Yesterday was Mother's Day and my mom first introduced me to chili and I always loved it! I though why not write a story about it with Voltron! This takes place in Voltron Force some time after Black and assumes that Daniel tried to destroy the team, but failed. I haven't thought much about writing a story leading up to this one. Anyways, this story is mostly about the team's friendship and union. There is some humor and some romance (Keith and Allura). I hope you enjoy. I'll try to update every 1-2 weeks. Please review (you know I love those!) ;)
I do not own Voltron or its characters nor do I make any profit off of this story or any of my stories. Dang!
Lance, Vince and Pidge paced slowly and aimlessly in circles outside of Daniel's room while waiting to pay him a visit in the infirmary. It had been months since Daniel had fallen ill and progressively got worse with his Haggerium infection after he had tried to kill them all with Black. His latest manifestation of the horrid disease were large wounds encompassing many areas of his body. They required bandage changing daily and often Daniel was given pain medication which rendered him quite sedated.
The nurse wearing teal-colored scrubs with her auburn hair held up in pins opened the door a crack and then whispered to the trio whose faces were saggy with worry and concern.
"Okay, I'm done changing his dressings and I've turned him on his back. He seems to be comfortable right now. Go ahead, come in and visit with him," she encouraged them by beckoning them all in with a smile and a friendly wave of her arm.
They shuffled in and stood by the bedside while looking down at the frail form lying in the bed. Daniel's face was pale and gaunt and if his eyes had been opened, the trio would notice the dark circles around them as well as the weak, glassy expression that his amethyst eyes bore lately in his gravely ill state. It was comforting to the team that at least his breathing was calm and he showed no grimacing or sweating which would indicate he was in pain or some other discomfort. Despite the mighty gold letters "VF" which stood for Voltron Force on the wall above his bed and the gold-fringed bed comforter emblazened with colorful prints of lions, the room still felt like a hospital room. Sometimes, it even seemed like a tomb when the lights were so dim.
"The wounds are decreasing in size." the nurse said calmly hoping to brighten their moods, but Lance only gave a nod before she continued, "If you need anything, I'm heading back to the nursing station." With that she picked up her bandaging supplies and left the room closing the door carefully.
"Resting well Dan Man?" Lance asked in a whispered voice as his head bent close to Daniel's ear. Daniel moved his head every so slightly to his left with his eyes closed and his response was some indecipherable grumblings.
They stood around further watching him sleep for a few minutes and then decided to leave him be.
"He doesn't seem to be getting any better," Pidge sighed as he pulled the door to Daniel's room shut behind him.
"But the nurse said the wounds are looking a little better," Lance replied optimistically yet a little annoyed at Pidge's comment.
Vince turned his head to stare into the front window that had the drapes pulled back in Daniel's room. His head was hung low appearing sad at the deterioration of what once was his best friend still very, very ill. Now awakened, Daniel peeked over the blankets that were pulled up to his nose. He gave a weak wave to Vince who then managed a small smile, but none of the other guys had seen Daniel's gesture.
Just outside and a little way down the hall, Hunk was catching up to the three.
"Hey guys. Any change on his condition?" he asked, his brown eyes wide with hope as he stuffed his large hands in his pockets.
"Very slow improvement," Lance said meeting Hunk's eyes as he shrugged his shoulders casually.
"Well, that's better than getting worse," Hunk replied, but he shook his head sadly as he followed the others down the long hallway back to the castle. We need some fun and relaxation around here, he thought to himself. "Hey guys," Hunk started to say as he thought of something suddenly before the others got further ahead of him, "Do any of you wanna play some cribbage or pool?"
"Nah," Lance replied as he shook his head and turned away.
"Maybe some other time," Vince responded as Pidge also nodded his head in agreement with him.
"Yeah sure, I'll see you at lunch," Hunk then said flatly as he then dropped his head down in disappointment.
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"Ugh!" Allura spat out as she made a scowling face in the full-length oval mirror in her bedroom.
"What now?" Keith asked as his blue eyes peered up from his Earth magazine. His long legs were outstretched on her pink velvet ottoman as he sat lazily on the matching wing chair.
"Ever since I turned Blue over to Larmina, I'm not working out as much. I'm not as active. I've gained weight!" She puffed out her cheeks before adding, "At this rate, I'm not going to fit in my wedding dress!" She turned to Keith, hands still on her hips. Keith could only see that she was so beautiful and noticed her beautiful curves along with that silky, gold hair up in her crown and those gorgeous intense green eyes.
"Allura, my love, you are so beautiful!" he exclaimed as he leaped up and grasped her shoulders playfully. Pulling her flush to him he then placed a long kiss on her coral lips. Gazing into the sea-green eyes of hers and placing a hand into her silken hair, he said, "Come on! What, you've got maybe two pounds to lose! You're NOT fat, now stop it! Let's just be healthy together. We've started that vegetarian diet. It's nutritious and a great lifestyle for us."
She looked back into his eyes that were the color of London-blue topaz. This handsome Black lion commander and soon to be king of Arus always knew what to say and make her feel better. "I just want to look and feel like a confidant queen and bride for our wedding day," she replied smoothing back his jet-black hair.
"Why don't we get to the gym?" Keith suggested waggling his eyebrows. "It could give you a chance to try out those new core exercises Lance taught you the other day."
As Allura turned back in the mirror, she smoothed over her royal queen's attire and then spun around to face Keith again, her motivation now pumping through her energizing her.
"Let's do it! I love you so much!" she exclaimed before giving him a huge kiss firmly on his lips. She loved how soft his lips were and that she could never grow tired of kissing them.
After changing into workout gear consisting of matching black spandex yoga pants and bright blue shirts, they walked down the hallway towards the gym. As they got closer, they could hear the clanging of barbells, huffs and puffs and grunts of those working out and of different machines with metal clanging together. The scent of sweat, leather and masculine body spray lingered in the air.
As Keith got on the treadmill, Allura nearby began her core workout consisting of decline abs. As she began to curl her upper body up, she heard Lance chatting with Keith about the visit to Daniel earlier that morning. Allura couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt cut through her. She and Keith hadn't been to see Daniel in a few days and she was longing to know how he was doing. In only a moment, the conversation turned towards the wedding plans of Keith and Allura and Allura crooked her head to listen further.
"Yeah, I haven't tried my uniform on yet for the wedding,." Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Vince were all groomsmen and Romelle and Larmina were bridesmaids. Upon hearing this Larmina joined in on the conversation of the wedding.
"I haven't tried on my dress yet." At that, Allura stopped mid-curl and got off of her bench.
"Come on all of you! The wedding is only two weeks away!" Allura responded. She realized she was starting to shriek and panic filled her.
They all looked at her sheepishly. Then Hunk wiped the sweat dripping from his brow with the towel on his shoulder and said, "Wow. We still have to get fitted for the tuxes. I'm sorry."
"Do I really have to wear a dress Aunt Allura?" Larmina asked making a sour face. "I have to walk with Lance, don't I? He's going to make fun of me the whole way!" Out of the corner of her eye, she could could see Lance putting his hand to his mouth as though hiding his chuckling.
It seemed the complaining and arguing only escalated along with their voices and Hunk, keeping silent cursed under his breath. He wished for it to stop and finally Allura put a halt to it all.
"Stop it all of you! The wedding is soon and I'm getting all stressed out.." she started until Lance interrupted.
"Ah...Don't get so stressed out Queen Bee," he joked as he strolled over in tight, red spandex shorts. Lightly tapping her face which caused her to wince slightly in annoyance, he then inclined his head at Keith and added, "Seriously, why don't you guys just take the easy way out. You know you could go to Earth or Dradin-that's actually closer to Arus, have a ceremony, get your piece of paper..boom! done! Fly back to Arus and no wedding worries. You'll both be happily married!"
"Seriously Lance?! Do you actually think we would do something crazy like that?" Keith snapped as his eyes narrowed. "Come on! Allura's royalty! A queen! I may end up as king! Maybe YOU would do that, not us!" Keith snapped back incredulously. "It is our duty to the people of Arus, the galaxy alliances, our diplomats to have this wedding as a royal event properly," Keith firmly stated, his blue eyes locked with Lance's. "This marriage of ours is more than just a what you call 'a piece of paper.'
"I was just kidding." Lance nodded, huffing then giving a faint laugh. He's turning into somewhat of an uptight royal snob, Lance thought jokingly to himself.
"Thank you Keith," Allura said softly, a relaxed smile forming on her mouth as she pulled him into a hug.
"Don't worry your majesty, we'll get our act together," Pidge said holding his head high with amusement in his voice, his shirt off showing off his defined arms and sculpted abs. It was hard to believe he was once Green's scrawny little pilot.
"Let's hope so," Allura answered him back taking a deep breath.
It was a few minutes before they all returned to their workout regimens and once again the little gym was filled with its usual bangs, clangs and shouts. Hunk held his barbell while in deep thought. We all shouldn't be this uptight! We have to get back to feeling like a team again!
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Hunk tossed and turned that night in his sleep. The disconnect in the team seemed to be overwhelming. It was like he needed to figure something out, but what? No one seemed to want to hang out together except lunch and when working out. Larmina was always crabby especially with Daniel being sick. No one seemed to care that Allura and Keith's wedding was sneaking up so soon. Lance's stupid comment in the gym was aggravating. If he wasn't shooting off his heat pistols, it was his mouth that was firing stupid, snarky remarks.
Groaning in frustration, Hunk finally crawled out of bed like a big bear who had been trying to hibernate. He then walked over to the window at the snowflakes falling softly like cotton balls. As he watched the landscape become blanketed with the white snow that resembled diamonds, he grumbled to himself. It should be Spring and with rain instead of snow! In fact sunshine was well-deserved! He would love snow before Christmas and not before Keith and Allura's rapidly-approaching wedding.
As he stared out the window, he felt his appetite escalating and the growls in his stomach alerted him check into his small bedside fridge. Those chili cheese fries he had at lunchtime would make a great late night snack. Opening up the fridge, the light inside illuminating some of his room, he pulled out the little paper sack on one of the shelves and as he opened it up, he savored the spice, greasy smell of his fries. They would taste better warmed up, but he didn't feel like heading down to the kitchen to do that especially since he was in his pj's and it was late at night.
Dipping his hand in the sack, he pulled out several fries one by one and gobbled them. Yum! Despite the cold sogginess of them, they were the perfect late night snack to satisfy the rumbling hunger in his belly. As he licked each of his fingers, he thought how delicious they were with the spice of the cayenne pepper, savory chili powder and cumin with a dusting of powdery cheddar cheese.
Just like that the idea slammed into him! Chili! He loved chili and why not have the team make some! His mind came to life as he thought of the team together in the great kitchen. He remembered a time awhile ago when they first came to Arus, the princess Lance, Pidge and Keith were all in there baking chocolate-chip cookies. Although at least three dozen of the cookies had burned, they had so much fun even though Nanny and the cooks scolded them for all the messy pans, cookie batter splattered everywhere including on them and in the princess's hair. They had a blast and Hunk now knew what this team could do.
The team would cook a big pot of chili to enjoy!... Wait! There was more to it! Hunk's brain when into action and it was as though wheels were turning and getting faster as thoughts poured out in a stream. The team could team up in pairs and they would compete to come up with the best batch of chili! That was it! Hunk's heart was thundering in his chest with excitement as his big barefeet pranced about the floor of his bedroom. He was gasping for breath as his brown eyes enlarged. How would he sleep now? He couldn't wait to propose this to the team at breakfast. This is what they needed!