What we think, We become (Shallurklance)

11/10 - Stars

"Coran?"
"Yes, Princess?"
"Why do the Humans love the stars so much?"
They were looking out on the group, small pile of Paladins sleeping in a pile in front of one of the observatory deck's windows. They did this sometimes, and Allura still didn't know why; whenever Hunk couldn't sleep, he'd camp out, looking out over the view in sleepy wonder, and Pidge, who never slept, would follow after. She'd plonk herself down next to him and snuggle into the crook of his arm, typing all the while. If one of them walked past the royal chambers, Lance would soon follow, due to his obsession with making sure his friends were okay, and Shiro would go after him almost instantly. Eventually, when Keith wandered out, Allura knew that it was a bad night for the Paladins. Sometimes it happened differently, either Shiro heard Pidge crying whilst finishing his rounds, or Lance refused to even try to sleep since he knew his brain was too wired, or even Keith spending hours completely wiping himself out by beating up a gladiator.
Either way, on bad nights, they always ended up there, basking in starlight and promising each other they were still alive with gentle touches and whispered reassurances.

"I don't know, Princess," Coran eventually admitted, a sad smirk gracing his face, "but whatever it is, it helps our Paladins, and if it keeps them going, who are we to judge?"

It was true, she had heard human stories of the stars from her loves several times. Shiro had told her of the tragic love stories that spanned hemisphere, whereas Lance spoke animatedly of the heroes and monsters that were honoured with their images in the sky. Keith was much more realistic with his stories; he may not have known the tales, but he taught them all how to navigate with the brightest ones, using pans and crosses to find your way. Each time, she marvelled at human ingenuity, how they could look up at dots in the sky and see figures or creatures of myth and legend, so different to the science-driven straightforward attitude of Altea. Sure, they had constellations, but they were different, usually used for spacial tracking and strategic ship launches. So to hear of how humans had looked to the sky in awe, rather than the smug Altean knowing she had known, was incredibly refreshing.

A groan from the pile snapped her out of her thoughts; Keith had poked his head out of a blanket and was looking dead at the two Alteans, sleep having mussed his hair adorably. "'Lura? C'mon over here," he mumbled, dipping back into the blankets as Allura grinned and made her way over.
"You should stay, Coran," she urged as she lay down next to Keith, pointing to the sofa seat that was still free, "you need sleep just as much as the rest of us."
As Keith's arm locked over Allura's middle, Coran settled into the sofa, watching over the pile of paladins.
Maybe these humans weren't so weird after all.

~

It was the next day that Allura had an idea.

"Pidge?"
She was working away in the green lion's hangar, laptop hooked up to a large machine that Allura had never seen before.
"Princess!" Pidge squawked, turning around suddenly with a jump, "what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you had any luminescent material, or knew where to find any," Allura inquired, taking a quick glance around the makeshift workshop to see if she could spot any right away.
Pidge hummed in thought. "Like, glow in the dark stuff?" She asked back, "I don't have any here, but I'm sure Hunk could whip some up pretty quickly. He's getting better with the replicator."
"That's certainly a feat," Allura replied with a laugh, "even my father's best alchemists struggled with the replicator." She giggled slightly despite herself. "But thank you, that would be most helpful."
With a grin, Pidge almost seemed placated, about to turn back around when she stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why do you want glow in the dark stuff?"

"Well, Takashi - Shiro, sorry - told me of a basic human decoration that he used to keep in his bedroom as a child, and Lance confirmed that he owned them also," she explained, rocking back on her heels and putting her hands behind her back, "and I thought it would help with their homesickness if I made some for our bedroom- Wait, why are you laughing?"
In front of her, Pidge had burst into laughter, running a hand through her hair as she laughed. "You're telling me," she said through giggles, "that you want to make glow in the dark stars so that Shiro won't feel so bad?"
"Well, that was the idea," Allura grumbled, "is that bad?"
"Oh no." Pidge smirked and turned back to her computer, "He'll love it, they all will. I'll tell Hunk as soon as I can."
"Thank you." She put a hand on Pidge's shoulder. "I hope they enjoy it as much as you say they will."

~

Hunk popped by to deliver the luminescent material around a day later, and Allura had never been so excited, but also slightly terrified. What if the stars she made didn't look like human stars? Coran had told her that the humans drew stars as a five-pointed shape with equal length sides, but no matter how she cut the material, it didn't look right. Either some points where longer than others, or the points were short with a large, uneven middle, but she was eventually left with a small pile of unique star-like shapes. They even glowed like Hunk promised they would, radiating a gentle green light when she flicked the lights off.

Hopefully, they would do.

Another thing she stole off Pidge was a small page of diagrams that she explained were human constellations, with interesting names like 'scorpius' or 'Cygnus'. They seemed very loosely connected to the image they were supposed to be; no way did this small triangle look like the triumphant weighing scales that Libra was supposed to represent.
But if they made her boyfriends happy, who was she to complain?

She was also thankful for her natural shapeshifting ability here, able to grow herself so she could stick the stars on the ceiling without much effort. Eventually, she was left with a series of green stars in pattern above the bed, in the idea that hopefully, it should made the understandably alien castle a little bit more homely.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"

"Takashi?"
With a surprised yelp, she toppled over on her heal, falling backwards onto the bed. A robotic hand came into view a moment later, and she eventually righted herself with a laugh. "I'm so sorry," she said gently, "you shocked me, was all."
"Don't apologise, I should have announced myself."
That was the Takashi she knew and loved; constantly apologising.
He sat next to her on the bed, Galra hand never leaving hers whilst the other snaked around her waist.
"What were you doing though? You looked really serious for a second there."
Allura giggled, leaning into his chest. "You'll see later, I promise."
"Alright then." The robotic hand left hers and moved to her jaw, tilting her face slightly. "I can wait."

Apparently Keith and Lance had both snuck in whilst she was busy finding the perfect shade of grey to match Shiro's eyes, as she was suddenly aware of a caramel pair of arms around her waist, and a paler pair locked around Shiro.
"Good afternoon, Lance," she said with a giggle, planting a gentle kiss on Shiro's chapped lips before twisting around to place another one on Lance's soft jaw.
"And good afternoon to you as well," she replied with a hum.
"Where have you two been? I was looking for you," Shiro jokingly asked, pulling Keith around so he was more on his lap than behind him.
"Making out in a storage closet." He punctuated his sentence with a peppering of kisses to the bottom of Shiro's jaw. "We tried to find you, but Lancey Lance over there got impatient."
"I got impatient?" Lance gasped in mock offence, placing his hand against his chest. "You were the one that pressed me against the wall, not the other way around-"
"Boys," Allura said with a smirk, "may I suggest you finish this later?"
"Fine," Lance huffed, "but I won."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Well next time-" Shiro's voice lowered to a near growl- "we'll be here to judge, but I want to know our Princess here spent so long working on today, hmm?"

Allura felt herself blush, although that may have had something to do with Lance who had started pressing his lips against her neck. "Well, I was talking with Pidge about human constellations, and you, Takashi, mentioned how you used to have them on your bedroom ceiling."
She heard Shiro gasp lightly.
"Lights to zero percent."

Above them, the stars glowed steadily, illuminating them from above. Even Lance had removed himself from her neck, too busy looking up at the ceiling.
"You did this, for us? Keith asked quietly, looking back towards her with wide eyes.
"Well, yes," Allura confirmed with a warm smile, "you humans really like the stars, so I figured it would make you all more comfortable if you have something that resembled home-"

She was cut off by Shiro's chapped lips finally meeting hers, gently at first before tilting her head to press deeper. Around her, she was just aware of her boys, Lance's hands on her waist, the wood smelling musk that seemed to follow Keith around, the feeling of Shiro's lips moving against hers.

There was nowhere else she would rather be right no, and under the soft glow of the fake stars, surrounded by her lovers and with Shiro's tongue slowly sliding over her bottom lip, she could forget the universe.

Here and now was all she cared about.