Pidge got dressed up to go dancing in Cuba for her and Lance’s 1st anniversary. Lance no longer wants to go and instead wants to spend the night living it up in their hotel room. ;-)
“The Black Paladins of Voltron traveled from galaxy to galaxy. They explored the universe further than anyone before them. The pair took each step hand-in-hand, never without their other half--”
-The Legend of Voltron by Katie “Pidge” Holt
Am I the only one who would pay to see a series of just Keith and Shiro traveling the universe together after Voltron?
Technically a continuation of The One Where the Wrong One Answered the Door, but could be read alone, I guess.
It’d been three months since the wedding. Three months since Pidge knocked on a hotel door and had an experience that changed everything.
Her first sense to begin working in the morning was smell. She could smell something being cooked, something savory and salty with a hint of sweetness… breakfast sausage?
Then it was her hearing. She could hear something sizzling, and she could hear the radio playing in the kitchen, she could hear his voice singing along to the words and it brought a smile to her face.
Then her sight. She opened her eyes, squinting against the sunlight that assaulted her eyes through the cracks in the blinds of her window. She saw the indent of Hunk’s head in the pillow beside her and sighed.
Then her sense of touch. She felt the soft fabric of the covers wrapped around her legs and the cool air of the A/C hitting her bare back. She felt the comforting ache in legs and the tangles in her hair as she sat up, looking around her.
She got up from the bed and put her hair up into a bun before tossing on Hunk’s sweater because she was cold and his sweaters always encased her in warmth and well his scent too. She brushed her teeth then left the room, walking to the kitchen and leaning against the wall as she watched him cook.
His shirt hugged his frame, showing off broad shoulders and the curved of muscles in his arms. She smiled and walked over, wrapping her arms around his middle and leaning into his back.
“Morning,” he said, turning to wrap an arm around her and kiss her lightly on the lips.
“Why do you wake up so early?” she grumbled as she hopped onto the counter. Hunk chuckled and turned away for a moment. When he returned, he had a cup of coffee for her which made Pidge blush and smile. “You’re perfect.”
“My mom always said food was the way to a girl’s heart.”
“She was right.”
Hunk smiled at her and pulled out some plates before serving the food. They took it to the couch where they searched for something decent to watch on the TV while eating. In the end, they’d finished their food without finding anything. But that was normal for a Saturday.
And like every Saturday lately, after breakfast, Pidge found herself in Hunk’s lap, kissing him lazily between whispers and laughter and blushing cheeks. They ended up in her bed again and honestly, she had no idea how she’d gone so long without realizing what she had in front of her.
“You taste like breakfast,” Hunk mumbled against her lips.
“Don’t be gross,” she chided, playfully pushing him away. He opted to burrow his face in her neck instead, making her laugh. “One more?”
“You’re gonna be the death of me.”
She laughed and shrugged. “Seems like a good way to go.” Hunk gave her a beaming smile before kissing her.
Somewhere between whines and pants and stifled curses, a phone rang. Pidge’s phone. She ignored it, but it started up again, making her groan as she used shaking limbs to shuffle off of Hunk and reached for her phone on the dresser. Matt.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice a lot steadier than she felt.
“Jeez Pidge, you’re still asleep? It’s almost one!”
She snorted and looked over at Hunk who was looking at her with a mix of frustrated longing and curious confusion. “It’s also a Saturday. What’s up?”
“Well, I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out? I haven’t really been with you since I got back from the honeymoon and Shiro’s hanging out with Keith.” Pidge’s heart swelled and she had to admit she missed hanging out with her brother. They used to spend every day together especially when planning the wedding, and then it just stopped. “I can pick you up in an hour?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll see you soon, then. Love you, Matt.”
“Love you too, Pidgeon.”
She hung up and went back to Hunk wrapping the blankets around them. “My brother misses me.”
“Have I been stealing you away?” Hunk whispered into her hair, hands gently caressing her sides. She hummed and shook her head. “How long till he gets here?”
“An hour,” she yawned. “I can get ready in like twenty minutes, though.”
“So you’re telling me I have forty minutes?”
She smirked and took his lip between her teeth. “Show me what you’ve got, babe.” Hunk laughed and kissed her again as Pidge barely managed to turn her clock just enough to see the time before he scooped her into his arms.
--
“Jesus, remind me to give you limited time more often,” Pidge breathed as she got dressed, still feeling dizzy and weak. Hunk snorted and tugged on his shoes. Pidge brushed through her hair with her fingers as he walked over to her.
He tilted her face up and kisses her. “When are you going to tell Matt?”
She hummed and shrugged. “Eventually. I never dated before, and he’s pretty cool about everything. I just… don’t know how he’ll react to us. But it’s been pretty fun messing with Keith and Lance.”
“They’re both so dense, I’m surprised they still haven’t caught on.”
She laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “I’ll figure out a way. I promise. Just be a little patient.”
“Alright,” he relented, leaning in to kiss her. “See you later.”
As he left, Pidge went to the bathroom to make sure any hickies or bite marks were covered up. She was a little annoyed that she had to wear jeans instead of shorts because of the bruises in the shape of fingertips that littered her thigh. It was too hot to be dealing with jeans. But it would’ve been worse to have Matt notice them and know Pidge was up to something with someone.
She still looked hazy and blissed out since she hadn’t given herself time to recuperate and simply kept moving, a task which her legs were definitely angry with her for. But it proved good timing when her phone chimed with a message from Matt saying he was on his way.
A few minutes later, Matt was knocking on her door and engulfing her in a hug. “How’s the married life treating you?” she asked with a smirk as she locked her door and followed him out.
He laughed and shrugged. “It’s nice. It’s normal, you know?” She hummed. She had a good idea of what he meant. “I’m waiting on the day that the arguments over bills and holiday dinners start.”
“Those are oddly specific.”
“Mom and Dad always argued over that. Or the TV. I dunno.” She laughed and shook her head. They got into his car and Matt drove over to the mall where they window shopped for a bit and Pidge asked about Japan where Matt had gone for his honeymoon. Most of the day was filled with mindless chatter and sibling banter. Once they were too tired, Matt drove over to an ice cream place nearby. “So how’ve you been? What have you been up to?”
She took a spoonful of ice cream and shrugged. “Not much. Working, playing video games, hanging out with Hunk. Getting used to having my own life.”
“Well, you look happier.” She furrowed her eyebrows and gave him a look. “Seriously. There’s a bounce to your step and you smile more often. You don’t need a reason anymore.”
“Um, thanks, I think?”
He chuckled and looked down at his ice cream. “I’m just saying it’s nice to see you’re holding up okay. Mom told me you were a little down during the rehearsal.”
Pidge grimaced and groaned. “Seriously? Ugh, this is why I don’t vent.” She sniffed and shrugged, eating more ice cream. “But yeah, I’m okay.”
“Did you hear that Keith and Lance started dating?” She choked on her ice cream and had to cough for a moment while Matt laughed. “I take that as a no.”
“Since when?” she choked out.
Matt shrugged. “I dunno. Lance told me. I think that’s why Keith met up with Shiro today. I thought he’d have told you.”
“I haven’t seen him in two weeks. We were supposed to have a game night, but he bailed. Probably for Keith, that slippery little shit,” she muttered. She figured she wasn’t one to talk since she and Hunk had been hiding their relationship for months. Still. Lance was a little shit.
“Well, I guess everyone’s been out of touch since we got back. I’m not surprised you and Hunk still hang out though.” She scoffed at the irony of that and ate more of her ice cream. “You know we haven’t had a game night in a while. We should have one of our own.”
“Aw, you really do miss me,” she teased. Matt pinched her and ruffled her hair affectionately. “I left my controller at Hunk’s though, so I need to go get it.”
“We can play with Hunk too. It’d be rude to just stop at his place for a controller.” Pidge nodded. “So, how work? Anything new in your world in the last three months?”
Pidge hummed and wondered how she was supposed to bring Hunk up. For one, her brother would be upset she didn’t tell him sooner. Another thing was… how was she supposed to tell him they started dating? She couldn’t just say, Yeah we fucked around during your wedding weekend because I felt lonely but then realized we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Jesus Christ.
“Pidge?” She hummed and Matt frowned. “You okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah, sorry. Um… well. Not much really. After years of fighting a real life Star Wars, Earth just… gets a little boring.”
Matt nodded sympathetically and took her hand. “Well, at least we’re not risking our lives anymore.” She smiled and nodded. “To us and being normal and boring,” he said lifting his ice cream cup. Pidge nudged hers with his and smiled.
--
Pidge let Hunk know that they’d be stopping by to play video games, which he didn’t mind. There was a lilting question in Hunk’s voice he opened the door, and Pidge could only shake her head very subtly.
“Hunk, how’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Hunk hugged him back and chuckled. “I know. It’s weird not hanging out with you all the time like we used to. What’s marriage like?”
“It’s not that different from dating, except now I have a ring to show off,” he answered with a shrug and a smile. “He’s currently discussing Keith’s new relationship with Lance. Did he tell you about that?”
“What? No, I didn’t get told.”
“It’s been going for a while, I think. Based on what Lance said.”
Hunk frowned and sat on the couch. “I don’t know why he wouldn’t have told me. We talk often enough.” He shook his head and shrugged. “Well, hey go ahead and pick a game. Pidge, your controller is next to the console.”
For a few hours, they played video games and did their best to sabotage each other while playing. Pidge laughed until her stomach hurt, more than happy when the nostalgia of hanging out with Matt and Hunk hit her as they sprawled across Hunk’s living room. It had been a lot like this back on the castle ship, and if Pidge were honest she missed it. Not the fighting, but the moments like these. Moments when Lance would insist on having her and Hunk and Allura joining him on the face mask routine which- as much as she insisted she hated- was actually pretty fun. She missed sparring with Keith because he never went easy on her or Shiro- who was now her brother-in-law which was funny in retrospect- nagging her to eat and not sleep in.
This moment felt a little more like routine, it felt familiar.
She was sitting comfortably with her back against Matt’s arms and her feet in Hunk’s lap, going against Hunk for the game when Matt laughed out loud and leaned over to hit Hunk’s arm. “Dude did a vamp suck on your neck or something?”
Hunk’s hand flew to his neck, which gave Pidge the perfect in to beat him at the game. “Ha! Take that, motherfu- wait what?” She belatedly processed Matt’s words and felt her face go red.
“Very funny. It’s not even that big.”
Matt shoved Pidge off unceremoniously and poked at Hunk’s neck despite Hunk slapping his hand away. “You have more than one! Dude! Spill! You got a girl? Or is it a boy? Never really knew who you were into.”
Hunk stared between the Holt siblings, one looking at him expectantly, the other panicked. “…No?”
“A one night stand?” Matt yelped. “Hunk. Details.” Matt shook Pidge and gestured at Hunk. “Make him tell us.”
“What? Why me?” she answered indignantly.
“Fine then you tell me.”
“What do I know!”
Matt groaned and looked at Hunk. “Well, was she good?”
“I don’t think you want me to answer that.” Pidge jerked back and crossed her arms. “What?”
“I dunno,” she said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Was she?”
“Seriously?” Hunk groaned and rubbed his face. “That’s not what I meant-”
“Yikes, that means no,” Matt snickered. Pidge raised an eyebrow.
“No it doesn’t! I just don’t want to talk about that with you.” Hunk tossed Matt the controller. There was a moment of silence as Pidge reset the game. “That’s like me asking you to indulge in the details of your sex life with Shiro.”
“Well-”
“Ah! La-la la la-la!” Pidge yelped, covering her ears. “Nope! Don’t wanna hear that. I have to pee.” She stood up, shuddering at the idea of hearing about Matt’s… endeavors. Nope.
She used the bathroom and washed her hands, but before she left, she stared at herself in the mirror. She did want to tell Matt. She just didn’t know how. She’d been with Hunk for about two hours now and hadn’t gotten a single kiss, hadn’t been able to snuggle up beside him or at least sit in his lap while she completely destroyed him in the game.
She didn’t like it. It felt like they were in a fight or something. And it’s not like they were hiding it because they were ashamed…. It was just a fun little game. Now it was just getting harder to come out and say it.
Suddenly the sound of Hunk shouting, “Katie!” made her jump and she left the bathroom quickly. She was confused when she found Hunk using the couch as a barrier between him and a very furious Matt. “Help!”
“What the fuck are you doing with that, you pervert!” Matt shouted. “Katie, get over here!”
“What the hell is going on?” she shouted over them as they scurried around the couch. Matt scrambled onto the couch as a shortcut and Hunk moved behind Pidge using her as a shield.
“Get your hands off her!”
Immediately, Hunk let her go, but remained behind her. “Matt! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“He has a picture of you sleeping on his phone!” He turned red, whether from anger or embarrassment. “Naked.”
Pidge felt her stomach drop and sighed. She looked at Hunk and put a hand on her hip. “Is he talking about your screensaver?” Hunk nodded. “Oh God.”
“My phone lit up, what was I supposed to do?” he muttered.
“You knew?”
Pidge looked at Hunk again and then took a deep breath. “Okay, Matt, calm down. Yeah, I knew. And it’s not naked, okay, I have a fucking blanket on- whatever! Yeah. Yeah. It’s just… um….” She laughed nervously and spread her hands out to say surprise! “Me and Hunk are sort of….”
“Wait. The one night stand. Was my sister?” Matt shouted, starting for Hunk again, but Pidge pushed him back.
“No! Matt, stop it!” She sighed and put her hands on his shoulders, keeping him back and also reassuring him. “We’re not… just a fling. Okay, we’re actually dating.”
Matt frowned and looked between them. “Since when? You said there was nothing new going on!”
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” she said. “We started dating about a week after the wedding.”
“What do you mean you didn’t know? Just… ‘Hey Matt, I started dating my best friend.’ You know like when I told you about Shiro?” he snapped.
She rolled her eyes and blushed. “Because! It didn’t… exactly… start off traditionally….” She grimaced as Matt processed the words.
He rubbed his face and winced. “O-oh. Oh God. Ew. Okay. Now I get why Hunk didn’t want to answer me earlier.” He turned away and ran his hands through his hair. “So this is serious?”
Pidge looked at Hunk and smiled. He took her hand and nodded. “Yeah. Really serious.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Nope,” Pidge chuckled awkwardly. “It started off like a game because we wanted to see how long until Lance and Keith realized it, but… they haven’t exactly caught on, so…. We’ll tell them when they tell us about their getting together.” She shrugged. “Come on, it’s getting late and… I have a feeling we need to talk.”
Matt scoffed and gave her a look that said enough. “Alright. Sorry for trying to attack you, buddy.”
“It’s cool,” Hunk answered with a nervous smile. Pidge squeezed his hand. “Drive safe.”
“I will. We’ll talk later, yeah?” Hunk nodded as Matt walked to the front door.
Pidge turned to him and laughed. “I told you to change that picture,” she chided.
“But you look so cute and peaceful.” He showed her the screen. She was sleeping soundly on her stomach in her bed, her hair splayed out, and her shoulders hunched as she wrapped the thin sheets around her. “You can’t even see anything.” She hummed and rolled her eyes. “Let me know how that talk goes.”
“You bet,” she said with a smile. “I’ll talk to you later. Now give me a kiss because I’ve been holding back.” Hunk laughed and leaned down to kiss her fondly, cupping her face gently. Pidge smiled and nudged her nose against his. “Finally,” she whispered. “Okay, I gotta go. Bye.” She pecked his lips one more time before hurrying out to join Matt in the car.
Hunk waved at them before shutting the door and Matt started driving back to her place. It was a quiet ride which made it… so very awkward. Matt followed her into her apartment and sat across her at the small dining table.
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“You sound mad.”
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “No. I’m not. Really. I like Hunk. And frankly, if you asked me, he’d be my first pick for you. I know that… you were eventually gonna start having sex, I just… you’re still my little sister and I feel protective.” She winced and nodded. “I just want to be sure you’re being careful. In every sense, I mean. Relationship wise, sex wise, with yourself. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Hunk wouldn’t hurt me,” she whispered.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just…. It’s your first relationship right? I don’t want you to rush into things because you just want to experience them. And… I’m worried that this is just a result of you having felt lonely on the wedding day, and I don’t want that to come between you and Hunk as friends. I don’t want you to get knocked up before you want to, I don’t want you depending on a relationship to be happy.”
Pidge sighed and put her head in her hands. “That’s not what I’m doing, Matt.” She looked up and clenched her jaw. “I know I don’t need a relationship. I don’t need one to be whole or whatever other sappy romance shit comes from TV. Yeah, I was lonely. Now I’m not, and even though I don’t need a relationship, it’s nice having one. I know Hunk like the back of my hand, and I’m happy with him. I’m comfortable. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else, and he knows me better than anyone except maybe you. And yeah, I’m smart enough to know what precautions to take to not end up pregnant, thanks.” She shifted in her seat and ran a hand through her hair.
She stared at the wall for a bit and tried to keep herself calm. Matt furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. “What is it?”
Pidge took a deep breath. She looked at Matt and grimaced. “I have a confession. You know how I said we didn’t exactly start out in a very traditional way?” Matt nodded. “I went to his hotel room the night before the wedding. I was a drunk lightweight and I was sad and lonely, and Mom made me feel like maybe I ‘d just have to learn to live with being alone and be okay with that, and that… felt shitty.” She paused and stared at the table. “But it wasn’t Hunk I was looking for.”
“What?”
Pidge covered her face and groaned. “I know, it sounds awful! But it was supposed to be this one time thing to make me feel better, and Lance had talked to me when he saw me getting upset, and he’s so good at being a romantic and I figured, ‘hey, he’d probably be cool with acting a little sappy then moving on like nothing happened,’ so yeah I went to the freaking room looking for Lance, but Lance wasn’t there, Hunk was.”
“Jesus Christ, Katie.”
“Don’t let me off the hook that easy,” she muttered sarcastically.
Matt scoffed and shook his head. “What! No! I didn’t mean to…. I’m sorry. I just… I’m processing. I take it Hunk doesn’t know that?” She shook her head. “Would this have happened if it had been Lance that opened the door?”
She frowned and shook her head. “No. No way. Lance is my friend and all, but…. I don’t have the connection with him like I have with Hunk. Lance would’ve laughed it off, moved on, I don’t know. Hunk…. Hunk is who I’m meant to be with. And honestly? After Voltron and finding all these aliens and meeting Slav and having been to an alternate reality…. I’m not really struggling with the idea of it being fate. Hunk was supposed to be the one answering the door. Not Lance.”
Matt chuckled and rubbed his face. “You have a point there.” He sighed and looked at his sister. “You can always talk to me, Pidge. About anything, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Pidge scoffed and flipped her hair back. “Please. You’re talking to the green paladin. I can handle it.”
He smiled and punched her arm. “Yeah, but I’m still your big brother. I’m always gonna want to protect my little sister, no matter how much of a badass she is.”
She smiled and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Thanks, Matt,” she managed to whisper past the knot in her throat. “I love you.”
--
The next day, Pidge was cleaning up the apartment a bit when a knock came at her door. She opened it to see Hunk and smiled when he leaned in to kiss her.
“How’d the talk go?” he asked, tugging at her ponytail.
“It went well. It was… very emotional,” she chuckled. “He wasn’t upset or anything.”
Hunk hummed and nodded. “I didn’t think he’d be. He came to talk to me today.”
Pidge winced and looked up at him. “Did he give you the whole ‘if you hurt my sister, I hurt you’ thing?”
Hunk laughed and shook his head. He tugged on a loose strand of hair that had fallen in her face. “No, actually. He made it very clear that if I ever hurt you, you would have no problem kicking my ass.” Pidge snorted and hid her face in his chest. His hand rubbed up and down her back affectionately, and she hummed as he kissed the top of her head. “Pidge?” he whispered. She looked up and felt his hand stroke her cheek. “You know I would never, ever hurt you, right?”
She smiled and nodded, pressing her cheek into his hand. “You make me really happy, Hunk.”
“That’s good to hear.” He tilted her face up and she opened her eyes. “Why don’t we go out for burgers and milkshakes? You look like you could use a break.” Pidge smiled and nodded, leaning up on her toes to kiss him. Then she went to her room and changed, quickly brushing through her hair and touching up her face so she didn’t look like she’d stayed up until morning hours scrolling through her phone the night before.
Hunk took her to a local joint with a fifties vibe, full with roller-skaters bring the food and authentic milkshakes. She couldn’t stop laughing or smiling which wasn’t new with Hunk. They’d always had this type of dynamic. He was someone she could understand and someone who understood her. She loved Keith and Lance to bits, but Hunk had always held a special place in her heart as someone who understood her in a way the others just didn’t.
As she listened to him talk and watched him smile, she wondered again how she could’ve gone so long without realizing that the most perfect person for her in the whole universe was right there from the start. Her best friend.
When they returned to Hunk’s apartment, they started watching movies and Pidge cuddled up beside, promptly falling asleep against the warmth he provided. She wondered if this comfort, this level of perfect silence and soft kisses and mindless touches… was this what it was to love someone?
