[ big guy. big. guy. he thinks, maybe, if this were the first time, it wouldn’t amount to anything. just another throwaway tease between friends, right? similar to old-timer or any other title keith hits him with when he’s feeling particularly cocky. but there’s less than an hour of history tied to those two words and shiro abruptly tenses. that loose grip at keith’s waist? not anymore. fingers flex and he holds tighter, although it’s nowhere near anything able to cause pain. that in itself is an obvious tell that keith’s hit something, but the most damning is shiro’s face.
eyes rounding, lips parting -- surprise flickers across his expression and the fluster follows swiftly behind. he’s hardly had any time to recover from the heat that filled him when keith’s mouth was on his, so it doesn’t take much for it to come back full force. again, it touches his cheeks and his nose, the scar etched across standing in bright contrast. self-preservation is always a slow moving thing with him and so, it’s only after a long, pointed delay of staring at keith’s sweet smile an’ tease-lit eyes that shiro remembers himself.
hide would be optimal. he does a half-ass job of it though. he merely ducks his face and inwardly squirms on the fluttery, dumb feeling running rampent somewhere between his chest an’ gut. this is three times now. first, keith had been coaxing him toward a shared shower. second, it had followed a teasing urge to be good. before, shiro said he liked being called it and here, he finds he still likes it, clear-headed an’ all. it makes him wonder -- would keith like the affectionate name shiro gave him back in the bathroom too?
baby. that’s… not something friends say to each other at all.
he’s likely imagining it, but his face feels warmer in the span of one beat to the next. still, even though he’s rivaling the color of keith’s godawful jacket, that fluttery feeling is pleasant in its sweetness. it has him smiling despite all his reservations. soft and even a little shy, the smile stays and shiro glances up, peeking at keith from under lowered lashes. ]
You, willingly slowing down? [ there’s the answering tease in his voice. the beat that follows is punctuated by shiro briefly gnawing on his bottom lip, part out of indecision. you must really like me is the follow-up that’s on the tip of his tongue but… considering what just happened not five minutes ago, that’s… unfitting? insensitive? crossing a line? in the end, it doesn’t matter. instead of shiro’s voice picking up, there’s an annoyed meow from below.
shiro loses his train of thought and the shy expression on a hard blink as he looks to the floor to find the cat. all of a sudden, it seems to dawn on him that they’re standing in the middle of their apartment, hoarding each other’s space with full-body presses and unwavering grips. another meow and an accompanying tug of claws at his boot buckles has shiro finally releasing an’ pulling back from keith. he clears his throat as he goes and settles into a safer smile that reads friendly, rather than… whatever he’d been feeling ten seconds ago. ]
Call me a skeptic. [ detangled and free, he ignores how that airy feeling softens on misplaced disappointment. him crouching down to smooth his hand over the cat’s head helps though. ] But I’ll believe it when I see it.
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eyes rounding, lips parting -- surprise flickers across his expression and the fluster follows swiftly behind. he’s hardly had any time to recover from the heat that filled him when keith’s mouth was on his, so it doesn’t take much for it to come back full force. again, it touches his cheeks and his nose, the scar etched across standing in bright contrast. self-preservation is always a slow moving thing with him and so, it’s only after a long, pointed delay of staring at keith’s sweet smile an’ tease-lit eyes that shiro remembers himself.
hide would be optimal. he does a half-ass job of it though. he merely ducks his face and inwardly squirms on the fluttery, dumb feeling running rampent somewhere between his chest an’ gut. this is three times now. first, keith had been coaxing him toward a shared shower. second, it had followed a teasing urge to be good. before, shiro said he liked being called it and here, he finds he still likes it, clear-headed an’ all. it makes him wonder -- would keith like the affectionate name shiro gave him back in the bathroom too?
baby. that’s… not something friends say to each other at all.
he’s likely imagining it, but his face feels warmer in the span of one beat to the next. still, even though he’s rivaling the color of keith’s godawful jacket, that fluttery feeling is pleasant in its sweetness. it has him smiling despite all his reservations. soft and even a little shy, the smile stays and shiro glances up, peeking at keith from under lowered lashes. ]
You, willingly slowing down? [ there’s the answering tease in his voice. the beat that follows is punctuated by shiro briefly gnawing on his bottom lip, part out of indecision. you must really like me is the follow-up that’s on the tip of his tongue but… considering what just happened not five minutes ago, that’s… unfitting? insensitive? crossing a line? in the end, it doesn’t matter. instead of shiro’s voice picking up, there’s an annoyed meow from below.
shiro loses his train of thought and the shy expression on a hard blink as he looks to the floor to find the cat. all of a sudden, it seems to dawn on him that they’re standing in the middle of their apartment, hoarding each other’s space with full-body presses and unwavering grips. another meow and an accompanying tug of claws at his boot buckles has shiro finally releasing an’ pulling back from keith. he clears his throat as he goes and settles into a safer smile that reads friendly, rather than… whatever he’d been feeling ten seconds ago. ]
Call me a skeptic. [ detangled and free, he ignores how that airy feeling softens on misplaced disappointment. him crouching down to smooth his hand over the cat’s head helps though. ] But I’ll believe it when I see it.