Shiro and Keith were mates. At least, as much as they could be. If they said they were mates, then they were. And no outdated, stereotypical, Alpha beneficial thinking was gonna convince them otherwise.

Both being Omegas, they couldn't truly mark each other. Not like an Alpha could their Omega mate. But they made up for it in their eagerness to leave superficial bite marks and hickeys all over each other whenever they could. It wasn't the same, but it was still a clear mark of ownership in their eyes.

They made sure to scent each other regularly as well. Keith's favourite thing to do when they cuddled was to nuzzle his face into Shiro's neck, activating the scent glands there and dousing himself in the pheromones of his chosen mate. He would rub his neck over Shiro's face too, eager to have his scent on the older Omega.

Anyone with a pair of eyes and a half-decent nose could tell the two Omegas were together. It wasn't traditional or easily accepted by all, but it was what they wanted and it made them happy and they loved each other.

Pidge and Hunk were willing to accept their unusual relationship. As Betas, they never did possess as much of an innate understanding of secondary genders as Alphas and Omegas did. Alteans didn't have secondary genders, so it hardly bothered either Allura or Coran. Which left Lance, the resident Alpha onboard.

Keith had confided that he sometimes felt uncomfortable around Lance, usually when the Cuban boy was posturing or acting aggressively; he hated it when Lance got up in his face and had to resist his natural instinct to cower from the angry Alpha.

But even though he questioned them and seemed to be confused about a lot of aspects of their relationship, Lance seemed to accept them too. It was a weight lifted off their shoulders, to be accepted so readily by their new pack. They wouldn't have to hide their relationship, like at the Garrison. They would be safe here, and free.

It was a few days after revealing their relationship to the team, that they were lounging in one of the various common rooms in the castle. Hunk and Pidge were bent over the low table nearby, working on something too electronical and technical for either Keith or Shiro to understand. Shiro was laid out on the long couch, one arm cushioning his head, the other folded over Keith's back where the smaller Omega draped on top of him. One of Keith's legs was sliding off the edge of the seat, but neither Omega moved to fix it. Keith's eyelids kept drooping, and his weight was a comforting, heavy warmth over Shiro. He nuzzled the top of Keith's head, smiling when the Korean boy started to purr.

Lance, who'd been lounging on one of the other couches across the room, looked over at the noise. He stared at the two Omegas, but before Shiro could feel threatened, Lance spoke up.

"So, I've been thinking. Ever since you told us you guys were together...How do you guys do it?"

"Do what, Lance?" Shiro rumbled quietly, trying not to disturb the dozing Omega on his chest.

"Do sex. How do you guys do sex?"

Keith's purring stopped abruptly and his head rose so fast Shiro was concerned he'd given himself whiplash. He looked affronted when Shiro chanced a glance at his face.

"Lance!" Pidge's disgusted voice interrupted before Shiro could break free of his shock to respond.

"What? It's natural to be curious about it".

"But you don't just go asking about something like that in public".

"Pidge, this hardly counts as public".

"Ok, ok, no arguing," Shiro managed to find his voice, interrupting. "Uhh Lance, I'm not sure that's appropriate..."

"But seriously? How do you guys get each other off if neither of you has a knot? Neither of you even has a dick!"

Shiro could feel his face growing hot, and knew he was blushing. Keith was glaring at Lance, but his cheeks were flushed.

"None of your business," the smaller Omega growled, sliding off of Shiro to curl up on the spare bit of couch beside his mate. He hunched there, looking wholly uncomfortable and a far sight from the peaceful visage he'd been only a few minutes before.

"Wow, touchy ," though he didn't look very sorry, Shiro noted. " I'm just genuinely confused. Alpha-Omega is the natural way of things. Omegas need a knot and they can only get that from an Alpha".

"Lance, that is the most backwardest thing I've ever heard you say," Pidge droned, having apparently given up on the conversation and turned back towards her tinkering.

Hunk hovered uncertainly, looking between Lance, Pidge and the two Omegas. He looked vaguely curious, but also as if he didn't want to overstep any boundraries.

"We don't...I don't need...I don't need a stupid knot," Keith was getting worked up and Shiro leant up to nuzzle his ear, trying to calm him.

"Have you ever even taken one? You don't know what you're missing".

"Yes, I have!" Keith growled, Shiro's nuzzling doing nothing to calm him down.

"And? It felt good I bet".

"No. It didn't," Keith's voice was subdued, his body suddenly deflated, all of his righteous indignity gone. The Korean boy wouldn't look at anyone, instead focusing on the couch cushion underneath him. He crossed his arms defensively in front of him, a sure sign that he was uncomfortable with the situation.

Shiro whined, sensing his mate's distress and sat up to curl protectively around Keith, cocooning him in the safety and warmth of his larger body. He nosed at Keith's ear through his soft, dark locks. He knew about Keith's past, and his past experience with Alphas. It wasn't something Keith had ever shared with anyone else willingly, and the only people who'd known about it otherwise had been Keith's various social workers and the Garrison medical staff.

"..What? That's not...Were you in heat? When you took it? Knots always feel good when you're in heat," Lance seemed to be floundering, as if he'd never heard of anything as preposterous as an Omega not enjoying a knot. Shiro thought maybe he hadn't; maybe his experience with Omegas was very limited, if he seemed to think all Omegas were cut the same.

Personally, Shiro didn't like being knotted. It was uncomfortable, oftentimes painful. It was more bearable when he was in heat, too desperate to pay attention to the harsh tug and pull and squeeze and stretch of the knot. While his past partners hadn't been horrible Alphas and had never forced him, they hadn't understood his dislike of being knotted either. But Shiro knew his experiences paled in comparison to Keith's.

"It doesn't matter! It didn't feel good, ok? And it's never gonna feel good! So I don't need some full-of-himself Alpha telling me what I need," Keith growled, still not looking at anyone, but his fists were clenched and he was tense in Shiro's arms.

"I bet I could make it feel good," Lance teased, looking suggestively at Keith. "You want a real Alpha to take care of you,sweetcheeks?"

Next thing Shiro knew, his arms were empty and there was a snarling, bristling Omega half-crouched in front of the couch, directly in between Lance and himself, Shiro noted. Keith's chest rumbled with repressed growls and his hair almost seemed to stand up. He was absolutely seething and Shiro was at somewhat of a loss as to how the situation escalated so quickly.

"Back off Lance," Keith hissed, voice pure venom.

"Woow, what got stuck up your ass?" the Alpha sneered, standing up to his full height and towering over Keith (not that it seemed to faze Keith, off couse not, Shiro thought; his boyfriend was nothing if not foolishly brave). "Oh, that's right. Nothing. But I can fix that for you, yeah?".

The Alpha made a lewd motion with his hips in Keith's direction. The smaller teen flinched back, looking stricken.

"Don't touch me," Keith spat.

"Stop it, Lance," Shiro interrupted at the same time, moving to hover protectively beside his mate. "Stand down".

"Pff, fine, it was just a little fun," Lance grumbled, seeming to realise his "fun" had come to an end.

The Cuban teen turned away and went to bother Hunk and Pidge, knowing he wouldn't be able to get a rise out of Shiro. The older Omega turned to his mate, eyes instinctively roving his body, looking for injuries, even though he knew the altercation hadn't been physical. But he could smell his mate's distress and he reacted intuitively. Keith huffed once, seeming to expel all of the negative emotions, and after watching to make sure Lance moved away, turned into his mate. The smaller Omega tucked his head into his mate's neck, nestled in under his jaw and huddled there while Shiro nuzzled and nosed through his hair.

When the older Omega was satisfied that his mate was okay, and Keith's scent was starting to lose the sour tang associated with negative emotions, Shiro decided it was fine to return to the couch. He dragged Keith over the few steps to the lounge, which would have been difficult if Keith was any bigger than he was, because the little Omega didn't want to budge from his position in Shiro's neck. Shiro finally managed to get them situated on the couch like they were before they were interrupted, and he set about lulling Keith into his previous dozy state, rubbing up and down the boy's back, nuzzling the top of his head. It wasn't long before Keith was purring again, the fight apparently forgotten for the time being. Shiro himself was on the varge of dozing off when..

"But seriously, how do two Omegas do it?"

"Lance!".

"Alright, alright, I'm stopping".