Breakfast came and went and it left the girls, Keith, and Hunk in the kitchen. Shiro had gone off to train a little, Lance had insisted to get in a shower before the team did anything else, and Pidge decided to actually sleep for the first time in their life. This left Keith and his two daughters in the kitchen, picking up spare bowls and used napkins. Zelda clutched onto a napkin, knees on the chair as she reached across the table. Nova placed used silverware in her hands. Two spoons sticking out from her left hand before she took hold of another one and added them to her other hand. Keith picked up the bowls with ease and glanced at Hunk as he placed two other bowls in the alien sink.

The sink was pretty functional, the spout shot out water, the drain worked decently, it was just orange. Hunk didn't know why it was orange, it just was. Kind of like Altean pumpkins. Some are orange, others are purple. It was a fact of life, no reason to change it.

Nova was finished with her cleaning first. She jogged to Hunk, hitting her head against his thigh in the process.

"Here you go! I got all the spoons!" She exclaimed with a large smile. Her eyes crinkled as the corners of her lips rose even wider. Keith found himself smiling softly at her. Her long brown hair was messily tied into a braid too complex for Keith to ever accomplish. Allura, gushing about how it was so nice to have nieces, had done her hair at the table half an hour ago. From all the running she had done to get the spoons, and the fact that the hair tie Allura had used was flimsy and threading apart, the braid was becoming undone. Keith didn't think Allura would care that much, it just gave her another excuse to gush over Nova.

Zelda picked up her last napkin and headed for the trashcan in the corner. Her hair was in a series of small braids, also curtesy of Allura.

"Thank you, little miss," Hunk told Nova as he reached for the spoons. Nova happily gave him the silverware before rushing over to Zelda. Zelda had just placed all the napkins in the trash after putting them in there one by one. The five-year-old was on her tiptoes to see over the brim of the trashcan. Her tongue sticking out in concentration as her heels rose off the ground.

"Remember girls, I'm gonna be training with the team in about an hour. Don't go into the room, please. Allura said she'd give you some more dresses to play with, and she's even found a few Altean dolls that you can mess with, do a soap opera or somethin'." he waved them off and turned towards Hunk.

He placed the bowls in his right hand on the counter.

"Thanks for the help, Keith." Hunk said as he took one of the bowls Keith had just put on the counter.

"No worries. Besides, we all know how many dishes you have to clean at the end of the day. The least any of us could do is help clean up," Keith remarked. He gripped a bottle of thin, water-y dish soap from the corner of the counter. He poured some into the two bowls before letting Hunk take them to the running faucet.

Zelda and Nova left quietly, their foot steps fading as they ran down the halls. Keith didn't bother to yell at their energetic behavior. He was the same way if he didn't move or do anything for too long. The best he could do was warn them, especially if they run into Lance's legs (again).

"So, how is fatherhood in space treating you?" Hunk asked awkwardly. He threw a nervous chuckle into the slightly tense atmosphere. Keith returned the dish soap to its place on the counter. The scent of lavenders and nutmeg filled the room. The aroma flooding his senses in a heavenly fashion. Keith answered the Yellow Paladin with a shrug.

"It's been a day, if that. I don't really have a feel for it yet. I mean, parenting in space versus parenting on Earth must be different somehow, right? Delphine already isn't here to lend a hand in any schedules, but the girls also don't got none of those extra-circulars like ballet or art classes or shit like that." He noted. Hunk nodded with a gentle hum. His bandanna was securing his hair from his eyes. Soap suds racing up his arms as he scrubbed the dishes clean. Steam from the waters hot temperature blew in his face.

It was warm and made his cheeks flush. It was almost like someone was hugging his face. Wrapping their arms around his ears and temples as they pulled him into a warm embrace, chest against his face. Hunk let out a small sigh.

"It'll probably be way different. Like I said, Delphine isn't here and the girls will want their Mama eventually. And even if they don't got school to go to, they still need to learn. My girls need to get an education, they need to get the chances I didn't get to have because I slacked off on topics I deemed unworthy of attention. Nova's only 8, but she's got a good head on her shoulders. Zelda's reading already, nothing fancy or anything, but reading. I don't want to pull them away from school, normal life, their friends, just so they can be raised in some ship that is in the middle of an inter-galactic war. It ain't safe. I don't want my daughters bein' hurt cause some evil-overlord decided to have a hissy-fit."

The steam no longer felt comforting to Hunk. Keith's long talk made his mind jump. It had been nearly 24 hours since the girls had shown up, and all everyone could think about was how Keith was going to handle his daughters being in space, or the fact that he had kids to begin with. No one thought to focus on their dangerous jobs as saviors of the universe, or the fact that the two kids had lives outside of whatever mess the paladins had managed to get themselves into. Everyone except Keith, apparently.

"This ain't my first rodeo doing some single parenting. Delphine got sent to a rehab center a could years back, back when Zelda was just learning to walk. It's just... girls need their mothers. I don't understand all the dolls and dress up crap like Delphie does. Not by a long shot." Keith snorted, smiling stupidly to himself.

"I love them with all my heart, but I don't want them to get caught up in whatever shit is going to happen to us," Keith exhaled slowly. He looked down, his grin dropping from his face as he stared at his feet. Hunk felt nervous, anxiously waiting for the red Paladin to say more. Something to fill the silence. Anything.

"But I think they already have." He finished before walking out. Hunk watched his back turn and as he left the room. His hands were warm under the steady stream of water from the sink. His fingers were pruning up and the soap was beginning to make his skin itchy. He quickly rinsed off the dishes and wiped them dry with a spare cloth.

Hunk never really took a moment to realize what the two newest additions to the team meant in terms of fighting the Galra. They were just kids, barely past the age of learning to tie shoes and messing with scratchy button up shirts. Now that keith had placed those thoughts into his head, he really wished they hadn't entered the castle.

It wasn't safe. Not for them, not for the two at the tender ages they were. He had instantly assumed they would be fine. They had already hi-jacked a cruiser ship, they had to have some sort of advanced intelligence.

Hunk barely knew the girls, but he hated it. He hated the fear creeping into his chest and expanding within seconds of his thoughts fleeting.

The girls wouldn't be okay in the end.

He could feel it.