[ keith hesitates. social situations have the unfortunate tendency of occasionally requiring a delicate touch that keith has never properly mastered. all it takes is a single beat for keith to hate every time he's deflected or refused to participate in a difficult conversation because even though that'd made things easy for him in the moment, he sees now that the experiences have collectively robbed him of grace. his heart skips -- one trip short of outright panic as he reaches out with his other hand to grab shiro by the shoulder. ]

Wait.

[ wait. like shiro was actually going somewhere when they're still locked in close. the embarrassment prickles at the edges of his awareness before keith muscles through the unpleasantness with a more restrained: ]

Not literally, obviously. I mean... [ fuck. he closes his eyes and heaves a deep breath. ] Okay, I don't know what I mean. But you don't have to be sorry. I was thinking in my head that I just want you to be happy too.

[ he opens his eyes, looking both sheepish and a little crestfallen. ]

I should have just said that. [ he swallows, then abandons eye contact once again. ] ... I guess I wish I was better at that too.