It might've been difficult for outsiders to deduce, what with his perpetual devil-may-care attitude and insistence on being the class clown, but Lance was strongly guided by shame.

Scratch that, he was completely dominated by shame.

It chased him throughout the universe. From his family life to his alliance with Voltron, Lance was always the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, all the way to infinity wheel. Everywhere he went, he just wasn't needed. He was the least intelligent member of the collective team who regularly endangered the aforementioned team and universe through his own raging stupidity, his parents probably despised him for never advancing beyond a damn cargo pilot and then up-and-leaving without a word to be a superhero in space, and, to top it off, the one person whose opinion mattered above all else almost certainly thought that he was the biggest moron in the entire physical universe. He liked to think that he wasn't entirely devoid of positive traits and at least had some practical value in that he had saved some lives during his tenure with his comrades, but, all things considered, he was pretty awful as a human being. Luckily, a quick nap would temporarily quell his self-loathing.

"Alright, c'mon, scoot over." His attempt to venture into the land of dreams was brought to an abrupt end as cold washed over him. Only one person would actually bother to get into bed with him.

"Pidge?"

"Yes. Who else would would bother with you? Now move your ass."

If there was one thing in the universe that could always lift his spirits, it was a sardonic comment from Pidge deriding his intelligence or lack of social skills. They were like bottles of ice cold water in the desert. He turned over to face her. "Darlin', you know my bed is always open for yo-"

"Please don't start in with your dreadful witty gobbledygook just yet," She shuffled closer to him. "Upupup, no you don't."

"What?"

"No moving."

"But I'm the-"

"Not tonight.

"Why?"

"Because you're in one of those moods where you're all mopey and try to cover it up with stupid jokes."

"No, I'm not."

"Uh, yeah you are."

Okay, she was totally right. Some would consider it emasculating, but maybe Pidge being the big spoon for the night wouldn't be the worst thing ever. Having her arms securely fastened to his neck and her legs around his stomach was probably the closest to divinity that he would ever hope to approach. Despite her tiny frame, she squeezed him with inhuman strength, and she was always so warm. It was almost like having a-

"Jetpack."

"What?"

His spirits emboldened, he smiled that ear-wide grin Pidge often brought out of him. "You're like my jetpack."

That got a laugh out of her. "Well, if you wanna think of that way, you go right ahead, weirdo." Her hands slipped beneath his shirt, and Lance's breath hitched. In spite of the height disparity, she liked to run her hands over his chest and stomach. And, for whatever bizarre reason, his happy trail. He couldn't even begin to fathom why she liked it, but he kept it for her. Her hands were clearly endowed with some sort of mystical ability. She knew exactly how to break him down.

"Oh, God," He hummed. "You're amazing."

Unbeknownst to him, she flashed a cheshire grin, pleased with her effort. "Always happy to help."

Lance felt as if he was going to sink into the bed. All that tension from early had just vanished into the ether, all thanks to Pidge.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, my squishy jetpa-ow!."

She sucker punched him in the back. "We're having a moment here. Don't ruin it."

It was time to pounce. "Well, that's going to be difficult since you're asking me to call things other things. You're my jetpack, and your body is extremely squishy, hence the term squishy jetpack."

She rolled her eyes and let out another sigh of resignation. "Well, I call you dumbass, you respond in kind with another stupid nickname, I suppose it's only fair, dumbass."

And there it was. The fact that someone as beautiful, intelligent, and funny as Pidge actually tolerated his presence to the point where she actually liked him quite a bit made him feel like a champion. He was on top of the universe.