Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wednesday, July 8

“Shiro, mark your calendar. You’re coming to my house for dinner on Eid,” says Allura as she sets her purse down on the desk she shares with Shiro, “Bring Matt, Pidge and Keith.” It’s a statement, not a request. She slept 3 hours last night and she’s not in the mood for polite requests.

“I… am?” says Shiro, looking up from the stack of project proposals he’s trying to review, quick before they get mobbed by teenage engineers. It’s summer camp season, which means the Engineers of the Future staff have their hands full. It’s also Ramadan, which means two thirds of the staff are running on half empty. Literally.

“Of course you are!” declares Coran from the couch, where he’s sleepily shuffling through lesson plans, “You’re practically family!”

“I’m also practically an atheist,” Shiro reminds them, “I wouldn’t want to intrude on something so personal.”

“Nonsense,” says Allura brusquely, “I’d much rather spend Eid with my closest friends and those dear to them than at the masjid with that… that witch of an auntie, Haggar. She’s absolutely insufferable.”

“Ah, right,” says Shiro, suddenly remembering why Allura can’t stand the only mosque within a 30 mile radius, “Haggar.”

“Haggar,” hisses Allura in confirmation.

Shiro chuckles fondly, “Well, I’d be happy to come if you want me there. What day is Eid?”

“I’ll get back to you on that,” says Allura.

Coran unleashes a slap-happy cackle from his corner of the room.

Shiro raises an eyebrow, “Do you not… know?”

“Oh, it should be sometime next week,” says Coran matter-of-factly.

“It’s hard to mark my calendar if you can’t give me a specific date,” says Shiro, pulling out his phone to see if Google is any more helpful than his coworkers. Google, as it turns out, is not any more helpful. “Uh, guys. The internet says Eid is in September. That’s definitely not next week.”

“Wrong Eid,” says Allura curtly.

“Try Eid ul Fitr,” suggests Coran with a twirl of his mustache.

Shiro revises his search, “Google says it starts the evening of July 17.”

“Oh, that’s just an estimate,” explains Coran with a flip of his hand, “we have to do a moon sighting to be sure!”

“A… moon sighting?” Shiro raises an eyebrow.

“A moon sighting,” says Allura, not really clarifying the matter any.

Shiro shrugs, “I guess just give me a range of days and I’ll do my best to keep my schedule open?”

“That’s the spirit!” Coran snaps his fingers merrily, “Should be sometime between Thursday the 16th and Sunday the 19th.”

“Alright, I’ll do my best,” says Shiro, entering a reminder into his phone.

“And don’t forget to bring Matt, Pidge and Keith!” Allura emphasizes.

“I’ll invite them,” Shiro promises, “Though I’m not sure how Keith will feel about seeing you again, after… you know.”

“After being expelled from the program?” says Allura.

“Oh, no hard feelings there,” assures Coran, “He’s a perfectly delightful youth. We simply couldn’t allow that kind of violence in our program. But as I said, bright kid. Lots of potential.”

“I’m not sure he sees it that way,” says Shiro grimly.

“We’ll have to discuss this later,” interjects Allura, “The children are coming.” The way she says it is a bit ominous.

With that, they set to work frantically preparing for their students’ imminent arrival.

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Shiro (8:32pm): Allura wants to know if you and Pidge can make it to her and Coran’s Eid dinner.

Matt (8:32pm): what

Shiro (8:33pm): It’s the feast at the end of Ramadan.

Matt (8:33pm): i know

Matt (8:33pm): but why

Matt (8:33pm): i’ve met allura like… twice

Shiro (8:34pm): She’s trying to avoid some obnoxious woman at the local mosque, so she invited me and my entire social circle to her house for dinner instead.

Shiro (8:34pm): Presumably because just eating dinner alone with Coran isn’t all that festive.

Matt (8:35pm): i dunno, from what you’ve told me it sounds like coran is all festive, all the time

Shiro (8:36pm): My point is, I think she feels lonely because she doesn’t have any Muslim friends (barring Coran), and her family is all in either London or Iraq.

Matt (8:36pm): man

Matt (8:36pm): she’s gotta be pretty lonely to invite her coworker’s jewish best friend to her eid party

Matt (8:37pm): and his little sister who she’s never met

Shiro (8:37pm): Yeah.

Shiro (8:37pm): She told me to bring Keith, too.

Matt (8:38pm): isn’t she the one who… kicked keith out of your program…

Shiro (8:38pm): Yeah.

Shiro (8:39pm): I feel kind of bad. I knew she felt out of place here, but I never realized just how lonely she was?

Matt (8:40pm): i guess I should go then, huh?

Shiro (8:40pm): Allura and I would both very much appreciate that.

Matt (8:41pm): what day is it?

Shiro (8:41pm): About that…………

Thursday, July 9

“Bismillah,” says Allura listlessly, holding out a slice of banana to the pudgy brown-and-white dumbo rat in front of her, “Here you go, Dumpling.” She pops a dried date into her own mouth and chases it with a big glass of water. Then she sighs, laying her head down on the table. A small grey-and-white rat pops out of her hair and scampers down to steal a piece of banana.

Allura chuckles and runs her finger down the little rat’s back, “Hello, Willow. I’m glad you’re enjoying your iftar, even if you weren’t fasting. Unfortunately, my dinner is running a little late.” She slides her phone closer in case of pizza-related calls, then sprawls her head and arms out over the table in utter dejection.

Her sulking is interrupted by a knock at the door. She quickly scoops her rats onto her shoulders and makes her way over to answer it.

“Large mushroom and black olive pizza?” says the exhausted-looking college student on her porch.

Allura forces a smile, thanking the delivery girl and giving her a 20% tip before taking her pizza and disappearing back into her lonely house.

Well, not completely lonely. She has four little rescue rats to keep her company. She’d started keeping rats with her father, back home in London. Back before he was sent back to Iraq and she came to the US on a study visa. Sometimes her ever-changing rodent menagerie feels like all she has left of her father.

She sets down her dinner and scoops Dumpling off her shoulder to give him a kiss, “What would I ever do without you little sweethearts?” She then tucks him back onto her shoulder and sits down, opening her pizza.

Dumpling immediately scampers back down to invade the pizza box as Willow politely sniffs at the air. Allura giggles and scruffs the tiny food thief, “Habibi! My love. This is my dinner. Go eat your bananas.” She sets him down near the plate of dates and banana slices before digging into her much-anticipated pizza. She lets out a contented sigh as the warmth of the pizza hits her empty stomach.

Saturday, July 11

“Lunch?” says Shiro, sitting down beside Keith on the couch and offering him a bowl of mac and cheese with black pepper and chili flakes sprinkled on top.

Keith shrugs and takes the bowl, closing his laptop so he can eat.

Shiro takes a few bites of his own mac and cheese before speaking again, “So, what are you up to next weekend? Between Thursday and Sunday.”

Keith squints suspiciously at his brother. “I have morning shifts at the shop on Thursday and Friday,” he says, referring to his summer job at the motorcycle shop down the street, “but other than that I’ve got nothing going on. Why? What are you planning?”

Shiro nods thoughtfully and takes another bite, then says, “I have a proposition for you. I want you to hear me out and then think about it before you answer, okay? I know you like to go with your gut, but I want you to give this decision some thought.”

Keith squints harder, “Okay. Hit me.”

“I’m sure you remember Allura and Coran,” says Shiro.

“Yes…” Keith sounds less than pleased.

“They invited me to celebrate Eid with them,” Shiro explains, “Allura wants to know if you can come.”

Anger flashes in Keith’s eyes, “Why would I—”

“Remember, you’re thinking about this,” Shiro reminds him, “Not going with your gut.”

“Okay, I thought about it,” says Keith sharply, “The answer is no.”

Shiro gives him a disapproving look, “How about you think about it for a little longer. And maybe consider seeing this from Allura and Coran’s perspective.”

“From their perspective?” growls Keith, “So you want me to just… hate myself?”

“Keith, Allura and Coran don’t hate you,” Shiro says calmly, “They made a hard decision when they removed you from the program. They don’t dislike you any more than I do.”

“Well then, I guess you dislike me too,” says Keith coolly, standing up and taking his leave.

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“Hey, Pidge,” Matt says without looking up from his phone, “You free next weekend? Shiro’s coworkers invited us to their Eid dinner.”

“Yeah, sure,” says Pidge from across the couch, eyes glued to her own phone and legs stretched out so her feet rest against Matt’s hip.

“You’re not even gonna ask who the heck these people are?” asks Matt, looking at his sister out the corner of his eye.

Pidge shrugs, “They’ll probably have something I can eat, so… sure. One step up from eating at home.”

“Did you just suggest that a Muslim holiday party is going to be more kosher than our own family’s meals?” Matt raises an indignant eyebrow.

“That was the implication, yes,” replies Pidge, completely deadpan.

Matt gives his sister’s feet a shove and she responds by kicking at his arm.

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Matt (7:32pm): pidge confirmed for eidventures

Matt (7:32pm): how’d it go with keith?

Shiro (7:33pm): Could’ve gone better.

Matt (7:33pm): <3

Shiro (7:35pm): On a less depressing note, I think I’m gonna surprise Allura with dinner tomorrow. She seems really down about not having anyone to break her fast with most nights.

Matt (7:35pm): oooo romantic! i like it!

Shiro (7:35pm): No.

Shiro (7:35pm): Just… no.

Shiro (7:36pm): Now excuse me while I go plan a completely platonic dinner with my boss.

Matt (7:36pm): have fun on your daaate ;D

Sunday, July 12

Allura is humming to her rats and rummaging through her fridge for leftovers when she hears an unexpected knock at her door. “Oh! Who could that be?” she coos to the black rat on her shoulder. She closes the fridge and heads to the door.

She opens it to reveal an anxious-looking Shiro with a large cooking pot in his hands, backlit by the last glow of the setting sun. Allura gives him a puzzled but genuine smile, “Shiro? What brings you here?”

“I uh…” he blushes faintly and holds out the pot in his hands, “I figured it must be lonely, breaking fast by yourself. So I brought my favorite comfort food to share. If… you’ll have me.”

Allura’s face lights up, “Of course! Come right in.” She ushers Shiro in and motions for him to set his pot on the stove, “Iftar—you know, breaking fast—happens in about 15 minutes.”

“You have a rice cooker, right?” says Shiro, “We should put some rice in so it’s ready in time for dinner.”

“Mmm, no rice cooker… but I have plenty of leftover rice we can heat up so it’s ready in time!” says Allura, pulling out a large Tupperware of rice from the fridge, “What did you bring?”

“Curry,” says Shiro with a shy smile, “Japanese style. It’s from a box, but I put shrimp and tofu and a bunch of vegetables in it. Usually I put squid in, but the internet was inconclusive on whether squid is halal so I left that out.”

Allura lets out a musical laugh, “It sounds positively wonderful!”

“I’m glad,” Shiro sounds relieved. He steps closer and holds out a finger to the little black rat that’s now poking her head out of Allura’s thick, wavy hair, “This must be one of the rat friends you’ve told us so much about.”

The little rodent takes Shiro’s finger between her tiny paws and sniffs at it.

“This is Anise,” Allura says fondly, “Aster is in there somewhere, too.”

As if on cue, a lanky albino rat crawls out onto her shoulder. Allura and Shiro laugh in unison.

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About ten minutes later, an alarm goes off on Allura’s phone. She grins over at Shiro, “It’s time!”

Shiro looks nervous, “What would you like me to…”

“Hold these darlings,” Allura says simply, handing Anise and Aster over to Shiro. She murmurs “bismillah” and gulps down a chunk of banana and a glug of water. Then she makes her way over to the living room, where she drapes a scarf loosely over her head and sets what appears to be a disk of dried clay out in front of her.

Shiro smiles down at the rats. Aster is sniffing her way around at his hand, while Anise has managed to scale most of his arm and is poking her nose into the sleeve of his short-sleeve button-up.

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By the time Allura returns from praying, Shiro is squirming around with two rats in his shirt. He mouths ‘help’ and Allura nearly collapses on the floor with laughter.

After luring the rats out of her friend’s shirt with banana slices, Allura pulls a couple plates out of her cabinet and hands one to Shiro.

“Do I need to do anything special?” he asks hesitantly.

“No, no. Just serve yourself and sit at the table,” clarifies Allura, “You might want to grab some banana slices to lure my fuzzy angels away from your food. I doubt curry is good for them.”

Shiro does as instructed and Allura follows suit. They eat in silence for a few minutes, Allura somehow managing to still look elegant as she scarfs down an entire plate of curry in under five minutes. Finally, once her hunger has been sated, Allura leans back in her chair and looks fondly over at her friend, “Thank you for doing this, Shiro. It means a lot to me.”

Shiro looks up from his own food and smiles, “Of course. Anything for a friend as dear as you.”

Monday, July 13

Matt (12:15am): how was your daaaate?

Shiro (12:16am): Completely non-romantic due to not being a date.

Matt (12:16am): mmmmhm

Shiro (12:16am): Good night, Matt.

Tuesday, July 14

Keith (5:03pm): Your brother invited you to allura and coran’s, right?

Pidge (5:04pm): Are those Shiro’s coworkers? If so, yes.

Keith (5:04pm): Yeah

Keith (5:04pm): Are you going?

Pidge (5:04pm): Yes.

Keith (5:05pm): I can’t decide if I should or not

Pidge (5:05pm): Why wouldn’t you?

Keith (5:06pm): Oh…

Keith (5:06pm): You don’t know do you?

Pidge (5:07pm): Clearly not, or I would presumably know what you’re referring to.

Keith (5:07pm): I used to be one of shiro’s students

Keith (5:07): At engineers of the future

Pidge (5:08pm): Well, I knew THAT.

Keith (5:08pm): I got kicked out

Keith (5:08pm): For fighting

Pidge (5:08pm): That doesn’t really surprise me.

Keith (5:09pm) So seeing allura again would be

Keith (5:09pm): Awkward

Pidge (5:09pm): Why?

Pidge (5:10pm): …oh.

Pidge (5:11pm): OH.

Pidge (5:11pm): Dang.

Keith (5:11pm): Yeah

Pidge (5:11pm): Why are you talking to ME about this?

Keith (5:12pm): Well I can’t really talk to shiro about it

Keith (5:12pm): I’ve already heard enough of his inspirational speeches on this topic

Keith (5:13pm): I was hoping for something a little more… unbiased

Pidge (5:13pm): AHA. Well in that case, you’ve come to the right person. Continue.

Keith (5:14pm): Anyways, shiro told me to think about it for a while instead of acting impulsively

Keith (5:14pm): So I’ve been thinking

Keith (5:14pm): But all I’ve really managed to do is make myself angry AND confused

Keith (5:15pm): Instead of just angry

Pidge (5:16pm): Well, in my unbiased opinion…

Pidge (5:16pm): You should go.

Keith (5:16pm): what? Why?

Pidge (5:17pm): Because otherwise everyone there will be at least 8 years older than me and that sounds pretty awkward.

Keith (5:17pm): So

Keith (5:17pm): You want me to go just to keep you company?

Pidge (5:18pm): Yeah, pretty much.

Pidge (5:18pm): If I have to be surrounded by people for several hours, I might as well be friends with one of them.

Keith (5:19pm): Did you just call me your friend?

Pidge (5:20pm): Huh, I guess I did.

Keith (5:21pm): Fair enough

Keith (5:21pm): See you in a few days, I guess

Thursday, July 16

“You’re in a good mood, today,” says Shiro, looking up from his paperwork as Coran prances into work, whistling cheerily to himself.

“Ah, yes! It’s the last day of Ramadan, so I’m thinking of all the lovely things I’ll get to cook for our upcoming Eid dinner,” says Coran with a wiggle of his mustache.

“Oh, it that tomorrow?” asks Shiro. He tries not to cringe at the mention of Coran’s cooking. He’s experienced the older man’s cooking just enough times to conclude that his coworker has the uncanny ability to transform literally any food into an inedible horror show.

“Well, tomorrow is indeed the first day of Eid ul-Fitr,” confirms Coran, “but Allura and I have elected to host our Eid dinner on Saturday, since all involved parties have more free time on the weekend.”

“Couldn’t you have just… made that executive decision a week ago?” says Shiro, rubbing his tired eyes.

“Nonsense,” says Coran, “We needed to do a moon sighting, first, to determine when the first day of Shawwal is!”

“Alright then,” shrugs Shiro, “Eid dinner is Saturday. Duly noted.”

“I hope you’re ready for my famous baba ganoush,” says Coran with a wink, “It’s absolutely stupendous!”

“I’ll… look forward to it,” says Shiro, forcing a smile.

“That’s my boy,” Coran gives him a pat on the back before scampering off to the couch to review his lesson plans for the day.

Chapter Text

Saturday, July 18

Shiro and Keith end up carpooling with the Holts to get to Allura’s house. Pidge gave them a lengthy and largely-incomprehensible exposition as to why carpooling is good for the environment, and everyone knows better than to argue with Pidge. So they all arrive together in Shiro’s black station wagon.

“I’m proud of you,” Shiro mouths to Keith, giving his shoulder a gentle touch as they approach the house. Keith clenches his jaw and doesn’t respond.

Coran meets them at the door and ushers them in with a bow and a sweep of his arm that makes him look uncannily like a stereotypical British butler.

“Eid Mubarak!” greets Pidge.

“Eid Mubarak to you as well!” Coran grins, “Nice to meet you. The name’s Coran. And you must be Pidge.”

“That’s me,” says Pidge, straightening her back and adjusting her glasses.

A moment later, Allura makes her way over and wraps Shiro in a warm hug. “Thank you so much for coming,” she looks up and smiles at the rest of his entourage, “all of you.”

“No problem! Always a pleasure to see the lovely Allura,” Matt winks at Shiro, who shoots him a secret glare.

At this point, a furry grey face pops out of Allura’s hair and Pidge squeals in delight, bouncing on the balls of her feet and fluttering her hands, “You have a rat?! Can I touch them? What’s their temperament? What breed are they? Do you have any others? Of course you have others, rats need company. How many do you have?”

Allura smiles and scoops Willow out of her hair, stooping down to hand him over to Pidge, “This is Willow. I don’t know much of his history because he’s a rescue, but he’s very sweet. I have three others, as well: Dumpling, Anise and Aster. I’m sure you’ll meet them before the night is over.”

Pidge’s face lights up as she scoops the small animal into her hands.

“Is anyone hungry?” asks Allura, standing back up, “There are some appetizers over on the table, and the rest of the food should be ready soon. We’ll serve dinner after we pray Asr.”

“So dinner should be ready in about 25 minutes,” says Pidge matter-of-factly as she strokes the entire length of Willow’s body, “I’ll have to be careful not to fill up on appetizers.”

“How do you know these things?” Matt mouths to his sister.

She shrugs, “Internet.”

With that, Coran and Allura lead Shiro and Matt over to the table. Pidge starts to follow but hangs back when she realizes Keith is still lurking silently by the doorway, arms crossed and face blank. She gives him a quizzical look that says ‘you coming?’

He sighs and scowls.

“Do you want to uh… go see the other rats?” she asks, pointing towards the cages in the living room.

Keith shrugs and follows Pidge.

“We’re gonna go see the rats, if that’s okay,” says Pidge as she passes Allura.

“Of course!” says Allura, “Just be sure to handle the boys and girls separately. Not all of them are neutered.”

“Yeah, obviously,” says Pidge before leading Keith back to the living room. They sit down cross-legged in front of the cages and Pidge hands Willow over to Keith, who tries to suppress a smile as the little rodent sniffs his way up his arm.

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Mere minutes before Asr prayer, there’s a rhythmic 5-part knock at Allura’s door.

“Ah, that must be Slav! I’d recognize that knock anywhere,” declares Coran, standing up and practically skipping over to the door in his excitement.

“Wait…” says Matt, his eyes widening.

“What is it?” asks Shiro as Coran opens the door.

“Oh my god,” says Matt as Coran gleefully shouts ‘Eid Mubarak!’ and scoops the new arrival up in a tight hug.

“Eid Mubarak!” responds the guest in a strangled voice. He’s a lanky, bearded man with round spectacles resting on his bulbous nose and framing his wide, anxious eyes. He appears to be around Coran’s age.

“Slav, my old friend! How have you been?” asks Coran, setting his guest down, “It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Actually, it’s been thirteen days,” says Slav matter-of-factly as he meticulously adjusts his green-grey salwar kameez, “But we’ll have to catch up after we pray Asr. It’s almost time.” After he finishes adjusting his outfit, he slides his shoes off and sets to work arranging them next to the door.

Coran stands aside, awkwardly twirling his mustache, as his friend becomes increasingly frustrated over the placement of his shoes.

“That’s… that’s my PhD advisor,” Matt whispers into Shiro’s ear, trying hard to disappear behind his friend.

“Perfect!” Slav finally announces, standing up and adjusting his outfit once more. He checks his watch, “And now it is time for us to pray. We must hurry or we will be late.”

As if on cue, the prayer alarm on Allura’s phone goes off and she gets up to lead Coran and Slav to the living room. Pidge and Keith take this as their cue to leave, so they take Anise and Aster and relocate to the corner of the kitchen.

Upon reaching the living room, Slav immediately pulls out a compass and begins to spin slowly around the room.

“The Qibla is that way,” Allura says, pointing vaguely towards the back left corner of the room.

“It must be precise,” says Slav, eyes focused intently on his compass.

“I’ve been praying towards that corner for almost three years,” says Allura as she drapes a scarf around her head, “I think we’ll be fine.”

Slav shushes her and squints down at his compass. After some deliberation, he points and announces “The Qibla is that way!”

Allura opens her mouth, but Coran gives her a look that says it’s not worth it. She sighs and instead says, “Who’s leading prayer?”

“It’s your house, so it only seems right for you to lead!” responds Coran.

“Slav will probably have a conniption if we disrupt his routine,” Allura points out, rubbing her clay ‘turbah between her fingers.

“Ah, good point,” says Coran, rubbing his chin, “Slav, would you like to lead salat?”

“Hmmm…” Slav thinks for a moment, “Yes. Yes, I will lead salat.”

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While is Slav micromanaging Asr, Matt is quietly sliding under the table and putting a finger over his lips to shush Shiro.

“What are you doing?” mouths Shiro, peering under the table after his friend.

Matt looks up at him with a mortified expression.

“I thought you said you were looking forward to working with this guy?” Shiro whispers.

“I am!” Matt whispers back.

“So what’s wrong?” asks Shiro.

“He’s… he’s here!” Matt whispers frantically.

Shiro suppresses a groan, “Get out of there. You’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure your advisor is more anxious than you are.”

“Really?” asks Matt shakily.

Shiro resists the urge to roll his eyes, “Is that even a real question? The man is such a raging ball of anxiety that I’m getting anxious just being in the same room as him.”

Matt contemplates this for a moment before sighing and crawling out from under the table, scooting his chair against Shiro’s before taking a seat.

“You’ll be fine,” whispers Shiro, wrapping a reassuring arm around his friend’s shoulders.

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There aren’t nearly enough seats at the table, so everyone congregates in the living room to eat. The awkwardness in the room is palpable.

Coran is slumped in the armchair, eating his way through a plate of his own horrifying cooking and pouting that no one else appreciates his culinary contributions. Allura is seated on the couch, casting concerned glances at Keith (who’s sitting on the floor with Pidge, cross-legged with their backs against the rat cages). Beside her, Matt is sitting flush against Shiro’s left side, carefully avoiding eye contact with his advisor. Slav is sitting in a kitchen chair that he’s pulled into the living room (something about “contaminated plush furniture”).

No one is talking.

Surprisingly, Slav is the one who breaks the silence. “So, Mr. Holt is it?” he says after swallowing a bite Allura’s lamb roast, “I hope you’re looking forward to working together next fall.”

“Oh my god, he recognized me,” Matt mouths to Shiro, who elbows him.

“Working together?” asks Allura, suddenly intrigued (and visibly relieved that the silence has been broken).

“Oh, yes,” nods Slav, “Mr. Holt here will be studying under me beginning next fall.”

“Is that so?” says Allura, “Matt, I knew you were in engineering, but didn’t know you were an aerospace engineer!”

“Uh… y-yeah,” Matt confirms, pressing harder against Shiro’s shoulder, “I’m starting on my PhD this fall.”

“Matt’s kind a genius,” Shiro steps in with a smile, pressing back against his friend, “Most of what I know about engineering is through him.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to working with him this fall,” says Slav, tapping his fork against his plate three times before taking a bite of potato.

Matt turns to Shiro with a look that says ‘Did you hear that?!’ Shiro nudges him, so he turns back to Slav, “I’m uh… I’m honored! And looking forward to working with two yous! I mean you too! You too! Not two years… yous! There aren’t two of you. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Actually, there are probably an infinite number of me if you take into account alternate realities,” says Slav with a shrug.

Matt laughs nervously and shovels some food into his mouth. The room returns to its prior state of tense silence.

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“How about some tea?” suggests Allura as the last of her guests clear their plates. She’s grasping at straws, now, trying desperately to ease the tension.

“Oooo, yes please!” responds Coran, clapping his hands in delight.

“That sounds lovely, Allura,” says Shiro.

The rest of the room (minus Keith) nods and murmurs affirmatively.

“Excellent,” Allura smiles, “Would anyone like anything specific, or is Iraqi chai fine?”

“I would prefer to prepare my own chai,” says Slav, “No offense to you. I’m just very particular.”

“Astonishing,” mutters Shiro under his breath, but only Matt seems to hear him.

“That’s perfectly fine,” says Allura, “Anyone else?”

“Could you give me an ingredient list?” asks Pidge.

“Black tea, cardamom… sugar if you want it?” Allura says.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Pidge says, satisfied.

“Alright,” says Allura, “I’ll put some tea on. It should be ready in about 15 minutes.”

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After distributing tea to the rest of the guests, Allura makes her way over to Pidge and Keith. She hands Pidge a mug of tea and says softly, “Pidge, may I have a moment with Keith?”

“Oh, sure,” says Pidge, getting up and letting Allura take her place.

Keith gives her a betrayed look. Pidge just smiles and shrugs before walking off with Dumpling on her shoulder.

“Here you go, Keith,” says Allura, handing him a mug, “Shiro says you drink black coffee, so I made your tea without sugar. We can fix that if you’d like it a little sweeter, though.”

Keith looks at her out of the corner of his eye and takes the mug. He doesn’t drink from it, just holds it between his hands.

“Last time we saw each other it wasn’t on the best of terms,” says Allura, taking a sip of her own tea before looking sadly over at the younger boy.

“No, really?” drawls Keith, his tone scathing.

“I understand,” Allura says softly, “You’re upset with me, and you have every right to be.”

Keith huffs.

“But,” she continues, “I want you to know that I don’t hate you. I don’t think you’re a bad person. In fact, I’m really rather proud of who you’ve grown into over the past year. Shiro tells us about you all the time.”

“Oh, does he?” says Keith bitterly, “Well then, I’m sure you know about all the dishes I’ve broken. And the time I made him cry. And the time he had to pick me up from the hospital. And the time I wouldn’t speak to him for half a week.”

Allura smiles sadly, “Keith, Shiro loves you so much. He radiates pride every time he talks about you. Did you know that he calls you his little brother to all of us? Because he does. It’s... kind of darling, actually.”

The corner of Keith’s mouth twitches up in the slightest smile. He takes a gulp of tea in an attempt to hide it.

“And we’re proud of you, too,” Allura assures him, “Coran and I. We’re proud of you for finishing high school. We’re proud of you for getting into Caltech. We’re proud of you for keeping Shiro safe…”

“Keeping him safe?” asks Keith, lowering his guard a bit.

“This is probably not my story to tell…” she says, “but did you know that Shiro missed quite a bit of work last summer because he was in and out of the hospital?”

Keith lets out a deep breath and takes a sip of his tea, “Oh.”

Allura gives him a sad smile, “You’re good for him, Keith. You may not believe it right now, but it’s true.”

-------------

While Allura talks to Keith, the rest of the group gathers around Slav to listen to him talk. Due to the crowd and the occasion, it’s no surprise when conversation quickly turns to science and faith.

“It has been theorized that jinn are, in fact, silicone-based life forms,” Slav is explaining, “After all, the Quran states that jinn are formed of smokeless fire, and silicone doesn’t produce smoke when burned!”

“That’s ‘Quran’ as in the holy book, not ‘Coran’ as in yours truly, by the way,” Coran clarifies unnecessarily.

“I… think we got that, yes,” Shiro says.

“It is also possible that our inability to reliably detect them is because they exist on an alternate plane of reality,” Slav adds, “crossing over only occasionally to our own.”

Pidge is starry-eyed, rocking back and forth as she listens intently, “This is so cool! What does the Quran say about aliens? Does Islam have a stance on aliens?”

“I’m having flashbacks to the time Pidge spent like six months obsessing over aliens and Judaism,” Matt whispers in Shiro’s ear.

“That’s funny, I seem to remember both of you obsessing over aliens and Judaism for like six months,” Shiro whispers back.

Pidge nudges Matt with an elbow, “Are you even listening? This is really cool.”

Matt and Shiro tune back into Slav’s monologue.

“…which brings me to one of my favorite passages from the Quran,” Slav is saying, “In Ayat 57 of Surah al-Ghafir, it states ‘The creation of the heavens and earth is greater than the creation of mankind, but most of the people do not know.’ Therefore, it would be naïve to assume that we are the only sapient life forms in the universe.”

“Cooool,” Pidge says reverently.

“This guy is gonna be my advisor in the fall,” Matt whispers to Shiro, almost as starstruck as his sister, “How can I possibly live up to this guy’s reputation? He’s so smart!”

Shiro rests a hand lightly between his friend’s shoulder blades and whispers back, “You’ll do fine. You can be anxious nerds together. Very… anxious… nerds.”

As if to prove Shiro’s point, Slav accidentally drops his spoon and promptly launches into a frantic and elaborate ritual to pick it back up.

-------------

After a while, Allura and Keith quietly rejoin the group. Allura sits down beside Coran, and Keith nudges in next to Shiro, who whispers “good to have you back, kiddo” and rubs his shoulder.

Slav has now moved onto explaining why the ‘if you step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back’ nursery rhyme has scientific basis, and everyone is trying their hardest to keep a straight face.

“This is the man you’re worried about impressing?” Shiro whispers to Matt, “This man. The one who is currently using physics to tell us we should be afraid of stepping on cracks.”

“Shut up,” Matt whispers back, bumping his shoulder against Shiro’s and nearly knocking over both Shiro and Keith in the process.

“Is everything alright over there?” asks Coran with a twitch of his mustache.

“Just peachy!” responds Matt with a thumbs up.

“Speak for yourself,” grumbles Keith, though the half-smile on his face betrays his actual mood.

-------------

By the time Allura’s alarm goes off for Maghrib prayer, the group is varying degrees of drowsy and draped all over each other on the living room floor. Matt and Keith are half-asleep on Shiro’s shoulders and Pidge is sprawled out across their laps, drooling on Shiro’s knee. Allura’s feet are resting against Shiro’s ankles as Coran strokes her hair in his lap. Dumpling is curled up near Allura’s collarbone, fast asleep. Even Slav has joined in, folding over in his wooden kitchen chair to rest his bearded face atop Coran’s head.

Slav sits bolt upright at the sound of the alarm.

“Is it time for Maghrib already?” Allura says with a half-yawn, “My how time flies.”

Shiro groans sleepily, “Should we get going?”

“No no, you stay right where you are,” Allura says, “We still have to send you off with leftovers and proper goodbyes.”

“Mm, okay,” Shiro nods.

“Also, can you hold Dumpling for me while we pray?” Allura asks, holding out the pudgy rat to Shiro.

“Wait wait,” Keith interrupts groggily, lifting his head a bit and holding out his hands, “Can I hold ‘im?”

“Of course,” Allura says softly, placing Dumpling in Keith’s cupped hands, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Keith sleepily kisses the rat’s nose and pulls him close to his chest.

“Blessed Eid,” Shiro calls after Allura as she turns to leave.

“Blessed Eid,” she echoes back fondly before trotting off to join Coran and Slav.