#oncebittentwicestupid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid 193

193 When Lance fell asleep, their roles had reversed. Keith calling Shiro to check in, after overhearing how they hadn’t really talked to anyone. The conversation with his brother wasn’t that long due to him not wanting to leave Lance. Knowing Krolia, whatever advice she’d given him was probably shit, though, as Lance had said, his mother was probably the closest person he could turn to advice for this. Coran may have had a pretty interesting past, but as far as Keith knew, he’d never been on the end of being pregnant. Pidge... wasn’t exactly maternal, and Allura... was Allura. She’d make a good mother... in her own way. Maybe this trip would have been better if they’d invited the others? Not so much Rieva and Matt, but Pidge and Hunk. “Keith?”Hearing Lance call his name, he forced himself out the bathroom. It was now closer to dusk than to dawn. Lance had needed time to cry out his frustrations“Hey, beautiful. How are you feeling?”“Better... thirsty... and sorry”Sorry because they hadn’t been to see his dad yet... Keith was slightly annoyed by that fact, but not mad. Lance hadn’t asked for his ego to start being a pain in the arse, and with all the stress he’d been putting himself under, he really needed the rest“Do you want some blood?”“We didn’t do my injection”Fuck. He hadn’t thought of that“Do you want to go the bathroom, and I’ll get it organised?”“Okay” It felt like nothing now to draw a bit of blood for Lance’s injections. The fear of the curse had lessened. Lance would have never tried to feed off Matt or Rieva, even in a desperate situation. But whether it be luck, or Lance’s own curse, it seemed to kill the werewolf curse before it could turn their twins. Maybe Lance had a point about some of their more careless activities? They shouldn’t be able to stand being in the same room, they both shared moments with their egos that really hurt, but he hadn’t been thinking of his own safety since turning. Just the safety of everyone they called family. Coming back from the bathroom, Lance sat beside him on their bed. Resting his against Keith’s shoulder, he sighed softly “Okay... inject away”The injection always only took a moment. In, inject, out, then Lance would rub at the healing mark. His boyfriend sighing again, overthinking things“You needed to let it out”“I know. I feel like I’ve brought the whole mood down and I hate it. You must be starving”Yep. He was. His metabolism was something crazy. The amount of food he consumed was frankly scary“I’m okay. Here, have some blood and we can think about getting something to eat”“I thought I had this planned. You know? We’d have breakfast, than go see your dad. Clean his grave up. Talk to him... A mental breakdown wasn’t scheduled”“Are they ever? Did mum help?”“She’s no Mami when it comes to advice. She said to chuck my fear out the window”Keith snorted“Right. Because it’s totally that easy. Was she okay?” They didn’t know if she was coming or not. Not with her work schedule. Keith kind of hoped she would, yet she’d made indications of it. Like, would he even recognise his father’s grave? And what did he say? “Yeah. She was her usual self. I called her for advice, but I know she was disappointed it wasn’t you”“Nah. She loves you. I think she even likes you better than me”“She’s your mum. She loves you. She’s pretty worried how this is affecting you. I could tell”“I’m okay... kind of. I’m getting there. Umm... Nothing time with my beautiful boyfriend won’t fix” Lance groaned at him“Babe, you don’t have to try so hard. It’s okay. I’m hardly beautiful... I’m like... the very definition of a wreck right now”“You’ll be okay. Here, wrist or um... neck?”“Wrist... sorry... it’s just easier in this position”“Don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry”He’d noticed something. Lance only liked to feed on his neck when they were making out or in the heat of things. His fingers when Lance was trying to be quite mid do“I am. I love you so much. So so much. I neglected your safety... and you’re still being... so good to me”“Idiot. I love you. Your hunger won’t last forever. I should have gotten some blood into while you slept... it’s bad to let your... um... levels drop”“I’ll be okay. They’re still okay... I think one of them tried to break my rib when I was in the bathroom” Keith loved hearing the twins were moving. Even when it was uncomfortable for Lance, he felt like he was hearing cute stories he wouldn’t be able to forget. He didn’t think he had the patience to be pregnant... which only made him prouder of strength Lance showed“They take after you. All silent and deadly”“Babe, I’m not a fart”Keith hadn’t thought of that, chuckling as he shook his head“I know. You smell awful in a good way. Not like my lactose farts”“Eh. They’re part of you. A couple of wads of tissue up my nose and you’d never tell”“I’ll remember that for next time. Here, eat something. Don’t be afraid if you need a little more” That was something else Keith noticed. Lance took care with the amount of blood he took from him, but the volume seemed like it would be a lot for a human. Very rarely he felt light headed, questioning if he’d be conscious if he was still human. He’d never tell Lance. He’d freak out immediately, plus fluids and a good meal had him back in shape in no time. Lance moaned as he bit into Keith’s wrist, reminding him he’d have to make more of an effort. Maybe it’d be for the best if he ran an IV line for Lance tonight, just to get his hunger knocked on the head completely. Pulling off, Lance lapped at the trails of bloodied spit left on Keith’s arm. The wounds starting to heal instantly“Better?”Catching a few small beads pushed out by the healing wound, Lance hummed “Mmm... I know this isn’t comfortable for you”It shouldn’t have been hot, but it was. It stroked his pride to provide for their boyfriend the one thing he needed above all else“I’m fine, babe. As long as you’ve had enough”“Yeah... I’m good. I’m still sorry. I think I’ve been taking more and more of late”“Nah, it’s fine. But I was thinking we should probably set you up with an IV later, seeing how little you ate today. You need to keep your fluids up”“But keeping my fluids out means I have to pee”Whining at him, Lance was too cute“I love you and your walnut sized bladder anyway”“I think it’s more like a grape at this stage. I’m sorry my ego chuckled a wobbly... and that we spent most of today in bed”“There’s nothing more that I love, than spending the day in bed with you”“Pervert. I’m serious though. I don’t want to be scared like that. I want to see where you grew up. I want to know everything about you. All of it”“You might not like all of it”“I don’t know. I think we both know that I’m like crazy stupid in love with you and all those little things that drive me crazy only make me love you more” Keith groaned softly. He’d become weak to Lance. Last real story he had left to share with his boyfriend was the night Shiro saved his arse. Lance knew most of it. Keith couldn’t remember what he’d told him, nor was he sure why he’d never told him all of it. Being on the streets had taken a toll, and the thought of a warm bed and decent shower left him going with people he already knew were no good for him. They’d offered him a good time when he’d been so completely done with fighting to be alive“Alright. How about we go get dinner and figure things out from there”“Mmmm... sounds good to me. Let me change, then we’ll go”“I probably need to freshen up too”“I hate to say it but we both kind of stink” From sweat. Under the blankets left them both sweating in their sleeps. Lance smelt deader than ever, with Keith not far off. Personally he didn’t mind stinking of Lance, but Lance felt like he needed to do more to protect Keith with things like being careful with his scent“Want to take first shower while I look for somewhere good to eat?”“Sounds like a plan... I... don’t know if I’ll freak out again”“It’s okay. If you do, we can totally go. I know we’re here to see my dad, but your safety and comfort comes first. I don’t want you to think you have to hide things from me”“I know. I won’t take too long”“Don’t go rushing. The last thing we need is for you to slip. That sounded harsher than what I meant”Lance shook his head at him“It’s okay, we both know I’m a klutz. I’ll be careful. We’ve come this far. I’m not about to risk them”“I’m worried about you, too. I don’t want you being hurt”“I’ll be fine... Let me freshen up, then you can take me out for dinner” Lance kissed Keith’s wrist where he’d fed. Keith couldn’t believe the passage of time since meeting Lance had moved so fast. It must have been a year now, or very close to a year. This time last year, he’d have thought himself turned and cursed with a single bite. The Blades really did teach some total bullshit when he stopped to consider all of things he hadn’t thought of before. He’d been such a dumb arse. Luckily he had Lance to set him straight... or not so straight... though he wasn’t sure what he was as it was Lance he loved and not only his physical body. Realising how easily he could fall into an internal debate over all of that, he gave a shake of his head. Lance said he’d let him take him to dinner, so that’s what he was going to do. *Holding Keith’s hand, the freshness of the night felt nice against Lance’s skin. Keith either hadn’t bothered looking up somewhere else to eat, or he’d been trying to please Lance, resulting in dinner at the same restaurant they’d had breakfast at. This time Lance figured out what was wrong with the place. As they’d finished dinner, the waitress had come to collect to their plates, on her arm balanced by the nozzle was a bottle of orange scented surface spray. Being a public restaurant, smells of all sorts bombarded his senses from the moment they walked. With so many scents, he hadn’t consciously noticed the orange surface spray. The fact that Sendak still held such a hold over him left Lance unable to enjoy his meal. The atmosphere of the restaurant was good, Pidge would have loved the idea of sneakily signing them up for the weekend Karaoke competition, then abusing everyone heckling her over bad singing... He missed those days. He missed not being pregnant and not fearing his scent. Heck, he missed ghost hunting. He missed watching Pidge get super enthused as Hunk prayed for it all to be over. The restaurant was the kind of place he could see himself having a few quite drinks had the place been in Garrison. The kind of place that Sal’s had been to them before he’d had to hideaway his changing body. The Lord knew he was looking forward the day they could all go out again. He was going to order the biggest, greasiest, slimiest, cheesiest pizza in existence. Maybe even have Sal get some cigarette ash in there for that true diner flavour... “Want to take a walk?”No. Maybe... He wanted to go home to bed... but he’d spent the day in the hotel room. Staring past Keith, the stars twinkled over the town as if trying to say that nothing bad could ever happen here, which was a bold faced lie if ever there was one. Keith drew strength from the moon, and both of them had eye sight sharp enough to walk around in the dark safely enough... plus... it’d give them time to get the layout of the town down... His boyfriend seemed to be oblivious to internal wavering, Lance wondering if this was his way of easing into things he either wanted to tell, or easing into seeing his father... or even a chance to cover his arse when Shiro asked how much of the town they’d gone out and seen“Sure. There’s a park a few blocks down. I saw it on the town map”“You saw a town map?”“Did you really not look this place up at all? They have a similar lay out to Garrison, which makes sense in a way... they were both trade posts at some time, though I’ve got not idea what they could have pulled out of all the sand”“I didn’t even know that much. It’s like... all I remember is the shack... all of it feels like being on another planet”Lance slid his hand into Keith’s “It’s a good thing I’m here to keep you grounded. Don’t even think about packing your bags for another planet. You’re not leaving me behind”“I’m sure that if I ever got spirited away into space, you’d be right there with me”“Yep. Probably screaming my head off the whole time too”“I think I would be too. Let’s go, I’ll follow your lead”“Don’t you always?” Keith kissed his cheek. Lance blushing lightly as his boyfriend replied “yep”, followed by two more kisses on his cheek. Lance would follow Keith to the ends of the Earth, with Keith just as happy to follow him instead. Unless one of them made the decision, they’d be following each other around in circles for the rest of their lives... That didn’t actually sound too bad... Walking down to the park, the town had a nice vibe to it. Lance felt bad for whoever was in charge of cleaning the park’s rubbish bin after his dinner decided to make a reappearance before they’d reached the toilets towards the middle of the park. Cleaning up, and using the facilities, the pair of them settled themselves down on the swings. It’d been months since he’d been on a swing set, in Cuba, yet it had to be longer for Keith. Dragging his feet in the sand to make a heart, he supposed they looked like a couple of kids up to no good. He’d seen enough memes that he knew adults missed swing sets, and he knew he definitely counted in their ranks. Pushing off lightly, the chain creaked under his weight. A memory of Veronica coming to mind from back when having a baby brother that was a vampire was something cool. He’d wanted to go higher and higher, the pegs of the swing set shaking, so Luis and Marco held it down as he swung as high as he could get. He’d been sure if he’d gotten a little higher he could have looped the chain around the top, but Papi had lost it at the four of them“You seem happy”“Mmm. I like swings”Letting the swing slow naturally, Lance grinned at his boyfriend mischievously. They had the whole playground to themselves “What about you? What’s your favourite piece of playground equipment?” Keith hummed. He’d been making a mound between his shoes, trying to keep the sand from slipping back down “I hate the monkey bars”“Oh? What’d they ever do to you?”“A shit kid at one of the families threw a rock at me because I could pull myself up to sit on top of them. It hit me in the head and I fell off backwards”“Wow. That kid sounds like a wanker”Keith nodded, expression semi serious “They were. I got in trouble for falling off”“That’s kind of what kids do though. They play and climb... it’s what kids are supposed to do”Keith sighed, before shaking his head“It doesn’t matter now. I can’t even remember their face, let alone why they through the rock”“They were probably jealous because you’re so much cooler than them. I bet you were a totally rad kid. I wish I’d known you then” Lance didn’t think about what he’d said. He felt like kicking himself as Keith mumbled ��Right. The fucked up orphan no body wanted was a “rad kid””“Hey. No. No. That is not on you. Not at all. Adults are supposed to be there and be the strong ones. Not kids. I sincerely wish I could lord over every single person who hurt you, how fucking amazing you are”Keith gave a scoff of disbelief. Lance saddened that his boyfriend’s anxiety had gotten to him this badly. Climbing off his swing, the vampire wrinkled his nose at the sand pouring into his shoes as he moved to stand behind Keith“What are you doing?”“I’m going to push you?” Wasn’t that obvious? He’d waddled his pregnant arse all the way behind Keith. The only logical conclusion was he was going to push him on the swing“You don’t have to”“Maybe I want to? Maybe I want to play in the park because there’s no one else around. No bad scents. No blood. No spirits. No yucky feelings other than the sand under my socks...”“It is a nice park”“Right? Now, hold on” Pushing Keith on the swing, Keith gradually loosened up, even starting to laugh as Lance backed off and watched“You can do it, babe!”“I’m totally going to jump off, you know that, right?”“It’s like an unwritten law of swinging, seeing how far you can jump”“I think I have an advantage...”“Doesn’t matter. I’m totally challenging you to a swing off once these two are born”“That’s not fair, you’ve got wings”Lance huffed. They had a mind of their own, much like the rest of his body “Which are mostly useless. I can’t even fly around as a bat”“That’s fine. Ready?”“Go for it!” Keith jumped a little too soon, half faceplanting in the sand. With the way he landed, Lance rushed to his side to find his boyfriend laughing“Are you okay?”“I fucked that up”Kicking Keith lightly in the side with the toe of his shoe, his boyfriend rolled over, smiling like an idiot. Lance’s heart had stopped with the way Keith landed, now the idiot was smiling so happy he felt all warm inside “You had me worried!”“I guess I’m not that great at sticking the landing”“You weren’t that great at jumping. You went before the swing was at the right height!”“You make it sound like you’re training me for the Olympics” Channeling the best sports commentator voice he could, Lance’s voice wobbled slightly as he tried not to laugh at how funny he was“You don’t get at a ten-point-zero for your landing. Zero style. Very simplistic. Could this spell the end for Keith Kogane’s budding career before he even goes professional?”Keith laughed. A proper unguarded laugh. Lance feeling the luckiest man in the world to hear it “I’m being serious!”“Uh huh. Sure you are. You know, the stars are really pretty. I feel like I can see them way better than before”“That’s because all your senses increased. Werewolves and vampires are kind of night creatures”“I still don’t know how to turn into a wolf. I don’t know if it counts”“It totally does... Now, are you getting up? Or should I pick you up in the morning?”Keith patted the sand next to him“You could come down here”“Or you could come up here... I’m too pregnant to deal with sand”“Fair point. We have the whole park to ourselves... I don’t think I’ve ever really... just... you know...” That Keith hadn’t played on a playground saddened Lance. Even as an adult, playgrounds were still fun. With no one around to watch them, there was no point being responsible adults“You know, there’s a slide over there... and a flying fox...”“Babe...”Keith tried to dismiss the idea, Lance using “boyfriend” which proved very effective. Damn Pidge. She’d gone and put that back into his head at her birthday party“Come on, it’ll be fun. I mean, I probably can’t use the spinner, not unless you want to scramble the twins, but the slide never gets old”“Fine, but if we get in trouble, you’re taking the blame”Lance shrugged. They weren’t violating any laws that he knew of. They weren’t intoxicated. Nor were they committing property damage or trespassing“The lawyer in me tells me it’s going to be okay”“I’ll remember that when I get my one phone-call”“You better. Though it would be a conflict of interest to represent you, so let’s not get in trouble?” The did indeed get into trouble. Keith got wedged in the kids slide, and Lance was too tall for the flying fox, so that was disappointing. They were still messing around when the lights of a cruiser flashed red and blue, the two of them called over by a police officer who looked unable to catch them, even if they had been human. Swallowing down his fear, Lance took Keith by the hand, walking him over to the officer when Keith kept telling him they should run. Getting closer, the man clearly didn’t expect two fully grown adults to be playing in the park so late at night. “Officer, how are you tonight?”Putting on an air of responsibility, Lance felt he’d be the more convincing adult of the pair of them“I had a call about teenagers mucking around in the park. Want to tell me about it?”Keith snorted with laughter, Lance stepping on his foot to shut him up“That was us, sir. I’m sorry if we created a disturbance. We’re on holiday, you know, before the twins come, and wanted to have a little fun. I had no idea we we’re causing a disturbance” Keith tried to muffle his laughter, Lance mentally rolling his eyes at his boyfriend who was clearly upsetting the police officer. Huffily, the man asked“So I’m not going to find any of that junky paraphernalia you young people are into these days?”“No, sir. I know we might look young, but I’m 46 and my boyfriend here is 28. No drugs, or alcohol, sir”The man looked them up and down, Lance waited for something along the lines of “I wouldn’t lie to a police officer, if I was you”. Instead the man sighed“Look. You can’t be playing in the park at midnight. You’re obviously not locals. You staying at the hotel?”“Yes, sir. My boyfriend is a photographer, we’re travelling to work on his portfolio. Sorry. We wanted to have a little fun with no one around”“I’ll have you save that sort of fun for a more appropriate environment. Get in the back, I’ll give you both a ride back”Lance immediately shook his head“We’re both able to walk back...”“That wasn’t an invitation. We get a lot of blow ins for this damn Easter festival the town insists on having. The last thing I need is the pair of you thinking your entitled to cause trouble. Get in” Lance felt like a scolded school child as he did as he was told, Keith sliding in beside him, though his boyfriend still thought they should run. Clipping their belts in obediently, Lance bit his bottom lip. Maybe they’d gotten carried away? He didn’t think they were being too loud. All they’d been doing was acting like idiots. They hadn’t damaged any property... plus Keith had gotten on the spinner, which had been hilarious given how much strength he could put into a spin. His boyfriend had gotten off with shaky legs, tripped, fell in the grass and burst out laughing. Lance knew he should stay quiet, but this was a golden chance“Excuse me, have you been an officer here very long?”The man met his eyes before pulling away from the park curb“Long enough” Damn. He wasn’t giving him anything“Do you happen to know anything about the fire that took place here about 20 years ago?”Keith’s heart started racing harder. Yeah. He should have been considerate about Keith’s feelings, but this was like the perfect chance“Oh, I know about that fire alright. One dead. 250,000 dollars worth of damages. I don’t know why you’re bringing that up, but you’re best dropping it. A lot of people were hurt by that incident. Damn candle left unattended. The place went up faster than a whore’s knickers drop”“If one wanted to know about the fire, is there a local registrar office?” The office pressed the breaks suddenly, instead of gently stopping at the stop sign“Look. I’m sure you’re nice... whatever you are. But what happened that day is no laughing matter. We lost one of our own that day. It’s an ugly scar on the history of this town and I won’t have the pair of you treating it like a joke”Whelp. He’d gone and made him angry“I mean absolutely no disrespect. It’s such a horrible thing to have happened. When you saw you lost one of your own, I assume you mean an officer?” Resuming driving, the man sighed at him as if he was stupid, their eyes meeting again in the rear view mirror “No. Not an officer. One of our local fire fighters. They tried to stop the blazing jumping house, when the second floor came down. Horrible tragedy. We lost a fine man that day”“Did you know him?”“Aye, we all did. Bit of a loner. Kept to himself, especially after his missus skipped town. Heeee... had a boy from memory. Hard worker though. That boy... he was tiny thing of a kid. Still, he gave everything he could to that boy. He ended up vanishing, just like his mother. Couldn’t tell ya where she went. Up and vanished as suddenly as she appeared here. No idea how the pair of them met, and before we knew it, she was up the duff, then gone a couple of years later. Couldn’t handle the stresses of being a parent, if you ask me anything about it”“And all of this is public record?”“Bits and pieces. Look. I won’t tell you again, losing Joe hurt a lot of people here. He was a good man. Kind of man you never really knew what was thinking. But when he saw his boy, he’d light up like a goddamn Christmas tree. Loved that kid, he did. He was real torn up when his woman shot through, but never blamed his boy. We often used to wonder what happened to that kid, ah, but I suppose it’s one of those things you’d never know” The officer was letting his accent show. Keith seemed on the edge of tears“Say we didn’t want to drop it, is there anyone from around there that we can talk to about it”The man fixed him with a glare“People move on. Dredging that up again is only going to cause pain. If I hear you two are stirring up trouble because your curious over something that is none of your business, I will escort you out of town meself” That mean there were indeed people out there who’d been around at the time of the fire and may remember Keith, and his father... and that the council office should have record that’d help them place the pieces of that day together. The last few minutes of the drive was in silence. The officer having to squidge himself out the door in order to open the back door of the cruiser to let them out. The man really didn’t know what to make of Lance, he got it. He looked like a woman and sounded like a man. Some people were so damn backwards that they couldn’t accept change. Lance still opting to be polite, on the off chance they crossed paths again “Thank you for the ride. We’re sorry we caused you trouble”“Don’t let it happen again. There’s laws about these kinds of things. Consider yourselves both lucky and warned”“Yes, sir. Thank you” As the police cruiser left, Keith collapsed against him, sniffling as tears rolled down his face. His boyfriend wrapping his arms around him with a little too much force“Babe?”“He... loved me”With his arms pinned, Lance could only raise his hand enough to pat Keith’s arm “Yeah, babe. He did. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if it was okay to ask, but the opportunity to know something more was right in front of us”“He... he still went back in... he...”“He loved you. He loved you, and I know I’m not him. I could never know what he was thinking, but I think all he wanted to do was stop the fire before more people were hurt”“He left me”“Not by choice. You heard that guy. He loved you. He adored you. And he was so proud to be your dad. You... you were loved. You are loved”“Can we go back to the room?”Lance’s heart was breaking for his boyfriend. Sure, they’d learned a little and tomorrow Lance wanted to hit up the council to dig up whatever he could on Keith’s father’s past, but right now...“I was thinking the same thing. I want to hold you”“Please?”“Always, babe. Always and forever” ReplyForward

#Once Bitten #once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #pregnant lance #klance #vld #bottom lance #vampire lance #werewolf keith #soulmates #voltron #mpreg #laith

23 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 212 prt 2 (end)

Nope. They may not have had a birth plan, but Lance was clear about “not pooping out a baby”! Keith snapping at Coran

“He’s not supposed to be!”

Coran snapping back at him

“Yes, I know he’s not supposed to be and yet here we are. Lance...”

Lance just wanted it to be over, begging Keith in stumbled words

“I want to push... please let me push...”

“Can his body take it?”

“I...”

“Coran, can his body take it?!”

“I’m not entirely sure... The anus is not designed for birth. The muscle structure is completed wrong and there would be significant damage to the area... but Lance is a vampire... and he is a breeder. The area is softer and has begun to adapt...”

Lance’s arse did lots of wonderful things that made having sex with him much easier than when it was the other way around... Keith was all for the c-section. It was safer for Lance and the twins and something had to be wrong with the amount of blood Lance had lost. Both of them lost to Lance’s instincts. Bearing down his lover growled through another contraction, his “scary face” coming across his features as he slumped back tiredly

“We’ll need another two bags of A positive blood. Lance, you stubborn fool, I will never forgive you if this goes wrong. I want you to let your contractions build for me, then I want you to push with all your might on the next big one. Keith, keep him conscious. Even with drugs I fear he’s going to feel this”

Lance seemed to regret all his life choices with the cry he gave as he pushed longer and harder than the previous times, Keith’s legs firmly squeezed together as he tried not think about what was going on below the sheet. His vampire may have only sat up a little as he bore down, yet for Lance he might have well been bending himself in half

“And stop... stop... let them build again. One more big push to get those shoulders out and they’ll be here...”

The look Lance shot Coran spoke volumes on how he wished the fae would shut up, Keith braver than Coran as he tried to calm Lance back down

“Hear that, baby. You can do this. My good mate. One more big push and we get to meet our first little baby”

Lance went to glare at him too, but his expression soon turned soft as their eyes met

“You can do this. We all know you can do just about anything you put your mind to”

“They... never warn you about the pressure... makes the contractions the easy bit”

Keith would take Lance’s words for it. All he had in comparison were memories of bleeding arse from taking a huge dumb. Somehow he didn’t think the two compared

“Okay, babe. Remember, the next push is the big one”

Lance was crying just as hard as Keith was as their baby girl was delivered. Reaching for her, Coran placed her against Lance’s chest, using a soft cloth to clean her goopy face. Keith had thought Lance was truly the most beautiful thing he’d seen in his life, but his little girl took his breath away

“Keith...”

Lance’s face shone with pride and wonder as he stared at their daughter

“She’s perfect...”

“She’s so red... is she meant to be red?”

“Never mind, number two. As the blood flows through her body and she takes her first breaths, her colour will start to even out”

“But she’s so red”

A tiny slimy red hand lay on Lance’s chest. Her fingers were itty bitty, Keith repeating himself again

“She’s so red”

Tiredly Lance moved his hand to rest on her back, his mate had done so good. With an exhausted chuckle, Lance put him in his place

“We’ve already got Blue, you can’t name her Red”

If ever there was a time for dramatics, this was it. Placing his finger in their daughter’s hand, she gave a small cry. Instantly he knew he’d die for her. She was so beyond everything he thought he’d feel

“Nurse, if you’d be so kind, she needs to be cleaned... and you two, we’ve got another baby to deliver”

Twenty minutes after their daughter, their son arrived. Unlike his sister who was polite enough to wait a few moments, he was barely in the world before he let out his first cry. Keith finding himself unsure what to do now they had two. Lance wanted to see their daughter, the nurse bringing her over, swaddled up, just before the final push. With her eyes closed, she looked so much like Lance, except she already had the tell tale wisps of his black hair. As their son was laid on Lance’s chest, Lance let out a sleepy yawn, back to smiling again as Keith moved his hand to help Lance hold their baby boy. Both of them were so tiny. Every month of development didn’t feel possible when they looked so damn tiny.

Out of it on medication, Lance didn’t want to let their son go to the nurse for cleaning. Keith didn’t want anyone other than them touching their twins, but he firmly squashed his ego down as they had to make sure both babies were okay, while Coran dealt with things between Lance’s legs. Distracting his fiancé with their daughter, the werewolf sat himself on the side of the bed, pulling down the blanket enough for Lance to see her face. No words came close to his happiness. Peppering kisses to Lance’s sweat soaked hair, he couldn’t stop looking at their daughter

“She looks just like you”

“She’s got her daddy’s hair... Keith... she’s perfect”

“Just like you. I’m so fucking proud of you”

“Don’t swear in front of the babies... we’re finally parents”

“Yes you are! That was very dangerous and Lance will need time to recover properly. But congratulations to you both”

Having a few more moments staring at their daughter, Lance all but snatched their son from the nurse as he was brought over. His tiny little hand gripping the blanket, with the grumpiest look on his face. Lance was all smiles once he had their boy cradled to his chest, chuckling as he poked their sons hand with his finger

“Oh dear. He’s got your personality”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grumpier baby”

Keith frowned, probably making the same expression as their son

“He’s perfect”

He’d been as red as his sister... now swaddled up, he looked as angelic as her... maybe like a grumpy angel instead of a sleepy on. Again, not to be dramatic, but they had his heart wrapped around their tiny little fingers. He was a goddamn apex predator... who couldn’t stop crying because their twins were the most perfect being imaginable. He couldn’t get over how red and chubby babies were... or how he and Lance had managed to make two such perfect little lives.

“Now for the important bit, do you two have any names picked out for our little ones? Coran is a fine name”

The “important bit” to Keith was that Lance would be okay. He’d feel more reassured about it all, if he hadn’t seen what Coran had removed between his fiancé’s legs

“Will Lance be okay?”

Coran opened his mouth as if he was going to make a joke, then reconsidered. Lance was too distracted by their son to be listening to the fae

“He may take some time to heal. He may also experience some agitation from his ego. You have to realise he is exceptionally vulnerable right now. I’m quite sure if he to be separated from the twins for any length of time, he’d go quite crazy to find them. Birth is extremely hard on the body. He may partially transform, or he may experience accelerated healing. Nothing to worry about, he’ll be in tip top shape before you head back home”

Apparently he’d been too distracted by Coran, Lance whining softly

“Keith, no more questions... look at our babies”

He hadn’t taken his eyes off them for longer than split second

“I’m sorry, baby. I had to know you’ll be okay”

“I’m tired... but they’re... so perfect... so red”

“Yet when I said that, I got in trouble”

“I did the hard work”

“You did. You gave us a scare there”

“Had to push... the pressure was too much... look at him. He looks like more like me... with your expression”

Their son’s lips were all Lance. The frown on his face really did seem to come from him genetically. Hopefully he hadn’t inherited his lead foot. He’d have made Krolia proud with his driving

“He’s perfect... you’re perfect. I don’t... babe...”

His English failed. He loved their twins. He loved Lance. He loved their twins. Lance got it. He got how overwhelmed Keith was because they both were

“Shh... it’s okay. Coran, can we be alone?”

“I... uh, yes. Yes, I suppose I can give you a few moments while I fetch some fresh blood bags. Keith, please ensure he remains awake”

Blood still clung in the air as Keith sat beside Lance. Only Lance would try to move over and make space so shortly after giving birth

“Babe?”

Sighing softly, Keith turned his attention from their daughter back to Lance

“Sorry. I’m...”

Lance sniffled as he nodded

“Me too... I didn’t know it’d feel like this”

“I didn’t either...”

“Do we have... names?”

Keith had a name in mind. He’d had a name in mind of a while now. He’d had a name in mind since certain things stuck out, or failed to stick out, on Lance’s ultrasounds

“Miriam...”

His fiancé’s lip wobbled, Keith trying for bad humour. There’d only been one Miriam that had meant the world to both of them...

“You won’t let me call her “Red””

“If she’s got your fiery spirit, that’s a perfectly good nickname... but... I didn’t think you’d say... Mami’s name...”

“Do you not like it?”

“I... can’t believe you thought of her...”

“Hey, we don’t have to...”

Lance shook his head, their son scrunching up his face a stray tear dropped on cheek

“It’s not that. I... like Laith for a boy, but I... I’m not making sense”

Keith peered at his son. Was he a Laith? What did Laith even mean? It sounded like a tool used in construction

“Laith?”

“It means Lion... our little lion cub...”

Their son did look like he could let out a roar at any moment, or an unhappy scream to let the world know he was there

“You know, I kind of see it... it’s better than Yorak”

Lance snorted, he tried to bring his hand up to wipe his face, yet lacked the strength. Keith using his hoodie sleeve to wipe Lance’s nose for him, forgetting momentarily to be scared of dropping the baby

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what your mum was thinking”

Keith rolled his eyes, heavy on the sass

“Does anyone ever? He’s definitely not a Lenny...”

Sighing at him, he knew he had to get over his dislike of Lenny eventually. The joke had work thin

“Forget about Lenny... Charlotte? It means hurt, and my butt hurts from pushing”

“We’re not naming our daughter Charlotte Miriam because your butt hurt”

“Badum-tss”

Why did he adore this idiot? He’d walked right into that one

“You should feel bad”

“Oh, babe. I feel totally bad... I’m so tired but I don’t think I can ever take my eyes off them”

“We don’t have to name them now...”

“Mmm, but you heard Coran, I don’t know how long I’ll sleep... I wanna know their names...”

Keith had a thought

“What about Laith Hunter Kogane-McClain? I... was a hunter when I met you...”

Lance hummed, their grumpy boy not giving away how he felt about his name

“What about Laith Hunter Kogane? There’s enough McClains out there... and some day soon it’ll be my last name too”

Fuck it. He was already crying, he wasn’t crying harder because he loved Lance so damn much

“So we have our little lion hunter... and our Red Princess Miriam”

“Oh, so she’s a princess now?”

“She’s our princess...”

“I think Blue will have something to say about that... She’s so cute... I’d... I’d like Miriam... as her middle name, if that’s okay. Mami... Mami would have... would have loved them”

Krolia would be out there waiting for him, but Mami wouldn’t be there. This wasn’t fair

“Oh, baby. She would have been so proud. I’m so proud...”

“I’m sorry... I... feel so emotional right now”

“I feel the same way... you know, “Crimson” and “Scarlet” are both perfectly acceptable names”

Once again his bad humour brought a smile back to Lance’s lips

“You can call her Red all you like, once we find the right name... Lancella?”

“Lancella with photographer for a boyfriend? I think not. What do you think when you look at her”

“Well... to me... to me I think “Lena”, but I named Laith”

Lena Miriam Kogane and Laith Hunter Kogane... Yeah. Yeah... That felt right...

Two hours later, Lance had been moved to another room. Their twins sleeping as Keith finally drew himself together enough to face their friends. Carrying the bundle in his arm carefully, Keith opened the door to their room. Coran had been out to reassure everyone, Lance had been through a couple of bags of blood, showing signs of healing before he passed out. Keeping his voice low, he didn’t want to wake up the sleeping bundle suckling on his finger

“Hey, guys”

Krolia, Curtis and Shiro, were sitting on the few chairs in the hall, the others sitting on the floor, both sides of the corridor. Fuck, Keith’s ego was way beyond massive with his pride. Certificates of birth had been signed, Coran knew how to register the birth and all those details.

“Keith... is that... are they okay?”

Hunk tripped over his words as he hurried to his feet, Keith beaming with pride

“The three of them are okay. Lance lost a fair bit of blood, but he’ll be okay. Coran said it might take a bit for him to recover once he fell asleep. I know we kept you guys waiting, but he fought falling asleep until he couldn’t fight it any longer”

“And?!”

Pidge couldn’t contain herself usually, this time it was Allura demanding to know. Yeah. He’d hit one hundred percent smug arsehole about his family. Coran pleasantly surprised after taking the measurements, saying “they were ready to walk out”

“Laith Hunter Kogane, and Lena Miriam Kogane. Lena was born first at 2:12pm, April 30th, 51 and 6 pound 1 something. She’s for wispy black hair and the bluest eyes. Laith kept Lance exhausted for an extra 20 minutes, 53cm , 7 pound 2 whatever it is. He’s got the grumpiest little expressions, and like his sister, he’s got my black hair and Lance’s blue eyes. Lance didn’t want to hyphenate our last names because he plans on taking “Kogane” soon”

Pidge let out a squeal, before clamping her hand over her mouth so as not to wake his sleeping baby

“Congrats, baby brother... and congrats on the engagement”

Now seemed as good as any time to come clean

“Actually, we’ve been engaged for a few weeks now”

Matt spluttered

“But at the party...”

“It’s true the box was empty. We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while... I don’t think any of expected today to be the day he went into labour. Coran said the general sickness was a sign leading up to labour, so was the stomach cramping Lance didn’t tell me about, he thought it was Braxton-Hicks being annoying again”

Krolia stepped forward

“Can I...?”

“You guys can come in... but this baby boy is staying in my arms”

Shiro seemed to hesitate, before asking, Keith trying to keep his face as neutral as he could at the coming question

“Can we see?”

Lowering the side of the blanket, Lance had his teeth in Keith’s finger, suckling down his blood. His fiancé had shifted back into a bat shortly after falling asleep. Keith had forgotten how absolutely adorable lance was as a bat. Coran seemed to think it was his body’s natural reaction to all the stress and exhaustion of birth. None of them found it funny, Krolia looked ready to hit him

“You could have told us...”

“Lance is baby. He’s feeding on my finger seeing he was a bit uneasy when he fell asleep and we couldn’t get an IV line in... anyway, come on in. Just don’t make any sudden moves. My ego’s pretty much out of control right now”

His ego being out of control meant nothing as Keith was drawn into a tight hug from his brother. The hug was everything he’d needed that morning when he’d been on the phone

“I’m so happy for you”

“I’m pretty happy for me too... Don’t forget, you and Curtis are the godfathers. You’ll have to give up being lame, you’re both going to have a huge responsibility on your hands”

“We won’t let you down... God, Keith. I’m so proud of you. Adam would be so proud of you, too”

“Thanks, Shiro. I know Lance would thank you too... Fuck, this has been a roller coaster”

“And I’m sure the journeys just begun. Now, I want to meet my niece and nephew”

“I have to warn you, they’re pretty incredible”

“I don’t doubt that for a moment”

Lance remained a bat for the following two days. He felt as if he’d been run over repeatedly when he finally came back to his senses. The happiness he felt when he held his twins... he’d truly never felt anything like it. He didn’t know if it was normal to love someone so instantaneously, but his dramatic arse would die for the pair in a heartbeat. Laith had all of Keith’s expressions down pact. He’d taken to feeding like a champion, unlike his sister who wasn’t too sure at first. Yeah, Lance had balled his eyes out over how precious they were. Their grumpy little boy screaming the first time he had his photo taken by Krolia, who had the flash on on her phone. Shiro had given Keith his camera, Keith making sure to get plenty of photos during the time he missed. He knew he’d never get that time back, but because his body had forced him to rest and heal, he felt like a better father for it... plus, he had the memories of their birth, and the precious first cuddles and hours of their lives.

After a week of rest, they were finally released to go home. There was nothing wrong with their twins, he and Keith hadn’t wanted to be apart and Lance couldn’t go home until Coran was sure he’d okay. A small neat gold diamond ring now on his ring finger, Keith deciding the right time to pull it out was just after Lena had thrown up on his chest. Lance knew that “being a diva couldn’t be genetically inherited” but he saw so much of himself in her. Romance would forever be Keith’s middle name, after slipping in the ring on his finger than awkwardly stuttering out “I got you a ring”. Keith was very lucky Coran had sorted things out with the police, or their “second engagement” might have been a bit awkward had the police pulled him over and arrested him for doing a runner. There was nothing Coran couldn’t fix, including his broken arse, though that had needed stitches to help along the healing and next time they decided to do this, he was definitely booking into VOLTRON a month early.

13 months, nearly to the day, his house was invaded again by two “strangers”. One a dark haired beauty, the other a little brother, grumpy at the world but secretly loving cuddles. Two strangers that would turn his life upside down again... and he wouldn’t have it any other way. It was time for a whole new adventure as their journey continued... doubly so when Keith finally went back to work, learning that it was okay that he was werewolf that preferred to be human outside of the moon. Neither of them asked for the monsters beneath their skin, but together, they made a damn good team, even if Lance did say so himself.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

10 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

And with that, the last chapter for Once Bitten, Twice Stupid is now up on ao3.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for who came along for the trip on this mammoth of a fic and for all your love and support.

🦇❤️🐺

#oncebittentwicestupid

8 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 202

202

Keith knew Lance was skilled in the art of cleaning, yet the shack felt like a whole other house in comparison to what it had been the previous day. Yes, dust still hung around and the floors hadn’t been vacuumed or mopped, and yes there were towels and dishcloths piled up near the front door, but unlike the previous day, Keith could now picture the house as a home. Krolia had made a discovery of a few video tapes that’d been stashed in a box in his dad’s room. Shiro would have been trying on his dad’s shirt, despite the filth if he’d been there. No memories were flowing back, yet they seemed to be rewriting the memories he’d made the day before. He really shouldn’t have lost his temper with Lance. He’d been hurt and lashed out, and couldn’t take it back.

Taking photos of the house’s interior, he was drawn to what had been his bedroom. Glow in the dark solar system stickers laying on the floor where they’d peeled off with age. Paper clung to the walls, once childhood drawings. His room not the cleanest, but very lived in. He’d totally over reacted and would take a dick punch if it meant taking his anger back. Krolia ended up taking more things than the day before, now that she could see what she was taking. Keith didn’t think old video tapes had much use, but his mother cried over them, so he’d kept his mouth shut.

With all the rotten bedding and fabric stuffs, Lance had bagged it all up near the front door. The work would have taken all night, meaning Lance understandably needed a nap after putting so much effort into things. When Keith discovered a photo of him on his dad’s shoulders, he’d hit a new low of self hating. The frame had been cleaned up. Mould in the corner meaning the photo was stuck to the glass, Lance not trying to seperate it, instead placing it on the wooden coffee table where it’d be safe... and he’d gone and blow his top at him. He was still kind of mad Lance had taken it upon himself to clean the shack alone, but his fiancé’s heart had been in the right place. He only wanted good and happy memories for Keith.

Driving them back to the hotel, Keith’s stomach knotted with anxiety as his mother parked beside the bronco. They didn’t have phone reception out at the shack, Keith checking his phone in between taking photos with the hope that miraculously he’d catch some thin sliver of signal... He didn’t... though he did finally get his coffee when his mother decided to fuel up Shiro’s car after all the driving she’d done. It tasted barely better than dishwater, lukewarm and oily, but better than nothing. Knocking back two coffees gave him a little of courage. Temper settled by his beloved caffeine and able to human that bit more.

Heading up the stairs to his and Lance’s room, Keith was prodded along by Krolia. His mother wanted to talk about what’d been in the files that Lenny had gifted them, having not read them, Keith could only shake his head at her. He’d so desperately wanted to sit down with her, but first there was the need to apologise to Lance, then the need fo shower. Alcohol sweat would forever be gross.

Letting them into the hotel room, the door unlocked, Shiro sat on his side of the bed with Lance’s head on his leg. Keith jumping to angry all over again, and probably would have yelled if Lance hadn’t been sleeping. “Awing” over the scene, Krolia’s steps were light as she moved carefully. Sitting herself down, she placed her hand on Lance’s hip, Keith wanting to tear her hand off

“How is he?”

Shiro sighed at Krolia’s question. Sighing wasn’t good

“Pretty devastated. Very apologetic. He had a panic attack in the car, so I got him on the phone to Coran who managed to get through to him. He’s been out for about an hour now”

Krolia nodded, Keith hugging himself. He’d caused Lance to panic, and made him feel unwanted. If he sniffed the air, he could detect notes of Lance’s sweetness along with something sour that seemed to also belong to the man he loved

“Did you talk to Coran?”

“I called him back once Lance was sleeping. He’s worried about him. I don’t know why, but I know he was talking to Coran about Veronica... and Nyma and Rolo”

“Veronica‘s the older sister right?”

“Yeah. And Nyma and Rolo were the pair that turned him. He was really upset that’d upset Keith”

Shiro’s gaze turned to him, Keith dropping his head in guilt

“Keith, you and he had a fight. Do you want to talk about it?”

Ugh. His family would be so disappointed if they knew... He knew and he was disappointed enough in himself for all of them

“Not really. I scared him and I didn’t mean to...”

“I don’t think it’s just you. He did say his ego was a mess and he was exhausted. He kind of stopped making sense as he started rambling”

“He does that when he’s tired”

“You’ll be happy to know you’ve got a monster cock. And that he loves your monster cock”

Keith closed his eyes as he let out a long breath. Sleepy Lance had no filter

“Should I ask why you know that?”

“Oh, apparently drunk Keith tore his shirt and bra when he was trying to clean you up. His hips are still sore from your monster cock”

Fucking drunk Keith

“He shouldn’t be sore still. He’s had a fair bit of blood”

“That’s what I thought. Coran said to keep an eye on him, and if they’re not feeling any better by the time we’re ready to leave, then to swing by VOLTRON on the way home. He had me mix some Panadol and blood for him”

“Did he say anything else?”

Shiro shook his head

“Yes and no. Just bits of pieces. Mostly he was apologising for going missing and upsetting you by cleaning the shack up. It seems he really likes the idea of coming to stay around the anniversary of your dad’s death... He wants to make good memories here for you. Then he swapped to Spanish. I don’t know much, but I did get that he wanted Miriam”

Maybe Keith had been way too aggressive. Normally their fights ended with them both realising they’d meant the same thing but were coming at it from different angles, instead he’d taken all his fear out on his fiancé who was having a hard enough time as it was

“I don’t need to come here to make happy memories. I... um... shouldn’t have started yelling. I was worried... He can’t just... He just go disappearing like that!”

Though it hasn’t come to him before, he now realised Lance very well could have been kidnapped again... Keith knew he was not mentally strong enough to ever go through that again... Absolutely anything could have gone wrong. His mate should have been by his side! Sighing, Shiro patted Lance’s hair

“He knows. He was mid-apology for the umpteenth time when he started spiralling. He’s also very sorry for worrying us after yesterday was so fun. Also, his car needs to be cleaned up. Do you want us to handle it, or do you want one of us to stay while you clean it up? I don’t mind, but I think he’d prefer you or Curtis”

Leaning down, Krolia kissed Lance’s hair affectionately. Seeing his mother so motherly tugged at his heart. He didn’t want to start yelling or making his scary face again

“Shiro, you and Keith can take care of Lance’s car. I’ll pop down to the restaurant and pick us up some food. Curtis, you stay with Lance. Given he’s so sleepy, he probably can’t control his ego very well right now. I know you’re sorry, Keith, but give him a little while to come back to himself”

Keith didn’t want to go away. He’d already been forced apart from Lance by Lance coming back to the hotel

“I’m supposed to be with him. He’s my goddamn mate...”

Shiro shook his head, his brother looked sympathetic but Keith didn’t know what that sympathy was directed at. He didn’t deserve sympathy for being a douche canoe

“Kiddo, he needs some rest. He knows you didn’t mean to fly off he handle at him...”

“I still need to apologise to him”

“And you will. Just let him sleep for now. We’ve got a car to clean out. He had a bit of accident during his panic attack, I’m not sure he even noticed”

Krolia sighed softly

“I remember those days. One wrong sneeze and I’d wet myself. Best we not bring it up, he’d be embarrassed. He’s already quite embarrassed over being afraid. He called me the other day, I don’t think I was much help”

“He called me too. To check in. I think I upset him”

Krolia pulled herself away from Lance. Standing to stretch herself with a smile

“That means an extra special lunch is called for. I wish I could cook something for him”

No. Nooo. That’d probably do Lance in

“He likes fruit, and maybe some pancakes... he had a craving for them the other day”

“Don’t you worry, I know what I’m doing”

Krolia thinking she knew what she was doing was what worried him. Wisely Keith kept his mouth shut about that

“I’ll take a shower and meet you at the car... I stink”

No one disagreed, Keith annoyed they hadn’t... and annoyed his family were such a bunch of weirdos... even if he loved them.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

10 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 116 (its sooooo long)

116

Keith felt he’d been pretty patient waiting to have Lance alone again. He’d had his cake, and macaroons, Lance eating two before deciding he already had enough macaroons in his stomach. Hunk insisting his stomach had extra space for more, as Lance looked like his soul had yeeted itself out his body and he wished he’d gone with it. With Matt and Rieva off on their run, and everyone in the main cabin turning if for the night, he had his boyfriend all to himself and he wasn’t going to blow it by being a horny idiot... At least not until Lance made him lose all reason by being too fucking adorable for his own good.

Dropping himself down on their bed, his boyfriend smiled up at him. His hand on his belly as he sat propped up

“What’cha looking at?”

“You”

His boyfriend groaned at him, letting himself flop back completely

“Why?”

“Because”

“You’re an idiot. Did you enjoy your birthday?”

“I did... apart from when you decided sleeping on the shower floor was a great idea”

“That’s totally not my fault... I was trying to get warm”

“And how did that work out for you?”

“Great, apparently it leads to naps in prime napping locations”

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm... now are you coming to bed, or just going to stand there staring?”

“Actually... I’m thinking that there’s a few things I want to do now that we’re alone”

“Is that so?”

Sitting up, Lance reached for him, Keith snorting to himself as he moved closer so Lance could wrap his arms around his hips

“Yep. But only if you’re up for it”

“You’re already starting to get up for it... Did my sucking on your thumb really turn you on that much?”

“You have no idea...”

“Hmmm... maybe you’ll just have to show me?”

“I don’t know. Have you been good?”

Lance raised his head, staring up at him

“I have been excellent. Plus, there’s no way I can sleep in so many layers”

“Then maybe you should take them off and get more comfortable while I get a few things”

“Am I going to like these things?��

Now Keith was feeling kind of nervous. He hoped Lance would be okay with it... His boyfriend wasn’t great at being the only one feeling pleasure

“I hope so. If you don’t, we’ll stop”

“I can hardly say no to the birthday boy... I’ve never wanted Hunk’s cooking less than when he pulled those macaroons out”

“Babe, do you really want to talk about Hunk right now?”

“Nope. Okay, Mister Kogane, show me whatever you’ve got in mind”

“Get comfortable first. I want to try something different tonight”

Grabbing his bag, Keith pulled out the small collection of toys he’d brought with him. Lance stripping down, before shyly sitting with his knees to his chest. Figuring it was fair if he at least shed some layers, Keith stripped down to his underwear, climbing on the bed with the bag of toys

“Is that?”

“Yep”

“And you’re...”

“Yep”

“Oh...”

His boyfriend was too cute. He didn’t want to push Lance into being uncomfortable for his sake

“Anything you’re not up for trying, I want you to tell me the truth. I promise I’ll only be disappointed if you don’t tell me”

“But...”

“Babe. It might be my birthday, but I’m not going to enjoy it if you’re uncomfortable. We don’t even have to use any of this if you don’t want to”

“I’m supposed to be the cool older one here”

Reaching over Lance’s knees, Keith cupped his boyfriend’s face

“You can’t help that you’re smoking hot”

Lance gaped at him, before snorting and shaking his head

“Oh, babe. You’re really pent up, aren’t you?”

Kissing Lance, Lance pulled away when Keith’s lip was accidentally cut. His boyfriend frowning in a way that wasn’t all that sexy

“That’s right. I’m still mad at you for feeding me without permission. You know I don’t like it”

“You were freezing... I knew you’d be mad, but I’ll take you being mad at me over you being cold and hungry”

“Still...”

“Nope. It’s my birthday”

Lance sighed at him

“How does that benefit me?”

“Because it’s something I wanted to do... and I know you don’t like feeding from me, but I was kind of hoping you’d maybe suck my fingers”

Lance blinked at him

“You... want me to...”

Keith felt his face redden, somewhat flustered

“Not this very minute, but it really was kind of hot... I think it’d actually be hot if you were awake for it this time”

“You get one birthday wish. Consider it another present...”

“But you don’t want to”

“That’s... it’s... if you want me to suck your fingers, I will...”

“But...”

“But I’m not feeding. I’m not drinking down your blood, from anywhere other than your fingertips. That’s it. No kinky neck bites or shoulder bites”

“Deal. I know I can’t make up for the years you didn’t believe it was okay to love, but I do love you. Even your stubborn parts”

“It’s not being stubborn. It’s something I’m not that into”

Now Lance was more defensive than flirtatious. He’d have to figure out when the time was right... because yeah, it still bothered him about a strangers blood feeding their baby

“Okay. Now I’m going to kiss you and we’re going to work things out from there”

“I feel like I’m not getting much sleep tonight”

“That depends on how you feel once we start...”

“And now I’m nervous. Can we just start with the kissing already?”

“I think I can do that”

Making out always got heated fast. Keith couldn’t keep his hands off Lance, not when he was making such cute noises. Laid out on their bed, Keith pulled out the first two toys. Technically he didn’t know if they counted seeing they were cockrings. Lance swallowing hard at the sight of them

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to”

“It seems pretty mean to deny a pregnant person an orgasm”

“I’m not denying it... just delaying it. For both of us”

“You too?”

“Yep... it’s not fair if it’s only you”

“Is that going to apply to the other things?”

“Maybe...”

“I feel like that’s not a very reassuring maybe”

“I feel like I want to see you fall apart beneath me”

Lance swallowed again, before nodding stiffly

“Only if...”

“Babe, trust me. You’re not the only one who’s going to be feeling good tonight”

“That’s okay then... I like it better when we feel good together”

“Me too. Do you need the bathroom before we start?”

“Nah. I’m good... just nervous”

“If it counts I’m nervous too”

“We’re not great at this sexy toy thing, are we?”

“We’re getting there. I’m going to put this on, then I’m going to prep you. I want to try using a vibe...”

Part of Keith still couldn’t believe their sex life had come as far as it had. Lance’s body had settled down when it came to heat flashes, seeing he was pregnant and all, but he still wanted Lance to feel the same amount of pleasure. The baby had really mixed up his feelings inside. He wanted to be intimate with Lance, but he also wanted to learn the new boundaries Lance had and wanted to respect him around them. He wanted Lance to feel safe and comfortable enough to try the things he’d denied himself for so long. He also kind of felt threatened. Like this happiness would be gone too fast. He desperately wanted to cling to it, until he was sure he could breathe again

“Okay... but... let me adjust? I love having sex with you, because it’s you”

“I’m going to take it slow...”

“I’m still nervous. I trust you”

“I know you do”

Lance wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself in for as Keith slowly fucked him with the vibrator. It was bigger than Keith, stretching him in different ways to what he was used to. Laying in his lover’s arms, Keith had his left leg loosely over his elbow, Lance trying not be embarrassed by the noise he was making between the sweet kisses Keith pressed to his lips. He felt bad about falling asleep, part of him wanted to make it up to Keith, while the bigger part of him was horny for his boyfriend. His dick leaking precum as his bliss built without release. Keith was hard, rutting lightly against him as he tugged on Lance’s ear with his teeth. His boyfriend not a werewolf, yet acting like he was a chew toy... not that Lance minded. Keith was driving him crazy and he knew it. His boyfriend had gone become the biggest pervert between the sheets, or on top of them on this case

“Ready for me to turn it on?”

Nope. He was still getting over feeling flustered about using the toys as it was... but at this stage, he wanted to come. Between his legs squelched obscenely, his arse soaked with wetness and lube. When he didn’t answer, Keith pushed the toy deeper, Lance letting out a strangle squeak. He felt full when it was Keith inside him, now he felt stuffed to capacity

“Babe?”

“Mmngh...”

“I’ll start on the lowest”

Lance was not prepared. Arching his back as he cried out, the vibrator was... fuck... for a moment he felt as if he’d gone limp, like all the arousal had snapped away with the click of Keith’s fingers... then... bam... Holy fucking fuck fuck. Even the lowest setting was an assault on the senses. They’d used a small vibe before, when he’d been in heat. It was not definitely not the same as this beast of thing that was determined to stir up all the parts of him he didn’t know he had. Holding the base of the vibe, Keith slowly started to fuck him with it again, Lance turning towards the bed, fingers clenching around the fabric of the bunched of sheets as he tried to do something that he wasn’t entirely sure of. Chuckling at him, Keith moved with him, nipping on his shoulder as he pressed his body against him

“Feeling good?”

He didn’t know what he was feeling... his body trembling, hips moving on their own... Fuck...

“Maybe we should try setting number two?”

“Argh!”

Keith had the remote in his hand, no longer having to worry about supporting his leg now Lance was pretty much face down and arse... going up and down... fuck... clicking the second setting, Lance stiffened, eyes nearly rolling back as his release smashed into him. His body jerking, coming without releasing the building pressure of his straining dick, shit... it was some kind of sweet torture. His fangs and nails extending, ego over the moon that their lover was getting off watching them

“K-Keith... too... much...”

Instantly the setting lowered back to the first setting. Jolt after jolt of pleasure took his mind and slapped it senseless. It wasn’t hard to find the prostate, but this thing was fucking molesting it... he was drooling, shamelessly moving to match Keith’s movements, unashamed of the wet spot beneath his body

“Shit, babe... you look wrecked. Turn over so I can see your face”

He didn’t want to roll over and have Keith see his face. Keith didn’t care. Pulling him onto his back, the vibrator slipping in the change of position, stretching his arse with the thicker few centimetres above the base. Fuck... he really fucking loved it when Keith played just there... His body so in tune with his lover’s that his back was arching, feet slipping as he tried to push his knees together. Leaving the vibe, Keith’s hand went to his leaking dick, jerking and toying with the tip

“Fuck, babe... do you want to come? God... you look so fucking wrecked and we haven’t even gotten to the best bit”

“Keith”

Moaning his boyfriend’s name, Keith pushed his lips to his, not caring about his fangs, Lance trying to relieve the need to come as he fucked Keith’s fist, moving the vibe as he did.

Continuing to kiss him, Keith climbed between his legs. Lance wrapping them around him because all of his instincts knew he was safe with Keith, even if he was past the point of rational thought. Stirred up and crazy with lust, he sucked at his boyfriend’s bleeding lips, his own only having escaped his teeth by the way Keith kissed him. Rutting between his legs, the sounds of wet skin against wet skin drove him mad. He wanted his boyfriend already

“I can feel the vibrations... fuck... you feel so good beneath me, babe. I don’t deserve you”

That was nice and all... but he was about ready to snap the cockring, pin Keith down, and ride him like it was going out of fashion

“Keith... please... please, I want... I want you...”

“Mmm... fuck... soon, baby... soon, I’ve got another toy for you... but I want to try something first”

Lance’s arse missed the girth of the vibe as Keith slid it free, slick with lube, his boyfriend groaning as he slipped it between them. The sensation completely different now. More and less aggressive at the same time

“Shit... fuck... hold on...”

Sitting back up, Keith laid the vibe on the bed, pulling Lance up nearly in his lap as his hand went to a different toy. He didn’t get to see what it was, he couldn’t focus at it was. Keith had the vibe so they were both feeling the effects from beneath them. Lance’s legs quivering, body still bouncing back from how hard the dry orgasm had been. Feeling something smaller at his arse, he raised it in the hopes of Keith taking him

“Hang on, babe... take it slowly... I’m going to use it and fuck you at the same time”

The small slim line wand was beaded, the beads not as comfortable as they vibrated their way around the space left by Keith’s dick. He finally giving him what he wanted, though they both still had the stupid cockrings on. After having his arse stretched to unnatural limits, Keith was hitting all the right places that he loved. He couldn’t stop kissing him, despite the blood and the risk of inflicting the bite. Sensible Lance had switched off. Toying with his nipples, Keith made him gasp, the buds already tender from the way Keith had sucked on them before biting. Riding Keith was starting to frustrate him. He wanted the rings off and to come. He wanted Keith to come. He wanted his boyfriend to feel even better than he did now. Slack mouthed, Keith smirked, Lance’s eyes hooded from his blissed out pleasure. Feeling something firm against his teeth, his instincts as a vampire took over, biting into the soft warm skin. Blood... fuck... he couldn’t stop himself as he sucked Keith’s finger. Keith’s blood already on his tongue, but this was offered blood, Keith’s one birthday wish. His restraint finally snapping.

Keeping Keith’s fingers in his mouth, he shoved his boyfriend backwards, the ridiculous rings snapped in a heart beat. Wand pulled out despite the sensation it sent through the pair of them. Placing his hands on Keith’s chest, he finally had Keith how he wanted him, drooling down his fingers as he rode his boyfriend. He hated this body, but he and Keith were so compatible that sometimes he secretly believed soulmates might just be a real thing

“Shit... I’m going to come... fuck, baby... fuck... agnhgh... f-fuuuuuckl

Lance smirked, rubbing his tongue against Keith’s finger tips as his hand moved Keith’s chest to jerk himself off, the pressure of the built up need for release sent his vision red, Keith’s fingers slipping from his mouth as he came in thick ribbons across his boyfriend’s chest. Lance wasn’t sure if it was normal, or thanks to his senses as he felt Keith coming inside of him. Breathlessly he slumped forward, Keith wrapping his arm around him to hold him close as his body trembled violently. Fuck... just... fuck...

Almost asleep, he came back to his senses. Keith playing with his hair, half hard and still inside of him. The buzzing in the background somewhat annoying, but it was drowned out by the strong, and racing, beats of Keith’s heart. He prayed to god that Keith’s warmth would never be robbed of him. Keith alive and living was his everything. Nuzzling Keith’s chest, his boyfriend leaned up to kiss his hair before dropping back. He had the sweetest lover. His friends filled in the rough parts of his wounded soul the best they could, but Keith was... he was the salve at the end of the day that had him getting out of bed to face the next one. There was no rational scientific explanation for love, maybe that’s why so many people chased it. Keith didn’t. He hadn’t known how. And now they had something so much deeper.

“Babe, are you okay?”

Lance hummed happily, it sounded something like a content purr

“Yeah... sorry I lost it towards the end”

“Nah... it was hot as fuck”

Lance snorted

“Of course you’d say that. Are you okay? Did I drink too much?”

“I think I came hard enough to see heaven. Either that or an angels come to Earth”

Lance snorted again

“I don’t think I’m an angel”

“Are you sure? You’re so damn beautiful sometimes I forget how to breathe”

Lance shivered as his body started to cool rapidly

“I’ll clean you up, then we should sleep”

“I should...”

“I’m doing this because I love you and I want to. Consider this my birthday wish”

“That’s wish number two”

“I seem to remember you putting my fingers in your mouth”

He couldn’t deny that... he also couldn’t really move. One dry orgasm and another whatever the hell that was left him simply wanting snuggles. Keith leaned up to kiss his hair again

“Let’s get you cleaned up”

“Mmm...”

The following morning was crisp and clear. Lance having too much energy as he nearly broke the tap trying to brush his teeth after throwing up basically nothing. Hearing Keith shuffling about, Lance smiled at his rinsed his mouth out, the moving to hop up on the bathroom vanity. Walking like the precoffee zombie he was, his boyfriend didn’t care as he made his way to the toilet to pee in front of him. Sleepy Keith was cute. Hair sticking up in every direction. Underwear pulled down on the left side, yawns every few moments.

Flushing the toilet, Keith kept up his shuffle, washing his hands, before Lance opened his arms, his boyfriend grunting lightly as he moved into his hold, arms coming around him

“Mmnhmm...”

Keith speak for “good morning”. Dropping a kiss on his boyfriend’s head, Keith nuzzled into him. Serious. He was to damn cute

“Good morning, babe”

“Mbnsmn?”

Lance took that to mean Keith was pointing out that he wasn’t in bed when he woke up

“I was brushing my teeth. I’m all good”

“Mmm...”

Raising his head, his boyfriend had a serious case of morning breath and “vampire lips. The scratching leaving a few small scabs. Kissing Keith’s lips, he wished he knew how to heal him. He loved kissing Keith. Even the smallest of kisses made him melt. Lost in his boyfriend’s eyes, he felt himself getting all teary over how much he loved the walking zombie in front of him

“Bbbbas...?”

“I’m okay. Sorry, I was just thinking how lucky I am to be the one who wakes up with you”

Keith hid his face back against Lance’s chest. Lance moving to start detangling his boyfriend’s hair. Keith slept with his hair pulled up into a bun with how long it’d gotten. That didn’t mean it stayed in place. The soft locks tangled around the hair band

“Mbhh...”

“Alright. I’ll leave it alone for now. You need coffee”

Domestic bliss wasn’t always about doing the do in the mornings. This gave him as much happiness as being intimate because this was a whole other kind of intimate.

Getting dressed for the day ahead, birds were chirping outside, a good indication that day was going to be everything he’d hoped for weather wise. Still, he work two shirts and the thickest jacket he owned, jeans, and forced himself to stuff his feet back into his toe eating boots. Keith struggled with his shirt, too cute for words as Lance went to his aid happily, then maybe not as happily as he noticed the few bite and nip marks he’d gifted Keith last night while making out. His teeth were annoying as fuck. Keith liked the marks, but Lance always felt kind of unsettled by them, knowing any deeper and he’d would have drawn too much blood. Finding his hands stopping, his eyes caught the tiny scar on Keith’s neck, watching the artery pulse softly beneath his boyfriend’s skin. Keith didn’t notice, drawing him back by pushing his face into Lance’s stomach, Lance shaken as he realised he’d been looking at Keith like a starved wolf, made worse when his stomach gave a loud grumble, causing Keith to chuckle at him. His iron clad never ever ever feed on humans wavered when Keith tried to feed him. That part of his ego was hard to smoosh down, his true nature would feed on Keith in a heartbeat, but himself loved Keith too much too.

Lance knew he was acting off about it, holding Keith’s hand they walked towards the cabin. The sun fiercely warm, as if the snow had never happened. He had his sun glasses somewhere, but the previous day had been so over cast he hadn’t needed them. Reaching the cabin steps, the scent of blood made him stagger, knees giving out as his body yelled at him for being hungry. He shouldn’t be this hungry. Though intense in its own way, fooling around with Keith the previous night hadn’t been that long in reality. Half an hour to an hour at the very least including Keith prepping him, and the very nice make out session before then.

Matt must have heard them coming, Curtis coming out to meet them as Keith tried to drag Lance back up to his feet, grunting for an explanation from the man as Curtis moved without prompting to take Lance by the arm and he found himself standing again

“Hunk accidentally dropped a bottle of blood getting the eggs out for breakfast. It’s been cleaned up. Rieva sent me out to let you know”

A bottle... he’d brought extra, way extra compared to what he’d normally go through in three days, but Keith had him eating more with using blood in the shakes. Fuck. It was lucky they were heading back tomorrow morning

“Lance?”

Blinking at Curtis, he shook himself, trying to snap out the hunger trance

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah. A bit shaken up from seeing so much blood on the floor. Shiro distracted Shay”

God. They should just tell Shay. It wasn’t fair to keep her on the outside. Secrets sucked and lies hurt. Curtis giving him a concerned look

“Are you okay?”

“I wasn’t expecting to smell blood...”

“Ah. You’re probably hungry. Hunk made smoothies for everyone to go with the scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Let’s get you guys inside. Matt and Rieva have some news”

He didn’t want a smoothie. His stomach noping at the thought of it. His teeth ached with the thought of all that blood, nausea creeping up at the thought of the sight of it.

Heading into the kitchen area, blood filled the air strongly enough for his stomach to roll. He already had nothing left to throw up, having been in the bathroom longer than Keith needed to know. In the sink was the remains of the broke bottle, drowned in lemon scented detergent that’d helped hid the evidence of its true contents

“Hey, guys! You’re in time. Keith, your coffees on the edge of the counter, I made berry smoothies for breakfast”

Hunk was trying a little too hard. He could see the self blame on his face. Keith left his side for the coffee, Lance stepping forward to his hug his friend. Accidents happened

“It’s all good, man. Thanks for breakfast”

Hunk patted his back

“I didn’t...”

“It’s fine. I’m not going to starve. Though I am famished”

Hunk chuckled at him

“That’s good, I made extra. Help yourselves”

Human food didn’t want to quite sit right, but when he started eating, he kind of pigged out, nearly matching Rieva in breakfast size. Matt ate more than her, generally on a one to one and half ratio, but with their high metabolisms you’d never know it. Shay laughing how unfair it was that Rieva could eat so much and stay so pretty. Hunk tripping over his words as he tried to tell Shay how perfect she was the way she was. He missed breakfasts in his kitchen at home like this, and having his friends over for dinner. He felt like he needed to cling to Keith’s, and had done ever since he’d found out, yet he didn’t want to give up his freedom, nor did he want Keith doing the commute daily with his weird hours. If Coran told him he had to stay in Platt longer, he’d do as he was told for the sake of the baby, but otherwise it looked like it’d be going back to short day trips and the occasional overnight stay. A depressing reality really. If Keith tried living with him once the baby came, his daily commute would be so much longer... but the apartment wasn’t big enough for him and a baby... plus, he owned his house. They’d be able to mount things to wall and decorate how they pleased. They’d have to convert Curtis’s room into the nursery, but maybe it’d be safer to use Matt’s and Rieva’s room, especially with the stairs. If they were anything like their daddy they were going to be a handful and a half.

Speaking of Keith, his boyfriend was hovering. His coffee cup too close to Lance’s nose. Other than the disgraceful scene he’d shown last night, he felt he really should be praised by how hard he’d been working not to throw up around his coffee loving friends. The stuff stank worse than rotten beans left in the bottom of a cup with milk for a month... actually, that was pretty close to what it smelt like to him. He had to work harder at eating more so he didn’t randomly fall asleep in the shower and make Keith worry about him and the baby. Subtly pushing Keith’s coffee cup away, his boyfriend noticed, despite the fact definitely wasn’t supposed to. Turning to him, morning breath was now replaced with coffee breath, Lance feeling like he was going to throw up as Keith asked softly

“No coffee?”

Idiot. There were other people there. Namely two werewolves that hear far more than they should

“I prefer tea. If we’re going exploring today, I should go get your camera”

Pidge over heard them, proving all his friends were idiots at keeping things on the down-low

“That’s right. Matt and Rieva said there was a pond not too far from here”

Shay nodding around her mouthful of eggs

“They mentioned something about that earlier”

“Yep. Rieva and I took a walk earlier. It’s not that far, but you should probably keep Kosmo on his lead”

Kosmo seemed to be having the greatest time out of all of them. It must be nice to be a dog, and a very well loved treat spoiled dog at that

“Okay, I think I’ll need to get fresh batteries, so Lance and I’ll go get the cameras sorted...”

Couldn’t a pregnant man have like 5 minutes to himself?

“I’ll get the camera stuff. You’re on dish duty”

Keith sighed at him

“Nope. None of that, mister. Hunk and Shay have been keeping us all fed. The least you can do is help with the dishes”

“I didn’t say anything”

Nope. He wasn’t going to let Keith off

“You sighed. Make sure you guys put him to work”

Hunk laughed

“Okay. He and Shiro can do the dishes”

Curtis asking

“What about me?”

“Dude, you and kitchens don’t get along. You can help with the snacks. Is it worth taking snacks?”

Rieva shrugged, at least she knew better than to let Matt potentially slip up

“The water was pretty cold but it hadn’t frozen over completely. It’s a nice spot, especially for napping”

Lance moved his chair back, Keith forced to let him go or risk spilling his coffee

“Then it’s settled. I’ll be back soon”

Making it back to the cabin, Lance was disappointed that he’d all but rushed back and into the bathroom to throw breakfast back up. He’d chew the side of his mouth without thinking, trying to ignore the blood that seemed to linger in the air despite the other scents. He really had wanted to try keep everything down as long as possible. Not eating that much yesterday made everything he ate today more important. He didn’t know how being a vampire would affect the baby, and if it did, it’d take a long time to be okay with it. Finding himself trapped by the toilet, he was exhausted by the time his stomach finally gave him a rest. The lack of strength bringing him to tears as he flushed the mess away then went about brushing his teeth.

Shiro made him jump. He hadn’t heard him come in, not over the sound of throwing his guts up. Having known Keith for as long as he had, he was working on swapping on the batteries in Keith’s camera, Lance trying not to feel so old and backwards about such things

“Hey, I heard you. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. The usual and then some”

“Macaroons?”

So Keith had filled him in on that, he’d kind of expected that he had

“Yeah... everything okay in the main cabin?”

“Yep. Matt and Pidge got into a fight over the snacks, so Hunk put them on drying up”

“That sounds about right...”

Why was he suddenly feeling so self conscious? No... it was kind of like when Matt had been in their cabin, like their space had been disturbed. He was going to have to ask Coran about this. He’d never been territorial before and he didn’t want to start now

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Mhmm. Just... vampire stuff”

“Ah. Are you okay after Keith fed you?”

Lance flinched at the question, Shiro’s face softening

“I didn’t mean it how it sounded. I know you’re not about to attack him”

“Sorry. Yeah. I... just, yeah. I feel like my head is all over the place and all the energy I woke up with seems to have decided it needed to go away”

“If you need...”

“Don’t. Okay. Don’t. Sorry... but Keith offering is enough to deal with. He’d having a bit of a crisis over thinking I don’t like his blood and stuff”

The “stuff” heavily implied what secret he was referring to

“I’m sure you’ll work that out”

Lance missed the change in Shiro’s tone

“It’d be easier if we didn’t have a whole bunch of other stuff to work out... I know hasn’t signed a non-disclosure and I don’t want to drag her into our world, but it’s... I hate lying to her”

“It’s hard lying to people you care about...”

But he didn’t miss the change the second time. Ego feeling challenged. Yeah it fucking sucked lying to Curtis too. Stupidly he snapped back at Shiro, tears welling up at his own words, his tone far too cold

“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ll let you finish up with the camera in peace”

“Lance...”

Nope he already out the cabin. The others already heading out the main cabin, Keith brightening as he looked at him. Shit. He didn’t want to drive a wedge between Keith and Shiro. Letting go of Kosmo’s leash, Kosmo came bounding over to him, Lance scooping him up like the baby he’d always be... the significantly bigger baby then he used to be. He had to get his head in the game. 12 more hours and they’d be leaving. Today was about exploring and having fun. Not about him. Or his ridiculous exhaustion... and apparent moodiness. Jogging over to him, Keith smiled

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist”

Hiking Kosmo up, his body wagged with his tail, trying to lick any part of Lance he could

“He’s fine. He’s the biggest baby of them all. Everyone ready?”

“Just waiting on Shiro”

“Yeah. He’s better with cameras than I am”

The thing about Keith was that he knew when Lance was faking it. He couldn’t smile things off and pretend he was perfectly fine. The fake smile that’d seen him through so much was useless against his boyfriend

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Just overthinking”

“Stop it”

Lance snorted. He wished he could

“I wish it worked like that. Nah. It’s all... ugh, but the fresh air feels great”

“Do we...”

“Later...”

Keith’s brain was working better than his

“Here, put the baby down, I want to show you something”

“I don’t know if he wants to be put down, I think he just wants all the cuddles he can have”

“That’s because he’s best boy. Just put him down for now so I can show you”

Mildly curious, Lance set Kosmo down who immediately pawed at his legs for pats. Pulling his phone out, Keith tapped on the screen, before handing it over to Lance

“If you want to talk, you can type in here. No one can hear what’s on here”

His heart lifted at his boyfriend’s gesture. Keith must have been going near mad trying to think of how to talk without being heard swapping Kosmo’s lead for Keith’s phone, he erased Keith’s message, typing back

“I’m okay. I snapped at Shiro and I didn’t mean to. He didn’t do anything wrong. I just feel bad about keeping things from Shay and Curtis”

Handing the phone back, Keith nodded. His boyfriend more ambidextrous than him as he kept a hold on Kosmo’s lead and typed his reply

“I know what you mean. Shiro gets it too. It really sucks, but it’s better than her thinking we’re going to kill her. I love you, babe. It’s going to be okay”

Moving to Keith’s side, Lance read the screen, making it seem more like Keith was showing him something. Kissing Keith’s cheek, his boyfriend turned the screen off, slipping his phone back into his jacket

“If you want to watch that again, let me know?”

“Mmm. I will. It’s a good idea”

“I know. I wish I thought of it sooner”

“It’s okay. You ready to head out?”

“Yep. You all good too?”

“Breakfast has already come and gone”

Keith seemed disappointed he wasn’t there to witness Lance throwing up. Lance hoping Keith wasn’t developing some weird kind about how far he can fit into the toilet bowl

“I...”

“You don’t need to. Years of experience there”

Lance kissed Keith’s cheek again. Fresh air and some sun was the perfect combination to help him get over himself.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose #pregnant lance #vampire lance #mpreg #klance smut #keiths b-day #top keith #bottom lance

27 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 212 prt 1

212

Matt and Rieva returned in the morning. Seeing Lance hadn’t come down with a fever, or bled during the night, Keith let his fiancé sleep. The vampire had been up a couple of times in the morning to use the bathroom, collapsing back into bed as if he’d been sleep walking each time. Rieva was of the opinion Lance should rest, Matt backing up with his fiancé said, both of them leaving within the hour of arriving back home to go to work.

Flicking the TV on for company, Keith woke Lance up with the noise. Shuffling into the room, his fiancé climbed onto the sofa next to him, an arm snaking around Keith’s waist for comfort. He got a very sleepy “I love you”, before Lance fell back to sleep again him. His scent was still off. It was still off and it still filled Keith with nervous energy. Managing half an hour sleep, Lance woke up, mumbling about needing the bathroom. His lover barely gone a few moments before he was back, gripping the doorframe with one hand, and his stomach with the other

“K-Keith... I think there’s something wrong with me”

Jumping over the side of the sofa, Keith caught Lance as his knees gave out. The crotch of Lance’s underwear wet and bloodied. Fuck. Fuck... no. This couldn’t be happening, fluid spilling down the inside of Lance’s shaking legs

“Lance!”

“Nnngh... I dun feel good... I think the twins are coming”

Lifting Lance off his feet, Keith carried his fiancé over to the sofa. Squatting down between Lance’s knees, Keith was far far into panic mode

“Are you sure?”

“Mhmm... it... hurts...”

“Okay. Okay, let me get the keys and we’ll head to Platt. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay, baby. Just hang on for me”

Grabbing his phone up, Keith called Coran, yelling at him to be prepared because Lance was in labour. Finding Lance’s car keys up, he rushed out to the bronco, climbing in before realising he’d left Lance sitting in the living room. He didn’t know what the plan was. Why didn’t they have a birth plan?! Rieva said they needed a birth plan. So why hadn’t they made a birth plan!? Looking to assure Lance it would be okay, that was when he realised he’d forgotten the main component of this nonexistent plan.

Running back into the house, Lance was now sobbing on the sofa, both hands on his stomach, clearly in pain. False contractions had been bad enough, Keith sympathised over the amount of pain Lance must be in. Placing his hand on his mate’s arm, Lance was freezing, that couldn’t be a good sign. He was wearing a hoodie. Why was he wearing a hoodie? Lance should be wearing the hoodie...

“You’re going to be okay, babe. You’re going to be okay. We’ll get to you Platt”

Lance shook his head, crying harder as he did

“I don’t want to go... don’t make me go”

“Coran’s going to deliver our twins, you’ll be okay”

Snatching up the blanket Lance had come shuffling in with, Keith tried to wrap it around Lance’s shoulders, Lance slapping his hand away

“I don’t want him to take our babies away!”

His ego took that as fact, rather than fear. Anger prickling at the idea of their children being stolen away. Shit. Now was not the time. What was he forgetting?! Lance’s go bag. No. No. That was still in the back of the bronco

“That’s not going to happen”

“Please... please don’t let them take them away from me”

“They won’t. They won’t take them away. Can you stand?”

Lance whimpered at him, drawing back on the sofa. He didn’t want to leave his home. They’d come too damn far to lose the twins now.

Forcing Lance up to stand, between his legs was wet with red tinged fluid. The pain leaving Lance hunched. Lifting him off his feet, Keith rushed from the living room, fighting his own ego that screamed at him as he forced himself out the front door. Fuck. Fuck. This was not the plan. This was the plan, but Lance wasn’t okay so this wasn’t the plan. Shit. He needed to call Shiro... and Krolia... and the others... fuck... Clutching his shirt, Lance gazed up at him with glassy eyes

“I don’t want to lose the twins”

“You’re not about to. You’ll be okay, baby. You’ll be okay”

Getting Lance into the bronco, Keith skipped the seatbelt, covering Lance with the blanket before leaning over to crank the heating knob to full heat. Slamming the door closed, he rounded the bronco, climbing in beside Lance, who whined softly for him

“I’m here, baby. I’m here. It’ll be okay”

Shifting closer to him, Lance buried his face against Keith’s shoulder

“I don’t feel very good... it hurts”

“I know, sweetheart. You hold on for me...”

“I love you... I dun wanna leave you...”

“You’re not going to. You’re not going anywhere”

Kicking gravel as he pulled a U-turn in Lance’s drive, Keith’s heart wouldn’t stop hammering. Labour seemed so sudden. Lance hadn’t said anything about his water breaking. Wasn’t that a thing? In the movies it was a sudden gush... Where was the sudden gush? He might have no idea about this, but these things were supposed to happen in order! Lance was supposed to come tell him his waters had broken, then he’d soothe him, and they’d go to Platt, where Coran would be waiting happily to deliver their twins. This was not how it went!

Speeding through Garrison, Keith took a few turns wide as he tried to reach his phone to call his brother. The device sliding along the dash and deciding to stay on the opposite end. The last thing he needed was the red and blue flashing lights in the rear view mirror that were accompanied by a burst of siren just after Balmera. Shit. Lance was in labour. He was on edge. He didn’t need this shit right now. He could make a run for it... but the cops would follow... he really didn’t need a high speed chase. Fuck. Fuck... fuck. Slowing the bronco, the stop was less than gentle as he pulled onto the gravel shoulder, jolting Lance. Moaning at the sudden stop, Lance blinked at him, trying to focus

“Ke-Keith?”

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay”

Watching the officer climb out of the patrol car, Keith nearly gunned the engine. He could put a fair bit of distance between them and police if he left right now... but Lance would be mad if he did that. His lover’s hand finding his and gripping hard as let out a long groan

“You’re okay. You’re okay... fuck...”

Squeezing his hand, Keith felt something break. For being so weak, his fiancé’s strength was there when they didn’t need it. Lance had a death grip on his hand, Keith not sure it’d ever not have his impression printed on it forever.

“Sir, are you aware of how recklessly you were driving?”

Keith had rolled the window down as the officer got closer. He could do this. Nothing was wrong... just his fiancé in labour... nothing to see here

“I...”

“I trust you have some good reason for how fast you were going”

Lance let out a cry, the police officer looking alarmed

“Sir, is there something wrong with your passenger there?!”

“K-Keith...?”

The less Lance had to do with the police officer, the better

“It’s my fiancé. They’re in labour. There’s been so many complications with the pregnancy...”

“Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to step out of the car”

No. Nope. On the other side of the car, the man’s college opened the passenger side door. Keith’s heart beat so loud it was echoing in his head. Lifting the blanket, the officer drew back, talking past the pair of them

“We need an ambulance. There’s blood”

Keith snarled, sorely sorry for having dropped

“We don’t need an ambulance. You need to let me get him to his doctor!”

“Sir, if you’re going to continue to be aggressive...”

Nope. They weren’t taking him and they weren’t waiting for ambulance to come all the way from Platt when he could get Lance to VOLTRON faster and safer for everyone involved

“Oh, fuck this. I’m sorry”

Turning on the engine, the officer at his door tried to stick his arm inside to open the driver door from the inside. Keith tearing his hand off the handle and shoving him back so hard the man fell on his arse. Sticking his head out the window, Keith threw a blanket apology in the man’s direction

“I’m sorry, but you have no idea what’s happening and I like him better than I like the pair of you”

Shit. Fuck. He’d gone and done it now. He heard the police fussing as he pulled off the gravel shoulder, hopefully Coran would deal with the fall out. The Garrison police kind of too shocked to get their shit together in a hurry...

“Babe?”

“It’s okay. I didn’t hurt him...”

“You like me more than them...”

Swerving the bronco, the still open passenger door swung closed as he’d hoped it would

“I do, baby. I love you”

“I dun feel good... it hurts and I’m tired. You said your were worry”

Keith groaned at himself. He made a terrible criminal

“I know. You’ve got stay awake for me. You can do that for me”

“Wanna... push... ‘m scared”

“No! No pushing. You’re okay, it’s not that far”

“Bud my body says...”

All colour left Keith’s face. Nope. No. He didn’t know how to deliver a baby. Plus... Lance wasn’t equipped for things to be coming out of there... that’d hurt...

“You have to keep those legs of yours closed a little longer...”

“I dun know... they’re coming too soon... nigh...”

Squeezing Lance’s hand with his busted hand, there was no pushing happening in the bronco, Lance’s groan was too long not be him struggling

“Don’t you dare push!”

“I...”

“Our babies are going to be born at VOLTRON. Remember the drugs? Think of the drugs...”

Lance nodded sluggishly

“I wan’ the drugs”

“See. You can’t push without the drugs...”

Lance went silent for a long moment, Keith taking his eyes off the road to look at him. Blood trickled from Lance’s mouth

“Babe? Babe, talk to me”

Covering his mouth, Lance coughed wetly, the vampire lowering his hand to show a gloop of blood in his palm. Fucking fuck fuck

“You’re okay. We’re nearly there...”

“I... love you...”

“I love you too, baby...”

The cops caught up with them just outside Platt, Keith had given up on all road rules by then. Entirely selfish and reckless, though he had made sure not cause any accident. Parking in front of VOLTRON, the cops were maybe 10 seconds behind him. Flying out the car, he ran around the front of the bronco, throwing open the passenger door to pull Lance out. The officers had to be confused as hell as to why he’d brought Lance to a twenty-four hour bookstore. Moaning in his arms, his fiancé still felt icy to the touch, Coran opening the bookstore door for him as he carried his precious fiancé inside

“Coran, something’s wrong with him...”

Striding towards the elevator, Coran kept up with him, casting a glance at the officers that’d followed him inside. Mashing the button, the doors opened, closing behind them as the lady behind the store counter moved to talk to the police. They were her problem now

“Keith? Are they with you?”

“I kind of drove off and upset them...”

“Ah. Well... we’ll deal with that later. I’ve got a bed prepared for him...”

Lance moaned in his arms

“Wanna push...”

“I know, my boy. I know, you’re being very brave”

“Hurds”

Coran placed his hand on Lance’s forehead, Keith not stupid as he knew Coran had to be manipulating Lance’s quintessence or something

“I’m sure it does... How long has he been in labour?”

“I’m not sure... He was up and down a bit this morning and very lethargic, then he went to use the bathroom and came back saying he thought something was wrong. Something has to be wrong, he wants to push already”

“Not necessarily. His body is a tad peculiar. It maybe be a survival trait of breeder vampires. A long labour would put them in danger of capture or death... Or he’s simply interpreting the messages his brain is sending out in the wrong way”

Keith had clearly heard what Lance said and Lance clearly knew what he was feeling better than him and Coran

“No offence, Coran, but I’m second away from attacking you for being this close. I don’t want to hear “maybes””

“Right. Here we go, straight through and onto the bed if you please”

Lance clung to him as Keith laid him down on the waiting hospital gurney. Curled around his stomach, his fiancé looked so broken Keith found himself crying as kissed his forehead

“Don’t leave me”

As if he would. His ego was now going wild at the amount of people around his mate

“I’m not. I’m right here with you, baby. I’m here”

“I’m scared”

“I know... I know, but we’re going to meet our twins soon”

Looking up to Coran, Coran nodded

“Number two is absolutely right, my boy. Let’s take him straight through”

Coran was taking no chances it seemed. The amount of blood obviously overruled any standard way of going about this. Holding both of Lance’s hands, his fiancé panted through another contraction

“You’re being so brave”

“I dun like this at all”

“You won’t be giving VOLTRON a good Yelp review?”

“No offence, Coran, but id sucks”

Coran chuckled at Lance’s slurring

“I’m sure it does, my boy. I’ve got things ready, your Keith here has a lead foot”

“He apologised to the cops... and said he liked me more than them”

Keith let out a snort of laughter, taking himself by surprise with the noise. Lance grinned at him around his pain

“Yeah, yeah, I did. And I do like you more”

“I know...”

Wheeled into the room, staff were gathered waiting. Keith thought they’d be staying, but once the bed was positioned, the slowly filtered out

“For staff safety, it’ll be you and me in here, with a nurse for support”

“He’s too delirious with pain to hurt anyone”

“It’s because he’s delirious that we need to take caution. I assume you’re going to stay up that end”

Visions of finding Lance covered in blood came back to haunt him. Though Coran would be in control, he couldn’t face the blood

“I’m good”

“Excellent. Now, Lance my boy, I know it hurts. I need to clean you up and have a little look at your tummy”

“It hurds”

“I’m sure you’re if far more pain than you’re letting on. Let’s get you comfortable, then we’ll proceed. When’s the last time he had blood?”

“This early this morning...”

“Excellent. How much would say he consumed”

“Um... 10 bags”

Coran’s eyes widened, yeah. He got it. He should have called Coran instead of waiting

“That is impressive. Right, not to worry...”

“Telling me not to worry is making me worry”

“Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t the first baby I’ve delivered”

“There’s two of them in there. We’d like both of them, thanks”

Lance missed half the conversation

“Don’t let him take our babies away... I don’t want him to take them away”

“He won’t. We’re going to be the first to meet them”

Lance strained, trying to sit up

“I wanna see them”

“They have to be born first”

“Oh...”

“It’s okay...”

Keith’s job was to keep Lance’s focus on him. When Coran had gone to run an IV line, Lance had tried to escape him, snarling at the fae as he tried to cover his stomach. Sitting with his back toward Coran, the werewolf rubbed Lance’s leg, a blanket placed across to protect his fiancé’s dignity as Coran examined him. Lance not loving being touched, and Keith not loving that Coran was seeing Lance so intimately. Covering Lance’s legs back up with the blanket, Coran was the only one smiling

“Excellent. He’s already started dilating, amazingly fast really. The muscle ring is much softer more pliant than normal. His body is fascinating”

Coran did not just disrespect his mate

“He’s not an experiment. He’s in pain”

“Yes. Well, his waters have broken, perhaps with time he would have been able to deliver naturally, but the blood loss is alarming. You keep him preoccupied while I prep for surgery”

This all felt way too fucking real now that they’d come to a stop. He and Lance were going to be parents. After months and months and months of waiting. After their macaroons had turned to cupcakes, then foot and a half long subs, they’d soon be in the world as actual living people. Leaning in, Keith kissed Lance on the forehead, nuzzling the spot that was still too cold

“I love you so much. I couldn’t be prouder to be your mate”

“I love you, too... I’m sorry...”

“Shhh, there’s no need to be sorry. We’re going to be parents soon”

“You’re going to be the best dad”

“I don’t know, you’re really fucking amazing”

“I’m... it hurts...”

“I know, baby. I know. It’ll all be over soon”

“You won’t leave, will you?”

“Nope. I’m here. I’m here with you”

“Mmmm... best secret fiancé ever”

“Hey, you’re not too bad yourself”

Lance bit his lip as another contraction hit, snorting his breath out through his nose through the wave. Keith repeating himself, as he’d done over and over again in the longest half hour of his life

“You’re doing so good. So good for me...”

“It hurts... I feel gross”

“You look better than you feel””

“You’re beautiful. Our babies are going to be beautiful... Coran’s going to make the pain go away real soon, you just keep holding my hand until it does”

Setting a small curtain up to prevent Lance from seeing his stomach, Coran fetched Keith a chair as he let the drugs seep into Lance’s system. Coming back to them, the fae was far too enthused, followed by a nurse who wore a very tight polite smile. The fae had been gone long enough that Keith wondered if he’d run off to leave them alone to deliver the twins alone. Lance was still fighting the urge to push, Keith trying to remember how to coach him through breathing

“I’ve rung everyone, let them know what’s happening. They’ll be forced to wait upstairs until after the delivery, purely for safety reasons. Don’t want someone losing a limb because they can’t wait to see our babies. Now, this procedure is major surgery, don’t be alarmed if Lance passes out, he’s under quite a lot strain. Keith, did you manage to remember Lance’s bag?”

“It’s in the car”

“Excellent. Now, Lance, you may feel the need to struggle. I want you to keep your attention on Keith. I’m not going to harm you or the twins. Please try to keep that in mind”

Keith didn’t think Lance would fight Coran, not in his weakened state. The moment the vampire saw Coran holding a scalpel as he checked his instrument kit, Lance wanted out of there, promising this was a false alarm and he’d come back tomorrow if Coran took the knife away. The drugs had kicked in, Lance was high as a kite if he thought anyone in the room believed it. Keith didn’t want his scary his face to be the first thing their baby saw, but the poor werewolf’s ego was mad. They wanted to see the twins already, but they wanted to see them without Lance being hurt or cut open to deliver them. His ego was a stupid animal. Coran hadn’t even started the incision and Keith felt faint from the scent in the room.

Growling through another contraction, Keith’s hand was crushed all over again, Lance throwing his head back, sobbing out a “fuck” as the wave passed. Ooooh fuck... he’d grown used to Lance crushing his hand, but that was definitely Lance pushing. He wasn’t supposed to be pushing... Drugged up Lance probably couldn’t stop himself from how badly he wanted the twins out and the pain to be over

“Uhh, Coran... I don’t think he’s waiting for you”

Placing down the scalpel, Coran moved back to table. Lance was naked beneath the sheet, the fae letting panic was over his face before composing himself in the same moment

“He’s started crowning...”

Nope. They may not have had a birth plan, but Lance was clear about “not pooping out a baby”! Keith snapping at Coran

“He’s not supposed to be!”

Coran snapping back at him

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

7 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 207 prt 1

207

Lotor was still a sack of shit. Keith managed to get him pinned, then the arsehole had pierced his side with his nails, fangs bared and irritation in his eyes as he stared down at Keith. The pain causing him to shift back, Lotor finding it amusing in causing him to yield, but he’d get him back. Dragging himself to the showers, the amount of blood running down the drain was alarming. Keith really wasn’t used to these kinds of wounds not being fatal. It was tiresome to have to spar in cheap shorts because the moment he shifted his clothes were ruined. Lance had taken him op-shopping. Proud that he was getting the hand of letting the shift happen. Keith didn’t think he was getting the hand of it. He only seemed to be able to shift when he was training... and then it’d taken days to be able to do it again after his first wilful shift... that he didn’t remember.

Leaving the shower, still bleeding, Keith nearly had a heart attack at Krolia sitting on the bench in front of his locker. His mother were a concerned look, that took a long moment for Keith to work out. A hot shower on top of blood loss was a silly idea. Instead of feeling clean, he felt faint

“Mum?”

Lifting the first aid kit beside her, his mother was creeping him out with her concern

“I thought you could use some help with your wounds”

“Oh... uh, they’ll heal”

Krolia sounded almost disappointed in him as she pointed to the spot next to her. He wasn’t getting out of this

“Humour me”

Be fussed over by his mother was different to being fussed over by Shiro or Lance. Lance kissed his wounds, before he cleaned them up and told him he was proud that Keith was making progress, even if he hated seeing him coming home bleeding. Shiro went to fretting and wondering if he needed stitches. Krolia went to the alcohol wipes that made him yip

“Sit still you big baby”

“Stop poking at them. They’ll heal”

“You’re very lucky you’re a wolf. You’d be dead if you were still human”

Rolling his eyes, he knew that. He knew that a hundred times over. The fact his body healed was so damn weird

“Tell me something I don’t know”

Dropping the wipe she’d been assaulting his right hand side with, his mother pulled him into a hug that left him still. He didn’t move to return the hug, nor did it feel like a nice loving hug... No. This was the kind of hug he’d gotten from Lance after his accident. The “I’m worried about you” hug that made his heart race

“Mum?”

“I want you to stop training with Lotor”

She what now? Blinking half a dozen times, Keith wrinkled his brow

“Mum, you know I’m okay...”

“I know, but I can’t stand it. I’ve been watching your training sessions with him... Keith, it scares me. I don’t want that kind of violence for you”

“We’re training...”

“You’re fine the way you are. I know you’re a skilled hunter, but every time I see you covered in blood, it hurts. I know it hurts Lance too. He called me in tears the first time it happened. He’s very proud of you, and he’d never tell you not to train. I’m very proud of you. But I think you need to take a break for a little while. You can go on patrol with Shiro, just... please... I know you heal, but I’m scared you’ll go too far”

Keith was shaking. He’d worked his arse off for this. He had yet to actually beat Lotor, but he was getting to know how his wolf. He was getting to be less scared about what he was now. Now Lance was having secret conversations with Krolia, while telling him to his face he was proud of him... and his mother was telling him not to fight? She’d fought every day of her life in more ways than one...

“I don’t get it”

He simply didn’t. He was strong. He was fast. The wounds healed. And his ego agreed with him. They could do this

“Keith... I overstepped. Just... I want you to be careful. You’re my son. I am so proud of you”

Why did it feel like there was a “but” to that?

“But?”

“I know I was never a good mother. I guess seeing your father again reminded me of a time when I didn’t have to fight... Let me finish cleaning you up”

“Mum, I’m okay. Training with Lotor is helping. It means I’ll actually know my limits in the field and be able to protect Shiro and Curtis”

“But who’s going to protect you?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. His ego said he didn’t need protecting. That they were better than those humans. The thought upsetting him as soon as it crossed his mind. Shiro was his brother. His pack. He has his back more times than Keith had hot dinners. Maybe... maybe he was getting too cocky? Maybe... he was being mean and didn’t know it? He and Lance hadn’t been very intimate since he’d started training with Lotor... Was Lance thinking he didn’t want to touch him?

“Keith?”

“I’ll think about it. You don’t have to worry about dressing the wounds. Lance will take care of it at home”

He wanted to go home to his fiancé and talk this out. He thought Lance had been proud of him. Not running to his mother because he couldn’t face him. Lance said he understood Keith’s fatigue... He’d said he was proud... Honestly, Lance not being honest upset him far more than Krolia telling him to stop

“About that. Yeah, Lance isn’t at home right now. I picked him up earlier and now he’s with Curtis and Shiro”

Had he fucked up? Why wasn’t Lance at home

��What do you mean he’s not at home?!”

“You don’t need to yell. Rieva was a little worried about him, and I wanted to borrow him anyway. He’s fine. Rieva couldn’t very well to his future mother-in-law needing to borrow him, not when I said I’d bring him to Platt”

“Mum!”

Rieva was Lance’s babysitter. He’d lapsed back into barely being able to keep his eyes open again. The female werewolf was sure labour would be coming on soon, Lance cut her down by saying he was exhausted from her and her birthing plan. Keith was exhausted from hearing about the birthing plan... and he wasn’t the one doing any of the hard work. Frankly she was slightly scary

“Again with yelling!”

“You can’t go stealing Lance”

“I didn’t steal him. Anyway, he’s safe. I needed to borrow him for the afternoon, actually, I needed to borrow both of you. Preferably for the night according to Matt”

Matt couldn’t go kicking them out their own home. Frankly Keith had enough to deal with. He wanted to hurry up and buy Lance the engagement ring already, but the engagement ring had to be the right ring. It had to match his plans for his replica of Mami’s ring. Lance never mentioned it, but he’d noticed that his fiancé had had a sad look on his face as he looked at Rieva’s new bling. They still hadn’t told anyone... and for Keith, the novelty had started wearing off. He wanted to scream and shout they were engaged... but until he got a ring for Lance, they’d only cop judgment from their friends.

“He can go fuck himself”

Three werewolves were not meant to live together when they were all worried over Lance. Matt had ever started trying to feed Lance, sacrificing his precious food to Lance who only felt worse and worse each time he did

“Don’t be like that. He’s planning Lance’s surprise baby shower. Pidge is in charge of the entertainment and drinks. Hunk and Shay are doing the catering. Rieva is decorating, and Matt is providing the muscles. Allura and Coran are going to drive down in the morning. Thankfully I had a valid reason for needing the both of you, so it all worked out rather nicely”

“Do I get to know what this reason is?”

“I think it’s better I show you rather than simply tell you”

His mother was enjoying this. Keith huffing at her in annoyance. Now his talk with Lance would have to wait, and his stupid ego would be all bent out of shape as it did. He really missed being a human.

Krolia sprung another surprise on him. He’d thought his mother had her own apartment in a seperate part of the city. Not her own apartment a floor below where Shiro’s apartment was. Confused at why they’d gotten off a floor early, the only thing that kept him huffing about it was subtle traces of Lance’s scent in the hallway. Lead down to one of the anonymous doors, Krolia took delight in opening it

“Welcome to my apartment!”

The place was decorated the same as theirs. The same primary colours, accented with black and white. Her sofa was black, instead of red, but for the most part it was disorientatingly similar. Sitting on the sofa, Lance was asleep against next to Curtis who had his arms around the vampire’s shoulder

“Hey, Keith. Come on in. Lance’s been out for about half an hour now, and Shiro’s upstairs”

Curtis’s familiarity with the apartment annoyed Keith. As Krolia’s son, he didn’t understand how he was the last to know she lived right below him. He didn’t want to deal with her shit

“Fuck this. I’m going to get my bike”

As he turned, Krolia sidestepped. Grabbing him by the wrist, he was propelled into her apartment and the door closed behind the pair of them. The look in his mother’s eyes told him he had to stay, no matter how he might feel about it

“Thanks, Curtis. I’ve got it from here”

“No worries. You know, you could have told us you actually lived her”

Kroli shrugged, smug as she did

“I would have, but none of you thought to ask”

Why did he keep letting Krolia do this to? He’d never understand her sense of humour

“Mum, you... why do you do this to me?”

“I’ve got 20 years of mum jokes to make up for. I can, and will, have this. Can I get something you something to drink?”

“Can it be alcoholic?”

Something strong. Something that burned on the way down. Something that’d make him forget his weirdo mother’s excess of weirdness and soothe his annoyance with the situation. Krolia laughed far too hard

“Keith, you my son, are a funny one. Go save Curtis from Lance and I’ll whip up something up to go with our drinks”

Taking Lance from Curtis, Lance barely stirred. Slurring his name, he smiled at Keith as if he hadn’t seen him in years, not a few hours. Snuggling into him, the vampire sighed in content. Lance wouldn’t lie to him, Krolia had to have misunderstood. Stretching, Curtis shot them both a smile. Keith not matching it as his lover smelt too much like everyone else

“He’s had some blood from a bag. He felt a bit warm earlier, so I don’t know if he’s coming down with a fever, or if he’s just super tired. One moment we were discussing our show, and the next he’d fallen asleep”

“He does that. Thanks for watching over him”

“It’s fine. He seems a bit stressed about what’s happening at home. When you’re done here, come on up. I’m going to grab some blood bags before I go home”

“Thanks. That’d be handy. How big is the party going to be?”

“Not that big. Pidge has been warned against loud noises. Hunk was having a nervous breakdown over the cake, but I think he’s got that sorted now”

“As long as he doesn’t go overboard”

“With three werewolves to feed, I don’t think even Hunk can over cater. I’ll give you our gift when you come up”

“Nah, save it until tomorrow. Lance will get suspicious if you’re suddenly giving us gifts”

“Provided he can stay awake long enough. Is he okay to be sleeping?”

“Yeah. From what we can tell it’s a pregnancy thing. I’ll keep an eye on him and call Coran if he does develop a fever”

“Okay, then I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow, Krolia!”

“See ya, Curtis!”

Left alone with Lance in his mother’s den, Keith stroked his fiancé’s hair. Fresh blood would help perk Lance back up, but his mother seemed uncomfortable when he fed him, plus he’d kind of lost a fair bit thanks to Lotor. He could imagine Coran in there scraping his blood off the training room floor for testing, the werewolf’s nose wrinkling at the thought of it all. Lance could have told him if he’d acted out, or if his ego had been being mean to him. He could have told him if he was scared of who, or what, Keith was becoming. He’d nearly given up, then Lance had encouraged him to keep going... Maybe it was a hormone thing? Like when Lance had cried over the puppy in a TV commercial the other day...

Attempting to be civilised, his mother brought him out of his thoughts by placing down a serving tray with two coffees, a tea, and an unopened packet of biscuits. Squeezing herself onto the sofa, Krolia slung her arm over Keith’s shoulder

“This is nice, isn’t it?”

“That you’ve been hiding you’ve been living here? Or that I’ve got no idea what’s going on?”

He and Shiro might be hopeless decorators, but they’d managed to make the apartment feel like theirs. Krolia’s apartment lacked all the personal touches he’s become used to... plus there was a disturbing lack of fur over everything

“Both. Both is good. Now, I know I’ve ruined your plans, but I’ve got something to show you”

“It better be good. Lance should be sleeping in a proper bed”

“You can put him in mine, if you want”

“Lance is fine right here with his Keith”

Poking Lance in the side, Keith kissed Lance’s hair as he did. Mumbling Lance was a sleepy Lance

“You’re supposed to be sleeping”

“I am... can’t you tell?”

“Oh, yes, babe. 10 out of 10, best sleeper”

“I feel sick... you smell like blood”

Lance must have felt too sick to praise him for his monster dick. Thank god they weren’t having that conversation in his mother’s apartment

“Lotor got me again”

Lance huffed, nosing into Keith’s chest right near where Lotor had got him in the left side with his thumb nail

“He sucks... get it, because he’s a vampire and a wanker”

“I get it. Do you want to wake up for me? Or do you want to sleep some more?”

“Cuddles and awake”

“Okay. You going to sit up?”

“Nope. Sorry for interrupting you”

“You’re fine, babe. Mum was about to cut the crap and tell me what she wanted to show me”

“Oooh... I wanna see. Can I see?”

Krolia tried to crane past him to see Lance, Keith shifting slightly to angle his back more towards her as a barrier between the pair of them

“I thought it best that you were to see it with Keith. Are we ready?”

“Yes, please”

“Hiiiiiiii, Keith. Hey, mummy’s big boy... Hello my love. Joe, he looks just like you. Look at him. He’s got your frown. Aw, Keith. It’s okay. Daddy isn’t very scary. No, he’s not”

“Krolia, I think you’re scaring him with the camera”

“You shouldn’t have let me buy it if you didn’t want me using it”

As his father laughed, baby him let out an unhappy cry. His father rushing to hush him as Krolia’s laugh crackled.

Bundled in his father’s arms on screen, Keith had to keep blinking away the tears in his eyes. His dad. His dad was there... The camera footage was old and grainy. He looked thoroughly unamused at Krolia poking the camera so close, but... it was him. Him and his dad. His dad...

“H-how...?”

“After Lance had cleaned I managed to find these in Joe’s closet. They were down the bottom in a box without any labels. I didn’t know what was on there until I dropped the tapes in to be put on DVD... You always hated having a camera anywhere near you when you were a baby”

“Dad...”

“They could only recover footage from two of the tapes. I kept the lot, in case one day they find some way to pull the videos off... You were such cute baby. You never liked having your nappy changed. The moment the cloth touched your balls, you’d scream and scream as if I was trying to murder you”

“You would too if someone was putting a cold cloth on your balls. I didn’t know you and dad had a camera”

“It was a gift. Nothing fancy and certainly not new... I’d forgotten about it. I didn’t see it at the house, so I’ve got not idea what happened it to. Things weren’t like they are now. We didn’t have video cameras in our palms”

He and Lance agreed to keep photos of the twins off social media. Lance had seen a really messed up case during his last time through university. How the law failed parents who posted photos of their children online where they could be seen by less than desirable people. The thought revolted him

“How old was I?”

“I’d say you’re about a month or two. You got a lot more photogenic as you got older. The other video is when you’re 4”

The first video was only 5 minutes long. A really silly video of his dad trying to settle him while Krolia laughed at all his fussing.

“Keith. Hey, Keith, what are you doing?”

Younger him gave the camera a toothy grin, missing his front two. He was so small. His eyes as purple as ever

“You came off your bike and knocked them out. Joe rushed you to the doctor. You were more concerned with not being able to have homemade lemonade than about losing your teeth”

“Keith, I’m talking to you”

Young Keith was as done with Krolia’s crap as he was. Holding his purple hippo, he was twisting himself back and forth, showing off for the camera as he whined directly at the lens

“Mum, I’m waiting for dad!”

“You’re waiting for daddy? But he’s at work”

“I know he’s at work. I’m not dumb”

Huffing, young him pouted, stomped his foot and crossed his arms.

Lance snorted at him, his hand squeezing Keith’s gently

“You haven’t changed one bit. You’re so adorable”

“Wasn’t he? He loved that hippo so much...”

“Guys, I’m trying to watch the video”

He didn’t want to watch himself, but he did hope his dad would be in it. Having been warned, Lance and Krolia shut up.

“I didn’t say you were. You can do just about anything, and I think you should take me on a tour of our house so I can show daddy later”

Young him huffed again

“That’s dumb. Dad knows where everything is, mum. He’s not like you”

He was a vicious little shit

“You’re really mean to me. Don’t you love, mummy?”

“Not when she’s asking stupid questions...”

Oh god. Keith’s cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. Krolia laughing on the video

“Okay. Okay. Mummy obviously doesn’t know best. Why don’t you do a dance and I’ll film you?”

To his horror, young him shook himself out and danced on the spot. Lance laughing at his “dancing”. Finishing, he stared up at the camera, when Krolia didn’t say anything, he did it again. Parents shouldn’t be allowed cameras

“That’s my boy. Are you sure you don’t want to show me around?”

Pushing his finger to his cheek, he twisted it on the spot as if he was thinking “seriously”

“Are you going to get lost if I don’t?”

“I might”

Sigh dramatically, young him rolled his eyes heavily

“Fine, but you’ve got to remember this stuff, mum. I can’t remember everything for you all of the time. It’s too much”

Young him took them on a tour of their home. Bragging about his dad being a firefighter who rode in a huge truck. His favourite toy being his hippo, but he also loved his toy cars and had kicked a hole in the wall of his room when he’d been put in a time out. He sounded like the spawn of Satan. He definitely had far too much sass for a four year old. Krolia repeatedly scolded for her questions, laughing at him every time he got cranky with her. Seeing the house lived in, he could see the love. His things were everywhere. His “art” pinned to the fridge. Krolia slipping on his discarded skateboard, swearing loudly as she caught herself, young him happy to parrot the bad word then question why it was a bad word if mummy was saying it.

As young Keith concluded his tour, the door to the shack opened. Krolia forgotten

“Daddy!”

Rushing to his dad, the camera was placed down, the video slipping sideways as his father scooped him up.

Keith’s heart ached. His dad was everything he’d hoped he’d be. Everything he’d said he was as he passed from home to home. Yet he barely remembered him. The sound of his voice filled with so much longing to reach through the screen and hug his dad.

“Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun with mummy today?”

“Mum said “Fuck””

Young him giggled at the word as his father huffed

“I’m not surprised. Hey, hun. I see his fever went down, he’s still a bit a warm”

Krolia entered the video, his father wrapping his arm around her and kissing her on the top of her head

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have known he sick last night”

His father hiked him up on his hip, kissing Keith’s forehead

“He takes after you. Don’t you, kiddo?”

“I wanna be like daddy. Mummy is weird”

His father laughed, Krolia moving away from them

“She might be, but if you keep saying that you’re going to make her cranky”

“She’s scary when she’s mad...”

“I can still hear both of you. I think this means no dessert for either of you tonight”

Krolia moved back to the camera, the last shot was of him throwing up on his dad and bursting into tears.

A long moment passed into two. Lance grunting as he wiggled himself forward on the sofa

“Babe?”

#oncebittentwicestupid #once bitten twice stupid #ashratherose

7 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid 192

192

Holding Keith’s hand in public felt nice. Walking from the hotel to the restaurant, Lance found himself watching families of all types as they walked. He couldn’t help it. A smile coming to his lips as he watched kids nag their parents, or listened to them as they played. His hand sitting on his stomach while his mind substituted the kids for their twins, and the parents as Keith. Keith would be such a good dad. He absolutely knew that for certain. He’d worried when Keith had spent most of the night sleepless, the walk seeming to invigorate him as it wore away Keith’s energy. Keith needed his coffee pronto, lest a server cop his boyfriend’s uncaffeinated anger loaf rage.

Leading Keith into the restaurant, it had a kind of rustic charm. Heavy oak logs made the walls, with all kinds of memorabilia stuck to the walls, including a giant stuffed fish with a plaque that red “Billy Bass”. It appealed to his tacky side in all the right ways. Sending Keith to find a seat, his boyfriend slouched off to throw himself into the only available booth. Lance giving a shake of his head affectionately. He really loved that cranky werewolf. Waddling over to the counter, he forced himself to remember to look and act like a girl. Keith didn’t know he was terrified of the same kind of comments made at the petting zoo being repeated. This trip had to go as well and as smoothly as it could. Picking up the menu, he knew instantly he wanted more than pancakes. Everything smelt vaguely appealing, and Keith would eat like there was no tomorrow.

“What can I do you for, darling?”

Jumping at being unexpectedly talked to, the woman behind the counter cackled at him

“Sorry, love! I didn’t think you’d be lost in thought over a menu”

Lance flashed a smile, careful of his teeth. He kind of wished he’d worn a set of glasses. The more he stood in the restaurant, the more he heard and the bigger the world suddenly seemed to be

“Sorry, everything sounds so good I’m not sure where to begin”

The woman chuckled

“I remember those feelings. How many you got in there?”

“Two. I guess I do look pretty big”

“And carrying low, you’ll be in labour no time, love. Now. What do think?”

No. Nope. No labour for him. Not unless he was comfortably set up at VOLTRON... he’d hold his legs together for as long as possible if their twins dared to think of coming this soon

“I think I’m famished. Can I please order two sets of pancakes and two sets of the bacon breakfasts? Ooooh, and I’ll grab a fruit salad, two of the largest coffees you have, aaaand... I think I’ll have a green tea latte... and a fruit salad. Yeah, that’s all, thank you... oh! Do you guys have soy milk? I don’t want to gas my boyfriend”

The woman behind the counter ogled him fo a moment, shaking her head and laughing again

“I don’t know where you’re going to fit all that... We have soy, almond, and regular. None of that skin stuff”

Lance blushed. He couldn’t help that he didn’t exactly know what he felt like, but food seemed like an amazing idea

“It’s for me and my partner. Soy will be fine, thanks”

The woman slapped his arm gently with the back of her hand

“I know that, love. Just an old woman teasing”

“You don’t look that old”

She looked about the age he should look... her name tag reading “Dae”, the white tag almost lost in the red of her bright red shirt

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day. Now, darling, cash or card?”

“Card please”

The woman rang up there largish breakfast bill. Lance paying as he was trapped into small talk

“So, love. Are you here for our Easter markets? Or you one of those passing through?”

“Oh, my boyfriend and I are spending a few days here. We’re meeting up with some friends”

The woman printed him a receipt without him asking

“I’m sure you’ll find this quite boring compared with the cities around here, but we have own charm. Now, can I get a name for this order?”

He’d been prepared for that. He’d made kind of a mental story for himself. He and his photographer boyfriend were driving up, stopping in small towns as Keith built up a portfolio in the hopes of turning to selling prints online

“Lancella... my, uh, parents were hoping for a boy”

“I’m sure they love you at any rate. We can’t help our names. You go take a load off and I’ll bring your coffee over. Take my advice, love, take a look at the markets while you’re here. They really are something else”

“Awesome. We might just take your advice. Thank you”

Siding, barely, into the booth opposite Keith, Keith was glaring at the menu in his hands. Tugging it free, his boyfriend huffed as Lance set the menu back into its holder

“Your coffee’s coming”

“Good”

Keith should have perked up at the thought of coffee. The scent was strong enough that Lance’s stomach was threatening to turn traitor right there at the booth

“Babe?”

“It’s nothing. You looked like you were having a good conversation, Lancella”

Lance rolled his eyes at the name

“I’m a simple man. The best lies have a kernel of truth in them”

“It pisses me off that you have to lie. You’re you. If people don’t like that, they can go play in traffic”

There was his grumpy little anger loaf. He’d also realised something that was likely to make Keith grumpier

“You can’t just put them in traffic. You know, we’re going to be in trouble”

Keith sighed deeply

“What for now?”

“I’m starving... and all that food has to come back up. Plus, apparently I’m going to pop soon”

Scowling at him, Keith sat back and crossed his arms. His voice firm and joke free

“There’s no way you’re allowed to even think about giving birth in this crappy town. Don’t even think about going into labour”

Sometimes it was scary how in tune they were. He didn’t want to give birth here, yet he couldn’t hate this town

“I don’t know. This town isn’t that crappy. This is the town you were born in and you’re not crappy. Maybe crabby... but not crappy”

“You’re fucking hilarious”

Lance shot his boyfriend double finger guns

“I try. But seriously, I’m starving...”

He’d also forgotten to do his shots before leaving the hotel room. Keith coming out with the bath mat around his waist had driven away the thought. His boyfriend hadn’t questioned why he’d packed heavier than usual. There was a whole suitcase of towels and bedding, waiting to be unpacked. His new plan was that after breakfast they’d unpack a little more, and he’d look up the directions to the cemetery where Keith’s dad was buried. The vampire knew his own pain from having now lost both his parents, yet that was nothing compared to Keith losing his dad at such a young age. Making the comparison seemed really shitty and like it lorded the fact Lance had had his parents for so long, that’s why he’d never say it out loud.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the coffee and the latte. Keith sliding both mugs towards him as Lance thanked “Dae”. Wrapping his hands around his cold drink, there was kind of a happy peacefulness as Keith took his first sip of coffee. This was nice. Them having no real schedule. Not rushing around. Kind of on a date, but not at the same time...

“Stop staring”

Chuckling, Lance moved his hand up to take the straw between his fingers, stirring his latte as continued to stare

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

Kicking him under the table, that was Keith’s great comeback

“Really, babe?”

“Fuck you. Fight me”

It’d be soon long since he’d heard that one. The second they found out he was carrying, he had to behave himself and training went out the window

“I could beat you, but we both know you’d liked it”

Delivering the words slowly and purposely, Lance succeeded in making Keith choke on his coffee. Placing the mug down, his boyfriend coughed into his hand

“Fuuuuck...”

“Still want to fight me?”

“Keep this up and I’ll beat your arse so hard you won’t be able to walk for a month”

“Do you promise?”

On the back of choking on his coffee, Keith choked on air. His hand fanning his face as he shook his head

“You deserve to be punched in the dick for that”

“Nah. You love me too much for that”

“God. I fucked that one up”

Lance knew Keith was teasing, yet he felt himself automatically tear up. Apparently he could dish it, but his ego was too much of a diva to take it. Dropping his gaze to his drink, he felt awful for how he’d reacted

“Babe?”

“It’s nothing”

“You know I love you, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I guess my hormones are being silly. It’s ridiculous”

Keith wisely decided not to agree with him, changing the topic

“What did you order?”

Raising his head again, Lance shot him that fake smile that hadn’t come out in so long that he wasn’t sure he was doing it right

“Pancakes. Eggs, tomatoes, bacon, sausages, and fried onion. Coffee for you. Tea for me, and fruit salad”

“You think that’s enough?”

Now he was feeling self conscious over how much he wanted to scarf down his food

“I figured you’d eat what I didn’t...”

Keith playfully kicked him under the table again

“Great. Now I’m the garbage disposal unit”

Shit. Why had his mood plummeted so much? Now it had, his ego was getting riled up. He was starting to feel vulnerable over being pregnant and into a strange place, where people he didn’t know could easily target him, or Keith. He couldn’t scent anyone like them in the place, yet he’d been so care free when they’d come in, he hadn’t thought to. The sudden shift to extreme vulnerability by his ego threw him off. They were a goddamn vampire. Had he been so inclined, he could easily take every single human on in the restaurant... Why was he suddenly so spineless? And why was his ego not propping his mood up with its usual douche attitude.

“Babe, you’ve gone pale. And you’re shaking. What’s wrong?”

He was shaking? He hadn’t noticed...

“Sorry. My ego... just went funny...”

Keith stared at him in confusion

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know...”

He didn’t know. Was it not sure keith could protect them? No. Keith could and would go beyond them. Then why did it want him to run? All he wanted was a nice breakfast with Keith, so Keith wouldn’t be so stressed about what was to come...

Leaning across the table, Keith’s confusion grew. Cocking his head, he drew back slowly

“You feel like... you’re pushing everything away. If there’s something wrong...”

“I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m sorry”

Trying to let his ego flare a little, the instinct to run grew with it. Lance quick to force it back down. Maybe he’d been too focused on being home of late? No one had made any kind of threat towards him

“If you’re not feeling well, we can go back to the room”

“That’s not it. All of a sudden I got a spike of fear and I’m not sure why”

Keith pursed his lips, shook his head, then suddenly decided to move to sit next to Lance, a little too fast for Lance’s liking. Taking his hand in his, his boyfriend squeezed softly

“You don’t need to be scared”

Having Keith close should have calmed him, yet the spike of fear had spiked his anxiety over not knowing why he was kind of internally freaking out

“I know. All I wanted was a nice breakfast”

“We can still have a nice breakfast...”

“I’m so sorry. I know you’re stressing badly. This has to be so much all at once”

The restaurant was loud, despite it being breakfast time. Too many people seemed way too awake

“The glasses help. Do you want them?”

Yes. And ear plugs. Someone dropped something in the kitchen, Lance flinching at the sound as he shook his head

“No. No... it’s okay. I’ve been doing this longer than you have”

“Are you sure?”

“Babe, I’ll be okay. It’s just weird... I don’t smell anything... bad. Maybe I’ve spent too much time hermitting”

“Or maybe people just suck?”

“Careful, babe. Your grump’s showing”

Keith huffed with a pout

“I’m not being grumpy”

“Fine, your lack of people love is showing. I hope breakfast doesn’t take too long”

“You need to eat more. You’re all skin and bones”

Lance’s ego chose to take the wrong way. He ate. Keith knew he ate. He couldn’t bring Keith’s mood down any further

“I’m going to. Your babies are demanding it”

Bring their hands to Lance’s stomach, Keith rested them there

“Already causing so much trouble. You two better give your dad a break”

“That’d be nice. I think the first thing they’re getting when they’re old enough is a trampoline”

“Why do I feel like you’re the one who’s going to be spending more time on it than them?”

“Because it’s nice to lay out under the stars?”

They hadn’t done that in so long... Maybe they’d get a chance while they were here?

“I wonder what sex would be like?”

And there Keith went stating the real reason he supported getting their kids a trampoline

“I’m not conceiving any future siblings on a trampoline”

Keith bumped his shoulder lightly

“There goes that idea...”

“I’m going to put you in a time out if you don’t get your mind out of the gutter”

“But without the gutter, my mind would be homeless”

Without missing a beat, the werewolf had him groaning

“Who taught you that one? They need to be shot”

Keith grinned, Lance kind of envious that no matter how upset Keith was internally, he was keeping his ego well under control. He should be proud. No. He was proud. He just wished his would perk back up

“Pretty sure I learned that from you”

Great. He couldn’t exactly shoot himself... though he’d definitely shot himself in the foot in the metaphoric sense

“You don’t want to listen to me. I’m going crazy in my old age”

“You’re not even that old”

“Older than you”

Keith put on that bad southern drawl that never failed to work on him

“And twice as pretty. A pretty little thing like you should be careful. A big bad wolf might just gobble you up”

“Nah, my boyfriend takes care of all the scary things out there”

“I could take him. They don’t call me the Mullet for nothin’”

Oh lord. That was terrible. That was terrible and Keith knew it was terrible

“Is it because you’re kinda fishy? A bit limp all dead eyed?”

“Why, miss. I’ve been told I’ve got the perdiest eyes around”

Lance let out a long groan of defeat. He didn’t feel safe, and as much as he didn’t want to feel amused, Keith’s stupidity was kind of turning his frown upside down

“Alright. No more. I get it”

“Do you feel any better?”

No...

“Yeah. I’m still staving, though”

“It won’t be too much longer... hopefully”

Keith kept a careful eye on Lance once their breakfast finally arrived. Lance noticing, and responding by eating despite the lack of interest in the pancakes he’d wanted. It was hard to pretend to be happy. Everything felt too much for him, and having it all feel too much for Lance threw him.

Holding it together, the walk back to the hotel was brisk. Lance tried to shake him off to go to the bathroom alone, but Keith wasn’t having it. As Lance “threw” himself down to vomit, he slipped behind him, tugging off the annoying wig so he could rest his chin on Lance’s shoulder. His boyfriend was shaking, his skin felt a little colder than its above barely warm natural state. Having played breakfast over in his mind, he still didn’t know why Lance had spooked, or why his ego had drawn in. The only thing he could think of was that that woman’s words brought up Lance’s fear of giving birth soon. No one had said anything to his precious mate. No one had barely looked their way. No. Everyone else was too busy fucking chewing like a herd of cows. The noise infuriating now he’d noticed.

Staying with Lance until his stomach settled, his boyfriend wobbled on his feet as he stood. Keith had spent the time giving Lance belly rubs and trying smother him in his scent to calm him down. His own ego was rattled by their mates strange actions, making it almost mad at a situation where no one was to blame. Rinsing his mouth out, Lance stared at him in the mirror. He looked exhausted

“I’m sorry”

No. Lance had nothing to be sorry for

“Babe. Hey, it happens”

“I’m supposed to be the one in control here... and I freaked out for no real reason”

“It’s okay”

Lance didn’t know he was semi echoing Keith’s earlier movement as he kicked the basin cabinet lightly

“No. No it’s not. You’re stressed. You’re in a new environment. You’re being forced to go out with me when I look like this. And I couldn’t even keep my shit together long enough to enjoy being out to breakfast with you. It’s fucking pathetic. I should be past all this shit”

“You’re overthinking things again”

Sighing deeply, Lance went to grab his toothbrush out the toilet bag, only to knock the contents out. Sensing the impending tears, he turned his boyfriend towards him, gathering him against him

“Babe. Hey. It’s okay. I’m not mad and you haven’t done anything wrong”

Lance shook his head again

“I’m sorry... God. I feel so fucking incompetent”

Lance wasn’t incompetent. Keith ego saddened to hear their mate talk about himself like that. He wanted to make Lance smile again

“You’re not. Didn’t Dae say something about a fair?”

Again, Lance shook his head

“Sorry... I think I want to lay down for a bit... and I really need to pee. Can... can you get the blankets out the suitcase? They’re in the black one”

“And you’ll be okay?”

“I’m going to pee, then I’ll be out”

Kissing Lance’s hair, Keith found himself more anxious over Lance than the thought of seeing his father’s grave. Maybe Lance was more tired from the day before than he was letting on

“Alright. I’ll be waiting”

When Lance came shuffling out the bathroom, he made straight for Keith. Keith having covered the top of the hotel bed with their three blankets, the bottom one acting as the sheet between them and the crappy bedding below. Lifting the corner back, his boyfriend climbed in beside him. Shoes and all. Lance had to be dead tired to not fight him over his shoes, which had kind of become part of Keith’s daily job. Laying himself against him, Lance rested his head on Keith’s chest, arm snaking around him. Somehow the feeling that came to mind was akin to missing that bottom step and terror flooring you for a moment as your stomach dropped. When Lance started crying, Keith could only let him cry it out. He’d gotten used to Lance having more emotions than he thought possible for a vampire. Lance’s motto seemed to be “sometimes you just need to cry it out”. Still. It sucked. They were so far from their friends. So far from home... and the hard bit was yet to come.

Falling asleep Keith, Lance carefully pried himself off his boyfriend. He felt safer for being in the hotel room, and disoriented from how hard he’d seemed to nap. Creeping to the bathroom, then back into their room, Lance mentally sighed to himself over his emotions. He was being so dumb. Keith needed him... None of this... he couldn’t break down now. Taking his phone off the bedside table, the vampire crept back into the bathroom. He’d already talked to Keith, explaining that he didn’t get what was going on at all... Yet he wasn’t sure that Keith believed him. His people hating boyfriend had offered to take him to the markets on for Easter. That wasn’t Keith’s thing. That was Keith grasping at straws and trying to find a way to make him happy again.

The call took a long time to answer, Krolia’s voice happy as Lance wondered if he was annoying her

“Hey, Lance! How are you?! Did you and Keith arrive safely, I swear that boy never thinks to let me know he’s okay”

They’d sent a message to group chat, and that was about it. With some small unpacking, they’d both been too tired for phone calls and any form of in-depth conversation

“Sorry, Krolia. Yeah, we got here okay. If this is a bad time, I can call back”

“No. Not at all. Is everything okay? I mean, I’m thrilled you called, but I’m confused as to why”

That stung a little. He hadn’t spoken to Krolia all that much since Keith turned...

“I won’t keep you long. I have a question, and I think you’re about the only one who understands what it’s like to be pregnant”

He would have turned straight to Mami if she’d been alive. He felt like he really needed that maternal support right now. Hearing her voice would have driven home she was safe and she would have teased him for being hopeless

“Shoot away! Are my two grandbabies giving you grief already? I can have a stern talking to them, if they are”

He wanted to reach through the phone and hug Krolia. Keith was absolutely amazing with him, yet he couldn’t fall pregnant. A small snort escaped without him meaning for it to

“They’re fine. Using my bladder as a trampoline and wriggling around in there. I... uh... I was wondering if when you were pregnant with Keith, if you ever felt... scared for no reason”

There was a pause. Lance grateful Krolia was taking the time to think about it

“Sometimes, yes. Especially in the line of work I do... Did something happen?”

So Krolia has only experienced fear when thinking of vampires and werewolves...

“We we’re having breakfast and all of a sudden I got scared. There was nothing there to be scared of. No one else who wasn’t human... but... I feel like I was too care free lately. I didn’t guard my scent. I didn’t think about what would happen had someone caught it. I didn’t think about bringing Keith here and what if there was someone like us here... I didn’t think about it... and I feel... like me not thinking about it is the same as me thinking Keith... is... something less than he was”

Starting to cry, he felt really very stupid for his tears. He treasured Keith. But he’d been running around trailing his scent after him without a thought of the impact. All he’d wanted was to get things done and settle his ego

“Lance, you love that idiot son of mine. I’m sure at the first hint of danger you would have reacted. Is Keith there with you?”

“He’s asleep... I’m sorry for calling... I would have turned to Mami, but...”

“No. No. I’m glad you called. I want to be there for the both of you. Yes, I was scared. But nothing like Keith’s father. The slightest thing and he wanted to rush me off to the emergency department. You’re under a lot of stress. Have you been...?”

Lance shook his head, then remember Krolia couldn’t see him shaking his head

“Not yet. I freaked out and Keith had to take care of me...”

“You’re nearing the end of the pregnancy. Fears happen. I know that all too well. Especially how the insomnia can play on your mind. You’ve both been through so much, and I heard from Curtis that you were looking forward to some alone time with Keith. My opinion is that you let Keith take care of you. He’s strong”

“He’s not that strong when it comes to his dad”

“No, but keeping it in will only make him worry more. He loves you. If anything were to happen to you... well, I feel sorry for whoever crosses you. I believe both of you would sense actual danger”

“How am I supposed to know the difference?!”

“You’ll know. Take these feeling of fear and ignore them. Push them aside. They’re useless. Focus on you and my grand babies. You should be safe there. Coran didn’t mention anything about anyone living there that you should be wary about”

Lance sniffled. Krolia hadn’t given him much of anything useful and it sucked... but she tried in her own way

“Thanks, Krolia. I’m going to go back to Keith now”

“No worries. Let me know how everything goes. You can call me. Anything you two need...”

“Yeah. I will. I... thanks for talking to me...”

“Anytime. I’m your mother too. You can come to me”

Coming out the bathroom, Keith was awake, meaning he’d heard some, if not all, Lance’s side of the phone call. Stopping a few steps into the room, he expected Keith to be angry at him for admitting he hadn’t thought of his precious boyfriend’s safety. He hadn’t thought of anything much when it came to the more important things he should have been almost paranoid about

“Babe... come here”

Holding his arm out, Lance caved instantly as he moved to climb into bed with Keith, his emotions getting the better of him as he started crying again. Krolia wasn’t Mami. She didn’t give advice like Mami did. The vampire craving that maternal touch, that Krolia had only taken the point off of

“That’s it. I’m here... I’m here, let it all out”

“I’m sorry”

Keith gentle ran his fingers through Lance’s hair, hushing him softly

“Shhhh... I’ve got you. I’m okay and you’re okay. It’s okay”

“I miss Mami”

“I know you do, babe. I know. Let it out... let it all out”

He was such a selfish boyfriend, yet Keith loved him anyway. He didn’t deserve the love he felt from Keith, but he did notice that together like this, the fear had mostly gone away. There really was no substitute for cuddles with Keith.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose #klance #mpreg #pregnant lance #werewolf keith #vampire lance #two halves of the same idiot

9 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 201

201

Whoever’s idea it was to sign up for karaoke owed Lance a new shirt and new wig. They owed him big time for his shirt, yet owed him even more for the drunk werewolf who couldn’t keep his hands to himself... in public. Blaming Shiro would get him nowhere, even if he was the main culprit. Krolia was to blame for the first round of shots. Lance was to blame for not stepping in when the shots turned buying three bottles of bourbon well over store price. Curtis was to blame for winding up on the small stage at the restaurant, insisting on singing karaoke because it was “karaoke night”. Keith had never heard “Werewolves of London”, so Shiro and Curtis just had to get up and perform it... badly. Shiro got booed, and decided that singing another two songs was the best way to win the crowd over. It did not. Not even when tipsy Keith made his way on to stage to “save” his brother. Keith... he couldn’t even be mad at his fiancé since it was well established that he was known to be an handsy idiot once the alcohol kicked in. Keith needed to let out a little steam, but he could have kept his vomit to himself, instead of suddenly pitching sideways and puking down Lance’s chest as he supported his stumbling boyfriend all of it thanks to Shiro wanting to test Keith’s new level of alcohol tolerance. Unlike him, Keith’s cells were all still living, his curse increasing his tolerance but not enough to withstand chugging the whole bottle of bourbon after half a dozen or so shots.

After leaving the other’s to nap, he’d been woken by Shiro knocking on the door to tell them they were ready to head to the Easter markets. Keith dragged his feet the whole walk there, which suited Lance as his damn hips decided they still wanted to be sore from the night before. Curtis had teased him over his wig, Lance kind of cranky at all of them until they reached the part of the markets that were more like a festival. With the first game, it was on between him and Keith. All it’d taken was a look between them to spark the friendly rivalry that lasted until they’d played every game they could... Lance narrowly beating Keith, who’d pouted until Lance kissed away his hurt ego, and given him one of the numerous small toys he’d managed to win. Keith had indulged and brought him a whole huge bag of fairy floss to himself, Lance having zero regrets when it came back up because it’d tasted so damn good that he’d basically inhaled the bag without thinking to offer Keith any. Shiro and Curtis had a competition of their own, until Krolia faked upset about being left out, and wiped the floor with the pair of them, even with Curtis cheating on the electric powered games.

From the market-slash-fair, they’d headed straight to dinner... and now Keith was snoring off the night as Lance was kept awake by a bout of insomnia he didn’t want. He’d already given into his urge to clean once he’d finally been freed from his sticky clothes. Keith apologetic for being wasted, but not apologetic enough not to grope him on the way out of the restaurant with a growl to let everyone know Lance was coming home with him... Though the growl hadn’t been as bad as when one of the waitstaff came after them because Shiro had left his phone behind. Keith proudly telling them that “he was taking Lance home to fuck his glorious arse senseless” and “that Lance was his and he’d rip their eyes out for eye fucking his bitch”, as Lance tried his hardest to turn into a bat and flee the situation. They’d barely made it down the restaurant’s stairs before Keith was heaving on him. Shiro offered to take him off Lance’s hands, but Keith bared his teeth at his brother and once again called Lance his bitch. When the morning came, Keith would be waking up with a killer headache from not only drinking too much, but from Lance slapping the backside of his head for him calling him his “bitch”.

Being the kind loving fiancé that he was, he’d cleaned Keith up, then dumped him in bed. Their ruined clothes went in the bin, Keith stupidly trying to get handsy and tearing through Lance’s ruined shirt and bra before giggling at his breasts. Lance’s retaliation coming in the form of running the shower slightly colder than Keith was used to, lying that they must be out of hot water with all the showers they’d had to take. Knowing he’d crossed into the threshold of the wrong side of tired, Lance tried to push himself back to the right side by cleaning up their room and bathroom, then growing annoyed when he finished that too fast. The buzz from his ego wouldn’t settle... He wanted some alone time to rein it back it, leading to him calling Krolia to babysit drunk Keith while he went out for a bit... managing to scare the fuck out of everyone by accidentally falling asleep while he was gone... even if he liked to think his heart had been in the right place.

Being him, leaving Joe’s shack the way it was played on his mind. The loving home so sadly neglected broke his heart, though when he thought about it, someone must have been checking in on it from time to time given it hadn’t been vandalised or burnt to ground by bored teenagers. Catering for tourists driving through, the town had a twenty four hour service station, that Lance had noticed when Krolia had been driving, where he’d stocked up on everything cleaning related and all the unhealthy snacks he could stuff into a bucket. The woman who served him stared at him as if he were a nutter, and Lance couldn’t deny that his plan was completely nuts as his ego well and truly sulked at the idea of cleaning up for the werewolf that called them “his bitch”. No one in their right mind suddenly decided that the best way to tackle their insomnia was to drive to their fiancé’s childhood home in the middle of nowhere and clean it within an inch of its life with, surface spray, cold water and overpriced beach towels. Yet, he did... He wanted to do something for Keith. The fact he couldn’t sleep was just a bonus. Keith felt like a stranger in the one place that had truly been his home and no matter how much Lance reassured him, he knew his boyfriend was suffering inside from misplaced guilt. By cleaning the shack up, he hoped that it being in a state closer to how it was when Keith lived with his father might spark some very deep and thought lost memories... Yep. There was a reason Keith called him an “idiot crumpet”.

Not thinking about preserving his phone battery, due to three unread messages in chat from Vee, Lance picked his favourite perky playlist and let himself be busy. He’d always kept his house clean before Keith, but now he found keeping a clean home for his love made his ego proud and therefore calmer. Rieva wasn’t there to scold him for spending too much time on his feet, and the idea of bringing a little bit of love back to life appealed to the desperately needy part of him that missed his Mami. During dinner Krolia had told them about some of her antics when she’d been dating Keith’s father. She’d once been done for assault working behind the bar of the local pub. Fearless as ever she’d knocked a guy out with a pool cue for harassing two teenage boys wanting to play pool for fun. She’d also broken a woman’s wrist, swearing it was by accident, when the woman refused to pay up before leaving. The woman hadn’t pressed charges... no. She’d gotten her wrist set, then come back the following night to hit on Joe. Apparently Keith’s father had been so flustered about it all that Krolia couldn’t help tease him as she planted herself in her boyfriend’s lap and kissed him until the woman started hurling abuse and was kicked out by the pub owner. Then there was the time she ended up in hospital after falling off the pool table because she’d decided to dance on it while drunk... and the time she got busted for cutting across the sports oval on her motorbike while pregnant. How Keith survived basically came to down to a series of miracles given Krolia’s colourful history. She’d assured them the incidents occurred over the years she’d spent there, but none of them believed her. Each of them could see that as being almost being a typical week for a Krolia who’d taken time off from hunting.

Getting all the windows open, Lance was smart enough to cover his mouth and nose before getting to work. His hips ached to the point that sudden movements made him whimper in pain, but his stupid compulsion to clean overruled everything. The floors were the worst so they came first, tackled with the remnants of a half rotten wooden broom and the dustpan and brush out of his car. What he wouldn’t have paid for a portable generator and his vacuum cleaner. From the floors he moved to decobwebbing, before starting at ceiling level and working downwards, relying heavily on his vampire strength and speed as he wanted to burn through his energy and hit peak exhaustion...

Said peak exhaustion came as the sun was rising. The house pleasantly chemically enough to make his eyes water. Fake berry clung to every service possible. There was nothing to be done about what’d rotted and been lost, but it was nice not to see damn dust coating everything. Pleased with himself over his job and considering it totally worth it cram himself in behind the driver’s wheel, he climbed into the back of his bronco for a small nap and passed out...

Keith was freaking the fuck out. He’d fallen asleep with Lance there. He’d woken up with Krolia there, a hangover, and Lance missing for hours. His mother worried enough that she’d called Curtis and Shiro over to his room, their noise waking him... Krolia the one to tell him that Lance had asked her to watch over him while he went out, seeking some alone time thanks to his ego. When she told him that’d been somewhere around midnight, he’d kind of flipped out. Lance wouldn’t simply not come back to him... He was his mate. His fiancé. He’d promised to stay with him... How had missed the signs that Lance wasn’t okay? That his ego was getting the better of him. He’d thought they’d had a fun night, through he didn’t remember much after leaving the restaurant. Had he done something while drunk? Something that’d made Lance wash his hands with him? Drunk Keith was a slut... but if he’d flirted with anyone, it’d only be with Lance, plus the others had no idea why Lance hadn’t come back.

Skipping showering, Keith was a dishevelled mess. Alcohol sweat left his body feeling gross, so did the felt factory over his teeth. The gentle insistences by Shiro to clean up were met with him snapping. He’d nearly wolfed out at his family because they didn’t get it. Coran had said there’d be complications towards the end of the pregnancy, his insecurities and anxieties whispering how Lance could be in labour, or miscarrying having crashed in a ditch somewhere. Why the fuck would Lance leave him for so long?!? It made no sense. None. His ego was devastated and enraged. Climbing into the back of Shiro’s sedan, he had to keep his arms wrapped around himself as he couldn’t get his nails to retract. He wanted his Lance and that’d be the only thing that’d calm him down.

Krolia pulled a lap of the town, slowly to make sure they didn’t miss any traces of Lance’s missing bronco. There was nothing. They tried the cemetery, again finding nothing, as Keith’s emotions boiled over to sobbing that he’d never find Lance... not if he didn’t want to be found. Lance was so damn smart... and Coran was faithful to man he saw as a son. One conversation with Lance and Coran would shut down, never disclosing where his fiancé had gone. Nothing his family was telling him was sinking in... He didn’t even know where they were going, not until he hit the corrugated road and groaned loudly enough that Krolia hit the brakes and he smacked his face on the driver’s seat. Of course Lance went to the fucking shack. His fiancé had an unhealthy obsession with cleaning, and the shack was practically a buffet for him.

Finding Lance sleeping in the back of his bronco, Keith could have smacked him. The vampire snoring his head, covered in dirt, with the idiot smiling away in his sleep like he hadn’t sent Keith spiralling with his disappearance. Climbing into the back, his presence roused his fiancé, Lance shooting up the best he could with a loud “fuck!”, before realising where he was and dropping his head to look almost meek. Keith wasn’t having it

“Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again. What the fuck were you thinking?! Do you know how worried we were?! Do you know how worried I was?!”

Sure. It wasn’t the most gentle and romantic way to get through to Lance, but the words came out on their own. His fiancé blinking as he teared up. The scent coming off him was all wrong. Keith’s scent replaced with chemicals and the smell of the roll of dishcloths Lance had used for a pillow. Not answering, Keith took him by the chin, the grip firm enough for Lance to look hurt

“You scared the fuck out of all of us. I thought we’d find you in a ditch”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep for so long!”

Oops. Wailing at him, Keith instantly felt bad. Not that he was going to show it

“You shouldn’t have been sleeping out here at all! You didn’t tell anyone you were coming here!”

“I couldn’t sleep!”

“Then you should have woken me up! Babe, I’ve spent the last however long panicked that you’d left me!”

He was so goddamn weak for Lance that when Lance went for a hug, he found himself clutching him tightly as his fiancé cried against him. Idiot. Out of all the places in the world Lance could have gone, Keith was rubbed slightly the wrong way by Lance coming here alone. Lance crying on his shoulder made his stupid ego angry. It seemed to think his fiancé had no reason to be sobbing like he was seeing he was the one in the wrong

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry... I wanted to do something good for you”

“By leaving in the middle of the night?!”

“I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t... stop thinking and I didn’t mean... I was only going to take a small nap then come back and now you hate me!”

“That’s not okay. I thought you must have gone into labour or miscarried. Mum was worried enough to call Shiro and Curtis over, we’ve been looking for you in town. Why’d you have to come here?! It’s not even your house!”

Flinching away, Lance pulled himself back from Keith like Keith had struck him. Big blue eyes wide with fear, as Lance’s hands went to his belly protectively. The quivering of Lance’s bottom lip hurt to see

“Sorry. Shit. I’m sorry”

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I didn’t think... I just wanted to do something nice...”

“Babe...”

“I’m so stupid. Of course you don’t want me here. I overstepped. I shouldn’t have... I shouldn’t have done it... I’m so stupid”

“Babe...”

“Now you hate me. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I just wanted to... to clean the place up because I thought you might remember something if it wasn’t as gross inside...”

“Babe...”

“And now you don’t want to marry me anymore!”

Hold up. What? He hadn’t said that, and Lance wasn’t listening to him. Did Lance not want to marry him anymore? He hadn’t had his coffee, to concerned with finding his missing Lance

“Babe, stop. God. No”

Lance burst back into tears. Keith didn’t know why. He’d just told Lance that no, he didn’t not want to marry him, so why was Lance sobbing? He should be the one crying. He’d lost his fiancé and thought him gone forever

“Babe...”

“I fucked up everything!”

Lance going to make himself sick if he kept sobbing as he was

“You didn’t. You scared me, but it’s okay now that you’re safe”

“You hate me now!”

Ugh. Keith couldn’t keep up. His heart was yet to slow down from the way it’d started racing at the news Lance was missing. Why was it so hard to brain now that he’d finally found Lance?

“I don’t hate you!”

“But you don’t want to marry me!”

“I do. How did you even get that thought in your head?!”

“You said no!”

“I didn’t say no! Now stop crying. I haven’t had my coffee yet and you’re not making sense!”

“You keep yelling at me!”

“Because you scared me!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“You still did!”

“I wanted to do something nice!”

He’d stayed with Lance everytime he threw up... Lance could have given him cuddles

“Cuddles are nice!”

“You were too drunk!”

“That’s not my fault!”

“You called me your bitch! I’m just a hole to fuck!”

Keith let out a woeful groan. Why hadn’t getting coffee been part of their find Lance plan?! Where were the adults when he needed an adult

“I can’t do this. Lance, I’m not... You’re not a bitch... I don’t even remember saying that”

“You did... you upset my ego! I thought you loved me!”

“Drunk Keith is a moron! You should know better than to believe him”

“So now I’m stupid?!”

Lance had literally just been calling himself stupid. Burying his face in his hands, Keith groaned deeply

“You’re not stupid. Coming to the house in the middle of night without telling anyone was stupid. I don’t know why you felt the need to clean”

“Because I couldn’t sleep!”

“Then you should have woken me up!”

“You were passed out drunk!”

“Hey, stop yelling at each other!”

Yelling at the pair of them, both Lance and Keith glared daggers at Shiro who dared to interrupt their conversation. His brother raising his hands in surrender

“I’m sorry. But you can’t talk if you’re yelling at each other. Lance, are you okay?”

“Keith hates me!”

He’d never said that. Now he was getting beyond frustrated

“I don’t hate you! I was worried about you!”

“You yelled at me!”

“Because I woke up to find you missing!”

“I didn’t mean to go missing!”

“You still did!”

“Okay! Okay! That’s enough. Why don’t we go up to the house and talk about this like adults?”

His brother was missing brain cells. Staring at the bickering couple, Shiro was smiling at them. What the heck was with that?!

“This is between me and Lance!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. I just think you’d be a lot more comfortable not sitting in the back of the car. Lance, you gave us a huge scare there. You really should have rung if you planned on staying here as long as you did”

Keith huffed crankily

“He said he cleaned the place up to make me happy”

“I wanted to do something nice for you... I thought you might remember more if the place was clean”

“This was my home, I should have been here”

“You were too drunk!”

“Then you should have waited”

“But I couldn’t sleep!”

“Guys! Seriously, that’s enough. Keith, Lance feels bad but his heart was in the right place. Lance, surely you can see how scared Keith was. He thought you’d left him behind”

“I told him I never would... I broke his trust... and ruined everything”

“And I told you I...!”

“Keith. Stop. He knows he messed up, but he did do a pretty good job inside...”

Shiro was taking Lance’s side? What was... huh? Keith had been there. Shiro had tried Lance’s number half a dozen times

“You were just as worried about him!”

“I still am... He doesn’t look very well”

That promptly shut keith up. Maybe Lance did look a little flushed but that was from all the yelling...

“That’s because he has to look at your ugly face”

Shiro pouted at him

“There are some people quite happy to suck face with this ugly face”

“I’m okay, Shiro. I’m sorry I fell asleep for so long... pregnancy insomnia is no joke, and I needed a bit of space”

Shiro got a sad apology, where he’d gotten yelling. Keith nearly threw his hands up at the whole situation. Why didn’t Lance get how terrified he was?!

“That’s okay, kiddo. But in future please at least tell one of us where you’re going”

“I’m sorry. After I threw our clothes out, I cleaned the hotel room but I still couldn’t sleep... I really didn’t mean to cause so much trouble”

Drawing his brow, Keith was confused

“You threw our clothes out?”

Lance nodded at the same time as Shiro, Shiro explaining

“You power chucked down the front of him as we were leaving last night. He hauled your drunk arse home and cleaned you up”

Keith groaned. Drunk Keith was an idiot

“That was your fault”

“Oh, believe me, I regretted it the moment you started hurling. That and you tried to pick a fight with someone you thought was eying off Lance. You also called him your bitch. I can’t say I blame him for smacking you for that one”

Keith could only groan again In misery

“I’m never drinking again”

Shiro chuckled at him, they both knew that was highly unlikely given how many times he’d said that

“Yes. Well. If you two are done, I think it’s best if we head back up to shack. You’d hardly recognise it as the same place as yesterday. Lance, do you need some help getting out?”

Lance shook his head. His fiancé looked so miserable Keith was kicking himself

“I think I should go back to the hotel”

What now?

“You spent the night cleaning, shouldn’t you at least see what you’ve done?”

Lance flinched at him, Keith tilting his head

“Babe?”

“I want to go back to the hotel... can Keith go back with you guys?”

Now Shiro was frowning, Keith kind of getting angry

“What the hell? I spent all morning looking for you, now you want to go back alone?!”

“I shouldn’t be here... I don’t belong here...”

A fresh wave of tears welled in Lance’s eyes. Keith opening his mouth, only Shiro cut in

“I’ll take you back. Krolia wants to talk to Keith, so they should be fine with Curtis here. Is that okay?”

Lance nodded, wiping at his eyes

“I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean... to make you guys worry about me...”

What? No. Lance was supposed to be with him. He’d spent the whole morning panicking about him. If he wanted to go back to the hotel, then Keith should be going back with him

“Hang on, don’t I get a say? I went crazy thinking about everything and you won’t even talk to me, now you want to go?”

Lance whimpered this time instead of flinching. Grabbing him by the ankle, Shiro pulled him back towards the open trunk door

“What the fuck?”

“I think right now, you both need to calm down. Your eyes are yellow, kiddo. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s okay”

“But...”

If he was making his scary face, that explained Lance being scared of him... The feeling bubbling in his stomach, leaving him feeling like he was going to throw up. He didn’t want to scare Lance. Lance was the only one he could truly depend on... and now he was scared of him. Why did he have to fuck up everything good in his life?

“Okay... look, I’m mad, but I’m relieved you’re okay. Make sure you let us know when you get there”

“I’ll call. You go see Krolia”

He didn’t want to do that. Keith felt like a child sent away for playing too “rough”. Kicking Shiro’s grip off his ankle, the werewolf slid from the back of the bronco, casting Lance a sad glance before shaking his head at himself

“I love you, babe. I’m sorry I scared you”

Sniffling Lance shook his head, not denying Keith scared him

“That’s okay... I love you, too... I’m so sorry, Keith”

He was such a goddamn wanker, and totally deserved a dick punch, no matter how prissy his ego was being over the whole thing.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

7 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 200

200

Standing in the childhood home of Keith, Lance felt as if he was trespassing on the site of ancient and important ruins. The shack had been made by Jeong, according to Krolia, his little anger muffin inheriting none of his dad’s skill. After 20 years of abandonment, there wasn’t a space that was coated in thick dust or cobwebs. As much as Lance wanted to explore, he felt it’d be best if he remained outside so as not breath in anything nasty, or be reduced to a coughing fit... Especially not after the extra bumpy drive in which Krolia seemed to find every single rut and dip in the dirt road.

Having the memory of the living space imbedded in his mind, made it easy to fill in spaces with his imagination. Keith and his dad would have totally eaten in front of the TV. Keith would have played with the long discarded toys still left on the floor. No one had packed the house up. It still looked ready for Keith and Jeong to walk back into their lives, if you didn’t take into account the dust. Just how it’d remained standing astonished him more than the fact they were at Keith’s childhood house. This was the place Krolia and Jeong had called home. This was where they’d been happiest. And now it was... empty and hollow. Waiting for it’s owner that’d never come home.

Hearing Keith sneezing, Lance turned to very carefully lean on the front pole that supported a slim roof over the front door. His fiancé bound to have inhaled enough dust now that his nose would itching madly. God. His fiancé... Warmth swelled in his chest as his cheeks dusted red. Yeah, it’d be a long while before he didn’t feel giddy at mentally calling Keith his fiancé. He’d waited, not sure it’d happen quite so soon, and yet, on top of having now known him for 365 days, Keith had agreed. Lance accidentally true to his sentimental heart, not realising the date until he’d seen the date on his phone earlier.

A few moments later, Keith came out covered head to toe in cobwebs and dust, nose wrinkling as he examined himself in the light of day. How lucky he was to have this idiot who resembled a cobweb brush

“This is insane. Dust should have a limit. You should be allowed a maximum quota and once you’ve reached it, it shouldn’t be allowed to settle”

Trying to pull cobweb from his hair, Keith rubbed it between the thick locks. How he’d managed to survive being an adult as long as he did, was kind of a miracle

“Come here, you. I’ll do it for you”

Obediently Keith stood still as Lance dusted him off. Both of them wanted to say something to the other, yet neither knew what to say. Lance didn’t want to push Keith into talking. Not when he had to process the fact he was once again back where everything had started for him. The home they’d had in Cuba had been brought by family, Lance hadn’t had a chance to go there with him Mami and do the whole “I remember... thing”. He wondered if Keith had remembered anything at all, yet suspected he didn’t from the look in his eyes. Guilt didn’t suit Keith. He much preferred him smiling, so he did the only thing he could think of to make Keith smile and kissed on the tip of the nose.

Rubbing where Lance had kissed, Keith’s nose twitched. A sneeze forming then getting stuck as his fiancé partially opened his mouth only for nothing to come out

“The internet says if you say “sneeze”, it should help”

With an unimpressed look, Keith’s breath caught before finally sneezing ridiculously hard. The werewolf wiping at his nose as Lance watched, kind of finding it cute. Not the sneeze but the sheer unhappiness over how the sneeze had gotten stuck then the force of it

“Better?”

“Mhmm. Don’t go inside, it’s dusty”

“Thanks for the warning, babe. I’ll keep that in mind as I watch from out here”

“That’s why you’re the smart one... we...”

Keith sneezed twice, just as hard as that first sneeze before groaning and rubbing his nose on his hand

“We should have aired the shack out”

They couldn’t go back in time and do that now, plus they’d have to remember to close the place back up. Krolia had found the spare house key, buried inside a bottle that was buried in where Lance assumed once was a small garden under the front window. Sand had swallowed it all. Then they’d found lock had seized, obviously, and needed a little “help” to open. It was sad

“It’s too late now. How do feel being back?”

“I... thought maybe I remembered like fragments, but I don’t remember much of anything. Mum does... she’s going from room to room... but I feel like a stranger”

Keith was on the edge of tears. Lance taking his face in his hands

“It’s okay not to remember everything or anything immediately. It’s okay because being here means you get to make some new memories. I know the dust is depressing, but under that, I see a home where you played on the floor. Where you and your dad eat in front of the TV. Where he tucked you into bed every night. It feels depressing and cold right now, probably completely unimaginable that you lived her, but this is another part of knowing your dad. We should take some photos. It doesn’t matter if you’re not up to looking at them now, at least you’ll have them for when you’re ready”

“I wanted everything to come back”

“I know, babe. Maybe some things will once your brain starts putting the pieces together. The important thing is not to be mad at yourself for something you have no control over”

Keith snorted, before sighing

“I don’t know what to do”

“Let the house air a bit, then take photos. Mum’s stories might be hard to hear, but they’re all part of the puzzle”

Trying his hardest to be supportive, Keith simply rolled his eyes at his words

“I think I really fucking hate puzzles”

“Nah. I bet given the chance, you’d be a total ho for puzzles”

“I’m a ho for you”

“I know. You know, it’s kind of nice out here”

There was no one around, other than the other 3. No cars. No noisy traffic. No people... it was essentially a house in the middle of small desert. Weeds seem to even give the grounds around the house a miss, and there were no trees which meant no birds or animals around. What had Joe been through that had led him to such an isolated life? Or was it because people were racist dicks that he’d chosen to carve out his own small part of the world. To think in a way Lance was kind of like him. With his house out where no one was. Living alonish... Now the house was filled with noises, he liked it much better.

“The location does have its charms”

A peaceful existence was all Lance had wanted. With Keith around, Joe’s existence would have become all more happier

“Probably not when you’re a little kid, but you would have had all Joe’s attention when he was home”

“Because there’s a great lot of other things to do”

“Babe, you’re still a handful as it is. I bet he loved every moment he spent in this home with you”

“Maybe”

“Nope. “Definitely”, is the word you’re after. I know from personal experience... well, after you stopped thinking I was trying to trick into thinking you hadn’t turned”

Keith groaned

“I’m never going to live that down”

“Nope. But hey, you’re the cutest not turned vampire around, so it worked out in the end. How’s your ego feeling?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s sad, but mum keeps talking and it doesn’t know what to do”

“If it gets too much, let me know. I can totally fake sick if you need”

Keith kissed his palm, the action soft and sweet, even with his dirty face

“You’re too good to me”

Chuckling, Lance sensed an impending loop on the horizon. Keith could say what he wanted, yet Lance knew he was the one lacking. His fiancé was so fucking strong

“We’re not going into that again. I love you, babe. You should go back in if you feel up to it”

“Will you come?”

He hadn’t wanted to intrude, or face the dust, but Keith was asking so he couldn’t say no

“Sure...”

Keith let himself be lost in thought on the drive back from his father’s shack. When he’d been a teen, he’d been so desperate to find his way back there. Now he’d been there, the place was... depressing. Krolia had scavenged up the few photos that mould hadn’t destroyed, as well as a few other small pieces. Shiro kept casting glances at him, and Lance had a coughing fit so hard that Keith winced for his fiancé.

He’d come to find out about his dad... He now knew things he hadn’t known before, but it’d also reinforced that his family was nothing like Lance’s. Lance would have kept up the maintenance of the shack. He would have come out every so often to wipe away the layers of dust lovingly and air the place out. Any repairs that needed doing, he would have done it all without a second thought. Heck, Lance had had his eyes on all the things wrong with the place like he was daydreaming about fixing them all... and now his fiancé was snoring softly as he leaned into Keith in the back of Shiro’s sedan. At least they had a room. Shiro, Krolia, and Curtis were all going to have to check in while covered in filth, whereas he could whisk Lance away and clean them both up.

Slowly they made their way back to town, and Lance managed to stay asleep right up to Krolia jerking the car to a stop in the hotel parking lot. Blurry sleepy eyes blinked up at him at him, Lance realising he’d fallen asleep and going to apologise. Keith kissing the words away. He didn’t need to apologise for anything. Not as far as Keith was concerned. Having Lance with him for all of this was more than enough. Undoing his belt, Shiro turned back to grin at them like he’d never seen them snuggled up before

“You guys need any help?”

“Nah, I’ve got him. You guys alright to check in?”

“We’ll work it out. Want to grab some lunch?”

Lunch would mean talking and Keith didn’t want a concerned Shiro questioning what he did and didn’t remember. He was too busy being mad at himself for not remembering

“I think I’m going to take a nap and grab something later. Today was... enough”

“As long as you’re okay”

Keith rolled his eyes

“Yes, dad. We’re fine. Come on, babe. It’s shower time”

Lance’s staggering lasted a few moments before Keith lifted him off his feet. Steps and stairs were bad enough for Lance at the best of times. Sighing at him, Lance let himself be carried, Keith happy he was being so obedient about it. Carrying Lance made him feel strong. Not that he hadn’t been able to carry him before the turn, just now he had the strength to carry him with the surety he wouldn’t be dropping him.

Balancing his fiancé on his knee, Keith fumbled the key into the lock, opening it to find Lenny had dumped box after box on their bed. His ego hated that their space had been violated, yet opted to sulk rather than be angry because it worried for their tired mate. He’d liked to do things for Lance before, now he felt a rush of pride for everything right he did... Egos’ really were pathetically fragile and in need of constant reassurance... a thought at which his ego huffed unimpressed. Maybe he should buy the damn thing a trophy and let it bask until all it’s pettiness had left his system? If only he’d be that lucky. How could his ego possibly be upset that his father had died when it had nothing to do with it?

When Lance went down for a nap, Keith was just about comfortably cuddled. He’d gotten everything they’d needed, and filled the bedside table with it, so Shiro calling his name only made him groan. Naturally Shiro wanted to talk. This was Shiro. The second he felt any kind of emotion, his brother wanted to know all about it. As harsh it sounded to him in his head, Keith wanted a break from learning about his father. He wanted a time out to process. But no. Said time out wasn’t happening, despite how tempting it was to stay cuddled up with his smoking hot fiancé who’s arse was perfectly aligned with his crotch. Cock blocked by his dumb brother, he and Lance would have their revenge later.

Tugging on a shirt, Keith dragged himself out the hotel room to find Shiro leaning against the railing. The view was of the road and the couple of cars parked across the road that belonged to holiday goers. Boring as heck

“You wanted to talk?”

Knowing he sounded a tad too blunt, Keith knew Shiro well enough to know Shiro knew it was unintentional

“Yeah, kiddo. Is now okay?”

“Sure. Lance’s sleep pattern’s all over the place. He’ll be out until he has to pee again”

“That sounds rough”

“It is... I mean for him it’s rough. Not much I can do to change things”

Joining Shiro in leaning against the balcony, this was better than having him inside with all the files on his father. Now the pair of them were stuck staring at the boring road

“Keith... You’d tell me right. You’d tell me if you weren’t okay”

And there it was. Shiro’s worry. They’d grown almost radio silent apart... There was a time Keith could barely go a few hours without talking to Shiro... Mumbling awkwardly, Keith decided the railing was much more interesting to stare at

“You’re worrying too much... I’m not a snot nosed little brat anymore”

Shiro didn’t disagree, yet he also didn’t agree or praise Keith for his emotional growth. Instead his brother slung his arm around his shoulder and gave a tight squeeze

“I miss you, kiddo. I know how you feel about losing your father. So I know that none of this is easy for you”

“I... I didn’t feel... I felt like a stranger at the shack. I mean... I learned about my dad... bits and pieces, and I think maybe I’ve got a better idea than before, but I’m tired. I can’t stop thinking about what mum went through... and I can’t stop thinking about dad burning to death. I guess I’m not okay, but Lance has been really good. He’s been really patient with me... mostly... I made him cry yesterday and he ended up yelling at me for my stupidity. All of this feels exhausting”

“Yeah? And your ego?”

“Don’t even go there. We were about two seconds away from me ripping Lenny’s throat out. I can’t... cope with all this stuff about my dad and my ego... I honestly just... want to stop thinking about it right now...”

Kissing the top of Keith’s head, Keith mentally sighed at himself. Shiro had pulled his infamous mind trick and his mouth had moved on its own

“It was pretty confronting to see the shack. I know when I picked you up, all you wanted to do was get back there... I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were expecting”

“I don’t know what I was expecting... but... I keep hearing about dad and I don’t know if I feel any closer to him. I don’t know this place. I don’t know his friends. I don’t know why he chose here of all places. I don’t know... He feels further away than ever”

“That’s not true. He’s still here. A bit of him and a bit of Krolia made you, and I’m pretty damn grateful you’re here”

“I haven’t been much of a brother...”

“You’ve got a lot going on”

Keith shook his head. That was no excuse

“We used to be... so close. Now I can’t even stand the city. Even being here... there’s so many noises. I don’t know how Lance does it. He tells me to be patient. But I don’t want to be patient... I... said something really stupid and I really upset him. I told him maybe it’d all hurt less if I’d died”

Shiro sucked in a shaky breath

“I can see why”

“So can I... I’m just... done with feeling so... feeling that all of this is so much. I couldn’t even say... I didn’t know what to tell dad. I probably would still be standing there staring at his grave if Lance hadn’t given me some of his strength...”

“Kiddo, you’ve always been strong”

Keith gave a dry chuckle. He’d been a fucking moron, too hell bent on being angry to accept he was overthinking absolutely everything and paranoid that he’d never be seen as himself or outside of Krolia, and Shiro’s, shadows

“Right. I was a jerk to Krolia. Hated almost everyone we worked with. Stuffed up missions. Caused trouble for you and Adam...”

He hadn’t been oblivious to the fights between his brother and Adam. Now that he thought about it, they’d missed the anniversary of Adam’s death... He hadn’t... he hadn’t even been with Shiro on the day... Shit. His head had been full of Lance, not... the man who’d tried to father/brother/guide him the best he could by Shiro’s side

“We can stand here and talk about all the things you’ve done wrong, or you can accept that you were a bit of a dick and you want to make amends”

“I wanted to see mum yesterday. Her. You... I don’t know how you made it through... I’m sorry. I should have done more”

Shiro squeezed him again

“You know, it hurts and it’s hard, but in a way, we got through all of this thinking about you. I had you to help me through. Krolia had the thought of your safety and one day meeting you...”

That didn’t make it okay. Keith groaning when thought about his past “anger loaf” self

“I was such a douche canoe”

Shiro chuckled

“That’s a new one”

What was what? His brother doing him a temporary confuse

“What...? Oh... not really. Lance has all sorts of weird sayings for things...”

“He’s really rubbed off on you... Is he okay? He seems really exhausted. It’s not going to be like it was on your birthday weekend, is it? Does he need blood?”

“He’s okay. Coran said he could feed off me and it hasn’t seemed to have any negative effects... We um... he... um... kind of... yeah”

“It that your way of informing me you spent all afternoon in bed and that’s the real reason Lance is exhausted?”

No. That was him narrowly avoiding telling me his brother that Lance had sort of proposed and he’d agreed... and then they’d had amazing sex, stinking up the hotel room comfortably until his idiot family ruined it

“Yeah. You didn’t have to say it out loud. It sounds bad when you put it like that”

“You two couldn’t keep your hands off each other before, I’m hardly surprised...”

The passion was still very much there, but there was definitely less spontaneous bouts these days. Lance had shockingly low self esteem, maybe he should jump him more often? Huffing, Keith sounded more whiny than cranky with his mate

“It’s... not like that. He’s been struggling with his body changing ever since he first started showing. He’s an idiot. He seriously thought his body changing was going to ruin everything. He keeps saying that he’s fat and not sexy because he’s so heavily pregnant. Its total bullshit... Like, he’s... he’s still him. And god, Shiro... the sex is still amazing... the sounds he makes...”

His ego was getting riled up at the thought. Shiro’s scent starting to grate on his senses when his mind wanted his body in bed with his mate... Still, he couldn’t bring himself to simply push Shiro away. He was a walking bundle of contradictions and felt almost like he’d lose his mind from all the going back and forth he was stuck doing

“I’m going to stop you right there. Okay. I get it. You want to be a good boyfriend to Lance. If Coran says it’s safe for you to feed him, than it must be... but I’m still going to worry about it”

“It seems his curse kills my curse. It hasn’t negatively impacted on the twins... but he is drinking so much blood that it’s hard to not worry”

“How much is “so much”?”

Enough to be what they’d thought all vampires drank on a regular basis

“He’s gone from one bag split over three meals a day, to four or five bags a day, with fresh blood on top of it. The pregnancy has taken so much out of him. You can see he’s visibly older looking now, and he’s struggling to put on any weight he’s lost from constantly vomiting”

“That’s...”

“A lot. You know what he’s like. He doesn’t like drinking blood”

Shiro snorted, deciding now he needed to pretty much lean his whole weight against him. His brother was a dick, Keith half thinking of feigning weakness just to watch Shiro trip over his own feet, but his ego wouldn’t let him

“He’s the most “unvampire” vampire we’ve ever come across. A bit like you... you’re not a very “wolf” werewolf”

“Fuck off. Lance says I’m manly and shit”

“Sure, kiddo. A manly werewolf that sits outside his boyfriend’s window and cries his head off. Matt told me all about your first moon”

Fucking Matt. Keith couldn’t remember his first full moon... that wasn’t playing nicely

“Matt needs to be neutered. He’s a fucking menace”

Shiro clicked his finger, pushing off of Keith and turning to face him. His brother’s smile so wide it verged on creepy

“A menace that’s engaged. Or is getting engaged. He came to Platt to pick the ring up. He swore me to secrecy...”

“I can see how seriously you took that”

Arranging his expression as neutral as he could, Keith was annoyed. Couldn’t Matt have literally picked any other goddamn day of the year

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. He decided seeing you and Lance were away for your one year anniversary, it’d be a good time to step up and put a ring on it”

“Rieva would hit you if she could hear you, and what do you mean “our one year anniversary”? We didn’t get together until May”

“Ahhh, baby brother of mine, you met Lance a year ago, yesterday. You know he never forgets. Someone’s in trouble”

Keith now knew the date. Had Lance chosen yesterday for that reason? It was more likely his fiancé barely remembered the days of the week given vacation time moved differently from normal time

“Yeah. You. You’re going to be in trouble if you keep teasing me”

“Awww, little Keefy is cranky”

It took all Keith had not to pick Shiro up and throw him over the balcony railing, then kick down Krolia’s door, grab her, and toss her over to land on top of his brother. Stupid Krolia... that name was definitely going to stick then he’d have to put up with hearing it from everyone.

“Fuck you. I’m going back to Lance”

“Too cool to hang with your big brother?”

“Not when he’s all smelly. Go take a shower already, you’re getting me dirty again”

“Consider these cobwebs of love”

That didn’t even make any sense. Shiro was getting senile in his old age

“You’ve got cobwebs between your ears, old man”

“Come on, Keith. Give your big brother a hug”

Dodging Shiro, Keith put up a very half arsed attempt. Shiro wrapping his arms around his waist and hoisting him up backwards. The torture lasting a few moments before he was placed back down again. His idiot brother wiping himself against him, trying to get off one last cobweb

“There. You’re all nice and webby now”

“You suck. You suck and that was totally abusing your brotherly privileges”

“Yeah, but you love me anyway. Okay, you’re all dirty now, you can go away”

Huffing at Shiro, the werewolf didn’t know why he was smiling so happily about things when he was very clearly outwardly annoyed

“Oh, trust me. I am going. You better remember to bring me a peace offering for this”

“Nah. I told you these are cobwebs of love”

“And I told you you’re old”

Shoving him playfully, Keith lunged for the handle to his and Lance’s room, smoothly opening the door and darting inside before his brother got any other ideas. Poking his tongue out at Shiro, Shiro flipped him off. Both of them smiling at each other in a way that reaffirmed that everything was okay between them. With the chance of him saying something teasably sentimental, Keith shut the door softly in Shiro’s face, before realising his brother had sentenced him to have yet another shower for the day. His big brother really was a big bother.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

7 notes · View notes

dammitadolfnomorecake · 3 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 92

Lance lived up to his warnings over having nightmares. His boyfriend waking up screaming four times during the night, the last time the worst as he’d barely fallen back to sleep in Keith’s arms before he was shaking and moaning for help. Keith wanted to go back in time and kill Nyma and Rolo himself.. not for the first time and probably not for the last time. With how much of the night Keith spent awake, Shiro let him “sleep in”, creeping into his bedroom a little after 8 as Keith dozed. Cuddled into him, Lance was drenched in sweat, despite his body being as cool as ever. Blearily, Keith blinked at his brother over Lance’s head

“Ugh?”

“How’s he doing?”

Stroking Lance’s hair, Keith hated how useless he’d been at calming Lance back down. His boyfriend would wake up, start crying, cling to him, then cry himself back to sleep

“Sleeping...”

Shiro nodded in sympathy. All-nighters with nightmares fucking sucked. Lance hadn’t been violent towards him, but he’d tossed and turned plenty

“Coran’s called. He asked if you both could come in... I told him about Lance, he said it was best to let him rest”

“Mhmm... do I...?”

He hadn’t slept enough to be rested, but he wasn’t awake enough to string a sentence together

“Yeah. He said he wanted to talk to you about something he’d discovered. He was very apologetic about it all”

“When?”

“He thought it best you head in now to get it out the way. I can keep an eye on Lance”

Why couldn’t Coran come to them? Moving seemed like effort... and Lance really needed him right now. But it wasn’t as if he could say no

“I’ll... up”

“Okay. I’ve got your coffee waiting”

Lance didn’t wake up as Keith extracted himself from his boyfriend. The fever had him concerned, as did whatever Lance was currently dreaming about. Showering and dressing in the first things he found out his closest, Keith carried his coffee mug to work with him, making it clear he’d been disturbed. Meeting him at the elevator, Coran seemed to have had a sleepless night too. Neither of them particularly talkative as they headed to Coran’s office.

Finishing the last of his coffee, Keith stared into the cup hoping it’d magically refill. Coran letting out a long breath as he sat himself down in his chair

“I know you’re eager to get back to Lance, so I’ll keep this as brief as possible”

“He didn’t sleep well... he kept waking up thanks to Nyma and Rolo”

“He seemed very shaken last night”

“We talked for a bit... Sendak scared the fuck out of him”

“He scares me, if I’m honest. Now. I thought I’d let you know that your night wasn’t spent in vain. The Blades managed to extract some audio from your recordings that they’re following up”

“You called me down for that?”

Caffeine deprived Keith was a snappy Keith

“That and I thought you’d like to know the initial results on those samples”

That got his attention, Coran noticing

“Now, that first sample. The blue one, we couldn’t make heads or tails of, though it did give us some clues on the bag itself. The handler had trace amounts of grease and diesel on their hands. The Blades are running their own analysis on it, and believe the bag it was in may provide some leads. The second sample has me concerned”

“How so?”

“I was hoping Lance would be here for this... we did have a conversation the other night...”

“He told me freaked out over his smell”

“Ah. That makes things easier. I wasn’t sure if he’d confided in you as to wanting to stop his heat or at least find a contraceptive that’d help. In the sample you obtained, we found an unusual mix. For the most part it was dried blood, however, upon running more tests, I’ve determined that it’s... I suppose you’d call it a werewolf viagra. Designed for werewolves predominantly, the formula has been slightly tweaked and traces were lifted off your clothes. I wanted to see if Lance was displaying symptoms”

The last thing they needed was werewolf Viagra. Matt and Rieva were horny enough as it was

“He had a fever when I left...”

Coran frowned as his fingers went to smooth the edge of his moustache. Keith knew that fever wasn’t a good sign. He should have made Coran come to them

“That’s not a good sign. It may be emotionally related, though it may also be related to what you all breathed in last night. Is it possible for you to bring him in?”

If Lance was up for it, he would have been right here beside Keith. Coran should really know that

“He’s not up for it. Those nightmares were really bad... he barely slept at all”

“Then I want you to monitor him. I told him the other night we were still trying to figure out how to help him, and how to keep his hormone levels stable. It’s all been a muddle with Lotor. I may be overreacting...”

Overreacting was better than under reacting

“I’d rather know so I know if something does happen...”

“I thought you would. As I said, I did wish to talk to both of you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t leave here. I’m in a smidge of trouble for withholding evidence”

The Blades could go jump. Lotor had sent them there for a reason, not the Blade members. Lotor wanted them to have whatever information was to be found... or maybe he just wanted to show them Sendak and remind them of their mortality.

“That’s not your fault”

Coran hummed, tilting his head slightly

“That’s very kind of you to say. I’ll let you head back to Lance. If his symptoms don’t worsen by evening, he’ll be fine to return home. I do have some medication I would like him to try, just to counteract what’s in his system at the moment. It’s a bit like ingesting bad blood, and his body needs a bit of a boost to remove the last of it. Normally he burns through things quite quickly when he’s stable, making finding a way to keep a sustained dose in his system hard”

“He was really upset. He wants to do more things together. I didn’t know how freaked out shopping had made him”

“He has a soft heart, and he’s most smitten with you. I’m ashamed I’m still working on it. Though I did tell him I wanted to leave his hormones to settle for three months...”

Keith vaguely remembered that... and Lance’s six month probationary period. Surely now Kolivan and Krolia knew Lance, Lance’s life was secured. He wouldn’t be above emotional manipulation should Krolia decide otherwise. That and he really would never forgive his mother if he lost Lance

“You know what he’s like. He’s convinced himself we can’t do anything together because I’m in danger”

Coran sighed deeply. The kind of soul deep sigh that Keith felt

“You both are, I’m afraid. His scent is quite noticeable. I have had a few vampires, and werewolves, comment on it. I’m afraid that I might not be able to give him what he wants as fast as he wants it. I may be onto something contraceptive wise. The scent... I truly believed would settle in time”

Maybe if Lance hadn’t been pulled into his world, it would have? His boyfriend had had such a quite life before he’d come along

“Basically we’re being too impatient, aren’t we?”

Coran smiled as he nodded

“You are. Young love can be that way. I remember that feeling all too well. Now, I’m going to give you an injection for him. You may call it the hopes of an old man, as well as a slight experiment, as it’s far better for him to go into heat naturally. I’ll need you to draw some of your own blood before injecting him”

That reminded him. Lance would be proud if he could see him operating on one cup of coffee. Not only was he talking, he was remembering like a functional human

“Coran, you said before that fresh blood would help him...”

“It would, but he can’t have things both ways”

“What makes fresh blood so different?”

“Think of it like your cup of coffee. When it’s warm, it leaves you feeling much more satisfied... though, perhaps that’s not the right way to word it. Say you were starving, your choice between a fresh crisp apple and an apple with the onset of rot. Both will cure your hunger, though the crisp apple tasted better, it’s better for you, and you feel better for eating it. I’m not explaining this right... There’s more life in fresh blood. Magic if you will”

Keith nodded... Vampire welfare was on the BOM official study guide. Keith had to continually remember that they were full of shit

“Like remote control batteries. Fresh blood is like fresh batteries and last longer. Blood bags are like half used batteries that keep you going until you replace them with other half used batteries”

Coran’s eyes widened, his smile broadening to being too big for the hour of the morning

“Number two, that’s the best description I’ve heard to date. I might have to use it myself. Now, you really best be home. Allura will be meeting with Lotor later, she’s assured me he’s fine with meeting with her alone”

“I think Lance dented his ego”

“More like he smacked across the face repeatedly with a newspaper”

They both smiled at the thought. Keith didn’t see whatever Allura saw in Lotor. All he saw was an unnecessary complication. Standing up, he stretched, muscles protesting thanks to how he’d spent the night holding Lance. If Allura wanted to meet with Lotor it really wasn’t his business, all he wanted was to get home to his boyfriend.

Lance slept on, Keith feeling guilty about injecting his boyfriend while he was sleeping but didn’t want to wake him now he was finally resting peacefully. Thanks to that it turned into a lazy day, Keith pulling on his pyjamas and conking out next to his boyfriend. Leaving his phone unguarded, it wasn’t until nearly 4pm that he woke, roused by Lance waking up. Peppering kisses to Keith’s cheek, Keith smiled as he hugged his boyfriend close, determined that Lance wouldn’t feel judged over his nightmares

“Good morning, sleepy head”

Nuzzling into Keith’s cheek, Lance was relaxed against him

“Hey, hot stuff”

“What brings you to a bed like this?”

“My boyfriend... My amazing boyfriend”

Keith’s smile widened, playing along

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. He has no idea how much he helped last night”

“He sounds like a keeper”

“He is...”

Falling into a comfortable silence, it was broken by Kosmo who’d heard them. His paws scratching on Keith’s door, whining pathetically to be let in. Shiro collecting him up before letting himself into Keith’s room. Carrying the excited puppy over, he dropped Kosmo lightly on the pair of them

“You’re lucky I don’t charge babysitting fees”

“Don’t be like that... what’s the time?”

“Nearly 4. Pidge says you’re disgusting”

Keith groaned in confusion. One minute he was having cuddles, the next Kosmo was climbing over him and Pidge’s name was being brought up

“What did you do?”

“I may have sent a photo or ten of you two sleeping to your chat”

“Shiro!”

He was going to kill his brother

“It’s your fault for not locking your phone and I wanted to let them know you guys were both alright”

That word “alright” seemed to linger in the air. Lance going tense as if he expected Shiro to yell

“I’m sorry for last night”

“Nah. It’s alright. As long as you’re feeling better”

That desire to murder faded when Keith realised his brother was trying to reassure Lance that he was still welcome here and that having nightmares wasn’t about to wind up up with him evicted

“A lot... I’m sorry they were so severe”

“It’s okay. Nothing compared to some of the nightmares we’ve been through, and it’s not something you can help or control. Curtis is out in the living room if you two feel up to being human”

“I guess I’m staying here...”

Keith took a moment to process before groaning, Lance kissing his cheek. His boyfriend wasn’t funny

“You’re a shit”

“I’m dead... and I probably look like shit, but I’m not sure you’re using the right descriptive words”

“You’re an idiot crumpet”

“And you’re a cranky caffeine needing anger loaf”

Keith couldn’t disagree. Shiro laughing at the pair of them

“I’ll let Curtis know you’re coming out”

“He already knows”

That smooth fucker. All Keith could do was groan again at Lance.

Skipping showering, Keith lent Lance some of his clothes to wear. His boyfriend pulling off the cliche “stolen boyfriend hoodie” happily. Heading out to the living room, Curtis smiled at the pair of them

“Good to see you awake. Sorry I couldn’t come back last night. Coran got in trouble for bringing us along”

Lance stalled mid-step, head jerking up, looking like a deer in headlights

“Fuck. Lotor...”

“I’d rather not”

Now he had Curtis doing it too. Why were all their friends so weird?

“Noooo. Shit. We should have met with him by now”

Placing his hands on Lance’s shoulders, Keith pushed him towards the sofa

“Allura’s got it handled”

“She does? How do you know she does?”

“Because I saw Coran this morning. Now sit down already, I’m feeling exhausted already trying to guess what’s going on in your head”

Lance obediently sat, Keith flopping down next to him

“What do you mean you saw Coran?”

“I mean I saw him. He called earlier”

“What did he say? Is Allura okay?”

“Allura’s fine. He wanted to talk but you were sleeping so I went in to find out what was going on”

Lance frowned hard. Hard enough for it be adorable

“You should have woken me”

“It’s fine. We had a chat. Blades got some leads to work on and we all got slightly drugged. No biggie”

Shiro fumbled the mug he was holding as the smoke alarm started beeping. Lance hissing and covering his ears. In the kitchen the toaster had gone up in flames, Curtis moving to open the windows, Shiro moving to deal with the toaster. Unplugging it, he dropped the device in the sink, turning the water on to douse it in a way that couldn’t be safe. Flying up the sofa, Kosmo shook as he panted, trying to climb up Keith’s chest

“Turn the alarm off!”

“On it!”

The whole sequence of events took place in the space of a few minutes. Lance and Keith both wide awake now. It’d been a while since anything had gone up in flames in the kitchen... as if they’d been lulled into a false sense of security. Turning alarm off, they all breathed a sigh of relief as the noise died

“Sorry ‘bout that”

Keith was confused by Curtis apologising

“What are you saying sorry for? Shiro’s the one in the kitchen”

“I should have hit the alarm before doing the windows”

“Don’t blame this on me. There’s nothing in the toaster”

Rubbing at his ears, Lance sighed

“Why does it have to be toasters? Why can’t it be something less flammable?”

Keith didn’t have an answer. Shiro was in the kitchen meaning it was his fault

“It’s the first time Shiro’s killed one here”

Shiro quick to deny

“Again, not my fault!”

“None of you should be allowed in a kitchen. I’ll clean up, and as I do, I want the three of you to sit on the sofa and have a good hard think about your actions”

When Lance was determined, it was impossible to talk him out of something. Curtis and Shiro both looked sheepish sitting on the sofa next to Keith with their hands in their laps, Keith’s resting on a traumatised Kosmo. The three of them too scared to talk properly

“He’s your boyfriend...”

“I’m not getting invoked”

“We weren’t anywhere near the toaster”

“Doesn’t matter. Shut up. You’ll get us in trouble”

From the kitchen Lance called out

“I’d like to say I know you know I can hear you. You’ve all lost your rights to touch a toaster”

Keith kicked Shiro in the side of the leg with a glare. He’d worked hard to have toaster privileges again

“Now look what you’ve done”

Shiro gaped at him. His brother had brought this on himself

“Me? I didn’t touch it”

“Doesn’t matter. You got me in trouble”

“But I didn’t do anything. Curtis, back me up”

Curtis decided now was the time to check under his nails for imaginary dirt

“Did you say something?”

“Traitor. You’re supposed to be on my side”

“As an experienced toaster killer, it’s best you accept your punishment”

“I’ll punish you”

Ugh. Gross. He didn’t need to think about that

“Bring it. What are you doing to do? Grind my horn down?”

“No, but I might paint your tail while you sleep”

“Oh good. I was thinking it needed a fresh coat of fuck off”

Delivered deliberately, Keith felt Shiro’s soul take damage. His brother had no smart reply for that. Instead Shiro crossed his arms, leaned back into the sofa, and looked away from the both.

Seeing they’d been banned from the kitchen, Lance made sandwiches for the four of them. Keith wanted to help, but all it took was a look for the words to die unasked. Lance wanted to feel normal, so was doing something as mundane as making sandwiches. Presenting them nicely, with coffee for three of them, his boyfriend then sat on the arm of the sofa

“Okay. You can eat now. I’m probably going to head back to Garrison tonight”

Lance wasn’t going to ask about being drugged?

“Coran said you should stay... to make sure you’re okay. I had to give you an injection of blood and stuff to help get everything out your system”

“I did wonder why my arm hurt. Did he say what it was?”

Keith blushed, mumbling

“Werewolf viagra”

“What?!”

Screeching, Lance nearly fell off the sofa arm backwards. Hands flaying before grabbing the arm of the sofa and saving himself

“Werewolf what?”

“Viagra. Traces were on our clothes. It’d been like adjusted or something. Coran wanted to make sure you didn’t go into heat or anything”

Angrily, Lance huffed

“Oh, so now he can do something about it...”

Whelp. Fuck

“He said it would be burned through in your system and you needed a bit of jump start with that”

“I feel shitty enough without this viagra. Why the fuck would they be using it in a vampire club?”

Keith shrugged

“I don’t know... You’ll have to ask Coran”

“Because that won’t be an awkward conversation. Can you imagine Matt if he sniffs it in me? He’s horny enough as it is”

Shiro choked on his sandwich, hitting his chest with his fist

“I don’t need to think about that”

“Neither did I. Did he tell you what I’m supposed to feel?”

“You had a fever and he was worried it’d turn into a heat”

“Great. So a guy can’t have a fever these days without being secretly horny... Thanks, life”

Curtis braved the cranky Lance

“He does have a point. A fever is a prime indicator that you’ve gone into heat”

“Not that kind of fever...”

“You also had an incredulous stressful night. Personally I believed you would turned into a bat”

“Your confidence in me is startling”

“You are swayed easily by your emotions”

Keith winced in sympathy for Curtis. It was nice knowing him

“And your feet smell like parmesan cheese. Sometimes facts fucking suck”

It seemed Curtis would live to see another day. Keith, no longer as blind as he’d been, could see right through all of this. This was Lance doing that mood thing when things got too much and he tried too hard to make them all feel better. Yeah. He was onto his boyfriend. That irritating fake perk... that he found not as irritating when it wasn’t directed in his direction... Lance loved everyone in their friend circle so much that Keith couldn’t blame him for wanting things to feel normal between them

“That’s not my fault”

“And my emotions are what keeps me sane, though hanging out with you lot makes me question why I bother”

“Because we’re interesting?”

Lance sighed, Curtis calming him down with those three words

“I can’t deny that. And who the hell sprinkles werewolf viagra over a crowd of vampires? It’s like asking for us to be chased by horny mutts. I feel exhausted thinking about the way we all acted and now I find out that some wanker thought it was okay to drug my boyfriend. Being a vampire sucks. I want to punch someone in the dick for this”

Keith snorted. The infamous dick punch threat was bound to come out

“You’re not alone there. I think Coran would punch them too”

“How did he even find out what it was so fast?”

“By the look of it he worked all night”

“He’s an idiot. He’s going to burn himself out if he doesn’t rest. You said we got leads?”

“Yeah. Someone slipped some stuff into Allura’s pocket. They’re still working on it, but the second lot was definitely viagra and blood”

“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks Sendak was experimenting last night and came to check the results”

Keith shook his head. Now Lance suggested it, it seemed very likely that was the case

“I’m not taking that bet. You’re probably right. You’ve got a good instinct for these things”

“It comes with being old and tired of people... and vampires. I’m tired of vampires. I’m a tired old vampire tired of vampires”

Keith forced down his laughter. Lance wasn’t that old for a vampire. Plus, they were both old and tired of people

“You poor thing. Come sit in my lap and tell me all about it”

His boyfriend hissed at him

“I feel personally attacked now. You could have denied it”

“In the words of Pidge, “Merp””

“You can’t quote the gremlin against me. She’s magical. She’ll hear”

Pidge was magical in her own way. She was unbeaten with a laptop in her lap. The world should really fear her and her tenacious spirit

“She should write a book”

“How to “Merp” according to Pidge?”

“Pretty much”

“Maybe if she did, they’d give up this stupid fucking hunt. Did Coran say how long I have to stay I town?”

“He said you can go home if you’re still okay this evening”

Keith would have preferred Lance stayed so they could be sure the vampire was truly okay

“I don’t want to drive back, but I have to make sure they’re still all okay. Especially after last night”

“I know”

Not that it made it easier to say goodbye. Lance reminded him of when he had to see Shiro at every chance he got to make sure Shiro hadn’t been killed like Adam

“I think I deserve cuddles for this...”

“I did offer my lap”

“I know. I’m coming in...”

Curtis’s sharp wit struck again, commenting as Lance climbed off the sofa arm

“Really? I do believe Shiro said you were coming out”

Closing his eyes, Keith sighed to himself in the moment it took Lance to club into his lap. Why did their friends have to be so weird?

#klance #vampire lance #hunter keith #mpreg themes #bottom lance #top keith #voltron #once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #vampire hunter keith #idiots in love

21 notes · View notes