The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[39] If I could move properly, I'd be giving you the finger

"Yeah, well, he can't be worse than you." Lance said, and the bed slowly lifted so Shiro was somewhat sitting up. Matt readjusted his pillow and sheets, a half thoughtful look on his face.

"True, true..." He said, moving to the foot of the bed to fix the sheets there.

Rolo shuddered. "Could you maybe give him a visor or something? The dead-eye stare's a little creepy."

"Hmm?" Matt looked up at Shiro, before blanching. "Yeah, you're right. That's a bit scary. Can't be good for his eyes, either."

Not seeing any other options, Lance reached over and closed Shiro's eyes himself. He pulled his hand back quickly, grimacing. "That felt like I was closing the eyes of a corpse."

"If it's any consolation, it looked that way too."

"Matt, how is that consolation?"

He shrugged. "No idea. So Olly's coming to do some work?"

Lance nodded. "She's taking casts of Shiro's stumps and taking measurements, and designing a new arm and leg for him from scratch."

Matt gave a low whistle, pulling up the seat next to Shiro's bed and sitting down. "Snazzy."

"She's not going to build them before he's truly awake though, we're not even sure he'll want new prosthetics."

"I wanted a new leg to replace this hunk of junk but she said it was fine as long as maintenance was performed correctly." Rolo said, leg shifting slightly in an attempt to move it.

Matt chuckled. "Yeah well, I'm pretty sure yours was made from scraps."

Rolo was silent, and Matt's chuckles turned into full laughter. "Oh my god it was."

"... can you flip the finger to yourself?"

Lance made his way over to Rolo, grinning. "How 'bout we get those exercises done so you can do it yourself?" He said, reaching for Rolo's closer hand. "Also, you have one less finger than we do, so does it even count?"

"I reckon so." Matt said. Lance rolled his eyes.

"You just think it's hilarious to teach aliens swears and rude gestures."

"I'm right, aren't I?" He leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the edge of Shiro's bed and tucking his hands behind his head. "Besides, technically we're the aliens - there's only a maximum of..." He trailed off, doing some quick maths in his head. "Seven. Seven humans in space."

"And somehow three of them ended up here." Rolo drawled as Lance massaged the palm of his hand. "That's nearly an invasion."

"Maybe so."

Lance paused in his movements, turning to stare at Matt over his shoulder. In return, he gave a shit-eating grin.

"Matt... that meme died when my abuela was on the internet."

"It was never really a 'meme', it's more of an abstract reaction."

"I'm not even gonna ask."