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Waking up was never really a favorite thing for Lance since leaving earth. He never knows what sort of emergency is going to wake him every morning, never knows if he’s going to wake up and learn he was dead again. All he knows for certain is his least favorite way to wake up is in pain.
Which of course is how he’s waking up now.
His head hurts, a painful stabbing throb that only seems to intensify as he tries to breathe and takes in a strong, sickeningly sweet smell. Groaning he blinks his eyes open, letting out a pained noise and slamming them shut again at the bright flashing of lights. Yup, another bad wake up.
It takes a while for him to get his eyes open with the bright flashing and not recoil. He looks at his surroundings, unsurprised to find himself inside of Red’s cockpit, the seat belt digging into his shoulders at the awkward angle of his landing. It’s obvious with his position, the flashing lights, and the darkness outside his window that he has crashed somewhere. He moves to unhook his belt, nearly falling as it releases him.
Stumbling carefully, he rights himself and looks around, arms instinctually wrapping around himself as he tries to remember how he got in this position. “Okay McClain, this isn’t your first rodeo, probably won’t be your last, so what caused this one… and why is it so quiznacking cold?”
His memory comes slow as he tries to shut down the flashing alerts in his lion unsuccessfully. They were headed for a planet that had trace signals of energy the lions could use to recharge when a ship appeared out of nowhere and attacked them. Lance had gotten hit hard with a strong blast that sent him spinning through space until he hit the gravity of a nearby planet and got pulled in. He remembers the initial hit, the way it sent Red flying. The way he screamed out as-
As Shiro went flying across the cockpit from the impact.
“SHIRO!”
Lance can’t scramble from his chair fast enough, nearly falling at the angle the floor is in as he pushes forward. Shiro has to be in the lower corner, gravity and all, so that cuts out a lot of unnecessary places to search. He moves carefully through the mess, moving boxes out of the way as he calls out. “Shiro? Where are you? Can you hear me?”
A sound cuts through his calls and Lance jerks around to look near the door. He sees a lump there in the corner, barely moving underneath the clutter covering it. He rushes over to it, flinging blankets and trinkets out of the way to reveal the bleeding face of the previous black paladin. Lance barely resists the urge to shake Shiro as he pulls him from the mess and flips him over to assess the damage. His head is busted open, blood trickling from it in a thick glob, a good sign for a head injury since its not bleeding profusely Lance won’t have to try to give him stitches.
Dark eyes flutter and look up at Lance, and he swears they look almost pink in the flashing lights of the crashed lion. Lance pushes back, letting out a breath of relief as he moves to search for his first aid kit, stopping when he feels a pull on his arm. He looks down, following the line of Shiro’s arm to his body and up at his face again. Shiro looks almost panicked, clinging to Lance’s wrist in a tight grip. “Don’t go.”
A frown pulls on Lance’s lips, this isn’t Shiro-like behavior. He thinks to himself, shifting so Shiro’s hand moves down into Lance’s own and he grips his fingers tightly. Maybe the whole death thing affected him way more than he’s letting on, after all. With a strong pull, he rights Shiro on his feet and gives him a reassuring smile, lacing their fingers together in what he hopes is as reassuring of a gesture for Shiro as it is himself. “I’m here, Shiro. I’m not going to leave you. Let's go find the first aid kit and get you all patched up.”
The look on Shiro’s face is one of confusion and wonder, but he looks from their joined hands up to Lance and nods silently. Satisfied, Lance leads him through to the back of the Lion where all of his possessions are scattered everywhere. Lance is suddenly extremely thankful that Kalternecker is in the yellow lion with Hunk as he looks at the piles of shattered crates. Sighing loudly he moves over to the large stack closest to where he first aid kit originally was and starts digging one handed.
The search takes way longer than it should, what with Shiro refusing to give Lance his other hand, and using his own hand. It gets to the point where Lance is struggling to get anything moved and has to say something, turning to Look at Shiro he gives what he hopes is a comforting smile. “Hey Shiro, I’m not going to leave you alone, so can I possibly have my other hand so I can look a little easier and we can get out of these flashing lights?”
Shiro frowns at Lance, mouth opening as if to speak before he shuts it wordlessly and pulls his hand from Lance’s. Satisfied, Lance turns back to start digging. He gets one large board lifted when he feels a warm press against his hip. He startles a little, looking down to see Shiro’s hand pressed against his under armor. Shiro looks anywhere but at him, so Shiro accepts he just needs contact to feel reassured, and goes back to his searching, making sure not to move too far from Shiro at once so he can keep the contact he needs to feel better.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Lance finds the bandages and turns to face Shiro. “Hey big man, let's get you all patched up then we’ll work on setting up a S.O.S signal so we can get out of here, yeah?”
“Yeah, that… that sounds good.” Shiro nods slowly, looking confused up at Lance as he leans over him with antibiotics spray. “Does it smell weird in here?”
“It smells super sweet, yeah.” Lance carefully aims the spray to remove any germs before he starts working a bandage onto Shiro’s forehead. “I think the crash opened up a crack in Red somewhere and the air from outside is getting in. I’m sorry I don’t have a helmet for you, but we can tie some fabric over your face to make it a little bit easier to handle if you want?”
“I… yeah… yeah I think I need that, it… I don’t feel right.” Shiro lets go of Lance’s hip only long enough for him to get a shirt and bring it back to tie carefully over Shiro’s nose and mouth, tucking it into his armor to try and form a shield. “Thank you, Lance.”
Immediately after the makeshift mask is placed over Shiro’s face, his hand returns to Lance’s, fingers Lacing together tightly. The warmth of Shiro’s hand in his leaves Lance feeling an almost giddy fuzziness he has to tamp down, clearly his childhood crush isn’t so over as he thought. Ignoring the feeling he decides its better to get them somewhere safe, hopefully farther away from this smell, whatever it is.
Lance moves to the panel on the wall and pushes it open, grabbing the emergency signal from inside of it and heading towards the door. He tucks the signal into the pouch at Shiro’s waist and together they exit the crashed lion. The smell hits them like a wall as they walk through a cloud of pink pollen that floats as if it has a life of its own around Red’s paws. Breathing it in leaves Lance feeling cold deep inside his chest, and he wonders if the crash didn’t also damage his armor. He looks back over his shoulder, checking on Shiro who looks dazed as he follows Lance’s pull.
God I hope this isn’t poison. Lance thinks as he moves a little faster, hoping the cloud will dissipate soon and they’ll be able to find somewhere safe from the strong scent to rest until the others come and find them.
It takes no time at all, and yet way too long all at once before they find their way out of the thick cloud into a forest of pink flowered trees that remind Lance of Cherry blossoms in the spring. The scent becomes a lot more tolerable as they move further from the cloud of pollen and after a few minutes they stop to survey the area. Trees surround them on every side and they can’t see much of anything except a large mountain in the distance.
“Lets head for that mountain.” Lance supplies pointing to it. “Hopefully there we will be higher than these trees so we can breathe easier, and we can set up the S.O.S. so the others will be able to find us.”
“That’s a good plan, Lance.” Shiro affirms, moving to walk next to Lance now that it’s a little easier to breathe and move around. They move quickly, but without releasing each other’s hold, weaving through the trees in the quickest path towards the massive mountain. When they finally emerge on the other side it’s well past dark outside, and they can barely see the cloud of pollen and smoke where Red rests amongst the trees.
“It looks like there’s a path going up the side here.” Lance supplies, pointing to a well worn trail along the rocks. “Seems the best route to go.”
“Huh?” Shiro blinks, looking from Lance over to the path, then back to Lance again as if he didn’t even take in the words supplied to him. “Sure, whatever you say.”
“Yeahhhhh lets just get you as far away from these trees as we can. Hopefully some fresh air will help with… whatever is going on.” Lance quickens his pace, pulling Shiro along up the steep mountain trail. It’s exhausting and takes forever, each step higher making it harder to breathe and Lance feels like his lungs are frozen by the time they come across a cave. “Oh thank quiznak.”
“You look tired, we can rest in there.” Shiro states as if it wasn’t the obvious plan, and before Lance can argue he’s scooped him up into his arms and started walking into the cave.
“My legs work Shiro!!” Lance argues, even as he clings to the other man. He may be affronted by the action but he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s a shame everything smells like that horrid pink pollen or Lance would take the time to enjoy the scent that is all Shiro that he rarely gets the chance to partake of.
Shiro walks for a small amount of time through the cave system, and as they go it steadily gets warmer. The warmth feels nice, and Lance hopes its safe for them to sleep close to it, because he really doesn’t want to sleep in the cold of the mountain air outside, let alone the horrid oppressive pollen.
Their journey ends when Shiro stops walking and lets out an awed noise. Too curious not to look, Lance turns to take in the scenery. The cave has widened out substantially, most of the space taken up by a small lake, steam pools up from the lake leaving Lance to believe it might in fact be a hot spring. Across from them on the wall is an outcropping that looks to be the perfect safe for them to rest for the night. “This is perfect, we can wash our clothes and get this pollen off ourselves, then sleep over there where hopefully no wildlife can get to us without us knowing from the splash of the water.”
“That’s a great idea, Lance.” Shiro’s praise leaves Lance feeling warm in the cheeks and he quickly pushes away from the other man, pulling the signal out of his pouch.
“I’ll go set up the S.O.S. for the others, I’ll be right back.” Before Lance can even turn to go he feels Shiro’s hand grabbing his wrist with an urgency he’s not felt outside of battle. “Shiro?”
“Don’t go.” Shiro’s face flushes, and he quickly looks away, obviously embarrassed by his slip up of words. “Alone, I mean. Don’t go alone. It could be dangerous. We’ll go together and then wash up.”
“Okay Shiro. We’ll stay together.” Lance worries about the reactions Shiro’s having to the pollen, and wants to quickly wash it off of him, so he takes Shiro’s hand again and hurries the two of them back outside to the side of the mountain. It takes a bit longer than Lance would like to set up the signal and turn it on with one hand, but there was no way he was going to let Shiro go and send him into another pollen-induced panic, so instead he worked with what he had. Once it started flashing and beeping lightly he gave a satisfied smile and turned back to Shiro. “Lets go check that the water is safe and get washed up, okay?”
Nodding, Shiro follows, looking almost meek as Lance pulls him back to their campsite. Lance hates it, he hopes whatever effects Shiro is going through will leave with the warmth of the water. Shiro uses his sensors to check the water, confirming it’s safe for them and actually has nutrients that are beneficial to the skin, which Lance is very excited about.
Once undressed, the two scrub the pollen from their armor and set it to dry before climbing fully in themselves. The water is hot, almost bordering too hot as it tingles against their skin leaving Lance missing the luxuries of earth once again. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s not getting any warmer.
It’s almost like he’s frozen from the inside out. The heat from the water makes the cold even more noticeable. Maybe that pollen was more poisonous than their scanners let on. He glances over at Shiro, noticing him curled in on himself with his arm wrapped around his legs. He looks like he’s shivering.
“Are you okay?” Lance moves closer, reaching his hand out to touch Shiro’s shoulder. The moment their skin connects its like a jolt of warmth running through them, filled with the endorphins of a good bubble bath, and immediately leaving Lance feeling relaxed and warm.
Eyes going wide, Shiro looks up and over at Lance, grabbing his wrist when Lance starts to pull away. “You feel it too, right?”
Lance contemplates lying, his heart beating hard from the look Shiro is giving him. One of intensity, and fear. Shiro should never look scared. Nodding, Lance moves closer, nudging Shiro’s legs apart to cuddle in between them pressing his back to Shiro’s chest. The reaction is immediate, all the feelings of wrongness and discomfort from the day melt away like it was never there, and Lance feels a sense of peace he hasn’t experienced since he joined the Garrison so many years ago.
A long sigh comes from over his head and Lance can feel Shiro relaxing, his chest growing less tense as his arm drapes over Lance’s shoulder. They end up sitting this way, with Shiro’s cheek resting against Lance’s head, for a long time. Their breathing synched as they sit soaking in the warmth of the water and each other’s touch until their fingers have pruned up and a fuzziness starts to settle in their heads signifying they really need to get out for their own health.
They move to the little island, bringing their stuff over where it will be safe before climbing out. Thankful for the quick drying capacity of their undersuit, they pull them back on and sit across from each other to eat some rations. The rations are somehow dry and slimy at the same time, and Lance never thought he would miss space goo as much as he does at this moment. It wasn’t too bad when it was warmed up, after all.
“Lance, has anyone ever told you how expressive you are?” The words bring a deep plush to Lance’s cheeks as he looks up at Shiro with wide eyes. The other man sits, elbow on his knee with his chin propped in his hand, rations forgotten as he intently watches the other paladin. “It's one of my favorite pastimes here in space to watch you when you don’t realize you’re being watched.”
“Y-ah wha?” Lance fumbles with words before clearing his throat and licking his lips. “You watch me?”
“Yeah,” Shiro gives a small, soft smile that has Lance’s heart skipping a beat. “All the time. I like to think I've started figuring out all your different faces. Like right now, you look disappointed in those rations, like you would rather be chewing on a shoe. You also look cold, and worried.”
A warmth fills Lance at the thought that Shiro can actually read him so well. He smiles and gives a small nod. “Yeah, these rations are terrible, I miss Hunk’s cooking… as for the cold, it would be less cold if you were still holding me.”
He tries to play off his feelings as a joke, shooting a wink and finger guns in an attempt to get the usual exasperated smile and shake of the head from Shiro that gets him to drop the subject and move on to something else.
What he doesn’t expect is for Shiro to stand up and move over behind him, settling to sit behind him like they were in the water and wrapping an arm around his waist, chin on Lance’s shoulder, and letting out a long, relaxed sigh. Lance freezes up, back stiff and eyes wide. He feels substantially warmer, and that feeling in his chest immediately starts to fade, but… Shiro is… well maybe for the night he can enjoy this, and when the others come and they’re better from the pollen he can play it off as a reaction to the poisoning.
Yeah, for now he’ll just enjoy himself. Tomorrow is a future Lance problem.
A loud yawn in his ear breaks off his musing and Lance chuckles, patting Shiro’s arm around his waist playfully. “Sounds like you’ve had a long day, big man. How about we lay down and sleep? The others will find us and we’re safe here.”
Shiro mumbles something into Lance’s neck that makes him shiver. The warmth of the words against his sensitive flesh is something that will live in his mind rent free for a long time after this.
“Can’t understand you in there, sleepyhead.” Lance teases, startling when instead of getting a clearer answer he feels himself pulled down into laying on his side, Shiro’s arm still tightly wrapped around him.
“Sleep with me like this.” Shiro whispers against the back of his neck before nosing into the top of Lance’s spine. “It’s comforting.”
And Lance can do nothing but agree, feeling the weight of the day pull on him, he lets himself feel relaxed by the comforting touch and drift off into sleep. Taking in the lingering sweet scent of the pollen and underneath a smell that is wholly and distinctly Shiro.
”Lance!”
Shiro jerks up, flashes of his dreams lingering in his mind, of reaching out and unable to reach as Lance gets hit with a wave of radiation and his heartbeat starts to slow. Nightmares of this day have haunted Shiro since it happened, back when he was stuck in the subconscious of the black lion and couldn’t reach out and grab someone so important to him that needed help so much.
Someone Shiro needed so much.
If only he had realized how important Lance had become to him before he had died. He feels himself shaking, tears burning at his eyes as his breath stutters and clogs in his throat. He can’t breathe, can’t lose Lance. His chest starts to burn and he feels cold, so cold, like he had then when he was nothing but a spirit inside a machine.
Always cold.
Cold like the dead.
Because he’s dead.
Just as he feels himself slipping into darkness something pulls him out, a warmth that blooms against his cheek. It takes Shiro a few minutes to blink his eyes into focus and push away the nightmares. When he comes to his vision is filled with concerned purple eyes.
Wait, purple?
Shiro blinks a few more times, focusing on the face attached to the eyes. Eyes that should be an oceanic blue, like looking at the sky on a warm spring day and picking out shapes in the clouds surrounding it. But they’re not, they’re off. The entirety of his eyes are off. They’re pink
Frowning, Lance reaches up, running his thumb under Lance’s eye, not even registering the words the other is saying as he focuses in on the wrong. “Is this a dream?”
A laugh comes from the other man, and instead of answering Lance grabs at his cheek and pulls, causing Shiro to yelp and pull away. With a soft smile, Lance looks him over, holding his hand up still in a pinching gesture. “Looks like you’re awake to me. Are you okay? You had a bad nightmare.”
At the mention of nightmares, memories flash back into Shiro’s mind of seeing Lance’s lifeless body through the cameras of the Black lion draped in Allura’s arms. His breath is shaky as he looks down at his own hand. “I had a dream.”
“You wanna talk about it?” Lance offers, his hand moving to wrap around Shiro, pulling him back down into laying. “Sometimes talking helps.”
“It was about death.” Shiro knows his voice is small as he says it, and feels the way Lance stiffens up at the dreadful word both of them have experienced. Death.
“Death is a scary thing.” Lance finally says, scooting in closer to wrap Shiro tightly in his arms, his hand moves up instinctually to start running through Shiro’s hair as he pulls the larger man’s head onto his chest. “It takes, and causes so much pain. It scars and traumatizes, especially people who survive it. People like you.”
People like you. Shiro repeats in his head, clinging tightly around Lance’s waist as he buries his nose into his chest. It smells unnaturally sweet, and makes Shro wanna sneeze, but underneath that is the smell he had been craving for longer than he wants to admit. The smell that is comforting and soft, like oceans and sand. A candle scent that’s simply labeled ‘Lance’.
“You’re okay, Shiro.” Lance has been repeating the words into Shiro’s hair as he lost himself in his own thoughts again. When he pulls back out he hears it again, a few more times repeated as those soothing hands move through his hair, another pressed tightly to his back. “It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re alive and here with me. We’re here and alive together and we’re going to get home to Earth together, alive and well.”
The touch is comforting, warm. It reminds him of when he was in a relationship last, back on Earth, and how much he missed it. Shiro used to be a very affectionate person, he loved touching and being touched in return.
He hasn’t been touched like this in a very long time… and god did he miss it.
Maybe it’s okay to indulge once in a while. He thinks to himself, relaxing and nosing into the warm chest underneath him. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to have something like this… maybe with Lance.
With thoughts of the future that could be in his head, Shiro lets himself drift back off to sleep. Hoping his dreams will be a lot more sweet now that he has Lance alive and in his arms. Safe, and with him.
“-nce.” The grip around his waist, once comforting, now squeezes painfully and Lance barely resists yelping as he hears his voice whispered urgently in his ear. “Lance wake up, we’re not alone.”
Immediately Lance freezes, eyes going alert as he looks carefully around Shiro to the gathering of alien creatures in the cave behind them. They’re tall and willowy, wearing thin clothing that waves in the wind and with near translucent skin that looks to almost glow pink in what little morning light comes through into the cave. They’re looking about the cave in groups of two, hands clasped between them, and carrying on a conversation Lance can’t understand.
As carefully as possible, so as not to draw attention to himself, Lance reaches for his armor, grabbing his translator chip from his helmet and attaching it behind his ear, then pushing the button to turn it on. It takes a few moments for the chip to focus, but when it finally does the aliens' words start to come through clearly.
“Perhaps we were wrong and their kind is not affected by the pull.” One alien said, as another nearly cuts them off with a reply.
“We scanned the other creatures when they arrived at our village an we confirmed it would affect them. It is obvious that-”
“Other creatures?” Lance speaks up, hope filling his chest as he pushes up into sitting while all of the aliens turn their large, frog-like eyes to him. “You mean other creatures like me? Where are they?”
One of the couples steps forward, nearly touching the water that stands between them and the one on the left gives a soft smile. “You are Paladin Lance and Paladin Shirogane, correct?”
“That is correct, and you are?” Shiro finally sits up, putting on his ‘leader face’ and pushing to his feet to properly greet the creatures across from them.
“We are Pula and Sanu of the Faru tribe. Creatures that call themselves Paladins came to our village last night and said the loud crash we heard was creatures like them, and asked for a guide into the forest to retrieve you.” The same alien says with a small bow as they explain.
As if connected in thought, the alien holding the first one’s hand continues. “We informed them of the dangers of the pollen in our forest to those who are not bound, and promised an immediate search party to find you. We are pleased to find you unharmed and of mind.”
“Will you come with us back to our home to wash yourself of the pollen and return to your worried Paladin friends?”
“We have another group working to get your strange ship back and cleaned safely.”
The back and forth of the two talking makes Lance’s head hurt, but he gets the gyst of it, his assumption was correct and there is something wrong with the pollen. He just hopes its not too late. Gathering up their stuff they move back across the water, putting their armor back on fully and turning to the two who seem to be the leaders of the expedition.
“Thank you for coming to get us, we are ready when you are.”
The aliens look nervous for a second to each other, then back to Lance and Shiro. With no care for personal boundaries one moves forward and studies Lance’s face with squinting eyes. Lance barely resists the urge to back away, biting his cheek to keep from a snide remark. Finally, the alien pulls back and looks at it’s partner with an affirming nod.
“We believe that it will be easier for you if you hold hands.”
Confused, Lance looks from one alien to the other, then across to another couple, before it registers in his mind that they are all still holding hands themselves. Maybe its to keep track of each other from the pollen. Before Lance can question it, he feels warm fingers melding in with his own, and a warmth seems to beat up his arm as he smiles over at Shiro.
“Better to do what they say, right?” Shiro asks, his cheeks pink.
Lance can feel himself blushing too, this really is an embarrassing situation after all.
It takes them all of about five minutes before curiosity gets the better of him, and Lance asks the question that’s been driving him nuts since he awoke to the aliens. “What’s the pull?”
Pula and Sanu stop for a moment, looking over at them, one looks nervous while the other smiles excitedly. The excited one speaks first. “The fated pull, of course.”
“It’s an effect caused by the pollen of the forest of fate. When the pollen makes contact with your system you gain an uncontrollable need to find your soul’s partner.”
“Soul’s… partner?” Shiro frowns, not quite understanding what they mean before Lance speaks up in almost a high pitched squeak.
“Soulmate?!”
“That’s right!” The excited one points with their free hand, bouncing in excitement as they speak. “The pollen triggers that part of you giving an uncontrollable need for your soul to be whole.”
“Our people use the forest as a confirmation before we mate, as we are a people who mate for life. We will go into the forest as a couple and if we feel a pull away from each other we know that we are not meant to be.” The other supplies while giving a soft smile at their excited counterpart.
“What does this pull entail exactly?” Lance nervously asks around a thick lump in his throat.
“Restlessness, a cold that doesn’t want to go away, it feels almost painful like you have been holding the frost of the north for too long until you touch your fated partner. The connection of partners that are of one soul are able to dull the symptoms enough to keep yourself right until the pollen can be removed, or work its way out of your system.” They hold their joined hands up to signify what they mean as they say it.
“Fated partner?” The words are said in unison as both men stop, eyes going wide as their hands fly apart. Immediately Lance feels like he’s getting frostbite on his fingers, the stinging nearing unbearable. It’s clear Shiro must feel the same way as their hands quickly find their way into each other’s again.
“Yes!” The excited alien explains, ushering them forward again towards a gathering of tent like homes in the distance. “Only your fated partner can soothe the effects of the pollen.”
“So you’re saying that Shiro is my-”
“Lance!”
“Shiro!” Before Lance can finish the question that has been burning in his head, their words are cut short by the shouts of the other Paladins. Lance looks towards the town, smile pulling on his lips as he sees his friends rushing towards him. Only falling when a group of aliens stand between them and the rest of the paladins.
“I am sorry to interrupt your reunion but if you come into contact with the pollen you may be driven to great pains. Please wait until your returned paladin friends can wash all remnants of fate off of them to properly embrace.” An older alien states, and though they look upset by it, the group stands back, watching them nervously. “Do lead the paladin to the cleaning areas so they may reunite with their friends safely soon.”
“Yes leader!” Pula and Sanu say at the same time before turning to Lance and Shiro.
“Follow us, we had a cleansing tent set up for you the moment we learned of life within the crash.” The two turn and lead the way through the town to a massive tent. They stop outside and wave their arm for the entrance. “There is spare clothing set inside. Set your clothing in the baskets and we will have them cleansed quickly along with your strange ship.”
“Make sure to clean every part of yourself with the green soap! It’s what takes away the effects of the pollen quickest!”
Before either can answer, the aliens have turned and left them, Lance looks at their backs as they scurry away, then over to Shiro again. They stand in silence for a moment before Lance lets out a nervous chuckle and pushes through the tent entry way into the open baths. He looks in awe at the massive set up, it looks almost natural if not for the drains and knobs around to control it.
“Now this is a bathroom.” Lance whistles, looking about for a moment before he stops and turns awkwardly to look at Shiro. “Guess we should get in there, huh?”
“Yeah…” Shiro sounds off, but Lance chalks it up to being overwhelmed by the information, wanting a few more moments of bliss before rejection settles in.
Because there is no way Shiro is his soulmate.
Their hands pull apart and they slowly remove all their armor, settling them in the baskets as instructed. Lance works to help Shiro with some clasps he has trouble getting with just the one hand and finally gets the nerves up to speak. “So… Fated forest, huh? We would land in some place wild like that.”
Shiro doesn’t answer, and Lance feels the sting of rejection as he finishes helping him. Once Shiro is to a state that he can care for himself Lance pulls away and heads for the water, the quicker this is over with the quicker they can get back to normal. Maybe the magic green soap can wash away the pain of an oncoming heart break, too.
“I’m sure it’s just some weird allergic reaction to the pollen and once we’re all clean we can get back to normal and you can go back to-”
“I don’t want to go back.” Shiro’s arm wraps around Lance’s waist, startling him, and he feels the press of Shiro’s forehead against the back of his neck. Moisture drips against his back that Lance wants to blame on the water, but they’re only about knee deep into it right now. “I don’t want to go back to that, Lance.”
“Wh-what?” Lance stutters out, completely frozen in place as warmth fills him from Shiro’s touch. His heart feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest as he focuses on the words being said into his back. “You want to stay here?”
Shiro gives an exasperated groan and, before Lance knows it, he’s face to face with a very determined paladin. “No, Lance. I don’t want to go back to pretending. This… I want this to be true, Lance. I don’t want to hide my feelings anymore.”
“Your feelings?” Lance knows his cheeks are a deep red as he looks into Shiro’s serious face. He’s not joking. Holy quiznak he’s not joking. “Pretending?”
‘“Yes, Lance. I want this to be true. I want to be with you… by your side for the rest of your lives. Without hiding my feelings away this time.” Shiro shifts, moving his hand up to cup Lance’s cheek, finger brushing over it as Lance leans into the touch. “The thought of being your soulmate is the greatest thing I’ve heard since I left earth for Kerberos. I love you, Lance. I have for a while now… and I would love it if you actually did feel the same way.”
Tears stream down Lance’s cheeks and he scrubs them away before looking up into slightly-pink eyes. He laughs and Shiro looks confused for a moment before the words escape him. “You were my bi awakening, Shiro. You, the great Takashi Shirogane, golden boy of the Galaxy Garrison. You’re cute, funny, caring, and oh so hot. I’ve had the biggest crush on you from the moment you came to my school recruiting cadets.”
Shiro chuckles, leaning in closer until their foreheads press together. “Is that right?”
“Yup.” Lance pops the P, leaning ever closer.
“Then you won’t mind if I do this?” Shiro asks just as their lips connect. The kiss is soft and chaste. It lingers, lips touching softly as if Shiro is scared to move in for more, or away to break the moment. It’s everything Lance has ever wanted in a kiss. He feels like his heart is going to burst from his chest with the way it beats as he clings to Shiro and presses another kiss to his lips in return.
They kiss for a few minutes before Shiro pulls away, smiling affectionately down at him. Lance grins as he replies to the earlier question. “The only part of that I minded is that you stopped.”
A bark of laughter escapes from Shiro and he grins down at Lance, pulling him closer until they’re standing chest to chest. “Then I guess I’ll just have to do it more often, my fated partner.”
The words are followed by another soft, loving kiss before Shiro pulls away, leading Lance by his hand properly into the water to wash the pollen away. The green soap smells of peppermint and pine and Lance wonders what it’s made of. They help each other wash, making sure to get every part off until their eyes are clear of pink influence.
Then they settle against each other and relax. They cuddle content, letting the water warm them before they have to go out and face the universe again.
“Hey Shiro?”
“Yes, Lance?” Shiro sounds tired, and Lance wonders how much sleep the older paladin actually gets.
“I like this.” He replies, even as he turns to press a soft kiss to Shiro’s slightly stubbled jawline.
A smile pulls at the skin under Lance’s lips as Shiro speaks. “Me too.”
“I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen, either.” Lance says the words with as much confidence as he has inside, which currently is none, and he hopes it comes through okay.
“Good,” Shiro’s hand tightens on his waist as he speaks. “Because I have no intention of ever letting you go, again. You’re going to have to fly us to earth while sitting in my lap from now on. Constant contact, you and me, we’re never going to be apart again.”
“Not even when we use the bathroom?” lance jokes, and shiro laughs along with him.
“Okay, maybe not constant contact but I would love to be able to touch you whenever I want.” Shiro emphasizes the words with a soft caress of his fingers along Lance’s side.
Leaning back into Shiro’s chest, Lance goes back to awkwardly nosing into his neck. “Sounds like we’re on the same page then.”
The silence lasts for only a moment before Shiro breaks it. “Hey Lance?”
“Hmm?” Lance simply hums a reply, sinking lower into the water to enjoy the comfort of it’s caress along with Shiro’s.
“Since we’re fated partners, do I have to wait to call you my life partner?” The words sound nervous, and it takes Lance a moment to figure out what’s being asked of him. When he does he turns to properly look Shiro in the eye.
“Are you asking me to marry you when we haven’t even gone on a first date?”
Shiro fidgets under the question, looking anywhere but at Lance as he replies. “I mean not in those exact words but…”
“You’ll just have to wait for my answer, golden boy. You gotta get my family’s approval if you’re expected to be a part of it.” Lance’s reply is emphasized with a poke to the chest that draws Shiro’s eyes back to him.
“Your family’s…” Shiro looks wide eyed at Lance, who smiles and kisses his nose.
“It’s a good thing they approve of anyone that makes me happy, and I'm definitely the happiest I’ve been in a long time sitting here with you.”
Shiro smiles, pulling Lance down for another soft kiss. When they pull away he looks up at him and feels his heart swell. “So… partner?”
“I prefer boyfriend.” Lance hums, standing up with a small fight from Shiro who wants him to stay in his lap longer, and keep the moment going “Come on boyfriend, lets go tell our friends about our change in relationship status.”
“You make it sound like a website status update.” Shiro huffs, finally letting Lance pull him to his feet and out of the water.
Lance laughs as he starts to dry off. “Lance McClain has updated his relationship status to “fated partner acquired”
Shiro laughs too, leaning in to kiss Lance on the cheek one more time before he starts to dry off properly. “Takashi Shirogane reacts with a heart.”
They both laugh, pulling on the clothes the aliens left for them before stopping at the door and looking at each other again. Shiro smiles softly, taking Lance’s hand in his own once more. “Nervous?
The gesture seems to have the desired effect, and Lance smiles, squeezing his hand before he turns back to the entryway to the tent. “I can do anything, so long as I have you by my side.”
And they both know it’s true, as they walk through the doorway to the tent and out to greet their friends and return to the world of space and war and giant robot lions one thin rings certain between them. So long as they’re together, they’ll be okay.