Chapter Text
By the time Shiro reaches his room, having made a very brief detour by one of the labs and another (much deeper) section of the Castle ship, the sight that greets his eyes draws him up short. Keith has Lance pinned up against the wall (not that the taller boy is trying very hard to get away….or at all) and is biting and sucking his way down the Blue Paladin’s neck while they both paw at each other’s clothes to get to bare skin. It’s...a remarkable sight. They’re awfully pretty like this; red-faced and eager, their lips bitten red and shiny with spit, flashes of skin both fair and dark showing through unbuttoned and rucked up shirts, their hips rutting eagerly against each other, their soft gasps and hungry moans making the room sound a lot like the set of a porno movie.
Then they both realize they’re not alone, and leap apart, looking up at him like frightened rabbits. Excuses burst forth in a confusing cacophony of indecipherable babble as they both talk at the same time.
“We waited…”
“It was just kissing….”
“Well, at first, but then he…”
“And when he…”
Shiro holds up a hand to stop them, and they snap their mouths shut abruptly, shifting back and forth from one foot to the other, looking both guilty and nervous.
“Did I tell you to stop?” asks Shiro coolly. They gape at him, uncomprehendingly.
“Keith, keep doing what you were doing. Lance, you too.” They blink in surprise. Lance looks rooted to the spot, but Keith, who has known Shiro a lot longer and seems to recognize something about the expression on his face, smirks and turns to face Lance. He plants the palm of his hand on Lance’s chest and shoves. Lance stumbles backwards until he hits the wall, letting out a small “oof.” Keith slots their bodies together and plants his mouth on Lance’s throat, going back to work on the rather spectacular hickey he’d been working on moments before. The back of Lance’s head hits the wall and he lets out a helpless moan, his hips rocking into Keith. His hands lift slowly, still a little hesitant. He hooks a thumb in one of Keith’s belt loops, tugging him closer until they’re grinding against each other. His other hand tangles in Keith’s hair.
“Ha….how can your….ohfuck….hair be so…..nn, there...fuckin’ soft….Keith, fuck! When you ne-eh-very e...even do anything to it?”
“I wanna fuck you,” mutters Keith. Lance moans.
“Y-yeah, okay.”
Looking at them like that, Shiro makes some quick recalculations in his mind. He grins at them wickedly and clears his throat.
“Don’t you think I might have something to say about that?” he asks in what he hopes is a stern-sounding voice, glad that he’s wearing a loose pair of sweatpants to hide his actual feelings on the matter. Keith flushes a little guiltily and backs off some, but he doesn’t entirely let go of Lance, keeping one hand on the other paladin’s hip, his thumb brushing back and forth over the sharp, pointy bone of his hip,
“Sorry Shiro,” he mutters.
“No,” Shiro hurries to say. “I’m not saying you guys shouldn’t get to do what you want, but I have something I want to try. So let’s say….if you’re both willing to pay the price, you can do whatever you want.” He raises an eyebrow at them challengingly and smirks to show he’s not annoyed with them for starting without him. He’s not in the slightest, actually. They look really good together, and seeing them want each other without him as a catalyst or buffer, well….it’s a good thing. A great thing really. Keith’s eyes widen a little. He swallows hard, glancing at Lance out of the corners of his eyes.
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Ah...anything. Shiro, please…..,” moans Lance. Shiro grins.
“Well, maybe not anything. You’re allowed to have limits, Lance. In fact, you’d better. But I think you’ll like this, if what I saw while we were going through that list showed me anything. Still, both of you just use your safewords if any of this doesn’t work for you, okay?”
“I know,” said Keith, a little impatiently. Shiro shoots him a sharp look, and Keith lowers his head, nodding, a faint flush on his cheeks.
“I will, promise,” says Lance.
“Okay, both of you, clothes off. On the bed,” Shiro orders. They start to comply, but he notices that they seem a little embarrassed, trying not to look at anyone. He thinks about it a little. Oh. Slowly, he pulls his t-shirt that he usually sleeps in over his head. As always, the voice in his head tries to taunt him with reminders of all his scars. Tries to tell him how repulsive they are. Mentally, he glares at it. If anything can prove how wrong the voice is, it’s the way both his boyfriends freeze in the process of disrobing to stare at him. Revulsion is the farthest thing from either of their minds, judging from their expressions. Lance’s mouth drops open, his tongue poking out to lick his bottom lip. Keith makes a muffled sound that he’d probably only admit was awfully close to a whine under actual torture. The hand not engaged in unbuttoning his jeans reaches out towards Shiro. “Ah! No touching. Not yet, anyway. Don’t you have something else you’re supposed to be doing right now?”
He sighs inwardly in relief as they both hurry now to strip off their clothes. He should have thought about how exposing it could feel to be naked in front of another person who was fully clothed. Well, it’s a learning process, right? And at least he hasn’t screwed anything up too much yet. He’ll get this Dominant thing right no matter what it takes. First thing tomorrow, he’s going to start reading all the articles Keith had uploaded onto the tablet he’d given him. But for now….
Lance lays sprawled across the bed, evidence of his excitement over whatever Shiro has planned on full display. Keith sits next to him, a bit more reserved, but the flush of his skin and the hungry look in his dark eyes giving away his interest. Shiro takes the small bag he’d swiped from the lab out from behind his back and sets it on the bedside table, then reaches into the drawer to take out the lube, which makes both boys squirm in excitement. He chuckles softly.
“Okay, before we get started, Lance….I want to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest. Nobody’s going to get upset, no matter what your answer is. Right, Keith?” Shiro gives Keith a penetrating look. Keith, because he knows Shiro, seems to guess where he’s going with this, and nods.
“Yeah, totally.”
“Good. So anyway….Lance, is having sex with Keith something you really do want, and not just something you agreed to in the heat of the moment?” He watches the Blue Paladin’s face closely. Everything Lance feels shows on his face, no matter what words are coming out of his mouth. He’s a terrible liar, and everyone knows it. Lance blushes and glances sideways at Keith.
“I...I mean. It’s not that I want either one of you more, or the other one less. It’s not like that, y’know?” he mutters, shifting awkwardly.
“I know that, dork,” says Keith, nudging him with his knee. “And it’s okay if you don’t want to. It really is.”
“N-no! That’s not it. I do want to! I just...I didn’t want Shiro to think I don’t want him. Cause I really do. Oh man, I really do. It’s a little confusing, feeling this way about two people. Like, I shouldn’t, or something.”
Shiro smiles gently and sits down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to softly rub his hand along Lance’s thigh.
“Look, I get that polyamory isn’t exactly the normal thing on Earth. But even there, it’s not as uncommon as you might think. I even knew three people at the Garrison who were together. They were a couple years ahead of me, so I didn’t know them very well, but there was a ton of gossip about it. They just….they never seemed to let it bother them. They didn’t care. They were happy, and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. And a couple of the alien cultures we’ve encountered have been polyamorous. I don’t know if you guys noticed it or not, but the Ch’karr were like that. They live in family groups. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but that didn’t mean related people lived in households together. It meant they all had multiple partners.”
“Really?” Lance leans up on his elbows and stares in astonishment.
“Really. And Allura told me once that on Altea it wasn’t at all uncommon for people to have multiple partners. That at least a third of the relationships and marriages there involved more than two people.” He huffs out a soft laugh. “Just one more way we’re learning that Earth’s pretty far behind the rest of the Universe in a lot of ways. I’m starting to figure out that a single partner isn’t the way things are ‘supposed’ to be. It’s okay if that’s what people want, but when I think about it, it’s pretty hard for one person to meet all the needs of their partner. Seems to me that if you have more than one person to love, you’ve got way better odds of getting what you want and what you need. So…?” Lance sighs and sags back in what looks very much like relief.
“Yeah. That...that makes sense. And...I do want to. I want to have sex with both of you. I...I don’t think there’s much of me that’s too interested in being the top. I know I was sorta nervous the first time we had sex, but damn. I...I loved it. It felt....well, it was just right for me. And I wanna experience it with both of you. So yeah. I am sure,” says Lance. Keith grins toothily. Lance looks up at him and smiles back shyly, then points at him. “But that doesn’t mean you getta be the boss of me, mullet, or I’ll tell Shiro on you and then you’ll be in big trouble!”
“Lance,” says Shiro solemnly, trying not to laugh, “that’s probably the least effective threat you could come up with to stop Keith from doing something.”
“Oh. Yeah. Well fine then. You try to be the Dom and...and...I’ll tell Shiro not to spank you. For a year.” Shiro laughs.
“Well, a year might be a little excessive, but I don’t think you have to worry about it.”
“You don’t,” says Keith. “I want things the way they are. I mean, I wanna fuck you. I mean, I really want to. But I want Shiro to be the Dom. I may know some stuff about it, but it’s not who I wanna be. I can’t promise I won’t be a little pushy in bed, but it won’t be...like that. I promise.”
“Okay,” says Shiro, leaning over to pick up the bag and place it between his thighs where he sits on the edge of the bed, which he’s kept at its expanded size since their first night together. It means there’s considerably less room to move around in his quarters, but both the memories of that night and his hopes for future adventures have made him sort of sentimental about having a bed big enough to share. Maybe once they decide together to come out to the rest of the team, he’ll ask Allura if there’s a bigger room he could be assigned. N-not that I’m planning on them moving in with me. Not yet anyway. That’d be jumping the gun a little. But maybe someday…
He reaches into the bag and pulls out a jumbled bundle of round cords. As he’s separating them, Keith watches with great interest while Lance bites his lip, but when they’re laid out across Shiro’s thigh and he presses a button on the first one, causing it to light up with a pale blue glow, his eyes widen.
“Hey...oh hey, are those….”
“Huh. Y’know, those look kinda familiar. Maybe like the alien handcuff things that ‘hot’ alien chick used to tie you up. Y’know Lance? When she stole your lion?” Keith jokes, elbowing Lance gently in the ribs. Lance shoots him a dirty look. “Hey, I’m kidding, okay? It wasn’t your fault. Well, not totally anyway. I mean yeah, going off alone with a stranger? Maybe not the best choice. But it gets lonely. And I guess she really was cute, if you’re into girls. Besides, she was a pro. She knew what to do to push your buttons. You had no way of knowing.”
“ You knew,” says Lance bitterly.
“Maybe. But first, I’m not into girls. Never have been. And second, I’m a cynical, cold asshole who doesn’t trust people, and you...well, you’re a good person, and you try to see the good in people, and even if maybe it gets you in trouble sometimes, I think it makes you a better person than me. And I don’t think you should change. You being you….it’s part of what keeps us all together. So….don’t beat yourself up over it, okay?”
Shiro stares at Keith in shock as Lance gives the Red Paladin a grateful smile and lights up like a Christmas tree under the compliment. It doesn’t take long, though, for his attention to be drawn back to the glowing cords across Shiro’s lap as he presses some more buttons and the others light up.
“Um, Shiro? Where did you get alien handcuffs?” he asks suspiciously. Shiro grins at him wickedly.
“Went by the armory just on the off chance. Turns out there are a bunch of these things. They’re pretty much like the ones that Nyma bitch used. They’re not dangerous. I mean, there’s a switch on here that can be activated so they’ll shock the person wearing them if they try to fight or whatever, but I’ve deactivated those so they can’t even be turned on by accident. They stick to each other wherever you touch them together, and then the other end sticks to whatever surface you touch them to, and the only way to unstick them is with this.: Shiro holds up a small, handheld device with more buttons on it. Lance, however, can’t seem to take his eyes off the blue glowing cords.
“So what’re you gonna use them for?” asks Keith, still just looking curious. He doesn’t even seem to be aware that his hand is slowly petting up and down Lance’s thigh. Shiro carefully doesn’t draw attention to it, or smile, but something warm and pleased swells under his ribs at the sight. A lot of his concerns over how this thing is going to work out ease back.
“Well, I think I’m gonna tie Lance up so he’ll have a little more trouble moving,” he says slowly. Lance whimpers and squirms eagerly, nodding enthusiastically at the suggestion. Shiro turns to look at Keith. “And you ….well, your job is gonna be to do the rest of keeping him still, because for what I want to do, he’s going to have to be very still.” He pulls his belt out the bag next. Keith’s eyes snap from his face to the innocuous strip of leather, pupils dilating. “And every time you let him move, well….you’ll be punished.”
“Fuck,” whispers Keith.
“That, um, doesn’t seem very fair,” says Lance uncomfortably. Keith looks down at him and grins lopsidedly.
“Trust me,” he says huskily, “I won’t be complaining. But,” he turns back to Shiro, “what’s so important about him being so still?”
“Ah,” Shiro says with a smile. “That’s the biggest surprise.” He reaches in and pulls out the last item. It’s a four inch length of metal, only about as thick as a toothpick, with a small round knob at the end, like the head of a pin, but closer to the size of a pea. Both boys look at it in confusion. Shiro picks up the container of alien slave they use as lube and holds both in his hands, then looks down at Lance’s stiff cock significantly. Keith gets it first, sucking in a breath.
“Oh fuck, that’s hot,” he whispers. Lance looks at Keith, then the objects in Shiro’s hands, then down at his own dick. His eyebrows fly up and his legs squeeze together a little.
“Oh my...you mean...you’re gonna put that....dude….you mean the….the…”
“Sounding.” Keith provides the word helpfully.
“.....Sounding thing?” Lance repeats, his voice almost a squeak.
“Only if you want to,” says Shiro soothingly. “We don’t have to, if you don’t want to, or you don’t feel ready. Or we can try it, and if you don’t like it, we’ll stop right away. We can just fool around. Or we can just tie you up and have some fun. Or I can tie you both up and we can have some fun. I’ll never push you into anything, either of you.”
Lance stares at the thin metal rod for quite some time, his eyes wide. But both Shiro and Keith notice the bright Caribbean blue shrinking while the black of his pupils expands. Both of them notice his cock twitch between his thighs. They wait patiently.
“A-and we can fuck if we do...this?” he finally asks.
“You can fuck anyway, whenever you want….well, as long as the timing or place isn’t inappropriate and doesn’t endanger our mission,” says Shiro. “I just thought that making it part of the game would be fun.” Lance’s eyes dart to Keith’s, who is staring at him with that intense, dark stare of his that makes a lot of people think he’s glaring or being creepy, but Shiro knows better, and now Lance does too. Sometimes it just means deep focus; him trying to figure out something he doesn’t understand. Like how to People. Other times, like now, it means he’s interested. Not just interested. It means he wants. Lance is unable to look away. Keith has that effect on him. Not in the same way Shiro does, with his almost impossibly perfect body and his chiseled muscles and his captivating smile. But in the way you can’t help but watch a wild cat; the way it moves, the way it stalks its prey, its single-minded focus and deadly grace, the way it will take on something five time its size and win. He’s tired not to watch. Then tried to hide the way he couldn’t help it. Then tried covering up his watching with forced, invented reasons to start a fight. But he doesn’t have to do that anymore. This exotic, deadly, fascinating creature inexplicably is now his. Theirs. And he can not only watch, he can touch.He lets out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding.
“I wanna try,” he breathes. Keith’s grin is beautiful and terrifying. Lance’s heart beats so hard against his ribcage it almost hurts.
“Me too,” says Keith.
“Okay,” Shiro smiles. “So here’s what we’re gonna do. First, we’re gonna tie Lance up with these restraints, as well as we can. I’m pretty sure the important thing with this is that you have to be really still, Lance. Otherwise I’m guessing this could actually be painful, and that’s not the goal. So you have to promise to try to be good and hold as still as you can. And you have to let me know when you need to move so I can stop for a second to let you do it. Keith, you won’t get in trouble for that, because he’ll be following the rules.”
“I promise,” says Lance breathlessly. Keith nods.
“You also have to promise to tell me if it hurts. I’m as sure as I can be that there isn’t any of the. Um. Scarring Keith mentioned. Inside you there, but just in case, if there’s any pain at all when I’m pushing, you call Yellow that instant, and we’ll stop to figure out what’s going on.”
“Yes Sir.” Shiro leans over and kisses him. Lance whines softly into his mouth, then pouts a bit when Shiro pulls away.
“Now Keith, your job is to both talk him through is and physically hold him still where the restraints can’t do the job. You can use whatever methods you need to make it work, as long as you don’t hurt him more than he likes. Lance, you have to also promise to say Red if any part of this upsets you or freaks you out or hurts too much. We can always try again some other time, but we can’t undo anything that ruins it for you. Got it,” says Shiro solemnly. Lance nods wordlessly. Shiro shifts his glance to Keith and picks up the belt. Keith’s eyes are glued to it instantly. “You’ve been wanting this since I spanked you both the first time, haven’t you? Wanted more than that flimsy wooden spoon. More than my hand, because you knew I’d be careful, more careful than you wanted me to be, yeah?”
“I know you’ll always be careful, Shiro. It’s part of why I know you were never as broken as you wanted to believe you were, because you never stopped being careful with me, the same way you were when we met, and you knew I was always just a step away from running off and never coming back. Like you knew I was broken, and just glued back together over and over so one more time of somebody dropping me or even bumping into me too hard would make all the pieces fall apart and I wouldn’t be able to put them back together again. You...you were the first person who started fixing the cracks, and even if….even if I thought I wanted you to do more, you didn’t, because I wasn’t ready and you knew it. And you kept fixing cracks when you came back. The Galra didn’t take that away from you. I know they hurt you. More than any of us can ever understand, unless we went through it. But underneath, it’s still you. And cause of what you did for me, back then, and when you came back, and since we’ve been here...I’m...I don’t feel broken anymore.” Shiro stares at Keith in amazement, feels his throat close up with emotion. “That’s why I trust you to give me what I want. Even if….even if it hurts, I trust you. To give me what I want and not let it break anything. Yeah. Yeah, it’s what I want. And it’s okay for you to like it. It doesn’t make you anything the Galra did. Not this kind of pain. Not when it’s what I want, and you do it cause I want it, and you care enough to give it to me and not let it be something bad. Some kinds of pain can be good, y’know? Like...like biting someone when you’re fucking, or...or nailing someone into the mattress. It can help you let out bad stuff you hold inside, and it can make good things feel even better. It’s….it’s like how the fire in a kiln takes a piece of clay and turns it into something pretty you can keep. I don’t know, maybe that sounds stupid…” He trails off and looks down at his hands, twisting his fingers together.
“Dude,” whispers Lance. “That...that was fuckin’ awesome.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone put this kind of stuff any better. Thank you. And Keith?” The Red Paladin looks up at Shiro, nerves and hope in his shadowy violet-blue eyes. “I’m gonna blister your ass raw every time Lance moves a muscle unless he lets us know he needs to first.”
Keith makes a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob and throws his arms around Shiro’s neck.
“I’ll try. I’ll do my best for you...S-Sir. Even though I really wanna feel it, I’ll try to help him stay still.”
“I know you will, babe. And I’ll give you more, I’ll give you what you want next time, as much as you can take, okay?” Shiro mutters into Keith’s hair, and the younger boy nods against him, then sits back up straight, and if his eyes are a little too shiny, neither of the other Paladins say a word about it. Keith grins crookedly and pokes at the glowing cords draped over Shiro’s lap.
“Let’s do this.”