The next day was much like the one before, with a different cast of characters. More world leaders, anxious to bow before her and discuss peace. Shiro watched her charm them all, especially once her translator picked up their languages so she could speak to them in their own tongue. He had to stifle a laugh when she told the French president that she’d loved the filet mignon. 
	He got various reports through the day from Pidge and his team. More people crossed off the list as not being a threat after all. He breathed a sigh of relief. Iverson sent him a message with updates on the security protocols. He’d brought in Mulcahy to oversee the situation on the ground during the princess’s upcoming EGC address. Shiro didn’t like Mulcahy personally, but the man was a hardass, so he was likely a good choice. He wasn’t going to let anything slip by him.
	Allura was also allowed a little time to shop at a designated (pre-security-screened and heavily patrolled) mall and given a stipend to spend. He was sure she was tormenting him when she went into a lingerie store and asked his opinion on various lacy bits of nothing. But mostly she bought gifts for her father, her cousin, and her friends. Shiro pointed the Godiva chocolate store out to her and almost immediately regretted it, as she tried to sample everything in the place. 
	By the time they returned to the suite for dinner, he was laden with her purchases. “What are we going to eat tonight?” she asked him brightly. 
	“I don’t care, you pick,” he answered, trying to put the bags down respectfully and not just drop them to the floor. “Or ask the chef to.”
	She brightened and went to call down to the kitchen. “Be a dear and put those in my room, will you?” she asked.
	He sighed and picked the bags up again, hauling them into her bedroom. For some reason, he expected there’d be some sign of last night’s… pre-sleep activity, but, of course there wasn’t. Housekeeping had come through and everything was pristine. Too bad I can’t wipe it from my mind as easily. He wasn’t sure he could take another night of that.
	Allura, again, went to take a shower while they awaited their food, and Shiro, again, took the opportunity to make himself as comfortable as he could be. He was willing to forego the earpiece but not his sidearm. Just in case. 
	Dinner showed up, and it was excellent, of course. They talked about the day and not at all about the night before, which suited him just fine, honestly. He teased her about her first taste of chocolate, she teased him about his face when she’d held that black teddy up against herself, they both laughed. And, as usual, they talked into the dark hours of the night without noticing. 
	“Okay, well now it’s midnight,” he said when he finally did check the clock. “Enough talking, time for bed.” He rose.
	She got to her feet as well, elegant and graceful as ever. But her voice, when she spoke, was edged with anxiety. “I… have something else I want to say. I probably shouldn’t, but if we are to be friends, we should be honest with each other, don’t you think?”
	“We are friends.”
	“We are, true, but we’re also more than that.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “At least, that’s what it feels like to me. Maybe I’m reading it all wrong and Earthlings are different from Alteans in this way, but when we were together on Altea – not just in my bed, but even before that – it felt like being with you was exactly where I should be. I thought you felt the same.”
	He exhaled roughly. “You’re right, you shouldn’t say this.” He started gathering the dishes up as he had done the night before.
	She put a hand on one of his to stop him. “I need you to know how I feel. I don’t want anything unspoken between us. And I want to understand. I’ve been wrong about things here on Earth; it’s not beyond belief that I could have been wrong about us.”
	He pulled away from her hand, regretfully, so he could take the dishes to the kitchen. “This is the sort of thing I was talking about before. This is exactly what I’m afraid of talking about.”
	“You seem the sort of person to face their fears,” she said, following him.
	“I know how this one will play out.”
	“How?”
	“Nuh-uh, that’s a trap. I’m not falling for that.” He set the dishes down and brushed past her to go back to the main room.
	“I’m not trying to trap you. I’m offering and asking for honesty.”
	“You want me to…”
	“To be honest with me!”
	“…to be with you again,” he finished lamely.
	“That would be nice, but you’ve already said no to that. I don’t want to force you.”
	“Not force me, no; just seduce me again?” He regretted it as soon as he said it.
	She frowned. “Back on Altea, I wasn’t trying to coerce you into anything you didn’t want to do. I wanted you to know what I wanted.”
	He stopped walking. She was still behind him. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it that way.” 
	“You wanted to have sex with me, didn’t you?”
	He couldn’t help blushing at how bluntly she spoke. “Very much.”
	“And it was then as it is now: only your belief that we shouldn’t be together was holding you back?”
	He nodded but didn’t say anything.
	“Do you regret that we made love?”
	“Not for an instant.”
	He heard her sigh in relief. “Then, please, let me say this. Let me know if I’ve been mistaken, and once I’ve got it all out, I’ll go to sleep, and we can continue on as friends. Please?”
	This was going to be difficult. But he’d overcome obstacles before. He turned around to face her. “Okay.”
	Her smile was a little nervous. She took a few steps closer to him but kept herself at arms’ reach. She had her hands clasped together in front of her, and he watched her square her shoulders and lift her chin just a little. “I wanted to have you as a lover the moment I saw you, but getting to know you when you were on Altea… I’ve never known anyone like you. I’ve never been as comfortable with anyone as I have been with you. And when we kissed that last night, back on Altea, when you touched me, when you so much as breathed against my skin, it made me realize how much I wanted you. Not just sexually. I wanted to wake up to your smile, hear your laughter, hold your hand and know that you would always be by my side.  
	“I’ve had my share of partners. They were fun, they were engaging, some were very charming indeed. But none of them have ever made me feel like they were indispensable. None of them have centered and calmed me, excited and aroused me in the same ways you have.”
	He tried to remember the trip to the Antarctic test site before the Altea mission. Focusing on the cold and the wind, because she was only making things harde-…more difficult.
	And she was still speaking. “I thought you felt the same way. I thought that we had a bond unlike any I’d ever experienced in my life. Just seeing you again when I arrived here made my heart lighten so much I thought it would float away and take me with it. So, this is what it comes down to.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “I love you. I loved you even before you left. I just couldn’t say it then; it hurt me too much, and I thought it would hurt you as well. I believed you returned my love. And if we can’t be together for now, so be it. I’ll wait. I’ll figure out some way to be with you, but only if that’s truly what you want. And if it isn’t, please tell me now. Let me start getting over you now.”
	Her gaze was steady, but her eyes were starting to dampen. Her lower lip trembled a little and he noticed her hands were clasped so tightly that she was shaking.
	Shiro closed his eyes and swore under his breath. He licked his lips, took a shuddering breath, and tried to steady himself before he looked at her again. He hesitated, but then put his hands on her arms. “Come here.” He tugged her towards him, and she came willingly, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He held her and stroked her hair.
	“You… you weren’t wrong. Even if I shouldn’t be with you, I want to. I love you, too, Allura. All this time without you has been… I mean, I’ve functioned. I haven’t been miserable, exactly, but I’ve been…”
	“Lonelier than you knew it was possible to be,” she finished, voice muffled by his chest.
	He nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. I want to be with you all the time, and when I was told I’d be heading up your security detail, I have to admit, I was overjoyed.” He gave her a squeeze and nuzzled his nose into her hair. It smelled slightly different, because of the hotel’s shampoo, but it was still her, and he closed his eyes to revel in having her this close. “Just to be next to you every day… I thought it’d be enough.”
	“Is that what you’re afraid of? That it won’t be enough?”
	“Sort of. I’m afraid of how quickly I’ll throw away my duty to have you again. This is… this is all I ever wanted, from back when I was a little boy: to be a space explorer, to fly into the stars, to find new people out there and learn about them. This is all I’ve wanted, all I’ve known. I took an oath to obey my superiors, so long as their orders don’t conflict with my own conscience. I don’t want to break my word.”
	“What does your conscience say?”
	“I don’t even know anymore. Everything in me wants to be with you, but I swore…”
	She pulled away from him, just enough so they could look at each other again. She was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “Is it wrong to be with me?”
	“Don’t ask me that right now. I can’t think straight with you in my arms.”
	“Then let go of me.”
	He was quiet a long moment. “I …don’t think I can.”
	“Then don’t. Hold on and don’t ever let go, Takashi.”
	His name on her lips again broke his last line of resistance. He kissed her, knowing it was too late to go back now. Her word was the only thing that could stop him, and she was holding him tightly again, her tongue inviting his into her mouth. He’d been so long without her; he needed oxygen, but kissing her like this, he felt like he could finally breathe again for the first time in months.
	Actually, something did stop him, and it wasn’t her words: it was the subtle shift of weight on his hip. He pulled away quickly and stepped back. “Whoa, whoa, careful.” He pulled the holster off as she pulled her hand away from it.
	“What is that? You didn’t have it with you on Altea.”
	“I did, it was just in my room. It’s a firearm, and I don’t want you to accidentally set it off.”
	“It shoots fire?”
	He walked towards her bedroom. “In a sense, but that’s just muzzle flash, it’s not what usually wounds the target. Look, the point is, no touchy the gun, okay?” He set it on the nightstand nearest the door. “I have to sleep on this side, do you understand? So I can be between you and any danger that might come through that door.”
	She smiled at him from the doorway. “Still trying to protect me.”
	“I am going to protect you,” he promised. He walked over and slid his arms around her. “With my life if I have to.”
	“I don’t want you to die,” she told him sternly.
	“I don’t intend to. Now, where were we?”
	She smiled, her hands running from his waist up along his torso to his chest. “We were right about… HERE!” and she shoved him backwards.
	“Hey!” He laughed as he hit the edge of the bed. 
	She was grinning as she pounced on him, knocking him onto his back on the mattress. “But you are sleeping here with me tonight, yes?”
	“Absolutely,” he promised, reaching up to tuck some of her hair behind one of her ears.
	“Only sleeping, or…?”
	He leaned up and whispered, “I need to hear you moan my name again. I have to hear it from you and not just as an echo in my memory.”
	And when he looked back to her face, she kissed him passionately. He moaned at the back of his throat. It still amazed him that this incredible alien princess wanted him at all, let alone this desperately. He pulled her closer and rolled them over so he was on top. He kissed his way over to her ear, which he knew was sensitive, and was rewarded with a gasp. 
	Her hands slid along his body to his belt, which was quickly removed and literally thrown away. He was tracing the shell of her ear with his tongue; occasionally her breath would hitch and then she’d redouble her efforts at getting his clothes off. Once she’d opened enough buttons, he sat up to get the shirt off, and she grinned at him, running her hands over his torso and pulling him back down to her.
	She turned the tables on him, rolling them over and pushing him down. Her breath was hot against his ear as she whispered, “I need something so badly, Takashi.”
	“And what’s that?” he asked.
	She pushed herself up so he could see her smirking and then she slid down along his body. “Well, first we need to get these pants off.” 
	He laid there and watched her unfasten his pants, then raised his hips to help her pull them off. His boxer briefs came next, of course, while Allura tutted about all this “unnecessary wrapping.” He couldn’t help laughing a little. 
	“What am I, a gift?”
	“Absolutely.” She slid up along his now naked body to kiss his cheek and say softly, “The very best gift I’ve ever had.”
	“Ah, and who gave me to you?”
	“The universe.” She was running her hand over his skin, slowly.
	He smiled. “Very metaphysical of you, Princess.”
	“Hush.” And then she took hold of his growing erection. 
	He lolled his head back, let his eyes fall closed. “As you wish.” It occurred to him she wouldn’t know that reference, but he honestly didn’t care.
	He remembered how, the first time they were together, he hadn’t even thought to ask about contraception. He’d been lost in the fantasy of the situation and forgotten the reality. He opened his eyes and asked now. 
	She laughed. “I have a hormonal blocker inserted. I cannot get pregnant.”
	“What about disease? I’m pretty sure I don’t have anything, but you don’t know that, and we’re technically aliens to each other, and…”
	She stopped stroking him to lay a finger against his lips. “My ship’s cryo-replenishers can take care of any disease I pick up from you, or that you pick up from me, for that matter – though I assure you I have none. Remember when we scanned you upon your arrival on Altea?” He nodded, and she explained, “One of the things that scan did was provide us with a baseline of your biology. Our cryo-replenishers will know what’s wrong with you and how to fix it if you should contract any illness or injury.”
	Once she’d pulled her finger away, he said, “Are you sure I shouldn’t wear a condom? Just in case?”
	When she cocked her head in confusion, he explained what a condom was. She pouted at him when he finished. “But Takashiii…”
	“What?” He was suspicious of the wobbly lower lip and the drawn-out use of his name (even as he loved hearing her say it).
	She smirked just a little and leaned towards him, lips a breath away from his. “I love feeling you explode within me, filling me with the proof of your joy.”
	He cleared his throat. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”
	“Trust me; nothing will.” She kissed him as he pondered. Her technology was vastly more advanced than theirs. He’d been given a full physical upon his return to Earth and checked out fine. 
	She must’ve known it was still worrying him, because she sat up and asked, “Have you been with anyone else since you left?”
	“Anyone else?” he asked incredulously. “How could I? Who on Earth could compare to you? I don’t think anyone in the entire universe could.”
	She blushed and smiled. “And I have known no one’s touch but yours since that night. Unless you count my own.” She grinned, and he chuckled a little. “So I’d rather you not leave to go get this ‘cum-dam’ of yours.”
	“‘Condom,’ though your version might be more accurate. And okay, okay, you’ve convinced me.”
	“It’s good of you to be so thoughtful,” she said, laying down next to him and kissing his cheek. “It’s one of the things I love about you. Now close your eyes.”
	He did so, and she blessed him with a long, lingering kiss. Her hand slid down his body to pick up where she’d left off, stroking gently. Then the feel of her near his face vanished, and now she had both hands working him. Occasionally she’d massage his balls, but mostly she just stroked his cock, sometimes twisting her hand around the shaft, and giving the faintest lick of the head. He groaned and arched his hips a little, wanting more of… of everything. 
	“You like that?” she asked smugly.
	“You know I do.”
	“I like to be sure.”
	“Is this what you wanted so badly?” he asked when he had enough breath to get the words out.
	“Not quite.” Her voice dropped, almost so low he couldn’t hear her, as she purred, “I need to taste you again, my love.”
	Oh, fuck. It was like she knew exactly what to say. “Well, what about me?”
	“What about you?” she asked, shifting to a more innocent tone just before she slid her mouth onto the head of his cock.
	He groaned louder, and it took him longer to remember what he’d wanted to say. “I want to taste you, too. It’s been so long.”
	“Maybe I want to be selfish.” She punctuated that with a long, slow lick from the base of his shaft all the way back to the top.
	“There’s no reason we can’t both get what we want here,” he pointed out to her. 
	She didn’t respond or move at first, and he raised his head to look at her. She was pretending to consider it; he could tell the difference. She still had one hand wrapped around him, but was tapping her lips with one finger, seemingly contemplating. “But I’d have to let go and get up and move…”
	He snorted. “You know I’ll make it worth your trouble.”
	“You’d better,” she charged, failing to hide her grin.
	“I promise,” he said.
	She sat up and pulled her nightgown off. Just like last night, she was naked, and he arched an eyebrow.
	“So sure I’d give in, were you?”
	“Not at all, actually. I wanted to at least fantasize about you before I went to sleep.”
	There was no point in lying now. “Like you did last night?”
	She smirked as she moved to get into position. “Oh, did you overhear me?” she asked in mock-innocence.
	“Every sigh, every moan,” he confirmed.
	“I heard you as well,” she replied.
	He groaned. “Dammit. I was trying to be quiet.”
	“My hearing is better than yours, remember? Were you pleasuring yourself to the sound of my voice?”
	“Yes, absolutely. That and imagining that I was actually in here with you.”
	“And now here you are. Isn’t this better?” she asked as she straddled his face. 
	“Much.” He reached up to pull her hips down, lifting his head to get what he wanted that much sooner. He nuzzled his nose into her silver curls and she giggled. Then he used his hands to spread her open a little more so he could lap – just once – at her clit. 
	She moaned softly and took hold of him again. He teased her with the tip of his tongue – short, quick licks – and she tormented him in return by only lightly tonguing the slit of his cock. He wondered how long he could hold out – how long she could hold out – before giving in. He could smell her desire and it made him ache with need. And just before he gave in, just before he stopped teasing her, she slid her mouth onto him.
	He groaned and arched his hips, then set about returning the favor, sucking her clit into his mouth. She moaned around his cock, stroking it as she sucked, and he hummed in response. He dabbled his tongue inside of her, truly tasting her, but focused on what he knew would make her happiest. 
	Somewhere along the way, it became a contest. He couldn’t have pinpointed the exact moment when it changed, but it had, and the game was who could make the other come first. He traced shapes over and around her clit then sucked hard until she had to take her mouth off him to gasp and breathe. Then she’d resume sucking him with a vengeance, and he’d let out a shuddering groan before going back to pleasing her.
	He was so close to winning – she was practically dripping – and then she had to go and, in a voice thick with ecstasy, moan, “Takashiiii,” right before she took him all the way in, all the way down to the base. And he was gone. It was so quick he couldn’t warn her, but she didn’t seem to care because he was still swallowed up in wet heat, her tongue still licking him as he came in her mouth.
	The first word he could manage again was, “Fuck.” She moved away from his face and turned around to lay down beside him, stroking his chest with one hand. 
	“I win.” She sounded very pleased with herself.
	“I can’t say… I entirely mind… losing,” he panted. 
	She giggled and stroked his chest. “I’d forgotten how good you taste.”
	“I’m happy to remind you.” He leaned over and kissed the nearest part of her face. Maybe an eye. She just laughed again, and he told her, “You’re still just as delicious as I remember.”
	“Better than chocolate?”
	Now it was his turn to laugh. “Much better.”
	She looked down along his body. “You’re still hard.” She turned her face back to his and nuzzled in next to his ear. “Still hungry then?”
	“For you? Always.”
	“As I am for you, my love. But you look exhausted. Perhaps it’s better for you to just lay there for a bit?”
	He smirked. “If you want to be on top, you can just say so.”
	She beamed like she’d been granted a long-held wish and straddled him again – his legs this time. “This was one of my favorites when we were last together.”
	“Mmm, mine, too. You looked so incredible riding me in the moonlight. I thought I was dreaming.”
	“Don’t wake up,” she said. “Not yet.” He remembered she’d said that before.
	And he remembered his response. “I won’t.” 
	She slid herself onto him, slowly, almost achingly slow. He watched her bite her lower lip as she adjusted to him. “Ahhh, I swear it always feels like you were meant to be inside me.”
	He didn’t answer, just bucked his hips a little, and she gasped and laughed at him. He grinned back and helped steady her with his hands. “Go slow,” he requested. “I’ll still be here in the morning and I want to savor you.”
	“Say it again.”
	He didn’t even have to ask. “I’ll still be here in the morning.”
	She sank a little farther down. “Ahh, again.”
	“I’m not going anywhere.”
	“Takashi…”
	“I’ll be right here next to y-…” And that was when she got him in all the way.
	She trembled and moaned. “I want to spend all night making love to you.” She almost sounded like she was begging.
	“Yes. Oh, god, yes, Allura.”
	“And fall asleep in your arms.”
	He grunted as she started moving. “Absolutely.”
	“And wake up next to you.”
	“I want it, too. Oh, Allura, I’ve wanted nothing but that for so long.”
	“Don’t leave, don’t leave…”
	“I’m not leaving. Oh fuck, Allura, how could I ever leave you?” He was half-babbling now, but it was true, it was all true. And it wasn’t just the sex, though that was great. It wasn’t just that most of his teenage fantasies had revolved around fucking an alien, though that was admittedly part of it. 
	When they were together like this, it was more than just their bodies meeting. It was like something in him needed something in her, and vice versa. Not like completion. Like… enhancement. She made him more than he was, and somehow he knew it was the same for her. They had always been on the same mental wavelength, but now it was almost like they could read each other’s minds.
	He knew she was going to throw her head back and close her eyes to focus on the feel of him driving inside her as she sank down to meet him, and she did. She knew he wanted to touch more of her, so she took his hands and slid them up to her breasts. Their moans and sighs synced. He knew she was close, and when she looked at him again, he knew what she wanted him to do. 
	She arched back as her climax hit, and he let her ride it, hands dropping to her hips to hold her steady as he held himself in check because she wanted more. She wanted the same thing he did: to be as close as possible, to come together. As she started to ease down, he pushed himself up, wrapping his arms around her. 
	It was harder to move like this, but she met him thrust for thrust. She took hold of his head with both hands and locked her gaze with his as she started riding him harder. He let himself get lost in those otherworldly eyes, in the heat of the embrace. He surrendered every part of himself to her and accepted every part of her in return. 
	He knew she had a marking in the small of her back, like a V spread wide, and he stroked it as they moved in concert. She whimpered a “yes” in Altean, followed by an “again,” and even if he didn’t know a word of her language he would have known what she’d said. He kept it up, running his fingers over the now sweat-slick mark that was increasingly warm to his touch as she pleasured herself on his cock.
	Her hands dropped to his shoulders, her nails gripping tight, and she leaned in and panted against his ear, “I can never get enough of you, Takashi. Ahhh, I’ve never… ever… been fucked so perfectly…” and it was all straight out of every wet dream he’d ever had, like she was mining his fantasies.
	And the words she needed to hear came to him, though he had to claw for air enough to say them. “You are so perfect just… the way… you are… Allura…”
	She didn’t have to say “come with me”: he heard it in his mind, felt it in his heart, every fiber of his being thrummed with her love and her need and he couldn’t have stopped himself even if he’d wanted to. It was the hardest and best orgasm he’d ever known, buried deep within the tight heat of her body. It was like he could feel her own pleasure flooding his veins, mixing with his own ecstasy, becoming one. He fell back to the mattress and took her with him, refusing to let go of her.
	They laid there and got their breath back, occasionally kissing or nuzzling one another. Shiro pushed some of her hair out of her face, and she smiled at him. “Don’t leave,” she whispered.
	“I’m not going to.”
	“Don’t go to sleep yet, either.” She grinned. “We have so much lost time to make up for.”
	He kissed her nose. “We can’t stay up all night. You have another busy day tomorrow.”
	“I know, I know. I wish I could just stay here with you.”
	“We both have duties to attend to.”
	“First things first though: I seem to be in need of another shower, and you haven’t showered at all yet.”
	“That requires standing,” he pointed out, “and walking.”
	“I’ll make it worth your while.”
	He laughed. “You’d better.”
	“I promise.” 
	Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and he took a moment to kiss her softly, letting his lips linger against hers. It was still there, at the back of his mind, that he shouldn’t be doing this. There were rules and regulations. But he couldn’t stop loving and needing her, and nothing could stop him from feeling like he was exactly where he should be right now.

	Allura awoke to domestic bliss. Takashi was, as promised, still next to her, but he was already awake, smiling at her. She smiled back and pulled him in for a kiss, but then he reminded her of her schedule. She pouted but sat up and stretched. He left to get dressed and call in a breakfast order. She took a moment to think back to last night, and then she bounced off her bed and ran for her aetherite cube.
	“Mother!”
	“Good morning, my flower. You sound extremely happy.”
	“My quintessence synced with Takashi’s!”
	There was a pause. “Well, no wonder you’re so happy! Oh, my baby girl has found her arlnath!”
	She blushed but didn’t deny it. Why would she? It was obviously true. “Oh, Mother, it was so wonderful! I understand now why the poets always complained about not having words to describe it! You just… you move past words and just feel what the other is feeling and it’s marvelous and that sense of being so deeply connected to someone else is like nothing else ever, and I…”
	“Slow down!” her mother’s voice laughed. “I can’t keep up!”
	“Is this how it was with you and Father?”
	Her mother made a strange noise. “Well…”
	Her smile faded. “Father was not your arlnath?”
	“I loved your father and he loved me. But bonding like this is rare, dearest daughter. And just because you two are arlnaths doesn’t mean that you don’t still need to talk to one another.”
	“I know, I know. I think it’s only because we were so open and honest with each other that it happened this time. We were both holding back the last time. Our talking about our feelings and fears is what enabled us to reach that point.” She sighed. “I’m sad to know that you and Father didn’t have this feeling.”
	“We cared very much for each other and for you. We love you and I am so happy that you get to experience the joy of bonding with another. A parent longs for their child’s happiness, after all.”
	Takashi poked his head in. “Who are you talking to?”
	“Mother.” She held out the aetherite cube towards him. “The travel version, as it were.”
	“Oh. Uh, do I need to…” He held two fingers out towards the cube.
	“Not with this one,” she told him, smiling. “She can’t get a sense of you like this, but she can talk and listen when I activate her. She sleeps otherwise.”
	“So, no, I didn’t overhear what you two were up to last night,” her mother’s voice said. “More’s the pity. I would have enjoyed that.”
	“Mother!” she hissed at the cube as Takashi turned bright red. Her mother just laughed. 
	He cleared his throat. “It’s, uh… good to finally meet you, Your Majesty.”
	“So polite!” Her mother gushed. “What a very nice voice! And so handsome!”
	“Uh… she can see me?”
	“The cube has visual sensors that…” Allura gave up trying to explain it. “Yes, she can see you.”
	“She can hear you, too,” the cube reminded him.
	He cleared his throat. “My apologies. Allura, breakfast’ll be up in less than fifteen minutes.”
	“Are you going to make me stay in here again?”
	“Absolutely.” He walked over to the nightstand and retrieved his firearm. Allura thought the idea of shooting fire was both inventive and very old-fashioned, but that combination seemed to describe a lot of Earth’s technology. “Your protection is my priority.”
	“You had different priorities last night,” she reminded him with a smirk.
	“Temporary priorities. Your safety was still the most important.” He came over and kissed her cheek. “As always.”
	“I like him,” Mother’s voice declared. “You should keep him.”
	“I’m trying,” she replied.
	Takashi smiled. “You’re doing an excellent job of it, my princess. Now get dressed, will you? It’s almost ten.”
	She huffed as he walked out. “You’re worse than Coran!”
	“Good!” he called back. “Someone has to keep you on track!”
	The cube giggled. “He’s perfect for you, my flower. No wonder your quintessences synced.”
	“Good-bye, Mother. I’ll talk to you again soon.”
	“Remember: wear that pink dress when you propose!”
	She double-tapped the cube to silence it.
	She set about getting dressed. Takashi closed her door when the elevator dinged, and she rolled her eyes even as she was secretly pleased by his protectiveness of her. Once it was “safe” for her to come out, she joined him for a meal of “scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fresh fruit, bacon, and toast.” She liked the different toppings the oatmeal came with, and it reminded her of nutrien, if a bit blander. Takashi said he’d gotten it specifically because he thought it would be similar. The fruit was crisp and sweet, and after sampling a little of everything, she stuck with the oatmeal, fruit, and some toast. 
	“I have to check in with my team downstairs,” he said. “Stay up here; I’ll come get you when it’s time to…”
	“I’m ready,” she told him. “I might as well come with you, unless there’s something I’m not supposed to see or overhear?”
	He considered that and then shrugged. “I guess not. Let me finish getting ready then.” 
	He got his full uniform on – she thought it a bit much, but there was no denying how attractive he looked in it – and they went down a floor.
	He went and knocked on a door. “Pidge, open up.”
	The small Garrison soldier from before opened the door. She was in an oversized shirt that went to her knees. “Oh.” She blinked and snapped to attention. “Good morning, Your Highness.”
	Allura smiled at her. “Good morning. That’s not necessary, really.”
	“What have you found out?” Takashi asked her.
	She eased down. “Uh, come in.” He followed her into her room.
	And then she heard a voice ask, “Princess?”
	Oh no. She turned and smiled at Coran. “Coran, good morning!” 
	He paused and narrowed his eyes at her, then switched to Altean to ask, “What have you been up to?”
	“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And some of the Earthlings can speak Altean, you know.”
	It didn’t dissuade him. “Nevermind, I know what you’ve been up to. It’s obvious. You’re glowing.”
	“Am I?” she asked innocently. 
	“You are.” He sidled up to her. “I knew there was something going on with you and that Earthling. Quite a bit, it seems!”
	She sighed. “If I tell you, will you keep this to yourself?”
	“Will I?! What a question! Why I’ve kept secrets older than you are! In fact, I remember…”
	“We bonded,” she said quickly, before Coran could get off on one of his tangents.
	He just blinked at her. “BONDED? With an Earthling?!”
	“It’s true and keep your voice down.”
	He began whispering. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken? Lots of young people these days think they’ve found their arlnath when they haven’t.”
	“I could feel his emotions, I could sense his intentions. It was the most miraculous feeling I’ve ever had.”
	Before Coran could say anything else, Takashi showed up again. “Princess, I… oh, Coran! Good to see you again! Uh, I mean…” He repeated the greeting in Altean.
	Coran acted surprised. “Oh ho! You’ve been learning!” he replied in English before switching back to Altean. “I’m glad to see you showing such an interest in our language.”
	“It is difficult to learn for me. I am still trying. Thank you.” 
	Allura giggled a little at his stilted phrasing and rescued him by pulling the conversation back to English. “You’re doing fine, but some conversational training would be helpful. Did you find out what you needed to?”
	He nodded and dropped Altean for the time being. “Pidge is sending the identity of each possible threat to have a security check run on them, so that’s slowing the process some. She’s going to help with the checks once she’s got the basic IDs for everyone who might be a problem, but she’s being careful. We don’t want to miss someone, so she’s casting a pretty wide net. It’ll take a bit.”
	She smiled. “I have every faith and confidence in your team.” She looked to Coran. “Are you coming with for the scientific discussions?”
	He nodded. “Aye, with Metiv and Goreina.”
	“Round them up then. We’ll need to leave soon. And remember what I told you.”
	“Aye, Princess.” And he went to get their two science officers.
	Takashi waited until Coran was out of earshot before he asked, “What did you tell him?”
	“Nothing for you to worry about, lo-…” she caught herself, “Captain.”
	She hated hiding it in public. She wanted the world to know. She wanted every world in every galaxy to know. But she understood that it wasn’t wise. 
	Keith came over to them. “Shiro, everything okay?” He wasn’t fully in uniform yet, but he had shirt and pants on, at least.
	“Fine. Just checking in with Pidge. Anything to report?”
	He shook his head. “It’s been quiet, unless you count last night.”
	“What happened last night?”
	“Lance and Hunk taught the Alteans to play Texas Hold’em.”
	Takashi groaned, but Allura was intrigued. “A game? Oh, I want to play! Can you teach me?” she asked Takashi brightly.
	“Have him teach you the strip variant,” Keith suggested.
	“Keith!” She noticed her beloved blush and she grinned, making a mental note.
	“I just might,” she said, pretending to consider it.
	Takashi rolled his eyes. “Oh, now don’t you start. I don’t know which of you is worse.”
	“I’m not the one makes you grin like an idiot,” Keith pointed out.
	“Ready to go!” Coran called from down the hallway, near the elevator, and Allura watched Takashi practically leap towards them.
	“Come on, long day ahead.”
	She couldn’t help snickering, and she deliberately walked at a stately pace just to frustrate his desire to leave quickly. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said as she drew near to him.
~End of Chapter 3~