My Hero
This is a reward for @alalexa-wow @alexa-doodles (I wasn’t sure which one to at, so you get them both) for going to sleep at a semi-reasonable hour. It’s also an excuse for me to write some Shance.
Very fluffy, Lance is slightly drunk.
Flashes of color twirled around the room, and Lance watched.
He had never considered himself to be a “punch bowl” boy, and yet here he was, watching his friends dance the night away in their detailed suits and dresses. The music swelled and he thought he caught sight of Allura’s vibrant pink dress over the sea of black as they were lifted by their partners.
Pidge was occupying a different punch bowl on the other side of the room, although she was probably having more fun than he was. Lance could see Keith and Hunk both smiling and laughing, talking to her as their glasses clinked against one another.
He couldn’t see Shiro anywhere, but there were a lot of people out there, on the ballroom floor, so he didn’t expect to see him anyway. The dancers were so coordinated in their footsteps; it looked like this was a complicated progression as well, despite the slow gait of the song.
Off in the corner, he could see a crowd separated around a man in bright blue that could only be Coran doing one of his newest interpretive dances. The people gathered around him, creating a circle that he was free to move around in.
Tossing the rest of his punch back, Lance refilled his cup and headed outside. Allura hadn’t specifically said there was any alcohol in it, but she also hadn’t said that there wasn’t. Judging by his shaky steps on his way outside, there probably was.
He plopped himself down on the edge of the steps, his drink sloshing over the side of his glass and getting his fingers sticky in the process. A little bit had spilled on his suit, but it didn’t matter really. No one was going to ask him to dance.
The rest of his drink went down in a flash. He could have sworn he still had at least half a glass left, but here he was, empty crystal in his hand.
He would get up in a moment, really he would. He’d get up and go back to the party, back to the punch bowl.
But for now, the stars had his attention. He leaned back, the top step digging into his back as his feet stretched out in front of him. It was a different sky than the one he was used to. He didn’t recognize any of the stars.
Lance pouted, reaching for his glass, forgetting it was empty before he brought the glass to his lips feeling the chill sap the warmth from him, but letting it rest there anyways.
“I never took you for the type of person to leave a party early,” a voice said behind him. Lance jerked up and around, the glass almost flying from his hand and falling to the ground, but a prosthetic managed to save it from its fate moments before impact.
“Sssssorry,” Lance slurred. He wasn’t drunk, but he was definitely on his way to it. “Di’n’t mean to, uh, leave.” His hands waved through the air, trying to tell their own story, separate from his mouth.
Shiro set the glass on the table, going to sit next to Lance on the steps. “I should really talk to Allura about letting you guys have alcohol. The only one of you who isn’t a lightweight is Pidge, and I don’t want to think about the implications of that.”
“‘M fine.” Lance brushed him off, smiling about drunk Pidge. “I can hold myself. My own.” He waved his hand again. “Yeah. That.”
Shiro shook his head. “Are you cold? It’s kind of chilly out here,” he said while shucking off his jacket and offering it to Lance.
“I’m not,” Lance said, shivering. “‘M warm.” He drew out the sound of the ‘m’, leaning lightly into Shiro as he did. “Why’re you out here? Weren’t you… dancing?” His head fell to Shiro’s shoulder, and he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Shiro rolled his eyes, awkwardly wrapping his jacket around Lance’s shoulders, the arms dragging against the floor, probably ruining it, but he didn’t care. “I don’t like to dance with strangers,” Shiro said, smiling. “I feel like it’s something that you need to do with someone you care about. Someone you love.”
Lance hummed against him, leaning further into Shiro. “Would you dance with me?”
Shiro looked down at Lance’s head, leaning against his shoulder. His hair was blowing slightly in the breeze, and they shivered against each other. Lance might not remember being turned down, but Shiro would. And did he really want to turn this down?
“Yeah,” Shiro said, then gaining confidence, “yeah. Let’s dance, Lance.”
Shiro stood up, helping Lance to his feet and making sure that he didn’t fall down the stairs and onto his face.
Lance swayed on his feet and giggled. “You rhymed, Shiro.” He stumbled into the other, bracing his hands on Shiro’s shoulders. “Might… might be… tipsy.” He giggled again, before leaning his forehead on Shiro’s shoulder and sighing.
Shiro nodded, placing his hand on Lance’s waist, and grabbed one of his hands from where it was on his shoulder, leaving the other one there. “Yeah,” he chuckled, “Yeah, you might be just a little tipsy.”
“Do you dance a lot, Shiro?” Lance asked, swaying to an imaginary tune in his mind. He leaned a little too far to the left, causing Shiro to pull him back straight again. Maybe not just an imaginary tune then.
He shook his head, stepping into a simple waltz between the two of them. “I haven’t danced in years.”
“Must make me special,” Lance sighed, resting on Shiro’s chest.
You have no idea, Shiro thought, resting his head on Lance’s head. “Yeah. You are special, Lance.” He could feel his heart beating in his chest, and Lance could probably hear it too.
Lance’s lips curled into a dopey smile against Shiro. “You’re pretty special too, you know?”
“Oh yeah?”
Lance nodded, his hair tickling Shiro’s chin. “Yeah. You’re my hero.”
Their movement slowed to a near stop. “Your h– hero?”
“My hero,” he said as if he didn’t need to say anything else.
And maybe he didn’t.
Shiro still wanted to hear it again.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Lance whispered, watching his breath cloud and swirl up in the air. He had managed to stay in one place, his tipsy unsteadiness stalled for the moment. “Shiro?” he asked, tilting his head up and looking into Shiro’s eyes.
“Yeah?” His breath was caught in his throat.
“I think…” Lance trailed off. “Think I love you.”
Shiro stopped thinking. “What?”
Lance hummed. “Love you.” He sounded much more confident this time. “Do you?” he asked, cocking his head.
“Do I what?”
He deflated, looking down at the ground and putting some space between them, causing him to stumble. Shiro’s heart leaped into his throat and he rushed forward to steady Lance. “Love me?” Lance asked.
“I–” Shiro swallowed; they were close now. Closer than they had been before. Shiro’s hands were holding Lance close to him, so close that they could feel each other’s breath on their chests. “I do,” Shiro said. “I do love you.”
Lance smiled, raising himself up on his tiptoes and closing his eyes. “Love you too.” His hand came up, thumbing the edge of Shiro’s cheekbone and caressing it. Blue eyes drifted down to Shiro’s lips before drifting back up.
Then back down to his lips.
Lance’s mouth opened slightly and he pulled Shiro down until they were touching in a chaste kiss.
“Love you.”
