Work Text:
Shiro stood in the kitchen, looking out one of the many windows of the spaceship, enjoying the quiet of the room. Everyone else was asleep and everything was calm, which was weird considering how hectic the ship usual was.
The silence of the ship was shattered by a cup dropping and a mumbling of “Quiznak!” under someone’s breath. Shiro’s head whipped around and squinted his eyes to see the figure clearly in the dark of the ship. The figure stumbled toward the wall before flicking the lights on and blinding Shiro for a second.
“Hi Shiro.” Lance said softly, wiping his eyes and going back over to the cup that dropped, picking it up and inspecting it before putting it on the counter and going over to the coffee maker that they picked up from a space mall. He started making coffee and rested his head on the counter.
“What are you doing up?” Shiro questioned, moving over to the other boy. “You’re obviously tired, so don’t deny it.” Lance shrugged in response and stood up, going the short way over to Shiro and hugging him.
“Just wanted to see you.” Lance breathed out, tightening his arms around Shiro. “We never really get to hang out and I never really got to thank you for saving my life forever ago.” he said, glancing up towards Shiro and chuckling lightly.
Shiro observed the younger man and smiled a little before noticing the beads of sweat. “Lance, are you okay?” Shiro asked, putting his hand against the other boys forehead, taking note of how warm his skin was.
“I just feel a little out of it. I haven’t been sleeping that well, or at all really. I’ve been practicing a lot though! I’m getting stronger and faster!” he smiled a little and breathed deeply. Shiro frowned and began to pick Lance up. “Whatcha doing, Shiro?” Lance asked softly.
Shiro smiled softly towards the younger man “You need rest, you’re sick. I’m going to take care of you.” he spoke softly and began to carry Lance towards Shiro’s room. Shiro’s room was bigger and had a bigger bathroom, so it made the most sense for Lance to rest there.
Shiro laid Lance down on his bed and frowned, now that Shiro was looking at it, he looked so sick. His face was red and he was breathing heavily and was sweating a lot. His body was probably crashing from being overworked and not sleeping a lot. Why was he pushing himself so much? Was it to seek attention? Or help? Whatever it was, it wasn't okay.
"Lance, why haven't you been sleeping?" Shiro asked, looking down at the younger man before walking over to the bathroom and drenching a towel with cold water, wringing most of the water out so it was cold, but not overly moist. Shiro walked back into his room and laid the towel upon Lance's head.
"Dunno. Haven't been feeling up to it." Lance shrugged, his words a little slurred and his eyes seemed to be getting a little heavy. Shiro looked unconvinced and sat on the bed, holding Lance's arm lightly and checking for a pulse in his wrist, so he didn't disturb the towel on Lance's head by trying to move his head to the side. His heart rate was a little fast, but not worrisome.
Shiro sighed deeply and looked into Lance's eyes. "Tell me the truth, please." he whispered, staring into Lance's ocean blue eyes, almost drowning in the color and softness of them, getting absorbed into the warm homey feeling they emit.
Lance groaned and turned away from Shiro, pulling his hand away from Shiro's grasp. " Whenever I sleep I dream about home and what it was like. I remember the warm embrace of the sun wrapping its rays around you and holding you tight on the beach. I remember the coolness of the ocean as it swallows you into it. I remember the sweet voice of all my older siblings and family. I remember the scorch of the sand as your walking back from the beach, whenever I used to go I'd always get blisters on the bottom of my feet from walking on the sand after a really hot sunny day. I miss my family so much, Shiro. It's not fair, I didn't ask for any of this. All I wanted to do was go to space school and learn how to pilot and go on missions with a time limit. I didn't ask to be thrown light years away from anything I ever knew. I miss it so much, I miss the shock of the cold water, I miss the feeling of burning my feet on the sand. None of that even really matters anyways, because when I did experience it, it was with family. It was with the people that I love and cherish and now they are just gone. I thought that maybe if I got sick I could either wake up from whatever dream I'm in or be able to go home for a little bit and be reunited with everyone." Lance curled into himself and sniffled.
Shiro slowly wrapped his arms around Lance and kissed his cheek lightly. "I miss it too. I might not miss the same things, but I miss Earth too. I miss the hum of the traffic in the streets, I miss the buzzing of so many different languages mixing, I miss all the warmness and uniqueness of anyone visiting Japan. I haven't been home in so long, I can barely remember the layout of the apartment my parents and I lived in. We were lucky to score the scholarship with the Garrison. I miss my first name sometimes too. Keith used to call me by it, but since there hasn't really been anytime where I've gotten isolated time with any of the paladins I haven't been able to hear it in so long. I just... I miss everything so much." Shiro breathed out deeply.
“Why doesn’t Keith call you by your name around us?” Lance asked curiously. Shiro laughed under his breath and wiped the tears out from under Lance’s eyes. When had he begun crying?
“Culturally its insensitive, it’s more widely accepted to be referred to by your last name and close friends or family call you by your first name.” he explained. Lance nodded quickly and grinned a little.
“Well….” he said holding out the ‘L’. “The names Lance, nice to meet you.” Lance winked and tried his best to do finger guns. Shiro giggled and smiled widely at the younger boy. It was weird, he had felt a connection to Lance in the past, but now it went so much deeper and he was glad that it did.
“The name is Takashi, but you could call me Kashi if you would like.” Shiro winked back. Lance grew flustered and nuzzled Shiro’s chest a little. Shiro chuckled a little and smiled brightly at him.
Lance’s eyes closed slowly before opening again, he hummed softly. “Kashi, can I tell you something?” he questioned, looking up towards Shiro.
“Yes, but after it’s time for you to get rest. I know you don’t want to sleep, but you need it.” Lance nodded understandingly and moved around a little to be more in Shiro’s lap. Shiro took the towel off from Lance’s head and threw it in the direction of the bathroom, deciding that if Lance needed it again that he’d just get a fresh towel.
“Well, if I was thinking straight, which I’m not ‘cos I’m bi, I probably would not tell you this. But also because now seems like the ideal time. I’ve kind have always had this huge crush on you? You’ve been my hero for the longest time and I’ve always aspired to be like you. Always being since I got to Garrison. But yeah.” Lanced laughed a little at the end, curling more into himself.
“Well,” Shiro started “I think I kind of have a crush on you too. Keith would always talk about you whenever him and I hung out, but I also used to observe you. You were one of the only kids to get the international scholarship like me and that intrigued me.” he admitted, his cheeks turning a light rose color.
“Hunk got that scholarship too!” Lance spoke loudly. Shiro nodded and smiled.
“Hunk didn’t have the same feel to him as you. You remind me of home in a lot of ways. You have the hum of the traffic in your mind, you think so fast and you are so smart. You have the buzz of the languages mixing, especially when you don’t remember or know how to say something in English so you speak about it in Spanish until you get there or you start using Spanish phrases and try to translate them, but they just sound wrong because we use the literal translations and not translating it in context. You have such a warm personality around you, everyone wants to be your friend, I know I have and-” Shiro gets cut off of his tangent with Lance lazily kissing him. Shiro pauses for a moment before his eyes flutter shut and he begins reciprocating the kiss.
After a moment they split and Shiro opens his eyes, staring happily into the abyss of his room before opening his mouth to ask Lance something. Shiro shuts his mouth and his eyes soften when he realizes that Lance fell asleep in his arms. He smiled and holds him closer to his chest, moving around a little so that they both are laying down. Shiro kisses Lance’s forehead before closing his eyes.
“Goodnight Lance. Sweet dreams.” Shiro mumbles softly before falling asleep to the sound of Lance’s even breathing.