cornyzombie sent: I don't know if you've already done this but Keith having a nightmare and Shiro comforting him?

I've read so many of Shiro having the nightmares - I need more of Keith having bad dreams now ^3^


For a while, there's only the soft sound of pages turning and the occasional huff or snore from Keith's spot with his head in Shiro's lap, one arm secured around his waist and the other over Shiro's legs. Shiro had taken an interest in some of the books from the vast castle library and had been reading them voraciously, happy to have found another distraction from his nightmares of the Galra. Pidge had been more than happy to supply a device to translate the text and Hunk had helped them build it into a pair of inconspicuous reading glasses. Shiro flips another page, scanning the translated text when a sudden pressure on the side of his thigh jolts him out of his imaginings and he nearly drops his book on Keith's head.

"Keith?" Shiro calls, setting his book aside. From his position, Shiro can only see Keith's teeth digging into his lower lip and the hard set of his jaw as he, presumably, dreams of something unpleasant. He can see and feel the twitches of Keith's hands and arms, and hear the distressed noises Keith is making in his sleep. Shiro tries to call to him again. "Keith… Keith?" He shakes the red paladin's shoulder lightly before smoothing his hand over Keith's back. Shiro watches as Keith gradually regains consciousness, his hand rubbing soothing circles into the flesh on Keith's bare back. He's quiet while Keith comes back to his senses.

There's a moment between when Keith's arms snake tightly around Shiro's waist and when he clears his throat to say something that Shiro wonders if he's okay. And he decides that, no, he's not really okay when Keith makes him promise to never, ever just up and leave them – him. To tell him if Shiro gets bored with him or if there's something wrong with them. And he can hear Keith trying to choke back tears, desperately telling himself that he's okay, that he just needs a moment – just one because it was just a dream and that's all it was. But Shiro knows the power dreams and nightmares hold over someone so he sets his book and glasses in one of the nooks of his bunk and switches off the reading lamp, shimmying down the bed. When he's nestled in Shiro's arms, Keith finally gives in and lets out angry and defeated sobs into Shiro's chest and Shiro, knowing how insecure Keith has always felt about their relationship and his own worth, just holds him through it. He leaves lingering kisses on top of Keith's head and when the sobs die down, reassures Keith that he's so much more than worth it.

"I love you," Shiro says into Keith's hair, his breath warm and welcome on Keith's scalp. "We don't get to say it often, but I do, you know – love you." And then Keith is tipping his head back and kissing Shiro with earnest, at first. But the kisses slowly melt into softer, longer ones – the kind Shiro knows Keith needs right now to make him feel loved. They fall asleep tangled up in each other, foreheads pressed together. And when Keith wakes the next morning, he can't help but smile.