Shiro carefully set his gifts on the other paladin's plates before they arrived. It really did make him feel better, he hadn't been able to spend Christmas at home for such a long time and he really did worry about his mother and grandfather. He had seen the decorations that lined the hallways as he made his way to the dining hall and he had to hand it to Lance, they really were beautiful. He heard the door open and he turned to the open door, smiling at Keith as he walked over the threshold. He was followed closely by Pidge, who slipped in right after him.
"Hey Shiro," Pidge said cheerfully as she sat down in her seat. Immediately, her hands reached out to take the small rabbit off of her plate and investigate it. She looked up at Shiro curiously and opened up her mouth before she was interrupted by Hunk as he shouldered his way out of the kitchen with several dishes in his hands.
"Whoa Hunk, do you need help?" Shiro asked as he got up and quickly approached him.
"Nope, don't worry about it," he quickly replied, easily setting the dishes down in the centre of the table. He uncovered them with a flourish, releasing the delicious aroma trapped inside. There were loud sniffs as each of the paladin's inhaled the scent and quickly started taking from the plates as Hunk watched them with a smile.
"This is so good!" Keith groaned stuffing a spoonful into his mouth.
"Where's Lance? He really outdid himself," Shiro asked Hunk, assuming that he just helped him carry out the dishes. Hunk blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Actually I made this, Lance let me make another one of my family's dishes," he admitted with a small smile.
"Well, it's really good Hunk!" Shiro said with a smile. He focused back on his plate. He would really have to go and find Lance afterward and thank him. It was kind of understandable if Lance let one of them take his turn but it was pushing it with letting two of them.
"Did you help Lance with these?" Pidge voice suddenly cut through his thoughts and he looked up at the girl.
"No, those are mine, Lance let me make those instead," he said. At his words Pidge froze, almost dropping the paper figure in her hand.
"Wait, he let you take that too?" She asked. Confused Shiro nodded and waited for her to explain.
"Lance let me make one of my family's desserts again today," she said quietly. They all froze and stared at her. Three. He let them have three of his traditions on his day.
"He-he put up those decorations right?" Hunk asked glancing around the table at them.
"No, those are mine," Keith said shaking his head. They gaped at one another.
"He didn't do anything?" Pidge asked in disbelief.
"But he didn't even complain or anything," Keith argued in shock.
"You all know how Lance is, even if we were hurting him he wouldn't complain," Shiro said. They nodded their heads in agreement and looked down at the table.
"How could we have been so selfish?" Hunk asked the quiet room.
"Because we knew that Lance was too nice to say no?" Keith suggested to the room. They didn't say anything, knowing that it was true. When they woke up that morning, they knew that Lance wouldn't say no to them. Even though they knew that Lance was excited to share his traditions, they were only thinking of themselves and what they wanted.
"We have to make this right," Keith stated.
"Does anybody know anything about Lance's traditions?" Shiro asked glancing at each one of the paladins. Keith shrugged almost immediately, it wasn't that surprising since they weren't really friends in the Garrison. Instead, he turned his attention to Pidge and Hunk who both looked to be deep in thought.