#mod fro

He’d spent most of the night sitting nearer the shadows, artfully avoiding attention being drawn to him. This had worked out splendidly for several turns, and he was able to figure out that Dare would work a heck of a lot better than Truth for him. Shiro, Matt, James, and Kinkade, had been coerced to spill some really embarrassing secrets, some that shocked even Keith. Hunk’s truths had been boring, the man was a saint. A salty saint, but a saint nonetheless. Lance had avoided getting picked as well, but, Keith reckoned, all his embarrassing stories everyone knew about. He was definitely not the best at reigning in the mind-link the five of them still had. 

Keith had zoned out while Shiro had been completing his most current dare, to call Slav and ask him how his day was. Quiznaking Matt was to blame for that one. Hunk had been next. Shiro dared him to point out his most favorite person in the room which turned into some sort of affirmation hour, where Hunk couldn’t decide, and instead told everyone why they were great. As far as Keith was concerned, Lance did seem to be Hunk’s favorite, but only because Pidge wasn’t around.

“Keith, truth or dare.” 

Quiznak. He’d let his guard down, and now he was paying for it. 

“Dare.”

“Buy me a large pizza.”

That was fast. This must have been something he was thinking about for a while.

“We already had pizza.” 

“Yeah, but not ham, pineapple, mushroom, greenpepper, pizza.”

Everyone groaned. “Hunk, dude, whyyyyyy?” 

Shiro exclaimed, “Nicely played.”

Keith shrugged, pulled up the app, and ordered Hunk’s pizza. “It’s on it’s way.” Then he slid back into the shadows.

“Thanks.” Hunk had a huge smile on his face. That made it worth it. “It’s your turn bro. Pick someone.”

Oh, Keith had forgotten about this part. Who should he pick? Who would give the group the most satisfaction through being embarrassed? He looked at each guy, his mind sizing up the potential for fun. Everything was a mission in his life, even this.

There was Lance, chilling in a folding chair, texting someone, only half paying attention to the goings on. He found his mark.

“Lance” He waited. It took a few seconds for it to register on Lance’s face.

Once they made eye contact Keith asked “Truth or Dare?”

It didn’t take long for Lance to decide, “Dare. I’m not spilling my secrets to any of you.”

“Like we don’t already all know everything Dude.” Kinkade laughed while James patted him on the back.

“He’s not wrong, man. You’re an open book.” Hunk softened his words with a side hug for one of his besties.

Keith had thought about generic dares earlier, like ‘steal Iverson’s rover’ or ‘call my mom and pretend you’re a knife salesman’, but none of those seemed right for Lance. He knew in an instant though. 

“Ask Pidge out on a date.” 

The room went completely quiet, various looks of shock or anger clouded the faces around him.

Then everyone spoke.

“Not cool dude.”

“What about her feelings?”

“I don’t think this is wise.”

“Hey! My sister isn’t a dare!”

“Yes. This is brilliant.”

And finally,

“WHAT THE CHEESE!?  You can’t dare that kind of thing. I want a new dare.”

Keith was confused. He’d seen the way Lance had been acting around Pidge for over a year now. And he was positive she was who Lance had been texting all night. He thought Lance would jump at the chance.

Hunk spoke up, “No. This could work.” He turned to Lance, “You like Pidge, and you’ve been avoiding asking her out for months. Now you have to.” He nodded enthusiastically.

“First of all, how did you know I like Pidge!? Secondly, she’ll kill me. I cannot do this.” 

Matt’s mouth hung open. “You like my sister?” He looked stunned and a little amused.

“You ‘like like’ Katie?” James had leaned forward in his seat. Kinkade laughed harder and slapped his back. “Bummer for you dude.”  James elbowed him.

Keith could be patient, but this mission had kicked off and was in danger stalling quickly. “Nevermind any of that.” He narrowed his eyes at Lance, firing his next words like a pistol in a duel. “I double dog dare you.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped, but he pulled out his phone to dial.  "Keith, if this is how I die, I leave you with this final thought. You suck."

 "Ok, firstly, screw you. Secondly, you're just asking Pidge out on a date. Stop being so melodramatic."

Everyone watched with anticipation. Lance rolled his eyes and turned his back to them.

It wasn’t like she didn’t harbor any excitement over picking her wedding dress out, but the excitement waned with each “it’s just that your frame is so small” and “most dresses are designed for the taller individual, but I’m sure we can alter this somehow”, and she would spin on the little stage and everyone who announce that she looked like a child playing dress-up. Well..not everyone. Nadia and Ina were the worst offenders. Though, Pidge had to admit, she appreciated their bluntness, not to mention, they were entirely right.

The salesperson finished adding the last clip in back, then brushed down the sides to smooth out the wrinkled spots. Pidge didn’t bother to look. She figured she’d go ahead and be disappointed with the rest of the group.  

“Oh! I know. Just one more thing.” The salesperson disappeared behind a hidden door, for who knows what.

Pidge fidgeted with the sleeve of the dress. At least these sleeves stopped at her wrist instead of trailing down her arms like Lance’s shirts tended to do.

She wished he was here right now. Sort of. He always had a good eye for things that looked good on her. And also apparently for wedding stuff in general. Honestly, their whole wedding planning was basically the Lance show. Scratch that, the Lance and Colleen show.

Her mom and Lance conferred on everything wedding. And, Pidge reasoned, she was Colleen’s only daughter, so it was her one chance at planning a wedding. And Pidge didn’t care. As long as she was married to Lance by the end of it, that’s all that mattered. And maybe they’d get some sweet wedding presents.

Somewhere to the side, her phone buzzed. She hiked up the voluminous skirts and shuffled her way over. The attendant hadn’t returned yet, so Pidge wouldn’t suffer their wrath and their cries of “It’s your dress day! Do not be distracted!”.

The screen lit up with a notification from “Honeybuns”. Lance had changed his name in her phone like a year ago and, though Pidge gave him a hard time about it, she actually thought it was adorable and kept it. Lance was pretty full of himself about it for a while.

Honeybuns: How’s it going? Colleen said nothing looks right. I sent her some ideas as a jumping off point.

Me: Fine I guess. This is taking too long. I’d rather be at the coffee shop across the street waiting with you.

Honeybuns: Don’t lie Pidgey. You’d rather be in your lab.

Me: Nah. This time I’d rather be hanging with you. It’s been days of wedding planning with the group. Let’s hang out tonight, just us. I’ll let you massage my feet.

Honeybuns: As much as I want to hang, your mom and I have more planning to do. So I’ll be at your house anyway.

Pidge felt irked. Her mom deferred to Lance on everything these days. When she was newly engaged, Colleen would bring pictures and magazine cutouts and venue information right to Pidge. And sure, she would tell her mom she didn’t care. But...she was still her mom. And Lance seemed to hijack all her attention.

Me: …

Honeybuns: What’s wrong?

Me: Are you sure you’re not my Mom’s actual daughter?

Honeybuns: LOL! Okay.

Me: Not funny. She likes you more than me.

Honeybuns: What’s going on?

Me: Nothing. Just you and her and our wedding.

All the little feelings of jealousy bubbled up in Pidge in that moment. Lance was always so open and honest, he was always willing to share his thoughts and feelings, he told Colleen everything, and she seemed to love him. More often than not, if her mom was texting someone, it was Lance. They went on lunch dates, and shopping, and her mom would come home raving about Lance’s tastes. Pidge should have been happy they got along so well, but she wasn’t.

Honeybuns: !!! What about it!? I’m coming over right now.

Me: I’m in a dress. You can’t.

Honeybuns: Doesn’t matter. I’m coming over.

Pidge started crying. Lance was so great. And her mom could do all the fun wedding stuff she wanted because of him. She finally looked up, tears falling down her face.

After grabbing his tray (why, why, why did mystery meat still exists after all the other innovations the universe offered them?), he headed to the group in their usual spot, a few long tables pushed together by the back windows. The whole lot of them still liked to be able to see the sky any chance they got. 

“You’re never going to guess what I have to tell you--” Matt noticed, as he approached the table, that no one was talking, and they certainly weren’t paying attention to what he was saying. All the MFE pilots, a couple of his office mates, Hunk, Shiro, and to his delight, Keith, were turned in their seats, staring across the lunchroom. 

“--What’s going on?” Matt felt disappointed that he couldn’t floor them right off the bat. They all pointed in unison, like one being with many arms, at a pair across the mess hall. There, at one of the smaller tables, sat Pidge, and, across from her, Lance. 

Lance was gesticulating wildly, his mouth moving a mile a minute. Matt worried for the glass of milk on Lance’s tray that almost got knocked over several times during his storytelling. The man was constantly full of energy, that’s for sure. The thing that did surprise him, however, was Pidge. Her elbow was on the table and her head rested in her hand, nothing short of a dreamy look on her face, as she listened to whatever Lance was telling her. 

That was odd. Pidge had many looks that belied her feelings, Matt should know, he was her very best and most amazing brother after all. Generally she looked bored, interested, irritated, or, more often than not when she was hanging with Hunk and Lance, downright evil with mischief. But dreamy? He hadn’t seen that kind of expression on her face, ever. 

Behind him, Hunk cleared his voice. Everyone turned back around, their attention on Hunk. Matt was still so shook by Pidge’s face, he forgot for a moment it was gossip hour.

“As I was saying, clearly Pidge is in love with Lance.” A satisfied grin stretched across Hunk’s face, as he crossed his arms. Everyone at the table agreed. There was no denying that the way she gazed at Lance was anything but abject adoration. Matt sat down across from Hunk.

“But...she’s my sister. She doesn’t fall in love. She doesn’t have crushes.” 

“What about her crush on James?” Someone asked from the left of him. 

“You got that wrong. It was James that had a crush on her. She didn’t notice.”

“Shut up, Kinkade.” James elbowed Ryan in the side. 

“She did have a crush on Shiro though.” Keith bluntly spoke up.

“True.” Both Shiro and Matt said at the same time. They chuckled, remembering how star struck she was by Shiro when Sam and Matt had him over for dinner before the Kerberos mission. 

“ANYWAY!” Hunk interrupted before they could start reminiscing. 

“We all know Pidge has been pining for years. Well, most of us know.” He pointedly looked at Matt. 

“But, what you don’t know, is that Lance is in love with Pidge.” Several gasps and a few ‘that can’t be true’s were heard around the table.

Hunk pulled out his Ace up his sleeve. “It’s one hundred percent true. He told me last night. Showed up at my apartment and talked to me for a straight hour about how great Pidge is and how he didn’t know he was in love with her, probably had been for a couple of years, but didn’t realize it until yesterday afternoon.” Hunk leaned back. “And now he doesn’t know how to proceed. He didn’t believe me when I told him Pidge was in love with him too. But I guess that makes sense.”

Matt was floored. For many reasons. And irritated. His gossip was going to fall flat on the floor if all they were thinking about was Pidge and Lance. And it’s the perfect time too, because Keith was actually here for once and Matt would love to see the shocked look on his face. What’s gossip for if not shocking people. And Lance is a good guy, Pidge could do worse. And finding out his baby sister was ‘in love’ from his group, having never told him before. Matt figured better to end this now.

He stood up.

“Hey! Lance! Lance!” He shouted, waving his arms to get their attention. Pidge heard him first, whipping her head around to glare at him. “LANCE!”

Lance looked over at Matt, raising his hands in a “what?” gesture.

“PIDGE LOVES YOU!” Matt pointed at his sister. Pidge’s eyes widened and her face turned bright red before burying her face in her hands.

“WHAT!?” Lance yelled back, apparently not able to hear as well as Pidge.

“I SAID! PIDGE LOVES YOU! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”

A sudden realization washed across Lance’s face. He looked down at Pidge, whose head was fully hidden in her arms now, then back at Matt, then down at Pidge again, the back at Matt.

“SHE DOES!?”

Matt nodded yes. The whole table nodded yes. Then everyone made hearts with their hands. Hunk beamed.

A huge smile broke out across Lance’s face, the biggest smile Matt had ever seen. Then Lance turned around and pulled Pidge’s arms away from her face. He leaned down near her and whispered a couple of words. Pidge nodded while trying to get her arms back to cover her red face again. Lance beamed at her, kissed her forehead, then hauled her up and led the two of them out of the mess hall to Lord knows where.

TOP TEN THINGS THAT ANNOY ME

“Hello Internet. Pidge here. Well, Katie, but you guys know me as Pidge. I don’t know why I’m rambling like this. Anyway, if this is your first time here, yes, I am ‘Pidge Gunderson’, Paladin of Voltron, Pilot of Green, Holder of ALL TOP SCORES in ALL VIDEO GAMES EVER.

...What? No. No you don’t. You won on a technicality!

Ignore that. Laaance seems to think he holds as many top scores as I do. Which isn’t true.

…No it’s not.

Sorry you had to see that. Though this does segue into the topic of this video. Top Ten Things That Annoy Me. Pidge. 

….Again? I’m trying to make a video.

NUMBER ONE! Or ten..I guess let’s go with that number structure. I’m usually very organized, but someone keeps interrupting and distracting me and I ended up not being totally prepared. But I digress.

Off the top of my head.

Number TEN. Unnecessary code. I get the complexity involved in creating programs that can communicate with different processors and the like, but I hate when it’s bulky for no reason. Clean your bloat people.

...No, I’m not. You’re a nerd.

Ahem. Number NINE. I don’t know, you’d think it’d be space goo. But once you eat it for so long, you get used to it. Or your body does, who knows. I guess number nine is craving space goo.

….Lance! I can’t say that, there are rules you know.

Number EIGHT. Being distracted by a certain someone who has no regard for the proper business of making a video for dedicated and new viewers. 

...Yes. You’re distracting. No. I don’t need to see how distracting you can be.

Number SEVEN. Sock seams. They’re annoying. And even I have yet to be able to create a machine to eliminate them. 

...I have to wear socks. Not just socks. What are you…

Sorry about that. Lance is determined to make me crazy today.

Number SIX. 

...No, I do not think sock seams was boring. You’re boring.

Anyway, number SIX. Not owning all the top scores in this house. I know what I said earlier. But somebody has their name on several of the games. He can be very distracting when he wants to.

...Stop that…

….

...Uh..What number? Oh, Five.

Number FIVE. I’ve got to finish this before anything else happens. Blue eyed people. One blue eyed person. Stop winking at me. I…

*Cough*. 

Number FOUR. Not Double Modulating the Gendocams. This is for you, Hunk. You’re such a good mechanic, how can you be so lazy in this department? It’s embarrassing honestly.

...I didn’t forget about you…

Number THREE....

...Where’s your shirt? I was wondering why you looked so wet.”

(voice over) “I apparently forgot a number three. Sorry folks.”

Number TWO. Smooth Tan Skin, rippling abs, long limbs…

...It’s your fault! No, don’t come over here.

Everyone, Lance. Blue Paladin. Yadayada.”

“Come on Pidgey, don’t be so cruel.”

“DON’T SIT ON MY LAP WHEN YOUR SHIRT IS OFF!”

“Pfffffft. You love it.”

“Stop pointing the camera at yourself.”

“So, Pidgey here needs to go now. Her brand new hubby needs attention from her.”

“Guys. Please.” He held his hands up between the other men.

“You’ve got ten minutes, Lance, to elaborate. After that, I’ve got to get back to this engine.” Hunk suspected ten minutes was hardly enough time for Lance to get going. “First, why do you feel you’re all alone?”

Lance nodded, a little pout on his lips. He took a moment to glare at Keith before starting. “Why don’t I have a girlfriend? I waaaant one.” 

Behind him, Hunk heard Keith snort again.

“Alright, let’s go!” Lance pushed past Hunk to grab at Keith. Keith didn’t even flinch. 

“There’s no reason to be angry. I just think you’re being dramatic for no reason. You’re not alone. You’re literally here with me and Hunk right now.” Keith calmly moved Lance’s hands from his shirt front.

Lance made a frustrated growl. “That’s not the same, bro. Didn’t you listen. I. Want. A. Girlfriend.” 

Awareness, then confusion, dawned on Keith’s face. “Isn’t Pidge your girlfriend?”

Hunk was feeling giddy at Keith’s question. Honestly, he’d been wanting to ask Pidge and Lance the same question for a while. He just never found the right moment because one or the other would take off to hang with each other.

“What!?” Lance looked shocked, then started to giggle. “Nah man. I see where you got confused. Pidge is a girl, and she’s my friend, one of my best friends actually, but like, a girlfriend is different.” He patted Keith’s shoulder in pity for how obtuse his friend could be at times.

“I’m not an idiot, Lance. I know what a girlfriend is.” Keith gave Lance a deadpan look. “I just assumed Pidge was your girlfriend. I’m actually shocked she’s not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance crossed his arms.  

Keith shrugged.

Hunk tapped his chin, his mind going a mile a minute trying to unravel Pidge and Lance’s relationship.

“Aha!” He put his finger up. “Since we established you’re not alone. What do you want a girlfriend for then?”

“So we can go on dates,” 

“Don’t you already go out every day with Pidge?” Keith interjected.

Lance rolled his eyes.

“And?” Hunk prodded.

“And have dinner together.” 

“Don’t you eat dinner with Pidge pretty much every night?” Keith sounded like he was getting annoyed.

“AND Hunk. I eat dinner with Pidge and Hunk most nights. You know we can’t leave Hunk out when we go food exploring.” Lance made a ‘DuH’ face at Keith.

Hunk nodded, “And I do thank you for that. But you wouldn’t just go out to eat with Pidge alone?

“Oh, nah, I would. We go out all the time without you when you’re too busy.” 

“Okay. What else?”

“What else is there?” Keith asked. 

“What else is there!? You’ve clearly not had a girlfriend either. What else is there indeed.” 

Hunk chuckled to himself. His friends were really hopeless. He bet Keith never even thought about having a relationship, he definitely didn’t seem the type to prioritize something like that.

“Yes, Lance. What else? So far you’ve listed stuff you do with us all the time.”

“Okay. I want to take her in the lions to go see all the amazing sunsets on all the planets we’ve been to. It’d be so romantic.” He clasped his hands at his chest and batted his eyes.

Keith spoke up again. “Didn’t you and Pidge do that already?” Hunk thought Keith knew an awful lot about what Lance and Pidge do considering he wasn’t on base very often.

Lance waved his hand in dismissal. “Yeah, but that was to prove a point. She said sunsets were lame, so I proved otherwise to her. Now we even look for a new planet a week to go watch a sun (or suns) set.”  He folded his arms, a smug look upon his face.

“You still haven’t proven to me that Pidge isn’t your girlfriend.” Keith gave a smug look right back to Lance. A spark of challenge in his eyes.

Hunk watched between the two. “Lance! What else?”

Lance tapped his chin in thought. “I mean, I would tell her how cute and pretty and amazing she is every day. How her eyes were just like the sunsets we watched, and how smart she is and how much I just love being around her.” 

Keith moved to speak again, but Hunk purposefully interrupted. “You don’t think Pidge is adorable and pretty? I can’t believe that.”

“No, I do think she’s pretty. But I can’t tell her that. She’d kill me. So I need a girlfriend so i can get all these feelings out.”

“What feelings?” Hunk’s curiosity kept getting more and more piqued.

“You know. The ‘wanting to hold someone in your arms feeling’. The ‘if I just leaned over a little bit our lips would touch’ feelings. The ‘so what if we kissed a few times, it didn’t satisfy me and I keep wanting to come back for more’ feelings. You know, usual girlfriend stuff.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re clueless.” Hunk watched as he stalked out of the room. His mind caught up with what he just heard. 

“This list seems awfully specific. Is there someone you had in mind?”

Lance looked up at Hunk with confusion on his face, then his eyes widened, his cheeks turned red, his mouth made a little “oh” sound. 

By his estimation, the first person should show up in about 10 seconds. He began to count down. “....5..4..3..2..1..” Sure enough, someone came stomping into the kitchen just as he finished the count.

“Pidge!” His eyes widened in shock. He knew his baked goods were astounding, but she had never been the first one to show up, or even bother to show up at all --peanut Butter cookies notwithstanding. He knew, and she knew, that if he made those, it was ‘Pidge Time’ and Hunk was angling for a serious talk with her or some other marathon hang out session. He hadn’t been seeking a specific audience with her so he had made something that was universally enjoyed.

She bolted toward the oven not even acknowledging his greeting. “Woah Pidge! Slow down. It still has ten minutes before it’s done.” He grabbed the back of her shirt collar to slow her down. “I had no idea you loved the crumble this much. Usually you do a pretty good job of ignoring it.”

Pidge swatted at his hand. “Let go dude. I don’t need any crumble, I need a knife.” She wriggled free from his easy grip and pulled the knife drawer open. Hunk watched as she grabbed a cleaver, examined it, and must have deemed it sufficient because she shoved it into a bag she had slung over her shoulder. It made a jangling sound as she dropped it in.

The sound sent a chill up Hunk’s spine. “Take that out of your bag right now. You are going to ruin the edge if you let it jangle around in there with whatever else you have in the bag.” He eyed the small baseball bat handle hanging out of the top.

With what sounded like the most put upon sigh he’s ever heard, Pidge grabbed the cleaver out the bag and handed it to Hunk. “What do you suggest then? If I can’t use your knives?” She seemed exasperated with the interruption.

“For what?” Hunk noticed Pidge’s cheeks were red, her eyes barely focusing, like when she was on a mission and couldn’t focus on the here and now.

“For what!? Ugh. To kill Lance of course.” She pulled open a cupboard, found a cast-iron skillet, sized it up, and then nodded. “This’ll do.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in. “Hold up.” He reached forward and pulled the skillet out of her hands. “You cannot just go around killing Lance. He’s an important part of our team, and one of your best friends. Did you forget.”

She hung her arms down in defeat. “That’s just it Hunk. I have to kill him. After what he’s done, I’ve got to take him out.” She rubbed at ther eyes.

“What did he do? Was it to you?” Hunk couldn’t imagine Lance doing something off mission that would warrant anyone needing to take him out. He may be fun-loving, but he was never cruel. Hunk felt more stumped than concerned.

Though Hunk thought it impossible, Pigde reddened even more than previously. “It’s not..he..He SMILED at me, Hunk!” She had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close to her, widening her eyes trying to drive her point home.

“Was he making fun of you? Was he laughing at a mean joke? Lance smiles a lot you know.” Hunk thought it was better to not mention that Lance smiled a lot more around Pidge than anywhere else.

“That’s just it!” Pidge began to pace. “We were playing video games, and Lance lost--of course. And I was gloating, really rubbing it in, when he turned his face up and smiled. His eyes crinkled, and his stupid white teeth shone against his wonderfully tan skin. And I stopped.” She stopped her pacing and rubbed her eyes. “I couldn’t say anything. It was like my brain turned off. At that moment, I just wanted to stare at Lance and his smile forever. He has apparently become my new obsession. I can’t stop thinking about how tall he is, and even though he’s all lanky, he’s super smooth when he tries to teach me how to dance, and his blue eyes, and his thick, dark, hair, that I have almost uncontrollable urges to run my hands through. I don’t even want to talk about his laugh, and how I wish his hugs would last forever. He’s taken up full residence in my mind and I didn’t realize it until a bit ago. That’s why I need to kill him.”

Hunk’s shoulders shook with the laughter he was trying to hold back. “Look, just because you have a crush on someone doesn’t mean you need to kill them. Why not take time and enjoy your crush?”

“I HAVE A CRUSH!!!!? On LANCE!!? Oh Bob this is worse than I thought!” Panicking, Pidge dropped her bag of weapons and slid down the counter to sit on the floor. She looked up at Hunk imploringly. “What am I supposed to do about this? I…. I think I’ve had a crush on him a long time. Like years long-”

Hunk bent down in front of her. “I’ll help you, but I need to wait until the dessert can come out of the oven.”

She blinked her wide eyes, “Really, you will? That’s good, because I may be strong but I don’t think I could carry Lance’s limp body.” He reached out and squeezed Hunk’s arm.

Oh how he wished he could just call Lance over and settle this whole thing in a matter of minutes, but Pidge definitely wasn’t ready to accept that their other friend had had a long standing crush on her as well.

“So, how’d it go?” Hunk tucked his hands under his chin and batted his eyes at Keith, who had just returned to the repair bay after supposedly having a talk with Pidge. 

“Not good. She said they aren’t dating. But said he’d kissed her.” Keith shrugged, striking an uninterested pose against the wall. Hunk knew otherwise. Keith was shaking his leg and fidgeting with his knife. He never did that unless he was actually invested in what was going on.

“Who kissed who?” 

Both men’s heads whipped around to find Matt Holt leaning on the door jamb, his rebel mission clothes still dirty and marked with several laser burns. He moved into the room, a swagger in his step. The mission must have gone well. 

Hunk thought he looked super cool. Keith did too, but would not let anyone know that ever.

“Uh, no one. Just a girl we know.” Hunk wasn’t sure how Matt would take the whole topic regarding his sister. He thought maybe he’d be okay about it, but...brothers…

“Ooo! A new girl, sounds like she’s single still. Is she pretty?” He flicked his hair off his forehead and struck a pose. “I’d make sure she was my girlfriend before I kissed her. It’s what gentlemen do.”

“Gross dude, that’s your sister we’re talking about.” 

Hunk whipped his head around to stare down Keith. 

Keith shrugged.

Hunk slapped his hand on his face. His friend was so completely and utterly clueless at times. 

“Read the room, Keith.” He hissed.

Matt was standing with a shocked look on his face.

An uncomfortable silence stretched out between the three of them.

Soon, Matt shook his head. “Someone is kissing my sister?” More silence. Hunk could almost see Matt thinking through things. “Aaaand...not dating her?”

Matt looked at both men. Keith and Hunk nodded an affirmative.

“Welp” Matt made a fist. “I hate to be this guy, but who do I have to teach a lesson to?”

“Hunk! Are you saying I should date Pidge!?”

Lance came running back into the bay. Hunk was impressed with his timing.

“You!” Matt made a punching motion with his hands.

“Oh, hey Matt. Welcome back.?” Lance gave him a vague look, turning his attention back to Hunk for some definitive answers.

Matt grabbed him by the collar and turned him back around. 

Lance held out his hands. “Woah, dude! What’s your deal?”

“Well, I...Why would you kiss Pidge and not date her. It’s not cool man. That’s my sister!”

Lance looked confused. “Why wouldn’t I kiss her? We’re friends. Sometimes, when we’re chilling, watching a movie or something, she just looks so loveable. So I give her forehead a little kiss. Or her cheek. Occasionally...her….lips….” A stunned look crossed Lance’s face. “You kiss her forehead too. We’re a very touchy Paladin group, even Keith...sometimes. Why does everyone keep bringing up me dating Pidge?”

Hunk didn’t think it was the time to point out to Lance that he had started it earlier when he complained about not having a girlfriend.

Matt made an incredulous noise. “So, not a jerk, just obtuse.” He looked over Lance’s shoulder to Hunk and Keith.

“I’m going to go talk to Pidge. Maybe have a talk about boundaries.” He stared pointedly at Lance when he said this. “You two, please explain to our clueless friend here.”

They watched Matt go.

Keith stood uncomfortably to the side. 

Lance looked at Hunk questioningly.

Hunk leveled his gaze onto Lance. “Bud. Brotato. Broseph. I need you to think about something.”

“Sure. I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“Just. Think. We’re best buds, right?”

“Yeah, you’re my homie.” 

“And you’d say we are just as close, if not closer than you and Pidge?”

“Sure. I mean, we have more history. I love you both.”

“And, we hug and hang out and all that?”

“Yeah. I don’t see where you are going?”

“Have you ever kissed me on the mouth, ever,?”