Work Text:
As Pidge entered the hangar, Green crouched down and looked at them with intense curiosity, as if she had already picked up on something.
"I've got a surprise for you," Pidge told the Lion, as they came closer to Green. The lion's excitement was palpable over their telepathic bond. It delighted Pidge, so they allowed themselves to drag things out a bit. They carefully placed their backpack on the ground in front of them. "Do you remember, when we visited Olkarion, and I said I might try gardening?"
Green pushed her head even closer to Pidge, eager to know more.
"Well, I kept my promise! Did you know Hunk has a small hydroponic garden on board the Castle? It's mostly for cooking herbs, and a few leaf type vegetable too. This way we can have some fresh food even if we have no opportunity to provision for a while. Anyways, he's shown me the ropes, and it was fun! I didn't expect to enjoy it this much!"
Joy and excitement flooded from the Lion to Pidge, and they let themselves bathe into the rush of good feelings.
"So, I've been thinking about how nature is supposed to be your thing. And how we don't often get to places with much wildlife. We spend so much time in space, or on barren planets! I thought it would be neat if we could have some plant friends who could stay in your cockpit, right?"
They reached into their backpack and produced the gift: five small transparent dodecahedrons, each one containing a plant.
A purr emanated from the Lion. Pidge felt it vibrate through their bones.
"You like it? That's awesome!"
The Lion's contagious excitement was intoxicating. Pidge rested their hands and forehead on Green's huge metallic jaw, their face almost hurting from how huge their smile was. They wanted to dive right into the flood of shared joy spreading between them.
"I've been working on it for a while! Figuring out something that would be adapted for your cockpit."
They pushed back from the Lion and adjusted their glasses as they gathered their thoughts.
"See, despite the artificial gravity, it gets bouncy sometimes in the cockpit when we're in battle. So a potted plant didn't seem like a good idea. I don't want dirt and water all over your electronics! So, I remembered my mom used to have those hmm, plants without roots. I think they're called epiphytic? I'm not sure, I didn't listen to her much when she talked about botany. Anyway, I asked Rhyner if by any chance there was something like that on Olkarion, and turns out there is!"
They stopped, a bit out of breath from their rant, worried that they might have been annoying. But Green was anything but annoyed. She gave Pidge a gentle mental push, encouraging them to continue their story. Pidge had a happy little chuckle at how interested their Lion was. Green was never bored of hearing them talk, and it was so nice.
"Yeah, so the next time we had a Coalition meeting, Rhyner brought me some of those plants. I took them into my room first and learned to care for them. I needed to be sure I could do it! I didn't want to gift them to you and then have them die within a phoeb. Which was my track record with house plants so far.
Pidge cleared their throat and pushed their glasses up their nose, embarrassed.
"I won't lie to you, there were some casualties. But I got the hang of it! The issue was, those plants don't need dirt, but they do need to absorb water through their leaves! You're supposed to spray water on them. And I couldn't risk that around your lovely circuitry. So I wondered if I could put them into some kind of protective shell. I asked Hunk, and we came up with an idea to use scaulprite to build some terrariums. Hunk followed his cookie recipe but made them thinner for better transparency, and in the shape we needed. Then he showed me how to weld, so we could collaborate on creating metallic frames to hold the scaultrite panels together."
Pidge tapped their finger against the side of on of the terrariums. "The good news is that scaultrite is really strong. And kind of precious, we need it for the teludav, and it's hard to come by. Hunk told me he really didn't want to return to a weblum. But as I said, it's quite durable: the new teludav lenses should hold for a while, and there was enough scaultrite left over for this little project."
A new purr from the Lion.
"So, should I put them up in your cockpit?" Pidge suggested.
As a response, Green opened her mouth to let them in.
"So, we made one side magnetic to keep them in place!" Pidge explained, as they decorated the cockpit with the terrariums. "Don't worry, I'm not putting them anywhere sensitive. Tell me if any placement bothers you, I can move them around!"
Over the mind link, the Lion reassured Pidge that it was all good, and that she was happy.
Pidge sat cross legged in the pilot chair, admiring their work. "I think it looks great! Do you like it?"
Green actually roared to show her excitement.
Pidge laughed, glad to have pleased their Lion. As they settled in their seat for a bit, they became thoughtful.
"You know, I think if it hadn't been pushed on me that way, maybe I'd have tried gardening earlier. And nature in general. OK, no, I do hate the sunburns and the mosquito bites and getting all sweaty and dirty. Our parents would always insist that we go on hikes with them. I'd have been content just staying home playing video games, but no, I had to come, and I always ended up miserable!" They sighed. "If I could have gone where I wanted, when I wanted, at my own pace, instead of trying to catch up with them all the time, maybe it would have been different."
Green pushed the concept of parents to the forefront, inquisitive.
"Oh, parents? Oh, that's like. Those who build us? I guess Aphor would be your dad?"
It didn't seem to clear things up enough, so Pidge added: "Well also, we aren't born… finished? We start small and vulnerable and we need our parents to take care of us. And we grow up and need less and less help. And some parents are good at taking care of their kids, and some are worse." They scratched their head.
Green seemed to understand a little better, and she encouraged Pidge to continue.
"Well, my parents are pretty nice, all in all. I love them! That's why I refuse to give up on finding my dad and big brother, as you know! But my mom, she has all those expectations about me. Like, that I would be a girl and be just like her. She'd buy me dresses she liked and expect me to wear them. Or she would get me clothes she thought were fashionable for girls my age. She kind of ignored it when I tried to explain what I actually liked to wear. So I'd borrow my big brother's old clothes, and she never really understood why. At the time, I didn't really know I was non binary, so I couldn't exactly explain it to her. It's too bad I only figured that out after leaving. But it would have been nice if she had just listened to me, instead of making dismissing comments on my tastes."
Pidge groaned. They folded up their legs, wrapped their arms around them and rested their chin on their knees.
"I don't know why I'm talking about all that. My point was that she was the one pushing me to get into gardening. For a while I pushed back against anything she tried to force on me. She expected me to follow in her footsteps, I guess. Matt was getting into electronics and programming like dad, and I was supposed to get into plant science like her. She's a botanist, and she works on projects about growing plants and vegetables in space. It's kind of cool! But I was always more interested in programming, and she never really accepted that. She kept offering me plants, and I kept ignoring them until they died." The Lion startled at that. "Sorry Green. Now, I'd try my best to keep them alive. Mom would be so happy to know I got into gardening."
Their eyes welled up unexpectedly. They sniffled furiously and took their glasses off to wipe the tears off with their sleeve.
"I miss her, Green. I hope she's OK. We're not always on the same wavelength, but I love her anyways, and I know she loves me. You remember what I told you, how back on Earth I went undercover into the Galaxy Garrison to find out what had happened to my father and brother, right?"
Pidge had confided in Green about this more than once, even if they hadn't realized the Lion was fuzzy on the notion of family. "At first, I thought I'd just… leave. But then I realized mom would freak out and call the police, and kick up a fuss. I really didn't stand a chance against that. So I left her a coded letter explaining my plan. I guess she gave me a chance, because I wasn't bothered at all at the Garrison. Which means she didn't go to the police with my letter. She also knows a ton of people at the Garrison, but no-one ever tried to stop me. So she kept my secret. She only sent me one encrypted message to an old e-mail address, telling me she loved me and to keep her updated. Maybe she was hoping I'd discover something, in spite of how she scolded me when I got caught after breaking into the Garrison the first time. I didn't really keep contact with her, I was so busy and I couldn't take any chances. I kind of regret that."
They hugged their legs tighter, fighting back tears.
"I wonder what she's thinking, now. If she knows I went to space, or if the Garrison covered it up like they did for the Kerberos Mission. Maybe they told her I'm dead."
They shivered.
"She's all alone on Earth now. Dad and Matt are missing, and I'm missing as well. She only has our dog, Bae Bae, left with her. When I think of it, it always makes me feel this pit in my stomach."
Deep compassion radiated from the Lion. Pidge closed their eyes and let themselves be lost in their Lion's embrace.
Once they felt less shaky, they untangled themselves and stood up. They patted the pilot seat. "Sorry, I didn't expect to get all emotional on you. But thanks for listening. I feel better now. I'll keep searching, and I'll find dad and Matt. I'll do everything I can for us to defeat Zarkon, so we can return to Earth and be with mom again. Our family isn't perfect, but we deserve to be together. And I won't give up on that."
Green roared again, fired up by Pidge's determination.