Lance settled into bed as Clay entered the room, hitting the lights as he passed the switch. Both were quiet for a moment, thinking about this and that and each other. It was, quite honestly, a touch awkward.

The quiet hovered in the air between them, before Lance rolled over to look down towards where Clay was, finding him staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"Hey, you okay?"

Clay startled, praying Lance missed the flush in his face. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure?" There was that concern again, something Clay couldn't seem to brush off. Lance had been kinder to him over the past couple days, his pompous air wavering like a mist that couldn't quite cover up what was beyond.

"I'm okay, I promise." Clay's voice was softer, too. Both knights lay in their beds, eyes studying one another's faces, hoping the other wouldn't notice their staring. The tension in the room was palpable, you could cut it with a sword- unspoken words and questions.

"Lance." Clay finally spoke up.

"Hm?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because we're a team, Clay. It's our job to help each other and stuff."

"Then why do you act so-" He gestured to the ceiling vaguely, "high-and-mighty all the time? Why do you act like you don't care about anyone but yourself?"

Lance chewed his lip, breaking eye contact, suddenly nervous to have his issues brought to light, his perfect facade under scrutiny.

"Clay."

"Lance."

He sighed, rolling over to face the wall. "Clay, I don't know if you remember meeting my parents a while back- but if you do, you'll remember what they were like."

Clay hummed. He remembered the gold, the holier-than-thou attitudes, and the odd coldness towards their son- though, he'd thought nothing of it at the time, assuming it was just how their family worked, not quite sure if that was common or not, having nothing to reference.

"Clay, my parents care about one thing more than anything else: their gold. Their gold and their status. I'm neither of those things." Lance's voice cracked, and he curled against the wall. He wasn't going to cry over old news- he shouldn't be crying over a wound from childhood-

Clay had stood up at some point, moving to sit on the edge of Lance's bed. The scenario mirroring the last night- goodness, if each night they'd be staying together was going to be like this, neither of them would be sleeping, not with so much emotion. Lance didn't respond to the dipping in his mattress, seemingly elsewhere, the emotions having gotten started not stopping yet.

"I'm the family disappointment. They didn't care about me then, they don't care about me now. I only had myself and my money to rely on- and now I have you guys, and I'm going to be honest, I don't know what to do. You four are the closest thing I've had to real family- and I just- I can't stop myself from feeling I let you guys down." He couldn't hold back the tears, overwhelmed and rambling and trying so hard to get it back together. Clay shifted closer, slowly, reaching his hand out to rest it on the leader's shoulder.

"Lance. You don't have to be perfect- that's what you told me last night, right? That applies to you, too." Lance didn't respond. "I know how it feels, to worry about being a disappointment. And maybe I don't know it like you do, but I get it. And hey," He peered over the other, trying to get a look at his face. "You've never disappointed us. You've never disappointed me."

Lance's quiet tears turned to sobs with that, for a moment Clay worried he'd only made it worse, until Lance sat up and pulled him into a hug.

It was a silent 'Thank you,' and a plea for something to latch onto, to use to ground himself. Clay tightened the hug, unsure of what else to say.

The moment dragged on, until, at last, Lance went quiet. Clay pulled back a bit, only to find his teammate had fallen asleep.

The leader laid Lance back down, trailing a hand through his hair, watching him with worried eyes.

Lance really was something underneath all his pride, wasn't he?

Emotions spent, Clay found himself drifting off, still resting against Lance's bed, his hand on the other's face.

When Macy came to wake them in the morning, that's how she found them- and she couldn't bare to disturb the peace.