Keith woke up but kept his eyes shut. There it was again: soft touches all across his face, feather-light. Over the last few weeks he had woken up more than once from this and it had gotten more frequent. He wouldn't have been concerned except that when questioned, Shiro was denying he was even doing it. Whenever Keith opened his eyes, Shiro would be feigning sleep or just rolling over to turn his back to him.

He did his best to keep his face neutral and his breathing even. Fingertips brushed across his forehead and nose, cheeks and jaw, and over the curve of his lips. It was shy and hesitant rather than sensual. Unable to contain himself, Keith snapped his eyes open.

"Shiro-"

"I'm sorry," Shiro blurted out, except... It wasn't Shiro. Instead of his usual confident gaze, his eyes were hesitant and almost scared. More telling, though, was the fact that instead of the normal soft gray, his eyes were pitch black with no visible difference between the iris and pupil.

"...Zee?"

The symbiote nodded. Keith noticed the way they held their right arm against their chest like they were trying to protect it. Shiro did that when he was nervous and he wondered who that tell really came from.

"Is Shiro asleep?" Keith asked softly.

"I can wake him up if you want," Zee mumbled in answer, not quite meeting Keith's eye. Even though they used Shiro's voice there was something unique about the way they spoke. It was lower and almost husky. If Keith wasn't so aware of how terrified the symbiote was he probably would have let him turn him on.

"Wait, no." Keith quickly stopped them from retreating back into Shiro's mind. "I want to talk to you. Just you." He reached out slowly to place his hand over Zee's clenched fist.

Keith's tanned skin stood out against the black "prosthetic" that Frenzy manifested for Shiro. He rubbed the back of Zee's hand with his thumb as he worked on how exactly he wanted to continue.

"What were you doing? Before I woke up?" Keith made a special effort to keep his voice gentle and curious without any note of accusation.

Zee still hesitated. "I won't tell Shiro, if you don't want me to. It can be just between us." At that suggestion, Keith felt Zee relax just a little under his hand.

"You look... Soft. When you're asleep. I just wanted to touch you like he does." Zee looked up at Keith and at that moment the AC turned on and fluttered the blinds. The moonlight sneaking through hit Zee's face and made the disturbing darkness of their eyes almost sparkle with tiny silver motes. Keith was reminded of the night sky back out in the desert.

"You both touch me all the time," Keith said with an eyebrow raised.

Zee shook their head. "Shiro touches you. I feel it, I feel everything he does, but it's always him that decides what to do." Zee frowned, but as they spoke, their hand loosened up enough for Keith to spread their fingers out a little.

"Why isn't it ever you?"

"...I've never asked," Zee admitted.

Now Keith was just confused. They liked to give Keith attention when Shiro was busy, holding hands and playing with fingers and hair. "What about when Shiro is distracted? Too busy for me?"

Zee shrugged. "It's... that's what Shiro would be doing. What you would want. That doesn't get to count," they whispered.

Keith felt his chest ache in sympathy, but that didn't answer *all* of his question. Zee had participated *enthusiastically* in some pretty ridiculous sex, even by alien standards. But casual touching was somehow too intimate?

"What about all those times we - all three of us - fucked?"

"That's." Zee blushed and Keith thought it was adorable. "It's different."

"Okay. Fair enough." Keith continued playing with Zee's fingers. "Is there a reason you haven't you asked? I'm pretty sure both of you have told me there's no secrets between you. You literally share a brain." Keith reached up with his free hand and poked their forehead.

"Because what if he says no?"

That answer surprised Keith, though he couldn't say why.

"What if he doesn't want to share you like that? You two met first and sex is fun but you can get that anywhere, with or without me. And what if-" Zee took a sharp breath and abruptly stopped speaking.

"What if what?" Keith finally laced their fingers together. This was the most he had heard from the symbiote in a while. Usually Shiro relayed messages between them.

"What if *you* said no?"

Keith worked his free hand up again, this time up cup Zee's cheek. "Why would I ever say no?"

"You were afraid of us once. Of me." Keith didn't miss the way Zee practically nuzzled into his hand. Why didn't they ever tell him, or even Shiro, how starved for touch they were? Keith thought with that small ache in his chest twinging again.

"We know how long something like that can last," Zee whispered. "I didn't want to push you to do something you weren't ready for."

Keith felt his chest seize up, this time with guilt. The nightmares had stopped years ago, but the look of pain and guilt that Shiro tried to hide as he comforted Keith were burned into his memory.

When Keith didn't answer, they continued. "We've also... Seen the way you look at us when we're in battle, or when we train." Zee was hiding their face against Keith's palm. "It was hard not to think that maybe that was the only way you could see me. As something dangerous and angry."

Keith wiggled closer and pressed his forehead to Zee's. "You know, I think I get to start calling you a slime mold with better locomotion again."

Zee's angst turned to an angry pout, but before they could say anything, Keith pressed a kiss to mouth. He didn't pull away until they finally relaxed again.

"That isn't how I see you. Not at all," Keith whispered against his lips. "I think I would like it if you told Shiro what we talked about," he continued a moment later. "You know him better than anyone, even me. I think he should know how you feel."

"Right now?" Zee asked. They sounded breathless and a little faint from the brief kiss.

"You can wait until he wakes up on his own. Besides, you need some rest too." Keith tilted their face down to plant another kiss on their forehead. "Get some sleep."

Zee nodded and started to cocoon themselves in the covers until Keith put a stop to that. "Nuh uh. You're the little spoon tonight." With the strength that came with being half Galra, Keith was able to manhandle Zee until they were tucked up against his chest. They grumbled about not being a little anything but even while doing that they were trying their best to cuddle back against Keith. It wasn't much longer after that when Keith felt their breathing steady back out and he could tell they were truly asleep.

The next morning Keith slipped out of bed for a shower, carefully untangling himself from Shiro. He purposefully made more noise than usual, hoping it would wake Shiro up so he and his symbiote could have their talk. When he got back out from an extended morning skincare routine, Shiro was indeed awake, sitting up against the headboard. He had a far-off look in his eyes, one that Keith recognized as the one he had when he was having an intense internal conversation with his symbiote.

So of course Keith had to ruin it by climbing on the bed and straddling his lap.

"I heard you had an eventful night," Shiro stated, coming back to reality.

"Mhm. We had a lot to talk about." Keith rested his hands on Shiro's chest. "What about you two?"

Shiro nodded and a sleepy frown appeared on his face. "I had no idea. I feel so stupid for not realizing sooner..."

"But you know now. Right?" Keith reached up to tousle Shiro's white hair.

"Yeah. I do."

"Good. Now cheer up." Keith tugged on his forelock, wondering if the symbiote still got jealous of him touching it like they used to. "Zee? You paying attention?" He waited for a nod from Shiro before moving his hands and resting one on Shiro's right arm, the other sliding down from his hair to cup his cheek.

"English is weird," he started, hoping that the thoughts he had put together the night before and that morning in the shower would come out right. "'You' can mean one person, or it can mean a collective group. Sometimes it's hard to tell. But there's going to be one case where it *always* means more than one." Keith shifted the hand on Shiro's right arm to hold his face with both hands. "I love *you*. All of Shiro. All of Frenzy. All of everything you two are together. And I get to tease you and call you mean names if you ever forget that."

Shiro was practically beaming as he looked up at Keith, both of them seemingly affected by his little speech. Suddenly he was blinking back tears, surprised that he found himself crying. "Huh? I'm not..."

Keith shook his head and stopped him by running his thumb over Shiro's lips. "Let them have this," he whispered.