Chapter Text
As I reached for the handle of my door, ready to exit the garrison quarters, I sneak a look at myself in the mirror- taking note of the small, blue triangles under my eyes and the pointed ears that stuck out of my hair.
All it took was a little concentration -and a little brow furrowing- before I watched as my ears rounded and shrank, and the markings on my face faded until they were invisible.
As a kid, I remember asking my momma why I had pointed ears if I had to hide them. She gave me a pained expression, sighed, and told me it was for my safety- for the family’s safety, that we had to hide.
One of these days, if I become famous, I’m gonna show to the whole world that nothing’s wrong with having pointed ears.
Snapping out of whatever mental rabbit hole I was in, I flung open my door, snickering at the startled yelp from Hunk, his yellow eyes open wide in surprise. That’s why we became friends as kids- not because of his eyes, but because he was alien.
Hunk had grey, rocky looking skin and some weird little bone helmet, with horns that sprouted out of his jaw.
And as usual, in his claws, were a bunch of snacks.
“Eyy, c’mon Hunk! We gotta do team bonding, right?”
I walked up to him, clapping my hand onto his rocky shoulder. He nodded, tilting his head to face me as he stuffed a few small cakes into his mouth, his response muffled and obviously doing all he can to prevent him from spewing out chocolate as he talked.
“Uh.. yeah, you wanted to. I didn’t agree to it since it usually gets us in trouble, and Pidge stormed off before you suggested it.”
I shrugged, ginning. He wasn’t wrong, really. He had a track record of being in the principal’s office, even though all the reasons were my fault.
Man, I got him in trouble often.
“But not this time- I’m not getting us in trouble, nope!”
I declared, grabbing his free claw.
“C’mon- we’re gonna pick up Pidge, sneak out, go meet some ladies, and have an absolute blast!”
Really, I just wanted an excuse to try and befriend Pidge.
The communications officer who was definitely an alien, just like Hunk.
Just like me.
Man, I just had to figure out what that Pidge guy could do! I could shapeshift -albeit barely-, Hunk could talk to rocks and could probably carry an entire cargo ship on his back. What could that little guy do?
I placed my hand around the corner, ready to spin around it and knock on Pidge’s door, as it suddenly slammed open.
Pidge, insect-looking as ever, darted his eyes around the hallway, causing me to flatten against the wall the best I could- Hunk followed suit, but the big guy isn’t the best at hiding.
Pidge, luckily, didn’t look around the corner, and ran off towards the stairwell that took you to the balcony.
“Man, what’s that guy doin’?”
I could help but voice my wonders, as Hunk nervously looked at his empty claws and realised he was out of snacks.
“Uh.. so Pidge is busy, that’s cool. Why don’t we just sneak to the kitchen, get some snacks, and watch a movie?”
I looked over my shoulder to stare at him, not even giving a response.
He sighed, pouting, knowing what my look meant.
“C’mon Hunk!”
I darted forwards, sprinting down the hallway like I was racing somebody.
I loved running- if I hadn’t made it into the Garrison, I probably would’ve tried to be a marathon runner or something.
Probably something cooler, but hey, charity marathons are cool to run in.
I made it to the edge of the staircase in no time, Hunk way behind me. Giving him time to recover his breath, I put my hands on my hips, tempted to make a teasing chide at how out of shape he was- before deciding it was a low blow and just beginning to make my way up the stairs.
Hunk followed me, breathing heavily but doing his best to remain silent. A small pang of pity tightened in my chest, and once I stepped on one of the corner landings, I spun around to face him, crossing my arms with a fond look.
“Hunk- while we’re out, I’ll make an excuse to go down that food alley you like, alright? Everything’s on me- I got paid!”
The boy immediately brightened up, a goofy smile of hope plastering across his face at the promise of free food. It always perked him up- and filled him with enough energy to rush up the stairs, albeit as quiet as he could. It wasn’t actually quiet at all, but quieter than he usually is, so that’s a bonus point.
Hunk paused at the top of the stairs, allowing me to catch up to his sudden burst of energy. I counted to three on my fingers, before cracking open the door, allowing cold air to wash over me and Hunk.
I loved the cold air, personally. Hunk shivered, rubbing his claws against his rocky arms.
Crouching, I silently stepped up to Pidge’s little... What even was this?
It looked like a sh*t load of nerd machines to me, really. Pidge picked up a metal cube, and in awe, Hunk and I watched the area that Pidge’s palms were touching glow blue- before the cube began to shapeshift and change shape like water.
It was gorgeous- the way Pidge could manipulate solid metal like it was play-doh, metal completely bending to his will.
Whatever he had made, he added to his nerd sh*t, slipping on his headphones to listen to something.
Signalling for Hunk to stay still, I crawled forwards, gently grabbing the edges of Pidge’s headphones to lift them off of whatever ears Pidge was pretending to have.
“Sneaking up here all by yourself?”
Pidge screamed, twisting their body around, his palms swiping metal in front of him to form a shield.
Some of the metal hit my nose- and hard too, causing me to yelp and scramble back, rubbing the side of my nose.
“That hurt, man!”
I whined, as Pidge flashed a guilty look, before one into annoyance.
Hunk moved forwards, waving nervously.
“What, you here to call me an alien freak too?”
He snapped, shuffling around to reface his mechanical equipment. Hunk made a noise of confusion, pointing to himself.
I shook my head, grinning.
“Not at all dude- All three of us are alien weirdos, y’see?”
With that, I concentrated just a little- trying not to move my face, but what happens, happens.
Either way, I felt my ears elongating, and to clear up the discomfort of shape shifting, I shook my head like a dog for just a second- just long enough to get my hair to sit comfortably around my ears again.
Pidge stared at me in awe- and oddly, so did Hunk.
“Hunk, dude, don’t act like this is new!” I chided, banging my fist on the top of his head. “You’ve seen this all the time, you literally met me when I wasn’t hiding these! It’s how we became friends!”
Pidge reached out, tapping the edge of one of my ears to make sure it was real.
“Man.. I wish I could do that! How do you do that? Do you have some sort of weird tech?”
Questions flooded out of the alien, and I backed up, unable to think of answers before I was given a new question.
With his headphones still on, Pidge danced around me, poking at the small triangles under my eyes, the blue stripes on my hands.
I would love to be interviewed one day, honestly- the great, fighter pilot Lance, famous across solar systems for my renowned flying.
But this?
Man, Pidge’s questions were overwhelming- and somewhat personal. I could feel the tips of my ears getting redder and redder each question, and god I hoped this would end soon.
Luckily, Hunk ended the questioning, tapping my shoulder and pointing towards the horizon.
“Hey, guys? Wh.. What’s that?”
Simultaneously, Pidge and I turned to face the horizon, unsure what we would find.
We turned just in time to watch a comet smash into Earth, hardly two miles away from the Garrison.
“We’ve got to get to that.”
I whispered, and Pidge nodded in agreement.
We were going to find out what that comet was, no matter what.
