"Guys, don't fight," said Keith, stirring the soup. "Besides, we should decide what we're doing for this week's project." Every week the Voltron Force worked together to try to restore some semblance of a normal life to the war-weary citizens of Arus.

"Mmph. Orfnige," said Hunk. "What? Don't talk with your mouth full," complained Lance, as he flipped the sandwiches he was toasting. Hunk swallowed. "The orphanage," he said. "We should help out at the orphanage. You'd like that, wouldn't you Pidge?" he asked, glancing briefly over at Pidge before eyeing the sandwiches again.

"Well, actually..." Pidge began.

"Hey!" Lance said crossly as Hunk reached for another sandwich from the platter. "Don't eat any more!" He swatted at Hunk with the spatula. "Princess isn't even here yet!"

"...I thought we could..."

"But they could be cold by the time she gets here. We could even be passed out from hunger!" Hunk whined. "You know how Koran is when he gets going. He just drones on and on!"

"...work on the next phase of..."

"Hunk, that's not a very nice thing to say about one of our employers," admonished Keith.

Lance smirked, "Yeah, but it's true." He placed the next batch of sandwiches on the platter. "I think we should see what repairs need to be done in the village," he said.

"...rebuilding the..."

"Well, I was thinking of setting up some more early warning detection systems on the mountains surrounding the village," said Keith. "Soup's done," he added as he turned off the burner and poured the soup into a tureen.

"...school," Pidge finished very quietly. He doubted if anyone had been listening to him. He took his place at the table as they waited for Princess Allura, and Lance toasted the last batch of sandwiches.

Lance had just transferred the last of the sandwiches to the serving platter when Allura arrived. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," she smiled apologetically.

A chorus of "That's OK", "No problem", and "We weren't waiting long" followed, and the Voltron Force began their meal.

"Everything looks just wonderful," said Allura. "I'll bet Pidge set the table -- all the place settings are aligned perfectly!" she smiled warmly at him. "I should hire you as a consultant for the next diplomatic dinner -- the staff is always overlooking some detail."

"It was nothing, really," said Pidge, blushing a little at her praise. ~If Princess had been here earlier, they would have listened to me,~ he thought. ~She never leaves me out.~

Lunch continued, punctuated with light banter as various members of the Force took turns reminiscing about Academy days or making future plans. "Mmm, these sandwiches are so good!" exclaimed Allura suddenly. "I really wish I knew how to cook."

"I could give you lessons," said Lance, smiling brightly at Allura as Keith glared at him from across the table.

"Oh, could you?" she said with a delighted expression. She turned to Keith, "How about you? Is there anything you could teach me?"

Keith quickly replaced the glare with a smile. From Lance's altered expression, Pidge surmised that Keith had also kicked Lance under the table. However, Hunk's sudden coughing fit eliminated the need for a reply.

"Are you all right?" she asked with concern as Pidge poured Hunk some more iced tea.

Hunk gulped down a large swallow of the beverage. "Sorry, a bite of sandwich went down the wrong way. Everything's fine now. Thanks, Little Buddy!" he flashed a smile at Pidge.

Keith changed the subject. "We've come up with three possibilities for this week's project, Princess," he said, confirming to Pidge that no one had been paying attention to his earlier suggestion.

Pidge sighed inwardly. ~I guess they just assumed I would go along with Hunk's suggestion,~ he thought. Around him, the voices of the others gradually faded out as he focused intently on submerging the crackers in his soup. ~It wasn't an unreasonable assumption,~ he tried to console himself. After all, he had agreed with Hunk many times in the past. Just not today.

"You're being awfully quiet, Pidge. What do you think we should do?" the Princess's voice cut into his musings.

Pidge glanced up, startled, to find the rest of the team looking at him expectantly, and he had no idea what they had been talking about. "Um, I'm sorry Princess," he apologized, "I was thinking about something else." He felt miserable. ~She's trying her best to include me, and I'm light years away.~

But she smiled. "You're always dreaming about some new invention or other," she said. "We were talking about what to do for this week's project. I know you and Hunk want to help at the orphanage, and Keith and Lance also have some good ideas, but what I feel is really important right now is to finish rebuilding the school. What do you think?"

Pidge blinked. ~Is she asking me to cast the deciding vote?~ he wondered. He hadn't heard the preceding conversation, so he wasn't sure. ~What should I say?~ Princess Allura's project suggestion coincided with his own, but would Hunk's feelings be hurt if he didn't choose to help at the orphange instead? He swallowed. "Well," he began, fiddling with his glasses nervously, "I think they're all really good ideas, but..." He took off his glasses and began to polish them, "...the one that sounds the best to me is..." He put his glasses back on. "...rebuilding the school," he finished. To his relief, Hunk did not look upset. "And not just because the idea comes from a beautiful woman," he added, grinning broadly at Allura and winking.

Three pairs of eyebrows raised, and three jaws dropped.

"Why Pidge, I do believe you've been taking lessons in flirting from Lance," Allura laughed, cheeks flushing mildly. Pidge blushed crimson as Keith and Lance traded glares across the table. "So, boys, do we have a consensus?" Allura asked, oblivious to the exchange.

"Sounds good to me!" said Hunk heartily.

"Yeah, that's cool," said Lance.

"The school it is then," confirmed Keith.

"Oh, thank you so much!" said Allura. "You'll see, finishing the school will help so many people! And speaking of help, since you all have made such a wonderful lunch, I will help whoever washes the dishes. Who got stuck with that task?"

"ME!" four voices chorused.

"Now, guys, don't be silly," said Hunk with a huge grin. "Lance made the sandwiches, Keith made the soup, and Pidge set the table. It's only fair that I do the dishes."

Pidge chuckled to himself, ~Sometimes Hunk can be pretty sneaky!~ The gentle giant's uncharacteristic avoidance of food preparation tasks, while netting him the universally hated chore of washing dishes, had gained him extra time alone with the Princess, a fact that did not appear to be sitting well with either Keith or Lance.

"If we all help, it will get done a lot faster," pointed out Lance.

"Yes, but I need the practice anyway for cleaning up after our cooking lesson," replied Allura.

"Well, if you put it that way," said Lance with a huge smile, "I'm outta here! Catch you later!" He smirked at Keith on his way out.

"You too, Keith," said Allura, shooing him away from the sink. She turned to the table to collect the dishes as Hunk began to fill the sink with hot water. "You and Lance can give me cooking lessons together. Won't that be fun?" Hunk made a strangled noise. "Oh, you're not choking again, are you?" She turned to Hunk, completely missing the scowl on Keith's face.

"No, Princess," Hunk gasped for air. "The dish soap bottle made that noise," he fibbed.

Pidge rolled his eyes and decided to leave before things got any worse.