Chapter Text
Keith wiped the sweat off his brow. He felt different. Flushed, his chest achy and tight. Maybe he was coming down with something. He raised his bayard, determined to fight through whatever it was. They were training, and as a paladin of Voltron, he needed to sharpen his skills for their upcoming attack on Zarkon. Kolivan, a Galra and member of the Blade of Marmora, stepped up to challenge him next.
Kolivan looked at him with a frown. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed a hand over his sore chest. “Might be coming down with something.” He firmed his grip on his bayard. “But I can still fight.”
Kolivan’s eyes widened before he stepped back. “No. I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to be so close to you right now.” His gaze flicked to Shiro.
“Can Galra even catch human viruses?”
“No. But what afflicts you isn’t from your human side. It’s the part of you that is Galra.”
Keith lowered his weapon, his jaw immediately going hard. He was still adjusting to the fact that a part of him was alien. He didn’t want to think about any Galra illnesses he might have coursing through his body. “I’m going to go get cleaned up.”
Kolivan tried to stop him. “Wait, you need to know –.”
Keith cut him off. “I’m not interested.”
Shiro watched Keith go. He’d been even pricklier than usual after finding out he was a part of the alien race they were fighting. Since everyone had already had at least one turn sparring, Shiro called a halt for the day. Everyone trooped out, the paladins going one way, Kolivan another. Shiro paused for a moment then decided to follow Kolivan. He called out to him when the others were out of hearing range. “Kolivan. Do I need to know what’s going on with Keith? Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
Kolivan stopped and turned to face him. He seemed to find Shiro’s comments funny, if the slight twitch to his lips was any indication. “Ah, yes. It is important that you know.”
“Know what?”
“The Red Paladin is an omega.”
“A what?”
“An omega,” Kolivan repeated. “It’s why he’s so small. Even if he were a full blooded Galra, he would still be smaller than most of us. Omegas can be any gender in our race. Their personalities and abilities are just as varied as anyone else’s but their bodies are specifically built for breeding. Keith has bonded with an alpha, and that unlocked some aspects of his omega nature.”
“An alpha?” Shiro’s eyes narrowed as he jumped to the logical conclusion. “You?”
“No. Although I do find him beautiful, his bond isn’t with me. You’re the alpha he’s bonded with.”
Shiro reared back in shock. “I might have a Galra arm, but I’m not Galra. How can I be an alpha?”
“One does not need to be of my race to be an alpha. In your circle, you are the leader. People look to you and follow your commands. It is why the Black Lion chose you, is it not? Those are alpha traits. And with your bond, it was only natural Keith’s omega nature would manifest.”
“What do you mean bond? We’re friends.” He heard Keith’s words in his head. You're like a brother to me.
Kolivan’s lips twitched again. “Humans.” He said it as if that were funny. “You are friends. But you’re also something more. It shimmers in the air between you. Only a fool would miss it.”
Ignoring the slight insult, Shiro straightened his spine, ready to help his friend. “What’s wrong with him? And what can I do to care for him?”
“Keith is going into heat.”
Shiro blinked. He knew animals like cats and dogs went into heat. But he’d never heard of that for humans. Then he stupidly reminded himself the Galra weren’t human.
“His chest hurts because his body is preparing to lactate. He’ll need to be milked.”
Shiro’s brain sloshed at that. “Like a cow?”
“No. By your mouth. Nothing else will sate him. He’ll also need sexual relief with something inside him.”
Those words brought an image up in Shiro’s head. One he only allowed himself to picture when he was alone in his quarters. Him on top of Keith, his hips between Keith’s spread legs as Shiro thrust inside him. He forced the image away. Keith was his friend. It was wrong to picture him like that. “You’re making this up.”
“I’m not. It is the nature of a Galra Omega. You can ask Princess Allura for confirmation if you don’t believe me.”
Shiro shook his head. Allura was tetchy around Keith these days. He didn’t think she’d be too keen on answering any questions about his recently discovered Galra blood. Besides, he’d be too embarrassed to bring this omega business up with her anyway. “So I’ll need to milk him-” brain slosh “-and sexually satisfy him. When? And for how long?”
Kolivan thought for a moment. “For three of your earth nights. The heats fade during the day, allowing omegas to continue to function in their normal lives. The closer you two become, the more you’ll feel his heat’s pull. You’ll know when it’s time.”
“And what happens if I don’t …” Shiro had to force himself to get the words out. “If I don’t milk him?”
“Keith will be in physical pain,” Kolivan said with a frown. “And depending on the strength of your bond, you will experience unrelenting physical desire. You’ll also be able to feel an echo of his pain, just as you will his heat.”
Shiro stood there stunned. When he’d started his day, he’d never considered this might be a conversation he’d be having near the end of it.
“You are a lucky man, Shirogane,” Kolivan continued. “An omega in heat is a beautiful sight. I wouldn’t mind seeing Keith in the throes of it myself.”
Shiro narrowed his gaze. “Don’t talk about him like that.”
Kolivan responded with a knowing chuckle. “As you wish, Alpha Shiro.”
He turned and walked away, leaving Shiro there on his own.
***
At dinner, Shiro noticed that Keith looked miserable. He also noticed that he couldn’t stop looking at his friend. His eyes returned to Keith again and again. Shiro had the urge to be near him. To ask if he was all right, to bring him food, to touch him. It was crazy. When Shiro caught Kolivan giving him a smug grin, he tried to pull back on the strange, new impulses. He needed to focus on what he was going to tell Keith. His friend had no idea what was going on with his body and he deserved to know.Unfortunately, for the first time that he could recall, Shiro couldn’t think of the right thing to say. He ended up letting Keith go without bringing it up.
Later on, Shiro was in his bunk, contemplating going to Keith, when he felt his presence out in the hallway. He didn’t stop to think how strange that was before he hopped off the bed. The door opened with a soft hiss and Shiro stepped into the hall. “Keith, wait,” he called out.
Keith half turned to look at him. “Is this an emergency, Shiro? I was on my way to take a cold shower to cool off.”
“Yeah, it sort of is,” Shiro said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Come in here so we can talk.”
Keith approached him with some wariness. “That might not be a good idea. If I’m getting sick, I don’t want you to catch it.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Shiro said with a nervous laugh.
The door shut behind Keith and he stood there looking at Shiro expectantly.
“You know Kolivan said what was bothering you was from your Galra side?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I asked him what it was.” Keith’s eyebrows started to lower in a frown and Shiro rushed on. “Not because I thought there might be something dangerous about you, but because I wanted to help you if I could.”
Keith relaxed a little. “So, what is it? Am I going to turn purple and sprout hair on my face?”
“Not that I know of. Apparently, you’re an omega.”
Keith’s expression didn’t change. He clearly didn’t know what that meant any more than Shiro had. “What’s an omega?”
Shiro took a deep breath and gave a quick, bare bones run-down of everything Kolivan had told him about omegas.
Now Keith’s expression changed, morphing from confusion to disgust to resigned acceptance. “That’s why...” He brought a hand up to the general vicinity of his chest before quickly dropping it.
Shiro clenched his teeth together. Since his talk with Kolivan, the idea of Keith’s nipples leaking milk had ceased to make his brain slosh. Instead, it made him hard. “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I could help you. In fact, I probably should since I’m the one that caused this.”
Keith looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Your bond with me is what triggered the change. I explained to Kolivan that we’re just friends, but I guess that doesn’t matter. I’m a leader – an alpha apparently – and our closeness set it off. Keith stared at him and Shiro wished he knew what he was thinking. The two of them were close, probably closer than anyone else on the ship, but Keith was so guarded that even for Shiro, he was hard to read sometimes. Shiro repeated his offer. “I could do it for you. Unless you want to get one of the others. Or maybe we can ask Pidge if there’s something we can do to prevent it from happening.”
Keith shook his head. “No way. I don’t even like it when she tinkers with Red, so I definitely don’t want any modifications to my body. And as for the others, I don’t want them to know about this.”
There were no other options. Shiro held his breath, desperately hoping Keith would take him up on his offer. It was quiet for several ticks before Keith spoke again.
“Are you sure you don’t mind? I know I’ve saved your life a few times, but this seems like a lot to ask in exchange.”
“I don’t mind. It’s just something that has to be done. And it doesn’t have to be weird or even sexual if we look at it as simply meeting a biological need.” He tried to lighten the mood. “If you were bitten by a poisonous space snake I’d suck the poison out for you.”
Keith smiled a little. “That’s a terrible analogy, Takashi. But you’re right. It has to be done.”
“Okay,” Shiro said with a firm nod. “Apparently, you’ll feel it when your heat finally starts. Come here when it does.”
Keith agreed with a nod of his own, then left the room.
***
Keith stood under the spray in the shower. The water was cool and soft, falling like rain on his heated skin. Words slid through his mind as he stood there with his face upturned, none of them landing long enough to form full thoughts. Omega. Milk. Sexual release. As long as he stayed under the water he didn’t really have to think. But as soon as he turned the water off, the thoughts returned.
He was part Galra. He was also an omega. He was going into heat, and Shiro was going to help him by sucking milk from his chest. Keith wanted to be mind-boggled over it, but after weeks of flying a robotic lion around space to fight aliens, he doubted there was anything that could surprise him. Keith dried off, wrapped himself in the red robe that had been provided in the Red Paladin’s quarters and returned to his room.
Accepting the change to his body was relatively easy. But what disturbed him was the part with Shiro. First, because he didn’t like being dependent on anyone. Working on team Voltron had helped Keith get past some of his loner tendencies. After all, they had to work together to form Voltron. But this was much more personal. He needed this for himself, not as part of a larger group fighting off an alien overlord. Second, he would have to be close to Shiro. Physically close. They’d hugged before taking off on their separate missions, but this was different. Shiro would have his mouth on him. And might have to do more.
Keith didn’t know how he felt about that. Anxious for sure. He’d never … Intimacy wasn’t a thing that he sought out. And Shiro was someone that he’d looked up to for so long. You're like a brother to me. He’d meant it when he said that. Maybe there was more he wanted to say but unlike Shiro, words didn’t come easy to him. Emotions were even harder. When Keith took his robe off to go to bed, he noticed that his chest was wet again, and it wasn’t from the shower. His nipples were damp and had darkened in color. Keith swallowed hard. No matter how he felt about it, his heat was coming.
***
Shiro lay back in bed. It had been a long, exhausting day. While Slav was working on the gravity generator, they’d flown a short mission to help a planet of cherub type people regain access to their water source. The Galra had redirected the water’s flow for their own purposes while they’d been stationed there and left without restoring it to its natural state. Throughout the day, he’d felt Keith’s heat rising. He knew it would be here tonight. That knowledge left Shiro on edge, and things had been tense between him and Keith as a result.
Needing to distract himself from the anticipation of waiting, Shiro rolled off the bed, ready to do some push-ups. Before he could drop to the floor, however, a feeling – a knowing – washed through him in waves. His fingers, both human and Galra, tingled with the urge to run them over Keith’s skin. Keith was in heat.
Shiro stared at the door. He’d told Keith to come here, where they could be alone. He waited, hands clenching, body tense from holding himself back to go and seek him out. Finally, the door slid open and Keith was there. Keith came into the room, eyes lowered and arms crossed over his chest.
“It’s started,” he said without looking at Shiro. Keith tugged his shirt off and dropped it on the floor.
Shiro saw that he’d wrapped bandages around his chest as a way to keep his wet nipples from showing through his shirt. He started roughly tugging the bandages off, but Shiro went over and stopped him. “Let me.”
Keith held his arms out to his sides. As Shiro gently unwound the bandages, Keith’s eyes bounced everywhere, refusing to land on or anywhere near Shiro. He knew what Shiro would see. Swollen chest. Red, stiff nipples, damp with milk. Skin flushed with heat. It was the most embarrassing thing he’d ever experienced in his life. Keith thought he heard a soft groan, but when he looked up, his friend’s face was as stoic as ever.
Shiro backed up and sat on the end of the bed, tossing the bandages behind him. “I think the most comfortable way for us to do this is for you to straddle my lap.”
His shoulders set with determination, Keith went forward and set one knee on the bed next to Shiro’s hip. Then he brought the other leg up, straddling Shiro as he’d suggested. He stayed up on his knees so that his chest was level with Shiro’s face. Shiro grasped his hands. Keith thought he felt a thumb stroke over his leather covered palm just before his hands were placed on Shiro’s wide shoulders.
“For balance.”
Keith nodded his head in a quick jerk. “Right. Balance.”
“Are you ready?”
Keith sucked in a deep breath. Were they really going to do this? It was crazy and they were friends, but he ached. And if this was the only thing that would stop it, Keith didn’t have a choice. His gaze fixed on a spot on the wall behind Shiro’s head, Keith nodded.
With permission granted, Shiro leaned forward and licked at Keith’s left nipple, then the other, tasting them both. A shiver trembled in Keith’s belly at the feel of Shiro’s tongue, but he kept the reaction to himself. It was harder to hide his reaction when Shiro started to suck. An immediate feeling of relief washed through Keith and his fingers clenched on Shiro’s shoulders. It felt amazing. The nipple Shiro drank from was cool and soothed, the itchy, tight feeling that previously plagued Keith drifting away as his milk was suckled. Shiro did the best he could to help the other nipple as well, pulling and tugging on it, so that milk trickled down his hand. A noise came from Shiro, the groan unmistakable this time. Keith felt the vibration of it against his skin. He wondered if Shiro might actually be enjoying this, but his brain shied away from looking at that too closely.
Besides, he had his own surprising enjoyment to worry about. He felt each suck on his nipple as a different kind of heat, a pleasurable one that shimmered down his skin to his cock. And no matter what he tried to think of to stave off an erection, he was getting hard. He tried to move his hips back, to keep Shiro from feeling it, but Shiro quickly wrapped an arm around his waist, tugging him forward again. Keith gasped as his erection was pressed to Shiro’s torso.
“It’s okay, just do what comes natural,” Shiro whispered.
Keith bit his lip. Natural? What came natural was to roll his hips, seeking friction for his pulsing shaft. He tentatively did so once, then again, rubbing his cock against the warm muscle of Shiro’s chest. Shiro didn’t seem to mind so Keith kept going. Hands clenched tight on Shiro’s shoulders, Keith thrust his hips forward, again and again, the heat in his skin climbing with each press of his cock against Shiro’s strong chest.
When Shiro switched to sucking the other nipple, the heat climbed even further. Something else happened too. He clenched his cheeks reflexively as an unfamiliar urge came over him. He wanted to feel something inside him. The urge became so strong that it distracted him from the relief of Shiro’s mouth on his nipples. Not knowing what to do, he shifted his hips side to side, trying to get back to that place of comfort.
Shiro noticed that Keith’s body had lost its smooth roll. Now he was wriggling restlessly. He knew what that meant, and what needed to be done, but he didn’t want to make any assumptions about what Keith would allow. He forced his mouth away from the sweetness of Keith’s nipples. “Is something wrong?”
For the first time, Keith fully looked at him. His pale skin was flushed pink with arousal, lips red from biting them. His eyes were heavy-lidded, only a glimmer of their smoky blue visible to Shiro. “I need…” he trailed off. Swallowed. Started again. “I need something inside me.”
Shiro traced his fingers down Keith’s crack. “Here?”
Keith’s jaw tightened. He nodded silently.
“Do you want me to help you there too? Just my hand,” Shiro was quick to reassure. He tried to continue in a normal tone, but his voice came out low and thick with desire. “I could finger you.” They stared at each other. Neither of them would say it, but it was glaringly obvious by now this was more than Shiro simply helping Keith.
“Yes.” Keith looked away and cleared his throat. “That’s fine.”
Placing a hand on Keith’s hip, he tugged him down until his weight rested on Shiro’s lap. There was no hiding the erection Shiro was sporting once their bodies came into contact. Keith’s eyes shot back to his in surprise. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” There was nothing Shiro could say without revealing how turned on he was by this, by Keith. “I’m sorry,” he finished lamely. Slipping a hand into Keith’s shorts, he rubbed a finger over Keith’s entrance, feeling the soft puckered skin. Then he slowly pushed inside. Shiro groaned at what he found. Keith was silky wet. And hot. So hot his finger warmed as though he’d activated the tech in his hand.
Keith pressed his face into Shiro’s neck, muffling a moan against his skin. Shiro rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay. You’re just doing what your body needs. Don’t…” Shiro had to pause as a wave of arousal rolled through him. “Don’t be embarrassed.” He moved his finger again, and Keith’s hips jerked forward. Shiro closed his eyes, holding back the groan that wanted to escape when Keith’s length rubbed against his. His heart pounding, shoulders heaving from his racing breaths, Shiro promised himself they would talk and he would come clean before they did this again. “Do what you need to do.”
Keith muffled another moan, then started moving, grinding and thrusting against him. Shiro slid his other hand into the black hair curling at Keith’s nape, gently tugging his head back. Keith arched for him and Shiro bent his head so he could resume sucking Keith’s nipples while he fingered him.
Keith tried to rein it in. Tried to remind himself that this was clinical and biological. That Shiro was his friend, not his lover. Tried to stop making an absolute wanton spectacle of himself. But he couldn’t. Pleasure spiraled through him, making him gasp and moan. He rocked his hips forward to grind his cock against Shiro’s then back to meet the fingers thrusting inside. Yes, fingers. Shiro had pushed three inside him and Keith had taken them all with relative ease. The slick helped. And when Shiro’s metallic finger brushed over his prostate, more of that slick gushed from his ass, spilling over Shiro’s hand. Shiro whispered a soft curse when it happened, and Keith shuddered at the deep and desperate timbre to his voice. Again he rubbed his cock against Shiro’s shaft and when Shiro rubbed back, Keith’s belly clenched hard. He wanted that cock inside him. He wanted Shiro inside him.
But he couldn’t ask for that, could he? That would be going too far, irrevocably changing the bond of friendship between the red and black paladins. But deep inside, Keith ached. And he knew what would satisfy him. Before he could decide if he should fix his lips to say the words that might get him what he wanted, Shiro pressed hard against that bundle of nerves inside him, biting down on his tender nipple at the same time. Keith exploded, brighter and hotter than the star that had almost destroyed the Castle of Lions. He cried out once, but on the next breath he clenched his jaw together, preventing himself from calling Shiro’s name with a painful tenacity that almost cracked his teeth. Cum soaked his shorts while a river of slick flooded down his thighs.
Shiro was in the most exquisite agony with Keith writhing in his lap. He wanted to lay back on the bed, completely undress them both and plunge his cock into the slick heat that gripped his fingers so tightly. Except they hadn’t discussed going that far. And Kolivan had warned him what would happen if he came inside of Keith during his heat, not pregnancy, but a permanent bond between them. Shiro needed badly to make Keith fully and completely his. Since he couldn’t, he did everything he could to give Keith the release he needed. All while holding back his own desire as much as he was able so Keith wouldn’t see how much Shiro wanted him.
When Keith cried out with his climax, Shiro raised his head to look at him. Pearly rivulets of milk trickled down his chest. Sweat made his flushed skin glow. It captured his bangs, holding them to his forehead. His eyes were closed so Shiro couldn’t see them, but he was satisfied with eying rosy lips parted for racing breaths to slip between. He wished he could kiss them.
Kolivan was right. Omegas in heat were a beautiful sight. And the picture Keith made in the throes of it caused his balls to draw up, sending a thick pulse of cum streaking up his cock. He hadn’t planned to orgasm tonight, wanting to make this all about Keith. But he couldn’t stop it. He was too aroused, too enthralled with Keith. With a deep groan, he pulled Keith’s hips in tight against him and came. In the midst of his climax, Shiro forgot himself and pressed a kiss to his friend’s chest, over his heart.
They rested there for a moment, Shiro’s hands now solidly planted on Keith’s waist as they caught their breath. Their cardio was top notch from training, so it didn’t take them long to recover. Shiro moved to pick Keith up so he could carry him to the shower. He didn’t want to wash away the evidence of what they’d done, but he figured Keith was probably uncomfortable and sticky. But Keith jumped off his lap before Shiro made it to his feet.
“Oh, my god.” His eyes were wide, bright violet with panic. “Shiro, I’m so sorry. You won’t have to do that again.”
“Your heat lasts for three days Keith,” Shiro calmly said as he rose from the bed. “You still have two nights to go.”
Keith stumbled back, away from Shiro. His foot tangled in the shirt he’d dropped on the floor and he reached down to pick it up. “I’ll handle it on my own.” Keith tugged the shirt over his head and escaped from the room.
Reluctantly, Shiro let him go. He knew when to give Keith space. He just hoped that time a part would calm Keith’s panic rather than increasing it. And when Keith calmed down, they would talk. Because what they’d just experienced was amazing. Shiro was determined to experience it again, except next time, he wasn’t going to hold back.