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Your eyes shoot open and you pant heavily, ever since leaving earth almost every night your brain forces you to relive everything from what happened on earth to all the ridiculous space battles you’ve had since then.
To be honest, if you weren’t actually living this reality you would have already brushed yourself off and not believed yourself. But here you are, crying, in a space castle that’s over 10,000 years old.
You push yourself out of bed, maybe if you can’t find any of your fellow humans awake you could beat the shit out of some training droid. That or you can sit in the bridge with the pointy eared aliens you’ve gotten to know over the past few months. You hope that it doesn’t resort to that because being quizzed by space elves on your mental state is less than inviting.
You slide your boots on and walk out your room in nothing more than your trousers and super comfortable tank top. You begin the walk to the training deck, but after a few steps you find yourself outside one of the five paladins doors. Keith.
Out of the five you’ve known the Red Paladin the longest, albeit only by a month and a half. But, that month and a half was spent cooped up in his shack after getting on the wrong side of the law. You were going to move out at the end of the second month, probably under an alias or something. But alas fate, as always, is about fifty steps ahead of you.
Even when you’re deep in thought your hand unconsciously knocks on Keiths door. To which he opens surprisingly quickly. From the month and a half the two of you spent alone you quickly realised that neither of you sleep much. Many a night you have both sat on the rugged couch and watch whatever the moon has decided to light up that night.
“Can I help you?” he asks immediately making eye contact with you.
“Do you mind if I sit with you, or something” you mumble the final part and look to the floor in embarrassment. You hear Keith chuckle a little before he speaks
“Like old times?” he asks amused, you nod looking back up “C’mon I found a nice window the other day” he adds gesturing you to follow him.
The walk is silent, not like it needed to be anything else. Although you’re often talkative with the other paladins and Alteans, unspoken words between you and the Red Paladin are often louder than your spoken ones. As hesitant as you are to admit it, his presence grounds you and brings you more comfort than you would ever admit to anybody aboard the Castle of Lions.
Keith eventually shows you the window, it’s large and round with a perfect angle to viewing the universe and the cherry on the icing? It was obviously designed to be a viewing area since there is a nice couch on the window frame. Perfect. You smile at the paladin beside you, “It’s a beautiful view” you tell him looking out the window, Keith hums in approvement before you both sit in the window.
A few ticks pass before Keith speaks up “Do you wanna talk about it?” he asks his voice laced with concern. You look at your hands.
“Was I screaming again?” you ask in response, you notice Keith is still looking out the window and he makes a hum that indicates ‘yes’
“I wasn’t asleep” he reassures you, his face turning to briefly meet yours “It-” the Paladin goes to speak but stops himself, probably due to his own awkwardness. “It concerns me” he confesses after a prolonged silence. You quietly apologise finding space much more interesting than the man in front of you.
Keith shakes his head and places a reassuring hand on your knee, “If there is anything I can do-” he trails off, you meet the man's eyes once more with a weak smile.
“Keith, you’re doing everything you can by just sitting with me right now” you tell him, you feel Keith’s thumb rub circles on your knee as he smiles at you. Despite his awkwardness he seems to know how to reassure you. Sure, when you were first getting to know him he didn’t know how to handle your nightmares. Though, the both of you seemed to understand that sitting together is settling.
“Why don’t you sleep with me?” he asks before realising how his words could be interpreted “I mean-” he blushes “Like in my bed, and sleep the snooze kind not the other kind” he quickly adds causing you to giggle at him. It lightens the mood between the two of you.
“It’s just you always seem to sleep better when you feel like someone is watching over you” he tells you after a long pause. You smile and nod
“Sure Keith, I’d like that”
In all fairness it's not the feeling of ‘someone’ watching over you. Keith’s presence has never failed to calm you. And considering the fact that his bed is a small single he basically has to hold you to stop either of you from falling off the bed. It was the same back in his shack, on the times you’d have a particularly horrific nightmare Keith would just tell you to get into bed with him and he’d hold you. Sometimes, you wake before him and you just lie there and bask in his presence. And as much as you convince yourself not, Keith's scent. Scents are hard to describe, it’s not easy to decipher as it's shown in books, but Keith's scent is undoubtedly Keith. It reminds you of him on a ridiculous level.
You’re lost in thought as you walk back to Keith’s room with him, his hand touches your shoulder reassuringly every few moments just to remind you that he’s still here with you and that you don’t have to be alone with whatever thoughts you are having. If only he knew they are about him…
Keith opens his bedroom door and is quick to throw his shoes and jacket somewhere into the darkness of his room. Your shoes follow quickly after and you follow the male into bed with him. The second you lie down you feel Keith pull you closer, you know your position would shift in the night so he ends up spooning you but right now, facing his chest brings you so much comfort. You feel the weight of Keith kissing your head like he does every time you’re in bed with him. It’s sweet and holy crap does it make you swoon every time without fail.
And without much thought you drift into a peaceful, dreamless slumber in Keiths arms.
“Holy shit this is priceless” you hear a whisper which stirs you from your sleep, it’s Lance