Keith
In the morning Lance and Nova were, of course, still asleep. The little girl had inherited her father's sleeping patterns. I spent almost an hour debating whether to get out of bed or wait for Lance to wake up before finally pulling myself out of bed. Unlike Lance I couldn't stand to lay and do nothing in bed all day. Half expecting the whole family to have the same result, I was surprised to find Veronica, Lisa and Silvio sitting at the kitchen table and Mrs. McClain cooking at the stove. As soon as I walked in everyone had various expressions of surprise ranging from Lisa's jump to Slivio's eyes widening and jaw drop. We all kinda stared at each other awkwardly for what felt like forever. I was contemplating whether I should just head back to the room when Mrs. McClain smiled.
"Don't be shy, Honey. Go ahead and have a seat. We won't bite." She assured, gesturing to the table.
"Morning Keith." Veronica called, following her mother's lead. "I'll be honest I was half expecting you to be a dream."
"Called it." I replied, taking a seat next to her while Red jumped up onto the table, finding a comfortable spot to lay.
I tried to relax. I knew breakfast was going to be over a game of twenty questions, which normally I would hate, but... this was Lance's family and in turn my family too. If they were willing to welcome me with open arms then they would receive the same from me. Besides, before we came down to Earth Lance had warned me that his family would interrogate me to see if I was worthy of him. It's understandable. My pack had done the same to him when they first met, now it's my turn. They'd probably just ask about my race and the difference between our species, anyway. That's usually what most people ask about when meeting someone of a different species for the first time. I could handle this.
"No baby this morning?" Mrs. McClain inquired.
I smiled. "Nah, she sleeps like her Dad, who sleeps like a rock." Everyone laughed.
"I remember trying to wake Lance for school when we were younger. It was impossible. He slept through everything! Loud alarms, flashing lights, being shoved off the bed. You just have to let that boy sleep until he wants to be awake." Veronica explained and we laughed some more.
"Shiro says that he used to sleep through our emergency alarm."
"Sounds like Lance."
"Oh dear," Mrs. McClain sighed. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."
I shrugged, "It was a problem at first I'm sure, but by the time I joined the team he broke the habit. They made the alarms louder and he was no longer allowed to sleep with headphones or a sleep mask. Of course now one peep from Nova and he bolts up wide awake."
"Oh, how adorable." Mrs. McClain cooed.
"He's always been real good with kids. He just clicks with them." Lisa explained. "Nadia and Silvio love him."
"Yeah! Don't tell Uncle Marco, but Uncle Lance is my favorite Uncle." Slivio added while looking around like Marco would jump out of the house plant any second, which made me chuckle.
"Do you like french toast, Keith?" Mrs. McClain asked, while setting plates in front of everyone.
"I've never had it so I don't know." I answered truthfully.
"What?! You've never had french toast?" Slivio asked like it was a crime against the Human race.
"I thought Lance said you guys had a replicator that made food for you?" Veronica asked.
"We do but you have to have a sample of the food to scan so we can replicate it."
Lisa nodded, "That explains all the fuss over dinner last night."
"Right? With his 'we need to bring back all the basic ingredients to make the best Earth foods when they go back because no daughter of mine would grow up without having all the greats'" Veronica claimed with her best Lance impersonation.
"So what do you eat up there?" Slivio asked.
"Foods from various planets. Hunk likes to experiment with different things, but don't worry we scan all the food before eating." I reassured them.
"Why do you have to scan it?" Slivio asked.
"To make sure it's something we can eat. Different species eat all kinds of things and what is healthy to one species can be deadly to another." I explained.
"Oh. French toast isn't deadly to you is it?"
"I don't know." I answered. That's when a great idea came to me. "Would you like to scan it for me?"
Slivio's eyes widened. "Yeah! How do I do that?"
I smiled at his enthusiasm. Lance isn't the only one who's good with kids. "You just have to hold my bayard up to it." I held out my hand, summoning my bayard, which caused everyone to jump in awe. Handing it over to the boy I said, "Here, it's really easy. You just hold up the bayard so that you can see the food in between the ends… Yep, just like that. Okay so now you slide your finger up to bring up the screen,"
"Like this?" He asked as he did just that.
"Yep, perfect. So now you press this button." I said pointing. Slivio did as I asked and soon the Galran word for 'safe' came flashing across the screen.
"What does it say?" Slivio asked, handing it back to me. "Is it in alien?"
"Well it's alien for you. It's in Glaran, my home language. It says 'safe'. I can eat french toast." I explained, taking a bite. I was surprised to find that the taste wasn't as overwhelming as it usually is.
"Do you like it?" asked.
"Yes, this is delicious! Thank you!"
"You're welcome." Chimed Mrs. McClain.
"Add syrup! You can't eat it without syrup!" Silvio exclaimed, passing over said condiment. Unlike Silvio who covered every inch, I opted to start small. Like I expected the syrup was much too sweet for me. I must have grimaced because it seemed like the whole table stared at me like I was crazy.
"Sorry, my taste buds are a little different than humans. I don't really like 'sweet tasting things'". I explained.
"That's horrible." Veronica depaned. Mrs. McClain slapped her shoulder and gave her a glare.
I just laughed. "Yeah, Lance says the same thing."
I thought we'd all fall into a silent meal after that. I should have known better.
"So can you read english?" Lisa asked.
"I can read common and simple words. We don't come across the English language often in space so there's not really any reason for me to learn to read it other than it helped me learn the basics of the speech."
"That makes sense." Lisa interjected. "How different is English from Galran?"
I laughed at this. "They actually couldn't be more different. In fact we've discovered that Humans physically can't speak Galran because of the structure of the vocal cords. Emotion is also expressed differently. Galran is centered around smell because Galra give off their emotions through scents."
"You smell feelings?" Veronica summed up, mouth gaping.
"In short, yes."
"Weird."
"Before you call me weird, can I just say it is way easier to smell emotions than trying to decipher someone's face. You can't hide a scent. Everyone knows what your true feelings are, there's no confusion. Without scents someone can easily lie. It's awful. How am I supposed to know how to respond if I don't know where you stand?" I ranted.
"Body language and facial expressions?" Veronica inquired. "They tell you how someone feels."
"I mean Glara do make facial expressions but they're based on the position of our ears and tail, however most species don't have either of those."
"We have ears!" Silvio exclaimed.
"Yes, but they don't move like mine." I explained while wiggling my ears to make Silvio giggle.
"You know that actually explains a lot." Lisa laughed. "But if it makes you feel better, it's not too noticeable."
I smiled, "I'd hope so. I've been speaking English for two years now, you'd think I would have gotten it down by now."
"You've only been speaking English for two years?" Lisa asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, I used to rely on a translator, but we had a scare when they stopped working. After that it became necessary for me to learn. Plus I already knew a bunch of other languages, what was on more?"
"How many languages do you know?" Mrs. McClain asked.
"Um, forty-two?"
"Forty-two?!" Slivio exclaimed.
"Wow," Lisa exclaimed. "Is that a normal number for your people?"
I nodded, "Galra have a near perfect memory. It makes learning things really easy."
"What all do you speak?" Silvio asked over a full mouth.
"Most of them are alien. Lance is trying to teach me some Spanish but since it's not necessary we're having trouble finding the time to practice."
Mrs. McClain smiled. "That's very sweet of you."
I shrugged, "I'd do anything for my mate."
"You and Lance keep calling each other that. What exactly is a mate?" Lisa asked.
"It's a lover, a bonded pair. It means we fully give ourselves to each other. I think it's a lot like marriage, only Galra have to be mated before they can conceive a child." I pointed to Lance's bite mark on my neck. "This is a mating mark-"
"Dude! Lance did that to you? Like last night?" Veronica interrupted.
"Ronnie! There's a kid!" Lisa exclaimed, covering Silvio's ears.
"It's not my fault! I thought that was just an alien mark or something! You're lucky I didn't say something earlier!" She exclaimed.
"I fail to see the problem here. A mate mark is to show everyone we belong to each other. If Lance were Galra my scent would mix with his and his with mine so that everyone could tell-"
"Keith, please tell me you aren't talking about our sex life with my mom, sisters and nephew." Lance called, walking in with Nova still half asleep in his left arm and rubbing his face with his right.
"We're learning about his very interesting culture, Lance. We're bonding!" Veronica claimed.
"That better be Human bonding and not Galra bonding." Lance exclaimed. This made me sit up straight, but before I could protest he kissed my head, mumbling "It was a joke, Hun."
"You're up early, nino." Mrs. McClain stated.
"I smelt your cooking Mama. It's been so long since I had french toast, there was no way I was missing out." He handed Nova to me while he made himself a plate.
"Anyway you were saying Keith, about your scents mixing?" Lisa asked, smirking in Lances direction. Apparently she was no longer worried about kids in the room in favor of teasing Lance.
"Well when a Galra bites their mate their saliva gets into their scent glands which then mixes to make a mix of both smells joining the pair."
"That's very romantic." Lisa chimed. "All Humans got it putting a ring on their fingers."
"I'll admit I'm a little confused. I thought you smelled feelings?" Mrs. McClain asked, rubbing her head.
Lance chuckled from his place by the stove. "He can smell other things too Mama."
"I'm surprised Lance actually agreed to letting you ruin his flawless skin." Veronica teased.
Lance glared at her, "Oh whatever. Love is way more important than looks, Ronnie. Besides, it's an honor to wear my babe's love bite."
I smiled proud at that. "Spoken like a true Galran mate."
"That's because I am a true Glaran mate." Lance sang as he sat down beside me. "Keith syrup is very messy so it's pretty much guaranteed that Nova will need another bath after breakfast."
"Okay, I'll do it." I replied, starting to cut up some of my french toast for her. Nova gave out a hum kind of purr that meant she really liked what she was eating. "I know, isn't it good?" She hummed and made grabby hands. "Use your words, Kit."
"Moe!" She yelled.
"Manners, Chica." Lance called.
Nova gave an annoyed sigh, "Moe, pleas Mommy!"
"Of course, Kit." I said, giving her another bite, this time with syrup. Her purring grew louder at that. Further confirming that she has Lance's taste buds. "Thank you for asking nicely."
"She calls you Mommy?" Slivio asked. "I thought you were a boy?"
"Well, I'm her mom. As for your other question, Galra don't really have genders like Humans."
"What?!" Almost everyone in the room asked.
"Yeah so I'm gonna need some more explanation than that." Veronica depaned.
Lance laughed. "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too."
Lisa covered Slivio's ears, "So like, what's in between the legs?"
"Lisa!" Lance yelled while Silvio finally shaked his mother's hands off his ears.
"What? I'm curious."
"Mama aren't you going to stop her?"
Mrs. McClain smirked, "I don't think I will, Nino. I'm curious myself. However, there are children present."
"Scram, Brat!" Veronica demanded as she slammed her hands on the table with a death glare to match. Poor Silvio paled and ran out of the room.
"Ronnie, stop scaring my children!" Lisa yelled, giving her a light hit on the shoulder.
"Whatever, you were about to send him away too." She waved her off. "Now tell us the details."
"Eww, no! I'm not sharing my love life with my sisters and mother!" Lance exclaimed. "Plus my daughters in the room."
"So?"
"So I don't want to talk about it. I hope you guys haven't been asking Keith personal questions like that the whole time I was asleep."
"Relax, with Silvio there we couldn't."
Finally I took pity on them. "I did birth Nova, if that answers your question."
Lisa frowned. "So you have girl parts?"
"I don't know what girl parts are."
Veronica stared at me for a second. "Okay, do you have a dick or a vigina?"
Lance smacked his head. "Obviously he has the vigina, Ronnie! How else could we have a kid?"
"Oh right." We all laughed.
"I mean we actually have both." I explained. "It's so that any two can mate and reproduce. It's a survival mechanism."
"It's awesome," Lance sighed dreamily.
"Weird," Lisa added.
Lance laughed. "You think that's weird you should hear how Hunk and his girlfriend had a kid."
"No way! Hunk has an alien girlfriend too?!" Rachel asked, stretching while walking in.
"Yeah, she's really sweet." I described.
"Her species lays eggs." Lance added.
"Weird." Lisa stated.
"Damn, everyone gets hitched in space huh?" Rachel asked.
I shook my head, "No Pidge is still single. So is Allura and Coran."
"Allura the princess?" Rachel asked, receiving a nodd. "That's it!" Rachel exclaimed, throwing his toast on his plate. "Sign me up for the war!"
Everyone shook their heads at her laughing.