The kitchen in the castle the next morning was a bit rowdier than usual when Allura made her way there for breakfast. She could hear a commotion before she even reached the room and braced herself for a disaster. Upon entering, she wasn’t surprised to find the kitchen packed.

Hunk was busy making breakfast, leaving a trail of food behind him as he worked. Lance and Viltri were on fruit chopping duty, but she was too busy flirting with him to be productive, and Lance was too nervous to be any better at his job. Allura quite enjoyed seeing him flustered by a girl for once; she could get used to having Viltri around.

Jira and Jinx stood next to Hunk, watching him intently while he worked, while Junx argued with Hunk over everything he did. Shiro sat quietly at the counter with a content smile on his face as he watched everyone. Allura came and sat next to him.

“Where’s Pidge and Keith?” She asked.

“She left pretty early to go hang out with Horm and my mom,” Jinx explained. “Not sure where Keith is… I asked if he wanted to go on patrol with me this afternoon, but he didn’t seem too interested.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s just off moping on the training deck again.,” Hunk said.

“Does he do that often?” Jira asked, giving Hunk a wary look.

“Only when he gets in his loner emo moods.”

Jira furrowed her brow. “Emo?”

“Oh yeah, you probably don’t know what that is…”

“I just think he needed some alone time,” Shiro said diplomatically but Allura could tell that Jira didn’t look satisfied with that answer.

“Hunk, what are you making?” Allura asked him, coming to stand next to Jira.

“An abomination,” Junx frowned.

“No…” Hunk growled at him. “I decided to make a fruit pizza with the native fruit here, but some people seem to think that there are certain things that you shouldn’t do with fruit.”

“I don’t know what pizza is,” Allura smiled.

“Trust me, you’ll love it. Now if those cutting up the fruit would quit flirting for two seconds, we could eat soon.” Hunk looked expectantly at Lance and Viltri.

“That is not what we’re doing,” Lance said defensively, and Viltri scooped the chopped fruit into a bowl and handed it to Hunk.

“Should that be enough?”

Hunk squinted at contents. “It should be fine,” he grumbled.

“Hunk takes his food very seriously,” Allura stated to Jira.

“I can see why. It looks great.”

Hunk carefully spread the fruit out and expertly cut the pizza into equal slices.

“This is amazing!” Allura beamed after taking a bite.

Jinx and Junx ate quickly before they took off for their patrol shift.

“Thanks!” Jinx hollered as he walked out of the kitchen.

Junx stopped in the doorway before following his brother. “It wasn’t… bad.”

“What?!” Hunk looked genuinely offended. “But you ate so much of it!” Junx didn’t bother to stay and explain himself and quickly left the castle.

“I should get going to,” Viltri said after eating. “I’ve got to prep for the next scouting mission.”

Lance perked up. “Scouting mission? For the Hauhet? You actually go looking for that thing?”

“Yeah, do you wanna come?”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t know, I might be needed back here at the castle. You know, in case I need to bust out my lion- save some people- the usual.”

“We don’t have anything going on today,” Allura said ecstatically. “You deserve the day off.”

“Great!” Viltri beamed, taking Lance by the arm and leading him away. Hunk started cleaning up and Jira helped him.

“What do you two have going on today?” Allura asked, hoping that Jira wouldn’t be too busy.

“I told Keith I would try and fix his mask on his Blade suit today. He said it broke pretty bad, but he didn’t say how…” Hunk said, and Allura saw Jira making a weak attempt at hiding a smirk.

“I see,” Allura said, tapping her fingers together. “And you, Jira?”

“I actually have a long patrol shift with Rixel in a bit, but I should be free to go to the hot springs. Are you coming with us?”

“Unfortunately not. President Drundlo isn’t going to be free until this evening, so we’ll have to go some other time with you.”

“Okay,” Jira smiled.

“If you’re going to meet with Rixel soon, do you mind if I walk with you there? I want to get a good look at the base today.”

“Sure.”

“Prefect,” Allura said. “Just let me go change.”

Once in her room, she debated on what to wear; she needed to make a good impression today. Her old suit would help her stand out as a leader, but her paladin suit symbolized her unity with the other paladins and voltron. She eventually settled on the paladin suit, leaving the helmet behind. When she left her room, Shiro was outside waiting for her.

“What are you up to?” He asked, folding his arms.

Allura laughed nervously and started walking down the hall. “I’m just getting to know the base and the residents better.”

“You’ve taken an interest towards Jira though,” he said. “... Are you meddling?”

Allura raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not meddling…” she sighed. It was hard to lie to him. “Okay, maybe a little bit. It’s just curious to me that Keith has made friends here already. It took him a while to warm up to us.”

“It’s more than that,” Shiro pointed out. “... They’re not kids.”

“I just want to get to know her a little more, that’s all.”

Shiro relaxed and smiled. “Fine… just tell me how it goes.”

“Now you sound curious too,” she teased.

****

“So how long have you been an Elite?” Allura asked Jira as they walked past the Kafa.

“I started training when I was a kid and I’ve been one for a few years now. Zalko keeps an eye on the kids growing up in the Kafa and recruits them if they show enough promise.”

“So this is all you’ve known growing up? The Kafa? Training and protecting your home?”

Jira nodded. “Life outside of the Kafa is different and more relaxed, I know, but this is what I’m used to.”

“Did you always want to be an Elite with Zalko?”

“Um, no…” Jira said, staring straight ahead and Allura could sense her shutting her out. “No, I actually wanted to be apart of Wunrik's Elites. They get to go all over Olorin. We do a lot of training with them; that’s actually how I became friends with Viltri.”

“Both seem like rewarding jobs,” Allura smiled.

“They are,” Jira said hasilty. “It’s just, I don’t know, I’ve always wanted to see more. Having the Blade come and Voltron…” her voice trailed off.

“Have you never seen anyone else from another planet before?”

“Eioans do have ties to other planets in our system, but travel isn’t common. We figured it was one more thing that could attract the empire,” Jira laughed. “Keith was the first person I met whose skin wasn’t purple or gray… which is kinda lame now that I say it out loud.”

“Not at all!” Allura grinned, but saw Jira looked a little discouraged. “Your mother told me about your ability. You would make a great asset to any team you joined.”

“Thanks,” Jira said, her expression a bit happier.

“I’m glad that Keith found you… and other good friends here,” Allura said carefully. “Even if he’s only been here a short time. Ever since he left Voltron, we just like to know that he alright; especially Shiro.”

Jira fidgeted with her braid. “He never told me why he left, and he didn’t tell me which lion he piloted.”

“I think I’ll leave it to him to explain why he left,” Allura said. “But he was the Paladin for the red lion, then for a bit he was the paladin for the black lion, until… well, until Shiro got back.”

“Keith did tell me about that,” Jira said, looking away from Allura as if something was bothering her. “... But it’s great that you’re all together again.” She stopped in front of a hanger and glanced at Allura. “Well this is my stop.”

“Alright,” Allura said and Jira began walking away.

“Jira,” Allura called back to her and she stopped. “Did you by chance get a reading on me after we met?”

Jira nodded and smiled. “You were pretty easy to read, which is usually a good thing. Eioa is lucky to have you here.”