Work Text:
Hunk had never had normal dreams, not as far back as he could remember. It had scared him at first, but now he was used to it. There was something comforting about knowing he had control over his unconscious, even if he was alone sometimes. Tonight, after successfully not dying and managing to take down a galra battlecruiser while they were at it, he’d found himself in the garage. Or at least, a dream version of the garage. No bikes leaned up against the wall, no car, just the workbench and tama matua’s big old toolbox.
He held out a hand, and a length of metal appeared in his palm. He grinned and picked up his wrench, lying on his back to scoot in and fix the newest support strut in place. The chassis was coming together nicely, all elegant curves and swoops from nose to tail with clean solid lines defining the interior spaces and bracing the shell against the stresses of near-light-speed travel. The construction of the engine was still a mystery, he hadn’t had a chance to pull one of the ones in the hangar apart yet to take a peek, but this was a dream, he could make it work.
“That is... different, from your usual designs.”
Hunk sat up quickly, and slammed his head into the strut he’d just bolted in place. The whole frame rang like a gong, and Shay giggled as she leaned between the metal bars. “Are you hurt?”
“Nah.” Hunk shook his head, scooting back until he could sit up through what would eventually be the floor of the cockpit. “Been a while since I saw you. You sleeping okay?”
Shay crouched, folding her arms across one of the horizontal struts and resting her chin on them. “I am now.”
“Shay.” Hunk frowned. She didn’t talk about working for the force occupying her planet very often, but when she did it sounded really, really bad. “When was the last time you got more than a nap?”
“A few quintants ago.” she admitted sheepishly, and Hunk sighed.
“Wanna just, chill?” he asked, willing the dream around them to change into his bedroom. Not the one he was in on the castle, or the dorm room he shared with Lance at the Garrison, but his room back home. His half-finished rube goldberg machine in the corner, the bean-bags he’d gotten when his cousin moved to the mainland, his comforter hanging half off the bed and pillows scattered on the floor.
“Yes.” Shay sighed, flopping backwards. She landed more on the floor than the beanbag, but her bed was made of rocks, so he knew she didn’t really give a shit.
“So. How’s your brother doing?” Hunk asked after a minute, sprawling on his stomach next to her and grabbing a pillow to rest his chin on.
“Not well.” Shay admitted, her voice soft. “It has been movements since he dreamed with Eivat.”
Eivat, Hunk remembered, was her brother’s dream-mate. He reached out and patted Shay’s forearm. “I’m sure she’s okay.” he said, managing a small smile. “It’s probably just timezones, like how you and I sleep on different schedules because we’re on different planets.”
“I hope.” Shay sighed, turning onto her side. “How are your sisters doing, Hunk?”
“They’re good. Kalie’s getting CPR certified.”
“C P R?” Shay tilted her head, and Hunk chuckled.
“Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It’s how you save someone who’s had a heart attack or almost drowned.”
“How interesting.” Shay grinned. “You’ll have to tell me if she succeeds.”
Hunk’s smile faltered, and he ducked his head to stare at the worn carpet, chin digging into the pillow. He had the sinking feeling that he wouldn’t find out the results of his sister’s test for a long time. He was so far from Earth he didn’t even know which way to look to find it in the sky, and something told him they wouldn’t be going back anytime soon.
“Hunk?” Shay laid a hand on his arm, and he shook his head briskly.
“Sorry, I- I don’t think I’ll be finding out how it went for a long while.” he said around the lump in his throat.
Shay made that weird chittering noise she did when she was concerned, and Hunk realized he was crying as one of her rough-skinned alien fingers brushed a tear from under his eye. “You are crying.” she said, shifting around to lie next to him. “What is wrong? Did something happen to your home?”
“No, no.” Hunk shook his head, scrubbing at his face with the sleeves of his pajama shirt. “It’s me.” he sucked in a deep breath, and tried not to sob as he exhaled. “I’m not- not on Earth anymore.” he said as Shay laid an arm across his shoulder blades, scooting right up to his side.
“You were taken?” Shay gasped, ‘by the galra’ unspoken but clearly implied. Hunk shook his head, leaning into her embrace.
“My friend Lance, he found this big, ancient alien robot. And now we’re stuck out here and we can’t- I don’t even know which way home is anymore.” his voice broke a little in the middle, and Shay chittered again as she pressed her forehead to his temple.
“It is alright.” she said softly, nuzzling her nose against his cheek. “I’m sure they will be fine, and you will find your way back to them.”
“I never thought I’d be this far from Earth.” Hunk admitted, turning onto his side so he could look at Shay.
“But, you have trained to be an astronaut.” she frowned, moving her arm from his ribs to lay her hand on the side of his head. “Is this not what you would have done once that training was complete?”
“It’s different.” Hunk sighed. “Like, you want to see Earth, right?” Shay nodded, of course. She’d always been adamant that one day they would meet, despite the distance between them, and Hunk had promised to show her around. “Well, what if one day you found something that took you to a place like Earth, but you couldn’t get back?”
Her eyes widened, and she made a rapid clicking sound of distress.
“That’s what this is like.” Hunk said softly, pulling her hand from his face and gripping it. “I wish I could go home, but I can’t. Not yet, at least.”
Shay made a different clicking noise, slower and deeper, and Hunk chuckled. That was her noise for trying to comfort him. He’d figured that one out before they could even hold a conversation. “I’m fine, really.” he grinned, giving her hand a squeeze. “Just a little homesick.”
“I wish we were not so far apart.” Shay sighed, leaning in to press her nose to his. “I would hold you as a dream-mate should, until we found a way to make your friend’s robot take both of you home.”
Hunk couldn’t help but smile at that. The mental image of Shay chastising Blue like his little sister Max chastised their grandma’s cat was just too funny. He leaned in, and pressed his nose briefly to hers. “Well, I am in space. Maybe I’m close enough to swing by on my way home. We can do an old-fashioned jailbreak.”
“Jail break?” Shay frowned. “The cells are made of-”
“No, no.” Hunk laughed, grinning at Shay’s confusion. “I wouldn’t have to literally break open the cells unless you were in one of them. A jailbreak is, like, getting somebody out of a situation they can’t leave on their own.”
“Then why is it called a jailbreak?” Shay tilted her head slightly. Hunk shrugged.
“Movies, probably.”
“I wish-” Shay vanished as abruptly as she’d appeared, and Hunk pushed himself up quickly.
“Shay?” he asked, looking around. But of course, it was useless. You didn’t leave the dreamscape that abruptly and come back a minute later. Nothing to worry about. Hunk groaned and pressed his hands to his face. Fuck, now he was going to do nothing but worry until he saw her again. Logic said that she’d just been shaken awake, probably by her brother, but anxiety said perhaps she’d been crushed, or killed, or simply died of something stupid like illness or a heart attack.
“She’s fine.” Hunk told himself firmly. “We’re running on the same space-clock now, so we’ll dream together again tomorrow.” the words made him startle, even as they left his mouth, and Hunk grinned. They were on the same space-clock. He would get to dream with her every night, after tonight. Hunk buried his face in his hands, and smiled wide. He’d get to spend nights on end with his dream-mate, talking about nothing and everything.
He could hardly wait.