The irritated sigh was familiar by now, and it didn't really hurt his feelings anymore. This game had become comfortable, somehow: he postured, she ignored him, he flirted, she regarded him with measured disdain, rinse, repeat. He didn't begrudge it, didn't fault her for her reactions, but she'd never actually told him in as many words that she absolutely wasn't interested and to knock it off. So, as long as there was still that margin, he figured the flirting was still fair game.
He met her chiding with a reproachful look.
"Aw, come on, don't be like that," he said with exaggerated injury, and then made a face. "Did you really wanna be in Yellow's cockpit when Hunk inevitably lost his lunch on the way here?"
Right, keep it light, don't think too hard, don't let it bother you that she thinks you're just interchangeable with another paladin.
Lance squinted a little in the semidarkness of the deep water, shading his eyes with one hand like it might help him spot the column of light from the beacon, but they were apparently still too far away to see it. His face brightened a bit, though, when he saw movement in the shadows, which sharpened into a familiar shape.
"Plaxum!" he greeted cheerfully, lifting a hand to wave as the mermaid gracefully approached, her dark eyes alight.
"Lance! It is so good to see you!" she said, reaching out and clasping his hands in hers. "Queen Luxia said that your mercat had appeared near the planet, so I quickly volunteered to come and meet you. How have you been?"
Lance could feel his face grow hot at Plaxum's touch, and though he couldn't actually feel if her hands were soft or warm through the gloves of his suit, he imagined that they definitely were.
"I-I'm pretty good!" he said, smiling broadly. "Thanks for coming to meet us--I probably would have gotten lost trying to find the castle myself..." He gave a nervous chuckle and then cleared his throat and glanced at Allura. "Uh, this is my..." Friend? Commanding officer? Quiet love interest who thinks it's all a joke? "This is Allura," he said after a beat of quiet. "She's been training the other paladins and me. She's a princess! So I bet she and Queen Luxia will... probably have like royal stuff to talk about."
Oh, God, why did everything sound infinitely less lame in his head?
"An-anyway, we were hoping to see if you guys and your beacon could help us with something," he said then, and Plaxum tilted her head.
"Of course, Lance, we'll do whatever we can to help you and your princess," she said kindly, and Lance cringed inwardly. Allura was probably going to correct her that she wasn't his princess. Sometimes he really wished he was better at this diplomatic mission stuff. Lance made friends easily, and had plenty of charisma to go around, but he usually fell back on dorky jokes and funny faces to charm people, and that didn't go so well with the whole diplomacy angle.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-04-16 03:40 am (UTC)He met her chiding with a reproachful look.
"Aw, come on, don't be like that," he said with exaggerated injury, and then made a face. "Did you really wanna be in Yellow's cockpit when Hunk inevitably lost his lunch on the way here?"
Right, keep it light, don't think too hard, don't let it bother you that she thinks you're just interchangeable with another paladin.
Lance squinted a little in the semidarkness of the deep water, shading his eyes with one hand like it might help him spot the column of light from the beacon, but they were apparently still too far away to see it. His face brightened a bit, though, when he saw movement in the shadows, which sharpened into a familiar shape.
"Plaxum!" he greeted cheerfully, lifting a hand to wave as the mermaid gracefully approached, her dark eyes alight.
"Lance! It is so good to see you!" she said, reaching out and clasping his hands in hers. "Queen Luxia said that your mercat had appeared near the planet, so I quickly volunteered to come and meet you. How have you been?"
Lance could feel his face grow hot at Plaxum's touch, and though he couldn't actually feel if her hands were soft or warm through the gloves of his suit, he imagined that they definitely were.
"I-I'm pretty good!" he said, smiling broadly. "Thanks for coming to meet us--I probably would have gotten lost trying to find the castle myself..." He gave a nervous chuckle and then cleared his throat and glanced at Allura. "Uh, this is my..." Friend? Commanding officer? Quiet love interest who thinks it's all a joke? "This is Allura," he said after a beat of quiet. "She's been training the other paladins and me. She's a princess! So I bet she and Queen Luxia will... probably have like royal stuff to talk about."
Oh, God, why did everything sound infinitely less lame in his head?
"An-anyway, we were hoping to see if you guys and your beacon could help us with something," he said then, and Plaxum tilted her head.
"Of course, Lance, we'll do whatever we can to help you and your princess," she said kindly, and Lance cringed inwardly. Allura was probably going to correct her that she wasn't his princess. Sometimes he really wished he was better at this diplomatic mission stuff. Lance made friends easily, and had plenty of charisma to go around, but he usually fell back on dorky jokes and funny faces to charm people, and that didn't go so well with the whole diplomacy angle.