KathDMD – Glad you like the story!

Blue Lion

After Breakfast was over with, Larmina followed Pidge into the main control room. As he was bringing up a holscreen Daniel and Vince walked by, with Hunk. "Try not to have too much fun Larmina!" Daniel told her with a smirk on his face. Pidge knew that Larmina was feeling bad about not being able to go to the Hunkyard. He didn't like the smirk Daniel had on his face, so he took pleasure in reminding Daniel "Don't forget you have to pass your exam by the end of the week, or you can lose your flying privileges!"

Larmina smiled at him when he said it, which raised Pidge's mood several points. Vince saw Larmina smile at Pidge, and all of a sudden thought maybe he should stay with them. Daniel picked up his thought and said 'why would you want to do that?' Vince had figured out how to mask his thoughts from Daniel, because of his abilities. He thought back to Daniel 'I like talking to Pidge, that's all.'

He didn't want Daniel to know that he was jealous, which would open up the whole avenue of why he was jealous. Vince didn't want to go there, especially since he knew Daniel's thoughts on Larmina now. Vince also knew that Daniel was smarting from Pidge's remark, which gave him pleasure.

Hunk smiled at Larmina and said to her "Don't let him lecture you!" They all laughed at that, and then Hunk and the cadets left. Pidge brought up the briefing memo and said "I promise I won't lecture!" Larmina said "It's all right; I understand why I can't go with them. I have a lion to fly!"

She was standing next to him as she said it, looking up at him with her sparkling turquoise eyes. Pidge was aware of some soft floral scent coming from her, not one he would have associated with her. He decided he needed to think about work, and not what she smelled like. "What do you have questions on?" He asked her in a serious tone.

They spent the next hour going over various points, and with Pidge explaining them it all made sense. Larmina appreciated how he talked to her as an equal, not a student. He had some funny comments about some of the stuff in the memo, and she liked how the green flecks in his eyes sparkled when he laughed. For some reason she wanted to see his eyes with his glasses off. She was also working hard to keep her mind off of how close he was standing next to her.

Pidge had always found Keith's writing to be very heavy in style, a perfect military document. He had in the past rewritten some of them, lacing them with humor and sarcasm, which most of them deserved anyway. He didn't blame Lance for not reading them, as there was never anything new in them. Pidge was glad that Larmina liked his take on the writing, and hoped that she would want him to explain the memos in the future.

He had also been looking at her hair, admiring the different shades of red the light was catching. Pidge had not noticed before that while most of her hair was the color of hot flames, the under pieces were a deeper, richer red. The braid had pulled those pieces up, and they were woven among the flame colored ones. He suddenly wondered what it would be like to undo her hair and touch it.

Pidge's thoughts were broken when Allura came into the control room. She saw them and said "How is the first day going?" She hoped it was going to work out, and that the team would accept Larmina. Allura thought back to when she had joined the team, and knew that her niece was better prepared than she had been. She was glad to see Larmina working with Pidge now, happy that he was helping her.

"Hello Aunt Allura! Pidge is explaining some stuff to me, and then we are scheduled to fly at 1100 hours." Larmina told her Aunt. "Thank you Pidge, I appreciate you taking the time for this." Allura smiled at him with pleasure. She knew that she needed to concentrate on Arus, and this would help her to do it.

"Larmina, I would suggest before flying you go spend some time with Blue. I sat with him last night, and explained everything to him. However, I think he needs some time with you also. He is your Lion now, and that is an important responsibility!" Allura told her niece in a solemn tone of voice. Telling Blue about her decision had been harder than telling Keith and Lance. She knew that the only person who was truly happy about her decision was Coran.

After she left Larmina turned to Pidge and said "I guess this means that Blue will talk to me now, right?" He could see the worry in her eyes, and reaching over he put his hand on her shoulder and said "Yes, it does. What are you concerned about?" Larmina was aware of how warm his hand felt on her shoulder, and not only was her stomach doing flip flops, but it was hard to breath too.

"I'm not sure what to say to him?" In fact, Larmina didn't know what it was, but Pidge being next to her was scrambling her thoughts. Pidge had been glad when Allura showed up, making him stop thinking about playing with Larmina's hair. Now though, touching her was making him think of other things to play with, besides her hair.

Pidge forced himself to remove his hand and said "I'm sure you and Blue will have plenty to talk about." Larmina suddenly missed his hand on her, and she wondered why he had removed it. She tried to focus on what he was saying about Blue. "Just so you know, Blue is not very musically inclined!" Pidge told her with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Larmina asked him, with a puzzled look on her face. Pidge got a big grin on his face and said "He doesn't like Stereolatic!" That had them both laughing hard. Larmina excused herself to go to Blue's den.

After going through the chute she entered Blue's realm and felt the temperature drop almost 20 degrees. The cave was cool and dark, located in a deep part of Lake Arus. She was always intrigued at how the water stayed outside of the cave, making the air breathable. She saw Blue in the corner, his eyes half open.

Larmina walked up to him, and he opened his mouth, letting her enter the cockpit. She inserted the key into the slot, and felt the Lion slowly come to life. She had always wondered how the communication worked, but knew that it was not something she could ask her Aunt, or the other pilots. It was private information, and not to be shared. Larmina sat in the chair and waited for what would happen next.

It was almost half an hour before a deep voice said in her brain 'You are my new pilot.' Larmina took it to be a statement, so she thought 'yes, I am.' The voice asked her 'are you worthy of piloting me?' She took offense at that and sat up straight saying 'are you worthy of being my Lion?'

Blue Lion laughed in her mind and said 'a true daughter of Arus, I see!' Larmina thought 'don't forget I can kick butt several different ways and am not afraid to do it!' The next thought that came into her brain was 'you are very different from your Aunt, much more direct.' She thought back 'I don't like to beat around the bush. I say what I mean!'

Larmina decided that maybe she was being too brash, a trait that Nanny and her Aunt were always correcting her about. She asked Blue now 'do you miss my Aunt?' She felt a rumble in her brain and then the voice said 'no, it was time for her to move on. She could do with some of your directness, especially in matters of the heart.'

'What does that mean?' Larmina thought to Blue. 'I think you know what it means, you are very smart about people.' Blue thought back to her. Larmina nodded her head, thinking about her Aunt, Keith, and Lance. 'It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I've never had anyone I could talk to about it before' she told Blue Lion.

'It is good that you don't talk about your family with those boys. You are very mature' Blue told her. Larmina sniffed and said 'As if! I do think Vince is more sensitive than Daniel, but still it is not something I would discuss with them.' Blue said 'do not worry about being too brash with me; I don't have a problem with it'.

Larmina smiled and said 'thank you for that, as most people don't appreciate it!' Blue said 'when it comes time for you to find a mate you need to find someone who will appreciate it too'. It took her a minute to realize what he had said. 'What do you mean, a mate?' She asked him with a shocked look on her face.

'You are growing up, and that is a natural progression' Blue told her. 'I don't want a mate! No one is going to tell me what to do!' She thought to him, suddenly wanting to get out of the Lion. 'Do not run away, you know we will have no secrets from each other! And I don't think your mate will tell you what to do'.

'My Aunt does not have a mate, and I think she needs one before I do!' Larmina said to Blue in an aggravated tone. She heard the rumbling laughter in her brain again and said 'that is part of the reason she let the situation with me and Arus get so out of control. You need to learn from her mistakes, and not wait too long. Please go, as I want to rest before we fly'.

Larmina was rather shocked; both at the conversation and the way Blue dismissed her! She wondered if he had talked to her Aunt that way, and as she was leaving the Lion the thought popped into her head 'no, I did not talk to your Aunt that way; we have already discussed that she is not a direct person like you are!' As she went back to the castle the comment about 'a mate' came into her brain, making her cheeks turn very pink at the thought.