The castle was cold. Ice cold.
It wasn't surprising considering most of the life support systems were down. But it was especially noticeable out in the bare quiet hallway.
Lance hated the cold. It crept in under his skin and turned his bones to ice. Normally, he'd just bury himself in blankets and sleep until things were warmer.
But the way things were now Lance doubted he would be able to relax enough to even rest his eyes. What with Allura off God knows where with lotor and the rest of the team staring death by asphyxiation in the face.
Then of course there was Shiro.
He glanced at the man as they sat quietly together on the floor. Shiro stared straight ahead at the far wall, his face expressionless. After expressing his concerns to Lance, he had immediately fallen silent and struggled to continue any conversation.
It didn't actually surprise Lance much. In fact, it reminded him of when one of his cousin's had opened up to him about her concerns regarding her dad's health. At the time Lance's uncle had been recovering from heart surgery and his health had been unstable.
Immediately after unloading all her worries to him, his cousin had dropped the subject and avoided bringing it up for a while afterward. It made sense in a way. Like his cousin before him, Shiro probably felt better for expressing himself and was now preoccupied with sorting things out in his own head.
Lance turned away and stared at the floor.
How long had they been in space? It's been way longer than a few months. Had to be almost a year, maybe more, since they'd left earth. It felt like forever since he, Pidge, and Hunk had seen Shiro's crashing ship and helped Keith rescue him.
Even after all that time, Lance realized, he still knew very little about Shiro. Whenever the two had talked, it had always been about paladin business or impersonal things. It hadn't bothered Lance at first, but over time…
Over time Lance couldn't help but wonder if this lack of communication was limited to himself. After all, Shiro seemed to get along just fine with everyone. He'd never talked about himself openly when they were all together but Lance wasn't sure if the same applied in private.
Of course now he wasn't so sure.
Shiro had been so snappy lately and judging by everyone's reactions he hadn't spoken to anyone about it until now. It worried him. Because something was definitely wrong with Shiro.
He wanted Shiro to tell him more about what was wrong. But he didn't want to push the subject. If he pushed too hard, Shiro might clam up tighter than ever.
But if anything happened to Shiro…
Lance didn't want anything to happen to Shiro. He'd already suffered more than any single person should ever have to suffer. Anymore and Lance feared the other might break.
Hugging his knees to his chest, Lance patiently waited for Shiro to speak so they could continue talking.
He never did.