[Well, Lance wasn't wrong. Keith hadn't felt important. There was the initial moment of shock when he came out and admitted he hadn't been feeling connected to them, and then... just... okay, go ahead. Not that Keith hadn't set them up for that. The one thing he'd done well was come up with a reason to leave, and put it out there in a way that made everyone think that was what he wanted.

Sure, he did on some level, but it still would have been nice to know that maybe they'd wanted him to stay. He scrunched his eyebrows a bit as Lance said it had been on them just as much as him, and then took most of it on himself. But, even with how things ended up that time around, it had been Lance who stepped up and grounded Keith, even while Keith was fighting with his grief and trying to replace the very man he was grieving.] You did... you helped me a lot while Shiro was gone.

[At the same time, though, they were both still working through the current changes this shedding thing was pushing them through, and Lance had a point. It was something Keith had been worried about when he first felt compelled to even bring all this up in the first place.

The shedding had affected their memories, and working this out when they were both... 'normal', whatever that was in this place... would be the better way to deal with it.

Keith nodded.]

Thanks. For at least telling me this much. I promised I wouldn't push, so... I won't. And, if you need some space, that's fine. [It just helped knowing that this wasn't something where he was losing a friend.]