Music tip:
EDEN – Fumes
youtube: watch?v=MQPz8pz-SuM
Dancing in Flames
No 16:
'If you want, we could go together?'
Characters: Lance, Hunk
Pairing: none
Universe: Canon, pre S1
Prompt: "Hunk's family is against him joining the Garrison. Lance tries to talk him out of being talked out of it." by Wooster
It takes him full three days to work up the nerve to tell Lance.
Every time he wants to say something, his throat closes up.
Every time he faces his best friend with as much courage as his little heart contains, he is crushed by the sheer enthusiasm of Lance. He is babbling about how they will be the best team there is, how they will even beat the newest top student the school brags about all over the news. For months it has been on their minds and with the day to sign up for one of the rare places coming closer and closer, it only gets worse.
"Maybe we won't even be accepted. There are a lot of top students trying to enlist every year," he interrupts Lance's eulogy as casually as possible, while he lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling. Immediately he can feel two dark blue orbs focusing in on him and the other boy falls eerily silent. Because his nervousness can't take it and his heart feels like it's going to jump out of his chest every second now, he keeps talking.
"I mean – maybe only one of us gets accepted, but hey, better one than none, right?"
His laugh is too high to be very convincing, so it shouldn't come as a surprise when Lance mutters a low "What the hell?" a second later and stands up from his position on the beanbag. He visibly flinches.
"Hunk?"
Look him in the eyes as innocently as possible, he babbles to himself in his head, put on a nice, convincing smile.
Instead he grimaces as if he is in pain and blinks everywhere but at his best friend hovering over him like death with its scythe. Close enough comparison at the moment, he muses and finally croaks out a "Yeah?" that is too innocently even to his own ears.
And then Lance just stays quiet and it makes Hunk more anxious than the usual reprimanding or pissed off form of his friend. Slowly he glances to his left. He is still watching him and has his eyes narrowed to slits; his arms are crossed in front of his chest, before he finally asks:
"Are you possessed or something?"
"What?"
The question throws him off so much that he sits up and blinks confused at his best friend, nervousness temporarily forgotten. Overdramatically Lance throws his arms into the air and sighs, like Hunk's mother always does when they did something immensely stupid. It is amusing and painful at the same time, because it reminds him of her firm words.
"You were the one to talk me into this in the first place, now you wanna bail on me?! What about our coming victory over this Shirogane guy-"
"Wasn't he like… your hero just yesterday?!"
"-or about our first mission together in space you keep talking about-"
"No! That's your death wish you talk about, I want to live a long and healthy life, thank you very much!"
"-or this fancy program that got your interest in the first place?" Lance finishes with a barely hidden smile on his face, as if he just played his highest card. And in some way he did. The programs at the Garrison are unrivaled in the whole country – only Asia is able to bring up young cadets with equal or higher talent and finesse. All the space-part of the job went right over his head faced with the opportunity to get a degree at the Garrison.
"You know the Caltech is way more focused on engineering than the Garrison, so-" he tries and knows his excuse is too weak to work on Lance, but he still can't get the truth out, even when his best friend confronts him with every glorified possibility he has picked out over the last months.
"So you throw away your future career at NASA as one of the tops of your field for a university that hasn't brought up geniuses since the beginning of the 21st Century?"
With a deep sigh he hides behind his hands and listens to Lance's footsteps. He crosses the room in furious strides and begins to talk himself into a rage. Hunk probably should interfere, but…
"And that's what I really don't get – you talked me into this, I reminded you countless times that we'll be in space at some point if you want to finish your degree, but then you kept talking about your future career and how you would even go to fucking space for it… And now you just want to bail?!"
Lance stops in front of his bed once again and the disbelief and frustration ringing in his voice are too much to bear. His friend is too emphatic for his own good, even though he never shows on the outside. He worries and wonders whether he is to blame for whatever is going on with one of his friends instead of outright asking like he does in every other situation.
Now he pretends to be pissed and angry and clearly not amused, but to Hunk, who has studied Lanceology since their shared childhood together, the hidden fear of being the reason is as obvious in Lance's eyes as the trembling of his fingertips.
"My parents."
His voice shakes out of fear and at the reminder of their harsh words, so he keeps his closed eyes hidden behind his hands to block out the world around him. Lance keeps quiet. Hunk continues.
"They talked to me on Wednesday about it, they… they don't want me to go."
For several seconds the unfamiliar tension in the room is raised by the heavy silence between them – then Lance utters an unimpressed but audibly relieved "And?"
"Nothing 'and' - it's too dangerous, they can't afford it. Tried to show them that I really, really wanna go there - didn't work. End of story. I'm… I won't be going to the Garrison."
Something heavy bubbles up and resonates in his voice, it's strained and suddenly filled with the threat of upcoming tears. It's final.
"But- didn't you tell them about the scholarship you'll probably get?! With your notes they would be insane to not take you!"
"Of course I did, what do you think? Dad says there are at least a dozen other people just like me from all over the world and the chance to get through the test with high enough points to get the scholarship is-"
"Bullshit!"
"Excuse you?!"
"He is wrong - there is no one like you! Not here nor anywhere else on the damn planet."
For a moment Hunk is thrown back and just… stares. Lance looks personally offended by the mere thought, if his balled fists and the angry expression on his face are anything to go by. It warms his heart in a comforting way and lights the dark thoughts up that remained from the fight with his parents. There he is, his best friend, empathic and passionate and pissed off, as if he is the one being told off.
"And 'dangerous' is completely unverified - there haven't been any major accidents or deaths for the past decade."
The heat in his stance is lighting up his eyes as Lance pulls Hunk up to his own two feet, hands resting on his shoulders. "You will go down there and tell them exactly that! I am not going alone to the Garrison, unless you want me to mess up with a newbie by my side to prove your parents right, when I'll have my first space mission!"
"But- but I can't just-"
"Yes, you can! You still want to go to the Garrison, don't you?"
"What a question, of course, but-"
"No but, you will go down there and tell them it's your dream and their damn obligation as your parents to not stand in your way!"
Lance is close to shouting, but his sheer endless energy is finally jumping over to Hunk. His fear is being overwhelmed by the excitement, by the 'Lance is right!' echoing through his mind and the imagine of himself at the Garrison. He can't give this up, not for the world. Not even for his parents.
"Heck yes you're right!"
"Yeah, now go young padawan, make me proud!"
"Oh you bet!"
He slams the door behind himself and makes two steps down the hallway, until the voice of his mother shouts up the stairs to not slam the doors with a firmness that stops him dead in his tracks.
Two seconds later he shoves his head through the gap in his door and helplessly blinks at Lance, who wears a big smile on his encouraging face as if he's already been waiting for him. "If you want, we could go together?"
Two months later they pass the recruitment exam with flying colors.
This was supposed to air a lot sooner, but I got sick with the flu and was bed-ridden for a fucking week. Yay me.
But now I'm fit again, so hit me with some more prompts. Already got a lot in my mind, some for S2, too.
Send any wish my way with your idea/ characters/ pairings, etc.!
You can find the prompt list right here on my Tumblr: milucarie. tumblr. c o m
Sadly I can't post the direct link either here or on my profile, because both gets messed up.