"Glad You Came"
A great deal of cultural exchange had to take place in order for the Earthlings and Alteans to cohabit the Castle harmoniously.
One of the first questions they asked was about time. Allura had been referring to Altea's years when she stated how long she and Coran had been asleep, but Pidge calculated that Altea and Earth orbited their respective stars at approximately the same speed, so a year meant about the same amount of time to each of them.
Pidge explained how their years were based on Earth's orbit around its sun, and months on its moon's cycle of visibility as it reflected the sun's light while orbiting the Earth, and days on the Earth's rotation. Shiro stepped in to explain leap years, a concept that was important to him because he was born on February 29. Lance did the math and calculated that Shiro had only had six calendar birthdays, which amused him to no end. "I knew you were one of Earth's youngest astronauts to date, but I didn't think you were that young!"
Shiro started to raise his Galra arm, then thought better of it, and used his left arm instead to give Lance a shove. "Speak for yourself, Cadet." The difference between Lance's occasionally high-pitched voice and Shiro's deep timbre could not have been more pronounced.
The two Alteans tried to accommodate the Earthlings by using their time measurements. Gradually the paladins began using Altean and intergalactic time measurements in their speech.
Occasionally someone—usually Lance—asked Pidge what day it was according to Earth's time measurements. She was the only one of them who had brought technology from Earth, including her computer with its calendar and clock. The reactions to her report were always of wonder, either at how much time had passed, or how little had passed.
They did not have much time to spare for birthdays and holidays, but Hunk liked to make special meals and conduct a rendition of "Happy Birthday To You" with whatever instruments they could find or improvise.
Lance's eyes lit up when Pidge announced that, on Earth, it was now the month of July. "Hey, my birthday's coming up! July twenty-eighth, just so everyone knows."
"Birth day?" Allura repeated.
"You're giving birth?" Coran inquired.
The Alteans' bemusement increased tenfold when Shiro, Hunk, Keith, and Pidge burst out laughing, while Lance looked absolutely indignant.
"That is not what I said!" Lance spluttered.
"Do you not have birthdays in your culture?" Hunk asked after he had calmed down.
"If we do, we don't use that term for it," Allura said uncertainly.
Pidge explained, "A birthday is the anniversary of the day a person was born. We celebrate them every year—you know, every time the planet makes a complete orbit around the sun."
"Oh." Allura thought about this. "Is it a celebration of having been born, or of having survived so long?"
The question made the Earthlings pause. None of them had thought that deeply about it before. "I guess both," Keith answered with a shrug.
"How do you measure people's ages?" Shiro asked Allura.
"On Altea we had seasonal festivals. People measured their ages in relation to the solstice or equinox that occurred closest to the day of their birth. On those days, we celebrated everyone born in that season."
"Well, birthdays are more about celebrating your individuality," Lance said. "People are super nice to you all day, and usually throw you a party with cake and give you presents …"
Allura glanced at Shiro and Keith, a pale eyebrow raised dubiously. "Is he telling the truth, or is he making this up?"
Before Keith could answer in the affirmative, Shiro answered with a wry smile, "It's true."
"I remember having a space-themed party when I turned eight," Lance reminisced. "We made a piñata shaped like a space ship. Another year we went to the planetarium." He paused, and his cheerful demeanor slowly drained away, leaving an anxious expression in its place. "I wonder how my family's taking it. The fact that it's my birthday and they don't know where I am … or if I lived this long."
The others were surprised into sympathy, except for Pidge, who merely nodded sadly. "I know what you mean. We always had video calls on birthdays and holidays when Dad was away. After he and Matt disappeared, Mom and I didn't know what to do on their birthdays. No contact stinks, but not knowing is worse."
Hunk gestured for her to hush. "I don't think you're helping."
"I was trying to show empathy!"
"Thanks, Pidge. I appreciate it." Lance clapped her shoulder and left the room, not meeting anyone's eyes.
Once Lance was out of earshot, Hunk called everyone's attention and said, "I think we ought to do something for Lance's birthday."
"We haven't done anything for anyone else's birthday," Keith pointed out.
"We've been a bit busy," Allura reminded him.
"I know, but … he's homesick." As soon as Hunk said this, he immediately realized it was the wrong reason to offer to this company. "I mean, I know we all are, but it really gets to him. He's from a big family, and he was the youngest in it, so his birthday was always kind of a big deal to them."
"What do you suggest?" Coran asked.
"I'm going to try to make a cake and some of his favorite foods, but if that doesn't work out, it'd be nice to have something else, like presents."
The others glanced at each other, nodding in agreement. Allura wondered aloud, "What could we give him?"
Pidge pulled up a holographic screen to write down ideas. "What does Lance like? Besides girls and glory, neither of which are viable options for gifts."
"He likes the ocean. Or pretty much any water you can swim in."
"He likes rain, too," Coran remembered.
"What is that?" Allura asked.
Pidge answered, "It's part of Earth's water cycle. Basically, water vapor gathers together in the sky, forming clouds, and when there's so much that it becomes too heavy to contain, the water condenses back into liquid form and falls."
"Sometimes it's kind of gloomy or inconvenient," Hunk said, "but sometimes it's pleasant. It's nice to listen to. Kind of soothing."
Keith suddenly straightened out of his typical slouching posture. "Have you guys ever seen a rain stick?"
"Yeah, I think at your place," Shiro remembered.
"What's a rain stick?" Allura asked.
"It's kind of like a musical instrument," Keith explained. "My dad showed me how to make one out of a cactus, a kind of plant that grows in the desert. It's a hollow stick with little crossbars and rocks inside. When you turn it upside down, the rocks clatter in a way that sounds like rainfall."
"That's a great idea!" Hunk exclaimed happily. "And maybe we can make musical jars, you know, with water to make different notes?"
"Sounds like we'll have a full concert," Coran said, only half joking.
It took some experimentation to find the right combination and arrangement of materials. The mice helped in the process of choosing the best small items to use as the noisemakers. They were lucky enough to visit a planet whose environment had many small rocks, and the locals said it was fine for them to take some.
They found a suitable piece of wood, long, skinny, and hollow on the inside, on a forested planet. Keith agreed to carve the wood, since he could handle a knife better than anyone (something Hunk sometimes envied when they cut ingredients together).
Lance was late in getting up on July 28. At first Shiro said it was fine, that they could let him sleep in since there was nothing pressing on their agenda. But after a few more hours, Hunk went to Lance's room to check on him. He found Lance awake but curled up lethargically in his blankets. In one of his fists he held the funny-looking rosary he had made out of Allura's discarded jewelry in an attempt to feel more connected to his family. He pulled it under his blanket as Hunk approached.
"Lance? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm fine. Just …"
"Homesick?"
"What made you think that?"
"I don't know, maybe just 'cause it's your birthday and instead of being happier than usual you're acting uncharacteristically sad."
"Oh, thanks for remembering."
"Sure. But you know, even though you can't celebrate it like you used to, you can still celebrate it. Come on, I've got something to show you."
Lance raised his head, his curiosity piqued. "Is it a cake? Did you actually manage to bake a cake in outer space?"
"Well, no … I couldn't get eggs or sugar or flour … but I did make some good stuff. You get ready and come to the dining room." He left to give Lance some privacy.
Lance consciously tried not to get his hopes up, while still subconsciously raising them higher and higher. Once he was dressed and freshened up, he went down to the dining room.
He became apprehensive when he saw the darkness inside. Usually the spacious room was lit with bright Altean lights. "Guys? I don't like having lights off, after what happened with the Galra crystal …"
The lights came on at the same moment everyone yelled, "SURPRISE!"
Lance yelped, but thankfully the sound was lost in the sound of his friends' shouting and applauding and exclaiming, "Happy birthday!" The long table was laid with alien but aesthetically appealing dishes, and a line of glasses with increasing amounts of water. Shiro was holding what could only be a present, wrapped in bright paper. Each of the paladins had a paper party hat in the color of their lion, while Allura and Coran had pink and orange ones, and a blue one lay on the table.
Hunk held up two spoons and began to tap on the sides of the glasses, a tune familiar to the Earthlings. They started to sing "Happy Birthday," out of tune at first, but they adjusted to each other's pitches and made a surprisingly harmonic chord. By the time they finished, Lance was nearly in tears. He tried to speak, but choked on his words. "You guys …"
Hunk carried the blue party hat over to him. Lance accepted it and put it on with great solemnity. "Thanks, everyone."
Shiro carried the present over, but at the last second he held it out to Keith. "You give it to him."
"What?" Keith and Lance said at the same time, both surprised at the suggestion.
"Why me?" Keith asked.
"Well, it was your idea, and you did most of the work."
Lance raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "I'm not sure I trust this now."
"Come on, Lance," Shiro chided.
"We all approved the idea and oversaw the construction," Pidge assured him.
"Oh, alright." Lance accepted the gift from Keith's hands, and did not restrain his eagerness as he unwrapped it. When he revealed the elongated stick, he frowned in puzzlement. "Huh." The beads inside rattled as he examined it. "What is it? An anorexic maraca?"
"It's a rain stick," Keith informed him. "Hold it vertically, then turn it upside down."
Lance did so, and the stick produced a sound like water dripping and rippling. "Wow. That's … surprisingly thoughtful of you, Keith."
Keith shrugged. "Coran was the one who said you like rain."
Lance turned it upside down again to prolong the sound. Then he smiled, held the stick to his chest, and bowed to his circle of friends. "Well, I approve and humbly accept your offering." Ignoring their eye-rolls, he eyed the food on the table. "That may not be cake, but it looks pretty good."
They sat down and ate the brunch, while Hunk told them how he had obtained the ingredients and improvised each of the recipes. This led to him telling stories about smuggling food into the Galaxy Garrison and trying to improve the menu options there. Then Lance jumped in to brag about his escapades, leading to much laughter from everyone.
Hunk patted his friend on the back. "You know something, Lance? I'm glad you made me follow Pidge the night Shiro came back."
"Really?"
"I mean, it was still kind of inconsiderate to make me, but it led to us forming this team, for the whole universe's benefit, so yeah."
Pidge smirked, but there was a different emotion in her eyes. "I'm glad you guys decided to follow me, even after all the times I blew you off."
Lance glanced at the filled water glasses Hunk had played. "Can I try the water music?" Lance accepted the utensils from Hunk, and tapped the glasses experimentally to determine which notes they produced. Then, to everyone's surprise, he began to tap out a song. Only the Earthlings recognized it, but even the Alteans could tell that he was not fooling around with random notes: he was playing a song.
Allura and Coran were surprised when they started singing, joining in unison. The melody was strange and sounded tuneless to their sensitive Altean ears, but the lyrics mentioned the sun and stars and the universe changing so much that it could never be the same. At the end they all sang in unison: "I'm glad you came, I'm glad you came." When it was over they applauded, and Pidge slapped Lance a high five.
"That sounded lovely," Allura sighed.
Lance snickered. "If you heard all the instruments, I don't know if you'd use that word."
Author's Notes
I had this idea a while ago, but waited until the date of Lance's birthday was announced and arrived.
The song this chapter is named after, and that Lance plays, is "Glad You Came" by The Wanted.
You can read about Lance's rosary in my short story cycle "Catholic Means Universal."