Sometimes, Pidge couldn't stand it.

The crowded bathrooms. The snarky, snarling dorm head.

The girls, though, were seriously lucky.
The female dorm leader was sometimes too proud, but she was nice. And Pidge swore the girls' restrooms always had air fresheners and fully-functioning soap dispensers in them.

Discrimination? Pidge sometimes thought. But she knew that wasn't the case. It's just that the male dorm head had had 23 years of previous military experience as an officer, and the girls just always remembered to put in a request for soap when they were close to running out.

But of course, Pidge didn't really have anyone to voice her problems to. Lance would just laugh and tell her to "man up" (his favorite phrase for the week). Hunk, well... he would probably listen, if he wasn't so busy trying to keep Lance out of trouble.

So sometimes she needed some out time. Maybe once a week, when she wasn't looking for alien signals on the radio. Which was why she was standing in front of a mirror in a library downtown trying to button up a flowery white sundress.
It wasn't that hard "pretending" to be a girl. After all, she was one. Put on some contacts and a ponytail clip-on, and voilà- a girl.

It also wasn't that hard sneaking out of the Garrison at night. For all the pride and prestige her mentors put in their security, two seconds of light hacking was all it took, and she walked right through the front gate.

She didn't really know what to do, though, now that she was outside and in disguise. So she just stuffed her shirt and shorts into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and made her way to the 24/7 coffee shop.

"Come on, Hunk, man up!"

Hunk looked down at him from his bunk. "I dunno, man, this seems like a pretty bad idea!"

"It'll be fun! We'll go downtown, catch some pretty girls... let's go!" Lance gestured to the door.

"Nope, I'm not gonna end up in the principal's office again. No way, nuh-uh." Hunk shook his head vigorously.

"Please!"

"No." He crossed his arms adamantly.

Oh, the arm cross. Lance sighed. Hunk was being serious. Usually he gave in after some coaxing from Lance, but the arm cross was the last straw. There was no way he could get Hunk to agree now.

But tomorrow was the pilot simulation test! It determined whether or not the team would actually ever leave Earth this year.
He needed to relieve some stress, take a break before the big day. So he was prepared to leave, with or without Hunk. He contemplated inviting others, but reminded himself that Pidge's gloomy attitude and boring brain might scare his chances with the ladies.

He put on his jacket and opened the door, taking one last look at Hunk. He was still shaking his head and crossing his arms. So Lance walked out.

He made his way through the halls quickly, his footsteps making light taps against the metal floors. Occasionally a guard would come by. Thank god there were a lot of trashcans to hide in.
He turned through a couple of hallways and then realized, to his dismay, that he was lost. No, I'm not lost, he thought to himself. The great Lance is never lost. He ran around some more. Okay, yeah, I'm lost.

Just then he heard some chattering coming from his left. The very familiar voice of the snarky, snarling dorm head. Shit. There were no trashcans around. So he jumped into the bathroom across the hall, closing the door as quietly as he could. He watched as the male dorm head passed by with the female dorm head. Just as they were about to turn the corner, they stopped, still talking to each other.

Keep moving, keep moving! Lance groaned. Turn the corner, for god's sake! But no, the dorm leaders were absorbed in their talk, and had stopped walking.

Lance looked around. How could he escape without them noticing? The halls were dark, but bright enough to see if someone was there. The bathroom had...
A window. And it was open.
He practically leaped out of his crouching position- he hadn't even noticed he was crouching- and dashed to the window. It was high up, but with his tall stature, Lance could just barely reach it. He pulled himself up easily (the one time he was glad the Garrison offered morning exercise sessions) and slid outside.

What would you know. He was facing the front gate.
Of course, he told himself. I wasn't lost.
Then he just walked out the front gate. For whatever reason, the sensors were turned off today. Lucky.

The trip to downtown wasn't too long. The stars were pretty that night. Lance didn't really like sappy stuff ("It's too heavy") but at that moment, he kinda wished Hunk had come with him and had been able to see the sky.
Downtown was quieter than usual. A few wanderers walking around, some friends hanging out on the curb, but nothing big.
Most of the shops were already closed, but a few were open this late at night. He made a beeline for Kerberos Kafé, his favorite coffee shop.

The hanging bell made a slight jingle as he pushed the door open. Warmth washed over his face as he took in the smell of fresh coffee. He looked around for a place to sit.
It was a small café, but a comfortable one nonetheless. The worn-out sofa chairs, the low brown tables, the pleasant waiters, the dark coffee, the sweet snacks, the jazzy-yet-not music... Everything was perfect. Calm. Nothing could go wrong here. It was his home away from home.

But normally only the usuals- like the old couple who lived down the street and the young man who always worked away on his laptop- came at this hour, so he was mildly surprised to find a girl sitting alone at one of the counter stools, sipping quietly, holding a large mug with both hands.
Not that it was a bad thing. She was... kinda cute. Not his usual type, but cute anyway. So he made his move.

He slowly meandered over to the counter, giving a curt nod to the old couple and waving nonchalantly to the working man as he put on a smooth smile. Catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection of window, he slicked back his hair and readjusted his jacket.

"Excuse me, are you an alien?" he asked the brunette girl, leaning one arm against the table the girl was sitting at.
She looked at him surprised for a moment, her bright brown-orange eyes wide with shock. "W-what?"
Damn, you ladykiller, you, Lance grinned smugly, winking. You made her speechless with your good looks.
"Because you look out-of-this-world!"

Silence.

He waited for her response. A minute passed. She still said nothing.
Huh. He knew she was speechless, but didn't know she was that shocked. Well, maybe she had realized what an honor it was to be talking to the Great Lance.
Suddenly she burst out laughing, her head thrown back while she clutched her stomach with both hands.

"... Are you okay?" he asked her, slightly concerned as to what could have made her cackle like that.

"I'm... I'm fine...!" she gasped between giggles, trying to calm herself down, but failing to nevertheless.

He frowned. Yeah, she was cute, but this was getting a bit creepy. He was about to turn to leave, when suddenly she spoke. "How... are you... Lance?" She breathed, still trying to surpress some giggles with her hand.

"You. You know my name? Do I know you from somewhere?" Lance tilted his head, squinting his eyes.

She looked taken aback, brow furrowing, contemplating something. After some time she seemed to have made her mind, a small smile forming on her lips. "Maybe, maybe not." She laughed in a sing-song voice, leaning back and forth on the stool.

Okay. Really cute.

They made some light talk, about random things, from their preferred coffee drink to their favorite constellations.

"Actually, I'm training to become a pilot," Lance grinned, head in the air, stroking his chin.

"Oh, really now?" she raised an eyebrow, looking bemused. "I would've thought you were a model."

"I know, I know! It really is a pity. All the modeling agencies wanted me, but I told them I couldn't, since I sold my heart to space. Oh, the woe!" he laid the back of his hand against his forehead dramatically, leaning back with his eyes closed.

She started giggling again. Lance opened one eye to look at her, smiling. Even though he knew he was overexagerrating, he couldn't help it. Anything to hear her laugh.

When she was done, she looked up at the clock. Nearing 4 AM. She stood up abruptly. "Sorry Lance, but I really gotta go now."

"What? Can't you stay a bit longer?" Lance stared up at her. He surprised himself at how desperate his voice sounded.

"There's something important I have to do later. Don't want to fall asleep during the day," she murmured, hurrily picking up her things.

Lance knew he should go too. He didn't want to be tired during the simulation test, but...
"But..."

"Maybe I can talk to you later?" the girl smiled at him, leaping off of her stool. That smile.

He gulped. Then he nodded slowly, silently.
She gave a small wave, and then hurried off to the door.

"Wait!" he yelled at her. "What's your name?"

She paused and looked back. Her eyes glazed over, as if she was thinking.

"Katie."

And then she was gone.

Lance sighed and picked up his things. Well, time to head back... Hunk will definitely lecture him if he falls asleep during the day because of this.

Thankfully, he didn't fall asleep during the simulation.
But they still ended up failing it.

Hunk couldn't completely blame Lance, though, because it turned out that Pidge almost fell asleep too.

"Remember, this isn't a simulation!" he heard Pidge yell in his ear.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Lance grunted as he pulled the steer left.

"Woooaahhhhhhooooohhhh!" Hunk screamed. Keith and Shiro held onto the walls, frowning, as Lance gave the lion a sharp turn.

Lance knew his mind shouldn't wander, especially when piloting a large blue lion that talks to his head guiding him to some place he has no idea about though it was his first time in space and the lives of four other people depended on his choices, but he couldn't help it. And perhaps for the fifth time today he thought about the mysterious girl he met at the coffee shop. The one with the pretty laugh. Katie.
He groaned. Had he had known this would've happened today, he would've asked for her number.

"Space to Lance, space to Lance! Where the hell are we going? And what-what-what the hell is that?" Pidge shouted.
Before any of them could answer they were already in the wormhole.
Lance pushed the thoughts of Katie out of his head as the lion landed on Arus.

But they kept coming back.

Even as he stood in front of the creepy, automatic doors.

Even as he walked through the empty, echoing halls.

Even as he looked around the silent rooms, wondering where everyone was.

And then, just like that, they were gone, as he held the waking Allura in his arms.

Fickle.