A/N: Follows "Cuddling."

"I don't care what Coran told you," Lance said Shiro flatly over his shoulder before huddling back into Hunk. "We should've worn our suits."

The five of them were shivering even under their blankets, up on the highest parapet of the castle, the clear night sky a magnificent tapestry over their heads. Coran had brought three telescopes along with the blankets—fully analog, clearly antique, but nevertheless of excellent make. Pidge had attached themself to one immediately, leaving the others to share the second while Coran and Allura passed the third between them.

The trouble was, without their suits, it was too cold to enjoy the view for very long, and Coran didn't seem inclined to let them back downstairs any time soon.

Shiro stood behind the others, keeping an eye on them and the night sky all at once. It was beautiful, but the view down below was starting to wear a little bit. Lance had gravitated to Hunk for warmth almost immediately, but he had yet to go two minutes without complaining. Pidge was starting to look sluggish, even, curled into a small ball with only one hand out to adjust the telescope, suppressing shudders because it would distort their view. Keith sat off to one side, staring expressionless at the expanse of stars overhead. Shiro knew him, though; the way his limbs were drawn together meant he was unhappy that everyone else was unhappy. He just wasn't planning to do anything about it, other than quietly suffer through it.

Coran, ever patient, was watching them like he was taking notes on their progress. He'd intended them to be doing more cuddling, Shiro knew, but this wasn't as simple as handcuffing them to each other to make them eat. He'd clearly had something more voluntary in mind.

It was Hunk that spoke first. "Okay, seriously, Pidge, it hurts to look at you right now." He gestured at his free side. "Get over here."

"...Yeah, okay." Pidge curled up next to Hunk, shivering. "But you've got to see this, it's awesome. I think I found a supernova—or a nebula. Both, maybe."

"Sure, yeah, in a minute." Hunk wrapped a careful arm around Pidge, and to Shiro's surprise, Pidge went obediently limp, burrowing into his side for warmth. Their lips were paler than Shiro would have liked. Hunk half-smiled down at them, chafing gently at their outer arm.

"It is so cold," Lance said for about the twentieth time on Hunk's other side. Then he looked over his shoulder, petulant. "Shiro, I bet you're like a space heater. Get over here."

Hunk looked up from Pidge, frowning. "I thought I was your space heater."

"And you're great at it!" Lance reassured him. "But I'm sharing you with Pidge, so you only cover one side. I need two."

Pidge reached out and felt Lance's upper arm, making him yelp. "Lance, you're not even that cold. You seem pretty warm to me, actually."

"It doesn't matter! I feel cold. If I stop feeling cold, it's already too late. Boom. Hypothermia. Frostbite."

That was taking things a bit far, Shiro reflected, but it did get the point across. This wasn't some sort of stoic test of wills—or at least, he didn't think Coran had meant it as such. It was supposed to be a shared experience, and sharing body heat as well would make it a great deal more pleasant.

Lance seemed to see where his thoughts were going. "Please?" he said, one eyebrow raised like he wasn't sure begging would work. His puppy-dog eyes were particularly impressive since he didn't seem to be doing them entirely on purpose.

Still, Shiro hesitated. It didn't feel quite right, somehow—part of him balked at something in this. The informality of it, maybe, how unnecessary it seemed. Besides, he was supposed to be their leader. This wasn't exactly the most dignified of activities, and in a pinch he needed them to be able to rely on him.

(It was a silly reason, but it distracted him from deeper fears. He didn't want to think about the others' proximity to his scars; the nagging worry, deep down where he couldn't quite exorcise it, that his arm would activate out of the blue and hurt one of them; deeper still, terror at the thought of letting his guard down, only for something horrible to happen as a result…)

But in the end, there was no good reason not to follow Lance's suggestion. This was his team, and even if he was their leader, they were also friends. And none of them seemed too bothered about his arm or his scars. He could relax around them. He could even get close to them. It was allowed.

He edged into Hunk's and Lance's orbit on Lance's other side, carefully folding himself down cross-legged at an angle. He used his metal arm to drape a handful of blankets that Hunk handed to him over Lance's shoulder. Lance pulled him in close enough to Hunk that he was squashed tight between the two of them, and let out a happy sigh.

Shiro took one deep, slow, unobtrusive breath. Another. Nothing looked like it was going badly. He could feel the tension in Lance's back diminishing gradually, presumably as he warmed.

There was a moment of silence as they all felt the pockets of air between them begin to heat up, insulated by the blankets. To Shiro's surprise, Allura knelt behind him, half on the blankets, staring up at the sky. On Hunk's other side, Coran took up a similar place, resting a hand on Pidge's and Hunk's shoulders.

Shiro glanced up at the sky overhead. It was a lot more enjoyable now, but one nagging concern kept tugging his gaze downward.

"Keith," Hunk said finally, breaking the silence. Apparently he'd resigned himself to the idea that nobody else was going to say it. "C'mon, man. Cuddle pile means you too."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." Keith didn't seem surprised so much as distracted. Still, he unfolded himself readily enough, a bit stiff but not shaking. He edged carefully around Lance to find a place on Pidge's other side. When he gestured, Lance grudgingly passed him a blanket behind Hunk's back.

As he did so, one of Keith's arms brushed Lance's under the blankets, and Lance flinched dramatically, almost dislodging Shiro. "Keith, you're a freaking ice cube, what the heck?"

Keith shrugged. "Sorry."

"Darn straight, get away from me!"

"Ignore Lance, he's just being dramatic—" Pidge bit back a yelp and clambered over to sit between Hunk's legs instead, giving up their former spot without protest. "Cold hands cold hands cold hands!"

"Now who's being dramatic?" Keith shot back, but Shiro noticed that he stuck his hands carefully under his arms before leaning against Hunk.

Hunk, for his part, winced a bit at first, but he threw his blanket over Keith nonetheless. "You know, they kinda weren't kidding," he said.

Keith rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad."

"It's a little that bad," Hunk disagreed, but left it at that. He didn't chafe at Keith like he had at Pidge, but Shiro saw Keith's breathing deepen and his face gradually gain a bit of color as he absorbed some of Hunk's heat. Apparently Keith was sensitive to the cold, though perhaps he wasn't consciously aware of it. Shiro took note of that in case it arose as a problem later.

This was better—having everyone within easy reach as well as within sight felt surprisingly good. Shiro squeezed Lance's shoulder a bit and caught a hint of a grin on his face in reply. He felt himself settle, and turned his gaze back to the stars.

A/N: It's getting to a busy time of year, between Inktober and NaNo, so I think I'm going to place this story on hiatus for now. I'll probably come back to it when season two comes out, if not earlier. Thank you so much to everyone who's read, reviewed, and faved this story! It means a lot to me. Happy autumn, everybody.