spacebaloney | » in space, everybody can hear you scream

[All of her previous messages were texts, their contents ranging from "hey, where are you? can we talk?" to "wtf is going on, lance". Some of them might have sounded angry, indignant; it might just be hard to tell because it's just text and none of the nuance of Pidge's tone of voice is there.

So this time, it's a voicemail. And if Lance actually does listen to it, she starts the whole thing off with a shaky sigh and a voice so small and nervous it's almost hard to believe it's actually Pidge.]

Um.. Hey Lance, it's me. S-So I wanted to do this in person, but I guess that isn't an option right now. And it's also really hard to keep myself from just tracking you down and bringing you home so that it could be an option, and..! [She sounds just the tiniest bit testy there, irritated in a way that's uniquely Pidge. So if there was any doubt left about who is actually talking here, that near-outburst probably wipes that away.

She has to actually pause there, reign herself back in. Think about what Hunk said, Pidge. Remember you're not actually mad at him.] ...Anyway. About- About what happened. During the house party. I'm really sorry about the way I reacted. I think it gave you the wrong idea about how I felt. How I feel. Because the thing is that I... um... [Another pause. A small intake of breath. Lance can probably hear how flustered she is, fidgeting with something on her end.]

Ugh, this just doesn't seem right over the phone... L-Listen, I just... Please come home soon, okay? W-We need to talk. In person. Properly. Please.

[One last sigh, and the message ends there.]

[And it was that pure lack of tonal context that caused Lance to ignore her messages. Not that he wanted to be cruel to her like some sort of payback (he's not that kind of boy), but he read her temper in the typed words and there was no way Lance was ready to get ripped to shreds once Pidge had the time she requested and used it to realize she was offended. So he sat on those texts, let them pile up, and used this time away to rethink how he was going about living his life.

The voicemail comes while he's busy training a couple Pokemon, the vibration of the gear caught up in the tremors of two overgrown beasts tackling each other, so it's a good couple hours before Lance notices its waiting for him.

Her voice scares him. This is a Pidge he's never heard before, sounding as small as her in-person stature, and it's concerning enough that he listens to the entire message. He really can't keep running away from his problems, though that seems the easiest method of coping, and with her seemingly wanting to talk and not yell, Lance acquiesces.

It's time to face the music. He doesn't call her back, though, not when she wants to do things in person. A day later, he's back on the island, backpack slung low over his shoulder. The prodigal moron has returned home and he's heading towards the basement, knocking lightly on the door.]

Pidge? You there?

[Pidge has had plenty of time to think while Lance has run off. Time to muffle her problems into Matt's shirt, to snap unfairly at Shiro... But at the very least in the midst of all this, she managed to talk to Hunk. He's the reason she even ended up simply leaving a voicemail on Lance's 'gear and hoped for the best. He might also be the only reason she isn't getting even more anxious about the fact that a full day later there still hasn't been an answer.

Of course, that's also why she dragged him into her room. His presence is calming and she knows he'll talk her down if she riles herself up too much with anxiety. So she alternates between finding some old project to go back to fiddling with and sitting next to him on the bed, just chatting idly, trying not to think about the fact that she has a massive crush on him and Lance and how her stupid feelings might've thrown a monkey wrench into their friendship.

Hunk said they all need to talk. All three of them. She'd been prepared to continue living in the so-called Friend Zone, so surely waiting for Lance to come home can't be so bad.

Then again, the knock on her door makes her head snap toward the sound, and hearing Lance's voice on the other side makes her eyes go wide. Okay, so maybe she could've stood to wait just a little bit longer for this moment.]

Hunk. [She reaches to grab at his arm, squeezing ever so slightly as she ducks her head.] Can you get it?

[ It had been a weird few days. Like, super weird.

Because see, at first he was pretty sure Lance had a crush on him. He was being a little squirrly about it, but Hunk was fine biding his time and easing Lance into the idea that he liked him back.

But then he was wrong. Because suddenly he finds out that Lance kissed Pidge, and as happy as he was for his buddies it hurt. But he tried to put it out of his mind -- it wasn't their fault if he got his hopes up.

Then Pidge dropped a bombshell on him. She liked Lance and ... him? Somehow?

So now here they were, Hunk and Pidge in a holding pattern while they waited for Lane to return. Pidge had been as fidgety as he'd ever seen her, a real stressed out mess. He tried to distract her with some of their ongoing projects, ideas for new studies, and leaving her to fiddle for awhile. For his part, Hunk was excited. And nervous. Nervcited. He had a good feeling about all of this.

And then Lance knocked. He gave her hand a reassuring pat as he stood up. ]

Sure thing, buddy. It'll go fine, you'll see.

[ He goes to answer the door, and as soon as he sees Lance on the other side a relieved smile splits his face. ]

Hey, man. It's ... really good to see you back. You don't even know.

[For what it's worth, Lance kissed Pidge because he thought he had a chance with her unlike any chance with Hunk. He's found himself having feelings for both of them, but Hunk mentioned being interested in some nameless guy who Lance secretly thinks is a jerk both for having Hunk's attention and not seeing the awesome that is the Yellow Paladin in front of him and that means maybe Lance would be setting himself up for disappointment. He doesn't think he can handle that. Nor could he handle possibly ruining another friendship because he can't control his heart.

Seconds tick by, but they feel like hours during the time Lance spends waiting for Pidge to answer. Maybe she's not in her room. Something unlikely considering she's the house gremlin and this is her dungeon, but even gremlins have to eventually go outside in the sun sometimes. Maybe she's with Matt somewhere. Lance is about to grab his 'gear and text her to let her know he's home when the door creaks open and... that is not Pidge. Boy, is that definitely not Pidge.

Lance is blinking at his best bro in an owlish fashion as if he's never seen Hunk before. It's not that, of course, but pure surprise as he expected Pidge to answer the door.]

Oh, hey... Hunk. What's up?

[That smile is doing something to the center of Lance's chest, something twisting and a little bit painful, but he ignores it. He can't give into it. Not here. Not now.

He raises up on his tiptoes to peek over Hunk's shoulder into the rest of the room.] Pidge around?

[Pidge tenses up a little when she hears Lance asking after her, biting her lip and fiddling with the edge of her sock. She's really working on stamping down the urge she has to run over and smack Lance across the face. Because on top of all her other already extremely confusing feelings, he had to go and run off and make her angry, too.

She takes a second to draw in a breath. Calm down. That is a big part of why it's a good thing Hunk is here, and one of many reasons why he's become so important to her. Of course there's also the part where this was largely his idea, since most of hers had involved hunting Lance down and smacking the sense back into him.]

I'm here.

[She says it just loud enough to be heard, but she doesn't move. Her eyes are actually trained on Hunk's backside, focusing on the width of his shoulders because somehow that keeps her steady.]

[ Hunk can practically feel the nervous fear radiating off of Pidge behind him, like a heat lamp directed at his back. He's terrified too, of course, but when isn't he? He can throw up later.

He steps aside though, giving Lance enough space to enter the room. ]

Nothing much, man. Just hanging out, waiting for you to get back. We were worried, you know.

[ It was hard, letting Lance go off and do his own thing. But he knew it was what his buddy needed. He had some stuff to work out, and both Hunk and Pidge had proven to him that if he needed them for anything they were here for him.

But he'd come back. He'd come back. ]

Come in for a sec? I gotta tell you both something.

[They were worried. Lance knows this. He didn't mean to make anyone in the house worry, not even Shiro. He just panicked, thinking he made the dumbest move of his life and screwed everything up for Team Voltron. Leaving just made the most sense to Lance at the time, both for his sake and Pidge's and any fallout from that would be dealt with after he got to wherever he would lie low for a bit.

But he's here, hands stuffed into his pockets, blue eyes widening slightly at Pidge's voice before turning rather curious on what Hunk has in store for them. Whatever it is, though, Lance decides it's better to put it on the side for the moment.]

Sorry bro, but can it wait? I need to talk to Pidge.

[He's made her wait long enough for this conversation. The sooner they both hash things out, the sooner Lance can pretend nothing ever happened between them and the sooner he can tackle whatever Hunk has on his mind.]

[Pidge grips at her sock even tighter when Hunk steps to the side, as her eyes end up falling on Lance as he stands there in the doorway. No turning back now. This is happening. It needs to. But that doesn't make it any less nerve-wracking.

An eyebrow raises ever so slightly when Hunk announces that he also has something to tell them both. For whatever reason she'd assumed that much of the burden here was on her, since she's the one with the stupid double crush that's going to complicate their entire friendship. But she supposes it makes sense that Hunk would want to have his own say about the whole thing.

But then Lance has to go and try to usher Hunk out, and Pidge refocuses on him with a slight frown.]

No. We all need to talk. So Hunk is staying.

[ He offers Lance a smile that's at least half apologetic. ]

Sorry buddy, but Pidge is right. We all really need to talk about this, now.

[ He hadn't even told Pidge what his thought were about all of this. Not to tease, but because it seemed like the nervousness wouldn't really calm down until now anyway.

But first he had to get them both to sit down and listen.

He reaches behind him for a cozy blanket. Even gives it a sniff test before handing it to Lance, draping it around him and leaving an arm around his shoulder. Halfway starting to guide him into the room, though he won't push hard if Lance doesn't move on his own. ]

C'mon dude. It's all good.

We?

[His voice cracks a little because when did this all become about the three of them? The kiss was very much between Lance and Pidge last time he checked and as much as he loves Hunk, he's not sure he really understands his best friend getting involved. Okay, no, wait, maybe Lance does if Pidge is going to tell Lance that she doesn't feel the same at all and that's what she spent the time she requested figuring out and she went and told Hunk and that spread Lance's shame around so now Hunk is going to be the voice of reason and tell Lance that Paladins can't go around dating each other. That makes some sense.

On another hand, maybe this is about Lance's reaction to conflict being hitting the road because he still questions his full importance on the team. Maybe that's why Hunk is here and though Lance seems to be moving his feet when Hunk begins guiding him, those narrow shoulders under the blanket and arm are tense and stiff.]

If you guys are going to tag team yell at me for leaving, then just do it now. I don't need a blanket for that.

Edited 2019-01-27 07:44 (UTC)

[Pidge watches Hunk for a moment and for a second she's struck - as she usually is - by how good he is at being calming and gentle. It does funny things to her insides and she has to really try to stay focused on the situation at hand. Because this isn't the time for admiring what makes Hunk so great. Right now she needs to make sure that Lance doesn't try to bolt and that she gets to talk about her stupid, stupid feelings. (crushes are so stupid, ew ew ew)

She scoots over a bit on the bed, making room for Lance in case Hunk decides to guide him there.]

That's... not what this is. [For now.] There are some things I need to tell you and- and they involve Hunk, too.

Yeah, buddy. Trust us.

[He tries to rub at Lance's shoulder, but knowing his friend he wasn't going to loosen up until they got it out of their systems. Which means Hunk had to be brave for a hot second. Not his strong suit.

He took a deep breath, guiding Lance towards the spot Pidge made before standing in front of them both.]

Okay, so I should probably start.

[Why doesn't he have a paper bag to breathe into? He should have a paper bag.]

I... kind of have this huge crush. On you both.

[Well, color Lance confused. He really expected Pidge to yell at him, probably even kick him in the shins while Hunk gave him his I AM SO DISAPPOINTED look. Instead he gets a blanket and a seat on the bed and while Lance should really trust them (and he does), he just has no idea what conversation needs this kind of set up.

And then Hunk drops a bomb. In only a few words, Lance is left blinking in confusion as if he suddenly forgot how to speak English, only flicking his head towards Pidge to see if she heard the same thing he did and then back at Hunk.]

You what?

[Hearing Hunk has an equally as huge crush on him (on him!) is shocking enough. Hearing that Hunk has one on Pidge too just throws Lance's entire world into a blender and hits the HIGH button. He doesn't know how to react. Give him a minute to process that bit of information he just received.]

[Pidge's eyes widen to such huge proportions so fast that it's downright painful. Did she hear that right?]

No you don't.

[Her cheeks are burning pink and she blurts those words out before she really even thinks about them. Because what the quiznak. What the quiznak. That's her line, but why is Hunk saying it, is he trying to help her by being the one to take the bullet what is going on--]

No you don't, I do.

[She's so confused and flustered that she's staring at Hunk like she's never seen him before in her life. Because maybe this isn't Hunk? Just a guy who looks and feels like him but clearly can't be him because he's saying things that are throwing both Pidge and Lance for a major loop.]

[Okay, so these reactions were about what he expected. He hadn't answered Pidge earlier because he knew he was going to probably get nervous enough to throw up, and if he was gonna hurl darnit he only wanted to do it the one time.

Two birds with one stone and all that.

He was an efficient genius.]

But like, you're my best buddies and I didn't wanna ruin stuff. But then Lance kissed Pidge so I figured you two were gonna be a thing and I didn't want to get in the way, but then Pidge came and talked to me, and... well. I think it's more complicated than that. Yeah, so... that's my thing.

[He scratched at his head awkwardly.] Your turn?

[Lance has been twisting his poor skinny neck back and forth between Hunk and Pidge and really, it looks more like he's watching a riveting tennis match than hearing his two best friends admit they have feelings for each other and him. He doesn't know what to do here.]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute!

[He throws his hands up and begins flailing before managing to get a skinny finger pointed at Hunk].

You have a crush on me? And her? What about that jerkoff who you like, but wouldn't give you the time of day?

[Now he's pointing at Pidge because there's no way he's forgetting about her. This was all supposed to be about Lance kissing Pidge because he had feelings for her and her seemingly appearing to not feel the same and now everything's way different than Lance prepared himself for.

Why can't his life be easier?]

And you have a crush on me? So why did you act like I was the worst thing ever when I kissed you?

[Pidge is just. Staring. First it was at Hunk, then it was over to Lance, and now it's just in a neutral point somewhere in between them because dammit Hunk. Pidge had finally just finished processing her own feelings and figuring out what she wanted to say about this whole thing, but now it feels like her prepared speech is now useless and she might as well toss the whole thing right out the window.]

Then-- But when I told you, why didn't you..??

[She cuts herself off with a shake of her head, trying to sort all this out. When she'd said the same thing to Hunk, all he'd responded with was "We all need to talk." She can't remember what she'd assumed - probably something along the lines of "Well here's a surefire way to end our friendship, so let's make sure that doesn't happen" - and listening to him admit that he'd stayed quiet for the same reasons she had...

Oh no. Oh no, it's almost too much again. Her heart is hammering against her chest and her face is bright red, and her eyes only dart toward Lance when he's shoving a finger at her face.]

I never said that! You came at me out of nowhere and I wasn't ready for it, that's all! I was ready to sit in the friendzone because I'm- I'm not anything like the people you've gone after before!

[And to be even more honest, she'd been fairly certain that Hunk wasn't really interested in a lot of girls. Shay had seemed like an exception. And she's not even really surprised to hear that Hunk has been crushing on Lance, because-- Well, that just seems to make sense.]

So-- But you- How can you both like me? [That's still the part she doesn't understand at all. Skinny, mousey, nerdy Pidge being liked by two different boys? What the hell???]

[Time for a rare deadpan look from Hunk for you, Lance, because are you kidding him right now.]

Uh, the guy I was talking about was you, actually.

[He clears his throat a little though when Pidge speaks because she really DOES deserve some kind of explanation for that part, at least.]

So I knew this was going to make me really nervous so I thought it'd be easier if I told you both at the same time? And with Lance gone and us not being sure when he's gonna come back...

[He rubs at the back of his neck.]

Basically if I was going to get so nervous that I was going to throw up I was only going to do it once.

What do you mean you're not like the people I've gone after before? I've gone after ton of people!

[That's probably not helping Lance's defense here, but it's true. Sure, he's shown lots of interest in Allura, but Allura is a princess and way way way out of Lance's league. He knows he doesn't even have a true chance there no matter how hard he tries. But he's also shown interest in other types of girls, even alien girls, and there's interest in Hunk too! So whatever Pidge, whatever. None of that means anything when he's been feeling the feels for you.

But hold on. Lance swivels his head back to Hunk because that guy just said something that's throwing this entire conversation into another tailspin.]

What? It was me? What the hell? I thought you didn't even like guys! You didn't say anything about that until the party and even then, I didn't think you liked me! Of course I wouldn't go out on that limb! Plus you dated Jenny Shabon when you knew I was crushing on her, so I figured it was a boss fight I wasn't gonna win!

[God, why are hormones and love so confusing and difficult? WHY IS COMMUNICATION SO HARD?]

[Seriously, though: What the hell. What the hell!]

[Hunk is first up. She springs to her feet so she can be at her full height as she gives him such a Look, still red-faced from embarrassment (not anger, though the Look might make it seem that way). Their height difference really makes this... not so intimidating, but clearly she's trying to be.]

So you--?! Hunk, you just left me hanging! I thought I destroyed our entire friendship because of my stupid feelings!!

[Though she does appreciate him reserving his puke for another time. And for once she can also appreciate the need to puke out of nerves at all.]

And you!! [She swivels around to flail at Lance now, still just as flustered.] "Tons of people" still never included me! Usually they're all-- [She makes vague round shapes in the air with her hands.] You know, curvier!

[Is Pidge raising her voice? She doesn't mean to be. This is all just very confusing.]

Hey, it's not my fault we're all dysfunctional anxiety ridden teenagers, okay? That's just the way it is!

[Hunk accepted that he was a hot nervous wreck years ago, he had no idea what was taking Lance and Pidge so long to do the same.]

And Lance, buddy. My dude. If I only dated people you didn't have a crush on I'd be able to date like, Keith.

[Lance jumps a little the second Pidge turns on him because while she might be small, she sure is mighty. Also her kicks hurt.]

You do have curves! [He throws his own hands out, mimicking her motions.] You just wear a lot of a baggy clothes that hide them! That's why I thought you were a boy at first!

[Nope. Still not helping at all.]

And wow, excuse me. Don't make me sound like some crush hobag. I never had a crush on Griffin. You could have dated him.

[Honestly, where are they going with any of this? They can stand here and shout at each other or they can figure out what the hell to do with three people and three separate crushes going on. Or six. Maybe nine. Math is hard.]

[Hunk's ~~accurate description~~ accusation makes Pidge all but squeak, cheeks burning all over again and she has to wipe both hands over her face, knocking her glasses completely askew. This is so confusing, and really Pidge just needs a few seconds to sort this all out properly.

So she takes a breath, still hiding her face behind her hands, and makes Attempt Number One as she starts to pace a bit in front of the bed.]

So-- Ugh, so-- I like Lance and Hunk. And Hunk likes me and Lance. And Lance kissed me but is flailing about Hunk liking boys, soooo... He likes me and Hunk?

[She doesn't even try to peek through her hands to look at them. It feels too embarrassing.] Did I miss anything?

Okay, okay. My wheels are turning. So hear me out while I think out loud here.

[He has that face. The one he has when he's putting together a complex design or working through a problem back on Voltron. He's looking upward while he talks out loud, fingers spinning in the air while he speaks.]

So I thought Lance liked Pidge and didn't like me after all, when really he likes both of us.

Lance thought I liked someone else when really I like both of you.

And then Pidge knew Lance liked her but she also liked me so she didn't know what to do with either of us.

[Man, he could really use a white board right now.]

Well, it's kinda like you have to convert an engine to run on more than one fuel source, right? You just modify the engine so it's input is set for both, say, fossil fuel and battery power.

So like. Wouldn't it be easier if instead of leaving someone out we just all ... date each other?

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spacebaloney - 2019-03-31 21:46 (UTC) - Expand

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pidge_out - 2019-03-31 22:01 (UTC) - Expand

» in space, everybody can hear you scream

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