[ keith walks away from the booth visibly tense, clutching both plushies tight to his chest. he's aware enough that his behavior was probably a little out of line, but isn't in any frame of mind to be discussing diplomacy strats. he clearly suspects that's what shiro's going to get on his case for when the silence is eventually broken, only seeming to relax when shiro doesn't even bring up the carnie. he relinquishes the rocket plush, letting shiro tug it out of his arms with that bit of prompting and manages a small smile. ]

It wasn't a problem. Just... [ a sigh. ] Felt like I couldn't breathe. [ worse than that, really. it'd felt like his airway was burning. no explanation for it other than magic from the desolation really, but it doesn't exactly feel good knowing that the fear clowns are pulling stunts like these on everyone and just getting away with it.

mostly anyway. looks like one's down a scope and another is missing his dignity.

keith never stops walking, but he briefly bumps his shoulder to shiro's back. ]

But yeah, I think I'm done for today. Thanks for the hippo.

[ if nothing else, the red guy is still pretty cute. and with that, the two leave the circus grounds and start heading back to adi with some data to report back and two new friends for their rooms. ]