Darcy sat back down at the table and looked at the cake on the plate in front of her. After talking to Romelle, she no longer felt the need to pacify herself with chocolate.
The door slid open.
"I thought you were going to bed…" Darcy trailed off when she noticed it was Lance.
He gave her a lopsided grin, "Is that an invitation?"
Darcy felt the heat rise to her face. He stood by the door, barefoot and bare chested, wearing only a pair of cotton pajama pants. She studied his well formed torso and saw the marks of a soldier. His hair was tousled and his grin friendly. She self-consciously raised a hand to her hair, trying to smooth it down.
Lance watched her as she studied him. She wore a red kimono style robe that was open just enough to show the plain, modest blue nightshirt she wore. Her hair was pulled back with a barrette, showing off her high cheekbones and beautiful eyes. He felt his heart constrict when he saw the sweet gesture of her trying to fix her hair under his gaze.
He walked over to the chair Romelle had left by the table, "Are you going to finish that?" He indicated the cake in front of her.
She shook her head and pushed the plate towards him.
"What are you doing up?" He asked.
Darcy shrugged, "I couldn't sleep."
"Me either. Why do you think that is?"
Darcy looked at him, they locked eyes for a moment and she looked away. "I don't know. Indigestion?"
"True, nothing like chocolate cake to cure indigestion." Lance muttered.
"How did you get that scar on your chest?" Darcy's eyes kept traveling down to the nasty three inch scar on his left pec.
He looked down and traced his finger over the scar. "Doom soldier. Keith and I boarded Lotor's ship to rescue Allura when were ambushed by a group of about five guards. I was engaged in hand-to-hand with this one guy when the bastard pulled out a knife. If I wasn't wearing my protective vest he would've cut my heart out."
"Wow," Darcy breathed.
Lance turned to the right and pointed to a wide, pink scar on his right arm. "It had been a bad trip. I was grazed by a laser here. Luckily we were far enough away it wasn't too bad. What about you?"
She looked at him, puzzled, "What about me?"
"Any battle scars?"
None that show, she thought. "No, this is only my second assignment out of the Academy."
"What was your first?"
Darcy paused, once again he was just making conversation. He and the others had read her file. He knew where she had been and he knew who her commanding officer had been. "It was a rather boring, peacekeeping mission. We spent our time guarding a planet that no one seemed to care about. I was only there a few months before I was transferred."
"You've never seen combat?" Lance asked.
"Only in class."
"Well, I guess that's all about to change."
Darcy looked up, "You really think Lotor is going to attack?"
"I wouldn't put it past him. He just doesn't know when to give up."
"Why? What is his obsession with Allura?"
A slow smile
spread across Lance's face, "Well, let's see. She's beautiful, smart, classy, funny, and
the ruler of an important planet in the galaxy."
"Is that all?" Darcy asked, feeling a little jealous of his praise for Allura, not that she would ever admit that.
"Lotor thinks he is in love with Allura, but for all the wrong reasons. He wants her planet and her body. Keith, however, loves her for the wonderful person she is."
"They're lucky." Darcy said, a little wistfully.
Lance looked up and saw her running a finger around the rim of the juice bottle in front of her, staring intently at the label. "Yeah, they are. They have that kind of relationship you only come across once in your life."
"Sven and Romelle too."
Lance reached across the table and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. He felt her instantly stiffen, but she didn't pull her hand away, which pleased him.
"Lance, I don't…"
"Darcy," he interrupted. "I want to apologize for my behavior this afternoon."
She blushed, "It's alright, don't worry about it."
"No, I'm apologizing for making you uncomfortable, not for kissing you."
She blushed even darker.
"I want to be friends, Darcy. If it eventually becomes more than friendship, great, if not, at least we're friends. Do you want to give it a try?" Lance squeezed her hand.
Darcy looked up at him, still blushing, and gave a half-hearted smile. "I'd like that."
"If you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me."
"That's comforting to know. Thank you. The same goes for you." Darcy slipped her hand from his and stood. "I had better head off to bed and try to get a few hours of sleep before practice."
Lance stood, "You're right. Allow me to escort you to your room."
She smiled, "That's not necessary."
"Actually, it is." He corrected her as he placed the plate in the sink.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Well, as a male member of the Voltron Force I am expected to be chivalrous." Lance bent his arm at the elbow and offered it to her.
"That's a prerequisite? I didn't know that." She lightly laid her hand in the crook of his arm.
"Yup, it's one of those male-only classes they had at the Academy. You women didn't know anything about them."
"Really? Is that where you learned such great pickup lines as 'If you were a laser, you'd be set on stunning'?" She asked, a laugh in her voice. "Are you blushing?"
Lance shook his head, "No. But I will have to have a little talk with Romelle. Did she happen to tell you I was a little inebriated at the time?"
"Yes, but
it's still a great line."
He looked down at her,
"Really?"
"No, it's a terrible line, but it made me laugh."
"You should laugh more often, you have a beautiful smile."
She felt herself blushing again. "Now that's a good line."
"It wasn't a line. I mean it."
"Lance, you have the most amazing ability to unnerve me." She admitted as they stopped outside her door.
"Good." He leaned down and kissed her, gently.
She felt her lips tingle when he pulled back, "What happened to just being friends?"
"We are friends, that was just a friendly good night kiss." He smiled.
"That was more than a friendly kiss."
He shrugged and took a step back, "I like unnerving you. Good night, Darcy."
"Good night, Lance."
Darcy leaned against her door after it closed behind her, bringing her hand to her lips. This is not good, she thought.
***********************
More than a week had passed with no word from Lotor. Paget was making an incredible recovery and would often show up in Castle Control, being pushed in a wheelchair by one of the nurses. She spoke often to Rankin and kept him updated on what was happening on Arus. He was working on rebuilding their army, however it was much smaller, only about 650 soldiers.
"Do they want to stay on Deikun?" Keith asked her one day after she spoke with Rankin.
"What do you mean?"
"Allura and I were talking about it and if Rankin and the
others want to come to Arus, we would welcome them."
Paget
thought for a minute. "That's a good idea, I'll mention it to him next time I talk to him."
"We can find a place for them all and if Rankin would like, we could probably find a place for him in the Arusian Army."
"Thank you, Keith. I'll see what he thinks."
"Just let me know and if they want to, we can contact the Garrison and see about sending transport ships to get them." Keith told her.
Darcy and Lance had settled into a comfortable friendship. He still flirted with her, but it was lighthearted and made her laugh rather than blush. She and Caleb practiced an average of six hours a day and had become trained on Red, Green, and Yellow. Dante had been flying Blue on his own for two days and proved himself to be a valuable member of the team.
Keith entered the rec room where he found everyone but Caleb, who was on duty in Castle Control. "Well guys, everything is going great. I think we can take this evening off and go back to our regular morning practice schedule."
"Have the evening off completely?" Lance asked.
Keith sat on the couch beside Allura and put his arm across the back, "You're still on call. Why, what did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking we could go in to town."
Keith thought for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip.
"Come on," Allura said. "It could be fun."
"Yeah, Captain, we'll only be fifteen minutes away." Hunk spoke up.
"And didn't you say Lotor is still on Lipot? I don't tink he vill attack tonight." Sven said.
Keith nodded, "Alright, here are the rules. You're all free to go as long as you keep your communicators on and you are able to be up at 0600 for practice. Even if you're hungover." He looked at Lance as he spoke the last line.
"Great, where are we going?" Hunk asked.
"What about the club. I think they have dancing tonight." Lance said.
"As long as it isn't karaoke." Keith said.
"Why?" Dante asked.
"If you ever heard Lance sing, you wouldn't have to ask that." Hunk said.
"Who's going?" Lance asked.
"I'm up for it." Hunk said.
Keith looked at Allura.
"We're going." She announced. "We haven't been out on the town in a while and I think Keith needs to have a little fun."
"I have fun." He protested
"Most people don't consider writing Garrison reports fun." Dante muttered.
Lance burst out laughing, "Way to go, Dante. It sounds like you are finally becoming one of us."
"I'm going," Pidge said. "And maybe Caleb would like to go, Koran relieves him in an hour."
"Well, I don't want to wait an hour. Give him directions and he can meet us there." Lance said.
"Alright, let's meet back here in twenty mintues. We can head down then." Keith stood.
Allura walked over to Darcy, "Are you going?"
Darcy shrugged, "I don't think so. I'm not much of a party person."
"It'll be fun. The club is really nice. It's rather relaxed, a lot of big booths and a nice bar. Come on, I don't think Romelle's going and I don't want to be the only girl."
Darcy looked at her. Here was the Queen of Arus, pleading with her to go out for a drink. "Alright."
Allura clapped her hands together, "Wonderful. Go get ready. See you in twenty minutes."
Darcy was pawing through her closet trying to figure out what to wear when there was a knock at her door.
"Who is it?"
"Lance."
She grabbed her robe and threw it on before opening the door.
"What?"
He looked down at her, she clutched the robe closed at her throat.
"I came to see if you were ready." He told her.
"No, I have
no idea what to wear."
"Don't worry, it's casual."
She looked him up and down, taking in his black dress slacks, grey sweater, and the leather bomber jacket he was carrying. "You don't look casual."
He rolled
his eyes, "Okay, hold on a second." And
he left the room.
Darcy stood impatiently by the
door and waited. A moment later Allura arrived.
"Is everything alright? Lance said you needed help."
Darcy laughed, "I don't know what to wear."
Ten minutes later, Darcy was dressed in a knee length beige skirt with a ruffle at the hem and a fitted brown v-neck sweater.
Allura studied her, "Almost perfect."
"Almost?" Darcy stood in front of the full length mirror that hung on the closet door. Although she liked dressing up, she was more comfortable in pants. She felt exposed when she was dressed like this.
Allura rooted through the box on Darcy's dresser and came back with a brown barrette, a floating diamond necklace, and a pair of diamond stud earrings. "Put these on." She handed Darcy the jewelry and then went to work brushing her hair. Allura brushed it out, pulled it back on the sides, and secured it with the barrette.
"Now you're perfect. Let's go." Allura announced.
Darcy smoothed the skirt and stood in front of the mirror.
"You look great." Allura assured her. "And you will have a great time tonight."
Darcy looked at the woman standing next to her. Allura was a good four inches shorter than her, dressed in a simple blue dress, and her long hair pulled back in a French braid. She exuded happiness and confidence, she was also the petite, fair, beautiful type that men go for. Not that she was jealous, Allura was such a good person that you couldn't help but like her.
Darcy smiled, "Let's go meet the guys."
Lance, Dante, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were standing in the rec room waiting for them.
"You guys are perpetuating the stereotype of women always being late." Keith said as they entered.
Lance's mouth went dry when he saw Darcy. He hadn't seen her in a skirt before. She looked soft and feminine. Her legs were long and shapely, her figure was slender and fit. So much for keeping my hormones in check, he thought to himself.
"You guys look great." Hunk announced.
"Thank you, Hunk, so do you." Allura smiled, graciously.
"Hey, keep your eyes in your head," Keith said as he slipped his arm around Allura.
"Is Caleb going to join us?" Darcy asked.
"Yeah, I told him how to get there, he's going to meet us when he gets off duty." Pidge told her.
"Alright, let's go." Keith said.
They took two large cars into town. There was a slight nip in the air making it a little to cold to walk and it would be easier for them to get back to the castle quickly if they needed to.
Keith, Allura, Darcy, and Dante piled into one car, while Hunk, Pidge, and Lance (looking more than a little disappointed) climbed into the other car.