OpalDelight Asked: How about something sweet.. Like Shiro asking Keith if he could maybe leave a tiny bit of his scent on Keith. It's just the beginning of their relationship so he's still a bit shy about letting his more... alpha-ish side show

The movies made the progression look easy. The protagonists would meet. Go on a couple whirlwind dates, and then suddenly all their friends would be scenting the air around them and gush about how cute their new lover smelled. It was simple, no questions about when or how much. Just boom the time has arrived to start marking each other and you will never accidentally overdo it.

If only real life could be like that. Keith may seem like he'd stepped out of a movie, beautiful, whip sharp, amazing at everything, but things could never go that smoothly for Shiro. Sheesh, the first time he'd asked Keith out he'd just stared at Shiro a bit, then walked out of the room. It took Matt two days to point out that he'd asked on April 1st.

The misunderstanding had quickly been worked out, and he'd started dating the cutest person he knew. They'd went out more often into the desert to goof off on hover bikes and watch stars as well as more classic movie theater stuff. He'd even gotten to start what was quickly becoming his favorite pass time of kissing Keith. Still no marking though. As far as the scenting populace went, they might as well just be very good friends. Around each other a lot but nothing special.

He'd like to change that. Let everyone around them know, that they're a little bit closer than friends. Maybe heading in the direction of something more. How did you ask someone something like that? He had to ask. Keith did not take well to people trying to pull dominance moves on him.

Shiro's pretty sure there are magazines dedicated to these sort of questions, but he'd never live it down if he got caught with one. That left him with the direct route. Next time he saw Keith, he'd just have to ask if he could please scent mark him a tiny bit. He could crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment afterward if he got shot down.

The next time he's sees Keith is a study session in his room. Keith's working on Calc I while Shiro writes his essay for his 'How Not to Embarrass the Garrison' class, not its literal name, but Matt had called it that so many times that Shiro had actually forgotten the real course title. Despite his determination, it still takes him until their second study break to work up the courage to say anything.

"Can I ask you something?" Shiro says while Keith breaks into his Snicker's stash.

"No," Keith deadpans tossing one of the candy bars at his head. He holds a serious face for a moment, then breaks out laughing, "Your face." Keith say, reaching over to mess up Shiro's hair, "You're like a confused puppy." Shiro feels his cheeks heat up, he wasn't sure if this was hurting his case or not, "Seriously, though, ask."

Shiro takes a calming breath, "So we've been dating for a bit now, and I think it's safe to say we're boyfriends now, right?" Shiro looks to Keith, he continues when he gets a nod, "Right so, I was thinking, that maybe, we should start letting other people know, you know?" That makes sense right? Keith likes logic, surely he'd like Shiro's reasoning.

"Matt already knows we're dating." Keith says, with a confused expression.

Shiro kind of wants to hide under a blanket, maybe he'd been a bit vague, "Marking, I meant scent marking," Shiro says, gesturing towards his neck, "Nothing major, just some. Enough so people can tell we're dating. We don't have to of course, if you think it's too soon?" Shiro looks up at Keith hopefully.

"Oh," Keith sits up straighter, "Oh yeah, of course. If you want to, you-we can."

Keith had said yes! Emboldened, Shiro leans a bit forward, "So can I now?"

Keith's blushing, "Sure," He says, baring his neck and shoulder for Shiro.

Very carefully Shiro moves, he can't do too much, that'd give the impression they were doing more than dating or Shiro thought waaay to much of himself. Just a little on his shoulder, then he's done.

Keith is staring at him when he sits back, "Seriously?" Keith says, raising an eyebrow at him, "If that's all you wanted to do, you could have gotten the same effect giving me a hug."

"I just wanted people to know we're dating," Shiro says sheepishly.

Keith rolls his eyes, then yanks him forwards, "This is how you show someone you're dating," Before Shiro can say anything, Keith rubs his neck straight across the entirety of Shiro's shoulder.

Shiro doesn't know what to say, when Keith sits back with a huge smile on his face. He hadn't expected Keith to be so enthused. "You really like me that much?" Shiro asks, still a bit stunned.

Keith's face falls, "If it bothers you, you can wash it off." Keith says softly, playing with the hem of his shirt, "I'll understand."

Shiro kisses Keith, right on his cute little nose, "Can I do the same to you?"

Note:

Had to think this one through a bit. Finally decided that a culture who had always had scent marking would probably end up with a bunch of conflicting traditions and trends, and basically have as huge a complex about when, where, and how much as we do about things to do with dating in the real world. (no duh, eh?)

Check me out on Tumblr if you want to see the Art Opal drew for this fic. She's amazingly talented.