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Keith knows Shiro is a lightweight, and knows he gets a little handsy after two drinks. He's always been like this and Keith welcomes the way Shiro presses his side to Keith's at the booth with all their fellow paladins and rebels (and a space uncle.) Keith appreciates that Shiro is a boring, cuddly drunk that needs two glasses of anything with alcohol to get quiet and sleepy and a little clingy. A soft drunk that Keith barely needs to babysit because Shiro simply won't leave his best friend's side. After two drinks, Keith always cuts him off and hands him some water. Shiro always pouts but obeys because he's just soft and pliant like that.
Two Drinks! Shiro is all Keith ever known, though.
But tonight, someone (Lance) gives Shiro a strawberry milkshake with vodka in it, served in a long, delicate glass. "Pink Lion" someone (Lance) calls it.
Shiro, known sweet tooth, takes one sip and gets instantly addicted- his eyes sparkle and he is quick to laugh at anything.
Keith grows instantly wary because if sober! Shiro has a hard time handling his love for sweet things... Drunk! Shiro has no self control whatsoever. He plays with his pink straw for a few seconds before giving Keith a guilty smile and requesting the waiter his second drink.
Keith immediately asks for water right after. He's very strict with the two drinks policy.
Shiro flushes a little, and snuggles a little closer, and Keith lets him.
But then, Keith has to leave to take a phone call from his mom in Diabazaal.
Fifteen minutes, he left for fifteen minutes because phone calls with his mom are not common and the time zones are always a mess. Keith returns to the booth to find all his friends laughing their asses off, a frantic, worried Shiro who is too dizzy to stand from his seat--
And six long glasses of Pink Lion.
Empty.
The glass water he ordered however, is still full.
His first instinct is to smack Lance in the head.
"Why did you let him drink more of that without any water?!"
Lance doesn't stop laughing when he answers, "He pulled rank on us."
Keith smacks him one more time and gives everyone else a very hard, disappointed glare before turning to calm Shiro down.
"Shiro?" He calls him, a hand reaching for Shiro's trembling shoulder. "What happened?"
The entire table explodes in laughter.
Keith looks at them half worried half pissed off, because if they decided to get Shiro drunk and stress him out just for fun he's gonna kick all their a--
"He says," Allura squeaks- then clears her throat, but the laughter lingers in her voice. "He says he lost his husband."
Keith's eyebrows shoot up in disbelief, "what husban-"
He hears a loud gasp behind him and next he hears Shiro's voice, thick and a bit too emotional for their situation.
"Baby!"
Keith snaps his head in Shiro's direction but before he could asks "Me?", Shiro's metal hand grabs his arm and pulls.
Keith hits his hip on the extreme of the table and pain blinds him just long enough to distract him from the fact that Shiro got Keith to sit on his lap.
Keith's back is pressed to Shiro's chest, Shiro's arms are tight around Keith's middle. Shiro nuzzles his hair and whispers "Baby" one more time against the back of Keith's neck and oh shit oh god so he is Shiro's imaginary lost husband-
"I hate all of you" he tells the rest of the table. They laugh again. "I'll never trust Shiro to you again. Ever."
They laugh harder.
Minutes pass and Keith cannot bring himself to tell Shiro to let go of him, even less to ruin his little married fantasy. One, because apparently losing his husband makes drunk! Shiro way too stressed out, and second-... because he doesn't exactly hate it.
His feelings for Shiro aren't really that new to him anymore- long ago he realized that it wasn't just brotherly love what drove his devotion for his best friend all across the universe, but something much stronger that Keith processed in a rush and then hid deep in his heart.
He confessed once, too, with a blade burning his face and all the pain in the universe weighting his heart. He said "I love you" like a farewell and Shiro never addressed it.
Never talked about it.
He's fantasized about it in the past- marriage, but never hoped for anything.
But now, he is currently lowkey high-key enjoying his time as drunk! Shiro's husband, and he's growing more and more curious as to how Shiro's brain reached this conclusion.
"Say say, Captain" Lance wheezed, "when did you guys get married?"
Shiro's chin hooks on Keith's shoulder, and Keith can feel the warmth radiating from his best friend's face. He sounds almost shy when he answers, "Two weeks ago."
Keith almost lets out an "Aww" along the rest of the table.
"Honey Moon stage, huh?" Hunk teases, and it's Keith's turn to blush.
Shiro shakes his head, "We've been in love for years, there's no honey moon stage" he pauses, then reconsiders, "or maybe we're always in the honey moon stage and never stopped?"
Keith tenses at his words.
They've been in love for years?
Shiro feels Keith's tension and tightens his hug around him, kisses what he can reach of Keith's cheek. "You okay, love?"
Keith's brain short-circuits. Love.
"Sure" he croaks. "I'm great."
Shiro presses a smile to Keith's cheek- it's not a kiss, but Keith enjoys it the same. "In so many ways," Shiro says, and his voice is almost teasing- he seems to imply something Keith is so not ready to acknowledge just yet. The reminder that he's sitting his butt right on Shiro's crotch slaps him on the face so suddenly Keith chokes. Every little show of distress, every tiny movement from Keith makes Shiro press him closer, having no shame in his possessiveness.
Keith can't handle this.
"How was the wedding?" Pidge asks, just as amused as the rest.
Shiro sounds almost confused. "Small, just family and friends- you were there, Pidge."
Pidge smiles softly at him. "I guess I was."
Shiro sniffs, eyes trained on Lance. "You weren't invited."
Lance splutters.
"But Allura snuck you in"
"Why was I not invited?!!"
It is easy to go along with Shiro's imagination suddenly.
"I didn't want you there" Keith replies, and Lance lets out an indignant squeak.
Good, this is all his fault anyway.
Shiro laughs behind him, and he lets go of the hug just to rest both his hands on the thick of Keith's thighs.
Keith swallows when the hands press just a little.
"Where did you go for the honey moon?" Matt asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"No honeymoon" Shiro sighs, "we're too busy."
The table lets out a collective groan, "Of course".
Keith relaxes and leans on Shiro's chest, at that. It does sound like something they'd do.
"But," Shiro adds, and the hands on Keith's thighs begin to rub slowly. "Every night has been our wedding night since."
The table howls and teases but Keith can only focus on the press of Shiro's lips to his ear, and the whispered promise that "Tonight shouldn’t be any different."
Keith feels it then.
Shiro's getting hard under him.
Now, Keith has two options.
Move away from Shiro and maybe try to break the drunken spell Shiro's under. Or, stay there and deal with it to keep anyone from seeing Shiro tenting his pants.
Keith decides to stay in his place. He needs to protect Shiro's honor. It has nothing to do with how good it feels to know Shiro's wants him like that.
When the waiter approaches once more, Shiro stops his teasing and goes back to being possessive and hug Keith tightly- accidentally making Keith shift in his lap, and the friction makes Shiro's breath hitch.
"Oh, sweetheart," he whispers.
Keith gulps, feeling a little guilty, and orders water for everyone.
It takes one strong, heavy glare to get everyone on the table to hydrate properly.
Shiro glares at his glass of water like it personally came to steal his husband. Keith insists him to drink it, but Shiro ignores him to request another Pink Lion.
Keith sighs. He tries to wiggle himself out of Shiro's hold, but it only ends up worsening his situation, and Shiro chokes mid request, inhaling sharply.
It's not what Keith wanted, but he got something just as good.
"Just the check please" he tells the waiter, and then turns as much as he can to fix a hard stare on his fake husband. "You're drunk- keep that up and I'm going home without you"
It's a big lie, because Keith would never leave Shiro behind, ever.
But it works- again, not in the way Keith expected, but it works.
Shiro's eyes are dark and hungry, and he's getting harder under Keith's ass. Keith manages to watch him lick his lips, and licks his own, too.
"I wanna go home" Shiro whispers, hands squeezing Keith's hips. "Now."
"Drink your water" Keith orders.
Two Drinks! Shiro is soft and pliant and does what he's told.
Six Drinks! Shiro gives him a dangerous look, presses Keith down to his crotch and tells him, "make me."
Six Drinks! Shiro gives absolutely no fucks. There's more people in this booth. There're plenty of people in this bar. But Six Drinks! Shiro still pulls the collar of Keith's t-shirt enough to expose a shoulder, and latches his hungry mouth to it.
"Holy Shit" Lance whispers, eyes wide, mouth open.
Romelle tilts her head and tries to inch a little closer. Hunk keeps her from it. Matt is biting back a laugh because he doesn't want to startle his very obviously horny friend.
Coran and Allura exchange curious looks.
There's hurried whispers across the table.
"Do mates do this?"
"As a kink, yes"
"Shut up Matt!"
"What is a kink?"
"Don't answer Matt!"
"Holy shit--are they really dating and no one told us? Did they really get married and I wasn't invited??!"
Keith is sober, fighting his eyes that want to close as his mind sinks into the sudden pleasure of Shiro's mouth on his body, to the idea of being marked by him.
When Pidge clears her throat, Shiro ignores her. But Keith is brought back from their little bubble.
Keith is sober.
Shiro is obviously not.
This cannot and will not happen.
Keith shakes his head and tries again to pull away, but Shiro's flesh arm is hooked around him, and his metal hand is caressing its way up to Keith's torso, fingers spread on his chest, pressing.
He needs to be the strict best friend he's always been whenever they go out, in regards to alcohol consumption.
But Shiro's attention feels so, so good.
Keith is forgetting why he wants to push Shiro way when his very hot fake hubby bites down and it's a miracle he hasn't made a noise yet.
Hunk does it for him.
"We should go."
Everyone begins to sit up and say some hurried good byes and Keith is mentally calling them traitors. He scoffs and triest to summon all his strenght and self control to level a glare back at Shiro. "Keep this up and you're sleeping on the couch" he warns.
Shiro huffs a laugh against his skin. "You'll join me on the couch" he answers with a rough voice and Keith shudders.
But Keith needs to calm down, he's getting aroused and Shiro is so hot and hard against him and also So Drunk he came up with a whole fantasy of them being horny husbands and--
And the hurt of it makes Keith pause.
Because it does hurt.
'We've been in love for years' ?
That snaps him out of it. Keith confessed, Shiro never said anything, and now he doesn't get to do this to Keith.
Not without a proper talk.
Not without a proper kiss.
Not drunk.
Keith doesn't say anything, he knows Shiro. He knows Shiro knows him and will pick up on Keith's mood drop soon enough.
And Shiro does.
He stops all he's doing, his hands resting loosely on Keith's hips and he nuzzles his husband's hair and inhales the scent of Keith, fondly.
"Baby?" he asks, and Keith loves the pet name so much already. It hurts.
"Drink your water" it's not an order this time, but it sounds far more serious than his earlier attempts.
Shiro can tell.
Keith watches the metal arm float to the table, pick up a glass of water and disappear behind him.
He hears gulps and a hiss.
The glass is returned to the table, and the metal arm floats further, reaching for another glass of water. Three glasses of water later, Shiro presses cool, wet lips to Keith's neck. It’s terrifying how much Keith likes that, and how normal it feels.
"I'm sorry" Shiro says, "I was just teasing. I didn't mean to make you sad."
Keith doesn't answer, and Shiro kisses him again. It feels so good, it’s awful.
"Do you want me to drink more water?"
"I'm not sad about that" Keith tells him. "I just wanna go home."
"Are you mad at me?" Shiro asks, fingers drumming on Keith's sides. It's so distracting.
"I don't know" Keith admits, "I just want to go home, Shiro."
Shiro nods slowly, then. And he sounds sad, too.
"I can take the couch," he says, softly. He sounds sober- but Keith knows he's not yet. Shiro really sounds like he believes they're living together. "You don't have to join me."
##
Keith takes him to Shiro's apartment. It's much more spacious than his own anyway.
Shiro enters gingerly and stops on the living room, eyeing the couch sadly.
Keith smiles despite himself and takes Shiro's hand.
"No, Shiro" he tells his best friend. "I'm taking you to bed."
Shiro looks up at him, hopeful, and lets Keith lead him to the bedroom. He gives Keith a tiny, playful smile when Keith begins to undress him, but Keith keeps himself busy. He just wants to get Shiro ready for bed. He doesn't react when Shiro begins to pull up his shirt and touch skin, but when Shiro finally leans down to kiss him, Keith turns away and Shiro's lips land on his cheek.
Shiro pulls away, hurt.
"What did I do?" He asks, voice quiet and sad. "Baby, what did I do?"
Keith isn't sure he should tell him. Will Shiro even remember this in the morning?
"Baby" Shiro presses. That fucking pet name is what does it.
"You didn't do anything" Keith tells him, finally. "That's the problem, Shiro. You didn't do anything, and I'm not your baby."
Keith swallows thickly as he watches Shiro's face twist in confusion then rejection until it settles in worry.
"I don't understand."
"I'm not your husband, Shiro" Keith drags the words out of his throat and each hurt more than the last. "We're not married."
Shiro gulps, looking for a lie on Keith's face.
"This isn't funny, sweetheart" he wants to tease but he sounds nervous. Keith never lies to him. Keith doesn't answer. Because he knows Shiro knows him. He doesn't need to answer.
Shiro knows now.
He watches how Shiro's face falls, how his heart shatters along with his own.
"But, we have to be married" Shiro leans closer, his voice lowers to a pained whisper. "I love you so much."
Keith lets out a tiny whimper. This is the first time he’s heard this. "You never told me."
"No" Shiro gasps. He grabs Keith's hands and squeezes. "No, I love you so much."
Suddenly Keith regrets upsetting him so much. He coos and pulls Shiro to lie on the bed, but Shiro's hands drag Keith with him, holding him like his life depends on it. He pins Keith to the bed and Keith lets him. He presses his face to Keith's chest and Keith lets him.
"It's not fair" Shiro whispers against Keith's heart. "I love you so much."
It hurts to breathe, for Keith. He doesn’t know how to react to Shiro just spilling these ‘I love you’s like it’s easy, when it almost took Keith his own life to say his own, and got months of nothing.
Shiro is shaking hard, when he asks.
"Do you love me?"
Keith sighs, closes his eyes. Despite the hurt, despite it all, Keith would never resent Shiro. And Keith would never lie to him. "Of course I love you."
There's a pause that stretches and Keith can only hear Shiro's breathing, wet sniffles.
"Like a brother?" Shiro asks, and he sounds terrified.
Keith stiffens.
Fuck, no way. Is that why Shiro never said anything? That phrase is gonna haunt Keith forever, isn't it?
"No" he admits, "not like a brother."
Shiro lets out a shaky breath, relief relaxing his muscles until he drops his weight on top of Keith entirely, knocking the air out of Keith's lungs. He hides his face on Keith's neck, whispers a tiny "Okay" and says nothing else.
He stops trembling only when he falls asleep.
##
When Keith wakes up, he's sore and sweaty and there's a huge beautiful man still clinging to him in his sleep.
He slowly, carefully disentangles himself from Shiro's arms and gets out of the bed.
He picks up a glass of water and aspirin, leaves it on the night stand. He picks up Shiro's clothes from the floor and takes it to the laundry, along with his own clothes.
He picks a loose shirt and sweatpants from Shiro's drawer and puts it on, after a shower.
Then, he goes to the kitchen and makes eggs and toast and coffee and he waits.
He does not think of how normal doing all this feels to him, and how after being offered the fantasy of a domestic married life with Shiro, he can’t stop thinking about it.
Shiro comes out the bedroom soon after, chasing the smell of breakfast.
He stops at the living room, squinting his eyes at the sight of Keith.
Keith with clothes too big for him.
"Those are my clothes" he blurts out.
"Good morning to you too."
Keith watches Shiro gulp, eyes traveling from Keith's feet to his face, and he licks his lips.
"I was afraid" Shiro says, and Keith knows what he's talking about.
Shiro remembers last night.
It's not what he wants to hear either- but it could've been worse.
"You could've asked" Keith doesn't mean to sound so bitter.
"I was afraid" Shiro repeats. "That if I asked, you'd confirm it. I was afraid I was the only one feeling this way. I know it's childish-"
Keith sighs and rubs his face, his eyes sting. "I shouldn't have said that" he looks up at Shiro, "I was afraid, too. So I said it like that, I hoped you'd see through it- you could always tell when I lied."
"That wasn't me" Shiro sniffles. "I wasn't sure."
Keith feels so dumb.
"I'm sorry," he says softly.
"I'm sorry" Shiro says, just as softly.
Shiro takes big steps towards Keith, cups his face with big hands.
He dries Keith's tears and kisses his face.
"I love you so much" Shiro kisses Keith's mouth, prays against it. "I love you so much."
"I love you so much" Keith whispers between their breaths. "I love you so much, Shiro."
Shiro kisses him hard and needful, then. His hands go straight under Keith's shirt and touch skin and grope and grab. Keith moans softly, wraps his arms around Shiro's neck right before Shiro sucks on his tongue and his knees give in.
When they finally break apart, panting and itching for more, Shiro looks stupid and besotted and sleepy and Keith laughs because he probably looks the same.
"Oh noo" Shiro says, fingers drumming on Keith's sides. So distracting. "You have to marry me now."
Keith laughs "are we even dating yet?"
"We don't need to date- we already know everything about each other" Shiro pulls him closer, kisses Keith's nose. "Married couples go to dates too, if that's what you want."
Keith laughs harder, but Shiro feels only more encouraged.
"Move in with me," he tells Keith, "marry me."
"You're not drunk anymore are you?" Keith teases, and immediately begins to damage control, kissing Shiro's pout. "I'm sorry, you're just too cute. Last night too, so cute and cuddly."
"I don't have to be drunk to be cuddly" Shiro fake sniffs, soon his expression turns more cocky and playful. "If I had a husband I'd cuddle him all the time" he raises an eyebrow, "among other things."
Keith wheezes, and Shiro's hands under his shirt move with a little more intent.
"Keith, Keith" Shiro insists, "I just saw you walking around my house, wearing my clothes, making breakfast. I can't go back to live my life the way it was before this, I'd be so miserable."
Keith chuckles, and nods. "Okay"
"We need to marry."
"Yes, okay."
Shiro's face lights up. "Yeah? Marry me?"
"Yeah" Keith pecks him on the lips once, twice, laughs when Shiro kisses back.
"But not like a brother?"
Keith groans.
"Watch it or you'll sleep in the couch" he warns, teasing.
Shiro places an arm under Keith's knees and picks him up bridal style, and takes him to the living room.
"Oh, Baby" Shiro's amused, but his voice drops to that low, delicious tone from last night. From Six Drinks! Shiro.
"You'll join me on the couch."
And Keith does.