Silent Nuzzling

Pidge woke up to the sound of someone walking down the hallway with heavy steps. Even though she wasn't exactly sure what time it was, she was certain it was too early for anyone to be up. So the noise caught her attention as soon as the entity walked by her door.

"Shiro?" Pidge's first guess was as she uncovered the blanket from her body and got up in her slippers. "Nah, couldn't be. He's gotta be knocked unconscious from that fight yesterday."

Keith was the next person that popped into her mind. He had a strange habit of getting up at the crack of dawn to practice in the training deck. And yet somehow, the Red Paladin kept on complaining that he was too tired to do anything. He was still a strange mystery to her.

"Maybe Hunk?" The Green Paladin thought to herself as she slowly opened up the door. "He's probably up getting a snack or working on his lion."

Princess Allura and Coran were ruled out because both of them were drained from defending the Castleship from being gunned down by several Galra warships. It took everything Allura had to sustain the barriers and Coran was at the helm firing off the defense systems like clockwork for hours. Yesterday was probably the biggest battle they've had that entire week. Though to be honest, time was hard to keep track of in space. So maybe the last big battle they had was literally a few days ago for all she remembers.

That just left one person. Lance.

"What's that Blue dork doing this late at night?" Pidge whispered to herself as she quietly followed the Blue Paladin to the main deck.

Lance was in his normal clothes and it looked like he was tossing and turning in his bed before he got up. Something about him though was setting off warning bells in Pidge's brain that she couldn't put her finger on and it was driving her insane. There was a depressing vibe coming from her teammate and it was making her worried.

As she finally reached the main deck, Pidge noticed that Lance was sitting down and gazing out at the stars. He had a very melancholy look on his face that made him look like a puppy and she didn't know why, but all of a sudden she just wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything was going to be OK.

"Hey. I know you're over there." Lance suddenly announced, turning his head slightly in her direction. "What's the matter? Can't sleep either?"

She sighed, there was no use lying to him. "SOMEONE woke me up with their loud footsteps."

"Do you sleep right by your door?"

"You're such a brat."

"I love it when you talk like that." Lance replied with a purr. He beckoned her to sit by him and she followed through with his request. Plopping herself in her nightgown right beside her teammate as they sat together looking at the stars.

For a while there was just silence between them and it felt comforting having him by her side. She hadn't noticed it before, but Lance had grown a few inches taller since they started their adventure and his face was beginning to mature a lot more. He looked handsome if she was being completely honest, but she would never admit it to Lance in fear of boosting his already huge ego.

"You didn't answer my question Pidge, why're you up?" Lance finally asked her as they caught a view of a shooting star. "I mean, I get it because you told me you have insomnia but you told me that if you were REALLY tired you'd fall back asleep instantly."

Pidge blushed softly from his concerned gaze, somehow she couldn't keep eye contact with him when he was being like this. Slowly she replied, "Well...I was concerned about you."

"About me?"

"Considering you're sitting alone on the main deck with a puppy expression on your face, I can only assume that you're thinking about home right?"

Lance grimaced and looked away from her after she said that. He felt more homesick than he was willing to admit. And the last thing he wanted to do was cause his friends to worry about him when they needed to save their energy and rest.

"It's OK to tell me these things you know. I'm not gonna laugh at you. I miss home too, I miss mom and I miss my workshop." Pidge continued on like she never stopped. "We're a team now. And like you said before, we shouldn't have any secrets between us."

Lance smiled, "So you still remember what I said back at the Garrison. I'm touched."

The atmosphere between them was so warm that Pidge felt her cheeks blushing furiously on her face and Lance looked like he was fighting his own soft blush that he refused to show on his face.

"Look Pidge. I'm worried about a lot of things and some things I'm just not ready to talk about just yet. That doesn't mean that I don't trust you, it's just that I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my head and I don't want you guys to worry about me when I don't even know the problem myself. Does that make sense?" Lance asked as he laid his head down on her shoulder.

Pidge leaned her head on top of his. "I get it. But that doesn't mean that I'll stop worrying about you just because you say you're going to be alright."

"How did I know you were going to say that?"

"Because we've been together on this crazy adventure since the beginning back at the academy."

"True."

They chuckled at their early memories together. How Pidge would constantly check up on Lance to make sure he didn't oversleep for their simulator exams and how Lance would constantly ask her questions about her life before she came to the Garrison.

"Hey, lift your head up for a sec. My neck is starting to get really stiff like this." Lance stated as Pidge lifted her head up. He rolled his neck around and she could hear it popping slightly.

The Green Paladin did her best to stifle a yawn but with no luck. She yawned wide and loud as she rubbed her left eye. "Guess I'm really getting sleepy now."

"Why don't you go back to bed, I'm gonna stay here for a little while longer." Lance said as he looked back out to the stars with longing. "I promise I'll go to bed soon."

She gave a little chuckle of doubt, "I don't think you will. Knowing your track record when it comes to oversleeping."

That's when things got personal. Lance looked over at Pidge and leaned his head down so they were inches away from practically kissing. Pidge's eyes widened as his nose touched hers and their foreheads connected with a soft bump. Slowly, he began to move his head gently from side to side. Giving her a Eskimo kiss in the process and she could've sworn at one point she felt his lips brush up against hers. But her mind was racing a million miles a minute to really process everything at once.

"I'll be fine Pidge. You checking up on me tonight is exactly what I needed." The Blue Paladin stated with a soft whisper. She could feel his lips brush up against hers as she didn't know why her heart was telling her to lean forward and seal the deal.

Lance leaned back and gave her a smile. "Now go to bed already. You have dark circles under your eyes and I don't want that pretty face looking so tired in the morning."

Not knowing what else to say, Pidge turned around and walked out of the room and back to her bedroom. Once there: she silently squealed in shock.

"WHAT WAS THAT? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM AND WHY IS MY HEART RACING LIKE THIS. I MEAN COME ON LANCE YOU CAN'T DO A SNEAK ATTACK LIKE THAT!" She proclaimed as she plopped herself down upon her bed.

She gave a heavy sigh of defeat. Now there was no chance in hell she was going to fall asleep now. Not after her surprise nuzzling session she had with Lance that would continue to play on repeat in both her mind and in her heart.