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Lance had hoped that getting into Blue and finally reaching the Castleship would help with the overwhelming feeling of being all too aware of everything that even existed through the earth, but sadly, as soon as his foot touched the surface of Blue’s metal ramp, he knew he was hoping in vain. Lance could feel the vibrations of his own footsteps through the metal, and the strange feeling sent blades of pain radiating through his already throbbing head.
All he wanted to do was fall into his bed and not wake up for twenty four hours, but he knew as soon as he stepped through the hangar doors at the Castle, he was going to be bombarded with his teammates' questions.
But Lance gave himself grace and let himself forget about that as a warm, comforting purr filled his senses, relaxing some tension that had been building in his shoulders.
Blue still wanted him.
Relief threatened to send him to his knees, partially from exhaustion, partially from the overwhelming assault on his senses. Blue seemed to know, which really wasn’t that surprising once Lance thought about it, and only sent him the steady sound of her purr and the warmth of her love and reassurance.
“Thanks, girl,” Lance breathed, too exhausted to give her much else. Again, Blue showed why she was the best Lion and only sent him warm feelings of comfort, prompting Lance to collapse into the pilot’s seat.
“Think you can get us home, amar ?” Lance said, patting his armrest as if she really were a house cat. Lance got his answer as Blue began her ascent out of the trees, lifting off and setting her course smoothly.
Lance closed his eyes, trusting Blue to keep him safe. He had a feeling that he was going to need all of his strength for the coming conversation.
As overwhelming as being on the actual planet and being able to feel literally everything, it was almost as disconcerting to suddenly be suspended in midair, only able to feel the metal of Blue beneath and around him. It was also relieving, to an extent, to not have so much feedback from so many places.
“ Lance ?” Hunk’s voice crackling through the comms on his dashboard snapped Lance back to attention.
“Yeah?” he murmured back sleepily, rubbing his eyes.
“ You owe me so many hugs for that shit you pulled today. ”
Lance huffed a laugh, even though he knew that Hunk was one hundred percent serious.
“I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem, querido ,” Lance said, before abruptly snapping back to attention as his own words, or rather word, registered to him. He tensed, waiting for Hunk’s response.
The silence stretched on and Lance began to feel like he had to throw up.
That is, until he heard Hunk sniff wetly.
“Hunk?” Lance asked, alarmed.
“ Sorry ,” Hunk said thickly, undoubtedly wiping away tears. “ You just really scared me, Lance. I couldn’t find you. ”
Lance’s own eyes were burning, thinking about how desperate Hunk must’ve been for him to be reacting this way.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Lance soothed, clearing his throat. “I’m okay.”
Hunk’s aborted hiccups and soft sniffles hung between them for a moment, and Lance wished more than anything that he could be with him to give him his promised hugs.
“ Yeah, ” Hunk said abruptly, trying to shake himself out of his tears. “ Yeah, you’re right. I still expect hugs, though. ”
Lance chuckled, “I still don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
This time, when silence fell, it was comfortable and lasted until they reached the Castle.
“I’ll see you down there?” Lance murmured, loath to break their silence.
Hunk hummed, and some unspoken tension between them relaxed, and Lance slumped in his seat for a moment, all of his strings cut. Warmth filled his limbs, and if Lance smiled a little dopily over absolutely nothing, no one had to know.
This was really beginning to be a problem.
Blue rumbled comfortingly in his mind as Lance’s new enhanced senses flared as soon as they landed in the hangar. It truly was overwhelming, to the point of pain. Lance was afraid of what the rest of his powers would do to him, how they would change him.
He wouldn’t change a thing about what he’d done, what he’d chosen, but it still scared him.
The trek to the meeting room felt like an execution march, a walk down the plank, a dance with death. Every step thudded through his body, amplified exponentially, assaulting his overloaded, exhausted senses to the point of no return. It was almost too much.
But Lance had never been one to give up, so walked he did, and as each step throbbed through him, he felt his resolve straightening.
Today was not the end, no. Today was the beginning .
Through his new senses, Lance could feel that nearly every one of his team was waiting for him in the meeting room. The only one that Lance truly cared about in this moment was walking towards him, to a place where they undoubtedly would intercept. Lance’s reasons for wanting to see this particular person were purely selfish, though Lance couldn’t bring himself to care much.
Lance pushed through his exhaustion to walk faster, eager to get his hugs.
As if Hunk had read his mind, he came barreling around the corner, practically already reaching for Lance. The two embraced silently, their bodies fitting perfectly, curling around each other.
Lance nearly broke down at the tender way Hunk held him. As if he was something precious, something to be taken care of.
Breathing in the quiet circle of their embrace, Lance thought that he’d never felt more at home. He couldn’t be bothered by the restless shifting he felt from his teammates waiting so enveloped in Hunk’s warmth.
It was heartbreaking to think that Hunk could never love him in the same way Lance did.
Their hug seemed to last for an eternity, and as the two finally– reluctantly– peeled themselves apart, Lance already missed his closeness.
Evidently, so did Hunk, because he reached for Lance’s hand, searching his face with an indescribable expression on his face. Lance steadfastly ignored the flutters in his stomach from the intensity of the moment.
“They’re getting impatient,” Lance said lamely, in all honesty, floundering. His tongue felt three times too big for his mouth, which had suddenly gone dry.
Hunk studied Lance for a moment longer, before beginning to lead Lance towards the meeting room. Lance pretended that he didn’t grip Hunk’s hand tighter as they got closer and closer. It was easier that way.
Hunk let go of his hand as they reached the door and Lance tried not to be too obviously disappointed.
The air in the meeting room was tense, and as soon as Lance stepped into the room, all eyes were on him. It was sickening how just a year ago, before he’d been shipped off to space, this would have made him preen. Now Lance just felt heavy.
Lance took a seat next to Hunk, trying to lean towards his warmth that almost soothed the deep cold of his very bones.
“Well,” Shiro started, albeit awkwardly. “I think we’ve all got some questions.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Pidge deadpanned, her keen eyes piercing holes through Lance.
Allura leaned forward intently, also watching Lance, who was starting to feel highly uncomfortable with the amount of dangerous women staring him down, well, dangerously .
“Lance,” Allura started. “I was not able to see what the others saw, but from my end, you completely disappeared for the span of several vargas. I want to know why.”
Lance would have been entirely stupid to assume that that was a request.
“I found it.”
Lance’s admission, reluctant as it was, garnered the expected reaction. Nearly everyone sucked in a breath of surprise, leaning forward in hopes for more details.
“And? Do you have it?” Keith asked, actually intrigued enough to not snipe at Lance.
“Yeah, is that why you went all Kyoshi on us?” Pidge asked mischievously.
Lance managed only a weak grin, which seemed to clue them in on the enormity of what Lance had gone through.
“What is it, Lance?” Shiro asked softly, concern on his brow.
Underneath the table, Lance reached for Hunk’s hand reflexively. Before he could snatch it away in regret, Hunk’s strong hand gripped his own hand firmly. The much needed comfort gave him the strength to continue.
“The Elementum Stone wasn’t a stone,” Lance said at length, ignoring the various reactions of his friends. “ She was one of the last survivors from her culture.”
His words seemed to shake Allura and Coran. For good reason, Lance supposed. They themselves were the last of their own people.
Silence was their old friend at this point.
“I . . . don’t understand,” Keith said, staring at Lance. “The Elementum Stone was a person?”
“Yeah,” Arden’s kind eyes flashed in his memory. “She was once part of the race called the Fulgarans, who were wiped out because of their particular abilities to control the elements. They weren’t warriors and were killed quickly, despite their gifts. Arden and her partner, Lark, were the last remaining Fulgarans.”
Lance was momentarily distracted by the feeling of Hunk’s thumb rubbing circles onto Lance’s hand.
“When it became evident that they weren’t going to win, the Elders decided that the entirety of their people’s gifts were going to be given to a selected individual, to protect and eventually pass on to another. The Elders chose Arden, and she was so powerful that they called her the Elementum. Eventually, over time, after the genocide of her people, she became a legend. The Elementum Stone.”
It all seemed surreal, the knowledge he suddenly had made no sense, and exhaustion hung over him like a death shroud, so Lance was unsurprised when he felt skepticism from many of the others.
Lance plowed on before they could begin their interrogation.
“Look,” he sighed. “I’m tired, I’ve had a long day and I know you all have too. It’s okay if you don’t believe me right now, but I’m going to tell you the same thing tomorrow. After I’ve slept for at least ten hours.”
With that said, Lance released Hunk’s hand, pushed away from the table, and strode away from the table. He steadfastly ignored the mixed protests from the quickly fading room, thoroughly done with consciousness.
Getting to his room was largely uneventful, and Lance was never so grateful as his shoulders sagged under the suffocating weight of the metal around him, as the stale air stuck in his throat. The lights pierced his blinding headache, just adding to his misery.
Really, it was the cherry on top.
Lance somehow found the effort to turn off the lights in his room, sending a blissful lull in his headache. Peeling himself out of his suit was an event in and of itself, one that Lance would be incredibly grateful to forget. After falling multiple times, almost falling more times and dropping the various pieces of his outer armor, Lance was ready to pass out.
Crawling between the sheets of his bed was perhaps the most blissful feeling he’d ever felt. Lance hummed in contentment, snuggling his face into his pillow, something that he’d staunchly deny.
He’d almost been asleep when a soft sliver of light fell on his face.
“Lance?”
Hunk’s whisper was unexpected, if not welcomed. Lance couldn’t help the dopey smile his exhausted brain allowed to cross his face.
“Hunk,” Lance said, cracking his eyes open to squint at his best friend in the doorway.
“Can I come in?” Hunk looked heartbreakingly vulnerable, in his soft sleep clothes, his hair floppy and dark as it fell across his forehead without his headband to hold it back. Although this image broke Lance’s heart just a little bit more, he nodded, for purely selfish reasons.
Hunk took that last step into the room, sending the room into darkness once more. As the mattress shifted with his weight, Lance wiggled back as well as he could, eager to feel Hunk’s warmth. Hunk found his place quick enough, probably proving that the two slept in the same bed much too often for just friends.
They’d never mentioned it.
And Lance sure as hell wasn’t going to now, as his aching body was wrapped in Hunk’s strong arms, as one of his huge hands began carding through his hair, as his cheek rested on his sturdy chest, rising and falling steadily. Lance battled to keep his eyes open, trying to gather the brain power to begin another heavy conversation. Hunk obviously knew him too well, because in the next moment, he spoke.
“Go to sleep, Lance,” he said softly, his breath coming in warm puffs against Lance’s neck. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”
Later, Lance would muster up the embarrassment for his actions, but now, Lance snuggled closer to Hunk, humming happily and practically going boneless in Hunk’s arms.
Lance fell asleep to the feeling of lips pressing to his forehead, something he would undoubtedly gay panic about in the morning.