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The energy out in the middle of the desert was the only thing that helped him push forward. The only way he could ignore the pain that burned along his left arm. It stopped sometimes, or lessened, but never for long. He found so many strange, inexplicable things. Still a strange energy pushed him forward, until suddenly the pain stopped, and there was a ship hurtling not too far away from the Garrison. He had to act and do it fast.
The distraction was easy even if he felt a little bad for the explosions, but when he did make it inside he had to pause for a few whole minutes. Shiro. He felt like his heart was breaking and being sewn back together all at once. He looked so different. He couldn’t stop himself from running his hand against his face for just a moment before being pushed into action, and hauling him up on his shoulder.
A vicious anger almost had him snapping at Lance right away, protectiveness over his soulmate. But Shiro was bigger than he was and he could honestly use the help hauling him out, so he bit back some of his remarks until they made it to the hovercycle.
The thrill of the chase was the most alive he’d felt since Shiro was declared missing, since he thought Shiro had died. The metal arm covered almost all the way up their soul mark, and so it made sense that it was gone now, even though he hadn’t heard of any precedence for it.
Keith didn’t usually pull his shitty futon down into it’s full bed form, it was creaky and a few of the bars were broken and it fought him when he wanted to pull it back up, but it was uncomfortable for /him/ to lay on the narrow space when it was pulled up, he was sure that Shiro would just fall right off, or at the very least wake up very uncomfortable. So he pulled it down, and laid Shiro down, and settled on the floor right beside him, head resting on the side of the bed as he ignored the chatter from the other three as they gossipped. It was almost sunrise when he woke up to an insistent shake on his shoulder, and he bolted up right away. Shiro was awake.
The snuck out back and Keith was clinging to Shiro before he could even say anything, face buried into his shoulder. He was a lot more solid than he had been last time he’d seen him, not that Shiro had ever been in bad shape. They could talk about all that implied a little later, but it made him heat up a little around his neck.
“I thought….” His words were choked up by the quiet sobs that overtook him. All the emotion he had been holding back, tacking down, locking away finally breaking through. It seemed Shiro needed the reassurance as much as he did, because it was rather quickly that strong arms were gripping him just as tight.
“There was a good stretch there that you might have been right.” Shiro said, flexing the fingers of his metal arm and Keith pulled back some. He let his fingers trace up Shiro’s arm some before shaking his head.
“No you don’t understand. At first, I knew you were still alive. I knew because I still had my mark. I knew. And then it was gone and it hurt” He told him. Keith shrugged out off his jacket to show the remnants of their Soul Mark. “And it makes sense because your arm but.” He let out a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself down. “The only person I knew that this happened to was Lena and her soulmate died, hit by a car.” He said, a little panicky.
“Who’s Lena?” Shiro asked curiously.
“She was my first foster placement. Her Soul Mark looked really similar and I thought…” He shook his head.
“I’m alive Keith. It’s alright.”
“I’m glad you’re back.” He said, pulling away, leaving his hand on his shoulder.
“It’s good to be back.” Shiro replied with a little smile.
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Keith didn’t want to be here, which was probably why he was snapping so harshly on Lance. He hadn’t had enough time to catch up with Shiro. He had so much to unpack in his mind. He’d been mourning and suddenly all his pain, and everything else was just washed away to phantoms. Still it was emotionally draining. And Keith had a tendency to lash out whenever he wasn’t sure quite how to express himself.
“Stow it cadets-.” Keith didn’t really hear anything further than that, but he bit back the feelings that were boiling over. Shiro had a tendency to be able to calm him down when he wasn’t even trying. He shifted his focus once more. There was something bigger than them going on, he didn’t have the luxury of mentally checking out of the conversation entirely.
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It was days before they had a moment to breathe. A moment alone. Their lives just became so much more than themselves, but Keith just wanted to be selfish. Even if only for a little while. He tugs at Shiro’s shirt until the other man gets the nerve to reluctantly tug it off. He’s covered in scars that make Keith’s stomach curl uncomfortably. But it’s not about those right now, as he pulled off his own jacket. His mouth finds the remnants of their soul mark on Shiro’s arm, his fingers tracing along the patterns when he pulls away. Shiro intensely inspects how Keith’s seems to cut off in jagges places, just slightly under where his prosthetic would start
“I’m sorry, to have worried you.” He said and Keith shook his head.
“Don’t apologize for that. It’s not like you asked to be kidnapped by aliens.” he told him, leaning up to press his lips gently against Shiro’s for the first time in ages. It starts gentle, reaffirming, but quickly turns desperate, When Shiro finally pulls away, Keith finds he’s positioned himself in Shiro’s lap. He doesn’t know how he got there, but the closeness sets fire to his skin, and it’s clear that Shiro noticed.
“This...we’re part of something now, I’m not sure this is the time.” Shiro told him and Keith nodded. Deep down he agreed, even if the fog that was settling over him didn’t.
“Yea..” he was surprised at how breathless he sounded, “you’re right, I guess we just got a bit carried away.” Keith laughed, moving to pull out of Shiro’s lap, but strong hands held him firm.
“Can we just, stay like this for a while? I need…” He trailed off but Keith nodded. He settled back against Shiro, burying his face into Shiro’s neck, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He’d never admit it but he needed the contact probably just as much as Shiro did. He may have isolated himself but not necessarily because he enjoyed being alone. It’s just what was familiar.
Keith doesn’t remember laying down or even drifting off, but he woke up the most well rested as he did in a while.