Accidental Intentions

36 • Not Sorry

Lance didn't understand how it came to this.

He had woken and heard Keith sighing beside him so he awkwardly lay there, trying to figure out how to proceed. That's when Shiro burst in.

So, Lance being Lance, bided his time by attempting to distract the senior officer from the issue at hand. The circumstances were already incriminating, he just added a little flair. He cuddled up to Keith and gave him the lightest of brushes on the cheek.

"'Morning, princess."

Keith blushed. Shiro stopped. Lance smiled pleasantly. For a long beat, nobody dared to breathe.

Keith broke first.

"What the shit? I'm gonna rip your worthless lungs out, you goddamn ass!" The Red Paladin lunged for Lance's throat. Lance struggled to untangle himself from the sheets.

Shiro was still broken.

On second thought, perhaps this wasn't the best idea.

So after a short chase and a huge scuffle that was in no way affectionate, Lance found himself thrown over Shiro's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He glanced nervously over at the glaring Keith, who had been tossed over Shiro's other shoulder.

"What the hell, McClain?" Keith demanded.

"Enough!" Shiro ordered as he marched them out of the room and into the hall. "One thing at a time."

Hunk opened his door. "What's with all the commotion, guys?"

The Black Paladin deposited Lance at the green door. As Lance's shoulder hit the ground, Shiro kicked him forward, though not hard. More of a severely assertive nudge in the desired direction. "Apologize. Now."

"Okay! That was violent," Hunk observed.

As Lance righted himself, Shiro walked off down the hall, taking Keith with him.

"You're just gonna let him go? Seriously? What the hell, Shiro! That's not fa—" at the sound of a loud slap, Keith's eyes widened suddenly and locked on Lance's.
Lance tried not laugh. He really really did try. But Shiro had just spanked Keith. On the butt. Like a toddler.

Hunk yelped. Lance bit down on his lip, the laughter in his eyes met with Keith's silent fury. He was going to pay for this later. But he couldn't resist watching them make their way down the hall until they turned the corner.

"So. What did you do?" Hunk prodded.

"Looks like I'm gonna find out," Lance chuckled as he disappeared through Pidge's door.

Pidge was sitting cross-legged in her bed, wearing her best shit-eating grin.
"Um," Lance blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"For?" she prompted as she patted the sheet beside her.

"Gosh, Pidge, I was kinda hoping you'd tell me!" Lance exclaimed as he sank into the bed.

She smirked. "Are you sure?"

"Uh...yes?"

"I'm loving your confidence."

Lance slammed his palms on his knees, "Enough games, Pidge! Just tell me what I did!"

"What you did? I'll tell you what you did. You locked Keith in your room. You slept in his bed. You wore his clothes. You barfed all over him. You've teased him incessantly. Don't think I don't know what's up mister!" Pidge adjusted her glasses.

Lance opened his mouth. Then closed it. What was he gonna say? Deny it? She would know he was lying. Finally he said, "Last night. You did that on purpose. What the heck? What the heck, Pidge! Why would you do that? You knew. You knew...and you did that. Why? Why, Pidge? Why would you do something like that!" Lance was on his feet, shouting now.

And Pidge. The little imp just sat there, a knowing smile on her face. "He likes you too, you know."

The world stopped. No. The universe stopped. Sure, there were missiles, star ships with crazy huge laser guns, Lance was sure the Galra even had something equivalent to the Death Star out there, but nothing compared to the bomb his friend just dropped. The words dried up in his mouth.

"W-what?" he managed to squeak after a moment.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "He. Likes. You. Too," she explained with exaggerated clarity.
"Y-you...You can't know that."

Pidge gave him that look that said he was an idiot. "Dude, you ralphed all over him. And you know what he did? He stayed up all night keeping an eye on you, worried sick. Look me in the eye and tell me that doesn't mean something!"

"No! You look me in the eye and tell me he doesn't hate me," Lance countered.
She snorted. "Yeah, well you brought that on yourself."

Lance dropped his gaze and Pidge sighed. "You are worthy of love, Lance. Don't push people away just because you're afraid."

Darn, she's right.

"Can I hug you?" he asked.

"Come here," she invited, spreading her arms wide.

Gosh he loved her. Not like that. But not quite like how he loved his sisters either. Sisters you're stuck with and you know way too much about them but somehow you learned to live them anyway. Pidge was...like a sister, but at the same time she was not. She was family no doubt, but there was something special about her. Maybe it was because she was the family that he chose.

"Pigeon?" Lance asked after a moment of silence.

"Call me that again and your bedroom and bathroom door will disappear," she threatened into his shoulder.

"Point taken. Anyway, why is Shiro so mad?"

"Ah, yeah, about that. I kinda fell asleep while working in the shower. And I kinda got tangled up in all the wires because I move a lot in my sleep, you know?"

"I didn't know," Lance pulled away.

"Well, now you do," Pidge adjusted her glasses. "Anyway, Shiro came in looking for Keith and there I was, asleep and tangled in plumbing equipment. I might have told him that you locked me in there until I fixed it."

"What?"