Late Night Terrors

Uncomfortable

"Lance, hey!" Pidge was walking after him, a slight scowl on her face as she tried to catch up to him. "Don't just leave, you were about to say something!"

The blue paladin continued on, his head bowed slightly and his fists clenched at his sides. He didn't stop until a hand wrapped around his wrist, and he reluctantly came to a halt as to not drag Pidge to the ground. He didn't yet face her, though.

"What were you going to say before you walked off? Why did you go all 'quiznak' and rush off?" She questioned, looking at the back of his head.

He replied with a pause of silence, before he slowly turned to look down at her. His free hand going up to rub the back of his neck, he glanced away and finally spoke up. "I.. I was just gonna say I do enjoy the company." Lance shrugged as he said this, acting nonchalant. Although the blush that was covering his cheeks brought suspicion.

"Why did you run off? That's basically just letting me know that I'm not a complete and total bother to you. I thought you said you don't comfort and dash? Don't go-" Her angered words were cut off by a hand over her mouth, Pidge's eyes widening slightly in surprise.

Lance was looking at her again, his expression suddenly serious. "You're right, I'm sorry. But fleeing is the only thing I can think of doing that won't get me into trouble with Shiro right now. Or your brother and dad when we find them." His voice was low, and his hand slid from over her mouth to rest on her cheek. 

"Trouble? Wha.. What in space would get you in trouble with one of them? I thought you didn't care what Shiro says about it?" She raised her eyebrows in confusion, her head tilting slightly to the side, against the warmth of his hand.

"I.." As her head leaned, he pulled his hand away. "You're smart, Pidge. What would a protective big brother hate a guy like me doing to his sister?" Lance's blush darkened. "N-Not like bad, I mean. Unless you didn't like it.. B-But I don't mean anything serious! I-I wouldn't do that. I mean.." He trailed off with a sigh. "You didn't even give me time to compose myself. I'm so stupid!"

"Lance, I really, really don't understand you. What does Matt-" Pidge cut off, her eyes going wide as she looked at his exasperated expression. "Y-You don't mean.. That, do you?" Her face was flushed now, the pink color spreading to her ears.

"Yeah. That."

She let go of his wrist and took a step back. "Sorry. I didn't.. I didn't realize. You usually.. Y'know, flirt when you like someone. Don't you? I mean, like with Allura.." The green paladin looked to the side, biting the inside of her cheek. She didn't know what to say, her mind swirling. So instead of waiting for a response, Pidge stepped past him in a pace similar to his previous one and left down the hall. To her relief, Lance did not follow.

***

Three days passed. Pidge wished she could say things went on as normal, the two acting casual. Instead, though, the two were now standing in front of an angry Allura after completely wrecking a team training exercise with embarrassingly awkward interactions.

"What has gotten into you two?" The princess was standing with her hands on her hips, looking like a scolding mother. "Stuttering, rambling? If that were a real mission, you would all be dead and Zarkon would be victorious! How do you expect to communicate in such ways?"

Both teens kept their gazes down, listening as she ranted. Pidge was blushing in utter embarrassment, and couldn't help but to wonder what expression Lance had. Sparing a glance, she was oddly comforted by the fact that he seemed just as uncomfortable being scolded by the woman.

It was Lance who spoke up first as Allura finally paused to breathe. He raised his head, rubbing the back of his neck with a shrug. "You do the same thing with Shiro, don't you? You're a stuttering mess when you get nervous around him. I can't speak for Pidge, but I think it should be pretty obvious why I screw up when I hear her voice. I can't help it, she's.." He cleared his throat, trailing off and looking back down.

There was another pause, then a gasp. Pidge finally looked up, her face contorting in confusion when Allura looked.. Joyful? "Oh, why didn't I see it? So it wasn't just Shiro over reacting, the two of you are like that? Ah, but don't be doing anything inappropriate in my castle, you hear?" Her tone had gone from scolding to excited, then back to scolding. "And no matter what relationship you two have, don't let it interfere with training again. And especially don't let it interfere with any real battles."

Allura turned her gaze to Lance, her expression suddenly scary. "Oh, and Lance? If you bring up anything about Shiro and I again, I will throw you into outer space. Understood?"

***

"Can we talk?" Tonight, it was Lance who showed up at Pidge's door. His hands were in his pockets, his eyes tired and his hair a mess. It was the middle of the night, but it didn't look like he had slept much. If at all.

The green paladin bit her lip, then nodded and stepped back, letting him step into the room. The door slid shut behind him, the room now only illuminated by the light of the laptop that was sat on her bed. "What is it?" She asked, although she had an idea.

After Allura's scolding, the two had no chance to speak with each other. Lance had wondered off in fear of the princesses wrath, which left Pidge to an excruciating conversation with her.

Lance hesitated, then stood up a bit more straight and spoke up. "Listen, I don't know if what happen during training was just you being uncomfortable with how I feel, but I wanted to talk about it, anyways. Well, not just that. Us in general, actually. I just wanted to.. So I talked with Shiro after I escaped Allura and.." He sighed, seeming annoyed. "Why is this so hard to say? You were right, I usually flirt. But I've never had like a.. Well I mean not to say I've never dated, but I guess I didn't really feel like that with-"

"Lance." Pidge cut him off, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "You're rambling. But I get it." She looked down at her feet, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. Although, she doubted he could see in this lighting. "I.. Me too. I think."

"Really?" He grinned, a genuine one that made her stomach flip. "So will you.. I mean.. We should hang out. Like a.. Like a date hang out at the next decent planet. If you want to?"

With a light laugh, the brunette nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I want to." In a slow movement, she uncrossed her arms to wrap them around his waist. "I would love to."

#Annnd scene! I hope y'all enjoyed. I might end up writing more Pidgance in the future, so if you liked this I do hope you give a follow! Thank you for reading.#