Work Text:
Lance and Lou were used to the long silences that their journey through the galaxy provided. Lou’s hands gently hold the steering handles, smoothly guiding their ship through a small asteroid field. The static from the radio is a constant background noise as Lance fiddles with the controls. The sound system had broken in their previous skirmish with bounty hunters the week prior- a true travesty aboard The Star Razor. As a result, the only sound coming from the speaker other than silence has been endless static.
“How’s the radio?” Lou’s voice is soft, barely audible over the hum of the engine.
“I figured out the wires, although I think they may need to be replaced. But I think we can rewire it so we don’t have to waste any credits.” Lance replies from his spot on the floor.
Lou raised an eyebrow with an amused scoff, “You don’t know the amount of credits I would spend to get music back.”
“Should I confiscate your wallet then?” Lance teases.
“Do you still want your hand?”
“I’m willing to take my chances.” Lance pauses on his work for a moment to give Lou a mischievous grin. Lou rolls his eyes and doesn’t spare him a glance, even if it takes everything in him not to. Lance smirks and reaches for the satchel concealed beneath Lou’s baggy shirt and Lou quickly strikes his hand away. Lance laughs in response,
“You’re lucky I didn’t have my lightsaber.” Lou retorts, tucking his credits safely away.
“Oh I’m so scared.” Lance puts his hands up in mock surrender.
“Did I actually intimidate you?” Lou gives him a side eye through his lashes, his eyebrow raised curiously. Lance can’t help but scratch the back of his neck sheepishly as they make eye contact but after a moment his gaze returns to the wires spilling out of the control panel at his feet.
As the banter temporarily dissipates, Lou can see Lance subtly rubbing the top of his hand, “Did I strike you too hard?”
“You’re getting distracted.” Lance retorts, ceasing to sooth his hand.
“But– your hand...” Lou’s eyes are soft with confusion and concern, his eyes traveling from Lance’s face to his hands.
“I’m not made of glass, Lou.’ Lance can’t help but notice the warmth in his heart grow, his gaze returning to Lou once again. Their eyes meet for a split second, and he watches as Lou begins to slowly fold inward. A familiar sight that he’s come to find amusing and dare he say a little endearing. The way Lou bites his bottom lip, and his eyes look anywhere but him. As he watches Lou fight the urge to fidget with his fingers, settling for a tighter grip on the handlebars, Lou finally speaks,
“I just…” Lou pauses, purses his lips and shakes his head, “Nevermind.”
“Aw so you do care about me.”
Lance almost wants to laugh at the way that a blush across Lou’s cheeks, “Don’t push your luck, dumbass.” Lou sighs. “Didn’t want to suddenly find out you secretly bruise like a peach,” Lou huffs, shaking his head, “Now are you going to finish the radio or will you be accepting my help?”
“Eyes on the asteroids,” Lance laughs, pushing Lou’s leg playfully, “I can fix this radio without your guidance.”
“L3 can help you.” Lou offers, his snarky tone gives way to a fleeting softness as he watches Lance mess with the wires again.
Lance shakes his head, “No, let her rest, she’s done enough already.”
“If you say so.” Lou turns back to driving the ship.
They fall into a comfortable silence again. Lou returns his focus to the path in front of him and Lance troubleshoots their broken radio. As Lance kept his eyes on the problem at his feet, he didn’t notice Lou would watch now and again. Lou was never one for staring but he couldn’t help but watch over his companion as he fiddled with their radio. It took everything in him not to jump down there and fix it himself, knowing it would take him less than two hours to do the same task Lance had been fixing for half a day. But he couldn’t help but relent when Lance insisted on messing with the radio. They’ve come a long way and it’s safe to say that Lou can trust the man next to him to perform a simple maintenance task.
“I really hope we don’t have to replace this.” Lance sighs, using a pair of pliers to twist a pair of wires together.
“Doubt won’t fix the radio, you’re plenty capable.” Lou casually comments. Lance can’t help but smile softly as his heart skips a beat at the rare encouragement. After a last twist of the wires a soft garbled melody flows out of the speakers and they both exclaim excitedly.
“Oh hey, won’t you look at that!” Lance cheers.
“How ‘bout that.” Lou chuckles, dimples appearing on the edges of a rare smile. Lance’s heart races at the expression and with a new found encouragement he continues. Twisting the wires further, a spark jumping as the two wires bind together. Lance yelps as the sparks sting his hands and he drops the wire.
“Careful..!” Lou exclaims in a whisper, “You could burn your hand off, dummy!” His tone comes out sharper than he means it and his eyes soften immediately after noticing Lance’s hurt expression. Seeing the redness in Lance’s fingers, guilt pangs in his chest. He quickly switches the ship to autopilot and joins Lance on the floor, his hands coming to inspect his hands. Lance scoots aside and lets Lou sit next to him.
“I’m sorry for the way I reacted,” Lou sucks in a breath.
“No, it was my fault. I should have been more careful.” Lance responds as he winces in pain. He’s about to speak again but words fail him as Lou takes his hands.
“Hush, doesn’t matter,” Lou carefully inspects his hands, “That was a big spark, are you okay?”
“Yeah…my hands just sting.”
“Sparks can do that,” Lou trails off as he inspects Lance’s hands. The softness of them surprises him and he can’t help but get lost in the sensation of holding his hands. It’s not like they haven’t held hands before- the way that Lou would pull Lance along through the woods and away from danger and Lance doing the same in return when they traveled through many, many cities- he never thought twice about it.
Both of them relied on each other for survival from the day Lance unceremoniously entered the stormy bog Lou had hunkered down in the year prior- both their lives changed drastically since Lou offered to fix Lance’s busted ship. It was supposed to be a couple weeks but those weeks became months and now over a year later Lou who had been accustomed to being alone…couldn’t imagine a life without Lance by his side. The thought of him hurting in any capacity in turn hurt him, like he could have prevented it somehow.
He hears Lance now. “...so what’s the damage?”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought, could you repeat that?” Lou looks up. His heart leaps in surprise, as he didn’t realize how close they’d become. He could feel Lance’s breath on his face and couldn’t help but catch a glance of his lips. He forces himself to look Lance in the eye.
Lance laughs. Damn that laugh. At first it drove him up a wall and now it’s become one of his favorite sounds- like his favorite song on repeat. “So will I have to lose my hands after all?”
Lou recalls their earlier conversation and can’t help but laugh at the absurdity. “Don’t be silly.”
“You like it.” Lance moves impossibly closer. Lou becomes trapped against the seat, his eyes becoming wide at the sudden proximity.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lou sputters and puts a hand on Lance’s chest, “Don’t me slap you again! Stop this nonsense-!”
His breath escapes him when Lance kisses him softly. Lou freezes, not knowing how to respond other than return it. Eventually he relaxes in Lance’s arms and allows Lance to pull him into his lap. They stay like this for a while, being lost in each other enough to not notice the radio turn back on. Lou can’t stop himself now, allowing himself to abandon his previous inhibitions in favor to kiss Lance a little longer.
Lance parts for air and Lou doesn’t stop until Lance puts three fingers on his full lips. Lou slowly comes to the soft sound of the radio inviting him back to reality. Taking in his surroundings, he sputters and attempts to hide the blush flooding to his face. Lance laughs softly,
“Wow…” Lance recovers his breath, “Didn’t think you had that in you.”
“I..I’m sorry! Was that not how people kiss-”
Lance kisses him again, this time a quick peck, his voice soft and sincere.
“Just shut up and listen to the music.”