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“I-I love him.”
A peak of mocking laughter overcame the tall figure, enclosed in shadows that seemed to emulate from his very being. No, it wasn’t a metaphor- the edges of the space surrounding him seemed to ripple outwards, as if time itself had fallen prey to his sinister smile. “Love? What good does love do you now? You’re simply a boy, helpless without your weapon, and more than that, easily defeated without your friends. Face it, Paladin. Love is weakness.”A hollow chuckle came from the floor, somewhat lessened in power by the blood drip-drip-dripping onto cold metal, evidence of agonizing suffering, of whimpering-yet-willful cries, torn by force from the still-laughing mouth even as analytical eyes summarized his situation and went for a critical hit. “Maybe. Did you learn that from experience ? Y’know, with a certain Altean?”Snarling, the disgraced Galran prince shattered every trace of cold and civilized decorum with a sudden hit, backhanding a blue-eyed boy with steely resolve and sending a savage kick to his ribs. “How dare you- you insinuate…” He trailed off momentarily, rage temporarily manifesting as lovelorn bitterness over an extinguished flame, a lit match blown out without a chance to start a fire, a thin trail of smoke curling up through his hair as if to remind him of what could have been .Lance truly did laugh this time, empty and distant, as if a crater was appearing in his chest with each passing moment of silence, of hopelessness, of a noticeable lack of a certain dark-haired boy that made a promise. “... I dare to do a lot of things recently.” Smirk sliding across a bloodied and bruised face, the stars twinkling from outside the Galran cruiser reflecting quietly off of a boy, a man, a soldier dreaming of home, the Red Paladin in the blue armor spread his gloved hands in contemplation.Lotor sneered, irreverent even in rare silence. “Daring to sneak alone onto an important ship without any hope of backup proves you to be far more foolish than I had ever expected. You were always focused on me, all that time… and I assumed it was over a girl.”Lance’s grin faded suddenly, and for a solitary second he too was bathed in darkness, in an instant remembering a soft gentle accent and a single Polaroid, a flash of bright light and too-quick goodbye. “Most people do.” Three words, and yet each spoke of a thousand stories, of a million moments left unacknowledged, of affection angled at the wrong person, of a late-night conversation that managed to skip around anything important, of a deep melancholy love song and no one left to sing it to.Lotor had no time for subtext. “And so, love is your reasoning? Your reassurance? A petty infatuation with a Paladin, an agent, with ten times the caliber you do. This is the reason the druids cannot extract any bit of useful information? Love?”Slowly, unblinkingly, Lance nodded, seeing no reason to avoid an answer. The Galra would get nothing from him. Not one location, not one password, not one battle plan. All they had received in their extensive… research… was one too many images of a soft smile, a calloused hand, a pair of sleepy eyes warm and vulnerable, a wet and curly mop of hair being braided at the foot of Lance’s bed.Illusions did nothing to sway him either. For Lance had nothing left to lose. A boy stranded in space, a boy screaming into searing silent skies speckled with stardust, standing side by side with true soldiers and fighters, staring at a blank slate of a room and wishing for cheap glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to his ceiling back home with cheap putty, a boy, forever seeing his heart belong to someone who’d never give his own away, could not be swayed by secrets and whispers and faux candle-lit declarations. You could not break a heart that had never been mended in the first place.Lotor sighed, lifting a well-used, often-dirtied recognizable sword and bringing it toward Lance in an almost resigned manner, as if reasoning whether killing him was worth the trouble.Scrambling to his feet was useless, Lance knew. One could never hope to best a swordsman with only broken ribs and an unpracticed Altean broadsword, which lay in bayard form about ten feet behind him.So he closed his eyes. Might as well picture something nice for a last moment in this universe, Lance figured. Better that than a smarmy prince with daddy issues about to impale you.But there was no pain. No impact. Only a recognizable yell, a crash, footsteps, and the clash of two blades. Only a blurred flash of red leaping to parry a deadly sharp blade, some sound effects suitable for a basic action movie, and finally a thump.And the worried face of Keith Kogane, peering down at a bleary Lance, who was more red than blue at this point.The crackle of a transmission vaguely sounded in the background, and Lance could barely make out a relieved “Got him.” before the world began to spin before him and he decided he didn’t want to watch it turn. A panicked sound broke through, a Lance goddamnit open your fucking eyes , and the boy in question took it all in through cracked eyelids, watching as Keith slipped his hands underneath Lance’s curled-up body, gathering him carefully like something valuable, managing a weak response and clutching him tighter as Lance blurted out I promise I won’t forget it this time around, Keith, I promise, I- and beginning to run as the former Blue Paladin sighed deeply, hiding his starry pupils as he whispered I love you - finally, finally!-, taking one moment to rest, and with that, the boy of sea and stars let a smile fall gently across his face as he let the world fall to the wayside.