[The defiant light in James eyes whenever they fight is just about the only time Keith actually finds himself relaxing around the other boy. There's a stripped down honesty in the anger that James can't pretty up and pretend doesn't exist for the sake of his plastic mask and seeing it is satisfying. It makes a corner of his lips turn upwards slightly,
That is, until the next part of what James has to say. Then he's just left feeling like he's missed his footing. Sure, he'd just said that James was an asshat for always brushing of his successes as flukes, but he wasn't expecting a change in rhetoric any time soon. His eyebrows lift, betraying his faint surprise before Keith can think better of it.]
Oh.
[Just that. This ineloquent little 'oh' until he kicks his brain back into gear. He doesn't need to put any weight on a tiny concession here, does he? James is a person with an endless supply of platitudes he doesn't mean. It's just how he is. And Keith is a person who doesn't have the time of day for those.
He gets off, dusting off his hands when he stands back up on his feet.]
You know playing nice now isn't gonna make me go easy on you, right.
[All the same, he holds his hand out to James to help him up. Take it or leave it, he doesn't care.]
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That is, until the next part of what James has to say. Then he's just left feeling like he's missed his footing. Sure, he'd just said that James was an asshat for always brushing of his successes as flukes, but he wasn't expecting a change in rhetoric any time soon. His eyebrows lift, betraying his faint surprise before Keith can think better of it.]
Oh.
[Just that. This ineloquent little 'oh' until he kicks his brain back into gear. He doesn't need to put any weight on a tiny concession here, does he? James is a person with an endless supply of platitudes he doesn't mean. It's just how he is. And Keith is a person who doesn't have the time of day for those.
He gets off, dusting off his hands when he stands back up on his feet.]
You know playing nice now isn't gonna make me go easy on you, right.
[All the same, he holds his hand out to James to help him up. Take it or leave it, he doesn't care.]