Language Barrier on a People Carrier - lily_l_bell
Word Count: 1, 754
Summary: Keith speaks English just fine, but he still likes speaking Korean when he can. When he leaves work and takes the elevator down from the seventh floor he liked to talk to Shiro about what's for dinner in his mother tongue. Because of this it seems he's never spoken an English word in front of the dance instructor from the sixth floor that rides the elevator with him every day, leading the other to believe that there was such thing as a private conversation in an elevator.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
A continuation of our “Rookie cop meets lovable idiot” AU series
Summary:
The airport is quiet at 4:30 in the morning. Lance's suitcase drags behind him and Keith squeezes his hand tight. This will be the first time they’ve been apart for more than a week. And right after Keith’s moved in. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, trying to clamp down on the emerging loneliness in his chest.
“Hey.” Lance steps into his space, taking his chin in his fingertips and lifting his gaze. “I won’t be gone long.”
a college/soulmate/librarian!pidge x dancer!lance au. yeah that’s a lot. also another attempt on writing a multi chapter fic. wish me luck. this will be the only chapter that i’ll tag for plance au week tho :( i hope that’s okay. i don’t think i can finish this in just a week or even month so yeah.
also posted on ao3 | ch. 2 ch. 3 ch. 4
___
The first time they met, they didn't know immediately. But Pidge, being the natural observer that she was, was the first one to notice a hint.
"Uhm, hey." Called a guy with slightly high pitched voice, tapping her shoulder lightly as she finished arranging some books on the library shelf.
She turned to him with a tired expression. Though, she didn't miss how an unfamiliar warmth suddenly bloomed in her chest when she met his gaze. They were blue, his eyes. A charming, ocean blue. For some unknown reason, her heart started beating faster than it should while all the scars and little bruises on her body tingled in a strange way.
Pidge paused for a second, trying to comprehend and understand what this strong feeling actually was. She seemed to be the only one between them who felt it. Though, it might just be her imagination, she swore she saw his eyes widened a bit when they met her hazel ones.
Shrugging internally, she came with a quick hypothesis that it was only just the heat making her body react very weirdly. "Can I help you?" Pidge finally asked the lanky guy.
"You're a student librarian right?"
"Obviously."
"Can you help me find this book? I can't remember the title but it's orange!"
Her mind was sent reeling as she wore a puzzled expression. Was this guy serious? She never thought she would encounter an elementary in a college student's body. These type of people were in a very nice rank in Pidge's most annoying people list.
She let out a sigh. "What type of book is it?"
"A anatomy one."
"Follow me." He did when the girl then started walking to the STEM isle.
Sound of their footsteps filled the library. It was a saturday evening, the place wasn't as busy as any other week. Students of Altea University didn't usually have a lot of classes on saturdays. Though, there were still a few groups of people roaming around, like the usual academic prodigies who liked to finish their homeworks and projects earlier than everyone else, the novel fans who would read harry potter religiously everyday, and some couples making out behind the tallest shelves. Oh Pidge hated those. Was it really that hard to keep their library kinks to themselves? Apparently not for she could already hear kissing sounds from when they passed the fiction aisle.
"Is that even allowed?" The guy behind her asked quietly, though it was loud enough for her to hear.
"Nope." She replied, turning to the STEM aisle and started looking for a book with a certain bright color.
"Aren't you gonna stop them?"
"Too lazy to. Besides that'd be so awkward."
"True."
As soon as their small talk ended, her eyes finally landed on the third shelf where an orange calculus book stood out. Her short arms reached for the object and showed it to the person beside her. "Is this what you're looking for?"
His eyes squinted as he took the book from her hand. "I think so." Moving it closer to his face, he examined the cover.
That was the moment Pidge saw it. Two bandaids were on this guy's right arm close to his elbow. They were placed very similarly to where she had two fresh cuts from yesterday when she crawled under her bed to reach for her lost game boy, her arm accidentally landing on a rough surface.
The concept of every person having a soulmate that would receive the same injuries and physical pain as them was very fascinating to Pidge, but she never really cared for finding her own. Her soulmate didn't actually gave her a lot of wild bruises, cuts, or injuries as a child. But things changed horribly when she went to college. On her first year, she started getting a lot of small bruises on her knees and slight pain on her limbs for no reason. She thought perhaps her soulmate joined a sports team or something. She got really curious at some point, desperate to know what the hell her soulmate was up to that they had to have a shit ton of bruises. Thankfully, the injuries started to appear less when she hit her second year of college. Though, the curiosity never left.
"Yup. This is it." The guy in front of her smiled once again. "Thanks..." His eyes quickly looked at her name tag and added "Katarina."
"Don't."
"What should I call you then?"
"Nothing. I don't even know you."
"I'm Lance. Might as well introduce ourselves, you're probably going to see me here a lot for a few weeks." There was a hint of stress in his voice, making her remember that it was almost the end of the first semester. He was probably one of those students who treated libraries like their second home when loaded with a shit ton of school projects to do.
"Wow. Productive."
"Yeah, I'm pretty studious." She could hear the sarcasm. "Anyway, see you around, Katarina."
Lance gave her another kind smile before he turned around and walked away, giving Pidge a good look on the bandaids on his arm once again.
Crossing her arms, she gave the similar cuts she had with him a gentle stroke using her fingers.
It could just a be a coincidence. It was very common for people to have cuts and bruises below their elbows. She didn't want to assume that quickly.
He couldn't be.
___
She would never take the pleasure of slouching for granted ever again. Pidge, for the umpteenth time this week, fell asleep on her study table back at her apartment earlier today. She was only supposed to take a quick nap but ended up sleeping for the whole afternoon. Now, she couldn't even look down without her neck and upper back feeling as though they had been burned with acid from the inside. She didn't miss a class though, that was a good thing.
"You okay, Pidge?" The guy across her, Hunk, asked with genuine concern when he noticed her oddly good posture and the discomfort in her expression.
Hunk was Pidge's physics partner. The two decided to work on their paired homework at the campus library, an hour before Pidge's shift started. "I'm okay. It's just– my back kinda hurts."
"What happened?"
"Took a nap on a very uncomfortable position, that's all."
"Want some pain killers? I think I have some in my bag."
She smiled with gratitude. He was as caring as ever. "No, it's fine. I already took one. But thanks, Hunk."
Just as they were about to go back to their work, the library was bombarded with a familiar obnoxious voice. "Hunk!– Oh hey, Katarina." Shushes and groans filled the room as all eyes fell on who caused the disturbance.
"Sorry." Lance whispered, suddenly being aware of where he was.
"You guys know each other?" Hunk asked quietly as Lance approached them.
"No." She said. "Yes." He said.
The one who told the truth was him. Lance wasn't kidding when he said he and Pidge would be seeing each other more often in the library starting last week. Every night he would be greeting her, wherever corner of the library she was, with that bright smile of his. Sometimes he would come with his friends for a group study, sometimes he was with his group mates for a project, but usually he would come alone to borrow some textbooks.
It had been almost two weeks since he started his daily visit. He never missed a night, and every night he would always find something new to talk about. Pidge never really liked human interaction, especially with strangers. Lance on the other hand, seemed to love initiating small talks with everyone, even with Pidge who looked small yet very intimidating and tired of everybody's shit 24/7.
It was annoying at first, but she got used to it very quickly. He just wouldn't stop until he'd get even the slightest acknowledgement. Every night she'd learn something new about him for he was very talkative.
Lance was a nursing student, had a pet cat named blue, loved rain, grew up with a lot of siblings, and apparently he had a one direction phase. Pidge learned all of these in just two weeks of daily small talks. She wouldn't admit it but she would love to learn more.
"Hunk, can I borrow your keys?"
The big guy sighs. "Lost yours again?"
Lance scratched the back of his head, letting out a few nervous laughs. "Yeah. I'll try to find it later. Please?"
Hunk then gave what seemed to be his apartment key to him with his famous disappointed face.
"You're Hunk's roommate?" She asked Lance. "That explains his lack of sleep."
"Hey." The loud mouth whined with a pout.
"So are you guys friends?" Hunk asked once again as Lance sat down beside him, carefully keeping his posture straight and perfect as if he was one slouch away from breaking his back.
"Yes." He said. "Acquaintances." She said.
Putting his hand on his chest, Lance gasped dramatically. "Katarina, c'mon. I've told you some of my deepest secrets, we're not just acquaintances."
"You having a harry styles fan account when you were 15 isn't a deep secret. Also, can you please stop calling me that?"
"You haven't told me your nickname yet."
"It's Pidge." Hunk interrupted.
"Hunk!" Pidge whisper shouted, looking very betrayed.
"What? You said you didn't want him to call you Katarina. And same, cause you don't look like a Katarina."
A sigh. "Only my friends can call me Pidge, though."
Lance let out a victorious chuckle. "Well, I'm your friend now. Deal with it, Pidge."
The blue eyed wore a proud smile after finally calling her by her nickname for the first time, as if it was some kind of achievement. Like a promotion but in Pidge's life. The room then went silent– well, it became a little more quiet with Lance's mouth shut –after a few seconds of unimpressed staring from Pidge.
The silence made their senses focus more on their surroundings. Pidge could hear pages turning, pencils on paper, and quiet chatters. The lighting of the place made it easier to read but the mood just screamed sleep. The smell of books and wood helped her mind relax. Though, the random smell of mint was so strong that it hurt her nose. Where was it coming from anyway?
"What is that smell?" Hunk asked what she was about to.
"Yeah, it's so... minty." She added.
"Oops. Uh, it's salonpas. I put some on my back and neck, hopefully to ease the pain."
Hunk spoke. "Something happened in dance practice again?"
A brow of hers lifted curiously. "Dance practice?"
"He's part of our university's dance team."
"I sure am! We're more like a pep squad though, we do a lot of awesome stunts. But no, nothing happened during practice. Or to me in general."
"So... it's your soulmate's?" Pidge found herself asking, the thought of their similar elbow cuts flashing through her mind, causing her heart rate to rise a little.
"Yup. I'd always feel back and neck aches whenever exams are near, and finals are coming up, I bet my soulmate's back with their over studying bs. They probably never sleep, or they do but not comfortably. God, I can't wait to meet them so that I could tell them how unhealthy over studying is. Don't they know prioritizing studies over health isn't always good cause–" Pidge couldn't even focus on Lance's little rant as the cogs in her brain worked to make the conclusion for her hypothesis.
Their similar cuts, the small bruises on her knees that would appear out of nowhere and the slight pain on her limbs that she would feel for no reason, Lance being part of a dance team that did a lot of stunts, him having back aches whenever there were exams, a time where her studious ass was on it's peak, always ending up sleeping on her desk.
Realization hit her like a space ship crashing on land. Suddenly it all made sense. She knew that it was possible because of the elbow cuts she saw on him when they first met. But these connections just proved her assumptions were right after all. There was no denying it.
Lance was her soulmate.
Oh god... Lance was her soulmate.
The cute guy that had been trying to befriend her– and succeeding –for weeks was the person the universe was telling her she should be with.
Wait.
Did she just thought Lance was cute?
Oh no.
There's just too much to take in. Pidge's hands started sweating as Lance finished his rant. "I've said this multiple times but I just can't wait to meet my soulmate, and take care of them because they clearly aren't taking care of themselves that well." His eyes met hers and his face soften at her shocked expression. "You okay there, Pidge?"
"Huh?" She finally zoned in. "Y-Yeah. Just fine." When she gave Hunk a glance, she immediately noticed the obvious grin that was forming on his face. Bless him, it was clear that he was trying to hide it, but he was failing so bad.
From the looks of it, Hunk also figured it out. She shook her head very slightly. Don't tell him yet.
Lance did not seem to notice Pidge giving Hunk a begging expression for he said. "Mmkay. If you say so." He stood slowly, again keeping his posture as to not hurt his back even more. "I'll be resting in our dorm for a bit before practice starts. See ya guys later!" He walked out of the library humming a mess of tunes, like some kind of a remix. Probably, a song their dance group used for a routine.
Pidge let out a sigh of relief when he was finally out of sight. Though the tension in her breathing came back as soon as she faced Hunk.
"So..." He said a little too enthusiastically. "My flirty roommate and my snarky physics partner. A perfect match."
"Ugh." Was her only response.
"You didn't tell me you've met your soulmate?"
"I just found out. Like right now. I mean I've noticed things but I just didn't want to make conclusions that quickly."
"When are you going to tell him?"
"Never. Let him find out on his own." Besides, how was she supposed to tell him anyways? Hey, we're soulmates, I was the one who gave you those back aches. or Thanks for the bruises, dude.
Would he believe her? Would he even be happy to know it was her? Pidge had seen Lance flirt with girls in the library multiple times. She knew his type and it wasn't nerdy girls with a 13 year old boy's body.
She wasn't even sure if she was okay with him being her soulmate. Still, the thought of rejection made her heart sink.
"I hate to break it to you, Pidge, but Lance might not be dumb, but he's very slow. He wouldn't know unless someone tell him."
"Fine." She knew she had to tell him sooner or later anyway. "I'll tell him when I have evidence."
"Pidge, this isn't a thesis report. And aren't his- or your back aches enough?"
"Well I can't just tell someone we're soulmates without a strong evidence right? Plus, this–" She pointed on her upper back. "is internal. There aren't any marks or anything. Therefore, it wouldn't be as convincing." Excuses. Pidge had mastered making those a long time ago. She really just wasn't ready to tell him.
It worked for Hunk though. He shrugged. "Alright. True. You win. But when you tell him, I need to know what happens. Always update me."
Lance traced the patterns on the floor. This was his favourite room in the whole building. It was larger than other dance rooms, still very elegant. This was where they teach waltz. The lesson should start in about twenty minutes and he was the only one there. Allura, his cousin, will come in five minutes and do the last preparations. She is getting married in a week, though the lessons were just as important. Lance was probably more excited than she was. He helped with the organization, from colours to cake flavours. And the flowers! He made sure their meaning would bring her and Shiro lots of luck and happiness.
"Good morning, Lance," Allura said as soon as the door opened. She knew he would be there. He always is. Lance danced for as long as he could walk and never missed a chance to dance in the studio. Allura turned on some music and the two began stretching. The students won't need that much warming up for just the basics.
At precisely nine o'clock the door opened and a head of orange hair poked in.
"Are you ready?" Coran asked. He always met up with the 'students' up front and brought them in when Allura was ready. She nodded turning of the music. There were quite a few people here today. Some, Lance could recognize from the weeks before. There were old ladies and gentlemen, middle-aged men and women, even some children here to see their parents.
Lance loved dancing with children. His siblings didn't like dancing as much as he did. The smaller ones liked standing on his feet as he twirls them around.
The lesson starts after introductions. Lance demonstrates a few things with Allura, then he was free to teach the children. And they are willing to listen. He shows them a few simple steps that could work for the song playing. They laugh as they stand in pairs. Lance ended up dancing with little Lana. She is only three ("Three and a half," she corrected). The height difference was huge but Lana wanted to dance. She reminded Lance of himself and it filled his heart with warmth. When the song changed to something quicker and her little feet couldn't keep up, Lance picked her up. He set her on his right hip and held her right hand. As if she danced a million times before, she placed the other hand on the boy's shoulder. They twirled around, they spun. When the song ended he carefully dipped Lana. She erupted in giggles and people around them in applause. The lesson must have ended before the song. Lana ran off to her parents and Lance bowed after her. He gathered his things and wawed to Allura, who was talking to some guy, before leaving. Wait, did the dude really have a mullet?
So!! I finally got around to forming a rough outline of my dance au, with which @jamingspacejam‘s helping! I’m very excited about it. This is Lance’s character sheet!
After three weeks of non-stop fighting, they had finally gotten a break and Allura took the castle-ship to deep space for a much needed reprieve. It had been a hard decision, but her paladins had needed a break, and the castle-ship needed some repairs. Each paladin had slept for a solid day, even Shiro, though that was more due to the fact that the others had insisted on a “paladin pile”, as they called it, in the lounge.
After that initial rest, however, the paladins all went back to their own stress-relieving projects. Hunk made some recipes he had been dying to try, Keith and Shiro began to train and spar, occasionally taking a break to visit Hunk, Pidge hid herself in the green lions hangar to work on a “top secret project that you are all gonna love me for”, and Lance wandered. Sometimes he sat with Blue, talking to her for hours; other times, he checked on all his teammates. More than once, shouting could be heard from the green lions hangar for minutes at a time before Pidge emerged, grumbling irritably, and made her way to the kitchen and then her room, ushered by a satisfied Lance.
Two days into their mini vacation, Pidge ran into the kitchen, where all the other inhabitants of the castle were waiting for breakfast, at full speed, clutching a bundle of wires, with a huge grin on her face. It looked to Lance like she hadn’t slept at all the night before, and he gave her an irritated look that she ignored.
“It’s official, I am a genius, and you should all bow to me, because I just made your lives so much better!” She jumps up and down, excited and probably more than a little caffeinated.
“Uh… why?” Keith asked.
“Because of… these!” She thrust her bundle of wires in Keith’s face so hard he almost fell out of his chair.
Holding Keith in place and smiling slightly, Shiro said, “You might want to explain what those are before trying to suffocate people with them, Pidge.”
“Oh, right!” She untangled on of the wires from her bundle, which turned out to just be a smaller bundle of wires with a somewhat solid end. Glancing around the kitchen, she seemed to find what she was looking for and dashed to one of the Altean cooking things that reminded Lance of a toaster. Hiding what she was doing, she set to work. After a minute she turned around triumphantly, holding her phone that was - oh. Oh! Lance gaped at the shining light coming from her phone screen and she grinned at him. “I made chargers.”
After, there was complete chaos as Hunk and Lance hugged Pidge, yelling about how wonderful she was, then set to work untangling their own chargers. Shiro, obviously, didn’t have a phone, and Keith hadn’t had one even on earth, so they explained what Pidge had done and why they were so excited about it to Coran and Allura.
For the rest of the morning, Hunk played music gleefully in the kitchen and cooked, Lance sitting folded into himself at the table, looking through his pictures and videos. They talked occasionally, but mostly they just enjoyed each other’s company and the earth music.
After lunch, Lance was the first one to leave, unplugging his phone from the charger, ruffling Pidges hair as she flipped him the bird, and dashing out as fast as he could. Allura raised an eyebrow at Lances behavior and looked at Hunk questioningly. Hunk could only shrug and smile, just as out of the loop as the rest. Once everybody is finished, Hunk happily cleans up, then retires to the main hangar to work on Yellow. Hours later, Keith storms into the room, followed closely by Shiro, the latter looking exasperated.
“What is Lance doing?” The red paladin demands. Hunk blinks at him, putting his Altean kind-of-wrench down.
“I don’t know? What is Lance doing?” Now that he thinks about it, Hunk hasn’t seen his friend since lunch. Usually Hunk sees Lance at least twice a day when the blue paladin comes to check on him, but he hasn’t come at all today, which worries Hunk.
Shiro sighs, cutting Keith off and placing a hand on his shoulder. “He’s been on the training deck for hours and he won’t open the door or even say anything. I think what Keith means to say,” he gives the red paladin a look at this, “ is, is Lance okay? He doesn’t normally train extra, and he definitely doesn’t usually ignore us.”
Hunk is suddenly even more concerned because, no, that is not like his best friend at all. If he was in a bad mood or didn’t feel good, he would have come to Hunk or Blue or Coran. Lance loves people, he takes comfort in being around people. Hunk can’t think of a reason that Lance would lock himself away from others. “Yeah, yeah, that’s weird. Did you try the door to the observation box?”
Shiro nods. “Locked, too. We couldn’t find Coran anywhere, so we came to you.” Keith crosses his arms and nods, too.
“Oh, well, I don’t have the code for it, but Coran should be in the infirmary. Come on, I wanna know what’s wrong with Lance.” They all leave together, walking quickly to the infirmary. They grab a slightly confused Coran and haul him out, explaining the situation. They’re all walking so fast they literally run into Pidge, and the small girl hits the ground with a loud oof! “Sorry, Pidge, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you, are you hurt?”
Pidge picks herself up from the floor carefully, dusting herself off and picking up her phone. “Hunk, I’m fine, I promise, it’s okay. Where are all of you going in such a hurry, anyways?”
Coran answers her quickly. “We’re going to see what is ailing number three, he’s locked himself in the training deck. Would you like to join, number five?”
Pidge rolls her eyes at the nickname. “What makes you think something’s wrong with him? Couldn’t he just be training? You guys train all the time.”
Hunk shakes his head and says, “ Yeah, but for hours?”
Pidge tilts her head, considering. “Well, didn’t Keith just beat that new level with the gladiator? That made him kinda jealous, he’s probably just trying to beat Keith.” Keith makes an “as if” noise. “But if you still want to see, I’d love to see him get his ass kicked.” She turns to walk ahead of them, but not before Hunk catches the way her face falls into a look of concern, making him think she doesn’t entirely believe what she said.
In just a few minutes, they’re in the observation box. They pile in, all straining to look out the window. “What is he doing?” Keith asks, confused when they find the blue paladin sitting in the middle of training deck, legs bent and eyes closed, arms hanging limply by his side.
“Is he okay?” Pidge asks worriedly. Coran reaches for the intercom just as everything clicks for Hunk. He gasps and all but yells, “Wait!” Coran freezes and they all stare at Hunk.
“Just wait. I know what’s happening. Coran is there a way for us to hear the training deck, but for the training deck to not hear us?” Coran nods and Hunk can’t help but grinning. “Okay, do that. You guys just watch, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier, I’m so stupid!”
“You’re not stupid,” Keith protests, but Hunk shushes him, shooting him a smile.
Coran hits a button and music suddenly fills the observation box. At first it’s just piano. Lance sits in his position, eyes closed. Keith starts to open his mouth again but Hunk holds up his hand and points back down at Lance, still grinning. The piano slows down and they hear singing.
And Lance moves.
At first, it’s small. He moves his right hand and left leg at the same time, pushing them both out and down. He slowly releases his head toward the ceiling, then he plants his hand on the floor and twist over himself, standing up, and he’s off. For someone as tall and lanky as Lance, he moves with surprising grace. His movements flow, and he reminds Shiro of the ocean tide, pushing and pulling his body with practiced ease. They watch, dumbfounded, amazed. Lance steps with the beat of the drum, side then front, and then he’s spinning with his leg out at a ninety degree angle. A fouette, Shiro thinks it’s called. From what little Shiro knows about dance, he thinks those are supposed to be pretty hard. He can imagine, with the balance and the spinning, which is why he’s amazed when Lance does eight. He doesn’t stop, though, instead pulling his foot in to touch his knee for two rotations, then his ankle for three more rotations. He ends by throwing his arms in front of him, palms spread wide, and sliding down into a middle split before rolling and standing again. Shiro can only stare, and suddenly he understands how Lance can shoot his bayard so quickly with so much accuracy, because the boy doesn’t even look dizzy. He just keeps going, keeps moving, and Shiro can’t help but marvel at how flexible his teammate is. He thinks the team needs to start taking Lances comments about stretching before training more seriously. Behind him, he hears Hunk start talking, pride evident in his voice.
“Lance and his older sister used to take dance classes together. I remember, after the first one, Lance talking for hours about how much fun it was. They were both really good, too, especially together. Believe me, those two loved to perform for literally anybody anywhere, so I’ve seen a lot. That’s actually how Lance got to go to the Garrison. This guy, really rich, told them both that he’d give them full ride scholarships to his school. His sister accepted, but Lance said that he wanted to be a pilot, which was luckily the perfect thing to say, because the guy had lots of family at the Garrison too. He told Lance that if he worked for him, teaching little kids to dance, for a few years that he would pay for Lance to go to the Garrison. I’m pretty sure he fainted when he heard that. He was always so worried that if he didn’t do well that his scholarship would get taken away. But anyways, I can’t believe I didn’t realize this is what he was doing, he hasn’t gotten to dance since the last semester at the Garrison because of those stupid cadets making fun of him, of course he’d do it for hours once he got his playlist back!”
Keith isn’t too shocked that Lance had needed a scholarship to attend the Garrison with how big his family is, not to mention the fact that Keith himself had a full ride scholarship, but he is surprised at the source. Though, considering what he’s watching, he really shouldn’t be. The song below changes, this new one faster and with a heavy beat, and Lance changes with it, pausing for a second and listening before moving again, a grin splitting his sweaty face. Keith stares, entranced, as his teammate movements become faster and sharper, more precise. He looks like he’s concentrating really hard, and when he stumbles and stops for a second before resuming, Keith realizes that Lance isn’t just making this one up as he goes; he’s trying to remember a previously choreographed dance.
As the song fades out, Lance slides back to the ground. The song changes, but Lance doesn’t move. He just lays there on his back, breathing hard and smiling contentedly.
Hunk ushers everybody out quickly, claiming Lance wouldn’t like to know that they’d been spying on him. Coran looks at him, utterly dismayed at this proclamation.
“Why the quiznack would Lance be anything but proud at that? Even by Altean standards, that was fantastic!”
Hunk sighs. “Yeah, you know that, and I know that, and Lance knows that, he does, but… You gotta understand. It doesn’t matter how good he is. People have made fun of him for it, and it hurt him. He loves dancing and performing, showing off, but what those guys said really tore into him. And it wasn’t just once. They made fun of him hard and for a long time, and his self-esteem was getting better, but then it wans still pretty low. The only time he felt confident was when he was dancing, and they ruined that. He stopped dancing in front of people after that, and I know I should have stopped you guys and respected that, but… I wanted you guys to know how awesome he is at it, once I saw him doing it again. I can see how impressed you guys are, and I love that, because I’m still impressed every time I see him, but please don’t tell him you saw him.” Hunk finishes, his hands out pleadingly.
Shiro nods and claps a hand on Hunks back. “We get it, Hunk. You want to protect him. We’ll try, but I gotta say, at least for me, it’s gonna be pretty hard, because that really was amazing.”
-
Despite Hunks pleads, over the next few weeks, they all watch Lance dance. Even Allura. Every time Lance locked the training deck, at least one person was in the observation box. They can’t help it, he’s just so fun. He’s good and talented, sure, but that’s not all. The way he moves just catches your eye, and you can’t help but watch him, because it’s so obvious that he’s having fun and enjoying himself, and that just makes his audience enjoy themselves.
At dinner one night, Lance comes in late. He’s freshly showered and he looks tired, but nobody comments on it. He sits down beside Hunk at the table and plays with his food goo. About twenty minutes later, when the various conversations dwindle out and everybody is fairly done eating, Lance looks up and around at the group. “So,” he says, waiting until all eyes are on him before looking at Pidge across the table. “Did you enjoy the show?” He asks calmly. Pidges reaction is instantaneous. Her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and her mouth opens and closes multiple times before she just squeaks and covers her face with her hands. Lance raises his eyebrow at her and looks around the table. Everybody else’s reactions were about the same, varying in degree of horror and shame. It’s silent for a few seconds before everybody starts talking all at once.
“I’m so sorry-”
“We didn’t mean to-!”
“We didn’t realize that’s what-”
“We can explain-”
They all cut off when Lance throws his head back and laughs. “Guys! It’s okay, I promise.” His grin changes then, to something more earnest and vulnerable. “But seriously, what did you guys think? I mean, I know it’s been awhile since I really practiced, and the songs aren’t always exactly right, and I messed up a lot, and I’m not really where I used to be-” His rambling is cut off by Pidge, and she looks flabbergasted.
“Are you kidding me?! You are literally amazing! We were all so impressed when we first saw you, I had no idea you could move like that!” Everybody else nods in agreement. Lance smile grows bigger and bigger with every word.
Hunk smiles at him. “Yeah, dude, you still got it.” He looks at Lance with apprehension evident on his face. “But, how did you find out? And why aren’t you mad?”
His returning smile is one full of love. “You guys really aren’t subtle, like at all. I finished that first day Pidge fixed the phones and spent a good 15 minutes preparing myself for you guys to question me nonstop about why I was on the training deck for so long, but not one of you even mentioned it. Not even Keith, and let’s face it dude, you monopolize that place like no other and you always get pissed if you can’t use it. But you didn’t say anything. At all. That was suspicious. Then, Pidge gave me all the music from her’s and Hunk’s phones, and made a point to say that a bunch of them had really good beats, which, okay, isn’t all that suspicious on its own, but combined with everything else, it was wacky. And then Coran showed me how to do an Altean dance, just, out of the blue. And Allura! Allura asked if I could help her dust up on her ballroom dancing for diplomatic relations.
“So, yeah. And I’m not mad because… well. I guess I should be. But once I figured out someone was up there watching me again, I was nervous at first, but then… it became easier. More fun. I started doing things to impress you guys and then I just felt so loose and free, because it’s been so long since I did something like that, since I pushed myself like that. I mean, sure, we push ourselves with our lions and in training, but that’s never been just fun for me, ya know? Not like… not like that, not like when I’m dancing. And, I mean, it actually does help, with training and stuff. It’s not just goofing off or any-” He’s cut off by an insistent Keith throwing his hands in the air and all but shouting,
“Dude! We know, and even if it was just relaxing, it’d be okay. You deserve it. We all do. And… honestly, I’d like to learn how to do some of that stuff.” Keith pulls his hands to himself and looks down, suddenly apprehensive. “For training. Just for training.”
“Did the great Keith Kogane just ask me to teach him how to do something?” Lance stares at him for a second and then throws his head back and laughs delightedly. He jumps up and runs around the table, and before anyone can say anything, he throws his arms around Keith in an embrace. “Yeah! I totally will, dude! For training! I’ll totally teach you how to dance!” Keith looks very uncomfortable squished up against Lances side, but gratified all the same.
As he lets Keith go, Lances smile turns into a smirk and he says, “Maybe we can have a bonding moment.”
Keith’s face turns red in embarrassment, then anger. “You son of a bitch!” He reaches for Lance’s arm, probably to break it, but Lance dances out of the way, cackling. “Get back here so I can shove your bonding moment up your ass! LANCE!” Keith leaves the dining room at a run, leaving Pidge and Hunk cackling, Allura and Shiro looking embarrassed but amused, and Coran looking confused.
Lance ends up giving the entire team dance lessons. They go about as well as expected.
