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“come on, i want to show you something.”
“lance,” keith mumbles from where he’s sitting on lance’s bed. “i don’t think i can move.”
lance pads over and rests his hands gently on keith’s shoulders. “i’ll help you,” he says. “do you need a wheelchair? i could carry you?”
“i can walk,” keith says, “i just-” he cuts himself off with a quiet groan. “it hurts. can’t we just stay here?”
lance frowns. “please? it’s not a long walk, i swear. and you can rest when we get there.” keith opens his mouth to protest again, but then lance pulls out the pouty bottom lip and puppy dog eyes. “please, keith?”
keith sighs. “yeah,” he says. “yeah, let’s go.”
lance helps keith out of bad as gentle as he can, careful not to bump keith in the sides or on his chest. keith still hisses in pain when lance tugs a bit too much on his arm, though, and lance falls all over himself apologising.
“it’s okay,” keith reassures him.
“do you need more painkillers?”
keith shakes his head. “i’ll be okay without them,” he says. “they’re a little too strong.”
“well, that’s how you know they’re the good stuff,” lance jokes, and keith breathes a laugh through his nose.
they link arms to help keep keith upright and to help him walk. their pace is slow as to best keep keith from pulling on his sore chest too much. as a result, it takes them about ten minutes just to make it down the hall. when they make it to the end, they turn left.
keith doesn’t realise where they’re going until they get there.
the doors to the observatory slide open and keith breathes in, as long and deep a breath as he can with his bandages on. this room never fails to take his breath away. tonight, the stars around them reflect those on earth, and keith stares in awe at the milky way galaxy he’s missed so much. then lance tugs him forward and keith sees everything else in the room.
laid out on the floor is a nest of sorts, built with tons of blankets and pillows. in the centre is a small red and white checkered towel with a woven back on top. lance lets his arm slip down from keith’s to hold his hand instead. he pulls keith forward, into the nest, and with lance’s help, keith sits down on the blankets.
lance sits beside keith and opens the basket, pulls out two glasses and a bottle of the wine-like drink they’d tried on ho’enax, the sweet, red one keith had liked the best. he fills both glasses halfway and passes keith one of them.
keith cradles his glass in both hands, stares down in awe and wonders how lance had managed to save a bottle of this when they hadn’t visited that planet in months.
then lance takes out bread - or something that at least resembles bread - and a creamy fruit spread keith remembers trying a few weeks ago on latzona. lance breaks the bread into pieces and spreads the fruit onto them, passes one to keith and keeps the other for himself.
“lance,” keith says softly. “what is all of this?”
“it’s for you,” lance says, ducks his head a little to hide his blush. “i’m never going to understand what you’re going through, but i want you to know how much i love you. and i’m so proud of you for doing what’s going to make you feel better. i know it hurts, too, so i thought maybe this would take your mind off of the pain for a bit?”
keith smiles softly, looks down into his half-full glass. “can i even drink this on my meds?”
lance chuckles, “well, coran says you should be fine. it’s your call, though.”
keith shrugs and lifts the edge of the glass to his lips, winces a bit at the tug on his muscles. he brings the glass down then and frowns.
“oh!” lance reaches back into the basket and pulls out a straw. “i got you these. to help with drinking.” he strips one of the straws and sticks it into keith’s drink. “now try.”
keith brings his glass back up as far as he needs to to put his lips around the straw and then sips. the liquid - wine? offbrand wine? whatever it is - is warm. it feels like honey when he swallows and it runs down the back of his throat. it’s a lovely, warm feeling, and he sighs, sips again. then he smiles up at lance, blinks at him warmly.
“thank you.”
“you don’t have anything to thank me for,” lance says, takes a bite of his bread and fruit.
“yes, i do,” keith insists. he sets his glass on the towel and leans forward as far as he can without stretching at his stitches. “you didn’t have to do this for me, lance.”
lance swallows and places his free hand on keith’s. “yeah,” he says, “i did.”
then he sets his bread down on the towel and closes the distance between them, kissing keith sweetly. lance scoots closer and places one hand on the back of keith’s neck, the other on keith’s hip. keith props himself up on one arm and rests his other hand on lance’s cheek.
the kisses are gentle and chaste; keith has never felt more loved than in this moment.
lance pulls back and rests his forehead against keith’s, their noses bumping together lightly. “je t’aime plus que tous les atomes dans la terre,” lance whispers. “i love you more than all the atoms in the earth.”
“i didn’t know you spoke french,” keith says, voice filled with wonder.
lance laughs softly. “i learned a little,” he says. “mostly because i know how much you love languages.”
“well,” keith says quietly, kisses lance once. “mio amore per tu è misurabile solo per l’enormità dell’universo. my love for you is measurable only by the vastness of the universe.”
“that’s not spanish,” lance whispers.
“no,” keith whispers back, smiling. “it’s italian.”
lance kisses him again, and they sit there like that for a few more minutes, just kissing softly over their wine and bread, and then lance pulls away, lips a little swollen and wet. “eat your bread, keith,” he says.
keith rolls his eyes, but it’s light-hearted. “alright,” he says. he smiles and takes a bite, loves the smooth feeling of the fruit spread and the moist, fluffiness of the bread. it’s delicious; keith never expected to be able to find such comfort in alien foods, and yet, here he is.
“so,” lance says once they’ve both finished their bread and several glasses of the wine. “what do you think we’re going to do when we get home?”
“well,” keith starts, yawns, then leans into lance’s side. lance rests his arm on keith’s shoulder, and keith nuzzles into the crook of lance’s neck. “firstly, i’m never going to wear a shirt, not even when it’s negative twelve degrees out. and i’ll go swimming. i’ll go running outside in the summer, and-” he breaks off.
after a moment, when it becomes clear that keith isn’t talking, that something’s bothering him, lance reaches up and brushes keith’s bangs out of his face. “kitten? are you alright?”
keith inhales as deeply as he can without straining his chest too much, without it hurting, and sighs. says, “what’s really going to happen when we get back to earth, lance? i mean, you have your family, pidge and matt will have their dad again, and their mom, too. shiro will go with them, to stay with matt. and hunk has his own family. but, i don’t have anyone.”
lance’s grip on keith’s shoulder tightens. “keith,” he says quietly. “do you honestly believe that when this is all over, after we save the universe and go home, go to earth, that i’m going to leave you?”
keith doesn’t respond.
“when we get back to earth,” lance whispers, “i’m going to take you to cuba with me, and introduce you to my family, and they’re going to love you, because i love you, and because you make me so impossibly happy. we’re going to go swimming together in the ocean, and i’ll try and keep up with you when you go running, and at the end of the day when we’re all tired out, we’ll cuddle together in bed just like we do now, and we’ll fall asleep together just like we do now, every night.” lance’s hand trails down to hold tightly onto keith’s. “i’m never going to leave you, okay? i promise.”
“lance,” keith whispers. “my angel.”
“my star,” lance whispers back. “i love you, and i’m never letting you go.”