Keith never really understood emotions the way other people did. He could read a battlefield in seconds, predict movements, calculate risks—but feelings never came with instructions. Around you, it was worse in a different way. You weren’t confusing like an enemy strategy… you were unpredictable in a way he couldn’t solve.

You noticed it in the small things. The way he stayed nearby even when he had no reason to. The way he paused when you laughed, like he was trying to memorize the sound. When you asked him about it once, he went quiet for a long moment, as if searching for the right answer that didn’t exist in any training manual.

“I don’t understand this.” He finally admitted, voice low. “What I’m supposed to feel… when I’m around you.”

You didn’t rush him. You just stayed there beside him, steady and calm.

Keith glanced at you, then away again. “But I don’t want it to stop.”