Chapter 3

Once Allura had calmed down, the smaller children insisted she help them explore the Castle. That gave Coran the opportunity he needed to pour through some of their archive databases in an effort to find something capable of dispelling the effects of G'nee'an energy.

Unfortunately, there was nothing besides the different Altean remedies he was already aware of - none of which were possible to use as all the necessary ingredients were native to his homeworld, and could be found nowhere else. There was, of course, the route of experimentation to find substitutes for Friizildi flowers and Laticean crystals, but Coran wasn't quite willing to go that route just yet, not with Allura and the paladins' lives on the line.

So, it was a greatly discouraged and rather fatigued Royal Advisor who made his way from the archive room to the kitchen, and walked straight into the outright war to end all food fights.

Green goo painted the walls, the counters, the floors; assorted other ingredients had also been used as ammunition, scattered about like polka dots where they'd landed. And laughing in the middle of it all the children, still merrily barraging one another - it appeared to be divided along the lines of Lance, Hunk and Keith versus Shiro and Allura, though the latter pair also had Pidge on their side who appeared to be simply sitting and giggling as she splattered both herself and the teens with more goo.

"What in Altea's name...?" Coran didn't speak very loud, but it was enough for Allura to hear him, and the princess' suddenly horrified expression caused the others to come to a stop as well.

"Ah- Coran, we- uh- we were going to clean up before you returned!" Allura stammered out.

"Honest," Shiro added, as the younger boys also all nodded their heads vigorously. Pidge continued to giggle and jump through the piles of goo.

"Regardless of your intentions, this place needs a thorough scrubbing - and then all of you will need a thorough scrubbing as well. Everyone hold where you are, I'll go get the cleaning brushes and disposal buckets..."

Soon enough, he had five of the six children working to get up the mess they'd made, shame-faced or merely unhappy by turns. Little Pidge, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time helping, so Coran went ahead and took her to get a bath first.

"I'll warn you now," he told the child, entering his bathroom. "I've not attempted to bath a wriggly toddler since Princess Allura was your age, so this might get tedious for the both of us."

Pidge blinked at him.

"Yes yes, I know it seems unbelievable there's a skill I'm not as accomplished at as I used to be, but we all have our faults." Coran winked at her, and the girl let loose a quiet giggle. "Now, first thing's first, let's get you out of that jumpsuit."

After removing the green and brown stained outfit while the tub filled with cleaning solution, Coran then plunked Pidge down into the liquid and allowed her to play a while with the orange bubbles that formed. He dropped her jumpsuit into the cleaning cube, but was then struck by the thought that none of the paladins would likely enjoy being forced to wear only their suits or overly large clothing. Considering where there might be properly sized attire in the storage rooms, he went back to the bathtub and helped Pidge with washing her hair.

By the time the girl was thoroughly cleaned, dried off and wrapped in a fluffy white towel, she was also yawning a great deal. Coran went ahead and settled her in his own bed for the meantime, before going to check on the other children.

They were approximately sixty percent done with cleaning up his kitchen, so the man left them to it and went on a hunt for proper clothing.

When the others all finished with their own baths and showers, they found new outfits waiting on the beds of their rooms. For Allura, it was one of her own dresses, a pale cream cloth highlighted with pink and pale blue. Shiro was given a short-sleeved black shirt with silver leggings and an accompanying vest, which he admired for a few minutes before putting on. Keith and Lance got matching shirts and shorts in their respectively preferred red and blue, while Hunk found a bright yellow and tan outfit waiting for him. Coran also located a pale green dress that he wrangled the still-dozing Pidge into, and gave himself a congratulatory pat on the back once he'd succeeded.

The little girl woke up from her nap as Coran was carrying her to kitchen, where everyone had once again gathered. They enjoyed a quiet meal - which did not, fortunately, contain anymore examples of wild food slinging - after which, pleas were given for a proper story of Voltron's adventures.

Coran happily obliged, and detailed the team's earliest battle, when they found a way past their differences in order to unite the lions and defeat the Galra ship. When he finished, Shiro and Allura were the only still awake.

"How are we going to handle sleeping arrangements?" Shiro asked in a whisper. "Keith's got his own bed at home, but he'll usually wake up and come find me in the middle of night anyway..."

"In that case, I think it would be better if he started the night with you, and perhaps the other boys as well." The last thing Coran needed was one of the children waking up and wandering about looking for anyone else, only to become lost in the Castle.

"Pidge is welcome to sleep with me as well, Coran." Allura volunteered, running her fingers through the child's short locks.

"Excellent. Shiro, if you'll carry Keith and Lance, I'll take Hunk and we can journey to your room first." They set off in a little parade through the halls, attempting to keep the sleeping children from startling awake due to any jostling. Once Shiro was settled on his bed with the three boys tucked in around and on top of him, the Alteans bid him goodnight, with directions of how to get to their own quarters should a need arise in the night.

Then Coran saw Allura back to her bedroom, making sure that both she and Pidge were comfortable before retreating to his own bed. There, the man was barely able to change into his sleeping garments before collapsing with a muffled groan.

If the rest of his days were spent looking after de-aged paladins and royalty, his hair was going to turn whiter than Allura's in short order...

In the morning, he was awoken by the sensation of a small hand tugging on his moustache.

"It's mornin', Mister Coran!" Lance chirped. "Time for breakfast!" The boy was answered with an aggrieved chuckle.

"So it is, Lance." Yawning, Coran sat up and stretched, idly glancing at the clock in his ceiling as he did so.

"I tried tellin' Shiro, but he just told me to go back to sleep." Lance informed him.

"That doesn't surprise me, considering we've only barely passed your dawn hour..."

"Mama always has us get up that early, so's we can help with breakfast." The eight year old's head tilted to one side. "Are you gonna need help makin' breakfast, Coran?"

"Not usually, though I suppose you're welcome to assist me if you so wish."

"Yay!"