Fickle
Universe: Canon
Pidge was used to finding the right answer to all her problems with the use of logic to her benefit.
When she was a little girl, having friends was something that always was difficult from her, she wasn't good at reading the environment and her sharp tongue inherited from her mother didn't help any moment. So, they always turned their backs on her when Pidge tried to be a little more sociable. One day, bored with jokes and bad treatment, she decided that it wasn't for her. Having her family and Bae Bae to keep her company was enough, building walls towards the rest of the world.
When she began to grow up, she didn't feel comfortable with the new curvature of her body, her dresses accentuated her waist and Pidge felt strangely uncomfortable with the use of a bra, so she decided to use jackets twice her size and cover her growth. Nobody noticed the difference; their development was slow anyway.
This was how all her problems were easily dismissed or, if it was possible, left aside. And if this weren't the case, Pidge took the reins of the situation without considering the consequences. It was like this when she infiltrated a government property, passed herself off as a boy and ended up in a lion of 10,000 years old alien technology.
Even then after all the catastrophes in recent months, she felt calm, everything was solvable with a few minutes of thorough analysis. And entering Voltron had helped her to generate flexibility that on earth she hadn't achieved through the traditional ways, Pidge was stubborn after all. And being right almost always worked in her favor.
But at that moment, while working in the green lion's hangar isolated from others coding the recent files of the Galra fleet, even for months of studying the situation carefully within all the possible variables, she couldn't find the correct answer to the fickle attitude of Keith Kogane.
When she met him in the rescue of Shiro in a turn of coincident events, Pidge immediately recognized the bad character made a person. Place she thought that she had naively earned it.
If Pidge had trouble relating to the rest and isolating himself from the world at the slightest problem, Keith far surpassed her. Many times, she saw herself recriminating him for attitudes that even to her seemed extremist, seeing the irony of who came to the comment. However, they understood each other quite well without talking too much, like Lance and Hunk, Pidge could understand where his bad temper often came from and did her best to help him overcome it.
There were situations that even Shiro had sent directly to talk to Keith as soon as there was friction in the team. And she was proud to have a unique space with her arm mate in which none of the other members, including Shiro, was welcome.
Or so she thought.
''Pidge, there you are!'' Allura entered the hangar with an enviable spirit, Pidge didn't even look up. ''Coran and I have scheduled training for all the paladins today, I need you to be in the training room in half varga.''
''I'm busy here.''
''But it's-''
''This is also important.'' Pidge interrupted her before she insisted.
''All right. I will not try to convince you.'' Allura returned to the exit, leaving Pidge somewhat confused by her complacent attitude. ''In ten ticks, I will deactivate the electricity of the hangar, I hope you aren't afraid of the darkness.''
''Are you serious?'' But when she looked up, only saw the determination on her face, the panic growing inside her when saw her count in reverse. ''Ok, ok, I'm going to get dressed, don't lock me in here!''
''I'm glad you understand!'' Allura patted her back once she ran to the door, closing the hangar until the end of the training. Pidge groaned disappointedly. ''Part of the paladins' job is to keep a constant training of physical activity and strengthening of the link even if they aren't in battle, to keep the body in shape. I expected no less from the green lion's paladin.''
''You threatened me.''
She objected dryly, but Allura ignored her when they both walked inside the castle.
She least wanted was to participate in the castle exercises, much less deal with Keith in the process.
During the last weeks, his attitude had changed strangely towards her, leaving her completely conflicted. It wasn't as if Keith had the same attitude every day, but Pidge had felt strangely uncomfortable with him.
He could converse peacefully with her during breakfast, annoy Lance together, help her with updates on the red lion, and discuss her interests as if they had been close friends for a long time in her room, in a unique and unparalleled closeness in which even she felt his breathing close enough to hit her in the face, often feeling that her heart would come out at any moment. The next day, she could be lucky if he greeted her or looked at her in the corridors. Many times in that order, other times he could spend days when he didn't even address a single word.
Sometimes Keith seemed really worried about her health during the training sessions, coming to give her deep hugs when nobody else looked them, she felt protected and taken care of by those moments where only the two existed. And other days, he could leave her alone to the point of being shot because of him.
There were moments when he stopped her in the corridors to try to say something important, but he only kept his mouth open and returned as quickly as he arrived. Then he commented that he only needed help on anything and had already solved it without problems.
Lately, she didn't understand what he wanted, sometimes he seemed to adore her, and at the second was a complete stranger. When she faced it, it didn't work at all, since he left her alone, alluding that she was only imagining things.
So Pidge decided that he simply had to ignore it.
''Pidge, you finally came!'' She approached Shiro quickly when he greeted her, being the last to appear. ''Now that we're all ready, can start this training.''
'' What will it be this time?'' Lance asked interested while stretching. ''A 2vs3? Race of lions? Battle of gunfire? Or will we have to sit in a circle and tell our secrets?''
''Actually, it's a shooting battle.'' Everyone looked at Shiro surprised at the simplicity of the training.
''How boring''. Pidge commented loudly. Taking a light laugh at the black paladin.
''Oh believe me Pidge, you'll enjoy it.''
The exercise was simple with rules similar to a traditional terrestrial MOBA, defeating the central points by going to any of the five roads, in which at the end of this, they would take control of the central command. They could recharge, change and stop whenever they wanted as long as they didn't shoot at themselves. Only, this time, it was the four versus Shiro, in a simulation with night vision, without special binoculars, and they were at a clear disadvantage.
The worst thing was that they had been classified by armament pairs, so Pidge was obliged to deal with Keith throughout the training.
As soon as they found one of the points, they shot it quickly to deactivate it.
''I haven't listened to Hunk for several minutes.'' Keith approached her side to avoid being attacked by the attack bots. But Pidge just grunted unguarded. ''Do you think they will be fine on the other side?''
''I don't know.'' He could see the bewilderment on her face when it was illuminated by a slight explosion.
''Are you angry?''
''No!''
Before being shot, Pidge pushed him behind some boxes they used as shields during the simulation. The noise suggested a group of more than five bots around them. For those who covered their backs to shoot them before being injured and eliminated.
They advanced for many minutes as they evaded and eliminated, but Pidge stumbled over an object and Keith quickly took it to place it on his shoulder, beginning to run to lose sight of them.
With the last reload of his weapon, he was able to annihilate the last one before being caught, feeling the overload on his body. Pidge was complaining about the pain in her foot, surely she had folded it as soon as she fell. Both couldn't follow the path, nor did they have ammunition to defend themselves, it was a matter of time for them to lose against the system.
Keith approached her to lightly touch her damaged foot.
''Are you okay?''
''Yeah ... '' It was barely a whisper. Keith sat beside her when he listened to the gunfire around him. And without avoiding it, he asked.
''Hey ... Is there something I did that bothered you?''
''What?'' Pidge was confused with his question, so Keith preferred to explain himself correctly.
''We were pretty good in the last time, and the next day, you started avoiding me like I had the plague. I don't want you to feel obligated to tell me something you don't want, but, I was happy, you know? You were the first friend I've had after Shiro, and I would feel bad knowing that maybe I did something that bothered you.''
''I thought I had done something to annoy you, Keith.'' Keith turned his head off, listening to her. ''Sometimes you talked to me, and the next second you started to ignore me, then you were days without talking to me and from one moment to another you acted as if nothing happens-
Pidge didn't calculate the exact moment when it happened, but from one second to the next she was strongly pressed to the wall, lips pressing on her and the light shots of the simulation around them as the only memory of reality.
It wasn't exactly sweet or soft, he savored her with fury, with a need incarnate of his own primitive desire. Pidge didn't know how to react, she wanted to take him away for mere instinct to be attacked so wildly, but it was that same feeling that was taking him to take the lapels of his uniform and push him closer to her, causing her hips hit each other.
It was the first time she was kissed by someone. It was the first time she felt a fire rising beneath her stomach as soon as his lips parted to give way to her tongue, tasting her painfully. Keith was relentless, demanding, leaving her with no air and caressing every contour inside her mouth. His hands trembled as approached her waist, letting Pidge know that all the strength he used before was the product of recent nerves.
Was being his first time too?
She could push him away, accept him and answer the kiss, do all that or just get carried away for the moment. But at any moment the illumination was turned on in lights of medium intensity giving when the simulation finished. Pidge and Keith walked away fearfully as if they had been aware of what had happened at that moment, and without another word, got up to go to the exit.
Pidge leaned on Keith's shoulder because of her ankle. There, Shiro, Coran, and Allura waited for them with a big smile.
''Congratulations, you two were closest to the victory, Lance and Hunk are still looking for the exit.'' Allura replied with happiness, both nodded defeated.
''Are you hurt Pidge?'' Shiro asked worriedly.
''I just bent my ankle during training.''
''At least it's not something serious, you have to be careful next time. Keith, can you take her to the infirmary?''
''Oh, yeah.''
They both went to the exit as soon as they heard the screams of Lance rumble on the walls about the difficulty of the exercise. When they walked a couple of meters away from the training room. Pidge approached Keith's face gently, to brush his lips in a delicate movement. Keith looked embarrassed.
''I'm sorry I lost control there, if you don't want to continue, I'll understand ...''
''Kiss me, Keith.'' She cut him, and Keith smiled relieved at his response, kissing her, over and over again being careful not to move on to take his injured foot.
''I wanted to do this for so long.''
''Is that why you were being so strange?'' Pidge could see the shame build up Keith's face with force, nodding nervously. ''Oh my god, you're so emo.''
''And you're very shorty, c' mere.''
Pidge laughed sarcastically as Keith took her into his arms to address the infirmary. Both could have an aggressive passive relationship on the surface, but deep down, they expected that new discovery in the simulation room to change things a bit between them.
I'm so excited, my month of terror begins!
Continue in Day 2: Diligence.