My Prince

Cuddles

Lotor sighed and pulled his hair into a messy bun and rubbed his face. He was exhausted but he couldn't sleep without Lance. Lance would've kissed his cheek and helped put his hair into a better bun before dragging him to bed, laughing as he demanded Lotor to get some much needed rest. The ache of not having Lance by his side was almost crippling.

Lotor looked at Lance in the healing pod and heard two pairs of footsteps entering the room.

"Hey man." Hunk offered a small smile. "He's going to be fine. It just takes longer with a wound like that."

Lotor nodded because he knew that and yet it still hurt. Lance had gotten hurt in the first place because of him.

"I know that look. You feel guilty." Hunk pointed out. "Lance is strong and he clearly loves you. I've never seen him so happy. And once he comes out of that pod, it will be like it never happened."

Lotor let out another sigh and nodded, knowing Hunk was right. Lance wouldn't blame him so why is he blaming himself?

"Back at the academy on earth, he would get in trouble when Pidge was about to snap at Iverson. Sometimes, we snuck into the kitchen and staff rooms to grab snacks the officers tried to hide. We snuck back to our rooms to watch movies Pidge downloaded." Hunk smiled as he remembered the memories.

Hunk's smile fell. "I noticed when everyone started to ignore him and so did I. I did nothing to change that. He stopped trying to make us happy, he stopped making his jokes and flirty comments. He became someone that we would want, but even then... we didn't want him."

Lotor watched him for a moment, considering his words carefully. "We all make mistakes. All of you are under a lot of pressure. Lance and I both agreed that if none of that had happened, we wouldn't have met the way we did." Lotor's voice softened at the end.

Hunk nodded. "He's happy with you and I want nothing more for him to be happy."

"Tell me more about his time on Earth." Lotor wanted to know more. Lance told him a lot of stories but he wanted to hear a different perspective.

Hunk took a seat in front of Lotor and began talking. "There was this one time when we were younger. These kids were bullying Lance's younger sibling Marco and we both beat the hell out of that kid. We headed to Lance's house after that and he took complete blame. His mother always knew he was trying to protect his siblings but scolded him anyway. He was grounded for a week." Hunk laughed to himself. "Another time, we were late to school because Lance was getting the twins ready for kindergarten. His mother had to leave for work early and when we got to school, our teachers asked why we were late. He told her "I had to do my hair and make-up." It was hilarious because our teacher was a woman and she probably took a while doing her own hair and make-up."

Lotor chuckled. That sounded like something Lance would do. "He told me about you two dressing up as girls?" Lotor raised a questioning eyebrow and Hunk laughed. "Yeah, we did. It was the funniest thing ever! He did our make up and we dressed in some of his mother's clothes. His older sister had wigs and we really did look like girls. She liked to cosplay so there were some nice ones. We fooled the entire school and during lunch we said, "Man, what a long day," and took off our wigs. Everyone laughed and we got in trouble, Lance taking most of the blame." Hunk smiled fondly.

Lotor noticed Lance looked uncomfortable in the healing pod.

"There were times when he took the blame and ended up getting in trouble with his father. He would beat him bloody. He told me the reason he did it. To protect his mother and siblings. He would tell them to go into the room and lock themselves in. At least they would be okay, even if he wasn't." Hunk smiled sadly. He always had respect and awe for his best friend.

"Lance told me about his father, but he always managed to turn a sad situation into something positive. Not just for himself but also his family. Lance's kindness and strength is why I love him. I've never known anyone like Lance and like myself and my generals, he has found a way to worm into our cold and broken hearts. There are times when I can hardly believe he is real and with me of all people. The way he looks at me is sometimes... I can't possibly imagine my life without him." Lotor never opened up to anyone but Lance but he needed to get these words off his chest. Hunk tried to hide his surprise from seeing Lotor's vulnerable side. All of his doubts about Lotor vanished.

"You should try to get some rest," Hunk stood and gave Lotor a genuine smile.

"I can't sleep without him." Lotor told him, shaking his head.

"Thank you Lotor, for being there and giving him happiness and comfort. We don't deserve him." Hunk left the room, leaving Lotor alone with his thoughts. At least he wasn't blaming himself anymore.

Lance shifted uncomfortably in the pod and Lotor knew that whatever was going through his head was not something happy. He wished he could squeeze in the pod with him and comfort him.

—-

Lance groaned and fell out of the pod, only to be caught by strong arms. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Lotor, a smile immediately coming to his face. Lotor looked relieved and leaned down to kiss his lips. "What was that for? Not that I'm complaining." Lance noticed how disheveled Lotor looked and pursed his lips.

"You didn't get ANY rest did you? And I'm guessing you sat in front of the pod with a messy bun because you don't know how to do it without causing a tangly mess. You had your face in your hands because you were blaming yourself." Lance narrowed his eyes on him knowingly.

"You know me best." Lotor said with a smile and Lance growled.

"Don't give me that look!" Lance stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. He didn't realize the others were filing in the room. "You mister, are in big trouble." Lance pointed at him and Lotor's eyes widened when he realized why he was in trouble. His smile fell and he genuinely looked worried.

"Why does he look scared?" Keith asked from the doorway.

"Because Lotor got his hair tangled and was blaming himself for Lance's injuries." A familiar voice tuned it and Lance let out an excited laugh, turning to see Ezor standing there with a big smile.

"Ezor!" Lance cried happily and ran to give her a big hug. "How is my favorite pink girl and her girlfriend?" Lance teased and Axca's cheeks turned a dark purple.

"We are doing fine!" Ezor chirped as she walked to Acxa and kissed her cheek.

Lance's jaw fell open. "How much did I miss? Was I out that long?!"

"We didn't have you and no cuddles! So, we kind of cuddled on our own and it just happened!" Ezor pretended to pout and Lance rolled his eyes, pulling both of them for a hug.

"We can have ALL the cuddles, come here ladies," Lance gestured to the other women he had come to see as family.

"Yes!" Zethrid whooped in excitement and pulled them all into her big arms, forming a large cuddle pile right in the middle of the infirmary on the floor.

"Lotor get your ass in here! Don't think I forgot about your punishment for a second!" Lance yelled from the middle of the pile. The girls immediately made room for Lotor who squeezed in with a fond smile.

"What the hell just happened?" Pidge asked the question everyone had been thinking. Everyone shrugged their shoulders. It was strange to see a group of very formidable people having a cuddle pile. They may or may not have felt envious as the group swiftly got comfortable and warm, falling asleep to catch up on much needed rest.