Pidge returned to her observation of Guard Officer Griffin. He did have an awful lot of medals on his uniform. They glinted in the sun as he laid into a terrified cadet for not having a clean uniform.

“He was a jerk to Keith,” Lance continued.

“You’re a jerk to Keith half the time,” Pidge responded dryly. Her eyes scanned the area and she growled in annoyance. Why had Shiro insisted on meeting here instead of his own shop? Even uniformed mages looked bored at the display of arms.

She hated that it was necessary. At least it made non-magic users feel better amid the recent strange happenings at the Daibazaal border.

“We’re friends. It’s different,” Lance insisted.

“You’re friends since when?” Pidge asked, legitimately curious. “The two of you do nothing but glare and insult each other every time you’re in the same room.”

The entire squad of cadets, including the mages, dropped to the ground on Griffin’s order, doing the first push up out of fifty to come.

A wall came up in front of Lance’s mind and Pidge didn’t press the extent of their bond. If Lance wanted to keep his problem with Keith private then so be it.

He settled down, splayed out around the back of her neck, refusing to think about anything other than how much he wanted one of Griffin’s medals for his hoard.

Pidge didn’t mind so much. Even though his scales were hard, Lance made an acceptable scarf this late in the fall.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Pidge turned around and greeted an apologetic Shiro with a hug.

“It’s fine,” she told him lightly. “I couldn’t get all my shopping in today anyway. Dad is busy with work and Mom is determined to get our new sweaters made. She’s even got Matt helping.”

Shiro laughed and crossed his arms in amusement. “You’re not afraid Matt is going to put a pattern of a peanut on yours, are you?”

“Real funny,” she said, giving him a good glare for extra measure. “As long as you don’t give him the idea. So,” she needed to change the subject, “why the meeting in the city square?”

Takashi Shirogane was a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve. When the subject was unrelated to the events surrounding the curse on his arm, he couldn’t fool a soul. So when his reaction to Pidge’s question was to avoid eye contact and smile, she knew something was up.

“Hunk and Keith kicked me out,” he said with a defeated shrug. “They have a project I’m not allowed to help with.”

Pidge bit the inside of her lip in contemplation. There was nothing either man would ever keep from Shiro. Keith was too close a friend - and Hunk was his familiar! Inklings of suspicion clouded her mind. It wasn’t a birthday or holiday coming up, was it?

“Okay, well, I’ve got the order you wanted,” she told him. “But its at my parents’ place. It’s too big for me to carry. Matt and I should be able to get it over to the shop after a couple of trips, though.”

“No!” Shiro exclaimed abruptly, his eyes wide with panic.

Stunned, Pidge almost wasn’t how to respond.

“I mean, no, it's okay,” he backtracked. “You made all those potions for us, we’ll take care of it. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good chat with your family anyway. Don’t make more work for yourself - take Lance and go enjoy some time off.”

Pidge bore a glare into her friend, tilting her head as if looking at him from a different angle might help shed some light on the situation. “What’s going on, Shiro. You’re acting weirder than usual.”

“Nothing!” he insisted. “Hunk and Keith are just super busy. You and Lance - “ He paused abruptly. “Where’s Lance?”

A sting of pain hit quickly. No matter how busy her friends were, they always made time to see her while she was in town. Were they upset she wasn’t visiting enough? The feeling vanished as soon as it come as she realized Lance’s familiar weight was gone. He never strayed far from her side in town -

A gunshot broke through the ambient crowd noise and took the air out of her lungs. Her heart stopped when she caught sight of Lance’s small blue figure climbing around the body of Officer Griffin, no doubt examining each and every medal.

“Oh Ancients, no,” Pidge groaned, and ran towards the scuffle.

~~~~

“I’m sorry.”

“Too late,” Pidge said, arms crossed in a huff.

“I couldn’t help it. Those were the shiniest medals I’ve ever seen,” Lance said in his defense. He sighed in defeat, flopping down on the grass with his arms flailed out. “At least he was decent enough to tell me what polish he uses.”

Still banned from her childhood home on risk of seeing the sweaters before they were finished, and apparently unable to go to Shiro’s shop, the two had taken residence in the city garden. Absentmindedly she reached out to a rose. It blossomed a deep red in thanks for her magic.

“You were lucky that’s all you came away with,” Pidge said angrily. “What if you’d gotten seriously hurt?”

“But I’m not?” Lance shrugged. “I love you, Pidge. I’d never do something to make you really upset. You’re my best friend, my soulmate.”

Pidge tried to hide her blush by joining Lance on the grass, enjoying the view of the cloudless sky. The last thing she wanted was to fall to his sweet words so easily. “I am upset,” she admitted. “But not just with you. It seems like no one wants to see us.”

Lance rolled over to his side. “I’ll make it up to you,” he said, and it sounded sincere enough.

Pidge adjusted her head to face him. Her heart melted in his truly sorrowful eyes.

She sighed, letting the stress and frustration from the day’s events leave her body. Lance was safe, that was the most important thing, and she trusted her friends with whatever they needed to keep her away from. If it was dangerous, they were all more than capable of handling it.

The sun was nice to for relaxing, but the shade from the clouds made it better in the heat of the day.

“Wait,” Pidge said with realization. “Where did the clouds come from? There were none just a minute ago.”

Lance grinned as the skies quickly became overcast. “Just wait for it. I told you I’d make it up to you,” he said cryptically.

It call came together in her brain - like the sudden clap of thunder.

“It was you,” she accused. “Shiro asked to meet me here because you asked him to do something. When did you have the time to talk to him alone this trip?”

“Not this trip,” Lance corrected smugly. “Last trip, while you were messing with your mom’s garden.”

Her jaw dropped, stunned that not only was this all planned - but so far in advance. “You little snake,” she accused, no insult intended.

“Just keep watching. You never get to enjoy the power and beauty of a thunderstorm - always looking after your plants.”

She did, and didn’t even mind when Lance took hold of her hand. The clouds rolled together in strange formations, creating an impressive structure and lightning display unlike anything she’d ever seen. Before the storm could rain on them, it dissipated as quickly as it had begun, a brilliant double rainbow capping off nature’s display.

“Shiro is impressive as always,” she said with a smile.

“It was the best fireworks I could come up with on short notice,” Lance said sheepishly. “Just wait until you see the sunset.” He dug into his pocket and placed the contents of it in her palm. “I took the stone from that figurine you bought me. Hunk and Keith worked hard and fast to make it look nice - they knew you’d get suspicious. I hope you like it.”

The diamond ring sparkled as light hit it on all sides. The beauty took her breath away, but the magic fire imbued inside of it kindled her heart.

“I know we don’t really need it, since we have the bond, but I want you to have a gem. It's only proper for a dragon’s mage.”

He squawked in surprise as she hugged him tightly. “It's perfect. Thank you, Lance.”