[ and just like that, there's a switch that goes off like the countdown to a bomb detonating, but keith doesn't see it. hell, he doesn't really see anything other than shiro at the moment, thanks to the way that his boy crowds the entirety of his vision. looming witth a smile that could light up the sky, keith's heart skips several beats as he holds shiro tight in his arms.

love is a complicated subject -- always has been, and always will be. in his own reality, keith's never found the courage to tell shiro, the real shiro, what he told the clone at the facility. perhaps that's cowardice, but shiro has to know right? if keith didn't love him in some capacity, then there's no way he would have pushed as hard as he did or fought as hard as he did just for a chance to bring shiro home.

not that it matters much now. because love is complicated and the more time keith spends with this shiro, the more he feels something stronger than anything he's ever felt before. not just love, but love as if rendered in the core of the sun.

love me and i'll love you, too.

fuck. it's stated so simply in a way that's so uncharacteristically shiro and keith still don't register that. how can he? arms wrapping tighter around shiro's waist, keith is so entirely engrossed in this moment that he ceases to notice the oddity of being out in the cold with his dick poking out of the newly cut glory hole in his undersuit. heart swelling and overflowing, keith arches up to catch shiro's lips for a brief, impassioned kiss. ]

I love you.

[ murmured against his boyfriend's lips, keith is a little breathless as he says it. warm, tingling, elated and nervous, his entire being is flooded with an overwhelming sense of being alive and so thoroughly whole that he ends up laughing, bright and sunny. ]

I love you so much, Shiro.

[ giddy, he starts to walk towards the cube, not really seeing where the fuck he's going or caring about the abandoned hull of his chest armor. it's a damn near miracle that he doesn't bump into the walls of the cube, though he overestimates the door by a foot and only recognizes the mistake when the scanner beeps and the cell door whooshes open.

still heady with giddy laughter, keith makes the adjustment and steps inside the familiar cube, and makes a beeline for the large bed. ]

I want to love you always. You know that?

[ despite the impatience, keith is careful in setting shiro down on top of the sheets. both hands come up to hold shiro's face, expression adoring as he leans into press another kiss to his lips. ]

You. Not anyone else. Not any other version of you. It has to be you.