They walk silently side by side, Shiro's hand resting on Keith's shoulder, until they are far enough from the watching ranch hands to not be in easy earshot. Shiro stops and stares off into the distance. Keith can't tell what he's thinking, but from the way his tail is swishing he's agitated. Keith leans into his side. He feels more than hears the sigh, "They tell me you kicked one of the workers yesterday. Apparently, you were upset that you couldn't see me?" Shiro says softly, words meant only for his ears.
"He wouldn't call you by your name," Keith corrects. They hadn't really gotten to the point of denying him access to Shiro before he'd lost his temper.
"Hey," Shiro gets his fingers under Keith's chin and tilts it up, "Look at me," Shiro's lips are creased in a small frown, "You can't do that here. Whatever they want to call me, let them call me," What? How can Shiro say something like that? "I'm serious, Keith. They are this close to giving up on you. Things like this, attacking the workers just because you're mad, doesn't help." He wants him to…what?
"Shi-" Shiro presses a thumb against his lips, "You can't call me that anymore. This isn't something worth getting hurt over." He doesn't realize he's bitten down until Shiro's yanking his hand back and jerking away in a couple stumbling steps. He didn't, he didn't mean to. Shiro, wide eyed in shock that Keith would bite him, and Keith, he can't move. He's confused, angry, and a little scared. That should mean attack, that's what it's always meant in the past, but this is Shiro. Oh god, he bit Shiro.
He can see Shiro find his center with a deep breath, then step closer to him again, "Keith, I'm not mad," His voice is precise, deliberately calm in a way that says he is, "I know this is a lot to take in. You're scared. It's okay," He doesn't move as Shiro wraps his one arm around him and pulls him in for a hug. It's an awkward angle, but still grounding in a way words alone aren't, "I understand, but you have to calm down, okay?"
Keith closes his eyes, counts to ten, tries to think his way through the panicked confusion still trying to take off with his heart, "What happened to you? Why are you saying these things?" The Shiro he knows would never stand for someone trying to rename him, much less tell Keith that he should go along with it.
"A lot, a lot's happened, and if you'll listen to me, I'll have time in the future to tell you about it." Keith looks up. There is so much sincerity in those grey eyes it hurts. This doesn't make sense, but Shiro believes what he's telling him.
"What do you want?" He asks, he can't put any anger or defiance to his words. Just, the need to know, to understand.
"A new arm?" That…Shiro's smiling. That was a joke. A completely ill-timed and inappropriately dark joke. If his arms were free, he'd slap Shiro upside the head for that. Shiro chuckles, "Sorry," No, he's not, "I want a race. Just a few laps." Shiro says more seriously.
Keith frowns, "Because they asked you to talk me into it." That's all any of this is, for some reason, Shiro is acting as the nice face to convince him to do what the humans want.
"Because I want them to see your value," There is another one of those big sighs, before Shiro continues, "Keith, they don't keep those that don't profit them. You won't do what you're told, so they can't sell you, but you're fast. Faster than me. If they see that, they'll keep you around despite the trouble." He doesn't need Shiro to explain what the euphemism of what not being kept means. He's skulked around enough ranches looking for Shiro to have seen the bodies. Once captured, a centaur is never released willingly, "Just do this one thing for me. Trust me this once, and we'll get to see each other again," Shiro pleads softly.
His pride tells him to say no, to stomp his hooves, and say he'll never bow to give the humans an inch. That's not true, though. For a drink of water, a bit of food, he's already left his pride by the way side. His desire to survive far greater, and Shiro says this little thing is all it will take to ensure it, "Fine, one race."
End Note:
Don't judge Shiro too harshly, he's had a rough year.