( OPEN ) don't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy

[bayarm]

WHO: shiro & various
WHERE: around bajikan
WHEN: spread over the duration of the fleet's stay in orbit
WHAT: shiro has a series of Good Days™
WARNINGS: naps happen. and an awkward boner, too.

Comments

[bayarm]

[ shiro doesn't recall the last time he slept as well as he slept during his first visit to acedia, and maybe it's the scent in the air, the comfort this district exudes, or maybe it's that his body has decided that now that some of the tension is gone, it can no longer maintain any at all. whatever the reason, shiro is already feeling sleepy again, eyelids heavy. he barely blinks when someone's head hits his shoulder, though he does smile when pidge's face enters his field of vision. ]

Hey, Pidge. You doing all right? [ the words come a little slower than usual, his tone warm. shiro shifts a little, making some space for pidge. ]

[sweatysometimes]

[Normally, Pidge is not the cuddliest person. She likes her personal space and she's determined to prove that she's able to stand on her own, especially when she's surrounded by all the guys on her team. This is nice, though. The relaxation and ease she feels here is enough to ease her feelings and she finds herself easily nestling up agaisnt Shiro. There's something comforting about him. Knowing that he did his best to help Matt, that he was friends with Matt and dad... She takes a breath, almost as if scenting Shiro.]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing okay. I just feel really... really sleepy.

[bayarm]

[ during his first month on the eluvio, when it had been only allura and him, shiro had worried about all of the other paladins, about his new team, about losing them like he had the holts. he'd also thought that if allura and he couldn't find a way to get back to the others, surely pidge would figure out a way to get to them. she's so smart—he has no doubt that she can stand on her own.

right now, though, and right here, maybe neither one of them has to. ]

I think it's this place. [ he settles an arm—the human one—around her. ] It's like they figured out the cure for sleeplessness.

[sweatysometimes]

[Pidge's initial anxiety about the Eluvio has subsided to a duller sensation that occasionally flares up higher when she thinks about her brother and her father. Her eyes are mostly closed now, head nestled into the space where shoulder meets arm. Shiro is sturdy and solid and feels almost like an anchor. He's more solid than her brother or even her father, but the same feeling is there. She takes a breath.]

Yeah, I think they did...

[Her voice is a sleepy murmur now.]

...Were you and Matt close?

[It's a weird question, one she wouldn't ask normally but her curiosity, her anxiety, her muddled, fuzzy brain all contribute.]

[bayarm]

[ he can't and wouldn't want to replace her father or her brother, but he'd still be pleased by the comparison if he knew. ] They must have. [ which is as good as admitting that he suffers from insomnia, but shiro is feeling far too sleepy and content to worry about that.

her question is a little surprising, but not enough so to startle him from his sleepy state. ]

Hm. Not like this. [ he closes his eyes, smiling a little at the memory of the holts. right now, it misses the emotional gut punch of losing his team that usually accompanies the memory. ] But I liked spending time with him. He was great to be around. A good friend.

[sweatysometimes]

[Pidge would never suggest such a thing. Ever. Ever. But he makes a good surrogate. A supplement. Someone else who knew them. Her face turns a little, pressing against him in an attempt to get closer. More comfortable. She reaches up and fumbles with her glasses, tugging them away so they stop digging into the side of her head.]

I wish I could've met you without all this. With you all back on Earth and. Normal. [She's quiet for a moment. Sleepy and thoughtful.]

I'm not sorry I met you or about being part of Voltron, but it would've been nice to just have you over for dinner instead of all this stuff...

[bayarm]

[ he wouldn't want her to suggest it or consider it. there's no replacing family, especially not one as closely-knit as hers had been. he remembers how fond sam and matt had talked about her. ]

We were going to, you know. After coming back from the mission. Sam said we should all celebrate at your place, that there'd be a big dinner. [ his tone grows a little wistful as he imagines it. he's too sleepy, too far removed from most emotion by the distance of near-sleep to really feel sad that none of them ever returned from kerberos, that they never got the opportunity. right now, with katie holt a warm weight against his side, it's just nice to imagine what could have been, the welcome of her family, the food and conversation. ]

[sweatysometimes]

[Pidge feels... safe. Normally she's too wound up to feel that way. There are Galra to worry about, things to work on. At this moment, though... Everything is great. She sighs quietly into Shiro's arm, drowsy. Pidge wavers in and out of sleep.]

I can just see you sitting at the kitchen table.

[She murmurs a happy, quiet little affirmation. The thought of them all together and happy buoys her spirit.]

When we get back, we'll do it for real.

[bayarm]

[ even though this part of the universe is galra-free, if it's the same universe at all, there is so much to worry about still: not fighting the galra is on that list, the murders aboard the eluvio, too—but right now, shiro can't muster up the energy to be worried at all. he's warm and relaxed, eyes already closed even as he still mumbles his response. ]

We'll get them back, you know. We'll find them. And then we'll have that dinner.

[sweatysometimes]

Promise?

[Normally, she wouldn't ask. Normally, she's too withdrawn. Normally, she does her best to make sure she's self-reliant. But just in this moment, she can ask for reassurance, right? Her hand finds his and squeezes tight.]

Don't lose anymore arms, either.

[bayarm]

[ normally, she wouldn't ask, and normally, shiro wouldn't promise anything that he isn't entirely sure he can keep. normally, he would promise to try his best—but right now, it feels like the most natural thing in the world to briefly tighten his arm around her. ] Yeah, I promise.

[ and, as rueful as one can sound while on the verge of falling asleep: ] Wasn't planning to.

[sweatysometimes]

Good. Good.

[Pidge yawns again. It a small, almost kittenish sound. Settles into the crook of his arm. It's so easy to just lay here and slowly drift off to sleep.]

We're gonna make it.

[bayarm]

Hmhm. [ it's not shiro's most eloquent reply ever, just a hummed confirmation. they are going to make it. that's the last thought he has before sleep finally takes over, his warm settling more heavily over pidge's side as his muscles relax in sleep. ]