credit to steven_-_ketchup for the idea. Thanks for helping me out! :)
A/N mentions of drowning and death
Lance smiled as the mice nipped his fingers lovingly. Although he'd been so lonely lately he knew he could always count on the mice to keep company. The larger, greener one whom Lance had lovingly dubbed Verde, squeaked loudly, demanding his attention.
"Hello, amor," Lance said, petting the top of his head. "What is it?"
Verde squeaked again, but alas, Lance did not speak space mice. Before Lance had the chance to decipher (tehehe gravity falls lives if I say it does...hehehe) what Verde wanted the lights in the castle flickered before completely going out.
Lance was immersed in darkness.
And for a second it was fine.
He was fine.
And then he wasn't.
=================
"Lance? Lance come in!" Hunk's concerned voice cut across the deathly silence. Lance's shaking figure was in one corner while his comm was in the other.
It wasn't that Lance didn't hear him.
It was more of him being unable to respond. It felt like he was back in the water again. In the deepest depths where everyone dies, where people are never heard of again. Where he almost died. Where he was almost never heard from again.
That horrible water.
Lance shivered, and he could practically feel the water seeping through his clothes.
It was cold.
So cold.
Why does darkness have to be so cold?
"--ance?---ease come in----LANCE ANSWER ME NOW!!!" Hunk cried. The pure desperation in his voice is what shocked Lance out of his terror. He opened his eyes and shakily crawled to where his comm lay on the floor.
"...I'm....here." Lance said, his voice shaking.
"Lance! Oh thank God, I thought you were dead!" Hunk said, letting out a huge sigh of relief. In his excited whispers, he missed just how dead Lance sounded. "Coran said that one of the generators blew out. He said that you're the only one who could squeeze into the small place to fix it. Do you think you can do it?"
He wants him to squeeze into a cramp, tiny place in pitch darkness with no one around to keep him safe? Hell to the no!
But because Lance has to, he says,
"Yeah....yeah I can do that buddy..."
No, no he can't.
=================
Lance took hesitant steps.
One foot in front of the other and all that therapeutic bullshit.
Don't think about the water. Don't think about the water. Don't think about the water. Don't think about the--
Lance screamed when his foot touched something wet.
It took him a solid minute to calm down, and assume himself that he was safe. He was fine, he couldn't very well drown in a puddle. Could he?
Of course then his brain decided to be an asshole and remind him of the time Slav mentioned the possibility of drowning in a puddle.
"Fuck you Slav, you centipidle cunt." Lance muttered, trying to steady his heartbeat. He then walked forward, his footsteps the only noise in the castle.
Where did Hunk say he had to go again? The left wing? Lance was pretty sure that's where it was. Lance almost sobbed when he realized he couldn't see where he was going anyway! It's okay Lance, he thought, it's okay.
But it wasn't.
Lance was alone.
Again!
He was going to die.
He couldn't breathe!
The water was filling up his lungs!
He was dying!
He was...
He was...
Lance broke down sobbing, sliding down the wall. "I can't do this," he mumbled over and over again, sounding like a broken record on repeat. He could remember everything in vivid detail. He died. He was sure of it. The current was too strong and he went under. The water was pitch black, and he didn't know which way was up or down. And then the water filled his lungs. And then the dying started.
Lance had always imagined dying to be painless, blissful.
Nope.
It was the exact opposite.
Dying was such a fucking nightmare. His lungs felt like they were being burned alive and all he could think about was how he was going to be another nameless person who passed away tragically by drowning. He'd never meet "the one". He'd never see his mama again. He'd never see his family. Because he'd be dead.
So Lance just sat there, sobbing his eyes out in a dark hallway in some foreign part of the castle, reliving his death and failing miserably at being helpful. Like usual.
And the tears landing on his hands were not helping the situation.
But then something changed.
And that something was a squeak.
Lance looked up at the noise, his eyes failing him but his ear easily recognizing the noise. It was the space mice! He then felt a weight on his right knee. "...Verde?" Lance asked, flinching at how hoarse his voice was.
A squeak.
"Are...are you here to help me?" Lance asked. Another squeak. Lance sighed. Maybe he could do this after all. "Lead the way...."
Lance followed the sound of squeaking down the dark hallways, his past nipping at his heels. He followed the squeaking until he ran smack dab into a wall. he groaned and rubbed his nose, glaring down at nothing for the betrayal.
"Really Verde?" Lance asked. "This is how it's gonna be?" Verde squeaked and Lance bent down on the floor and thrusted his hand out. He was surprised when his hand didn't meet the wall. This must be where the small generator is located. Lance felt around the wall to find out how big the hole is.
It was tiny.
Lance gulped before he began squeezing himself in.
"Verde you'd better tell me which button to press," Lance said, his voice beginning to shake once more. It was to small. He was going to dye. He couldn't breather--
A squeak interrupted his thoughts and Lance scooted further into the dark hole.
He spoke to himself, hoping to stay calm. "Please let the light come on," was all he whispered. In hindsight it wasn't very helpful. Not at all.
When he hit what felt like a metal cylinder, Lance knew he'd found the generator. "Okay Verde," Lance said, he could practically feel the water at his heels. "Which button do I press?"
A wet nose pressed against his finer and Lance flinched back, and the water rose to his waist. The nose nudged his finger over until Lance felt a ridge indicating a button.
The water was at his neck.
Lance pushed the button, the only thought in his brain; please work.
Please work.
The water was at his nose.
Please work.
His head was fully submerged.
Please work.
Lance began gasping for air, but strangely enough he couldn't seem to pull any in.
PLEASE WORK!
And then, the lights turned on.
