Archive of Our Own

The blaring alarms startled Lance, but not out of slumber. He’d been awake for the past hour at least because of another nightmare. He couldn’t remember what the dream was about, yet the fear of the hellish vision that had woken him in the first place prevented him from falling back asleep. His eyes threatened to close as he lay there, exhaustion taking it's toll.

The alarm only seemed to grow louder the more he laid there. It was a persistent noise, telling him he had to get out of bed. He couldn’t fall asleep even if he wanted to, and boy did he want to. Lord knows what he’d give for a good night's sleep.

He couldn’t think like that. He had to get up. He had a job to do. Being a paladin of Voltron meant dealing with all the bells and whistles, not just universal fame. He kicked the oh so soft blankets off of him. The action itself felt like more energy than it was worth. The blankets called to him from the corner they were kicked into; he turned away. He couldn’t go back to sleep. Instead he sat up, removing his headphones and placing them on his pillow. He could do this.

He stood up quickly, too quickly, making his world sway around him. He reached out to the wall to steady himself, the metal cool under his fingertips. He waited for the room to stop spinning. Only then did he move towards the panel on the other side of the room. He waved his hand over the sensor, resulting in a soft beep. The wall slid open to show his closet. All his clothes were meticulously folded and pushed into cubbies.

He struggled out of his pajamas, his shirt catching on his head as he pulled it off. He grunted and tugged, forcing his head out of the hole. If this was the start of his day he didn’t want to see the ending. The pants came off easier, leaving him only in his briefs as he reached for the skin tight suit that went under their paladin armor.

In hindsight, the trouble with his shirt was foreshadowing the trouble with his suit. It was like putting on leggings, clinging to his skin as he tried to pull it up one leg. He alternated to his other leg about halfway up his calf. His heart rate spiked as he nearly tripped himself in the process. He felt like a toddler trying to put clothes on for the first time. Wasn’t that a flattering image: the Blue Paladin stuck in his own flight suit.

Another frustrated groan bubbled out of his throat as he pulled at the suit, slowly gaining ground as the black material crawled up his legs. If anyone saw him like this he’d feel humiliated, maybe try and play off with a joke. Now, he only felt a deep frustration towards himself, and towards the forsaken alarm that was still beeping incessantly in the background.

Holy crow, he still hadn’t even gotten to his shirt let alone his armor. To be fair, the latter would be much easier to put on due to it required only a few clasps to be buckled. He leaned against the wall, letting his head fall back with a thud. This was not going to be his day, he knew it with certainty.

Luckily, or maybe in spite of his previous thoughts, his shirt went on with no problems. It snagged on his head for a moment, but quickly gave way to fall over his toned chest. The sleeves bunched up, but, again, were much easier to roll down than putting on his pants had been.

Even when he leaned against the wall staying upright proved to be an issue, and it only served to add to his frustrations. Clipping on the armor was simple enough luckily, only a few tabs to buckle together. Lance fumbled once or twice, but his hands eventually followed through.

The alarms had ceased blaring while he had put his armor on. He was late, and he knew that he was going to be lectured for it. He hadn’t been late in a while, but people often remember the times when you screwed up over the times you pulled through...

Lance shook his head. He couldn’t think like that now. Get to training first, beat Keith in all the exercises they did, and then pass out afterwards. He just had to make it to the training deck first. He had this in the bag.

Confident or not in his abilities, it still didn’t change the fact that it took him forever to get to the training deck. When he finally did make it the others were already at the tail end of their warm up sequence.

Allura sent him a glare, and he returned it with a sheepish smile, rubbing at his neck as he quickly made his way over to the others. He’d have to abridge his stretch routine to catch up to everyone else.

“Lance,” he looked up to see Shiro walking over to him, his eyebrows knit together in worry, “are you alright? You haven’t been late to morning training in months.”

Lance smiled at his concern. Scratch his earlier statement, apparently people did remember. “Yeah, sorry. Didn’t get much sleep last night,” or the past few nights, but details, man, details.

“Is there anything you want to talk about?” Concern bled through every word, and Lance could feel his smile widening as he stretched an arm above his head. He should be feeling shitty, honestly, but Shiro’s open concern overruled the part of him that just wanted to fall face first onto the training mat and sleep.

“Just a few nightmares, that’s all,” Lance admitted. He was never one to lie at direct confrontation, easier to talk things out beforehand than to try and mend them afterwards.

His Papá had lived by that phrase, instilling it in him and his siblings as well. It helped keep their already chaotic household a bit more in check.

“Well, if they persist or anything, you can come talk to me. Chances are I’ll be awake,” Shiro chuckled, as if telling a joke. “Well, finish stretching, I’m going to help the others with training.”

Lance waved as he walked away, before raising his arm behind his head and holding it there. He couldn’t help but ponder Shiro’s words. He was probably just being polite, right? Shiro was nothing if not genuine about his offers to help, though. Everyone had gone to him for various things at his invitation, but what did he mean by: chances are I’ll be awake?

It hit Lance and he paused. His arms fell to his side as he tracked Shiro with his eyes. Shiro had PTSD. It had never been a question of if he did or not, their early days as paladins had shown that. There were still moments where Shiro would freeze a far off look crossing his face. It wasn’t something that magically went away, after all. Chances are his time with the Galra still bothered him, still kept him up even to this day.

In fact, that would explain the times when Lance had gotten up at night; whether to walk around the castle, or to sneak a midnight snack; and had seen Shiro up and about. If anything it wasn’t as casual as that implied, Shiro was always so tense, looking this way and that for anything out of place. It was more like patrolling. Which made sense Lance guessed…

Now he felt bad. Here Lance was, showing up late and all, when Shiro was always the first one to arrive after the Princess, always on top of his game. All of this despite the fact that Shiro constantly had sleepless nights. Shiro was their leader. He had so much stress on his shoulders, way more than Lance ever had. It was stupid of him to want a break, to want help, when obviously he wasn’t as worse off as the others. He would survive.

With that thought in mind, Lance rushed through his stretches. He knew it was dumb to rush, that his body would hate him for it later. Shiro wasn’t there to scold him though. Holy crow, Shiro even watched out for everyone during freaking training .

As soon as his joints felt moderately warmed up, he jogged over to the group, watching as Shiro walked Hunk through several moves, “Did you guys miss me?” Lance asked, his signature cocky smirk in place.

Keith snorted from where he was sitting next to Pidge. “Didn’t even realize you were gone,” he shot him a small grin, the amusement clear in his gray eyes.

Pidge smiled from where she was sitting, laptop situated on her lap. Lance couldn’t help but laugh as he plopped down in between them. He looked up at the fight, tracking their movements and trying to put them to memory. Even when he was watching he could be learning.

He didn’t watch for long though as his eyes began to droop dangerously low. He needed to get up, do something, do anything . His body wouldn’t have it. He jerked his head up, blinking rapidly as he tried to take in his surroundings. If this kept up he’d fall asleep sitting here. Which meant that Allura would probably scold him, which would not be fun, thank you very much. He was already in enough trouble for being late, and as much as he didn’t mind women in power and being told what to do, if you get what he means , he didn’t want to experience her lectures any longer than he had to.

Luck was on his side as Shiro and Hunk walked over. “Keith, Lance, you’re up.”

“Ready?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows at Keith.

“I was born ready.” Keith grinned, as he jumped up.

They quickly fell into familiar positions facing each other. “Go!” Shiro shouted from where he stood with Pidge and Hunk. Shiro turned away after the word left his mouth. He took up a stance with Hunk, going over some of the moves they just practiced.

Lance looked back just in time to see a red blur flash forward. He dodged aside with a jerk, narrowly saving himself from a fist to the face. They quickly fell into their usual flow with Keith pushing forward and targeting any opening Lance gave him. Lance had gotten great at dodging, but his countering was mediocre, even on a good day.

Today was not a good day.

“Oof!”

A punch, one Lance saw coming, but couldn’t dodge, struck his side, sending him reeling back. Keith paused, brows lifting slightly before moving in. Sometimes hits happened when they shouldn’t, and you just had to roll with them. Lance tried to retaliate, but Keith dodged his punch easily.

He knew the kick was coming. It was one of Keith’s favorite moves: a kick to the stomach that knocked his opponent backward and left them open, if only for a moment. Lance had gotten intimately familiar with that kick - everyone had.

Which made the fact that Lance got hit by it all the more embarrassing. Even worse was the fact that he was sent plummeting to the floor, clutching his stomach in pain. Cheese and crackers, Keith did not hold back, ever .

“Lance!” Keith came over and looked down at him. The sound of someone running over echoed through the room.

“Dude, I thought you were going to dodge that, you always do,” Keith exclaimed, leaning back as Shiro came into view.

Shiro knelt down next to Lance and helped him sit up, placing a comforting hand on his back. Well, it would’ve been comforting if he could feel it through the armor.

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in,” Lance grumbled. He ignored the flutter that was trying to make it's way through his heart. Shiro was showing him attention, he did that whenever someone was hurt. It was nothing special.

He scowled, “I’m not-”

“Enough,” Shiro interrupted the two.

Bless Shiro and his ability to get Lance to shut his mouth. He really didn’t want to bicker with Keith right now. It’s just... his head was spinning, and his body ached, and he was really tired, and he didn’t think he could handle any bit of criticism right now, even if it was genuine concern, and-

“Lance, are you okay?” Lance opened his eyes and looked up at Shiro. His gaze drifted past Shiro, focusing on Hunk and Pidge. When did they get there? He could’ve sworn he only heard one person run over…

“Lance?”

Lance snapped back to Shiro once again, before glancing away. He could feel his face heat up. “Yeah, just...”

He felt bad, he interrupted everyone’s training. It didn’t matter that whenever someone got hurt this happened. This time it was Lance, it was his fault. He should be able to cope with this, Shiro can. Now that he thought about it, the others were also probably losing sleep. Constantly liberating planets and battling Galra didn’t lend itself well to a healthy sleep schedule. Here he was complaining about it-

“Lance,” he returned his attention to Shiro, who was giving him a look of concern, eyes pinched, “maybe you should head to the infirmary, have Coran-”

“I’m fine, really,” Lance pushed himself up, swaying a bit despite it and Keith grabbed his arm to steady him. It was a friendly gesture, but at the moment only served to make something ugly curl in his stomach. “Just… just tired.”

Shiro’s face softened, “It’s okay, Lance.” He looked past Lance at Keith, and gave a small nod. Understanding flashed across Keith’s face, and he made sure to grab Hunk and Pidge by the collar of their armor as he walked away.

Shiro looked back to Lance, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You should go find Coran. Take it easy for the rest of the day.”

Lance opened his mouth to protest, but Shiro silenced him with a wave of his hand. “There’s nothing wrong with needing a bit of down time. You’re tired. I’d rather you didn’t get hurt again because of it. You can make up what you missed during tomorrow’s training,” Shiro gave him a reassuring smile.

Lance frowned. He wanted to protest - he could finish training!- He knew that he couldn’t though, knew that it would result in more stupid mistakes, and maybe someone else getting hurt. Shiro was offering him an out, and he had to take it, even if it left him feeling horrible.

“Thanks, man,” he said with a sigh, “Sorry for messing up training.”

“You didn’t mess anything up,” Shiro’s voice, soft and fond a moment ago, was stern and hard now, as if he’s upset by the implication. “Everyone has days, today’s yours. Try and take a nap, go talk to Coran, I know you two enjoy talking.” Lance nodded, and Shiro clapped him on the shoulder again, smiling once more. “Good! I’ll see you at lunch.”

Lance stood there a moment longer as Shiro turned to walk away, before reaching out and grabbing his arm, shocking the both of them. Lance could feel his face heat up - what was he doing - but it was too late to turn back.

“If you ever… if you ever need anything too, just, uh, hit me up, okay?” Lance gave him a smile that he hoped portrayed confidence.

Shiro looked at him, blinking a few times, as if stunned, before awkwardly clearing his throat and looking away. “Of course.”

Lance nodded before booking it. His face felt like it was on fire. Maybe he should just go find Coran, see if the man needed anything done around the castle until it was an acceptable time for bed...

~*~

Lance stood in the robes that he had found all that time ago, back when they first arrived at the Castle of Lions. He regarded his bed carefully, as if it’d jump up and bite him if he got too close. He had spent his day helping Coran out anywhere he could. He had even, reluctantly, taken the job of cleaning the Cryopods. This time he made sure his bucket of supplies was blocking the screen from closing. The memory of being trapped, imprisoned in a dark, cold space, was ever present in his mind; he was not keen on a repeat. After that he had even helped Coran fix up the little droids they used to defend the castle. Which meant that he stood there and handed Coran tools, but he was there.

He had still become crabbier and crabbier as the day stretched on, and tried to avoid the other paladins as much as possible. Especially Keith. They may be on better terms now, but they still argued. Lance did not want to deal with that today.

Lunch and dinner had gone well,  although he was a bit quieter than usual. Lance had hoped that would translate into his nightlife, freeing him of nightmares and any potential insomnia.

He hung up his robe, praying that sleep would come easy to him. Afterwards he crawled into bed, drawing the blankets up so that they fit snug under his chin. He reached out for his headphones, slipped them on and reveled in the familiarity of the action. Of course, he made sure one was popped off his ear in case something happened in the middle of the night. One thing the past had taught him was that the headphones canceled out noise remarkably well, too well.

His eyes closed and a contented sigh melded with the sound of the waves from the headphones. His conscious drifted easily with the sound, swaying back and forth, back and forth… Bringing him closer and closer to the edge of reality. His breathing slowly evened out; his body relaxing.

~*~

He woke with a start, body frozen in place. He didn’t dare move. Some irrational, primal, part of his brain screamed at him to hold as still as possible. If he moved it would be the end. If he moved he would die.

Minutes ticked by, and his body began to relax once more, eyes trying to fall shut again. Finally, he shook himself. The dream- he was not falling asleep after that. He was not going back to that .

He glanced at the clock and groaned. He hadn’t even been asleep for an hour. He never regretted helping someone more than he did now. It had to have been a week into their stay at the castle, two at most, when Hunk decided he wanted to build an Earth clock. Pidge and Hunk had gone over the mechanics and Lance had done all the conversions. He had felt pretty good about himself at the time, being able to participate, but now… Now he wanted to go back in time and stop himself from every creating the godforsaken thing.

He forced himself up, pissed at his mind for betraying him him once more. He needed to shake the nightmare. It was his only hope of getting any sleep. It was a slim hope at best. He made a distressed noise and rubbed at his eyes. Why him?

He stood up slowly, not wanting to get dizzy again, and promptly removed his headphones. Maybe a light snack would help. Maybe just a walk in general. He shuffled slowly towards the door with those ideas in mind.

You know what would actually help, a small voice encouraged in the back of his head.

He couldn’t though, he couldn’t have that comfort. Maybe he could go to Hunk about it. He’d be willing to help. Knowing Hunk, though, he’d complain a bit. A lot. He’d complain a lot. He was a good friend, but very… vocal about certain things. Lance hadn’t wanted to deal with scolding and complaining during the day, and certainly not now. Plus, Lance really didn’t want to be the reason someone else wouldn’t be getting a full night's sleep.

Lance shook his head. Go to the kitchen. Get a snack. Eat said snack. Go back to sleep. Wasn’t perfect, but it was all he had at the moment. He put his hand on the panel by the door, stepping out as it opened, and walked-

Right into somebody.

He fell back, the world turning chaotically around him. Lance thrust out his arm to grab something, anything. His arm curled around the person’s neck, just as something else, an arm, wrapped around his middle. He looked up, heart pounding a mile a minute. Stormy grey eyes looked back.

“Looks like I’m falling for you,” Lance drawled out before he could think.

Shiro let out a loud laugh, tugging Lance up with the arm still wrapped around Lance’s waist. The feeling of immediate mortification bled away as he smiled up at Shiro. It wasn’t often he saw him so delighted. He watched him, watched as the tension drained away, leaving Shiro open and happy and...

Not now huge crush, not now.

Lance couldn’t help but smile as Shiro came down from his laughing high. His huge crush be damned, that laugh was freaking adorable.

Shiro finally looked at him again, a more serious expression taking over his face; although, the mirth from before still twinkled in his eyes. “Why are you up? Figured you’d be out like the dead.”

It was Lance’s turn to laugh, this time dark, depressing. “I wish.” Lance flinched when he realized exactly how that sounded, added by the confused, but openly worried look on Shiro’s face. He backtracked, fast. “That, uh, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that,” Lance gestured wildly with his hands, “I meant, uh, sleeping! Yeah sleeping, it’s, uh, not happening. I mean, it did, it did, I slept, but not for, uh, long.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Lance.” Shiro put his hands up. Lance clamped his mouth shut with a snap, eyes getting acquainted with the ground. “Now again, but this time slower, and uh, more coherent.”

Lance sighed. “I had another nightmare…” Lance felt the frustration within himself boiling. “I just, ugh,” Lance dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m tired, and I want to sleep, but I’m scared I’ll have another stupid nightmare, but I need to sleep, ‘cause if I don’t then I’ll only screw up more. Like, I don’t want to be the reason we fail at forming Voltron or something! What if we all die because I can’t stay awake long enough in battle to help. Voltron: killed by their own Blue Paladin,” Lance said mockingly, waving a hand, “wouldn’t that be great!” The surge of anger passed as quickly as it came, leaving Lance feeling hollow. He sighed, hand falling to his side, “I know what used to help me, but I can’t ask any of you guys for that. I’m not a child, I should… I shouldn’t...” He could feel tears begin to swell in the corners of his eyes and wanted to curse himself out. Weak.

“Lance,” Shiro’s voice was soothing, “Lance look at me.” He was helpless to comply, momentarily shocked at the genuine concern there. “What do you need, how can I help?”

Lance took a stuttered breath, “Whenever I had nightmares I could always go to my older siblings, and we’d, we’d all sleep together.”

There. He admitted it: he was a big baby.

“That’s all?”

“What?” Lance leaned back a bit, as if he hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Back when I first met Keith, he’d sleep over in my room all the time. It made him feel better.”

Lance chuckled, “Really? Keith? No way.” He could actually imagine it pretty well. Keith certainly had a not-so-secret soft spot.

Shiro smiled in return, “Yup, all the time.”

Lance felt the hollowness return. “Yeah, well, we’d actually sleep sleep together. In the same bed, not just roll out a blanket on the ground…” His eyes dropped to the ground.

He missed them, all of them. Lance never had a shortage of siblings to go to if he was scared. Yeah, they’d get a little crabby with him at times, but they never turned him away. He was the baby, helping him was instinct, duty.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Shiro said. Lance looked up at him, afraid he’d get whiplash, and Shiro cleared his throat. “I mean, if you, uh, if you really want to.”

“Dude, really? You-You’d do that?” He couldn’t believe this, no way, nuh uh, not happening.

Shiro laughed softly, “Sure. For all I know it might help me sleep.”

Lance paused at that, caught on Shiro’s words. Shiro, who had done so much for everyone on the team. Shiro, who had had sleepless nights for ages now. Shiro, who was selflessly offering to help Lance sleep. If Lance didn’t do this for himself he might as well agree to see if it’d help Shiro. Who was he kidding, a chance to cuddle was a chance to cuddle. He wasn’t going to turn it down, especially if it helps both parties involved.

“That’d be great!” Lance beamed. “Let me grab my headphones!” He rushed back into his room without a second thought, snatching his headphones from the table. Shiro watched from the door, his gaze wandering around the room.

Lance had always been very personal, and his room certainly didn’t lack that personal touch. He’d slowly accumulated things, decorating his room with them. Little trinkets from planets, pebbles, and fauna that he’d eventually have to dispose of, but he loved it all the same. It was more homey this way, more comforting.

As Lance began to turn back, he caught Shiro’s gaze. His heart skipped a beat at how open Shiro looked, as if he was in awe of Lance. That was a silly notion though; he probably just liked Lance’s room. Who wouldn’t?

“Let’s go!” Lance grinned as he skipped forward.

They walked in silence to Shiro’s room which was the last one in the hall that they had all taken residence in. Nerves begin to creep up on Lance. What was he thinking? Yeah, his giant hero crush had faded a bit, but only in the hero part, not the actual crush. This was a horrible idea, but at the same time…

Lance had never seen Shiro’s room, and let that thought rush to the forefront of his mind. Did he collect things? What things did he enjoy? He felt himself smile as they made their way down the hall, positively giddy with anticipation. What would it look like? Shiro opened the door, and walked in.

It was… empty.

Not totally empty. There was the bed and the table, furniture that was in all of their rooms, but besides that… It lacked any and all personal touch. There was no pictures, no doodads, no souvenirs from the many planet visits, just… nothing.

When Lance finally looked back at Shiro, standing in the center of the room nervously, a wave of sorrow washed over him. He may not know exactly what little things Shiro was into, but he’d find out. Everyone needs a bit of home, especially when away from it.

“Well,” Shiro finally said, noticing that Lance was done looking around, “uh, make yourself at home.”

“Thanks,” Lance tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the nerves were slowly coming back.

Shiro walked over to the attached bathroom, looking back over his shoulder, “I’ll be right out.”

Lance nodded as the bathroom door slid closed behind Shiro.

This was sad. Lance did another look around the room before settling on the bed. He could feel his heart tug. He wouldn’t let this stand. Shiro focused a lot of his time on Voltron, and he seemed to thrive there, which was amazing, but this was his room, his personal space… It was sad that it felt more like a jail cell than a room.

That was the problem though, wasn’t it. Shiro had spent a year under the Galra. For the past year he had lived in a jail cell. He couldn’t personalize there, so it only made sense that it’d bleed over afterwards.

Lance nodded to himself. He’d help Shiro decorate if it was the last thing he did. It may be small, but he was sure it’d help. Maybe.

The door opened and Lance looked up, his eyes immediately drawn to the fact that Shiro was missing an arm. This was not like when they first found Shiro when the Galra pod crash landed, and he had the Galra arm in place of his human. This was full fledged missing, Galra tech or otherwise. Simply gone, poof.

Lance opened his mouth, about to ask, when he took in Shiro’s face. He was looking anywhere but at Lance, and his body was sprung tight. Oh. Lance could take a hint. This was a topic for another day, or never.

Thus, Lance let the topic drop before it had begun, and slid up against the wall, patting the spot next to him. “Well, come on, I want to try and get some sleep before we have to go back to being protectors of the universe.”

The shock showed in Shiro’s eyes, as if he expected Lance to comment on the removed arm. He ignored the sting that that expectation left. Shiro smiled after a moment, huffing a small laugh as he walked over to Lance, who had begun wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, anything to make Shiro feel more comfortable. Shiro pulled the covers back, settling next to Lance.

Lance slid his headphones on, pressing play on his phone before snuggling up against Shiro. Shiro froze, and Lance held his breath. He hadn’t even thought before moving closer to Shiro. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do. His heart beat loudly in his ears. He should pull back, he should- but then Shiro was relaxing, wrapping his arm around Lance.

“Night,” Shiro muttered from above him, and Lance smiled into his side.

“Night.”

~*~

Consciousness came slowly to Lance, but not in the way that instilled panic, or in the way one does after a long night of drinking, head pounding, and regretting life chooses. No, Lance woke slowly and blissfully. He was warm, so very warm, and he snuggled closer to the warmth, an arm tightened around him in response. He hadn’t felt so relaxed in weeks. The feeling of a body next to his was familiar, reminiscent of when he would sneak into bed with his older siblings, or when he and Hunk and cuddled once or twice back at the Garrison.

It was then that Lance was reminded that he wasn’t home with his family. He felt his heartbeat spike. Who the heck- The previous night’s events came back to him and his heart rate slowed back to normal. Shiro’s arms felt good around him, and their legs were tangled together. Lance could feel Shiro’s breath ghosting across the top of his head, as his chest slowly rose and fell.

Curiosity made him lean back. His face was so relaxed, so peaceful. It was a look Lance had rarely seen on the man, if ever. Being the leader of Voltron wasn’t easy, Lance knew. It was all the more telling by how drastic the difference was between this version of Shiro and the awake version.

He smiled before yawning softly and hiding his head back in Shiro’s chest. He felt safe and warm, but this time without being drugged by evil, alien plant food.

Don’t get used to it , an inner voice said, this was just a one time thing .

Lance frowned, a sour feeling attempting to make it's home in his chest. Shiro shifted, interrupting Lance’s train of thought. The grip around Lance’s waist loosened, and he heard Shiro yawn.

Lance looked up to see Shiro’s eyes slowly flutter open. Their eyes locked, and everything was peaceful. Then Shiro’s eyes went wide, and he was scrambling back. His legs kicked the blankets from their bodies. Lance shivered; it was so much colder without the blankets, without Shiro next to him. Lance felt his heart clench painfully from within his chest.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” damn it his voice cracked. He tried to put on a smile but he was beginning to panic. Heck, Shiro looked like he was already panicking.

In hope a little distance would ease Shiro, Lance moved down the length of the bed towards Shiro’s feet. Shiro moved his legs up towards his chest, allowing Lance to swing his legs over the edge. Lance stretched his arms over his head. He hoped it’d come across as casual, as if Lance hadn’t found Shiro’s reaction a big deal. He looked over at Shiro. He was met with the sight of Shiro leaning back against the wall, legs still pulled close to his chest.

“Shiro are you alright?” Shiro looked dazed, lost. Frankly, it was a bit more concerning than any of Lance’s insecurities trying to break him apart right now. “Shiro?”

Shiro snapped out of whatever daze he was in with a full body shudder and gave Lance a small awkward smile, “Sorry, uh, about that.” Lance waved it off as he stood.

“I’m going to head back to my room so I can change. I know this was probably a one time thing, so like thanks.”

“I mean… it doesn’t have to be?” Lance stared, watching Shiro as he looked down at his lap, clutching and unclutching the blanket with his hand. “Probably the best I’ve slept in a while too, so…”

Shiro, unsure? Never, but Lance couldn’t help but smile. “Great dude! I’ll see you at breakfast. I’m pretty sure Hunk wanted to try recreating bacon again.” There was still a dark tingling at the back of his mind, trying to whisper doubts in his ear, but he ignored it.

~*~

“Keith and Lance,” Allura read from her data pad, standing at the side of the room.

Lance jumped up. He felt leagues better than last time, and he was ready to beat Keith at his own game! He eagerly took his stance across from Keith, grinning all the while.

Even with their last fight going so horribly, Keith didn’t hold back. He never did. Lance admired that about him, even if he’d never admit it. He didn’t have time to keep thinking as the first punch was directed, once more, at his face. This time he dodged easily to the side.

Punches flew between them, elbows thrown in here and there. Lance’s movements were smoother this time, only a few hits ever landing. He spun away from another hit.

There was an opening, and he struck out with his elbow. Keith stumbled back, looking up at him in surprise. He grinned, and Lance puffed up in pride, barely noticing the mischievous glint in Keith’s eyes.

He recognized Keith’s body language though. He raised his arms to cover his stomach, right as Keith’s kick struck out. He stumbled back, arms aching, but grinned again.

He was back on his game.

They continued the back and forth for a little longer. Nothing could change the fact that Keith was a better fighter though, and eventually Lance went down. He landed on his back, Keith on top of him, pinned once more.

Keith got up with a grin, adrenaline still obviously pumping through his veins, and offered his hand, “Good job. You managed to block my kick this time.”

Lance scoffed, letting Keith help pull him up. “Of course, I saw it coming a mile away.”

Keith rolled his eyes, mumbling a “sure you did” as he walked away, grabbing a water pouch from Shiro.

“Great improvements, my boy,” Coran said, offering Lance a water pouch, a proud smile on his face. “You’ll be as good as the prior blue paladin in no time.”

Lance smiled, he certainly hoped so. “Thank’s Coran.”

Training continued on much as it always did. Lance got his butt handed to him, but he was improving, he hoped. He was better rested, his reaction times faster than before. Shiro even gave him pointers as he went, as well as helping Hunk and Pidge.

He couldn’t help but notice, despite feeling refreshed, that Hunk and Pidge had things he just... didn’t. Pidge was small, quick on her feet, and could use that to her advantage, had used that to her advantage. Hunk was large, yes, but he could take a hit while punishing whoever chooses to hit him. Lance was just… Lance. Yeah, he could bend his body back really far, do some pretty mean yoga, but that was it.

He was grateful when training was over, the thrill of his fight with Keith long gone. Any of his, in retrospect, small achievements meant nothing in the grand scheme of things...

“Alright everyone, go shower, and cool down. You did great today,” Allura smiled as she looked over everyone. They had all talked about positive reinforcement a while ago. Once Allura saw the merits of it she was on board, and ready to pull out all the stops. Didn’t stop her from being hard on them though.

Lance groaned as he popped his neck, the dark air clouding his mind. He started to leave, on his way to take a shower, when a thought pierced through the fuzzy feeling of his mind.. Do I go straight to his room? Do I shower back at mine? What if someone catches me? Oh god, they hadn’t talked specifics!

As if sensing his thoughts, Shiro walked up beside him, coated in just as much, if not more, sweat. It made his workout shirt cling to his body, and if Lance had been in a better mood he would’ve oggled a bit. “When do you plan on coming over?” Of course Shiro would get right to the point.

“I gotta shower and stuff in my room, cause all my stuff is there and all, so…” Lance shifted nervously. Sleeping consistently with his family and sharing a bathroom space? Normal. With Shiro? Not normal.

“You can, um, bring your stuff to my room? If you want? It’d be easier.”

Was that more unsure Shiro? Lance looked up at him, and, sure enough, Shiro was looking away, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Lance beamed, he couldn’t help himself, “That sounds great!”

Shiro eagerly returned the smile.

~*~

It turned out that Shiro didn’t know about the hidden closet feature in the walls, or the fact that you could make coat hooks appear next to the door. Lance had shown him, a smug look on his face, as Shiro took in all the clothes that he didn’t even know he had. It was nice being an “expert” at something.

“Personally, I love the pajamas the most. They’re really soft, and feel good against the skin. Oh, and then there’s the slippers.” Lance moaned, “It’s like walking on clouds.”

Shiro chuckled as he picked through the clothing. “I’m pretty sure you can’t walk on clouds, Lance.”

He tsked at Shiro playfully, “Not with that attitude you can’t, Mister.” He peaked around the taller man, squealing and pushing himself by Shiro. “Oh my- Shiro, look, look!” He held up lion slippers. They were almost identical to Lance’s own slippers, but black, and the ears were yellow, mimicking the actual Black lion’s look.

“You have to put them on, or at least keep them out for when you walk around at night,” Lance commented as he walked by Shiro, and over to the hangers. He didn’t notice Shiro flinch, the way he looked away guiltily, as if ashamed that he had been called out on his midnight patrols.

“Oh, pass me your robe as well.” Lance placed the slippers next to his own, turning back to Shiro with a smile.

“You’re a lot more organized then I thought you’d be,” Shiro walked over to Lance, handing him the black lion robe.

Lance scoffed, “Mamá liked things to stay neat. She’d throw a fit if they weren’t.” Lance smiled at the memory. He fondly remembered Mamá making her rounds to each of their rooms, making sure everything was at least a bit tidy. She’d call him in from outside whenever his room had begun to accumulate too much of a mess. He always grumbled and complained because he was not yet trained into keeping his room clean like his older siblings. They always told him it was easier to just keep it from ever becoming a mess but he always rushed off to play. Evidently, Mamá would end up watching him to make sure he actually cleaned instead of played…

As much as he had hated those times, he loved coming back downstairs to a small treat, a hug, and her shooing him back out into the sun. Yes, she wanted their house clean, and she’d make sure of it, but she also wanted him and his siblings to go out, to have fun and enjoy their youth.

An arm wrapped around him, and he was drawn back to the present. He looked down at his hands, hands that were currently clutching the black lion robe as if it was his lifeline, wrinkling it horribly.

“Tell me more.” Shiro’s voice was soft, and he could feel his tension begin to slip away.

Lance sniffled, wiping away a few stray tears that had fallen without his consent. “There’s so much to tell…”

“Well, start with your room. What did it look like?” Lance looked up at Shiro, eyebrow raised in question. “Since we’re apparently remodeling mine, you should tell me about yours,” Shiro looked around at all the things that Lance had brought in, had set up. His baren table was covered in a variety of trinkets that Lance had moved in. There were rocks from the Balmera, softly glowing, pictures of the team and places they had visited, two data pads, a few sculpted creatures; one vaguely resembling a cat, the other a shark; and finally Pidge’s headphones that Lance had borrowed all that time ago. Even their jackets hanging up by the door added a more homey effect. It only made sense to talk about it.

Lance grinned. “First of all, it was the best room ever. No matter what anyone else says!”

~*~

When Allura had announced that they were all going to Space Mall again, Lance immediately called shot gun and ran for the pods. He hadn’t gotten to explore the last one as much as he had wanted after being interrupted to help Pidge. Admittedly he had been annoyed at first about being called out for looking at an Earth store when she was the one who suddenly wanted to buy a game.

He had fun though, and he didn’t really hold it against her. Fishing in the fountain for GAC reminded him of the few times he and his siblings had done the same thing, the few times he had brought his nieces and nephews and nearly gotten caught. It had been fun.

Now Lance was going back, and with the best instructions ever.

“I’m giving you enough money to get some basic essentials. Spend it on things you need that the castle doesn’t currently provide.” Bless Allura, bless her, and the mice, and Coran, and whoever they got the up to date currency from.

The best part about all of this? Shiro was here this time, shoved into the back of the pod with the rest of the paladins. Lance had scored the front seat yet again because “called it” was sacrilegious, and everyone knew it.

When they had arrived, Shiro looked like a lost puppy. Sure, he hadn’t gone with them the last time they had gone to the mall, but it was as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. Lance couldn’t stand that, so he grabbed Shiro by the arm and had dragged him through the mall.

They were perusing a small antique shop, or at least, that’s what Lance assumed it was. Shiro had slowed down when he had seen it. Lance had asked Shiro if he wanted to go in, only to get a flustered reply. Lance didn’t even look back as he took his hand, and dragged him through the doors.

Lance had jumped right in, looking at everything with wide eyes. He had gone to his fair share of antique shops back on Earth, but this was an alien antique shop. He didn’t know where to look first, practically running from one corner of the store to the next.

Shiro, on the other hand, slowly made his way down the aisles. He was using a right hand search pattern, taking his time to look at everything.

“Hey, Shiro, do you think Allura would like this?” Lance called out. “She’s always talking about wanting sparkly things, and I feel bad that she wasn’t allowed to come with us again.” He weighed the necklace in his hands. She had looked sad that she couldn’t come, and he wanted to make it up to her. He waited for Shiro to respond for a few moments before looking up and around.

Shiro was staring at something, mesmerized, and Lance could feel the panic bubble in his chest. Oh no, what if it’s some ancient alien magic that enthralls people and makes them their slaves! Lance put the necklace down because after the shit he’s seen, he wasn’t taking chances.

“Shiro, buddy, you there,” he said slowly as he walked up, placing a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro jumped.

“Lance!” Shiro turned to him and relaxed immediately. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Whatcha lookin at?” Lance tried to peek over his shoulder, going up on his tippy toes.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really, let’s just-” Shiro moved back, ready to walk away from whatever had caught his attention. Lance wouldn’t have it.

“Nope! I gotta know now,” Lance pushed by Shiro and looked down at the display case.

Oh.

It was a music box, cloudy white, nothing extravagant, just a simple oval music box. It had little engravings on it, small swirls covering the bottom half, while the lid had one large swirl coming out from the center. It was very… normal, which was weird to think about since they were in space. Lance assumed that it’d be different, design wise, but maybe it was the music inside that differed?

He picked it up with care. “I wonder…” He twisted the handle several times. There was shuffling behind him, and then Shiro’s heat mixing with his own. He was sure if he just leaned back a tiny bit they’d be touching.

He let go.

Lance felt his mouth fall open at the sight. The design was different. As the music started up the cloudy white changed, shifting to a pale blue, darkening, growing brighter, and then fading before switching to a new color. He couldn’t look away as two different colors began to mix, brighter, then darker, then pale, and switching again.

The top had opened up as well, showing the internal workings, the drum spinning slowly, hitting the comb and letting out a soft tinkling sound. It was close to what earthen music boxes were like, but the noise seemed quieter, more addicting, or maybe that was just a side effect. He felt the tension drop from his body, shoulders relaxing.

Lance turned away after a moment to look at Shiro, to see what his response was, and froze. Shiro’s mouth was parted in a small ‘o’ as he stared down at Lance’s hands. He looked in awe, body shuffling forward again, his chest colliding with Lance’s back as he leaned forward. Lance turned back to the music box, cheeks a dusty red.

The music faded out with one last small note. It drifted through the air.

They stood there in silence, as if staring would make it start playing once more.

“You should buy it,” Lance said.

Shiro looked at Lance in shock, “Are you- no, I can’t... should… should I?” Shiro was taller than Lance, an obvious fact, but the man still somehow found a way to look at him from under his lashes with his head ducked.

Lance grabbed Shiro’s hand, holding it in the air between them, and carefully placed the music box in it. He smiled, “Yeah, you should.”

~*~

“He looked like a kicked puppy, Hunk! You should’ve seen him. It was like the music box was a long lost... something!” Lance waved his hands about. “I don’t know, but we had to get it. I couldn’t’ve left the mall without it. And it made him so happy when I told him he should get it. I mean, he was guilty and all that, the precious dork, but when he bought it he was so excited. Oh, and he put it in the center of those space rocks you got me from Shay when you visited, and it looks so cool, and just,” Lance collapsed on the counter with a dramatic groan. “It was adorable.”

“Dude, you so have a crush,” Hunk said from his spot in front of the food goo machine. They had been getting snacks when it broke, so now Hunk was trying to fix it. He had a plethora of tools out next to him that Lance could only guess the purposes of.

“What? I mean yeah, he’s my hero, but like, I just want to help him.”

Hunk rolls his eyes, “Sure, Lance, sure. It’s not like you just called it ‘our’ room, or talked about how adorable he is or anything.”

“What does that mean!” Lance let out an indignant squawk as he sat up.

Before Hunk could respond the door to the kitchen slid open. Pidge shuffled in, carrying her laptop, and gave them a small nod in greeting. She barely picked up her feet as she walked and hunched over her computer when she sat down next to Lance. There were bags under her eyes, and her hair was frizzier than normal, as if she hadn’t bothered to brush it in awhile.

“How long have you been working on that coding?” Lance asked as he shifted closer, looking over her shoulder at the screen full of code. How she understood all of it, Lance would never know. Maybe it was like learning a second language, like how he had learned English when he was younger?

Pidge shrugged, “19 hours give or take.”

Lance sat back, looking her up and down. “You def need a break, Pidgeon.”

Pidge looked up at him, over the bridge of her glasses. “Lance, I’ve stayed awake for 3 days straight before. This is nothing.” She looked back down at her laptop, fingers going back to tapping away at the keyboard.

As impressive as that sounded, and depressing when compared to how he had reacted to only a slight loss of sleep, she really did need a break. Something to help her lose some tension instead of staying hunched over her computer in a way that looked too uncomfortable to describe. Something active, yet still nerdy enough for both her, and him.

Lance smiled as an idea hit him.

“Not even for Plasma Flux 5?” Lance jumped down from the counter, hands on his hips as he turned to her.

Pidge slowly peeked up from behind her laptop screen, eyes sparkling. Lance knew he got her.

~*~

“Damn it, Lance!” Pidge cursed loudly as Lance shoved his body into her.

“All’s fair in love, war, and video games!” Lance said, using his shove as a distraction to get a few more hits in on the video game.

Pidge growled before squirming away from him and falling onto her back on the couch. All the while she controlled her character flawlessly. From the new angle she shoved her leg out, right into Lance face. Said man made a disgusted noise, trying to shove her foot away with his shoulder, not daring to take a hand off the controls.

“Get your stinky feet away from my face!”

“All’s fair, Lance, all’s fair!” She retorted.

Hunk flinched from his seat across from them. Meanwhile, Lance swatted at Pidge’s leg. He managed to push it out of the way, and, in retaliation, flopped down on top of her.

“Payback’s a quiznack isn’t it!”

“Keith’s right, you don’t know how to use that word!”

“Don’t care, Pidge!”

Pidge squirmed and tried to kick to no avail. In a desperate attempt she took a hand off her controller, and aimed directly for Lance’s sides.

He squeaked, going frigid above her. Jackpot. She tickled relentlessly. Lance tried to pin her hand against the couch, failing. He finally rolled off of her. He grabbed her leg as he fell to the floor, successfully dragging her down with him.

This was why Hunk refused to join them.

“What the- what are you two doing?” Neither of them looked up from the game to see Shiro’s astonished face, but both knew who was there.

“War,” Pidge said, letting out a triumphant noise as she got a particularly hard hit in on Lance’s character. As well as on Lance himself.

Shiro sat down next to Hunk. Hunk offered him a bowl of space popcorn, a distinctly orange and yellow mix of weird crumbs picked up from a freed planet. Shiro took a small handful. It tasted sort of similar, so no one complained about its frequency at Team Bonding Nights.

Shiro’s eyes widened as Lance elbowed Pidge, right in the face. He was ready to scold Lance, until Pidge elbowed him right back. He looked to Hunk, who only shrugged and went back to watching without a word.

“So, uh, what exactly is this?” Shiro finally asked.

They both paused at that and gave him an incredulous look.

“Wait, you’re telling me you’ve never played Plasma Flux 5 before?” Pidge exclaimed. Lance glanced at her, before smirking, as if he’d just won something. Pidge kept rambling on. “You were with Matt how long, and he never forced you to play? Never brought it up?” There was a sound of a character groaning from on screen, but Pidge didn’t look away from Shiro. “What the hell, Matt!” She shouted, as if her brother could actually hear her. “This game is amazing. There’s over 15 games, not to mention a shit ton of side ventures, and the lore’s so deep that it took me and Matt days to unravel it all! How have you never heard of-”

Everyone jumped as Lance hollered out, launching out of his seat and doing a small dance. “I win, Pidgey!” He turned to her, hipped cocked to the side as he grinned.

“What?” Pidge looked at the screen, the one currently displaying the results. Sure enough, Lance’s character had won. “No fair! I was talking to Shiro!”

Lance started his dance back up, “All’s fair in love, war, and video games!” He sang.

Pidge groaned, falling back, “That’s it, I’m done for the night.”

“Aw, come on, I still wanna play,” Lance stopped his dance to pout at her. He had been having a lot of fun. It was practically like game nights back at home, that normalcy, as much as it hurt a bit, felt nice.

“Nope,” she said, “done. I don’t know how you got so good at this, but I’m done. Don’t want to break my rib from another one of your pointy elbows.”

“Hey! They aren’t pointy!” Lance sat down with a humph, crossing his arms. “You’d never survive in the Sanchez household if you can’t handle a little bit of elbowing. Sis once broke my nose while we were playing Mario Cart.”

Shiro blanched, blood draining from his face, “Were you alright?”

Lance waved a hand dismissively, “There was a lot of blood, but besides that, yeah. Plus,” he grinned, “I still won.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to break anything,” Pidge said as she got up, “so I’m done.”

Lance frowned, he couldn’t help it. Game nights went on all night at home. You either passed out in the living room from pure exhaustion, or stayed up until the birds started chirping. To be fair, Pidge was exhausted, she’d been working, so he really shouldn’t be so disappointed. Take what you can get, and all that jazz. He sighed.

“Can I try?” Lance looked up at Shiro, not quite believing what he just heard.

“What?”

Shiro smiled, a sparkle in his eye that Lance hadn’t seen on him before, but recognized easily from all his time competing with Keith, “Can I try, the game?”

Lance grinned, his competitiveness coming back full force as he gestured to himself, “You think you can take all of this?”

Shiro looked down then back up his body, slowly, as if taking in every detail Lance had to offer. Lance could feel his whole body heat up, his heart pounding in his chest. Maybe he should’ve rephrased that.

“I think I can manage,” Shiro stated.

~*~

Shiro could not handle it. He sucked. Like horribly. Lance couldn’t bear to watch, and he was the one playing against him. It didn’t make him happy to beat someone who had obviously never played a fighting game before, let alone any other game before.

Lance had thought that since Shiro appeared to be amazing at so many other things that he’d be amazing at video games too. They were sort of like simulators after all. That being said, not even button smashing could save Shiro from his inevitable character death.

He eventually gave up on fighting Shiro, putting him up against a bot, and saddled up close to show him the controls. He made the mistake of looking up at Shiro, to see if he understood, and froze.

Holy crow they were close, so close.

He could see the individual pinpricks of shaven hair on the side of his head. The way the tissue of his scar puckered up slightly, barely noticeable on his face. The way his eyes narrowed in confusion and annoyance as he stared down at the controls. God, and his chin...

He heard the door open, using that as an excuse to draw his eyes away to see Keith enter the room.

“What’s going on?” Keith walked over, stopping next to Hunk and Pidge, the latter of which was practically dead from cackling.

Shiro’s character was knocked off the map, again. Pidge broke down even further.

“No, seriously, what’s happening.” Keith looked around the room, taking in Shiro’s bright red face and Lance practically clinging to his side. Hunk shrugged, munching away at their popcorn substitute. Pidge dragged herself under control.

“The humiliation of our oh so great and fearless leader.” Shiro glared at her, but she was unfazed.

“I mean, he’s not doing that bad for his first time,” Hunk said, wincing as the character on screen got hit several times. “If that bad is dying several times per match…”

“I gave him several lives, so if he chooses to use them all, then so be it,” Lance glared at Hunk, who unlike Pidge had the mind to look a bit sheepish.

Keith sat down next to Shiro, watching as the fight continued. At first it was quiet, excluding Pidge’s reignited laughter and Lance’s soft bit of advice here and there. At first.

“You could’ve blocked that hit,” and that’s how it began.

“Use your grab.”

“You should’ve thrown him.”

“Get up!”

With each passing comment from Keith, Lance could feel Shiro grow more and more tense. He was about ready to tell Keith to shut up himself when Shiro snapped.

“You know what!” Shiro placed the controller down, ignoring the game as he turned to Keith, who jumped back a bit at the outburst.

Lance thought for a moment that Shiro was going to punch him, he’d only ever seen him so mad at one other person and that was Slav. Shiro had taken to avoiding the alien whenever he was required on the Castle, so Lance hadn’t even seen that anger in a while. What Lance got was so much better.

Shiro launched himself at Keith, and Keith squealed, squealed, trying to scuttle away. It was too late though. Shiro pinned him immediately, and began his assault on Keith’s sides.

“Shiro, no, stop!” Keith cried out in between breaths of laughter.

Lance doubled over in laughter, “You get him, Shiro! Put him in his place!”

He regretted saying anything. Keith was able to get his leg out from under Shiro, and he promptly kicked Lance in the side.

“Hey!” Lance clutched the spot before diving over to the two of them. He shouldered Shiro a bit, getting a hand under him and helping in the assault against Keith’s sides.

“Hunk! Hunk, help me!” Keith reached out to where Pidge and Hunk were watching from the couch. He immediately curled back into himself as Shiro took advantage of his outstretched arm and tickled his armpit.

There was a sigh from Hunk, and then nothing. That was, until Shiro was being lifted by Hunk’s vantage point above Keith. Lance looked up in awe, Shiro’s eyes wide. Hunk put Shiro down nearby. They thought that that would be the end of it, but two things happened in quick succession. Hunk began tickling Shiro, who roared in laughter, and Keith took advantage of Lance being distracted to flip them and start tickling him back.

Lance squirmed, throwing an elbow up to try and hit Keith, shouting, “Get off of me!”

“Payback’s a bitch isn’t it, Lance!” Keith shouted back at him, no malice in his words.

Lance managed to roll them, right into Hunk and Shiro. Shiro reached out with one arm, dragged Lance the small distance to him, and began tickling Lance. He still managed to fend off Hunk.

Lance squealed, trying to roll away, but Keith had moved closer, sandwiching Lance between Shiro’s side and Keith’s chest.. He couldn’t even escape by getting up because Hunk was still hovering over them all in an effort to get back at Shiro.

It was inbetween the gaps, he saw Pidge trying to escape.

“Hunk! Grab her!” He sacrificed his hold on Keith’s arm to point, regretting it as Keith used the new found leverage to start tickling Lance again.

Pidge turned at the outburst, eyes going comically wide as Hunk reached out and grabbed her, dragging her into their pile. Lance rolled over, practically crawling on top of Shiro to get away from Keith, giggling into Shiro’s collarbone.

Slowly they all calmed down, but no one made an effort move. Hunk eventually rolled away from Shiro, taking care to not crush Pidge in the process. They all stared at the ceiling. Only the sound of panting filled the room.

“Well that was horrible.” Pidge finally said, and everyone burst into laughter. Shiro’s laughter combined with Lance’s own caused Lance’s body to shake.

Lance let out a long sigh, wiping away a tear from his eye and looked over at Hunk and Pidge. It had been awhile since they had all relaxed like this. Everyone was squished next to each other… Except for Lance and Shiro.

Lance tensed, suddenly aware of all the places they were touching. His head rested on Shiro’s chest allowing his heartbeat to pound in Lance’s ears. He could feel the rise and fall of his leader’s chest from where he lay on top of his pecs, and his leg was slightly pinned between Shiro’s.

Does Shiro feel the heat where they were touching too?

Oh shit.

Hunk was right.

~*~

Lance fought to calm the pounding of his heart. He had always had a crush on Shiro, long before they had gotten to space, but he had never given it much thought besides that. He knew it had just been a silly hero crush. Now though, now he was giving it a lot of thought. This wasn’t just a stupid crush, not anymore. This was something more, something much more. The skipping and stuttering of his heart earlier proved that.

How was he supposed to fall asleep curled up against Shiro with that revelation? It was like he was taking advantage of Shiro’s kindness. It felt wrong.

Was it though? If Lance suddenly left it’d probably be awkward. Not to mention they both benefited from the cuddling, or at least it seemed. If Shiro never found out: was it really wrong?

With that in mind Lance typed in the pin to their room. As long as he didn’t try to push the cuddling past just that, totally platonic cuddling, then it’d be fine.

The door whooshed open. Lance stepped in and stopped in his tracks.. Shiro was sitting on the bed shirtless. This wasn’t unusual if he thought about it; it was their room after all. What had Lance staring was the look Shiro was giving him. His body was frigid, his eyes were open wide, and his human hand hung awkwardly in the air above his Galra one.

“Do you… do you need help?” Lance asked as he walked over to the bed. He plopped down next to Shiro, causing the bed to bounce lightly.

Shiro looked away, and mumbled something indecipherable.

“What?” Lance leaned closer, straining to pick up what Shiro had said.

“Help,” there was a pause, and for a moment Lance thought that he hadn’t caught the end of it again, but Shiro continued, “help would be nice.”

Shiro still wouldn’t look at Lance, but he gave him a reassuring smile anyways, and a small pat on the thigh to hit home. “You were trying to remove your arm right?”

“Yeah…”

Shiro had never removed his arm in front of Lance. He either went to bed after him, so Lance wasn’t awake to begin with, or he went into the bathroom to do it. For all intents and purposes it was like Lance had caught him red handed.

Lance looked at the mechanical arm, trying to recall the few times he had seen Pidge remove it so that she could look at it. He placed his hand on the spot that seemed to connect flesh and metal, and felt Shiro jump underneath his hand.

“Sorry…” His words were barely a whisper.

“It’s alright. Just… wasn’t expecting it.”

Lance nodded, moving his fingers away from the flesh and along the metal. They sat in silence as Lance recalled, accurately, how to go about removing the prosthetic. He felt it loosen and slowly pulled it free.

“There we go.” Lance leaned back, still keeping his voice low, and looked to Shiro. He was still tense. Actually, he seemed more tense than before. Why though?

Oh.

Lance scanned over Shiro’s skin. Scars, too many to count, littered his side and chest and Lance knew that even more covered his back. Shiro always had some shirt on, whether during training, relaxation, or at night. Looking at the scars that decorated his skin, Lance could understand. This was just another way that the Galra had branded him.

Lance shifted and crawled. He stopped and sat again behind Shiro, placing his legs on either side of him, and shifted forward.

Shiro looked back over his shoulder, “What are you doing?” His voice pitched up, almost as if he was embarrassed?

“You seem stressed.” Lance smiled, not his normally cocky grin, but a soft, meaningful smile, barely a twitch of the lips, “Figured I’d help. I used to do this with my older siblings when school got bad.”

Lance rubbed his hands together, warming them up. He may not have any of the oils from back home, but he could still do this without them. He placed his hand on Shiro’s shoulder, letting it rest there a moment before bringing his other hand forward. He didn’t want to startle him; he was already wound up enough as it was.

He placed his other hand on the opposite shoulder, beginning to rub lightly with his finger tips. Just enough pressure to see a crease in the skin, but not enough to hurt. Gradually, he moved the circles up the back of Shiro’s neck before moving along the shoulders. He repeated the action. On the second pass Shiro finally released the tension in his body. Lance worked his magic.

He gently pressed his thumb down, kneading the skin as he moved up the neck again. He stopped at the base of Shiro’s head, pushing back over with his finger tips as he slowly moved down along his neck to his shoulders.

Lance took a breath, “Shiro, is this why you always go to bed after me, because of your arm?” Shiro tensed.

“You don’t have to respond,” he continued softly rubbing, going up and down the neck and shoulders. He didn’t want Shiro to be tense right now. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. It’s your decision to make. I’m just, I’m here for you. If there’s anything I can do, even if it’s just listening, I’m-I’m here. Okay?”

There was a long moment of silence in which Lance continued his ministrations. “Thank you…” Shiro said.

Lance smiled, even tho Shiro couldn’t see. “Don’t mention it.” He continued massaging at Shiro’s, tense muscles for awhile longer, before sliding his hand down in between Shiro’s shoulder blades, resting it there. “We should head to sleep.” Lance moved back, stretching. “I’m about ready to pass out.”

Shiro chuckled, “We’re going to need it. Allura is planning on another mock drill in the morning.”

“Whaaaat,” Lance whined. “Why does she tell you these things, we’re all paladins. No fair that you get to prep.”

“She didn’t tell me. I walked in on her and Coran talking about it on the bridge. I’m just as surprised as you are half the time.”

Lance pouted, and Shiro laughed, standing up. He went to offer his mechanical arm, but he caught himself. Lance had still seen the limb move, as if his lower arm was still attached. Pain flashed across Shiro’s face, the lose of his limb a painful reminder of horrors not long past. If Lance hadn’t been paying attention he would’ve missed it.

Shiro offered his other arm, “Come on, you should start your beauty regime now, unless you plan on skipping it.”

“Aw, hell no.” Lance took his hand. It was warm in his grasp, and he couldn’t help but hold it a bit tighter. He let himself be pulled up, and smiled as they stood there. Shiro was close, their chest practically touching, and their hands were still entwined.

Shiro looked down, eyes widening before he took a step back, and cleared his throat, letting their hands drop. Lance could feel the whine build up in his throat, but stayed quiet. “I’ll let you get to it then.”

Lance put on a big smile, and energetically skipped to the bathroom door. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

With the door shut behind him, he leaned back, letting himself slide to the floor, head in his hands. He couldn’t fall for his leader. He couldn’t. Shiro deserved better, better than anything Lance could ever offer.

He stayed like that for a bit, before letting out a loud sigh and standing up. He walked over to the counter, which was covered with beauty products. He grabbed one of the bottles, pouring a bit of lotion in his hand, a concoction he made up from different alien ingredients. He looked down at the bottle, eye’s lighting up.

He had an idea.

~*~

A few days later Lance finally had the time to spring his plan into action. He found Shiro sitting in the longue with the space mice peering over his shoulder.

“What’cha doin’?” Lance called out as he entered the room.

Shiro looked up at him and smiled. “Reading. What about you? I figured you’d be with Hunk.”

“Nah,” Lance walked over and draped himself across the couch next to Shiro. “He and Pidgey are having a tech day with Coran. I’ve tried keeping up with those conversations before, and it’s not going to happen.”

Shiro chuckled. “I know the feeling. Pidge will start talking about her robots and she’ll lose me five words in.”

“But you’d feel bad if you interrupted with a question, so you just sit there lost?”

“Exactly.”

“Same, man. I love them, but when they all go techno geek on me it’s impossible to keep up.” They both laughed. Lance felt himself relax fully, melting into the couch.

A comfortable silence filled the room, but Lance could never sit still for long. “Besides reading, do you have anything else planned?”

Shiro gave him a curious look, “Not unless Allura throws another mock drill on us, I should be free.”

Perfect . Lance jumped up, grinning, “Good! Follow me!”

Shiro turned the info pad off, watching Lance carefully, “Where are we going?”

“Spa day!”

Shiro blanched, and Lance could feel everything begin to crumble before he even got a chance. Of course Shiro wouldn’t jump for joy over this, it was related to body image, related to things he wanted to forget.

“Lance, are- are you sure?”

“Of course, a little pampering never hurt anyone.” Lance grinned, trying to overpower the slowly gathering negativity in his chest with an overly optimistic tone. Shiro still looked hesitant, though, and Lance tried to tone it down. “You don’t actually have to do anything if you don’t want to Shiro. I just… wanted someone to talk to was all. You can just watch.”

Lance looked away. He shouldn’t have asked. Not every issue could be solved with makeup and beauty products, but it was the only thing Lance had to offer. He had thought that maybe he could help bolster Shiro’s view of himself with a spa day. Of course, it was a stupid thought, most guys weren’t into all that stuff after all.

“No, I-I don’t mind.” Shiro cleared his throat and then smiled teasingly, “Just go easy on me. It’s my first time.”

Lance sputtered, “Shiro! Did you- did you just?” Shiro just grinned at him, satisfied with himself. “Holy cheese, you did!” Lance cackled, clutching his stomach. “Just, I need- I need a moment to process.”

Shiro laughed as he stood up, pocketing the infopad. The mice scurried off of him and onto the couch, “Come on, I’ll give you time to process as we get back to our room.” Shiro knocked his shoulder into Lance as he walked by.

“I just- I can’t believe Takashi Shirogane, golden boy of the Garrison, is a perv,” Lance said breathlessly as he followed.

The mice shared a knowing look before scurrying off.

~*~

Lance groaned, a shiver wracking his body. He snuggled closer to where he knew warmth would be, and found-

Nothing.

Lance slowly blinked away the sleepiness in his eyes, looking around the room. It was still dark, the sensors not yet translating it to day in their rooms. That was fine, but where was Shiro? He looked to the bathroom door, trips in the middle of the night were a thing many people did after all, but the door was in offline mode, no one inside.

Now he sat up, searching the room for any signs of where Shiro may have gone. Nothing seemed out of place except- Armor. His armor was gone. Why was Shiro training in the middle of the night?

Lance slipped out of bed, sliding on his blue lion slippers at the end of the bed and grabbing his robe on his way to the door. He could easily ignore this, it wasn’t Lance’s job to play babysitter. Maybe Shiro just wanted some extra practice in, some alone time.

He shook his head as he walked down the halls. No, something felt wrong. Shiro always preached to Keith and Pidge about the importance of sleep, forcing them away from their training and programming respectively.

Shiro did tend to go to sleep later than Lance, but that was mainly due to anxiety about his arm. Lance had thought that at least. After it became clear that Lance didn’t mind, Shiro had begun coming to bed with him.

There was also the added fact of their Spa Nights. Shiro had been nervous about the first one, his innuendos aside, but had become enamored by the whole process. In the nights to follow he had become a stickler for the routine, reminding Lance when he was too tired to sleep that they hadn’t taken time for the routine yet. It was as if Shiro liked the nights more than Lance did.

With all that in consideration, it was obvious that they had begun to always fall asleep together, at the same time. Lance loved it, reveled in the warmth Shiro provided, the comfort. The feel of Shiro’s chest pressed up against his back-

Of course there were nights that Shiro still stayed up.

Regardless, they had begun to go to sleep at the same time, and Shiro would always wake Lance up for morning training… That being said, Shiro sometimes did look like he had been awake for some time beforehand, already ready and in his armor instead of trying to shake him awake while still under the covers with him.

Sure enough, his hunch was correct. He stopped in front of the training room’s doors. He watched through the glass as Shiro fought the gladiator.

He looked like a wire strung so tight that he could break any moment. It reminded him of those early days when everyone was still adapting, and Shiro was fresh out of the hands of the Galra. He had sat by then acknowledging that Shiro had his demons, but being too self absorbed to dig into it. Unlike then, he now refused to just watch Shiro go through whatever he was going through.

He entered the room, calling out, “End training sequence.”

Shiro looked at him, startled, and Lance walked over to him. Shiro was panting slightly from exertion. Lance couldn’t help but look at him worriedly.

“Sooo, why ya training so late at night.” Lance tried to go for casual but his concern was obvious. He had never been good at hiding his emotions.

“It’s nothing, just, couldn’t sleep was all.” Shiro waved Lance off. “Figured I’d train.”

That was practically the same excuse that Shiro used all that time ago as well when Lance had asked about it in the beginning. It hurt Lance because he knew that was not the whole truth, knew that Shiro was keeping something from him. Shiro still wasn’t trusting him, even though they had grown so close.

Well, if Shiro wouldn’t tell him, he’d have to do something else.

“Okay. I’ll join you then.” He took off his robe and went to drop it off near the door. There was an armoury with different weapons there, so Lance didn’t need to go back and grab his bayard from their room.

“Lance, you don’t have to. You should go back to sleep.”

Lance tutted, waving a finger towards Shiro. He didn’t turn though, but rather continued to peruse the gun options. “I want to.” He let one hand rest on his hip and spun a gun in the other hand. “Let’s go, Takashi.”

Shiro’s eyes went wide, it was the first time anyone on the ship had called him by his first name in ages. Lance paused, realizing the same thing. He hadn’t even heard Keith call Shiro that. His mind spiralled, trying to find a way to backtrack.

“If you’re sure,” Shiro sighed, but it wasn’t annoyed. He gave Lance a small smile, and he could feel his insides melt.

“100%.” He said, trying not to let Shiro see how he had affected him. He walked over, taking a stance a few feet behind Shiro, “Ready when you are.”

“Begin training sequence, level 4.”

Shiro gave no hint as to what was bothering him, but that was alright. Contrary to what people thought Lance could be patient. He could back off.

~*~

Lance grunted as he was launched across the room by the gladiator. Pain shot out from his stomach from the initial impact. More pain exploded through his back as he collided with the wall and slid down. He didn’t bother trying to get up, instead closing his eyes and laying there.

“End training sequence!” He heard Shiro shout, as footsteps pounded over to him.

Maybe if he laid here long enough everything would just… go away.

“Lance!”

No dice.

He opened his eyes, letting them focus on the worried face of Shiro, and cracked a small grin. “Hey, Shiro. How are you?”

Shiro scowled. “Lance, now isn’t the time to be joking! Are you alright? Do you need anything. I should’ve blocked that hit. Damn it, I’m so sorry, Lance,” Shiro rambled.

Wasn’t that different? Shiro didn’t ramble, that was Lance’s thing. He may swear, but even then he tried to keep it to a minimum. Without a thought Lance lifted a finger up, pressing it against Shiro’s lips.

“Sh, just, calm down, please.” Lance slowly sat up, clutching his pounding head. Shiro was there, immediately supporting his back and helping him.

“Are you okay?”

Lance sighed. No. He really wasn’t. He should’ve seen this coming, honestly. His performance had dropped significantly when he had lost a bit of sleep from the nightmares. Now he was losing sleep again. This time to help Shiro whenever he woke up at night. It had slowly gotten more and more often, and if the horrible hit was anything to go by, Lance’s game was falling fast.

Shiro’s hand squeezed Lance’s thigh, the only real bit of “skin” he could touch with the armor, besides Lance’s stomach. It was a silent question, reminding Lance that he had asked something in lieu of repeating himself.

“I’m-” Lance sighed, cutting himself off. He couldn’t blame Shiro for this, and if he said anything Shiro would take it as blame. Instead, he did something he rarely did: he lied. “I’m fine.”

Shiro frowned, but nodded. “If you’re sure…” Lance nodded.

He really wished he had just told Shiro then.

~*~

The next day's training was harsh. He got beat, horribly so, to the point where he was aching in places he didn’t even know he could ache. He just wanted to sleep, or cry, or both. He couldn’t fight, he just couldn’t. Even Hunk and Pidge had begun to improve, but it seemed like he just… hadn’t.

He sighed as he stood in the shower, letting the water cascade down his back. He really wished his Mamá was here. She was good at the tough loving he needed, scolding him for thinking badly about himself, and then helping him to see how he wasn’t what he thought. Lance would even take a hug, from anyone, at this point.

He let out another sigh and turned the water off. No use moping, he might as well try and get some sleep while he could, right?

He dried off quickly, skipping over his skin routine. He hadn’t had the energy to go through with it. Shiro had looked concerned when Lance told him that he was taking a rain check from their spa nights, but he had ignored the look, heading straight to the shower.

“Lance, are you okay?” Lance looked up at Shiro, who was sitting on the edge of their bed. It looked like he had been there awhile. “The past few days you’ve been off, and during training… Is it because I’m keeping you up at night? You don’t have to come train with me-”

“Shiro, please, stop.” Lance looked down, his voice tired. “It’s not your fault, please… please don’t think that. I’m just… me.”

Shiro tilted his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”

Lance groaned, running a hand through his damp hair as he looked up at the ceiling. “I just, I’m me, alright? That’s all there is to it. Yeah, I can shoot, and yeah I help lighten the mood, but that’s all I can do. I know that it’s important, but, just, damn it!” Shiro watched him wide eyed.

Lance never swore.

He began to pace, gesturing wildly. “That’s all I can do. When we train it seems like everyone else is getting better but me! Like, Hunk and Pidge have things that help them in fights, you and Keith already know how to fight! Me?” He threw his arms out, “I’m just long limbed and a mess! I hold everyone back, and I know it! Keith doesn’t gain anything from beating my ass!”

Lance wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to break and fall apart. Crash and burn into a million pieces, never to be put together again.

“Pidge stays up all the time and doesn’t suffer from it, Hunk’s anxieties keep him up occasionally and he’s fine, who knows when Keith ever actually sleeps, and you’re just… amazing! Even with all the things going on around you! Me?” Lance laughed, tears streaming down his face. “I start to crash the second I go without a few hours of sleep.”

“I thought,” he hiccuped, “I thought if I could help you… through whatever demons you had, even if I couldn’t fix them… that maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to do something worthwhile .”

He sighed, the hollowness returning. He slowed down in his pacing, until he came to a stop. “I know I’m not a seventh wheel, I got over that awhile ago,” he took a deep breath, “but a team is only as strong as it’s weakest link, which is me.”

Silence.

Arms wrapped around Lance, forcing him forward, and into a solid chest. They squeezed, lightly at first, but after a moment grew tighter. Shiro buried his face in Lance’s hair, and Lance could feel the breath stutter in his chest.

And then Lance was sobbing. His whole body shook as he practically wailed into Shiro’s chest. He couldn’t stop the hiccups even if he tried. He knew that he was ruining Shiro’s shirt with his tears and snot, but at the moment he didn’t care.

At this moment he didn’t have to care because finally, finally , someone was hugging him.

Oh, Hunk hugged all the time, and even Pidge had begun giving Lance hugs occasionally. Keith and he weren’t really on a hugging level of friendship, but he was supportive enough. Shiro generally used claps on the back as ways to reassure. The one anomaly being when they first moved in together.

But a hug, the kind that left you feeling safe and protected, that let you break down to be rebuilt, he hadn’t had one of those since…

“I want to go home…” Lance choked out between sobs.

He felt a hand move up and into his hair, brushing through it slowly. “I know, Lance. Damn it , I know…”

~*~

A fog surrounded Lance as he slowly came into consciousness. He tried to blink open his eyes, but they were crusted closed. He slowly brought a hand up to his face, rubbing at them with the back of his hand. With that done he slowly blinked away the remaining sleep in his eyes, and sat up slowly. He didn’t remember falling asleep…

Oh no.

Lance looked down, making eye contact with a very awake Shiro, who was looking up at him in concern.

Last night’s events came crashing down on him, if it even had been last night. He didn’t know what time it was, the lights were dimmed, and Shiro’s clock was kept on the other side of the room.

“How-” Lance’s voice was hoarse from… whenever before, and he had to clear his throat before continuing, “How long have I been asleep?”

Shiro sat up, leaning back against the wall, movements slow as if he was worried of startling Lance. “Whole night and most of the day.”

Panic spiked through Lance, “Training-”

“I told Allura that you weren’t feeling well, and that you shouldn’t be disturbed.” Shiro patted the spot next to him, and Lance scooched up so they were sitting side by side, arms brushing. “The others asked about you. The only thing stopping them all from charging right in was me convincing them you needed sleep.”

Lance snorted, “Of course they would…”

“Hunk made some special food for you. Said he had been working on it for awhile now? I don’t remember it’s name, something in Spanish.” Shiro chuckled, a tinge of nerves coming through as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Pidge took your phone, said she was going to upgrade it somehow.”

“Keith?” Lance couldn’t help but ask, flinching at the way his voice pitched, desperation seeping through. He needed to know that everyone was doing something. He needed to know that no one saw his breakdown as a hinderance, whether they knew it was a breakdown or not.

“Ran off to find Allura. Said something about getting you a present from her.”

Relief flooded his system as he sagged against the wall, and chuckled, “He’s hopeless.”

“Yeah…”

They sat in silence. The only sound being the beating of Lance’s heart, but he was pretty sure he was the only one hearing that.

Shiro sighed after a moment, causing Lance to tense up. He had no reason to be afraid of whatever Shiro was about to say. Shiro, ignoring the crush part, was his friend, and had supported everyone during their different times. Part of him still whispered, though, that his response to Lance would be different, would be harsh and cruel.

“Is there a reason you never told us about… that?’ Shiro asked.

Lance opened his mouth to reply, but promptly shut it. Why hadn’t he gone to any of them?

Because you thought they were too busy with their own problems.

But they’re your friends, they’d love to help.

They only put up with you because of Voltron and the universe, not because they care.

They all went out of their way to help you after learning you broke down, though. Didn’t that show that they cared?

It’s a lie. It’s a lie. They don’t care.

Lance shook his head, but… that wasn’t true.

He hadn’t realized he’d been fiddling with his hands until Shiro had taken a hold of one, giving a small squeeze. When he looked up, there was only patience, and understanding in his eyes.

He hadn’t wanted to admit to being weak.

Shiro hadn’t wanted to admit to being weak.

Neither of them did.

So they both lied, Shiro far more often than Lance, but they both lied regardless.

And Shiro seemed to understand that.

Lance squeezed Shiro’s hand, realizing that it was his prosthetic, and not his flesh, and smiled. Lance had built up too many emotions, and letting them out last night had helped him a bit. He knew it wasn’t a permanent solution. What was it his Papá always said, his little motto? It was easier to talk things out beforehand, then to try and mend them afterwards.

He had forgotten that.

Lance looked down at their clasped hands, “I need to get better. I don't… I don’t want to break down because of insecurities, and I don’t want to drag the team down. I need, no, I-I want to get better.”

It was silent again, a bit of anxiety gnawed away inside of Lance, but he didn’t break the silence. He let Shiro think.

“Part of your breakdown was because you were tired, right?” Lance nodded, no use denying it. “If you notice I’m gone, you should stay in bed. It’s better for you.”

“No.” Lance glared at Shiro, shocking the other man back a bit and causing him to tug Lance’s hand. Lance refused to let go. “No, Shiro, I’m not-I can’t... just, no.”

“But-”

“No buts, Takashi. I’m not leaving you alone to deal with whatever’s bothering you. That’d be, I just, I,” Lance groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I’d never forgive myself if I did that, sleep be damned.”

Shiro stared at Lance, wide eyed, “Well, then,” he cleared his throat, “I see that there’s no, uh, swaying you.”

“None,” Lance said, voice firm.

Any other conversation and he knew Shiro would’ve argued, but when the focus was on him…

They fell back into silence, both thinking. How could they come to an agreement?

Lance squeezed Shiro’s galra hand, and it got his attention.

“Tell me why you go train in the middle of the night.”

There was the deer in the headlights look again. He could feel Shiro tense, and if the clench of his hand was anything to go by, he had just hit a nerve. Sometimes, though, nerves had to be hit. If Shiro could be stubborn, then so could Lance.

Shiro opened and closed his mouth uselessly, as if he was trying to find some way to deflect. Finding none, he finally sighed and looked away.

“Remember back when we first started… sharing a room?” Shiro said slowly.

“Yeah?”

“You were having nightmares, and…” Shiro trailed off.

It clicked.

“And you said that it might help you as well.”

Lance had had his suspicions, all of the hints had pointed towards something like this being the reason. It made sense, but… Lance couldn’t help the nightmares. Scientists still didn’t fully understand normal dreams, let alone their negative counterpart. His solution had always been to sleep with someone, or walk a bit.

“Isn’t it sad?” Shiro asked with a chuckle. “The Black Paladin, too scared to sleep because of nightmares…”

Lance smiled softly, giving a light squeeze to Shiro’s hand. “What about the Blue Paladin, too scared to sleep for the same exact reason. Until a knight in black and white armor came and helped him. Shiro,” he shifted, angling his body towards the other, bringing his free hand up to turn Shiro’s face, turning it to look at him, “no one blames you for having nightmares. You’ve gone through so much.” He rubbed his thumb against Shiro’s cheek, a light layer of stubble tickling his finger, “I, we , all care about you. I want to help Shiro, you should never be afraid to come to me, to any of us.”

Shiro’s eyes roamed Lance’s face, but Lance didn’t look away. He seemed to find what he was looking for as he sighed, relaxing into his touch. “I was supposed to be helping you. Look how that turned out.”

Lance smiled. “How about we help each other then?”

~*~

Shiro had woken Lance, a sheepish smile on his face. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, sitting up and nodding. Shiro, once after their talk, had tried to leave Lance to sleep, but that had not ended well for him. Lance shuffled out of bed, Shiro waiting for him by the door. They had gone through this a number of times since then, and it had become their normal routine.

Which honestly wasn’t the best thing.

They needed to find some alternative. Something else that kept Shiro’s mind off the fear haunting him, something else that would calm his nerves, something else that would let them fall back into a peaceful-ish sleep.

Fighting the gladiator helped, but in Lance’s unprofessional opinion, it didn’t make Shiro think through his nightmares. If anything, it let him indulge in the fear, so he needed something else. It had to be physical in some way, but something that focused his mind.

Which led him to killing two birds with one stone. Lance wanted to get better at combat, and Shiro needed something to focus on.

“You don’t have to master hand to hand, Lance,” Shiro said as he circled Lance, “that’s not your position in the team, you just have to know it well enough to protect yourself. You think Keith could make half the shots you do? You’ve seen the way he shoots-”

“Like a storm trooper,” Lance chirped.

“Exactly,” Shiro chuckled, and Lance puffed his chest out. “Pidge can hit most things, but when it comes down to the wire she doesn’t have the fine eye that you have.” Shiro’s hand came around his back, pushing back on his chest, and back into position. “Hunk’s gun is a matter of maximum damage, not a controlled damage, and I can shoot decently, but nothing like you can.” Shiro kicked the inside of Lance’s foot, widening his stance. “We all have our strengths, yours comes from flexibility, the way you’re light on your feet and can adapt. Pidge can get in and out, slowly wearing down an opponent over time, but you can pack a punch while still evading most damage.”

Shiro walked a short distance away from him, taking his own fighting stance with a grin. “You’re capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for. Use that to your advantage.”

~*~

The training nights seemed to help Shiro calm down; they had certainly helped improve Lance’s hand to hand skills. Lance was still drained though, emotionally and physically. Shiro had always listened to him ramble about his family, had comforted him time and time again. It was appreciated, but sometimes… sometimes it wasn’t enough.

Shiro learned quickly that this was when he needed to get everyone else together, their new family, and put on some event. They had game nights, truly violent affairs when Lance was involved. He could go into positions that the other’s couldn’t, bending his body in ways that seemed unnatural to avoid kicks and slaps. All the while he could return the attacks tenfold. Only Pidge could keep up with him, fighting with Matt in the past had perfected the art.

Still, it was very unnerving to see your best friend practically snap himself in half just to kick Keith, Hunk had claimed.

When no one had the energy for game nights, they met in the common room. Maybe they plugged in a movie, maybe they just talked, or maybe they all just sat curled together, relaxing in one another’s presence.

Like now.

They had just finished up some Altean show, a truly violent affair despite all of Allura’s “diplomatic” race claims. At first it had been confusing, only Allura and Coran were fluent in Altean. Pidge had some inklings as to what was going on, but… Honestly she was just as lost as the rest of them.

It didn’t take them long to start ad libbing. It didn’t take much longer for the displeased Alteans to laugh and join in. Lance had gotten up at one point, waxing poetic as a gruesome battle happened in the background. Everyone had doubled over laughing, and Lance couldn’t help but smile.

These nights, despite how they started, always made the pain of being away from his family, his Earth family, lessen. It wasn’t gone, no, but by the end of the night it was bearable. Hunk’s snores filled the room as Lance snuggled into Shiro’s side. This may not have been home on Earth, but it was home nonetheless.

~*~

Lance had awoken to a kick in the side, letting out a muffled ‘oof’ at the action. He rolled over, willing to ignore the kick in favor of more rest. Then another hit was sent his way and he was sitting up, grumbling under his breath.

He had felt helpless before, many times, but never as badly as this. He looked down at Shiro, who was turning and moaning painfully in his sleep. His pale complexion almost seemed paler, and thick beads of sweat swelled up on his face.

How had Lance slept through these before?

He wanted to help Shiro, wake him up from the nightmare, but nothing he tried worked, shaking, yelling, snapping, nothing. All he could do was wait, and make sure Shiro didn’t hurt himself. So Lance stayed there, knees tucked under him, staring at Shiro as his body finally relaxed. He didn’t move though, it felt like hours dragged by, but in reality was probably a few minutes at most, before Shiro’s eyes fluttered open. He groaned, bringing a hand up to rub at his face.

“Shiro…?” Lance whispered the fear heavy in his voice.

Shiro froze, and Lance worried that he had done something wrong. He had tried waking him up, but that had proved fruitless. Slowly, though, Shiro’s hand fell away from his face, and he turned his head towards Lance.

“I woke you up.”

Lance nodded, there was no use lying.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro mumbled.

“Don’t say sorry, you can’t control it.” Lance smiled at him. “But now we can control what happens next. What do you want to do? Do you want to talk about it, or go do something?”

Shiro took a deep breath, holding it a moment, before letting it out slowly. Lance watched, patiently, as he repeated the action several more times. Finally he stopped, letting his hand fall from his forehead back down to his side.

“Can… I don’t… I don’t want to train, or talk about it,” Shiro finally said.

“That’s fine,” Lance laid back down next to him, propping himself up on his elbow, and rubbing circles on Shiro’s metal arm. He had learned that the feeling from the arm, even though dulled, were very much appreciated. Especially after hard nights. “What do you want to do then?”

Shiro thought for a moment. “I want,” he paused, adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed around a lump in his throat. Talking about all this was new to Shiro, but Lance could wait. “Can we take a walk around the castle. I want to hear about your family…”

Lance squeezed his arm affectionately. “Of course.”

~*~

Lance stretched, eager to start the morning’s training. He and Shiro had arrived early, due to another nightmare, but that was alright. The other methods they had found had been working well, and it had left Lance feeling better rested, as well as more confident in his skills.

Keith had done a double take when he noticed Lance awake along with Shiro in the morning. It was far earlier than Lance was normally seen up and about, even before he and Shiro had talked things out, and the look on Keith’s face said he knew it. He had zeroed in on Shiro, giving him a knowing grin, that had confused Lance, and made Shiro flush.

Huh.

No matter. Lance sat down next to Shiro, sipping away at his water pouch, as Shiro wiped away the sweat from his brow.

Shiro had shown him a few new moves last night, and they had practiced for at least an hour. The fatigue hadn’t hit him yet, and he was still running high off the adrenaline brought on by a fight.

Hunk and Pidge arrived shortly after Keith. Hunk sent Lance a look as they went to stretch with Keith. Lance ignored him, looking away and towards Shiro and Allura, who were discussing the day’s training regime.

“I want to try something new, something that’ll help you work together more than just the five man training sessions, and one on one practice.” Allura frowned, looking over at the room, as if something would pop out of thin air and help her decide.

“Oh!” Lance hopped up, he wasn’t thin air, but he had an idea. He walked over to them and resting an arm on Shiro’s shoulder, leaning his weight against him. “I know! We can do pairs against the gladiator.”

Shiro looked at him, a knowing smirk on his lips, and Lance couldn’t help but grin. Okay, maybe Lance had ulterior motives, but Shiro wasn’t protesting the idea.

Allura hummed in thought. “That would certainly help, seeing as you won’t always be together.”

“Not to mention it’ll help us all get used to each other’s fighting styles,” Lance added.

“Yes, yes, I do believe that’s a wonderful idea. Thank you, Lance,” Allura smiled at him.

Lance gave a wink and finger guns in response, pride swelling in his chest. “Anytime, Princess, anytime.”

Allura rolled her eyes, both knowing that it was all in good fun. “If you’re so eager to please, why don’t you go first.”

Hook, line, and sinker. “I call Shiro!” Lance raised his hand, voice rising with it.

Allura looked to Shiro, who just chuckled, “You heard him, Allura, he called me.”

The other’s walked over, Pidge a bit in front of the other two, “Wait, what’s going on?”

“Lance suggested we try training in pairs against the gladiator,” Allura stated, Pidge sending Lance a curious look at that. He never suggested serious things for training, always sillier alternatives.

“He and I will be taking the first round,” Shiro clapped Pidge on the shoulder as he walked by.

“This is gonna be good,” Keith mumbled, crossing his arms with a smirk.

“Oh just you watch, samurai.” Lance knocked him with his shoulder, dancing out of the way of an attempted return hit before skipping over to where Shiro was standing.

“Ready, Lance, Shiro?” Allura asked from the side of the room.

Lance walked back a little farther, taking his more than familiar spot behind Shiro.

“I was born ready!”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Begin training sequence level four-” Allura began.

“Cancel prior order,” Lance called out, earning an annoyed “Lance!” from Allura. He could feel the adrenaline began to pump through his veins once more, and he smirked before calling out his own order, “Begin training sequence, level 10.”

Someone made a choked noise. “Lance, I’m not sure that’s a good idea-” Hunk began, but was cut off as the gladiator fell from the ceiling.

Shiro sent one last look back at Lance, “Let’s show them what we got.”

Lance whooped, firing at the Gladiator as it charged forward, expertly predicting where Shiro was about to strike, and aiming for a different vital point..

Lance was a show off, but it seemed that Shiro was as well.

~*~

Lance set the music box down on the table in it's usual spot surrounded by Balmeran Crystals. He yawned. The music filled the room, and Lance could feel his body already begin to relax. He smacked his lips as he slide under the covers.

Immediately after, he felt the bed shift, as Shiro buried himself into Lance’s chest. They were already flush against one another, but that didn’t stop Lance. He wrapped his arms around Shiro, squeezing, as if to pull him closer. He could feel Shiro go limp in his arms, letting out the stress from the day. A small puff of breath fanned against his chest with Shiro’s sigh.

They found sleeping like this helped Shiro feel more at ease. It wasn’t the “fix all” solution that love stories wrote about, not at all. There were still nights where Shiro kicked out, crying for mercy. Sometimes those nights were easy to get through, well, easier, requiring Lance to only have to talk him down, reassure him of where he was. There were also nights where that didn’t work, and they’d fall back on training or patrolling.

Oh, and the music box? That innocent little buy from all that time ago? Shiro loved it, felt compelled to sleep by it. Nights when sleep was allusive, they’d sit together and watch the music box change colors. Lance would talk about anything and everything, but listen intently whenever Shiro would add his own voice.

Lance brought a hand up to run it soothingly through Shiro’s hair as he hummed along to the now familiar tune.

They slept.

~*~

The alarms blared loudly. Lance startled, flailing wildly as he fell off the side of the bed.

“Lance!” Shiro leaned over the side of the bed, wide eyed, “are you alright?”

Lance sat up, rubbing the back of his head, “Yeah, yeah.” That was going to leave a bump.

“That’s good,” Shiro said with a relieved sigh.

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice boomed over the intercoms, “Report to the bridge! Immediately!”

Shiro practically launched himself out of bed, and over Lance. They’ve been woken up by alarms before, but holy crow, Shiro has never jumped over Lance before. Roll with the punches though, right?

Lance scrambled to get up, Shiro had already opened their shared closet. He tossed the undersuit towards Lance, who caught it with practiced ease, and Lance quickly stripped down.

There was always a part of Lance’s mind that said getting undressed in front of Shiro should be more nerve wracking, he liked the guy a lot after all. Another voice told the first to shush, he had undressed in front of people before, his family, back in the locker rooms at the Garrison, and even in some intimate moments he’d rather not dwell on.

The undersuit on, Lance quickly snatched up his breastplate, Shiro already moving on to his own thigh highs. You couldn’t convince Lance otherwise that that’s what they are. There had been a great many arguments on the subject at the dinner table, most ending in food fights.

He looked up, seeing Shiro make his way towards the door. “Shiro wait!” He reached out, tripping over his belt, but grabbing onto Shiro in the last moment, pulling himself up right.

“Lance? What’s wrong?” Shiro turned back to him, concern washing over his features as he helped Lance stand.

Lance had the gall to grin as he plucked the helmet from Shiro’s hands. “Wrong helmet.”

Shiro looked down at the helmet and flushed. Instead of black, a deep blue met his eyes.

“Oh,” was all he said in response.

Lance just grinned wider, as he casually handed Shiro the correct helmet. “That being said, if you ever want to give Blue a trial run, I can probably talk them into it.”

Shiro just nodded numbly and Lance laughed, turning back to his armor and bending down to grab it, unconsciously swinging his hips a bit.

It was several seconds before he heard the door open and close.

~*~

“Princess what’s wrong.” Shiro asked as Lance jogged into the room, immediately heading for his station.

“A Galra Battleship has locked onto us.” Allura stated from her post, waving her hands to manipulate the screens in front of her.

“Why don’t we just take it out then?” Keith said, leaning forward in his seat.

“It’s not as simple as that Number 4,” Coran said from the front. “The battleship is transporting prisoners.”

Lance nodded in understanding, “So we have to save them before we can actually take the ship out.”

“Exactly.” Coran threw a smile over his shoulder.

“If I can get into the battleship I can hack into its computer and find out where they’re keeping them.” Pidge commented as she scrolled through the many screens in front of her.

“You’re going to need someone to help you extract them.”

“Not to mention someone’s going to have to fend off the battleship’s arsenal.”

“Don’t forget about the ion cannon.”

They all built off one another. With so many battles under their belts they had learned how to do so without much thought.

“It's a get in get out mission, so me and Lance will go with Pidge in the green lion.” Shiro said, “Pidge, you’ll hack in and tell us where the prisoners are located, and while we go to free them, try and get any other information you can. Keith and Hunk will distract the fighters. Hunk, focus on taking out the ion cannon. Keith, the fighter ships.”

“The castle can provide extra support with our own arsenal.” Coran said, already pulling up the controls to the castle’s main artillery.

“Is anyone else getting deja vu? It’s like our first mission back on Arus all over again.” Hunk stated, a bit of unease lining his words.

“Yeah, but this time Keith gets to be the bait,” Lance smirked, glancing over at said man.

“Bet you I’ll still take out more fighters than you,” Keith shot back.

“Oh you’re on, Samurai,” Lance laughed, already launching out of his seat to head to the lions.

Allura rolled her eyes, “Everyone else, to your lions!”

~*~

Lance shot down the sentry at the end of the hallway with deadly accuracy. Each shot made it's home inside a droid, effectively keeping the pressure off Shiro, who was currently fighting in close combat.

“How’s it going out there mullet?” Lance asked with a grin, shooting down another sentry that had come around the corner behind them.

“I don’t have to watch your ass so it's going great,” Keith replied. Lance didn’t have to be there to know that he was grinning.

“You wound me!” Lance clutched his heart, despite the fact that he knew Keith couldn’t see him. “If I was out there the battle would already be won.”

A deep chuckle interupts their banter. “Sorry for,” there was a grunt and the sound of metal tearing, “for making you help me, then.” The telltale sounds of a sentry falling to the ground followed.

“Baby, I’d watch your back any day,” Lance replied without thinking, a flirtatious lilt to his voice.

He turned, seeing the way Shiro’s step stuttered. “Fuck!” Shiro swore. He narrowly avoided a slash from a sentry. He brought his arm up, slashing through the metal.

Lance let out a breath as the sentry fell to the ground, his body relaxing. He hadn’t even realized he’d grown tense.

Pidge’s voice crackled through the helmets, “Shiro? What happened?”

Shiro looked up, meeting Lance’s smile with one of his own. His expression changed, eyes going wide, “Lance, behind you!”

Lance turned, simultaneously stepping to the side as a sentry slashed downwards. There was a grunt, and Lance glanced towards Shiro, who was now dealing with another sentry. Where the hell did they keep coming from anyways?

Lance turned back, a yelp falling from his lips as he ducked. The sentry slashed upwards as it regained it's footing. Lance jumped back, narrowly avoiding the hit. He dodged, again and again, but unlike with Keith or Shiro, or anyone else for that matter, he couldn’t just dodge until someone called “time out.”

If Lance got hit, that was it.

There wouldn’t be a laugh, wouldn’t be a helping hand. He’d be captured, or killed. He couldn’t allow that, wouldn’t allow that, not when there were prisoners to be saved.

The sentry lunged forward, and Lance spun out of the way on instinct. He had done this many times before to avoid Keith, and it worked just as well with the sentry. Without a second thought he pulled his rifle up and shot twice at the vital wiring barely visible at it’s neck joint. The sentry’s corpse fell to the ground.

He turned towards Shiro, just as he stabbed his hand through it’s chest, electric currents sizzling around him.

Pidge’s voice came again, more urgent than the last, “What happened?”

“Oh no, is Shiro hurt? Is Lance hurt? Can they get out, do we send help-” Hunk began to ramble.

“Hunk, calm!” Keith shouted into the coms. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine. Just a few sentries. Lance handled himself well,” Shiro smiled weakly at Lance, grimacing as he slowly made his way over to the other.

Lance zeroed in on the action, immediately rushing over to meet Shiro more than half way. “You’re in pain, did you get hit?” He fretted, looking Shiro over for any signs of blood.

“I’m fine,” Shiro said, but Lance wouldn’t take any of it.

“Let me see,” he batted at Shiro’s hand that was covering his side. Shiro moved his hand with a chuckle. His under armor was still in tact, and it didn't appear to be dampened with blood. Lance let out a relieved sigh.

“Told you I was fine,” Shiro teased.

Lance pouted, ready to shoot back a retort when Pidge’s com crackled to life. “Maybe cut down on all the banter until we’re done. You’re almost to the prisoner cells.”

Keith snorted, “Yeah, banter .” Hunk laughed at that and Lance felt his face heat up.

“Shut it, Mullet” Lance mumbled in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

“Okay, okay, enough you guys,” Shiro said, voice a slightly higher pitch. “Pidge is right, save it until after the mission.”

“How much farther, Pidgey,” Lance asked as Shiro peered around a corner.

“Take a left from where you are now, keep going straight until you get to the end and then take a right. They should be right there.” Several beeps carried over the comes, and a triumphant “aha” followed. “I’ve nearly hacked into the door. Should be unlocked when you get there.”

“Roger!” Lance replied as he followed Shiro down the hallway. He made sure to check over his shoulder ever few moments, not wanting to be caught by surprise.

The path to the prisoner cells were blessfully unguarded. Either the sentries were all preoccupied with Keith, Hunk, and the castle, or they had fallen earlier by Shiro’s hand or Lance’s blaster.

The doors to the first cell slid open shortly upon their arrival, and Shiro quickly ushered the aliens out while Lance went to the second cell and followed suit. Luckily none of them seemed too injured, malnourished or weak; all of them stable enough to make the trek to the escape pods.

Shiro led the group, allowing Lance to keep up the rear. They ran into no problems, except one group of sentries that were easily disposed of, and were able to get all the prisoners into the pods.

The duo quickly made their way back to where the Green Lion was hiding, meeting Pidge along the way.

“Pidge,” Allura’s face popped up on the screen in her lion, “once you’ve returned Shiro and Lance to the castle we need you to head to the escape pod and defend it. We don’t want to risk them getting hurt.”

No sooner had Pidge dropped them off, she was leaving again. Shiro and Lance didn’t look back as they ran out of the hanger. Lance only stopped when Shiro grabbed his arm. He turned, watching Shiro turn off his coms, and copied him.

“What’s wrong, Shiro,” Lance asked after he turned his com off.

Shiro pulled him close by the arm, resting his helmet against Lance’s, “At this rate you’ll give Keith a run for his money,” he grinned, before his eyes fell shut.

Lance smiled, relaxing into the motion, eyes closing as well, “I doubt that, but it’s good to know that I can hold my own, even if it’s mainly moving out of the way.”

They stayed like that for several moments before Allura’s voice broke in, “Shiro, Lance, where are you?”

Shiro moved back, smiling at Lance, as he turned his com back on. “On our way, Princess.”

~*~

Lance could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones as he slumped down on the couch. The others were all scattered around the circle of furniture, in varying states of relaxation. Pidge had fallen asleep already, head lolling to the side. Lance was proud, they had worked well together, but his sense of pride was overshadowed by the desire to just sleep.

Shiro walked in. He gave a tired smile to the paladins as he made his way towards Lance. He let out a breath and flopped down next to him, his head falling onto Lance’s shoulder. Lance smiled, running a hand lazily through his hair.

Lance looked up at the others, but their eyes were already trained on him, except Pidge.

Hunk grinned, and Lance scowled at him as they communicated silently between one another. Hunk was giving off definite “I told you so” vibes, and Lance didn’t appreciate it one bit.

When Lance looked to Keith, it was as if they were back in the beginning of their friendship, back in the rivalry . His eyes were trained on Lance, waiting for some reaction. Keith hadn’t had to watch him like that in awhile.

“What are you staring at, Mullet, mad that I took out more fighters than you,” Lance teased, trying to break whatever weird tension had surfaced.

Keith snorted, tension successfully broken as he stood up, rolling his eyes. “Just making sure of something.” He stretched. “I’ma hit the showers and sleep.”

Hunk yawned and nodded. “Good idea. I’ll carry Pidge back to her room.”

“Was she up all night programming before this again?” Lance asked, trying to conceal his own yawn.

“Probably,” Hunk shrugged as he scooped up the girl. “You going to be alright?” He nodded his head towards Shiro.

Lance could hear Shiro’s soft breaths, the man had fallen asleep on him.

“Yeah, we’ll be good.” Hunk chuckled as he followed Keith out of the common room.

Lance looked back down at Shiro, rubbing at the man’s scalp for a few more seconds before taking his hand away, earning him a whine. “Come on sleepy head, time to get up.”

“Mm, dun wanna” Shiro tried to move closer to Lance but their armour clashed, getting in the way.

Lance laughed at his behavior, “I’m all for cuddling, but maybe we could change out of our armour first?”

Shiro looked up groggily, “Fine…”

His heart melted at the look. He had gotten familiar with sleepy Shiro, all kinds of Shiro’s, but it was still adorable and made him melt inside. He redirected, choosing to stand up and pop his back, prompting Shiro to grumble below him. He turned, hand on his hip, other outstretched to help Shiro stand.

“Come on, sooner we get back to our room, sooner we can cuddle.”

Shiro smiled at that, taking his hand and pulling himself up. “After you, then.”

The trip down the hall was in relative silence. They giggled and laughed as they bumped into each other. Nudging harder and harder to see if they could knock the other off center. Of course Shiro won, reaching out and keeping Lance from falling over as they made it to their room.

“Do you want to shower first? I know you don’t like feeling sweaty, so I can go after.” Shiro commented as he began removing his armor.

“You could always join me,” Lance purred before he could catch himself.

He could feel the temperature in the room drop.

He hadn’t directed pick up lines at Shiro except during the battle. A part of Lance expected, hoped, Shiro to laugh, or scold him, or something, but there was just silence. Shiro wasn’t even looking at him, face angled away.

“Shiro?” He tried to keep the fear out of his voice. He had screwed up.

“Yeah? Oh um, haha, very funny Lance-”

“Shiro what’s wrong? I-I was just joking-” Crumbling, everything was crumbling.

“I know, Lance, I know..” Shiro turned his whole body, focusing on folding his armor. His shoulders are tight and he sounded… dejected?

A million thoughts whirled in his head. Why did Shiro sound dejected? Why wasn’t he looking at Lance? Why was he blushing? Was Lance actually joking? Wasn’t this just a one sided crush- Oh…

“Shiro look at me.” His voice was soft as he walked up behind Shiro. After a moment he listened and turned, looking down at Lance. Lance leaned up on the tips of his feet, breath ghosting over Shiro’s lips as he whispered, “What if… what if I wasn’t joking?”

Shiro stood there, frozen. Lance could be patient, everything leading up this point proved it, but right now… He moved forward, barely an inch, and pressed their lips together. They did nothing more than that, just simple pressure against one another.

Lance pulled back after a moment, still close enough that their breath mingled. “Was that… was that okay?”

Shiro just stared at Lance in shock. Lance had been sure, so sure, maybe he had read the situation wrong.

He pulled back, looking away, “Sorry, I, quiznack, I shouldn’t have done that. Obviously misread the situation, I’ll, um, I’ll just leave.” He started to turn away, to flee. He had been turned down before, but by Shiro? He could feel his heart throb.

Shiro grabbed his arm, wrenching him back. This time their lips clashed, teeth clinking against each other, more so from Shiro swooping down and underestimating the distance between them than any real heat to the kiss. Lance couldn’t help but smile into the kiss though, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s neck, coaxing Shiro to slow down with his own lips.

They only parted when the need for air became far too great. Shiro didn’t go far, instead resting his forehead on Lance’s own. He looked down at Lance with complete and utter adoration. Lance, returning the look ten fold.

“So… it’s mutual?” Lance finally whispered out, afraid that his words would break the moment, but needing verbal confirmation.

Shiro brought his hand up to rub at Lance’s cheek, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“What,” Lance gulped, he didn’t want to push his luck. A kiss was a kiss, it could mean anything, but also nothing. Lord knows he had plenty of the latter. “What does that make us now?”

“Boyfriends, hopefully, if you want.” Lance’s heart skipped.

“I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”