"One last circuit"
Pidge huffed aloud, wiping the beading sweat from her forehead. She'd been adjusting the cloaking mechanism on Green for the past hour. For some reason, the cloaking hadn't been cooperating. Yet now she was done, only just retaining the last string of her sanity.
With a heavy sigh, Pidge sat back on her heels to admire her handiwork. The small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth grew wider, and a sharp clang rung in her ears as she threw her spanner into the tool box.
"For someone so small, you sure make a lot of noise," Pidge had heard him approaching from the other side of the hangar, so didn't flinch when Lance announced his presence.
"Little people have to be heard somehow, Lance" Pidge said casually, looking over her shoulder. Her eyes fell upon the unmistakable slender silhouette draped onto the front paw of her lion.
Lance scoffed, "I'm surprised you haven't built some sort of a permanent megaphone yet," He lifted his head, blue eyes scanning the face of the Green paladin.
"What are you doing down here anyway? Cause I know you didn't come here to talk mechanics with me." Pidge raised an eyebrow at him, getting to her feet. Lance carded his fingers through his hair, a slight smile on his lips.
"Actually I come down here to chill with Red." Lance answered honestly, casting a glance across at his lion. "We listen to music together,"
Pidge scrunched up her nose, padding over to Lance's side.
"We?" She questioned, her eyes hinting at her curiosity. Lance felt his stomach flip. It happened every time she looked at him like that, like she was staring through to his core and reading him like a book.
"Y-yeah," he spluttered, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. "I play some of the songs I have on my phone and Red seems to enjoy them." He watched as Pidge's expression changed from mild excitement to full on intrigue.
"Could I see?" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. Lance blinked a few times, peering down at the Green paladin.
"You want to see?" He said, his voice thick with confusion as he held Pidge's gaze. Pidge nodded her head vigorously, a wide grin on her lips.
"I would love to measure if there are fluctuations in electromagnetic energy produced by the Lion when it hears music!" She blurted, her mouth barely keeping up with her words. Lance nodded his head as he 'listened' to her science jargon, pretending to hear every word when in reality all sound was oblivious to him.
He was instead studying her features. He adored the face she would make when she was excited, especially when it was science centred. Her cheeks glowed, her eyes shimmered and the movement of her lips became almost melodic.
"Lance are you coming?" Pidge yanked him back into reality, causing his head to jolt in her direction. She'd already made her way towards Red, gently pulling on the hem of his sleeve.
"Y-yep. Right behind you,"
Pidge pulled the Cuban boy towards the lion, and was met by the gentle purr of Red as they reached her paw. Lance reached out and placed a hand on it, flinching as he made contact with the cold metal. He could hear her welcoming thoughts in the back of his mind, steadying his chest.
"Hey Red"
When Lance finally looked over at Pidge, she had already proceeded to set up her laptop on the floor.
"Play a song then," she said impatiently, the screen of her laptop reflected perfectly in her glasses.
Lance felt himself reaching for his phone, and scrolled through the few songs that he'd downloaded what seemed like deca-phoebs ago. He couldn't quite focus on the names of the songs, and had no idea what he was going to play. Lance highly doubted that he and Pidge shared a music taste.
Lance's thumb hovered over a song, an idea beginning to sprout at the back of his mind. They had been under so much stress recently, they deserved time to relax. And Lance only knew of one way to really relax.
He pressed down on the screen, and soon enough music began to blast from the speaker at the bottom. He placed the phone on the floor, before walking steadily towards Pidge.
Pidge's ears pricked at the new sound in the air. Lance had indeed chosen a song. One that she felt she knew but couldn't quite tell how. She shifted her glance from her computer and up to the approaching footsteps. Her breath hitched in her throat, with her cheeks burning furiously.
Lance was leaning towards her, hand outstretched and welcoming, a sincere smile cracking on his lips.
"Dance? H-here?," Pidge fumbled over her words, nervous butterflies building in the pit of her stomach. Lance tilted his head,
"Here." He said softly, watching with content as she lifted her hand and met his. The contact between them ignited pain in both of their chests, as well as cheeks flushed with a red hue.
Lance helped her up, using the grip on her hand to tentatively pull her towards him. He caught her by her shoulder, his eyes widening as their height difference became undeniably apparent to him. Pidge let a nervous laugh out of her nose,
"Why are you pulling that face," she said slowly, her brows hesitantly knitting together. Lance opened his mouth to speak, but the words refused to form, leaving him to look like a gawping Weblum. Instead, he redirecting his nervous energy into his limbs.
Lance felt his hands move from her shoulders down to her waist, holding her with the same amount of care that he would a paper lantern. He could feel her hip bones through her shirt, and a small shudder glided up his spine.
Pidge moved her gaze from Lance's hand, trailing it slowly up his chest, before it settled on his eyes. As Lance kept her gaze, Pidge's hands made their way up his torso, faltering only to tug at the material of his shirt for a tick. Her hands came to a halt on his shoulders, her touch raising the hairs on Lance's neck tenfold.
Silence dusted over them for a few ticks, as each of them paused. Even the music was washed away by the tension.
It was then that Lance began to sway, his body rocking in time to the music. Pidge started to mimicked Lance's movements, her hips and feet guided by Lance's hold on her waist. With each step, Pidge drew closer. So close she could feel the warmth his body radiated.
The more they swayed, the the less space there was between them.
Pidge's hands wandered up Lance's neck, teasing his hair between her fingers. Their breathing became in sync, and with every rise and fall of their chests, their breath collided with the skin of their necks. Pidge could feel the blush on her cheeks reddening, and attempted to hide it by looking down at her feet.
That was until Lance took her hand and spun her.
She twirled clumsily on her tiptoes, the loose material of her top fluttering around her waist.
Lance pulled her back towards him, her back pressed against his chest as he swayed.
Pidge's chest was moving at twice it's normal rate, and increased further as Lance leant down, nuzzling at the nape of her neck with his nose. She should hear every exhale as they brushed past her ears, making her weak in the knees.
Lance spun her outwards again, only to pull her back to him, draping his arms around her shoulder and down onto the small of her back. His swaying continued, now set to the new pace of his beating heart.
Pidge stared breathlessly at the blue paladin. Even with her hands resting on Lances shoulders, she could still feel them quivering.
She let out a shuddered sigh, attempting to compose herself.
Lance had craned his neck down, his nose just level with Pidge's eyes. To say she hadn't expressed any skill at dancing, she was still quite good. Their bodies were now pressed flush together, and Lance was almost sure he could feel her heart beat. He ran his hand up Pidge's back, gathering the bottom of her shirt in his hands. If he could just-
He jolted at the thoughts he was having in the back of his mind, quickly letting go of Pidge's top.
Then he felt a new sensation. Something that shook him right to the core. Looking down, Lance watched in awe as Pidge gently placed her lips against his collar bone.
His mouth practically fell open.
With dry, creaking lips, Lance produced a form of smile. Although it did appear of more of a grimace.
As Lance's lips parted to speak, the music came to a close, the last few beats echoing in the hangar.
The pair stood for a dobosh or two, the only sound to be heard was their quickened breathing. Reluctantly, Pidge let her hands drop from Lance's shoulder, allowing them to linger on his chest. To slow the process of letting go, Pidge clung onto the bottom of Lance's shirt. Lance felt his entire body stiffen as the back of her knuckles brush against his stomach.
"Wh-what song was that?" Pidge mumbled, barely managing to look the blue paladin in the eye. A small smile made it's way across Lances jaw, followed by a light chuckle.
"You like that huh?" She could feel the warmth in his voice, it causing her to lift her line of sight up to his own.
"Ye- no. Well kinda," she stumbled, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "It isn't something I'd usually listen to." She continued, not missing a beat.
"I didn't think it would be," Lance chuckled to himself, his lips pressed together in a grin. "But the classics are always good."
Lance watched as Pidge's hand moved from the bottom of his shirt over to his hand. She nudged his fingers cautiously, before intertwining them.
"We should do that more often,"
A spark lit inside of Lance's chest as the words fell off of her lips, and he could feel his chest quaking with every inhalation.
"You free tomorrow night?"