Shiro stared at the sight before him in disbelief, resisting the urge to either laugh at the absurdity of the moment, or scream in frustration. He bought his hand up, rubbing at his eyes. However the sight remained, proving it to be the reality.

"You have got to be kidding me." He said, craning his neck up to look at the youngest paladin. It was training time, and Pidge had yet to show. Thus the other paladins had begun to search, becoming more concerned when the smallest paladin's voice was notably absent from the communicators.

Shiro shook his head, before looking again at the green paladin.

A paladin who was fast asleep, hanging halfway out of an air vent.

"What? Did you find Pidge?" Allura's voice called through their communicators.

"Yeah, but you guys might want to see this."

Shiro glanced up again, noting the height of the air vent and wondering how the tiny kid had even gotten up there. He looked around, hoping a step ladder, or perhaps a box, would appear before his sight so that he might increase his chance of 'rescuing' the smaller paladin.

Nothing.

Shiro chuckled, and then shook his head, moving over to the wall below the paladin and leaning against it. He realised too late that it was actually another of the castles high tech doors, and stumbled as they disappeared from behind him. His very manly yelp woke the slumbering Pidge, who promptly began to freak out.

"Oh my god not again!" Pidge shrieked, attempting to wiggle themselves backwards into the safety of the air vent.

"Pidge," Shiro said, drawing the paladin's attention to his presence.

"Um hi?" came the stuttered response.

"So what happened?"

Pidge blushed and looked at the opposite wall.

"I fell asleep here, I can't fall asleep unless I'm really tired, then it just happens" They explained, doing their best to twist themselves around so they might see Shiro better.

"You have insomnia?" Shiro guessed, nodding to himself. "Makes a lot of sense, we're very similar."

"Pidge are you okay?" Hunk yelled from outside the room, bursting through the door, the rest of the ship's occupants in tow.

Pidge blushed as Shiro pointed up at them, doing their best to make themselves as small as possible.

Hunk, the empathetic soul he is saw Pidge's embarrassment and held back his laughter, stamping on Lance's foot when he began to laugh behind him.

"Hunk, can you reach?" Shiro asked, stepping out the way. Hunk tried but was just a bit off.

"Give me a boost." Keith told the yellow paladin.

 Keith used Hunk as a stepping stool, reaching up and pulling Pidge from the vent. He then dropped them into Shiro and Lance's waiting arms. Shiro glanced down at them, grimacing slightly at the bags under the child's eyes.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." He said, dismissing the team and moving towards the sleeping quarters.

"How do you do it Shiro?" Pidge asked, yawning mid-sentence.

"Do what?" He asked, looking down at the sleepy paladin.

"How do you sleep? How do you calm your mind down? How do you stop the bad dreams?" Pidge rambled on, burrowing further into the warmth of Shiro's chest.

"I think about you, you and the rest of the team." He said after a moment's pause, looking into Pidge's drooping eyes.

"I know that nightmares will happen, but when they wake me, I think of you all. It makes me calmer." He admitted, talking more to himself than Pidge now.

They reached the bedroom and Shiro laid the smaller paladin on their bed, pulling up the covers as he went.

"Sleep Pidge, we can talk more later." Shiro promised, moving out of the room.

"Thank you, Shiro."