shining like the stars

45

"I have never seen so many different kinds of aliens," Pidge said excitedly, gesturing with her utensil. It was somewhat spoon-like, but a lot longer and thinner than the spoons Hunk was used to working with. "It was like the cantina scene from Star Wars, but dialed up to like, eleven."

Allura was sitting beside Pidge at the low table in their room; Hunk seated across from them and working their way through a repast of foreign food that, as it was not gelatinous-based in any form, Hunk found absolutely delectable. Allura was watching Pidge gesture with the utensil, before she frowned and looked over to Hunk. "I thought that your planet Earth had no congress with other lifeforms," she said, puzzled. "And yet you have participated in a war? Not against the Galra Empire?"

"It's a movie," Hunk said, chin in his hand. "You know, fiction?" He gestured with a utensil too, a long thin one meant for stabbing, not cutting. "Very popular on our planet."

She nodded, brow still drawn in puzzled curiosity that disclaimed she wasn't entirely sure. "We had holodramas on Altea," she said wistfully, and put her chin in her hand and mimicked Hunk's posture without thought. "I watched many when I was younger."

"There was an alien that was shorter than me," Pidge continued on. "And it had three heads! And they all spoke different dialects of the same language or something and they were arguing the entire time they were behind us in the line-"

"That was a Tripektan," Allura said. "They're not always the most ... gracious creatures." She made a face as if she wanted to say something else, but paused and sighed deeply, then looked over the food; there was far too much for just the three of them. "Are you certain we shouldn't ask if the others want to join us for dinner?"

Hunk and Pidge exchanged a look, and Pidge shrugged. "They're probably sleeping by now," she said. "Although Hunk can always go knock on their door."

Hunk's glance turned dirty, and Pidge smirked at him, eyebrow raised. "Oh, I can always go-" Allura said, starting to stand up and Hunk almost knocked the table over shooting upright from his seated position.

"No, no," he said quickly. "Wouldn't want to trouble you Princess, I can knock on their door, it's not a big deal." He took a large step backward and turned on his heel, toward the door that connected Allura's room to the shared porch. Allura watched him march out the door, and as he swung around out of sight she sat back down and smoothed the soft fabric of her native dress.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," she said, frowning at her plate of food before looking over at Pidge. "It's just sex."

Pidge shrugged and pushed her glasses up her nose. "They're boys," she said. "They get flustered over everything. Besides, I bet it stinks over there, let Hunk deal with it."

Allura tilted her head, and then nodded in agreement. "Fair enough," she agreed, and picked up the long, thin stabbing utensil, using it to spear a green piece of meat. "Did you want any more of this aguasnake? It's delicious..."

#

It was Shiro who answered the door when Hunk knocked, wearing, thankfully, his underwear. Of course it was tight and left very little to the imagination but Hunk was not checking out his leader's package and was instead here to talk about food. Or something.

In reality, the first words that came out Hunk's mouth were, "if you hurt Lance we're going to have a very unpleasant conversation."

Shiro's eyes widened, eyebrows lifting at Hunk's words. Then, to his surprise, Shiro smiled gently. "Lance is sleeping," he said softly. "But I promise you he's fine. What do you need, Hunk?"