They arrive at the hotel and despite the cool winter air, Pidge is hot . Not because her coat is amazing and stuffed with whatever fancy shit rich people's coats have or anything, but because Keith is so pressed up against her that all she can feel is body heat .
She's not huge on body heat. Or touching. Which has been established.
Luckily for him, though, Keith gets a free pass.
You might think it's because of his uncle's death, but you would be wrong.
He seeks out physical affection so little that he's pretty much always welcome to. It's like when you see a hard to get cat. Even if it is the absolute worst moment for cuddles, you don't push them away when they actually come to you.
Still, though, she's fucking sweating and she hates sweating.
So here she is, stuck in a car with Keith and Rover doing their best impressions of cling wrap, wondering if maybe she should have let Lance sit in the back with Keith instead.
Probably not.
Keith needs his bestfriend, not some schmuck he hangs out with from time to time.
Once they find a parking spot, Hunk and Lance grab the equipment as Pidge and Keith grab the one duffle bag they filled with clothes and toiletries for the night. The place is pretty rustic on the outside, you can tell it's old, but that gives it some charm.
Inside is fucking everything .
It's all still decorated like back in the day and Pidge is fucking living for it.
Keith is, too, as the two of them ditch Hunk and Lance to go wander around and look at the furniture and paintings. They've always loved this sort of thing. Museums, abandoned buildings, the two castles a few hours from their home that are partially restored to their former glory.
"This place is beautiful." Pidge muses.
"All of these historical places are," Keith agrees, "It's like a moment frozen in time. The closest we can get to turning back the clo-" The duo turn and the smiles on their faces drop as they see Lance and Hunk filming, "What are you doing…?"
"You two looked so excited, it was so cute we couldn't help it!" Hunk gushes and Lance smirks.
"As long as we're here, any moment is fair game. Except in the bathroom, of course."
"Of course." Keith deadpans, but honestly Pidge isn't really surprised, and he probably isn't either.
"Um, excuse me," A man calls, coming up to them in the lobby, "Is this…" He looks Pidge up and down, "Person...over sixteen?"
"I'm seventeen ." Pidge grumbles, blushing as both Hunk and Lance are still recording, "I'm not a god damn kid." She adds, making Hunk and Lance actually roar with laughter as Keith snickers beside her. " I'm not!"
"Of course you aren't, and with such a mature way of handling it, how could anyone think you are?" Keith teases.
"Um, sorry to offend you." The man says and Pidge sighs.
"It's fine, it's nothing compared to these asshats."
He smiles awkwardly at her before motioning ahead, "Shall I lead you to your rooms? Since you booked the entire hotel for the night you can leave to collect your data whenever you choose."
"Thank you!" Lance grins as Keith gawks at him.
"Why the hell did you book the whole place? How much did that cost ?" He asks and Lance passes his camera to Pidge so she can help record them talking.
"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered. We have a now, don't you know?"
Keith pales. "We...what now?"
"We've got a . It was actually Shiro's idea. After we left Arizona he and I talked a few times on facebook and he suggested we set up a . So now we have tiers and rewards for people." Lance explains, "Shiro and Matt are working on the rewards right now. They are making keychains with those Ghoul Crew and Ghost Dork names on them, different things we've said, they've even got an artist friend who is gonna do cartoon versions of us and Rover to sell and give away on . Plus, for users, they will get our content before Youtube. They're fine-tuning it all, but so far that's what I know about it. Anyways, we've got a pretty good following now and as soon as the opened we got lots of donations."
"You could have at least told me you were opening one up." Keith frowns and Pidge honestly expected this. He doesn't like getting money from people. Naturally he would object to , which is why Pidge insisted no one tell him at first. Then, of course, his uncle died.
"It's for traveling." Pidge says before Keith can get too moody, "We can afford to go places sometimes, but if people help we can go to more places more often. Further places. Nicer places. They do it because it is offering them something they want to see from us."
Keith crosses his arms and pouts like the five year old he is, letting Pidge know she's won. "I guess ."
"Anyways! Now that Pidge got that stick out of Keith's ass, let's continue!" Lance exclaims, ushering everyone to follow him.
"I wonder if that means we will get to go to the Winchester Mansion someday…" Keith mumbles, and when Pidge looks at him, she can practically see the stars in his eyes.
Fair enough, they have both been obsessed with the Winchester Mansion. Not because they think it's haunted, but because it sounds like a fun place to explore.
"Don't worry, we'll get there!" Lance promises with a grin, "And when we do, I'll happily hold your hand through it."
Everyone looks at him with a raised brow and Pidge wonders if it's actually possible for someone to be this stupid.
Granted, she's been seeing the physical evidence for months now, but it's just so baffling .
"And why would we be holding hands through it?" Keith asks, unfazed by the stupidity in general.
"Because you'll be scared of course!"
"Ohh? I'll be scared? And my savior is gonna be the guy who jumped into Hunk's arms because of the wind?"
"That was a long time ago!"
"Noooot really." Pidge smirks at the dirty look Lance gives her.
They finally arrive at their rooms and Pidge can practically feel the frustration coming off of Keith.
"Why is it that we rented this whole place out and we still have to share beds? " He hisses out and Lance smiles at him nervously.
"Aw, come on. It's the Roosevelt room and the Marguerite room, they have king sized beds so there's plenty of space."
"Just admit you're too scared to sleep alone." Pidge sighs.
"I'm too scared to sleep alone." Hunk chimes in and Lance groans.
"It's a haunted hotel! I'm not sleeping alone!"
"Then you two sleep together and let Pidge and me sleep on our own." Keith groans and Lance gasps.
" Keith ! You would have me sleep with another!?"
" Happily." He grumbles, making note of the camera Hunk has, "You two share a bed or bedroom or whatever, let me sleep in my own room with Rover."
"Not a chance." Pidge pipes up, surprising everyone. "I'm all for ditching these two but I'm sure as shit not leaving your side."
Keith looks at her defeatedly, "You're fine, then."
"No!" Hunk exclaims, "I can't be with just Lance, he's a coward, too! We need you guys to stay in a room with each of us because what are we gonna do when we both get scared?"
Keith's eye twitches, "If you can't handle it, don't stay the night ."
"Aw, come on!" Lance coos, elbowing Keith's arm, "You love our spooky cuddles."
"I'm sleeping with Hunk." Keith replies, his face oddly blank, "You can share with Pidge."
Pidge and Hunk smile a little, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little proud of him. Look at her boy, resisting temptation like a champ. "Get ready, Lance," She smirks, "I'm not as kind when someone touches me in their sleep."
"Don't say it like that! I sound like a pervert!" Lance whines and she shrugs.
"If the shoe fits."
Notes: Heeeyyyyy for anyone who still gives a semblance of a fuck I'm back. Possibly for good? A lot has happened, since January this year things have basically just been a steady decline in my father's health, culminating in a massive crash in April. We spent my 30th birthday together on April 17th, easily the hardest birthday of my life. My brother and I took paid family leave to care for him in May until he passed on June 17th. (Don't read past here it's sad and venting) Nothing in my 30 years of life, including the 5 years in the funeral business, prepared me for watching cancer devour my father's mind and body. Three weeks before he passed he looked like the worst off holocaust victims, skin and bones and empty eyes. The hospice women weeped when they came to take care of him every day, horrified that he was still alive in such a state. He lasted like that three fucking weeks. None of them had seen it before. He stayed alive despite all of us pleading with him to let go, he didn't budge until my brother's wife came up. Of course he wasn't big on ceremony so he waited until my brother, his wife and I were all in the house but were downstairs so he could sleep, and that's when he passed. My brother found him but was too scared to go near him so I can to come up and check his pulse and breathing and called the head nurse so she could come declare him dead. WELP that's my depressing venting. Life's been shit this year but I'm going to be a homeowner soon so I mean there's that and I'm gonna try to come back to writing bc m have missed it. Along with all of my other hobbies.