[Keith leans into that squeeze, finding himself orienting himself at the simple gesture. Drawing strength from his best friend as he calms. Not completely; he still has the awareness to remember where they are, but enough to think rationally.

He does more than just go with it; that tug is the only thing he needed to pull him in and he wraps his arms around Shiro. Firm, but mindful of the bruising he left. He knew deep down that it wouldn't, but hearing it meant so much. Yet the fact they needed to talk about how he'd withdrawn from them once before eventually had hung over his head the entire time, and if it had come up again while Shiro and Hunk were gone...

He wasn't sure where that would leave them. For all that he's grown and changed, he still doesn't know how to handle being scared without fighting back. And he had been very, very scared.]

Hard to do that while marooned on a giant space creature for two years with a long lost parent. One who just so happens to have trained a large percentage of the Blades and is very keen on refining instincts and skill when we weren't bracing for the next glimpse into the past and future.

[Oh. Someone picked up their best friend's sense of humor. He squeezes a little tighter, smile becoming more genuine.]

I have, and you don't know how much hearing that means to me.