Archive of Our Own

If his estimate about what the interstellar time system would say, it should be approximately three years since he’d been kidnapped (teennapped?). Lance couldn’t believe it, how had it already been three years? How the hell was he 20? Guess time flies when you’re trying to defeat the universe’s dark purple leather daddy.

Lance hadn’t been prompted to check the clock out of curiosity or anything, he wished  that was the reason. But no, of course it wasn’t. He checked because of Pidge’s boobs. Yes, her fucking boobs, titties, breasts, tatas, whatever euphemism you prefer. Specifically, he checked because she had them and she used to not have them. Technically, that was the case for everyone with boobs, but it was just jarring to walk into the showers and see Pidge in a sports bra.

It all happened the evening after the girl’s showers broke. A pipe burst or something, flooding the whole place. It was going to take a few days to fix, so until then they’d just have to share the bathroom. It’s not like it really mattered. Fighting in space had made them all perhaps a bit too comfortable with each other. They’d seen each other in worse situations then running out of hot water. Lance really thought he’d seen it all, until he saw something he hadn’t before.

“Woah woah woah, wait-” Lance spluttered, nearly dropping his toiletry case in shock, “since when does Pidge wear a bra?!”

Lance was fresh from the showers, pajamas and shower shoes on, hair dripping a bit down his bare back. He hated sleeping in shirts, he always woke up in a sweat and it was just annoying, but that was irrelevant. Back to the problem at hand, which was Pidge standing there, right where everyone could see, in a sports bra and some alien print shorts. It was right in front of his post shower and vulnerable salad. 

Pidge, who was brushing their teeth and had a mouth of green foam on her lips looked at him in the mirror and raised an eyebrow at him. She didn’t even have the courtesy to face him like a man, woman, whatever! The nerve.

“What’s a bra?” Allura asked curiously, craning her neck to see what Lance was talking about.

“It’s a… thing for your, uh,” Lance tried desperately, too flustered to think clearly. How the hell did he explain this without sounding like a pervert? “It’s something for your-” he cupped his pecs for emphasis, “yeah…”

Allura nodded in understanding, turning back to the mirror where she was combing out her hair. “Pidge has been wearing those for a while Lance.” 

“But she’s like, 15!” Lance protested. “She’s basically a fetus.”

Pidge bent over and spat out her toothpaste. After wiping her mouth she finally turned to Lance, giving him the universe’s biggest eye roll. “I’m 18 Lance, I was 15 when we became paladins and it’s been 3 years. It’s basic math, c’mon.” 

“I know that,” Lance shot back, praying to all things holy everyone would write off the heat in his face as just a side effect of the steamy bathroom, “but sometimes it’s just- I don’t know! It’s hard to think of you as an adult, okay?”

As soon as he said it, he immediately felt regret drop into his gut. Her eyes narrowed with… something. It wasn’t quite anger, maybe hurt? He couldn’t quite tell. Regardless, he knew she was sensitive to when people didn’t take her seriously because of her age.

“God, Pidge, I’m so sorry.” He said quickly. “I just, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It had to happen eventually.” She huffed, packing up her things. “Just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean you can continue to treat me like a baby.”

With that, Pidge swung her towel over her shoulder and walked off, not giving Lance a second thought.

Lance grumbled, more mad himself than anything else. He set his bag up on the shelf and digging around for his facewash a bit aggressively. When his mouthwash fell to the floor he let out a groan of anger and bent down to pick it up. He came up quickly and ended up whacking his head into the sink. He stumbled back, rubbing his head as he straightened up. How graceful. Allura tried to stifle a snicker, but her heard it. He gave her a small scowl as she dried off her hands and left. 

Yeah, so Pidge had boobs now, what did he care? It wasn’t like she was immune to the passing of time, she’d have to grow up eventually, but, like, Lance just wasn’t expecting it. To be fair, it was hard enough to believe that he was 20. It seemed like just the other day he was turning 17. He guessed that war had made them all grow up without giving them the time to enjoy it. It was kind of… sad. All the things they’d missed out on, all the firsts they spent away from their family, all the family events they couldn’t be there for, sometimes the weight hit him like a psychic robo lion. 

He splashed water onto his face, trying to push the tight, hot feeling in his throat down. Lance didn’t have the time or emotional strength right now to think about that. He washed to the lonely sound of his hands moving foam over his skin and wishing he hadn’t come to get ready for bed so late. Usually he liked the quiet since being around other people tended to rile him up, but when his thoughts ran away from him he craved the company of his team to keep him from going down too dark a hole. They had gotten good at that over the years, lifting each other’s spirits up when they were down, like when things went wrong (as they often did) or someone was homesick (as they often were). Even Keith could get Lance to smile.

Lance dried his face and finished getting himself ready for bed, deciding to take a moment to do something quick before retreating to his room. He knew it really didn’t matter. Checking the clock wouldn’t change that it had been 3 years, but a part of him still didn’t believe it. It felt fake, everything felt fake. Even the floor beneath him felt like an illusion as he walked down the hallways, almost as if he could fall through at any time.

3 years. A lot had changed. He hadn't really even noticed the changes in himself, let alone anyone else, but now he had to face it. Pidge was... grown up, an adult, legal. He didn't know how to feel about it. It wasn't as if she'd ever been a 'child' in his eyes, but she'd always been younger. Not in a sister sort of way, not really, but it was a fact that she was younger than him. Now though, it was almost like they were the same age. Not literally of course, but figuratively. They'd experienced all these things together, forced to mature in seconds, made to fulfill a role they never were supposed to but still. 

And then there was the fact that Pidge was grown up, you know? Like, grown up grown up, as in, physically grown up. He didn't know how to feel about that! She had boobs now. And they were nice boobs! Just that thought made his face hot. He didn't know why that made him so flustered, but it did, and it was just another thing to shove into his 'ignore this emotion' jar, bury it deep inside him, and leave it there until he died.

Regardless, Pidge... attractive? Inconceivable. Well, no, that was a lie. He'd found her cute, not when they first met, but maybe a year after joining Voltron. Even then, he realized, she'd been growing into herself a bit. He hadn't really seen it like that. One day she just looked up, and something sort of clicked. Her face was softer, eyes bright, and just... she looked... nice. 

Okay, okay, okay, enough with that. Back in the jar you go. 

Finally, he reached the time system room, expecting it to be totally empty… but it wasn’t. There was someone standing there, looking up at the stars as they whirred past. The dark of the room left them in complete shadow as the dashboard in front of them illuminated the front but not the back. The computer displayed the days as they ticked up, showing it’s calculations in live time. Finally the stars came to a stop and a blue, green planet came into view, spinning slowly on its axis. It was Earth, and Lance felt a pang in his chest. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t even catch the first half of the automated voice reading out the calculation.

“-it has been 3 years, 243 days, 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 49 seconds in Earth time.” 

The voice was so artificial, but he didn’t need it to be real. 

“So, it’s nearly been four years.” Lance said to whoever was at the screen. They turned, and Lance could see it was Pidge. 

There was quiet, but the tension that could’ve been expected was absent. All that was there was an unspoken understanding. That announcement had hurt more than all the injuries they’d sustained in battle over the years. Even from here he could see the sheen in her eyes and knew that she could probably see his own. 

Without another heartbeat, she rushed towards him and pulled him into a hug, squeezing tightly. He held her, running his hands through her and rocking her gently. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck, and he realized for the first time she’d grown taller, not much, but just the right amount for her body to fit against his. Or well, maybe fit wasn’t the best description. This hug was different from the ones he had received from her before. This one felt less like a child seeking sanctuary and more like an adult finding reassurance that somebody else felt what they felt. 

“You okay?” He asked in a gentle murmured. 

She pulled away and wiped her eyes on her arms. “Yeah, I think so. It’s just overwhelming sometimes. 4 years, I’m going to be 19 in a few months.” 

“It’s crazy,” he chuckled hollowly, guiding her over to a sofa, “you were like, 15 when we met.”

“We’ve already been over this,” she laughed in a warble kind of tone, “but yeah, I was.”

“Damn.” He murmured, taking a seat and flopping his head back. 

“Yeah, damn.” Pidge repeated, sitting criss cross applesauce next to him, and sniffling a bit. 

Once again, sound escaped them. They just looked out into the stars for a while. Lance didn’t know what Pidge was thinking, probably something scientific and nerdy, that was endearingly her style. He really didn’t know what he was thinking either. It was all a haze really. 

“I’m sorry,” Pidge said unsteadily, all in one breath. She took a deep breath and spoke again. “I’m really sorry for how I acted in the bathroom.”

“Really Pidge,” Lance assured her. “It’s not a big deal, I promise. If anything I should be apologizing to you. You’re right, you’re an adult now. I guess we all just felt a duty to protect you, protect your… innocence. It’s stupid, how could we possibly do that when you were experiencing everything we were?”

“I get,” she murmured, looking at the floor, “I really do, and I’m grateful for it. But it kind of hurts when you guys stop talking about adult subjects as soon as I enter the room. I’m 18 with nearly no adult supervision. Do you think I’d just stay away from that.” 

“No,” he admitted, knowing damn well he certainly didn’t, “but I do hope you weren’t irresponsible about it.”

“I definitely was,” she snorted, “especially when I was younger. I promise though I’ve mellowed out now.”

“Yeah, sure you have.” Lance joked, poking her lightly. She swatted him away. “Tell you what, just to make sure, I wanna come with you on your next escapade, just to make sure.” 

She groaned, falling to the side in mock theatrics. “Daaaaad! I don’t need a chaperone!” 

He bust out laughing, rocking forward a bit. They both sat together in mirth, needing a minute or two before it began to die down. 

“You know what,” she said, still giggling a bit, “next time I’ll take you along as long as you promise not to try and stop me from doing stuff.”

“Deal, as long as it isn’t something that could get you killed,” Lance replied, sticking out his hand to shake, “or seriously hurt.”

“Deal, but only if it’s something that could get me killed immediately and not in some weird freak scenario you make up just to prevent me from going.” Pidge countered, sticking out her own hand. “And if it’s sex related you can’t pull the ‘but what if you get an STD’ because I always use protection.”

“Okay, fine, deal,” he said shaking her hand before leaning back into the couch. And then it hit him. He sat up straight and shrieked, “An STD?! Just what the hell are you-”

Pidge shushed him, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Shh! You don’t have to shout it out to the whole castle.”

“I wasn’t!” He whisper yelled after pushing her hand away. “I was just shocked!” 

She whipped her head to the door, checking to see if anyone was there. When she felt safe that nobody had overheard Lance’s very loud declaration she turned back to him. “What’s so shocking about it? I’m an adult, you said it yourself, what’s so weird about an adult having sex?”

Lance spluttered, wanting to blurt out 'everything',  but he knew she was right. It didn’t matter if they were in space, sex was just a normal part of the human experience, and she was an adult, and had been for a long time. Besides, if she had the free to make the choice to  use her body for the war, she should be free to choose what else she did with it. 

But at the same time, it was hard to accept, just as hard as it was for him to accept his own age. Pidge had always been ‘the youngest’ in the group, number 5 in Coran’s height ranking, the bright eyed, stubborn, curious girl. Nobody wanted to ever see her spirit dim. There was an unspoken agreement to protect her youth at all costs, but they all knew that was an impossible task. Being a paladin meant facing the horrors of war first hand, no reprieves. She’d seen the same things they’d all seen. 

Finally, Lance let out his thoughts in a breath before speaking. “You’re right. I’m sorry Pidge, for earlier too.” 

Pidge was picking at her nails, not looking up at him. “It’s okay, and I’m sorry too if I was rude. I get why you and the rest of the team still see me as the youngest. I mean, after all, I am, but being the youngest doesn’t mean ‘child’.” 

“We know that,” he promised her gently, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder, “but I guess for us, your youth was sort of, like, the last scraps of our own. If we kept you innocent, there was hope that in a way we had one aspect that wasn’t tainted by the war.” 

She sighed and looked up. Her eyes looked a little full, but she wasn’t crying, not yet at least. She leaned into his touch, and then before Lance had time to process it, she was sobbing into his shirt. He rubbed her back gently, holding her close. Time doesn't stand still, it never had, never would, never even could. It didn't matter what phases of life they skipped, what milestones they missed, or whether they even noticed the changes that came along. What did matter, was that they were here for each other. 

He squeezed her tight, accepting that Pidge was just as grown up as he was.