Guess what? Nico made an awesome cover for this story! It's so beautiful, and I love it! ^^ Thank you, Nico! *hugs* Please check out her art on her tumblr (nicollini). It's amazing! ^^
By the way, this chapter turned out way longer than the chapters before. Sorry for that! But there was just more to tell. Have fun reading! ^^
Pidge can't say why, but somehow, over the next three days, Lance shows up every night at her lab. And he always brings her tea. Which might be his not so subtle way of telling her that she's still not overcome her cold. So maybe that's the reason why he's here. He's checking on her.
But didn't he say a few days ago that this is kinda nice? And she couldn't agree more although it doesn't make any sense. She's always felt good when she was working, but now with Lance showing up at her lab and lying down on the floor, she doesn't only feel good, she feels better.
Which means something, given her health condition. She still manages to hide the fact that she's caught a cold to the others. Well, except for Lance, that is. Lance knows. But he hasn't spilled to Shiro, which is good. Pidge is pretty sure that Shiro would make her stay in her room until she feels better or maybe he'd even put her into one of the healing pods.
She hates both options. Staying at her room means leaving her lab, means not working for a day, maybe even a few days, and same goes for the pod. Besides, the pods freak her out a bit. While she loves the technology and loves studying how they work, it's always about them working on someone else, not herself. Even imagining herself in one of these pods makes her panic. No, she doesn't want to risk that. So hiding her health condition from the others it is. Well, except for Lance, but she already thought about that, didn't she? No need to go over it again, right?
She tries to concentrate on her work again, but before she can do that, she turns her head and looks over to the corridor. It takes her a moment before she realizes what she's doing and forces her head back to her work. A few minutes later the same thing happens, and again, it takes her a moment to bring her attention back to her work. And a moment longer to realize why exactly she's doing that. She's waiting for Lance. Because that's usually the time when he shows up at her lab.
Her head automatically turns towards the corridor again before she shakes her head with a frustrated groan. Really, this is so stupid! Her and Lance don't have an arrangement or anything that he has to show up at her lab every night. He just said that it's nice and she agreed - which she still hopes he didn't hear because… well, why exactly? Geez, she just repeated what Lance had said anyway, so it's not like she said anything embarrassing, right? It still feels that way, though. It always makes her cheeks burn. First, she thought it was because of the tea, but it happened without a steaming cup of tea as well, so she can only explain it with embarrassment. But that doesn't explain why it always makes that warm feeling spread in her chest. Really, it's weird. And makes no sense. And she hates it.
She takes a deep breath through her mouth. It's still hard for her to breathe through her nose - thank you, cold! - but that's only half the truth. She needed to take a really deep breath.
And then she lets out a groan when she realizes her head has somehow turned towards the corridor again.
The groan sends a jolt of pain to her throat and Pidge raises a hand to her throat as if that could ease the pain. Which it doesn't, of course, and she almost lets out another groan when she realizes how stupid that was. She can stop herself just in time. Her throat is still burning, though. She turns back to her laptop, but that small movement makes her head spin, and she squeezes her eyes shut.
She stays like that for a bit, hoping it will make the dizziness go away.
"Are you okay?" a voice asks, and Pidge hesitantly opens her eyes, finding Lance looking down at her, a frown on his face and a concerned look in his eyes.
Pidge gives a little nod, setting her eyes on the steaming cup on her desk which Lance must have placed there before. That's a sign how sick she must be feeling because she didn't even hear him approach, something that usually only happens to her when she's absorbed in her work. Which definitely wasn't the case here. And that's just great. She can't be sick. She has no time to be sick!
Her hands reach for the cup.
"Thanks for the tea," she says, but her voice is so hoarse it sounds like it belongs to someone else.
She can only hope Lance hasn't realized. She doesn't dare to look up at him, though, because first, she doesn't like the concerned look on his face, and second, she doesn't want to find out if he's realized or not.
"Pidge." Lance's voice is low, but has an edge to it. She still refuses to look up.
"Pidge," he says a little more loudly, a little more urgently, and Pidge carefully lifts her gaze.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
She nods, not risking to speak up again. She can't trust her voice. Or her burning throat. Instead, she takes a sip of her tea. It eases the pain in her throat a bit, but it's not enough.
When she moves the cup from her lips, Lance is still looking at her, so she takes a long gulp. She really does not want to have to speak again. Lance keeps looking at her with that concerned look on his face, so she keeps drinking her tea.
"You sure you're okay?" Lance asks, and Pidge nods again. And for good measure she lifts the cup to her lips again - and realizes that it's empty. So she lets her hands sink again, avoiding Lance's gaze all the time.
"Yeah, not buying it," he says, and Pidge watches how he wrenches the cup from her fingers.
She just shrugs and turns her attention back to her computer. But the code seems to shift in front of her eyes, the signs dancing. She feels the urge to close her eyes again, but she keeps them open. She doesn't want to give Lance any more proof that she's not okay.
"Pidge," Lance says again, his voice even more urgent now, but Pidge doesn't want to look away from the code on her screen, although the signs are still dancing and making her feel dizzier than ever before.
Suddenly, there's a hand, Lance's hand, on her laptop and closing it shut.
Pidge opens her mouth to protest, but then remembers the weird state her voice is in right now and closes her mouth again with a snap. She settles for just glaring at Lance, though. He looks at her with concerned eyes again, but there's something else in his look, something she can't really place.
He shoves the laptop out of her reach and shifts over so he's sitting right in front of her. Pidge raises her arm in a meager attempt to reach her laptop, but lets it sink again almost immediately when she realizes her arms are just too short. She folds her arms over her chest and adds more anger to her glare.
"So, you're okay?" Lance asks.
Pidge nods.
"Then just say so," Lance goes on. "Say, 'Lance, I'm okay', and I am going to let you work for as long as you want to."
More anger makes it into Pidge's glare, but she doesn't say anything.
"Well?" Lance asks, raising his brow. He folds his arms over his chest, mimicking Pidge's posture.
Pidge just twists her mouth in response.
"Piiiiiiiiiidge," Lance drawls, a warning in his voice, and he leans in closer. Pidge can feel his warm breath on her face, and it makes her throat tighten and her face go hot which, of course, is because she has a sore throat and now is probably growing a fever, too. Which is not good, but it's the only logical explanation. Or the only one she's willing to accept.
She takes a deep breath.
"La-," she begins, but breaks off, partly because it sends another jolt of pain to her throat and partly because it is so difficult to breathe with Lance's face that close. Which she has no explanation for at all.
She takes another deep breath.
"Lance … I'm … okay," she says, her voice failing two times during that short sentence, which leads to little breaks. She bites down on her lower lip when she's done. There's no way Lance could have missed that. Or the fact that her voice sounds so hoarse and just wrong.
Lance twists his mouth and shakes his head.
"Yeah, as I said, not buying it," he says before he unfolds his arms and slides down from the desk. The movement makes Pidge's office chair roll backwards a bit and she would have yelped if her voice had been working properly.
And what Lance does next makes her heart skip a beat. He grabs her, lifts her up and throws her over his shoulder.
"Lance, what-," she manages to say before her voice fails again.
"You need some rest," Lance says as if that'd explain everything, and then he sets into motion. It takes Pidge a few moments to realize he's headed for the paladins' rooms.
"Lance." His name should have come out as a warning, angry shout, but what leaves her mouth is barely more than a whisper. She starts banging at his back with her fists and tries her best to struggle, but after a few moments she's so exhausted, she gives up. Lance doesn't seem to care anyway.
He stops in front of her room, and Pidge wonders how he wants to open the door. She always locks her room. He doesn't, though, instead he shifts her in his arms until he's holding her bridal style.
"There," he says, nodding towards the control panel next to her door. "Unlock it."
Pidge just glares at him. He holds her gaze for a few moments, then shrugs.
"Okay, then I'll bring you to my room," he says, already turning.
"No!" Pidge protests, pleased that her voice comes out a little louder this time.
Lance stops, and Pidge gives him another glare before she unlocks her door.
"There you go!" Lance says and carries her inside. He walks over to her bed and lets her slide down. She's barely hit the mattress when Lance leans down to remove her shoes. His movements seem practiced, and Pidge remembers that he has younger siblings. This makes sense. He probably brought them to bed back on earth. And helped them get their shoes off or get dressed. She isn't sure she likes that he treats her like one of his siblings, though.
Lance lets her shoes fall to the floor, then he leans over and Pidge holds her breath when his face is so close to her. But he just grabs the blanket and lifts it.
Pidge knows what he wants her to do, but she so not wants to rest. So she just glares at him again and twists her mouth.
Lance sighs. "You need to rest, Pidge," he says. "When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"
Truth is, Pidge can't remember, but she doesn't want to sleep now.
"You are sick, and believe me, some tea and a good night's sleep do wonders, so come on, Pidge, please?"
She just shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest to emphasize her defiant posture.
The next thing she knows is that Lance pushes and shifts her body until she's lying on her mattress, her head resting on her pillow. Lance covers her with the blanket. She's really not sure how he managed that. She thinks she tried to fight him off, but she isn't sure if her fighting is any good at the moment or if he's just used to tucking in an unwilling child, but fact is, she's tucked in now. It feels nice and warm, but she refuses to give in that easily. She has work to do! So she sends another glare in Lance's direction. He replies with a shrug.
"You need to rest," he says. It's not that Pidge doesn't believe him, it's just that she has work to do!
Pidge sighs, deciding to go with it for the moment and sneak back to her lab once Lance has left. Wouldn't take long because Lance is already turning off the lights.
She waits for him to wish her a good night and leave, but instead, he stays. Pidge's eyes need a moment to adjust to the darkness, but then they widen in surprise as she watches how Lance kicks off his shoes. And they widen even more when Lance lies down in bed next to her.
"Wha-," she begins, but words fail her. Not to mention that her voice is still not working properly. She clears her throat which seems to help a bit.
"What are you doing?" she asks, her voice so low and hoarse she isn't sure Lance can even hear or understand her.
"Someone needs to make sure you stay in bed," he replies. "Or you might sneak off to your work again."
Pidge opens her mouth to protest, but she doesn't know what to say. That was exactly what she had planned. She doesn't like that she's so easy to read.
Then Lance grabs her hand, entangling their fingers, and Pidge's eyes widen even more. She's afraid they might pop out of her head. Which, technically speaking, isn't possible, but still.
"For reassurance," Lance says with a smile before he turns his head towards the ceiling, sliding his free hand under his head and closing his eyes.
"Good night, Pidge!" he says.
"Good night, Lance," Pidge replies.
She hopes that his grip on her hand might loosen as soon as he falls asleep so she can sneak away, but it doesn't. Or maybe he isn't asleep yet, who knows? Pidge waits for a little longer, but Lance's grip on her hand is still as firm as before.
With a sigh Pidge gives in, shifting so she's in a comfortable position, and closes her eyes.
This isn't so bad, she decides. Having Lance this close feels nice, actually, not weird or anything. Okay, maybe a bit weird, but it feels nice, too, especially after her racing heart finally has calmed down. His hand feels warm and soothing, and his calm breaths have a lulling effect on her.
Maybe she can sleep for an hour or so, Pidge thinks, before she drifts off to sleep.