Written for Day 23 of Sheith Month: Future.
"Hey baby."
Keith turned as a warm hand slid over his back, smiling up at Shiro. "Hey. I didn't expect you back up here so soon." he said, half a question. Shiro had only gone down to the planet a couple of quintants ago.
Shiro smiled and shrugged. "Allura's got this. We've been cooperating with them for a few years now, things usually go pretty smoothly." Keith nodded. "And . . . I wanted to talk to you, while it was quiet."
Keith turned more towards Shiro, attention shifting away from the view outside the observation window. "Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"No! No, of course not." Shiro looked faintly alarmed. "There isn't, is there?"
"Not that I know of." Keith replied, amused, resting a hand on the front of Shiro's shoulder. "What did you want to talk about?"
A slight flush rose over Shiro's cheekbones, and Keith cocked his head, curious. "Shiro?"
Shiro swallowed and looked down. Keith frowned. Before he could say anything else, Shiro reached into one of his hip pouches and pulled out a small, fabric covered grey box. Keith's eyebrows rose, and Shiro brought the box up, prying open the stiff hinge to show a pair of matching glossy black rings nested in white velvet.
Keith's eyes darted to Shiro's face, and he smiled, a little unsteadily, his fingers trembling around the box. "I- I bought them over a year ago." he said, and Keith's eyes widened. "I didn't know then if I'd- I was still . . . pretty messed up, then. You deserve . . . better than that" He paused. "I've been carrying them. Since. Hoping, I guess." His fingers shook a little more and the box clicked itself shut.
He jumped and shifted to open it again, but Keith caught his hands. "Shiro." he said gently, surprised at the slightly off sound of his own voice, though not at the faint tremble in it. "Did you think I-" He swallowed. "Did you think you would lose me?" he asked finally. Surely Shiro had known Keith would never have left him, never have turned him away, no matter how much hurt he carried or how it affected him. Not so long as Shiro still wanted him.
"Baby, for a long time I," Shiro's voice faltered, and Keith squeezed his hands comfortingly but stayed silent, "I didn't think I would have a future. Not just when I was with them, but after." Keith suppressed a flinch. ". . .I was broken."
Keith didn't consciously decide to speak, but he heard a protest rising in his own throat.
"No, don't argue." Shiro said with a sad sort of smile. "I was. In some ways I still am, but mostly . . . I healed from that place. And you had a lot to do with that - and a lot to do with making sure I stuck around, convincing me I could heal in the first place."
Keith swallowed thickly, trying not to think about what could have happened if Shiro didn't believe that. He knew Shiro too well; his stomach knotted.
"I was broken for a long time, but I'm not any more, and baby, I don't just think I may have one again, I want a future now - one with you in it, always." Shiro's smile was warm and his smoky eyes were soft. "Will you build one with me?" he asked, holding up the box again, Keith's hands slipping over his wrists with the gesture. "Please?"
"Oh, Shiro." Keith breathed, his voice cracking a little. "'Kashi, of course." He tugged Shiro closer, down into resting his brow against Keith's own. "Of course I will. You're the only one I've ever wanted in my future." he said honestly. "No matter what.
Shiro smiled brightly, his mist-grey eyes a little damp. Cupping his face, Keith leaned up the slightest bit to kiss Shiro, lashes fluttering as he closed his eyes. Shiro smiled against his mouth and returned the tiny caress.
Shiro pulled back after a moment, and he opened the box again, letting Keith see the rings. He looked at Shiro's face instead, after a moment, and Shiro smiled a little wider, the flush over his cheekbones deepening and spreading downwards.
"'Kashi?" Keith asked, glancing down.
Shiro picked the slimmer ring out of the box and held it out, the sparkle of the tiny diamonds set along its band almost sharp against the high shine of the black metal. A glint of silver pulled Keith's eye as Shiro tilted the ring so he could see the inside of the band clearly. A bright silver inscription shone through the black, etched in flowing but unadorned script.
My heart for the hand of my best friend.
Keith smiled, and Shiro let out a soft breath. "Do you like them?" he asked tentatively.
"I love you." Keith said, reaching up to stroke Shiro's jaw, then leaning past his outstretched hand to kiss him softly. "And yes," he said quietly, almost against Shiro's lips, "I like them."
"I love you, too. So much." Shiro said earnestly, rubbing their noses together gently.
Keith laughed softly and returned the gesture. Then he wrapped his arms around Shiro's neck and pulled himself up to kiss his fiancé firmly, tipping his head and curling his tongue along Shiro's, deepening the kiss. Shiro made a startled sound and closed his arms around Keith, the ring box digging lightly into his back.