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Lance rolled over in bed, grimacing when he found the new position just as uncomfortable as the last.
He shifted again to stare out the window across the room. The night sky seemed so far away, but being out millions and billions of miles away from Earth had drastically changed his perception of distance, and now everything seemed too close and cramped.
This was not what he wanted a Friday night back on Earth to be like. With a sigh, Lance sat up in bed and stretched his arms forward, shaking off the small amount of drowsiness that he’d accumulated in the last three hours spent tossing and turning. He smacked his lips and glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand—it read 3:08am—and groaned with the acceptance that it was going to be another sleepless night.
His phone lit up on the nightstand and caught his eye. He grabbed it, yanking off the charger cord, and smiled sleepily when he read the text.
hunky boy: hey man
hunky boy: are you awake
Of course—Hunk had been having trouble sleeping in the past week, too. Lance was glad he still wasn’t the only one.
me: yeah of course my dude
me: still spacelagged huh
hunky boy: that’s not a word
hunky boy: but yeah i am. i’m guessing you are too?
me: yep one sec
Lance tapped on the video call button next to Hunk’s contact info. It only rang once before the call was picked up.
Hunk’s face came into view on the screen. He was in a room so brightly lit that Lance had to squint. “Dude. Are you sitting in your kitchen?” he asked.
“Uh. Yeah,” Hunk mumbled through what appeared to be a mouthful of cereal.
“At three in the morning.”
Hunk gestured to the counter tops behind him. “Home sweet home.” He swallowed and sighed. “It’s so nice to have a fridge full of Earth food.”
“Space goo is one thing I definitely don’t miss,” Lance remarked, making a face.
“Tell me about it.” Hunk slurped up another spoonful of food, and Lance realized it was pasta, not cereal. “How are you doing, anyway? We haven’t really had time to meet up. How’s your family?”
“The fam’s just fine. It’s great being home, but each of my sisters slapped me when I got back.” He grinned at the memory. “And then, uh, there was some crying.” He cleared his throat. “Lots of crying.”
Hunk paused mid-slurp, then furrowed his brow in concern. “Well, I mean…we were in space for a few years, right?”
“I mean. I think?”
“Wow. Yeah,” Hunk said. “That’s a long time. I’m an only child, so the only big change was that my fish died. And my dad’s hair is all gray now, which is kind of weird. But to come back home and see all of my siblings years older, that would be—oh.” He stopped when he saw the expression on Lance’s face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, dude, I didn’t mean—”
“Nah, it’s okay.” Lance ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, I’m pretty used to it now. Kind of.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, they’re just taller. And more obnoxious.” He grinned, even though he knew Hunk could see through it.
Hunk just raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Okay, bud. But you know I’m always here if you need anything.”
Lance gave Hunk a genuine smile, quietly grateful for his support. “Thanks, man. I love you.”
“Love you too, Lance. Now get some sleep.” Hunk mock-glared at him, an almost perfect imitation of Shiro.
Lance rolled his eyes, smiling. “All right, all right. You too, though, okay?”
Hunk shrugged and reached forward to hang up. The last thing Lance saw was Hunk’s warm grin before the call ended.
Lance set his phone back on the nightstand and wiggled under the covers, hoping to pass out instantly. After ten minutes of blankly staring at the ceiling, he mentally cursed himself and reached for his phone again.
He scrolled through his contacts again but hesitated when he stopped at Hunk, whose icon read offline. Not wanting to disturb him, Lance scrolled a little further down and tapped the video call button.
He let his phone ring three, four, five times before eventually giving up. They obviously didn’t want to be disturbed, and even if they had a habit of staying up late in space, it didn’t mean they had retained it—
The phone buzzed in his hand, and Lance quickly accepted the call to silence the ringtone.
“Heyyyy,” he drawled. “How’s my favorite middle-schooler?”
Pidge glared at him through the screen as they adjusted their glasses. “I’m only two years younger than you, jackass.”
“Okay, Pidge,” Lance said, grinning cheekily.
“What the hell are you doing up, anyway? It’s three AM.”
“I know. I couldn’t sleep.” He raised an eyebrow. “What’s your excuse?”
“Studying,” Pidge mumbled. Lance could make out the dim outline of their bedroom behind them while they typed away on their laptop, elbows resting on a pile of papers spread across the desk. The pencil tucked behind their ear stuck out of their choppy brown hair, freshly cut in their preferred boyish style.
“On a Friday night, really? Lame.”
Pidge shuffled some papers and set them aside. “Oh, yeah? What did you do today?”
“Had dinner with my family and took my sisters out for ice cream after.”
“That’s wild.”
“What can I say? I’m a family-oriented man.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Pidge rolled their eyes. “Please stop or else I’ll hang up.”
“Okay, fine,” Lance giggled. “So… how’s Matt and the prof?”
Pidge brightened slightly. “They’re doing great. Matt’s still recovering, what with his leg and all, so he has a limp, and Dad still has that pretty nasty cough, but they’re doing fine. I mean, I guess the cough part’s not fine, but other than that he’s pretty okay.” They paused to adjust their glasses. “Mom says they’ll be released from the hospital in a month or two, maybe.”
Lance smiled. He felt oddly light as he watched Pidge ramble about their family and had the urge to wrap them up in a hug. Is this what Shiro feels like all the time? he thought.
Pidge jotted something down and looked back up, thoughtful. “We’re visiting them tomorrow, actually. Mom and Shiro and I. You could come, if you wanted to…?”
“That’s okay, Pidge. I’ll swing by some other time. I have lots of family time to catch up on, too.”
“Right,” they mused and resumed their work.
“Anyway, you should go to sleep soon. I’m pretty sure it’s waaay past your bedtime, kiddo,” Lance chuckled.
Pidge spat out a “fuck you” just as Lance hung up and grinned to himself. This was much more fun than lying in bed all night staring at nothing. He scrolled through his contacts again and quickly spotted someone else online. Perfect, he thought, and pressed call.
It rang about five or six times before the call was finally picked it up. “Dang, Shiro, that only took forever oh my god you’re shirtless.” Lance clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Oh, it’s just you, Lance,” Shiro sighed as he toweled off his hair in front of his bathroom mirror. The shower in the background was obscured by a light blanket of steam. Lance tried to focus on that instead of Shiro’s biceps. And Shiro’s shoulders. And Shiro’s abs. Why the hell were they glistening—
“Lance?” Shiro peered at him curiously through the screen. His towel was draped over his neck. “I asked if you were okay. What are you doing up so late?”
“Me? I’m fine. Of course I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? Haha.” Lance laughed nervously. “I was just, uh.” He swallowed. “I couldn’t sleep, kinda.”
“Yeah, me neither.” Shiro reached behind him for his shirt and tugged it on before turning back to Lance. “Is something bothering you?”
He thought it over for a second before shrugging. “Nah, I just wanted to bug everyone. Pidge and Hunk were awake.”
Shiro frowned. “That’s not good. You guys should be getting more sleep than this.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “Okay, Dad. I’ll go to bed after this.”
“Good.” Shiro smiled. A default ring tone suddenly began to play, and he raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I should hang up. Pidge is calling me now.”
“Ouch, you’re dumping me for them? I see how it is.”
“Go to sleep, Lance.” Shiro said sternly, and hung up.
Lance stifled his snickers and opened up his contact list again. He found the one he was looking for, but his thumb hovered over the call button when he noticed that the icon displayed an away status. Maybe it was about time to call it a night, anyway—
His phone buzzed in his hand and Lance jumped in surprise, almost dropping it. He quickly accepted the call and grinned.
“Wow, you almost never call me first. What’s the occasion?” Lance said.
Keith scowled at him on the screen, curled up in bed. “Shiro texted me and said you were annoying everyone.”
“Rude,” Lance mumbled. “I guess you’re still having trouble sleeping, too.”
Keith ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, a little,” he admitted. Lance took note of the dark circles under his eyes with a frown.
“How’s the apartment?” Lance asked. When they returned to Earth, Keith had enough saved up to move into a place of his own, despite offers from Shiro to live with him.
“It’s okay. A little small, but that’s what happens when you’ve been living in a giant space castle for the past few years.” Keith chuckled dryly.
“Dude, you should get a cat,” Lance said suddenly.
Keith frowned. “What?”
“Yeah. You seem like a cat person.” Lance grinned. “I mean, seeing as we all have weird, psychic connections with huge robotic lions—”
“That’s…actually not a bad idea,” Keith mused.
“If you got a cat, I’d literally come visit you every day.”
“Okay, not such a great idea anymore.”
“Honestly,” Lance groaned, “when am I gonna get a break around here?”
Keith grinned sleepily, and Lance took a small moment to appreciate the way his eyes crinkled at the corners and his nose scrunched up the tiniest bit. It was devastating.
“Hey, I think I’m gonna try and sleep again. It’s almost four thirty,” said Keith.
“Oh.” Don’t go.
“Yeah.” Keith shifted onto his side, but didn’t hang up.
Lance raised an eyebrow. “Well?”
“What?” He mirrored Lance’s confused expression.
“Aren’t you going to hang up?”
Keith snorted. “I didn’t say I was. I just said I was going to sleep.”
“Oh. Okay.” Lance snuggled further into his sheets to hide his relieved smile. “Man, you’re so clingy.”
Keith smiled. “For some reason, I don’t think you actually mind.”
Lance sniffed. “My phone’s going to die if I keep it on all night.”
“Geez, I’ll go if you really want me to—”
His heart skipped a beat. “No.” Keith raised his eyebrows, and Lance added, “I don’t…want you to go.” He swallowed. “Stay with me?”
Keith’s expression softened. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.” He snorted. “Besides, you’re rarely this sincere.”
“Shut up.” Lance smothered his grin into his pillow. “Just go to sleep.”
“Fine, whatever,” Keith sighed. “’Night, Lance.”
The last thing Lance remembered seeing was Keith’s smile on the dimmed phone screen before he fell asleep, peacefully, for the first time in years.