dimplesandcurlsss
Build-a-Bear Employee: please,,, I can’t fit any more stuffing into this pikachu
Me: You fool….. Make Him Fatter
softlysheith
“What are you doing Keith?”
Keith stopped and rubbed at his eyes. He sighed and let his hands fall away as he stared at the floor.
“I have to find you,” he mumbled. “You went missing and I…I have to find you.”
Shiro was standing behind him, wearing the black vest that was a little too baggy for him, but he loved to wear it anyway. His black hair was messy and it looked like he’d just gotten off the hoverbike they used to take to the shack.
“How long have you been working?”
Keith shrugged and looked over the board on his wall that was filled with charts and notes and diagrams of everything he could think of. “I don’t know really. I’m pretty sure I haven’t slept in like four days…”
He sighed again and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.
“You really should sleep, Keith. It won’t do you any good if you run yourself into the ground over this.” Shiro stepped forward, trailing his fingers over his forearm.
Rather than drop his hands, Keith pressed his palms harder against his eyes. He bit his lip and let out a shaky breath. “But you’re gone, Shiro. You’re gone and I can’t do this without you. I need to find you. I need it more than I need to eat or sleep. I just….you mean the world to me. You’re everything to me and I never got to tell you.”
He choked on a sob and curled in on himself.
“And now I‘m so sleep-deprived that I‘m hallucinating you’re here with me when you’re somewhere lost in space and I don’t know whether you’re alive or dead and I want to so badly believe that you’re alive. I need you to be alive…”
“Keith,” Shiro said, tugging at his arms. “Look at me, please.”
He sucked in a breath and dropped his arms.
“I know you’re hurting, but even if I‘m not here. I’m here. I’m with you and I’m never going to leave even when it feels like there’s so much space between us that you think there’s no way we can come together again. But I won’t be gone forever. Trust in me, Keith. Trust in me and trust in yourself.”
Keith sniffed and closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at his friend. At his friend who he’d been in love with for months.
“You promise you’re coming back?” he asked.
Shiro smiled. “Part of me is already here with you, isn’t it? Now you should, really-”
“Wait,” Keith said, stopping him. “I have one last question. And after you answer it, I promise I’ll go to bed or eat or do something so I can stay alive. Will you answer it?”
He nodded.
Keith let out a long breath. “Okay, here goes…how do you-how does Shiro feel? About me?”
He chuckled. “Keith, if you really have to ask yourself that question, then you haven’t been paying as much attention to me as you should’ve been.”
Keith frowned and shook his head. “What’s that supposed-”
“Now, Keith. You said one question. I answered your one question. Now it’s your turn to hold up your end. Get something to eat and go to bed. We’ll talk again soon.”
“Fine,” he muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing his fingers against his temples. “I guess I can at least do that much…”
He trailed off when he opened his eyes and found himself alone again. The shack around him was empty and Keith felt something sour in his gut. He knew it was too good to be true, but he’d indulged himself in it anyway.
His eyes trailed over the board his findings were spread out on and he almost considered jumping back into work, to spite the memory of Shiro if anything else, but something inside him stopped him. If Shiro had been there, he would’ve dragged him away in a heartbeat and forced him to sleep.
Keith clenched his hands into fists at his sides and turned on his heel, walking from the room and up the stairs to his bed. It wasn’t because Shiro had told him to, it was because four days was too long to go without sleep.
His heart said otherwise.
If you enjoy my work, please reblog or consider buying me a ko-fi!
thanotaphobia
technoskates
bittenred
philsterman01
bubleboobo
chocmarss
ruinedchildhood
