[Neither of them do. Shiro just... did it differently. Different lives. He never had to deal with pain and loneliness like Keith did until he was much older. It didn't shape him. What happened on the Galra prison ship was different. He could rationalize that, as much as it was so outside his scope of experience. He adapted. Survived. Not just the fights, not just the torture, but being alone. That was maybe the hardest part. The other aliens were afraid of him, none of them ever got close to him willingly. And the Galra treated him less like a person and more like a thing, a beast of burden they happened to find entertaining. It was dehumanizing.
But Keith had grown up that way. Different without ever knowing why. He knows full-well that Keith would insist that Shiro's experience was worse, but it wasn't. His experiences hurt like hell, but they didn't change the course or core of who he was. Keith's did. Maybe he would have grown up to be a sweet, gentle kid. Maybe he would have followed in his father's footsteps to become a firefighter. Maybe he'd still be home, a billion miles away from this place, and have suffered none of this.
Shiro's hand tightens, just a little, against Keith's thigh.]
no subject
[Neither of them do. Shiro just... did it differently. Different lives. He never had to deal with pain and loneliness like Keith did until he was much older. It didn't shape him. What happened on the Galra prison ship was different. He could rationalize that, as much as it was so outside his scope of experience. He adapted. Survived. Not just the fights, not just the torture, but being alone. That was maybe the hardest part. The other aliens were afraid of him, none of them ever got close to him willingly. And the Galra treated him less like a person and more like a thing, a beast of burden they happened to find entertaining. It was dehumanizing.
But Keith had grown up that way. Different without ever knowing why. He knows full-well that Keith would insist that Shiro's experience was worse, but it wasn't. His experiences hurt like hell, but they didn't change the course or core of who he was. Keith's did. Maybe he would have grown up to be a sweet, gentle kid. Maybe he would have followed in his father's footsteps to become a firefighter. Maybe he'd still be home, a billion miles away from this place, and have suffered none of this.
Shiro's hand tightens, just a little, against Keith's thigh.]
It's not half bad. Having time to ourselves.