Pidge had a lot riding on these next few moments, she needed to distract all the guards, and do so in such a way that won't get them arrested or blow their cover. Not to mention a Blade member's escape and life was reliant on how well she could get all of their attention on her.
Her head kept buzzing with all the different ways this plan of hers could go wrong and it would be her fault. Pidge couldn't let those worries cloud her brain, shouldn't let her own wavering nerves control her actions.
So in an effort to distracted her ever formulaic mind, she mentally choreographing her upcoming rant to the guards. Forcing other parts of her mind to focus on her body, making sure not to sway the dress too much as she walked trying to keep the cut in her dress as un-noticeable as possible. Tapping her finger against her skirt, keeping her steps in rhythm to when she entered, she couldn't seem any different from when they began the gala.
Then as she and Keith entered the hanger, nearly all eyes were suddenly on them, neither one of them knowing why. Pidge had to resist the urge to pause and force her feet to keep moving forward as if nothing was unusual.
The plan was for her to be the distraction, but to have all their attention off the bat was unusual. Pidge mentally prepared herself for the worst; a part of her doubting the escaped prisoner had been noticed so soon but refused to rule it out.
On the positive side of things, she couldn't rule out the guards being surprised by their presence, for party related reasons, most likely not expecting a guest to leave so early.
The muttering and whispers didn't help her nerves either, watching the few guards that weren't looking their way get elbowed by ones who were and not so 'discreetly' pointing at them, sharing sly smirks or small chuckles.
Something was definitely up, part of her brain already calculation best spots for cover if a shootout suddenly took place.
"Leaving so soon Duchess?" the head guard questioned, trying to seem respectful, but the twitches at the corner of his lips made it clear he was fighting with his own amusement.
What that amusement was, Pidge rather gets out than find out.
"Yes, I've had quite enough tonight" She huffed in the snootiest way she could muster.
"Yeah I'm sure you have" she heard one guard mutter off to the side, another guard next to them elbow the first one sharply.
Pidge's curiosity was peaking, she'd admit not having much experience dealing with members of the Galra Empire, but if they were setting up a trap, or thought her and Keith were any kind of threat. She had a hard time believing they would be so…. Juvenile right now.
"Please step through the examination area" The Gaurd in front of her instructed.
Pidge simply nodded and follow through the scanner, pausing on the other side waiting for the standard pat down. He patted down her dress, his hand lingering on the cut along the seam all the way from the waist to the frilly ends.
She had an excuse ready on her lips for the question that would be coming.
"Heh, I see your duchess likes it rough" the guard chuckled glancing back at Keith.
That… was not the question she was expecting.
Keith remained unmoving, not sure what the guard was talking about and the stifling chuckles from the other guards made Keith all the more confused about how to react.
"Are you done?" she questioned impatiently, needing to play her part of a moody duchess. A growing part of her needing to get out of here quickly before someone noticed something.
As much as she wanted to give Mance as much time as possible to get to the ship, the longer they lingered here the higher chance their rescue would be noticed or their covers would be blown.
"Yes move forward" the guard instructed Pidge glancing around, most of the guards were staring at her and Keith, muttering between each other in hushed whispers and muffled chuckles. It was annoying not knowing the reason, but at least they had the guards attention and didn't need to worry about this being a trap or attacking them… at least for the time being.
Even when Keith went through they gave him no more than a customary pat down on him. Which was quite different than how they treated him coming into the gala.
She could hear one guard mumbling something that made the few others around him muffle their snickering, Keith tilting his head slightly, a gesture he did when he was confused about something. So whatever they said Keith didn't understand it, even while being in earshot.
Keith was allowed through, Pidge waiting till he was behind her before approaching their ship, the ramp allowing her to step into the ship with little fuss Keith stepping in behind her.
The door to their shuttle closed and both of them let out a sigh of relief.
"Arnek did you get Mance?" Keith asked approaching the cockpit as Pidge took her seat and bulked herself in.
"Yes, he's hiding in the storage compartment till we get to a safer zone, we can't afford anyone possibly seeing him if we get randomly checked by a patrol" their pilot replied.
Keith knew that wouldn't be great for Mance's injuries but being discovered would be worst, Keith taking his seat next to Pidge, as their ship took off, leaving at a steady pace as to not draw suspicion to them.
"Did those security guards seem… odd to you?" Keith questioned.
Pidge quickly nodded, "Yes, they seemed amused by us, for some reason" she huffed throwing her hands up before plopping them back down onto her dress "but I don't know why… it's not like oh haha we have a great trap for you; kind of amused it was more-"
"Childish" Keith provided.
"That's a good way of putting it" Pidge muttered with a nod, still wondering what the guards were thinking and talking about "what did they say to you when they were patting you down?" she questioned.
"Bet you showed that Duchess a good time" Keith replied.
"As in a good time at the party?" she questioned and he shrugged unsure if that was the case or not.
"Did they say much to you?" Keith questioned
"No, more like statements like how he thought it was funny that I had enough tonight, and that I like it rough?" she replied confused on what he meant by the last statement.
"Yeah I heard those comments too" Keith nodded glancing down at the tare in her dress "Maybe he assumed you partied hard at the Gala because your dress was ripped?" Keith guessed.
Pidge shook her head looking down at her dress thoughtfully "no that doesn't make any sense he didn't seem to notice the rip till he patted me down, so that wouldn't make any sense about me 'having enough' comment or how most of them, almost instantly became interested in us when we entered the hanger" she pointed out.
"Well as long as it was only something in relation to the gala and not the escaped prisoner or our covers being blown, it probably doesn't matter" Keith shrugged.
"Yeah I guess that's true" she admitted, as long as whatever was amusing the guards didn't affect them later, she guessed it didn't really matter.
She should have remembered the 'ripple effect' principles.