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“You sure you wanna do this? Seems like a lot to go through…”
“No, I’ve given this a lot of thought.” Noticing his raised eyebrow. “Shut up; I mean more than none at all!”
He looked into her eyes, saw the trademark snarl, and confirmed that Pidge had made up her mind. He chucked, she socked him in the arm, and he pecked her on the nose before she shoved him away to get ready to leave.
He watched on as she slid on her shoes. He was in a quantum state of belief that this was the solution she’d thought of. He felt something tugging in his heart and realized there was no way he’d let her do this alone. Looking upwards and making a pact with some invisible deity only he could see, he made his decision.
She heard a familiar ring she’d gotten used to hearing anytime her husband would start cooking, or whenever he went to do yard work, the sound of a golden hoop being placed safely in a plastic tray they kept on their kitchen island top. She looked confused as to what was happening. “What’re you doing?”
Lance grabbed his keys from the counter and started lacing up his shoes. “What sort of asshole husband would I be if i didn’t also reciprocate this incredibly idiotic gesture of love.” He flashed her a cheesy grin.
She responded aggressively with a hug and burrowed into his chest. He returned the gesture and folded his arms and pulled her to him.
They stood like that for longer than necessary. Neither complained.
—
Staff Sgt. Lance McClain-Holt sipped his second cup of coffee of the day to get him through the last couple hours of his week. He scanned through flight sim data and footage, making remarks and notes that he’d pass onto students the following day
His phone rang. He assumed it ‘d be Pidge asking where they’d be going for date night. It was his turn to pick the restaurant this week. What he didn’t expect was to see “Medical” flashing on the caller ID and his pulse quickened. “Hello? Captain Holt here.”
Lance listened quietly and then stood up quickly, the back of his chair tipping and slamming into the ground. He was out the door on his way to medical before the nurse realized he’d been hung up on. He grumbled into the receiver.
—
He was out of breath by the time he made it across the Garrison base to the medical facility. The nurse smirked at how sweaty he looked because he clearly ran all the way here and tilted his head towards the waiting area and brought his attention back to his monitor. Lance watched the smirk turn into something that said “good luck”.
Lance allowed his shoulders to drop away from his ears as he saw that she was in fact okay, and took a second to pinch the bridge of his nose to relieve the pressure that’d built up during his frantic run over. He was a bit concerned that her left fingers were covered in sani-foam bandage, typically used for burns. He was, however, most concerned that she’d looked up at him as he walked into the ward and then immediately turned her eyes back down towards the floor. Her eyes scared, red from crying.
His internal Pidge-sense, honed after years of being together and being intimately acquainted with each other’s emotional cues, Lance slowed his advance over to her bench, saying nothing and gingerly sitting down.
The tears couldn’t be due to pain; he had many points of data from their Voltron days that her pain tolerance was way higher than his and it wasn’t like the medical staff would just sit her out here without some pain management. A bottle of meds next to her on the waiting area sofa confirming his suspicions.
Lance saw her shoulders hitch several times, he heard her snort back tears and rub her eyes with her good hand. He rested a palm on her back and rubbed several small circles before pulling her against him, her head rested on his shoulder. Her sobbing abated slightly.
“Katie-kat?” He waited for her to turn her still red eyes towards him before continuing. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry.” It was quiet, and a little hoarse, probably from the crying.
“Babe, what for?”
She wiped the white sleeve of her lab coat against her nose. “...I fucked up.” He scrunched his eyebrows and patiently waited for her to continue through another snort. “I was running an experiment.”
Lance knew that could’ve meant anything; Pidge was even more prolific since becoming one of the chief science officers for the Garrison and had multiple projects going and was the type of boss who rarely delegated the “dirty” work. Some of the experiments were dangerous in the way that military science could be. He did recall that her team was going to be doing some flight engine testing this week. Still, it didn’t explain why she was upset. Maybe there was a failure that would set them back months on the project?
She shrugged his arm off her shoulders so she could angle toward him to get a better look at him. His heart broke a bit when he got the full view of her crying face. He really hated hearing/seeing her cry and couldn’t figure out what to say/do to fix it.
Pidge reached into her lab coat with her right hand and it almost looked like she was going to burst with tears again as she pinched her eyes closed. She had her hand in a fist when it emerged and she gingerly turned her hand over to open up and show Lance the contents. She dropped her chin to her chest and looked every bit the kicked puppy and all he could do was look on dumbly.
In the palm of her hand was two halves of a ring, the two halves clearly never been separated before and showing what looked like black char marks where they’d separated. Her voice was quiet as she continued. “I was so into prepping for the engine test and fucking forgot to remove the ring.” She looked up again, and met his gaze, her voice gaining volume. “Something arced and caught my band causing….” She started sobbing again and was unable to meet his eyes. “I am so, so, so sorry!”
If she was able to meet his eyes, Pidge wouldn’t have seen anger as she’d told herself since the accident, but outright confusion.
“Katie?” He finally put it all together, the bandages, her being upset. He gently cupped face with both palms to see if he could get her to look at him. He realized he’d joined in the crying for a while now. “I’m just glad you’re okay and still have all 10 fingers you goof.”
Her crying had subsided and looked as surprised as someone who had their cheeks squished between her husband’s hands could. “But it belonged to your…”
He used a thumb to brush away a trail of tears. “It’s just metal.”
She cut in, clearly disagreeing. “It was a family heirloom!”
He kissed her. She now looked a bit annoyed he’d used that against her. “I’m sure I can find a sexy, gorgeous, beautiful, genius scientist around here somewhere who can knit back two bits of metal and make it look cool in the process.”
Pidge narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, and brought her good hand around to flck his earlobe. Lance dramatically released her face to cup his ear in pain. “Oww, okay, fine now I am angry at you”
She blew a raspberry at him and went in for a hug which he returned. He didn’t even mind that she was snotting up his uniform. The nurse just shook his head at the idiot couple in his waiting area.
—
“So…how’d you find this place?” Lance admired that the only distinguishing element of the shop from a bakery in this strip mall was the neon signage that simply said ‘Tattoo’. He suspected it was like most of his favorite restaurants that preferred to stay under the radar with very generic naming and signage.
“Lance, we work on a military base.” she then pulled up her sleeves and gesticulated to the bare canvas of skin on either appendage. “There are plenty of people to get recommendations about ink and we are totally the weirdos for not having any ink.”
She had a great point, there was a lot of ink on the residents of the Garrison. Since coalition planets started sending recruits and civilians to the Galaxy Garrison, it had the added benefit of exposing Earthling artists to the alien cultures’ unique brand of body modification and there was an intermingling of the styles that you could find etched on terran and alien soldier skin.
They were greeted by a friendly Unilu who sat in a rolling stool by her tattoo chair as she beckoned them into the shop. “Just in time! You must be Katie!” She reached out with a set of right hands and Katie tried to hide her hesitation at which hand to shake.
“Yes, we spoke on the phone; Ardaa was it?”
“Yep! This is my shop, welcome!” Ardaa brought Pidge over to sit on the reclining tattoo chair and made sure Pidge was settled before continuing. “And you were wanting a permanent wedding band?” She looked over to Lance who was standing nearby unsure of what to do next. “Oh, this him? He’s cute; looks a bit like a lost puppy at the moment”
You’d think a man in his mid 30’s could do a better job not sounding like an indignant 8 year old. “Hey!”
Pidge blew him a saucy kiss as she turned back to Ardaa. “Yes, that’s my lost idiot, and yes I’m getting the wedding band. Nearly blew my finger off with my wedding band…don’t ask”
Ardaa was reminded that she had a lot of Garrison clientele and was not surprised. She glanced at said finger. She could see some discoloration and scarring but it wasn’t that visible on Pidge’s fair skin. She brought out a datapad and pulled up several black and white images. “Oooookay, fair enough. I sent you these proofs the other day, did you decide on which one you wanted?”
Pidge took a moment to see all three designs one more time and she still liked the 2nd one best; It looked like woven or braided vines and would cleverly incorporate tattoo-free skin to create the borders of the vines. “Yes, I like the second one the best”
Ardaa clapped all 4 hands together. “Excellent choice, I was secretly hoping you’d pick that one.” Afterward she started giving her tattoo tools one last onceover.
Pidge directed a thumb over in Lance’s direction. “Before we proceed I do have one question.” She gave another smile Lance’s way in the process before turning back to Ardaa, “Any chance you have an open spot for my adorable husband?”
Lance now had his arms crossed over his chest and was doing his best to pout and not look too flattered by ‘adorable’, “I’m literally right here”
Ardaa smiled and danced the tips of her fingers together, clearly excited about the prospect of getting twice the pay. She checked her schedule and turned to Katie, “I do happen to have the time and just because you two are the cutest customers I have today, I’ll knock a little off the price of his ring; sound good?”
Pidge and Lance locked eyes and silently agreed with a head nod that that sounded fair.
Ardaa’s attention went back to her cart and turned on her tattoo gun. Over her shoulder she asked, “Did you decide on a color?”
Having given it a lot of thought since booking her appointment Pidge furrowed her brow, still clearly thinking over such a big decision. “Yeah I think…” She looked over to see that she had Lance’s attention, his baby-blue eyes looking equally curious as to what color she’d pick.
Her memory flashed back to their ceremony and their family and friends in attendance, then to his cornball proposal, next their first date and their first time in bed together. The last one causing an adorable flush across the bridge of her nose. She inspected her left ring finger, flexing her hand and wiggling her fingers. The lab accident was months ago, the scar barely noticeable. Her right hand curled around the repaired ring that hung around a chain on her neck through her shirt.
She was brought out of her head by Lance coughing. He’d been host to many of Pidge’s sudden mind dives and knew that she sometimes needed a reminder to come up for air. Ardaa wore a smile and patiently waited for an answer. She turned her attention to Lance, smiling. “Actually, Lance, why don’t you pick?”
Lance froze. He loved Pidge to death but if there was one small pet peeve that he’d go to his grave before sharing with her, it was that she had a bit of a control streak. He felt like he was doing a bad job of hiding his surprise. “Oh...are you sure?”
Pidge waved him over and grabbed his left hand in her right as he was in reach, giving it a squeeze. “We’ve been only married a couple years but this feels like we’re renewing our vows.” She stroked his knuckles with her thumb. “This is a big deal and I want you to be a part of this decision.” Before releasing his hand she planted a kiss on the back of his hand. “You’re my ‘ride or die’ and this’ll contractually bind your soul to me”
Lance went and gazed at the spot she’d planted a kiss and ruffled her hair and planted a kiss on her hair line. “I don’t recall that being part of our vows but I did drink a lot that night so, sounds legit.”
Ardaa decided to break the silence. “So…what color?” Lance and Pidge blushed, remembering they weren’t alone and totally taking up this nice artist’s time. Seeing the formulation of an apology on their lips she cut in, “Oh you keep on going, this is way more interesting than anything else I had planned today.”
Ardaa folded out a until now hidden tray from the tattoo chair and gently positioned Pidge’s left hand on top and began to clean Pidge’s left hand with a sanitizing solution. He thought of all the tattoos he’d seen on friends and family throughout the years hoping for inspiration.
He looked into Pidge’s amber eyes, thinking of how many lazy mornings consisted of him trying to memorize every speck of color in each pupil. He thought to how many more he’d likely have in the future. He thought about their strange lives and what brought them together. He had an answer. “How about…cyan.”
Pidge’s mouth hung open as she took in his suggestion, her eyebrows raised. Maybe he’d chosen poorly. She quashed that fear seconds later. “You. Romantic. Fucker.” Ardaa laughed out loud. She knew who her clients once were; what they’d done for them all. She knew colors were ‘a thing’.
Lance grinned and dragged a stool over and sat to observe since he’d be under the needle soon enough. he grabbed her hand giving a tender squeeze. “Proudly. Guilty as charged.”
Ardaa listened to the couple continue to flirt/bicker and then asked their help in finding the right shade of cyan. She recommended that the two pick slightly different shades due to Lance’s more melanated skin.
Ready and armed with her ink and tattoo gun she gave the gun a couple pulses. Pidge didn’t look particularly nervous, and Lance looked on curiously. She briefed them on the process, on the importance of staying still, and being in communication with her while she was working. Before she started her first line she paused and smiled before continuing, “Oh and quick reminder, tattoos over sensitive areas like the fingers fucking hurt.”
The color drained from their faces and they snapped attention sharply to Ardaa. “Wait, what?”
—
“She…wasn’t wrong holy fuck I”m glad it was my left hand.” Even with his finger covered in the saniderm bandage, be it putting his hands in his pocket, putting an arm around Pidge's hand, or grabbing his wallet, Lance would find the exact position that would remind him his finger had been stabbed thousands of times. He did find himself admiring the work repeatedly. It did look badass.
Pidge was doing the same as she shot a smirk at Lance even though she’d also have to admit that her finger felt very, very raw, reminding her of the lab accident that had her considering a permanent ring. Adding more quietly while tucking herself into her favorite spot on his side and avoiding his hand, “You didn’t have to join me in solidarity you know…but thanks anyway you wuss.”
Lance grimaced as he awkwardly found a way to wrap his injured arm around her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek.. “Hey, now I never have to remember to put my ring on or take it off and lose it right?”
Pidge’s eyes locked on his, her eyes narrowing as she realized he’d just confirmed that he’d probably misplaced his ring multiple times. “Riiiight.”
Seeing the gears turning, he panicked and routed the conversation. “So what do you think your folks are going to say?” It worked because they continued their walk back to their car in silence. “You…did think to mention this to them right?”
Pushing away to look him properly in the eye, “Wait, and you did? You just decided this morning!!”
Lance held his hands up defensively, “Uh, I have older irresponsible siblings, that already broke that seal.” Wincing as he placed his hands into his jacket pockets, “So you didn’t tell your folks.”
Crossing her arms on her chest and looked away to hide her pout, “Uh…I may have forgotten to mention it to them”
“So…”
“So…”
Pidge shrugged and realized she’d probably be getting an earful from her parents at some point in the near future. “Say nothing and see if they say anything at Christmas?”
Lance squinted at Pidge and gave, in Pidge’s opinion, a pretty sarcastic response, “I’m sure it’ll go great.”
“Shut up!” Cried Pidge and play-swatted at Lance with her right hand and accidentally hit his left hand.
Lance cried out and tried to shake the stinging sensation that continued to radiate from his finger.
“Oh, shit are you alright?!”
Lance fought the urge to rub his hand and the newly tattooed skin. “Fuck that hurt!”
Hands flew up to her mouth in surprise. “I’m sorry!!” cried Pidge before more carefully going in for an apology hug and wrapped her arms around his waist also being careful to not touch her own tattooed finger. Leaning against his shoulder, she murmured, “...and thank you.”
“It’s okay babe.” He gingerly wrapped an arm around her shoulders leaving his free hand to thankfully hang free.
Pidge snuggled in closer and slid her hand into Lance’s back pants pocket as they continued to walk towards the car, casually copping a feel of his, in her professional scientific opinion, amazing ass.
Lance smirked to himself, “Mrs. Holt, be careful with the goods, they’re not insured.”
Without missing a beat and lacing her tone with faux indignation, “Mr. Holt, I dare say I signed the life insurance papers, that ass most definitely is.”