The universe truly had a vendetta against him. It was the only thought that flashed into his mind as Lotor stepped into the observation deck, a blur of mapped out star systems and planets floating around his head as he watched entranced as a large, purple planet floated past his face. As he took another step forward, a high pitched growl of annoyance rang in his ears.
"Hey! Watch where your giant feet are going next time!"
Glancing down, he noticed that with just another step, he would have trampled on a pair of bare legs that following towards its owner turned out to belong to Pidge. There was a deep frown on her face as her fingers rested against a data pad that she'd clearly been working on.
"Why are you here? And your answer better not include Lance's name in it."
Raising a brow, Lotor sized up the Paladin. The large glasses that rested upon the edge of her nose, did little to subdue the inquisitive glimmer that seemed to incessantly burn in her eyes. It almost reminded Lotor of himself, as if he was staring at a youthful portrait of whom he once was. Before layers of bitter emotions and harsh reality had piled upon that youthful glow. He suspected that whatever happened aboard the ship, the Paladin had means of hearing about it far more quickly than anyone else. So it was of no surprise to him that she would know that he was searching for Lance.
"I'm looking for Lance." Pidge made a face that was a cross between disgust and contempt.
"Really? And why's that? Are you making plans to kidnap him again?"
Unable to help the twitch in the corner of his lips, he let his face fall back into a smooth, expressionless mask as he looked down his nose at Pidge. "I always knew you were the brightest among the other Paladins, but I suppose I should get rid of you now that you know my plans."
Shock flashed across Pidge's face as her eyes scanned around the room in search of something that she could use as a weapon to fend him off, so she could have enough time to slip her hand into her pocket and reach for her communicator. Almost comically, Pidge's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she watched out of the corner of her eyes as Lotor held a hand over his mouth as he let out a deep chuckle. Her face went from shocked to furious as quickly as a river rising till it began to spill over the edge of an embankment.
"Was that supposed to be a joke!?"
He stared at her curiously, quite not understanding her harsh and rather upset reaction over what he deemed as a joke. Especially since he'd grown rather comfortable with Lance's brand of snark and tongue quick quips. "Yes. It was a joke, humans do make jokes frequently do they not?"
"They do," Pidge replied sharply, "but not at the expense of showing off how much of an asshole they are."
Bristling at her words, Lotor watched her as she gathered her things and stood up to leave. "And you know what, you're an asshole. No matter how much you go around, corner us individually, and try to play psychiatrist with us. You're not going to change my mind." She huffed as she stomped towards the doors leading out of the observation deck, they slid apart, revealing Lance standing on the other side. Even as Pidge stormed past him, leaving him to scrunch up his face in confusion as he watched one of his closest teammates that he regarded like the little sister he never had stormed off down the hall that lead to her room.
His confusion was tossed aside by a cold, simmering anger as he whirled his attention on Lotor. Pointing a single, accusatory finger at him. "What did you do?"
Scoffing incredulously, Lotor gave a soft shake of his head, locks of his hair brushing against his back. "What did I do? I'm simply trying to connect with the rest of your teammates like you told me to. Trying to understand how the Galra empire hurt them all. How am I supposed to understand her when she seemingly has more hatred for me than Keith did?"
A flicker of surprise danced in Lance's eyes at Lotor's remark about Keith, but that was another topic for him to pry about later. "Did you say anything to her? That would set her off like that? She doesn't just get that mad for no reason."
Not quite understanding where Lance was going with this. "Besides making a joke about her discovering my plans to kidnap you again, I don't see how anything could upset her—"
Cutting him off with a weary groan, Lance pinched at the bridge of his nose before hooking his thumb over his shoulder. "Go apologize to her. Pidge is the closest thing on the ship I have to a little sister, so how do you think she's going to take it when you make a joke about kidnapping me after I just spent a bunch of time on a ship as a hostage and she's had her own family get kidnapped by the Galra. How did you think she was going to take that joke?" Shaking his head again, Lance let his hand drop to his side before he had a dismissive gesture in Lotor's direction. "I get that you're trying to connect with everyone on the ship, but Pidge has been through a lot. We all have. And because of that, we're going to take what you do in different ways; take what you say in different ways. So right now, the best thing you can do is go talk to Pidge, apologize, and listen to whatever she has to say if she decides to talk to you after."
There was a grim line that tugged at the edges of Lotor's lips. "We need to talk."
"Whatever you need to say to me can wait until after you deliver your apology to Pidge."
Sighing, Lotor crossed his arms in front of his chest as if apologizing to Pidge was a highly dangerous quest above Lotor's class level that Lance had just sent him on. It caused Lance to break out in a lopsided grin as he realized that Lotor truly was trying. "I'll be in the kitchen later if you need to come and find me."
Giving him a small nod, Lotor watched as Lance left and the doors to the observation deck slid shut. There was a growl of frustration that rumbled lowly in his throat over this whole complex affair. He wondered if he'd been brought up differently, raised with a loving family similar to Lance's own if this whole torrid affair wouldn't seem like an insurmountable obstacle to him. He supposed it wouldn't do well to dwell on the "what if's" of his own life, but decided that it was better to let the wound bleed rather than fester.
Making his way out of the observation deck, he made his way down the hall that he'd seen Pidge walk down and traced his steps until he found himself standing in front of her room door. Raising a fist, he knocked once, twice, before Pidge's voice came muffled through the door. "Go away, Lotor. I'm not talking to you. Even if Lance sent you to apologize."
"I'm here on my own cognizance," Lotor explained. "Though Lance did also tell me that it would be in both of our best interests that I come to you and apologize."
Silence fell between them as Lotor lingered outside her door. Minutes seemed to pass as Lotor stood there, presuming that Pidge had nothing to say to him nor any desire to speak to him, he turned with the knowledge that forging a bridge between him and the youngest of the Paladins was nothing more than a wild dream that he'd tried to bring into reality. As he took a step away from her door, he heard the door hiss apart and turned his head to see Pidge standing in the doorway of her room. Her face was pinched, her mouth set into a firm line, and her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"I'm listening." She grumbled.
Turning on his feet to face her, he relaxed his posture slightly to at least indicate that he wasn't a threat to her. Something that Pidge's sharp nature observed as he did so. "I'm sorry."
Her face remained unreadable, even as she remained in her doorway, leaving him bristling as he waited for her to either accept his apology or deny it. She hummed contemplatively, as she idly lifted a hand to tap the tip of an index finger against her chin. "I'll accept it...on the condition that you teach me everything you know about Galra tech."
Raising his brow in surprise, Lotor could do little more than to articulate the single word that flashed across his mind. "What?"
"You." Pidge pulled her index finger away from her chin and pointed it at Lotor's chest. "Teach me." She pointed her finger at herself. "About Galra tech and I'll accept your apology."
There was a huff of surprise from Lotor. "Are you trying to bribe me?"
Shrugging her shoulders, her face melted into a smirk. "I don't know. You tell me?"
He scoffed. "I'm actually impressed that you thought to bribe me."
"I get what you and Lance are trying to do. I get it. But it's going to take me a lot longer than the rest of my team to at least begin liking you. Face it, my track record with the Galra Empire is already in the negatives after having my dad, brother and then Lance kidnapped from me by your empire. So sorry if I don't warm up to you unlike the rest of my team. Instead—" She pointed at his chest once more. "—You actually work for it."
That pulled a laugh from Lotor, a genuine laugh that was more of a surprise for Pidge than it was for him. "Fine. I'll take you up on your bribe then."
"Shake on it then." Sticking out one of her hands, she waited for him to grasp it, wiggling her fingers impatiently at him. Reaching out Lotor grasped her smaller hand in his, nearly crushing her hand under his larger one.
"I suppose this is a deal?" Her brows were raised, her gaze flickering up toward his face.
"It's a deal."
Her eyes seemed to narrow further as she studied him. "By the way, Lotor. You better not hurt Lance. Ever. Again."
There was an intensity behind Pidge's words that had Lotor surprised. She sounded far more wise beyond her years than she should be and held an energy of ruthlessness to her that had his thoughts turning toward Axca.
"Good." Pidge hummed as she pulled her hand out from Lotor's grasp. "Because if you so much as hurt Lance in any way. I will personally invent a subatomic disintegrator so I have the pleasure of watching every single bit of your atoms dispersing into nothingness."
Unfazed by the threat, he simply cocked a brow at her and retorted. "No threats for me in regards to the other Paladins? Coran, even?"
Pidge merely smirked at him. "They don't need it." With that she turned on her feet and headed inside of her room before the door to her room hissed shut, she remarked behind her back. "Don't forget our deal."
Letting out a small chuckle of approval, Lotor doubted that he hardly would. That or he was certain that he would find himself awakening to some form of a message from Pidge that reminded him of their shared deal. Chuckling as he walked away from her door, Lotor made a mental note to inform Lance of their rather intriguing conversation and the threat looming over his head courtesy of the youngest Paladin.
It seemed he'd been underestimating them all.
The Paladins proved to be far more interesting than he'd ever realized.
