Work Text:
Shiro almost doesn’t want to break the silence that stretches between him and Keith as they stare into the deepening dusk just outside Keith’s cabin. There is a comfort to just being together again, a peace that he hasn’t felt in far too long. He knows, though, that the longer he puts off the inevitable, the worse it will be when he confronts it.
"How have you been?" he asks at last.
He doesn't look at Keith when he asks it. He can practically feel the kid tensing beside him; he doesn't need to watch Keith's pain to know it's there.
"I was doing better," Keith says after a moment. "It was pretty rough at first, but I was coming to grips with it."
"I'm sorry," Shiro says.
"Don't," Keith says. "It's not your fault."
"I should have gotten them out of there," Shiro continues. "I should have trusted my gut before things had a chance to escalate. I should have bolted when I had the chance."
"Yeah, but we've never been runners, have we?" Keith says. Shiro knows that he is smiling, but he still can't make himself look.
"You failed out of The Garrison," he says instead.
He feels the smile slide off Keith's face. There is silence for what feels like a long time.
"You died, man," Keith says at last, and Shiro wonders if he's imagining the catch in his voice when he does. "That's what everybody said. And it wasn't your fault; it wasn't anybody's fault, but. I just couldn't. I couldn't do it anymore. I know it's not what you would've wanted, but --"
Keith's voice breaks, unmistakably this time, and it's all Shiro can take. He pulls Keith into a hug, and Keith's arms wrap and lock around him.
"Listen to me," Shiro says. "The only thing I ever want is for you to take care of yourself. Okay? Whatever that means."
"Okay," Keith says, quietly, as if he doesn't trust his voice.
"Okay?"
"Yeah," Keith says, louder this time.
"Good," Shiro says, holding onto him for just a second longer. "Good.”
They break apart, and Shiro gives Keith’s shaggy head a brotherly tousle. Keith smiles again, in spite of himself, and Shiro can feel the comfort settling between them again. The peace. For a moment, he lets that be all.
“How did you know to come save me when I crashed?” he asks when the moment passes, turning in time to catch the furrow of Keith’s brow.
In answer, Keith starts back toward the cabin, gesturing for Shiro to follow.
“You should come see this.”