He wakes from the Cryo-pod with the taste of his last lover on his lips. Prince Lotor could not remember his name, only a single color: Blue, like water, and like the sky.

He stumbled into the arms of an unfamiliar stranger, their skin not a familiar shade of purple, but a warm brown. The smoothness of their skin confused him; the only people who knew of with skin that color and texture were the Alteans, but his father had declared war on them years ago; there was no way that one of them would retrieve him from his cryo-pod, unless they meant to kill him. Prince Lotor steadied himself, and looked up into the stranger's face.

"Um, hi. Hello." The stranger said. Lotor studied his face until he was sure that he lacked the pointed ears and facial markings that all Alteans shared. Good. Then he wasn't here to assassinate him. It was then that it occurred to him that his was the first voice that he'd heard in- wait. How long had he been in cryo-sleep? "The name's Lance. I rescued you, and now we need to go."

Prince Lotor barely hears him. He pulls away from Lance's arms and turns back to the Cryo-pod. The display is cracked, barely readable except for a single row of numbers: 10,000. He backs away from the pod, as if he can escape the numbers. He trips over the boy that saved him, falls right back into his arms, but he doesn't care.

Everything that he has known is gone. Everyone he has ever loved is dead. And he's been asleep all the while.

OoOoOoO

Lance cracks jokes on the way back to the castle, not because he think's that Prince Lotor will appreciate them, but because he has no idea what else to say.

"Y'know, there was a-" Lance begins to tell another half-hearted joke.

Prince Lotor cuts him off. "I appreciate what you're doing, Lance. But I've just learned that I've been asleep for the past ten thousand years, while my father enslaved the majority of the universe. I'm not exactly in the mood for humor."

Lance nods. He gets how Lotor feels; although his homesickness will never be as devastating as Allura's or Lotor's, he knows it well.

"That's cool." Lance wonders how much he remembers of the time before the war. Allura had barely told them anything, and while he never pushed it, he was curious. "What do you remember, before the pod?"

He nears the castle, and the gates open for Blue. Prince Lotor's eyes go wide at the sight. "I remember my father promising to burn Altea, and...someone important, leaving me."

He wonders who the 'someone' was, but Lance knows by his tone that it's best to leave it. He still has to meet the others, who'll have way more questions for him; there's no need for him to be questioned twice. And wait- burn Altea? How the hell do you burn a planet? He must've said it aloud, because Lotor quickly answers.

"You've seen what my mo-" He cuts himself off. "What Haggar can do with enough quintessance available. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either."

Lance nods, and pretends as if he understands. He lands Blue gently in the hangar and they leave Blue in an uneasy silence. Lotor walks through the castle with purpose, as if he knows it well. He probably does, Lance amends. Allura had said that Prince Lotor had been her friend before the war. She had also said other things, things that Lance hadn't exactly listened to but now he kinda wished that he had. Maybe something that she had said explained why he looked more human than Galra.

The only similarities that Lotor have with his father are his skin, his ears and his glowing eyes. Long white hair, pleasantly humanish features; these aren't traits that Lance has seen on any other species except for Alteans and Earthlings. He wonders if his mother was Altean.

As Prince Lotor and Allura meet again, both of their faces light up with a weary kind of joy, Lance can't help but wonder if Lotor will like him. Even though he's a stranger, there's something about him that makes Lance want to be liked by him.

OoOoOoO

Prince Lotor stares wide eyed, as Allura shows picture after picture of the various planets that his father has destroyed. His hands shake, but he says nothing until the last picture is replaced by black.

"He never said-" He begins, his voice unsteady. He takes a deep breath, straightens up. A Prince should not show weakness, he thinks as he begins again. "My impression was that we were to prevent war, not cause it."

"We thought the same." Allura replies, her face grim. "That's why we weren't prepared." She places a hand on his shoulder, and Prince Lotor can't help but think of those times before the war, when they snuck out of general meetings together, or hid in the corners of ceremonial events, out of the gaze of their overbearing, but well-meaning parents. They had been close back then; though they had been raised as betrothed, they had been as close as brother and sister. At least, they had been until the months leading up to the war.

"I suppose there is an upside." Prince Lotor says, a wry smile overtaking his blank expression. "We won't have to get married after all."

Although Allura's laughter is more than worth it, the confused and surprised expressions of the Paladins make the joke so much sweeter. One paladin in particular, the blue one, catches his eye. The way he laughs, it's familiar, in the same way that the halls of the castle were; enough to ghost his way around, but not enough for him to ever recognise where he was.

The moment was over as soon as it came, and Allura returned to the task of teaching him what atrocities his father had done.

OoOoOoO

"For the 'Defenders of the Universe', you are quite bad at defending." Prince Lotor says, humor leaking into his tone. He lowers his sword, and pretends to lean on it as Keith catches his breath.

Lance laughs. "Guess someone can beat Mullet hand-to-hand." Both he and Hunk are not melee fighters, but they both have to admit that watching Keith and Shiro take on Lotor is interesting. Keith glares at Lance, and straightens up, sliding into another defensive stance.

"I can win, I just-" Each word is punctuated with a deep, heaving breath. Lance wonders if Prince Lotor will accept his challenge, and beat Keith again. For someone trained in swordfighting, defeating Keith, a novice, is as simple as breathing; if he were to fight him, only to 'lose', they would all know it, and it would only embarrass Keith more. But on the other hand, it would prove to his audience that the trouble they took to find him was worth it.

Lance has to admit, it surprises him when Prince Lotor shakes his head.

"You can try again tomorrow." He says dismissively.

Keith gapes at his blatant dismissal, and all of the fight leaves him in a single, deep exhale. "What?"

"You can try again tomorrow." Lotor repeats, sheathing his sword and returning it to the rack near the door. He leaves without a second glance as they stare after him, a faint smile gracing his mouth.

OoOoOoOoO

"Tell me of Earth." Lotor says, not quite able to remove the order from his tone. Thoughts of his home are still on his mind, and he sees them in a blue hue. Blue, blue, blue. That color keeps coming back to him. He wonders if that's why he's drawn to Lance; he personifies the color so well.

Lance looks up from his food. Grey noodles slither off of his fork and back onto his plate as he slurps those hanging out of his mouth. "You want to know about home?" He clears his throat. "My home, I mean."

Lotor nods. "I'll probably never see mine again. I'd like to hear about yours."

Lance drops his fork onto his plate. Sauce splatters onto his shirt, and he dabs it absently with a napkin. "Earth is...it's…" He looks up from his shirt and meets Lotor's gaze. "I have a big family there. Four sisters, two brothers. Michel and Marina are gonna go into the Garrison soon, and Sean's getting married soon. Or I guess he already has."

"What's it look like?"

"It's mostly green. Most of the plants there are green. Where I live, there's this forest- it's got a lot of these really tall plants called trees, right outside my house. I used to walk out there to do homework, and I'd get lost every time." Lance smiles as he talks, and although Lotor has no idea what 'homework' is, he enjoys watching him look so animated. "What about you? What do you miss about home?"

Lotor isn't exactly sure what to say. He misses the Ranshin flowers that used to bloom every fourth quadrant, and his room in the castle. He misses his view of the capital from his window, especially at night when it's all lit up. But mostly he misses his lover, whoever he was. Prince Lotor still can't figure out who he was, but he thinks that he could've been the previous Blue paladin. He notices that Lance is still looking at him expectantly, and realizes that he still hadn't answered him. "I miss the flowers." He manages, pushing his plate away from him. "Thank you." He says, meeting Lance's gaze. His eyes are a brilliant blue, similar to the color of a quwati swimmer's scales. Lotor imagines that he could get lost in them, if he allowed himself.

"For what?"

"For sharing a bit of your home with me." Lotor stands, returns the plate to its cabinet where it will be cleaned and stored. "I can't imagine that it's easy living with someone with the same face as your enemy."

Lance shrugs. "Meh. Keith's half-Galra too. I've learned not to judge by appearances."

"Still, I appreciate it." He brushes his hair away from his face. "You. I appreciate you, I mean."

Lance looks so surprised, it's almost comical. "Um...thanks."

They return to their comfortable silence.

OoOoOoOoO

Lance isn't sure what it is about him that makes Lance wants to hang out with him. By all means, he should be avoiding him cordially, just like Keith and Pidge are. It's just, there's something about him that makes him alluring, like a moth drawn to a flame. Although he can't deny that Lotor is definitely his type, he knows it's not just his looks. Hell, if looks were the only criteria, he would've asked Keith out a while ago. He'd like to say that it's his personality, but to be honest, Lotor's an enigma.

He's nothing like a Galra should be. Kind enough to not humiliate Keith in front of his friends, sensitive enough to still feel homesick, compassionate enough to care about the planets that his father has destroyed, and humble enough to feel shame for it. And yet, he corrects them every time someone drops his title of 'Prince', and isn't afraid to show where he excels. He's a strange mix of an entitled rich boy, and a hurt teen. He's hard to define, Lance thinks as he passes into the kitchen.

It's become their 'thing' to wander into the kitchen at the same time every night, long after the others have fallen asleep. While Lance had at first come for the solitude, he found that he enjoyed Lotor's company just as much. He didn't put as much of a strain on him as Keith did, and while hanging out with Pidge or Hunk was fine, even they got tired of him eventually.

"Hey." Lance yawns as he slides into his seat. Lotor is already sitting beside him, two steaming mugs set before them.

Prince Lotor takes a sip of his drink, and brushes away his hair as it falls into cup. "You should be sleeping."

Lance tries a sip of the drink. It's bitter and strong, like really bad beer. He swallows it without making a face, and is incredibly proud of doing so."Probably."

"You'll regret this tomorrow."

"Yup."

Prince Lotor sighs. "And I'll regret letting you stay up when you start complaining tomorrow morning."

Lance laughs and leans back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table. "You'll live."

Prince Lotor slipped his hand into Lance's as his took another sip. "You don't like the drink, do you?"

Maybe it's like beer; you have to have more than one sip to get used to it. Lance tries another sip. Nope. Definitely doesn't taste any better. "It's great."

"Really?" Lotor rubs his thumb over the back of Lance's hand. His fur is so soft, for a moment Lance forgets his answer.

"No." Lance says with a laugh. "It's terrible, but I'm still gonna drink it."

For a moment, Lance thinks that he knows what it is that makes Lotor's company so appealing; he makes him feel wanted, as if he could sit there and listen to him talk all night, without complaint. And that is exactly what he does.

Author's note: This isn't my best. I can tell that much, even if I can't point out exactly what I need to fix. I wanted to keep up my trend of a chapter a day, so I decided to post this anyway. I'm running out of ideas for chapters, so if you've got any suggestions, I'd love to write them. Thanks for the comments, follows and favorites.