It was obvious for anyone that was watching Keith, that he was very nervous about the date he was about to go on. Because despite over preparing for it, researching for it, even getting Lance's opinion on it, he still felt vastly unprepared for whatever was about to happen. He was a complete novice when it came to dating. It had never been a factor in his life before and now all of a sudden, here he was about to go on a romantic rooftop date with Shiro.
Shiro, who he was now convinced that he was half in love with, for as long as he had known him.
With Lance's help, Keith had been able to transform the rooftop into a pretty decent romantic setting. Pillows and blankets lined the floor, but also cocooned a small section of the roof off from the rest of the world. String fairy lights lined the cozy getaway and it created a comfortable spot for two. Music from a playlist Lance had pulled together was playing from a set of bluetooth speakers. In all fairness, for such short notice, Keith was pretty proud of the work they managed to accomplish. He could only hope now that Shiro liked it.
A slightly nervous energy radiated off him, as he watched the rooftop door for the man in question to arrive.
The note pinned to the door with a kitchen knife was an interesting start: stay away or risk a grenade. Shiro snorted. He didn’t know what to expect. He knew all too well that Keith was a driven person and a passionate one, and when he set his mind to something, there was nothing that would get in his way. Not an alien invasion, not death. Setting up a romantic atmosphere felt like cake in comparison to the things Keith had overcome in his life. But Shiro was still stunned stupid as he exited out onto the roof, his arms full of dinner and telescope slung over his elbow.
“Wow.” His eyes were wide and reflected the fairy lights as he ducked his head under the tent. “Really glad I splurged and got dessert.” There was a dumb smile fighting for control of his face. He let it win and set down the paper bag full of takeout and the telescope. His heartbeat was galloping and they’d only just started. “Did you sneak all this up here by yourself or did you make Lance an accomplice?”
His heart was in his throat when he heard the roof access open. Would Shiro think it was too much? Was he expecting something more chill? Keith couldn’t get a good read on the situation, having always been a little behind on this aspect of life. But Lance had reassured him that this was going to be great and he was counting on Lance to be right about this.
And when he saw the smile on Shiro’s face, he knew he made the right call to be a little bit extra about this. It was their first date and so far, he hadn’t completely ruined it. Score one for Keith!
“Maybe he gets a bit of credit,” Keith allowed, fidgeting with his hair. A strand kept falling into his eyes and it reminded him it was probably time to get it chopped. “But I want you to know he wanted fireworks and I have no idea what songs he stuck on the playlist, so anything terrible is credited to him too.”
Now that his hands were free, Shiro didn't waste any more time putting them to better use. He crowded closer and brushed that wayward strand of hair out of Keith's eyes, letting his fingers follow it to weave deeper into Keith's hair. Being able to do things like this now was addicting. He hadn't even noticed the music until Keith mentioned it; he'd been too intent on doing this, right now, as quickly as possible.
"Noted," he laughed. "It would take some really terrible music to put a dent in...all this, anyway." He gestured with his Altean hand and smiled, too warm but not able to do anything about it. "Kind of wish I'd stopped to change now." He looked down at himself. It wasn't like he was dressed badly. He was just wearing the same pale blue dress shirt and dark slacks that he'd worn to work. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the first view buttons were undone, but it wasn't especially a romantic outfit. "I just really wanted to see you."
Keith had spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to put his outfit together and getting approval from Lance, before settling on a black pair of jeans and a red henley. He had been wearing a black hoodie on top, but it had been too hot to keep on for long, even in the evening. It lay discarded somewhere in the little getaway Keith had created. If he had known that Shiro wouldn't have minded, he would have shown up in a stolen t-shirt and regular jeans.
As for Shiro's outfit, Keith flushed red, as he looked over the way Shiro's chest pulled his dress shirt taut across his body and the muscles of his human arm bulged under his shirt sleeve. This close to Shiro, he could smell the day's sweat on him and he didn't mind that in the least. "Uh, I'm a fan of what you're wearing so I think you made the right call," Keith said, patting Shiro on the chest and lingering for a moment. Feeling him very solid under his hand had Keith all kinds of distracted, but eventually he remembered himself. "Come on, we said something about a sunset, didn't we?" He reached down for Shiro's fleshy hand to tug him along to a pair of wicker chairs that were sitting close to one of the edges of the roof. The view from there overlooked the whole city.
"Well, ditto." While Keith gave him a once over, Shiro did the same. He slipped his hand free of Keith's hair only to trace his collarbone where it peeked out from the v-neck of the henley. It was a good thing really that Keith decided to be forceful about some kind of plan because Shiro was definitely losing the thread. The food would keep. He'd been smart enough to plan things that didn't require staying warm, so he allowed himself to be tugged towards the chairs.
"I love it up here," he admitted, dropping down into a chair. He only let go of Keith's hand to pull the other chair as close to his as he could. "There's better stargazing in the forest and out along the coast, but something about this rooftop makes me think of my grandpa's house. It's probably all the plants." His eyes tracked up to the sky, waiting for the sun to fully sink below the pink and purple skyline so he could see the first star to shine. "I come up here a lot when I'm missing home."
Keith obediently let his chair be dragged closer, a flash of admiration for Shiro's strength passing through him before he focused on the words coming out of the other man's mouth. He could get distracted later. Keith knew they were supposed to be watching the sunset, but his eyes were firmly on Shiro, watching him as he talked about home.
He felt a pang of sadness at the mention of family. The old feelings of missing his father were always there, but now he also felt something over missing Krolia, the other Blades, the Paladins and Coran. Lance showing up had helped soothe him some, but it still felt like he was losing a big chunk of himself with them not here. "Does it get easier?" The question was asked quietly.
Shiro probably should’ve known better than to mention home. Good job, Shirogane. Way to pour on the romance. He dropped his eyes away from the sky and reached over to curl a hand around the back of Keith’s neck. “It gets less…present? I get busy. I do enjoyable things. Something attacks. You show up and distract me.” Shiro smiled and brushed a thumb lightly along the curve of Keith’s ear. Despite the seriousness of the subject, he couldn’t help but appreciate being here in this moment and how beautiful Keith looked against a sunset sky.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “Didn’t mean to bring down the mood. I just wanted to share this with you. I thought about you a lot up here,” he admitted, blushing and drawing his hand back to press it against the back of his neck.
Leaning into Shiro’s touch on his cheek, his ear, he sighed and closed his eyes, letting the setting sun bathe over them as well as Shiro’s attempts to comfort him. “I just guess I’ll have to let you distract me for a change then,” he said, opening his eyes and giving Shiro a very pointed look as Shiro’s hand shifted from cradling his face to pulling him closer by the back of his neck. At least they were able to salvage the mood.
Because the next second had Keith moving out of his chair and onto Shiro’s lap. All the previous nervousness about what might happen that night was gone because whenever he was with Shiro and not overthinking things, it was all too easy to do this. To take his arms and wrap them around Shiro, to boldly press a kiss to the other man’s lips.
"Oh." Shiro's hands fell on Keith quickly, to hold him close and frankly to steady himself too. Anytime he started to get the foolish idea that he could be some measure of cool about this, he was reminded that he wasn't. He was the opposite of cool about everything Keith Kogane. As he slipped his hands up Keith's back and kissed him with an impulsive burst of heat, he was pretty sure he didn't mind. Cool was overrated.
"Better?" he asked with a lazy smirk as he broke away. His fingers stayed stretched wide across Keith's back. "Feel free to shut me up like that anytime by the way. I'm just nervous."
He didn't quite understand why Shiro had this effect on him, how easily he made all those worries and concerns that seemed world ending in one moment, like nothing in the next, but whatever soothing powers he had, Keith was appreciative of them. Maybe it was because of their many years together that it made it all too easy to be with Shiro like this, like they were made to be this close and comfortable. Because it never stopped feeling right, now that Keith was letting himself have this.
The time spent talking and kissing ate up those three minutes it normally took the sun to set, so by the time Shiro was pulling away from the kiss, the darkness was starting to creep in. Not yet dark enough to see the stars, but it was getting there. Keith returned the smirk on Shiro's face with one of his own. "Nervous? You? Could have fooled me." He was very tempted to just sit there on Shiro's lap, but the July heat was a bit much and he doubted they would stay cool for long if they sat stuck like this. Because as nice as it felt to have Shiro's hand at his back and solid thighs under him, they would start to feel too warm any second. He reluctantly made a move to get up. "Come on, let's dig into dinner and you can tell me about your day."
“Hey, I’m allowed to be nervous,” Shiro laughed, following Keith to his feet. “It’s the good kind.” He slung an arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulled him in against his side as they headed back under the canopy. It was the good kind of nervous, but also a little of the anxious kind too. He had done very little dating and he wasn’t sure he was very good at it. He frowned as he pulled away from Keith to crouch next to the bag he’d brought.
“The most exciting thing about my day was a troll farmer complaining about our patrols spooking his sheep. Well that and thinking about this,” he gestured vaguely between them, indicating the date, before he started lifting takeout containers out of the bag. There were several with sandwiches and chips, too many for just the two of them, and one with a large castella cake displayed under clear plastic. “Uh. I hope you’re hungry. Or that Kosmo is hiding somewhere nearby.”
Keith’s eyes widened as he watched Shiro pull out container after container of food. “I’m sorry, did you think I grew another stomach between this morning and now?” There was a little grin playing at his lips, amused that Shiro had overprepared for their date, just as much as he had. At least he wasn’t the only dork on this date and it made him feel better about what Shiro’s expectations on this evening together were. Keith could get behind going with the flow and doing whatever felt right.
Which currently meant eating a mountain of food. “Hey, you remembered,” he said, crouching down next to Shiro when he saw the castella container. He definitely preferred real food to desserts, but this sponge cake was the exception and Shiro knew that from all their years together. “I don’t think I’ve had this since...well, the Garrison.” Had it really been years? Geez. His heart grew fond and he leaned over to press a kiss to Shiro’s cheek. “Thank you. But I need you to understand right now that I won’t be sharing this with you or anyone else.” He grabbed the container and a spoon, shuffling away to fall onto a pile of blankets with a grin. This date was already 100% better than the one he had with Chad.
It didn’t take long to get through dinner though, where Keith made a big show of sharing the dessert with Shiro after all. Soon, they were found on their backs, looking up at the much darker sky where some stars could be seen by the naked eye. They had turned off the fairy lights to see better, but it wasn’t until Shiro brought out his telescope that it got really interesting.
“It looks nothing like the sky from home,” Keith said in quiet wonder, as one hand held the telescope to his eye to see while his other hand held Shiro’s hand.
Shiro didn’t consider himself a blushes furiously kind of person, but Keith inspired that reaction anyway. “You put up fairy lights,” he grinned. “And you’re a cake thief.” These were obviously top notch defenses and not at all ridiculous. He carried that thought with him through dinner. Well, he carried that thought as far as sitting hip to hip with Keith in the pillows and stuffing his face before jokingly pouting for some cake. He felt like he might burst now that they were laying down with their heads on pillows and the open sky above him.
Generally, Shiro was pretty enamored with the sky. He was having a hard time taking his eyes off Keith though. He managed, just barely, as Keith spoke in that wonderfully soft voice. “I know. There are some star maps in the city. I’m still learning the names.” He pressed closer and curled his arm up under Keith’s neck. With their clasped hands, he lifted an arm to point towards a clump of stars. “The ring there, with the bright star at the top? That’s the Ring of Umid. There’s a whole myth about a cyclops and the human he fell in love with, and angry gods. You know the drill.”
Casual touching, hugs, all of that was nothing new for the two of them. They had been finding ways to maintain physical contact for years now. Of course on their first official date there was no exception. It felt good to be curled against Shiro, with little butterflies flapping their wings low in his belly. He put the telescope down next to his side, instead watching as Shiro pointed out the constellation he was talking about.
He went from looking for the star Shiro was talking about, to watching Shiro speak. He was always so animated when he was sharing knowledge or wisdom. If had always caught Keith’s attention, but now more so because he could appreciate it in another light. “I hope they told the gods to fuck off,” he said, shifting onto his side and curling his now free arm over Shiro’s chest so he could huddle closer. “What else is up there?”
"Ha. I think they told them exactly that." Shiro watched Keith get closer with a dazed expression. He could probably count every time he'd seen Keith really relaxed and comfortable on both hands. Maybe both hands and feet, since Voltron changed their lives. It settled his nerves to see it now. He held Keith's arm to his heart for a moment and then caressed up to his shoulder.
"If I start rambling about constellations, I'll probably never stop," Shiro admitted. He'd still probably do it, eventually. His smirking gaze drifted back up to the sky. "We could make some up instead. That one--" He carved a shape in the sky with his Altean index finger. "--Kind of looks like Kosmo when he's just about to tackle you."
Shivering at the caress to his arm, which had nothing to do with the temperature, Keith blinked a couple of times to clear up the cloudiness that always seemed to descend when Shiro got especially bold with his touches. He knew they were supposed to be stargazing, but he really wanted to turn the fairy lights back on in what Lance had dubbed ‘the petting zoo’ and maybe let the fort live up to its name.
Instead, he behaved and turned his head to watch Shiro trace the shape of Kosmo out. “Huh, it really does look like him.” He lifted his own hand to trace out a pattern. “That one kind of looks like Pidge with her glasses on.”
Shiro's smirk grew wide and loose. Every inch of his face said he was charmed. He crowded in close and pressed his forehead to Keith's shoulder like he needed to hide it for a moment. "I love when you play along with whatever dorky thing I throw at you," he whispered.
He loved when Keith was a relentless troll too, to be fair. When he was sensitive, when he was quick to anger. When he was quietly kind. When he tried so hard, no matter the odds stacked against him.
Shit, Shiro was in trouble. But then, it wasn't like he hadn't figured that out ages ago.
He collected the discarded telescope and rolled back to where he'd started. "On our next date," he lifted the telescope to his eye, "you should take me dancing."
Keith flushed at the words. Next date, he thought with a giddiness unlike him, glad that Shiro was charmed with the date they were currently on. Enough so that he wanted more. "Okay, I can handle a little dancing. I won't promise that I won't embarrass you though. Maybe for your sake, we do something else?" He asked, reaching out to trace Shiro's jawline. "Mini golfing? Movies and dinner? Beach picnic?"
He cuddled close then, so his head was resting on Shiro's chest rather than his arm. "Or all of it. I'm completely willing to do all of that with you." His thoughts were long gone from the stars..what had his eye now was Shiro's face.
Shiro tried to pretend he was paying attention to what was at the other end of the telescope but every word out of Keith’s mouth just made his smile a little brighter. He set the telescope to the side and kissed Keith’s forehead. “You could never embarrass me, Keith. But all of that sounds good. Great, really.” It didn’t matter that he’d never been mini golfing in his life. Or regular golfing for that matter. He brushed Keith’s hair out of his face and then curled both arms around him.
“Just not all on the same night, okay?” he joked close to Keith's ear. “Some of us need sleep.”