Shiro jolted awake when something smacked him in the side. He almost activated his arm before stopping short when he realized his assailant was Keith and that the younger hadn't intended to wake him.
The Red Paladin was still asleep, tossing and turning with a pained expression.
"Keith." Shiro said softly, shifting and propping himself up on his flesh arm. When he got no reaction, he repeated the name, "Keith."
Keith still didn't stir.
"Keith, come on. Wake up." Tentatively, Shiro shook Keith's shoulder. Finally waking, the younger bolted up into a sitting position with a gasp and Shiro quickly followed, wrapping his arms around the younger, who simply slumped into him, trembling.
"I-I'm sorry..." Keith whimpered and Shiro held him tighter.
"Don't be, it's alright." The Black Paladin murmured soothingly, holding Keith impossibly closer.
"I-It's not Shiro. You shouldn't have to tell me it was just a dream." Keith argued back but it was feeble.
"You're fine Keith. I can't count the number of times I've woken up from a nightmare. You don't have to do this alone."
Keith chuckled dryly, "It sure seems like the universe has a different idea on that." He said bitterly.
Shiro glared at the top of his head for a moment, but his voice was gentle when he spoke, "I don't care what the universe or anyone else thinks Keith, I'm here for you."
Keith let out a breath, pressing closer, "I didn't mean to wake you." He murmured.
Shiro shrugged, "Doesn't matter, it'll be okay." He promised.
Silence settled over them before Shiro spoke again, feeling Keith still trembling against him slightly. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Keith sighed, holding his metal arm out so that in the darkness they could see it - or at least the outline, most of the details were lost in the low light. "They didn't even give me a choice, I just woke up and it was there. A permanent part of me. A-And I don't even know what they wanted from me! Or why they took me! Or anything! I-I just ran!"
Shiro rubbed his back gently, taking Keith's metal hand with his own prosthetic, entwining their fingers. It was odd. The way the Galra attached the fake limbs, the two could feel the metal - almost as if it was their real arm.
"I know." The older murmured, surprising the younger. Despite how well he knew Shiro, Keith had expected sympathy like he'd gotten from the aliens that had helped him, or pity, or... He didn't really know but it wasn't that.
"I guess you didn't get a choice either." He murmured quietly.
Shiro chuckled, "No, I didn't."
Keith let out a breath, "I don't think I'd be here without you. There were so many times it would have been so easy just to stop fighting and let my injuries take me, or I could have just stayed with those Galra and taken whatever they had in store for me. I came so close to giving up on recovering, even with the help the aliens gave me. But then I'd think about you, and how you promised to always come back for me and I-I knew I had to do the same." Keith admitted.
Shiro smiled, remembering the memory like it was yesterday instead of years ago,
Shiro sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as he leaned on the hover-bike he'd previously been cleaning. Before Keith confronted him. Suddenly the bracelet he'd been wearing for ages and could almost ignore now weighed a thousand pounds. "I'm going on the mission." He said softly.
He waited for rejection. Anger, frustration. Anything from the boy. A plead not to go. Anything.
Anything but what he got.
A gentle hand rested on his shoulder and he looked at Keith in surprise, the teen giving him a small smile.
"If you've only got a few years left, you should live it like you want to." The boy said.
Shiro gave a weak smile back, "Thank you Keith. You don't know how much that means to me." He had a feeling the boy might actually have a pretty good idea.
Keith smiled back, "I'll support you Takashi." He promised.
It sent a shiver down Shiro's back at his given name. Only Adam and Keith called him by his first name. The difference was Adam would call him by it everywhere. Keith only did it in private moments, special moments that Shiro treasured.
Shiro smiled, unable to find words to express his gratitude but knowing that somehow Keith knew. Keith always knew how he felt.
"Just... Just promise me one thing." Keith said quietly, seeming almost nervous.
Shiro nodded, "Anything." He said softly.
"Promise me you'll come back." Keith said. Shiro almost yet again had to remind himself Keith wasn't as naive as most his age were, tht he'd been shoved into the real world far too soon, far too fast, and far too hard.
Shiro nodded, raising his hand to rest on Keith's that was still on his shoulder. "I'll always come back for you Keith, I promise." He murmured like it was a precious secret. It seemed foolish, to promise something he didn't know he could keep, but somehow he knew he'd keep it.
"You always came back." Keith whispered, like it was some precious secret he was scared of losing.
Shiro tightened his grip on Keith, "You came back for me too." He murmured softly, kissing the top of Keith's head.
Keith let out a breath, "Yeah. But what now?"
"We'll figure it out together, I promise. You'll always have me to talk to Keith."
Keith nodded slightly, "How..." He trailed, voice faltering, did he really want to address this? Or should he just let it go? "How are you?" He forced, throat feeling suddenly dry.
Shiro smiled slightly, "I'm fine Keith. You don't have to worry about me." He murmured.
Keith shook his head, looking up at him, "I do Takashi. Because I know you. The others don't know and I-I need to know. Please... You didn't lie to me back then."
Shiro softened at Keith's plea, "I'm fine Keith, really." He smiled, a warmth in it Keith hadn't seen in ages, since their private moments on Earth before Kerberos, "I'll explain in the morning, okay? Or try to at least."
Keith nodded, allowing himself to be satisfied, "Goodnight Takashi." He murmured, curling against Shiro.
The older smiled with an unmatched and unrivaled warmth at the younger, his mind going back to another time - seeming far away now.
Keith was tucked against his side, fast asleep in a loose black shirt and pants. Honestly, he didn't mind how easy the boy found it to sleep - or the fact that he'd come to his quarters in the middle of the night.
Shiro sighed and carefully disentangled himself from the cadet. He'd get enough of an earful from Adam for Keith having slept here, let alone if his lover knew that he'd snuggled with Keith since the younger had arrived.
Keith grumbled in his sleep but stayed asleep and Shiro smiled.
As predicted, Adam came out of the bedroom a few minutes later to find Shiro drinking a cup of coffee with Keith fast asleep on their couch.
"Takashi, what is he doing here?" Adam inquired.
Shiro shrugged and responded as he usually did to the question, "Came in the middle of the night, couldn't sleep. I let him in."
Adam frowned, "Why?"
Shiro looked up, "Because he needs someone he can rely on and I've taken the position without him even realizing it."
Adam's eyes flashed with anger, "It's our quarters Takashi. He should be sleeping in his own. He had a rough childhood, no rougher than others have had it."
Shiro glared at him, "I'm not arguing about this today Adam." He stood and crossed the room as Adam glared at them before setting to work making coffee for himself. Slipping into the bedroom, Shiro quickly dressed for the day before slipping back into the room, bending down by the couch. He could feel Adam's eyes burning into his back but ignored it as a small smile played on his lips.
"Keith, time to wake up. You need to get ready for classes." Shiro said softly.
Keith grumbled for a moment before blinking his eyes open. Violet found grey and Shiro felt like the breath left his lungs like it always did. How was it possible that Keith had such vibrant violet eyes?
Keith nodded, sitting up and running a hand through his hair, "Thanks for letting me stay over." He mumbled, noticing Adam and tensing.
Shiro smiled, "No problem." He said as he stood, "Most of the other cadets are still in bed if you hurry back to your room." He said and Keith nodded, flashing him one last smile before leaving. Shiro's smile tinted with sadness slightly as the boy left, the nearly unbearable question of how long they would have flitting through his mind. He knew he should worry more about his time left with Adam or the time left to fulfill his dreams but... He worried about Keith, whether he'd be okay after Shiro was gone.
"Any idea when you're going to tell him?" Adam broke in. So they were still in this loop.
"Can we just eat breakfast?" Shiro asked, meeting Adam's gaze evenly.
Adam sighed, "He'll find out sooner or later Takashi. Better to tell him now and let him get over it then let him find out because you suddenly aren't there for him."
Shiro glared at him, "Get over it? So you're saying someone should just be able to get over something like that?" He snapped before shaking his head, "I'll tell him when he's older. For now he needs to know that I'll always be there for him."
Adam let out a breath, "But you won't be!"
Shiro glared at his lover, "I am not leaving Keith and I'm not telling him." He walked over and grabbed his bag, swinging it over his shoulder, "He's not ready for something like that." He finished as he walked out of the room, leaving the way Keith had.
There was a part of Shiro that wondered whether it was Keith or himself that wasn't ready for Keith to know. Keith was the one person who actually knew him who didn't know about his sickness, who didn't worry about him every second because of it, that didn't send him hidden and unwanted looks of sympathy, who didn't see his sickness first and who he was second, the list went on.