The story of us (Shance Fluff Week 17/18)

(Like a telescope) I will pull you so close (2017 DAY 2: Sea/Stars)

All was quiet in the Castle of Lions.

It was an odd feeling, Shiro realised as he methodically checked the castle's many rooms and floors, not to hear at least a rumble of chatter from any one room. So far, he'd seen Pidge and Hunk huddled in one corner of Green's hangar, discussing codes and algorithms that he didn't understand but smiled at anyway. He'd just passed Keith in the training room, jokingly telling him to watch his footing as he went past, which earned him an eye roll and a cocky smirk from the Red Paladin. He'd even had a brief conversation with Coran in a darkened corridor full of holding pods before the Altean bustled off with his arms full of cleaning materials.

Shiro had just finished convincing an exhausted Allura to go and catch up on some sleep when something dawned on him; he hadn't seen Lance yet.
He was conflicted; he felt like he should have been scared, but he wasn't. Not really. Lance had spent a lot of time in the early stages of their relationship proving he could take care of himself, and as much as Shiro wanted him to protect him from the horrors of the universe, Lance was now a Paladin like the rest of them.

No, instead he was just worried. If it was one thing he knew about his boyfriend, it was Lance's addiction to social situations. Even after exhausting missions, he could usually be found at someone's side. Despite this, Shiro had seen everyone but him so far, and he'd reached the lowest sections of the castleship.
There was a lonely atmosphere here, not aided by the flickering lights, metallic footsteps, and an echo that seemed to stretch on forever when Shiro called out Lance's name only for it to return with silence.

He'd just started to run when he entered the lower observation deck. By now, the ships light was all but gone, and the room was only illuminated by the nebulae on the other side of the see-through walls. It was empty, and cold; Shiro noticed how his heavy breaths were curling past his eyes in white vapour. "Lance?" He called as he drew to a halt in the centre of the room.

"-Kashi? 'Sat you?" A small, slurred voice rose up from a seating indent near the window, and Shiro released the breath he didn't realise he was holding. He jogged over to the source of the voice, oxygen debt still attacking his lungs.

In front of him, Lance was sleepily curled up on one of the long benches, the young man looking small and childlike in the darkness. He was swaddled in blankets of so many colours that Shiro guessed he must have taken them from the others' rooms. As Shiro made moves to sit down next to him, he lethargically sat up, only to fall again onto Shiro's chest once the black paladin was sat.

"Your heart's goin' like a jackrabbit, Kashi," Lance murmured quietly. "You okay?"

Shiro smiled softly and wrapped an arm around where he assumed Lance's waist was. "I'm okay." He said, sighing lightly. "I panicked, but you're alright, so it's fine."

Lance averted his eyes from Shiro's face awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

"Don't apologise, you have every right to time on your own. I can leave if you'd like?"

Lance froze at that, shaking his head as much as he could in his position. "Stay. Please." His grin returned slightly. "You're a much better pillow than the bench is."

They sat in silence for a while after that, Lance dosing on Shiro's chest whilst Shiro rubbed small circles into Lance's waist through the blankets. The longer they remained there, the more Shiro understood why Lance chose here to hide; the view was spectacular. Outside the windows, space seemed to stretch on forever, a veil of inky black littered with diamond-like stars that twinkled in the dark. Sometimes, nebulae drifted past, lighting up the dimmed deck with shades of blue and purple, of yellow, green, and red. If he squinted, he could make out vibrant planets and moons that maybe, just maybe, they'd visit one day. Maybe once this war was over, and the Galra empire finally fell, they'd get to explore. He'd take Lance to every beach planet that Lance pretended he wasn't disappointed about when Coran said there wasn't any need to go. He'd take him to mountainous planets, to scale an alien north face with Altean bungee cords. They'd visit the brightest stars, meet aliens they never knew existed, and do everything they wanted to that war prevented them from doing, the things that made Lance's eyes light up in that particular way. It was a pipe-dream, but a pipe-dream that got them through, a pipe-dream that Lance would talk about in a hushed whisper when Shiro's nightmares tore at his mind and prevented any sort of rest.