Our Beating Hearts //KLANCE// Zombie AU

A Human Touch

Keith's breathing grew ragged as he held his injured shoulder in pain. He'd managed to survive the night without any proper medical attention, no doubt on Lotor's orders. He wasn't bleeding too badly but he could feel something out of place in his arm and it hurt like a bitch. His only solace from the pain was the view from the barred window across from his cell; through the dusty glass he could see the faint reflection of the full moon shining down into his cell from the night sky. The sight of the sky always calmed him; the moon, the stars, the mysteries of space. He used to lay awake in his room at night and gaze out of his window, imagining himself exploring the many wonders that awaited him in space. He can't do that any more, not since the world turned to shit. 

A series of footsteps echoed across the hall heading to Keith's cell. He tried to take up a defensive position and crouched with his guard up, waiting for the owner of the footsteps to reveal themselves. A flash of olive brown skin and a blue cotton shirt entered his vision as Lance stepped up to the cell holding a tray with medicine, gauze and other supplies. He offered the guarded boy a kind smile and Keith relaxed slightly. Keith believed himself to be a good judge of character; and he didn't feel any kind of negativity from Lance, nor had Lance given him any reason to hate the boy. However it did not mean that he trusted him either. 

"I figured we'd better fix you up while you're still conscious." Lance placed the tray on the ground and sat before it, waving Keith over. Keith hesitated and glared at Lance. Lance sighed grumpily at his failed attempt to make Keith come closer.
"Look either you come here or I go in there. What's it gonna be?" Lance raised his eyebrows expectantly. It confused Keith that Lance thought he would prefer the first option. He was clearly stronger than the Cuban boy and could easily knock him out while he opens the cell. 
"And before you start planning some stupid escape route that involves knocking me out, the door at the end of the hall is guarded 24/7, not to mention the numerous other people guarding the rest of the place. So I really wouldn't recommend trying to run away, especially with a busted shoulder."
Well there goes that plan. Keith sighed but did not attempt to move from his place in the back of the cell. Lance rolled his eyes and groaned as he raised himself off of the ground and picked up the metal tray. He then moved to the cell door and unlocked it using a pass code; thanks to Pidge and her genius they had managed to restore power to majority of the prison, including the electric cell doors. The door opened with a quick buzzing noise and Lance stepped inside, placing a hand on his hip as he looked to Keith expectantly. It took a few moments for Keith to relax, and once he slumped back into his earlier seated position the pain in his shoulder quickly returned. He wheezed in pain and clutched at his arm desperately, digging his nails into the skin of his forearm in an attempt to distract himself. 

Suddenly there was a warm feeling dusting over his fingers and his head snapped up to see Lance crouching down in front of him, an expression of concern and sadness in his sapphire eyes. Lance had placed his hand atop Keith's in an effort to soothe the boy. Keith hesitantly removed his nails from the skin on his arm, having left indents and marks that bled slightly. Lance bent down to the tray beside him and wrapped some gauze around the new marks. 
"We'll leave that for now. First I want to look at your shoulder." Lance gestured to Keith's clearly busted shoulder and the pale skinned boy glared darkly back at him. 
"Don't gimme that look! You want it to be like that forever?" Lance rolled his eyes and waited for confirmation from the other boy. Slowly Keith turned to give Lance better access to his shoulder, and averted his gaze to the floor. Lance quickly got to work, checking him over and seeing the extent of the damage. Once he had finished he nodded to himself and rolled his sleeves to his elbows.
"OK good news; it's only dislocated. Bad news; it's gonna hurt a hell of a lot to pop it back in." Lance stated nonchalantly. He picked up a cloth from the tray and gave it to Keith, before moving to place his hands gently on either side of Keith's shoulder. 
"Put this in your mouth and bite down. Alright, I'm gonna count to three, then I'm gonna pop it back in. Ready? One-" 
Lance moved his hands after the first count to place the bone back in it's socket, and Keith cried out in pain from the movement. The sound was muffled by the cloth in his mouth, but the look in his eyes clearly communicated the distress he had felt. After a few moments he removed the cloth and took control of his breathing, sending Lance the biggest death glare he could as soon as he felt the pain begin to ebb away. 

Lance didn't seem phased by the look in Keith's eyes as he placed the cloth back onto the tray and grabbed a small bottle of alcohol in its stead. Keith's eyes wandered to the items on the tray, an array of small utensils and bottles of liquid as well as bandages were scattered across it's surface. Keith was amazed by the sight of it all, he would have considered himself lucky to have been given a couple of pain killers at best. 
"We had a doctor among us at one point. They taught a few of us how to deal with different wounds and sicknesses and stuff like that." Lance smiled softly at the memory, and Keith assumed this doctor was no longer with them. Keith turned to see Lance dousing a small cloth in the alcohol and Keith grimaced at what was to come. 
"I need you to take off your shirt." He stated quickly. Keith could feel his face flush slightly but he removed the damaged piece of material from his torso, taking care not to hurt his shoulder too much. Once Lance had prepared what he needed, he turned back to face Keith and paused. The dark haired boy was well built and dark blotches of purple-black bruises were scattered across his otherwise pale chest. A slight warmth danced over the tips of his ears at the sight of the boy's toned chest, but he chose to ignore it and focus on the matter at hand. 

"This may sting a little." Lance glanced up into the eyes of the boy across from him and offered a small smile. Keith rolled his eyes and moved closer to the darker skinned boy, communicating to "just hurry up and get it over with". Lance steadily moved the cloth towards one of the wounds sitting across the left of Keith's pectoral muscles, and quickly removed it once he heard the hiss of pain escape the other boy's lips. 
"Sorry! Are you OK?" He asked with genuine worry. Keith clamped his eyes shut and nodded quickly, allowing Lance to continue. Lance ran his long fingers down Keith's chest and abdomen, feeling for any deeper injuries. His fingers were warm against Keith's pale skin, he hadn't realised that sleeping in a stone and metal cage with only a shirt on was making him cold. Keith held onto the lingering warmth that was left by Lance's fingers against his skin, relishing in the comfort it brought him. Once all of the open wounds were cleaned Lance then wrapped a length of gauze around the boy's chest. Keith could feel his cheeks flush slightly whenever the darker boy had to move himself closer to wrap his arms around Keith's back, eventually taping the end in place. 

"There you go. It's not the best but it'll keep you from bleeding out at least. Do you have any more injuries?" He asked with a kind smile. Keith slowly shook his head in reply, unable to look away from the gentle gleam in the other boy's eyes. Lance nodded and stood from his place, taking the tray in his hands and exiting through the cell door, locking it behind him. Lance moved to leave down the corridor but stopped abruptly. He brought his solemn gaze to Keith and offered him a sympathetic smile.
"Pidge told us about your brother. I'm really sorry you had to loose him like that." Lance spoke in barely a whisper. Keith's eyes suddenly clouded with sadness, but he shook the feeling away and reached out for the notebook that Pidge had given him. 

Don't apologise. I'm sure you've lost people too.

"Yeah I have. But it still isn't fair to you. I just wish I could do something to ease the pain." Lance's smile grew sad but he refused to let his lips turn downwards. Keith quickly scribbled onto his notepad and held it up for Lance to see, a tiny smile dancing over his lips.

You already have.