Darkened Stars | Shklance apocalypse AU

Ch 10: Walking the path of the brave

Pidge had fallen asleep outside, and instead of taking her inside like I probably should, I stayed out with her. It's been ages since she's actually gotten good sleep since Matt's passing, and I'm not going to potentially ruin that by picking her up. Blue was laying next to me, his head resting on the root of the tree I was leaning against. I closed my eyes, humming softly as I ran a hand through the lions mane. I kept letting my mind wander, willing myself to think about anything else. But it always made it's way back to one sole thought.

The team had to be lying to me.

I mean, I know it's illogical to think like that. They'd never lie to me. Not over something this important. They know the cure means everything to me. What if one of them gets infected? How do we help them? I know Shiro said there were actually a lot of immune, but I really don't want to test this on the team. Shiro might be immune, he recovered from being sick, but we never got a chance to see if the bite healed. Keith kinda took care of that really fucking fast. Damn it, come on Lance they wouldn't lie to you over something so big. They all want a cure just as much as you.

Blue shifted next to me and stood, walking a few steps forward to lay back down with his head on my knee. He looked up at me with sad eyes, as if knowing the turmoil I was in. Sometimes, I feel like he can read my mind. With a gentle smile I ran my fingers through his mane and scratched behind his ear, relishing in his purr. Hey, at least someone was happy tonight. "I don't know, Blue.. I feel like the whole trip was a waste.. And it was all my fault too. If I hadn't gone and got that stupid fucking hat I wouldn't have gotten bitten, and we never would have found out I was immune. I wouldn't have gotten excited and we wouldn't have left camp and lost Matt for nothing."

Once again, it was like Blue understood me, and he growled disapprovingly while pawing at my side. Reassurance in any form is nice, even if it just came from a lion. But hey, this is probably the best of the bunch. Black's got nothing on him. Big mane aside he's just a 500 pound kitty. Blue kicks ass at everything. Hell he's better t telling me I'm okay than most of the humans in my group. You know, that actually can understand me. For sure at least, I can't tell if he knows English. Dude that'd be so cool, a talking lion. Blue'd be renamed Aslan, like that lion from Narnia? I think that was his name.

As I was lost in these absurd thoughts, I barely noticed the footsteps behind me. It wasn't until someone flopped down beside me that i had any idea they were near me. I jumped slightly in surprise, but relaxed quickly after seeing a familiar face. Hunk had crossed his legs when he sat down, and he leaned forward to run a hand through Blues mane. Other than that, we stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying each others presence. It wasn't until Pidge repositioned herself in her sleep did Hunk speak up softly.

"Hey," he began, brown eyes still locked to the horizon. "how're you doin'?.. I know I asked earlier, but you've been really distant with everyone since we all got back from the university. You've been mopey, too. Ignoring Keith too even.. Is there anything you want to talk about?.."

I kept quiet. I knew I was supposed to answer, but I just couldn't do it. How could I ever think they would lie to me? That Hunk would lie to me? It's selfish to think like that, I can't keep pushing my problems onto other people just because I'm too weak to handle them.

Hunk though, the beautiful bastard, didn't to seem to expect me to talk. He continued for me, obviously giving me time to piece my own response together. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without him.

"You know I genuinely worry about you right? Not just because you're struggling right now, or because you're immune. You're still Lance to me. That little gapped toothed boy from Veradero Cuba?" He paused to chuckle before continuing, a bright smile on his face. "You had the weirdest blonde hair when I met you on that trip. All patchy in areas with dark brown in others."