Prompts: Slurred Words/Passing Out from Pain
Lance licked at the blood on his lip. He didn't think he could ever get used to these fangs, a permanent memento of that one time Shiro gave him Keith's blood. It may have saved his life, but also turned him into a human/alien hybrid.
"Alright, buddy, let's get you up," Hunk wrapped an arm under him and helped Lance to his feet. "Ooh. Got yourself there."
Lance fussed at the shear cloth tied around his head, covering his eyes. His new glowing eyes were painfully sensitive to light. Colors were weird and his range of focus had changed drastically. Pidge was working on making some glasses for him, ones that filtered out excess light. She seemed hopeful that she could fix the nearsightedness too. Lance hoped so. He couldn't be much of a sniper if he couldn't focus on anything more than twenty feet from his face.
Hunk placed a hand at the small of his back, steadying him. Lance wobbled for a moment, taking a few steps forward while trying to find his new center of gravity before collapsing again. This time, Hunk caught him before he could make it to the floor.
"I think it's break time," Hunk said gently as he hauled him upright again, holding him under the shoulders.
Lance shook his head, spraying sweat drops as he ignored the stars in his peripheral, "My legs feel like noodles, I'm not used to walking."
Hunk squinted at him. Lance did his best to smooth out his pain-pinched face, but his best friend knew him better than that.
"Why are you like this?"
Lance grunted, trying to focus. If it was just about the balance, he could blame it on the missing limb. "Nah, it's okay. It's passing."
"Mmm-hmm," Hunk nodded along, clearly not buying his bullshit. "Why are you trying to hide your pain from us? You're allowed to be hurt, you know."
Lance bit his tongue as the pain swelled from nerves that he didn't even have. It shot through him, white hot and angry, making him weak at the knees. He pursed his lips to slow his breathing. "Can't walk if I'm loopy."
"Turning down space drugs? You know how many people back home would kill for those once they found out they were a thing?" Hunk teased. "And you're gonna have to learn to walk all over again when you get your shiny new arm anyway. What's the rush? Talk to me."
"I--" Lance convulsed as he swallowed down a wave of nausea. The room was spinning, gradually getting faster and faster. The pain pushed in on him, its sharp talons cutting into him at all angles, even breaching the corner of his mind where he could usually block it out. Maybe Hunk was right, space drugs didn't seem quite so bad right now.
"Hey, you good?"
Lance tried to say something. Anything. But he was afraid if he opened his mouth his stomach would spill out. The burning continued to spread. Was he sweating? Or maybe he had caught the slipperies? Wait. That was an Altean ailment. He wasn't Altean. But he had Galra DNA now. Did Galra get the slipperies?
"Lance?"
Why did he feel so lightheaded? His chest felt tight, like it was collapsing in on itself to hide from the stabbing torment.
"Lance!"
The world was fading to black, but the agony stayed.
* * *
Shiro was waiting for him when he opened his eyes.
Lance was back in bed. They'd stuck a needle in him again. He hated needles. His arm hated them too.
"Vut happed?" His mouth felt weird.
"You passed out," Shiro informed him.
"Vut? Vie?"
"Well, we're theorizing you're experiencing phantom limb pain."
"Ohl."
That pain was blissfully absent now. Probably what that needle was for.
"Want to tell me why you've been keeping that to yourself?" Although he said it kindly, it wasn't a question.
"Mot willy."
"You're only hurting yourself at this point."
Lance took a deep breath and tried to put a thought together. It hurt, but in a different way. Shiro fell out of focus. Oh, that was just his new eyes. Despite all the pain he had endured, it was his first time crying it them.
"Vie vohnt he shee me?" he asked softly as tears slipped out from beneath his makeshift eyemask.
"Ahh, I see," Shiro rubbed the lower half of his face, eyes far away. He was quiet for a long moment.
Lance's tears slowly made their way down his face, which, due to his angle, was somewhere around his ears. They felt warm, and strangely pleasant on his skin. That was probably the drugs.
"Keith is...having a complicated time with all of this," Shiro said delicately. "You lost your arm, almost your life, but thankfully you were unconscious though it all. He watched it all happen. That's pretty traumatic in its own way. Not that my actions made it any easier on him. And--"
Shiro stopped himself, as if considering whether or not to continue.
"It wouldn't have been the first time he lost someone."
"Imm shtill ere."
Shiro gave him a sympathetic look as he took his hand.
"He's doing his best."
