[Fic] all the things you can’t explain
Title: all the things you can’t explain
Characters: Lance, Ethan
Rating: angst and cuddles
Word Count: ~500
Summary: After Eleanor's death, Lance pays Ethan a visit
AN: Fic exchange with finchesenroute because we felt like it.
"I'm ... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss."
And somehow, that was the straw that broke the back of a completely unbearable day. He'd been about to go back to sulking in his room, but now he was just mad. Ethan whirled on his heel, hands balled into fists.
"How can you possibly understand what I'm going through? You have no idea how hard this is, so stop hiding your pity behind false sympathy and just leave me alone!"
A rush of satisfaction surged through Ethan when Lance reared back. It lasted for all of a heartbeat and a half.
"I guess it's a tribute to him that no one remembers that Dad is actually my uncle, huh?" Lance smiled wryly and all of Ethan's smug self-righteousness drained away. "To be fair, I mean, I was eight when it happened. I still remember my parents, but it's not as real as this, I guess."
"Oh." Without his anger to hold him up, Ethan found that he didn't have enough energy to stand. He slumped and let himself flop back onto the couch. "Right. I forgot."
The couch creaked with complaint when Lance sat down, close enough to reach out to, but far enough away that he wasn't crowding. He didn't make any smart remarks, just shrugged off Ethan's vitriol as if it were nothing. To be honest, that even-temperedness was probably why Ethan hadn't told him to get the fuck out the moment he'd shown up at his doorstep.
"It's okay. Just... like I said, I sort of know what you're going through." Lance ran his fingers through his hair, looking rueful. "So, um, if you wanna talk or, I don't know, yell at me some more. I mean, I didn't talk for ages after, according to Dad, but I'm loud and you're quieter, so if yelling helps, I'm good with, uh, listening."
He smiled, but for once, the expression looked strained.
Ethan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Stop faking the cheeriness, it doesn't suit you. Now I feel guilty on top of being depressed."
Lance shuffled down the couch a little to sling an arm around Ethan's shoulders. When Ethan tried to shrug the arm off, Lance bopped him upside the head.
"Stop being an idiot about this. We're only human." He tugged Ethan in closer. "Take the hug."
Ethan let out a bark of a laugh, only somewhere along the line, the laughter turned into sobs. Lance rubbed Ethan's back and leaned his chin on Ethan's shoulder. Neither man really knew how long they sat there together, but eventually Ethan quieted a little. At that point, Lance turned his head, just enough to crack out the kinks.
"Ow." Ethan punched Lance in the chest. "That was loud. I mean, my ear is right there."
"Sorry." Lance shuffled a little, obviously restless. "So... you wanna watch the Puppy Bowl? I've got the tapes in my bag."
"If you thought I was going to say no, you wouldn't have brought them along."
Characters: Lance, Ethan
Rating: angst and cuddles
Word Count: ~500
Summary: After Eleanor's death, Lance pays Ethan a visit
AN: Fic exchange with finchesenroute because we felt like it.
"I'm ... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss."
And somehow, that was the straw that broke the back of a completely unbearable day. He'd been about to go back to sulking in his room, but now he was just mad. Ethan whirled on his heel, hands balled into fists.
"How can you possibly understand what I'm going through? You have no idea how hard this is, so stop hiding your pity behind false sympathy and just leave me alone!"
A rush of satisfaction surged through Ethan when Lance reared back. It lasted for all of a heartbeat and a half.
"I guess it's a tribute to him that no one remembers that Dad is actually my uncle, huh?" Lance smiled wryly and all of Ethan's smug self-righteousness drained away. "To be fair, I mean, I was eight when it happened. I still remember my parents, but it's not as real as this, I guess."
"Oh." Without his anger to hold him up, Ethan found that he didn't have enough energy to stand. He slumped and let himself flop back onto the couch. "Right. I forgot."
The couch creaked with complaint when Lance sat down, close enough to reach out to, but far enough away that he wasn't crowding. He didn't make any smart remarks, just shrugged off Ethan's vitriol as if it were nothing. To be honest, that even-temperedness was probably why Ethan hadn't told him to get the fuck out the moment he'd shown up at his doorstep.
"It's okay. Just... like I said, I sort of know what you're going through." Lance ran his fingers through his hair, looking rueful. "So, um, if you wanna talk or, I don't know, yell at me some more. I mean, I didn't talk for ages after, according to Dad, but I'm loud and you're quieter, so if yelling helps, I'm good with, uh, listening."
He smiled, but for once, the expression looked strained.
Ethan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Stop faking the cheeriness, it doesn't suit you. Now I feel guilty on top of being depressed."
Lance shuffled down the couch a little to sling an arm around Ethan's shoulders. When Ethan tried to shrug the arm off, Lance bopped him upside the head.
"Stop being an idiot about this. We're only human." He tugged Ethan in closer. "Take the hug."
Ethan let out a bark of a laugh, only somewhere along the line, the laughter turned into sobs. Lance rubbed Ethan's back and leaned his chin on Ethan's shoulder. Neither man really knew how long they sat there together, but eventually Ethan quieted a little. At that point, Lance turned his head, just enough to crack out the kinks.
"Ow." Ethan punched Lance in the chest. "That was loud. I mean, my ear is right there."
"Sorry." Lance shuffled a little, obviously restless. "So... you wanna watch the Puppy Bowl? I've got the tapes in my bag."
"If you thought I was going to say no, you wouldn't have brought them along."