the biggest 'ok hear me out' yet (what if Shiro ran a daycare?)

The Token Sentimental Chapter, Part Two

The following week, everything went as planned. It wasn't until Colleen Holt showed up in the morning to drop Pidge off that everything changed again.

"Hey, Mrs. Holt!" I greeted as Pidge ran inside. Colleen seemed a bit troubled. "Hi, Takashi." She said with a plastered smile. "Is... everything okay?" I asked slowly. She sighed, "Well... Sam told you he was on a business trip, I presume." I nodded.

"Well... he wasn't. He... he was stalking people. For fun." She said. I blinked, but before I could say anything else, she stopped me. "That sounds bad. What I mean is, he was practicing his spying skills. He's got a job interview coming up... involving spy work... he had to practice, and he thought it was more important than our anniversary." Her voice grew sour.

I was confused. What did that even mean?? Pidge's family was weirder than I thought...

"Oh... I'm-- I'm sorry... Mrs. Holt." I offered weakly. She shook her head. "No, don't apologize. It's not your fault Samuel's priorities are out of wack. We're figuring it out, but I hated the idea that he lied to you about it, so I wanted to clear the air." She said. I just nodded. "O...kay, thanks, Mrs. Holt." I mumbled. She left after that.

Just then, Allura and Pidge came running in, hand in hand. "We're best friends!" Allura shouted. Both of them were grinning. "We just decided!" Pidge yelled. I laughed. "Good... good for you." I said, still kind of stunned from Pidge's mom.

They kept running around the house, telling everyone. Keith rolled his eyes. Lance gave them high fives. Coran congratulated them. Lotor okayed it. Hunk gave them a hug. It was adorable.

It was adorable?

I found a child adorable?

I didn't like kids.

...Maybe I did.

I glanced around the room. Hunk and Coran were using Pidge's Xbox. Lance was cheering them on. Keith seemed to have brought a tablet of sorts and was playing on it. Pidge and Allura were creating a handshake. And Lotor... Lotor was sitting in the dining room by himself. I felt worried, especially with knowing that he didn't usually even eat breakfast in the mornings.

I made my way over to where Lotor was sitting and took a seat next to him, silently sitting there for a few minutes just so he could get used to my presence. He seemed really sad, which sounded like a pretty basic observation, but it was true. His eyes were downcast, his hair covering his face. He was frowning. He seemed to have zoned out. I sighed.

"Lotor, are you okay..?" I asked softly. He glanced up, eyes a little watery. "Do you have a Band-Aid?" He asked softly. I nodded, "Yeah, what's wrong?" I questioned. He rolled up his sleeve.

There was a cut on his shoulder. It wasn't super fresh, but it was obviously recent. My lips thinned. "Lotor, what happened?" My voice was low. Lotor shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

I thought for a moment. I couldn't force the kid to talk, but I had a feeling he needed to. I grabbed a Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet and helped him put it on. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I reassured, "But if something's on your mind, you can tell me. I'll listen."

Lotor sighed. "I tripped yesterday and hit the edge of our table with my shoulder. I tried to tell my parents, but they forget I exist sometimes. They weren't listening." He mumbled. I immediately pulled him into a hug.

"That's not right." I murmured, "They need to notice when you're hurt." Lotor seemed to shrug. "It happens a lot. I guess I'm kind of used to it." He said. I pulled away from the hug, but he stayed close to me. "Well... I'm here." I said.