but he's smiling, wry as ever and tired already. they're going to wake up only to forget everything again, and frankly, he's exhausted with being exhausted. ]
[ it makes him laugh, soft and quiet into the blue, static-ridden space still left between them.
the springs creak. the desert breeze slips into the crack beneath the door until all they can smell is the sand, not the cosmic dust clinging to his shadowy frame, not a canyon's stillness lingering along keith's limbs after a day of excavation. ]
[ it's a deep hush, all shadows and dust and pearling light -- it feels as if they're caught on the cusp of something, a moment that might startle and fly if he so much as talks too loud. so he doesn't move; his voice runs low --
and yet there's still a little judgment involved. ]
[ no, not really -- and if he carries any snapshot flash out of this daze, let it be this: shiro's fingers in ghostly lines, his summer-real warmth. the way he leans into the touch like he's been starving, like he still doesn't know any better. ]
. . . I'm not waiting, next time.
[ that it isn't the uncertainty that gets to him, the odds of loss, but the distance: planets and cosmic dust littering the endless stretch between them. ]
[ for a moment, he thinks about what it'd be like to wake up. in an ideal world, it'd be to see that they're both together, and they'd -- what? be back at the garrison? not saving the universe? they'd be on the roof just past sundown, and keith would take his hand to stand up.
it feels like a waste to sleep, to let a reunion end on such a note, with keith staring at him, eyes dark with the vastness of space in the hazy blue shadows of the cabin. ]
. . . I'll take that as a threat, then.
[ but he smiles because he believes it, feeling his heartbeat pick up with adrenaline, with something like a police chase down a narrow alleyway.
and that's enough to press his fingers along the nape of keith's neck, reeling him in for a much awaited hug. ]
[ but he's mumbling it after a heartbeat, two, his mouth smudging off of shiro's shoulder, helplessly curled. i'm not waiting -- but he's a liar already: it feels as if he's been waiting for this. ]
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but he's smiling, wry as ever and tired already. they're going to wake up only to forget everything again, and frankly, he's exhausted with being exhausted. ]
You already know I come back.
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[ there's rust on the words still, crackling heavy; but if he's sure of anything, if there's any doubt worth working through, it must be this. ]
. . . but it's been a long time since we've done this -- and I get the feeling we're about to be pretty busy for a while.
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the springs creak. the desert breeze slips into the crack beneath the door until all they can smell is the sand, not the cosmic dust clinging to his shadowy frame, not a canyon's stillness lingering along keith's limbs after a day of excavation. ]
Don't you need to sleep?
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and yet there's still a little judgment involved. ]
Not any more than you do.
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[ it rings in a low note, murmur-soft. ]
Let's do it, then.
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I'm not about to kick you out of your own bed, Keith.
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I already called dibs on the floor.
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I don't see your name on it anywhere.
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[ logic'd, motherfucker. ]
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Huh, this is some way to treat a guest. Are you always this inhospitable?
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Guess you're the only one who's dumb enough to keep coming back.
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well, he can't really help it. he reaches out to ruffle keith's hair. ]
Please. I'm just here to take up space on your floor.
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[ cross and light on the same breath as he ducks his head a little. ]
Come on, give me a break.
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his breathy laugh, a light mood, and his palm curling warm against keith's cheek. ]
I'll always find my way back, alright?
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. . . I'm not waiting, next time.
[ that it isn't the uncertainty that gets to him, the odds of loss, but the distance: planets and cosmic dust littering the endless stretch between them. ]
If you don't come back, I'm coming to find you.
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it feels like a waste to sleep, to let a reunion end on such a note, with keith staring at him, eyes dark with the vastness of space in the hazy blue shadows of the cabin. ]
. . . I'll take that as a threat, then.
[ but he smiles because he believes it, feeling his heartbeat pick up with adrenaline, with something like a police chase down a narrow alleyway.
and that's enough to press his fingers along the nape of keith's neck, reeling him in for a much awaited hug. ]
You drive a hard bargain.
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[ but he's mumbling it after a heartbeat, two, his mouth smudging off of shiro's shoulder, helplessly curled. i'm not waiting -- but he's a liar already: it feels as if he's been waiting for this. ]
Hard would be getting you to stay off the floor.
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it's an easy position to keep -- to lean against the wall, and take keith along with him, wrapping the flimsy cotton blanket around them both. ]
Well, the company I get up here's pretty good incentive.
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[ and there goes the smile, evaporated into reflexive disgruntlement even as he goes with the pull. ]
The bed's not that big.
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[ even if the moment's gone, it's pretty hard to flex his fingers open, to let his hold fall away and to give keith the room to pull away. ]
There's more space for me down there.
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[ snagging his collar, bossy, to tug him away from the edge.
they're not cuddling, though, there are lines. ]
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