Chapter Text
Allura let out a playful giggle when Shiro’s arms wrapped around her waist from behind and sighed in content when he buried his face into the crook of her neck. Before she allowed herself the satisfaction of sinking into his embrace, she hastily reached out to press the elevator button for their floor. Shiro was usually a patient man and never one to let his eagerness get the best of him, but the moment the elevator doors slid shut, Allura’s back met the wall, and her yelp of surprise was silenced when Shiro’s lips met hers.
They lived on the 18th floor of their midtown highrise. The building was as beautiful as it was elegant, and even though it had plenty of features they both admired, the elevator was not one of them. It was the most annoying part of the residence taking into account of how slow it was. However, miracles do happen because today, it was a godsend. Now he knew he could keep his lips on her for a decent amount of time while they traveled leisurely up the floors at a snail's pace.
She hummed blissfully into the kiss before she pulled away with a laugh. “What has gotten into you today, Shiro?” She rested one hand on his chest, not to push him away, but just to have the comfort of touching him. Her other hand caressed his face and she let her thumb run over his touch-starved lips. “You’ve been all over me since we left the airport.”
Shiro rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes at her warmth. He moved his arms from caging her against the wall to circle around the small of her back to pull her in close. “What?” he said in amusement with a teasing smile. “Are you telling me that I can’t shower my beautiful girlfriend with the love and affection she deserves after she left the country for almost a week?”
Allura barked out a laugh at his excuse. She moved to rest her forearms on his broad shoulders and let her fingers trace the base of his neck. “It was certainly not a week,” she corrected, “It was three and a half days and that’s only because we hopped on an earlier flight.”
She had been away on business helping her father with an overseas investor. Fortunately, thanks to smooth talking and a promising future as partners, the deal went through without a hitch on the first day. Unfortunately, they weren’t scheduled to leave for another four. It was the first time the couple had been apart for such a long period of time since they became a couple and it left them both with a sense of loneliness, resulting in Shiro being a little more bolder than usual.
Not that Allura was complaining.
Before he could plant another kiss on her lips, she suddenly leaned away from him. Still in his arms, she looked at him with her white brows drawn together in an unreadable expression. Shiro felt his internal alarm go off. He loosened his grip from around her and tried to take a step back just in case he pushed her boundaries too far. Before he could make the action, her hand found his chin to pull and turn his head so it could catch the light.
He made a questioning noise at Allura’s frown. “What?” He had no idea what was going through her head and he hated being left in the dark.
She continued to study him with a frown. “Have you been sleeping?” she asked him clearly. Out of all of the things he was prepared for her to say, this definitely wasn’t one of them. Before he could defend himself she spoke again, “And don’t you dare lie to me.”
He winced at her tone. He honestly didn’t think she’d notice his lack of sleep. Suddenly, shame washed over him and he felt like an idiot because Lance warned him that Allura had eyes like a hawk and almost nothing got past her. Now it was up to him to do damage control.
“What can I say?” he gave her a boyish grin followed with a shrug. “I missed you, babe.” Maybe his natural charm could get him out of trouble?
She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. “Don’t try to sweet talk your way out of this one, Shirogane.”
Or maybe not.
As she continued to study the barely visible dark circles under his eyes, a surge of guilt coursed through her. She knew the reason why he wasn’t getting any sleep. It because of her. He grew too accustomed to her body curled up next to him during the night. The sudden change in dynamic was too much for his sleeping pattern to handle. She’ll have to think of a solution for the next time she went out of town for more than a day.
“You should have told me,” she told him, more upset at herself than anything because of the situation she put him in.
Shiro snorted a laughed. “And then what?” He adjusted his grip around her waist. “What were you going to do about it? Swim across the Atlantic so you can tuck me into bed?”
She folded her arms at his sarcastic tone. “No, but I could have figured out something so you wouldn’t lose a week’s worth of sleep.” Her eyes suddenly widened with an idea and she snapped her fingers. “Maybe one of those pregnancy body pillows!”
He pulled away to look at her. “It wasn’t a week, it was only three and a half days,” he ended his sentence with a fake British accent but changed his tone when she sent him a glare. “Also, no. Allura, no. I’m not getting a pregnancy pillow. If Keith finds that, he will tell Lance and Lance will tell the entire west coast and honestly, I’m not mentally prepared to have the whole coastline roast me. And besides, it doesn’t matter anyway…” He pulled her back in close before placing her his head on top of hers and holding her to his chest. “You’re here now. At home. With me.” He was getting clinging. He knew this and he didn’t care. He missed her too much.
She couldn’t help but smile against him. “That is true.” Allura placed her arms around him and inhaled his scent. She missed him just as much as he missed her, if not more. “But tonight, you’re getting some sleep. I’ll make sure of it.”
Her breath caught in her throat when she suddenly felt the cool metal of his prosthetic tease her back. Even through the thin material of her blouse, the touch sent chills down her spine. She arched away from the cold touch and leaned further into him. He knew exactly what his mechanical hand did to her; how it made her squirm and grasp. He knew exactly what it took to exploit her weakness and turn it into his advantage.
His hand continued to crawl up her back when he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I don’t know about you, but I definitely wasn’t planning on getting any sleep tonight.” He dropped his voice into a deeper octave just the way he knew she liked before he planted a kiss on the side of her neck.
Allura bit her lip to stifle a moan. She definitely liked when Shiro was this bold. She was usually the bold one in their relationship, but when he wanted to take charge, he knew how to to do it, and dammit, he did it well.
Whenever she bit her lip, it drove him wild and she knew that. Sure, he knew her weaknesses but Allura was a master at knowing his. Shiro quickly glanced at the electronic display box in the elevator to see that they just reached the 9th floor. It only took a half a second for Shiro to decide that the remaining 9 floors to their apartment was too far away for it to keep him at bay.
For the second time since they entered the elevator, Allura’s back hit the wall, and his lips, once again, found hers. Unlike the kiss they shared moments ago, this was one was different. There was a hunger that wasn’t there before. His metal hand supported his weight on the wall while his flesh hand found its way into her hair to pull her closer.
She wasted no time running her hands under his shirt to drag her hands over his hard abs and teased at his waistband. Even though Shiro was the touchy one today, there was no doubt that she was going to let him have all the fun. Her touches hijacked his senses to the point where he couldn’t think straight. Her hands could be just as dangerous as her lips when they started to wander, so he needed to do something about it. Reaching down to stop her hands from roaming any further, he grabbed them both and held them over her head, lacing their fingers together.
She made a surprised but pleased sound at his assertiveness. She really really liked bold Shiro. She’ll definitely have to get this other side out of him more often. Just as Allura nipped at Shiro’s bottom lip, a familiar ding caught their attention. Had Shiro not noticed that the stop wasn’t their floor, they would have been caught in an awkward situation by one of the residents.
He let out a curse against her lips and with a deep, annoyed groan, he reluctantly pulled away and suddenly was on the other side of the elevator just as the door opened to let in a little old lady with her small dog from the 14th floor.
“Good evening,” She addressed them with politely a gentle smile before she pressed the button that led to the roof. The fluffball of a dog sat obediently at her side, waiting patiently for the doors to slide open again.
Shiro subtlety cleared his throat. “Good evening, ma’am,” he spoke in a clear voice. “How are you, tonight?”
“I’m doing quite well. So far, it’s a good night, thank you for asking, young man.” She continued to smile as she straightened out her thin-wired glasses. “By the looks of your little friend here, I’m sure she was having a good night, too, before I showed up,” she said with an amused laugh.
Allura wanted to melt into the earth. Of course the woman knew! She was sure she looked like a total mess. She glanced at Shiro and he looked no better. The tips of his ears were burned red with embarrassment and his lips and jaw were stained a deep red – the same color as the lipstick she sure was smudged off by now.
“Don’t look so ashamed, dear,” the older woman said with a smirk. “I was once young, too, you know.” That statement didn’t help their embarrassment in the slightest. If anything, it only made it more awkward. God must have heard her prayers because the next few floors zipped by quickly and their floor dinged into existence. Shiro grabbed her luggage before they both left the elevator without another glance behind them.
“You two have a good night!” Allura was sure the woman’s voice would haunt her for the rest of the night.
She let out a groan. “This is your fault!”
He raised a brow. “My fault?” He pointed to himself in disbelief, slinging her purse over his shoulder and looping her duffel bag over his arm.
She nodded with a huff. “Yes! If you had only kept your hands to yourself, then she wouldn’t have seen us. And I’m sure that we’ll see that cute old lady every single time we get on that elevator.” Karma was a bitch like that.
Shiro laughed, following her down the hall towards their apartment. “Well, at least she’ll have one hell of a story to tell the Bingo parlor.”
When they made it to their apartment door. Allura pulled out the keys from Shiro’s pocket and went to unlock the door. As soon as she turned towards the door, familiar arms circled her waist and kissed down the side of her neck again before she could complete her goal. “Have you learned nothing, Shiro?” questioned him with a laugh. Her eyes searched the hallway to make sure they wouldn’t encounter any more residents.
Shiro hummed against her neck before he spoke in that voice again. “Maybe next time, don’t seduce me.” He was playing with fire and he was willing to get burned.
“Seduce you?” Her fingers couldn’t work properly enough to insert and turn the key. “If anyone is seducing anyone, it’s you seducing me!” Dammit, she couldn’t get the keys into the lock fast enough. “Can’t keep your damn hands to yourself.” He placed another kiss on the tip of her ear and it left her breathless. “Or your stupid soft, amazing lips.”
He placed his hand over hers to help her focus on working the key into the lock. “Not my fault you get easily distracted.” He turned the key and the lock slid out of place. “We should work on that, Allura.” That voice, that voice, holy hell, that voice.
She threw her head back so it rested on his shoulder. “You need to stop using that voice on me,” she warned him.
He chuckled deeply, catching her lips. “Now why would I do that, Princess? Especially when it gets you all flustered like this?” He turned the handle and the door opened easily. Allura quickly pulled him inside the apartment and this time, it was she who initiated the kiss. Holding on to the last shreds of his sanity, he used to his foot to close the door behind and dropped her bags before he responded eagerly to the kiss. His hunger was back full force, barely pushing on the edge of starvation. Monetarily breaking the kiss, her hands flew to the hem of his shirt to try to pull it up and over his head.
“Oh, no, no, no, no. Please stop that,” came an awkward request from within the dark apartment.
The pair immediately separated with a surprised yell. When their eyes searched what they thought was an empty apartment, both pair of eyes landed on Keith. He sat cross-legged on the couch with his phone his lap and his face pulled into an awkward grimace.
Shiro was first to regain his composure enough to speak. “Keith!?” He still sounded breathless. From the heated kiss or from the scare, it was hard to tell. “What are you doing here?” He raised a thick brow as he took in his apartment. “And why are you sitting in the dark?”
Keith shivered and tried to get the idea that if he didn’t speak up, he would have definitely seen something that he would regret out of his head. He tossed his phone to the side before he laid back on the couch with folded arms and looked off elsewhere. “Lance and I got into a fight.”
Shiro blinked, completely unaffected by his brother’s reasoning. “That still doesn’t fully explain why you’re here. In my apartment. Sitting in the dark.” He blindly reached out beside him and flipped on the lights, bringing the apartment to life and effectively blinding Keith.
Keith shielded his sensitive eyes with his jacket. “I just said that I got into a fight with Lance!” Keith said, raising his voice defensively.
“So you’re sulking?” Allura prompted, straightening out her skirt.
Keith frowned. “No, I’m not sulking!” He finished his statement with sarcastic air quotes. “I’m thinking about how to fix it! What the hell does it look like I’m doing?”
Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. Keith always tended to work himself up over nothing and liked to make sure everyone knew it, even if he had to spell it out for them.
Allura slid off her shoes and placed them neatly by the doorway next to Keith’s haphazardly thrown ones. “But why in the dark?” she piped up, almost sarcastically. She’s known Keith long enough to show this side of her to him. She was the queen of sass when she wanted to be, and right now, after he completely ruined the mood, she didn’t plan on holding back.
He didn’t like her tone. “Because it helps me think!. ” he said. “You think Einstein thought about his most complex formulas in a well-lit room? No. Because it adds to the atmosphere or something. ”
“He at least had a desk lamp, Keith,” Allura countered. “But what I still don’t understand is why you’re...here?”
Keith threw his hands into his head to grasp his raven locks. “Because we’re fighting! Why is that so hard for you two to understand?”
“Because you don’t live here.” The couple said together blandly. In truth, they were both quite worried about the situation, just the way they found out...didn’t have the best timing.
Allura went to the kitchen to get prepare three cups of tea. From the looks of Keith’s agitated state and his lack of solid reasoning, it was going to be a long night for all three of them. “Where is Lance?” she asked, setting the kettle on the stovetop after she filled it with water. She didn’t like the idea of the two boys fighting and not knowing where the other half of her was.
Keith snorted curtly before he sunk further into the couch and gestured towards the back hallway that led to the master bedroom with a lazy wave of his hand. “He’s in the bedroom. Probably listening to Kesha or some shit. I don’t know, and I don’t care,” he finished with an inaudible mumble.
He cared.
Of course he cared.
He was just too stubborn to admit it.
Shiro and Allura paused to stare at Keith as they took in his words before they both slowly turned their heads to look at their closed bedroom door. Sure enough, Kesha’s muted party voice drifted from down the hall. How they missed that detail until now was lost to them.
Both turned to each other, then to Keith. “Why is Lance here?” Shiro asked slowly, even though he already knew the answer.
Their bedroom door suddenly swung open to reveal a distressed and seething Lance. “Because we’re fighting!” both Lance and Keith yelled in unison.
Yup, there it is.
Allura opened her mouth, then closed it, knowing that whatever she was going to say was going to get her nowhere. Only Keith and Lance would get into an argument, break into their apartment, and then duke it out here instead of at their own place. She went to the cupboard to retrieve another mug for what was now the four of them.
From down the hall, Allura’s gaze met Lance’s and through his eyes, she finally saw how severe the situation actually was. He held back tears he was too stubborn to let fall and his hand trembled on the edge of the doorframe.
“Color?” she asked him evenly.
His eyes drifted to Keith’s who folded his arms and buried himself deeper in their couch.
His eyes snapped to Keith who looked away and folded his arms and buried himself deeper in their couch. His eyes narrowed at the display before they snapped back to Allura.
“Periwinkle,” he said through stiff lips, feeling his anger rise again. “Get in here. Now.”
Allura’s eyes widen a fraction at the declared color. That was a color on their spectrum of codes that they rarely used. She turned towards the cabinet and reached up to get down the wooden box containing her tea collection. It was just out of her reach, when Shiro appeared beside her, reaching over her to retrieve the box she was an inch too shy of.
Shiro placed the tea box on the edge of the counter before nudging it back securely. “So…” he began, unsure where to start. “what exactly does Periwinkle mean in this situation?” he asked curiously. Lance and Allura always had a way of communicating without using the proper words. It was their way of blocking out the world around them when they needed to be alone in public. It was intriguing to watch, but daunting if you were on the outside looking in. He usually gave them their privacy when they spoke in code but tonight, after hearing the boy’s tone, and seeing Keith writhe in his own personal hell, he felt like he needed some sort of heads up of what was to come.
She picked out a particular brand and placed several tea bags in the heated water before she turned to him. Over his shoulder, Keith was also looking towards her, waiting for her to answer Shiro’s question. Through the anger and stubbornness, she saw the same hurt in his eyes that she saw in Lance’s.
She took a deep breath before she spoke. “It means that they are going to be here all night.” She almost laughed at the way his face fell but held back. “Watch the tea for me,” she instructed him with a quick kiss.
Before she stepped past him to check up on Lance, who locked himself in their bedroom, Shiro grabbed a hold of her hand. “Good luck in there.”
She looked past him to see throw his head back to rest on the back of the sofa as he grumbled loudly to himself. “You probably need it more than I do.”
He gave her a half smile. “I’ve been through worse.” He let her go and watched as she disappeared through their bedroom door. The music blasted through for a second before it was muted again by the closed door.
He turned back towards Keith, who was now face down on the couch. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…” he heard the muttered words through the cushions.
Maybe he hadn’t been through worse.