[ he’s been patient! he’s waited a good half hour before prodding for a hint. credit where credit is due, okay? still, shiro takes the tease in stride, only rolling his eyes at the following refusal. fine. ]

Okay. Let me think…

[ but his focus is split. partly, he mulls over the kind of shops he’s seen around sumarlok and tries to picture what keith would go shopping for. for the rest of his attention? he watches keith out of the corner of his eye, taking note of the slightly tilted head. huh, well, the stars are pretty. ]

It has to be something that can withstand the elements.

[ not that he even knows how long ago keith stashed the present away. for all he knows, it could be a few hours. musing aloud, he returns his gaze to the path. the stretch of it is shrouded in shadow, but with the combination of stars and four moons illuminating from above, shapes easily take on recognizable forms in the dark. ]

Something nothing or no one would think to steal.

[ there’s a fallen branch up a ways. it’s small, something that would take only mild effort to step over but keith’s star-ward and shiro acts without much thought. he touches his hand to the small of keith’s back and slides it to the furthest hip, sidestepping himself to the edge of the path and steers keith along with him. stride never pauses and he continues on, all the while still thinking: noctium astrology book ( not out here ), home gym equipment ( no too big ), sparring gloves ( maybe?? ).

branch bypassed, his hand swings back to his side and without looking to keith, grins through a: ]

If you got me a hideous jacket to match yours, we should turn around now.