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"Hey, Shiro," Keith says one afternoon, "can I try calling you something?"
Shiro raises an eyebrow, glancing down at where Keith is tucked against his left side. They're on the couch in Shiro's Garrison suite, taking advantage of a rare alignment in their schedules. Shiro's got the draft of an upcoming speech in one hand, and the other is resting on Keith's hip, absentmindedly thumbing at the skin where Keith's shirt rides up.
"Sure," he says, setting the papers aside and giving Keith his full attention. Keith flushes a little with nerves and sits up; somehow this is turning into a bigger deal than he intended.
"Um," Keith starts, and finds he can't quite make eye contact. "I was just wondering how you'd feel about me calling you, um, T-Takashi." Great, he's flushing even more now.
Shiro, the asshole, just tips his head back and laughs. "Oh," he says, eyes bright when he looks back at Keith. "I thought you were talking about something more..." He lets the sentence trail off and waggles his eyebrows ridiculously. Keith can't help but laugh too.
"No, oh my god," he says, punching Shiro lightly in the side. They're both grinning at each other.
"Anyway," Shiro says, "of course you can call me Takashi. You can call me whatever you want."
Keith nods, but he still feels like he needs to explain himself, so he says "It's just that everyone calls you Shiro, you know? And I like calling you that too, but I thought it might be nice if it was... different, for me. What?" he adds, frowning. Shiro's got a strange expression on his face, this funny little half-smile, and it takes him a moment to answer Keith.
"Sorry," he says, giving Keith a more normal smile now. "It's just," and he pauses, lets out a breath. "That's what Adam said too."
"Oh," Keith says, looking down at his lap. They don't talk about Adam that much; Keith has offered, but he's always privately relieved when Shiro turns him down, saying he still has some things to come to terms with on his own. Maybe it's good that Shiro feels more comfortable bringing Adam up, a sign that he's healing.
"I didn't understand it then and I don't now," Shiro continues, reaching over to gather one of Keith's hands in his own, "but I don't care as long as you're happy."
Keith smiles up at him. "I think I do understand it," he says. "You give so much of yourself to others, all the time. And I love that about you, but sometimes I want something of you that's just for me."
Shiro gives him a serious look at that. "You know you have all of me, right?" he says quietly, swaying into Keith's space, and Keith kisses him.
"Yeah, I know that," Keith says when the kiss breaks. It's still amazing to him that he lives in a reality where that is true, where he and Shiro are together. It means more to him than anything.
"Good," Shiro says, and he's smiling again. He gives Keith another quick kiss and then settles back into the couch, picking up his speech again. He's still holding Keith's hand, and Keith uses it to lift Shiro's arm so he can fold himself to his side once more.
Tilting his face up, Keith spends a few moments just looking at Shi–, no, Takashi's face. Hmm. That'll take some getting used to, but Keith meant what he said about wanting something just for himself.
Takashi seems to pick up on Keith's close regard and blinks down at him, studying him in return for a second. Then his eyes go soft in that way Keith will never get tired of, and he pulls Keith in a little closer.
They're all on the Atlas the next morning, preparing to run a few drills to see how quickly the paladins can get to their lions from the bridge. Shi–Takashi wraps up his explanation to his crew members, and then looks to their team.
"Ready?" he asks, a challenging glint in his eyes that Keith is more than willing to answer.
"You know it, Takashi," Keith says with a grin. Lance does a double take and stares at Keith confusedly, and Pidge has an eyebrow raised, but Keith only has eyes for Takashi, who looks a little abashed and a lot pleased.
"That's what I like to hear," he says, and the grin he gives Keith in return is blinding.
"Good," Keith says, and for a moment it's like he and Takashi are the only ones there. Then Takashi comes back to himself, coughs a little in embarrassment, and gives the signal.
Keith takes off immediately, and he keeps the memory of Takashi's grin at the front of his mind all the way down to Black's hangar. He feels lighter than air, and when he reports in he can hear a similar lightness in Takashi's voice.
Keith smiles to himself; maybe Takashi likes the idea of Keith having something just for himself too. He knew this name thing was a good idea.