Comforting. Safe. If he'd been Lance, he'd have run for the hills because 'safe and warm' meant crazy mermaids and mind-swishing, but he's not Lance by any stretch, and Bash isn't a crazy mermaid. "I'm okay..." It's just a lot to take in all at once.

Giving himself a chance to breathe and leaning into the loose embrace, Keith takes a slow, deep breath to steady himself before trying this again, the words heavy and unfamiliar on his tongue. Even if he ends up getting hurt eventually, even if it turns out he jumped in too quickly and way over his head, he'll deal with it later. For now, he's grabbing hold of whatever this is and running with it. "I love you."