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‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the ship, not a paladin was sleeping, not even a-
“Shit.” Keith winced, biting his lip. “Okay, maybe it is worse than I thought.”
“Hold still,” Lance chided. “It’ll only make you feel worse.” Lance carefully wrapped a bandage on the wound on Keith’s upper arm.
“Easy for you to say,” Keith grumbled. “You’re not dying from pain.”
“Well, I’m not the idiot who leaped to the side of the cliff and almost fractured my arm.”
“I didn’t know the jump would hurt that much.”
Lance finished bandaging his arm and smiled. “You’re so cute when you pout.”
“Hey! I’m not pouting!” Keith protested. Lance laughed and pressed a kiss to Keith’s bandaged arm, causing Keith to blush.
The doors wooshed, and Allura and the other paladins walked in.
“Feeling any better?” Shiro asked.
“A bit,” Keith placed a hand on his bandaged arm. “Still a little sore, though.”
“On the topic of that…”
“What?”
“Due to your injuries, it would be hazardous for you to pilot your lion,” Allura explained. “We don’t want you injuring yourself more than you already have.”
“You’re gonna have to sit out of the next few missions.” Shiro summed up.
“How many missions?”
“It might take the next few weeks for you to be in prime shape, even with the healing pod.”
Keith frowned. It didn’t feel fair that he got to sit out while the others were still doing missions.
“But,” Allura said. “This mission was a success! The Olkari ships are all safe. Since there have been no threats that require the help of Voltron, our next few missions will be more relaxed.”
“How relaxed can the life of a paladin be?” Hunk asked.
“You’ll only be going on scouting missions and protecting the transports of Garrison ships,” Coran clarified.
“Sounds nice and breezy,” Lance commented.
“I can still help!” Keith protested.
“The best thing you can do is rest here,” Shiro said. “If you get injured even further, we won’t be able to form Voltron.”
“On the bright side,” Pidge said. “You can sing Christmas carols to all of us!”
“Why?” Keith asked.
“Yeah, why?” Lance repeated.
“It’s Christmas time on Earth!” Pidge announced. “It’ll be Christmas in exactly a week. Kinda crazy to think about, right?”
“Really?” Hunk asked.
“Yup!”
“That’s awesome!” Lance exclaimed. “We can celebrate Christmas in space!”
“It seems super weird,” Pidge commented. “But I’m honestly kind of excited. I mean, we’ve still got missions and everything, so we won’t have all the time in the world, but I’m sure we can do some stuff.”
“Like singing Christmas songs!” Hunk said. “And maybe we can try to contact Earth.”
“What’s Christmas?” Allura asked.
“Well,” Hunk started to explain. “It’s a holiday where-”
Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and walked out the room, leaving the rest of the team to talk about Christmas.
“What’s up?” Keith asked.
“I just… wanted some space,” Lance replied, smiling at Keith and intertwining his fingers with Keith. “C’mon, let’s take a walk.”
They walked down the hall towards Lance’s room.
“Christmas in space, huh?” Lance mused. “Feels weird to think about. I’m always with my family this time of year. It’s the one time my older sisters, Rachel and Veronica, and my older brothers, Luis and Marco, are sure to all come home. We always cook, eat, dance to music, decorate the tree, say our prayers, open our gifts together as a family.”
They took a left and entered Lance’s room. Taped to the wall next to his bed was a big picture of his entire family. He took it off the wall and admired it.
“You guys are also my family, but…” Lance sniffled. “Well, you’re not my family family. I miss them.” He wiped his eyes and took a seat on his bed.
Keith took a seat next to him and let Lance sob into his shoulder. Seeing Lance grow downcasted made him angry - angry at Zarkon and the Galra Empire, angry at being so far from Earth, even angry at their jobs as defenders of the galaxy. Yet using his anger to tear down the Galra Empire, soldier by soldier, ship by ship, wouldn’t make things immediately better.
But maybe there was something Keith could do to lift Lance’s spirits… his holiday spirits…
——
Keith was determined to complete his mission to ensure his boyfriend’s holiday happiness. He began thinking of ideas... except he didn't have any.
First of all - Keith hadn’t celebrated much of Christmas at all. He didn’t know much about Christmas, save for the cheesy kids Christmas movie Shiro lended him one year. Secondly, even though the paladins had more minor missions, they were still busy. Lastly, they couldn’t just go shopping at a mall for decorations. The last time that happened, they 1) were almost arrested by a Galra space cop and 2) came home with a cow.
So Keith tried his luck and asked Allura if there were any decorations on the Castle.
“Are you decorating for the holiday you were talking about last night?” Keith nodded. “That sounds wonderful! But I’m not quite sure if there are any decorations on the ship…”
Allura’s mice squeaked, getting her attention.
“Yes?” Squeak squeak. “Really?” Squeak squeak squeak. “Can you show us?”
The mice bolted out the door and Allura followed, beckoning Keith to come with her. After zipping through the castle and almost running into a few paladins, they arrived at a small room filled with containers.
“Of course!” Allura exclaimed. “My mother would decorate the castle for different Altean holidays.” She opened a container and picked up a metallic flower, its magenta color slightly rusted away.
Keith rummaged through the containers, finding an assortment of red, green, and silver colored ribbons, wreaths, and cloths. He even found a large pile of what resembled cotton balls. Whenever he found a metal magenta flower, he placed it beside a nostalgic Allura, who was slowly admiring each new flower she found in her hands, as if she was brought back into a memory.
Once Keith was satisfied with his mass of Christmas decor, he placed it all into an empty container. Before he left the room, he asked Allura, “Are you alright?”
She looked at him with a soft smile, small tears glistening in her eyes. “Yes, I’m quite alright. Thank you, Keith.”
——
Keith knocked on Pidge’s door.
“Come in!” she called out.
Keith opened the door and- wow. Pidge’s room was… something.
The floors were covered with a mix of clothes and bits of tech. On the wall above the bed, where blankets were strewn on the floor, was an array of pictures and drawings illuminated by the string lights attached to the ceiling. A little blue fuzzy creature the size of an apple nuzzled against Keith’s foot. He had no idea where they came from, and he wasn’t sure anyone else knew the Green Paladin had strange creatures stowed away in her room. But it didn’t seem to be harmful, so he decided to let it be.
In the corner of the room was a mechanical model that looked familiar…
“Is that me?” Keith pointed at the mechanical figure with a mullet and aggressive eyebrows.
Pidge, sitting around a pile of gears she was tinkering with, replied with “Perhaps.” She did not elaborate further.
“Okay. Uh…” Keith held up the green fabric. “I was gonna use this to try to make a Christmas tree on the wall.” Pidge looked up from her work. “Could you help me out?”
“A Christmas tree?” Pidge tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “You’re the last person I’d expect to celebrate Christmas. Are you a Keith doppelgänger? Unless,” Pidge smirked. “You’re doing this to surprise Lance, aren’t you?”
Keith felt his cheeks grow warm. “No! Okay, maybe. Are you gonna help me out? Or do you not have the skills?”
“Ooo, are you doubting me? Let’s go make a tree, Loverboy!” Pidge got up, scattering the bits of tech and metal she was working with, and tore down the lights she had on her ceiling. “First - we can’t have a Christmas tree without any light!”
The two of them walked to the ballroom, which they determined to be the most suitable room for their needs, and laid out the pieces of fabric on the floor.
“This is definitely enough fabric to make a giant triangle to slap onto the wall,” Pidge determined.
“But we can’t just make it a huge triangle and call it a day,” Keith said. “We should try to cut into more of a… Christmas tree-y shape.”
“Okay,” Pidge drawled. “How are you going to make it?”
“Uh… you don’t have any scissors, do you?”
“I haven’t had scissors for deca-phobes, man,” she snorted. “I’m sure you can find something sharp on this ship.”
Keith pulled out his bayard. “This can work.”
Pidged eyed it warily before slowly nodding her head. Keith cut the fabric, bit by bit, excruciatingly slow with his sword. Pidge gave him some input:
“Cut a little more to the left.”
“Wait! Don’t make the triangle too big!”
“You’re not very patient, are you?” He was not.
The final result was a little lopsided, but it resembled a Christmas tree, so it suited their needs.
“How are we attaching it to the wall?” Keith asked.
“I have duct tape!” Pidge ran out of the room.
“So you have duct tape and not scissors?” Keith muttered.
“Hey! Duct tape is an essential for all engineers!” she shouted as she left. When Pidge returned, she was carrying a roll of duct tape on top of a large battery. “Now we have everything we need!”
The two of them lifted the fabric against the wall but found that neither of them was tall enough to tape the top of the tree.
“Y’know,” Pidge grinned, with a bit too much sparkle in her eyes. “If we combine our height, we’d be tall enough-”
“No.”
“So what, you’re gonna wait for Hunk or Shiro or Lance to attach the tree?” She said, rolling her eyes.
“We can ask Coran…” He suggested.
“Coran?”
“Okay! Fine, you win!” Keith grumbled.
Pidge pumped her fist and climbed onto Keith’s shoulders. Keith held up the base of the tree as she attached the top of the fabric tree to the wall.
Pidge swiftly hopped down from her perch and saluted him. “Thank you, good sir, for your service.”
Keith rolled his eyes, cracking a small smile. “Let’s get the rest of this tree sorted out.”
The two of them taped the sides of the tree (while hiding the duct tape as best as they could). Then, Keith grabbed the lights and held the strands in place as Pidge taped them to the tree. Once all the lights were in place, Pidge hooked the end of the string light wire into the battery.
“And…” Pidge pressed a button, and white bulbs of light flickered on. “Success! Not bad, Loverboy.” Pidge nudged Keith.
“You didn’t do such a bad job yourself.” Pidge sighed. “Y’know… oddly enough, this reminds me of Christmas back on Earth. Dad would give Matt and me a string of lights, and we’d run to hang them up on the tree to see if each light had a snowman, or start playing music, or fly…” Pidge’s eyes glassed over before quickly rubbing them.
Keith paused. “Maybe you can make lights like that for us?” he suggested. “And when you find your brother and your father… you can show it to them.”
Pidge softly smiled. “Yeah. Maybe I could.”
Pidge suddenly hugged Keith, who stumbled back, unsure of what to do. He patted Pidge’s back and the two stood, watching the lights on the Christmas tree glimmer.
——
Lance walked onto the bridge and found Keith looking at the planet he’d just come from. Keith turned around at the sound of footsteps, and his focused frown disappeared into a smile. Lance pulled him into an embrace and kissed Keith’s cheek. Keith put an arm around his waist, letting Lance sink into his shoulder.
“How’d the mission go?” Keith asked.
“The usual,” Lance sighed. “Almost getting obliterated by Galra ships while protecting a transport of potential Garrison recruits.”
“Lucky you,” Keith said dryly.
Lance snorted. “I’m sure you’ve been having a blast all this time.”
“Surprisingly, I have. Here, come with me, I have a surprise for you.” Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and led him out of the Bridge.
“Ooo, what kind of surprise?” Lance asked.
“The kind where you have to close your eyes.” Keith smiled and then went behind Lance to cover his partner’s eyes with his hands.
“Well, this better be good.”
He led him down the hallway into the ballroom, where the rest of the team already was. Keith had asked them to meet there, knowing Lance would take a while to change out of his armor.
“And… here we are.” Keith removed his hands from Lance’s eyes.
As Lance saw the tree, whatever witty comment he had coming out his mouth evaporated. His eyes widened in bewilderment, trying to make sense of the big, sloppily cut, emerald green cloth triangles that were taped to the wall to make the tree. He gazed at the soft white lights that hung from it, and his face broke into a huge grin.
“What!? This is awesome!” Lance put his hands on his head.
“And we have things to decorate the tree with!” Allura held up a container.
Lance whirled around and faced Keith. “Did you do this?”
Keith nonchalantly shrugged. “I had some help.”
“It was mostly him!” Pidge chimed in.
“Oh, you are amazing!” Lance squeezed Keith into a hug and placed a big kiss on his cheek.
“Are you gonna stand there and smooch all day?” Hunk asked. “Or will you help us decorate?”
Lance untangled himself from Keith and rushed to the bin of decorations. He picked up a blue star.
“I think this color suits me,” Lance joked. He ripped a piece of Pidge’s duct tape and attached the star to the wall.
Each paladin chose an ornament to hang: Keith, a small metal sword; Pidge, a trinket she made from nuts and bolts; Hunk, a mini frying pan; and Shiro, a black-and-white cat-like creature.
Allura had a handful of purple metallic flower she’d found earlier when Keith searched for the decorations.
“The juniberry was a flower that grew all over Altea, and it represents my home.” She gazed at one in her hand fondly. “They are a reminder of my home, and I wish to preserve them along with the rest of Altea culture. I give one to each of you in hopes that you’ll also allow me to celebrate my holidays, just as you are all doing right now.”
“Of course, Allura.” Keith smiled gently and grabbed a flower.
“Thank you for helping me find them.” She smiled.
All the paladins attached the juniberry ornaments to the tree. Then, Coran grabbed a handful of decorations and put them all on the tree in a blur.
“I present to you this magnificently decorated tree!” Coran announced.
“It looks wonderful!” Allura exclaimed.
“Wait!” Hunk ran out of the room. He returned with a photo in his hand. He paused in front of the tree, looking forlornly at the picture, and Keith saw that it was a photo of his family. Hunk taped it to the tree, next to the ornament he hung up, and quickly wiped his eyes.
“That’s a wonderful addition, Hunk,” Allura softly said.
Pidge quickly left the room, followed by Shiro. They also returned with photos - Pidge had a picture of her mother, father, and brother, and Shiro had a picture of his fiance Adam. They both attached them to the tree.
Lance pulled out a picture from his jacket pocket - it was a picture of his parents, grandparents, siblings, niece, and nephew. He taped it to the tree next to the blue star he hung up. Lance took a step back and admired the tree with misty eyes.
“They would be proud of you,” Keith said. He intertwined his fingers with Lance and gave him a small smile.
“It’s not done yet!” Pidge shouted. “We have to put the star on it! Keith, boost me up,” she ordered.
Keith sighed. “Really? Again?”
“You’re not gonna help out the star on the tree?” Lance said. “Shame on you.”
“Okay, okay!” Keith relented. Pidge high-fived Lance and climbed on Keith’s shoulders. She pulled out a metal wire shaped like a star with lights wrapped around it and attached it to the top of the tree.
“Ta-da!” Pidge exclaimed. “Looks awesome, right?”
“It sure does,” Lance said. “It sure does.”
——
“Need a little help?”
Keith paused his work to find Shiro at the door, looking at the ribbons Keith had hung around the lounge walls. Lance was out on a scouting mission with Pidge, so Keith wanted to surprise them by decorating the first room they would collapse in after the mission.
“I can handle this, thanks,” Keith grunted. He stood on his tiptoes to attach a red ribbon to the wall. The ribbon prompted to fall off the entire wall Keith had been working on. Keith sighed. “Okay, maybe I do need some help.”
Shiro picked up the strand of ribbon and hung it on the wall.
“You’re the last person I’d expect to be decorating this ship for Christmas,” He commented.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
Shiro laughed. “So how’d the holly jolly spirit get to you?”
Keith shrugged. “It seems like everyone’s been missing Earth, especially right now. So… why not cheer them up?”
Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Mhm. So this isn’t about Lance at all?”
Keith stated at the wall in front of him. “Okay, maybe it is.”
Shiro chuckled. “I did something like this for Adam once.”
“Really?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“I didn’t take you to be a romantic.”
“Well I didn’t take you to be a romantic either, yet here we are, decorating the lounge so you can surprise your boyfriend after his mission.”
Keith blushed. “So- you did the same with Adam?”
Shiro smiled to himself. “He came home late that night, exhausted from his work at the Garrison. But when he saw our apartment, his eyes lit up. He even found the tiny Christmas tree I bought endearing.”
Keith finished attaching the last of the ribbon to the wall. A question sprang in his mind. “Do you think you’ll ever get to see Adam again?” he blurted. Okay, maybe that was bad phrasing. “I mean… Do you think we’ll ever get back to Earth?”
“Of course we will,” Shiro immediately answered. “...At least, I hope so. And even when Earth seems so far away, the hope of going home and seeing him again pushes me to keep going. And every day we push back the Galra, we get closer to home. But…” Shiro placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “It’s Christmas time. We all deserve a break from the craziness of the war we’ve been wrapped up in. I’m glad you’re doing this - it’s helping the entire team feel less tension. I’m seeing a lot more smiles on people’s faces.” Shiro smiled. “Thank you, Keith.”
——
“Mmmm, it smells delicious in here.” Lance walked into the kitchen to find Keith shaking a pan on a stove. “Whatcha making?”
“Uh…” Keith glanced at the pan. “I was making some ropa vieja... or, I’m trying to.”
“Wait really?” Lance’s eyes lit up in excitement. “That’s literally my favorite food!” Lance peeked at the pan, which was currently a mixture of pinkish meat swimming in the innards of gutted tomato-shaped fruits. “At least your heart’s in it! Metaphorically and literally. Want some help?”
Keith was in no position to say no to the offer.
“Awesome… wait! We need some music!”
Lance ran out of the room and came back with his phone. “I’m so glad I downloaded the music my family plays when we cook at home.” He pressed a button and an upbeat tune started to play.
Lance added more ingredients to the pan, humming along with the music, and let it simmer. He then started dancing to the music, taking small steps at every beat of the drum.
He spun around and started singing: “Vivir mi vida, la la la la, Vivir mi vida, la la la la, Voy a reír, voy a gozar, Vivir mi vida, la la la la!”
Keith watched as Lance danced, unable to tear his eyes away. Lance noticed him watching and extended a hand out to him.
“But-” Keith hesitated. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“Just follow me,” Lance said with a breezy smile.
Keith took Lance’s hand and Lance immediately pulled him into the dance. Lance held both of Keith’s hands and continued singing to the music. Keith clumsily followed Lance’s steps and tried his best to keep in time with the music. “Si así es la vida, hay que vivirla, la la le,” Lance sang. He spun Keith around in a circle, causing Keith to blush. “Vivir mi vida, la la la la!”
The song ended and two of them leaned against the counter.
“You were pretty good for your first time!” Lance complimented Keith.
“Not as good as you,” Keith said.
“Well obviously, I’ve been doing this for years.” Lance smirked. “But thank you.” He exhaled, looking at the food cooking on the stove. “The ropa vieja probably won’t be as good as mi mama’s, but it’ll be close enough.”
“Did your mom teach you how to make this?” Keith asked.
Lance chuckled. “She tried. I was an obnoxious kid, believe it or not-”
Keith snorted.
“Okay, dropout, I don’t wanna hear it,” Lance teased. “But mi mama always made me make this meal for our Christmas dinner. Well, she made everyone cook for that dinner… Veronica made lechon asado, Luis made these delicious sandwiches, Abuela made arroz con pollo…” Lance rubbed his arms. “I miss it.”
Keith bumped shoulders with Lance. “Let’s make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” Lance asked.
“When we get back to Earth - not if, when - you invite me over for Christmas. I’ll meet your family, I’ll buy presents for everyone, and I’ll help you make ropa vieja for Christmas dinner.”
“Presents for everyone?” Lance asked. “You sure you're not too broke for that? There’s a lot of people in my family.”
Keith snorted. “I can manage that. There’s your abuelo and abuela, your mom and dad, Veronica, Rachel, Luis, Marco…”
Lance chuckled and rested his head on Keith’s shoulder. Keith wrapped an arm around Lance’s waist. For a moment, Keith could really imagine it - Lance and him waiting for the ropa vieja to cook while the rest of the family buzzed around the kitchen. Lance’s niece and nephew would run back and forth as they helped set the table. Keith would sit next to Lance, listening to his family’s stories and jokes that they made, and when the music started playing, Keith would be the one to pull Lance into a dance…
Keith noticed there was an excessive amount of steam rising from the pan. “Uh, is it supposed to do that?”
“Oh, quiznack!”
——
Thankfully, the ropa vieja was recovered and presented to the team for dinner.
“As one of the most renowned chefs in the Garrison,” Hunk announced. “I bestow this meal… a five-star review.”
“I second that!” Allura exclaimed.
“Is this a family recipe?” Shiro asked.
“Kinda,” Lance said. “We had to improvise with some of the ingredients. It also tastes a bit crunchier than it’s supposed to be.”
As the paladins continued eating, Hunk leaned over to Keith and whispered in his ear. “After you finish, follow me into the kitchen.” Hunk abruptly took his plate and left the room.
Curious to see what Hunk needed him for, Keith quickly shoveled the rest of his meal into his mouth. He went to the kitchen and found Hunk mixing a bowl on a table with various ingredients.
“Do you need my help?” Keith asked.
Hunk looked up. “Oh good, you’re here!” Hunk handed Keith the bowl he was mixing. “Keep mixing this until it has a thick consistency.” Hunk grabbed another bowl and started adding drops of color into his bowl.
“So… what exactly am I stirring?”
“Cookie batter!” Hunk chirped. “I was inspired by your Christmas spirit when you decorated the castle. I thought it would be fun to make sugar cookies for us to decorate.” Hunk peeked into the bowl Keith was stirring. “Alright, that looks good. I’ll take the dough.”
Hunk took the bowl from Keith and dumped its contents onto a pan. “Add drops of food coloring into all these bowls of frosting and mix them until they look consistent.” Hunk pointed at the various bowls on the table. “You can pick whatever colors you want.”
Keith went to work as Hunk, using a knife, carefully cut out people-shaped pieces of dough and placed them on a pan.
“What are you fellows up to?” Coran asked, walking into the kitchen.
“No!” Hunk said. “Close your eyes! Leave!”
“What’s going on?” Keith heard Pidge say.
“It’s supposed to be a surprise!” Hunk hissed.
“Coran, guard the kitchen!” Keith ordered. “Don’t let anyone in until Hunk says so!”
Coran saluted Keith and spread out his arms. “No one is allowed into the kitchen until further notice! There’s a mess everywhere! It looks terrible! You can’t see it!”
Keith finished micing all the frosting, and Hunk popped the tray of cookies into the oven. He put spoons into all the bowls of frosting and pushed them to the side of the table.
“Okay!” Hunk called out. “You can come in now.”
“You may now enter!” Coran announced, motioning his arms towards the door.
“I hope you guys left room for dessert!” Hunk spread his hands out. “We’re having cookies!”
“Are cookies the sweet dessert from Earth?” Allura asked.
“You bet!”
“The last time we made cookies, they were veeery inedible.” Pidge said.
“But they did save our lives.” Coran pointed out. “Thanks to me as well, of course.”
“Have a little faith guys!” Hunk said. “You know, I did run a-”
“Five-star restaurant.” Pidge rolled her eyes without any ill intent. “But it was only for an hour!”
“Well, I don’t see anyone else gloating about their amazing culinary skills, you’ll just have to trust me.” The oven dinged. “Oooh, they’re ready!”
Hunk put on a pair of oven kits and pulled out a tray of people shaped cookies. Lance went to grab a cookie and Hunk slapped his hand.
“Hey!”
“There’s only enough for two cookies per person!” Hunk announced. “So you can decorate them however you like! Keith helped color the frosting, by the way.”
Lance scooped a bit of the blue frosting on his finger and licked it. “Mmm, tasty!”
The paladins started decorating their cookies with the various colors of frosting they had. Shiro made a cookie version of Keith with messy hair and extremely thick eyebrows. In retaliation, Keith made a cookie of Shiro and bit off one of cookie Shiro’s arms while staring the real one dead in the eyes. Shiro gasped in disbelief, putting a hand over his heart. Keith also made a cookie version of Lance, which was better than Pidge’s attempt at making Lance (she added too much frosting when trying to recreate the blue lion slippers Lance was currently wearing). Hunk tried to make cookie Pidge but was sabotaged by Coran, who stole all the green frosting while trying to make the best version of Pidge and Allura. Allura made a cookie of herself and of Voltron. Since Coran was lamenting about how no one made him into a cookie (and he stole the green frosting), Hunk made an extremely realistic version of Coran. Brought to tears, Coran stole Shiro’s other cookie and hastily decorated a cookie for Hunk.
Once they were all finished, Hunk laid out all the cookies on a large plate.
“When do we get to eat them?” Lance asked.
“Since it’s Christmas Eve,” Pidge said. “How about we put the cookies by the Christmas tree?”
“And wait until tomorrow to eat them?” Lance scoffed. “I don’t have enough patience for that!”
“Okay…” Hunk said. “Hear me out guys - what if we have a sleepover in front of the tree? That way we can leave the cookies by the tree but also enjoy them!”
“I second that!” Pidge exclaimed.
“That sounds lovely!” Allura added.
Everyone turned to Shiro.
Shiro shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
——
The paladins, each in their lion slippers, brought their blankets to the ballroom. They laid them around the Christmas tree, surrounded by a random assortment of boxes with differing sizes, each assigned to a different person. A plate with all the cookie paladins was set near the tree for snacking.
“This is the most scuffed Christmas I’ve ever seen.” Hunk sighed. “I love it.”
“Do you think some Space Santa’s gonna come and eat the cookies we’ve left for him?” Lance asked, taking a bite out of the cookie Keith made for him.
“I’d prefer if no one broke into our ship during Christmas,” Shiro replied, munching on his cookie made by Keith as well.
“No one’s allowed to touch the presents until Christmas morning!” Hunk yelled, shooting a glare at Coran, who had been snooping too close to the boxes.
“Well, technically, it’s morning on a planet near us-”
“No excuses!”
Pidge came out with a box and set it on the ground next to where Keith was standing.
“I made those custom lights you suggested!” She opened the lid and brought out a string of lights. “Can you help me put them up?”
Keith obliged and placed the lights on the tree so they would criss-cross with the other strand of lights. When Pidge plugged them into the battery, the lights lit up green, red, white, blue, yellow, orange, and pink. When Keith peered closer, he found there were silly doodles of each person in their respective light.
“This is pretty cool,” Keith commented.
“What!” Hunk exclaimed after seeing his light. “Pidge, this is awesome!”
“These lights look wonderful!” Allura complimented.
“No problem guys.” Pidge took a bow.
Lance sat cross-crossed on his pile of blankets. “So… what are we gonna do to celebrate Christmas Eve?” Lance frowned. “It is Christmas Eve, right?”
”How about a game like Truth or Dare?” Pidge asked. “This is a sleepover after all.”
“Oooh, I like games!” Allura said.
“I’m too tired to do any dares,” Shiro said, stifling a yawn.
“You’re boring,” Keith said.
“We could tell spooky stories,” Pidge suggested. “It is a sleepover, after all.”
“No thanks,” Hunk declined. “But… instead of sharing spooky stories, we can share Christmas stories!”
“Ooo, I have a holiday story!” Coran raised his hand excitedly. “One time King Alfor and I- well, I can’t actually tell that story.” Coran grew solemn. “I swore to never tell a soul under the punishment of death. But I would love to hear some of your stories!”
“I’ll go first!” Pidge said. “So, usually for Christmas, my dad makes a special set of lights for our tree. One year, they were supposed to fly around, but instead, they got caught in the tree! We were disappointed, but my mom was mad, especially when they started smoking.”
Silence fell upon the group.
“Smoking?” Lance asked.
“The tree didn’t catch on fire, although it almost did. But we were fine! That’s my story.”
“Can I go next?” Hunk asked. No one interjected. “Okay, so one time in kindergarten, my class was having a snowball fight. I didn’t like snowball fights, so instead I hid under one of the picnic tables. But then there were only two people left - the big, mean girl and some small kid. I knew the kid was gonna get pummeled, and I had to save him, so I ran out of my hiding place and attacked the girl! Except she hit me with a snowball first so I was out. But I came up with the perfect distraction to let the other guy hit the girl and he won! But he wouldn’t have won without me, so I consider it a win in my book.”
“You were a victor from a young age!” Coran cheered. “It was a sign from birth that you were meant to be a paladin, the savior of the universe! Also, what’s a snowball?”
“It’s like a ball of ice but more powdery and softer,” Hunk explained. “And you can throw it at people.”
“I see.” Coran had a mischievous look, and Keith kept a mental note to be on guard the next time they were on a snowy planet.
“I have a story about my family,” Lance said. “Every Christmas Eve, we’d stay up until midnight, and when the clock struck 12, we got to open our gifts. Except this Christmas, my brother Marco fell asleep before 12 and would not budge. He was dead asleep. We tried yelling at him, threatening to open his presents, but he wouldn’t budge! So we went outside, grabbed a bunch of snow, and dumped it on his head. He woke up in an instant! He was so mad, but not as mad as my mom. She made us clean up the snow before we could open our presents.”
“Was it your idea to get the snow?” Hunk asked.
Lance shrugged. “Who else would come up with that mastermind plan?”
“How about you, Keith?” Allura asked. “Do you have any Christmas stories?”
Keith was silent, looking at the other’s faces as he thought. He didn’t really have any great Christmas memories he could remember, but…
“One time,” he said. “Shiro gave me a file.”
“Oh no,” Shiro groaned.
“I was a young kid and it was Christmastime, so he thought it was a good idea to give me a file full of Christmas movies to watch. They were all kids movies, except for one - it was rated R.”
”Let me guess,” Pidge said. “You watched it.”
”I thought it was cool! Until Shiro walked into the room and saw Santa behead one of the characters. He looked horrified. And he never let me see another movie by myself.”
“It is a bit funny to look back on.” Shiro sighed, putting his head down in relief. “But I don’t think he’s ever going to let me live it down.”
“I know what I’m getting for Keith next Christmas,” Hunk joked, and then yawned.
“Getting tired already?” Lance teased. “What are you, an old man?”
“It’s been a long day!” Hunk defended himself. “And these lion slippers are really comfy…”
“I think it’s a good idea for all of us to go to bed,” Shiro said, tucking himself into his blankets.
“Merry Christmas guys!” Pidge chirped. She laid down and promptly fell asleep.
Keith wanted to stay up longer, but he too felt exhaustion wave over him. He laid down, and…
——
Keith heard something rustling. He jolted up, ready to attack anything, even if it was Space Santa. Luckily, it was just Lance. Keith got up and walked next to Lance.
Lance was standing in front of the Christmas tree. His face, illuminated by the lights from the tree, gave him a warm glow.
“Admiring the tree?” Keith asked.
“It sure is beautiful.” Lance smiled. “I’ve got one question for you, though.”
“What is it?”
Lance turned to face Keith. “Did you do all this for me?”
Keith guiltily looked at the floor. “Yeah. I did. You seemed so sad after learning it was Christmas back on Earth, and I wanted to cheer you up. Plus, I was stuck on this ship anyways.” He looked up at Lance. “How did you figure it out?”
“Well, the ropa vieja kinda gave it away,” he chuckled. “And Pidge told me.”
“Of course she did.”
Lance playfully bumped Keith’s shoulder. “You wanna know what my favorite part of this Christmas time has been?”
“The ropa vieja?”
Lance laughed. “It was spending time with you.” He intertwined his fingers with Keith’s.
“Really?” Keith asked.
“Really,” Lance replied. “Christmas at home… it’s never really about the lights or the tree or the cookies or the food - although I do love the food. For me, it’s about the people I get to spend time with. On Earth, it was my family. And out here,” Lance held Keith’s hands and faced him. “I’m glad I was able to spend Christmas with you.”
Keith smiled. “Merry Christmas, Lance.” He pulled his boyfriend into a kiss, thinking he was the luckiest guy alive.
The paladins stood by the tree full of lights, wishing their friends a Merry Christmas and to all a good night.