The ship late at night, or at least what passed as night when you were traversing the abyss of space, was just as bright as it was during the day. The halls that were frequently used during the day were still lit but others were shaded in darkness.
In the control room only the faintly blue star map lit up the area, meaning the map was just about all that Lance could make out. Not that he was paying much attention to anything else, being as lost in his thoughts as he was.
It had taken a while, as Lance was unfamiliar with the technology of the Altean's ship, but after multiple trials and errors he had finally been able to locate his home planet, Earth, on the map.
Seeing his small blue planet surrounded by red dots, representing planets taken over by the Galra disheartened him; if Lance were to be brutally honest with himself, it also terrified him greatly. Earth, despite its' plentiful supply of weaponry, had nothing on the Galra's ten thousand years old empire that was much too close to universal domination for it to be comfortable.
Lance was scared and worried. For his planet, the family he left behind on Earth and the makeshift one he had found in the shape of his team.
Heaving a bone-deep sigh, Lance brought his hands to his eyes and rubbed at them harshly. Just because he was alone did not mean Lance was going to give himself permission to breakdown, he needed to be stronger than that. It was at times like this that the title of one of the legendary 'defenders of the Universe' truly weighed down on him in its entirety.
Opening his eyes again, lance continued gazing at the map, before he could get truly lost in his thoughts once again though he heard the sound of the door of the control room sliding open, usually almost silent but the quiet of the hour making the sound reverberate throughout the room.
Twisting around, lance found Hunk entering the room carrying something in his arms. Upon closer inspection, he found that Hunk was lugging around a sleeping Pidge wrapped in a blanket that was about five times too big for their small frame.
Hunk sat down beside Lance, gently depositing Pidge in the space between them so that they were both helping to support their friend. Pidge barely reacted to being shifted, mere shuffling unconsciously shifting closer to their friends for more warmth.
Hunk let them sit in silence, not pushing any topic, not even why lance was still awake and sitting in the dark looking at a map of a galaxy that they would probably not be visiting for a long time yet.
Then again, this was Hunk. Lance's best friend and the one of the people he could never stand thinking about not being in his life. It was more like hunk was not asking the question because he already knew the answer.
He was startled slightly when Hunk hooked his hand around Lance's shoulder and tugged him closer. Pidge was shifted so they were practically sitting in Lance's lap, it brought a wistful smile to his face. Pidge reminded Lance of his younger siblings a lot; thankfully that thought comforted him more than it made him miss them.
"I know you're homesick." Lance glanced up from Pidge to his best friend. "I am too. I miss my Mums, and our late night movie marathons, and eating pineapple pizza ironically, and only having to worry about class assignment deadlines and crashing the simulator..." Hunk's already soft tone got more and more quiet as he went on, trailing off as he watched Pidge nuzzle further into lance's loose embrace.
Hunk's sudden silence tugged at Lance's chest. Lance knew he was not the only one homesick, he would have had to be blind, deaf and brain-dead to think that, but there had always been this thin film between him and the others in the team when it came to things like this. Now here he was, listening to the proof of those stagnating emotions with his own ears, being confided in and being helped through his own homesickness; the least he could do was the same back.
Slowly, Lance eased one of him arms away from Pidge and set his hand on the one Hunk still had draped over his shoulder.
He bit his lip and gulped. For as much as he loved to run his mouth all day long, when it came to times like this, when he needed the right words to come trickling off his tongue in the right order and tone, he struggled. He could whip out a come-back to someone's snappish comment in no time flat, but soft words made to heal and not hurt took a bit more time, almost never coming off quite the way he first intended.
"It's not so bad here, is it?" Inwardly, Lance cringed a bit at his own words. If said to anyone other than Hunk, those would come off as kind of cruel considering the context. Thankfully Hunk was exactly who Lance was conversing with.
"We've got our own little rag-tag family up here, and sure it's not home. Nothing can really compare to waking up to real sunshine and knowing your parents are in the next room, but think about it... We've got each other at least, haven't we?" Lance glanced fondly down at Pidge once again, before looking back at Hunk, his gaze soft. "Out of everyone one on Earth, everyone in the Universe, we were chosen and we just happened to be three best-friends. From everyone that could be dragged into this with me, I'm just really glad I've got you two by my side."
An expectant quiet settled in after Lance's little speech, waiting for Hunk's response. Hunk looked shocked, staring wide-eyed at Lance. Well, that was until tears flooded Hunk's eyes, quickly starting to drip down his face. Before any sort of panic could strike Lance, Hunk had swept him (and by proxy Pidge) into a suffocating embrace.
"Lance~! You really do care, don't you?" It may have been the over dramatic sobbing coming from Hunk or the near rib breaking hug, but the only indication the two got that they had woken up the third member of their trio, Pidge, was the loud wheezing and not-so nicely worded complaints.