Written for a prompt for Sheith and their first trip together, requested by Mad-Madam-M on Tumblr.
"Hey." Shiro leaned over, shaking Keith gently by one shoulder. "Baby, wake up. We're here."
Keith groaned, trailing off into a little mewing sound that made Shiro's heart clench almost painfully with affection. He rubbed his head against the seat behind him, his hair falling across his eyes. Shiro gently brushed it aside for him.
"Wake up baby." Shiro repeated, once he'd cleared the thick feeling out of his throat.
Keith mumbled again, lashes fluttering. "Sh'ro?" he murmured, eyes slowly focusing on Shiro's face. He rubbed a hand over his face.
"Hey baby." Shiro said, dipping his head and kissing Keith's brow.
Keith smiled. "Hey." He brushed his fingers over Shiro's jaw. "Did I fall asleep? You should have woken me. . ."
"Nah, you needed the rest." Shiro said, tugging lightly at a lock of Keith's hair. Keith hadn't slept well - or much at all, Shiro suspected - at the hotel the night before. "It was a quiet part of the drive, anyway. Mostly highway and not a lot of scenery either. But we're here now." he added, tipping his head towards the window.
"We're here?" Keith's eyes widened, the dappled sunlight falling through the leaves lighting up the rich violet threads shot through them. He sat up a little more, and Shiro pulled back out of the way, grinning. "We're here! You really should have woken me!"
"Well, I did, and we can check it out together now." Shiro said fondly, and Keith looked over at him, grinning back.
"Great." Keith nodded, looking out the window again and peering through the trees. They'd passed into semi-forested territory a day and a half ago, but Keith was still visibly fascinated by the different landscape.
It was cute, although his continual intrigued awe was also a little strange to Shiro, whose childhood memory was full of the huge trees filling the overgrown, mostly-wild forests on the mountainsides not far from his grandparents' home. They still inspired awe, yes, but not in the same faintly shocked way that Shiro could see in Keith's eyes when he looked at these much younger forests.
It did make him glad he'd suggested this place for their trip away, though.
"Settle in first, or hike out and explore first?" Shiro asked as Keith reached for the door latch. He froze, twisting to meet Shiro's eyes with a torn expression, and Shiro laughed quietly. "We've got a week, baby. There's time for everything."
"Check out the cabin real quick and then hike out for a while?" Keith said hopefully.
Shiro nodded, opening his door and sliding out. "It'll be good to stretch our legs after the drive, anyway." he said. His boots settled deep into the soft loam and leaf litter, and the air was rich with the smells of dirt and growing things. He smiled, rounding the car towards where Keith had just hopped out, looking around and taking deep breaths.
"It's so . . . green. And quiet, in a way, but not like the desert." Keith said, tipping his head back as a bird sped by overhead, chattering. Shiro slid an arm around his shoulders and he leaned into the partial embrace, meeting Shiro's eyes again, his own still filled with a faintly wondering sort of delight.
Shiro stroked his cheek and kissed him softly, a quick brush of lips, unable to resist. "Glad we came?" he asked before stepping away, and Keith laughed, spinning to follow on Shiro's heels as he opened the back of the car.
"Yeah." Keith pressed up against his back, arms lacing around Shiro's ribs. "Thanks for suggesting this, love." he said in a low voice, nuzzling Shiro's neck affectionately. Shiro shivered, and Keith's arms tightened a little more as he dropped a kiss at the base of Shiro's neck.
He tipped his head automatically, making more room for Keith there. "We needed some time to relax, and we had the time off from the Garrison. . ." he said distractedly, trailing his knuckles over Keith's forearm.
"I'm glad you had the idea." Keith kissed his jaw, then let go and leaned past Shiro to snag one of the bags. "Do you have the keys?"
Shiro grabbed the second bag from beside it and tapped at the outside pockets until he heard the jingle of the keys to the cabin. "Right here." He pulled them out. Keith stepped back, still grinning, and let Shiro lead the way up to the cabin steps.
It was a small place, but it was plenty big enough for the two of them - a hell of a lot more space than they had at the Garrison, for that matter - and anyway, Shiro doubted they'd spend a lot of time inside if the weather held out and if Keith had his way. Shiro would be happy enough if they spent most of their time out in the woods, too - it was certainly nicer than the desert, anyway, though he'd willingly spent days on end out there with Keith just to be with his lover.
Shiro unlocked the door on the second try and swung it open with a quiet groan of warm wood, revealing a dimly-lit interior faintly gilded by what sunlight found its way down between the trees and the drawn curtains. He moved in first, passing by the big, plush couch towards the nearest interior door.
It was even quieter inside, even with the door left wide open behind them - Shiro wondered as he passed into the bedroom if it would bother him, tonight, he was so used to the constant hums of the Garrison buildings, even in the dorms.
"It's quiet." Keith observed in echo of his thoughts, sounding peacefully content.
"It's nice here." Shiro said, leaving his bag on the chest at the foot of the huge bed. Keith turned on the switch by the door, and soft lighting came on in the recess that ran all around the room, just below the ceiling. Shiro moved over to open the curtains, and smiled down at the gully below the bedroom window, holding a weathered table and chairs and scattered with saplings. "What do you think?" he asked, turning to look at Keith.
Keith smiled, slinging his bag onto the bed. "It's nice." he agreed, poking his head outside through the double doors. Shiro shook his head, amused, and went to peek into the bathroom, then went back through the front room - closing the front door along the way - to the kitchenette, which had another door out onto the wraparound porch. He stepped outside and followed it around, finding Keith leaning against the balustrade outside the bedroom, eyes closed and head tipped back as he breathed in the woods.
"Ready to head out, or want to hang around here for a while longer first?" Shiro asked, leaning one hip against the balustrade beside Keith.
Keith sighed, looking up at Shiro. "Explore." he said happily, lightly punching Shiro's arm and making him laugh. "If you're up for it?" he cocked his head, giving a half-smile.
Shiro nodded agreement, sliding a hand down Keith's back. "When you are, baby."
Keith pushed away from the balustrade, but didn't head for the stairs down to the forest floor yet, turning fully towards Shiro instead. He stretched up, hands sliding up Shiro's chest to link behind his neck as Keith kissed him, warm and slow. Shiro hummed with pleasure as Keith leaned into him, hands smoothing over Keith's hips before settling at the small of his back, pulling him even closer.
The cabin described is loosely based on (although smaller than, as there were five of us and only two of Shiro and Keith) a lovely one that several of my best friends and I stayed in a couple of years ago on a little writing retreat.