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Keith was still new to his Galra side.
He didn’t have the luxury of learning from his mother for the first half of his life. After meeting her, she was able to shed some light on some… differences he’d experienced growing up. And after years in space, it was no surprise to anyone how Keith’s Galra features seemed to shine through when his emotions escalated.
A yellow tinge to his eyes and sharper-than-usual canines when he was angry or stressed. A soft rumble under his breath when he was fully relaxed, something that had only been unlocked when Lance ran his hand through Keith’s soft hair as he fell asleep on the blue paladin’s warm chest late at night. And Pidge had even sworn that she’d heard Keith trill in surprise one day when she caught him off guard on the training deck.
Which of course, Keith denied.
But this. This was new.
It started, as most things do, with Lance. Keith was resting against the wall watching the blue paladin obliterate a training bot, a bet that Lance could surpass Keith’s high score with enough practice. Keith watched in amusement as the training bot began to overpower Lance for the third time— preparing to call off his boyfriend’s bet— but then Lance did something that really, truly surprised him.
There was a small opening on the bot’s left hand side. Keith could see it coming from a mile away, but that was with years of training in hands-on combat. The training bot lurched toward the blue paladin, the white staff raised above its head and trained on Lance’s. It moved with calculated intent. A hit like that would usually have sent Lance to the floor.
But then he whirled to the left, dodging the strike and ramming his bayard into the training bot’s abdomen with enough strength to send the bot careening. He stood as the bot flickered and vanished, signaling the end of the level.
He hadn’t beat Keith’s high score. He wasn’t even close.
But Lance had surprised him.
Lance turned to face Keith, running a hand through his hair, sending droplets of sweat to the training deck floor. His chest heaved with exhaustion, a tired smirk crawling to cross his face as he eyed Keith. His eyes shone with a mix of pride and ever-so-annoying arrogance.
Keith wrinkled his nose in feign irritation. But the usual embers that simmered underneath him was nothing in comparison to the fire burning in his chest, flames licking up his collarbone and into the base of his jaw.
He felt his fangs poking at his bottom lip.
He wanted to pepper the blue paladin in kisses. He wanted to lick the sweat off his neck, feel his heavy breathing under his fingertips. He wanted to sink his teeth—
“Stunned by my performance?” Lance jeered, quirking an eyebrow.
The heat rushed over Keith’s face, and his words preened helplessly at the tip of his tongue. “I— uh—“ he stammered.
Lance’s smirk dropped into something more sincere. His eyes softened as he chuckled. “Wow, it must have been quite the sight if it’s got the team’s samurai stuttering.”
His canines ached.
”I gotta go!” Keith pushed past him, ignoring Lance’s flabbergasted shout behind him.
_______________________
It happened again a few days later.
They had a meeting in half a varga. Something about the next planet Allura wanted added to the coalition— Shiro wanted Keith to pay more attention to those. To learn how to be more diplomatic or whatever.
But Keith wouldn’t be able to focus. Not after Lance.
He pressed a heated kiss against the blue paladin’s jawline, their bodies pressed into the warmth of Lance’s bed. It had been Lance’s idea to take a very quick nap before the meeting. Lance’s idea that had quickly dissolved into kissing, touching, craving.
Lance’s chest vibrated as he laughed— quietly, to avoid anyone hearing beyond his door. “Geez, Keith, and you were the one saying we had to stop five minutes ago.”
Keith grumbled, moving from laying across the blue paladin’s chest to hovering over him. “I was going to stop. It’s your fault.”
Lance’s fingertips traced underneath Keith’s loose black shirt, brushing against his abdomen. Keith shuddered at the fleeting touch, earning another laugh from Lance. “So sensitive,” he mused.
“Lance,” Keith warned. Heat simmered in the pit of his stomach, and he started to feel that very same ache. It wasn’t like the usual pressure in his groin. It was something much deeper, something primal.
Lance hooked his foot around Keith’s ankle, and in one swoop, flipped them over so that he was hovering over his dark-haired boyfriend, whose eyes were now narrowed with an exceptional warmth spreading across his face. Lance was practically beaming with pride. “Gotcha pinned, Keith.”
Keith ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling the familiar pokes of his sharpened canines. Lance had to get off him— now. He writhed under the blue paladin’s grasp, grunting as Lance only deepened his hold. “Lance!” He squirmed.
He suddenly froze as Lance’s lips pressed against the exposed skin on his neck. And before Keith could even begin to protest, his body betrayed him and he purred.
Lance leaned back, eyebrow arched with a mischievous grin plastered on his stupid, stupid face. “What was that?”
Keith wished the bed would sink in, swallowing him whole. He’d only ever let himself make any noise like that in his most vulnerable moments, on the verge of sleep when he couldn’t even let himself fight the urge off. But this was different.
Lance wasted no time, diving back on top of him to try and earn another sound. He pressed quick kisses all over Keith’s neck, and when he didn’t get the same result, he slowed down and started sucking on Keith’s pale skin. Keith gasped, and made another attempt to push the blue paladin away, but it was so weak that even Lance could tell he didn’t mean it. Lance chuckled against his collarbone, the sound vibrating through his chest, bouncing around his ribs and ricocheting into his groin. Keith’s breath hitched, and he bucked his hips into Lance, needing more, wanting more.
Lance’s teeth nicked Keith’s skin, and that was it.
A trill rumbled from his throat, and he pressed his body into Lance feverishly. The moment his lips found the heat of Lance’s neck, his mouth automatically opened and he bit down hard. Lance yelped in surprise, but the hunger in Keith had finally won him over, and before he knew it, he was coming.
They stayed there for a minute, Lance completely stunned. Not only had Keith bit him— bit him— but the red paladin had completely unraveled beneath his touch, from barely any touch at all.
Keith pulled his fangs from Lance’s skin, wincing at the mark it left behind. He fell back against the pillow, his face aflame with embarrassment. “Um,” he mumbled, nibbling on his bottom lip nervously, ignoring the sharp pain as his canines scraped against the delicate skin. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts— would Lance be mad at him? What if he didn’t like him anymore? Did Lance know that on top of everything, Keith had—
His eyes flickered downward, and he cringed.
”That,” Lance finally said, exhaling as if he were breathless, “was the hottest thing I have ever seen in my life.”
Nevermind. This was worse. This was so much worse. Keith groaned, covering his face with his hands. He begged the universe to take it back, to make Lance think it was weird or unusual. Anything but this.
”Babe, you gotta tell me what I did to—“ Lance leaned back, straddling Keith now, and Keith bit back a whine as he felt himself nearly pressing his hips into the movement. He cursed his body for betraying him— for wanting more. Lance huffed a laugh, “— to deserve this.”
”But I hurt you,” Keith muttered shamefully. He peeked through his fingers at the red marks on Lance’s neck again, and whined pitifully, covering his view again.
”Baby,” Lance gently pulled his fingers away, meeting Keith’s violet gaze, “if what I did made you do that,” he grinned, “I want you to bite me every damn time.”
”Lance,” Keith whimpered.
”Paladins!” Allura’s voice sounded throughout the castle, “Please meet in the lounge for our debrief.”
Keith’s heart seized. “Oh fuck,” he sat up, pushing Lance off his lap. He scoured the room for his jacket, finding it tossed haphazardly on the desk chair, pulling it on before rushing to the bedroom door, hovering his hand over the sensor to open it.
”Babe,” Lance snickered, and Keith turned to see him gesturing to his pants. His now visibly stained pants. Keith flushed, shooting daggers at Lance who had started pulling his own shirt and jacket back on. He quickly grabbed a pair of fresh underwear and jeans, and ran into the bathroom, changing as quickly as possible (if quickly meant using Lance’s fancy facial wipes to clean himself off as much as he could).
By the time Keith had burst back into the bedroom, Lance was still fiddling with the collar of his jacket in the mirror. “What are you doing?” Keith cried out, “We are going to be late, and then we will show up together and they’ll know—“
Lance turned, and Keith froze.
Lance’s shirt barely covered up the bite. Any slight movement, and it would be visible to the team.
”Oh my god.” Keith threw his hands into his hair in full panic mode. “Oh my god, they’re going to see, they’re going to know, they’re going to realize that I did that—“
”Keith!” Lance reached out, grasping his hand and holding it firm to keep the red paladin in one spot. “It’s okay. I’ll hide it, and we can figure something out later. Okay?”
And despite everything in his gut telling him nothing would ever be okay again, Keith nodded.
_______________________
Keith tried to pay attention to the debrief. He really, really tried to listen. But his eyes kept drifting back to the collar of Lance’s shirt, just barely covering his shame.
He fiddled with the sleeves of his jacket nervously, chewing on the bottom of his lip. He knew Shiro could tell something was wrong. He felt the black paladin’s eyes burning a hole in the right side of his face. Keith was never this fidgety.
Amidst Coran’s lengthy explanation of the new planet and all of its history, he could see Pidge out of the corner of his left eye, sneaking glances at Lance.
Lance had done so well acting like everything was normal. He lazed across the couch, his feet propped up on Hunk’s lap as he listened to Coran drone on. By a glance, he looked completely, entirely uninterested.
But Keith could see the way his jaw clenched as Pidge tilted her head, eyes narrowed on Lance. There was one thing they hadn’t accounted for.
The bite was eye level for their smallest paladin.
Pidge’s jaw dropped, and an evil grin crossed her face. “No fucking way.”
”Pidge!” Shiro corrected, “Language.”
”Shut up.” Lance muttered through gritted teeth at the green paladin, who was stifling a laugh behind her hands. This caught Hunk’s attention, who peered at the two curiously.
Allura raised her hand, stopping Coran. “Is something the matter, paladins?”
”Nope!” Keith answered, a bit too loudly, which caused Shiro to really start trying to figure out what was going on. “Keep going! Uh— Please, keep going. Super interesting, Coran.”
Pidge’s fingers had found their way to Lance’s shirt, and she was gently pulling on the fabric with a giggle. Lance attempted to smack her hands away, shoving one hand at her head to push her further away. “Quit it!”
”Paladins, please!” Allura started in annoyance, but then she paused, and Keith watched as she raised a hand, shaky with laughter, to cover her mouth.
Keith sunk further into the couch, itching to cover his face.
”That’s it,” Shiro stood, facing the team, “What’s going on?”
No, no, no, Keith silently begged.
Pidge firmly grasped the fabric of Lance’s shirt, giving one good yank before exposing the bite mark to the rest of the team.
Silence washed over the room.
And then, thunderous laughter from Pidge and Allura.
”What is that?” Hunk’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he eyed the mark, “Did that happen on our last mission? Are you okay, Lance?”
Lance, whose face had grown tomato red, only squeaked out one response, “No.”
Hunk continued. “Was it those space worm thingies? I thought we had our helmets on. Didn’t you have your helmet on? Or was it the last run in with the Galra? Can they even—“ Hunk froze, and his eyes slowly met Keith’s.
Keith’s hands slapped over his face, humiliated.
”Is he going to turn into some Galra werewolf now?” Hunk asked Allura, who only snorted in response, too busy laughing at Keith’s misfortune.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Shiro chimed in. “Does anyone want to explain what’s going on here?”
”Not to worry, Number One!” Coran twiddled his mustache in between his fingers, “This is simple biology. You see, when one Galra falls in love with another Galra—“
”Okay, that’s enough!” Lance stood, pulling his jacket collar dramatically over his neck. “This is a time-sensitive mission, folks! Coran, continue.”
”— they join in a special ceremony of physical—“
”No!” Lance squeaked, “With the briefing!”
”Oh my god,” Keith mumbled, “This can’t be happening.”
”So, Galra werewolf? Is that a thing?”
Shiro sputtered, causing all of the paladins to look his way. Even Keith, who peered through his fingers up at his brother. Shiro’s face was beet red, eyes wide in shock as he looked down on the red paladin, jutting his hand out toward Lance. “Keith! You bit him?!”
Keith shoved his face back into his hands with a groan. He expected a lecture. A reprimand. A scolding.
What he didn’t expect was for his older brother to burst out laughing.
Keith sank further into the couch.
The paladins continued laughing, only quieting when Lance waved his hands in the air, “Alright, alright,” Lance rested his hands on his hips. “Leave him alone, it wasn’t his fault.”
The team paused.
”I made him do it.” Lance stated, crossing his arms over his chest proudly as if he had just saved the day.
Another uproar.
Keith shot up from the couch, face burning as he attempted to shoot past Shiro. His brother caught his arm before he could escape, rubbing the laughter-induced tears from his eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?”
”The airlock,” Keith sneered.
Shiro let out another chuckle before pulling Keith close, hugging the red paladin. “Okay, buddy. I’m sorry for laughing.”
If Keith were going to bite again, he would have heavily considered biting Shiro’s hand.
”Listen,” Shiro rubbed Keith’s back, letting the fiery paladin hide his face in Shiro’s shirt, “You don’t have to be embarrassed. We’re your family. It’s okay for us to poke fun at each other.”
Keith relaxed a little. Family. This was his family— even when they pissed him off. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” he mumbled, muffled against Shiro’s shirt.
”TMI.” Pidge noted from where she laid on the floor, having laughed out all her fun. Keith shot her a harsh glare.
”If anything,” Lance spoke up, “I see it as a badge of honor.”
Pidge gagged.
”I hate you guys,” Keith groaned, earning another small round of laughs from the group. He shoved his face back into Shiro’s shirt, hiding the small smile that perked at the corner of his lips.
”And you and I are going to have a talk later,” Shiro raised a brow at Lance, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
Keith knew two important things: that he loved his family very, very much. Even when they pissed him off. And that next time, he’d leave his bite marks below the collar.