Premium Seats [Klance] ✅

17 - Efforts

A/N
ayyeee who's ready for a mother-son bonding time Part I?

yes. Part I

which means there will be another part.

ENJOY!

.

KEITH

"Sure you'll be okay?"

Whether that was a serious question or an attempt to enlighten the mood, Keith levelled Shiro with a look that plainly said Who do you think I am? , earning a bashful grimace from the man himself. Although, after gathering a few seconds to restructure his thoughts, that question did seem relevant, considering Keith's default was the opposite of "okay".

"It's just a basketball match, Shiro," said Keith, shrugging on his leather jacket. "Besides, didn't you advise me to be more active?"

"I know," Shiro nodded. "Just that – last year at that pep rally—"

"That was my fault," Keith interrupted before Shiro could finish. "I wasn't ready. Didn't take my meds. Didn't expect to see people freaking juggle torch fires. Who the hell does that? What if—"

"You're doing it again,"

Keith shut his mouth at once, knowing what Shiro meant. The "what if" was the real demon here, especially when it was verbalised. "Sorry," he muttered. Even though he knew apologising sounded stupid.

"Anyway, I wasn't gonna talk about you coming to support your friend," Shiro said. "No, it's not that I don't care – I do. It's good – a record breaker for you, in fact. But that's not what I was trying to focus on."

Keith frowned. In the bathroom, they could hear Adam yelling – off-key – the lyrics of I Will Always Love You. Shiro visibly flinched when Adam's voice cracked. "Then what—" And it hit him. How did he almost forget about that? It was, after all, why he was going out a few hours early before coming to watch the game. "Oh."

"Krolia will understand if you bail out last minute,"

"Watch me,"

"You've been avoiding any mention of her for the past few months and only yesterday you spoke of her," Shiro said, a hint of relaxation replacing his tense posture as he leaned back in his armchair. There was no other word to describe it; Shiro looked proud. "Even surprising; you asking whether she's around to meet you. What changed?"

Keith bit his bottom lip. "My ... judgement?" he tried.

"And you did all that? By yourself?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Shiro shrugged with a smirk. "Just saying, Coran's not aware of this Krolia situation, is he?"

Keith shook his head, quite abashed at admitting it. He'd had two appointments with Coran for the past couple of months. Never once did he bring up her name, or mention that his life was currently climbing the rails of a roller coaster. "Does he have to know?" There was no hiding the exasperation tinting his tone. Coran was a good therapist, but that didn't mean he would automatically make Keith want to siphon all of his emotions to him.

"I think," Shiro said pensively, "it's advisable that you open up to him. He's the expert, after all. Maybe he'll be able to extract the roots of your anxiety. But if you don't want that, you can always talk to Allura, me or Adam. I know you're still wrapping your head around the fact that your mum is still alive."

Keith simply nodded, not feeling the need to tell Shiro that as of now, Lance had become his emotional support. Like a pillar he leaned on in order to not crumble down (literally a pillar, considering the boy's height). They'd been talking back and forth at midnight more for the past few months, growing closer and more tuned in with each other's emotions. Ever since he opened up to the Cuban boy about Krolia – and about his anxiety – it felt easier to let everything out. Not all of them, but Keith was getting there.