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Lotor was on break. He enjoyed his rest time as a way to unwind from the stressful work in the Blade of Marmora, but that did not mean that he was planning to simply lie down. Unfortunately, that left him without many other options. He aimlessly made his way into the barracks and over to the bunk he shared with Keith (only because Keith was the only person who was willing to sleep directly below the former prince), idly wondering what he was going to do, when a small sound, a groan, caught his attention. Lotor looked down to see Keith on his side, clutching his abdomen.
Keith did not seem to be aware of Lotor’s presence at first, so Lotor spoke softly, hoping not to startle him. “Are you alright?”
Violet eyes shot wide open and met Lotor’s with an intense gaze for a moment, but Keith’s entire expression quickly scrunched up in pain for a long moment before he managed to relax again somewhat. “I’m fine,” Keith muttered.
Lotor was unconvinced. “If you are ill, you should see a healer,” he prompted.
Keith shook his head before Lotor was even done speaking. “No, no, I’m fine,” he insisted with forced casualness. “They wouldn’t be able to do anything about this. It’s just a normal human thing. I’ll be fine in a couple days.”
Leaning a little closer to investigate, Lotor caught a scent that was familiar to him – blood mixed with something almost sweet yet very repulsive – and he quickly realized what ‘normal human thing’ Keith was talking about. “Ah, I see,” he said gently. “I was… unaware that human males also went through menstruation.”
The human male in question looked utterly shocked and horrified at Lotor’s statement. “H-how… how did you know?!” he asked in an accusatory tone.
Hesitating, afraid he had crossed some kind of unstated boundary, Lotor ventured, “As I told you before, Acxa is half-human, and she underwent this process 10-15 times per decapheobe. She told me that, as far as she was aware, it was something that only happened to females, and it occurs in very few species other than humans.”
Keith looked… resigned. “Well, I’m not just a normal human male, so… yeah, I also go through this.”
“Do any of the others know?” Lotor asked, trying to be as tactful as possible.
“No.” Keith’s voice held a note of near-panic at the mere suggestion. “Don’t mention this to anyone else, especially any of the oth—of the paladins.”
Lotor pondered this for a moment, trying to piece everything together. Acxa had said that this had to do with the female reproductive system in humans, yet Keith was male. Additionally, Keith wanted to make sure that no one knew about this, and Lotor suspected that this was for reasons a lot deeper than simply not wanting to admit to some bleeding and pain. The only conclusion was…
“On Altea, they called your kind the Soul-Shifted,” Lotor stated, watching for Keith’s reaction.
Keith looked up with confusion and suspicion. “What do you mean, ‘my kind’? Acxa and I are the only human-Galra hybrids in the history of the universe as far as anyone knows.”
Lotor offered a gentle hint of a smile. “Alteans could shift their physical forms, of course, but they believed that the soul remained the same. The soul did not shift even when the body changed.”
“Okay…?”
“I do not know how much you have seen of Altean shapeshifting, but it can be taken to an extent that would make one… appear to be of the opposite sex.” Again, Lotor watched for a reaction.
Now Keith looked wary and defensive. “And your point is?”
“Shifts were seen to be skin-deep only, but some would maintain a shift almost indefinitely to attempt to integrate into society as a member of the opposite sex. They insisted that the shift went down to the level of their soul, hence the name Soul-Shifted.”
Keith’s eyes unfocused as he realized what Lotor was saying. “Oh,” he finally murmured. “On earth we just call it…” He hesitated, swallowing hard, before coming out with it, “We call it transgender. I’m… trans-male.”
Lotor offered Keith a supportive smile. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”
With a wry chuckle, Keith said, “You were the one who figured it out. I just confirmed what you already knew.”
“You could have tried to lie to me,” Lotor pointed out with a casual gesture of indifference.
“I doubt that would have worked,” Keith scoffed. His eyes still held some vulnerability and many questions. “So, this… doesn’t bother you?” he ventured.
Lotor shook his head without hesitation. “It does not bother me at all,” he answered without hesitation. “I do not necessarily believe that the Alteans were better than the Galra on all accounts, but I certainly find their view, and especially the policies friendly towards the Soul-Shifted that King Alfor’s father put into place, to be a much better take on the situation than the Galra way.”
Keith froze for a moment. “What’s the… Galra way?”
Lotor grimaced and looked away from Keith, unable to meet the latter’s eyes as he explained, “For those insistent on going through with the transition, there is a… procedure, but few survive, and even those who do are banned from many rights and privileges. Their lives afterwards are unpleasant and often short. Most are too afraid to express their feelings in the first place. For those who will not suppress their identity but do not want to attempt the procedure, the only other option is death, unless the druids take them for experimentation.”
“Oh.”
“‘Oh’ indeed. I attempted to change the policies, but change was too slow, and I was rather preoccupied with trying to manage the colonies without the fear tactics they had been conditioned to respond to. I simply could not do everything at once. And now…”
“Now Zarkon is back in power.”
“Exactly.”
Silence hung between the two of them for a few moments, the only change in it being the shifting cadence of Keith’s breathing as he suffered through a few waves of cramps, before he spoke up, “On earth, it varies from country to country. In mine, there is a procedure, and most do survive it, but it’s really difficult to sort through all of the legal stuff and have the change be recognized by the government, and even then…” He trailed off. “Well, I’ll never really be ‘done’ transitioning. The laws have gotten better than, say, just over a hundred years ago back when I wouldn’t have been able to even use the correct bathroom, but they still aren’t perfect.”
Lotor nodded sympathetically. “I see… does anyone else know about this?”
“Shiro does,” Keith admitted as he fidgeted with the edge of his blanket, “but I haven’t told the others. I don’t know how they’d react. I mean, they were fine with Pidge, but she still somewhat identifies as a girl. Her situation is a little different from mine.”
Humming thoughtfully, Lotor considered his next words before asking, “What is the worst reaction you could reasonably expect? Pushing aside the irrational scenarios, what are you afraid of?”
Keith was silent for a moment – partly because he had to brace himself to endure another wave of cramps – before he answered, “I think they might find it bizarre. I’m already weird enough as an alien hybrid and a loner type. I also don’t know if they might have cultural or moral objections to it. I doubt they’d try to hurt me or do anything to me on purpose, but I’m afraid that they’ll pull away and become more distant, maybe even encourage me to spend more time with the Blade of Marmora.”
“I think the Blade of Marmora might be your more pressing concern,” Lotor advised. It was harsh, he knew, but Keith needed to know. “As I said, Galra society is… less than accepting of this. Does Kolivan know, at least?”
Keith made a non-committal sound and gesture, only clarifying with, “I had to tell him about the periods, but I passed it off as just a normal human thing. He might suspect, but he hasn’t said anything.”
“I see,” Lotor sympathized. “I imagine that the Blade of Marmora will likely be accepting, since they already go against the laws and traditions of the empire, but perhaps I could subtly ask them to be sure? I would certainly not mention you.”
“Hmm…” Keith considered this for a moment. “I suppose that’d be good to know. Thanks.”
Lotor smiled. “Not a problem.”
“If only you could do the same with the paladins…” Keith half-joked.
“It would not be hard to bring it up to Allura, at least.” Lotor watched for Keith’s reaction, which displayed some interest, before continuing, “I could simply mention it in the context of politics and what laws she intends to enforce on the planets in the Coalition. If I bring it up in front of everyone and explain the concept of the Soul-Shifted to the humans, I could read their reactions and determine how they might feel about the matter.”
Keith was silent for a short while before he answered, “I guess that would be good, but I don’t want to risk them finding out.”
“You deserve to know whether or not you even need to hide,” Lotor insisted.
“True,” Keith admitted. “Alright, go ahead.”
“Thank you for allowing me to help. I’ll be careful.” Then, without even properly thinking about it, Lotor bent down and kissed Keith’s forehead in a comforting and affectionate gesture. As soon as he realized what he’d just done, Lotor pulled away and began to apologize. “I’m so sorry! I-I overstepped. I simply… I forgot what was proper. I am so sorry…”
Keith actually began to laugh, which caused Lotor to freeze mid-sentence. “That was pretty weird, but… not bad? Just, you know, give me some warning next time, okay?”
“…next time?” Lotor looked at Keith, trying to read in Keith’s eyes what was left unsaid.
Shrugging, Keith replied, “Yeah, I mean, I usually don’t really like being touched, but… I guess that just kind of… felt okay?”
Lotor sank to his knees beside the bed, coming a little closer to Keith. “Then… perhaps I could stay with you? Until I need to go back on duty, that is?”
Violet eyes met Lotor’s, sparkling with amusement and softened by… affection? Keith smiled a little as he answered, “Sure, sounds good to me.”