Lance didn't listen.
• That's what his mother had said.
Often.
• That's what his father had said. Less often.
• That's what his siblings had said. Often enough.
• That's what several girls he'd known had said. More often than he'd like to admit.
• That's what his teammates said.
• That's what his friends said.
• That's what his best friend said.
• That's what Pidge said.
Never mind that her words must be listed in a category alone.
However, Lance heard a lot. He heard the important things.
• Plans
• Decisions
• Announcements
• Hunk's weird stories
• Things people had said that might have been used to insult Keith
• Things that could be taken out of context to assume a girl liked him
• Every word Pidge had ever said in reference to him
It became a voice in his head. Conscious or inner demon he couldn't tell but he did know it better than he would admit. The tone she used for different emotions, the way she accentuated different words, and exactly, EXACTLY what she'd say in certain situations.
That's why despite the fact that Lance Serrano didn't listen, he heard very well the way Pidge had said what she had just said now.
Was that a forceful tone? Insistence? A light but eager demand?
He wouldn't dwell too long, he never did. It always ended in strange emotion.
Though if he'd thought longer, the way Pidge had checked atmospheric conditions and said
"Allura we NEED to land the ship on this planet."
he'd almost say she knew something.
-•-
The castle creaked.
It wasn't the first time he'd noticed it, and it wouldn't be the last. Laying in his sleeping quarters, the room lit only by the shine of his handmade Glow Cloud lamp. All pillow stuffing and a light bulb on a string.
It was better than the first night he'd spent in this dark, bare, and windowless abode. He'd grown used to it. Far away from his Garrison bunk that faced the window that saw the moon.
Earth's Moon. Home's Moon. His Moon. The place he wanted to go so badly as a child. He'd told his mother as such on nearly every occasion.
"Go to the farthest star," she said. "But come home for dinner."
He hadn't come home for dinner in a long time.
He hadn't seen the moon for a long time either.
It probably had a name, like other moons, but to him it was the only moon in the universe to care about. Even more than the one everyone (Pidge) talked about: Kerberos.
Kerberos had once seemed farther away than he could imagine.
Now he was the one unimaginably far away.
He wouldn't mind these bouts of homesickness, if it wasn't the night. If he wasn't alone. If the castle didn't creak. If the glow cloud didn't flicker. If the rain didn't patter on the-...
Rain?
-•-
It took all of 16 seconds or possibly 18 ticks for Lance to slide into the hall in his shark themed novelty socks.
It took less time to go crashing into the wall opposite his door and for him to be so overcome with pure unfiltered emotion that he didn't feel it at all.
Was he dreaming? No, not this time. For the sound of gentle water hitting the outside surface was growing louder. He wanted to scream with joy, to wake the castle, and to ignore Keith's obvious look of judgement for his immaturity.
He knew better. Keith would probably take one look and go back to bed. Shiro would say they needed to make sure the rain wasn't acidic first. Allura might think it was Altean rain (the fire and brimstone stuff), which would only fuel Shiro's fears. Hunk would (very nicely) say "I'm sleeping Lance." Pidge would tell him to shut the up & go to sleep.
Or maybe she wouldn't.
The voice in Lance's brain, which every day sounded more like Pidge, said she'd probably love to see a little reminder of home. Besides, Pidge never slept anyway.
-•-
Pidge didn't want to glow with pride too much when Lance appeared at her door. Breathless, eager & a tad bit red. Probably out of breath. Probably. She knew exactly why. She knew it from the way the weather patterns had appeared in her research, she knew that this planet held something very special.
Maybe she just wanted him to smile again. Maybe.
She was up, but that was usual. She pretended to be busy, but that was usual too. She agreed to go outside with him. That was not usual.
Neither of them minded.
-•-
On the edge of a rain splattered desert. Life felt a little different.
Under a blanket of the clearest clouds ever known. The stars reflected the sand.
God had spilled his jar of glitter on the barren ground, everything sparkled and flickered. A mix of stardust and space dust and regular old wonderful dust. All tossed up together and being brought back to life.
A little like Lance. A little like Pidge. Who stood breathless with wonder at the sight.
A hand crept into another. I couldn't tell you whose slipped into the other's first. They couldn't either.
Then it was a tug, yes this was by Pidge, and a pull, no doubt by Lance. And it was two. Under stars, feeling rain on skin. Both sets of hands connected at the seams. Looking up to the sky. Pidge's glasses got clouded by humidity and raindrops, and got tucked into a pocket. Lance felt a taste of the rain hit his tongue. It tasted like nothing and everything all at once. Or maybe it was just how he felt.
There were smiles. Smiles that shone as bright as stars. Her smile was brighter than his glow cloud.
Then she hummed.
She hummed a little song.
An old song. A sweet song.
A cocky-flirt-meets-down-to-earth-girl song. Something about singing, something about rain.
And it was with slow and clumsy steps he pulled her in a circle. Her eyes growing wide across from him. And with each quickening heartbeat the spinning grew faster until it felt a little like they'd fly away. Her hair wet and whipping in the wind as they flew around. The water hitting him in the face. It didn't stop.
It never stopped.
Lance didn't listen.
But Pidge was exactly what he needed to hear.
