MP: Enjoy Chapter 9! Thanks for all your reviews so far ^_^

Summary: Voltron has saved the day! Now they have to attend a party.


Respite

Voltron stood victorious over a freed planet after fighting off the Galra before too much damage could be done to the planet in the ever expanding empire's endless drive to conquer and extract quintessence.

"Very good everyone!" Allura said over the comms. before the paladins let out a near unison "WHOOP." Allura sighed. She was trying to get used to their hu-Earthling ways, but it was hard. It was also hard for her to catch herself whenever she forgot about the Earth raised non-human on their team. Keith was all but back to his previous self from before his transformation. She heard the paladins as they entered the common area. Well, she heard them long before they reached it. It didn't happen as often as it did in the beginning but she was still done with the bickering.

"You're just jealous my kick actually worked this time, Fuzz Mullet!"

"The only reason we didn't fall from that was because Hunk compensated for it!"

"Don't drag me into this, guys!"

"Five GAC Lance gets swiped at, again?"

"Enough!" Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose with his flesh arm,

"Pidge, please stop betting on this. Hunk, that was good work out there. Lance, Keith is right, Hunk is why we didn't end up falling over. Keith, Lance's maneuver was a good one. I think we can skip our afternoon training session for today. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

— —

"I have news!" Coran said whenever he entered the common area a short time later. In that time, the Paladins had changed out of their armor and were playing with handmade cards. Some were colored black on the one side and the others were white. He watched as Pidge drew a black card from a central pile.

"Authorities are unsure whether the man died from the gunshots, excited delirium or _." Keith studied his hand and carefully put a card down as Lance just slammed his choice down and Hunk giggled while placing his into a pile. Pidge shuffled the pile.

"Ok, so "Authorities are unsure whether the man died from the gunshots, excited delirium or" a mayonnaise restaurant? "Authorities are unsure whether the man died from the gunshots, excited delirium or" feeding Christians to Lions. Hunk! "Authorities are unsure whether the man died from the gunshots, excited delirium or" Ebola Virus Outbreak. You guys are awful! Ebola!" Pidge said holding up the white card. Keith smiled and took the card, adding to his already large pile.

"But Christians being eaten by lions!" Lance said. Pidge looked at Hunk with a flat affect.

"You were giggling that much over "a mayonnaise restaurant," really?"

"Sorry to interrupt your Earth game but I have news!" Coran said. The four looked up.

"Hey Coran, didn't hear you come in!" Lance said.

"The leaders of the Planet Zanzibar have invited to attend a celebration they are throwing in our honor! Shiro's already said he'd attend," Coran said, "Though they would prefer we not arrive in full armor."

"One problem, we don't have anything to wear to a party like that," Pidge said.

"Never to fear, this castle was once occupied by hundreds. There are probably some formal amongst the stored clothes. Are you in?" The others exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Let's get this over with," Keith said folding his hand and placing it down.

"What's your secret to winning?" Lance asked.

"I always pick the worst sounding card," Keith said, "Seems to work."

— —

Coran found the stored formal clothing and jumped nearly 3 g'yata in the air whenever he turned around and the Paladins were all there.

"Need a hand, Coran?" Shiro asked as the Altean tugged the first crate loose

"Thank you," Coran said handing a crate off to the Black Paladin who nearly dropped it from its weight. Hunk, Lance, and Keith together caught the next one. Coran dusted off his hands.

"Alright, in here there should be a fairly wide selection for you," he said as he pressed a few dust covered buttons on the side of the first one causing it to spring open revealing a bunch of colorful fabric. Pidge eagerly dove in and and held up certain articles evaluating them before tossing them either to the side or at one of the boys.

"Is this a female Earthling thing?" Corn asked.

"It's more like a Holt thing. Pidge's father and brother had impeccable clothing taste too," Shiro said as he caught the black outfit Pidge had thrown his way.

"Matt was always so much better at this than me," Pidge said frowning at two green colored garments before tossing them both aside only to pull out a green gown. It was just the right size for the smallest paladin and marched the Green Lion perfectly.

— —

Together the paladins made a dashing group, if Coran did say so himself. Lance had been in charge of hair, and while the boys were easily dealt with, Pidge's slightly longer hair was fun for him to style. He had manage to do a braided crown. The outfits Pidge had picked out for the others actually were dress uniforms not too dissimilar to Coran's uniform, but the jackets were different, as well as different colors. Lance's outfit was mostly a darker blue than Coran's, Hunk's was a more muted mustard-gold color, Keith's was a dark marroon color and Shiro's was black. the jack was large enough to fit over his prothesis. Also, for the night, Hunk wasn't wearing his headband. Allura's orders. Allura arrived with her hair elegantly swept up wearing a shimmering white gown.

"Tonight, you represent Voltron, so I expect you all to be on your best behavior," she said. Everyone looked at Lance.

"Why are you—yeah I guess that's fair."

— —

The people of this planet looked mostly human-like but their skin came in a whole rainbow of colors except the same colors as humans or Alteans. Their ears were also extra-long and pointy. Shiro led the others and could tell Keith was nervous. The Red Paladin had never been good in crowds. This was worse than usual. They were announced with some alien language, but thanks to their connections to their lions, they understood every word. Oh. Shiro had lost sight of Keith. He needed to find his brother fast.

— —

Keith could hear the whispers the moment he stepped into the hall after being announced as "Keith Kogane, Red Paladin of Voltron." The others had been announced as "Akela "Hunk Garret/Katie "Pidge" Holt/ Lance Ramirez-McClain/Takashi "Shrio" Shirogane of Earth." His name was bare of that epithet.

"Where could this next—A Galra cub? Were these last Alteans so desperate they recruited him?"

"Why is he so far from his parents?"

"Two children? This is the great hope of the universe and there are two children?"

"Galra filth!"

Keith waited until the presentation was over and the others began to mingle. The hall felt oppressive. So, he took off and found himself on a balcony overlooking the city. Across the city, beyond its Eastern Edge, sat the Castle of Lions. He missed Red. He'd prefer to be in her cockpit right now than be at this party.

"What are you doing out here, Galra?" Keith flinched at the tone and looked to see who had sneaked up on him whenever he was staring at the Castle. It was a man with bright pink skin, though it looked a little purple in the moonlight even with his night vision.

"I was just getting some air," Keith said.

"Since when is that a crime?" Keith looked up to see the others were standing behind the now very nervous pink man. Shiro had his arms crossed and the others looked casual standing with their leader.

"I'm so sorry to disturb all of you!" he said before he dashed out. Keith gave the others a bittersweet smile.

"Thanks," he said.

"Only I'm allowed to pick on you, Mullet Mane," Lance said crossing his arms. Shiro just walked over and placed a hand on Keith's shoulder.

"The food is worse than Coran's," Hunk said. Everyone looked at the Yellow paladin, "It's pink goop and somehow it's worse than green goop!"

"Too bad there aren't any Space MickyD's around," Pidge said.

"MickyD's?" Coran asked whenever he and Allura joined the paladins.

"It's a fast food restaurant that sells delicious but unhealthy food," Shiro said, "Oh, fast-food is convenience food prepared quickly for people who don't have time to cook."

"That sounds horrific!" Coran said in terror.

"Wait until he sees it," Keith said.

"We're making him try a BigMac when we get to Earth," Lance said.

"Agreed!" the others said.

"Can you imagine his face?" Pidge asked. Everyone because laughing at the image while Coran just sputtered. Even Allura as laughing at her advisor over junk food. Keith felt better. It was nice to have a nice relaxed moment like this.


MP:It's Wednesday!

I gave Hunk the given name of "Akela" because I liked it. "Hunk" seems like a nickname he picked up at the Garrison. I also like to headcanon Hunk as being of Native Hawaiian descent because he looks it and it's an underrepresented group in fiction.
Also, I really like the idea of Latino Lace, so that's a thing in this universe, if you couldn't tell already.

I wrote this as nothing but slightly angsty fluff because I like it whenever there's a reason for Keith and the others to smile.