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During their last supply run, Pidge had come across some kind of alien video game store. It didn't take much persuading to convince Allura to buy a system and a few games once the argument that video games made for great team bonding. Lance and Hunk called it their "Alien GameCube," as that was the earth console it reminded them of the most. With the amount of money Allura was willing to put toward it, as there were more important supplies to purchase, they could afford the system itself, two controllers, and three different games.
It took Pidge and Hunk a few hours to set it up to one of the screens in the castle, with Lance sitting on the couch providing morale support in the form of bragging about how he was "totally going to beat the quiznak out of everyone at these games." The system wasn't entirely compatible with the 10,000 year old Altean screens, but together the two of them managed to build an adapter and made it work.
That night, after a lecture from Allura about this absolutely cannot get in the way of their training regardless how much it would help team bonding, the paladins held their first official game night. Hunk wanted to plan out a randomized tournament, but Lance's bragging resulted in him and Pidge entering a heated battle in the arcade-style fighting game they bought.
"Come on, come on..." Pidge muttered to themself. Lance was silent, attentively focused on the game in front of him. Both were waiting for the other to falter, but they were also both too keen on winning to slip up.
"I've never seen Lance so serious," Keith whispered to Hunk, "Wonder why he's not this good at actually fighting."
"Aw, c'mon, Keith. He's not that bad."
"No, he's not bad. But if he fought me or Shiro like that during training he might actually win."
"No, no, no,no!" Pidge cried suddenly, collapsing onto their back in defeat once the screen displayed that their character had been knocked out.
"What'd I say? I'm the best," Lance smirked, "Who's next? Hunk? Mullet?"
"Video games aren't really my thing," Keith shrugged.
"Psh, I bet you're just chicken that I may finally be better than you at something," Lance challenged.
"Or... Maybe I've never touched a video game before and don't really want to," Keith argued, "Besides, it's late and I get up early to work out. Good night."
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna get to bed, too. Your match with Pidge lasted waaaay longer than I thought it would. Next time," Hunk waved and left the room right behind Keith.
"...Best two out of three?" Pidge suggested.
"You're on."
Hours went by before Pidge placed down their controller in defeat. "Laaaaaaance. What the quiznak!?"
"I told you. I'm unstoppable."
The door to the common room opened, and in walked a tired Shiro. "Pidge? Lance? I thought I heard noise. Why are you two still awake?"
"Because Pidge didn't want to admit defeat... until now, anyway," Lance proudly declared.
"Ughh. Whatever. Good night, Lance, Shiro." Pidge left the room, a little agitated, but determined to crush Lance next time.
"Why are you still up, Shiro?" Lance questioned.
"Couldn't sleep. It happens sometimes. Walking around the castle helps, at least, when it's not noisy."
"Ah, sorry. Well, since you're awake and I'm awake... Wanna fight me?" Lance picked up the controller Pidge had been using and held it toward Shiro.
"Alright. Why not? Just one round," Shiro smiled, taking the controller.
"Hell yeah!" Lance started up a new match, fully expecting an easy victory. After all, Shiro was held captive by Galra for a long time, there was no way he had as much gaming experience as him.
The game began, and it was very obvious that Shiro needed some time to get used to the controls. He was definitely getting his butt kicked. Lance smirked and figured he had this in the bag, but Shiro picked up very, very quickly. Shiro's character was already down to half their HP, and Lance's was near full, so he wasn't worried in the slightest.
That, however, changed in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, Shiro's character was destroying Lance's, and Lance was unable to keep up with it. "What the--"
His blue eyes widened and he turned to look at Shiro, who just shrugged and stood up. "That was actually fun. Thanks, Lance."
Lance was baffled. He lost to Shiro of all people. A few moments after he snapped out of his slight daze and after Shiro had left to try and get back to sleep, he shut the Alien GameCube and the screen off. On one hand, he really shouldn't have stayed up this late; he would absolutely be paying for it tomorrow. On the other, he was glad he and Shiro had some time to themselves. He looked up to the black paladin, and was beyond happy that he had fun gaming with him. As tired as he was, he couldn't help but giggle a little bit to himself, feeling a little giddy, as he went off to get ready for bed.