#vldsecretsantaexchange2020

[quintessenceofdust73]

An excerpt from Chapter 1 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story” by Quinn73 on AO3:

In the morning, Pidge tried to keep busy, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She missed Lance so much she felt as if there was a great black hole in her heart that was ready to swallow up any bright rays of happiness she gleaned from reminiscing. She began to wonder if she was going mad when the tears began to fall again. She collapsed on the bed in a puddle of self-doubt and misery.

Pidge was soon dehydrated from crying, and hungry from skipping breakfast that morning. In spite of all that, she was planning to avoid going downstairs for lunch when she heard her mother calling her.

“You have a package, dear. It just arrived by drone delivery,” her mother explained.

“I’ll be right down, Mom.”

She thought she had received all of her Christmas presents from her friends and relatives, both from loved ones near and far away, but apparently not. The drone had delivered a little package that was concealed by a plain brown wrapper. When Pidge removed the plain paper, a small box wrapped in shiny green foil was revealed. Inside the little box was an ornament sculpted to resemble a small but plump winged bird nesting in a fruit tree. A pidgeon?! Well, her nickname was Pidge. No, not a pidgeon. A partridge. It was a partridge in a pear tree. There was no note or return address, only a small card with the number 23 printed in black ink on it.

Colleen remarked that the design was probably a reference to some ancient carol. Pidge hung the ornament up on the Holts’ Christmas tree. She threw away the wrappings, but she kept the card. Why the number 23? Who sent it, and what could it possibly mean?

She took out her phone and photographed the ornament and the card with the number 23 on it. There was a mystery to be solved here, she realized, and this was the first clue.

@waterthegarden @nessajjewell You might want to follow this series. 😉 @voltronsecretsanta

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68595150#comments

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[whatarubberchicken]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Curtis/Shiro (Voltron) Characters: Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Curtis (Voltron), Kuron (Voltron), Veronica (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Keith's Wolf (Voltron), kosmo, Krolia (Voltron) Additional Tags: Minor Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), post-season 8, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gay Disaster Shiro (Voltron), POV Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Shiro (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Pining Keith (Voltron), Galra customs, Galra Traditions, Hair Braiding, Getting Together, Curtis Ships Sheith, Kuron is a Disembodied Voice, Voltron Secret Santa 2020, Endgame Sheith Summary:

Shiro loves Keith. Of that, he never had any doubt. But with everything in their past haunting them (and a rather impressive amount of denial making it seemingly impossible to talk), there must be another way to convey his feelings, right? How many people does it take to get two Black Paladins together?

[quintessenceofdust73]

In this excerpt from chapter 3 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story,” Pidge daydreams about a happy memory before obtaining the next clues. The flashback refers to the events in my earlier story, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

They had sung that song together as a duet last year at the Garrison’s karaoke Christmas Eve party, and Lance had kissed her for the first time right after that. He dared to kiss her under the mistletoe while they were still on the stage, right in front of her family, the other Paladins, and all of her other friends, not to mention all of the various military dignitaries who were at the party. Her heart soared at the memory of it...

The hour was late, the party attendees were departing, and they had the dance floor all to themselves.

“So, what are you doing New Year’s Eve?” He had asked while they were swaying to the soft music.

She smiled at him. She knew what he was doing. He was finally asking her out on a proper date.

“Well, it looks like I’ll be spending New Year’s Eve with the man that I love,” she blurted out. She really had no idea how to be subtle about how she felt about him and hoped that she hadn’t said too much too soon.

She never forgot the look of pure, unbridled joy on his face when she said those words.

He had kissed her for the second time right after that.

Pidge closed her eyes to savor the memory of Lance’s arms embracing her and the sensation of his lips pressed against hers.

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68596437

🐓🐓🐓

@nessajjewell @waterthegarden @voltronsecretsanta

[quintessenceofdust73]

This is an excerpt from chapter 2 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story.” Get Ready for some Pidge angst. 😢

“He and Hunk are the first close friends I’ve ever had,” Pidge admitted. She finished her soup and sniffled again. “When I went shopping with Allura and the other girls, we tried to find her a new dress so she could go on a date with Lance. Every outfit she tried on was awful, Mom. But then she found this really pretty dress and didn’t have a way to pay for it, so I gave up my copy of Killbot Phantasm 26.” She took a bite of her sandwich.

“Your copy?” her mother asked as Pidge chewed and swallowed.

“I found it at the mall that day. I had to barter for it with an autograph signing. That game is really rare and valuable, but I just gave it up, just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “I’m an idiot,” Pidge said forlornly.

“That was a selfless thing you did for Allura that day. I’m proud of you, sweetheart,” Colleen said softly.

“I didn’t just do it for her. I did it for Lance. I knew—“ Pidge started crying again. “I knew if they were dating he wouldn’t have time to play video games with me anymore.” Another tear trickled down her cheek, and she angrily wiped it away. “I thought he would be happy with her, and I just wanted him to be happy more than anything. I didn’t know that Hunk and Romelle had talked the two of them into it. I didn’t know that Allura didn’t feel the same way about him. I didn’t know she would break his heart. Lance was so depressed after that. He hid it from everyone, but I knew.” Pidge sniffled and wiped her face with her napkin. “I just wanted him to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him.” Pidge’s voice cracked and she closed her eyes, hoping that the flow of tears would stop.

“Katie,” her mother began. “Lance was very immature then. He was just a high school boy with a crush.”

“His feelings for her were real, Mom. Just as real as what I feel—what I’ve always felt for him.” Pidge admitted.

“You had a school girl’s crush on him when you two were cadets. That’s not really love. That’s infatuation.”

“You don’t understand, Mom. You never understand! You—“

“Lower your voice this instant, young lady,” Colleen said sternly.

“I’m sorry,” Pidge replied softly. “But what I feel for him is real. It’s always been real.”

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68596104

@nessajjewell @waterthegarden @voltronsecretsanta

[quintessenceofdust73]

In chapter 6 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story” Pidge makes a startling discovery that she has to keep secret, and the romantic tension between Pidge and Lance escalates as she learns about many unusual Cuban New Year’s traditions.

I am not fluent in Spanish, but if you are, I would appreciate feedback on my translations of the dialogue.

Get ready to party in Cuba with Pidge, Lance, and his entire family in this latest chapter. 🎉 🎊

Happy New Year! @nessajjewell @waterthegarden @voltronsecretsanta @myclevernamehere @cosmickallura

An excerpt:

“I used to think that becoming a Paladin was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, but now I know better.”

Pidge raised a quizzical eyebrow. “What could be better than that?”

“Meeting you,” he said simply. He brushed a wayward lock of her hair away from her cheek and gazed at her adoringly. Then he kissed her again and Pidge felt so much happiness she thought she might burst like one of the firecrackers that were still lighting up the night sky.

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68597241

[quintessenceofdust73]

In chapter 5 of “Decoding A Christmas Mystery: A Love Story” Pidge and Lance are happily reunited, and Pidge receives the most important clue yet. An excerpt:

There he was, holding a large sign and grinning broadly as he called her name over and over. “Pidge! Pidge! I’m over here!”

The sign he was holding said, “All I Want for Christmas Is...” above a beautiful photo of her that he had taken at the Garrison Christmas Eve party last year. Underneath her photo was the number sequence 25-10-21. She grinned happily at him. He had given her another clue! If 25-10-21 was the word “you” then she knew for certain how to decode three of the twenty-six numbers that were probably substitutions for letters of the alphabet, but she would have to think about that later because at that moment Lance was threading his way through the crowd to envelop her in a warm embrace. He dropped his poster in order to pick her up and spin her around.

“Pidge!” he exclaimed. “I missed you so much!”

People were staring as he lowered her to the ground and kissed her passionately. She didn’t mind though. The code-breaking possibilities that she had been mentally processing were suddenly scrambled into a imaginary pile of random integers and letters as she kissed him back with an intensity that surprised them both. She was left breathless, and he was a blushing, grinning mess when she finally broke off the kiss. When Pidge finally caught her breath, she told Lance that she missed him too. He hugged her once more, then handed her the poster he dropped. Lance held her right hand with his left and pulled her luggage along with his other hand, chatting away about how much she would enjoy Cuba and how much his family was looking forward to her visit. She felt weightless as she floated happily through the airport alongside him until they reached the parking garage. Lance had borrowed his father’s old blue pick-up truck. He loaded her baggage into the truck, then opened the passenger’s side door for her. He grabbed her waist and gave her a little boost up to the passenger’s seat as she climbed into the cab.

“Such a gentleman,” she said with a smile.

“What can I say? My parents raised me right.” He winked at her. Even though the weather was warm enough that he could have taken it off, Pidge made note of the fact that once again Lance was wearing the leather jacket she gave him for Christmas, and it looked amazing on him. She leaned down, caressed his handsome face, and gave him another little kiss before he closed the passenger side door.

“Don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt. I don’t want you falling out.”

“Ha-ha,” she said sarcastically, remembering how he always insisted that she wear her safety belt when they were in the flight simulator at the Garrison. Even when they were cadets he always looked out for her.

Smiling to himself, Lance hauled himself up into the driver’s seat and donned a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses before he started the engine and drove them out onto a crowded boulevard.

@nessajjewell @waterthegarden @voltronsecretsanta

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68596878

[quintessenceofdust73]

In chapter 7 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story” Lance confirms Pidge’s suspicions about him in a very sweet and intimate way. Pidge manages to keep the fact that she has decoded his message a secret, but for how much longer? Sooner or later he will figure out that she knows what he’s planning to do.

🦢 @nessajjewell 🦢 @waterthegarden 🦢@voltronsecretsanta @myclevernamehere @cosmickallura

An excerpt:

The male swan trumpeted at them. The five little cygnets hopped on their mother’s back one at a time and were soon hidden by her sheltering wings.

“Well, I’d better give you this before he attacks me.” Lance said, as the male swan spread his wings in a show of aggression. “I think he’s saying ‘don’t you touch her’ in swan language or something.” Pidge giggled their little private joke.

Lance slipped a little white card from his pocket and handed it to her. On it was written the number 13 in blue ink. According to her theory about the code, the number 13 stood for the letter “A,” exactly as she predicted. It was hard for her to contain the surge of elation that she felt.

“Have you solved it yet?” Lance asked.

“No spoilers,” Pidge replied, with her eyes twinkling with merriment. She stood on tiptoe, grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him with joyous urgency. Yielding to the kiss, Lance wrapped his arms around her and returned her affection with equal fervor. The kiss would have lasted longer had the swans not trumpeted loudly at them at that very moment, startling them into embarrassed laughter.

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68598027

[quintessenceofdust73]

In chapter 4 of “Decoding a Christmas Mystery: A Love Story” you get an adorable, flirty Pidge, more videos, and another clue to the mystery...

@nessajjewell @waterthegarden @voltronsecretsanta @myclevernamehere @cosmickallura

An excerpt:

She checked her e-mail as soon as she was out of bed. Of course, there was a message from Lance. It was mostly smilie and heart eyes emojis, and Lance gushing about how good she looked in the video, and how clever her new lyrics are, and how he had her performance of the song on repeat on his phone ever since he first listened to it. Pidge felt giddy when she read all of this. There was an animated invitation with a detailed vacation itinerary along with two other attachments to the e-mail. First was a video of the grey parrot, the white cockatiel, and the two colorful parakeets that his mother owned along with another numbered card that was in view. It was a second number 12 sign printed in blue ink that was hanging from the blue parakeet’s perch. The green parakeet chirped happily as the cockatiel kept whistling the beginning of familiar tune, which sounded like the opening bars of “The Twelve Days Of Christmas.” The blue parakeet wolf-whistled at her a few times while the grey parrot kept repeating, “Hey, pretty lady!” over and over. Perhaps the birds had learned their flirting techniques from Lance, which was why they were so obvious about it. She giggled at that thought of Lance teaching his mother’s pet birds to flirt.

“Of course, he sent me a video of four calling birds,” Pidge said to herself. “More like catcalling birds,” she corrected herself.

The other attachment was link to an airline ticket to the Havana airport.

Pidge ran downstairs to tell her parents the news. She was going to start packing her bags immediately, but her mother insisted that she eat a good breakfast first.

Read it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28003866/chapters/68596638