wedlock desires. Not ashamed of his hunger...for Lance. Maybe just a little taste...wouldn’t be so bad. 

Just a little taste.

“I...I’m not hungry...for apples,” Keith admits, his own eyes lidding. 

Keith takes the initiative and grabs Lance by the wrist, making him gasp with surprise and drop the fruit right onto the cushion. Neither seems to care. Lance watches on bated breath as Keith leans in, eyes closed and licks a long hot strip up the trail of syrup dripping down his arm. 

“Oh Keith,” Lance sigh and Keith bites back a groan.

That tongue is hot and wet, his lips closing on Lance’s pulse as he sucks spiced sugar from his skin with hungry panting breaths. It’s like he’s trying to hold back but he’s losing the battle of self-control. 

“May I...kiss you...Lance?” Keith breathes raggedly against his knuckles.

Does he mean on the hand like he always does or-- 

He knows Keith doesn’t mean that the second the Galra prince looks up from that hand and into Lance’s eyes. Face flushed, ears flattened down, and mouth parted, showing off those Galra teeth as he tries to take controlled breaths. His eyes are dusky with desire, eyes that keep darting to Lance’s soft lips.

Like he would he ever deny his prince.

Lance slides himself into Keith’s lap, cupping the back of his neck with both hands and nodding to give him the go-ahead. Keith starts with a deep breath at Lance’s hairline, breathing out hot on his pulse before pressing his open mouth to Lance’s neck.  Keith’s hands go to Lance’s sides holding firmly as he licks and sucks and mouths all over his soft flesh. It’s not long before Lance finally grabs Keith’s face and directs him to his mouth. 

Apples and spices and Lance. That’s what the kisses taste like to Keith as his tongue fervently explores Lance’s moaning mouth. Sweet. Warm. Wet. His senses are kicking into overdrive and it doesn’t help when Lance starts moving.

All it takes is Lance rocking just a little in his lap and Keith squeezes Lance’s hips to still him as he groans out a moan.

“L-Lance,” he stammers.

“Please,” Lance whispers into his ear, desperate to keep moving. “Please...Keith.”

“We c-can’t...I...we’re n-not…” Keith tries but can’t form the words. 

The message is clear enough though--they aren’t actually married yet and with Keith’s upbringing, it feels inappropriate to be indulging in this. What if someone catches them? It’s not like they have true privacy here. Any moment now a maid or messenger could enter.

“We don’t have to couple yet…We can wait on that,” Lance promises and presses his forehead to Keith’s. “I just... want to make you feel good... So please...” 

Keith breathes heavy, inhaling every scent in the room. The crackers and cheese that were knocked to the floor. The tipped over jar of spiced apples soaking into and ruining the chaise lounge. Lance’s sweat, scented oils, and his...arousal leaving a wet stain all it’s own on his clothes. That makes his decision for him.

He pulls Lance’s hips forward against him, groaning at the exquisite friction of Lance’s ass on his clothed cock. Lance assists in the movement, grinding against Keith with moans of his own. Before long they’re both clutching to each other and panting heavily.

Keith buries his face into Lance’s shoulder, resisting the primal urge to mark Lance up--to scratch through his clothes and leave permanent scars to let everyone know that Lance is his. His fangs barely scrape against the silk, his tongue darting out to find the skin of his collarbones. What he’d give to have the meat of his shoulder in his mouth and to taste blood instead of apples. But again he resists.

He doesn’t want to hurt his partner. His prince. His love.

Like Keith feared, before they can finish, there’s a knock at the door. Both princes untangle themselves from each other quickly enough, though unwillingly from the looks on their faces. There’s a message from Lance’s mother, reminding him of his lessons with his tutors and that just because Keith is here it doesn’t mean he gets to skip out on his responsibilities. 

“Yes, yes, I understand,” Lance huffs with annoyance and waves the man away. “Send for a maid to clean up my lounge. And a change of wardrobe for me.”

“Yes, your Highness,” they bow and leave.

“I should take my leave,” Keith coughs. He tries to hide the flush on his face with his hand and his erection by turning away slightly. 

“You could stay? Watch me practice the lyre?” Lance offers but Keith shakes his head. 

“I have other duties to attend to. I uh...I wasn’t supposed to detour here today so I may get an earful from the general,” Keith admits and then takes a knee to give Lance his respectful bow. “I...will endeavor to see you again when the soonest I can be spared.”

“Will you bring me another gift?” Lance asks.

“What would you like your highness?” Keith asks, his eyes still tilted down to the ground to avoid Lance’s sparkling blue ones.

“I’d like you to stop calling me ‘your highness’ for one,” Lance snorts. “But that will never happen, will it?”

“Unlikely,” Keith answers, his amused smile barely visible with his head bowed. 

“Then...I’d like more of those spiced apples of yours,” Lance says, extending a hand and cupping Keith’s cheek to turn his face up. “We can...share them again. Perhaps in the maze garden where we’ll have more privacy?”

Keith swallows and Lance almost laughs. Considering what they were doing only moments ago it’s funny to see him nervous and self-conscious all over again. But he doesn’t stammer and he doesn’t pull out of Lance’s hand at the touch, if anything he leans into it a little. Keith attempts a stoic look as he closes his eyes but his vibrant flush betrays him.

“Anything for you...my prince.”

Someone left the blinds open and the window cracked again. Probably Allura since Lance doesn’t remember doing it himself. She likes waking to the feel of the sun kissing her skin, the sound of morning birds chirping, the smell of the flower bed below the window wafting in. But most of all, she likes waking in Lance’s soft bed with his arms around her.

He misses her fiercely when she’s working as a diplomat for the Altean peoples. But for a week every month, she takes time away from her duties and visits Lance’s little cabin. For that week, no one exists but the two of them in his quiet rural home. 

She doesn’t talk about work, he gets someone to take over his farmwork, and they spend their week relaxing and having fun. Playing with Lance’s nieces and nephews when they visit. Talking walks through the fields. Picnics by the rivers. Kisses as they stargaze and swaddled together on his couch watching movies.

When she falls asleep first, as she always does, he carries her to his bedroom and readies her for bed. Disrobes her of her dress and socks, unbraids her long hair so that it’s loose, then tucks her into the bed before sliding in himself to spoon at her back. He’s never disappointed that she falls asleep before they can do anything intimate as he’s more than happy with just having her close.

And besides, mornings are where he works his best at pampering her and when she’s the most responsive.

This morning the sun streams in and warms them both. Lance is the first to wake thanks to his work schedule. He leans up and slides his thumb back and forth over her cheek with a fond look as she sleeps. He presses a few soft kisses to her neck and she lets out a sigh before leaning into those lips.

“M...ore…” she barely breathes out, still in that zone between sleep and waking.

“As you wish, princess,” he whispers.

He nuzzles down her neck while his hands caress down her side. Squeezing and massaging her curves and dips with his slender fingers. She arches and sighs at the touch, more than content with the attention she’s receiving. 

When he begins kissing her neck with sucking kisses, she exhales a soft moan. That sound always makes Lance rise to the occasion and he scoots in closer to grind his hardon against her.

“So beautiful,” he praises in her ear as his hand slides down the strap to her bra. He cups her breast and massages gently, rolling her hard nipple between his thumb. “Always so beautiful.”

He licks and sucks on her shoulder, grinding against her as he slips a hand into her panties. With deft slides of his fingers, he finds her entrance in no time, slick and swollen lips. Already she’s in such a mood that she’s rocking against his fingers and his hardon with weak sighs.

“M...More,” she utters again. “Lance…”

With just a little bit of shifting, he pulls himself free of his boxers, presses her panties aside and lines up. Slowly he pushes into her, making them both exhale a soft moan as her wet walls close in around him. Lance continues to kiss at her neck as he thrusts gently in and out of her with slow rolls of his hips. Praising her for being so good to him and promising to take such good care of her. 

Allura just gasps and quietly moans, her hands finally starting to clutch onto the sheets as he picks up to leisurely pace. Not fast but rhythmic enough to start rocking the bed a little. When her mouth starts to fall open and her walls start to tighten, Lance moves his hand from her hip to her entrance again. His fingers slide through her slick and rub circles into her clit, making her breath hitch with a whine.

“L-Lance hah...O-Oh...Lance,” she mewls. 

“That’s it...princess,” Lance pants, breathing heavy against her neck. “I want...to make you feel so good.”

At that, she gasps into her pillow as her body jolts with a weak moan. He doesn’t come, as the mornings are about making his lover happy, not himself. He’ll save that for after lunch. Lance stays inside her though, humming happily at the feeling of her walls spasming around him as she comes down from her orgasm. He pets her hair away from her face, kissing away little drops of sweat from the morning heat. Finally, she opens her eyes and looks to him with a satisfied smile.

“Good morning,” Lance beams at her and pecks a kiss to her lips.

“Good morning,” Allura chuckles. “You always wake me up so nicely,” she says. “I miss that when I’m away.”

“I miss it too,” he says, planting more kisses to her neck as she giggles. 

“What if...I didn’t have to be away so much?” she asks and blinks in confusion. “I’ve been training Romelle. I think in a month, she’ll be ready to take over for me. At least, she’ll be able to take over while I’m on temporary leave.”

“Temporary leave?” Lance asks, a smile slowly forming as he’s almost certain he knows why. He didn’t want to say anything and jinx it but lately, she’s had a certain glow about her. “For how long?”

“Oh, for at least nine months, maybe a little longer,” Allura hints with a smile and Lance squeezes her tight with an excited hug, exclaiming that he ‘knew it!’ “I blame your appetites for satisfying me for the current situation.”

“And I’ll be satisfying you a hundred times over with this news,” Lance promises and lets out a sigh. “A father...I’m gonna be a father first out of the whole team. Can’t wait to rub that in Keith’s face. Think I’ll be any good at it?”

“I suppose you’ll have to practice,” Allura says. “Starting with...learning how to cook breakfast for four.”

“Four?!”

“Yes,” she giggles and closes his dropped jaw with a soft touch. “You, me, and two more.” 

“Four,” Lance repeats with stunned shock. “Wild. I better get started then,” he grins and kisses her cheek. “Stay in bed, I’ll bring breakfast to you. And maybe...we can celebrate all over again,” he winks.