Chill (Klance Warmth series Book 2 of +4)

3: Raw Emotion

Allura retreated to the grand stairway in the foyer and sat down on one of the steps midway up, a cup of nunvill in her hands. A hoverbot floated by with several Altean treats. She couldn't resist snatching a couple of the sweets on sticks; they were her favorite. She watched as the little Arusians seemed to gravitate to Hunk and Pidge because they were the most relatable of the paladins.

The Altean mice scampered up her skirt and sat on her lap tittered at her, mentally lecturing her for her choice of words.

The princess blushed and pursed her lips in a sulk. "I wasn't going to say it out loud," she mumbled. The pink mouse sniffed at her and Allura sighed. "Alright, fine. It's because they're the shortest."

The blue squeaked and hopped on the green mouse's shoulders, patting its stomach and miming stuffing its face with food.

"Yes, that does sound like Hunk," Allura said laughing. "He has a heart as big as his stomach."

The blue mouse waved to get her attention then made a lovely, feminine expression accompanied by a slew of mental images that had the princess sitting ramrod straight.

"Pidge is a what?!" Allura gasped.

She leaned forward, teetering precariously from her step and stared at her green paladin. Pidge was squatting with a group of Arusian children, Rover hovering loyally over his -her?- shoulder. Rover's green glow flashed in a pattern as if it was speaking, or beeping as it were. Whatever it "said," it made Pidge laugh.

Allura thought about everything she knew about Pidge so far. The green paladin's full name was Pidge Gunderson (or was it?), he was a genius (definitely true, something like that can't be faked), his father and brother had been part of Shiro's crew and been captured by the Galra (the black paladin had confirmed that himself), and Pidge had a hard time surviving without something called "caffeine." Whatever that was.

It struck the princess that she didn't really know her paladins as well as she thought. The may work together as a team towards a common goal, but they barely knew anything about each other on a personal level. All things considered, Pidge could be female and no one would have been the wiser. It was all so distant, professional, and slapdash. The only real relationship in this whole mess was between Lance and Keith and even that was questionable at best.

Speaking of, where was Lance? Allura looked around for her brother and didn't see him right away. Come to think of it, Keith wasn't anywhere in the foyer either. Immediately, Allura's eyes narrowed and she stood, gathering the mice into her hands and setting them on her shoulder.

"Coran," she called.

Her advisor skipped across the floor at her summons, avoiding two Arusian children who ran into his path as he went. "The party is going well so far," Coran said, his face lit by a huge smile. "I did notice Pidge slipping some of the food into his bag when he thought no one else was looking. But considering Hunk does that all the time, I guess I shouldn't worry," he added, chortling happily.

"Where's- Wait. Pidge was what?" Allura asked, turning back to the green paladin just in time to see him dump a plate full of snacks into his backpack. The princess furrowed her brow and glanced at the blue mouse on her shoulder. "You're absolutely sure?" she asked.

The mouse nodded enthusiastically and Allura hummed in disbelief. "I'll have to get to the bottom of this," she murmured.

"Hm? The bottom of what?" Coran asked, glancing between the princess and her mice.

"Nothing!" Allura said quickly, looking straight at her adviser like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Coran gave her a look and Allura bit her lip. "It's nothing right now and it's not serious. Just my own curiosity," she said. She shook her head. "We'll discuss this later. Have you seen Lance?"