Thinkin' of you till it hurts

1

I wish I could carry your smile in my heart,

For times when my life seems so low,

It would make me believe

What tomorrow would bring

When today doesn't really know.

He sees Lance at the half built memorial, lonesome and solitary at the top of the excavated hill.

"Thought I'd find you here."

Lance jumps at the sound of his voice, turning on his heel in shock. He looks so tired, even more than he did the last time any member of the team saw him, with the bags under his eyes only accentuated by the marks so high on his cheekbones.

When Hunk said Lance hadn't been sleeping right, he never thought it would be this bad.

"Shiro," Lance breathes, smile fixing itself on his face, "what are you-" he stops himself, face screwing up in thought- "how are you?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that," Shiro returns with a grimace - he's an old master of avoiding the elephant in the room, so he knows when Lance is attempting to worm around a question, "I haven't seen you in a while."

He holds his hand out in greeting, letting Lance take it and pulling him into a hug. It's nice, particularly since Lance has never been really clingy with anyone except Hunk, and having contact with someone other than Keith is a nice chance of scene.
Eventually, Lance pulls away slightly, running a hand through his hair and turning back to the memorial.

"I'm alive," he replies with a half-hearted laugh, hand still interlinked with Shiro's, "I guess I can't ask for much more than that right now."

There's a sadness in his eyes, and it breaks Shiro's heart every time he glances over to see it. He almost yearns for the old Lance, but he knows he won't be seeing that again anytime soon, and that's okay; Shiro knows first-hand how horrible the grieving process is and how long it can take.
He wants to be there to help.

"I know," Shiro replies, giving Lance's hand a squeeze and turning back to the memorial itself, "this is going to be gorgeous once it's complete."

Lance smirks at that, and Shiro guesses that he must've had some input into the design. "Isn't it just?" He crows, hand fixing on his hip, "Coran asked me to help-"

Ah, knew it.

"-so I put together all the stuff she loved, y'know? Like the juniberries and super strong statue - just like her!"
There's a big grin on his face now, and a faint glow from the markings that bounces off his shirt collar in the setting sun. "I think she'll like it - she would like it, sorry."
A heavy silence settles between them, Lance's face falling at the slip of his words.

"Don't apologise," Shiro says quietly, moving back to glance at Lance, "how are you coping?"

"I'm fine," Lance states quickly, brow furrowing, "I'm living with Mama again, she's good, and Marco's trying to put me in touch with one of his therapist friends, I'm fine."

If Shiro's being honest, he doesn't look fine, but he feels like that topic is a conversation for another day.

Nevertheless he hums, noticing how Lance was throughly avoiding eye contact. "If you're sure."

Lance nods, slowly at first, almost as if he is confirming the idea of being okay with himself rather than Shiro.
"Anyway," Lance starts, turning back to face Shiro, "what are you doing these days? Staying on Altea for a bit?"

"I wish," Shiro replies with a tired laugh, running his free hand through his hair, "I'm just here for a pit stop, I'm needed back on the Atlas tomorrow."