Chapter 1: Pidge's Discovery
Pidge is found working in her lab. Her eyebrows are furrowed and has a slight tilt of her mouth; fully concentrated on her latest project. She is completely focused that she accidentally loses track of time; not realizing that it was already quarter past three. Matt walks into the hangar as she was just putting on the last finishing touches and wonders why Pidge was still there working. "Uh, hey Pidge? I'm surprised to see you still here? Isn't that dinner thing happening tonight?". Pidge tilts her head in confusion about to question Matt when she see the time on the wall behind him and quickly sits up with in a panic. "Quiznak! I lost track of time! I'm suppose to be there at five and it's at least going to take 45 minutes to drive out so I only have a freaking 50 minutes to get ready and fuck!" Pidge yells as she rushes out the hangar and down the hall. She proceeds to take the elevator to the fourth floor where all paladins quarters reside whenever they find themselves staying over at the Garrison. However, the only one to find themselves using the facilities most of the time was Pidge and Keith. Pidge preferred to live close to her lab so she can work whenever she felt like it and Keith stayed there due to not wanting to live under the same rooftop with Adam and Shiro. She remembered asking Keith why her didn't just stay with them and Keith's reply simply was they were separated for too long and could use all the time to themselves. Plus, being under the same roof of reunited lovers isn't exactly an ideal circumstance to be around.
Pidge proceeded to rampage through her room while she got ready and rushed out the door; leaving behind a complete disaster of a mess. Allura would kill her if she was even a minute late! She practically leaped into the green lion and booked it to New York where the conference was being held. Thank goodness they weren't required to go to that since it literally was just a political Q&A that no one on team Voltron would be able participate in. Just because they saved Earth and have a large expanse of knowledge about the Galra, quintessence, war tactics and engineering doesn't make them experts of how to handle post-war affairs of the world. They were honored to aid those in need of humanitarian efforts and/or rebuilding what was lost in the war but it was up to the world leaders on what they should do as far as reestablishing society. Pidge could see City Hall slowly come into view and started to look around to see where she should park her lion. She saw a large section blocked off on the street with a green border surrounding a section of it. She noticed the other lion's were located on the same street with colored borders surrounding them as well; coordinating with the color of their intended lion. She slowly lowered her lion on the ground and finished up some last minute touch up to her hair and makeup; making sure she looked "presentable" enough. Allura made it clear that they were all required to dress accordingly or they will suffer the consequences. Pidge took one last look at herself in the reflection of the interior wall of the lion; making sure everything looked nice. She wore a dark green dress that stopped above the knees with the skirt made of tool and the top consisting of lace that resembled a vine like pattern that extended up her waist, across her chest and down her arms. She paired the dress with black pump heels, a simple gold necklace, and a pair of simple gold earrings. Her hair was slightly curled at the ends; framing her face just enough to look casual and elegant at the same time. Once she deemed everything looked in place she grabbed her gold clutch and walked towards the exit of her lion. She can already feel the pain in her feet as she was escorted to the stairs that lead right to the main entrance. As she started up the steps; she can see Allura standing at the entrance frantically looking around. The minute she spots Pidge she gives a huge audible sigh of relief and ushers her inside. Allura began to reprimand Pidge about how she needs to work on timing and thought that she had forgotten about the important occasion; something Pidge isn't going to admit how that may had almost been the case. Once they find themselves inside she is greeted by the rest of the gang and says hello to them in return. "There's our Pidgey! Man I was starting to think you were going to bail on us and leave us to suffer through this dinner without your sarcastic input to rely on! How else am I supposed to entertain myself through this boring dinner." Lance dramatically exclaims as her leans in with his arms dropping dramatically around her shoulders. She decides to answer back by trying to bite his hand; making Lance yelp and quickly pull back. "Scrappy." Lance mutters and chuckles to himself. "Alright gang. I want you all on your best behaviors meaning Pidge don't hack into anything, Hunk don't sneak off to the kitchen, Lance no flirting and Keith try to be a little social. We are here to earn their trust and respect. Am I clear?" Shiro ask while everyone lowers there head slightly and begrudgingly agree to his orders. It is announced that everyone should start making their way to their proper seating as dinner will be starting shortly. The team head into what seems to be a large ballroom decorated with fancy chandeliers, mahogany tables, candles, and small ensemble of musicians providing musical entertainment located in the corner of the room. Towards the end of the room is a stage set up which probably to be used throughout the dinner as a podium to make announcements, acknowledgements, and a speech about unity. They were lead towards their reserved table found in the center of the ballroom and sat accordingly. Pidge found herself situated between Hunk and Lance and waited for everyone else to situate themselves. She couldn't help but notice how the way they are seated is like the way they use to sit together back when they still had the Castle of Lions. For a second, she'd forgotten that she was at a dinner party and instead felt like she was back in space with her team having a meal together after a vigorous battle or training session; enjoying each other's company and sharing laughs. She was brought back to reality when she felt a nudge and two pairs of eyes staring at her with looks of worry. Hunk and Lance gave questioning glances; Hunk being the first to speak up.
"Hey everything alright there? Seems like we lost you for a sec."
"What? Oh yeah I'm fine. Just got a little nostalgic is all. Just realized it's been a while since we all sat together like this and it feels nice. Didn't realized how much I missed you losers till now."
"Oh Pidge! I miss you too! I get what you mean though, I think we are all feeling it a bit" Hunk gasped out while he gave her one of his famous bear hugs.
"Yeah Pidgeon, Hunk's right. Take a look at everybody." Lance chimes in. She looks up and scans everyone's faces. Sure enough everyone seems to have a small smile and a far away, glazed look in their eyes as they talk with one another. A bit a tears start to build up in her eyes and quickly looks down to will them away. Lance and Hunk see this and just silently pat her back until she looks back to give them a reassuring smile.
The dinner started without a hitch. The team conversed with themselves about everything and anything. Lance has been working on rebuilding his family's farm and volunteering at local health care facilities, Hunk has been spending time with his parents and helping out at soup kitchens, Allura and Coran have been with the Blade of Marmora to start planning arrangements for when it is time to rejoin the war, Shiro has been spending time with Adam and helping in preparing supplies and gathering a crew for the Atlas, and Keith had been joining Hunk in the soup kitchens and helping Lance with his family's farm. Pidge herself has been working on programs and inventions that could aid during their time back up in space. She was currently explaining how her and her mom have been teaming up in developing a sustainable greenhouse that not only can they be able to grow plants from Earth but also house plants from various planets as well. During their conversation she noticed at the corner of her eye Lance whispering something into Keith's ear. Keith proceeded to look wide eyed in shock and started to laugh quietly to himself. They have been growing closer lately so it wasn't a big deal to witness something like this. What was startling was the look on Lance's face when Keith was laughing. Lance was staring at Keith with the fondest look she had ever seen him give anyone. He had small genuine smile plastered on his face, a light blush dusting his cheeks, and a soft gaze in his eyes. Pidge quickly looked away; feeling like she just intruded on a private moment. She stared at her food in front of her as she began to go over exactly what that look could mean. Of course, there was a more obvious answer but it didn't make sense! Lance never gave any signs that he could see Keith like that. Shoot, this whole friendship thing is pretty recent seeing as most of their time in space was Lance declaring Keith as his rival. Like he always went out of his way to call out Keith, start a argument or a stupid competition, make fun of his hair, and go on and on about how much he hates-Oh my God! Pidge's eyes go wide and realization dawns on her that it's highly possible that Lance has been harboring a crush on Keith this whole time! However, she couldn't say for sure that's the case. For all she knew that look was just a look and nothing more. Also, she recalls Lance going out of his way to hit on any females they came across so maybe his possible crush on Keith didn't start as obvious from the start. It would explain why Lance was so hurt when Keith left to join the Blade. That wasn't a very good time for anyone but Lance took it the hardest. He seemed lost and lonely and resulted to spend most of his time in the training center. Now she may know why. Like a true scientist she is; Pidge decided to catalog the observation and keep an eye out for anymore that can prove her theory. With that settled, she turned her attention back to the dinner and just in time to hear how Adam banned Shiro from the kitchen due to somehow having a pot of water catch on fire.
Hours later when they were finally dismissed, everyone started to walk out towards the respective rides. The team all got a little emotional with the good-byes and made promises to see each other again soon. Hunk was the first to leave along with Shiro since his home was on the way. Allura and Coran were next to leave; wishing safe travels to everyone. Pidge was just departing from saying goodbye to Lance when she was boarding her own lion when she spotted something rather intriguing. See being the smallest of the lions meant she was the last one situated at the end of the street since she can easily maneuver and fly without bumping the street lights. This also meant that she had a complete view of the whole street and a good view of it too. What she saw was Lance and Keith slowly walking towards the red lion leaning in suspiciously close to one another. Her view was suddenly obstructed when they made their way round the red lion. "Dammit." she whispered under her breath; when she suddenly had an idea. Quickly she strapped herself in the lion and took off. At least, that's how it seemed from the outside. However, thanks to her personal modification, her lion was equipped with one tool none of the other lions possessed: cloaking. Once she was deemed out of sight, she stealthily made her way back towards where city hall was. Once she was in range, she activated her cloaking and moved into gain a better view of the two paladins in question. She zoomed in on their location and what appeared threw her for a freaking loop! There they were, standing close to each other with their hands intertwined between them. It didn't end there when Lance leaned in towards Keith a laid a delicate kiss to Keith's cheek; both sporting huge blushes and the softest smiles. Pidge deems she has seen enough and goes to leave before her cloaking is up and reveals her snooping on their intimate moment. Once she was officially on track to heading home; she finally allowed the information to sink in. "Okay, okay, okay. What did you just witness Pidge? Oh nothing, just saw Lance give Keith a kiss. No big deal, right?" she calmly asked herself; and sat back for a minute and proceeded to act like it wasn't a big deal and everything was fine. Until it wasn't; letting the reality of the situation came crashing down in her mind and jumping up in shock. "OH MY GOD LANCE KISSED KEITH! LANCE LIKES KEITH! KEITH LIKES LANCE BACK! THEY'RE A THING! OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD" yelled Pidge as she kept repeating the news like a mantra while pacing like a a good ten minutes passed, she eventually calmed down enough and sit back down. She couldn't hold back the large smile that grew on her face; overwhelmed with happiness for her teammates. She did wonder why they seemed keen on keeping their relationship hidden from the team considering they didn't announce it and waited till everyone "left" to finish their goodbyes. Whatever the case, she wasn't going to push it. She figured they had their own reasons and will come out to the team when they are ready. In the meantime she will support them from the sidelines. With that settled, she continued the trek back home; ready to be free from torture devices that were her heels.