[Open]

[spaceforged]

Who: Shiro and you.
Where: Shelter, medical area
When: Hours after rescuing the King.
Rating Pg
What: Shiro comes back battered and wounded from the rescue mission. Keith swears a lot.



He runs his hands over the bandages around his ribs with a wince. He’d gotten so used to being able to shake off bullets and arrows. He has been mostly indestructible. He should have known better. Shiro slips from the small area laid out to treat his injuries as gingerly as he can manage. Cracked ribs are no joke.

He hisses through his teeth as the pain radiates out from his chest and side. He regrets a lot of things. He had charged at a pack of guards confident he would perfectly fine. “Crack goes the Lion.” He mutters as he pulls his duffel bag closer with a foot and fights not to breathe in.

Every breath hurts. They have a surplus of healers this time. The distraction team will all get back on their feet in less time than they would have otherwise. But until then he can just deal with it.

Comments

[lonered]

"Yeah, I bet. But hopefully we can get you mended up today." A frown, but he seems at least mildly soothed by Shiro mentioning the healers. Good. That's a start. The sooner the other man is back on his feet, the better. By far. This time Keith reaches for the pills without argument and with a quiet murmured thanks, swallowing a dose and passing both water and the closed container back to Shiro to set aside once more before flopping his head back down on the pillow.

An eyebrow lifts at the phrasing of that. A little bit, huh? If Shiro's willing to take even a little more rest, isn't that a victory? It feels like a victory, and if it happens to come with lingering here, warm and comfortable, a short while longer, then Keith finds it increasingly hard to find any argument against it.

"In a little bit."

[spaceforged]

The bottles are returned to the table. "Get both of us mended today." He corrects him lightly. Keith always focuses on everyone else. It's better than it has been if he's willing to rest. He takes pride in that as his head returns to the pillow and he stretches back out.

It vaguely occurs to him the weight on his side is Keith's arm. He realizes he has no desire to move away. If he backed off now it would hurt his best friend and he's not willing to cause that pain. Besides...is it really so bad?

Shiro lifts his arm up close to his chest and programs in a second alarm. "We'll get up when the watch goes off again." He permits them an extra hour. "Sound good?"

[lonered]

"Right. Both of us," he agrees, as sheepish as he can really manage to be. Shiro's called him out fairly gently, but that's still what it is. Shiro knows him too well, a thought that is and always has been quite comforting, even if it means he can get away with a great deal less around his friend.

Though he's getting away with lingering as close as he is -- and Keith is still stubbornly refusing to be embarrassed about it. His arm is still slung over Shiro, but he's pretty sure moving it would just draw more attention to it. Is he willful enough that he can out-stubborn himself? Probably. However that works. It likely helps that it's far more comfortable than it has any right to be.

Thinking too much about it is just going to give him a headache. He'll think later.

"Yes sir," is the genuinely sleepy little response. Hit the snooze button, Shiro. He's on board with this plan.

[spaceforged]

"That's just Shiro to you." He says, in jest. Partly. He meant what he said about them being equals in rank. He yawns again. Going back to sleep is a good idea he can barely keep his eyes open. He'll wonder over how comfortable sleeping beside Keith is later.

His eyes slide shut and he moves his left arm to a more comfortable position trapping Keith's arm up against his side. Better.

"Just another hour." He says and lets his mind drift. They do need the sleep.

[lonered]

Keith cracks an eye open at that, not bothering to fight the smile that finds its way over his features. "Shiro," he mumbles sleepily in agreement before shutting his eyes again.

He's half asleep when he realizes that he likes this way too much, and that he wonders if he can come up with another excuse in the future. It's the last coherent thought he has before he drifts off again. Another hour. He'll take it.