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Stress was about the only thing that Hunk could feel anymore. Then again, it's to be expected when you're fighting to save the galaxy. He'd tried a lot of different methods of calming down, he tried training extra with Keith and Shiro a few times, which only rewarded him with bruises, he'd tried hanging out with Lance and Pidge, either playing games, listening to music with Lance, fixing things with Pidge, hell, he'd even tried helping Coran tinker around with the ship! But, alas, nothing seemed to help. Which is how he ended up in the kitchen, surrounded by ingredients with labels he couldn't read, bowls and pans full of different mixtures and foods, and all sorts of messes.
Now, Hunk wasn't a messy person, he was quite the opposite actually. He had everything in order and he cleaned up a mess should there ever be one (though with his puking that was quite often), but today wasn't like every other day. Today, he was stress cooking. The pressure had finally boiled over and this was all he could do to distract himself.
"That's not right..." He mumbled as he whisked the contents of one of the many bowls. He jumped and set it down when the oven dinged and ran over to take the dish out. He carefully pulled it out and set it down on the counter, frowning when he saw that his recipe had completely failed.
Lance and Pidge had been hanging out, teasing each other as they always did, and were looking for their boyfriend when they heard the commotion going on in the kitchen. They looked at each other and slowly peeked in, watching as Hunk paced and stirred and whisked and pulled things out of the oven, almost tripping himself a few times. He was an absolute disaster, which, though it wasn't uncommon as he isn't the most graceful person, was worrying all the same.
They'd never seen him like this, utterly stressed and rushed like he had to do everything and do it right. They even heard him curse a few times, a rare thing that very few people would ever hear.
They gave each other another look and slowly made their way in the kitchen, watching Hunk as he remained completely oblivious to their presence.
"Hey Hunk," Lance said carefully.
Hunk yelped and almost dropped the jar he was holding, looking like a deer in headlights. "Hey guys," he responded, his body stiff, before he kept going with whatever he was doing.
"Are you okay? You look pretty tense," Pidge asked as she watched him fiddle with a pan.
"Me, tense? Haha, nope. No way, no one's tense here, just trying out some new recipes. You know how it is, gotta keep going," he replied nervously as he jogged over to another bowl.
Lance and Pidge glanced at each other, their concern clear on their faces. They had a silent conversation before nodding and looking back at Hunk.
"Hunk, buddy, do you wanna take a break and play cards?" Lance questioned.
"Or maybe come help me with some work on the lions? They can always use repairs," Pidge supplied.
Hunk shook his head, "Can't, I gotta keep going with this. If I don't keep baking and trying new things out then I'll explode. I just need to finish these and then I'm gonna try out some new recipes. Maybe if we're lucky, I'll have a breakthrough and we won't have to eat space goo forever."
They approached him calmly and quietly, and Pidge took the bowl away and set it down. Hunk started to protest, but she held both his hands in hers just as Lance started massaging his shoulders. He almost melted into a puddle right then, he really hadn't noticed how tense his shoulders really were.
"Breathe, babe, you're gonna be okay," Lance said softly.
Hunk heaved a sigh he didn't know he was holding in as Pidge pulled him into a hug. "You wanna go to your room and cuddle?" She asked him.
He could do little but nod as they pulled him away from the mess and down the hall to his room. Lance sat down and pulled Hunk down to lay his back on Lance's chest. Pidge curled up in his lap and snuggled up to him as Lance's fingers threaded through Hunk's hair. Lance removed the headband, which Hunk hadn't realized was giving him a headache from being on so tight, and massaged his scalp. Pidge leaned up and gave him a few lazy kisses, then nuzzled into his chest as she clung to him like a koala.
"What's going on in there, baby?" Lance whispered.
Hunk whimpered a bit, he loved pet names, and especially when he was feeling down. "I dunno..."
Pidge's head rose from where it was resting, "Come on babe, you weren't cooking like that for no reason. What's up?"
Hunk's resolve crumbled, "I guess I'm just... I've just been really stressed lately. It's really hard being some big defender of the universe and it's a lot of pressure. I guess it just kept building up and finally got to me, and I just started stress cooking."
"Buddy, why didn't you say something?" Lance asked as he kissed his head.
"Is that why you've been helping out so much? You're trying to stay busy so you can forget about the stress?" Pidge asked curiously.
Hunk nodded as he shut his eyes, trying not to show his embarrassment at being caught.
"Aww, Hunk... All you need to do is say something and we'll try to help any way we can," Pidge told him.
"Yeah, we don't want you to get this upset, it's not healthy. We love you, baby, so let us take care of you for once. You need to relax, you're really tense and it's gonna get worse if you don't deal with it."
He tried to protest, "But I don't want to bother you guys."
Pidge gave him a half glare, "You're never bothering us when you're upset, don't you dare say that. If you're ever upset or stressed, you come straight to us."
Lance grinned at her, "Yeah, we'll give you cuddles and kisses and more if you really need it."
Hunk started laughing as Pidge yelled, "Oh my god, Lance, what the hell!"
They dissolved into giggles as they stayed cuddled up together. Hunk loved moments like these, just being with them, the happy aura that they had, the love that they shared. It made him start tearing up. Pidge and Lance, of course, noticed this, and asked what was wrong.
He sniffled, "I just love you guys so much."
"We love you too, babe," they replied.
For the rest of the day, they hung out together. Both Pidge and Lance kept an eye on their boyfriend, making sure he was okay. He seemed to be in a better mood, he even managed to pull a laugh out of Keith. They were so relieved that he was feeling better, he didn't get nearly enough recognition and most of the time, he got the short end of the stick. It made them quite sad, because no one realized how amazing their boyfriend really was. He did so much for the team and didn't say anything about it, it was ridiculous.
They played a card game after dinner, and laughed almost the whole time. After that, they all went to Hunk's room, they were quite tired after the day's events. Pidge and Lance squished on either side of Hunk, clinging to him as they cuddled and whispered sweet things into his ears, petting his hair and kissing him to oblivion.
And that was the end of Hunk's stress.