Faune purred and meowed, the black paladin petting her and scratching her chin as he sat beside her. Spirit lay beside her, his chin resting on his paws and his eyes closed.

"Faune seems to be very content with staying in here." Shiro chuckled, rubbing behind the small lion's ears. Faune meowed and leaned into his palm as a response.

Pidge yawned and stretched as she dragged herself into the cub pen. "Yeah, she loves it. I don't think she's going to mind staying here a couple of more days while Hunk and I repair the green lion and upgrade it."

Shiro frowned and looked up at Pidge. "Still repairing? It's been three days."

"Yup." Pidge grunted and plopped down beside Shiro. "We're finding more and more issues, and not just from that blast. It's from previous battles. There is this one spot that will take forever to fix that if it doesn't get fixed, it might explode in the middle of battle at any time."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's not good." Pidge pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Faune mewed and nudged her knee with her nose. Pidge reached down and stroked her lion's head. "So Hunk and I concluded that once we've repaired and upgraded Green- which may take weeks-, we'll have to repair the other lions before we upgrade them."

Shiro wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her down to lean against him. Pidge whined and lay her head on his shoulder. "Sounds like you two have your hands full." She nodded. "Hey, how do you think Lance and Keith would react if we told them Cloade and Pelae were snuggling up on each other?"

Pidge raised her head to look for the two lions. Pelae was sitting by Adaoe, watching Hunk, while Cloade dug his nose in the tool box. "But they're not even-"

"But Lance and Keith don't know that."

Slowly, a sly grin grew on Pidge's face. "Lance would totally throw a fit and Keith would turn as red as Pelae."

The black paladin chuckled. "We should tell them at dinner."

"Yes!"

~

Pelae grumbled as Cloade pranced around her. Cloade wanted to wander through the halls of the castle and decided to drag her along. The blue lion bounced and meowed giddily.

"Pelae, Pelae!" He bounded ahead and into the observatory. "Come in here!"

The red lion sighed and trotted after him. The door slid shut behind her. Cloade turned on the map and went wide-eyed in fascination as the map of the universe littered the room. "Pelae, look!"

"I see, Cloade." She trotted up beside him and looked around.

"Isn't it pretty?" Cloade's sparkling blue eyes looked down at her. Pelae shrugged. The blue lion visibly deflated. "Pelae, I thought you'd like it... My paladin gave me the idea one time while he was talking to me about his family." Cloade's head dropped as well as his tail.

Pelae tensed, eyes widening. "Wait... You brought me here because... You thought I'd like it?" Cloade nodded. Pelae's tail curled and her heart leapt. She purred softly and rubbed her head against his shoulder. "I do like it, Cloade. Thank you."

Cloade lit up, raising his head and curling his tail. "Really!?" Pelae nodded, but rolled her eyes at him. Cloade's deep purr resonated through the room as he rubbed his head under her chin and curled his tail with hers. "That makes me happy."

Silence surrounded them as Pelae stared at the stars and planets surrounding them and Cloade kept his head tucked affectionately under her chin.

"I love you, Pelae." He meowed, shifting and raising his head to look her in the eye. "I want you. I want to stay with you."

Pelae purred, licking his cheek. "I love you, too."

Cloade pressed his forehead against hers, his claws kneading the metal floor. "I'm glad."

~

Adaoe relaxed beside Spirit and Faune. "So," he mused, tilting his head back to face Spirit and Faune. "Are we expecting little cubs bouncing around any time soon?"

"I'd like to think so." Faune raised her head, then rested her chin on Spirit's shoulders. "Spirit, are we going to have cubs, soon?"

Spirit hummed tiredly. "Well, Faune, I would be a little disappointed if we don't after the other night."

"Ooh!" Adaoe rolled onto his stomach, eyes sparkling. "You two? You're finally trying again?"

Faune nodded happily, draping her front paws over Spirit's shoulders. "Yes!"

All three turned their heads as the bay doors slid open.

"Where have you two been?" Adaoe asked as he stood, stretching his front legs and his back.

Cloade shrugged as he trotted in. "Just around the castle."

Pelae nodded and followed just behind him. "Yeah. The castle looks the same as it did ten thousand years ago."

Adaoe purred and leaned over to Spirit and Faune. "I think we'll be expecting a little more than originally thought." He mused as he watched his cub curl up with Pelae.

Faune laughed softly while Spirit purred in amusement. "It'd be nice to have another cub around for ours to play with."

~

Lance hummed, rubbing his chin as he carefully studied the two lions curled up together within the cub pen. "How can you tell if these lions are pregnant?"

Pidge and Hunk groaned simultaneously. "Lance, please," Hunk muttered, stepping back from the mechanical green lion. "Not while we're working."

"I'm just wondering. I mean, it's been a week-and-a-half now. You'd think they'd try for some cubs."

Pidge sighed. "Lance, you figure it out like the ever curious scientist you are instead of bothering us."

The blue paladin huffed and turned around. "I'd take that as a compliment if you didn't have such a condescending tone."

"I didn't even know you knew what that word means." Pidge muttered, lifting herself up onto a broken panel.

"Well, I do." Lance crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey, where's Pelae and Cloade?"

Hunk gestured over his shoulder. "Just over here with Adaoe."

Lance whistled as he made his way over. "What're they- hey!"

Cloade was laying on his back with Pelae laying on his chest, her head tucked under his chin. Lance shouted and covered his eyes. "Mios dio! Why!?"