The Galra turns his chin up again. "Why do you laugh, paladin of Voltron? Can you not see the odds have fallen undoubtedly in my favor?"
As Lance wiped the blood from his mouth, a weak smirk settled on his lips. "It's not so unfortunate-if this is h...
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"So . . . this is it?"
The stone was so . . . underwhelming.
"I doubt that it wouldn't be," Lotor responded, twisting his hair and squeezing the water out of it as they walked.
Lance absentmindedly watched the water droplets trace their path down the cavern. "It's so plain. Shouldn't it—I don't know, shouldn't it be all glowy, or something? Usually legendary items are at least a little cool."
Lotor scoffed. "This key was meant to be hidden and discreet—I imagine making it as uncool as possible allows for it to remain secret . . . did I use that word correctly?"
Lance smiled—Lotor's lack of knowledge on the little things that made up Earth culture was honestly the most entertainment he'd had in the years he'd been in this endless expanse. "You did," he allowed. "Let me see it, I can take it back to the Castle of Lions and have Pidge run some scans. Locater stuff, and that."
Lotor frowned, tightening his grip on the stone as Lance reached for it. As soon as he did, Lance felt the doubt creeping in.
"Why can't I have it? Lotor I can't just hand this off to you."
The prince raised a brow, fangs protruding ever so slightly from his frown. "Paladin, you understand why I cannot hand it off to you. Your paladins have proven their distrust for me, due to my race. I've said it before—it would get it in the way of their better judgment. I specifically entrusted this mission to you and you alone, after the Paladins decided against working with me."
Lance stopped, and Lotor only made it a few steps without realizing. "So you just circled around their distrust for you to get what you want anyway? Is that what this is? Your father committed genocide against Allura's race. Her distrust isn't unfounded. As for the compass stone, I'm not letting you take it alone. I'm not just going to go back to the Castle and forget this ever happened."
"Lance," he said, stepping closer and crossing his arms. "My intentions are not, and never were, to cheat you or the paladins. I thought it would be mutually beneficial to us all, as a united front against my father. Allura is right to feel and act the way she does, I never believed otherwise. What my father did to her was unspeakable and disgraceful." He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his still-soaked hair. "And just so you are aware, Paladin, you are in no way disposable to me—I need more from you."
Lance felt the snarl creep onto his face before he could think for even a second of diplomacy. "And when you're done with me, what then?"
"Who ever said I would be done with you, Lance? I still intend to ally with you and Voltron to defeat my father. I still very much intend to keep you in the loop, as you'd call it, about my plans with the stone. I understand where your distrust comes from, but I beg you to put it aside, in the name of the greater good of the universe."
