What we think, We become (Shallurklance)

7/10 - Sweets

At what felt like eleven in the evening, a sweet smell was coming from the kitchen.

To Lance, who was perched outside the door like a hero from a spy movie, it smelt divine. It smelt like vanilla, syrupy sweet compared to the alien musk of a ten thousand year old castle that hadn't been used for the majority of its life. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, it had a hint of spice to it, like his sibling's cinnamon swirl cookies they used to make when they were home from their mainland university. If Hunk was replicating Alex's world-famous cookies, then, well,

Hunk must have been a god.

And then he got an idea.

Steeling himself before taking one last inhale of the sweet air, Lance strolled into the kitchen, hands innocently in his pockets like he hadn't just been hiding outside in the dark for the past ten minutes. On the other side of the kitchen, Hunk was definitely cooking, and seemed to be getting incredibly frustrated. Alien tech was still confusing, even after being in space for a couple of years now, and despite having two natives with them, although Hunk was the greatest cook on board, even he couldn't completely work out the oven.

"Yo, Hunk, my man!"

Hunk jumped nearly a foot in the air; maybe knocking would have been better.
He turned quickly on his foot to face Lance, hand pressed defensively against his chest. "Quiznak, Lance, don't shock me like that!"
"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly, before shooting a larger grin over at Hunk, "but, Hunk, my buddy, my man, the best human in the entire universe-"
"What do ya' want, Lance?" Hunk sounded annoyed, but a smile was starting to show.
"Watcha' cooking?"
"Just a cake," he replied, turning back to a bowl of batter and giving it a stir for good measure, "turns out the flour from that moon we stopped at is sweet enough to act like vanilla, and the eggs from that bird planet are exactly like chicken eggs."
Lance looked over, standing on the tips of his toes to plop his head on Hunk's shoulder. "Can I taste?"
A spoon with a small dollop of batter appeared near his face, and he gave it a tentative lick. It did, in fact, taste exactly like a typical cake batter from Earth, sweet yet with that typical floury bitterness, and had an aftertaste of roses?
"Yeah, that happens apparently," Hunk said with a laugh at Lance's question, "Coran said it was something to do with the reaction between the flour and the water? Either way, he said it was safe, so I'm working with it."
"Keith likes rose cakes," Lance mused, chasing the spoon again for another taste, "he swears he doesn't, but I looked through his bag once and found an old rosewater bottle."
"Really?"
"Yeah dude!" Lance grinned as he moved round to lean on the counter and face Hunk. "He thinks it's 'uncool' or some shit, but like, Shiro openly talks about anime, and Allura tried to sing the other day and you know what altean music is like."
Hunk grinned at Lance's recount, pouring the batter out into recently welded moulds. "Who would have guessed it, Keith being into florals?"
"He likes to think he's all cool and tough, but he's secretly really, really soft." His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "But we all see through him, and love him anyway, so I don't see why he's hiding."
Cooing, Hunk's face fell happily in awe. "You guys are adorable, honestly."

"So, Hunk, do you have any spare batter left?"
"Oh, okay," Hunk replied slowly, "I knew there was a reason you were here other than to wax poetic about Keith."
Lance put on a face of fake offence. "Well I'm sorry for wanting to spend time with my best friend."
"Lance."
"Okay, so maybe I wanted a cake for my loves," Lance finally admitted, "but only after I wanted to spend time with the true love of my life and then noticed what he was making."
"Fine, I'll bake you a cake for you guys to share." A second mould was produced from a drawer, and a section of the batter was poured in. "But you have to decorate them both for me, you're good with icing."

"You're on, Hunkules."

~

It was only a day later, when Lance was curled up with his three lovers in Allura's bed, head in Shiro's lap and one hand laced with Allura's, that he remembered the cake that was sitting in their makeshift fridge. Scrambling out of the plush bed was more hassle than he really thought it was worth, and Shiro's quiet whine at the sudden lack of heat almost made him clamber directly back into bed next to him.
But the cake was calling, and he hadn't spent his entire evening icing cakes for nothing.

He was halfway down the hallway, cut-up cake and plates in hand, when the nerves struck. He had been with these three for what felt like forever, and although it had actually been close to half a year, it was way too late on in the relationship to be insecure about his cake decorating abilities.
And yet, here he was, stood in the hallway because he was afraid his lovers were going to laugh at him for something as domestic as baking a cake for them. Did Keith even know about the rose? Did Shiro and Allura even like cakes?
Well, it was too late now, and he straightened his back as the door slid open.
"So, guys," he started, "look what your favourite boyfriend made?"
"You know we don't pick favourites, moron," Keith said with a laugh, not looking up from his knife that he was polishing against the sheet, "and, anyway-" he looked up, suddenly catching sight of Lance and the cake. "Is that a cake?"
"Yeah," Lance confirmed with a sheepish laugh, "I mean, Hunk made it but I asked him to make one for us."
He was eventually stopped by Allura gracefully lifting herself off of the bed, taking a slice of the cake and biting into it, instantly losing all of her precious grace and earning a laugh from Lance. "This is made from Lysanx flour, correct?" She asked excitedly around a mouthful of cake, "it's delicious!" She swallowed, and smiled at Lance's happily surprised face. "Thank you, Blue."
That's when she kissed him, sudden and open mouthed, and all Lance could taste was roses and sweetness, and the beautiful floral smell that seemed to hang around her like an aura. He tilted his head, eyes fluttering shut as she slid her tongue over his bottom lip; Keith and Shiro must have been teaching her in her free time, the cheaters. He gave a small groan of happiness and pressed back when Allura pulled back, satisfied grin on her face. "Hey boys, I think you should see what our favourite boyfriend made."

Lance was suddenly aware of Keith and Shiro moving across the room, tripping over dead limbs and sleep clouded senses to reach him and Allura near the door. There was a cold hand on his waist, and a mess of black hair on his shoulder, and Lance knew he was okay.

~

Later, once the cake was demolished and the crumbs has been swept off the bed as best as possible, Lance lay wedged between Keith and Allura, with Shiro's hand in his hair from his place behind Keith.
"Babe," Keith quietly asked, careful to not disturb the calm of the bedroom, "was that cake supposed to be rose flavoured?"
"Not intentionally," Lance replied with a nervous laugh, "Hunk said it was something to do with the flour and water?"
He felt Keith nuzzle into his neck, and press a gentle kiss into his collarbone. "Thank you."
"You like roses?"
"It's the one thing I remember of mom, she smelt of roses."

A comfortable silence settled over the group, as Allura snuggled into his side in her sleep and Lance could feel Keith's soft exhalations against his skin. Shiro's hand moved in his hair. "Thanks kitten, I love you." That was definitely Shiro, voice slurred and soft from sleep.
"I love you too, Kashi."
He felt Keith press another sleepy kiss into his neck. "That was from Shiro, by the way. Love you, you great idiot."
"Love you too, knucklehead."

Once Keith's breathing evened out, and Shiro's quiet snores echoes around the silence of the room, Lance relaxed.

He really owed Hunk a favour.