There was no day or night in space, but the Atlas operated on a 24 Earth hour schedule anyway. So a day had passed. Lance tried to talk to Hunk a few times, but his friend seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, and everyone for that matter. When he was forced into conversation, he seemed cheerful enough, but something was off.
Lance met up with Keith on the bridge one day and asked him if Hunk had told him anything.
"Sadly, no," Keith said. "It's strange. I've never seen him act like this."
"I wonder if he's sick or something."
"If something was seriously wrong, he'd tell us. Speaking of, have you heard anything else from Allura?"
"Radio silence," Lance said. "Occasionally I'll think I hear her call out, but sometimes it's hard to tell if I imagined it."
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you before," Keith said. "After what happened with Shiro, I should have been the last person to be skeptical."
Lance blinked in surprise. "It-it's okay. I understand. I wouldn't believe me either." He saw that Keith was thinking about something, but decided not to ask in case it was too personal. "It sucks that reception in the astral plane is so bad," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Keith half smiled. "Maybe it's your thick skull that's the problem."
Pidge growled in frustration at the code on the screen. She glared at the rubber duck perched next to her keyboard as if it was the cause of the problem.
A voice behind her said "maybe you should try-" then stopped when she yelped and spun around, nearly tipping out of her chair.
She laughed when she saw it was Hunk. "I thought you were the rubber duck!"
Hunk grinned, picking up the toy and giving it a squeak. He bobbed it up and down as he spoke: "You could get the job done a lot more efficiently. I'll show you."
Pidge snorted. "What are you, twelve?"
She rolled the chair to the side and Hunk set the rubber duck down and stood next to her, fixing the code. The rubber duck watched from its perch, judging.
The trip already felt nostalgic, and now the feeling hit him full force.
"Why don't we hang out more often?" he asked.
"Well, we're both busy," Pidge pointed out. "Not that I don't want to hang out, but I wear a lot of hats at the Garrison. And you're an ambassador chef. You're always travelling."
"Sorry. Just feeling sentimental."
Pidge scanned the newly fixed code. "Huh. You were right. That's much more efficient." She glanced at him and winced, and Hunk knew that his hurt feelings showed on his face.
"Sorry," Pidge amended. "I didn't mean to cut you off like that. This code has just been driving me crazy. But I know what you mean." She pushed away from the desk, turning to face Hunk. "I forgot how fun it is to be around you guys. I guess I miss being a Paladin more than I thought."
"Well, the constant threat of death wasn't fun," Hunk added.
"Yeah, but we had a lot of good times." Pidge looked off somewhere in the distance, lost in some train of thought Hunk couldn't begin to keep up with.
The silence prompted Hunk to admit what he was thinking. "You and the others seem to have bounced back really quickly. All your training came back to you like that." Hunk snapped his fingers. "I'm… not having that kind of luck."
"It'll come back to you," Pidge assured him.
Hunk smiled, hoping Pidge didn't notice how fake the smile was. He didn't believe her, but he didn't want to upset her. "I better start making dinner. See you later. Good luck with the programming!"
As Hunk was heading to the kitchen, he ran into Romelle. She wrapped him in a shockingly tight hug. He suddenly remembered that even though she looked stick-thin, she was an Altean, and their strength far exceeded humans'.
He returned the hug and they finally broke apart.
"It's been a while," she said. "I hear you got an important job after you left Voltron!"
"Yeah," Hunk said, letting his chest swell with pride. "I'm an ambassador-chef. I use the power of food to bring nations and entire planets together!"
"That's wonderful," Romelle said. "I'm happy to be a part of the Garrison with the other Alteans. It feels great to be with my own people again without worrying about…" she trailed off.
"I'm glad to hear that, and I'm glad you're here," Hunk replied. "My job has kept me away from home for so long, I'm always out of the loop." His smile faltered. "I'd love to stand around and chat, but I really do have to help get dinner ready. Certain people around here get really hangry. I'm not naming names but it's Keith."
Romelle laughed. "Okay, see you around!"
Hunk basked in the warmth of the ovens as he put the food inside. It was a combination of human and Altean food. A wide variety, including vegetarian options and some allergy-friendly variations for the crew members who needed them. It was a challenge that he appreciated, because it meant he had to focus on the food and not his own thoughts.
He felt a flicker of satisfaction as he admired his perfectly cooked creations, but doubt still prowled the edges of his mind. Why did he decide to go on this mission? This was what he was meant to be doing. He felt more complete when he was cooking than when he was doing anything else.
He shook his head slightly. He was doing this for Allura. Possibly for the world or the universe, but mostly because a friend needed help. Besides, his job would be there when he got back. Everyone else seemed happy to be back. He wasn't about to bring them all down with his unimportant problems.
Hunk stepped out of the kitchen into the dining area with a cart of food, nearly running into Shiro, who dodged out of the way.
"Hey, I should have your license revoked for that," Shiro teased.
"Sorry." Hunk walked past him, not meeting his eyes.
"What's wrong," Shiro asked, matching Hunk's pace. It was a question, but he said it as if it were a statement.
"Nothing. Just, uh, a little sick. Nothing contagious. The food is safe." Hunk halfheartedly laughed and started setting out food. Normally it was served cafeteria style on the Atlas, but he liked to arrange a more traditional dinner whenever he could.
Shiro helped him set the tables. "You shouldn't wear yourself out if you're sick. We're gonna need all hands on deck tomorrow when we open the wormhole."
"Really, it's nothing. If it was serious I would tell you."
"I can't force you to talk to me but you've been antisocial lately, and that's not like you."
The words were out of Hunk's mouth before his brain could stop them: "I'm not a clone, okay?"
Shiro dropped the plate he was carrying and it landed on the table with a loud clatter. Hunk covered his mouth with his hand.
"That's not what I was implying," Shiro said, keeping his voice even. "If you're not ready to talk now, fine. But whatever issue you have, you need to get it sorted out soon. We can't have the team falling apart. Allura is counting on us."