#alongthoselineswrites

Look at her, conducting her own scientific experiments, rudimentary as they were.

She had eventually given up on trying. She couldn’t tell whether she was moving, or even whether her bottom half was petrified, but the last thing she wanted was to draw attention to the fact that she was still alive, because until Senku and the others came to save her and released her from this stone prison, she had to assume she was among enemies. If what she had seen done to Ginro was any indication, she had no doubt they would simply hack off any limb that was still moving. She didn’t even know if she’d be able to feel it at this point.

She knew Senku had counted seconds during his imprisonment. For literal millennia he had counted seconds. Kohaku kept getting mixed up around the 10,000 mark, and then she eventually would start over hoping to do better the next time. It was mind-numbingly boring, and as she had no practical reason to count the time like Senku had had, she eventually just stopped counting and instead counted on her friends to tell her how long she had been out of commission when she woke up. 

Instead of rote counting, Kohaku filled her time thinking of her fellow members of the kingdom of science. Everything had changed when she met Senku, in the best way possible. Ruri was no longer sick, the lives of her people were infinitely easier, and they all simply had more fun. For many years, Kohaku hadn’t really been able to consider fun, with hunting and training and going to get water for Ruri. But she was glad she had time for it now, in and around the endless work Senku had for them to do. 

Goodness this was boring. How did Senku and the others do this for so long. She felt like she would almost rather die than spend another second encased in this sightless, soundless world. 

She still had some sort of sensation in her legs and torso, but no feeling at all. She could still be sitting on the master’s roof where she had been petrified for all she knew. 

She really hoped her top half being encased in stone didn’t have a bad effect on her lower half. After all, Senku had mentioned once that your heart and your brain are essential to keeping the rest of the body moving. If both her head and heart were encased in stone, could the legs survive?

For a few minutes, Kohaku began to panic. What if her legs didn’t work when they brought her back? She was one of the village’s strongest warriors! Being stuck at camp doing mindless science work intended for Gen or the children would be torture.

But Senku will find a way. Her deeper thoughts gently reminded her, and this thought calmed her like nothing else. In the three years she had known Senku, he had told amazing stories of people gaining back lost limbs through science. Maybe he could make one for her if things went poorly. 

The remaining time of her petrification was spent thinking of comforting science stories Senku has told her. Usually around a campfire or even on the Perseus on the way here. She felt warm and comfortable, even in her petrified state. 

And she quietly thought to herself that if she had to stay encased in stone for several more years, she had plenty of stories of Senku to keep her company, and the assurance that someday, even if it takes him a lifetime, he would save her. 

Some time later (Kohaku wasn’t sure how long exactly, she was only sure that she refused to count), light returned to her eyes, and sound to her ears. She felt the distinctive thump thump of her heartbeat return, and drew her first breath in who knows how long. Tears sprung to her eyes in relief. All of her friends stood before her in some sort of underground bay. Ginro was alive and depetrified next to her, currently ensconced in a teary-eyed, crushing embrace from Kinro.

And right in front of her was Senku. He was holding a small clay jar over her head, and he seemed to be frozen in place. His facial expression was part shock but overwhelmingly full of relief, and Kohaku wasn’t sure, even with her incredible eyesight, but she thought his eyes were shinier than normal as he turned away to continue fiddling with some sort of device made with what looked like feathers. 

Before she could register much more than that, her legs buckled beneath her, and she collapsed to the floor. Chrome was the first to reach her to help her up, and he slowly helped her wobble over to a chair. 

Looking down at her legs, she could tell even in the dim lighting of the cave that her legs were the wrong color. They looked nearly as gray and dark as the stone that had once encased her top half. She couldn’t seem to get them to work the way they used to, but she hoped that was simply a side effect of not using them for so long. 

“How long was I out?” She asked Chrome, who was still standing beside her.

“Almost three weeks.” He grimaced, “ we had planned to get you guys back much sooner, but Ibara stole your earring and figured out our drone plan.” He pointed over to the device Senku was still fiddling with. Senku paused to wipe something from his face, maybe even his eye, before returning to work, “So we had to turn tail and figure something else out. We ended up having to build infrared binoculars, which took longer than expected. Senku hasn’t slept in almost a week and a half.” 

Kohaku had no idea what binoculars were, nor what infrared meant, but the drone thing looked complicated enough all on its own. The comment about Senku’s sleeping patterns was really what caught her off guard though. For as long as she’s known him, he has always preached the values of getting a good night’s sleep. For Pete’s sake, one of the first conversations she ever had with the man was him telling her to go to sleep. If what Chrome said was true, what could have had Senku so on edge that he felt the need to sacrifice his sleep?

Over the next couple of days, color slowly returned to both Kohaku and Ginro’s legs. Regular bowel movements returned, and movements that had been so natural before the petrification were becoming easier by the minute. A few times since reawakening, Senku had come to her and given her body a very clinical appraisal, mainly to make sure all of her regular bodily functions had returned. Despite the fact that she was technically seeing him and talking to him, Kohaku could feel the distance Senku was placing between them. And even when she didn’t particularly want to see him after an especially awkward questioning regarding her monthly cycle, she still missed him. Although she had nothing on Taiju, she had spent the last three weeks basically sustaining herself on thoughts of him, and now that she was reanimated, she was having to come to terms with the implications of that fact. 

When several more days passed and even the excruciatingly clinical checkups had ceased, it became glaringly obvious that Senku was avoiding her. What was especially disarming was that he didn’t share the same attitude towards anyone else, least of all Ginro, who logically, since that was Senku’s thing, should have been receiving the same treatment as her because they shared the exact same circumstances. Except that oh wait, Kohaku saved Ginro’s life! 

Senku’s behavior made no sense. And so after nearly a week with no words spoken between the once close friends, Kohaku chose to act. 

The mobile lab was still parked up the beach from the coast line, absurdly high to be honest, since the entirety of a camp of nearly 50 people were positioned far from the tide’s reach between the lab and the ocean and the lab was still out of hearing distance from the camp… maybe even for Ukyo.

Amaryllis and several of her friends from the village were visiting before the kingdom of science shipped off in the next couple days, so the entire crew were engaged in campfire storytelling and drinking, and generally having a good time. But as per usual, a certain green-haired man that couldn’t hide if he tried was strangely absent. 

Approaching the lab, she heard sounds of science coming from the mobile building. Even to her own non-Ukyo level ears, however, the rustling and clanking sounded more agitated than Senku’s usual amount of frenetic energy. 

Approaching slowly, she leaned on the door frame and knocked lightly to alert him to her presence. He started slightly, which she couldn’t help but find adorable, obviously not having noticed her approach. 

“Kohaku!” He said tightly, before quickly averting his gaze and returning to whatever he had been working on, “what do you need?”

Kohaku wondered whether she should just come straight out and ask him why he’s been avoiding her. Then she wondered where this newfound timidness came from. Pre-petrification Kohaku wouldn’t have even wondered whether to come right out and say it, she just would have. 

She realized she was hesitating for too long right around the time she realized her new found shyness comes from her recently discovered feelings for their resident head scientist. 

Feeling a flush start to crawl up her neck, she stammers out, “N-nothing. You just weren’t at the party.” 

“Oh,” he still hadn’t looked at her again, instead peering into his microscope critically, “ I just didn’t feel like it one millimeter, had more important things to do. You should go though. Have fun!” 

Kohaku may not be a mentalist like Gen, but she can recognize a dismissal when she hears one. She doesn’t take the bait though, instead she stays silent before finally just getting it over with, “Senku, why are you avoiding me?” 

Senku froze. He stopped twiddling with the stubby knobs of the microscope. He stopped twisting his finger in his ear. If Kohaku didn’t know better, she would think he had been hit with the petrification weapon. 

He seemed to have no intention to answer, but Kohaku was no quitter. She waited him out. 

It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but Kohaku could have sworn it felt like 3700 years passed again as she leaned against the counter with her arms folded across her chest to wait out this stubborn man. 

Finally, Senku let out a humorless chuckle, still not looking up from his microscope, “Ha, I don’t know what you’re talking about Kohaku, I’m not avoiding you.”

Kohaku felt a flash of anger surge through her, “Look at me, Senku.” 

Senku froze again, but this time he came to sooner, only taking a couple seconds to recalibrate before turning and looking her dead in the eyes, daring her to look away first. 

Normally, Kohaku was intrigued by Senku’s eyes, as they normally had some sort of gleam in them, whether it be the gleam of a scientific breakthrough or the gleam of a madman. But these eyes were not those eyes. Senku looked at her with a blank expression, almost cold in its inexpressiveness. She held her ground. 

“Yes, Kohaku?” Senku said with heavy sarcasm. There wasn’t quite venom in his tone, but he was obviously growing frustrated with this conversation. Kohaku hadn’t the slightest idea why, but she wasn’t leaving until she had an answer. 

“Why are you avoiding me, Senku?” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off, “And don’t tell me that you’re not. You haven’t spoke more than two words to me in over a week, and I’m tired of it. I miss you.” 

There was a flicker of something on Senku’s face before he pulled himself together, “I’ve been busy, that’s all.” His gaze dropped to the floor. Not in an attempt to avoid her eyes, but it appeared, in shame. Kohaku could only guess what for. 

“That’s a lie and you know it, Senku. You’ve had plenty of time to talk to everyone else this week, and you even went scuba diving with Taiju a couple days ago, completely for fun!” She paused, realizing that in her hurt and anger her voice had risen. 

Senku looked thoroughly scolded, and it was honestly a welcome relief to see emotion enter back into his eyes. Senku claimed to be immune to emotion, but Kohaku knew that was just a façade. He cared deeply about everyone under his command, he cared about his science, he cared about the natural world and food and Sagara the wild boar. He tried to maintain an air of impartiality but Kohaku could see through it. 

“What’s wrong with me all of a sudden, Senku?” She could hear the tears forming in her voice, and it broke as she said, “was there something I did that we’re not friends anymore?” 

As she watched, Senku’s face morphed slowly from shame and sadness to anger. He didn’t seem to be angry at her per say, but he was definitely frustrated, “Nothing! You didn’t do anything.”

“Then why…”

“Look, Kohaku, I…” he took a slow step towards her, “I don’t…” another step, “I can’t…” and another, bringing him within arms reach of Kohaku in the small confines of the mobile lab. He froze once again, but it was different this time. While last time he froze because he had been caught, this time he froze because he was caught off guard. Senku and Kohaku were mere inches from each other, eyes locked on the other, barely breathing.

Several seconds passed before Kohaku breathlessly asked, “You can’t what?”

For the first time in her life, Kohaku fell victim to a surprise attack, because the next thing she was aware of was the press of Senku’s mouth against her own. He was warm and solid, despite his lack of physical strength, and Kohaku melted. 

It lasted far too short. Kohaku had barely begun to respond, reaching her hand tentatively upward to hold his jaw, when he was pulling away. He began to pace the floor in the small room while desperately tugging at the roots of his hair. 

“I’m so sorry, Kohaku. I shouldn’t have… I didn’t even…” he groaned heavily, leaning against the counter facing away from her and hanging his head. 

He seemed so distraught, like he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

“Senku?” She asked gently, wanting to give him the space he so obviously needed, but also needing answers for the way he was reacting. Regardless of whatever just happened between them, Senku was her friend, who obviously was going through something. 

He murmured something under his breath, and Kohaku wasn’t able to quite catch it. She still wasn’t Ukyo after all. 

“I can’t hear…” 

“I said I was scared to lose you!” He turned halfway around so that she could see the tears clearly forming in his eyes, and her heart broke. She knew Senku experienced emotions, but she had never in her years of knowing him seen this caliber of feeling on his face. She waited for him to continue. 

“Getting you and Ginro back was such a rough patch with several failed plans along the way, and I knew we’d win with science but I hated you being in enemy hands. And then when I saw that your legs and lower torso weren’t petrified I didn’t know whether the two of your would ever be able to walk again, because according to science, limbs are ten billion percent useless after around six to eight hours without blood supply, and it had been nearly three weeks. And when you were able to stand again, and came out of the petrification with no problems, I felt such a huge sense of relief that I didn’t know what to do with myself.” He paused, finally meeting her eyes once again, “I’ve never felt as intense of emotions as I do when it comes to you, Kohaku, and I don’t know what to do with them. Psychology is such a lame science.” 

He chuckled slightly, and Kohaku followed his lead despite not getting the joke. There were a couple moments of comfortable silence as they contemplated each other, before Kohaku slowly stood up from her place leaning against the counter, and came to stand next to Senku. She gently placed her hand atop his where it rested, and when their eyes met again, she knew that their friendship wouldn’t suffer from this, everything could go back to normal, at least for now. “It’s ok that you don’t always know what to do, Senku. The important thing is that you did save Ginro and I, and I know we can always count on you to save us with science.” 

She averted her gaze, still not quite brave enough to meet him head on as she said the next part, “And it’s ok that you don’t know what to do about your feelings either. Someday it will get clearer, and if it doesn’t,” she met his eyes again, “you always can come to me for help.” 

Realizing how self-centered that sounded, she tried to backpedal, “Or Taiju. Or Chrome. Or Gen. Or even Ryusui for all I care. You really can ask whoever you…” She trailed out because Senku was laughing. She removed her hand from atop his, happy to see him in good spirits again. 

“You’re too funny, Kohaku.” He smiled at her for a long moment, before nodding his head towards the door of the mobile lab, “Come on, let’s go celebrate with our friends.”

Hunk hadrealized that Lance was jealous of Pidge’s quality time with James before Lancedid himself. They had all been in the cafeteria, eating their lunch, when Pidge, who was sitting across from Lance, started trading food items with James. He traded his peanut butter cookie for her yogurt cup, and she traded her extra corn dog for his fried okra. They were giggling and fake arguing throughout the whole exchange, and it all looked so much like flirting as they swatted each others’ hands away from the food they wanted to keep that Lance could feel the jealousy consuming him. At the time he hadn’t recognized it, but Hunk had, and Lance still remembered the sly look the robust man had given him over the edge of his juice box. 

That experience had been especially humiliating because after the whole exchange, Lance had tried to trade her his peanut butter cookie as well. “No thanks.” she had said, although she did blush heavily. Lance still wasn’t sure what that was about. 

And once Lance had figured it out, it wasn’t long before Keith hadsomehow found out. Lance was still trying to figure out who to blame for that. Now the two were constantly teasing him about how much heloved Pidge, and singing that silly childhood rhyme, “Lance and Pidge, sittingin a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Sometimes they even made harmonies, and at one point performed a fully choreographed dramatic interpretation which they somehow dragged Coran into. 

Needless tosay, it was definitely starting to grate on Lance’s nerves.

He didn’teven like her like that… Did he? He had never really considered Pidge as aromantic option before the given situation, and that only caused him to kickhimself even more because of course she was an option. She was beautiful, andfunny, and loved video games, and her family, and could hand him his own ass on a platter and he would say thank you, and… Quiznack. He liked her a lot.

This went on for weeks, with Lance pining after Pidge, having just realized that he fell forher at some point, while Pidge and James only got closer. Lance started seeingless and less of Pidge, until the only times he was guaranteed to see her weretheir scheduled game nights with the old Mercury Gameflux they had bought atthe space mall by stealing coins from the wishing fountain. Thinking back on itnow, Lance realized that could have easily been considered a date. He wonderedif Pidge had ever thought of it that way.

One nightduring their traditional weekly game nights, Pidge was kicking his butt atKillbot Phantasm I, as usual. At the same time, almost as if she was showingoff, she was talking his ear off about the new enhancements that her and Jameshad been working on for the MFE fighter planes. Lance felt his agitation grow slowlyevery time she mentioned his name, and when she transitioned from talking aboutthe professional aspect of their relationship to a funny story he had told her,Lance couldn’t take it any longer. He pressed pause on the game.

“And thenLeifsdottir was like… Hey! Why’d you pause the game?” She whipped her headaround to look at him with a surprised and slightly angry expression.

“Pidge? Am Iyour best friend?”

Pidge blinkedowlishly at him, her face aglow from the light of the screen in front of them, and she was obviously surprised by his question, “Well, best friend is a strong title, Lance.” He thought hemight have seen a hint of red on her face, but he couldn’t be entirely surewith the strange lighting. Plus, what reason would she have to blush? “You’redefinitely one of my best friends, but I’m also really close withHunk and Keith… Allura’s starting to make her way up there too. Plus I’mstarting to get really close with James…”

To this dayLance isn’t entirely sure what possessed him, but when Pidge mentioned freakingJames Griffin in the running for who could be her best friend,he lost it, feeling himself go green with envy and red with ragesimultaneously. He jerked forward, totally catching Pidge off guard and cuttingher off mid sentence (which she would most definitely chew him out for later).He grabbed her by the face and kissed her.

…

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

There was nothingbut screaming inside of his head. Screaming because why would you do that you idiot?Screaming because why is she not responding? Am I doing something wrong?Screaming because it felt so very amazing to be kissing Pidge.

Lance wasabout to pull back and try to save face when Pidge finally responded, snakingher hands up his chest and gently moving her lips against his. They sighedalmost simultaneously in bliss.

When theyfinally broke apart, they were both breathing a little heavily, despite thefact that the kiss hadn’t actually lasted long enough for them to be short ofbreath. Pidge was smiling up at him, and Lance felt the corners of his mouthturn up just at the sight of her smile.

“Pidge?”Lance whispered, and she hummed contentedly in response, “Tell me I’ll alwaysbe your best friend.”

Since then, it had become less of a “accidental” thing, and it became obvious that both of them preferred to sleep next to someone than by themselves. Lance knew that in the same way he purposefully visited late at night with the intention to fall asleep, that Pidge sometimes found excuses to come play video games at all hours. They had even started bringing their own pillows, and Lance had had a second stash of beauty supplies in Pidge’s bathroom.

There was even one time that they had both had the same idea to come and visit the other, and met accidentally in the hallway halfway between the two rooms. Blushing profusely, they decided to spend the night in Lance’s room, and walked there together, still slightly embarrassed.

Lance supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised that the tradition continued now that they had returned to Earth. Especially since the two weren’t able to go stay with their families, who were living in nearby apartments on garrison property. The Paladins, however, had to live in the dorms, since they needed to be available at a moment’s notice.

Which led to today. Lance had been up for almost a half hour, going through his daily beauty routine, and Pidge had been staying with him long enough to not be woken up by his early morning movement. But with Iverson’s mandatory daily briefing less than twenty minutes out, Lance knew that he needed to wake her.

It had taken him longer than he was willing to admit, but somewhere in the process of all of it, Lance had fallen hard for the small green paladin. It had happened slowly, in the sure and constant way that the movies never talk about. It was practical and beautiful and strange; completely new and yet not changing a thing. His feelings defined their relationship for him, and if Lance was a betting man, he would put money on the fact that Pidge harbored some sort of feelings for him as well.

“Pidgey.” He singsonged at her from the entrance to the attached bathroom, but she didn’t stir. As he finished drying his face, he walked over towards their bed. My bed, He reminded himself sternly. Pidge and him weren’t dating, and had never even talked about whether or not they had romantic feelings for each other. They just happened to share a bed nine nights out of ten.

As he approached her, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked, starfished on his bed the way she was. In the back of his mind, Lance realized that the idea of having a girl in his bed should have had a sexual connotation, but he could only think of how adorable she looked; drool and all.

He leaned down, planning to whisper in her ear for her to wake up, when he was struck with the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Lying on her back with her head turned slightly towards the wall as she was, Lance had limited access to her face, and the most easily reachable part of her was her ear.

It seemed an odd thing to do, but Lance had been a paladin for too long to blink an eye at something that seemed odd to him. He had seen and done many strange things.

Which was what led him to gently lean all the way down and press his lips to the shell of Pidge’s ear. After a second or two, the girl began to stir, and Lance pulled away, abruptly remembering their status as “just friends.”

He didn’t retreat far though, and when Pidge turned her head drowsily to find what had woken her up, her confusion fell into contentment as her eyes found Lance’s. She yawned, exposing Lance to her fowl morning breath. She was lucky that it didn’t diminish his love for her.

She smiled softly, “Good morning, Lance.”

Lance chuckled as his eyes roamed over her face, taking in every detail of this precious moment, “It’s time to wake up, Pidge. We’ve got morning briefing in,” he looked at his watch, “eight minutes.”

Pidge groaned, before sitting up on the bed, leaving Lance crouched at the side. She gently rubbed at the ear he had kissed, and Lance felt his face heat up as a confused expression once again took over her face. She turned to Lance, and looked like she was about to ask a question, but stopped herself.

“What?” Lance said as she continued to give him a strange look.

She seemed to debate for a couple moments more before asking, “Did you kiss my ear?”

Another time, their argument had been about the correct way to pronounce pecan. Lance was convinced that it was pee-can, while Pidge thought it should be puh-con. For a good four hours or so, their argument consisted of yelling “PEE-CAN” “PUH-CON” back and forth between them at various pitches and intonations. Hunk had tried to show them an actual English dictionary and prove that both ways were correct, but they weren’t interested in that solution this time around. Only when Keith had sided with Lance did the argument finally end, and Pidge didn’t speak with Keith for over a week. Keith was just glad it was over.

“Just admit that it was your turn and you forgot!” Lance yelled again, bringing Hunk back to the present. If he was right about what this argument was about, then he hoped he could nip it in the bud and save all of them some time.

Pidge mouth gaped open before she yelled back at him, rounding the couch in order to not be so far away, “It was not my turn, Lance! I did it last time. You forgot!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did!”

“I would never forget our poor daughter like that. I can’t believe you would insinuate that, Pidge!”

“Well, what else am I supposed to think when Kaltenecker was so miserably full when I checked on her today?”  

“When you checked on her?! I was the one who found her that way!”

“Guys?” Hunk tried to speak up, but was easily spoken over by the couple shouting almost simultaneously.

“No, you didn’t. I was definitely in there before you.”

“Then why didn’t you milk her then!?”

“I was going to! But we had to run out on the mission! Don’t try to pin this on me!”

Hunk tried again, this time in enough of a shout to catch their attention, “Guys!”

Pidge and Lance jumped as if they had forgotten he was in the room. Hunk gave each of them a pointed glare for interrupting his quality culinary time, before setting them both straight.

“I was the last one to milk Kaltenecker.” He said in a measured voice.

Both Lance and Pidge opened their mouths to refute him, but Hunk cut them off before either of them could say anything, “Nah-ah-ah. It’s true. Lance missed his turn to milk her three days ago, so I did it the day after that. Then Pidge missed her turn yesterday. It’s both of your fault.

Lance and Pidge pointedly stared at each other, still looking mad, instead of ashamed like Hunk had expected, but then again maybe he had expected too much.

Suddenly, Pidge stalked up to Lance, pulled him up by the collar, and slammed her mouth onto his. Hunk’s jaw dropped. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen them kiss before, but Pidge’s reaction was so different that what Hunk had expected from the situation at hand that he couldn’t help the surprise that covered his face.

Pidge pulled away quickly, and it was obvious that while Lance was still upset at her, he wouldn’t have minded if the kiss had lasted a little longer.

“You have 10 minutes to be in my room, got it?” Pidge dictated. Lance nodded mutely.

Pidge let go of him in disgust, before stalking out of the room. Hunk had the sense that if she had been able to slam the door behind her she would have.

After she had gone, Hunk turned his flabbergasted expression onto Lance. As he stared openly in surprise at Lance, he noticed that the Cuban boy also looked stunned, albeit a cross between stunned and enraged as he continued to watch the door where Pidge had disappeared. Hunk also noted a slight flush at the base of his neck.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes before Lance took a deep breath, “I have to go.” He said slowly to Hunk, still not taking his eyes from the door. “Thanks for milking Kaltenecker for us.”

“No problem.” Hunk answered back.

Lance then slowly got up from the couch, and followed in the direction that Pidge had gone.

That was the day that Hunk realized there might be more to the pair’s arguments than he had originally realized.

 Bonus: 

Hunk: Hey Keith, are Lance and Pidge…

Keith: Yep.

Hunk: No. I mean do you think they’re…

Keith: Yep.

Hunk: … Should we tell Shi…

“I’m holding up okay.” She reached up and kissed him again, “I wish you didn’t have to go, Lance.”

Lance’s expression fell slightly, and he brought a hand up to cup her face. Pidge loved the way the coolness of his ring contrasted with the warmth of his hand.

Pidge looked down at her own hand, silently admiring the way that the light glittered in the diamond placed daintily on her ring finger. She and Lance had been married for almost a year now. It hadn’t always been easy, but it had been worth every minute. She wouldn’t trade him for the world.

She shifted her gaze from the ring on her finger to the small stick lying on the table. She knew Lance would freak out if he knew she had placed it in the same place that they eat, but she couldn’t really bring herself to care. On one end of the stick was a piece of paper that kinda reminded Pidge of a pH test, although the purpose of this paper was slightly different. On the other end was a small screen embedded in the plastic. Two parallel lines were displayed in perfect clarity.

Pidge was pregnant.

“It’s only for two weeks, Pidge. Diplomatic meetings around a couple of neighboring galaxies, and then I’m back home before dinner. I promise.” Lance rationed with her.

“I know, but I wish that Hunk could go instead of you, or I could go instead of Keith, or something. You know Keith isn’t good at these things anyway.”

Lance laughed, “Yeah, but neither are you, my dear. Remember what happened on Yemurill?”

Pidge remembered perfectly well. After a wonderful meal and amicable negotiations thus far, the Yemurillan Prince had gotten a little too tipsy and tried to pull a line on Pidge. Next thing anyone knew, the poor prince was lodged into the wall above the dining room table, hanging upside down with two of his feet shoved in his mouth.

Pidge rolled her eyes, “He totally had that one coming.”

Lance laughed again, throwing his head back and making Pidge’s heart skip a beat. He leaned back in and placed his forehead on Pidge’s. “Fine, I’ll give you that one.” He placed a quick kiss on her nose, “Besides, Keith is the Black Paladin, he’s really kinda needed at these diplomatic meetings and such, which is why he needs his right-hand man to bail him out of all the sticky situations that Marmora blade gets him in.”

Keith called from the other side of the tarmac, “I have ears you know!”

“Stupid Galra ears!” Lance lifted his head and shouted back, since Keith was much too far away to have heard that with human hearing.

Pidge laughed, “Hey, Lance?”

He turned his attention back to her, humming and absentmindedly taking one of her hands in his and bringing it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles while she talked, “Don’t ever talk about Keith when we’re cuddling again.”

Lance paused for a second, before bursting out laughing again, “Alright, Pidge. Whatever you say.”

Unable to stare at the pregnancy test any longer, Pidge got up from the table, and finally began to assess the bodily functions that she had ignored since she took the test earlier this morning. After relieving herself and changing into some less sweaty clothes, she headed into the kitchen to try to find something to eat. She left the test on the kitchen table, and tried to leave it out of her mind.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to be pregnant. Lance and her had talked extensively on how excited they were to have a family one day. Especially Lance; he was ecstatic about the thought of being a father. It was just the specific circumstances that made her anxious.

She put water on the stove to boil, pulling some linguini out of the pantry. She then hopped up onto the counter and stared at the wall some more. At least this time she had a fresh perspective.

“Take me with you, Lance. I don’t want to be away from you for so long.” Pidge pouted, pulling the puppy-dog eyes out of her box of tricks, knowing full well that after three and a half years of being together, he was mostly immune to them, especially knowing how important these diplomatic meetings were. She knew she was being dramatic and that it was only two weeks, but she couldn’t help it. 

“Pidge, you need to stay here. You’ve got to cover my classes for me, remember?” Lance reminded her jokingly.

“As if I could actually teach your classes, Lance. I’m no pilot. What business do I have teaching a piloting class? You should have asked Shiro.”

“You piloted a lion same as me, Pidge. Besides, everyone in my class is scared to death of you. You can just call any of them by any name off the top of your head and they’ll probably pee themselves.”

Pidge giggled softly, before growing serious again. She looked him in the eyes, gripping his shoulders hard, “Lance, I don’t want you to go. I know I’m supposed to be the rational one about this kind of thing, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Lance cradled her face again, bringing his forehead to hers, obviously trying to bring her comfort in this, “I’m sorry, Pidge. I’ll be back in two weeks.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, telling her everything she needed to know through the kiss.

Pidge heard a hissing sound on the stove, bringing her back to the present. She turned and saw that her water was boiling over. She quickly jumped off of the counter, removing the pot and turning off the stove. She leaned heavily against the counter.

Perhaps she shouldn’t be cooking in this state.

Her goodbye with Lance had been almost three months ago. Four days into their mission, Keith and Lance’s radios had gone inexplicably silent, and they hadn’t come online since. Pidge and Allura had immediately flown out to their last known location, only to find empty space, with nothing in reach for lightyears.

Pidge felt tears start to well up in her eyes, but she refused to cry.

She had worked tirelessly towards tracing their last known signal, but she knew deep down that if they weren’t broadcasting, there was no signal to trace. She had originally thought that the stress of the two paladins going missing had been what had been causing her cycle to be late. But after the third month with nothing, she couldn’t deny the possibility of her being pregnant any longer. 

That is what led her to her current situation, sitting alone in her and Lance’s small apartment, alternating between failing at cooking and staring forlorn at the positive pregnancy test on the table. If she truly was pregnant, she’d be well over three months along at this point. She was almost finished with her first trimester and she hadn’t even known she was pregnant.

Even more important, Lance didn’t know she was pregnant. And on the twelfth week of a two-week mission, there was an 89% chance that he would never know she was pregnant.

It was that thought that made the tears fall.

 A few days later, and Pidge still hadn’t removed the pregnancy test from the table. She can’t bring herself to touch it again; as if the act of acknowledging it will really make it true. Irrationally, she thought that if she ignored it, everything would go back to the way it was before.

Pidge was attempting once again to cook without burning the food, a task which she was currently having about 14% success after finding out about her pregnancy. She had dropped 21% from where she was after she had found out Lance was missing, which was already far below her usual 63%. Maybe she was just a bad cook.

The phone started ringing.

Knowing that in this frame of mind she wouldn’t have the brain power to cook and talk on the phone, she turned off the stove in order to answer the phone.

“Hello?” She answered, and it was at that point that she realized that she hadn’t spoken in three days. Only cried. Which made her voice thick, scratchy, and barely recognizable.

“Katelyn? Is that you?” Iverson’s voice rang through the receiver.

Pidge cleared her throat before trying again, “Sorry. Yeah, this is Katie.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, as if Iverson wasn’t quite sure what exactly he wanted to say.

“You’d better come on down to the Garrison for a bit, Hon.”

She waited for more explanation, but when none came, she forced herself to inquire further, “What’s wrong?”

Another pause, this one longer. “It’s Lance… We found them.”

Tears sprang to Pidge’s eyes, and she wasn’t sure yet if she should be relieved or devastated. She tried to ask if they were okay, but all that came out was a squeaky sort of sobbing sound that Pidge was sure she’d be mortified about later.

“They’re all right, Katie. Calm down. They just came onto our radar, and Hunk and Allura already flew out to escort them back. But you should be here.”

She nodded, before realizing that he couldn’t see her, and said, “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Pidge hastily scrambled to shove shoes onto her feet, before grabbing the first hoodie she could get her hands on, and rushing for the door. When she had turned the handle she stopped, spotting the positive test still lying on the table. On impulse, she decided to grab it, shoving it into her hoodie pocket and fleeing the apartment.

By the time she got to the tarmac, the lions were visible as they came in to land. I should have been here. She realizes when she views the lions coming in with a lack of green among them.

She only dwells on that for a moment however, when the red lion lands right in front of her. As soon as the lion’s head starts dipping towards the ground, Pidge is running. She meets Lance before he’s even gotten both feet on the ground, and almost knocks him off of his feet when she jumps into his arms, holding onto him like a baby koala.

Lance doesn’t comment, only sinks to his knees as Pidge cries in his arms, blubbering about how much she’s missed him and how worried she was, and don’t you ever do that to me ever again Lance McClain.

She felt more than heard Lance laugh, but it sounded watery, and he clung to her just as tightly.

Distantly she was aware of Hunk teasing them, before realizing how shook up they really were and transferring his teasing to Keith and Allura, who had had a similar (although less dramatic) meeting upon exiting their lions. When Keith made a rude gesture, Hunk gave up, going to greet Shay even though he’d only been gone for a matter of minutes. I guess he didn’t want to feel left out.

After not nearly enough time, Lance began to pull out just slightly, only so that he could get one his hands between them to cup her face and bring her eyes to his. Pidge probably looked like a complete wreck, between all the crying she had been doing and the general lack of self-care she had employed since Lance had gone missing.

Lance’s eyes were also red and puffy, and a nasty bruise framed his left temple, but he was here; he was alive.

“I missed you, Pidge. I missed you so much.” He swooped in for a kiss, one which Pidge returned heartily.

Her joy at seeing him again and holding him in her arms manifested itself into uncontrollable laughter, and she soon had to break the kiss and bury her face in his shoulder because she was laughing so hard. Unfortunately, because of her strange emotional spectrum due to the baby in her belly, her laughter still sounded like sobs.

Lance quickly became concerned, asking her what was wrong and if he did something. She started shaking her head, lifting it up to look him in the eyes, so that he could see that she was so unbearably happy. Lance started laughing with her.

When she was finally able to control her laughter, she remembered the test in her pocket. She caught Lance’s attention and pulled the stick out of her pocket, “I have a surprise for you.” She held it in front of his face for him to see.

Lance went slightly cross-eyed for a second, trying to understand what Pidge had whipped in front of his face. 

After a couple seconds, comprehension seemed to dawn on him, and he caught her eye.

“Is that…?” He asked hesitantly, not wanting to believe it.

“It is. I’m pregnant!” She exclaimed, catching the attention of the rest of the team nearby.

“When did you find out?” He asked, still wide-eyed in awe, and holding her just a little more cautiously now.

“I just found out a couple days ago, but I’m just over three months along.” By now most of the team had made their way over, wondering what all the commotion was about.

“What’s happening you two?” Shiro asked, and Pidge handed him the test from where she sat on the ground.

“Are you showing yet?” Lance asked softly, sounding like he missed the privacy of a few moments ago.

Pidge paused, realizing that she hadn’t even thought about whether or not she would be showing yet.

“Let’s find out.” She said, and reached down to pull her shirt and hoodie up to reveal her stomach. She could just begin to see the start of a bump forming.

Lance placed his hands reverently over her abdomen, before catching her eye and leaning in for another kiss, tears welling up in his eyes once again, “We’re having a baby, Pidge!”

Lance rushed over to her side. Well… painstakingly shoved people aside until he was close enough to yell to her over the music. Same thing really. 

“Pidge!” He yelled to her. It took her a second to find him, but when she did she raised an inquisitive eyebrow, silently asking him what he wanted. 

Lance opened his mouth to ask his question, then paused as he realized that he had totally forgotten what he came over to ask her. Instead, he shouted, “Come dance with me!” before reaching for her hand and dragging her off the counter. The Beta Pi girl squealed with delight, before swiping the rest of the cups off the counter and climbing on top of it. 

“Lance! You made me lose my spot! Do you have any idea how long it took me to claim that?” She yelled at him, even as he dragged her further onto the dance floor. 

“Nope!” he yelled back, before beginning to dance. Pidge just stood there, crossing her arms over her chest; her expression a cross between frustration and self-consciousness. 

Lance reached over and pried her hands away from her body, “Come on, Pidge. Dance with me! Everyone’s too drunk to notice if you dance badly!” 

Pidge laughed, “Yeah, including you!” 

“Hey! I’m not that drunk.” He sputtered indignantly. Lance leaned down, close enough to whisper directly into her ear, before saying in a low voice, “I’m not drunk enough to tell you what a huge crush I have on you yet.” 

He leaned away again, before waggling his eyebrow suggestively and breaking out into drunken dancing again. Pidge, who had garnered a massive blush, laughed at him as she started dancing, hoping that he was just kidding, or that he was too drunk to remember any of this in the morning. 

Halfway through the third… or maybe it was the fourth… song they had danced together, Lance was getting really thirsty again. He really hated to interrupt Pidge, as she had gotten really into dancing, which was impressive for someone who was completely sober. They had been having a blast, dancing goofily around the dance floor, spinning each other and knocking into other couple, who of course glared at them for interrupting their grinding. Lance couldn’t say that he cared all that much. 

He shouted to Pidge over the music, “I’m getting another drink! Come with me!” 

She nodded, and staying together with their linked hands, they started to shove their way off of the dance floor. 

Coming to the counter, Lance grabbed a couple glasses and poured a shot of vodka for himself and for Pidge. He handed one to her before downing his own, “I know vodka is your favorite. A drink for the lady.” She casually dumped hers into a nearby plant. 

With excessive gusto, Lance turned back to her, remembering his question from earlier. “Hey!” He shouted, making her jump slightly, “I remembered what I was gonna ask before. Will you drive me home?” He tried giving her the puppy-dog eyes that he knew worked so well on women. 

She gave him a funny look, somewhere between confusion and amusement, “Lance, why would you need me to drive you home?” She asked. 

“Cause I’m drunk. Can’t drive. But you aren’t drunk…” He paused, looking concerned, “Maybe I shouldn’t have given you that shot.” 

Pidge laughed shortly, before clarifying, “No. Lance, why would you need me to drive you home?” she asked again. Lance wasn’t sure why though, he had already told her why. He was drunk. 

“I’ll pay you in kisses.” He said, ignoring her question and moving smoothly (read: stumbling) forward and slotting his lips over hers. Even through his drunkenness, Lance registered that it was really nice, kissing Pidge. I should really try this when I’m sober. He thought to himself. 

Pidge politely pushed him back up to standing. Had she always been that short? Her face was fashioned into a scowl, but beautifully flushed, and Lance wondered idly if she had secretly enjoyed the kiss, sloppy and alcohol-induced as it was. 

“Lance,” she said slowly, trying to get the message through to him. “You live here. You don’t need me to drive you anywhere, goofball.” 

Lance paused, brain still buzzing from the combination of drink and kiss, wondering why he had asked her to drive him. He knew he lived here. Oh right! He remembered. 

“I don’t wanna stay here, Pidge.” He pouted, “Stars knows what’s been happening on my bed tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows at her for emphasis. 

Pidge blushed, and he hoped that meant that she understood what he meant, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to explain it again in a non-crude manner in his current state. 

She crossed her arms over her chest once again, obviously growing frustrated with his antics, “Then where exactly do you propose that I take you, Lance?” 

Lance pondered this for a moment, noticing how she began to tap her foot, and ignoring her impatience while he thought. It wasn’t his fault he had drunk brain. 

Suddenly it hit him, “We can go to your place! I bet no one’s gotten frisky there in years.” 

He watched as her face became more agitated than before, but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was he had done to annoy her this time. 

Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose, “Fine, but no funny business. Last time I let you stay at my apartment drunk you decided you had to have a smoothie at 4am, and then forgot to put the lid on.” She took a step towards him, and he couldn’t help noticing that she smelled really nice as she pointed a finger sternly at him, “You will lay on the couch and sleep. And you will leave first thing in the morning because I have a paper to write tomorrow.” 

Lance nodded dumbly, a little overwhelmed by her proximity combined with her scent. 

Pidge sighed again, and he thought he may have heard her mutter something along the lines of “gonna regret this” or “you help a guy one time.” But he couldn’t be sure. 

The whole drive from the frat house to Pidge’s apartment, Lance stared at her, mesmerized by the way the traffic lights made her hair look more like a halo than the tawny mane that it truly was. Awe inspired by the way that she sang softly under her breath to the Shawn Mendez song playing over the radio. Transfixed by the flush that crawled up her neck when she realized he was staring; and way too drunk to care that she noticed. 

By the time they had reached her building, that last shot had taken full effect, and he could no longer walk straight; he could barely walk forward. Pidge had to support him as they walked up the two flights of stairs to her door, both of them complaining the whole time about her living on the third floor. 

Pidge carefully leaned Lance up against the wall while she fumbled with her keys, and he watched her like a love-struck idiot. 

“You’re real pretty, Pidge. Straight up gorgeous.” He muttered, and he could feel his words slurring together as he started to let the exhaustion seep in. 

Pidge stared at him, looking fed up with his nonsense. Lance still wasn’t entirely sure what he had done. “You know. You’d probably be a lot more effective if you tried flirting with me when you were sober, Lance.” She turned back to trying to get her door open, “Every time, I swear.” He wasn’t sure if she was referring to Lance’s flirtatious behaviors while drunk, or her door sticking. 

“Can I kiss you again? I liked it.” He asked as she finally was able to jiggle the door open. 

“Sure, Lance. Whatever.” She said, completely done with him. 

Lance stumbled into the apartment behind her, but somehow managed to hook her arm before she got too far away and gently spin his side. She stumbled slightly, and Lance somehow managed to stay on his feet as he caught her and held her against his chest. 

If Lance was anything, he was a gentleman, and he wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t forcing a kiss onto Pidge. But as he looked into her eyes, he didn’t see any disgust or nervousness. Instead, he saw anticipation, and when her eyes briefly dipped down towards his mouth, he took it as the go ahead. 

Swooping down, he caught her lips in his for the second kiss of the night. Pidge wasn’t surprised by this one, so she was able to catch Lance off guard by actually responding, letting out a breathy sigh as she moved her mouth against his. Why haven’t I done this before. Lance thought, bringing one of his hands up to cup the back of Pidge’s head. 

Several seconds later, Pidge pulled away from the kiss, breathing slightly labored. She didn’t pull out of the embrace, however. 

“So I guess someone finally got frisky in your apartment.” Lance joked.

“Your breath smells like vodka.” She answered bluntly.