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NOTE: Patreon requested Shance fluff...I got carried away.

Life can be busy at times. One of the best things he could do to help the world slow down, if only for an evening, was to make a real meal. They'd both gotten into the bad habit of grabbing whatever was convenient at the time they were hungry. This led to a lot of cereal for dinner moments. Really, if it wasn't for Hunk inviting them over for dinner now and again, they'd probably forget what fruits and vegetables looked like. 

Still, when push came to shove, Lance wanted Shiro to know he could take care of him. He'd picked up a thing or two. And if you couldn't manage spaghetti and meatballs then you just didn't deserve to be in the kitchen! Lance remembered the first time Shiro had talked about his dad's cooking. His father had a way with food. He never made less than a full meal. No casseroles in the Shirogane house hold. Every meal was served with salad, sides, breads, and dessert.   
 
Lance was seriously hoping he could manage three out of four.   
 
A small cat slipped into the kitchen, giving it's tiny but silent mew as it flicked it's fluffy tail about with curiosity. It knew people in the kitchen meant food was forth coming and therefor there would be treats. Whether or not Lance intended to give him treats was irrelevant. There would be treats.

“Tama, don't you dare.” Lance pointed a spatula at him with a warning, the little pink nose sniffing at the wooden tip and giving another curious mew. “Don't you try that big soft goo-goo kitty eyes on me! Ohhhh no! I know what you're up to.” He stuck his own tongue out and felt his heart melt as the kitten started purring at him.   
 
Little shit knew just what it was doing.
 
Lance put the pan down on the stove. Everything started with olive oil. He knew that much. A good oil carried the flavors and enhanced them through out the meal. He began to carefully dice the onions and crunched the garlic cloves, adding twice as many as the recipe called for. Hunk had told him that. If the recipe calls for two, add four. If someone tells you that you are using too much garlic, they are wrong and are not allowed in the kitchen. Lance took these and dumped them into the oil once it was hot, listening to the pleasant sizzling and stirring them around to brown. The smell burst into the room and he had to admit, there was a sense of familiarity to it. His own family, his mom had done most of the cooking. But the kind of hearty, comforting fare was something that spoke to his heart. 

He heard the door slide open and almost immediately, Shiro's moan followed it. 

“I smell garlic!”

“Yeah you do.” He stirred it around as Shiro entered the kitchen and patted Tama in return for an affectionate murrp. 

“Awww. Are you cooking for us?”

“Um hum. I hope I get it right. I've heard you talk about your dads cooking about a million times. A little bit of that mixed with Hunk's suggestions, it should at least be edible.” Lance craned his neck back and their lips touched with a sweet connection. His heart went fluttering inside his chest and Lance couldn't help the flush heat that spread around his cheeks. 

“Can I help?” Shiro offered.

“Nope! This is supposed to be me treating you.”

“Oh come on. I can't even mix the salad or anything?”

“Humph. Fine. You can mix a salad and do the dressing. But not yet.” He pointed to the fridge. “I admit, I cheated with dessert. I bought this neat jellied cakie fruit thing from one of the merchants.”

“Store bought is just fine.” Shiro peeked inside and licked his lips at the decadent looking treat. “I do know how to make cheesecake though. Remind me to show you some time.”

“That sounds amazing.” Lance turned the heat on low and added the ground beef. Actually it wasn't ground beef. It was ground...well something that tasted enough like beef to pass. Living in space had taken a bit of getting used to. But one of the good parts about being 'ambassadors to the stars' and all was getting access to a huge variety of planets. And with Hunk's dedication to good cuisine that didn't come in green slime form, they'd amassed a stocked pantry. What wasn't exactly earth food was close enough that the taste worked. The rare finds like garlic and olive oil were treasured. And occasionally, they'd find stuff that was even better. It was all in how one was willing to make it work.   
 
Lance stirred the meat around and his thoughts drifted to some of the meals his mother had taught him. He remembered empanadas, tamales, fried plantains... none of which he had been able to find. At least not that compared to how good his mothers had been. Food was a connecting force. And he missed that connection to his family.

Shiro wrapped his arms around Lance's waist, kissing his neck. “This looks amazing. I'm really happy you're doing this. You should let me try cooking for you next.”

“You barely know how to make a sandwich.”

“And it's a damn fine sandwich which I would be happy to make for you.” He proclaimed and pulled over a chair to watch.
 
Lance felt himself blushing even brighter. Why was it so sweet to know Shiro was watching him like this? He didn't feel worried about doing it wrong, just an overall sense of content. He stirred the beef around before lowering the heat to let it cook before turning around to chop the red veggies (that the merchant he'd bought them from INSISTED were fruits) and put them in a blender to make the sauce.   
 
“You ever thing about how odd it is having to cook? Like cook cook?” Shiro mentioned.

“You mean how back home you could make most everything from the press of a button or poured out of a can and now if we want anything not green slime related we have to be willing to actually make it?” Lance snickered and nodded. “Thank goodness for Hunk, amiright?” 

“Absolutely right.” Shiro petted Tama, the cat coming over to mewl and push his head up against Shiro's hand. “I just forget sometimes how much fun it could be to sit down and have a real family meal together. It makes you kinda miss home.”

“Yeah.” Lance couldn't help but smile at him. It wasn't as simple as them all being teammates. Everyone here, everyone who was a part of Voltron, was a family. They had to be. For some of them, their family was light-years away. For others, they would have to search the stars. For others still...they might never see them again. So how could they not look at one another and call themselves family? “But it's good, ya know? I mean, if we are our own family, we should start cooking for one another more. My mom got all her recipes from her mom. Like your dad got his from his mom. And I'm sure Pidge has gotten know some. And Hunk? He's almost a cookbook with legs! Keith, I'm sure he has meals he likes. We should do it more often.”

Shiro's eyes shone with a sense of love. “I think thats a wonderful idea.”

Lance felt so giddy he almost missed with his knife. He quickly refocused and dumped the veggies into the blender. They were almost like tomatoes. Close enough really, but a little sweeter and a darker red. He let them puree for a bit before he checked the meat and dumped the sauce in. He began adding spices to the mix. Green onions, brown sugar, stuff that had a smokey flavor but turned the sauce orange, a peppery plant that had to be grated, a little salt, a bit a green leafy substance that might have tasted like parsley but really parsley didn't taste like much of anything so who could tell?
 
“It smells so good!” Shiro wandered over, picking up a spoon and dipping it in to take a taste. His smile extended into his cheeks. “Lance, this is amazing!”

That was it! He was gonna turn red! “Really? It's not bad? Even though it's orange?”

“It can be purple for all I care. It's really good!”

“Great cause I'm trying to figure out the noodle part and I had to have Hunk teach me how to make them.” Lance looked over at the contraption Hunk and Pidge had managed to create pasta. Fresh pasta was something entirely beyond comparison. Lance had made several little nests of pasts and could hardly wait to dump them in the water. “Here, I need to make the garlic butter for the bread. Why don't you slice it?” He poured the water, sprinkled in a pinch of salt, and sighed as Tama climbed up and almost burned her paws trying to lick at it. “I swear this thing has a death wish.”
 
“He wants to help.” Shiro took another little spoonful of sauce and blew on it till it was cool, offering it to the kitten. “Here ya go. Come on.” Tama sniffed delicately and her little pink tongue flicked out in interest. She lapped at the texture then mewed happily, lapping the spoon clean. “See? She approves.”

“A discerning pallet to be sure.” Lance rolled his eyes but it still felt good. He'd have to save enough for everyone when they got back from training. But for now this was just about him and Shiro. It was okay to need time alone together. Especially with what he had planned later. He took down a bottle of what Allura had said was close to an earth red wine, making sure it was properly chilled before he popped the cork and added a few splashes to the spaghetti.   
 
“Smells even better now.”   
 
“Wait till the bread goes in. Nothing like fresh garlic bread. And here.” He pulled out some cheese he'd grated and saw the kittens ears perk right up. “You want some cheese? Huh? Does Tama want some cheese?” The series of high, desperate little mews was too cute. It was fun to dangle the little strands of shredded cheese over her head as she jumped up to gobble them down. 

Shiro worked on the salad, helped set the table, got the bread to brown just right so it was crunchy and the perfect sponge for a thick sauce. “I'm getting hungry just from looking at all this good food.” He swung his arms up over Lance's shoulders and kissed his head. “And not just for the noodles.”

“HEHHHEHEHEH!” Lance covered his mouth. He couldn't help himself! Shiro made him feel punch drunk. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” The captain leaned in and began to kiss along his neck sweetly, inviting more intimate contact, but not insisting on it. He kept that fine line perfectly, making out just for the fun of doing it, not really thinking forward towards the bedroom. It was about the joy of having time with one another. 

A tiny shriek escaped and Lance smacked at him playfully. “You'll let the noodles boil over!”

“Oh the tragedy.” But he did back off, prepping the strainer and the butter. One simply did not serve un-buttered noodles! He helped put everything in bowls, bringing it over till the table looked absolutely stuffed with food, Lance positively thrilled with what he'd managed. “It all looks magnificent. You really did an amazing job, Lance. You should be proud of yourself.”

He beamed with pride. “I'll be thrilled when all the dishes are done.” he teased, remembering what his mother used to say.

“Well...we COULD hide the desert until the others do the dishes.” Shiro hinted with a wry look. 

“And with that, I knew he was the man for me.”