"I'm sorry I slept with your brother!"

Had he been pushed off the edge or did he jump? It felt like he been pushed. There was no way he had planned those words rushing out of his mouth. Regardless, here he was falling into a dark hell he had never imagined he'd find himself in.

The words floated in the air between them; Lance, a new Garrison graduate, and Takashi Shirogane, the wet dream of Garrison officials, recruits, and probably a large portion of the planet, sometimes for the same reasons, but always because of his muscles.

Conversations around them were muffled compared to the previous level of noise produced by the mingling. Did other people actually hear that or was the change in atmosphere due to his increasing panic? A voice at the back of his mind begged that it hopefully wasn't the former. A weak sound, almost a laugh, slipped between his lips. At least that voice was in his head.

Distantly, Lance recognized that Captain Shirogane's smile has faltered.

It was like he was watching the scene play out from a seat in the middle of the theater. He was strapped to his seat between others who were equally as horrified. He could only squirm in agony and babble helplessly. It was like he had no control of his mouth.

"I mean, I'm not sorry. He was great! I've never had better. Not that I've slept around a lot. Keith's very special. Kind of a dick but his smile is great and the things he can do with his mouth!"

Keith was an absolute, irredeemable, complete son of a bitch! This was completely his fault. He was the one who pushed him into the sea of embarrassment. Or at the very least he had given Lance the rope he was now hanging himself with.

Previously, no more than an hour before the Garrison's official meet and greet and roughly an hour and a half before this moment of agony, Keith had been lying across Lance's bed. He was half dressed, hair tussled from the fingers that had been pulling on it from above, and was running his fingers along the smooth silk of Lance's best tie. Lance had been leaning close to the small mirror on his wall and trying coax his hair into either the Garrison's preferred slick back or into the effortless perfection he was known for. He hadn't been listening to the nervous ramble pouring out his mouth.

This event was not only important to his career, but also for his personal aspirations. He was going to meet his hero, his idol, the man whose posters were still hidden under his dorms bed because, "yeah mom, I know I had them in my room at home but I really don't want to explain why I have these to the people who trained him, even if they are a top seller at the campus giftshop."

"Shiro?" Keith had tilted his head as he set the tie down. "But you can meet him any time."

"No I can't. He's always on these really cool, important missions. You know, pushing the edge of what man is capable of. He hasn't even been on Earth for months. How did you not know that? He's like you, kinda. You're the only one that's topped his scores. Which isn't even surprising, you're awesome babe."

Keith had narrowed his eyes and ran his eyes down Lance's body. It was a look Lance was familiar with after doing whatever Keith and he had been doing for five months. When Lance had first seen it Keith had been trying to figure out if Lance was joking or stupid and later if he was flirting. A few weeks ago, Lance had been introduced to a similar look which Keith used as he tried to decipher the commands Lance's whispered in his bed which was a very effective foreign language learning tool.

Keith, never one to soften a blow, had sat up almost primly on the edge of the bed and simply said, "He's my brother."

Lance's mouth had dropped open. "You mean he's like a brother to you? A mentor?"

"No."

"No way," Lance whispered. "You don't even have the same last name."

"I'm adopted. You know that."

"But-"

"I kept my last name."

Lance had been trying to get his feet back under him ever since.

Lance had gone to the Garrison's meeting in a haze. Hunk and Pidge had shot him worried looks as the new graduates had filed into the room, their dress uniforms the only thing distinguishing them from their now colleagues. He had only glimpsed Keith as men with chests practically glittering with medals snatched him away to attempt to seduce him into their service.

This was not the sort of thing you dropped on a guy out of nowhere. Ok, maybe it wasn't completely out of the blue. Keith had often said how much he admired his brother and Lance should have known that it would take someone truly extraordinary to earn Keith's admiration. But he had assumed that it was ordinary big brother worship. Lance's own younger siblings always thought he was cool. Or maybe he had thought that Keith's brother was a world renown kung fu expert, training on some distant mountain top, that would make sense. It would have explained how Keith was always able to pin his opponents in training and why he was never without that knife Lance pretended he wasn't curious as hell about.

This is what he got for assuming things, a hand sticky with spilled punch and a nervous ramble that was going to ruin him in front of all his classmates, superior officers, and his idol. And it was all completely Lance's fault.

Captain Shirogane had been off planet since before Keith and him were intimately involved. He didn't have a clue about who Lance was. He could have just coasted through this meeting with a smile and a handshake that would have stopped him from washing that hand for at least a week. Captain Shirogane might not have even known that Keith was with anyone. He had touched down only three days ago and probably hadn't had time to talk with Keith between press conferences, debriefings, and final exams. Even if he had what would Keith have said? "Nice to have you back on Earth. Space was cool? I gave a classmate a blow job in the stimulator after hours and now we're kind of a thing. It's not official because Iverson hates happiness but his roommate caught us mid-handjob. So, sorry I couldn't have told you sooner."

Damn it, Keith totally would have. Just more blunt and detailed.

But the look on Captain Shirogane's face said that there hadn't been time for that. So, win for the lack of details that Keith would have shamelessly shared and a loss for how it was bound to be shared with the whole room if someone didn't shut Lance up ASAP.

A large hand clasps itself around Lance's bicep and pulled him away. He swayed closer to the angel who was now fighting the devil himself for Lance's soul. Hunk was a blessing. A true friend that didn't deserve to go through the rollercoaster that was having Lance passionately declaring his rivalry with Keith one day and seeing the proclaimed rival writhing on their sheets the next. And it certainly hadn't been not in the despair or humiliation that had Lance had implied before.

He really needed to make that up to Hunk. Apology cakes were a thing, right? He could have yellow flowers and frolicking kittens on it. Kittens would surely fix this.

"I'm sorry. He must be sick. Delusional. His brain's just frying from the fever." Hunk slapped his hand to Lance's forehead causing Lance to stumble into the circle of Hunk's arms. He nearly lifted Lance onto his shoulder. "I'll just take him to" his eyes darted across the room, "over there." Hunk started to scuttle sideways towards a nearby door.

Lance's eyes stayed glued to Captain Shirogane as Pidge approached him with a frown on their face. His vision began to tunnel on their forms. He saw them speak to each other but was too far away to hear what Pidge grumbled. However, he did register that even though Hunk was now taking large strides the distance between them was not getting any larger.

In the lounge, Lance melted into the couch Hunk tossed him onto. He felt high pitched laughter bubble up as he watched Hunk attempt to shut the door behind them only to be stopped by Pidge's foot. Captain Shirogane had a worried tilt to his eyebrows and a frown on his face. No, Lance realized in fascinated horror, that was not a frown but a pout. The same pout that Keith had worn when Lance had attempted to turn him down this morning. Lance was actually going to die.

Hunk bit his lip but ultimately decided he couldn't ask Captain Shirogane to leave after all that. Especially since he claimed Lance was sick. Officers making sure their men weren't dying was a good thing. Hunk wrung his hands as he approached Lance. "Ok, I know this is so not the time now, but Lance, I told you something like this would happen."

"No, you said that there was no way that Keith actually had that much stamina unless he was an incubus feeding off his soul and that if Lance kept giving you that many details about his sex life you would tell his mother all of them."

Hunk spread his arms wide. "Pidge, that was said between us in the privacy of our room. How do you know that? Did you bug our room? Pidge, that's a violation of trust!"

"You read my diary!"

"You were keeping secrets!"

"You-"

Captain Shirogane nudged Pidge to the side. He knelt down before Lance and placed a hand on his knee. "Are you alright?"

Lance giggled. Captain Shirogane looked so concerned. He must be the perfect older brother, supportive, successful, and just so damnably perfect. How was Lance going to convince Keith that he was perfect boyfriend material when he already knew what perfection was? Ok no, that made it sound like there was some weird pseudo incest thing going on and just no. Really, he was making this out to be a lot worse than it was. He just needed to take some deep breathes and calm down.

The door cracked open and violet eyes peered in. "Oh, there you are." Never mind calming down. Another had arrived to witness Lance death. Lance's eyes darted to Captain Shirogane, rising to face the approaching angel, well the other angel.

Captain Shirogane didn't waste a moment getting to the bottom of the situation. Apparently he hadn't bought Hunk's excuse. "Keith, what did you do to him?"

Keith paused halfway across the room and scanned Lance's crumpled form. His brow furrowed and he speed up. He leaned into the space beside Lance and pressed his hand to Lance's cheek.

"Just kill me now," Lance whispered.

Keith turned his head towards the other occupants of the room. Captian Shirogane answered the unspoken question. "He said something about you two being…" a slight blush rose on his cheeks, "together."

"Oh, we're together? You could have confessed to me before my brother, jerk." Keith gently pinched Lance's cheek.

The blush on Captain Shirogane's face rose up to the tips of his ears.

Pidge huffed and crossed their arms. "Not that kind of confession. More like the kind that really should be said to priest and not in front of the Garrison elite. Seriously Lance, we all know I was planning something embarrassing but this really takes the cake."

Keith's hand slowly fell off Lance's check. He sat straight up, stiff and flushed. "Oh, I, that's." He took a deep breath and tried to look Captain Shirogane in the eye. "Yes, Lance and I have been …fraternizing." His eyes darted back to Lance. "Sorry for assuming. I didn't mean to imply that we were more than that."

Finally, Lance felt as if he had been tossed back into the scene. He could still feel the audience watching him, thankfully now reduced to people who were used to watching him and Keith flounder around each other and Captain Shirogane. He could breathe. He could move. He caught Keith's hand in his own.

"No. That's fine. I would love to be more than whatever we were."

Keith blinked up at Lance. He leaned forward. "Seriously? So, we're dating now?"

Lance inhaled sharply. "If you want to be." Keith nodded earnestly. They leaned ever closer to each other. A ball of paper and a chewed pen sailed between them.

Pidge stood with their arm still out stretched from their throw. "Seriously, that's all it takes? One conversation after months of pining."

"Hey, this is a huge deal for me. Can't you stay out of this for like five more seconds, Pidge? And it wasn't just a conversation!"

"Sorry buddy, I'm going to have to side with Pidge here. I've seen enough of you two swapping spit to last me a life time. And I don't think you want to subject Captain Shirogane to that right now. Just like apologize or something."

Lance cleared his throat. He could do that. He stood off the coach and squared his shoulders. "Captain Shirogane, my name is Lance McClain. It's an honor to meet you."

Hunk choked behind them as Pidge muttered their disgust. Captain Shirogane firmly grasped Lance's hand. He looked to Keith and then sighed. "Lance, I would really prefer if you just called me Shiro." Lance nodded. "And Keith," Shiro continued with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, "I think we should talk about clear communication again."

"The other officers don't seem to have problem with it anymore."

"It applies to relationships as well. You know that." Shiro turned towards the door, urging Hunk and Pidge out too. "You really should have told me your boyfriend's name before you started talking about his body. Furthermore, a description of his face would have been much more useful in identifying him than…what you gave me."

Lance felt his face heat up even as the door closed behind Shiro. Well he had left them alone after everything. So, he approved right? Lance had met his hero and said hero actually approved of him dating his little brother. Keith was dating him. He was totally out of Lance's league and they were dating. Although if they were dating that must mean that they were actually in the same league this whole time. Lance grinned as he looked back his still blushing boyfriend.

This had probably been just as embarrassing for him. Keith's brother had just found out…no.

"Oh my god, you told Shiro we were dating before you told me. And then you mocked me for not confessing to you. Keith! That's not fair. What did you say?"

"That's not really important."

"Yes, it is. That was so embarrassing. That's so going to be brought like all the time. It's never going to die."

"But at least Pidge can't do anything worse."

Lance tapped a finger to his check thinking back to the last several weeks of the looks Pidge had given him. They had definitely been planning something. "Ok I'll give you that."

Keith stood up and tugged Lance towards the door. "It could have gone much worse."

"Yeah but I could have died from embarrassment. When you meet my family maybe we should avoid the sex talk."

"You think," Keith said with a smirk. They stepped out of the lounge, taking their place within the circle of Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro. Their hands were firmly intertwined.