WHERE: Vallo City: Morningside WHEN: July 22nd, 2022; Early Morning WHAT: Shiro and Keith can't sleep after the events of Moon Day. WARNINGS: N/A STATUS: Complete
It was hard to go to sleep, after the last couple of days. With Lance in this…coma situation that they didn’t know how to quite fix yet, Keith had been on edge and irritable. Shiro wasn’t better off, but he had found some hard earned sleep that night and Keith was loath to wake the man just because slumber eluded him. So he crawled out of bed and headed for their little balcony, deciding he might as well get some reading done if he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep that night.
The moon wasn’t as bright as Moon Day had been, but it was still full enough that Keith could read the tiny script of his firefighter handbook easily. His Galran eyes probably helped with that. His alien biology was less helpful with his focus, which was completely shot. Keith had read the same paragraph on hazardous materials about three times over, when he heard the sliding door open. He looked over his shoulder and spied his husband. “Hey,” he said, softly, putting his bookmark back in and setting his handbook aside. “Did I wake you?”
Shiro had learned the hard way that if he didn't get a few hours of sleep even in a crisis, he'd be slower, duller, and less capable of helping people. Sometimes it took a melatonin and using Keith as a pillow. Which was why it was a little unsettling to wake up alone. He robotically pulled on a tank top and shuffled out into the apartment in his sleep pants.
Spotting Keith's tousled hair over the top of the patio chair and then hearing his voice helped loosen the knot of worry in Shiro's chest.
"No...I don't know." Keith's absence could've been recognized even unconsciously. Shiro scooted Keith over with his hip as he climbed onto the lounger with him. "Did you sleep at all?"
The lack of sleep wasn’t anything new, not really, but for the last few months, after he had nearly died and Black had to intervene on his recklessness, Keith had been getting his life together and sleeping better as a result. There had been a lot less middle of the night meetings with Lance and more time spent actually sleeping in bed with his husband. It still wasn’t unusual for old nightmares and anxieties to keep him up now and then, but it happened much less often than it used to.
Tonight was clearly an exception to Keith’s recent streak of good nights of sleep.
Shifting and settling around Shiro so that both of them were comfortable on the lounger, he waited for Shiro to lay back before claiming a spot on his chest as a pillow. Arching his neck a little so he could see Shiro better, he huffed out a bitter laugh and wrapped himself tighter around the older man. Tired eyes met Shiro’s dark gray eyes. “I tried, but every time I closed my eyes, I remembered that vacant look on Lance’s face and had to make sure you were still okay. I had to leave otherwise I know I was going to wake you up by constantly checking on you.”
Shiro wrapped an arm around Keith and toyed with his hair, absentmindedly. It was instantly soothing to have Keith pressed against him. It wouldn’t fix the problem, of course, but it cushioned Shiro’s anxiety. They could face anything together, he reminded himself.
“I wouldn’t have been upset.” He kissed Keith’s forehead and then rested his head back against the chair. “I was hoping a few hours of sleep would give me some kind of epiphany. But I guess it’s entirely too easy to wake up with the solution to a problem.” He tried to smile but it was more of a grimace. “I’m afraid to check in with the office to see how many more have been hit.”
Keith wasn’t looking forward to the bright light of the morning because he knew the situation would look even worse then. All these people falling into this latest round of Vallo strangeness…though Keith honestly didn’t care about any of them other than Lance. It’s what had him up and biting his lip until it was bloody and raw. What would happen if this lasted more than a couple of days? There was no way to guarantee that this would clear up on its own.
His next exhale of breath was harsh, as he buried his face into Shiro’s chest, hugging his large frame as tightly as he could. He mumbled, “It’s easier when we can just hit and stab things. How the hell do we stab a coma?”
Shiro huffed, not quite a laugh but almost. "We don't. I'm sure there's some scientific or magical solution here. We just have to do what we always do." He hugged Keith tighter. "Never give up. Keep digging. Keep supporting the people with the skills to get the result we need. Patience yields--"
He couldn't finish that thought. Not this time. He was tired and worried and this one was personal.
"Sorry. I know that's not what you need to hear right now." Slipping his knuckle up under Keith's chin, he tipped his husband's mouth up for a soft kiss. "We'll figure it out. I promise."
It was hard not being the ones to save the day. Keith wasn't used to not working with the full team to problem solve situations, even after a year. It was during times like this that Pidge, Hunk, and Allura were acutely missed. If they had been around, he knew that they would have at least one theory up and running on how to fix this and save Lance from whatever had him as this mindless husk of himself.
He was grateful that Shiro decided against finishing that sentence. Because he has no patience to lend toward focus now. Just frustrations and anger to misplace. His husband always seemed to know what he needed though and he eagerly accepted the kiss and the promise that he wouldn't have believed out of anyone else.
Reaching up to soothe away the worrylines creasing the corners of Shiro's eyes, Keith smiled sadly and said, "You know Lance would probably give you a lecture about these lines. 'Stressing over something you can't help gets you nothing but a decade on the face.'" The last part was said in a tone that mimicked Lance.
Shiro rolled his eyes fondly and pressed into Keith's touch like a cat begging for petting. "I'm not ready to say there's no way we can help, Keith. There are theories about what happened at the moon party based on who was affected, where they were at the time and what happened to each of them. Sooner or later one of those theories is going to be whittled down to a fact and we'll be able to make a plan."
It wasn't his most inspiring speech - too many unknowns and waiting around involved - but he did look more stubborn than tired for a second. Shiro hummed thoughtfully. "You know, I wonder if we put him inside Red if he'd be shielded from whatever is keeping him out of it…"
“No way to help at the moment,” Keith amended, indulging Shiro and running his thumbs over his face in a facial massage. His own face pinched in thought at Shiro’s musings, wondering if it could be that easy. “You know what, better than the current plan of just letting this play out until something changes.”
He perked up considerably. “Maybe we can try in the morning? You know Red would do anything to help him.” Even if that meant locking him out sometimes.
“We can definitely try in the morning,” Shiro agreed. He kept his eyes closed and quietly appreciated the massage to his face. The truth was, morning would probably be sooner rather than later if Keith wasn’t going to get any sleep. Once Shiro was up, getting back to sleep was trickier anyway. But he was comfortable here on the balcony, with Keith in his arms and something to try and help their friend. He'd give it a little more time before giving up on sleep for the night.
“It might be good to be inside a lion ourselves. Even if it can’t reverse the effect, they might block it from happening?” He frowned and chewed on his lip. “It’d be nice to know if that’s a real barrier. We could invite more people to hide out while we work on a solution.”
“I don’t think we’re going to figure out either thing until morning. But we can try testing both theories and see what happens,” Keith said, running a thumb over the lip Shiro was chewing on to stop him from mangling it. He leaned forward and kissed him there, to soothe the bruised skin. “Come on. Let’s get back to bed and at least pretend we’re sleeping, otherwise we’re going to be exhausted when we’re supposed to be up.”
Keith reluctantly dislodged Shiro’s hands on him and slid off the lounger, before stretching. The shirt he had stolen from Shiro to use as a sleep shirt rose up, showing off an indecent amount of thigh, before he dropped his arms and held one hand out to Shiro to help him up. He doubted he would be getting much sleep, but he at least wanted his husband comfortable and that would be impossible out here in the heat of the summer night.
Shiro was pretty sure they'd have no way to know if the lions were shielding them, but he didn't want to be a huge downer when they had something with potential in the works. He managed a soft smile instead.
"Listen to you. Sounding all practical and mature. And in my clothes." His eyes tripped over the flash of thigh and settled on Keith in his t-shirt. This simple combo would have lit a fire under him on a normal day. And it still did, even if it wasn't the time. He stored the image away for later and used it as fuel to climb to his feet with a hand in Keith's. "Does that mean I should take over reckless spitfire duty? I feel like the universe needs balance."
He coiled an arm around Keith's shoulders and pulled him towards the bedroom. "Tomorrow. The universe needs balance tomorrow."