"I don't know. I mean, If this dude is on our side like he says he is- you are saying you're on our side, right? Then couldn't he lead the Galra to peace from the inside?"

"We are turning him in and getting my dad back! We have Voltron to bring peace to the universe!"

"Don't play Into Zarkon's hands!"

Hunk looked down at the plate of cookies Lance had refused to finish. He tried to leave them in his room, but he followed him out and handed them over before shutting himself back in. There was nothing else he could do right now. Lance just wanted to be alone and he had to respect that, as much as he hated leaving his friend in tears. Hunk turned on his heels and started down the hall. He'd just go the bridge and offer them to whoever happened to be there. Allura and Shiro were unlikely to turn it down. The door opened with a whoosh, "Hey, who wan-" oh no. Lotor glanced at him over his shoulder. He was standing in front of the computer, a mess of tabs filled with writing and pictures spanned the screen. He folded his arms over his chest as he turned to face him, "can I help you?" Hunk swallowed, then approached him. He held out the plate, "want a cookie?" Lotor raised his eyebrows. He hesitated before reaching a hand out and taking one of the golden brown desserts from the pile. He took a bite, chewing only twice before staring back down at the cookie in awe. He devoured the rest and snatched another before Hunk could even blink. He looked at him, crumbs all over his face, "How did you get these?"

"I made them." He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. Lotor shot him and excited smile. It was strange to see him like this, considering how serious he usually was. His sharp teeth were also a tad unsettling, "really? They're incredible." He absentmindedly reached for another one, "I've never had anything like it."

Hunk couldn't contain another nervous laugh, "Thanks, man. Food is kind of my thing."

"Your thing?"

"I guess."

"Well then," he stroked his chin, glancing upward as if forming a plot of some kind, "you'll have to teach me."

"I-I mean you have an empire to run, right? That takes... a lot of time... I'd assume." He gestured past Lotor to the computer. His face fell as he turned to look at the jumbles of information scrawled across the screen. Hunk quickly backtracked, "but if you can find the time I'd love to, dude." He stiffened a little when Lotor held out a hand towards him. He tentatively shook it, "it's a deal, then." The Galran's long nails, or maybe they were claws, scratched lightly against the back of his hand. He tried to pull his hand away, but Lotor tightened his grip, "I'd just like to say one thing to you, Paladin."

His throat felt dry, "... I'm listening"

"You seem to understand the stakes of your team's decisions. I can respect that."

"Well, I-I mean this is war. When Zarkon was trying to ransom off Sam in exchange for you... it's just that you're by far the most influential ally we could have. Like ever. It would be insane to send you to your death for any one person without some serious thought. And I knew you were right about us being played. I get this gut feeling when people aren't being honest and that whole situation was just a glaringly obvious trap. I thought it might've been an instinctive reaction because Zarkon just has that, I dunno, atmosphere, but-"

"All I'm saying is that I respect that you aren't blind enough to judge me based on a preconceived criteria of what you think automatically makes someone your enemy."

"I'm not saying I trust you completely, Lotor. Because I don't."

"And you have every right not to. But I appreciate that you don't discredit everything I say because of that. Some of your teammates are infuriating to work with."

"I know they are, but you can't blame them. They've been through a lot."

"That's fair." They stood in an iron grip handshake for an awkwardly long moment. Hunk could hear his heartbeat in his ears and feel it in his throat. He hoped he didn't look as scared of Lotor as he felt. He finally dropped his hand, taking the plate of cookies from him and turning back to his work, "thank you for these. I will surely take you up on your offer of lessons at some point."

"Um. Sure thing. I'll see you... sometime. For that." He backed towards the door as fast as he could without tripping over his own feet. It opened quietly. Lotor turned to shoot him one last smouldering look. Did he do that on purpose or was it just his face?

"Try and talk some sense into your friends. They are some of the least efficient people I've ever seen in terms of decision making."

"Like you said, we know that there are stakes in our decisions. They like to stop and think about it."

"And what, forget to start again?" Was that a joke? He forced a quiet laugh and Lotor shook his head, continuing, "There's no point in making a decision that saves lives if the time it took you to make it cost just as many as your first instinct."

"That's where you and I disagree. When there's no way to tell the outcome of a decision you have to take the cautious route." He turned back again and left the bridge. Lotor was certainly interesting to talk to, if not perhaps the most intimidating possible ally he had ever faced. Probably because he was the only one who had actually tried to kill them before. He stopped to think. Had he ever taken action against them for the sole purpose of killing them? He racked his brain. His Generals had, but he said that he had no control over that situation. Lotor was hard to read, Hunk had never gotten the feeling that he was lying. But he had to have lied about something by now, right? Even if it was just a white lie there was no way he hadn't been anything besides completely honest. It scared him. He still didn't know what his deal was.