Hunk/Keith 30 (as comfort)
[Listen, I really love this ship a LOT]
Ship Kiss Meme | still accepting
30. …as comfort
~*~
“Hey.”
Hunk looks up from the tablet he’d been reading from, startled to see Keith leaning heavily in the doorway. There are still bandages around his head, and he looks like he could fall asleep on the spot, yet here he is at Hunk’s room.
“Are you serious, Keith? You probably shouldn’t even be walking right now.” He doesn’t know if he should tell Keith to go back to his room immediately or invite him in so he doesn’t collapse. He decides on the latter, since it’s probably the shorter distance, and there’s a pleasant burst of heat in his chest at the very idea Keith had come all the way down here to see him. “Get in here before some nurse comes to yell at you.”
Keith smirks proudly. “My IVs came out yesterday. If I wasn’t supposed to start walking around, someone should have told me that.” He shuffles into the room and sinks heavily onto the side of Hunk’s bed, looking down at him with hazy dark eyes.
“Dude, how did you even get past your mom like this?”
“She went with Kolivan to get something to eat.”
Hunk clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “She’s gonna ground you so hard, and I’m not going to stick up for you.”
“That’s fine, I can argue with her all by myself, thanks.” Keith reaches out and touches Hunk’s hand, his voice softening. “You okay?”
“I’m okay.”
Hunk uses his other hand to put the tablet to sleep and shove it haphazardly onto the bedside table. He still doesn’t think Keith has any business being out of bed, but now that he’s here, it’s way more important than the restoration reports he’d started reading. In his mind, mending himself and the other Paladins after that last fight is a much higher priority. Pulling his blankets up, he dislodges Keith’s hand long enough to wind an arm around his waist and maneuver him underneath with him. Good thing too, Keith’s skin is a little clammy, and Hunk wants to chide him for feeling too skinny. He wonders distantly if Keith’s even had any solid food yet. Surprisingly, Keith doesn’t protest being moved about either, and shifts accordingly to make it easier. He turns so he’s pressed up against Hunk’s side, arm across his stomach and face tucked into the crook of his neck. It’s the most comfortable Keith has ever seemed to be with that kind physical contact. Hunk feels secretly gleeful and a little selfish. It makes saying he’s okay as close to honest as he’s been since he woke up in the hospital.
“You lyin’ to me?” Keith asks, tilting his head to look Hunk in the eye. His brow is furrowed, and he squints as if he can see into Hunk’s head.
“Nah,” Hunk assures him. “I really am fine. Docs say nothing’s broken, and well, sounds like everyone is going to be all right.” Even you, he adds to himself. Keith had been the last to wake up. None of the others had said anything about it, but they’d all harbored an aching little fear that he might be the only one of them who might not wake up at all. But Keith doesn’t need to hear any of that now, not when he seems content just to be here with Hunk.
Keith stares at him a moment longer, then seems to accept it, laying his head back down on Hunk’s shoulder. “Were you scared?” he whispers.
“Did you really just ask me that?” Hunk laughs. “It’s me, Keith. Of course I was scared.”
“Me too.”
That catches Hunk off guard, and his heart hurts a little bit. It’s one thing to know Keith’s been scared, but another thing entirely to actually hear him admit it. Hunk feels a fine tremble against his side, and he hugs Keith tighter to him, pressing his nose into his hair. “We did it. We saved Earth and we all lived. That’s a big deal.”
“What about next time?”
Hunk wishes he could say there won’t need to be a next time, but they both know better. Hunk’s too practical for any sort of false pretense, and to his chagrin, he’s usually the one to always point out the things no one wants to hear in any given situation. But if anyone understands that there’s still a war to be fought out there, it’s Keith, and while the leader should always be thinking about ‘next time’, the leader should also take solace in the fact he’s not leading alone.
“Next time,” Hunk murmurs, tipping Keith’s chin up so he can kiss him softly. “Next time, we do it all again. We suit up, we get scared, and we try to survive. And you’re going to be your usual stubborn self and push us to be the heroes we’re afraid to be. You got that?”
Keith smiles, leaning up so their mouths touch again. “Loud and clear,” he says against Hunk’s lips. “Thanks, Hunk.”
“You can thank me by defending me from Krolia when she finally tracks you down to my room, okay?”
“Got it.” Keith’s voice is sleepy, he’s already dozing off on Hunk, his fingers twisted in the front of his hospital shirt. There’ll be no prying him away for some time, and Hunk doesn’t mind in the slightest.
He’ll gladly watch over Keith.
