Fake Mistletoe | Plance

1

The Lions were ready to go in the bays of the Atlas, along with the MFE jets and tension was running high in the Galaxy Garrison. Lance and Hunk were bidding their families goodbye, while Pidge, Keith and Allura readied their presents for Christmas.

"What is Christhims anyway?" Allura had asked Pidge as she boxed up belongings she wanted to bring for the considerably long journey.

"Christmas is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus," Pidge began. At Allura's further confused expression, she explained further. "Jesus was a figure in a religion called Christianity, which is talked about in a book called the Bible. Personally, I don't really believe in it, but I'm not gonna shut down people who do. A lot of people who don't believe in it celebrate Christmas anyway."

"Right," Allura said, dragging out the vowel.

"It's quite a confusing concept, don't worry," Pidge waved the matter away. "Honestly, I'm just in it for the festivities." She grinned as she pulled countless t-shirts from her drawer and into a large cardboard box labelled 'CLOTHES'. Amongst other boxes labelled things such as 'MY ROOM' and 'PRESENTS' laid Bae-Bae and seemingly endless cables. Pidge hastily tucked everything into their appropriate boxes before asking Allura to help her carry them on board the ship.

*

"As I'm sure you're all aware, we'll be spending over a month aboard the Atlas in order to reach the planet Zayeliv to complete our restoration of peace, which is... conveniently... several galaxies away. So I hope everyone's ready for an exciting Christmas and New Year." Shiro briefed the crew, Paladins, and MFE pilots. Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Allura left the hubbub for their rooms. It had been decided that Ina, Nadia, Allura and Pidge would share while Lance, Keith, Hunk, Ryan and James would share another.

In the girls' room, boxes were being unpacked and belongings placed into position. Pidge was finished before anyone even had a chance to get a word in. She'd left the room, claiming it was too hot, and she wanted to see how the others were doing.

The boys' room, to say the least, closely resembled a war zone. Keith and James were bristling, shooting each other dirty looks as they pulled their various clothing and belongings into place. Lance and Hunk only watched the scene unfold with silent shared grins. Ryan, however, had pulled out a camera and was documenting the scene noiselessly. Only Lance and Ryan noticed as Pidge appeared in the doorway.

"Pidge, you're a saviour." Lance sighed as she wiped her glasses.

"I thought that was Jesus's job?" She asked with a grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're Jesus now, then," Lance chuckled. Pidge shook her head dismissively and rubbed her nose, conscious that now James and Keith had diverted their attention to her.

"I was just wondering if any of you were done. At the rate the others are going, they'll be there for hours, and we haven't had the chance to properly see the ship," Pidge grinned. Lance and Hunk smiled back at her, and Ryan only focused his gaze on his camera, which was trained on her.

"I'll come," Lance agreed. Hunk's expression questioned him.

"Lance, you haven't finished unpacking."

"I'll do it later." Lance brushed him off.

"In that case, I'll come with you." Hunk decided, following Lance and Pidge from the room. Kinkade seemed to pause as though he was considering something, then spoke.

"If you don't mind, can I come with you? I'm making a video and it'll be far more interesting if there are other people in it," he asked slightly awkwardly.

Hunk gave Lance and Pidge a quick glance before nodding. "Sure! The more, the merrier, right?" Kinkade brought his eyes to Hunk's bright smile and his steely expression softened. The four turned from the room, leaving Keith and James alone to settle their differences.

The group spent the afternoon wandering through the futuristic maze that was the Atlas, coming across kitchens, control rooms, bedrooms and areas that neither the Paladins nor Kinkade could explain. Ryan would occasionally stop passing crew members for a brief interview and asked Pidge, Lance and Hunk about being a Paladin of Voltron.