Work Text:
The afternoon was dragging on longer than a land war in Asia and Shiro was tired. Between Keith being away for work, grading papers, and the oppressive heat of a summer long overstaying its welcome, he hadn’t gotten a proper night’s sleep in what felt like months.
His phone buzzed on the corner of the desk and he almost didn’t answer it, but the lingering notification anxiety finally wormed its way underneath his skin enough that he grabbed it with an annoyed grunt. The irritation flowed from him as quickly as it came, leaving a tsunami of excitement in its wake.
Baby <3: tomorrow’s thing got cancelled, hopping on the train home now
Shiro grinned down at the message and replied his enthusiasm with a number of emojis and exclamation points much more typical of his teenage students than for a man looking at 30 in the rearview. Not that Keith would mind, he almost never seemed to mind the little quirks Shiro picked up in class. Dabbing was the notable exception, having been banned in their home for several months, though the sophomores still cheered and giggled whenever he did it on a whim.
Baby <3: You in class?
A quick glance at the clock told Shiro he had twenty minutes before his final class of the day was due to start. Even though Keith had only been gone a week, it felt like a lifetime. They hardly ever traveled apart, and the business trip Keith was returning from was the second longest they’d gone without seeing each other since they’d been married. But Keith would be home in just a few hours and a short call would have to be enough to tide Shiro over until then.
Keith answered on the first ring, as he always did. The sound of the train car thudding over the tracks filtered in as a tinny, irregular static that muffled his voice. “Hey Shiro.”
“Hey yourself,” Shiro breathed more than said. Just hearing Keith’s voice felt like heaven despite having talked to him before bed last night.
He could hear the smile in Keith’s voice, even through the noise and lackluster reception. “Thought this week would never end, I can’t wait to see you.”
“I know, I didn’t think I was gonna last another day,” Shiro replied with a self-deprecating laugh.
Keith’s voice took on a familiar, interested tone. “Oh yeah?” Shiro could see the smile melting into a teasing smirk.
He felt his cheeks grow hot. “Keith! What about,” he stammered, voice lowering to a whisper even though his classroom was empty and his door was shut. “What about the rest of the people on the train?”
Keith’s nonchalant reply sent a shiver down his spine. “I’m in the back, ‘s mostly empty.”
The thought of letting a racy conversation act as his afternoon pick-me-up was sorely tempting, but Shiro tamped it down almost immediately. “I’m, I’m at school. I can’t.”
“Okay, okay. When I get home, then,” Keith replied earnestly. “You can tell me all about it.” It came out almost a purr and Shiro knew he’d be in trouble if he didn’t change the subject.
“If Kosmo lets me. He’s been a mess without you, worse than me, even.” His reply drew a genuine laugh from Keith and the conversation drifted to lighter topics.
Twenty minutes went by in the blink of an eye, and the ear splitting wail of the class period ending echoed through the quiet room, making Shiro wince. “Shit, that was the bell. I gotta go baby.”
Keith chuckled again. “Enlighten the youths. See ya in a few hours.”
“I love you,” Shiro sighed, the words drawing a sad smile to his face. He could last a few more hours.
“Love you too.”
They said their quick goodbyes and Shiro hung up, stuffing his phone back into his desk drawer as the first students began to file in. He straightened his tie and stood as the seats began to fill and conversations started among the various little groups.
Just a few more hours, he told himself as the starting bell for the period rang.
..
The afternoon had continued dragging on, but soon enough Shiro was home. He made quick work of taking Kosmo out to do his business and started anxiously tidying the house. No one would describe Shiro as a slob, per se, but he had let a few things lapse in his temporary bachelorhood.
After frantically folding the week’s laundry, cleaning the bathroom, making the bed to Keith’s high standards, and refilling Kosmo’s water bowl with fresh, icy water, Shiro was so tired he wasn’t sure he could stay on his feet until Keith got home. The thought of Keith coming in and finding him asleep at the kitchen counter with their dinner burning on the stove made him laugh. It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time, but Shiro was determined to power through.
The oven beeped and complained as Shiro fought to set it to preheat. He smiled as he dug through the freezer to pull out one of the meals Keith had prepped for him last weekend. It wasn’t as though Shiro would have starved without Keith there, he would have been mostly fine. But the lovingly packed and frozen meals that could simply be tossed into the oven every evening made it less lonely without his husband physically there. They were a tangible reminder of Keith’s love and Shiro would never be able to express how much that thoughtfulness meant to him as he watched the kitchen timer slowly tick down.
His timing was nearly perfect. The front door opened with a click only a few minutes after he’d pulled the tray from the oven and set it on the counter to cool, leaving him plenty of time to pour two glasses of the now-chilled bottle of Rosé and set the rest of the table.
Kosmo’s ears perked up and he shot like a bolt of lightning to the door before Keith had even managed to put both feet over the threshold. His tail whipped back and forth in a black blur that almost made Shiro dizzy to look at. The sound of Keith’s laughed greeting nearly brought tears of relief to his eyes.
It felt silly to be so emotional over an absence that lasted less than a week, but Shiro didn’t dwell on it. He let the emotions sweep him down the hallway and into his husband’s waiting arms.
“God, I missed you so much,” he murmured, burying his face and one of his hands in Keith’s thick hair. It still smelled like the morning’s strawberry shampoo.
Keith hummed his agreement and twisted in Shiro’s grasp, one hand around his husband’s waist and the other attempting to both pet and hold down Kosmo as he howled his excitement at Keith’s return. Their lips met in the briefest of brushes and it felt like the first breath of fresh spring air after a brutally cold winter.
Keith’s head dipped in for another kiss, but he paused and sniffed suspiciously. “Did you cook?”
Shiro let out a guilty laugh. “No, it’s the lasagna you froze for me. I just heated it up.”
Keith grinned and kissed his cheek, letting go of Kosmo long enough to drag his suitcase forward. “Let me toss my stuff in the laundry and we can eat.”
The food and wine were excellent, and Keith’s tales of his riveting conference panels and the after party shenanigans had Shiro’s face sore from laughing and smiling. He didn’t remember the first thing about the advanced fluid dynamics required for the engine cooling systems Keith had been recounting to him, but it didn’t matter. Only the loose grip Keith had on his hand and the bright, passionate glint in his eyes mattered as far as Shiro was concerned.
When the bottle was empty and Keith had run out of stories, they slid seamlessly back into the routine of cleaning up together and preparing to wind down for the night. Their elbows brushed as they rinsed and dried the dishes. Keith’s sly grin had Shiro’s blood set on simmer faster than he thought possible, but he still couldn’t fight down the yawn that overtook him.
Keith smiled and turned to wrap his arms around Shiro’s waist. “You tired?”
Shiro sighed and pulled Keith in closer, nuzzling his cheek against Keith’s hair again. “You know I can never sleep without you, baby,” he murmured, peppering a kiss against the soft strands.
Keith patted his backside and stepped out of the embrace, holding out a hand for Shiro to take. “We’ll deal with the dishes tomorrow then, let’s get to bed.”
A tension he didn’t know he was carrying melted out of Shiro’s shoulders as he let himself be led from the kitchen into their bedroom. They didn’t even bother to brush their teeth or shower, simply stripping down to their underwear and falling on top of the pristinely made bed. Their limbs sought each other out, tangling together in the comfortable, familiar way they’d grown accustomed to over the years. Neither of them could find it in himself to mind the extra heat, even though the bedroom was nearly stifling despite the ceiling fan whirling overhead.
Keith let out a sigh of contentment and slowly dragged his cheek across Shiro’s collar bone. “Missed you. Missed this,” he murmured, letting his lips trail light kisses across Shiro’s skin.
Shiro murmured in reply, nothing intelligible, just a noise of sleepy satisfaction. Kosmo curled up on the foot of the bed, his thick fur only barely brushing the tips of their toes.
“‘S good to be home,” Keith whispered through a yawn. Shiro would have agreed, but he was already fast asleep.