𝟙 𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕌𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕝 ℕ𝕠𝕨

❅ day 10- ten lords a-leaping ❅

     The sound of a quiet knock came from the front porch where Lance stood, hands behind his straightened back and lips pressed together. He rocked from side to side like he was on some kind of invisible seesaw that yanked at his nerves, pulling them to opposite sides of the globe.

     Shiro looked up from the book he was reading at the dining room table, and bookmarked his place, placing his finger in between his current page and the next. Walking over to the door, the kitchen tiles cold against his toes. The freezing temperatures that the winter snows brought in from outdoors seemed to seep through the walls and the floor and all the man could think was, it is really time to get a space heater.

     Lance saw the man look at him through the small, rectangular windows on each side of the door and winced, hoping he wouldn't simply ignore his existence. Although, it did cross his mind that there was no reason for Shiro to refuse him, to act like his white puffer coat somehow made him blend in with the snow. Except maybe showing up at his house for like, the second time and interrupting his whole afternoon when he was probably sleepi— he was telling himself, just as Shiro opened the door with a warm smile that sent a shiver down the boy's spine considering he was so cold.

     "Hey," Shiro looked down at Lance's shivering hands, "Oh my gosh, you're freezing. Come in, come in." A father figure, per usual, not wanting another one of his boys to suffer from the possibility of hypothermia seeping beneath their skin.

      "Th—Thanks," Lance said through chattering teeth. He walked through the front door, and felt a little warmer, even though inside was only about 10 degrees hotter than outdoors. The rubbing of his fingers between the cashmere of his mittens definitely did help, though. The coat stayed on his body as he passed the coat rack at the end of the hallway and followed Shiro to the dining room table to take a seat.

      The taller man walked over to the cabinets in the kitchen, and Lance could see his arms shake as he pulled out a packet of hot chocolate powder and a bag of marshmallows. He winced, seeing Shiro gasp in pain for less than half a second, but he knew that the pain was a demon that'd linger much longer than a mere second. It would follow him, creep within his shadow, walk along sidewalks with him, bartend with him. Everywhere, doing everything.

     "You want any hot chocolate?"

     "Sure. Hey, how are you feeling, though?" Lance asked, trying not to sound pitiful for Shiro's disease but ultimately failing. "Is there anything I can get you or do?"

     But Shiro didn't take it as pity. Only as a person who saw an opportunity to help and asked if they could act on it. "I'm fine, buddy. Don't worry about me. I'm doing pretty good these days actually. Little pains like that, nothing I can't handle," he said over the rush of water from the faucet filling a pot of water to be boiled for two cups of soothing warmth. "What about you? I mean, shouldn't you be in school right now? Unless you're one of those super smarty pants seniors who only takes like, 4 classes a day."

     "Yeah," he laughed, "Yeah, I'm one of those smarty pants seniors. But school's out for the break, remember?"

      Shiro placed the pot of boiling water on the stove with a clank and leaned on the counter, eyeing Lance as the boy sat there staring out the window while his leg shook as if it were about to take flight. He heard the boy's fingers tap against the glass of the circular, table; the sounding ringing throughout the room and pulled out the seat in front of him. The legs scraped against the floor with a nasty sound that would make you squeamish and your teeth taste like copper. "Yeah... my bad. I'm still waking up."

      "Lance, why are you here? Not that I don't love my little brother's... whatever you are to him I guess, dropping by. But you seem like something's up." He shrugged, sitting in the metal chair backward, leaning on it. "So, go ahead and tell me. I wanna help."