Work Text:
In the beginning
Pidge was walking down the Castle corridor to the observatory. According to the onboard clock, it was about three in the morning. Or night. For Pidge, it was the time when she finished messing with the devices and computers. For the rest of the team, it was deep sleep time. Therefore, she did not expect that she would see someone else in the observatory. And she certainly didn’t expect it to be Lance. And she absolutely certainly didn’t expect him to be shirtless.
He was so engrossed with himself that he didn’t even notice her right away, and Pidge froze at the entrance to the observatory. He held his T-shirt in his hands and tried to look over his shoulder at his back in the reflection of the panoramic window. She couldn’t help but notice that his dark skin looks paler than usual in the faint light of the pale blue lamps. Nor could she ignore the fact that Lance was beautifully built. She had always thought of him as just skinny before. But now she saw that he was not skinny, but wiry, strong. In the end, standing there was just awkward, and Pidge cleared her throat, drawing Lance’s attention to herself.
“Pidge?” he began hurriedly pulling on his T-shirt, turning away from her, and then she saw what he was looking at in the window.
“Wait!”
Lance froze and looked over his shoulder as she approached him. After a moment, he felt the touch of slightly rough cool fingers on his skin.
“Holy kittens!” Pidge ran her fingers, tracing a huge jagged scar that stood out against his dark skin like a star in a black sky.
“Is everything bad?” he asked a little hoarsely.
“I… don’t even know what to say,” she replied after a long silence. “This is both bad and wonderful.”
“What can be beautiful about ugliness?” he asked, and Pidge caught the bitter note in his voice.
“It’s not ugly,” Pidge objected, standing in front of him and frowning.
Lance pulled on the T-shirt after all.
“Anyway, when my mother told me that scars adorn men, I thought that a slightly dissected eyebrow was enough — it really looks sexy — but definitely not that my whole back would be torn.”
“Technically, not all of it, but about sixty percent. Maybe even fifty.”
“Should it make me feel better?” he chuckled.
“I don’t know,” Pidge shrugged.
Lance turned away and stared out the window, hands in the pockets of his jeans. Pidge felt that she had to say something, something encouraging. But she was very bad at it. Shiro was the one who could find the right words. But Shiro wasn’t here, which meant she would have to try to cheer up her friend somehow.
“I’m sorry,” she began softly, standing next to him. “Really, it’s a pity that you got this scar. But you know what Lance? You know what’s not a pity?”
He looked down at her questioningly.
“That you saved Coran. That you protected the man. This is a heroic act. And this scar… It will always remind me of who you really are.”
“And who I am?”
“You are selfless,” she replied, and for some reason she felt herself blushing. She turned to the window.
Lance was silent. He was silent for a long time, so long that Pidge already began to think that she had said something completely wrong. No, Shiro would have done it better after all…
“Thank you,” she suddenly heard very close to her, and then she felt Lance hugging her to him in a friendly embrace.
“Oh… well… it’s…”
Lance pulled away, noticing her embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head, smiled as only he can — absolutely disarmingly and said, “When we get back to Earth, I’ll get a tattoo. Straight in the whole back. I’ll be the coolest guy on Varadero.”
“I’m sure not only there.”
They fell silent again.
“I think I’ll go,” Pidge finally said. “Good night, Lance.”
“Good night, Pidge.”
After
Pidge twirled in front of the mirror. She hasn’t worn dresses since… holy kittens, she can’t even remember when it was. It seems to be in a previous life. When she was a happy girl who was saying goodbye to her beloved dad and brother, believing that they would soon come back. But it’s been an eternity since then.
“Pidge?”
She shuddered—she had completely forgotten that she was not alone in the room.
“Do I have to go in… this?” Pidge turned to Allura.
“Yes. This is an official party.”
“And I can’t not go as well?”
“You are the Paladin of Voltron. Of course not. Guests want to see you. As everyone who will watch the broadcast of the ball from the Castle.”
“But, Allura… it’s all… not mine. I feel stupid.”
“Pidge, this is one of my best dresses, and the Arusians spent several days re-stitching it. You don’t want to offend them, do you?”
Well, Allura is always like that. Always pressed on her conscience.
“Of course not,” Pidge sighed and looked at herself in the mirror again.
“It suits you very well,” Allura said softly, putting her hands on her shoulders. “Green has never been my color.”
“Okay,” Pidge sighed.
“Let’s go, it’s about time.”
The girls left Pidge’s cabin and went down the corridor towards the bridge, where the rest of the paladins and Coran were already waiting for them.
“Well, are you all ready?” Allura looked around at the paladins.
“Princess, you look fantastic!” Coran exclaimed, while Pidge was diligently hiding behind Allura’s skirts. “Who’s the young lady behind you?” Coran asked bowing slightly. “Oh! Number Five! It’s you?”
Pidge felt herself blushing furiously. But she has no choice — she just needs to get through this evening. She took a step forward, shyly hiding her hands behind her back and lowering her head. She looked at the guys from under her brows. Shiro was smiling encouragingly, Keith glanced at her and stared out the window with a bored look. Hunk gave her two thumbs up, and Lance… It seems that the last time he had such an expression on his face was when he found out that she was a girl. However, he quickly pulled himself together and closed his mouth.
Pidge felt better. No one was pointing fingers at her or laughing. Which means it’s not that bad.
“Well, since we’re all here, let’s go meet our guests,” Allura smiled cheerfully.
Voltron’s team entered the spacious ballroom where the reception was organized. Members of the Coalition and representatives of the New Galra Empire arrived here. Pidge noticed how Allura broke into a wide smile, barely noticing the tall figure of the Galra Emperor.
“Lance!” Nyma jumped up to them in a silver mini skirt and a tight top.
“Oh, hello!” he smiled at her.
“Is this a suitable outfit for a ball?” Pidge muttered under her breath. However, Shiro heard her.
“Allura allowed the representatives to wear traditional outfits for their peoples.”
“And the costume of a stripper from Earth is, of course, an outfit… hmm… what kind of people is she from, by the way?”
Shiro shrugged his shoulders.
“You look great, Pidge. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it soon,” he whispered to her and walked away to the representatives of the planet Krell.
“I don’t need anyone to notice anything,” she muttered, knowing that Shiro didn’t hear her. She noticed that both Keith, Hunk and Coran too had long since dispersed to different corners of the hall, communicating with the guests. Lance and Nyma were also nowhere to be seen.
Pidge frowned, feeling even more stupid. However, after a tick, she noticed Ryner and managed to distract herself for a while.
Whoever approached her could not recognize her as a Paladin of Voltron, and Pidge was angry about it. ‘ It would be better if I put on my pilot’s suit, it would make more sense,’ she thought, leaving the hall and going out onto the balcony. She leaned on the railing and looked out into the night. Above her shone the stars and two local moons. But she couldn’t enjoy their beauty tonight. Pidge’s heart ached with longing when she thought about Lance and all they went through together, but even all of it couldn’t bring him to her. Sometimes she thought that he felt about her as she felt about him. But sometimes…
She was distracted from her thoughts by some fuss, and a silver skirt flashed behind an Altean rose bush, and then a blue shirt. And a moment later, Nyma and Lance disappeared through the doors, returning to the hall.
“Holy shi… I mean, holy kittens! Were they kissing here? Or… Oh, my God,” Pidge covered her face with her hands, feeling like a complete fool. Hot tears burned her eyes, but there was no way she would let them spill here and now.
Pidge picked up the long hem of her dress and rushed away from the balcony, into the hall and ran to the exit. Someone called out to her on the way, but she didn’t listen to anyone. She just wanted to be alone.
How long have they been floundering in space? Has it been three or four years? She found her family, and they returned home. The Voltron team defeated Zarkon. Allura, apparently, is going to marry the new Emperor. Everything was going well. Pidge decided to return back to the Castle and continue her service as a paladin of Voltron. Just like the whole team. In the end, no one stayed at home, on Earth, where they used to strive so much. Everyone was happy to be here.
But Pidge had another reason—besides keeping the peace—to be here. And this reason was making out in a corner with a yellow-skinned alien.
Pidge needed a little to be happy—just one person who matters pays attention to her. But this did not happen even today, when she broke all possible patterns and dressed up — like a real naive fool — in a princess dress. And she’s not a princess at all!
“Hey, Pidge! Wait!”
“What?”
She stopped, clenching her hands into fists. Most of all, she wanted to give him a good punch on his beautiful jaw right now.
“Oh, easy. I just wanted to…”
“I don’t want to listen to you! Go to your girlfriend! And I’m sorry for distracting you.”
“What girlfriend?”
Pidge saw his thin eyebrows arch in incomprehension.
“Don’t pretend!”
“Pidge, I really don’t understand you…”
“I saw you… there… with her…” she gasped, outraged that she had to explain and prove something to him.
“You’re confusing me with someone, I was talking to Hunk and…”
“Oh, come on!” She didn’t have the strength anymore, she was afraid that she was going to cry, making herself look even more of an idiot, so Pidge turned around and ran away.
“Pidge! Wait!”
Lance grabbed her arm and turned her around. She struggled like a bird in a cage, wanting to escape, but he pressed her to him.
“Hush, hush…” Lance was saying, until she finally froze. Treacherous tears still poured out of her eyes. But now it doesn’t matter, everything is already bad. Tomorrow she will somehow justify herself. In the meantime, she can let him hug her — the pathetic crumbs of affection that he lavishes on other girls.
“Oh! Sorry! Are we at a bad time?” Pidge heard and leaned out slightly over Lance’s shoulder. She saw Nyma hugging some guy in a blue shirt. Both were flushed, with bright eyes. Pidge noticed that the guy’s shirt was buttoned crookedly, and Nyma’s skirt had slipped.
Lance didn’t answer them, waving his hand for them to leave, and the couple, giggling stupidly, really disappeared somewhere in the corridors of the Castle in search of a secluded place.
“Oh, holy kittens…” breathed Pidge. It began to dawn on her that she had misunderstood everything. “Lance…” she looked up at him. “I thought you were… and… Holy shi- I mean, damn.”
Lance narrowed his eyes.
“So you’re freaking out because you thought I was with Nyma? So this means that you… what? Jealous?”
“Jealous?” — ‘I wanted to kill you both!’ she thought, but laughed out loud artificially and replied, “What nonsense!”
“You’re a terrible liar,” he smiled. “Come on.”
Lance pulled her along, and soon they were in the observatory.
Together they stood near the panoramic window, looking at the stars and nebulae passing by.
“There’s something I want to tell you,” Lance began quietly.
She looked at him, waiting for what he would say next. But Lance kept opening his mouth and then closing it, trying to find words, and hope suddenly sprang up in Pidge’s heart.
“You’re very beautiful today,” Lance finally said.
“Just today?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Damn, Pidge,” he scratched his head in embarrassment. “You’re not helping me… But no, you’re always beautiful. It's just this dress…”
“What’s wrong with it?” she critically examined the skirts made of the finest muslim or something like that — Allura named many different fabrics, but she did not remember them. “I knew it was a bad idea, and I told Allura…”
“Shut up, silly. It’s beautiful too. And you’re beautiful in it. You are much more beautiful than Nyma and even Allura.”
“Oh, well, thank you!” She pouted, but the compliment flattered her, and her cheeks blushed. No one can look more beautiful than Allura.
“You’re welcome.”
They fell silent. Pidge waited for him to say something else, but Lance either couldn’t find the words, or he said everything he wanted. It was catastrophically not enough for her.
“Do you remember when you found me here a few years ago?” he finally asked.
“Yes. Thank the stars, that was the only time you made me feel so uncomfortable.”
“Really? What about that incident in the Garrison? After a shower?”
“Oh my God!” Pidge covered her face with her hands, laughing. “Why did you remind me of that?”
“It was awkward for me. And became a thousand times worse when I found out that you were pretending to be a guy all that time. I was ready to sink into the ground.”
“I didn’t really have time to see anything,” Pidge continued to giggle. Now that this incident was clearly before her eyes, she felt the tips of her ears burning. “So there’s nothing for you to worry about,” she managed to say.
“Good. I hope that you will not go back on your words in the future.”
They fell silent again.
“You wanted to say something, but I still don’t understand what it is. And why did you bring me here?”
“Oh… this, well,” he looks confused again and that makes him even more handsome than ever. That blue shirt suited him so well. “Today is the fourteenth of February on Earth, and this is, as you know…”
“It’s Valentine’s Day.”
“Exactly. And this…”
“Does it matter?”
“A lot, Pidge.”
Now she was all ears and attention.
“If we were on Earth, then on this day, perhaps even a couple of years earlier, I would venture to tell you that…”
He paused. His fingers slid over the oval of her face, and Lance leaned a little closer to Pidge. She stood on tiptoe, closing the distance between them.
“What would you say?” she asked in a barely audible voice.
“That you’re the most precious thing I have,” he said softly. “That you’re my friend. And you’re the only person who really understands me. That without you I wouldn’t have been able to go through the madness of war. And that it was only for you that I returned to the Voltron team.”
“And that’s all it means?..” Pidge was reaching out to him with all her might, because it didn’t matter what he said next. She just wanted to kiss him, because that would be the only correct answer to all his words.
“That I seem to have fallen in love with you.”
“It seems?” Pidge seems to have been lowered from heaven to earth. She stood down abruptly and looked at Lance intently. “It seems? Is that what you think people say when they confess their love?”
“No, I… Pidge, you’re not helping me again!” Lance exclaimed, and then he pulled her to him and quickly kissed her on the lips.
At first she was taken aback by his sudden assertiveness, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and responded to the kiss.
How long they stood there, kissing, both had no idea. When Lance found the strength to tear himself away from Pidge’s lips, he said, “Well, I brought you here because that’s where I fell in love with you.”
“Here?”
“Yes, that night when I was examining the scar from the explosion, you said it wasn’t ugly.”
“It is. I saw. It looks like a supernova explosion.”
“Do you really think it’s beautiful?”
“Yes,” Pidge said simply.
“And you also said that I’m selfless.”
“It’s true.”
“That’s when you won me over.”
“Really? In one word?”
“No,” Lance laughed. “Probably, it was all together. Your words and your support, even your cool fingers on my skin. I wanted you to never stop…”
“Really?”
“You’re funny.”
“Oh, that’s a compliment!”
“I say I love you, and you’re still looking for a trick. And you didn’t even answer my confession.”
Pidge pretended to think, and then put her arms around Lance’s neck and kissed him.
“Does this count as a reciprocal confession?”
“Maybe. But it needs to be repeated. Just to be sure,” Lance flashed a smile, dragging Pidge into another dizzying kiss.