[ the jury is still out on whether the two of them are from entirely different realities or if they are in a time disturbance. is he this keith’s shiro, except a tad behind in the timeline, or is the shiro this keith left behind someone shiro will never become? there seems to be enough similarities in their personalities and history to make it surprisingly easy to forget that they don’t necessarily belong with one another. right here, right now, keith likens back to the smaller, more argumentative keith that shiro knew before kerberos and while any sort of fight isn’t what shiro wants right now, he is strangely comforted by it. i don’t wanna use you. right, okay, not what he meant, but that’s precisely why it makes shiro smile briefly through a huff. even with all his growth and maturity, some things never quite change, huh?
speaking of maturity, keith backtracks and then they’re dealing with apologies again. that is far less amusing, especially with the amount of nonsense that follows. the attempt to salvage the conversation is appreciated, but not enough to smooth out those bumps, though there is a reprieve in rebuttal, mostly due to a very cold nose touching his neck. he muscles down any sort of urge to lean away from that frozen point and instead, breathes through those first moments, until his body accepts it.
throat no longer locked up from the shock of it, shiro relaxes and curls his arm more comfortably around. ]
I don’t know what you mean by I don’t have to.
[ does this tip the scales and give more credence to the possibility that they are from entirely different realities? did keith’s shiro neglect to vow that he will never give up on him? said so long ago but said with such meaning, shiro still remembers that moment clearly. he’s committed to it, even though, at the time, he meant it more socially, in the form of support, rather than protecting him from monsters and death. ]
Don’t underestimate your value. You mean a great deal to me, Keith.
[ shiro likes keith as a person, as a friend. they get along like peanut butter and jelly. but it’s more than that. shiro is homesick. he’s been fighting to keep the hope alive that he will somehow find his way back to everything he left behind on launch day and while he hasn’t achieved that, he has found keith. keith is the only piece of home shiro has. more specifically, keith is the only link to who shiro used to be before. in a weirdly selfish way, keith’s safety is not purely for keith; shiro needs him to be safe to maintain his own sanity.
caught up in those thoughts, shiro continues to run his mouth, saying just a little bit more than he is entirely comfortable revealing. ]
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to care about anyone other than myself… and I – I don’t want to go back to being that person.
[ back to that thing. the arena flashes in mind and on reflex to shield himself from it, shiro curls a little more into himself via a tighter pull of his arm and a bending of his knees. one knee gets between keith’s legs and the arm brings keith even closer, to bump chests. unwilling to close his eyes out of fear of what he’ll see, shiro stares over the disarray of keith’s hair and to the back of the couch, breathing out a new vow. ]
no subject
speaking of maturity, keith backtracks and then they’re dealing with apologies again. that is far less amusing, especially with the amount of nonsense that follows. the attempt to salvage the conversation is appreciated, but not enough to smooth out those bumps, though there is a reprieve in rebuttal, mostly due to a very cold nose touching his neck. he muscles down any sort of urge to lean away from that frozen point and instead, breathes through those first moments, until his body accepts it.
throat no longer locked up from the shock of it, shiro relaxes and curls his arm more comfortably around. ]
I don’t know what you mean by I don’t have to.
[ does this tip the scales and give more credence to the possibility that they are from entirely different realities? did keith’s shiro neglect to vow that he will never give up on him? said so long ago but said with such meaning, shiro still remembers that moment clearly. he’s committed to it, even though, at the time, he meant it more socially, in the form of support, rather than protecting him from monsters and death. ]
Don’t underestimate your value. You mean a great deal to me, Keith.
[ shiro likes keith as a person, as a friend. they get along like peanut butter and jelly. but it’s more than that. shiro is homesick. he’s been fighting to keep the hope alive that he will somehow find his way back to everything he left behind on launch day and while he hasn’t achieved that, he has found keith. keith is the only piece of home shiro has. more specifically, keith is the only link to who shiro used to be before. in a weirdly selfish way, keith’s safety is not purely for keith; shiro needs him to be safe to maintain his own sanity.
caught up in those thoughts, shiro continues to run his mouth, saying just a little bit more than he is entirely comfortable revealing. ]
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to care about anyone other than myself… and I – I don’t want to go back to being that person.
[ back to that thing. the arena flashes in mind and on reflex to shield himself from it, shiro curls a little more into himself via a tighter pull of his arm and a bending of his knees. one knee gets between keith’s legs and the arm brings keith even closer, to bump chests. unwilling to close his eyes out of fear of what he’ll see, shiro stares over the disarray of keith’s hair and to the back of the couch, breathing out a new vow. ]
I’m going to keep caring for you. I want to.