#kidgeweek

Day 1: Offspring

Meet Kitty (real name Twyla), Keith and Pidge's 12-year-old daughter and Kaiden's little sister. In case you didn't see Kaiden's post (which I'll leave here in case you want to check it out), he's 15 years old.

Day 7: Hades & Persephone

Out of all the prompts for this year's Kidge Week, this one was very special to me because A) I'm a big mythology nerd and B) I also happen to be a huge fan of the musical Hadestown, which is a modern adaptation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that features Hades and Persephone as well.

“Why did you pick Hades again?” Pidge moved one of the books he’d been reading from the chair and sat down next to him at the kitchen table.

“Honestly, I thought he had a cool dog.” He gave a defeated shrug, scratching at Cosmo’s ear absently where the big dog had his head resting on his knee under the table.

“Figures.” She huffed, eyes scanning the multitudes of reference materials he had scattered around his computer. “So what can I do to help?”

He looked up through his bangs at her and furrowed a brow, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she rolled her eyes, “Matt is stuck at work so I’m stuck here until he gets home. I might as well help if I can.” She shrugged a shoulder, hoping she sounded calm and collected.

“Oh yea, taco tuesdays…” Keith trailed off, setting the book he’d had in his lap down next to his laptop. “How much do you know about Greek mythology?”

“Enough.” She hoped. She’d learned it all from video games if she was honest but he didn’t need to know that. She was smart. He’d probably buy it. Not that he wasn’t smart. Because he was. Just not in this kind of stuff.

She’d known Keith since Matt and Shiro became friends in grade school. He was another fixture at their house on weekends and after robotics tournaments. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit to having a tiny school girl crush on him at one point. In the past. Definitely in the past.

Was her line of thinking when he gave her that smug, crooked smile and put the pencil he’d been chewing behind his ear.

“Alright then, prove it.”

“Prove it?”

“I’ve been looking stuff up for this stupid essay for a few hours now. Let’s see what you got, Holt.”

“Persephone.” She said the name before she knew what she was doing. She hated being challenged. It made her mind do stupid things. Like word vomit.

“Hades’ wife. What about her?”

“I always liked her more than Hades.”

“Why?” He raised an eyebrow, his curiosity genuinely peaked.

“Because,” she made a wild gesture with her arms, “Persephone makes the best of both worlds. She spends her spring with her mother, creating new life and then in the winter, gets to reign as the queen of the underworld. How could I not like her?”

“Fair point.” He shrugged, flipping the pencil from his ear to the table. “Doesn’t really help me here though.”

“It looks like you’ve got enough info,” she gestured at the page of bullet point information listed on his open computer screen. “I think you just need to organize it better. Can I see?” She gestured to the laptop and he nodded, sliding it over so they could both see.

“If I help you with this, you owe me.” She nudged his side with an elbow as she scanned the document. He grunted, poking her back.

“Owe you what?”

“I don’t know. Surprise me.”

“Dinner.” He said the word so simply that she almost didn’t catch the connotation.

“What?” Her fingers paused over the keys.

“I’ll take you to dinner if you help me. You and I both know that Matt isn’t coming home soon. Allura’s closing tonight. He isn’t going to miss a chance to fawn all over her.” He wasn’t wrong. Matt had a blindspot for a pretty face.

“Dinner like just a dinner or a dinner-dinner?”

“You tell me, Holt.” He propped his elbow on the table, smiling that ornery lopsided grin of his and suddenly her throat was way too dry and her lips way too wet.

“Are you fucking with me, Kogane?” Her hands fell to the keyboard as she eyed him with suspicion. His smug grin fell away to embarrassment.

“No,” he ran a hand through his way, shaking out the nerves, “I just…I just really suck at flirting. That's all.”

“You’re flirting? With me?” She pointed to herself, eyes wide in shock.

“So dinner? Like a dinner-dinner. Like a date?” He shrugged, swallowing hard, fingers tapping on the table.

“Yea…yea I’d like that.” Her heart was both light as a feather and heavy in her gut as she smiled up at him.

“Really?” He let his surprise show.

“Really really.” She laughed, turning back to the computer before her face got any redder. “Now let me finish this for you. It’ll be faster that way.”

“Excited?”

This is a continuation of the story from ValenKidge 2022 starting with “I thought you hated me” and Classic.

“So when are you going to tell them?”

“Tell them what?” Pidge kicked at a puddle, the dirty water from the street splashing up above her green rain boots. She frowned.

“Pidge…”

Keith adjusted the umbrella they were walking under as they passed another couple on the sidewalk. Couple. It was still weird to think of themselves as a couple. He wasn’t even sure if they fit that bill or not. Some days he was sure they were and others he wasn’t sure if she wanted him around or not.

It’d been over a week since the award ceremony and everything that happened during and after was still a lot for his mind to handle. She didn’t like to talk about it much. Any of it. But he had gotten her to promise to tell Allura and her brother where she was staying. It was a small victory but one he desperately needed. Keeping up the lie was rough on both of them and their loved ones. Now that she was safe – he’d make sure she was safe – there was no reason to keep sidestepping the truth.

Pidge made a noncommittal noise and kicked at another puddle in a low spot on the sidewalk. Her eyes were set firmly on the spaces in front of her feet and he could see the tightness in her jaw. There wasn’t going to be any reasoning with her while she was like this. It was like looking into a mirror on one of his bad days. Every time he’d bottled up the emotions inside to figure them out for himself – to handle them on his own – and he felt like he was going to explode. That was what her face looked like now. And he hated it.

“Pidge…please…”

She stopped suddenly, letting herself leave the safety of the umbrella. The rain clung to her frazzled hair and fogged up the glasses she’d started wearing again.

“What – What happens…What happens when they ask about us?” She stammered out the question in choked, choppy words.

The umbrella fell to his side as he stared back into uncertain eyes. He thought there might have been tears but the rain down her cheeks made it hard to tell.

“What do you mean?” His own uncertainty crept into his voice before he could stop it.

“When they find out we’ve been living together. When they realize I went to you after – after!” She choked on the thought, her voice catching in her throat as she got more upset. “What do I say when I tell them I trusted you above them? What do I say when they find out I’m staying? What if they ask about us?! What do I say then, Keith!?” Her voice got louder and the tears he suspected turned into sobs.

He dropped the umbrella, ignoring the looks he got from the people around them.

He closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and letting her face fall into chest. She gripped the sides of his rain-slick jacket, pulling him as close as she could get while she cried out emotions she’d been holding back.

He gripped back tight, one hand smoothing her hair as he made calming sounds next to her ear. She was shaking and sobbing and it killed him.

“Come on…” he slowly pulled away, finding the umbrella with a hand and leading her with the other. “Let’s go home.”

“But…but!” She started to stutter again and he made a calming motion with his hand.

“We have a lot to talk about. We could at least go home and talk about it when we’re dry and warm.”

“Home?”

The first thing she noticed was the birds. Usually, she was going to bed just as the birds were starting to sing their songs this time of year. A multitude of species all having just arrived back from a long winter away trying their hardest to sing a song others would notice. It was loud in her ears. Too loud for her in the still sleepy state of the misty dawn hours. The sun was up just enough to fill the hotel room with a hazy film of light streaming in through the thin curtains. She closed her eyes again and buried her face in the pillow and comforter.

A warm, low bit of laughter from behind made a smile erupt between herself and the sheets. He shifted, moving one arm to wrap around her middle and pull her tight against him, his face burying into the crook of her neck.

She laughed, wrapping her feet in between his legs.

“Fuck! Your toes are freezing!” He shuttered but didn’t pull away.

“Warm them up.” She pouted, pushing at him playfully with a hip.

He pushed back, throwing a leg against hers and leaning his weight into her back. He kissed the back of her neck, the part he knew was ticklish, making her squeal in a fit of laughter.

“I give! I give!” She pushed at his arm, trying to break free, “Stop, stop!”

He let her go and she almost fell to the floor in fits of laughter. She controlled her descent to the floor, making an awkward landing on her feet. She threw back her head to get the hair out of her eyes.

“You’re mean.” She glared at him as she stepped away from the bed, dodging the clothes scattered over the floor.

“No, you’re mean.” He said, distracted by the sight of her walking naked across the room towards the windows. It was a sight he’d never get tired of seeing. He just wished he could see it more often. He sat up in bed, letting the sheets fall away as he eyed where his jacket ended up the night before. For a moment he panicked, seeing the coat laying askew across the top of a dresser. But nothing seemed out of place. Thank God.

A gasp brought him back to her, now wrapped in the flannel shirt he’d had on the night before. She was looking out the window, one arm wrapped around her middle and the other pulling back the curtains ever so slightly.

“The cherry trees…” she breathed out, looking back over her shoulder with that bright smile across her flushed, freckled face. He smiled too.

“I hoped we’d time it right.” He threw back the covers and picked up his boxers from the floor before joining her at the window.

“You planned this?” She asked as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Maybe.”

“What’s the occasion?” She leaned back, looking up at him with those big, amber eyes. Always observant, always analyzing.

He hoped his shrug was nonchalant enough.

“You said you’d always wanted to see them. I figured why not.”

“I’m surprised you remembered.” She took the half truth and he sighed inwardly.

“I listen. Usually.”

“Mmm,” she hummed, resting her weight against his chest. “And what else did I say I wanted to do?”

“Don’t worry, I remember.” He gripped her tight, scooping her up into his arms as she gasped from surprise.

Hey everyone, to celebrate Pidge's birthday the Kidge Week Team brings you the list of prompts for this year's Kidge Week, we hope you love them and have fun!

Friday, April 15th: Late Nights

Saturday, April 16th: Archery

Sunday, April 17th: First Job

Monday, April 18th: FREE DAY

Tuesday, April 19th: Cherry Blossoms

Wednesday, April 20th: Rainboots & Umbrellas

Thursday, April 21st: Hades & Persephone

Daffodils

Unequalled Love

Day 5: Flying Kites/Picnic

Almost five weeks ago, I meant to post this one as my last contribution to the Kidge Week event I co-hosted with @incorrect-kidge-quotes, @9-ball, @bluedemon1995 and @luce-ciel, but then I got overwhelmed by college and other stuff (such as my last Kidge prompt not showing up in Tumblr tag results), which threw me into a huge artist’s block.

So anyway...