Chapter Text
"Date Night"
"Hunting?"
"This is our kit, Thace. He's part human as well. He hasn't shown any interest in hunting before either." Ulaz sighed. "Besides, as nice as an evening meal is, both Keith and Shiro are wanted by the Empire, so they can't enjoy a leisurely meal at a restaurant either."
"We have to come up with something! We told Keith to prepare for a date with his mate, and we haven't come up with anything suitable in the two vargas we have been actively discussing it."
"It's been three vargas, my mate."
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Keith was standing in front of his closet, trying to figure out what he was supposed to wear. His pack told him that they were going to send him and Shiro on a 'date night,' though they didn't have a term for it. However, they adopted the Earth term when they heard Keith call it that. It did present Keith with his current problem. Without knowing exactly what they were going to be doing on the date, Keith couldn't figure out what clothing he should wear, and that led him to be standing in just his pants in front of his closet.
Shiro was sitting on their bed in their shared quarters, enjoying the view. Keith was standing directly in his line of sight, which Shiro swore he was doing on purpose, and if he didn't choose what shirt he was going to wear, their date was going to start and end in their bedroom, whatever plans the Blades came up with be damned. Keith was gorgeous, and on a normal day, Shiro was hard pressed to keep his hands to himself.
Keith let out a whine, prompting Shiro to get up and go over to Keith. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders, pulling him back to rest against his broad chest. Keith turned around, raised up on his tip toes, and nuzzled Shiro's neck. "'Kashi."
"Kitty." Shiro stroked Keith's fluffy Galran ears.
Keith purred at the touch and the nickname. He had some Galran features that showed up recently. He had purple, fluffy Galran ears; a long, thin, purple tail; sharp fangs; and a purple cheek stripe on each cheek. The one on his right cheek was discolored by his scar that was in the same location.
The data pad in Keith's pocket vibrated, causing Shiro and Keith to spring apart as Keith fished it out. He looked at it with a quizzical expression. "'Come in loose fitting yet comfortable clothes.' What does that mean? Are they having us train?"
"Doesn't sound like too much of a date to me."
"Well, without knowing what exactly they have planned, we don't know." Keith pulled on a short sleeve, red shirt. "I guess this will do."
Shiro had a mischievous grin on his face as he sauntered back to Keith. He whispered in his ear, "We could always stay here and have alone time for our date."
Keith wound his arms around Shiro's neck. "As much as I like the sound of that, my pack are expecting us, and besides, we could always do that after our date." Shiro kissed Keith, his hands lightly scratching Keith's head. Keith moaned. "We better stop before we forget about the date."
Shiro reluctantly pulled back from Keith but stayed within arm length as he wrapped an arm around Keith and led him to Red Lion. The mechanical lion's eyes lit up, and she bent down to allow her Paladin and his boyfriend entrance. Keith sat down in the pilot's seat with Shiro standing beside him. Keith expertly piloted his lion to the Blade of Marmora headquarters and landed her in the hangar, where she towered above the pods and fighters already parked there.
Keith and Shiro exited Red Lion, the former leading his boyfriend to the main hall. Shiro watched as Keith greeted the members they passed. Some of them gave him hugs (picking him off the floor in the process), others ruffled his hair, and still others rumbled to him. Shiro also heard 'kit' several times. He knew Keith was considered young in Galran culture and realized how lucky he was that Keith's pack wasn't against them dating. Keith had had a serious talk with his pack about that, stating that he was dating Shiro whether they approved of it or not.
It didn't take long for Keith and Shiro to get to the main hall, where they were met by Antok. The large Blade scooped up Keith, who was purring at this point. "Welcome back, kit. I'm glad you're back."
"Hi, Antok. I'm happy to be back too, but can you put me down?"
"No. I'm taking you to training hall B. Shiro, follow us." Antok carried Keith out of the main area and into the mostly empty training hall. In fact, the only ones there were Thace, Ulaz, and Kolivan. Antok set Keith on his feet, and he was immediately surrounded by the rest of his pack.
There was an exchange of Galran sounds that went over Shiro's head. Purrs, rumbles, hums, amused sounding growls, and huffs along with nuzzles and pets were exchanged at a rapid pace before Keith turned to Shiro and held his hand out. Shiro grasped it and was pulled into the group.
This time, Shiro could understand everything as Keith's pack switched to English, so their kit's mate wouldn't feel excluded. He was as much a part of their pack as Keith was after all.
"We hope you kits enjoy the date we set up for you," Thace stated.
"But I'm not a kit," Shiro countered.
"You are not much older than Keith, who is a kit," Kolivan insisted.
"And what does the date entail?" Keith asked curiously.
"You get to tumble with each other," Ulaz answered. Shiro turned red, misinterpreting what Ulaz meant until he added, "And play fighting."
"Uh, it's a kit date?" Keith recognized the activities as typical kit activities. He sighed. "Can we at least not be supervised?"
"Very well, kit. Let us know when you are done," Antok agreed, petting Keith's hair before ruffling Shiro's.
The four Blades left the training hall, and Keith turned to Shiro before he busted out laughing. Shiro's hair was sticking up in multiple directions from the hair ruffling. Shiro pouted at Keith's laughter. Still chuckling, Keith came over to Shiro's side and straightened his hair but not overly so. There wasn't any point especially if they were going to spar.
"Sorry, Shiro. I probably should have given them a list of things humans do for a date and told them to pick from that list."
Shiro reached out and stroked Keith's ears. "Then, I wouldn't get to tumble and play fight with you."
Keith purred and almost melted against Shiro. "We can just spar, 'Kashi."
"I want to see what tumbling and play fighting is, Kitty."
Keith used his tail to knock Shiro off his feet before he pounced on him. They tumbled over each other, trying to get the upper hand. Neither one succeeded for long. Shiro had the superior strength, but Keith was quick and agile.
Even though they told Keith they wouldn't watch, the pack still checked on the pair. The kits seemed to be having a good time on their date. Thace and Ulaz had come up with a kit date since that's what Keith was, and him enjoying tumbling with his mate just cemented that fact. Thace grinned when he saw Keith flip Shiro over his shoulder. It seemed like they made a good choice for their activity.
Keith was grinning as he and Shiro switched seamlessly to play fighting. It was more fun than he thought it was going to be. Maybe it was because it was Shiro he was play fighting instead of one of the Blades, but whatever it was, it was fun, and if they crashed in the nest after their date, that was okay.
Fin