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Lance wandered the hallways of the castle, trying to figure out things to do. He spent the last week in the training room for hours on end and leveled up as high as the system would let him. He hadn't seen Coran in a while and whenever he did see Coran he was either wandering around the hallways much like Lance was currently or he was cleaning something around the castle. Hunk, Pidge, and Matt were always in Green's part of the ship or in the kitchen. Even Shiro and Allura were scarce within the ship, usually, they floated around the bridge talking about game plans and what exactly they were going to do with Lotor. And then there was Lotor, the son of a bitch that no one talked to, or if they did it was often to ask for information.
Lance felt kind of bad for Lotor, he completely surrendered himself and gave himself over to Voltron and the Castle of the Lions and he was getting shit in return. He was stuck in a cage for... however long it had been now, it was inhumane in Lance's opinion.
He wandered down into the bowels of the ship, turning down several wrong corridors before getting to the right one. Lance swung open the door and let it slam behind him, walking confidently towards the cage at the end of the walkway.
"What are you doing here, blue paladin? Did someone send you here to get more information?" he asked, smirking a little bit and looking up towards Lance between the bars of his cell. Lance moved closer to the cell and sat on the ground next to it, resting his head against it, but keeping his eyes on Lotor.
"No one sent me, I was just... bored I guess." Lance sighed loudly and saw Lotor's expression change into one of surprise.
"That's... shocking. Out of all of them, I could have sworn that you hated me the most, but perhaps I was mistaken?" Lotor inquired looking towards Lance, a glimpse of curiosity flashed across his eyes.
"I do hate you the most, don't get me wrong, but you're free in time, which no one else really is, so I'm using this as an advantage. Maybe you could even convince me to start liking you." they both laughed at it, although Lotor's laugh seemed more shaky and hesitant, almost a scared kind of laugh.
Lance frowned a little and reached his hand through the bars, "But, I am willing to start over if you want, you would get a fresh start." he offered. Lotor smiled kindly and nodded, sticking his hand out and shaking Lance's.
"I would like that very much," Lotor spoke softly, smiling towards Lance. This smile looked genuine. Lance smiled back and settled down for a long talk with his former enemy.
A few weeks had passed since Lance had first gone down to talk to Lotor when he was bored. Now, it had become almost a routine thing. Ever since the Galra Empire had come to a fall there hadn't been many calls to answer in the galaxy and if there were they were usually two people missions and Lance never got picked for those.
Sometimes Lotor and him would talk about how the team used to be when Keith was there before he left to go work with The Blade. Lance wasn't mad at Keith for doing it, he was actually kind of proud. Lotor thought differently though. He agreed with Lance that Keith should discover more about his bloodline, but thinks that it was wrong for Keith to abandon them in such a time of need when he was obviously needed.
Lotor kept great company, he was funny, witty, smart, and often was extremely well mannered. Sometimes the team would wonder where exactly Lance wandered off to in the castle, but never really questioned him about it. Whenever they had to question Lotor for information Lotor would shoot Lance a knowing look and would often only answer questions if they came from him. The team at first was almost protective of Lance, but they knew that they needed answers, so they became understanding of it and decided to not really question it.
Lance strolled down to the cell just like any other day and smiled at Lotor. "Hey, handsome," he said softly. Lotor's eyes shined and a smile grew on his face. And then there was that fact. After talking for a while Lance found out that he and Lotor have similar trains of thought and attitude towards things and they were just, compatible. They worked in ways that Lance was foreign to but liked and most importantly Lance really really liked Lotor, which was highly unexpected. It almost seemed like that enemy-to-lovers trope that tv shows were always so obsessed with.
"Hello, Lance." Lotor winked at him, causing Lance to blush and look down. He chuckled and stood up in his cell, walking towards the door. Lance showed him the key before slowly unlocking it and smiling.
As soon as the cage was unlocked Lance was engulfed in a big hug. "I missed you too, Lotor..." Lance trailed off, burying his face in Lotor's chest because he was unusually tall and Lance loved that about him.
"What's wrong, love? Are you okay?" Lotor purred out softly, stroking Lance's hair and taking his sweet time making sure that Lance was looking at him that way he knew that he was getting an honest answer.
"I'm just getting kind of tired of it, all the sneaking around and them just ignoring me. It's not right. I mean, I get that they have their own lives and such, but it's just so boring and exhausting and I just wanna be down here with you all day because you make me laugh and feel loved and I don't know." Lance stammered a little over his words and frowned, looking down towards the ground.
Lotor sighed and stroked Lance's hair softly, "It's understandable and valid that you feel like that. They aren't exactly mistreating you, but they aren't treating you well either, they aren't exactly treating either of us. However, they are your friends and they will be there for you when the time matters." Lotor whispered to Lance, trying to be delicate with him.
“I just, everything is so confusing. A few weeks ago I hated you and now I’m so like, in love with you and it’s weird and I don’t know how it happened it just did.” Lance sighed, blushing and looking up at Lotor, searching for his reaction.
“I understand, Lance. It’s okay to be confused…” Lotor said slowly, unsure if he was saying the right things or not.
“Tell me you love me, it doesn’t have to be true I just need to hear it on days like these,” Lance spoke in a small voice, biting his lip.
“But I do love you, Lance. I love you more than I’ve loved anyone or anything else and as confused as I am about it, I’ve also learned to accept it.” Lotor smiled, kissing Lance’s forehead.
Lance pouted and grabbed the collar of Lotor's uniform, pulling him down to be level with Lance and smashing his lips against Lotor’s. Lotor, thankfully, kissed back.
Lance released Lotor’s collar and the two stood there kissing for a while before pulling away.
“Run away with me, Lotor?”