[ it's really only after shiro laughs that some internal pressure valve gets fully released. keith relaxes further, grinning broadly to himself as he raises his top leg and swings it over shiro's knee to loosely pin the offending foot. it all continues to be a strange mix of familiar and uncharted territory, really. wrestling and physical training have alwyas been a part of their friendship, but keith can't say that he's ever had his lips so close to shiro's cheek. somehow the proximity didn't register quite as strongly when he'd been staring down the back of his best friend's face, but with shiro partly angled towards him, keith misses a beat and holds his breath.

suddenly drinks on the beach and enchiladas are the last things on keith's mimd, but he swallows and tries to get back into the established momentum of conversation. ]

Oh...

[ okay so maybe attempt #1 falls flat on its face. attempt #2 goes marginally better. ]

... I hope so. It'd be nice to just hang out. We haven't done that in... [ a good while, huh? ] ... well since you got here. [ a beat. hanging out with shiro and pretending to have some degree of freedom isn't remotely like the high intensity chases out in the desert where they truly were just wild and free, but all the same.... ] ...I'd really like that.