Chapter Text
“I know you’re in here,” Keith muttered sleepily. The sun was streaming in between the gaps of his curtains, warming his face. I was cozy and soft under his thick duvet and knitted quilt, and there was no way he was getting out of bed for anything less than a housefire or a break-in.
He heard a deep chuckle and familiar, heavy footsteps slinking across his carpeted floor.
“You’re losing your touch, Shiro,” Keith scolded rolling onto his side and burying his head under his pillow.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” came Shiro’s voice, warm with the smile Keith knew he was wearing. Keith snickered before relaxing his face again, waiting to drift back off to sleep. “You can’t possibly be trying to go back to sleep.”
“Watch me,” Keith slurred, melting deeper into his memory foam mattress by the second. His back felt divine.
“Come on, little bro, it’s a big day!” Shiro complained. Keith heard him coming closer to the bed. Peeking an eye open, Keith found Shiro sitting on the floor by the head of the bed with his legs crossed, giving Keith an indulgent smile.
“This day happens every year, why is it a big deal? Why do I have to get up early for it every time?”
“Oh, stop pouting,” Shiro said, brilliant smile never faltering as he shoved at Keith’s shoulder like he was trying to rattle his frown off. “This day is all about you, don’t tell me you don’t like it.”
“You have a point,” Keith said, nodding. He pulled himself into a sitting position and grumbled when the bed was jostled by Shiro climbing up next to him.
“I’m proud of you,” Shiro said seriously, voice low. Keith didn’t response, tightening his jaw and looking towards the heap of dirty clothes he purposefully put on the floor by his closet so he’d remember to do the wash. His heart squeezed at Shiro’s warm and genuine tone.
“Hey,” Shiro said, nudging his shoulder and meeting his eye. Keith finally swung his gaze around to face his mentor. Shiro was giving him that worried look again. “I’m proud of you.”
Keith smiled for Shiro’s sake and nodded, tugging the fingers of one hand side to side to crack the knuckles.
“What do you want to do today?” Shiro asked, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head as he wriggled to get comfortable.
“This,” Keith said with a sigh, laying back, closing his eyes, and relishing in the contentment that was radiating through him.
“You know we have work in an hour, right?” Shiro said. The way his words ran together told Keith that he had also closed his eyes and was succumbing to the magic of Keith’s fantastic mattress.
“That’s a problem for future Keith and Shiro,” Keith said. “It only takes me ten minutes to get ready, and we can be at work in eight minutes, if we run.”
“Don’t want to run,” Shiro complained.
“It’s my day, you do what I want,” Keith said, lightly kicking Shiro at Shiro’s leg. “Isn’t that the rule for First Day on the Force Anniversary?”
“You’re right, you’re right,” Shiro said with a sleepy laugh. “If you want to spend the morning of your anniversary sleeping, that’s fine.”
Silence fell over the early morning in Keith’s room for a few minutes more, before Keith got antsy.
“Alright, alright, fine,” Keith complained, rolling on his side and opening his eyes. Shiro did the same, triumphant grin on his face. “What do you want to do?”
“Reminisce,” Shiro said with a dopey smile. “Remember.”
“Ugh, fine,” Keith muttered, rolling onto his back and dropping an arm over his eyes.
“Brilliant,” Shiro said smugly, folding his hands across his chest.
“I still have all your books,” Keith blurted out. He blushed. “I mean, they’re, you know, good to read up on if I need refreshers and stuff. I don’t actually need them; it’s just for review.”
“I’m glad you find them useful,” Shiro said in that stupid, knowing voice of his. It always made Keith feel like a little kid whose older brother read right through him.
“Yeah, whatever. What do you want to remember?”
“Do you remember that one guy who always brought scones on Fridays?” Shiro asked. Keith frowned, rolling back onto his side and propping himself up on one arm.
“Scones on Fridays?” he asked.
“Yeah, it was your first year, my last one— you seriously don’t remember Scone Friday Guy?” Shiro asked, looking almost offended.
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, he brought scones every Friday. Blackberry and cranberry, like a normal person, but you said—”
“I only like blueberry,” Keith said in unison with Shiro, face lighting up with recognition.
“Exactly, and he got all quiet and I thought you offended him—”
“So you made me fucking apologize like we were in kindergarten—”
“But the next Friday he brought blueberry scones and it turned out he just felt bad for excluding you.”
“Blueberry Scone Guy,” Keith said with a satisfied sigh. “God bless you, wherever you are.”
“Do you remember his name?”
“Hell, no, he dropped out part way through the second year.”
“Really? That’s so disappointing,” Shiro said with a sigh.
“I guess he just wasn’t cut out for it.”
“Do you remember studying—”
“Oh, my God, I remember studying with you, stop asking me every year!” Keith complained, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes.
“And you remember fighting me every step of the way?
“I just didn’t want help, I thought I could do it on my own,” Keith said with a shrug. “I really only kept you around for the coffee. I was broke as hell and couldn’t afford such luxuries.”
“Sure, that’s why you kept me around,” Shiro said with a laugh. “Not because of my advice and my books.”
“Nope, just for the coffee,” Keith disagreed, sitting up and stretching his arms high above his head. “Speaking of, let’s get some. You’re paying.”
“I always pay,” Shiro groaned, rolling to press his face into a pillow. Keith snorted, patting his shoulder with fake sympathy.
“I know, I’m very high maintenance,” Keith said, half honestly apologetic. He knew Shiro sacrificed a lot for him. When they were in school, sacrifices were in the form of time, money for coffee, and sleep. Now it was still time, money for coffee, and sleep.
“Good thing I love you,” Shiro said, peeking open an eye when Keith didn’t respond immediately. “This is when you say you love me back.”
Keith swallowed hard and immediately began to worry his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Woah, hey, I didn’t mean it,” Shiro said, bolting upright, hands up between himself and Keith like he was surrendering. “I know you love me, bud, you don’t have to say it.”
His face must’ve looked pitiful because Shiro tossed an arm around his shoulders and pulled Keith to rest his head against his chest.
“Sorry I’m so weird about this,” Keith sighed. “Some days are just. . . I don’t know. It’s just weird saying it, I guess.”
“Don’t worry about it. Everyone has their thing. Like, mine is getting time off. I don’t like missing days, even if I’m allowed to. You don’t like making people targets. It’s okay.”
“There’s no bad guy in the corner making note on a little memo pad of all the people I lo -care about!” Keith said exasperated, pushing his forehead almost painfully against Shiro’s sternum. “It’s ridiculous. Anyone would know that— they’d see you as a target because of how we act and stuff in public. You don’t have to say you like someone for people to know it.”
“True, it’s hard to hide that you’re someone’s family,” Shiro said, voice rumbling soothingly against Keith’s cheek. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We have each other’s back, right?”
“Famous last words,” Keith muttered under his breath, words garbled by Shiro’s sweater.
“What was that?”
“I said ‘yeah, you’re right’,” Keith said louder, pulling away and beginning to comb his hands through his hair. “Now let’s get coffee. I get a good luck brew on anniversary day.”
“Of course, that’s all you care about,” Shiro said, pulling himself off the bed and heading towards the door to give Keith some privacy to change.
“Scones, too,” Keith said.
“Want to swing by the bakery and get some?”
Keith nodded, wrestling his stretched t-shirt, a hand-me-down of Shiro’s, over his head.
“Figured.”