Written for Day 27 of Sheith Month: Stargazing.
I wrote yesterday's story and immediately wanted to write something less painful for this series - I didn't specifically choose to write it for the next day's prompt, but . . . serendipity?
Shiro frowned as he left the cheerful crowds behind, letting his eyes adjust to the starlight only barely added to by the warm glow of the bonfires at his back. Lena paced impatiently ahead of him and circled around repeatedly, doubling back behind him and brushing against his side, but Shiro held himself to a careful pace, picking his way across the rough ground.
It was a relief to get away from the crowds surrounding the bonfires, though Shiro felt a pang of guilt for that. It was a celebration, and the people of this planet were kind and welcoming, Shiro just. . .
Shiro never felt comfortable near the centre of such things, and he was tired as it was. He had noticed some time ago that Keith, uncharacteristically, was nowhere to be seen among the delighted aliens playing host and the other paladins, and finally slipped away both for a little quiet and to search for his lover.
As they got further and further away from the light and noise of the celebration Shiro began to feel an anxious buzz in his chest. There was no sign of Keith anywhere out here, and Shiro knew he wasn't likely to be in any danger, he was surely just fine, but. . . But it was difficult to tell his deepest heart that and truly believe it.
Shiro swallowed thickly, shifting his weight, and opened his mouth to ask Lena what she thought, then stopped without voicing the question. A tiny patch of warm-coloured shadow detached from a larger shadow ahead of them, pacing forwards and resolving into a sleek feline figure.
"Hello." Arvenne greeted, rubbing noses with Lena as she lowered her head. "Looking for us?" she asked, cocking an ear at Shiro.
Shiro smiled, relief flaring in his chest. "We were." he said along with Lena. He didn't look around for Keith - if he were close Shiro would already have seen him, and Arvenne was calm, so he was undoubtedly fine, wherever he was. Shiro was used to the distance their bond allowed so comfortably now, and no longer found it quite so unsettling.
Arvenne mewed - a soft sound Shiro doubted anyone at the Garrison would have believed Keith's feral, fearsome daemon could voice - and sauntered off again, flicking her tail and glancing over her shoulder by way of invitation. Lena and Shiro followed after her, though Shiro was a little confused when she led them to the waiting Lions. All of them were there, and of course for all the distance Keith and Arvenne could put between themselves, Keith wouldn't - couldn't - have returned to the Castle high above without her in any case.
Arvenne leapt up to the Red Lion's foreleg, lightly bounding higher. Shiro eyed the path she had taken as she paused most of the way up to look back at them. Red shifted her foreleg, making an angle upwards that was more reasonable for Shiro's bigger, clumsier frame, and even Lena, who was not really built to . . . climb.
They made their way up the offered path as Arvenne disappeared over Red's shoulder, and when they reached her back themselves, there, at last, was Keith. He was lying on his back on the curved red metal, one arm folded behind his head, gaze fixed on the starry sky.
He stretched out his free hand without looking as Arvenne approached him. She butted her head into his palm, rubbing against him and letting his hand slide over her head and neck, then all down her side as she arched her body into his touch.
Shiro walked carefully across Red's sloping shoulders towards his lover, Lena keeping pace at his heels. Keith smiled, eyes dropping to meet Shiro's. "Hello darling."
"We were looking for you." Shiro said, hesitating.
"Join me?" Keith invited without waiting for him to say anything further, holding up his hand in welcome. Arvenne stretched, then climbed up onto Keith's belly and curled there neatly. Shiro smiled and nodded, settling on the warm metal at his lover's side.
Lena snorted, shaking herself, then moved up by their heads to lie down, just close enough to offer herself to lean against. Shiro took her up on it, and Keith shifted just enough to let Shiro's arm wrap around him, but rested his own head on Shiro's shoulder.
Shiro rubbed his knuckles up and down Keith's side absently, relaxing in the quiet night with his lover tucked close. Red thrummed faintly beneath them from time to time, and Arvenne's low purring melded with the quiet thump of Lena's heart in Shiro's ears. It was a gentle, lulling calm, and eventually Shiro might even have been able to doze off there.
"What brought you out here?" Shiro asked after some time.
Keith shifted a bit, though he didn't pull away. "Just. . . Looking at how far we've come." he said quietly, smoothing a hand over Arvenne's ears. "Wondering where we belong."
Shiro startled, lifting his head to look at Keith. He gave an awkward, one-shoulder shrug before Shiro could say anything else. "It feels right," he said, rubbing behind one of Arvenne's ears as she lifted her head, "what we're doing, where we are. Being a paladin." he added with a slight smile.
Shiro relaxed slightly, hugging Keith closer. "That's good." he said softly. He wasn't sure what- If Keith had felt like he belonged somewhere else. . .
Keith propped himself up a bit, tilting his head to meet Shiro's eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Shiro." he said, lips tilting into a crooked smile. "But sometimes I wonder where we came from." He glanced back at Arvenne, curling his fingers into her short fur, getting a handful of her scruff. "Beyond that we were born on Earth. . . I wonder about my mother. About Arvenne." She tipped her head with a low yowl, nose brushing his wrist. "About other . . . crossbreeds; if there's anyone else out there like us."
Keith sighed, sliding down to lie on his back again and looking up at the stars. He raised a hand, describing a lazy swoop across the sky. "You know, there's just so much out there . . . even now we're travelling across it, fighting for it . . . we'll never see everything."
"Closer than we ever could have come before." Shiro suggested gently, and was rewarded with the warm sound of a low laugh. They had already seen so much more than they could have imagined when dreaming back at the Garrison. "You do belong with us, and I'm glad of it. But we'll- we'll follow you wherever you feel you need to go, try to find out whatever we can. If you want it." he said awkwardly.
Keith was still for a moment, then rolled over abruptly - Arvenne leapt lightly out of the way, balancing on his hip and back instead as Keith pressed himself against Shiro, wrapping him in a tight embrace. Shiro returned it, careful not to knock Arvenne's paws from under her as his arms folded around Keith's waist in return.
"Thank you." Keith murmured against his collarbone, embrace almost painfully tight.
"Always." Shiro said quietly, reassured by Keith's reaction and meaning every bit of it.
"And Shiro?" Keith lifted his head, meeting Shiro's eyes again. "We'll always want you with us." He cupped Shiro's cheek with one hand.
Lena rumbled contentedly under Shiro's shoulders and Arvenne prowled up to perch on Keith's, her violet eyes warm as she looked down at Shiro. She kneaded lazily at Keith's shoulders, then curled up right where she was, keeping Keith from moving.
Keith hummed, looking amused, and settled his head on Shiro's shoulder again, this time lying mostly on top of him, chest to chest. Shiro rubbed a hand up and down his back, feeling the brush of Arvenne's fur at the high point of every stroke. Shiro looked up at the stars, the beautiful spread of a galaxy far from home, then turned his attention to the warmth surrounding him - the most important pieces of his tiny world.