The door to the lounge in the Castle of Lions swung open and Lotor appeared. He glanced at the people gathered around the round table and walked toward them with determination.
"Princess, I -" he began, but Allura waved her hand impatiently, holding up her index finger as if to say, "Wait a minute!" Lotor paused and went to stand behind the Princess.
A holographic map with various figures glowed on the round table.
"Think faster, Lance," Pidge said. "Your move".
"But I can't, because Allura's magic arrow has wounded me by grazing my tail, and now I'm dangling head-down ten feet above the ground!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Allura laughed.
"All right, I'll set you free," Pidge said. "Hunk, can you cure his tail?"
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Lance asked.
"I'll cut off a piece of your tail. My axe is sharpened, you won't even notice…"
"No, Pidge! Don't you dare -"
"Too late, I've already done it! Hunk!" Pidge turned to the Yellow Paladin.
"The power of light, I summon you..." muttered Hunk, folding his hands together and closing his eyes.
"What is it?" Lotor asked, looking at the strange behavior of Voltron's paladins. He leaned toward Allura, waiting for an answer.
"This is a game that Coran taught us. You choose your character, story and mission, and then all the fun begins", she answered.
"I don't understand, you're just sitting at the table", Lotor's brows frowned.
"Yes, but what we are saying is actually happening to the characters on this map", Allura explained.
"So, the lanky Earthman with bad manners really lost his tail?" Lothor glanced sideways at lance. "Why does he have a tail at all?"
"I'll show you who has bad manners," Lance said angrily.
"Oh no, it's started again," sighed Pidge, who was tired of listening to Lance's jealous whining.
"Let's get back to the game, guys," Shiro said. "Lotor, join us."
Coran handed the cards to the Prince, and Lotor squeezed in between Allura and Lance, easily pushing the paladin aside.
"Who can I be?" the Prince asked, scanning the endless list of characters.
"Anyone you want!" Hunk began to explain with enthusiasm. "You can choose -"
"Hmm, I'll be a Prince, I suppose…" said firmly Lotor and returned the remaining cards to the Coran.
"What? But you are already the Prince! What's the point?" Lance exclaimed.
"I like being the Prince. And soon I will be Emperor. Is there a card of the Emperor?" Lotor asked, reaching for Coran to took the cards of characters again.
"No!" Allura's adviser snapped. "We have enough of the eternal paladin Shiro here," he said, glaring at the leader of Voltron.
"But I like being a paladin," Shiro said innocently.
"But this is a game, Shiro! Just a game!" Lance exclaimed.
"Are the rules against choosing a paladin card?" Shiro looked at Coran.
"No".
"Great, I'm a paladin. And why are you picking on me?" Shiro turned to Lance. "I'm already in the game."
"That's right," the Red paladin agreed, and turned to Lotor. "So, you lanky, half-galrian with a pretentious manner, can you choose someone more interesting than the Prince?"
"But I am the Prince! Why should I be anything else?" Lotor was confused.
"Because it's a game!"
"I think it's stupid," Lotor said, positioning the Prince's figure on the holographic map.
"I tell them the same thing," Shiro put in.
"Can we just go on the game?" Pidge asked.
The company returned to the game. Lotor quickly got involved in it. Lance was always trying to get him into trouble, so Hunk threatened to stop healing his tail. Pidge couldn't stop laughing at poor McClain, who was losing the Prince over and over again. Allura tried to reconcile the two men, but she couldn't. In the end, when the game was over and the villain was destroyed, Lance left the lounge, just to avoid seeing the glow in Allura's blue eyes when she looked at Lotor.
The Princess did not even notice that the other members of the team had also gone, and she was left alone in the room with Lotor.
"Where are the others?" she asked in surprise, looking at the empty room.
"Gone somewhere," the Prince shrugged his shoulders.
An awkward silence fell over the room. Allura's cheeks flushed slightly. She had been embarrassed to be alone with Lotor, and they had worked side by side.
"All right, I'll go too," Allura said, standing up. "See you later."
Lotor nodded and watched her go. Then he turned to the game table and switched it on. In the Coran's cards he found figures of the King and Queen (there were no Emperors, unfortunately) and placed them near a castle, thinking about Allura and himself. Pleased with his creation, Lotor walked out of the room.