I say there is too much Keith angst he should be happy for once, please pretty could I have a request where the reader has no mouth to brain filter when theyre dead tired, and they had been up all night studying the castle/star charting/training/what have you and they accidentally let it slip like "hey yknow you're a great guy... I love you, you're fantastic," and he's like "wait what did you say?" "That you know you're not terrible."
“Do you think,” you began, your hands dragging the skin around your eyes, not even noticing the sting it brought, “if I just…stare at this long enough…it would be finished?”
Keith’s eyebrows furrowed, a yawn passed from his lips, “How long have you been working on that?”
You pause to think, attempting to stave off the wonderful call of sleep that edges at your mind,
Keith whistled, his eyebrows shooting upwards, “All day? Seriously? Don’t you think you should be getting some rest now, or-”
“Oh, no!” You protested, attempting to wipe the tiredness from your eyes, “I was only…I was just taking a break now. I gotta get these in for you guys by tomorrow or Allura will have my head,”
That made him laugh, and your heart bloomed at the sound. Like soft wind chimes in a light, spring breeze. You smiled warmly as he continued to chuckle,
“Come on now, you know she wouldn’t be like that to ya,”
“Yes!” You say with a fatigued smirk, your eyes sparkling as you looked at him, “She would! She’s been asking for these for a few weeks now…I’ve been putting them off to…you know, train with you, and everything…”
Keith tilted his head, his eyes full of curiosity, “You’ve been doing a lot around here, ya know,”
“Really?” You say excitedly, and in an instant, it felt like almost all of your sluggishness had disappeared, “I’ve been trying to be more helpful! I want to be helpful…”
Keith had to bite back a smirk as he watched you yawn again, your head slowly sagging down onto the table,
“Whaddya mean, Y/n? You’re worth a lot to us here,”
You felt your heart skip a beat, but your brain was too far gone to stop your mouth from saying things,
“Do I…” Your voice grew quiet, tender, eyes closing as your spoke, “do I mean anything to you?”
The instant you said that Keith felt as if he’d choked. To…to him?
You continued on, your arm no longer supporting your head, and instead, it lay to rest on the table in front of you,
“I mean I…I know this is probably a uh…hah…a weird time to say it, but you’re…you’re really cool, you know? You’re strong and smart and..and…you’re so kind to everyone and that smile of yours just melts me and I feel so…safe with you. I just…I…”
It had felt pretty underwhelming to Keith’s ears as if he’d been expecting something a little more…electric to burst from your lips- but he thought his disappointment to be his fault. He was expecting something out of his desires and ignored the fact that you were merely having a conversation with him.
That idea hurt him. The idea that you may not feel for him as he does for you.
All but forgetting the fact that precious documents and files sat in front of you, waiting to be filled out and translated, you soon closed your eyes fully, finding the draw to resting to be too much to handle- but not before you spoke your mind, your thoughts filled with Keith as you whispered,
It took him a moment to realize what you had said, but by the time he had gasped, you were already fast asleep, your head on the table, your body in the seat.
And for a few moments, Keith felt stuck in limbo, your words in his ears, echoing and crashing through his head, his stomach in knots, his heart to the beat of a marching drum,
“I love you, too!” He said back, his words in the form of a shout, so loud that they too, echoed throughout the castle, only to be bounced back to him.
But Keith found himself laughing, smiling, grinning like an absolute madman as he fell back onto the couches, his body the lightest it's ever felt in...forever.
