#galraween2018

“Can you buy some ilaka cider when you come home from work?” Kolivan asked.

“Sure thing. Special occasion?” Shiro asked, curious. It wasn’t like Kolivan to ask him buy alcoholic beverage. Normally, it was groceries that he could buy on his way from work, but Kolivan had never asked him to buy drinks.

“It’s Dral’Varavis today and tomorrow. I’ve been planning to prepare something special”, Kolivan said with a secretful smile.

“Alright then”, Shiro said, before giving Kolivan’s cheek a quick peck. “Have a nice day at work.”

“Of course, you too.” Kolivan returned the kiss. Then, they were off to work.

—

It had been six months since Shiro and Kolivan moved into a new apartment complex near the Garrison.

Ever since the war was over and Earth became an intergalactic hub, more non-Human sapient species came to Earth. Shiro started working again at the Garrison as a diplomat to represent the Human race. Meanwhile Kolivan worked at the joint science lab with other species, on the Spire at the opposite side of the town. Kolivan told him that it was good to work in science sector again and they seemed to be happy with their work. Shiro was only glad that Kolivan found something they enjoyed.

The two of them took different transport to their respective workplaces. While Shiro took the train to commute, Kolivan had to take the shuttle as the Spire was located several hundred feet above the ground. There were several installations similar to the Spire scattered all over the Earth and Shiro would’ve never dreamed that this sci-fi stuff was happening in his lifetime. On other planet, sure. But he never dreamed it would happen on Earth.

Many beings who live on Earth were refugees whose homeworld was destroyed in the war—or before the war, in case of the Galra and Alteans. They were staying on Earth and building life here, their culture becoming part of daily life on Earth. It wasn’t odd to see stores selling alien goods near the Garrison or other places frequented by non-humans.

Hunk’s place was one of those stores that sold alien ingredients, imported from all over the galaxy. Hunk still worked at the Garrison so the store was managed by his family, but he would occasionally help around.

“One ilaka cider, please”, Shiro told Hunk, leaning on the counter.

“You’re lucky we still have one. Lots of Galra bought it all day. Know something about it?” Hunk asked as he handed over the bottle to Shiro. The cider was honey-brown with specks of red at the bottom of the bottle.

“It seems that there’s a holiday of some sort”, Shiro replied after putting the bottle inside his backpack. “You might wanna order more from your supplier…”

“Oh man, a holiday! Why didn’t I think about it?” Hunk smacked his forehead. “Thanks for the heads up, Shiro. I'll tell my mom to stock up.”

Shiro left Hunk’s store and took the train back home. When he entered his apartment, the whole place smelled like a good homemade cooking. It made Shiro’s mouth water and he followed the smell into the kitchen, where Kolivan was stirring something in a pot.

It was odd to see Kolivan cooking something manually rather than using the food synthesizer.

“What are you making?” Shiro approached them and hugged them from behind, careful not to surprise them so they wouldn’t get hurt by the stove. In the pot was reddish brown stew of something—Shiro could make the shape of cut pumpkins and meat. It kinda looked like curry, though the smell was not as strong.

“Hrakul stew with herbs and pumpkin”, Kolivan answered, placing a quick peck on the top of Shiro’s head.

“For Dral’Varavis, right?” Shiro asked. He had googled what Dral’Varavis meant at work, and found that it was some kind of Harvest Festival that the Galra celebrated since the dawn of their civilization, back when their homeworld still existed. But he couldn’t find more info about the festival.

That was okay. Kolivan seemed to know what they were doing.

“Can you tell me more about it?” Shiro asked.

“One moment”, Kolivan said, turning the fire on the stove to the minimum, before walking to the kitchen table. There, Shiro could see baking supplies strewn all over it. “The stew needs to be cooked for at least two more hours. Now, can you help me bake pumpkin pie while I explain?”

“Sure thing”, Shiro nodded and followed Kolivan’s lead. Kolivan instructed him to gut some pumpkins, which Shiro followed with ease. His new prosthetic arm was less clunky than his battle-specific one, and it was better for daily use like cutting fruit and hugging his boyfriend.

“Dral’Varavis is a holiday that originated from the Homeworld, a festival to celebrate good harvest and time to have fun before the planting season began anew. Back then, it was commonly observed by the Galra who lived in the equator, like Oradian Galra, Yarran Galra, and Ndalu Galra”, Kolivan explained as he began to prepare the pie crust mixture.

“Not yours?” Shiro asked, remembering that Kolivan was a Lorian Galra.

“No, but Dral’Varavis became commonly celebrated by all Galra after the destruction of Homeworld, due to the integration of many Galran cultures”, Kolivan answered. “The Dral’Varavis became an occasion to celebrate good homemade food. As you may know, us Galra rarely do manual cooking and preferred synthesized food.”

“The food goo”, Shiro chuckled as he carved seeds out of the pumpkin.

“It is high in nutritions, although I have to admit that it is an acquired taste”, Kolivan said.

“Acquired taste, they said”, Shiro mumbled under his breath. Kolivan returned maturely by flicking some flour to Shiro, which he returned by flicking pumpkin seeds onto them.

“Seriously, though, what’s with all the pumpkins?” Shiro quickly asked before both of them were coated in flour and pumpkin seeds.

Kolivan’s ears twitched, before they answered. “Because you like them.”

Shiro flicked more pumpkin seeds at Kolivan.

—

The stew and the pumpkin pie were a huge success, and Shiro was full with good homemade food. He was lying contently on the couch, with Kolivan snuggled up on his side, as the two of them were sipping ilaka cider sprinkled with cinnamon powder. Kolivan, who was purring up a storm, had their hand playing with Shiro’s hair and the combination of it all was starting to make him drowsy.

“I guess this means we’re gonna celebrate Halloween”, Shiro said with a smile.

“Can we go trick-or-treating?” Kolivan asked, almost too quickly. Their ears were perking up in excitement.

“Seriously?” Shiro looked up to face Kolivan, but Kolivan looked pretty serious. “Well, sure. I guess we can still synthesize some costumes. I’ll ask around to find out how to make them.”

“Thank you.” Kolivan pressed a kiss to the top of Shiro’s head, nuzzling him.