Allura and Coran were well aware that the Paladins have very different ways of doing and saying things. However, they never thought Earth culture could be so… Confusing. They thought they'd gotten a grasp on how humans tell time, but…
Shiro was never this late. Somehow, the other Paladins were ready, but Shiro was not. Allura was beginning to worry that something was very wrong.
"Dude, what is up with Shiro today?" Hunk asked.
"I have no idea," Keith responded. "I went to get him like, five minutes ago and he said: 'Just a sec'."
"Five minutes is not a 'sec'," Pidge stated.
"Yeah, I know that. Tell that to Shiro."
Almost four doboshes later Shiro appeared, looking no worse for wear than usual, so Allura took it as a good sign.
"Dude, that was not a sec!" Keith admonished.
Shiro sheepishly apologized while Allura stared in confusion. Had they not already established what a second was?
"Wait, where's Lance?" Coran suddenly asked.
They all looked around, finally realizing that Lance wasn't there. Allura sighed, and insisted that they start without him.
"Where the heck even is Lance anyway?" Keith asked.
"I was trying to wake him up," Shiro explained. "He kept saying 'Just a sec', but as you can see I gave up and came back here."
"Yeah, he could sleep through World War IV happening right outside his bedroom door," Hunk said.
Pidge snorted and Keith smirked in agreement. Shiro tried not to roll his eyes at the statement, but the tiniest of smiles gracing his features gave away his amusement. Deciding to ignore the 'war' part of the statement, Allura began the exercise. Roughly thirty doboshes later, Lance finally waltzed in, looking near perfect; as per Lance.
"Sorry I'm late guys."
"'Sorry I'm late guys' puh-leeze," Pidge scoffed. "I'm one of the only girl here and I get ready in way less time."
Lance looked severely offended but for once didn't rise at the jab.
"Whatever. What am I supposed to be doing?"
Allura chose to ignore her growing her confusion over human time-keeping terminologies to explain to Lance the purpose of the exercise as well as what to do. Over the course of the practice she'd forgotten her curiosity until the next quintaint when she walked past the Green Lion's hangar. Hunk and Pidge must have been working on their own separate projects when called Hunk over without looking up.
"Just a sec Pidge!" the Yellow Paladin called back.
The very tick he said that, Allura began counting how many ticks it took before he moved away from his… Whatever it was to go and help Pidge. By her count it was almost four ticks. If she remembered correctly, a 'sec' was supposed to be a bit shorter than a tick. So why did Hunk say 'Just a sec' when it took four ticks? Hadn't they established that one sec was shorter than a tick? Or had she misinterpreted that conversation entirely? The thoughts plagued her even as she continued to run a systems check on the training deck.
Keith and Shiro were there engaged in hand-to-hand combat and were doing fairly impressive for their level. Then she called them over and explained that she wanted to run a system check and asked for their assistance.
"Just a sec, let me grab my bayard," Keith said, scuttling out the door.
Just like before, Allura took the time to count the ticks it took for him to get back. By her count, he returned in just under two doboshes. She found herself moving on autopilot as she again questioned human time-keeping. When they tests were over, she found herself moving towards the Green Lion's hangar again.
"This program will only take a sec to upload," Allura heard Pidge assure Hunk.
Alluras decided not to bother counting and made her way to the bridge to check defense systems. She didn't see any of the Paladins again until several vargas later at dinner. Even then, she noticed the green Paladin was missing.
"Where is Pidge?" she asked the others.
"She's uploading some kind of new program on her laptop," Hunk answered absentmindedly.
It took all of Allura's training as a diplomat to keep her face straight at the statement. She took another bit from her plate before motioning to Coran. The advisor leaned in to listen to the princess.
"How long is a second?" the befuddled young woman softly asked.
"I have no idea."