Lance was having one of those nights.
One of those nights where the vastness of the universe beat incessantly at his head, where he couldn't lie down without his mind running a thousand miles per hour, where he was struck with just how far away from home he was, where everything just felt so big and empty and he just felt so alone.
One of those nights where no matter what he tried, he couldn't find it in himself to fall asleep.
After a few hours of tossing and turning, he gave up.
He pulled himself out of bed, stepping into his lion slippers and pulling on his blue robe. "If I'm gonna be awake," he muttered, "I might as well do something other than just lying here."
He left his room, stepping out into the quiet hall. The castle was dark and still, and the silence rang in his ears. Lance sighed heavily, and started walking.
"Alright," he mumbled to himself. "Another night. Just gonna take a walk. Wander the castle."
He didn't pay much attention to where he was going. Whenever the path in front of him split, he chose a direction at random.
"It's so quiet," he mused. "Ya know, I bet this place was never this quiet back before the war." He turned a corner, finding himself in a wing of the castle he'd never seen before. "This thing is huge. It must have had a huge crew back in the day." He passed an open door and he paused, looking in at the abandoned workroom. "Always someone awake."
Getting lost wasn't really an issue to him. With the maze of corridors and rooms that the castle held, it was impossible not to get lost. But Lance knew that if he just kept walking, he'd eventually find himself in familiar territory.
And if that didn't work, he could always ask his lion.
"You'd think they'd put up signs or something," he said, his eyes roaming the spotless white walls. "Some sort of 'you are here' directory. I wonder if there's a map somewhere."
Walking helped. Helped him get his mind off the feelings that refused to leave him alone. Helped distract him, from the homesickness and the feeling that he wasn't good enough and the crushing sense of responsibility.
He wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been walking now, talking to himself just to fill the silence, letting his feet carry him without thought.
But his voice started to trail off as he rounded the next corner. The hall stretched on before him. But for the first time, instead of just the faint cyan glow from the castle's own nighttime lighting, there was a distinct light up ahead.
Someone else was up.
He paused, debating with himself, deliberating whether or not he was up for having company. He wouldn't mind talking with Hunk, or Coran. But he didn't think he was really in the mood to try to explain himself to Shiro or Allura right about now.
He took a step forward, hesitated, then a step back.
After a moment, he closed his eyes, angry at himself for his own indecision. "This is stupid," he muttered. He trudged forward, heading towards the open door ahead of him.
It was then that he noticed where he was, realizing that he recognized this part of his castle. In his wanderings, he'd somehow ended up in the spire of the castle that housed the Green Lion. And the light before him was coming from Pidge's lab.
He stepped inside, his gaze wandering over the piles of tech she kept lying around. But despite the light being on, he failed to see the Green Paladin.
That is, until he nearly tripped over her.
Pidge was sprawled in a heap on the floor, fast asleep. She was curled up between her desk and a large technological contraption that Lance couldn't make heads or tails of; somehow, she'd managed to prop herself up against it, using it like a pillow, while her feet were up against the desk. Her glasses were askew, pressing into the side of her face in a way that couldn't be comfortable. One hand still rested lightly on the keyboard of her laptop, which lay open beside her, long since powered down.
Lance sighed as he took her in. "Hey there, Pigeon," he whispered, crouching down beside her. She didn't respond, but he hadn't really expected her too. He reached over and carefully pulled her glasses from her face. He folded them up, slipping them into his robe's pocket. Next, he picked up her laptop, setting it down on her desk and fumbling around with the charger until the laptop's battery indicator light flickered green.
He turned back to Pidge, still sleeping soundly on the cold floor, her hair sticking out in tufts around her head. He shook his head fondly. "What are we gonna do with you?"
He'd have to do this next part carefully, to prevent waking her. Slowly, he wrapped one arm around her back and one under her knees. "Come on," he murmured, gently picking her up. "Let's get you to bed."
She shifted, her face scrunching up as she mumbled groggily, "Lance…?"
He winced. "Shh," he whispered, slowly standing up. "Go back to sleep."
"Mm." She relaxed, resting her head against his chest. "Love you."
Lance paused, blinking in surprise, then his features softened. He planted a gentle kiss on Pidge's forehead. "Love you too."
From the lab, he pretty much knew the way back to their sleeping quarters. And when he faltered, his lion was there in his mind to nudge him in the right direction.
The door to Pidge's room slid open for him, and he carefully made his way through the piles of junk that Pidge so unceremoniously kept in there. Using his foot, he nudged aside some papers that were scattered across her bed, before carefully setting the sleeping paladin down on her mattress. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around her pillow, curling up in a little ball. Lance set to slowly tugging off Pidge's shoes and dropping them onto the floor, before pulling her blanket up to cover her. Lastly, he pulled her glasses out of his pocket, setting them down on a pile that seemed to be acting as a table of sorts.
He smiled at her warmly. "Good night, Pidge."
She yawned. "You can stay if you want."
He glanced at her in surprise. "What?"
She blinked at him slowly, her eyes barely opening at all. "If you're up this late then you've got to be having trouble sleeping." She scooched over in her bed, making room for him. "If it'll help to be with someone else, then you can stay."
She was half asleep. Maybe more than that—more asleep than awake. She probably didn't know what she was saying, and he doubted she'd remember it in the morning. Logically, he knew he should leave her alone to sleep, and then head back to his own room to try to get some sleep himself.
But caught in this moment, in seeing how peaceful and relaxed she looked, in seeing the pleading look in her golden eyes, he relented.
"Yeah, alright," he replied. "Move over, I'm coming in."
As soon as he lay down, Pidge latched on to him. Lance sighed, wrapping an arm around her. "Good night, dork," she mumbled.
"Good night, nerd."
AN:
Sup nerds guess who stopped being lazy and finally started writing things again lol
Is this too similar to my last fic? Who knows. Who cares. I sure don't.
I'm gonna do my best to stick with Platonic VLD Week this time (unlike last time, when I only got 3 fics in). I've been working on planning and outlining the stories for the rest of the week, so I feel pretty confident.
Anyways. I'm Lance&Pidge trash. They're my two faves and I adore their interactions.
So. Idk when this really takes place. I didn't specify whether Lance was flying Blue or Red, so really it could be at any point in canon.
Come hang with me on Tumblr! As always, my url is this-book-has-been-loved. And hey, I joined this rad Discord server specifically to talk about Platonic VLD stuff. So come chill with me there! The invite code is NHYrCz5
~Brigit