Hunk, the Yellow Paladin of Voltron, was talented in many ways.

He was an excellent cook by almost all standards as all of his teammate would whole-hearted agree. Hunk could also proudly say that he was a talented and inventive engineer with the ability to fix almost anything if he put his mind to it. And though he knew he would never hold a candle to that of Keith or even Lance, he was a notable pilot in his own right when the situation called. But there was one aspect of himself that Hunk held in very high esteem above all else.

His gut instinct.

Oh Lance and the rest may jest at times, but Hunk knew this gut instincts of a situation were almost never wrong. His gut knew when something was wrong in a situation and Hunk would almost always regret it when he (or his friends) chose to ignore all the warning signs.

For instance, his gut had told him that it would be horrendous idea to follow Lance and Pidge away from the Garrison to follow a crashed alien aircraft in the middle of the desert. But nooo, his friends had to still drag him out there and now they're all stuck in space forced to fight a galactic, centuries-old war for the universe.

Point one for Hunk's gut.

He also knew that those space thieves had been untrustworthy from the very spot. But again, no one had believed him until his best friend's lion had gotten stolen.

Another point for Hunk's gut.

So yes, maybe Lance had the sharpest eye of the bunch, maybe Pidge had the most intellect, Keith had the most fighting skills, and Shiro was the cool leader, but Hunk could feel when something was amiss, when something felt off. Hunk was proud of this.

And right now, Hunk's gut was telling him that something weird was going on between his two friends, Keith and Lance, the Red and Blue Paladins of Voltron.

Hunk started to first notice it the night everyone reunited after the wormhole incident.

After weeks, maybe months of being isolated from one another in the vast depths of space, the reunion between Hunk, his fellow paladins, Princess Allura, and Coran was a memory that Hunk knew he'd remember with only the greatest happiness for the rest of his days. There was laughter, a lot of tears, and even a couple of kisses (Allura gave all of them a peck on the cheek and Pidge received a giant smooch on the cheek from an overjoyed Lanced. She continues to deny liking it, though the blush that always appears when it is mentioned tells a different story).

And then there are hugs…so many hugs.

For a long time it was impossible for any of them to not reach out and touch one another in some manner whether it was a hug, a playful ruffle of the hair, a warm hand on the shoulder. All of them missed each other for more than any of them had ever realized possible. Allura told them that it was part of the ancient bond of those with ability to form Voltron all share, but Hunk knew it was something far more simple. He knew that in the time they've all spent together, after all the experiences they endured as team, it was impossible them not to start regarding each other as more than friends.

They were a family.

And now they were back together once more.

After all the tears and hugs were exchanged, the stories began. All of Paladins, as well as the princess and Coran, had their adventures to share of their time alone. Hunk remembered that nobody had slept at all that night, but sat together in the common room, listening with rapt attention as each one took their turn to relate what happened after the being separated in the wormhole.

Each story was exciting, but Lance and Keith's stories were a little different from the rest of the team's. Lance and Keith had actually been able to find each other earlier on than the rest of the team had. Hunk, and he was sure the rest of team, did notice that the two rivals were definitely seemed a lot more comfortable with one another. Even before they started to speak about their adventures in space, the two had been seated side by side on the couch the entire night, shoulders always brushing.

When it was their time to speak, Keith and Lance took turns, switching during different parts of the narrative, or whenever the other was missing a detail or, in Lance's case, over-exaggerating certain parts. To everyone's surprise, though there light bickering and teasing insults exchanged, neither seriously argued with each other the entire time.

Hunk did not find it too strange. After all, everyone was in too good of mood to even think about starting any fights. Plus it was a relief to finally see two of his friends getting along so well.

However, when Keith and Lance's story took a dark, unsettling turn, Hunk began to notice something not quite right.

Apparently at one point in their adventure, Keith and the Red Lion had been abducted by the Galra but not just any Galra…

"Prince…Lotor?" Allura gasped, her blue eyes stretched out wide. Her voice shook as she exclaimed, "Zarkon has a son?!"

The news was very distressing for them all. A royal son meant even more powerful enemies for them to face in the future.

Lance nodded, grimly. "Yep, nasty little, bloodthirty slimeball too. And don't get me started on his hair." He playfully elbowed Keith, grinning. "Puts this mullet-head to shame."

Keith rolled his eyes at his companion, but Hunk saw the corners of his lips twitch.

Coran stroked his mustache thoughtfully as he tutted, "Very unsettling news, but I guess it's not unexpected. It has been ten thousands year after all. He might even have an entire army of little princes and princesses for all we know."

"Ew." Pidge deadpanned. "Thanks for that mental image."

Hunk grimaced. "I think one Zarkon is enough. Two's just pushing it!'

"Enough, guys," Shiro said. He leaned in closer from his spot on the couch, his dark gaze focused on Lance. "Tell us what happened and everything you can about this Prince Lotor. I have a feeling we're not going to see the last of him."

So Lance continued, saying how the reason Prince Lotor had specifically targeted Keith was because originally Zarkon had planned to make his son the pilot of the Red Lion. When Keith had stolen the Red Lion from the Galra ship back at the very beginning of their adventures, Prince Lotor had taken it as a personal insult since the ship had been delivering the lion to the Prince at the time.

Lance recalled with great flair how he had snuck onto the warship to try and rescue Keith. Hunk noticed that by this point Keith had stopped talking altogether, allowing Lance to take full control of the story. The content smile that had once been on the Red Paladin's face had dissolved into a deep frown. Keith looked uncomfortable, his eyes darting nervously between Lance and the rest of the group.

Hunk wanted to ask what was wrong, but was hesitant to interrupt the story when Lance had it in full swing.

The Blue Paladin had reached a part in the story where he unfortunately had been captured by Galra sentries and locked up with Keith.

"How the heck did you two manage to escape after that?" Pidge asked, leaning at the edge of her seat, green eyes bright with excitement.

It was at this point, Hunk caught Lance and Keith sharing a quick, unease glance at one another. It lasted no more than a tick. Before Hunk could process what he had seen, Lance was facing everyone again, smiling with relaxed confidence.

"Oh, it was easy." Lance continued as if the pause had never occurred. "The two of use pretended to fight, lured the guards in, and jumped them." He shrugged his shoulders in an airy manner. "Between the two of us, it was a piece of cake getting out of there. Isn't that right, Keith?" Lance asked, looking expectantly at the red paladin sitting beside him.

Despite the cheerful smile on Lance's face, Hunk saw a glimmer of concern flashing in his blue eyes.

"Umm…" The Red Paladin didn't look please to have everyone's attention drawn to him. "Yeah, it went great. No problems at all."

Keith attempted a smile, but everyone could see that it was forced.

Lance frowned but after a heartbeat immediately launched back into the daring tale of escape, successfully drawing everyone's attention away from his brooding friend. Hunk spied Keith sighing in relief.

Lance ended the story by retelling how the pompous Prince swore eternal vengeance on the two paladins as they escaped.

"He yelled that he was going to rip my head off with his bare hands while Keith watched and turn the Blue lion red with my own blood. Then make Keith pilot it before finishing him off too."

The Blue Paladin glanced around the room to see everyone besides Keith staring at him with jaws dropped and eyes wide with horror.

"…What? I told you he was a bloodthirsty slimeball!"

"Lance, you must take threats like that from a ruler very seriously!" Allura chided the Blue Paladin harshly. Despite the anger in her voice, her beautiful face was lined with worry and concern for the safety of her two friends.

Lance looked taken back for second, a light blush spread across his cheeks. But he relaxed when Keith placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"We can handle whatever Prince Lotor throws out way." The Red Paladin confidently said, his violet-grey eyes lightly narrowed as if challenging anyone to argue with him.

Lance smirked smugly and leaned an elbow on Keith's shoulder. "Yep, what he said."

Shiro got up and placed a hand on each boy's shoulders. A proud smile graced his scarred face as he spoke. "I'm sure you two could, but luckily for you, next time all of us will be there to help if Prince Lotor tries to act up on that threat."

"Aww, thanks space dad."

"….Lance, please don't call me that."

"Not promising anything."

Hunk and Pidge were unsuccessfully holding back giggles when Allura stood up and clapped her hands together for attention.

"Come on Paladins. I believe it's now time for us all to rest up for the night." A fond smile rested upon her face as she gazed lovingly at each of them. "You all must be so tired from your ordeals. We can resume celebrations tomorrow."

Everyone was in full agreement. Now that the excitement had worn off, all of them could feel weariness seeping into their bones. Yawns started to come out as they all trudged their way to back to their old sleeping quarters.

After giving out the last batch of bone-crunching, goodnight hugs to all his friends, Hunk started to head to the old bedroom as well. However, right before he exited the common room, Hunk turned to look back to see if Lance was following him.

He wasn't. The Blue Paladin was still standing in the middle of the common room, huddled close to Keith as they held a quiet conversation with one another. Hunk knew he shouldn't pry, but the unusually serious expressions on their faces had caught his attention. The Yellow Paladin didn't dare move a muscle in case they noticed he still remained in the common room entrance.

Though their voices were too quiet for Hunk to fully hear, he noticed a lot of head shaking from Keith and some elaborate hand gestures from Lance's end. However, after a few ticks of eavesdropping, a couple words were whispered loud enough to carry over.

"…Why..?"

"…They don't need to know…"

"…They can't know…."

"…I won't tell…"

Hunk's gut churned uncomfortably.

...Why did this darn show get me back to fanfiction after all these years?