"Shiro…what happened back there?"

Shiro, who'd been lounging in his bunk with his hands behind his head, turned his head to see Keith lurking in his open doorway, waiting to be allowed in.

He sat up and gestured to the other end of the bed, watching as Keith perched there. "What was what?"

"With Sendak. What was that?"

"Skittish" was not a word Shiro would typically use to describe Keith, but it was the way he looked now. All it would take was a dark look to send him off without an answer, and Shiro had to admit that a part of him was tempted.

Well, he could do that later if he really needed to. For now, he took a deep breath.

"He…Sendak was messing with my head," he admitted. "I realize now that he was doing the same sort of sabotage he was with the rest of the ship. He must have found some sort of speaker system. But I didn't realize that then."

Keith nodded, eyes intent. "So?"

"Well, we know the ship interfaces with our brains for the sake of translation—you remember when Pidge figured that out?—and I thought, maybe he'd gotten to me. Maybe I was compromised. So I panicked."

"It was the right call," Keith said. "Between Sendak and the Galra crystal, the entire ship was in danger. If you hadn't gotten rid of him, things could've gotten a lot worse."

"You're right." Shiro started to sigh, turned it into a cough. "I just wish I'd done it for better reasons."

"Because Sendak got to you," Keith said, carefully.

"Yeah."

"I…" Keith began, then shook his head, looking frustrated.

Keith's concern for him had never completely gone away, Shiro knew. It had been there when he'd woken up for the first time in Keith's house in the desert, and again when Keith had saved Shiro the first time they'd tried out training room. He never pushed beyond the moment of crisis, always backing off, banking his worry like a fire, keeping it to within reasonable levels. Keith was all about control, and sometimes—like now—it sabotaged him when he wanted to say something important.

Shiro couldn't respond until he knew what Keith was trying to say, but that was fine. He was happy to wait.

"Shiro. Are you okay?"

Keith said it so firmly it was more of a statement than a question, and suddenly, any chance that Keith was going to take it back had vanished. Shiro knew why he'd been tracked down privately for this—it was impersonal and not particularly friendly, but it was also a kind of insubordination. And one thing that Keith never, ever did was question Shiro's leadership.

As much as he needed Keith's respect—wrangling teenagers wasn't easy, especially against the impossible odds they faced—it was a bit of a shame. It made it hard for him and Keith to be friends.

"…Yeah," he said, when he was sure he could mean it. Keith's stare didn't falter, so he elaborated. "I'm not happy to have a weak spot, but now that Sendak's exploited it, I know it's there. It's something to work on."

Keith considered that, brow furrowed. "That's a good point," he said finally. "I hadn't thought about it that way." He stood up, having apparently decided that his allotted time in Shiro's room was over. Keith never was the type to risk overstaying his welcome. "I'm gonna go train. Want to come?" The words weren't flippant, and it was clear Keith hadn't put the matter out of his mind entirely, but he was clearly through talking about it.

"Sure." After all, there was still some time before lights-out, and maybe some exercise would burn the last of his jitters away.