The Silent Kind

Episode i dont give a shit

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and flowers all in bloom. Spring had warmed the winter chill away but temperatures hadn't yet reached scorching. The sky was a clear powder blue where it could be seen through the bright green of new leaves on old oaks, sharply contrasted against the dark pine that surrounded them. A gentle breeze blew through the trees and both doors of the little house were propped open to let the rooms air out in this nice weather. It was peaceful. Quiet. Serene. Not even the toddlers were screaming. A fact that slightly worried Lance as he returned from shopping with his mother. It was the last day before she went back to New York and she'd wanted some time just with her baby boy. Lance hadn't liked the idea of leaving the twins alone with Keith and Pidge but everyone else was busy and Maria insisted they could handle it. Lance was pretty sure that Keith would at least call if something went wrong. And he'd not gotten any calls.

Maria had laughed off her son's worry and drug him to every kitsch store in the greater Houston area (of which there are many) then immediately disappeared into the camper Coran had parked on Keith's property to keep Pidge from murdering the woman in her sleep. Lance was beginning to understand why Pidge mostly avoided the woman. She was his mother so he loved her deeply but. . . damn she did not listen. Keith only agreed to watching the twins a few hours, not all day. Lance was sure Pidge had spent every extra minute thinking up ways she could make him regret this. Her weekends were sacred. Especially when Keith was also off duty. So this quiet felt like a calm before the storm as Lance approached their house, arms laden with groceries picked up as peace offerings on the way back from the city.

Keith's big hunting dog woke up from her nap to give Lance a hopeful look and thump of her tail as he stepped up to the porch. He gave the old girl a sorry smile, shrugging the heavy bags in both hands, then rubbed her shoulder with his foot to pay his passage inside. She whined and rolled over to let him rub her belly so Lance obliged a moment till the sound of voices from the living room caught his attention.

"Would you say it's more grey or brown?" Pidge casually asked and Keith hummed his thinking sound to acknowledge the question while he considered a proper response.

"Kind of a brownish grey?" he didn't sound sure of it but Pidge didn't press the issue. They didn't sound upset either. That was good.

"Any spots? Stripes? Patterns?" Pidge asked calmly typing away at her keyboard. Lance could hear the clicking keys as he walked inside only to hesitate at the curtain, listening.

"Uuh. . . not really. It's pretty solid," Keith answered after a pause then added, "Underside looks yellow."

"Yellow-yellow or just pale?" Pidge continued the strange line of questioning and Keith answered with confidence this time.

"Definitely yellow."

Lance arched a brow. What were they talking about? Curiosity got the better of him and Lance stepped through the curtain to see Keith sitting on the floor between the couch and table with both toddlers and two out of three cats transfixed by a large, clear tupperware turned upside down on the tile with a small stack of heavy books on top of it. Lance wasn't sure what was more strange, Keith on the floor with tupperware or seeing the toddlers and cats peacefully within reach of each other. Even Toothless was watching from his perch on the back of the couch. Pidge was in her usual spot on the couch but her screen was a google search, not the incomprehensible code she normally worked on. To make matters worse, none of them even looked up when Lance stepped inside. Rude. Lance gave them a moment to notice him then tried not to pout when they didn't and just carried the groceries to the table without a word. Why acknowledge them if they won't do it for him?

"Hmm. . ." Pidge clicked through a few search results as Lance pretended not to listen. Then she asked, "Does it look angry?"

That was an odd question. Lance tilted his head curiously at the girl for it and Keith even asked, "Angry?"