[ calm ] Lotor to Keith (insomniacourt)
acts of dominance | still accepting
~*~
@insomniacourt
Just breathe…
Easier said than done. Keith wraps his arms tightly around himself while he tries to ground himself again. His vision is too sharply focused, too much light in the room, and he can feel the tension in his jaw when he bites his lip. The prick of fangs on his skin makes him jump, and he feels so very not-human in that moment he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“Keith,” Lotor tries again, moving in close. “Breathe.” It’s a command, and yet something much more; it pulls at Keith’s instincts to obey it.
Lotor presses his fingers into the nape of Keith’s neck, and instead of the bottom dropping out on him again, Keith feels he’s come back to the right gravity. He drags in a shaky breath, pulling air into his lungs until there’s no more room. It whooshes out of him too quickly, but at least he’s trying.
“Sorry, I…it still just happens…”
Lotor keeps his hand wrapped lightly around the back of Keith’s neck, fingers reassuring in the pressure on his nape. His lips quirk slightly, just enough that it registers as a smile.
“I believe I am the last person you need to apologize to for this, Keith. Just keep your eyes on me and take a deep breath.”
His voice is firm, with only a faint hint of the persistant stutter that’s plagued him since his return. He allows his thumb to brush soothingly over Keith’s jawline, working to settle him more firmly into his skin and anchor him.
“Breathe with me.”
It’s hard not to fight it. Keith has spent more energy than he realized fighting back his instincts, this part of him that keeps trying to push free. After all this time getting control over himself as a pilot and a Paladin, he worries about starting right at ground zero with his Galra side. There’s a wildness to it, a familiar unfamiliarity that’s always been there. He doesn’t want to worry about hurting someone or losing himself. Not again.
“Okay…got it…” Keith rasps, though he’s pretty sure he doesn’t quite have it yet.
He focuses on Lotor’s grip, the light stroking, heightened sense of hearing picking up on the deep inhale-exhale beside him. Teaching by example. He holds his breath until he can fall into the same cadence as Lotor, and does his best not to push back on his instincts, drive this part of him back into whatever corner he’d been keeping locked away. This is a part of him, and Lotor understands it. Better than most.
