The Small Town

Mario and Luigi, eh?

Lance shrieked and pulled his face back, successfully smacking the back of his head against the wall. He pulled his arms from Pidge's waist and rubbed the back of his head.

“Aww, you don't wanna kiss?” Pidge taunted.

“Well, I mean if you really wanna,” he chuckled, blushing slightly.

“I don't, sorry buddy,” she laughed. “I gotta go take this off.” She held up the monstrosity of a dress in her hands.

“Need help mi amour?” Lance joked. Keith sat on the couch and laughed at Lance's rejection.

“Yeah? You couldn't do any better with her yourself, City Boy,” Lance snapped. He crossed his arms. Pidge came back downstairs.

“We gotta go Keith. My mother wants us back.” She grabbed her backpack and said goodbye to the McClain family. Sylvio and Nadia gave them hugs and said their goodbyes. Nadia whispered something to Pidge, but the teen shook her head.

“No can do kiddo. I don't think he likes me like that anyway, hun.” Pidge sighed. “But I'll tell you right away if he does, okay?”

“Okay Tia Pid’. But you tew me wight away.”

“Definitely. See ya kiddos!” She waved to the two children as she and Keith left the building.

“They really like you,” Keith commented as they walked down the street.

Pidge smiled fondly. “Yeah. They're pretty cool, too. They're the only people I can rant to about science and space and stuff, and they won't get annoyed. They always want to hear more, and it's pretty great to think about that. That people are interested in hearing about the same stuff I like. It's… I don't know… refreshing.”

I could listen to you rant all day.

“Aww thanks buddy,” she chuckled, lightly punching him in the arms.

“Well, you're a pretty neat person,” Keith said, trying to cover for thinking aloud. “You talk about interesting things. Like last night, you were mumbling about how the hottest planet is 450 degrees Celsius. I didn't know that. I thought it was cool.”

“Now you're ranting. It's fine. You don't need to correct yourself for thinking out loud. I do it all the time. There just aren't usually people around to listen,” she said, smiling.

Her smile. My heart melts everytime I look at her! Keith coughed to make sure he didn't say anything out loud again.

When they arrived at the Holt house again, Pidge was immediately bombarded with questions about her hair.

“It's nothing. I got bored the other night,” she lied. Mrs. Holt didn't believe her, and she crossed her arms.

“It was Zarkon’s son again, wasn't it?” she asked. Pidge nearly shook her head, but nodded instead.

“Keith, you may go inside. I need to talk to Katie.” Colleen said, obviously unhappy.

Keith did as he was told and sat in his room. He laid back on the bed and stared at the speckled ceiling. A few minutes later, Pidge came in and flopped face first onto his bed. He patted her back and she groaned into the pillow.

“I can't go in my shop for the rest of the weekend. Cause I lied about Lotor being a dick, and didn't tell my mother right away, and blah blah blah,” she complained, negating the need for Keith to ask any questions.

“It's not too bad. It's just the weekend. And then you'll have time to practice your lines for the play, and plan your Halloween costume, and all that jazz,” Keith consoled her. She sat up and looked at him, then smiled kindly. “Who'd you get for your part anyway?” he asked her.

“Lafayette. The Frenchman,” she said. “He has the fastest rap in the play, and I think I can handle it. I already know the whole play off by memory, so it's not too hard. I'm pretty proud of my role. You got Aaron Burr, right?”

“Yeah. Big part,” sighed Keith.

“I can help you if you want. I can play everyone that you interact with, if you want to, that is.”

“Alright, are we starting with actual spoken lines, or are we starting with a song? I think we should start with Aaron Burr, sir, and that way we can get the biggest parts out of the way,” he suggested.

“Doesn't Alexander Hamilton have more from Aaron Burr?” Pidge asked.

“Yeah, but,” Keith scratched the back of his head, “I wanna hear you sing too, as Lafayette. Let's see if you do well as a French man,” he laughed.

“Shut up.” She punched his shoulder, hard, and handed him a booklet from her back pack. It was the script for their play, and they practised through almost the whole night, before Keith passed out watching the lyrics of “Guns and Ships” on Pidge's laptop.

“Pidge, please!?” Lance begged the girl.

“I already told you, I'm not dressing like a slutty cheerleader. I'm going as a Luigi. Now shut up and let me eat my fries in peace.” They were sitting at their wall, which they had successfully claimed from others in the school.

“What are you going as Keith?” asked Lance. He stole a fry from Pidge, getting a slap on the back of his hand, and stuffing the fry in his mouth.

“Gah! Pidge what the hell? Is this white vinegar? Disgusting!” Lance shrieked.

“It's delicious. I don't know what you're talking about.” Pidge shoveled more food into her mouth.

“That's coming from you,” said Hunk. “You put the blueberries in the pancakes.”

“It's just as good,” Pidge defended. Hunk shook his head and threw away his garbage.

“Again, Keith, what are you being for Halloween?” Lance repeated his question.

“Not going as anything.” Keith shrugged his shoulders and took a bite from his sandwich.

“What!?” Lance yelled, catching the attention of a passerby. “Of course you are! What makes you think you can get away with being the same, bland, City Boy that moved here to get away from it all? You gotta dress up for Halloween.” He leaned in towards Keith and whispered, “do it for Pidge.”

“Hell. I guess I could go as Mario, or something. And I moved here because we were evicted from our place in the city. Not that I didn't want to  though,” he added quickly.

“That would be awesome!” Pidge piped up.

“Mario and Luigi. Lance, you should go as Peach. I'll go as Bowser. It'll be great!” Hunk chimed in excitedly.

Lance mulled it over in his head for a minute, then nodded.

“Yeah. Okay. I would be the greatest Peach there is! Screw you 'Rose-Gold Peach'. Who, by the way, was the best Peach of them all,” Lance added.

“Next to you, of course,” Pidge teased.

“Of course.”

The bell rang and they had to get to their classes. Pidge and Keith discussed their costumes on the way to science.

In class, Coran explained once again what the team names were for. They all had to build a project, something that would blow him away, in those teams, and the best project would win a gift card to Baily's Diner.

Pidge suggested that they use Rover, and Keith agreed. The two of them had worked on Rover together, so it seemed fair. Even though Pidge had done most of the work, Keith had added some upgrades of his own.

Keith, however, kept finding his mind wandering to Halloween. It was a week away, and he kept imagining Lance in a pink dress. And what Pidge would look like dressed up like Luigi.

Mario and Luigi, eh? I can get behind that. He silently chuckled to himself at the thought.