Pidge wasn't very patient with people.
Allura had sent her to work out a diplomatic issue on a planet not too far from Krell. This irritated both her and those involved.
It wasn't even that big of a deal; citizens were having a border dispute and needed an impartial judge to settle it. The real issue began when the aliens refused Pidge's help.
Pidge thought that the species had used base ten for counting—counting in tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.—but they had instead used base twelve. She took about twenty minutes before realizing her mistake. She made a note for future meetings, that Team Voltron would check the planet's counting system and figure out the numbers before attempting to solve any problems.
The issue was complicated if you didn't know how to convert between the systems. Pidge (being well versed in numerical computations) resolved the argument which her first statement caused. This required some yelling and threatening to make the counsel of aliens quiet while she spoke. She'd rather not dwell on the situation.
Pidge returned to the castle with great contempt. Green had tried to soothe her on the flight home, but she was too tired and ornery to communicate even with her lion.
After docking Green in her hangar, Pidge removed her helmet and chucked it at the other side of the room in frustration. Startled, Green purred and a wave of concern and support flowed through the link to her paladin. Pidge ran a hand through her hair and huffed. "What a waste of time," she mumbled, "Allura owes me one."
She took off the rest of her armor and pulled on her beloved jacket and shorts. Pieces of the paladin's gear became scattered about the room. A migraine took over her mind. She walked quietly towards her room to crash. A nap would make the ache go away.
As she shuffled through the halls, Pidge heard voices. She identified them as belonging to Lance and Hunk. Her shoulders hunched and the collar of her jacket came up to cover part of her face. She wasn't mentally prepared for the onslaught of conversation that would come.
Hunk saw her first when she rounded the corner. Lance was in the middle of talking about trying to make cheese with the milk they had. He stopped talking when he noticed that Hunk had stopped paying attention and turned around to see her.
"Hey Pidge, you okay?" Hunk asked softly.
"Yeah." Pidge's eyes met the floor. "Just tired."
"Aw man, that blows. We were gonna watch a movie tonight!" Lance smiled.
"I'll pass." She took off her glasses and cleaned them with the hem of her sweatshirt. "I've memorized all of Hercules already. I could watch it in my head if I want to."
"Actually," Hunk smiled, "We picked up another movie while you were gone. Lance really wanted to go to that earth store. How does Napoleon Dynamite sound?"
Pidge glanced up at Hunk as she put her glasses back on. "I swear, I had three brain cells remaining after I saw that movie the first time." Hunk's smile faded. "But hey, anything is better than listening to Lance singing along to Hercules."
Hunk beamed and Pidge's stomach turned. She didn't want to make her friends feel bad, but she really, really wasn't in the mood to interact with anyone.
"Great! Well, Hunk will cook up dinner and I'm going to gather some pillows and blankets for a fort," Lance said with a grin. "Wanna help?"
Pidge grimaced. "No thanks, I have some work to do on my computer." It was a lie, but she needed to take a break from talking life forms for a while.
"Shiro or Allura will get you when the food's done," Hunk said.
"M'kay." She yawned and started off towards her room again. Her legs struggled to keep her moving.
She flopped onto her bed as soon as she made it. Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep.
Allura tapped lightly on the door to Pidge's bedroom before walking inside. She carefully maneuvered around Pidge's stuff to get to the bed. It wasn't obvious Pidge was even there at first, but with closer inspection, Allura saw a tuft of brown hair poking out under a blanket. She smiled softly and sat down on the bed, using her hand to move Pidge's bangs from covering her face. "Wake up, Pidge. Dinner's finished."
The bundled up girl stirred from her sleep and met Allura with glaring eyes. "Mm. You," she yawned, "Never send me on another diplomatic mission again."
"Why?"
"Number system complications." Pidge sat up and stretched. "They wouldn't listen after I came up with a solution. I had to use my bayard to get their attention."
"You what?!" Pidge covered her ears as Princess Allura was now shouting. "You were supposed to stop them from fighting each other, not encouraging them!"
"Relax, I didn't hit anyone," Pidge grumbled. "Though I really would've liked to. Just had to make some noise to shut them all up."
"Hmph. Well," Allura spoke, standing up. "I'll see if we can get a different Paladin to go next time. I think the Olkari need help fixing their new particle barrier...I'm sure Hunk would love to help—"
"Wait! That's not a diplomatic mission!" Pidge grabbed her glasses and put them on.
Allura laughed softly. "I see. We'll talk to Shiro about it after dinner. Now hurry up, the food will get cold."
Pidge smirked as she watched Allura stumble through her messy room to leave. She should clean it soon. That was something to do when she had time. Right now, she had to focus on redesigning Rover, updating the Castle's defense system, and eating. Her stomach growled, insisting that the last task was the most important at the moment. She agreed and got out of bed to head towards the kitchen.
A smell similar to baked beans and stew greeted Pidge as she entered the dining room where everyone was already eating. She was greeted with full mouths and a bowl of stew being thrust into her hands. The stew bearer was Lance.
"Pidge, you have to try this stuff! Hunk made it with these vegetables and this meat that's kind of like beef that he found on the last planet we stopped at! It's amazing!" Lance grinned widely.
"Anything Hunk does is amazing." Pidge forced a smile and took the bowl. "Please get out of my face."
Lance quickly sat down and allowed Pidge some breathing room. She leaned against the counter and began eating, watching her friends talk to each other. She mindlessly ate for a while, drifting off into her own world and thinking about her projects. Her spoon was scraping an empty bowl within minutes.
Pidge was about to leave the kitchen after she cleaned her bowl and spoon when Keith spoke up. "Where're you going?"
"I gotta go work on some stuff with Green for a while," Pidge said.
"Hold up, what about movie night? You're not just gonna leave after promising Hunk to watch Napoleon Dynamite with us," Lance whined.
"I didn't promise—"
"Please, Pidge?" Hunk pouted. She mentally kicked herself for letting it guilt her.
"Fine," she huffed. "When are we gonna watch it?"
"As soon as everyone is done eating," Shiro piped up, "and you were the last person we were waiting on."
"To the lounge!" Lance shouted with a finger pointed in the air.
The gang followed him out to the lounge where they had everything set up. Everyone found themselves a place to sit and Coran turned on the well-loved DVD player they had bought a while ago. Pidge huddled up against Hunk's side wrapped up in a blanket and he placed an arm around her. Hunk's other arm went to hug Lance. Allura leaned against Coran when he sat down. Keith stretched one of his legs out on the sofa and kept an arm up on the back of the couch. Shiro sat next to him, leaning with both arms on the back of the couch as well. The mice made their appearance and huddled up together in Allura's lap.
"Promise not to fall asleep within the first five minutes?" Hunk softly spoke.
"I'm not good at keeping promises," Pidge yawned in response. Hunk laughed and tousled her hair before turning his attention back to the movie.
And thus, the family of seven drifted off, one by one, until the movie was over.