#voltronexchange

The planet Lumrae finally came into sight, slowly filling the Blue Lion’s viewscreens with swirling white and traces of blue. 

“There it is,” Hunk said, pointing.  “Our new home for the next month.”

“Even from space, that looks cold,” Lance muttered. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be the Guardian of Water and Ice?” Pidge asked, and Lance elbowed them, pushing them away from his pilot’s chair – at least until they came back with an elbowing twice as hard into his own ribs. 

“Okay, you two, enough,” Hunk interfered before the others could descend into an all-out pushing war.  “We’re gonna be stuck here for a while, don’t start stuff now.”

“Of course.  I’ll just wait until his guard is down,” Pidge agreed with an ominous smile, and Lance squawked some kind of defense that had to be cut off as he navigated his Lion through the descent to the surface. 

Lumrae was beautiful, but Lance was right – it was cold.  The planet was situated just on the outer edge of the habitable range of its sun, and its seasons consisted of cold, colder, and really goddamn cold.  The seas were practically half made up of icebergs, only liquid because of their currents and tides, and every landmass was covered in thick white snow frosting every mountain and plain.  And the system’s sun was powerful, sending flares all the way to even Lumrae.  In addition, the planet had tremendous magnetic fields – fields so forceful that Voltron’s comms would struggle to get to and from the planet’s surface, especially combined with the solar flares.  It wasn’t cut off completely, but it did mean that communications would be few and far between for the next month or so, with pre-planned check-ins mostly scheduled between predicted flares. 

As the Blue Lion descended towards the planet’s surface, Lance broke the introspective silence. “I can’t believe we’re going to be here for a whole month.”

“Not necessarily a full month,” Hunk reminded him.  “We could finish early and be done sooner.”

“Yeah,” Pidge said, “between Hunk and me, this shouldn’t take long at all.  The hard part is figuring out how to detect the fleet’s signals and determine how to sort those out from everything else, plus decoding.  Building the satellite dishes themselves will be a piece of cake.”

“‘Two Geniuses Build Yet Another Never-Before-Seen Type of Detector,’” Lance said, a hint of acidity in his tone.  “What am I even here for?  I’m just the Lion taxi since Yellow and Green can’t handle cold like this.”

At that, Hunk hugged his friend as best as he could with the pilot chair in the way.  “We can’t do everything on our own, just two people,” he said.  “We need three, at least, and you’re the best choice for someone to come and help us.  You hang around with us all the time, you know how we work and how to help and not hinder.  We need you.”  

“Also, if Hunk and I were left on our own for a few weeks we’d probably get sucked into the work and forget to sleep or anything,” Pidge added.  But they put their hand on Lance’s shoulder, the gesture at odds with their sarcastic tone. 

It was going to be a weird (and cold) few weeks, but together these three could do it.  Garrison Trio, no matter what. 

*

The set of buildings the three were staying in used to be a research station for a group of aliens a number of years – or whatever passed for years out here – ago.  It was long abandoned, but still functional enough, especially with Blue helping to power the heat. 

The plan was to stay for three or four weeks, working to build a set of satellites that could detect and analyze signals from a new Galra fleet.  Rumor had alerted Team Voltron of its creation and warned that the new ships had cutting-edge technology and weapons that had the potential to cause tremendous damage if they got up and running, or worst became a common ship type in the Galra army. 

Hunk and Pidge were best-equipped to design and create the tracking system, but they needed the room and stability to work which meant they had to stay planetside somewhere they wouldn’t be noticed and work.  They couldn’t do it alone, so Lance was coming along to help.  Everyone was busy and had many responsibilities to Voltron and the Alliance, but this was taking priority for the moment.  Lumrae was lovely and secluded, and they had everything they needed there.  There were a few issues, though, as there always would be. 

“It is so.  Quiznacking.  Cold.” Lance muttered, rubbing his hands together. 

“Quit whining and help me with these boxes,” Pidge snapped, hauling a crate nearly as big as they were into a large room they would be using as a workspace. 

“How are you so comfortable?” Hunk asked, the sound of his teeth chattering audible from where he was standing as close to one of the heat vents as possible. 

Pidge rolled their eyes, shoving the crate into its place and returning for another.  “I’m from Finland, and we lived in Minnesota for a while before Dad transferred to the Garrison in Arizona.  I’m used to cold, I just hate being outside in general.  Besides, our armor is temp-regulated.  We’re not going to get frostbite or anything.”

“Okay, Your Wintery Majesty,” Lance said, “you may be from the world of snow, but I am Cuban and I am cold!  Arizona was fine, but this is the polar north and I am not made for this!”

“Seconded,” Hunk said.  “Hawaii is great, and Arizona’s bearable if a little dry, but this is kind of ridiculous.  There was ice on Blue just from landing here!”

“Kepler save me from tropical boys and their fear of a little frost,” Pidge muttered.  “Now hurry up.  The sooner we unpack, the sooner we can go inside and heat the buildings.  You’ll warm up faster if you move.”

*

The cold was unbelievable, but the three were nothing if not curious, so it was only a matter of time before they were venturing outside.  In the cases of Lance and Hunk there was much bundling up and debating beforehand, while Pidge just stood back and muttered to themselves.  They were uninterested in going outside not because it was cold but because they would rather stay in and work on the project or one of their own, but they had been coaxed and coerced into coming along.  Really, everyone seemed to mostly be convincing each other, but eventually they all got themselves together and it happened. 

The outpost was backed up on a forest of tall blue-gray trees that resembled the conifers of Earth’s boreal forests.  Every branch and needle was dusted with snow, and deep drifts covered the ground.  The rest of the building’s surroundings were fields, wide and open under the sky.  They could have been prairies in a warmer climate, but there was so much snow over everything that they might as well have been mud flats for all that could be distinguished beneath the thick blanket of white, spread as far as the eye could see. 

The sun was up, although it was a cold light that did nothing to warm the air.  The snow glittered like a field of diamonds, and even Hunk and Lance, warm-weather lovers to the core, were excited and energized.  Pidge seemed half-up half-down, their familiarity and comfort with snow and cold shadowed by memories of their family, scattered to the stars.  But they were nothing if not adaptive, and their friends’ energy was contagious. 

The group explored for a while, familiarizing themselves with the landscape around the station and digging their way through the snows.  It was exhausting work, but finally Hunk remembered that he’d seen some snowshoe-like things in one of the storage rooms and ran back to get them.  Movement issues solved (Pidge had been waist-deep or more in some areas, and even Hunk and Lance had struggled to move at any speed), they ventured further, forging paths into the forest and, once that turned out to be damp and cold and dark, turning and exploring the snow-meadows on the other side of the area. 

Despite the cold, there was enough humidity that the snow packed well, allowing for lower-effort walking and easy packing.  Between the three of them, the building was simple. 

They made the Blue Lion first.  Lance insisted, “She brought us here and keeps the place warm, the least we can do is honor her by building a statue in her name!  And made from her own element, too,” and so the Left Leg of Voltron got priority.  She also had to have her head rebuilt twice because they had underestimated how hard they needed to pack the snow to make the muzzle stay on, and then Hunk sneezed and the whole right half of the face fell off. 

Green was next.  She was easy because she was the smallest Lion and they already had Blue for scale.  Pidge spent an inordinate amount of time detailing the broad shield on her back while Lance and Hunk made snow angels and tried to regain feeling in fingertips, respectively. 

Yellow was the last and biggest snow Lion.  Getting her size right meant that Pidge or Lance had to work on her back armor while Hunk held them up to reach, and his perfectionism meant that they had to redo the design three times before the Yellow Paladin was satisfied.  But finally his snow Lion was deemed good enough to stand as a representation of his beloved Leg robot. 

They glittered brilliantly in the light of the setting sun – the Blue, Green, and Yellow Lions of Voltron.  Yellow was the biggest, solid and densely packed.  She was so strong and well-structured that they could climb on her with no damage to the statue.  Green was smaller, but every detail was sharp and accurate.  Pidge had also jammed a series of branches into the ground nearby in imitation of her vine cannon.  Blue looked perfect represented in snow, and Lance had hauled a few chunks of ice from the frozen creek near the forest and heaped them near her tail as if she’d just fired an ice blast. 

Eventually it was too dark and cold (well, cold

er

) to stay outside and the three returned indoors, talking alternately about plans to make a Black and Red snow lion tomorrow, and what to have for dinner. 

*

“Hunk and Pidge come see this right now!” 

There was a terrible crashing sound as the Left side of Voltron dropped everything they were holding and bolted from their workroom to the living space where Lance’s shout had come from.  Pidge had a blowtorch in their hands, holding it awkwardly like their brain had gotten stuck somewhere between planning to use it as a bat or a flamethrower.  Hunk had… a wrench.  Also a bruise on his forehead from where he’d banged it in surprise when Lance had called for them. 

They were expecting some kind of emergency, a disaster approaching or in process, something.  So they were both more than a little confused when they arrived and there was nothing there except a very excited-looking Lance. 

“Dude, we had better be under attack or something, I swear to stars,” Hunk said, bracing his hands on his knees and leaning over to catch his breath.  “You can’t do that to my heart.”

Pidge dropped the blowtorch.  “What in quiznak could be so important that you’d call us like Zarkon just appeared in the kitchen wearing Hunk’s frilly apron?” they snapped, adrenaline with nowhere to go leaving them staticky and irritable. 

Lance looked like Christmas, his birthday, and victory against the Galra had all just happened simultaneously.  He didn’t say anything at all in response to his friends’ words.  Instead, with an awestruck look on his face, he pointed out the window.  The other two approached cautiously, and what they saw outside took their breath away faster than any cold wind. 

The sky of Lumrae was illuminated with brilliant light.  Ripples of blue rolled like waves across the darkness, flaring up and down, flickering like candles, blooming like flowers.  Flashes of white faded in and out, and shards of ember-orange sparkled occasionally throughout the expanse, glittering like stars. 

It was beautiful. 

They all stared for a while, struck silent by the sheer power of the display.  Suddenly Pidge spun around and bolted for the door, startling the boys and nearly knocking Lance over on their way. 

“Pidge, where are you going?” Hunk called. 

Lance was already following.  “Wait for us!”

The two caught up to them in the small room that separated the research station interior from the harsh outdoors.  They were trying to get their snowsuit on, but were in such a rush that they’d mixed up the leg holes and were now stuck half-in, half-out of the thing.  Hunk helped untangle them while Lance got the other suits out, and once they were all bundled up the trio ventured outside. 

In the time it had taken them to get ready, the northern lights hadn’t dimmed in the slightest.  The snow reflected the light, shining blue as the sky flickered and flared above.  Between the ribbons of light, the stars could still be seen, shining as bright as ever but taking a backseat to the planet’s polar lightshow. 

Pidge didn’t slow at all.  They charged out straight into the fields surrounding the outpost, heedless of the cold, the heavy drifts of snow, or the darkness.  Lance followed close enough to keep from losing them, and Hunk came after the both of them, protesting sincerely as he hauled some flashlights and the snowshoes that would allow them to actually walk on top of all this snow, you know?  Like we want to?  Pidge?  Pidge, wait up! 

Despite the fact that the snow was almost as deep as they were tall in places, the Green Paladin didn’t slow down until they reached the middle of the field.  There, they flung herself to the ground, the snow almost absorbing their entire body in its vibrant green snowsuit.  The outpost and its floodlights were a good distance away, and the entire rest of the planet was uninhabited, leaving the lights in the sky unbelievably bright and big enough to swallow the mind. 

Lance and Hunk finally caught up – Lance almost stepped on Pidge’s head before Hunk grabbed him.  Lance opened his mouth to ask questions or tease or needle, but Hunk slapped his mittened hand over his mouth.  He made Significant Eyebrows at his friend, nodding carefully towards Pidge. 

The Green Paladin was lying flat on their back, staring at the sky.  They looked… drifting, almost half-conscious, like they were somewhere else in her mind.  It wasn’t clear whether it was a good or a bad place.  Quietly, Lance lay down on their right side, Hunk on their left.  Neither one said anything. 

Lumrae’s northern lights danced overhead.  The patterns were never the same, changing like waves, like leaves, like shifting sand.  At times the banners of blue flared so bright that the stars were almost blinded out, then the lights would fade and the constellations would return.  Blue, white, orange, with flickers of other colors like smoke, gone just when you looked at them. 

Finally, Pidge spoke.  “Matt and I used to watch the auroras, when we were little.  We lived in a few different places, but my mom’s sister lived near Inari way up north.  The northern lights are really strong up there.  Our parents would take us out from the town, we’d find somewhere big and open where we could see the north, and we’d look for the lights.  We stayed up so late past our bedtimes, those nights, but we were excitable kids who loved the sky, and both of our parents were astronomers.  None of us could resist it.  If I could see the auroras, I wouldn’t sleep until they’d faded. 

“The auroras are stronger here.  At home, they’re mostly green, sometimes white or pink or red or blue.  This… it’s familiar, but it’s not the same.  Earth’s lights – my lights – they’re different colors, they’re fainter, they don’t move the same.  I’m looking at the aurora borealis, but home is a million miles away and I don’t know where my family is.”

“It’s like watching ocean waves from the bottom of the sea,” Lance murmured.  “I’m not like you; I’ve never seen the aurora.  We only ever saw pictures.  These are really different, though.  Honestly, back home I almost didn’t believe they were real.  They look so… alien.  Earth’s northern lights looked impossible, supernatural, and now I’m looking at this and it’s even moreso.”

He took a deep breath.  “Every time we go to an ocean planet, one with lots of water and beautiful beaches, I can’t help but think of my family.  My mom would always say she suspected I was half-mermaid, ’cause I wouldn’t ever leave the water until the very last minute, and always got right back in as soon as I could.  I practically grew up on the beach, and being at the ocean without my family feels weird.  Dissonant.”

Hunk spoke next.  “Every time I’m in the kitchen, I’ll turn around and expect to see my grandmother there.  Or my sister, or my mom, or my brother.  We always cooked together, nobody was ever alone in the kitchen.  The castle’s kitchen couldn’t be more different from the one in our house, but it doesn’t matter.  It’s a kitchen, and my family isn’t in it.

“I miss them.  But at the same time, I still love cooking.  I’m learning how to use a ten-thousand-year-old Altean alien kitchen, for stars’ sake!  And I’m not trying to belittle your feelings – at least I know they’re all safe on Earth.  They’re still doing what they do, just… not with me.  But I can miss my family and the memories of cooking with them while still enjoying cooking now.  It’s not the same, but it can still be nice.” 

“Nobody is trying to replace the memories,” Lance said.  “I wish my parents and all my siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles would be at the beach with me every time we land on a water planet, but hey – I’m getting to explore alien planets!  I miss them, but I can still enjoy the oceans out here.  At least I’ll have some awesome stories to tell when we get back to Earth.”

Pidge released a shaky breath, letting it cloud their vision of the flickering auroras for a moment.  “Yeah.  It’s beautiful out here, no matter what happens or who’s here to see it.  And of course it’s not the same, we’re on an alien planet in a totally different galaxy!  These aren’t even technically the aurora borealis, since we aren’t on Earth,” they added, making the other two laugh. 

“But if aurora borealis is for the solar-activity-caused lights near the north pole like aurora australis is for the southern lights, couldn’t this technically still be called aurora borealis?” Hunk asked.  “Unless we’re actually at the south pole… wait, how do we even know which is which, or if alien planets even have a north and south?  I don’t know anything about this planet, I need more data to respond to that.”

Lance snorted at the science-babble while Pidge just sighed and patted vaguely at Hunk’s hip, the best part they could reach as they lay there in the snow.  “Who even knows.  This is space, and aliens are weird.  We can ask Coran, but we might just get a gibberish answer.  I can never tell if he actually knows all those things or if he has no idea whatsoever and is just bullshitting super super hard with the best poker face in the universe.”

The group settled back into quiet for a while.  There were shooting stars visible between the auroras – the sky was alight with movement.  A huge comet blazed past, bright enough to dim even the brightest flares of the lights for just a moment, and Pidge reached out to take the hands of their friends. 

They would be seeing the revontulet with their family soon.  And maybe before they all went home, they could take Matt and Dad here to Lumrae and show them the alien northern lights, too. 

*

The fire crackled gently, alien fuel causing it to burn a little redder than most Earth-based fires might, but warm nonetheless. 

The mission was almost over.  They had finished the detection system that would track the new Galra fleet.  The satellites to pick up the signals had been designed, prototyped, and tested, and were ready for proper production by a close ally of Voltron with advanced tech-building resources.  Hunk, Lance, and Pidge would be going home to the Castle of Lions soon. 

But not tonight.  They were still packing up, coordinating details and fine-tuning arrangements.  Also, there was a powerful solar flare going tonight, as well as what Lance and Hunk called a blizzard and Pidge said was just a little snow you big babies, so takeoff would be sometime in the next few days.  Blue was mostly ready to go, but was fortunately still heating the little research outpost.  That combined with the fire and a pile of blankets ensured that everyone was quite warm and comfortable. 

They were also all piled onto a couch-thing that was probably supposed to hold two people max, not that they cared.  Tangled with each other like kittens, with blankets heaped on top, the three talked and joked and told stories, lazily, half-asleep. 

Lance and Hunk still weren’t totally convinced about cold climates, but they did like it.  There was something about snow that islands and beaches just didn’t quite match, and it had been great fun to run around and explore in it, building snow castles and snow Lions and snow Alteans (Lance had found the weirdest bit of lichen for the moustache), tracking wildlife and each other through the fields and forests - and the snowball fights.  The many, many snowball fights. 

It hadn’t all been perfect, though.  The heat went out a few times in the station, leaving everything frosted and chilled until Hunk and Pidge could determine what was wrong with the system or Lance could figure out why Blue wasn’t connecting properly.  Hunk caught a cold for a week and a half, sneezing and snuffling nonstop and complaining about Lance and Pidge’s badly-prepared soups. 

Pidge themself fell through some ice into a frozen lake, but as it turned out they’d done that a lot back home and knew how to get themselves out – not that it didn’t give Hunk and Lance heart attacks and vow to never go near frozen lakes again, babying the Green Paladin for days after until they snapped and threatened to lock both of them outside unless they cut it out. 

Lance got chased by some… ice geese?  They were quite large and mostly transparent, and apparently very offended by the Blue Paladin’s discovery of their (tiny, fluffy, adorable, snowball-resembling) chicks.  But he escaped without injury (by hiding in a snowdrift until the geese gave up the hunt) and now knew to avoid little snowballs that squeak-quacked if you picked them up and cuddled them. 

So, a few misadventures, but fun nonetheless. 

In between all the winter wonderland adventures, though, they had been working very hard.  In a few days the three would be leaving Lumrae behind and heading in Blue for the warmth of the Castle of Lions.  Much remained to be done before then, but for now there was a lull in which they were taking full advantage. 

Eventually, the talking ran out and soon all three were fast asleep.  Lance shifted and shuffled and finally settled down, sprawled halfway across the others.  Hunk talked to himself in his sleep, mumbling about ice cream and snow cones and how it was really quite cold but of course he’d take another, alien desserts were such a fascinating research topic.  Pidge’s eyes moved rapidly beneath their eyelids, but judging by the tiny smile on their face, it was all were good dreams. 

It was quiet.  Outside, the snow fell silently on the wintery planet.  The only sounds were the snaps and pops of the fire, the soft sounds of humans sleeping, and Blue Lion’s purring as she crouched beside the station, warm and waiting. 

Lance darted forward until the snow mired him down to a slower pace. “About time. I’m freezing!”

“You’re the ice paladin,” Allura pointed out. “Shouldn’t you be more immune to cold than the others?”

Lance pouted in her direction, where she had taken off her helmet to let the snowflakes land in her hair. “I’m from a very warm climate. I like water just fine when it’s liquid and, y’know, not freezing.”

“How are you holding up, princess?” Shiro asked. “Aren’t you cold too?”

Allura shook her head, letting her hair fly in the wind. “I have full conscious control over my internal temperature. I simply increased the bloodflow to my extremities and raised my core temperature a few degrees...”

“Not to interrupt,” Hunk cut in, “but we humans can’t do that. And we’re all really cold right now so could we talk about it once we’re inside?”

Pidge kicked her heels into his shoulders. “Let’s move.”

Luckily it was a very short walk to the hidden entrance of the Blade’s listening post. The door opened easily for them even without Pidge resorting to hacking.

“Think he’s expecting us?” Hunk asked. “I don’t want to think this is a trap.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Lance patted him on the back. “Keith wouldn’t hurt us.”

“We might as well head up to the control room and let him know we’re here.” Shiro once again took the lead through the base’s maze of dimly-lit corridors. Allura followed close at his shoulder, glaring at the purple lights and Galra architecture.

“You know,” Pidge said, finally having climbed down from Hunk’s shoulders, “if a year ago someone had told me I’d be spending Christmas on an alien planet, tracking down my part-alien teammate, while I’m wearing alien armor and in the company of aliens...” She paused for dramatic effect. “I would have jumped at the chance.”

“A year ago, I was home for Christmas with my whole family,” Lance added.

Hunk nodded. “Me too.”

“Last year, I --” Shiro started, then stopped abruptly.

Allura filled in the sudden uncomfortable silence, “Around this time last year I was still in cryosleep and had never heard of your holidays. So I think this is definitely a good thing that we all get to celebrate this ‘Krissmuss’ together!”

“I’ve been thinking,” Coran piped up from where he’d been quietly watching for a while, “this holiday seems similar to the winter solstice. In terms of gift-giving and feasting, that is. The winter solstice on Altea was also the time of the biggest meteor shower so it was too dangerous to go outside; there were more falling rocks than normal. Everyone stayed indoors and played games instead.”

“That sounds like fun?” Lance tried to act sympathetic.

Allura shook her head. “I think your holidays sound much more friendly, to be honest.”

“We’re here,” Shiro announced, stopping before a large imposing door. “Try to act happy.”

There were several eye rolls, as well as an exaggerated grin from Pidge. Grumbling to himself at their lack of holiday spirit, Shiro opened the door and they all stepped into the main area of the base.

Keith was standing at the far side of the room, his back to them as he scowled at battle schematics laid out on a holographic screen.

“What --?” he startled, turning partly around and reaching for his knife.

“Happy birthday!” Coran shouted, then covered his mouth at the glare Hunk sent him. “Sorry, I mixed that up.”

“Merry Christmas,” the paladins said in unison.

Keith stared back at them in surprise from the depths of his hood, then slowly a radiant grin spread across his face. “You guys came all the way out here just to see me?!”

“Not like there’s a lot else out here,” Lance commented.

Keith turned back to the control panels for a moment, setting functions to run automatically so he could step away for a while. “I still can’t believe you’re all here. How did you know where to find me?”

“Magic,” and “Kolivan,” Hunk and Shiro said at the same time.

Allura sighed and shifted her backpack to the floor. “If it’s all right with everyone, could we start the festivities soon? The walk here was a bit longer than expected.”

“Festivities?” Keith echoed, looking more and more surprised by the moment.

“There’s more to this than just a courtesy call,” Shiro said. He turned to Lance, who procured a red, lumpy sweater from his pack and tossed it to Keith. “Black may look good on you but I miss seeing you in red. Plus it’s the color of the season.”

Keith caught the sweater and raised an eyebrow at the texture. “Knitted?”

Beaming, Lance nodded. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find yarn in space?”

“And we brought tons of food, too!” Hunk indicated the bulging pack he was carrying. “It’s not ham and mashed potatoes, but it’s the closest I could get with the ingredients I could find.”

“I’m sure it’ll be absolutely perfect.” Keith moved in close, stance open. He was still smiling softly and the others took it as an invitation for a group hug, something they hadn’t had since Keith had first left to become a full-fledged Blade.

While the war had kept them busy, the paladins hadn’t realized how much they missed him. But now, with each other as the only humans around for lightyears, it felt like home.

----

Hunk was in the galley kitchen, fussing over Keith’s lack of proper food and cooking utensils and “what the heck, Keith, some of this stuff has gone bad. Are you really eating it?!”. Lance was with him, staying out of the way and handing the chef ingredients as he called for them. The Green and Black Paladins had been kicked out, Shiro on principle and Pidge because she suggested frying the meat in rocket fuel to make it cook faster. Keith was lingering on the fringes of the scene, standing by with the Alteans and watching events unfold.

“Who’s up for a snowball fight?” Pidge asked, pulling out of her sulk at being forced from the kitchen. “I bet I’ll win.”

Allura looked perplexed. “I thought you wanted a vacation from fighting?”

“I bet I’ll win.” Shiro reached over and pulled a wool-ish cap down over Pidge’s eyes.

Grinning, Keith got into the fray. “You sure? How many hours have you spent practicing your marksmanship?”

“Only one way to find out.” Pidge darted off down the corridors, back toward the main door. “I’ll bet you a tray of Hunk’s cookies that --” Her voice trailed off as the door opened, revealing a swirling curtain of white.

“That’s a problem,” Shiro said. He stuck out his right arm and watched as snowflakes clumped on the metal. The freezing wind whisked through the open door and made them all shiver despite their armor and various winter clothes.

Keith shivered and pushed the door shut. “On second thought, we’ll have to delay the fight for another day. Blizzards here can last a while and they’re very dangerous if you get lost in them.”

“Good thing we brought plenty of supplies!” Coran looked, as usual, surprisingly chipper. “On Altea, this sort of thing would happen all the time --”

“What are we supposed to do now?” Pidge crossed her arms and let her winter hat sink down to cover her eyes. “We can’t go back to the kitchen.”

“We could...” Shiro paused, clearly searching for ideas. “We could sing carols?”

Once again, the Alteans were confused. Keith looked dubious as well.

Pidge giggled. “Clearly you’ve never heard me try to sing.”

“We could build a fire,” Keith said at last. “And maybe sit around and tell stories? Or just be together?”

That earned him another hug, squished between Shiro and Pidge.

“Fantastic!” Allura looked around at the network of hallways. “I assume you have fuel to burn? And a safe place for the fire?”

“The control room has a concrete floor, it’ll be safe there. It’s also close to the kitchen so we could have dinner there too.”

So that was how the next hour saw the two Alteans, two paladins, and one Blade rearranging the main room of the secret base. They scooted the mobile parts of the control consoles to the very edges, then hauled in crates and cushions to act as tables and chairs. Keith set up a fire in the middle of the floor, a neat pyramid of wood that flamed up merrily when he lit it.

“Anyone want to go see if Hunk and Lance are done?”

Pidge shot Shiro a suspicious glance. “No, thanks, they already shouted at me once.”

Keith rose to his feet. “It’s my base. They can’t kick me out of my own kitchen.” As he left the room, Shiro took his place by the fire, warming his hands and looking around at how they’d transformed the room.

“Decorations?” Pidge asked, already reaching for her backpack.

“You bet!”

----

Hunk was crouched down level with the countertop, trying to get a reading on the measuring cup. “Lance, I swear if you don’t stop shaking the counter...”

“Hey, Keith!” Lance jumped up from where he’d been perched on the counter, landing with a thump on the floor and jostling Hunk’s measurements again. “You need something? Dinner’s almost ready, right, Hunk?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Hunk stood up and moved to the stove, stirring a pot of what might have been green beans except they were colored deep blue. “Want to lend a hand?”

Keith reached for a potholder. “I’m not the best cook, but I can follow directions.” As he bent to retrieve the rolls from the oven, Hunk and Lance shared a conspiratorial smile. All they had to do was keep Keith busy long enough for the others to set up the decorations, and they’d have a truly wonderful surprise for their friend.

“What sort of Christmas stuff did you used to do, back on Earth?” Lance asked. All the other paladins had talked about their families’ traditions on the trek to the base, and it was only fair for Keith to get a turn to share.

Keith gave a small shrug and set the rolls on the counter. “Most times, the orphanage would set up a tree. All the kids would get to decorate it, so most of the ornaments ended up around the bottom of the tree because no one could reach the top. There were always a lot of cookies, too, and hot chocolate.”

“They probably aren’t what you’re used to, but I’ve got plenty of cookies in the oven now!” Hunk bustled around the small area, checking pots and stirring their contents. “Chocolate is hard to find in space so I hope you like cider instead?”

“You could give me hot water and I’d appreciate it, Hunk.”

The bigger man frowned. “I knew you weren’t eating well --”

“It’s the thought that counts, right?” Lance interrupted before things got too upsetting. “Besides, you don’t want to miss out on Hunk’s cider, he makes the absolute best!”

“I’m sure he does. Speaking of, what’s in the big pot? It smells amazing.”

Hunk beamed. “It’s roast... something, with yorra-root gravy. I haven’t made this recipe before so you all are in for a real treat.”

At that moment, a timer started beeping and both Hunk and Lance hurried to take care of the food.

“I hope you have enough plates for all of us,” Lance said, helping move the roast off to the side so Hunk could use the stove to heat up the half dozen other pots and pans.

Keith brought out a huge stack from one of the cabinets. “Lucky for us, this base used to house several dozen Blades, before the war started getting so hard on them. I don’t think place settings will be an issue.”

“Why don’t you go call the others?” Hunk asked. “Everyone can come get their food, then we can go sit around the fire while we eat.”

Keith headed off without a word, and the two shared a quiet high five. Knowing Keith, he wouldn’t expect anything special to be done on his account, so they could imagine the surprise and glee on his face when he walked into the newly-decorated control room.

All the purple lights had been replaced with soft white, giving a homey glow around the edges of the room. Garland hung from the ceiling and strands of it draped the walls, along with more lights and strings of green and red ornaments. The fire was burning cheerfully, surrounded by handfuls of fake snow. On every table there were sprigs of fragrant greenery and little striped disks that looked almost like peppermints.

The rest of the team was there, armor set aside, decked out in sweaters and pompom-topped hats.

“Hey, guys, dinner is --” Keith went silent as he crossed the threshold and realized the scene inside. He swallowed heavily and let his gaze drift around the room. “I can’t believe you’re doing all this for me.” There were almost tears in his voice.

“Well, it’s Christmas for us too, so it’s not wholly selfless,” Pidge pointed out, but her tone was kind.

“It wouldn’t be the holidays without you.” Lance and Hunk joined everyone else by the fire. “Come on and join us.”

----

It wasn’t exactly Christmas, just the same as everything else on this planet. Not-snow, not-trees, not-Christmas. But it was something close enough: friends, food, warmth. Just being together without any intergalactic matters looming over them.

Keith looked around the fire at everyone’s smiles. Lance was laughing at his own jokes, Hunk was passing around a tray of cookies, Coran was tending to the fire. Pidge was trying to explain marshmallows, much to Allura’s confused delight. Shiro was sitting next to the princess, a mug of not-cider in his hand as he watched the mesmerizing flicker of the fire.

Definitely not-Christmas.