The Castle of Lions advanced through space with a slow and steady pace, there was no need of hurry or rushing since the Galra Empire was nowhere to be seen and the distressed calls from slaved planets weren't received on this quadrant of the universe.
The paladins could have the "day off", even if it means that they could just walk around without their armors on and no real sense of relaxation. You need to be ready for battle in case the Galra appear or if a planet is in danger, as princess Allura would say.
As for Pidge and Lance, their day offs are what any other teenager could do nowadays: use their phone or computer for entertainment. Pidge was on her laptop, looking for new ways to improve her and her friends' lions, while Lance was on his phone, staring gloomily at the family photos he had stored on his gallery. They were sitting alone on one side of the common room.
While working on a new program, the girl lifted her gaze to meet the boy's figure sprawled across the couch next to her. She could sense the pain and homesickness painted in the eyes of the guy, so she decided to not let him be absorbed by those emotions and lift his spirit up.
They had a little game going on when they were cadets at the Galaxy Garrison. One that only both could understand and play. Having this in mind, Pidge made a subtle motion to get Lance's attention, which he responded with a low interjection.
"Hey Lance, wanna play a game?" Pidge proposed.
"What kind of game?" Responded Lance as he placed down his phone.
"Remember the game we used to play back at the Garrison?"
"Uhh... Oh, Language Curse?" Asked the boy that is now standing up.
Yeah. Let's play!" Claimed Pidge with excitement.
The brunette agreed immediately and with swift hand sign, the girl started the game.
The rules are very simple: you are not allowed to talk in English, but you can communicate with any other language you know.
"Asere, hace tiempo que no jugábamos a esto. Tú te acuerdas cómo jugar? (Man, it's been a while since we last played this. Do you remember how to play?) Started Lance with an exaggerated Cuban accent.
"certo che so come giocare, ho vinto ogni volta in passato" (Of course I know how to play, I've won every time in the past) Stated Pidge showing her Italian heritage.
"Ohh, te crees muy lista, verdad? A ver si entiendes esto... Otorrinolaringólogo " (Ohh, you think you're so smart? Let's see if you get this... Otolaryngologist*) Claimed the boy triumphantly, thinking he could leave the girl speechless with his native tongue twister.
"Oh, dai, l'ho già sentito e anche da te. Non è niente in confronto a: Se la serva non ti serve, a che serve che ti serva di una serva che non serve?" (Oh, come on, I've heard that before and especially from you. It's nothing compared to: If you don't need the servant, what's the use/point of having a servant you don't need*) She mocked. She has enough memory to remember all the times Lance has mentioned that word while playing this game.
"Ok, ok, no hay necesidad de burlarse de mí. Sé que tú eres más inteligente... ¡Este juego es injusto! Tú sí entiendes lo que digo" (Ok, ok, no need to make fun of me. I know you're smarter... This isn't fair! You do get what I say) Lance protested playfully when he realized that Pidge, in fact, can understand a word or two in Spanish.
"Posso raccontarne un'altra: Trentatré entrarono in Trento, tutti e trentatré trotterellando" (I can tell you another one: Thirty-three entered Trent, all thirty-three trotting*) The green paladin continued, making the blue paladin laugh lightly.
"Ehh, no sé qué fue eso, lo único que entendí es que hay muchas erres en tu frase" (Uhh, I don't know what was that, I only got that your phrase has a lot of r's) Mentioned the boy between giggles, "¿Quién te enseñó esos trabalenguas?" (Who taught you those tongue twisters?).
"Ehh... Lenguas?... Oh, «Lengua» può avere significati diversi a seconda del contesto. Può essere una parte del corpo o il dialetto che si parla" ("Lengua" can have different meanings depending on the context. It can be a part of the body or the dialect that is spoken**).
"¿De qué estás hablando?" (What are you talking about?) Questioned Lance.
"uhh, lingua? L'avete detto voi" (uhh, lengua [Tongue/language]? You said it) Replied Pidge, though she didn't really answered Lance's question. The man just stared at her and blinked. After a few seconds of silence they erupted in laughter, not really knowing what the other was talking about.
At that moment, the door of the common room slided open, revealing Shiro's tall figure standing right in front of it. He entered and immediately got curious about what made his teammates laugh so much.
"Hey guys! What's going on around here?" Greeted the man cheerfully.
"Oh, Shiro... Ehh" Expressed Lance with doubtfulness. He knew that if he uses any English word he would lose the game, and he's not going to lose against Pidge. Thankfully she ended the game with an special hand sign, sparring the misunderstanding for the man.
"Hi Shiro, we were just playing a game we made" Pidge explained.
"It's called Language Curse. You're not allowed to use any word in English, you can only speak other language you know. For example, Pidge speaks Italian and I speak Spanish, so, we can talk using the words of those languages, but if one of us says something in English, the other automatically wins the round" The blue eyed boy proudly exclaimed.
"Seems interesting, and a good chance for learning other ways of communication. My native language is Japanese, so, can I join you?" Asked the bicolor haired man.
"Why, of course, Shiro. It would be way more intriguing with you" Pidge remarked and just as she finished her sentence the game started with a new round, this time with a third a language and even more confusion.
"では、私の言っていることを理解しているかどうかは問題ではないのですね?" (So, it doesn't really matter if you understand what I'm saying or not?) Shiro started.
"Huh?" Both teenagers mumbled in unison.
"私の言っていることを理解しているかどうかは関係ないと言ったんだ" (I said, it doesn't matter if you understand what I'm saying or not) He repeated.
Lance and Pidge couldn't help but stared at the man with a puzzled expression.
"Pidge... ¿Verdad que suena como personaje de anime?" (Pidge... He sounds like an anime character, right?) Asked the boy with the blue eyes.
"Sì, molto" (Yes, pretty much) Replied the girl.
"Sicuramente un personaggio di un anime" (Definitely an anime character) Affirmed Pidge, confirming Lance's statement.
"アニメ…？" Shiro muttered. "私はアニメのキャラクターじゃない!" (Anime...? I'm not an anime character!) He claimed, even though he totally is an anime character.
"ああ、今わかったよ。おかしいのはその誤解だ。この試合は、文字通りナンセンスなことを言うんだ" (Ohh, I get it now. The funny part is the misunderstanding. This game is about saying literally nonsense) Shiro said happily, finally understanding that the game is just about unrelated sentences.
"Oh Shiro-san~, onegaishimas~" Lance mocked the man. Almost immediately after, Pidge pointed to Lance while making a surprised noise.
"Tu perdi!" (You lose!) She exclaimed.
"¡¿Qué?! ¡¿Por qué?!" (What!? Why!?)
"Hai parlato nella sua lingua" (You spoke in his language)
"What are you three doing?" Suddenly, a fourth voice joined in. It belonged to the red paladin who just happened to enter the room.
"Oh, Hey Keith, we're just playing a-" Shiro got cut off by Pidge, who made the same noise when Lance lost.
"Wait, WHAT? HOW?" Protested Lance with a shocked expression.
"You spoke the same language as Shiro and that's forbidden too! Aannd, you used English, Shiro" Pidge reasoned.
"Ohhh. So, even if someone isn't playing, I can't talked to them in English?"
"...Okay..." Keith preferred to back away a little and let them be.
"It's just a game, buddy, don't worry. By the way, are you bilingual?" Asked the brunette.
"Oh" Lance expressed with a pout. "I wanted you to join us but-" He couldn't finish his sentence when he noticed Pidge made the hand sign that starts the game, thinking she could easily win against him. But nothing could escape from the eagle vision of the Amazing Sharpshooter.
"Ajá! Te vi Pidge. Tramposa" (Ha! I saw you Pidge. Cheater)
She just answered him with a loud whine, leaving the raven haired boy even more confused than before.
"¿En serio no me vas a dejar explicarle? Mira su carita" Pointed Lance towards Keith "No está entendiendo un bledo de lo que decimos" (You're really not going to let me explain to him? Look at his face, he doesn't understand a thing we're saying).
"In questo modo è più divertente. Non farglielo sapere..." (This way is funnier. Don't let him know...).
"I'll... Leave you guys alone. Hope you're not saying something bad about me" Keith said as he turned around, not certain of what the topic of their argument is.
"Keith, 待って" (Wait) Shiro called, not letting his brother leave.
"私たちはゲームをしているだけだ。私たちと一緒にいて。きっと楽しいよ" (We're just playing games. Stay with us. It'll be fun) The man commented. He wanted the red paladin to have fun with them too, which he agreed to with a little and unsure noise.
As they returned to the couch, the questioning stare coming from their shortest friend was to obvious for them to ignore.
"YOU CAN SPEAK JAPANESE???" She yelled at the mullet boy.
"Well, kind of" He answered.
"But you said you're not bilingual".
"Yes, I'm not. Sometimes I don't get what Shiro says" Keith explained.
"And instead of asking, you just look at me like I said something weird" Shiro scolded.
"it's because you do say something weird" Keith defended.
"That's crazy" said Pidge perplexed.
"Pffft, you both lose" Lance remarked with an amused look.
"what? Aghh, I forgot... Shit".
"You're the weird Keith! Our game is so cool you don't get it".
*: Those words are tongue twisters from each language respectively.
**: the word "lengua" has the same meanings in both Italian and Spanish. It could mean "tongue" or "language". That's why Pidge said something regarding this.
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