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Chapter Text

The purple flame shot along its path to the great torch above the Steps of Destiny and lit Lotor’s face with its steady glow. Swallowing down anything the moment might have meant aside from immense responsibility, Lotor schooled his expression into something neutral as he turned to face those who had challenged him and failed.

“The torch is lit! Bow to your Emperor!”

Raising his hands, the Archivist addressed the crowd of full-blooded Galra below them. Out of respect, but begrudgingly, all complied, save for one: Sendak.

Lotor’s pulse stuttered for a moment. He hadn’t seen him in the fray of the Kral Zera, which didn’t make sense. Imposing, almost above average size and strength even for a full-blooded Galra, he would have made it a point to challenge someone as small as Lotor. 

The Archivist’s matter-of-fact voice cut through his thoughts. “You’re late, and thus forfeit your right to challenge the legitimacy of Emperor Lotor’s claim.”

Sendak almost looked cocksure: posture tall but relaxed, head tilted, a sardonic smile making his features crueler. He flexed the claw of his monstrous prosthetic arm idly, his bionic eye focusing on Lotor so closely he could feel its lens burn the skin under his armor.

“I have no intention of challenging our Emperor’s legitimacy. I do, however, invoke the Right of Usurper. Should I have faced him in the Kral Zera, I would have crushed him.”

Lotor held Sendak’s gaze, but he could feel the palpable question turn to the Archivist, who made a sound of assent in the back of his throat. 

“The Right of Usurper… That hasn’t been invoked in millenia, but it does hold.” 

He turned to Lotor slowly, with a stiffness betraying his age, and peered at him. “Are you familiar with it?”

Lotor had heard the phrase, but made no answer. The Archivist continued.

“You shall remain Emperor, although, should Commander Sendak defeat you in a duel now, his heirs will automatically hold claim to the throne and will usurp you.”

Simple enough. A more straightforward approach to what Galra commanders and underlings vied for every quintant. He’d dealt with worse his whole life. How formidable could Sendak or his heirs be as mental opponents? He doubted he had much to fear beyond Sendak’s skills in battle, though should he lose he would doubtlessly find out. He had no choice but to answer the challenge, lest he appear weak to the Empire before ever taking the throne.

He gave the Archivist a curt nod and readied his sword. 

With a hungry grin, Sendak launched himself up the steps and swung his clawed arm, only for it to collide metal-on-metal with Lotor’s sword in a spray of sparks. Lotor held his own against Sendak’s blow,until he felt his guard give way under Sendak’s sheer strength. He disengaged, leaping backwards before darting forward at the chance to swing at Sendak’s head, where he drew a bead of blood from his cheek. 

Sendak laughed and his tongue darted out to catch it as it rolled down his face, punching Lotor in the side with his flesh arm fiercely enough to wind him.

They parted to assess one another for a moment.

“Don’t look so eager,” Lotor said, catching his breath. “Some might think you were late on purpose.”

“I’ve been wanting this for deca-phoebs.”

Lotor’s huffed. “What? To fight little old me?”

“To break you,” Sendak growled, charging forward, raising his clawed arm above his head like a club. 

Lotor easily sidestepped him. He spun around to catch Sendak across the back, but the claw came back around, wide, and knocked Lotor off his feet. He hit the stone landing once, twice, and then rolled before catching himself.

Pushing himself up on all fours, he spit blood against the ancient stone.

Sendak’s prosthetic came down like a hammer in the middle of Lotor’s back and he arched under the crushing blow, vision whiting out as pain ate away like fire at the edges of his consciousness.

Fight it , he warned himself, You’ve had worse.

He blindly pushed himself back up off the ground again, aware of how close Sendak was as he stood over him.

“I’d rather not fight you like this. But if you don’t don’t get up, I won’t stop until the Archivist tells me to.”

He couldn’t kill Lotor. That wasn’t the right of a Usurper, but could he beat him, hurt him, humble him with broken bones and blood until he was less than the vision of an Emperor? Lotor didn’t care to find out.

Fingers finding the hilt of his sword, he gathered his strength and leaped for Sendak’s head again, snarling, feral.

Surprised but unthreatened, Sendak turned aside, laughing. 

“Are you already so used up from the Kral Zera?”

Pupils thin as razors, Lotor charged him anew only to have Sendak take a step aside. He spun to attack again and was surprised when Sendak met his blow, prosthetic claw closing around his blade. If he hadn’t, Lotor felt sure he would have torn Sendak to ribbons with his bare hands, unspooling his innards, tearing out his heart to devour it. He panted, almost hungry, hating and wanting Sendak all at one time. Pressed this close, Lotor could feel the heat of his own breath against Sendak’s face.

“Galran bloodlust,” Sendak mused, “So you do have it.”

He shoved Lotor back with his prosthetic, then chased it with his flesh hand, knuckles colliding with the underside of Lotor’s jaw. Head snapping back, Lotor felt his teeth click together through his tongue. Swallowing blood, Lotor gazed senselessly at the night sky above before a ghostly phrase echoed across his memories to the present:

Palen-Bol .

The Enlightening Pain.

A bloody smile cracked his features as he steadied himself and came back to his senses. Sendak was already swinging his prosthetic claw at him again and smiling. The same smile that was on Lotor’s face.

Lotor caught the claw barehanded around one of the joists at the palm, careful to angle the canon in its center away from himself. The fingers of the thing flexed and twitched desperately, trying to close around his own arm and crush him, but it was such a clumsy, archaic design. It had taken Lotor moments to realize where its weak belly was. He took a dueling stance and raised his sword between them.

“What will you do without a weapon?”

Sendak took two, three, four stalking steps forward, dwarfing Lotor in his shadow. Both their smiles held, frenzied. Lotor tilted his head up proudly to meet him. Sendak’s voice dripped with mockery.

“Well, my Emperor, I suppose I’ll have to take yours”

He planted his foot in the center of Lotor’s chest with such force that Lotor lost hold of Sendak’s prosthetic and was pushed back, stumbling, managing to stay on his feet.

Gritting his teeth, he drew his sword above his head as Sendak charged him head-on, growling, his discarded prosthetic re-magnetizing to the port at his shoulder as he drew closer. Readying himself for the pain to come— the glorious, illuminating pain— Lotor brought his sword down with both hands and a cry as Sendak’s claw clamped around his chest and his flesh hand went to his throat.

They landed hard together on the stone, the back of Lotor’s head glancing off of it. All of the air in his lungs emptied out of him as he felt his sword plunge through the flesh of Sendak’s shoulder and scrape across bone, severing both neural and hard-wired connections of the port.

The claw crushing his chest went limp beneath him, and even as he felt the sword split in half from the explosion of machinery, Lotor gazed up at the Galran Commander on top of him.

“I’ve bested you,” he whispered, mouth bloody, body battered.

Sendak looked from the ruined port in his shoulder to Lotor beneath him, and squeezed his hand around Lotor’s throat until awareness came back into Lotor’s eyes. 

“Are you so sure of that?

Lotor twisted the hilt of his broken sword with a gasp, hoping there was enough of the blade still connected to it to cause Sendak some pain.

Sendak let out a fierce yell as the remainder of the port tore free from his side, leaving a bloody tangle of broken wires and sinew in its wake. It was enough.

Losing his grip on the blood-soaked hilt, Lotor scrambled out from under Sendak’s weight, gasping and coughing. He hoped to get far enough away from the wounded Commander to catch his breath and for them both to reassess if they wanted to continue. Sendak had one arm now, Lotor had no weapon. It was barely an even match, but it was possibly as close as Lotor could get to leveling the playing field.

“I’m not finished with you.” Sendak roared, hand wrapping all the way around Lotor’s ankle and dragging him back towards him.

So, Sendak was determined to turn this into a playground brawl. If it hadn’t been for control of the entire Empire, he might have felt embarrassed. As it was, some childish emotion welled up in him, one he thought had been beaten out of him by his father and others much bigger than him: petulance.

Lotor kicked at his hand with his other foot until Sendak dragged him nearly under him. Then he kicked at his face, his throat, his neck, anywhere he could land a blow. Sendak didn’t really have a plan for what he’d do with Lotor once he got him close enough. He only had one hand, after all. He grunted under the flurry of kicks and let go of Lotor’s leg to plant a solid punch into Lotor’s gut.

Grunting Lotor grabbed both of Sendak’s ears and, wrapping his legs around Sendak’s waist, used Sendak’s own weight to roll them over. Once on top, he wrapped his hands around Sendak’s neck and squeezed.

“Yield,” he said, breath coming out in a shudder. He didn’t want to win this way. When he spoke again it sounded less like a command and more like a plea. “ Yield .”

To his surprise, a low chuckle rumbled in Sendak’s throat.

“Strength in your hips, but not in your hands. Isn’t that the mark of a whore?”

Before he knew how it happened, Sendak was back on top of him, his single hand pinning Lotor’s wrists above his head. The position had him panting with more than just exhaustion. Something about the sheer strength in Sendak’s grip and the sureness with which he gazed down at him, had the fire from their fight twisting into something needier inside of him.

Sendak had settled the bulk of his weight on Lotor’s hips, and though he was using his only hand, he had one more tool at his disposal. Lotor twisted beneath him and turned his head away in vain as Sendak bared his teeth, his breath wet against Lotor’s throat. It would be too easy for him to rip Lotor’s throat out. 

Biting the back of one’s partner’s neck during sex was common practice and proudly instinctive. Biting an enemy’s throat was something wild and forgotten from before they’d left Daibazaal to explore the stars. 

Lotor could feel the smile in Sendak’s voice as he brushed his teeth against his skin, taunting him. “ Yield .”

Swallowing, knowing even if he managed to get out from under Sendak’s bulk, Sendak would continue to attack him. Knowing his own energy was waning, knowing if he didn’t yield the price would be a meaningless, preventable death, Lotor shuddered and let his body grow limp beneath Sendak. He raised his voice loudly enough for those at the base of the Steps of Destiny to hear him. 

“I yield.”

The Archivist raised his hands to those below. “Commander Sendak is granted the title of Usurper. Any brood he brings into the universe will inherit the throne. Until then, Emperor Lotor shall rule.”

Shame wouldn’t allow Lotor to meet Sendak’s ferocious, victorious gaze. He bowed beneath its weight. But when Sendak released his wrists and went to stand, Lotor found his hands straying to Sendak’s thighs, weakly grabbing at his armor.

It was enough to make Sendak pause and when he gazed down at Lotor anew, his eyes were full of the hunger that came after the bloodlust. He had won, and he still wanted more. And Lotor, gods help him, wanted to give more to him. When else would he have the chance with a full-blooded Galran specimen like Sendak?

“I was right,” Sendak almost purred, “You’ve got a whore’s hands.”

In a feat of incredible strength, Sendak flipped Lotor onto his stomach and tore open the back of his armor, shredding the thin flightsuit beneath. Roughly and with little preamble, he shoved himself inside of Lotor’s dripping ylden, wrapping his hand around the back of Lotor’s neck to hold him in place. 

A strangled sound ripped out of Lotor as Sendak pushed deeper inside of him, the rational part of his mind afraid he was simply too small to take all of him. The pain, the glorious pain, of it all. The heat of Sendak’s shaft, hard as steel from victory. 

Lotor clenched around him and pushed back eagerly, needing to be claimed by his victor. He hissed impatiently, trying to rock his hips at a blistering pace, but Sendak held him down, setting his own pace. Bruising, heavy, determined. 

As suspected, Sendak was all muscle, and Lotor was grateful to have his ass as a buffer between them. He regretted taking Sendak’s prosthetic. He wanted Sendak’s flesh hand elsewhere: between his legs to help him with his own dripping shaft, or on his hips, leaving marks.

The battle high didn’t allow either of them to last long. Sendak sank his teeth into Lotor’s shoulder and came hard, his hot seed flooding deep inside of Lotor. The sensation of Sendak filling him up, having successfully used him, was enough to send him over the edge and he felt his ylden spasm wildly around Sendak. He moaned wildly, gasping, bucking his hips as he rode it out, and then Sendak was slipping out of him. He slapped Lotor’s ass and it was only then that Lotor was aware of the laughter and cheers below them. 

Sendak stood, zipped the front of his own flight suit, and descended the Stairs of Destiny to join the entertained crowd below. 

With Sendak’s come cooling against the backs of his thighs, Lotor realized his own shaft was still hard. Gritting his teeth, he gazed up at the Eternal Flame and weakly rubbed himself against the stone beneath him. 

So he was Emperor…for now. So he was still the laughing stock of his species. So Sendak had bested him and if Sendak had children, they would take everything away from him. 

All this he could face.

But being reminded of Shiro’s presence— that he had seen his entire undoing at the hands of Sendak— as the Black Lion silently lifted into the night sky and away like a dark star, leaving Lotor to his new fate, was too much. 

He laid his burning cheek against the stone and waited for the lingering onlookers and his shame to dissipate.

Chapter Text

Two weeks after the Kral Zera, life in the Galra Empire had gone more or less back to normal. Now that there was no longer a power vacuum waiting to be filled, less reports came into Command Central about entire squadrons turning on one another. However, with Sendak gaining the title of Usurper, Lotor felt as if all eyes were on him, resentful and waiting. He wasn’t sure how soon they expected Sendak to bring heirs into the universe and raise them, but even if it felt like all of Command Central despised him, at least he felt their disgust for him united them in a similar goal: to wait him out.

Of course, Sendak was the perfect choice for an Emperor. He oozed Galra battle prowess, brute strength, hunger for power, and was the epitome of Galran breeding. Certainly, any children he sired would share similar fine qualities.

As circumstances stood, Sendak had taken off with Janka’s fleet after the Kral Zera and no one had heard from Janka since. Not that Lotor minded either. He’d contemplated sending Sendak a commendation for taking Janka off his list of individuals he’d have to deal with. While Janka would have been easy to deal with face-to-face, the man had preferred to stay in the background and manipulate from behind the scenes... Janka was a slippery opponent. And with Sendak away from Central, Lotor didn’t have to worry about those who vied for Sendak to officially assume the throne getting any bolder about their desires. 

The only missing piece was Zarkon’s Witch…he hadn’t seen her since before the Kral Zera. He’d expected her to bring a puppet into play for the Kral Zera but even if Sendak (loyal, brave, stupid Sendak) was the perfect choice, he admittedly seemed to be acting on his own desires.

She was nowhere to be found in Central Command. Her labs were cleared out and silent. The only sign she’d ever been there was the presence of a single Druid. It seemed she had fled to lick her wounds with the Druid as her eyes. As much as Lotor was tempted to torture and execute the Druid, he left him be. So let her watch. Two could play that game.

Without Janka, Sendak, or the Witch, Lotor had more time to focus on fixing the Empire of his father. 

The mining of quintessence was the chief of his concerns. For eons, his father had stripped planets to their cores, leaving them hollow shells where their native populations spent the rest of their numbered days starving out. Thousands upon thousands of planets eaten away. Easily dozens as many species of plant, of animal, of sentient beings erased for the great Galran hunger.

His first action as Emperor was to address this very concern along with his proposal for fixing it: collaboration with native planetside populations, rather than enslavement. 

Current planets would be given the option to partner with the Galra in mining quintessence at a reduced and responsible rate, or have the Galra leave their planet in peace. For their trouble, planets that opted out would be sent medical supplies, provisions, and GAC in reparations. They would have the option to be under Galran protection regardless of their decision, thus building good will across the universe. Planets that partnered with the Empire in mining would be paid for the quintessence 

“But, we’re Galra. We conquer!” a scaled Commander shouted, slamming a fist down on the long black table during one such discussion with Galran High Command. Several murmured along with him both in the room and on the holo call.

Lotor raised a hand for silence and tilted his head toward the Commander, meeting the eyes of several in turn. “We do, and we will, but only those who would seek to undermine or challenge us. And there are plenty who will seek to do just that, Commander. You’ll get your mouthful of blood.”

The Commander quieted, nodding, the desire for such conflict glowing in his eyes.

Outside of politics, Lotor found he was expected to dress the part of Emperor as well. Gone were the days of flight suits and armor being the only elements of his wardrobe. New armor was, of course, created for him with the crest of the Galra Empire glowing on its chest. Higher quality flight suits were provisioned for him as well, but he was also ushered back into the world of court attire.

He had to be patient as his measurements were taken and scrutinized. He was so small . Even the slim Galra man tasked with outfitting the Emperor was taller and broader than him. Fortunately, Galra fashion, though severe, was rarely detailed or foolishly frivolous. Exact, geometrical lines and shapes that accentuated and exaggerated celebrated Galra features. Collars that armored his neck and sleeves that gripped his arms. Long, dress-like robes that despite exaggerating his shoulders and chest, tapered at the waist and betrayed how delicate his form was. Most sets of clothes were a solid color: gray, or a dull purple, or black, the only splash of color in the stitching of the darts or piping. He refused to wear more jewelry than the signet ring of the Emperor (that had been drastically resized from his father’s time wearing it). It was a heavy, ugly reminder of his father’s legacy and what the Empire could become, again, if he wasn’t careful.

Shiro arrived as Voltron’s Emissary, docking the Black Lion in Central Command’s hangar. Lotor was relieved it was just Shiro he was meeting with, rather than Princess Allura or any of the child Paladins. Princess Allura still didn’t seem pleased by Lotor’s ascension to the throne and he knew the Paladins felt largely the same, save for Shiro: who had already helped him so many times before. Sometimes, late at night, if his mind was satisfactorily tired from a day’s work and he was feeling…restless…he’d think back to the first time he’d lain with the human. Back when Shiro was known only among the Galra as The Champion, an enslaved fighter in their Arena. 

“Fuck me like you’re not playing nice to earn my favor,” was all Lotor requested of the man, and Shiro had let out every ounce of rage and fear and hate he’d been harboring inside of him since his capture. He’d taken Lotor with a ferocity almost Galran, wrapping his mechanical hand around Lotor’s throat until he saw blissful, bursting stars. 

Afterwards, laying next to each other under low violet lights, Shiro told Lotor everything. His name, his life before the Arena, the fear that he was losing himself to the Galran Empire’s twisting, menacing machine. He was being snuffed out. 

Lotor kissed him.

“You had my favor from the moment I saw you,” he promised.

Within two quintants Shiro escaped.

Back then, the Arena was Sendak’s little pet project. A gift from the Emperor. He leered at Lotor while crossing paths soon after Shiro’s escape, his displeasure rolling off of him in almost tangible waves.

“Why is it, whenever you visit my slave pits, something happens?”

“I’ve only visited your slave pits twice.” Lotor shrugged, feigning a bored expression. He couldn’t help a little coquettish purr and smile, just to spite Sendak. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Hmm,” was all Sendak said. And that was that.

Of course, there had been other times with Shiro. Most of them covert, salacious things: while he was imprisoned by the Paladins, Shiro had fucked him in their prison, cameras fed a false loop of Lotor sitting thoughtfully while in actuality, he was gasping Shiro’s name as Shiro fucked him from behind. There were several times in Shiro’s room and in the Black Lion. The last time had been before the Kral Zera.

“Maybe you should fuck me.” Shiro suggested, but Lotor was tense and arousal was out of the question. Instead, he knelt and pleasured Shiro with his mouth. 

“You shouldn’t be on your knees,” Shiro said and Lotor flashed him a sharp smile.

“It’s the last time I will be.”

Shiro’s hands gently stroking his hair and cheeks and his generous showers of praise felt like a coronation of their own.

So when Shiro asked to speak with Lotor alone, Lotor wasn’t sure what to expect. His stomach twisted gently and waved aside his guards before gesturing for Shiro to walk with him into the ship’s atrium: empty except for them, wide windows showing off a dazzling view of the surrounding galaxy. 

Shiro blinked out at it for a moment, stunned. “I didn’t realize Galra ships had rooms like this.”

“We like beauty just as much as any species.”

Shiro gave Lotor a sheepish sideways glance, but then he raked a hand back through his hair and looked away.

“That’s actually not the reason I’m here.”

“Oh?” Lotor hoped he didn’t look as disappointed as he felt. He fell silent and let his focus fall to Shiro’s eyes, his lips….

Taking a deep breath, Shiro gazed at Lotor with an expression Lotor couldn’t quite read. That one where he could look so stoic and so blank all at once. “Lotor, I saw everything.”

Lotor opened his mouth to laugh but Shiro spoke anew and once he did, the words just seemed to keep leaking out of him.

“After the Kral Zera, I mean. Sendak’s arrival, his declaration of Usurper, his fight with you, and… Lotor, what he did to you… I know you’re a strong person, I know the Galra are fierce and proud, but what he did to you…taking you by force-”

“It wasn’t by force.” Lotor said, letting steel sink into his words in a way he’d never taken with Shiro. It was a warning.

Shiro dropped his voice, genuine pity in his eyes. “Lotor, he raped you .”

It was the pity that did it. Pity from a man who knew his capabilities and had stood by him, trusted him, to succeed as he saw fit. Shiro’s flesh hand lifted to touch Lotor’s shoulder, and Lotor seized him by the wrist, teeth bared.

“Do you think that I don’t understand what rape is? Let me explain something to you: something happens with Galra after a particularly good fight with another Galra. They’re filled with the need to conquer what they’ve bested or be conquered by what’s bested them. It’s what’s gotten us this far, what’s allowed us to spread and grow as an empire. Literally spreading our seed or spreading our legs for seed from the hardiest of our breed, whether or not we know the seed will take. It’s an evolutionary response that’s made us what we are, something to be celebrated. I wanted him to have me as much as he wanted to have me. It felt good, knowing I’d faced one of the strongest of our kind and lived.”

Lotor released his wrist and Shiro let it drop to his side, eyes dropping with it, looking cowed. 

Good , Lotor thought.

“That’s…”

Lotor cut him off. “I don’t blame you for not knowing. It’s not something your Earth Garrison was likely to teach you. But lest you think us primitive, let me remind you that the Galra were building rockets to the stars while your species was still crawling out of the primordial ooze, Paladin .”

Shiro’s expression went blank again. He kept his head lowered, pursed his lips like he was going to say something, thought better of it, and nodded instead. “Yes, Emperor. Of course.”

“If that’s all,” Lotor said, “You can show yourself out.”

He turned from Shiro, arms crossed, and gazed out the viewport at the inky matter of space, teeming with life and possibilities.

He tried hard not to listen for the sound of the door gasping open and shut around Shiro as he left. He tried harder not to feel his heart drop when he saw the Black Lion leap back out into space below the viewport and disappear, swift as a shooting star back to where it had come from, just as it had left him after the Kral Zera.

Thankfully, there were many things to occupy his mind outside of his conversation with Shiro, and Lotor jumped into all of them wholeheartedly. Reviewing readouts on quintessence mining and revising supply chain strategy and trade routes after getting a thorough understanding from Janka’s files took up the majority of his day. (Lotor thanked the gods that Janka had been so organized, everything color-coded, annotated, and filed away in an impeccable tree of folders.) He also gleefully reviewed the latest software update for the Empire’s armada of destroyer-class ships, advising his engineers to improve the security protocols for several systems to prevent hacking and remote overrides.

By the time he got to his bed, he was able to fall asleep relatively easily and had dreams of writing the next software update himself.

He woke in the middle of the night, stomach full of pins and needles, twisting unpleasantly. He laid there in the dark, waiting it out, refusing to panic or leave the bed until he knew what was wrong.

As the bile rose in his gut, he understood with terrible clarity he was about to vomit.

Leaping from the bed, he threw himself into the adjoining bathroom just in time for the contents of his stomach to empty themselves into the toilet. He hadn’t had time for meals outside of something small for breakfast and dinner and it was mostly bile. Flushing it down, he sat on the cool metal of the floor and lifted a hand to his cheeks to check if he was feverish.

No fever as far as he could tell, but the nausea remained.

Poison . The thought flashed across his mind like a systems alert and he positioned himself over the toilet and slid a finger down his throat until he vomited again. If he was poisoned and it was making him nauseous, perhaps it was his body urging him to purge it.

Unless. He sat back down on his heels, trembling from exertion. Unless, passing poison back up would do more damage to his body. What if he was poisoned and by forcing himself to vomit, it ate away at his organs, his throat, his mouth. He cleared his throat experimentally, then decided he wasn’t an expert and ordered Central Command’s doctor to his room instead.

He washed up and drew a robe around himself before the doctor got there. He didn’t reveal his suspicions in case it would exclude other tests, only explaining to the doctor that he felt nauseous.

The man had been on Central Command’s medical staff for almost as long as Lotor had been alive, however, he’d defected shortly after Lotor’s exile. He’d never been one of chief doctors who had cared for Lotor when he’d been sick as a child, but Lotor tracked him down and, finding his loyalty to lay outside of Zarkon’s rule and more in line with his personal morality, Lotor offered him a position back at Central Command. It was as close to trusting a medical professional as Lotor could get. He was quiet and respectful, his eyes lined with years of peering at sample readouts and microscopes, his ears slightly drooped like he was always deep in thought.

Lotor sat patiently as his blood was drawn and his lungs and heart were listened to. When the physical exam produced nothing spectacular, the doctor checked his bloodwork, then apologized and asked to run the bloodwork again.

Lotor gave a new sample from his opposite arm and picked at the bandage over the site impatiently, watching the readout slowly load on the doctor’s datapad.

The doctor’s ears twitched and flattened back against his head as he raised his eyes to Lotor, searching him, hesitating.

“What is it?” Lotor sat up straight, pulling his robe around him more securely.

“My Emperor, there’s no easy way to ask this, but…”

“Then, speak.” Lotor said, an edge to his voice, not willing to air his worst fears.

“Is it possible for you to bear children?”

Chapter Text

Commander Sendak’s face was even more insufferable when he was smug. 

He’d taken Lotor’s holocall on the bridge of his ship even though Lotor had informed him it was of a private nature. Laughing when Lotor gave his reason for calling, he now grinned broadly at Lotor.

“Pregnant,” he repeated. “Is it mine?”

Ears flicking with indignation, Lotor eyed him coolly. “Why else would we be having this conversation? The Right of Usurper still holds, according to my research.”

Sendak gazed at him for a couple of beats, studying him, like he was trying to figure out if Lotor was lying and how that lie might undo him.

“I want to see for myself.”

Lotor smothered an affronted little gasp. “There’s nothing to see yet, Commander.”

But Sendak was already calling orders to his crew to ready his private vessel and to man the ship under his orders until his return. He’d put his second-in-command in charge before turning his attention back to Lotor. 

His features had returned to their stern resting state and he addressed Lotor like they were discussing a battle strategy. “Prepare Central Command for my arrival and inform the medical staff: I want a live feed of every heartbeat. I want scans and bloodwork and an overview of how my child is going to be cared for up until its birth. I’ll be there in half a varga.”

Before Lotor could draw a breath to…well, he wasn’t sure, really. Tell Sendak he should address him with the respect due to a Galran Emperor? Tell him he wasn’t going to ready anything but a meager supply closet for Sendak to sleep in?

Before he could say anything in rebuttal, the screen went dark.

Sendak was true to his word and arrived at Central Command a dobosh short of half a varga in his personal cruiser.

Lotor had rescheduled a meeting to stand on ceremony for his arrival, and primly smoothed the front of his tunic. He was glad he'd put on a set of long dark robes over his clothes like a cloak- Galra Command felt far colder when one had little option to come and go as one pleased. In addition to warmth, the shoulders of it broadened his silhouette, making up what he had in stature with a sort of solemn severity.

Sendak nearly swaggered down the landing ramp of his ship. 

His prosthetic arm had been replaced with a model that looked newer and better designed. Lotor wondered who had crafted it and if it was as light as it looked. It still had a claw on the end, but closer in size to Sendak’s flesh hand. The fingers were long and sharp, all the better for close combat. Lotor had half a moment to flatter himself that their brawl at the Kral Zera had been reason enough for the change.

Upon approaching Lotor, Sendak sank to one knee, head bowed, fist crossing his chest. Even on his knees, his head came up to Lotor’s chest and Lotor wasn’t sure how that made him feel. 

Small, Lotor decided, But I took on that and survived.

“Vrepit sa, my Emperor.”

Sendak’s genuflection didn’t last long enough. Rising up back to his full height, he looked over Lotor’s head to the halls beyond.

"Is your medical staff ready to receive me?"

Lotor kept his reply short to maintain his civility. "Yes."

Without another word between them, Lotor led the way.

It was clear the details of the Kral Zera and Right of Usurper hadn’t reached every ear in Central Command by the way the head doctor gave Sendak a double take when he strode into the medical wing after Lotor. Lotor thought the doctor might have paled a little under Sendak’s scrutinizing gaze, but he recovered remarkably and led them into a private examination suite, requesting Lotor to get on the table.

While it was a thing he had done hundreds of times in his life, Lotor discovered he wasn’t fond of laying on his back with Sendak’s eyes on him. It was too vulnerable .

He took control of the situation immediately before Sendak could open his gigantic mouth.

“Doctor, Commander Sendak holds the Right of Usurper. After his victory, we coupled on the Steps of Destiny.” He resisted adding briefly just to see if Sendak would bristle. “As I have lain with no one else since, it is reasonable to assume this child is his.”

Not to be overshadowed, Sendak stared straight at Lotor. “I still want bloodwork done. Not only to prove the pregnancy, but the paternity of the child.”

There was an almost perceptible sneer to the last part. 

“I want to see the child today. I also want a live feed of the child’s heartbeat and growth going forward and a discussion of how the child will be nurtured and cared for up until its birth.”

The doctor stared at Sendak over the rims of his glasses. “Commander, there is no heartbeat yet. There won’t be for another several weeks.”

Sendak looked as if that was the doctor’s problem to figure out.

Lotor should have known the Commander would be a brute about it all. The last thing Lotor needed was to have to find another head doctor who would be able to tolerate Sendak through the gestation period. 

“And you will have all of those things in due time.” Lotor’s tone wasn’t soothing, but it was at least neutral. 

Sendak ignored him, tilting his head at the doctor.

“What about seeing the child today, can you manage that?”

The doctor hesitated, glancing at Lotor. “I can show you a cluster of cells inside the fertilized egg today, but— It will be invasive for the Emperor.”

“Do it.”

Sendak didn’t even glance at Lotor as he gave the command and Lotor felt a shudder start between his legs and travel up his spine. He pushed the feeling away, back to where it should have stayed on the Steps of Destiny.

The doctor glanced at Lotor, seeking his input, and Lotor nodded once. They had to prove it was Sendak’s brood, after all. All this was his right to request. Lotor decided to ignore the liberties Sendak was taking with everything in the hopes that, given the truth, he would at least work more agreeably with the doctor.

Lotor thought the doctor’s ears drooped a bit, but he went to gather the machines and medical ephemera needed to run the tests.

Left alone together, Sendak and Lotor eyed one another coolly. 

“I should have realized you were fertile,” Sendak said, “They say halfbreeds reproduce at twice the rate of full-blooded Galra. They reproduce like vermin.”

Lotor didn’t even blink. “Lest you forget basic biology, Commander Sendak, the child I’m carrying will also be a halfbreed and you only have yourself to blame for that. I recommend you re-evaluate how you feel about halfbreeds in general, because I can bear you an heir, but I can’t promise your heir won’t learn to despise you.”

Grunting, Sendak crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, closing one eye and keeping his bionic one trained on Lotor. “Not every heir to the Galran Empire is as disrespectful and disappointing as you. A child should obey his father.”

Lotor laughed— surprising himself— but although it sounded pleasant, when he smiled he bared his fangs.

“A child isn’t a trained soldier, Commander. You’re in over your head. I’m almost looking forward to watching you try to run an Empire.”

Whether it was his laughter or his words, Sendak’s crest seemed to stand a little on end and he looked away, expectantly at the door, like he was simply waiting for the doctor to return. He frowned deeply. “We’ll see.”

The doctor returned a moment later, and conducted the blood test. Sendak watched with a blank expression as a tourniquet was tied around Lotor's upper arm and a dark purple vein was pierced with the needle. He’d been told growing up that he was lucky to have such cooperative veins considering how often they were called upon during his stays in the med bay. He watched as his own dark blood filled a vial before the doctor wrapped the injection site with medtape.

The expected hormone levels for pregnancy were confirmed but there were still two more tests to pass before Sendak would be appeased.

In preparation for the next part, the doctor asked Lotor to strip and dress in a loose-fitting cloth gown in a separate room. The gown was made for full-blooded Galra and nearly touched the ground when he stood. It kept slipping off of his shoulders. Climbing back onto the examination table as gracefully as possible, he laid back, fitting his feet into metal arms at the end of the table that bent his legs and spread them wide. 

He was aware of how much smaller he had to look in nothing but the cloth gown but he wasn't expecting something to flicker over Sendak’s face, his ears flicking back for a moment. Maybe the realization that someone so small had held their own against him in combat had him flustered. Lotor gazed at him impassively as the doctor explained the procedure.

Because the baby was still a mere cluster of cells inside a fertilized egg, they would have to use an outdated method to see it. Scanners would not be enough. Instead, a scope would have to be passed through Lotor’s meggenden into his womb to see the little cluster growing there.

The scope went up inside Lotor easily enough, and his dislike for Sendak was enough to keep him from blushing or his ears from flicking in embarrassment as he felt the movement of the tool inside of him. His meggenden was slick, and the wet tell-tale sound filled the room for a moment as the tool was moved into its proper position inside of him. Sendak met his gaze, unflinchingly, but Lotor thought he saw his nostrils flare slightly at the pheromone-infused scent of his sex. He narrowed his eyes at Sendak when the doctor pulled the scope's visual up.

"As you can see, Commander Sendak—" The doctor fell silent and Lotor turned his own attention to the screen and gasped softly.

There was, indeed, a cluster of cells growing inside a fertilized egg attached to his womb…but there was a second fertilized egg, and its cells were dividing into two distinct groups.

"Triplets," Lotor whispered.

Sighing impatiently, unimpressed by the discovery, Sendak looked down at the doctor. "You still have yet to prove any of them are mine."

Shaking himself out of his stunned silence, the doctor nodded and moved a part of the scope so that a microscopic needle slid out. Lotor watched the doctor collect DNA samples from each cluster, then ran the data against Sendak's in the Intergalactic Galran Genetics database. 

Lotor was aware of the doctor confirming the paternity as a match and Sendak beginning to boss the doctor around anew. Lotor only blinked when the view of the eggs in his womb disappeared from the screen as the doctor removed the scope from inside of him with another slick sound.

"He's too thin to bear children,” Sendak was saying, “I want to have a nutritional plan drawn up to ensure he's eating enough and putting on enough weight to carry my children to term. Change his diet, issue supplements, have him physically examined regularly to ensure he is not neglecting his duty. And I want a live feed— no matter where I am in the galaxy I want to be able to see my children in there and hear their heartbeats. I want everything set up before I leave Central Command today."

The doctor nodded vigorously, and asked that they meet him in his office once Lotor was redressed.

Sendak watched the closed door like it had personally offended him, then looked over his shoulder in time to watch Lotor sit up on the table, dwarfed in the hospital gown. 

“So the memory of my cock has satisfied you since the Kral Zera. I’m surprised. I’ve heard many have fucked your ylden .”

Feeling his slick cooling between his legs on the metal surface of the exam table, pressing a hand numbly to his lower stomach, Lotor blinked. “Three.”

He was barely aware he’d said it aloud until Sendak had his chin between the thumb and forefinger of his prosthetic hand, looking down at him with something unreadable but cruel. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t fill you with five. Everyone is going to know who owns you. You’ll be swollen with my brood, too wide to walk, too full to breathe: a harbinger of the Empire’s return to its rightful rulers.”

“It will still be an Empire ruled by halfbreeds,” Lotor said, tilting his head away from Sendak’s touch. He lifted a hand to Sendak’s chest, fingertips against his chestplate, appraising him for a moment. His words had dimmed that cold light in Sendak’s eyes, shut the brute up. “Shame. Looks like neither of us will get what we want.”

Pushing Sendak back, he got down off of the table and left the room to change back into his robes, letting the door shut between them.

Chapter Text

In the time it took Lotor to redress, Sendak was in a deep, almost one-sided discussion with the doctor about a nutritional plan. The doctor was taking vigorous notes on his datapad, nodding his head, but paused when he saw Lotor enter the room. Sendak went on talking as Lotor walked to the doctor’s desk to lean over and look at the datapad, strands of his hair slipping down over his shoulders as he read.

“The infants need fresh meat,” Sendak said definitively.

Frowning, Lotor crossed his arms over his chest. “Commander, this list is preposterous. Not only are these food items perishable and expensive to import for the Empire, but I already have difficulty eating full meals. This will just make it harder for me to do what’s right for the children.

“Doctor, switch my rations to a higher caloric intake and implement a strict supplement regimen. If I need to take some supplements as teas instead of as pills, I will do that as well.”

“My children deserve the very best—”

“And they will have it!” Lotor blurted, drawing himself up to his full height, feeling like his clothes were useless in making him seem imposing now that Sendak had seen him in the thin hospital gown. He exhaled, cheeks feeling hot.

The doctor glanced between them with wide eyes, fingertips hovering over the datapad, unsure of which advice to take.

Lotor tried again, voice at a reasonable level. “Your children won’t know the difference between imported and rationed food, biologically. And, yes, I know they’ll need raw meat during the second and third trimester. I’ll hunt for it myself or import it if I must, but I won’t have you fattening me up like some prize livestock for breeding. I was raised on rations and I won’t be able to stomach rich food. There’s no sense in making such an expense if I throw all the nutrients back up. You must yield to me in this regard.”

“Fine,” Sendak said, something sour in his expression. He turned his attention back to the doctor, who was amending his notes. “One final thing: you said there was a way I could monitor the growth of my children and their heartbeats.”

“Yes.” The doctor paused, eyes sliding to Lotor who still stood over both of them with his arms crossed. “If the Emperor consents to it.”

Lotor gave a nod and the doctor pulled a device out of one of the clear-fronted cabinets taking up one wall of the room. He stood between them and showed them the device: the little micro lens that would be shot into Lotor’s womb and the larger part of the device that would transfer the data to Sendak’s personal holodash. 

“It’s a private feed: only yourself and I will be able to see it, Commander. It also can monitor the Emperor’s heartbeat and breathing, but that feature can be toggled off if you prefer.” 

“I prefer,” Sendak said, watching with disinterest as the doctor had Lotor lift his tunic and pressed the device against his lower belly just inside his hipbone.

The doctor warned him there would be ‘a little pressure’ and then it was in. The end of the device neatly microstitched itself into Lotor’s skin, ensuring its continued service until it was removed after the pregnancy.

Adjusting his tunic, Lotor watched Sendak frowning down at the feed on his gauntlet’s holodash.

“Well, Commander, are you satisfied?”

Ignoring Lotor to look at the doctor, Sendak frowned more deeply. “There’s no tracking capabilities on this device.”

The doctor laughed, but the laughter drained from his face when he saw that Sendak wasn’t joking. “Of course not. Why would you need such a thing?”

“ This one has a habit of running when the Empire demands he bend his knee to duty. You don’t have anything on hand here?”

This one . Lotor let it wash past him, focusing instead on the slight throbbing where the lens had been inserted, how it beat in time with his heart. He watched the doctor stammer and shake his head as if from behind a glass partition. 

“No? Well no worries.” Sendak tapped something on his holodash before speaking into his gauntlet. “Varek, bring a tracker and chip to the medbay.”

The doctor’s ears went back, flat against his head, eyes wide. “Commander, sir, this is unprecedented. You’re talking about subjecting the Emperor to this.”

Sendak shrugged, turning off the holodash display and folding his hands on top of the desk. “So I am.”

“Your Majesty.” The doctor’s voice trembled as he turned to Lotor. “He cannot demand this.”

Taking a deep breath, Lotor watched Sendak watch him. “Per the Right of Usurper, he can. I am not his lover; nor his friend; nor his acquaintance. He has every right to ensure his children will be born safely. If this is what he requires to entrust me to care for them, I will weather it. I will not shy away from my duty.”

The door to the doctor’s office opened with a swishing sound and a tall, slim Galra with stripes along the sides of his neck stepped into the room, saluting Sendak and handing him a small but cruel looking device.

“Varek,” Sendak addressed him, “You may go back to the ship.”

Varek saluted Sendak again but his eyes went from the device to Lotor and he smirked before going back out the door.

The doctor made a weak sound of protest, but relented when Sendak stood to his full height and approached Lotor, nearly pinning him to the wall. “This is what we use to track prisoners, but unlike them, the tracker will come out after you’ve fulfilled your duty to me. Turn around.”

With as much dignity as he could muster, Lotor turned his back to Sendak, letting his expression go as blank as the wall before him. Sendak’s claws were almost disturbingly gentle as they brushed his long hair aside over one shoulder and pulled down the collar of the back of his tunic.

Sendak’s breath ghosted over his skin as he positioned the device at the nape of his neck. “Don’t move, your Majesty.”

A shockingly loud click bounced off of the office’s walls, but Lotor didn’t even blink. There was an electronic beep as Sendak scanned the tracker with his holodash and then low purr rumbled out of him. 

“Ah, now I’ve got you.” 

Lotor turned back around, straightening his clothing. “Are you satisfied now, Commander?”

“Extremely.”

The broad smile on Sendak’s face pulled a frown out of Lotor, his back teeth clicking together. 

Sendak nodded to the doctor then bowed at the waist as he saluted Lotor. When he left through the door, the silence in the room pressed upon Lotor from all sides. He stared at the door as if he could melt it with his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes he could sense the doctor trying to approach him apologetically like he was some sort of startled animal.

He turned a too-sharp glance at the Doctor, making the man pause in his tracks. “Thank you for your time, Doctor.”

Sendak hadn't gotten very far— he seemed to be taking a leisurely pace, steps lighter as if in a good mood. Lotor caught up easily, stopping just behind him in the hall.

"Commander."

Sendak began to turn around, expression haughty, but the back of Lotor’s hand caught him across the face so hard his head snapped back with the impact.

He openly growled at Lotor, the place where Lotor's heavy Emperor’s ring had connected with his cheek already swelling.

Lotor stood his ground, voice steely and cold. "Commander, I can ensure your children's safe development, birth, and ascension to power, but I cannot guarantee your own safety should you continue to disregard my status as your Emperor so blatantly."

Emboldened by the pain, Sendak leaned close to Lotor, still baring his teeth. 

"Emperor," his tone was snide, dripping with deference. "Allow me to remind you that I have an entire fleet that would gladly gather at my call if I felt threatened."

"And I could have you publicly executed for even implying your desire to incite a coup. Any attempts you make on my life will void your Usurper’s Right, and then I’m not beholden to sustain your children or tolerate your ill will. It’s in your best interest and your children’s best interest to play nice with me, Commander.”

Sendak’s nostrils flared as he exhaled hotly, every muscle in his body straining against fury.

Lotor kept his expression placid, letting Sendak snort and growl as he reigned himself in. He considered making Sendak kneel and kiss his ring, but decided against it. “I expect you to think about what I’ve said and decide if you’d rather make a powerful enemy of me or cooperate as Usurper and get what you want without turmoil. I can make either work to my advantage. Excuse me.”

He brushed past Sendak and began walking, not realizing he was headed to his quarters until he was already there. He had nothing else scheduled for the day, and he guessed it couldn’t hurt having some time to take his public mask off and work through everything that had been done to him in the medbay. He hadn’t been subjected to such a lack of bodily autonomy since he was a child, and he knew if he sat still for even a minute the memory of Sendak watching him spread open on the examination table would set him to shaking. Much less having the tracker pushed inside of him like he was a Galran prisoner. He ran a hand back through the hair at the base of his neck, rubbing the slightly raised skin that sat over the tracker there like he could scrub it away.

Best not to think about it until he was in his chambers, completely out of sight. The large door to his chambers— which had been his father’s chambers and largely unaltered since he’d taken the throne— were flanked by two sentries, which stepped aside to grant him entrance.

No sooner had his hand touched the door’s panel, one of the sentries made a corrupted sort of beeping noise.

“Negative,” it said.

“Negative negative negative,” the other one chirped.

Lotor only had a moment to register that something was wrong before there was a flash of violet light and a burning pain in his right arm. Next thing he knew, amidst the chaos of shots echoing in the hallway, he was being lifted and thrown— no, not thrown: carried — away from it all. There was the sound of metal on metal and something being crushed and then all was silent.

With a wall against his back, he was left staring up at Commander Sendak who seemed to be curled around him like a shield. He was peering down at him sternly, speaking carefully so that Lotor could make sense of his words.

“Are you okay?” 

Lotor nodded, only aware he was still clutching his right arm when Sendak’s claws gently pried his hand away. 

“Let me see it. It’s just a graze,” he said, confirming what Lotor had already surmised if only dimly. 

He looked around Sendak’s form to the shattered and crushed bodies of his sentries, making sense of it. “I programmed them myself…”

“Someone must have hacked them,” Sendak supplied, which Lotor already knew, but he nodded slowly as if it was new information to him. 

Gods, I’m in shock , he thought.

“I’ll have to run some diagnostics.”

Sendak nodded, and Lotor realized he was wiping the wound on his arm carefully with gauze soaked in numbing and sanitizing fluid. The fabric of his tunic had been cut away neatly around the wound to allow access to it. Varek, the same officer who had brought Sendak the tracking device, stood dutifully next to Sendak with an open medkit. 

When did he get here? Lotor wondered, then doubled down on his earlier realization. Gods, I really am in shock .

Varek paid Lotor little attention, his eyes riveted to the sentries and suddenly Lotor realized Sendak must have torn them apart with his bare hands. 

He watched dumbly as Sendak began wrapping medtape around the wound, just tight enough to protect it. He tore the end with his teeth, then met Lotor’s gaze. The place where Lotor struck him earlier had calmed down a little, but there was still a lump under his fur high on his cheekbone and Lotor knew it would bruise even if it wouldn’t be visible.

“I’m going to assign two of my best men to guard your room tonight. I’ll alter my plans and stay at Central Command for the next several quintants to make sure there isn’t a greater plot at work here. I won’t leave until I know you and my brood are safe.”

There was a gentle pressure against his stomach, and he looked down to find Sendak’s large palm resting against it, as if swearing an oath to his children more than to Lotor.

Shaking his head, Lotor found his voice. “I admire the gesture, but I would prefer standard sentries that pass diagnostics tests.”

He stood up away from the wall, surprised but pleased when he realized his legs weren’t jelly. Sendak let him step past him but his ears flicked back in…concern? Annoyance? Insult?

“But they are my best men. They will kill for me without question; they will protect if I ask. Even you. To fail in that would be to risk my ire.”

Lotor leaned over the crushed sentries for a couple moments, then grabbed the one with the more intact torso and head (although both were extremely badly damaged), by the wrist. Straightening up, he raked a hand back through his hair to get it out of his eyes and gazed at Sendak.

“Again, a generous offer, but if I can’t rely on my own methods of protection, how can I trust yours?”

Sendak opened his mouth to speak but Lotor didn’t let him. “Goodnight, Commander Sendak.”

Dragging the sentry behind him, he went into his chambers and locked the door.

Chapter Text

Lotor yawned broadly and manually continued to comb through the sentry’s files for the second time since he’d run the diagnostic.

He’d laid the sentry’s remains out on the long low table in the living room where he sat cross-legged on the floor, back pressed against the front of the couch. Cheek propped on his fist while he scrolled through folders, files, and their contents with his free hand on his tablet, he was glad he’d had the foresight to change into a comfortable pair of leggings he often trained in and a sleeveless shirt made of a similar material. He kept it comfortably cool in his quarters, not freezing like the rest of Central Command, and he could afford to let his wounded arm remain unrestricted by clothing without getting cold.

The diagnostics found only one string of code amiss in the entire sentry, so he ran the diagnostic again with the same result. He resorted to searching by hand just in case the diagnostic was missing something…a misplaced integer, a wayward hash sign, a command that was perfectly regular but being used somewhere it shouldn’t be.

And now he was searching again, just in case. It was maddening to think there could only be one small line of code that caused the malfunction— quite possible, but maddening, considering it would take an engineer with a deep understanding of Galra coding and Galran sentries, in particular, to accomplish it. It was clear to him that Sendak wasn’t the perpetrator, much less one of the Galra under his command.

He was tempted to pin it on the Witch, but he wasn’t sure how much technological prowess she had, although he supposed anyone could have outsourced the job.

Scrolling to the end of the last file, he sat back and rubbed his eyes. He needed to see if he could find the same wayward line of code in the other sentry. He needed to write up a patch and push it to Engineering just in case it wasn’t just his sentries but many, many more. He would have to decide how he would address this, if it would be public or not. He had to—

He had to get rest or wake up. Checking his tablet, he saw it was close to waking hours for all of Central Command’s first shift officers. He got to his feet and hesitated between making caf or retrieving the other sentry from outside his quarters. He decided it would be best to get the sentry before the waking shift caught him hauling trash into his quarters.

Sliding the door open, he was relieved to see that the sentry’s crumpled remains were where he’d left them. He bent over to grab its shoulders, then froze when he caught movement of something large just outside his peripheral vision.

“Commander Sendak,” he said, hoping he didn’t look as surprised as he felt. The Commander was leaning up against the wall to the right of his quarters, arms crossed over his broad chest, head back against the wall as if propping himself up. He frowned without looking actively threatening. He looked tired .

Sendak straightened up as if on autopilot, turning to face Lotor and saluting him with more respect than he’d possibly shown him thus far.

“ Vrepit sa , my Emperor.”

Lotor was still bent over the sentry, strands of hair escaping where he’d bundled it atop his head, falling in his face. Not exactly the picture of regal gravitas. “What are you doing?” 

“I was standing guard,” Sendak said, pausing with a focused expression that looked suspiciously like he was trying to suppress a yawn. “Since you explicitly requested I not station my men here, I thought I should do it myself.”

Lotor blinked. 

“Oh,” was all he said for a moment, then, “That was wholly unnecessary.”

Sendak’s expression became one of the muted ferocity he typically exuded. “Nothing is unnecessary for the safety of my brood.”

He blinked and seemed to really see Lotor for the first time.

Despite not owing him an explanation, Lotor found himself doing just that as he straightened up with the sentry in his grasp.

“I was running diagnostics and reviewing source code manually. I need to do the same with this one to see if my findings align before I can write a security patch.”

“You found something,” Sendak said.

“I did.” Lotor hesitated, “I was just about to make caf.”

It wasn’t exactly an invitation, but as Lotor backed through the door with the sentry, Sendak followed. He stopped short just inside the door as it slid closed behind him, his eyes roving over the other sentry on the table, the pile of pillows in front of the couch where Lotor sat all night.

“Looks like neither of us got any sleep,” he mused.

Lotor hummed as he laid the other sentry out on the floor next to the table. Then, rising, he went to the dining area where the only amenities of note were a large shelf of liquor in elaborately shaped bottles (largely untouched) and a traditional caf making station. Galra had switched to the convenience of instant caf a long time ago, but it seemed Zarkon had had the best of everything even if he hadn’t used any of it for much of his long reign.

Sendak couldn’t help but stare as Lotor lit a purple flame between the base of the station and a shallow pan filled with black, glittering sand. 

“My mother had one of those back on Daibazaal,” Sendak said, “I haven’t seen one since.”

Lotor snorted softly. “Certainly you were too young to have any?”

Leaning his shoulder against the wall as he watched Lotor fill a small metal pot with caf— real, ground caf— and cool water, he let out a haughty laugh. “She let me have a taste, once or twice. Hers was always very sweet.”

“Is that how you take yours?” Lotor’s hand hovered over a little pot of dried zambron but Sendak shook his head.

“No, I prefer it black now.” He paused, the reality of the fact that the Emperor was making him traditional caf sinking in and freezing his expression. “Unless, of course, you do.”

If Lotor noticed the way Sendak’s voice had stiffened beneath his words, he didn’t remark on it. “I also prefer mine black.”

They stood in silence as Lotor placed the base of the little pot in the sand and began gently moving it around in slow, dreamy circles, cutting patterns through the sand and then reshaping them. When it bubbled up, Lotor deftly scooped the foam away and spooned it into the bottom of two little cups set aside on a golden tray. Then he continued heating the mixture, movements certain.

“Who—” Sendak began, “Where did you learn to make it like this?”

Lotor seemed pleased by the question, and he grinned as he kept his eyes on his work. “You’d be surprised how many cultures outside of Galra-occupied territory have restaurants dedicated to traditional Galra cuisine. It seems to be the only part of our culture they like to recognize. Almost all of them make real caf at tables with sand pits in the middle. Some even let you make your own. I find the process rather soothing. I was pleasantly surprised when I found this in my late father’s chambers.”

Sendak made a humming sound and continued to watch as the caf slowly bubbled up again. Removing it from the heat, Lotor deftly poured the contents into the two little cups and blew out the fire. Picking up the tray, he walked to Sendak and wordlessly offered it to him. 

“Thank you,” he murmured.

The little cup seemed appropriately proportioned in his large hand, whereas when Lotor set the tray on the table and took his own, Sendak saw it almost filled his hand like a lowball glass.

He took a focused sip of his drink, turning his eyes away from the Emperor’s delicately wrought hands. Lotor went to retrieve his tablet.  

“It’s only one line of code,” he said, returning, setting his cup aside to pull up the section of code with the singular line in question. He handed the tablet to Sendak who frowned down at it, making what little sense of it that he could. 

Sendak wasn’t well versed in programming, but from what he could tell, the line provided an entire override of the sentry’s targeting system.

“I assume the parameters have been reset to target only you?”

“Precisely.” Lotor leaned against the wall across from Sendak, bringing his cup of caf to his lips.

“All in one line. That’s rather impressive, isn’t it?” Sendak handed the tablet back to Lotor across the space between them.

Lotor took the tablet and frowned down at the screen. “It is. The saboteur would have a high understanding of not only Galra code but Galran sentry robotics as well. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean it was the work of an insider. It could just as easily have been a job that was outsourced or a program purchased on the dark market and uploaded remotely. It doesn’t even mean it’s someone who has any particular griefs against me. For all we know it could be someone who objects to the outcome of the Kral Zera or the Galra Empire in general."

“Fringe militias, groups like the Blade of Marmora, Voltron,” Sendak suggested.

Lotor nodded, then sighed. “Exactly, but leave Voltron to me.”

Sendak watched him frown down at the cup in his hand. Feeling like maybe it was a foolish question, he decided to ask anyway. “Is there a way you can trace who made it? Is there a signature somewhere in the code?”

Lotor’s pause made him feel less stupid.

“Not quite , but there may be a stylistic decision in the code that’s common with a specific programmer if they’re prolific or notorious enough.” He gave Sendak a wry smile. “Fortunately during my time as an exiled prince, traveling with former pirates, I have a few connections I can call upon to help with my search.

“In the meantime, what’s important is that this doesn’t happen again. I’ll contact Engineering and push a patch to them before the end of the quintant. They’ll upload it to every Galran sentry in existence and make sure their software can recognize the malicious code if it’s remotely uploaded again. But, like with any hacker worth their zambron , they won’t push the same thing twice.”

He fixed his gaze on Sendak. “And then there’s the concern that it may have come from within our own ranks.”

“I will get to the bottom of it,” Sendak said, voice rumbling at the end dangerously; not as a threat but as a promise.

Lotor’s gaze turned cool as steel. “Yes, you will.”

Sendak blinked. Once. But it was enough. It was the opening Lotor was looking for to really hook his claws into him.

“If it comes from within, it’s likely due to the fact that Galra are disappointed that you did not win the Kral Zera outright and become Emperor. They expect you to breed with someone other than me, of course, for your claim of Usurper. Cutting me out of the picture before you can produce offspring with anyone gives you another shot at the Kral Zera and it’s obvious that the only individual who can truly challenge you is Ranveig. And even then, he’s getting old, rusty from pompous disuse. 

“If it comes from within, it’s up to you to smother it. Otherwise, they’ll snuff out your children’s lives along with my own.

“Unless, of course, you want me out of the way faster than your children can be born, Commander. You could kill me right now if you liked.”

Lotor watched as perplexity, rage, and concern warred across Sendak’s features, but when Lotor said the last part Sendak’s eyes dropped to his waist and something fierce flickered across his features. 

“No,” he snarled lowly.

Nodding, Lotor set his cup down. “Good; then you’ll fix it.”

With both of his hands, he brought one of Sendak’s to his stomach, pressing it against the still-flat surface of it. His hand almost spanned the entirety of Lotor’s trim waist.

Lotor lowered his voice as if speaking to a startled animal. “Your children will be here before you know it, and then all of this will belong to you.”

Sendak’s thumb brushed over Lotor’s stomach before Lotor pushed his hand away and without missing a beat, turned a smile towards him that was bright and sharp and dangerous like a knife only the two of them knew about. 

“I’ve got a lot to do before my duties as Emperor officially start for the day. You have a lot to do, too.”

Sendak watched him walk back to the sentries in the living area and showed himself out. 

Walking down the hall towards the bridge, he couldn’t get the image of his hand spanning Lotor’s waist out of his head. He could still feel the cool, smooth brush of Lotor’s skin against his own. The memory of Lotor’s cunning smile waited in the dark behind his eyelid. 

Despite Lotor’s size and current predicament, Sendak couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being wielded as expertly as a sword in Lotor’s hands. 

But he felt sharper, more deadly because of it. And so he marched onward to the bridge, to state his claim over Lotor’s life and the lives of his unborn heirs and to promise death to anyone who threatened them.

Chapter Text

The Castle of Lions wasn’t particularly difficult to find. Whether it was the humans’ lack of experience or the Alteans’ negligence, as long as they weren’t directly in Galra-controlled space they left their shields and cloaking down.

Lotor couldn’t imagine feeling that self-assured anywhere. Even in Central Command— a veritable fortress— he checked the status of the shields daily as if he was a member of the Engineering Corps instead of Emperor.

Still, catching Voltron off-guard was never a wise move. He hailed the Castle as he approached, slowing his ship to a casual speed. 

He didn’t have to wait long. His comms screen lit up and Princess Allura’s furious expression filled it, her Altean markings burning brightly against her umber skin.

“Lotor.” She said his name like it was the name for some species of crawling, chittering vermin. “What do you want?”

It seemed Sendak wasn't the only one who needed a reminder that he was the sitting Emperor of the Galra Empire.

“ Princess ,” he let the word drawl out– we are equals now , it said, do not trifle with me , “I just want to talk.”

“The time for talking is over. You have what you want: your father dead, the Galran throne… Why are you here? Are you here for the Lions?”

Lotor couldn’t help the laugh that left him in a breath. So single-minded. So certain the universe was against her. “That was my father’s desire, not mine. I don’t give a whit about your Lions; you can keep them.”

“How generous .”

It was like she wanted a fight. More blood between them. 

He was tempted to ask if Shiro would discuss things more amicably but he didn’t have to.

“Emperor.”

Allura turned away from the screen and stepped aside, staring at Shiro as he approached.

He looked tired and like maybe some streaks of white were starting to appear at his temples. Handsome, Lotor thought, Very becoming.

When Shiro spoke he spoke like a man bearing something heavy in his arms. Not exhausted– not quite– but weary with it. “You’ll have to forgive us; with the Galra Empire entering a new era, we’re all a bit on edge. Even with you on the throne, the future is uncertain.”

He paused, lips pursed in thought. He crossed his arms in that open way he had: not folding them over his chest to cut Lotor off, but loosely cradling his elbows with his hands like he was hugging himself. “You said you wanted to talk?”

“Yes,” Lotor said, “There was a security breach at Central Command. Someone infected sentries with a virus that reset parameters to target only myself.”

Allura scoffed.

The Red Lion’s new pilot stepped into view. “We had nothing to do with that!”

Would they let him finish a single thought? 

“I would hope not,” he squeezed the impatience out of his voice, “I was able to isolate a single line of code that’s responsible for the change in parameters. The rest of the code is my own.”

“A single line of code? That’s–!” The Green Lion’s Paladin shoved the Red Paladin out of the way to get into view. They seemed to almost buzz with excitement, but as soon as they met Lotor’s eyes, they seemed to remember themself and adjusted their glasses, clearing their throat. “That’s dangerous.”

Lotor couldn’t help but smile a little. “Yes, and impressive. I was actually hoping you, specifically, could help me identify the author.”

The Green Paladin pointed a hesitant finger towards themself. “ Me ?”

“Yes. I come to you not as an Emperor nor your ally, but as someone humbly seeking answers. You were the first soul I thought of who might know as much as me when it comes to the subject.”

Shiro and Allura turned their attention to the Green Paladin.

The young Paladin stood taller and crossed their arms over their chest. “What’s in it for us?”

Lotor couldn’t resist a low chuckle at their naivety. "I’m not sure you understand how intergalactic diplomacy works. Unsurprising, considering there was a time you kept me as a political prisoner and exchanged my blood for your own. All I’m asking for is your collaboration with me on this one matter."

“Yeah,” the Green Paladin frowned, voice pitching up, “So that feels a little like a threat.”

“Very well,” Lotor bowed his head demurely, “I won’t bother you any longer, and I’ll take this fascinating singular line of code with me.” 

He went to switch off his comm screen but the Green Paladin’s expression was melting into something uncertain. 

“It can’t be that cool,” they said, “The code.”

Lotor smiled so wide he felt his incisors scrape his bottom lip. 

“Are you sure?”

The inside of the Castle of Lions was unbearably bright. He knew that going in of course, but he forgot how uncomfortable it was against his eyes. At least one reason for a headache to bloom went away when Allura left the bridge. Shiro stayed behind along with the Red and Green Paladin. Despite their earlier misgivings, it felt comforting to have Shiro nearby. After all, during his imprisonment Shiro had been the only one in his corner: advocating for him and directly disobeying Allura’s wishes to help him do what was right.

He offered him a small smile before he got down to business with the Green Paladin.

It turned out Human monitors shared the same blinding whiteness as Altean monitors and living spaces. He kept himself from breathing a sigh of relief when the Green Paladin pulled open a black screen to review the line of code.

“Wow,” they said, leaning closer to the screen, “You really weren’t kidding. This is cool.”

They pushed their chair away from the table and leaned backwards, craning their neck over their shoulder. “Hey, Hunk, come here!”

The Yellow Paladin– Hunk– came into the bridge holding his own comm tablet, looking a little impatient. “Pidge, can this wait? I was in the middle of unscrambling some garbled messages from a relay three galaxies over.”

He looked up. “Oh, hi Lotor.”

Pidge frowned at Hunk. “Why? Is there something weird about them?”

“Uh, no . I just had some free time and thought I’d play around a little bit since I’ve been dreaming of translating deep space messages and shit since I was, like, five years old . What are you doing?”

He turned to Lotor again. “And why are you here? Not that we mind. Well, Allura might mind, she’s a little touchy about… You’re Emperor now, right? How’s that going?”

Pidge saved him from having to open his mouth at all by explaining the situation to Hunk, who in turn pushed his face close to the monitor alongside Pidge and stared at the singular line of code in question.

“ Weird …”

Feeling uneasy about standing over them both, Lotor sat on the edge of the desk, angling his body so he could glance at the screen while speaking to them. “Have you seen anything like this before? It’s a small sample of code, of course, but there could be–”

“–stylistic choices that are common with another writer.”

Lotor smiled at Pidge, feeling his shoulders relaxing a little. “Precisely.”

“Any chance we can see the rest of the code?” Hunk asked.

Nodding, Lotor transferred the file to Pidge’s second monitor. 

They spent a few ticks staring at the screens together. It was Hunk who broke the silence first. 

“You know, for being so talented, this guy’s code is pretty sloppy. He shoved it between two lines of your code without any line breaks.”

“I assumed that was to better camouflage it,” Lotor said, but he felt a twisting in his stomach that they had just stumbled upon something significant.

Pidge touched the screen lightly with a fingertip, underlining a specific phrase in the code. “What’s this?”

Lotor and Hunk leaned in closer. 

“It’s a variable,” Lotor said, frowning, feeling that unease twisting inside him again.

“One of yours?” Pidge asked.

It was, although the two words that made up the variable were completely in lowercase. “Yes…but unless I was coding in my sleep, I would have never formatted it that way.”

Hunk tilted his head, “It doesn’t look like this guy changed anything about that variable except for the formatting.”

They watched in silence as Pidge searched for every instance of the variable, confirming Hunk’s observation.

Pidge sat back from the screens and crossed their arms over their chest. “I don’t get it.”

“Unless,” Hunk began, “He changed it so he could hide something in plain sight.”

Pidge rolled their chair aside slightly so Hunk could take command of the keyboard and they looked on curiously with Lotor as Hunk started at the beginning of the code and scrolled down through it line by line, until–

He stopped, and highlighted a word: redteeth

“I know for certain I didn’t create that variable. What’s its purpose?”

Hunk shook his head, letting out a breath. “Something entirely benign, but he doesn’t create the variable until right before he calls it, all squished together without line breaks and in lowercase so you wouldn’t notice it. It’s the name of it that gets me…”

“It’s a calling card,” Pidge said, “Stupid. No one could be that stupid, could they?”

Hunk shrugged. “He probably didn’t realize Lotor was his own engineer.”

“ Redteeth …” Lotor mused, standing and settling a hand on his hip, “If it means anything significant to him, it will be his undoing.”

The large comm display at the head of the bridge flickered to life and Sendak’s stern, terse face and broad shoulders filled the screen. His voice rumbled deep in his chest, close to a growl.

“ This message goes out to all soldiers of the Galra Empire. ”

Pidge and Hunk glanced at each other and the Red Paladin groaned behind them. “Not this guy again.”

“ Yesterday there was an attempt on the Emperor’s life. While that may be a cause for joy to some of you, I am consumed with rage.

“ During the Kral Zera, I claimed Usurper and bested our Emperor in combat, solidifying my right to that title. My children alone shall challenge the throne of the Emperor.

“ And children I am expecting. ” He paused, jutting his chin out and tilting his head in challenge. “ As any battle-blooded Galra, I desired sexual conquest after my victory over the Emperor and his body accepted mine and my seed. The Emperor bears my children– three of them– and any attempt on his life is an attempt on my children’s and blatant disregard for my right as Usurper. Any future attempts on his life, his well-being, or challenges to the throne shall be met with swift and certain destruction at my hands. He and his life and the lives he carries belong to me. Take care not to incur my wrath. You have been given due notice. ”

Lotor only realized he wasn’t breathing when the screen went dark. He drew a short breath and in the silence of the bridge it was as loud as a gasp. 

Something twisted restlessly in the pit of his stomach and he felt his body start to tense up. It wasn’t the announcement alone that had him speechless. The fact that the Paladins still felt it necessary to hack into Galra military comms to keep an eye on things said volumes about where he actually stood with making any sort of true alliance with them.

The Red Paladin was the first to break the silence. “Whoa, wait, Galra dudes can get pregnant?”

Before he could quell the flicker of disgust that welled up inside him, Lotor felt his lips twist into a smile– more like baring teeth than anything else– and he rounded on the Paladins.

"I suggest you make your peace with the Empire while I'm still on the throne." He turned a distasteful look to the now-dark comms screen. "But I can see you still don't trust me to lead the Empire away from my father’s legacy. Perhaps you’ll realize the error of your ways when Sendak's brood rules the Galra."

With a flick of his wrist gauntlet, he ripped the file he shared from Pidge's second screen and pushed past the Red Paladin more brusquely than he meant to, making for the hanger.

Shiro's voice carried after him down the corridor.

"Lotor, wait."

He didn't wait– didn’t want to wait in the bright corridor that reminded him of that bright cell in the Castle’s bowels.

Even during the short walk through the hanger from his ship to the halls beyond, it was evident Sendak’s announcement had made an impression.

Calls of "Vrepit sa" followed him and personnel parted ways for him. Instead of disgust driving their actions towards him, fear did. No one wanted to be wrongly accused of distressing the vessel of Sendak’s children. 

Sendak was waiting for him just outside the hanger, looking grave as ever. “It is done.”

“I heard the whole thing,” Lotor said as Sendak fell into step beside him, hands folded behind his back, “The Paladins still scan our comm channels.”

Sendak frowned at this information. 

“So, the Paladins…” He glanced at Lotor as they turned together down a hall leading to Lotor’s quarters where he aimed to change out of his flight suit and get on with his day. “They won’t help you?”

Lotor shifted his helmet from under one arm to the other. “They helped a bit. I’m going to continue to do my own research whether or not they find anything and share it with me. A formal alliance is out of the question, but they’re not a threat to us.”

A rumbling sigh came from Sendak’s chest as they stopped before the doors to Lotor’s rooms.

Lotor lifted his head and hooked his gaze on Sendak’s, smiling thinly like he’d thought of some secret thing that was amusing only to himself. “I appreciated your message, although I have to ask… Did you mean what you said?”

Sendak nearly bristled, puffing his chest out, looking very noble and fearsome. “Of course. I mean everything I say.”

He blinked when Lotor’s smile curled at the edges and an amused laugh purred out of him. He opened his mouth, at a loss, when Lotor illuminated him. 

“So, then, I belong to you?” 

Hiding his shock rather well, Sendak's frown deepened and he bowed his head. "I misspoke."

Lotor hummed, lightly tapping his fingertips against the side of the helmet under his arm. 

"You certainly forgot your place, but this could prove to be advantageous to us. It's no secret that you hold more esteem and respect among the Galra than I do. Crossing you by harming the bearer of your children is one thing. Crossing you- crossing any Galra-  by harming their mate is so much worse."

His smile turned slightly venomous and Sendak frowned deeply. "It is certain death."

"Precisely."

Sendak blinked. "I don't follow."

The expression Lotor turned up to the Commander was equal parts mischievous and hungry.

Ears flicking back, Sendak wasn't aware he was leaning away from the small Emperor until a moment after he did it. "You want me to mate you?

The laugh that sighed out of Lotor was surprisingly soft and musical. 

"No, of course not. Our situation is political, nothing more." He sagged back against the door, surprisingly relaxed, that playfulness in his eyes like distant stars even as his lips curled in challenge. "However there may be some who doubt your claim."

Back on known terrain, Sendak scoffed, folding his arms across his broad chest. "Then they are fools."

That smile persisted, parting into a small grin. "Suppose your Emperor is a fool."

Sendak’s ears twitched for half a second before he stepped into Lotor's space and slammed a palm flat against the door just shy of his head. When Lotor didn't startle they both chuckled humorlessly, sizing one another up, eyes glinting.

The old Galran adage about fighting and fucking being the twin heartbeats of civilization came to mind. How right it was, Sendak thought, wanting nothing more than to wipe the pride off of Lotor’s face. The memory of him gasping and bucking beneath him after the Kral Zera made his cock twitch with anticipation. Imagining him on his back beneath him: vulnerable and desperate with his name on his lips made him take a deep breath to steady himself.

"And how does one convince a fool of such a thing?"

He wanted to hear Lotor say it. For his tongue to be the one to form the filthy words.

Lotor's eyelids were heavy, his eyelashes thicker than Sendak remembered. "A fool would need to know you're sticking your ylprent where you say you are."

His fingertips ghosted over the telling bulge of Sendak’s cock, his claws raking over the shaft so lightly it raised the fur across his body.

" Ylchaape ," he hissed, then clamped his flesh hand around Lotor's jaw, voice coming out in a growl. "You know, your Majesty, there's no need for all this preamble. If you're aching for my cock, all you have to do is beg."

"Why don't you make me, Commander ?"

A rough laugh rumbled up Sendak’s throat as he bared his teeth and closed the distance between them. "With pleasure."

There was an electronic beep and then he was stumbling forward as Lotor staggered back through the open door into the privacy of his quarters. Before the door even shut, Sendak tossed Lotor’s helmet aside, his hands roughly shoving Lotor’s armor off of his thin frame. Lotor didn't make it easy for him. Grinning like he had mid-fight at the Kral Zera, he continued to walk backwards so that Sendak had no choice but to follow. His clever fingers made quick work of Sendak's armor, finding every clasp without looking. 

Once Sendak got Lotor down to his flight suit, he wasted no time in ripping it away from his body with a growl. The sight of so much soft lilac skin, Lotor's pert nipples, made him swallow a groan. By that time they reached the bed and Sendak watched Lotor pull off his boots before crawling onto the bed on all fours, ass round and ripe, turning his head to gaze over his shoulder at Sendak with heavy eyes. His ylden was dripping , a stray bead rolling down the taut line of his inner thigh.

Sendak licked his lips at the sight. Tempting . So tempting. But Sendak had other ideas.

"Oh, no, I've already had you like that." He unzipped his own flight suit carefully. "On your back. I want to see you come apart."

Lotor gave him a curious look, but did just that- turning over and laying back, spreading his legs wide. Sendak could still see his slit, glistening with arousal, behind his swollen cock.

Reaching an idle hand down, Lotor ran the edge of a claw up and down the side of his slit obscenely and the telltale sound of wetness made itself known. Folding his other arm behind his head, he looked every bit the part of a decadent royal as he gazed up at Sendak.

"You know, the view from here isn't too bad either. You are the paragon of the indomitable  Galran spirit. There's a reason there's so much dissent around you breeding me ."

Sendak shed his flight suit and busily rolled a barrier over his cock. Lotor's body wouldn't withstand hosting additional kits and he needed the three he was already bearing to survive.

Arching a brow, he frowned and grabbed the back of one of Lotor’s thighs, pushing it up towards Lotor’s shoulder for a deeper angle. "Certainly some of them are jealous they didn't get to breed you."

Lotor laughed.

"A halfbreed? Absolutely not likely. You look confused."

Sendak did look confused. "There's no one that looks like you. Your features are striking."

 "You must have a fetish, then," Lotor said lightly with a snort.

He gasped as Sendak sank down to the hilt inside him in one thrust.

Sendak's breath was warm on his face, and Lotor swore he could feel his pulse flutter around Sendak's cock.

"And if I do?"

The look Lotor gave him: lips parted, eyes half lidded and dazed with arousal was straight out of a holoporn. "Then you'd better make the most of it, Commander."

With Lotor’s leg pinned between them, both of Sendak’s hands went to his hips— hips that would soon soften and widen under the bloom of pregnancy. When Sendak squeezed them, Lotor arched his back from the bed with a yelp of pleasure, his cheeks darkening. Sendak grinned hungrily at the response before he started moving.

Unlike on those steps on Feyiv, Sendak’s thrusts were fast and hungry. Lotor groaned beneath him, letting Sendak take the lead. For a minute, his mind reeled, overwhelmed at how full Sendak’s dirk made him feel. He bit his bottom lip and focused on squeezing himself around Sendak, wanting to give as good as he got.

Sendak cursed under his breath, and then Lotor regained his mental facilities and hooked the ankle of his pinned leg behind Sendak’s head and wrapped his other leg around Sendak’s waist. Holding onto Sendak’s shoulders, Lotor grunted and used Sendak’s own body weight to roll them over.

He grinned openly down at Sendak, who blinked up at him in surprise for a moment before letting out what could only be called a theatrical growl. 

“Don’t pretend you don’t like this,” Lotor purred, rolling his hips expertly as he swept his hair over a shoulder “You’re a Commander; follow my lead.”

He dragged a hand up over the telling bulge in his stomach, stimulating Sendak through his own skin. To his great pleasure, Sendak moaned, his large hands going to squeeze his ass, the claws of his organic hand just pricking the tender skin.

Using the strength in his legs, Lotor pushed himself up Sendak’s dirk only to drop himself with a throaty grunt as Sendak’s length punished a spot deep inside of him. Echoing Sendak’s earlier tempo, he continued to roll his hips and squeeze himself around Sendak while lifting and dropping himself every few breaths.

Cursing again, Sendak shifted his hands up slightly to grip  Lotor’s hips hard before he began bouncing Lotor on his length as hard as he could. Lotor’s breath quickened, his head falling back as Sendak used him roughly. 

“You’re going to look so good carrying my brood,” Sendak growled, grinding his hips up against Lotor’s ass as the tip of his cock dug into Lotor’s prostate. “Your pride will be overshadowed by the glory of my conquest: your belly swollen, huge and round. You’ll barely be able to breathe by the end of the pregnancy. Barely be able to stand.”

Biting back a whimper, Lotor sank his claws into Sendak’s shoulders both for leverage and to get him to shut up. He tried to wrest back control, snarling as he tried to snap his hips against Sendak’s iron grasp.

Sendak laughed. “Such fire!”

He easily rolled back on top of Lotor, hoisting his hips up from the mattress so all Lotor could do was scramble to hold onto the sheets.

“Maybe when my children assume the throne, I’ll take you as my slave. I’ll keep that belly constantly ripe with offspring. You’ll have a purpose, you’ll be well kept, and you’ll be well fucked.”

Lotor panted, lips curling back from his teeth in a grimace, locking his legs around the broad expanse of Sendak's muscled back. "What makes you think I'll still be around for the taking?"

Leaning down, Sendak nipped at the curve of Lotor's ear, pulling a whine from him. 

"What makes you think I won't chase you?" His voice was a low murmur in Lotor’s ear. 

Sendak’s next thrust sent Lotor over the edge. Shuddering, he threw his head back and let out an anemic moan, body trembling as he wrung as much pleasure as he could out of his orgasm. When his mind rejoined his body, his arms were flung around Sendak’s neck and he was rubbing his softening cock against Sendak’s taut stomach like something mechanical and mindless, smearing his come in Sendak’s thick fur.

Sendak met his eyes and looked over his face almost somberly. Grunting deep in his chest, Sendak bottomed out one, two, three more times inside him before he came with a growl. His claws broke the skin on Lotor’s hips and he bared his teeth in the space between them, looking fierce and powerful. 

Inside of him, Lotor felt the barrier distort around Sendak’s come, brushing his walls with new heat and fullness. Despite the current situation, Lotor found himself wishing the barrier wasn’t there.

Wordlessly, they caught their breath together.

Only when their breathing evened out, did Sendak lower Lotor’s hips back to the bed. He slid out of him and stood up, peeling off the barrier and going into the bathroom. He returned almost immediately with a damp cloth, wiping the sticky cum from his stomach before he folded it to a clean side and leaned over Lotor, gently reaching to part his thighs.

“There’s no need,” Lotor said, taking the cloth from him and sitting up. He kept his head and eyes lowered to his task as he cleaned himself, wondering if either of them would shower the other’s scent off. It was a common thing for a Galra to smell like sex, wearing one another’s pheromones like a signature scent. It would be safer for Lotor and Sendak’s offspring if they didn’t scrub the smell away.

Sliding off the bed, Lotor gave Sendak a small, crooked smile and pressed his fingertips to the Commander’s broad chest. 

Sendak looked down at him, expression grim and serious, but something a little mischievous seemed to glimmer in his organic eye. “Well, would that convince a fool?”

“I certainly smell like you.” Lotor couldn’t help the small grin that tugged the corners of his mouth.

“That’s a start,” Sendak said, blinking in surprise when Lotor snapped the wet cloth against his hip.

Lotor stepped away, then gave Sendak an appraising look. “The only way I’ll ever truly belong to you, Commander, is if you make good on your threat to make me your slave. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an Empire to run.”

He went to his wardrobe to dress and smooth his hair. By the time he stepped back into his bedroom, Sendak had gone along with his flight suit and armor, though his scent would linger against Lotor’s skin for the rest of the quintant.

Chapter Text

Sendak felt a little like he was experiencing deja vu when Lotor exited his quarters the next morning before the first schedule even started. Although, this time, instead of dressed in sparring clothes and dragging a sentry into his quarters, Lotor was wearing a flightsuit and armor, helmet under his arm. A fresh flightsuit, considering the one from the previous day was now useless except for providing extremely easy access to the Emperor’s ass.

Sendak mentally shoved down thoughts about how wet and tight Lotor’s den had been, schooling his expression into neutral ambivalence as Lotor stopped short, blinking at him. 

"Please don't tell me you spent the whole third schedule standing guard again." Lotor looked less disappointed though and more weary, as if the thought depressed him.

It was everything he could do to not react to the heady smell of himself emanating from Lotor. Some primal part of him screaming mine, mine, mine ! He wondered if Lotor was similarly struggling. Pulling himself up a little straighter, Sendak grunted. "No, I had one of my men cover several varga in the middle."

Lotor raised his eyebrows as if detecting something slightly astray. "You slept?"

"Did you?"

Lotor changed the topic. "I'm going to pay our little security risk a visit."

"You have a lead?"

The way Lotor smiled was anything but kind. Sendak felt his own bloodlust awaken at the sight, invigorating him.

"Oh, more than a lead. Walk with me.”

As they made their way to the hanger where Lotor’s personal ship was docked, Lotor told Sendak about the rogue variable— redteeth — that had appeared in the code, more a calling card than anything else.

“At first I thought it might be the name of a radical group, but I couldn’t find it in any databases of known fringe collectives or in any forums where such groups tend to congregate.

“But there’s a range of mountains, the Diadonies, that are colloquially called The Teeth on Thocehines, which happens to have high amounts of iron in its soil…”

“...that's oxidized by its oxygenated atmosphere. Red,” Sendak snorted, “It really is a calling card.”

Lotor led the way by a step into the hanger. “Or a trap, but I'd rather chase this now than wait for more intel. The sooner we get to the root of this problem, the better."

They stopped before Lotor’s fighter when Lotor threw an arm out to stop Sendak from taking another step forward. Glancing from his outstretched arm to the intensely focused look on Lotor's face, Sendak didn't find any answers. "What is it?"

Lotor’s voice was very low. "Something's not right.

Sendak stood still, feeling like a clunky, useless accessory as Lotor walked around his ship slowly, inspecting it. When he came around the other side, his ears were drawn back and flicking slightly. Sendak was unfamiliar with the expression on Lotor's face but it looked a lot like irritation.

"Someone's been tinkering with it. I'll need to pull the security footage from between when I returned yesterday to now."

Sendak was already queuing up several commands on his gauntlet, requesting the footage. "How do you know it wasn't Engineering?"

Lotor looked at him like he'd suggested they go skinny dipping in the highly acidic pools on one of Noctum’s moons. " No one maintains or repairs my ships except for me." The tips of his ears twitched again.

"Follow." Lotor led him around to the other side of the ship and pointed at a spot on its belly. "You see that bolt?"

Sendak did but he had to admit it looked like just another bolt to him. 

"Yes?" His voice came out sounding more uncertain than he liked.

"It's been replaced. It's shinier, newer; never been outside the hanger."

Sendak squinted.

"They likely lost the bolt while doing gods-know-what to my ship and had to replace it with a new one. We're very lucky they were so clumsy. Otherwise, we likely wouldn't have survived the journey to Thocehines." Lotor turned to him, a hand on his hip, managing to look smug and bitter at the same time.

Something caught Sendak’s eye against the hanger wall and without a second thought he walked past Lotor and picked it up. He opened his hand when he returned to Lotor’s side and they both gazed down at the used bolt in his palm.

"Seems your observation was correct.” He sighed. “So even after the announcement I made last quintant, we have a traitor in our midst. We can take my fighter."

“I’ll review the security footage as soon as we’re back.” Giving his ship one last disappointed look, Lotor gestured ahead to the rest of the hanger. "Lead the way."

Hesitating, Sendak pocketed the bolt. "Should we inform Engineering that they shouldn't approach the ship as a safeguard?"

A slightly manic look surfaced in Lotor’s eyes and tugged at the corners of his lips. "Oh, they know better than to approach my ship."

Sendak decided to leave it at that as Lotor trailed behind him, laughing to himself.

Sendak’s ship was larger than Lotor’s– built to transport average sized Galra, and to allow two or three of Sendak’s men to accompany him. He was sure he would have fit into the fighter with Lotor, although certainly not as comfortably.

From the moment they boarded, Lotor’s eyes wandered over the layout, the dashboard, the material of the seats… Sendak could practically see him drawing up new schematics in his head. Sitting in the pilot's seat, Sendak fired up the ship and felt the same delight he always did when the dashboard lit up and the instruments began giving readouts. No matter how old he got, it never failed to make him feel like a fresh-faced cadet.

He was dimly aware of Lotor lowering himself into the co-pilot's seat with the air of someone who fully expected it to fall apart under his weight. "This is a new model?"

"The newest. Top of the line."

Lotor made a noncommittal noise and shook his head as his eyes roved over the dash and cockpit’s window. 

"And I bet it cost a fortune to produce," he muttered.

Sendak couldn't decide if Lotor’s disdain offended or tickled him. He settled for clearing his throat as they waited for hanger control to give them clearance to take off. When he got the notification, he couldn't help the grin that sprawled across his face.

He leaned into the accelerator and opened the throttle as soon as they cleared the entrance to the hanger, aware that he was showing off just a bit. He'd witnessed Lotor’s flying skills and considered himself to be pretty adept, as well. The power coursing through the ship's systems thrummed under his claws on the console and he let the fighter fling itself relentlessly forward for a few more ticks before slowing it down to an easy cruising pace. 

He set the coordinates for Thocehines and turned to Lotor to find him looking pale and dazed. He was holding himself still as if afraid to move. 

"Are you alright?" 

“I’m fine,” Lotor said, swallowing what Sendak hoped wasn’t his breakfast supplements, “It’s just morning sickness."

He watched Lotor grip the armrests harder and stare intently at the dashboard as he breathed in a slow, controlled manner. Feeling stupid, Sendak gripped the controls more securely and guided the ship in a more lackluster manner.

They sat in silence for the next quarter of a varga, but, Sendak noticed, it wasn't uncomfortable. Lotor's posture gradually uncoiled and some of the color came back into his cheeks.

"So if we find the target…" Sendak began.

"We find out who hired him, we take his files, and we kill him," Lotor answered coolly, eyes picking out Thocehines from among the stars easily with its rusty deserts. "No prisoners, no deals."

Sendak felt like this was a side of the renegade prince he'd heard so much about and it thrilled him. He'd honestly thought most of Lotor's mythos was made up by Galra with too much time on their hands and too much imagination. Shrewd, ruthless, and entirely steady going into any situation. Like a character straight out of one of the earlier pulp holos. 

Nodding his assent, Sendak prepared the ship for landing. 

Thocehines was nearly in the Outer Ring and well outside of Galra-controlled space. It had no orbiting, landing, or take off procedures for incoming or outgoing traffic. Not that it was a planet booming with off-planet commerce or raking in tourism money. He suspected other regulatory controls were lax here, providing an easy place for a hacker to hide out.

"How do you want to go about this?"

Lotor pointed at the jagged peaks of what could only be The Teeth.

"Cruise above the mountain range but not low enough that you can be easily heard." He turned his attention to the dashboard and typed a few commands into the ship's terminal. 

A display of the range's topography popped up in red and orange representations.

Glancing at Lotor, Sendak frowned. "It might be hard to get a heat signature with the temperature."

If Lotor was insulted, he hid it well, typing a few more commands in, inverting the colors so the mountains were blue and purple. "I'm not looking for a heat signature, I'm looking for an electronic one.

He let out a soft laugh, expression predatory and eager as a singular orange rectangle glowed into existence on the screen. It turned red as they drew nearer to it. "There you are. Slow the ship and prepare to land close by in cover. I'm about to make them very mad."

Doing as instructed, Sendak still couldn't help glancing warily at the readout.

"What if it's not them?"

Lotor was busily typing new commands and flipping switches. "Well, that's unlucky for them. Anything that small putting out a signature that strong is either a comms array or a small lab."

"I don't see a comms array," Sendak said looking down at the mountains.

"Neither do I," Lotor said, activating the ship's shields and entering the location of the electronic signature into his gauntlet before entering release(payload) into the terminal.

There was no sound as the EMP device sailed down towards its target, but Sendak watched warily as the red rectangle blinked off on the screen. Grinning wide enough that his sharp incisors flashed, Lotor was nearly preening. "There's good coverage behind that outcropping."

Sendak lowered the ship down where Lotor suggested and for someone who was nauseous on the flight over, Lotor was on his feet and updating settings in his gauntlet before they fully landed.

"Did you bring your sword?"

"Absolutely not. I'd rather not get that close to someone we just royally pissed off in the dark."

" You pissed off," Sendak countered glibly, "Are you a decent shot?"

"More than decent."

Sendak stood and touched a compartment on the wall of the ship, revealing a selection of blasters and rifles. "These are quintessence-based so they won't be affected. What about your gauntlet?"

Running his fingers almost tenderly over a mid-size rifle, Lotor lifted it from the wall, hefting it experimentally, turning it side to side to familiarize himself with it. He grinned at Sendak. "Also quintessence-based. And your arm as well?"

"Yes, but not my gauntlet." Sendak took a small blaster for himself and closed the compartment. 

"We’ll have to get you an upgrade. Let's just not get separated and we should be fine."

Exiting the ship, they were hit with dry, hot air. Abrupt but not unwelcome. Though Galra had adapted to cooler climates and the on-board cooling systems of space vessels by developing more fur than scales, Sendak's blood sang out gleefully, as if reminiscing on Daibazaal without having been there. Lotor inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and turning his head up to the sun like he’d like nothing better than to bask on a sun warmed rock. Being relatively hairless, Sendak could guess how pleasant it felt to him. Meanwhile, if he stayed out in the elements too long he'd be uncomfortably warm, indeed, and cross about it.

"Let's go," he said, and they crouched and peered around the edge of the outcrop. 

The closest living things seemed to be several wide-winged creatures circling high above against the dusty mauve sky. Both Lotor and Sendak’s ears leaned forward, straining for the slightest sound of movement. Hearing nothing, Lotor flicked his gauntlet on, ensuring the safety on his rifle was engaged as he pulled up a screen on his wrist. Sendak looked over his shoulder, his wide chest nearly brushing Lotor’s back. 

“Scanning for…elemental density?” 

Lotor only hummed in assent. The screen showed a dusting of iron everywhere, with larger deposits of it around. Sendak wasn’t sure what Lotor was hoping to find, except maybe an alloy deposit that could suggest fabricated material.

Lotor snorted and flicked the display off then pointed dead ahead. “He’s smarter than I thought. The entire place is plated in iron. Which would go undetected if it wasn't almost exactly located where the electronic signature came from.”

Huffing in amusement, Sendak looked at the expanse of rock ahead of them and nodded to a small shaded alcove, too small to be a cave. "I'll bet you 500 GAC that's where the entrance is."

"Well that's not fair. That’s obviously where it is. Do you always place such easy bets ?"

Grunting and rolling his eyes, Sendak led the way over to the entrance in the rock, keeping his senses tuned to his surroundings. He could barely hear Lotor's footsteps behind him, which was good. He really was light on his feet. Even though he had to duck his head, once inside he had ample room to stand up straight. Lotor followed after him, checking over his shoulder as he went, wary of being stalked or ambushed.

Both of their eyes adjusted to the gloom almost instantaneously. The only thing inside the claustrophobic space was a large rock against the back wall. 

Lotor knocked the toe of his boot against it and it made a hollow thudding noise that made both of them look at each other. Placing his mechanical hand on it, Sendak moved it aside easily, exposing another, smaller, alcove where an iron door was set into the floor.

Adjusting his stance, Lotor nodded at Sendak who fired a blast from the palm of his prosthetic against the door, crumpling it inward. It clattered in the dark somewhere below them and then Sendak jumped in after it. Lotor followed.

Toggling the safety on his rifle off, he brushed past Sendak, eyes scanning the dark room. It smelled strongly of recently powered-down tech, of warm circuitry and silicon. The silence left by the EMP made his skin crawl. It was like being in the belly of a dead ship, so quiet the vacuum of space seems loud in comparison to the artificial stillness. 

There was the slightest noise from the back corner and Lotor fired his rifle in less than a blink of an eye.

"Oh, fuck !" A voice rang out in agony.

Barely thinking, Lotor dashed across the lab, nearly leaping over long counters of technology and wiring, and bared his teeth at the alien he'd shot in an upper arm. He gaped at Lotor, but barely started to form a word before Lotor slammed the butt of the rifle against the side of his head. Shoving his face towards the top of the long table next to them, Lotor was treated to another sound of pain and bone crunching as the alien’s nose broke. In a breath, he forcefully planted his booted foot on the base of the hacker’s neck, the muzzle of his rifle pressed against the side of his head.

Sometime during the commotion, Sendak appeared at Lotor’s side. He watched impassionately, flexing his prosthetic claw.

"Man, what the fuck ?" The hacker's eyes darted between them wildly. He sounded angry but genuinely surprised.

"Redteeth," Lotor hissed.

"What?"

Lotor dug the muzzle into his scalp.

" Red. Teeth. " This time the pronunciation of each word reminded Sendak of the rattle of a tikbal's tail before striking. 

The hacker's eyes widened with recognition, seeming to take in their armor and features for the first time. His eyes flicked from Lotor’s face to his waist and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Oh, shit . You're the Emperor. Fuck. I swear, I had no idea you were pregnant, man."

He turned beseeching eyes up to Sendak, clearly interpreting him as the dominant partner. He was looking paler by the minute. He spread all four of his clawed hands helplessly. "I swear I had no idea he was pregnant. It was just a job."

Sendak gazed at him blankly but fearsomely all the same. He wanted to make it clear Lotor was in control.

"You're going to talk," Lotor said.

"Like I said: it wasn't my idea, I was just the only one who answered the request."

"The only one stupid enough," Sendak said dryly, drawing the hacker’s wide eyes for a moment.

"By request, you mean something posted in an encrypted forum?"

Turning his attention from scowling at Sendak to Lotor warily, he shook his head as well as he could under the muzzle of the rifle. "No; I was approached directly."

"By whom?"

Suppressing a shudder like he wanted to throw up, he winced. "I can't; she'll kill me."

"And we won't?" Lotor asked, the pressure of his rifle's snout more insistent.

A shiver slipped loose from the hacker. When he spoke his voice was barely above a whisper. "Zarkon's Witch."

Sendak and Lotor exchanged a glance before Lotor hauled the hacker up by the back of his shirt. Standing, it was clear the hacker was a Unilu hybrid of some sort. While he had the willowy build and four dextrous arms of a Unilu, dark armor-like scales wrapped around his shoulders and arms, disappearing under the loose black shirt he was wearing. Smaller scales peppered his throat and followed the crests of his cheekbones and brow and two narrow horns made of a similar material rose from his temples and terminated several inches above his head in sharp points.

He was closer in height to Sendak but with the rifle now under his chin, Lotor didn't feel any ambiguity about who was in charge. "She'd do worse than kill you, trust me. Now behave or I'll pick the information I need from your lab's files and the fizzling neurons of what's left of your brain. Come on."

Lotor turned almost directly into Sendak who gave him a significant look and tilted his head. "What happened to 'no prisoners'?"

The smile Lotor graced him with was, Sendak realized– with some surprise that he could recognize the difference– a full and disarming smile reserved for public appearances and the political arena. His sharp incisors were just visible, polite but dangerous. 

“Would you disconnect the main drive for me? I’ll be able to restore the data; we don’t want to leave anything for the Witch to find.” He turned to the hacker. “Is there anything else we should be aware of? Hidden caches of data? Dead man switches? Some sort of implant that will cause you to self-destruct?”

The hacker physically recoiled from Lotor, staring down at him. “No; you’re insane.”

Sighing airly, Lotor shrugged. “It’s kept me alive so far. Now climb.”

He jutted his chin towards the ladder leading up to the rocky alcove before planting the rifle squarely between the hacker’s shoulder blades.

“And keep your arms where I can see them. Try anything and you’ll lose them one by one.”

Sendak wasted no time in collecting the main drive. He made a quick sweep of the rest of the lab, finding several other smaller drives which he collected just in case, and a thick stack of physical porno publications, most of which featured buff, well-endowed female Galra. Snorting, he returned to the ship where Lotor had managed to cuff each of their hostage’s arms separately, keeping them apart. 

“Interesting reading.” Sendak dropped one of the publications in the hacker’s lap before handing the drives to Lotor. The hacker groaned, eyes darting away from the cover. It featured a female Galra leering smugly at the camera, her well muscled arms framing her large breasts as she proudly posed with her gigantic cock in hand. ConqHERor Monthly: These Studs are Eager to Breed , the cover proclaimed. Lotor let out an uncharacteristic whistle from where he sat with his rifle still trained on the hacker.

Around them, the ship hummed to life as Sendak set a course back to Central Command.

“Oh, come on,” the hacker whined, eyes everywhere but on the hunky Galra staring up at him from his lap. “Where are we going?”

Lotor snorted. “Where all the well-endowed Galra are. Somewhere where you won’t be a threat to me, but the Witch won’t be a threat to you.”

The hacker frowned down at publication in his lap. “So you’re going to throw me in a cell to rot?

“Until I find some other use for you, yes,” Lotor smiled, “At the very least you could prove to be an enticing thing to draw the Witch out of hiding.”

“Lucky me,” he said.

Lotor wondered if he knew exactly how lucky he was. That he hadn’t already killed him, that Sendak hadn’t murdered him on sight for endangering his unborn children, that he wasn’t being left for the Witch to find outright…

“Yes.” Lotor agreed, nodding. “Lucky you.”

Chapter Text

Once they were back in Central Command and Sendak booked their hacker hostage– Stux was his name– he returned to Lotor who’d elected to remain in the hanger and review the security footage 

“Again,” he said, arms crossed, as an engineer rolled back a portion of the footage and played it. Lotor sighed, long fingers drumming his arm. “Again. Don’t you have any other angles?”

Sendak stopped short in the door to the engineering suite for the hanger where Lotor was holding court. Two dozen engineers were packed inside along the walls like freeze dried bask, all looking rather nervous. Four dozen eyes turned to Sendak, his presence not lightening the mood at all. 

“What’s going on?”

Lotor didn’t bother to hide his disappointment in his sigh, his eyes locked on the same loop of video like it might show him something new if he just kept watching. “The footage you requested of my ship: there isn’t any that’s useful. I dug through the files myself. They’re there but heavily corrupted. Apparently there aren’t any other angles of that part of the hanger, either. I will be submitting a service request.”

He glared at the engineer at the console, who visibly swallowed. 

“What happened?” Sendak asked. The Galra still looked terrified, but Sendak’s voice of command and reason seemed to help him find his voice at the very least. 

“I’m not sure, sir. I’ve never seen this sort of data corruption before. It’s practically analog.”

“Explain.”

“It’s like someone contaminated it, themselves. The contamination is similar to that of radiation, but it seems…designed,” he finished lamely.

Lotor threw his hands up and turned on his heel, marching out of the suite. Sendak stared after him, a bit stunned. Lotor wasn't impatient or rude; his reaction was a bit odd.

He's pregnant , he reminded himself, then, feeling his ears flick with some feeling he didn't care to decipher, followed Lotor. 

Pausing at the door, he turned to view the engineering team. "I'm sure the Emperor will have words with you later."

He narrowed his eyes a little just to make sure they didn't misinterpret his own words. They were in trouble, he just wasn't sure the fallout would be anywhere near as bad as it would have been if Lotor had made a decision moments ago.

Lotor hadn't gotten very far but he was walking fast, a definite swing and snap to his hips that was as appealing to Sendak's dick as it was frightening to his sense of self-preservation. Catching up, Sendak fell in step with him.

"I can't be the head engineer for every engineering team on Central Command. It’s ridiculous. I'm the best, of course, but I'm not looking for geniuses, I'm looking for competence!"

Sendak raised his brows. "You're the Emperor. These teams shouldn't need you to step—"

Lotor stopped so fast, Sendak almost had to about-face to look at Lotor. His eyes were wild, pupils dilated with pure Galran fighting instinct. Sendak realized he'd fucked up.

"And I'm very soon not going to be Emperor," Lotor hissed, “And engineering is something I can fall back on. Would you have me dull my skills from disuse?"

"No," he began slowly. From what he’d learned about Lotor, he doubted Lotor could go a day without using those skills recreationally, but that wasn’t the point. "But you shouldn't have to even be a consulting engineer…they should be competent enough to do their jobs well for the Empire."

Lotor searched his eyes, then drew a shaky breath and exhaled hotly. "Well said. My apologies, Commander."

"No, no, it's frustrating and their incompetence is putting you and your children at risk."

"Our," Lotor corrected him, but said it almost distractedly, “Maybe I should conduct a skill survey. Perhaps I didn’t vet the Engineering departments as well as I thought when I assumed the throne.”

Willing to try his luck, Sendak broached the topic gingerly. 

"It's been a long day and with all the excitement ," he said the word so drily it pulled a snort from Lotor, "You haven't slept a lot. Maybe you should take a few varga to lay down and relax?"

He could tell Lotor was mentally at war with himself; his posture stiffened and he crossed his arms loosely. 

Sendak dared to push just a little more. "If not for yourself, for your body." He lowered his gaze to Lotor’s middle. Lotor followed his gaze and his posture loosened.

“I still need to restore those drives we confiscated and I have a meeting to discuss textile trade disputes— of all things— later today.”

Sendak wanted to suggest that Lotor save restoring the drives for an extracurricular activity, but didn’t think Lotor would appreciate it. He nodded. “And those things can wait; the meeting can surely be rescheduled. What else?”

“I have to interrogate our security risk.”

“I’ll do it.”

Lotor stared at him. “The line of questioning is going to be very technical.”

“Then tell me what to ask and what I need to know to get valuable information from him.”

Scoffing, Lotor’s expression froze when he saw Sendak wasn’t laughing. “You’re joking.”

“I”m not,” Sendak said, “I’m well versed in interrogation. If I don’t know everything I’m asking or he’s answering, it doesn’t matter. I just need to know enough to ask and apply pressure. I’ll record the whole thing. Anything I can’t parse, I’ll bring to you after.”

Lotor hesitated, then frowned. "No, it would ease my mind if I was there. Can we hold off on that until tomorrow as well?"

"I don't see why not."

Lotor let out a slow breath and looked almost wilted at the tail end of it. "Then…yes, I could use some time to just…"

Sendak gave him a significant look.

Lotor sighed again. "To lay down."

“Shall I walk you to your quarters?”

Lotor let out a low laugh. “No; believe me, if anyone gets between me and my bed now there won’t be anything left of them.” His eyes softened in a way that Sendak couldn’t decide was fondness or tiredness then turned and walked away.

Left without an interrogation to perform, Sendak checked in with his second-in-command back on his own flagship. Then, hearing everything was going well, he set to work ordering and overseeing the installation of security cameras around Lotor's ship. He knew Lotor would probably go about installing them his own way; would have his own particulars regarding cameras and angles, and there was still the issue of whatever was wrong with his ship. He had it scanned several ways from several different angles, then looked over the scans as he continued to monitor the work. 

It wasn’t a bomb, that much was certain. It seemed to be an unfortunate combination of a foreign object put into the fuel storage and some components related to its stabilizers being crushed. Lotor wouldn’t be happy, but, then, Sendak hoped that seeing the scans would at least provide him some peace of mind until he could find the time to perform his own scans and make the repairs himself. Pretty soon he wouldn’t be able to…the image of Lotor lying under his ship working away with his swollen belly almost brushing the low clearance of the ship’s belly popped into his head and made his cock nearly spring to attention. Clearing his throat, he waved the thought away, feeling as simple as a hormonal youth. 

But, then, you were supposed to be attracted to pregnancy in a partner: it meant you’d provide for them and maybe even have more children. Did he want more children? The first three were barely on their way. And even if he did, there was no guarantee Lotor would want his cock inside him again even in a barrier after he gave birth. Their situation, like Lotor had said, was political. He was allowed to enjoy Lotor’s body responsibly to ensure they smelled like one another, he was allowed to admire the way Lotor’s body would change, but enjoying the idea of the Emperor on his back and heavily pregnant was a step too far. Left unchecked, that thought could become a wish, could become a desire, could become a desperate hope… And what did he have to hope for? His children would ascend the throne. He could keep Lotor as a slave to warm his bed if he really wanted. Lotor had said that was the only way to keep him. 

Did he want to keep him?

An alert beeped from his gauntlet and he frowned down at it, not knowing at first what it could be in relation to. It wasn’t for any reminders he’d set for himself, not in relation to any incoming comms… 

It was the program that tracked the heartbeats of his unborn children. Even though he’d toggled the setting for tracking Lotor’s heartbeat off, the program must have had an override for emergencies, because it was alerting him that Lotor’s heart was working very fast. Too fast.

Lotor was in danger.

Sleep came easier than it usually did and Lotor sank gratefully into it. His dreams were soft, elusive things, warm and sleepy. In them, he could feel his belly rounding out somewhere further along in the pregnancy and he pulled a large, warm hand from the dreamscape against it.

“Feel,” he said, and the hand couldn’t decide if it was Galra or human or something made of stars.

“Oh, my love,” the owner of the hand said, face and mouth and form shifting in a way that could only make sense in dreams, “You’re doing so well.” 

Sighing, feeling content in a way he didn’t know was possible, Lotor leaned his head forward to kiss them, then blinked into the darkness of his quarters as the connective tissue of his dream fell away and he realized something in his room must have woken him up.

Something stood over him in the perfect darkness.

Gasping, he went to reach for the knife he kept beside him as he slept and realized he couldn’t move at all. He couldn’t even move his tongue. His eyes still worked, and, he realized, his lungs must be working, but the rest of him was frozen.

Looming over him, now cackling in a brittle-sounding way, was one of the Witch’s Druids— the one that he’d seen lurking around Central Command. The one he’d assumed, stupidly , he thought, was harmless. The slits in its mask— or face, Lotor had never been sure— casting a sickly yellow over everything. In the light, he could see the covers had been pulled back from his bare skin.

“You just couldn’t die the easy way, could you? Don’t bother struggling,” the Druid said, watching Lotor try to strain away from the bed, “Right now a very strong paralytic is coursing through your body. It won’t shut down your lungs or hearts or organs…not fast, anyway. So you’ll get to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime sensation of a full body dissection.”

Lotor drew a shaky breath as the druid pulled out a vial of something and prepped another syringe.

“I admit the sentries were a bit of a weak attempt, but who could have guessed Commander Sendak would be so eager to keep you alive? The ship would have taken care of you and him. If he’s so tightly stuffed into your ylden that he’ll follow you anywhere, he’s no use to her , either.

“Perhaps without you spreading your legs to distract him, he’ll kill Ranevig in the next Kral Zera and serve my Mistress better. She has such plans. If you were half as accommodating and obedient in politics as you are in bed, you’d live to see them. My, your heart’s racing…let’s fix that.”

Lotor groaned as the Druid plunged the syringe into his arm and emptied its contents inside of him. He could feel his heart slowing even as he panted, then even that seemed to go away: the panic. The dread was still very much there, but he couldn’t do anything about that now, either.

“Like that?” Lotor had never heard a Druid speak so much, “It’s a special cocktail to guarantee your heart won’t race you to an earlier death and that your panic doesn’t blur a moment of this for you. You have the opportunity to be fully aware of every cut I’m going to make into your body and I want you to experience it without the ability to do anything about it. Now, where was I?”

The Druid pulled a knife out of its robes seemingly from nowhere and it ran a gloved hand down his stomach. “I think I’m going to start by cutting your cubs out. Then I’ll rip your intestines out through that slick gash between your legs and finish by ruining that pretty face of yours…”

Lotor tried to snarl as the knife’s edge kissed his skin, mentally urging himself to move, to roar, to roll out of the way, anything…but it was no use. The paralytic was too strong and the other medications ensured his body didn’t see the urgency in doing so. 

Just as the Druid made the first cut, the front door to his quarters was blown inward, letting scant light into the bedroom.

“Lotor!” It was Commander Sendak. All Lotor could do was let out an exhale he knew he wouldn’t hear.

But all the overhead lights began coming on and the sound of several pairs of booted feet echoed through Lotor’s apartments, making their way back to the bedroom. Somehow, miraculously, Sendak hadn’t come alone.

Knowing it was outnumbered and frustrated, the Druid hissed, then switched its grip on the knife so that it could plunge it straight down into Lotor’s stomach.

Blaster fire cut through the Druid and it shrieked, dropping the knife and exploding everywhere, its empty cloak sinking to the floor. 

Sendak rushed to his side and Lotor saw the Druid hadn’t exploded, so much as turned into a million insects: some scuttling along the floor and bed, some wriggling, all looking for an escape. Lotor stared as several writhed towards the shallow cut the Druid had made in his stomach, but Sendak’s large hand brushed them away even as he gathered Lotor in his arms.

“Don’t let them escape!” He shouted to his men, who, confused but ever obedient, saw the insects on the floor and started stomping as many as they could under their feet. 

Sendak looked Lotor over. His hand went to the cut first, but saw immediately it wasn’t life-threatening. His organic eye widened, though, as he felt the leaden weight of Lotor’s body and watched Lotor’s eyes dart over his face.

“Lotor?” His hackles rose as Lotor tried in vain to make more than a weak sound.

“Commander, sir,” one of his men held a vial up from the other side of the bed where it had fallen.

Bundling Lotor in the fallen sheet from the bed and pulling him more securely against him, Sendak started for the hallway, calling over his shoulder to his men. 

“Contact the medbay and let them know we’re on our way.” 

Lotor lay frozen in Sendak’s arms as Sendak carried him down the corridor, unable to do anything more than note that in addition to the worry creasing Sendak’s brow, there seemed to be something sad lingering at the corners of his determined frown.

And Lotor didn’t know what to think of that.

Chapter Text

The paralytic, it turned out, was made from a poisonous plant native to the forests of Olkarion.

“It’s pretty rare,” the doctor informed Sendak, “You’d be hard-pressed to find an antidote outside of Central Command. We only have it because of the Empire’s involvement there centuries ago.”

Sendak nodded, still stunned by what he’d seen. 

Now that they’d reversed the paralytic and Lotor was no longer in danger of his body shutting down, and they’d confirmed the babies— still so small and nearly formless— were unharmed, Sendak was trying to figure out the next step. So the Witch had been part of it all along. She’d hired Stux to write the corruption in Lotor’s sentries, her Druid had likely been the one the to tamper with Lotor’s ship, and now that it had physically assaulted Lotor it was scattered across Central Command as a million little insects. He’d already given an order to bomb the entire ship for bugs. He didn’t explain why: sometimes it was best for those given orders to draw their own conclusions. Maybe a foreign insect known for nesting in servers had gotten into the ship. Maybe there was a case of lice. Maybe Sendak was just fastidious. Let them wonder, so long as they did it. It wouldn’t impact any personnel or their work since it was nontoxic to everything but insects.

If it had fled, good. If it was on Central Command and showed its face, Sendak would pull it back into tiny pieces that couldn’t get away from him.

The concoction of drugs that made Lotor’s heart beat slowly and made him eerily calm were still in his system, but the doctor had ruled them harmless. Besides, there was nothing he could do about it. Lotor laid back against the bed’s pillows, half propped up, looking very tired and slightly pale. He looked incredibly small in the hospital gown and the sight only served to remind Sendak of his time in the medbay with Lotor when he first arrived at Central Command only a few days prior. He'd been convinced Lotor was trying to fool him, use him. Had his feelings towards Lotor changed so quickly? It seemed Lotor’s own attitude towards him had changed— at least he wasn't out for blood at the sight of him. Instead, he seemed pleased to show Sendak his plans, include him. It was a symbiotic sort of relationship.

Lotor's ears drooped. He definitely wasn’t feeling fantastic. 

He moved an arm slowly towards the bedside tray where a glass of water waited for him, but he had trouble finding the right angle to move his hand to grab it, so Sendak placed it in his hands for him and helped him raise it to his lips. 

“Thank you,” he said slowly after he had drank, watching Sendak place it back on the tray. “You saved me.”

Sendak didn’t like the prickly, warm feeling in his chest. 

“I wouldn't have even known you were in danger if the implant didn't have an emergency threshold for your vitals." He nodded at Lotor’s middle and Lotor's expression turned icy.

"Well, then, it seems violating my bodily autonomy was the right call." He turned a glare as sharp as a shard of glass on Sendak and Sendak felt his ears go back, before the Galran part of him that didn't like being backed into a corner flared up inside of him and he spoke in a low, warning growl.

“I am Usurper; it's my right to ensure my children's survival by any means necessary .”

Lotor also didn't like being backed into a corner and his own ears pinned back, both sets of canines flashing dangerously in the medbay's slightly-brighter lighting as he hissed. “If you'd just showed up on time for the Kral Zera and killed me in combat, we wouldn't be having this conversation!”

“If you'd killed me instead of sparing me when you had the chance after, we wouldn't be having this conversation!”

“If you hadn't fucked me —” Lotor snapped, each word venomous.

“If you hadn't wanted it …”

They held one another's gaze, sizing each other up, for a long moment. Nostrils flaring, Sendak turned his head away with a slight grimace. So much for a symbiotic relationship. It wasn't a good thing to snarl at the bearer of one's brood but, well, Lotor was infuriating. Besides, their situation was special and nontraditional. Sendak thought any other Galra in his situation would have lost their patience with him long before now. 

The doctor leaned his head into view of one of the see-through walls of the room in what Sendak had to imagine was an attempt at being subtle, then pulled quickly back out of view. Yes, there was no blood or hackles raised or claws extended, but still…fighting with the Emperor while he was pregnant with his brood was not a good look. It had to at least appear that if anyone laid so much as a malicious gaze upon Lotor he'd rip their throats out, not be the one to rip Lotor’s throat out himself. He cleared his throat, glaring at the clear wall as if daring the doctor to make a reappearance.

“Where will you sleep tonight?”

“I was thinking of spending the night here,” Lotor sniffed, examining his claws.

“You're kidding.”

Lotor made a show— albeit a sluggish one— of settling back into the hospital bed's pillows and folding his hands over his ribs. “Do you have a better idea?”

“I do.”

Lotor waited, brows raised over a bland expression, looking disinterested and unimpressed. If they were mates Sendak would have felt a flush of shame from such a disdainful reaction, but they weren't and instead he bit back the annoyance he felt.

“Spend the night in my quarters. You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch.”

To his great insult, Lotor's eyes cut across him and he laughed. “I think not.”

“Fine then,” Sendak growled low so the doctor wouldn't eavesdrop more than he already was, “But I'm not spending my night sitting at your bedside. What if the Druid comes back? What's to keep it from ripping the doctor up, too? With that concoction in your system you're in no state to fight, either. Your heart rate won't rise above a resting rate; you won't be able to get your blood to pump fast enough to serve your body. What will you do, talk it to death?”

Lotor opened his mouth to argue but Sendak laid his flesh hand against Lotor's chest, tapping his fingers against Lotor's ribcage in time with his heartbeat for several moments.

“Alright, you've made your point,” Lotor frowned, brushing Sendak’s hand away. He turned his head towards where they both knew the doctor was lurking. “Doctor, I'll be retiring to Commander Sendak’s quarters. Am I clear to go?”

Sendak had his Lieutenant Commander, Varek, retrieve Lotor’s gauntlet and a day's worth of clothes. 

It was a little strange bringing the Emperor into his quarters, though they were virtually the same aside from being smaller in size and the fact that his quarters were a bit more decorated than Lotor’s. 

There were accolades and commendations for his service to the Empire displayed on bookshelves set into the walls and a small family altar to his parents where a miniature eternal flame burned night and day. He didn’t leave food or drink like some people did for their ancestral altars, but his greatest awards from his military service were laid there— he knew they’d be proud. The books on the bookshelves were digital copies of ancient military texts that ranged from from the journals of long-dead generals to military strategy and theory, as well as a few classic Galran novels, and a handful of pulpy adventure tales that had hooked his imagination as a youth. As silly as they were, they’d shown him the possibility of moving forward away from the destruction of Daibazaal towards a future that could be as interesting as it was fun and worthwhile. The walls of his room displayed a few vintage star charts: some of his favorite possessions. Several were so old entire planets' names were incorrect or featured outdated trade routes. One was so old it didn't name some of the prominent stars and planets because they hadn't been discovered by Daibazaal off-planet explorers yet. 

He noticed Lotor staring at one, his eyes tracing across it slowly. He was wearing a loose shirt and pants Varek brought him, looking less like a ghost out of his hospital gown but not by much.

"Would you like to freshen up?”

Lotor turned to him. Galra could be particular about their bedding, especially if they were military. Some Galra wouldn’t imagine crawling into bed without showering first. Lotor's eyes held a cool challenge. “Would you prefer me to?”

Not in the mood to argue, Sendak felt his jaw tighten. He didn't mind, but he didn't appreciate the attitude. “No, you're tired. Make yourself at home.”

A sliver of a smile curled Lotor’s mouth and Sendak knew he'd lost. He watched as Lotor stepped over to the bed, peeled back the blankets, and got beneath them, settling in the middle of the bed.

Sighing more to get himself in check than anything else, Sendak stepped past the bed towards the bathroom. “I'm going to wash up; I’ll be done in a few doboshes. Call out if you need anything.”

He hoped Lotor wouldn’t need anything.

He took his time showering, wanting to put as much space between him and Lotor as possible while he was feeling short with him. The warmth of the water helped ease a lot of his tension away, but he was still frustrated. It was his right to ensure his children and the bearer of them were safe. So what if Lotor was uncomfortable with his body being of personal interest to Sendak? He himself had admitted he knew and understood the rules of Usurper. If he was a little less foolish and cared more about his body than he did, Sendak wouldn't have to resort to such clinical methods. But he was reckless, he ran towards danger and away from safety, he forgot to eat for days on end, he pushed himself to exhaustion, treating his body like a known quantity instead of listening to its needs. Of course Sendak was upset; he couldn't think of a worse candidate to bear his children in that regard. In all other regards, well…

Sendak stepped out underneath the dryer as soon as he finished, letting it do all the work as he spent a few doboshes making sure he was well groomed. He knew he was extremely handsome, striking even, but a single tuft of hair that was too long or curling the wrong way could make even the best looking Galra appear sloppy or slapdash.

Lotor was certainly not conventionally attractive by Galra standards, but he'd been slightly right when he'd accused Sendak of having a fetish. Lotor was exactly Sendak’s type, which made his attitude all the more vexing. He was beautiful . He was long limbed and slender. His skin was silken beneath Sendak's claws, his hair like starlight, his features extreme and noble all at once. Striking was the word, Sendak thought, slipping on a pair of boxer briefs. Beyond that, he was horrifyingly intelligent and his resourcefulness, piloting abilities, and swordsmanship were legendary and respected even among his detractors. He was a lot in a little package and he was also foolish and haughty and stubborn…

And he felt so good around Sendak’s cock, beneath him, relaxed and on his best behavior.

Sendak caught his gaze in the mirror over the sink and shook his head at himself. “Get ahold of yourself.”

Slipping a gray athletic fit shirt over his head, he took a final look at himself and took a deep breath, giving himself one more warning glance before he slipped back out into the bedroom.

He stopped short when he saw Lotor had moved to the very far edge of the bed, only his head poking out from under the covers, his long hair braided back and swept over one shoulder to keep it neat in his sleep. He looked small. Very small, and something lurched in Sendak's chest.

Ignoring it, Sendak started to step past the bed to the adjoining room where he could sleep on the couch and keep one eye on the door and one on the bed, when Lotor shifted and opened his eyes. 

“Commander?”

“I was going to sleep on the couch,” he said.

Lotor opened his mouth to speak, then looked troubled, frowning, the tips of his ears twitching. He wouldn't meet Sendak’s eyes. “I… It's not right I take your bed; there's plenty of room if you…”

That explained why he was curled up all the way in the corner of the bed, taking up as little space as possible. 

“Only if you want,” he continued, “I’m just…I think…” He shifted slightly, frowning down at the covers and the way he trembled when he drew a slow breath didn’t escape him.

“The solution the Druid gave you is wearing off?” Sendak surmised. 

Lotor nodded. “Yes, I…couldn't panic with it in my system, and now that it's starting to fade, I'm…”

His eyes were wide in the dim lighting, pupils blown wide, breath coming in soft but audible puffs. 

Sendak sat on the bed, cutting whatever Lotor was going to say short. He couldn't imagine the ability to feel an adrenaline spike being chemically taken away from him and he had to imagine the feeling coming back wouldn't be pleasant.

Letting out a breath, he uncoupled his prosthetic, set it aside, and pulled back the covers for himself. He settled against the pillows on his back. “Is this okay or would you prefer I face away from you?”

Lotor stared at him, eyes still round. “Whatever you want.”

Sendak nodded, shifting a little to pull a second pillow behind his head and was treated to the sound of Lotor letting out an almost relieved sigh, and glanced over in time to see him nuzzling his face into the blankets, eyes shut.

They laid in the low lighting in silence. Sendak stared at the ceiling for a long time before he felt the tug of sleep, thoughts a tangled ball of conflicting thoughts. He was on the cusp of sleep when Lotor whispered.

“Thank you.”

Sendak woke up feeling more well rested than he could remember feeling in recent history. He’d slept the kind of sleep that rumpled fur and made one drool slightly in their sleep. Deep, relaxed, rejuvenating. 

He noticed the bed was empty the same moment that Lotor came back into the room, dressed in sparring clothes. His hair was bundled high on his head and he had a manic edge to his smile that Sendak recognized in himself when he’d had a satisfying training session: healthy Galran bloodlust. His cock stirred to life and he carefully sat up, holding himself in a way that wouldn’t allow the sheets to draw attention to it as he willed his arousal away. 

“You were out?”

“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Lotor said, brushing past the bed with an aloofness Sendak didn't appreciate, his head held just a little too high.

“I'm sure not,” he grumbled, all charitable thoughts he'd had the night before souring. He rubbed his organic eye with the palm of his flesh hand, “What happened to wanting my protection last night? Or was that just a pitiful attempt at getting me to stick my cock inside you again?”

It was obviously the wrong thing to say. Lotor was in the middle of making a cup of instant caf for himself and froze, claws shrieking against the sides of the cup as he gripped it. His face was a thunderstorm as he turned slowly to look at Sendak. “Yes. After a third assassination attempt— that was horrifying, mind you— I affected vulnerability to deceive you into joining me in your own bed all so you could fuck me. Because that's what I am, Sendak, through and through: a cock ravenous ylchappe .”

He made his way towards the bed slowly as he spoke and his keen eyes fell to Sendak's lap.

“At least, that's what some small part of you wants.”

Snarling, Sendak tugged the comforter over his hips. Despite the insult to his virility, the fight wasn't helping quell his arousal at all . “At the very least you're an idiot for going off on your own this morning.”

Lotor let out a low laugh. “Why? You've got a tracker in me; there's nowhere I can go you won't know about. I could spread my legs for someone else and you'd be able to tell from all the fucking biometric data you could pull from me.”

Sendak didn't relish the idea of Lotor on his back beneath someone else and somehow that realization made him angrier. He glared at the back of Lotor’s head as he went back to preparing a cup of caf.

“Like last night when I knew where you were but not if I could get there fast enough?”

“Last night I was caught off guard. I was asleep. This morning, I had a weapon in hand.”

He said it as if it was simple. As if he was bored with the conversation. Turning, he took a sip of caf, pointedly ignoring Sendak in that snooty, aloof way Sendak knew was put on. The spoiled prince act didn’t suit him.

“It was rash.”

“You know,” Lotor said, voice acrid, “I'm still Emperor. This is my Empire and my command station and my body, despite growing your parasites inside it.”

Sendak’s eye narrowed. “ Our .”

Lotor ignored him. “This is all about control with you. And while it's been fun to play along and pretend, I'm bored of playing.”

Somehow the word pretend stung more than it should have. Sendak frowned. 

“I refuse to be a prisoner in my own body among my own people for the next eight months. If I die, you'll triumph in the Kral Zera and you know it. Better yet,” he said, stepping into Sendak’s space, “You could kill me right now. No ruling through association with your children, no waiting, no dealing with the idiotic whims and lusts of your whore Emperor…”

Setting his cup down, he crawled into Sendak’s lap, baring his teeth as he shoved Sendak back against the mattress.

“Go on,” he hissed, fitting Sendak’s organic hand around his throat, breathing hard through his teeth, “You'll only need one hand… Isn't this what you want?”

What Sendak wanted was for Lotor to shut up. For one insane moment, he thought about pulling Lotor down by the throat and kissing him to make him stop talking. He grunted, but didn't move his hand. “You're not thinking right; your bloodlust is up.”

“So is yours,” Lotor sneered, brushing a knee none-too-gently against Sendak’s erect cock.

They stared at one another, daring the other to move first. Finally, Sendak tensed his fingers around the graceful column of Lotor’s throat, pressing his thumb against Lotor's pulse, feeling it pummel against it like it was something alive trying to get out. He tightened his fingers. Lotor gazed down at him stoically for several long moments, then gasped breathlessly, one hand going to Sendak's, fingertips brushing his knuckles slowly, then turning to claws, starting to panic as it happened naturally in anything that wanted to live.

Rolling to the side, Sendak brought Lotor with him and dropped him onto the bed beside him before releasing his hold. Lotor gasped, his face hidden beneath a mess of hair. Growling low in his throat, Sendak got up and stalked to his wardrobe.

“Don’t try that stunt with me again,” he said flatly. That, of all things, killed his arousal. 

He didn't like the emptiness in Lotor’s expression as he sat up on the bed so he looked away, paying a close sort of attention to the clasps of his armor that he didn't need to. When he glanced back up, Lotor was back to sipping his caf, arms crossed, looking pensive but more or less like himself.

“I want to interrogate Stux this morning.”

Sendak grunted, fastening armor around his forearm. “Do you need me there?”

“I’d like you there,” Lotor said. “He knows better than to fuck with either of us if the other’s there. Besides, you do cut an imposing image.”

The way Lotor’s eyes flicked down Sendak’s body made Sendak feel on fire, though after having Lotor’s throat in his hand, he didn't appreciate feeling that way. "You're wearing that?"

Lotor made a humming noise, looking down at his sparring clothes. They brought an inordinate amount of attention to Lotor’s slender form while hugging every slight curve much like a flight suit. "He's already seen me in a flight suit and armor; royal regalia isn't likely to impress him. At worst, it'll soften me too much in his mind. This will remind him that I know damn well how to fight and that yesterday wasn't a fluke. He might also think I'm less likely to follow protocol."

Lotor grinned broadly enough to show off the incisors in the top and bottom rows of his teeth as Sendak stepped into view wearing his standard armor and reattached his prosthetic. 

"Let's go say good morning."

Stux looked up from where he sat at the table in the interrogation chamber he'd been moved to as Lotor entered. Sendak was right behind him.

"You know," Stux drawled, but Sendak saw the way his eyes darted across Lotor's athletic wear with some confusion and concern, "These cuffs could use an upgrade."

Lotor took the seat across from him while Sendak remained standing, organic eye cool as he gazed down at the Unilu. 

"Really? Should I be worried you'll break out of them and fight us barehanded?"

Stux's eyes crawled warily up Sendak's form. "No."

"Then an upgrade isn't my chief concern," Lotor grinned. He leaned his chin in his palm, staring at Stux silently until Stux shifted in his seat slightly, uncomfortable. "Last night there was another attempt on my life. A Druid got into my chambers and administered a paralytic to me while I slept. I woke up to it standing over my bed, knife in hand, preparing to vivisect me alive."

Stux paled. "I didn't have anything to do with—"

"Oh, I know. They didn't need you to get past my chamber's digital security. You know what doesn't trip the current security parameters?"

Stux was frowning, something in his expression open, though, curious despite himself.

"Insects," Lotor said, "A million upon million."

Stux recoiled.

Lotor continued. "For a long time I've wondered what aliens followed after the Witch in those robes and committed themselves to her. But they're not individuals like us, they're things, tiny bits and pieces she can control and move and make talk. Puppets.

"I'm afraid it got away. Right now it's back in its billions of skittering pieces somewhere in the vents and ducts of this ship waiting to regroup and strike again."

He couldn’t have known that for sure, but it was a nice touch.

Lotor looked idly up at a vent in the room. Stux’s eyes followed his, wide. 

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Lotor turned his attention back to Stux. "Which tells me something you'll be very interested to hear."

"What?" A set of Stux's hands twisted in their cuffs. He used the thumbnail of one hand to pick at the nail of his pointer fingers on the same hand.

Sliding his hands across the top of the table, Lotor leaned forward, nearly laying on top of the table as he got in Stux's face and looked almost gleeful, eyes frightfully wide. "The Witch knows you failed."

The room filled with the terrible sound of the chair heavily scraping back a few inches as Stux reared away from Lotor’s unblinking eyes.

"I don't think she'll be pleased, do you? And I imagine you're an easier target than I am. No one really cares what happens to you so long as you stay in your cell…"

He watched Stux's eyes go to a ceiling mounted camera in the corner and smirked. 

"Oh, there are cameras, sure, and they're recording, but how do you know anyone's actually watching? 

"Security is very important to you; I saw the care you put into hiding your lab, and right now security is especially personal for you…

"I'm going to ask you some questions and if I like your answers, I'll make sure you're as well protected from the Witch as I am. All that to say, of course, I'll need to start developing a patch for a myriad of security measures to detect and deflect insects. It could take a while."

Stux nearly rammed his chest into the table as he leaned forward eager and desperate. "Let me help you."

Lotor looked him over, humming. "I know you're a very talented developer, but I just don't trust you. You did, afterall, do the same thing to try to kill me: altered my security protocols."

Stux stammered. "It was just a job…"

"Have you done assassination jobs before?" Lotor crossed one long, lean leg over his knee, leaning back in his chair like he was interviewing Stux for a job.

“No?” Stux's eyes bounced between Lotor's bemused expression and Sendak’s unblinking one. It was clear just how thrown he was by the slight shift in Lotor’s demeanor. “I mean, maybe? I dunno, I just take the jobs that look interesting.”

Lotor hummed. “And pay well.”

“Well, yeah. I mean, it's all illegal though, so even if other jobs were assassinations— that I didn't know about,” he clarified, “ —why would the distinction matter?”

Lotor grinned, keeping his eyes locked on Stux's. “I dunno. Commander, why would that matter?”

Despite the rough morning, Sendak was taking some delight in being included in the tag team interrogation. “Other empires might be very interested in knowing we have you in our care. Other empires that might have harsher, even cruelest penalties and punishments for being involved in an assassination or an attempted one. 

“The Galra Empire would sentence you to hard labor for a while, there would be a trial, and at worst you'd receive the death penalty. Some empires believe in extending a prisoner's life and sentence artificially by centuries if it means extracting the same amount of agony from them every new day they live.”

Stux laughed. “Yeah, sure.”

“No, really,” Sendak said mildly, “Have you heard of the Druze?”

Stux let out a half laugh, then froze, looking between Sendak and Lotor. 

“They're a small empire, but very scientifically advanced,” Lotor said, nodding, “And they love experimentation.”

“Wait wait wait wait wait,” Stux said, holding up both pairs of hands, “H…how would they even know if I was involved?”

Lotor and Sendak looked at one another as if exchanging unspoken information. Lotor turned back to Stux. “Well, we have your signature. We know what your work looks like. You know as well as I that when a system fails— catastrophically fails— or is suspiciously linked to a loss of life…records are kept usually until it's solved. It would just be a matter of retrieving logs and corrupted program files and looking for your call signs.”

He turned to Sendak as if looking for input. “So much more if it was in relation to the death of an important political figure, right Commander?”

“Especially so,” Sendak said grimly.

Stux stammered for a moment. “But…you'd want to put me on trial and punish me for trying to assassinate you , right? The Galra Empire wouldn't pass up the chance to punish me… that's, like, the Galra Empire's whole thing, right? You caught me, you got me! Finders keepers, all that?”

Neither Sendak or Lotor bothered to correct Stux about the Empire’s new model of conducting itself.

The look Lotor fixed on Stux was almost pitying. “We may not have a choice. It depends on a myriad of things: intergalactic law…individual empire law…statutes of limitations…”

“...whether an empire is willing to threaten the Galra Empire to get their hands on you…” Sendak added, tagging in.

“Quite right,” Lotor nodded, “Besides, sometimes prisoner trades can be very lucrative for an empire…we could trade you for a new trade agreement, a peace treaty, exclusive mining rights…the list goes on and on. All over your very alive and very punishable body.”

All the color had drained from Stux's face. 

Very slowly, Lotor smiled, eyes crinkling. It was an unnatural one on his face and made him look like a poor impersonation of himself. Uncanny. 

“Unless,” he said.

Stux was breathless, eyes bugging out of his head. “Unless?”

Lotor spread his hands out palm down on the table. “You repay me with a life debt. Pledge yourself to me and this Empire and help me fortify our security protocols. It's a life debt, so you'll be protected, fed, housed, clothed, but you won't be paid. If I see a single line— no, a single bracket— out of place in your code, I will hunt you down and kill you very slowly myself.”

Stux was frozen.

Smiling almost sweetly, Lotor leaned towards him, dropping his voice like he was sharing a secret. “I’ll take my time and enjoy every little misery I give you as I guide you towards death. And then I’ll eat your flesh to nurture the life growing inside of me. Did you know pregnant Galra crave raw meat? The craving will only get worse as the pregnancy progresses, so I wouldn’t want to make an enemy of me. I highly recommend you don’t.”

He leaned back, eyes cutting into Stux like he was mentally separating cuts of meat and maybe he was. Sendak almost felt bad for the Unilu. He was stiff, something between fear and revulsion warring on his face. Never mind that Lotor wasn’t craving raw meat this early in the pregnancy or that Galra would never eat another sentient species, their reputation was so fearsome Sendak wouldn’t have been surprised if Stux fully believed him. As it was, he looked like he was considering the possibility.

“Well?” Lotor hummed, “Do we have a deal?”

“Don’t know that I have much of a choice,” Stux muttered.

Lotor laughed at him and Sendak did feel bad for Stux. 

“Oh, you do! You could always rot in this cell or be bargained away for your crimes against other empires. It’s your choice,” Lotor shrugged like he was doing Stux a favor.

Stux slumped in his chair. “When do we start?”

“That went well,” Lotor said, looking very pleased with himself, once they’d left the brig, “Don't you think?”

Sendak wasn’t so sure. “How do you know he won’t just use the access you give him to the security protocols to try again?”

Lotor smiled and it was a cruel one. “Oh, I don’t trust him at all. He’ll only think he has access. He’ll have to earn the actual access. I’ll have him wrapped in so many layers of security and observation he won’t know what’s real and what’s him being paranoid.”

It sounded like a complex nightmare for both Stux to navigate and for Lotor to orchestrate to Sendak, but he’d heard of how paranoid Lotor was and he knew if anyone knew what they were doing when it came to outsmarting Stux it would be him. 

“Let me guess: your contingency plans have contingency plans?”

“And then some,” Lotor said, smiling that sharp, dangerous smile that included him in its secrets, “But first I’ll give him a night or two to worry about the consequences of crossing the Galra Empire and the possibility of the Druid finding him. Then, when he’s nice and jumpy, I’ll start him slow.”

Sendak froze. Lotor always had a backup plan, so how…? The words were coming out of his mouth before he could even decide if it was a good idea to voice them. “Why wasn’t there a contingency plan for this?”

“For— Pardon?” Lotor stopped and blinked over his shoulder at Sendak.

Sendak spread his arms and realization slowly dawned on Lotor’s face before he scowled. “How was I to know anyone would claim a millennia-old practice after the flame was lit?”

“No,” Sendak said, gesturing to Lotor’s body, “Even if you didn’t think you could get pregnant, why would you of all beings leave that up to chance? You strike me as the type to be on two or three forms of birth control.”

To his surprise, Lotor looked away, frowning. “You’re right, I was.”

Sendak didn’t know how to respond to that.

Straightening up, Lotor tried to look nonchalant but he still wouldn’t meet Sendak’s eyes. “When I was exiled it became impossible to get my hands on the ones I’d used all my life. I could have tried others, I’m sure, but the ones made for me by the Empire’s doctors were formulated to not only work with my unique Altean and Galran genetics, but also to avoid exacerbating any of my other medical concerns.”

Sendak grunted. He’d heard Lotor had been quite sickly growing up. He wondered what type of medical concerns he still dealt with, if any.

“I didn’t want to risk it,” Lotor continued, “But nothing happened after running out of them and I thought maybe I never needed them at all. Maybe I was infertile but the Galran doctors and my father couldn’t bear the thought of me bringing some ghastly new type of halfbreed into the universe. That it was a way of…culling my kind.”

My kind . Something flickered hot under Sendak’s skin and he felt his jaw tighten. That anyone would subject the Emperor’s son to that…Lotor to that… That it would be the Emperor himself… But he believed it through and through. Towards the end, especially, Zarkon had hated Lotor openly. Who knows how long such spite had existed behind closed doors? He turned a growl into another grunt, feeling stupid, knowing his anger over it wouldn’t do anything to erase the harm already done.

There was a faraway look in Lotor’s eyes. “And then the Paladins took me prisoner. Alone in that too-bright, too-cold, too-exposed cell I began aching.” His voice got soft. “And then spotting. And then I was bleeding freely as they questioned me again and again and wrinkled their nose at the smell. But I still thought…maybe it meant nothing. Maybe it was my body trying to return to a state of fertility it had never truly been in. Maybe even if I could bleed, years of being on those pills had destroyed other parts of the process and that it was impossible for me to conceive.”

“I’m sorry,” Sendak breathed. Because what else could he say?

Lotor finally met his eyes. “Don’t be. I don’t know how I feel about it yet, but I suppose I have eight months to find out.”

It was still early in the pregnancy, but they both knew if Lotor terminated the pregnancy, the price for breaking the Right of Usurper was death. And although Sendak knew he could agree with Lotor’s decision to terminate the pregnancy, he also knew he’d be the laughingstock of the Empire. Their own people would hunt them down and kill them, culling the weak as it were. There was no place in politics for soft sentiment. Besides— and he hated himself for it— he didn’t want to give up the right. He was so close to the throne, to glory…and Lotor’s body was biologically designed for it. He could withstand bearing their children and then, if he really destested it, he could leave it all behind. The throne, the children, him… 

Not that he even figured into the equation in Lotor’s head. And why should he?

Lotor was smiling palely at him and Sendak felt his stomach lurch. “Don’t worry, per the rules of the Right of Usurper I will carry them to term. Although, if you really do want to keep me as a slave after, you might just have to chase me, Commander.”

Sendak knew it was an attempt at teasing him, knew it was supposed to lighten the conversation and give them an easy way out of it, but his eyes were drawn to Lotor's stomach. He'd glanced at it enough over the past few days to know the way it looked when Lotor sat, stood, laid down. Right now Lotor was standing up straight, his posture excellent, his toned stomach tight and flat…only, it wasn't flat. Not entirely. The very top of it where it began beneath his ribs was rounded…just slightly, like he'd indulged in a large and satisfying meal. No one else would have noticed, but he did. Of course he did. 

His stomach lurched anew and his chest felt too tight. He felt too hot. 

Lotor was beginning to show.

Chapter Text

Feyiv was a strange place to visit outside of the Kral Zera. The entire planet was desolate, rocky, and was home to no native, sentient species. It also didn't experience a natural day cycle, so it was always cast in darkness, and the Galran Flame always shone brightly. So brightly, in fact, that it could be seen from orbit.

The only known inhabitant of the planet was the Archivist. He'd been the Archivist for millenia. Some joked he was old enough that he knew the gods. Sendak didn’t believe that, but if anyone knew about Galra rituals and laws and customs it was him. He’d lived through several emperors. He’d seen practices come and go, and if anyone could help Sendak it was him. Besides, there was no one for him to share whatever Sendak confided in him with. Supply ships visited, of course, but if anyone in the universe was known to be a bit chummy with the Archivist, Sendak hadn’t heard of it.

He set his ship down not far from the Stairs of Destiny and when he exited down the landing ramp, he couldn’t help but stare at the Eternal Flame. Even now, it made his heart ache with pride for the Empire, for his people. He would have been a fool to say that watching Lotor light it hadn’t been exhilarating. To see it lit, burning eternal before the universe as it had for thousands and ten thousands of years…it was a testament to their survival as a people and the strength they wielded like a hammer. How often had the universe try to snuff them out and yet here they were, stronger than ever, fearsome, unstoppable.

Of course, maybe Lotor had some strange ideas about how to rule the Empire, and maybe it was a less aggressive approach to ruling than his father had, but it wasn’t bad. He knew there was always fear of an energy crisis, but he’d been peeking at the reports on quintessence mining since he’d taken the throne only movements ago, and his methods…strange as they were…seemed to be remarkably effective.

Tearing his eyes away from the flame, he turned his attention to the base of the Stairs. There were small archways leading inside the base and Sendak knew it must be where the Archivist stayed, so he entered one tentatively, sniffing the air and listening. He thought he could smell smoke and maybe charred meat very faintly, but he couldn’t hear anything. 

Quelling the feeling that he was stepping into an elaborate tomb, Sendak ventured further inside, annoyed but not entirely surprised when he realized the hallway forked and kept forking off. A maze, then. Not a fan of puzzles on a good day, he made a grumbling sound and rounded several turns only to end up where he started. He cursed, then went the opposite direction of where he’d gone before.

“You'd better be here, old man,” Sendak muttered under his breath.

He wasn't one to startle easily, but when a voice came from his right side, he nearly jumped into the wall, nerves firing warning signals like celebratory crackers.

“I always am,” the Archivist said from nearly directly behind Sendak’s right elbow. If he'd noticed Sendak’s startled reaction, he didn't let on which Sendak appreciated. “It's good to see you, Usurper Commander Sendak, although you'll forgive me for assuming this isn't a pleasure trip for you. I don't get many visitors, which I'm grateful for, but those that do return here outside of the Kral Zera usually do so for a history lesson.”

He peered up at Sendak with an intensity that made Sendak feel his armor was useless. 

“You don't strike me as a Galra who would go out of his way across the galaxy solely for a history lesson.”

Unsure if he should feel insulted or not, Sendak frowned. “I have questions.”

The Archivist nodded as if that put everything in perspective for him. Turning, he went back the direction Sendak had just come from, but after several more turns, Sendak realized it was a completely new part of the maze and that it would have taken him too long to figure out the correct path. 

He followed the Archivist closely. He was old, Sendak realized, but not frail. He was small but all lean muscle. His back wasn't even crooked. 

The tunnels began dipping down flights of stairs as they turned and Sendak wondered how far underground they went. After a few minutes, the walls grew lighter until the the tunnel opened up into a large room with a vaulted ceiling, all of it decorated in ancient carvings and tapestries. A mosaic of two Galra sparring covered a portion of the floor. It was in remarkably good shape for its age. Alcoves and shelves around the room displayed armor and weapons from their storied past. In the center of the huge room, a fire flickered merrily in a pit. Cooked meat had just been taken off the fire and was cooling on a long low bench before it. The Archivist stoked the fire for a moment, then took a seat in a comfortable looking chair that was completely anachronistic to their ancient surroundings. He waved vaguely for Sendak to do the same. There was no second chair, so Sendak perched on the end of the stone bench, as far away from the fire as possible so he wouldn’t sweat through his armor.

“You have questions …” The Archivist said almost to himself, then sat very still as if waiting for Sendak to…

“Ah, yes,” Sendak began, “The…Emperor is pregnant—”

The Archivist didn't even blink. “Word does get down here to me. Go on.”

“Oh. And the children are mine.” 

“Congratulations,” the Archivist said drily. Of course he would have heard that, too.

“And…” Sendak actually didn't know how to word the next part and it didn't help when the Archivist turned his unblinking eyes on him. He shifted uncomfortably. “Well, that's already a unique scenario for a Usurper to find himself in, but…the hormones…the fact that he's bearing my children makes me…”

It was making him crazy . The Archivist waited, unblinking.

“It makes me no longer wish to challenge him.”

The only suggestion of surprise on the Archivist's face was his eyebrows rising. “You revoke the right of Usurper?”

“What? No! I…just no longer feel it's necessary for him to leave the Galra court once my kits are old enough to assume the throne.”

The Archivist turned his attention towards the fire, shrugging. “That's your decision. Although, a word of advice? Emperor Lotor won't make a good concubine…too headstrong.”

Sendak gaped, then shut his mouth, grunting.

Shrugging again, the Archivist prodded the fire again. “If that's all, I'm glad I could help. Though I hope you would have come to this decision on your own. Best of luck, Commander.”

Sendak surprised himself by standing up as if obeying a direct order. He had no idea how he’d navigate back to the surface alone but that was the least of his concern. Frowning, he stopped in the doorway and balled his organic hand into a fist, knocking it against the stone in frustration more with himself than anything else. 

“De muge Lotor.”

Saying the words out loud winded him. Feeling the Archivist's eyes on him but not having to face him helped loosen his tongue. 

“It's not just the thought of putting him on his back, It's not just that he's bearing my brood… I know biologically that's a part of it, but I'm not that much of a fool to not recognize it goes beyond that.”

He drew a steadying breath through his nostrils. “Even when he's putting himself in danger or picking fights with me…he shines like tyrla …so brightly I can't believe no one else seems to see it. He's a crystal knife: beautiful and fully capable of being deadly. The whole Galra Empire must be blind for no one else to see that.”

The Archivist was silent. Sendak frowned.

“But that's…as Usurper, I shouldn't feel that way. That he's bearing my brood is unique, but it shouldn't change the fact that… The Right of Usurper doesn't work that way.”

The Archivist laughed, so loud and robust in the cavernous space that Sendak flinched. He turned towards him slowly, eye wide and bewildered.

“That's exactly how the Right of Usurper works, you foolish child!”

“ What? ” It came out in a growl that Sendak couldn't help but feel sounded petulant and childish.

The Archivist scowled— actually scowled at him— and Sendak felt bewilderingly young and stupid. “Did you actually think the Galra would adopt a tradition that would encourage further division after settling that same sort of dangerous division through the Kral Zera?”

Sendak opened his mouth, then shut it again. He blinked. “But the Right of Usurper is a challenge.”

His own voice sounded weak to him.

The Archivist rolled his eyes and took a deep breath like he was petitioning the old gods to give him patience. “Because to the Galra, if something can’t be challenged, it’s not worth pursuing or fighting for or desiring. There has to be a struggle. There has to be a risk. There has to be something to be conquered.

“The Right of Usurper puts a Galra who feels so strongly opposed to a new Emperor that she will declare it before the whole Empire, and the new Emperor in a position where they’re forced to be acutely aware of one another. Where, once the antagonism of the challenge fades, a dialogue can open up between them and understanding can be found."

“But,” Sendak blinked, turning back around to face the Archivist, “No one knows that.”

The Archivist closed his eyes like he had a headache and frowned. 

“No one your age, maybe.” He looked up at the ceiling like he’d find some assistance there. “Are they really not teaching these parts of our history in lessons anymore?”

There was only the sound of the fire crackling for a few doboshes, and then the Archivist narrowed his eyes. “Well, I suppose last time the Right of Usurper was called, it failed. I can’t blame your generation for not knowing its history beyond that. After all, it was a long, long time ago…”

Sendak stood, waiting. Finally the Archivist sighed, and gave Sendak an unenthused look. 

“Well, Commander, it looks like you came across the galaxy for a history lesson after all. Come sit.”

“I don't want to blindside you,” Lotor said across the private comms channel. Shiro was all too agreeable when he had every right not to be, especially after Lotor had snapped at him once and run away another time, but here he was, the very image of a gentleman. Lotor had to imagine Earth men missed him. “This is in every way a call of a…personal nature.”

Shiro said nothing, waiting.

“A sexual nature,” Lotor said and saw recognition dawn on Shiro's face. He continued, “I'm not sure if it's commonplace for humans but if not, this may seem vulgar… I'm stressed and I would appreciate attention of a sexual nature from you.”

Shiro smiled. “Yeah, we do that, too. But you're pregnant.”

“And?” Lotor’s eyebrows lifted lightly.

Shiro had the good sense to look sheepish, no doubt worried about making another assumption about Galra sexual practices. “And…aren't Galra very protective when it comes to breeding partners? Sendak—”

“They're protective of their mates; I am not Sendak’s mate. He may have a claim on my womb, but not who I fuck. It's a political situation, nothing more.”

Shiro nodded to show he understood.

“You won’t have to fight him over my honor or anything,” he said, smiling devilishly, then gently pressed. “Would you be…amenable and available for such an activity?”

“When?”

Lotor gave him a little twisted smile that was almost a wince and it made Shiro laugh.

“Right now?”

It was Lotor's turn to laugh. “I'm afraid my usual patience is waning by the week. Sometime today, if possible. Sendak's run off to gods know where and it's been…an intense past couple of days and I could use the company of a strong, handsome someone.”

Shiro flushed. “I'll do, I guess.”

The look Lotor gave him doubled the richness of color in his cheeks. “No one else will, Champion.”

Sendak had left his Lieutenant Commander Varek to lurk around, guarding him, Lotor supposed. Shiro gave Varek a cursory glance but Lotor didn't even blink. What was he going to do? Tell Sendak? He couldn't bring himself to care.

Because his quarters were still being outfitted with updated security systems and a new door and being fucked by Shiro in Sendak's quarters felt like a bridge too far even for him, Lotor took him to an unoccupied guest suite.

He gave Varek a pointed look and shut the door to the suite between them, immediately beginning to undress.

Back to the door, Shiro looked around. “We could have done it at the Castle…”

“Allura would love to hear you say that sentence.” That reason, among other things, was why they weren't. He wasn't about to do anything pleasurable in that Castle ship ever again.

“Allura would have to cope—” He was cut off by Lotor pressing his mouth against his, silken and hot.

Lotor hooked his eyes on Shiro's as they parted, his hands busily undoing Shiro's armor. He relaxed a little as Shiro's hands touched his hips, his flesh hand sliding over the skin in soothing, warm circles. 

“You're beautiful…”

Lotor smiled, having successfully gotten Shiro down to his flightsuit. “Mm; again.”

Shiro smiled, prosthetic hand sliding around to cup his ass, his flesh hand sliding up his stomach, lingering as if looking for evidence of his pregnancy. “You're beautiful.”

Lotor preened, stroking Shiro’s hair and biting his own bottom lip. Arching his back so he could press himself against Shiro, he kissed him anew, his fingers finding the catch to Shiro’s flightsuit and rolling it down off of his shoulders. He was vaguely aware of Shiro shaking it off his arms and stepping out of it as he guided them back towards the bed. He opened his eyes to drink him in: for a human, Shiro was powerfully muscled in a way his armor unfortunately hid. He let his fingertips trail over Shiro’s biceps and pectorals and the fine mesh of muscle over his ribs.

In comparison; he was more streamlined, but already the prenatal supplements and hormones were softening him a bit. Noting the differences between their bodies made him wet.

“What do you want?” Shiro gently tilted his chin so their eyes would meet.

“What do you want to give?” Lotor asked, then gasped as Shiro slid a pair of confident fingers along his slit. They came up slick and Shiro brought them to his mouth, lingering over the taste. 

Lotor shuddered.

Humming, Shiro’s eyes darkened. “When's the last time someone ate you out, Emperor?”

If Lotor remembered correctly, the last person to do so had been Shiro, tongue fucking him soundly as he laid on his back in his prison cell, dazed eyes on the ceiling, wondering at his libido's ability to persevere in the face of being imprisoned. He’d been menstruating, too, appalled at first that Shiro would want to put his mouth and face there. It was one thing for Galra to be comfortable with blood and pain, but somehow it felt like something humans would be less likely to find appealing…

Even so, the orgasm blurred the pain of his cramping muscles and even as Shiro lapped at the combination of his menses and slick, he came again and again— small little orgasms— slit still swollen with arousal and oversensitive.

“Too long,” he murmured, sitting on the bed and raising his sharp eyes to Shiro's. He fondled Shiro's abdominal muscles, tracing them with a finger. “How about you open me up with your tongue, then take your pleasure from me when I'm too spent to do anything? Although….”

He sighed and leaned over to the side table to retrieve a barrier packet.

“You'll need one of these if you intend to sink your cock into me. Galra can get pregnant by multiple partners, and while Sendak won’t fight you for fucking me, he would kill you for nullifying his claim as Usurper.”

“Got it,” Shiro said, “Hold onto that until I wear you out.”

Biting back a filthy moan of anticipation, Lotor set the packet on the bed before he spread himself out for Shiro, resting back against the pillows. Shiro crawled up onto the bed gently touching Lotor’s knees. 

“Spread those legs for me.” Lotor did and Shiro let out a low, wanting noise. When he spoke anew, his voice was dark with lust. “Lay back and be good and let me serve you.”

Lotor felt himself leak from his slit even at that and he could tell Shiro saw it happen. He slid his hands down along the insides of Lotor’s thighs, pinning them open, gently squeezing the taut muscle, and lowered his head. “You're always too tense. I'll have to break you of that.”

Shuddering, Lotor felt his cock— already half hard— swell with interest, too.

Shiro licked along his slit so lightly it hurt, teasing him and moaned. He leaned his forehead against Lotor's thigh. “You taste…”

“Tell me,” Lotor breathed, cheeks heating.

“Sweet,” Shiro said, “Like overripe fruit. Like peaches, a little.”

Lotor couldn't help but laugh. “I don't know what that is.”

“Very good,” Shiro assured him, then slid to lay on his stomach in the harbor between Lotor's legs. He slid his palms down the backs of Lotor’s thighs and gently gripped where they met his ass, holding him still. He leaned close and dragged his tongue slowly over his slit again. “Sweet and sticky and juicy like a plump peach at the height of summer. So ripe I'll have to lick my fingers clean after…”

He dipped his tongue inside him and Lotor brought a trembling hand up to his mouth, biting a knuckle to keep silent as he shook.

Shiro made a tutting noise at him and reached up to gently pull Lotor's hand away. “I wanna hear you scream, sweet thing. Do I need to tie you down to make you take it?"

Lotor felt the flush hot on his cheeks, feeling himself get even more wet at that. Despite being the most gentle lover Lotor had ever lain with, he knew Shiro wouldn't hesitate to bind him to the bed. He'd done it before, making Lotor surrender to his mouth and cock and touch. Sometimes it was the only way Lotor could take it, but he wanted so desperately to try for him.

Shaking his head, he fisted his hands in the sheets to either side of his head, shivering. Shiro smiled, dragging a gentle hand down Lotor’s chest and stomach, wrapping his hand around Lotor’s cock and teasing the head of it once, twice with his thumb before he moved his hands lower. 

“Shiro,” Lotor panted softly, feeling like his brain was on fire with pleasure and sexual frustration.

“Shh,” Shiro murmured, spreading his den open with gentle fingertips, “I've got you.”

Lotor felt Shiro's warm breath against his entrance and then Shiro's tongue was sliding deep inside him, the tip flicking teasingly. He felt himself press around the intrusion, then let out a throaty sound at the feeling of it undulating between his walls.

Between the sounds Shiro made like he was sincere about Lotor tasting good and the obscene wet sounds coming from the action itself, Lotor whined, turning his head to the side and shutting his eyes. He couldn't resist moving down against Shiro's tongue, flushing as Shiro nuzzled even closer, pressing his face nearly inside him like he truly couldn't get enough. 

Lotor didn't know how much more slick he could produce. Each eager, hungry sound from Shiro and the ministrations of his tongue drove him wilder. Another whine left him and then he ground down again, fucking himself, and Shiro's tongue found the bundle of nerves inside him behind the base of his cock and he let out a sound that was as startled as it was aroused. 

“Oh, Champion,” he panted, resolve slipping away and knowing he couldn't help it. Shiro wouldn't mind, of course, but it was frightening just how quickly Shiro could take him apart. “Oh, fuck me….fuck me open…”

Shiro lifted his head long enough to give him a dark, desiring look and nip at Lotor’s inner thigh before he returned his attention to Lotor’s ylden. He spread Lotor’s legs further, wrapping his organic arm around one to hold it still and using the power of his prosthetic arm to pin Lotor’s other leg open. Gasping, Lotor tried to close his legs and then tried lifting his hips to test Shiro's strength and found he couldn't do either. He knew Shiro would let him go if he asked, but being made so helpless made his breath come faster 

“That's right,” Shiro purred, “You’ll take everything I give you, sweet thing. You can arch your back and thrash and scream all you want, but you're not going anywhere until I decide I'm done with you.”

He drank in Lotor’s expression as it warred between desire and trepidation. 

“I really hope you scream,” he said as he lowered his head, words hot against the folds of Lotor’s slit.

“Shiro…” Lotor began, then made a sound like the breath had been sucked out of him. His eyes rolled back and he canted his head back, groaning richly as Shiro worked on licking him open anew. It was so good, so hot, so much and this time there was no escape. He would have been lying if he said he didn't enjoy having the option taken away from him, and there was something about Shiro— sensible, gentle, human Shiro— taking control that was incredibly arousing.

Someone was heaving for breath, panting, and it took Lotor a moment to realize it was him and then he moaned in such a lascivious way that he felt humiliated but couldn't seem to stop. He could feel Shiro's smile pressed against him as he continued to moan and pant, writhing beneath Shiro's firm grip and then he was babbling, all wrapped up in a cocoon of pleasure and he didn't want it to stop.

“Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods,” he begged, then shuddered as Shiro exchanged his tongue for two fingers and mouthed at his inner thigh.

“They're not here right now, baby,” Shiro said lazily, “But I am.”

Gritting his teeth, Lotor avoided the cocksure smile on Shiro's face and pressed Shiro's face back down between his legs with a hand. Shiro laughed but obediently replaced his fingers with his tongue and began fucking Lotor mercilessly with his tongue, making Lotor let out a shaky cry.

Lotor could have brought himself to completion faster, but he couldn't seem to lift his hands to do so. He tugged Shiro's hair with the hand he still had on top of his head— little tugs not hard enough to hurt.

You'll take everything I give you , Lotor replayed Shiro's words in his head, twisting them into something darker to wave away the gentle, too-tender things Shiro said when they were tangled up in one another.

Sweet thing . Baby . It had to be a human custom, but it jarred him, made him feel like he wasn't alone in his own skin and he didn't like it. Even with Shiro understanding this was casual… 

So he imagined Shiro holding him down, manic cruelty in his eyes, prosthetic around his throat, forcing him to feel pleasure. He screamed then, and Shiro didn't let up. If anything he redoubled his efforts, pumping his tongue fast, then almost too fast and as hard as he could into Lotor’s wet heat. When Lotor keened again, he tightened his hold on his legs, forcing them open even further, and Lotor saw stars, his back arching away from the bed, twisting what parts of him he could beneath Shiro, his claws unsheathing as he rode his orgasm out. He felt more and more slick slip out of him, felt the orgasm taper off into a soundless full-body tremble, but when he thought it was over, Shiro pushed his tongue into that tucked-away bundle of nerves and he shrieked, body seizing anew with pleasure. 

To his horror, he felt Shiro laugh, soft breath even too much against the swollen, hot folds of his ylden, and then Shiro did it again. And again. His breath kept catching and hitching and every sound he made sounded animal to him, locked somewhere far away in a cage of thorns and gauzy pleasure, both begging for more and begging Shiro to stop. But he couldn’t get any true words out, just Shiro's name and fragmented sounds.

Certainly his body couldn't keep going, certainly there was no more arousal to wring out of him. Finally his body could do no more than twitch in response to the stimulation and when his mind returned to him, Shiro was leaning over him, smiling, his mouth and chin still wet with him. He stroked one of Lotor’s cheeks with his knuckles.

Lotor tried to open his mouth to speak and drew a shuddering breath instead. He became aware that Shiro's prosthetic hand was pressed gently but firmly against his inner thigh, grounding him, and he focused on it.

“Are you okay, sweet thing?”

Lotor opened his mouth to tell him he wasn't any such thing as sweet, but the words wouldn't come to him and he felt his brow crease. He met Shiro's eyes and Shiro cupped his jaw. 

“Are you okay? Nod if you are.”

It took him a second but Lotor nodded slowly once, then a second time more readily.

Shiro praised him, stroking his cheek again. “Good. Do you want to keep going?”

Lotor nodded again, amazed that his ylden could feel both numb and too sensitive at the same time.

“Do you want to take a break first?”

Lotor frowned, narrowing his eyes at Shiro and Shiro laughed. “Okay, okay. Remember what you asked for? Do you still want that?”

Did he want Shiro to fuck him into the bed? What kind of question was that?

Pawing at the bed beside him blindly, Lotor found the barrier packet and pushed it towards Shiro. Laughing again, Shiro took it, opening it and rolling the barrier down over himself.

Lotor lifted his pelvis from the bed slightly, presenting himself and he blushed as Shiro's eyes cut down his spread form to his waiting hole. 

“Look at you… Damn, you're a whole feast. Let's get you comfortable, though.”

“Thought I was…peaches,” Lotor breathed as Shiro pulled him down the bed so his legs hung over the edge and his ylden was right at the edge of the mattress. He realized his belly and chest were covered with his own come and dragged his fingers through it in a daze, staring at it on his fingers. “I made quite the mess.”

Shiro actually licked his lips as he looked Lotor up and down, cock in hand. “And I’m about to make an even bigger one of you.”

“Oh, fuck,” Lotor said, feeling himself get hard again at the promise.

Shiro gently took his legs and wrapped him loosely around his hips and slid his hands up Lotor’s thighs. “All you gotta do is take it. Can you be brainless and pretty and do that for me?”

Lotor moaned and nodded, breath coming faster and hotter. “Fuck me, Champion…”

A dark look Lotor hadn’t seen since the first time they fucked beneath the Arena came into Shiro’s eyes and he felt himself fall apart underneath Shiro as soon as Shiro settled his hands firmly on his hips. Shiro thrust into him hard, punching the breath out of Lotor, and then everything shrank down to the push and pull of his hips against the bed, the punishing power of Shiro’s thrusts, and the way his eyes burned through him from above. 

And it was easy to just take it. There was nothing soft about it, nothing careful or coddled. Lotor panted, moaning easily as he served as Shiro’s personal fucktoy. Even though Shiro wasn't as big as Sendak— and his cock lacked ridges— his thrusts were hard and strong enough to make Lotor’s toes curl. 

When Shiro leaned down to bite at his neck he found the strength in his legs to pull the human closer, pressing their bodies together, skin tingling where it touched Shiro's. Between the feeling of Shiro's teeth at his skin and his merciless thrusts, Lotor came, gasping in Shiro's ear as he shivered beneath him. Grunting, Shiro thrust inside him a few more times before he stuttered and found his own climax.

Catching his breath, still gazing at Lotor like he wanted to eat him, Shiro hooked a thumb inside Lotor’s panting mouth and opened his jaw wider carefully before spitting into Lotor’s mouth. Lotor shuddered at the degradation.

“Filthy,” he murmured, wishing Shiro would do it again or at least more often. He offered Shiro a tired, satisfied smile. “You haven't fucked me like that since…”

The darkness disappeared from Shiro's expression as he smiled back, looking very pleased with himself. “You called me ‘Champion’, so…”

“When you fuck me like that… When you take my control away…” Lotor shivered, eyes half-lidded and wanting despite being spent.

“Let's clean you up,” Shiro said, scooping Lotor up into his arms almost effortlessly and carrying him to the bathroom. 

At some point they forgot about cleaning themselves and Lotor found himself on his knees, eagerly working Shiro back to hardness with his mouth. Before he spilled, Lotor let him press him face first to the wall and take him from behind. 

He knew with the pregnancy that his libido must be higher than usual, but it wasn’t until Shiro sank his new hardness into his ass that he realized why he was still so horny.

Shiro’s cock wasn’t going to satisfy him.

It was a realization so bone-deep that he almost groaned in distress instead of pleasure— not that Shiro could tell the difference with his face turned away. It had nothing to do with Shiro as much as it had to do with the fact that Shiro wasn’t the one who’d gotten him pregnant. 

His body, in it’s foolish wisdom, thought the best chance of survival for himself and the kits involved keeping Sendak close. Consequently, and perhaps as a way to keep him from sleeping around— a deterrent left over from thousands of millenia past— his body only craved a certain girth, a certain shape, a certain fit of a cock inside him: and that cock would be and could only be Sendak’s so long as he was pregnant.

“Fuck,” he bit out through clenched teeth as he came. Even as Shiro spent inside him and nuzzled behind his ear sweetly, holding him through the come down, he felt the blunt edges of a new bloom of arousal deep inside him. 

Ignoring it, he let Shiro kiss him and kissed him back lazily intermittently as they showered. When he got dressed, he put on his formal regalia, trusting the flowing garments to obscure his cock if he got aroused again. He helped Shiro redress, buckling his armor, meeting his eyes from time-to-time teasingly. 

“You know,” Shiro said once Lotor escorted him back to the hanger, Varek drifting behind them protectively, “While an alliance between the Empire and Voltron might be a bit of a fantasy right now, you can always ask whatever you need…or want of me, Lotor.”

Lotor flushed as Shiro knelt and brought his hand to his lips. He kissed the ring, eyes locking with his. Rising, Shiro gave him the customary Galra salute, but nodded his head and kept his voice low. 

“Just keep that in mind.”

With a lingering look, he turned and ascended the ramp into the Black Lion. The Lion soared out of the hanger moments later, losing itself in the blackness between the stars. 

Lotor’s hand still buzzed from Shiro holding it, and while he would have loved to take Shiro up on his offer, his treacherous body only wanted one thing.

Sighing, he crossed his arms tightly across his chest and watched the hanger doors, waiting for Sendak to return. 

Chapter Text

Seeing Lotor waiting in the hanger upon his return almost startled Sendak. For the first time since his arrival to Central Command, Sendak saw he was wearing regalia of rich, black robes the color of deep space. Gold along the seams and hems flashed out as he moved, understated but regal. The robes had structure beneath them to broaden Lotor’s shoulders and puffed around his arms to make him look more grand, more intimidating. A gauzier material wrapped up from inside the robes around his throat. His hair was brushed and he'd braided part of it back— although haphazardly— and it shone under the lights. Something caught in Sendak's throat at the sight and he had to swallow it down.

To anyone else, Lotor probably looked like he was taking some time after his duties to review the state of his ship, and Sendak was sure he was, but he was holding himself too tightly, frowning too severely. Sendak watched as he frowned and paced around one side and then reappeared around the other, scowl deepening. 

There would be no slipping past him, in fact, he watched Lotor’s ears twitch in the direction of his ship as it landed then began to power down.

He decided it would be best to face Lotor head on and squared his shoulders before he descended the ramp. Lotor turned his way and waited, hands balled into fists at his sides, but he didn't look angry. Maybe he was worried about admitting he'd had a tryst. Admittedly, he didn’t like it, but Lotor was not his and if he was, Sendak had a feeling, strangely, that he wouldn’t mind as much. But when he got close enough he was hit with a wave of lust emanating off of Lotor, peppery and slightly sweet. Lotor was sexually frustrated. Which didn't make sense: he smelled lightly like the Champion, the human scent not very strong in comparison to Galra musk, but noticeable since it was so alien to Sendak's nose. 

Lotor spoke first. “Did you..?”

He gestured vaguely at the ceiling around his ship and Sendak realized he hadn't told him about the cameras he'd had installed, hadn't given him the scans he’d taken of his ship…

“Never mind,” Lotor growled slightly before Sendak could even speak as another wave of want wafted off of him.

And oh , Sendak wanted him right back.

Blinking, he said what was possibly the stupidest thing he could say. “You were right; I can tell when you're having sex.”

Lotor let out a low, humorless laugh, and crossed his arms over his chest, perhaps expecting an argument.

“You can bed whoever you like, but if you'll pardon the observation: you don't look like it relaxed you very much. Did the Champion not deliver?”

Lotor scoffed and crossed his arms tighter, but the look he turned on Sendak was one of annoyance with the situation, not Sendak, which was surprising. Sendak would have been annoyed with him if he was Lotor.

“It's the hormones,” Lotor said rolling his eyes, “I think until the babies are born, I'll only be satisfied by your cock.”

Sendak tried not to swell with pride. 

“I'm sorry to hear that,” he said carefully, not sorry at all. 

Lotor sighed, wincing. “I know it's been a long day for you, but could I convince you to fuck me?”

Lotor’s ears flicked; Sendak could tell he hated having to ask this of anyone…least of all him. 

Sendak raised his brows, voice mild. “Could I convince you that fucking you would be a pleasant stress reliever for me, if nothing else?”

It was meant to be a joke, something to level the playing field, but it made Lotor’s ears flick down and back momentarily. He turned on his heel too quickly for Sendak to be sure, but he swore he saw a flush of color high on Lotor’s cheekbones. He began walking with a brisk, militant gait, the heels of his boots clipping the flood crisply. All business, then, or trying to be. Sendak nodded to relieve Varek, who'd been dutifully trailing Lotor all day as a protective shadow and fell in step behind Lotor, marveling at how commanding and powerful Lotor could look when he tried. Nothing in his expression wavered; he didn't even glance at Sendak.

“You only have to tolerate requests like these from me for the next eight months. You don't have to entertain them, but I'm grateful that you did today.”

Not knowing how to respond to that, Sendak followed him back to his own quarters since Lotor’s were still being repaired and outfitted with better security, which reminded him…

“Are you designing the security patch for your room?” Lotor made a noise of assent. “Better that you don't have Stux help with that.”

They reached his suite. “Of course; I'm not an idiot.”

Sendak entered his suite after Lotor. The door had barely finished closing before Lotor began wrestling his robes off as if the very pressure of them against his skin was bothering him. By the time Sendak had a presence of mind to start taking his own armor off, Lotor was completely nude. He turned to stare openly at him, looking possessed, wide-eyed and frightening, and he slunk— actually slunk— towards Sendak. 

He crushed Sendak between his hot skin and the door like he couldn't get close enough. Batting Sendak's hands away from his armor, he deftly undid it like it was his own with practiced ease. 

“Call me a slut,” he said throatily, breath coming quickly with arousal, “Call me a whore…but it's only for you right now. Nothing else will satisfy me.”

Once Sendak was down to his flightsuit, Lotor jumped into his arms: his arms around Sendak’s neck, his legs around Sendak’s waist so that his slit brushed against Sendak’s cock through the thin material. He rubbed himself against Sendak slightly, his own breath catching at the sensation. He was soaked , which Sendak supposed was what he wanted him to notice. 

“Powerful hormones,” he murmured, his cock, already stirring at the demanding neediness of the bearer of his children, swelling to full attention at the feeling of the hot wet heat between Lotor's thighs. His hands went to Lotor's ass, supporting him, although he doubted he needed the help.

Lotor turned his huge, lust-darkened eyes on him. “Just try being on the needing end.”

Knowing Lotor would quickly lose patience, Sendak nodded and carried him to the bedroom, undoing his flightsuit with one hand and only having to switch hands once to get it off of both arms and down around his waist, kicking it off before they reached the bed.

“That's quite the trick,” Lotor said, looking otherworldly with his blown-out pupils.

Sendak grinned. “I was a cadet once.”

“Barrier,” Lotor snapped, and Sendak moved them to the side table where Lotor dug around in the drawer with one hand before finding what they needed. Ripping the packet open with his teeth, Lotor rolled it over Sendak’s girth as Sendak plucked the empty wrapper from his hand and tossed it onto the floor, making a mental note to collect it later.

Hefting Lotor, he shifted him slightly before lowering him onto his dick slowly. Lotor keened, arching his body back like he'd been shot, his body immediately folding around Sendak’s cock like he'd never give it back, his insides milking him hungrily. 

“Too much?” He murmured, grunting at the white heat inside Lotor’s body. He carefully maneuvered them so that Lotor’s ass was resting on the bed.

“Not enough ,” Lotor growled, gripping Sendak’s fur in both hands and pulling. His powerful thighs crushed Sendak against him and even then it didn’t seem like it was enough. Sendak growled back without heat as Lotor tried to push and pull himself along his length.

Dropping Lotor the rest of the way on his back on the bed, he tightened his grip around Lotor’s hips and growled hungrily. “Lay still.”

To his great surprise, Lotor did, breathing heavily, body trembling. His brow creased over his huge, dark eyes with impatience and frustration, but Sendak nodded. “Good.”

Lotor's ears dipped slightly and when Sendak started rocking in and out of Lotor rhythmically, he was treated to the sight of all of the tension melting away from Lotor’s wonderfully toned body.

“Yes,” Lotor moaned, so wet the prevailing sound in the room was the slick sound of Sendak hammering into his fuck pocket. He sounded nearly on the verge of tears, and Sendak’s stomach twisted, imagining how long Lotor might have waited for him to return. “Oh, yes …”

Lotor's grip relaxed around Sendak’s fur and instead he pressed his claws to the powerful slopes of Sendak’s shoulders lightly, almost kneading the muscle as he half sheathed and unsheathed his claws. It didn’t pierce Sendak’s fur, but he felt the strength and tension in the movement and made a rumbling noise in his chest.

“Good?” Sendak murmured.

Lotor made a small sound, not a yes but not a no.

“More?”

Biting his bottom lip, Lotor nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. He looked like he was in agony, and Sendak squeezed his hips tenderly, wishing he could memorize the expression even as he sought to smooth it from Lotor’s face.

Grunting, Sendak fucked him faster and harder, each thrust pushing the breath out of Lotor along with little staccato groans. For all of his laying there and taking it, Lotor was working wonders with his den, pumping Sendak as deftly with the velvet walls of his insides as if he were using his hands. 

“Need….need…” Lotor moaned, arching up against Sendak, panting hotly against his neck and into his ear in a way that Sendak would be replaying during his solo sessions for the next eight months…maybe more if Lotor wanted nothing to do with him after. Lotor’s whole body trembled where it pressed up against him, so delicate in comparison to him, and Sendak felt he would give him the universe if he asked.

With his arms full of Lotor and that voice purring in his ear like a bitch in heat, Sendak didn't know how he was going to last much longer, but the need to sate the bearer of his brood was much stronger. Grunting, he lifted Lotor off of his cock and rolled him over onto his belly, sinking back inside him before Lotor could so much as whine.

From this position with Lotor’s ass cushioning his thrusts, he could pummel into Lotor with more vigor without fear of hurting him. Pressing Lotor facedown against the mattress and keeping his hips raised to take it, Sendak couldn't resist slipping a hand between the bed and Lotor, palming his stomach.

“Wanna feel you swell with it,” he rasped hotly against the back of Lotor’s neck, “Wanna make sure you get your fill.”

At this point, every thrust punched a little panting moan out of Lotor. He was beyond words, which seemed good. His own hand pressed against Sendak’s as he moaned long and low.

Sendak brushed his lips against the shell of Lotor’s ear. “Yes, soon we'll see the fruit of our union and the Empire will tremble before you.”

Lotor’s hand slipped lower, doubtlessly to tend to his own dripping cock.

Sendak resisted the urge to press kisses against the nape of Lotor’s neck, but he couldn’t stop himself from mouthing at the bitemark still left from fucking him at the Kral Zera. It had scarred and stood out plainly against his lilac skin. If any other Galra saw it, they might mistake it for a mating bite. That hadn’t been his intention, though perhaps it had been subconsciously. The memory of holding Lotor down by the back of his neck as he fucked him and the taste of Lotor’s blood on his teeth after he’d left him laying there on the Stairs filled him with both shame and aching pleasure.

He traced the mark with his tongue, then let his teeth playfully stray higher along the side of his neck. Lotor’s breath caught and when Sendak stroked his thumb over Lotor’s navel, Lotor made a choking noise and came with a shout, body seizing around Sendak in a vice grip. It pulled Sendak headlong into his own orgasm, and he felt Lotor’s stomach bulge slightly outward.

It took him a moment to realize he’d knotted him.

It would do him no good to panic about it— there was nothing that could be done until it went down, and feeling distressed and worried about it would only make Lotor feel stressed, and maybe even unwanted. Still, he was flustered. Such a thing was something associated with building a family with one’s mate, something cozy and tender for committed partners. Some took it as an outward expression of wanting to settle down domestically with the one they knotted. Almost a proposal of sorts, at least to live together with the intention of creating a family. Of course, knots happened outside of those circumstances, but it was still something he should have been able to control to some extent, and thus was somewhat embarrassing. He hadn’t accidentally knotted someone since he was a cadet. He shouldn’t have let himself think about giving Lotor the universe or kissing the back of his neck, or fixating on the mark he’d left in his skin as if he had some ownership over Lotor outside of what grew in his womb. And he only had ownership over his womb because he’d claimed Usurper and bested him after doing so.

Clearing his throat, Sendak murmured an apology, hoping it sounded like he was framing it as an inconvenience and nothing more. He carefully moved them so they were laying on their sides on the bed with Lotor’s back against his chest. He sighed. Lotor echoed him.

“That was good,” Lotor said, surprising him, “Thank you.”

Sendak was glad Lotor couldn’t see his ears drooping in pleasure. He hummed. “It was good for me, too.”

His hand was still over Lotor’s stomach. Lotor patted the back of his hand and he could hear the teasing smirk in his voice. 

“Knotting me, though…did you want four kits?”

Clearing his throat again, Sendak made his tone as droll as possible. “I was hoping for five, actually.”

Lotor laughed loudly, the sound bright like a dozen dazzling colors. Sendak felt some of his shame ebb away. 

“I knew I was right to have you wear a barrier. You’re lucky you’re getting three.”

Sendak smiled privately to himself, the reminder making his heart swell. He was very lucky. Quite possibly, he didn’t deserve even this. “Mm, and you're starting to show, too.”

Lotor hummed.

They laid there in a not-uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

“Where did you go earlier?” Lotor asked.

Sendak didn't see any reason to lie to him. “The Archivist.”

“Why?”

“I had questions,” Sendak said as tactfully as possible.

Frowning, Lotor turned his head to look over his shoulder at him as much as he could, frowning, perplexed. “Did you get answers?”

“I did,” Sendak said, avoiding his stare. Then, because he knew Lotor was too shrewd to let it go, he decided he’d tell him the rest. Trailing his fingers over Lotor's hip and then stroking the delicate skin that sloped down from the inside of his hip to his stomach, he did his best to sound nonchalant. “Did you know the right of Usurper has only been claimed three times before in Galran history?”

“I did.”

“Did you know Empress Ja'al and Emperor Kyzill met through the right of Usurper?”

Even children knew who Ja'al and Kyzill were. Though they'd actually existed as historical figures, their legacy of peaceful rule and powerful love for one another had been immortalized over and over in everything from literature to jewelry.

Lotor laughed, “The famous opera about them certainly doesn't mention that .”

“It doesn't,” Sendak agreed, “They were the first.”

Lotor made a thoughtful sound. “I'm surprised. I always assumed when they say she confronted him, they meant in the throne room while he was holding court, not through the claim of Usurper.”

“I did, too.”

Lotor shifted slightly as he settled back against Sendak. “I suppose Galra might think less of their love if it was connected to the Right of Usurper? Even so, they're the standard for Galra romance… Maybe it would have made the Right of Usurper more popular and lead to more dissent than it was worth.”

“The second time it was claimed, was by Emperor Keron before he was Emperor. He challenged Empress Shylira. They also had a happy marriage after.”

Lotor hummed, a not-so-convinced sound. “And the third time it was claimed, it didn't end in marriage. They tore each other to bloody chunks in the throne room and left a power vacuum so strong it almost destroyed the Galra before we even left Daibazaal. It hasn't been claimed since." He was quiet a moment, then, "I wonder if the Empire is waiting for the two of us to rip one another apart."

They laid there, still basking in the endorphins from their orgasms. Sendak’s hand on Lotor’s stomach rose and fell with his breath and Sendak thought about how nice it would be to fall asleep like that. Letting out a breath that stirred Lotor’s hair, Sendak affected the most casual tone that he could.

“Apparently the Right of Usurper has always been intended to unite the challenger and the sitting Emperor.”

Lotor snorted. Then, as if he realized Sendak wasn’t kidding, he asked, “The Archivist said this?”

“Yes.”

Despite the knot still locking them together, Lotor rolled halfway over, eyes dark but keen, searching Sendak’s face as if looking for answers in the crease of his eyelids or the corners of his mouth. And Lotor was very perceptive. Perhaps Sendak had a tell he didn't know about.

“What exactly did you ask him?”

There was no escaping him like this. Even so, Sendak glanced at a space beyond Lotor’s head. He hesitated, then, “I was concerned because besides just wanting to put you on your back…and front…and side, I've found myself…wanting to protect and provide for you. Wanting to be gentle with you.”

Lotor laughed, relaxing back against Sendak again. “That's just pregnancy hormones. All Galra know that. It's a safeguard to keep me and the babies alive and ensure that you don’t run out on us before they’re weaned.”

“The Archivist insists it goes beyond that,” Sendak said carefully, feeling foolish.

“The Archivist has lived on that rock for millenia . He must have never sired or borne children. Still,” Lotor sighed sleepily, “It's only eight more months. I suppose you'll just have to deal with those urges.”

Sendak laid there, not daring to breathe much less move. He was afraid if he moved, Lotor would realize his knot was going down just enough that they could separate and then the moment would be over. “Would it be alright?”

“Hm?” Lotor must have started to doze off— Sendak tried not to pride himself too much on wearing him out so efficiently. The Champion had fucked him beforehand and he was certain the pregnancy was starting to eat away at Lotor’s energy. He watched Lotor’s eyelashes flutter as he blinked. His ear twitched back towards him, listening.

“Would it be alright if I acted on those urges?”

Sendak was almost sure that if Lotor wasn't alright with it, he would immediately dismiss the idea, or say something cutting. He was silent for so long, Sendak started to lift his hand away from Lotor’s stomach. Maybe he felt he couldn't say no; not when they were locked together…

“Yes.”

He said it so quietly, Sendak thought he'd imagined it. “I'm sure my own hormones are going to make me crave those things, so yes. It's only eight months,” he said again like caring for him was some unthinkable, terrible burden.

Slowly, Sendak lifted his hand to Lotor's hair and brushed it back from his neck. Holding his breath, he trailed the backs of his claws down the side of Lotor’s neck. Lotor immediately stiffened and carefully pushed Sendak’s hand away.

“I don't know how much gentleness I can take,” he said just above a whisper, “I wasn't made for it.” 

Just as carefully as he'd brushed Sendak’s hand away, he took it and guided it back to his belly. He laid his hand over Sendak’s, holding him there.

“Would you like to fall asleep like this?” Sendak felt he had to ask.

Lotor pressed his hand against Sendak’s just slightly and nodded, letting his eyes fall shut. Letting himself relax, Sendak tucked his nose just shy of the back of Lotor’s head, mind turbulent with feelings and thoughts he was too tired to unravel. 

Lotor was so warm against him, his skin soft and almost sweet smelling. The rise and fall of his breath became Sendak's own as he let himself relax, letting his mind shrink down to a world that was just Lotor in his arms.

He was asleep in doboshes.

Chapter Text

Sometime in the sleep cycle, his knot went down, but Sendak didn't wake to an empty bed. Lotor had shifted in his sleep and was on his back, nestled against Sendak’s chest, one hand loosely curled in his fur.

Sendak swallowed thickly. The luxury of time and space to gaze at Lotor uninterrupted was horrible, dizzying. He seemed to shine with some inner light, like a flawlessly cut gem, and Sendak realized with some trepidation this was what was meant by “pregnancy glow”. Each limb looked crafted by an expert artisan’s hands out of something as heavy as it was soft. His regal facial features were somehow softened in sleep, the lines of his face less severe. 

Watching him breathe, the slight swell of his belly rising and falling with breath, filled Sendak with awe and he realized he wouldn't make it through Lotor’s pregnancy without losing his mind. He was fucked, absolutely fucked. 

He wasn't sure Lotor believed what he'd said about the official purpose of the Right of Usurper. Even if he did, it wasn't a magic spell. Maybe it was enough for it to quell his challenge to Lotor's rule and instill peace. After all, that's what it was truly intended for, not to make them fall in love.

Oh . Was he in love with Lotor?

He didn't have time to examine that line of thought any further as Lotor began to stir against him. His blue eyes were unfocused as he blinked up at him, pouting slightly as he made sense of Sendak’s face above him. He was so soft and unguarded and it made Sendak want to do so many things to him— fucking being at the top of the list, but also— to kiss up his thighs, lick away the excess from the night before from his ylden, make sure he was comfortable and sated and got breakfast and his supplements. He was still just a little too thin and Sendak wanted to nourish him so he wanted for nothing. Wanted to wait on him hand and foot—

Lotor closed his eyes again and sighed sleepily, moving his hand slightly against Sendak’s chest, certainly absentmindedly or accidentally…

He was so vulnerable. 

I wasn't made for it , he'd said about tenderness, but Sendak would prove him wrong if given the chance.

A soft, warm laugh fluttered out of Lotor. So soft … 

“Do you want me again so soon?”

With a rush of clarity, Sendak realized his cock was pressing against Lotor’s thigh insistently. He made an undignified sound of surprise and shifted backward but Lotor only chuckled softly under his breath. 

“Don't worry, I don't take it personally.”

Did he mean..? Did he think he was truly so undesirable? While it was true that he wasn't the Galra standard for beauty— more likely to be called exotic by halfbreed chasers— he possessed a beauty and magnificence all his own. One so alluring…

What had his past sexual partners said about his looks? His body? Had he felt like a mere means to an end? A receptacle for their lusts and nothing more? Something sharp and acrid rose inside of Sendak and he tamped it down, clearing his throat as casually as possible.

“Would you want to?” Sendak asked, careful not to sound too eager.

Lotor sat up and slid his long legs over the edge of the bed as he turned away from Sendak. 

“I've kept you long enough; we both have many things to do.”

No more than any other cycle, though Sendak didn't press that. That wasn’t the crux of the matter.

The matter, he thought, staring at the tantalizing angles of Lotor’s scapulae, the way his broad chest— though not as broad as his armor advertised— tapered to an almost delicate waist (more delicate than his armor advertised), was something else entirely.

“You don’t believe me,” Sedak said, voice coming out a little more gruff than intended, his hurt marrying his frustration, “Why is it so difficult to believe that I mean what I say? You sure seemed to believe me last night.”

Lotor turned his head towards him over his shoulder but didn't actually look at him. His ears were casually alert, prepared for a fight. Sendak tried to remind himself he was much bigger than him and that raising his voice even slightly likely came across as threatening, but it didn't help him quash his turbulent feelings. If anything, it made him more frustrated.

“I don't doubt,” Lotor began in an even, careful tone, devoid of warmth, “You feel the things you say you feel, but those feelings are hormonally driven. We're both being puppeteered by our bodies. It's biological, not actual attraction.”

We're both… Did Lotor…?

Sendak shuffled just a little closer on the bed, but it was apparently too much because Lotor stood up and swept his long hair over his shoulder, combing his claws through it slowly. 

Frowning, trying not to feel a little defeated, Sendak huffed an impatient breath through his nose. 

“Is it that difficult for you to believe I might genuinely find you attractive, beyond all the hormones?” 

What was he saying?

To his greater horror, Lotor laughed . 

“Oh, it’s absolutely unlikely, Commander.”

Careful not to look at him, Lotor stepped over to where his discarded clothing lay in a heap from the night before and bent down to retrieve his flightsuit. Sendak wondered how much longer he’d be able to do that before the pregnancy made it difficult. 

Yes, part of his attraction to Lotor was doubtlessly his hormones ensuring he would be around when Lotor got to that point of the pregnancy where he couldn’t do simple things like bending down to get something off the floor, but was it only that? Could that account for the way Lotor’s intelligence dazzled him? For the way he felt when he saw Lotor with his hair up, dressed down in sparring clothes, dragging that crushed sentry into his quarters? For how seeing him rush Stux in a dark subterranean room made his heart pound?

“Do you explain away all of your emotions like this?”

Lotor froze in the middle of pulling his hair out of the back of his flightsuit, shoulders squared. Sendak wondered if he had hackles if they’d be up.

“When you have a gut feeling do you tell yourself it's a residual instinct left over from evolution? When you’re happy do you rationalize it as a balance of chemicals in your brain? Surely, you’ve loved someone before, once… Did you explain it away as hormones then, too?”

Slowly pulling his hair free of his flightsuit, Lotor let his arms fall to his sides. His jaw tightened, his body still the way Sendak had seen it get before he lunged himself forward in combat.

If he wanted to fight, so be it. Sendak wasn’t done with him. “Is it a comfort thing? For everything to be explained, rationalized, compartmentalized? Or is it that If you’re as cold and cryptic as one of the programs you write, nothing can hurt you? Do we need to pretend it’s all hormones so you can need something or someone for once?”

He was prepared for Lotor to spin back around and glare at him, maybe shout, maybe even strike out at him. Maybe , if he was lucky, even push him back onto the bed where he’d be able to roll them over and over again, spending their aggression out on petty wrestling before he showed Lotor that  he truly meant what he said.

What he wasn’t expecting was for Lotor to bend down, gather the rest of his clothing in his arms, and storm out of his quarters. 

Somehow the door seemed to slam shut, even though it really wasn’t any louder than usual. 

Sendak blinked at the door for a solid dobosh, then covered his face with his organic hand, and waited for his own words to stop hanging so heavily in the air and ringing in his ears.

Chapter Text

For the next six movements, Sendak only saw Lotor for sex. Lotor always initiated via message— brief, efficient— only had intercourse in Sendak’s quarters, and left immediately afterwards. He wasn't cold, but there was a regal air draped around him that kept every interaction no more than courteous. He was pleasant company: writhing, moaning, beautiful company, but only in his bed.

The security patch for Lotor’s own quarters was miraculously up and running the quintant after their fight and though he didn't dare test it, Sendak had a feeling he would be barred entrance unless it was an emergency, an invisible if/then rule in the code that would make it plain where things stood until Lotor cooled down. 

If he cooled down. It was almost more comforting to think of their situation as drenched in hormones like Lotor had argued it was instead of thinking he'd missed his shot to prove himself. To maybe even pursue something meaningful. 

Despite the business-like nature of their agreement, Sendak found himself still craving to please him and had the opportunity to find new ways to make Lotor scream with pleasure. His favorite, by far, was worshiping Lotor’s ylden with his mouth. The way Lotor melted beneath him as he serviced him, ears drooping, eyes unfocused, gave him great pride. They usually had sex once a quintant, and more often than not, Lotor spread his legs and asked almost shyly for Sendak to nestle his face between them and make a meal of him. 

With each passing movement, the slight swell of Lotor’s stomach grew. Lotor began to dress differently. Though he continued to wear traditional robes with the gauzy throats and wide shoulders and long trains, the new ones were tight around his chest so that when his milk started to come in in about a phoeb it would be obvious to anyone. And as his stomach began to swell beneath the loose part of his robes it would also be obvious. His new robes had a gauzy window just under the tight bodice that showed a hint of his skin as his stomach began swelling with new life. Like everything Lotor did, Sendak could only guess it was strategic: it was a message of hope to his people, a threat to the Galra Empire’s enemies, and a promise to the universe that the Galra Empire would persevere. 

It was maddening to see the front of his robes begin to bow out even just an inch or two with pregnancy weight and the litter he was carrying. Sendak didn’t know how he’d handle seeing him in several phoebs’ time, much less at full term. In addition to that, Sendak could smell himself on him constantly , which only made him want him more. He tried to tell himself— over and over— that it was a biological trick, an evolutionary adaptation to ensure the survival of their species, this desire. And each time he reminded himself, his heart weighed heavily in his chest, and each time he saw Lotor anew, he felt mad with want again. 

About five movements into their strange new routine, Sendak caught sight of Lotor on his back under his ship, resolving the repairs that were needed after the sabotage. He thought Lotor would have repaired it earlier, but with being Emperor, Sendak also knew that some quintants he was lucky Lotor even found time to have sex with him. 

He was immersed in his work, focused, but not quite frowning, a smudge of something across his forehead. Dressed in a flightsuit for the job, the material clung to the slight bow of his belly. 

Sendak let himself gaze at him as long as he dared: eyes tracing his long, strong legs; his leanly muscled arms; his rounding belly.

Immediately aroused, Sendak had to remove himself from the hanger.

He was slightly surprised, several quintants later, to receive a video comm from Lotor in the middle of the cycle. Stepping away from his work, he cleared his throat before he answered. Lotor’s eyes were bright and, if Sendak wasn’t mistaken, slightly mischievous. He was smiling, his eyes darting away to something just out of screen eagerly.

“Lotor,” Sendak began, starting to suspect this call wasn’t about sex at all.

“Commander,” Lotor said, eyes darting away again to something near him but not near enough for Sendak to see. He thought he heard someone else in the background, their voice not quite frantic, but…

He couldn’t stop his voice from lowering, a hint of steely resolve entering it, ready to fly the rescue. “Lotor, is everything alright?”

“What? Yes, perfect! Can you come down to the Engineering level to my personal lab? It’s room E-13SN, do you know where that is?”

He was already walking. “I know where you are.”

Lotor blinked, then frowned at the reminder that he had a tracker in him. “I suppose that’s true. I’ll grant you entry. When can I expect you?”

“Right now.”

Lotor was so close to the other side of the door to E-13SN that Sendak almost walked directly into him when he entered. He had shed his formal robes for a flightsuit and Sendak’s felt his brain stutter as his gaze dipped to Lotor’s waist. He had to mentally shake himself, refocusing his eyes on Lotor’s face. Lotor was breathless, excited, the tips of his ears almost vibrating. When he smiled, both sets of his incisors showed. 

“I wanted to show you…” He took Sendak’s organic arm without further preamble and Sendak barely kept himself from stammering through a selection of phrases ( hi, how are you?, what is it? I came as soon as I could ). 

Stux was in the next room on the other side of a large, illuminated box with clear sides and robotic armature inside it for delicate, detailed work of a sort that Sendak couldn't even begin to imagine. He looked nervous, both pairs of hands empty, and kind of shuffled back and forth until he saw Sendak. He immediately straightened up and gave a sort of half wave which Sendak did not return.

Lotor led Sendak to the box and gazed up at him with a sort of starriness that made Sendak dizzy. Like dancing on a galaxy , or so the saying went: tilted sideways, spinning slowly in the vastness of space, dizzy and lost in its pull.

“Look,” he said, both hands pressing the muscles of Sendak’s arm in a way that was almost as disorienting as the hot press of his body against it.

It shouldn't have flustered him so. Not when he saw Lotor often and only for sex. But it did.

He looked away with some difficulty and frowned as he made sense of what was in the illuminated box.

Scuttling.

It was one of the horrid insects that made up the Druid that attacked Lotor.

He made a sound and drew back, expression crumpling with disgust. Lotor laughed lightly and stepped away to a terminal set up beside the box.

“Lotor?”

“Yes?”

“What is this?”

“Exactly what it looks like. But watch—” He typed a command, “Which way do you want it to go?”

Sendak goggled at him. “ Go ? Away from me.”

Laughing, Lotor typed something else as the insect moved to the back of the space. “Want to see it do a circle?”

Sendak blinked as the insect walked around and around in a perfect circle.

“Lotor, are you telling me,” he said slowly, watching Lotor’s smile widen and sharpen, “That you're controlling it?”

The insect turned around to face Sendak and raised a single leg as if greeting him. Lotor's eyes were narrowed with almost smug pleasure. Sendak barked a laugh.

“Well, now you're just showing off.”

“As I should,” Lotor said, turning towards him with a hand on his hip. “These things were infused with some sort of Altean alchemy. It wasn't difficult to design a program that could replace those rules, as they were, and supplant the Witch's control with my own. They still…give off a sort of signature that mimics the alchemical one to not arouse suspicion.”

“Naturally,” Sendak said drily, then frowned. “That’s excellent, but where are the others?”

“That’s partially why I called you,” Lotor said in a tone of voice that Sendak could only classify as don’t-be-mad . And something about that made his stomach drop, “I’m about to kick their hive so-to-speak and quite literally draw them out of hiding.”

He felt his ears pull back slightly. Across the lab, Stux was wringing his hands. He felt an odd sort of comradery with Stux just then. They hadn’t heard or seen any hint of the Druid since it attacked Lotor. Sendak would have suggested it was gone entirely, except… Except Lotor had a piece of it right in front of him.

“Why haven’t we seen it? It’s been over a phoeb…” 

“Perhaps it was injured,” Lotor said, body language carefully neutral. He didn’t cross his arms so much as cradle his elbows in his hands. Sendak couldn’t tell if it was him try to exert a sort of control or if he was feeling uncertain of Sendak’s willingness to help. “Perhaps it was waiting for a new command that never came. Either way, we’ve been lucky, and now we have a chance to be rid of it for good and control its every movement once it returns to the Witch.”

Sendak frowned.

Lotor took a step forward and, for a moment, Sendak’s mind filled with lurid visions of Lotor getting what he wanted through sex appeal: laying his hands against his armored chest, his sultry mouth wrapping around the word please … But Lotor stopped in front of him and clasped his hands together less like a plea and more like he was suppressing excitement, squeezing it between his hands.

“It could get messy, but I’d like to capture them instead of kill them, if possible. Quite a bit rides on this working out.”

“No pressure,” Stux rasped as if his throat was dry.

Sendak sighed. He hadn’t seen Lotor so enthusiastic about something in weeks— not since they hunted down Stux’s hideout together— and it did seem like the quickest way to get ahold of the Druid, but it was… He didn’t even know the full plan. What was he agreeing to?

“You’re crazy; you know that?”

“I’ve been trying to tell his Highness that,” Stux whined.

Sendak pinched the bridge of his nose, roughly rubbing the furrow of his brow with a thumb and forefinger. Sighing again, he opened his eyes again to find Lotor waiting patiently in front of him, expression schooled into something definitely neutral. Suddenly, Sendak could see him standing in front of Emperor Zarkon, his father , with the same expression. He’d seen it in passing as Zarkon gave precedence to other Commanders and Generals over his own son. His heart lurched.

“Is there a better way?”

Lotor kept his gaze trained steadily on him, face betraying nothing. As expressive as inventory data. “Perhaps, but I haven’t found it.”

“Fine.”

Looking at Lotor was suddenly like staring into a star. Beaming, full of that terrifying fire that seemed to fuel him, he nearly skipped back to the box’s terminal. Sendak watched as the box further divided into three partitioned-off sections, with the middle one being smaller. Each section had the same set of arm-like tools. 

“Alright, I’m going to simulate a distress signal of sorts from our bot; that should lure some if not all of the Druid out of hiding. Stux, be ready to help me man the other terminal if something goes wrong. Sendak, be prepared to shoot if you have to, but try to help me guide it to this side of the box,” he said, indicating the empty side,”We don’t want it to tear apart our bot before we get a chance to infect it.”

“ How does he guide it?” Stux asked, frozen between dashing to the other terminal and staying where he was.

The distress signal was soundless, but still all three of them strained for other sounds, for anything that would indicate the Druid was getting close.

In a sudden flurry of sound and movement, a roiling form— a mass of a million insects forming a vague shape— exploded from a vent shaft overhead. Stux yelped, but to his credit dove towards the second terminal, hands frantic but ready over the keys. Sendak had drawn his blaster; he preferred the accuracy of it to the wide canon of his arm, which could take time to charge a single shot. He was vaguely aware that Lotor was unarmed and standing nearly directly under the vent, but the thing— the mass— arced itself towards the side of the box with the singular insect in it. 

It never stood a chance. Lotor did something at his terminal, and– as if only the gravity over the empty side of the box increased tenfold— the swarming form was sucked down inside, the top sealing neatly over it.

“Destroy those,” Lotor said, voice steady, as he indicated a handful of insects that had escaped containment. 

Sendak rushed to step on them along with Stux, feeling slightly foolish as he stomped at them. He was dimly aware of the remaining mass collectively slamming at the walls and lid of the box over and over but when he turned back, it had reformed into the Druid itself, crouched in the space allotted to it.

“Gods,” Sendak muttered.

It was staring at Lotor who stared right back, his hands resting on the terminal controls.

“ Halfbreed whore ,” it hissed. Sendak felt a growl bubble in his throat but Lotor returned the Druid's gaze steadily, expression neutral.

“Tell me how you really feel,” Lotor said tartly. 

There was a whirring noise and the armature inside the box began to move. Sendak watched as one of the mechanical claws descended and tore a chunk out of the Druid's shoulder with the ease of plucking a fruit from a vine. There was no blood, but the bits of it that swarmed to try to fill the lost chunk made Sendak’s stomach roil. The Druid keened, but froze as a gaseous substance curled into the box around it.

Lotor watched all of this impassively as the claw dumped the bit of the Druid it collected into the middle section of the box.

“I know how much you love your paralytics,” Lotor said as the Druid grew still. 

It growled at him but could do nothing but wait as Lotor painstakingly used another arm in the sectioned off space to prick each insect the chunk dissolved into. Sendak could guess he'd coded the parameters for his program into microscopic wire or fiber and was injecting each insect, placing them under his control.

Stux looked like he wanted to offer or ask if he could help, then hesitate and keep hesitating. Sendak felt similarly. He wasn’t any help on the sidelines now that the threat of violence had been nullified, but he also wasn’t any help with the current task at hand, either. Stux likely was, but Lotor had a controlled viscousness about him, as if this was a personal vendetta only he could dole out.

When he finished converting the insects, Sendak watched with interest as the other side of the section opened up, allowing them into the same area of the box as the other one under Lotor’s control. They didn't descend into chaotic violence, ripping one another apart. They seemed unhurried, calm…like normal insects.

“They're indistinguishable from regular insects unless issued a command,” Lotor said as if reading his mind, unaffected by the new scream he pulled from the incapacitated Druid as he took a portion out of its arm. With some grim amusement, Sendak realized Lotor was treating the Druid as cruelly as it had treated him.

Sendak frowned. “Surely, you don't intend to constantly monitor them?”

“I don't,” Lotor said, treating him to a smile so dazzling that Sendak could almost pretend he wasn't ripping pieces off of the Druid, “You'll see.”

It was cryptic, but that was all Sendak got out of Lotor for the next varga as he converted handful after handful of the Druid's matter. It was a miserable affair: the only sounds were the Druid’s shrieks of pain and the faint scuttling of insects from the other side of the container. Lotor’s expression was grim as he worked, but his energy held.

At some point, Sendak leaned back against the wall, watching Lotor work. Stux must have also felt that he wasn’t needed and watched Lotor until Lotor glanced up at him and gave him an almost imperceptible nod. It must have been a formal dismissal from the process, because only then did Stux step away from the terminal, joining Sendak by the wall. He threw himself down onto the floor next to Sendak, pulling his legs up close to his chest and rubbing his eyes with one set of hands.

“He's got you well trained,” Sendak said, snorting. Six movements and Lotor had broken in a terrorist hacker to be an asset to the Empire. Or, well, at least to his own designs.

“ Which one of us is well trained?” Stux mumbled, now rubbing his face. Sendak decided to let it slide. “He's awful to work with, by the way. Just terrible.”

If Lotor heard them— and Sendak couldn't see how he wouldn't— he didn't give any indication. He remained focused on his work. He did groan, though.

“There must be a better way to do this.”

Stux looked up, huffing with amusement. “Now he admits it. I told you: there probably is, but you prefer to do everything yourself so that you can quality check it and if you do it any other way you'll second and triple guess your work— oh my gods , what is that?”

Lotor grinned, the armature was holding a rather large, dark bug with dozens of legs and pinchers and wings. What remained of the Druid reminded Sendak of minced meat: a loose several handfuls of insects, trying in vain to form something, writhing in clumps. Dozens scuttled loosely about as if looking for escape. Vermin on a doomed ship.

“This is the queen.”

He crushed it, in the armature’s claw, then produced a little clear box from somewhere with an equally unnerving queen. “We'll replace it with my own. This one is entirely robotic and will run the hive without needing any input from me.”

Sendak watched dumbfounded as Lotor lifted the partitions so that the box was one long open space. The insects Lotor controlled rushed into the old space, swarming around the remaining parts of the Druid. There was more of Lotor’s than the Witch’s left and within moments, the entire swarm was one dark shifting mass again, moving in unison from one end of the box to the other, like a pacing animal. The Witch’s remaining insects had essentially become infected by Lotor’s.

He continued to watch in awe as Lotor opened the box full of his insects and set the queen inside. The insects were drawn to it, surrounded it, accepting it. Slowly they started to resemble the shape of a being. First slim like Lotor, then with two sets of arms like Stux, then big like Sendak.

“They're calibrating.”

Suddenly a replication of a Druid was sitting in the box, looking up at Lotor.

“Go home to your master,” Lotor said, opening the top of the box. He stepped aside as the new Druid climbed out of the box and walked past Lotor to the door.

Lotor followed, motioning for Sendak and Stux to follow him.

The Druid stalked down back halls that were noticeably understaffed. Lotor glanced over his shoulder at Sendak, seeing the same thing. Frowning, Sendak made a mental note to check the patrol roster and if those halls weren't properly staffed, he'd make sure that they were.

The Druid took them to a row of small alcoves along the hull of the ship. Escape pods. The area was also unguarded. Lotor scowled slightly, then tapped something into his gauntlet just as the Druid started to try to override the mechanism keeping the pod inaccessible. In an emergency that warranted evacuation of Central Command those measures would be lifted. There was a sigh of air as the pod's hatch opened.

All three of them watched as the Druid climbed into the pod and closed the hatch behind it. For a moment, it stared out at them— at Lotor— and then it shifted for one tick, maybe two, into what looked incredibly like the Voltron paladin Shiro. Sendak blinked and it was the Druid again, but he knew Lotor had seen it too. His skin was pale.

“Maybe a residual scrap of data…or memory from before I reprogrammed them. It might have seen Shiro through the vents when he was at Central Command,” Lotor said almost to himself.

Sendak grunted, watching the pod begin to undock. “What if other scraps exist? Could that be a problem?”

Lotor hesitated, staring at it. “Perhaps…”

“Should I have my men shoot it down?”

The pod bay door shut behind the pod immediately as it shot into space.

“No,” Lotor said, “I'll just keep an eye on things. It shouldn't be a problem.” 

Sendak peered over his shoulder as casually as possible as Lotor tapped away busily at his gauntlet’s display. “You can track it?”

“Better than that.” 

There was a snide chord to his voice, low and confident, distinctly masculine. Sendak wouldn’t mind hearing it more often. Lotor pulled up a screen of what looked like the inside of the cockpit of the escape pod, looking out at the stars. A feed straight from the Druid’s eyes. Somehow. Sendak didn’t really want to think about it. He’d had enough of bugs and Druids and chunks of both for a deca-phoeb, at least.

Lotor let out a long, heavy breath, hands on his hips, looking at the empty pod bay. He’d managed to get the Druid out of hiding, out of Central Command, and under his control with full visibility on where it was and what it would be doing. As crazy of an idea as it was…it worked . 

Sendak studied the lines of Lotor’s face, the outline of his body. His expression was neutral, but wan. Tired. His body was relaxed, though. None of his muscles were bunched tightly together, bracing for some next terrible thing. Relieved. Which was good: stress wasn’t good for him or the kits.

Stux broke the silence, clapping his two sets of hands together. “Alright, boss, you okay if I call it a cycle? That was a lot of bugs.”

Giving him a wry smile, Lotor waved him off. 

“Awesome. Nice working with you, Commander!” He gave Sendak a smart little salute that Sendak felt too worn out to scowl about and strolled away, whistling and stretching a set of arms above his head.

Turning back towards Lotor, Sendak was surprised to see him sitting on the floor, back against the side of the empty bay. Sendak joined him, sitting against the other side of the bay so that they faced one another. He grunted as he leaned his head back against the wall. When he chanced a look at Lotor again, Lotor was smiling, looking tired but content. 

“Thank you, Sendak. I couldn’t have done this without you, you know. If one thing had gone wrong, this might have ended very differently. With any luck we’ll be able to find out the Witch’s whereabouts and what she’s been up to.”

He massaged the back of his neck slowly, closing his eyes.

“And…if any more scraps of…whatever show up… I’ll keep an eye on things. Technology is one thing, alchemy is another. Crossing one with the other was bound to produce some strange results.” He opened his eyes and blinked up at Sendak. “What?”

Sendak couldn’t drag his eyes away from him. He was rooted to the spot, mouth dry, stricken dumb and dazed like an explosion had gone off right next to his head. He’d heard everything Lotor said, but…most importantly…

“You…” He cleared his throat. “You called me by my name. You called me ‘Sendak’.”

Lotor blinked, eyes going wide, ears twitching, a flush rising in his cheeks. They stared at one another for several breaths. 

“Oh, I— Have I never…called you that?”

They both knew he hadn’t. Not without Sendak’s title preceding it.

“You can call me that,” Sendak said, voice hoarse, fearing he sounded like a kit, “You can call me that whenever you like.”

They both looked everywhere but at each other.

Finally, Sendak broke the silence. “Besides, I wasn’t that much help— you did all of the work. I just stood there and looked pretty.”

To his delight, Lotor laughed and the sound was loud and bright. 

“But you did! If you hadn’t been there I would have been, well, anxious . And certainly less confident. Stux has been a great asset, but he would have wrung all four of his hands the whole time instead of being my assistant technician if you hadn't been there. I think he wants to impress you,” he said, suppressing a laugh at Stux's expense.

“Me? So my presence was incentive for you both.” Sendak's brow creased, but he laughed— a combination of perplexity and relief. He hadn't realized how nervous the whole process had made him. Sighing through his nose, he slid down the wall just slightly, getting comfortable. 

Lotor’s stare was obvious, his silence tingling with unreleased energy. Sendak wondered if he was horny— with the pregnancy hormones he usually smelled like sexual invitation to Sendak these quintants. Maybe they could fuck and Sendak would send for food to be brought up. Something casual, not too flirtatious…

“I'm sorry,” Lotor said and when Sendak snapped his attention back to him, Lotor glanced away, ears drooping, “The things I said…”

“The things I said…” Sendak’s heart ached.

“Were true to an extent. Viewing it as a hormonal reaction is…comforting to me. Not because it's you,” he added, “Because it's—”

Sendak hazarded a guess. “Safe.”

Lotor heaved a silent sigh, nodding, his whole body relaxing with the exhalation. Examining his own claws, Lotor frowned. He looked exhausted, as if this admission was a defeat of sorts.

Sendak didn't know how many partners Lotor had before, but he did know Galra could be cruel about mixed-species Galra, even the halfbreed chasers. Sometimes they were worse. It wasn’t hard to imagine Lotor being on the receiving end of abuse even from Galra he'd considered paramours: everything from breaking his heart to outright assault. He was small— delicate— for a Galra and so, so pretty, although Sendak realized he was biased. But any Galra with even a single eye such as himself had to be able to see that— for better or for worse.

He swallowed painfully. “What can I do to make you feel safe?”

Lotor practically flinched with surprise, then looked at him with wide eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Sendak wondered if anyone had ever asked him that before.

“I can keep it professional, solely focus on sexual relief for you, provide for you only when it seems appropriate,” Sendak suggested. 

Nothing lavish, nothing tender . 

He watched Lotor’s brow crease slightly. Maybe it was too big of a question, too much to expect him to state his boundaries on the spot.

“How about we proceed as usual, you tell me when something is too much, and I don't take it personally?” He amended.

The corners of Lotor's mouth lifted and his gaze softened. “That sounds…doable.”

Sendak tried not to get wrapped up in the floaty feeling that filled his chest. 

“Whatever you want,” he confirmed, delighted as Lotor’s ears lifted back to a careful neutral position.

“I want— Well, I know we've been having sex, but I wouldn’t mind doing it at a more relaxed pace.” 

“You’ve certainly earned some relaxation after this.”.

Lotor’s cheeks darkened and he lifted his eyes to gaze at Sendak through his eyelashes. “I want…I need your hands all over me.”

And Sendak wasn't about to deny him that.

Chapter Text

Sendak inhaled the scent of Lotor’s sweat-slick skin as he kissed his way up what he could reach of his body in their current positions. Though his milk hadn’t come in yet, Lotor’s chest was slightly puffy, his nipples darkened. All Sendak had to do was run the tip of his tongue along the curve of his breast and Lotor would gasp for breath beneath him.

Lotor did exactly that as Sendak caved to the temptation and then laughed, gently but firmly lifting Sendak’s head away from his breasts. 

“You’re going to make me want to go another round.”

They’d been fucking— albeit, at a slower pace— for varga now, and although Sendak could feel his marathon stamina starting to wane, he would gladly push himself past exhaustion to hear Lotor moan his name again. It was addictive. He’d made a promise not to push Lotor into uncomfortable territory, but if Lotor was engaging in it eagerly, wasn’t it alright for him to indulge?

Sendak pouted. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

“No,” Lotor admitted, studying his face, scratching lightly behind one of his ears, “But there’s no need to rush. We can see where the night leads.”

He looked beautiful, Sendak thought, sprawled out beneath him: his skin flushed and almost shimmering from exertion, every muscle relaxed, his ears resting in a neutral position. 

Grunting his assent, Sendak sat up and began to untangle himself from Lotor, when Lotor laid a hand on his arm. 

“Wait,” he said, eyes unfocused, “Don’t pull out just yet…”

Sendak paused then felt it: Lotor’s ylden pulsing around him, constricting and then relaxing and then constricting again in a steady pattern. Lotor let out a helpless little groan beneath him and he couldn’t help the rumbling purr that rose in his chest as he leaned back over Lotor. 

“Getting yourself off?” When Lotor made a sound of assent, he smirked. “What happened to not wanting to go another round?”

Ignoring him, Lotor’s eyes rolled back and he gasped softly. “Can…you…also…get off…if I…?”

“Yes,” Sendak growled, feeling Lotor manually pumping him with his sex. It was more surprising that this could get Lotor off. Drinking in the sight of Lotor taking his pleasure and getting lost in it, Sendak leaned down and kissed at his throat, feeling himself become fully erect again. Lotor shivered, panting lightly, and Sendak nuzzled beneath his jaw. “Is the feeling of me inside you what gets you so worked up, my Emperor?”

Lotor made a senseless sound, but nodded. 

Sliding his hands to Lotor’s hips, partially in an effort to keep himself from thrusting roughly up into Lotor’s hot embrace, Sendak nipped at the lobe of Lotor’s ear. “Like feeling full? Like knowing I could knock you up with more kits if I wanted?”

Lotor trembled in his grasp, the rhythmic pulsing of his sex faltering for a moment. Opening his mouth, panting, his fingers clutched at Sendak’s arms. “Like feeling…conquered…”

Caught off guard, Sendak cursed and spilled inside Lotor, thankful for the barrier he’d slipped over his cock to prevent him from knocking Lotor up with more kits. The force of his abrupt orgasm pushed Lotor over the edge.

They laid there catching their breath as their pulses slowed. Sendak raised his head to find Lotor smirking at him lazily and laughed. “You only said that because you knew it would make me lose control.”

“Perhaps. You’ll never know.” Laughing, Lotor gently pressed at Sendak’s arms as a request for him to roll off of him. 

Sendak obliged, slowly extracting himself, trying not to stare too much at the slick spilling from Lotor’s den . Lotor still caught him and shook his head slightly. 

“Not now. I can’t handle another orgasm, as much as I love your tongue inside me.” He sat up slightly, running his fingers down through the come splattered on his chest and belly and thighs. “Gods…”

“Shower?” Sendak suggested.

“Shower,” Lotor agreed.

After they were clean and dried off, Sendak pulled his flightsuit back on and began to pull on his armor, but stopped at the lightest touch against his organic forearm. Blinking, he found Lotor looking back up at him, dressed only in black underwear and a silky black dressing gown that was a couple sizes too big for him. While extremely inviting and intriguing, Sendak couldn't imagine Lotor lounging around his suite alone dressed like that. That time he caught Lotor pulling a broken sentry into his room dressed in casual sparring clothes, his hair messily piled on top of his head to keep it out of the way— that seemed more his style. But then again, how could he say for sure? He really didn't know Lotor all that much, he realized, shame dropping into the pit of his stomach heavily. 

“You know,” Lotor said, pulling Sendak from his thoughts, “You could stay if you'd like… We could order dinner and take it from there.”

He was well aware of the boyish hope that sprawled across his expression, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “I’d love that.”

Squeezing his arm lightly, Lotor smiled. “Order whatever you like, I’m likely to eat just about anything now that I’m pregnant.”

He turned and slunk back into the bathroom and Sendak watched him go, eyes tracking the swing of his hips, before turning his attention to the task at hand. Never before had ordering dinner felt like an enormous decision. Central Command’s kitchen offered an impressive selection and sourced what it could fresh from the system they currently occupied. It looked like meat from a lot of aquatic creatures was in ample supply. He decided to play it safe and order meals he knew were less pungent and not too spicy. 

“What do you like, though?” He called back to the bathroom. For a moment he didn’t think Lotor would answer.

“I’m a right fiend for dumplings of any kind.” 

Sendak beat back the pleased flush that spread through him. Something about Lotor he didn’t know; something lovely. He cleared his throat and added two different types of dumplings to the order— both for Lotor— and placed it.

As casually as he could, he ambled back towards the bathroom and hesitantly peered around the doorframe. Lotor was standing at the sink and mirror, an array of pill bottles laid out like a small audience in front of him. Sendak watched helplessly as Lotor tipped a sleek blue capsule into his palm which was already piled with other pills.

He couldn’t help gawking as he stepped inside. “ Gods …”

Glancing up at him in the mirror, Lotor laughed lightly, amused. 

“I forgot you’ve never seen this part of my regimen. I usually do it in the middle of the cycle since eating in the mornings makes me nauseous, but I missed it today.” He swallowed almost all of the pills at one time expertly, drinking them down with water, then sighed.

Sendak’s eyes were wide. 

“I,” Lotor said, looking a little sheepish as he put the bottles away in a little compartment standing next to the sink, “Got very used to taking pills as a child. This is quite a bit more than I’ve ever had to take at one time in my life, but it’s not terrible. They’re mostly supplements and the like. I go to the medbay for injections when I need them.”

“Every day?” Sendak’s voice was hoarse.

“The pills, yes; the injections, no.” Lotor suddenly brightened, holding up a little jar he hadn’t put away. “The second half of my regimen is more enjoyable if you’d like to help.”

Sendak tried to read the label on the jar, but Lotor pulled it against his chest and smiled cryptically, glancing over his shoulder at him as he brushed past. Following him, Sendak watched as he got on the bed and leaned back against the pillows before letting the silk robe fall open. Sendak drank in the sight of his budding nipples, his belly, as if he hadn’t just seen it all. Seeing the look on Sendak’s face, Lotor opened the jar slowly and dipped the fingers of his other hand inside, coming back up with a small amount of…something on them.

Bringing his fingers to his chest, Lotor smoothed the substance over his skin gently, then began rubbing it in in slow, firm circles. He let out a soft sound, body sinking further back against the pillows and closed his eyes as he carefully rolled a nipple between his fingers.

“It helps…your milk come in?” Sendak asked, mouth dry as he hovered uncertainly near the bed, hands twitching at his sides. 

Lotor sighed happily and opened his eyes. “I’m sure in some way, yes. It’s mostly to ease the little aches and pains that come with being pregnant and protects against stretch marks. I’ve got a couple,” he added, pulling his underwear aside to better showcase the pale, almost white, jagged streaks across his flank. To Sendak they looked a little like old battle scars.

“I don’t mind them, but I’m going to get much bigger than my body was intended to, so I’d like to aid my skin as well as I can.” He paused. “Would you like to help?”

“Would I like to?” Sendak’s voice came out cracked. He was already climbing up onto the bed to sit beside him and Lotor laughed, the sound bright and musical. Sendak felt like he’d been flashbanged momentarily. Was this the same man who, for the past six movements, had made their time in bed together into a transactional affair? It felt like tumbling into a very vivid daydream.

“Here,” Lotor offered the little jar to him. 

Dipping two fingers into the salve, Sendak blinked down at the canvas of Lotor’s body. “Where would you like me to—?” 

Lotor laid a hand over his and guided it to his chest, and Sendak did his best to emulate the way Lotor had been touching himself. Blinking, Lotor’s body almost went rigid. His ears twitched, then drooped slightly.

“Too much?” Worried, Sendak began to lift his touch away, but Lotor shook his head, a flush starting in his cheeks and flaring out to the tips of his ears.

“N-no,” exhaling, the tension left his body, but the flush didn’t fade, “It’s just…much different than doing it myself. It feels nice.”

Now Lotor looked like the one who’d been flashbanged. Sendak had never wished he still had both his hands so badly in all of his life. It was torture to only be able to gently stroke and squeeze one side of Lotor’s chest at a time. He worked his chest until Lotor’s flush almost spread down to meet his touch, then gathered a little more salve on his fingertips and moved to his hips and thighs, marveling at the pearlescent quality of the few stretch marks that existed, wanting to kiss them and cherish them for what they were: evidence that Lotor had endured and survived and been strong and brave. Were their places switched, Sendak could not say he would have faced such a demanding task and political expectation head-on. Certainly with not as much grace, if any at all.

“Saving the best for last?” Lotor teased, looking utterly relaxed now where he lay back against the pillows: eyes half lidded and ears drooping. He nodded down at his belly and Sendak couldn’t help but grin, caught in the act. “You’ve got a fetish.”

“Maybe so,” he rumbled, leaning down and kissing the underside of it lightly, “But I don’t hear you complaining.”

On the contrary, Lotor bit his bottom lip, breath getting heavier as Sendak slowly and gently smoothed his hand over the swell. They both seemed transfixed as Sendak rubbed tender, gentle circles across the circumference of it. Careful with his claws, he paid separate attention to Lotor’s navel, fingering it gently to treat it with salve. Lotor made a soft sound, expression transfixed with lust and Sendak smiled, slipping his mechanical hand between Lotor’s legs, stroking open the wet folds of his den .

Lotor’s cheeks were flushed darkly, his breath puffing gently, his body trembling slightly. “It’s…a lot of attention.”

“Hm,” Sendak agreed, “Is it good?”

Lotor nodded quickly, urgently.

“Good,” Sendak purred, “You deserve to feel good. You deserve to relax.” 

Whining softly, Lotor pressed down against Sendak’s touch

“Relax,” Sendak murmured, moving his fingers against him and pulling aside his panties to dip one inside and lightly stroke his walls, “I’ve got you.”

Surprisingly, Lotor obeyed, body going limp, although his brow creased and his mouth pressed into an uncertain line. His body shook as he fought the instinct to rut down against Sendak’s hand.

Pleased, Sendak leaned down and kissed at his belly, keeping eye contact, watching as the tension began to fade from Lotor’s face, too. His eyes began to lose focus and his breath got heavier as Sendak fingered both his belly button and den .

“You’re getting so big, so round. The way your body is changing is driving me wild. I can’t believe how soft your hips and thighs are getting, how smooth your skin is…”

Lotor’s eyes started to roll back, his ears hanging so far down he looked impossibly relaxed. Sendak stroked his belly, lightly trailing his claws over the swell with one hand, while stroking the bottom of his cock and continuing to finger him with the other.

“I want to worship you, taste you, savor you…” He smiled at the way Lotor’s head dropped back against the pillows, the way he panted. “Let me savor you…”

He began to kiss across Lotor’s body, paying special attention to the changing flesh of his breasts and belly and hips and thighs, inhaling the sweetness of his skin as he went, nudging his nose against him. Continuing to stimulate him, he lapped at his skin, paying extra attention to his belly, nibbling at his hips. It wasn’t long before Lotor was coming from both his cock and ylden , moaning like the pleasure was killing him. 

Afterwards, he laid there boneless for a few doboshes, then turned such a content and brilliant smile on him that Sendak almost melted.

“Can I get your help with this more often?” Lotor mumbled, looking like a big lazy pet. “That was…”

He trailed off, biting his lip. 

A chime from the door to the suite sounded, announcing the arrival of their dinner. Although the bed was comfortable, they agreed eating at the little dining table— which seemed largely unused; placed almost like an afterthought near the kitchenette— was best. 

Lotor’s eyes widened when he saw the two different types of dumplings and he almost looked positively gleeful when Sendak insisted they were all for him. He still snuck a couple of each type onto Sendak’s plate while Sendak was spooning other dishes onto their plates, but then Sendak snuck two back onto Lotor’s plate when he wasn't looking. They were good, but Sendak much preferred watching Lotor enjoy them: his little appreciative hums, the way his ears flicked happily as he ate, the couple of times he closed his eyes and sighed as if transported by the taste. It was good to watch Lotor eat in general, knowing his belly was full and the babies were being taken care of.

Sendak could almost pretend this was something , that they were lovers having dinner, discussing their lives. He got Lotor talking about solo fightership mechanics and Lotor got him to regale him with tales of misadventure from his cadet days. Lotor told him about a few of his more outrageous adventures traveling with fugitives and pirates, which led to them— somehow— discussing different ports and which ones they preferred to dock in based on entry regulations. Which ports had the best food vendors, which had the shittest mechanics, and then some of their more wild encounters in ports.

Lightly, thoughtlessly, after Lotor finished one particularly funny anecdote about swindling a parts merchant who’d tried to swindle him, Sendak grinned, hoping his eye held more fondness than softness.

“I’d like to travel with you, sometime.”

The smile Lotor gave him was pale. Wistful. He looked away and put his utensils down, lacing his fingers together at the edge of the table.

His ears fell, flattening back against his head. 

“I feel I owe you an explanation.” When Sendak only gazed at him, perplexed, he continued, eyes still averted. “Why I have insisted time and time again that what you— what we’re feeling is hormonal. I’m not trying to hurt you; if anything I’m trying to prevent you from being hurt.”

He took a deep breath and Sendak watched as some semblance of that steely, cool resolve he was so known for came over his features like an armored mask. He spoke slowly, as if picking his words as carefully as possible.

“When the kits have been weaned, the hormones and their effects will dissipate. At that time, you might— you should — prepare yourself,” he seemed to take a moment to prepare himself and drew a steadying breath, “For feeling disappointed."

“Disappointed?” Sendak felt his brow furrow, blinking as Lotor looked up at him, eyes fierce not in anger but like he was trying to be brave.

He nodded. “Yes. Or deceived. That— for the course of a pregnancy— you found a halfbreed attractive, that you devoted time and energy to taking care of a halfbreed, that you created new halfbreed life with a halfbreed...”

Some hot emotion welled up in Sendak, and he almost snarled. “You’re talking about yourself— You… How could you speak of yourself like…?”

Lotor smiled like he felt bad for Sendak even now, but it was a ghost of sorrow. One worn thin from time and repeated use.

“A mistake?”

He said it so plainly, like it was as plain a descriptor for him as “intelligent” or “resourceful”.

Sendak balked. He opened his mouth and shut it again. Lotor looked down at his hands, that already thin smile straining over something vast. Sendak felt a strange dread rise in his stomach, almost making him nauseous. When Lotor spoke again, his voice was soft but strangely clinical. 

“I’ve never procreated with another Galra, but I’ve had a few trysts. Nights of passion, usually driven by biological needs: their ruts, sometimes my heats, sometimes chemically-induced states of that, sometimes the simple desire to couple produced by drink or danger. And always, after the passion has been sated and the hormonal influence fades, all interest cools and there has been…disgust.” His mouth pursed around the word like it was bitter for a moment, then nodded as if accepting it, acclimating to it, swallowing it. 

He looked up at Sendak, expression not quite kindness but not quite sadness. Something muddled and blurry. Still, he smiled.

“You, of all Galra— who has nurtured his seed in me and has protected that new life time and time again— have the most right to feel betrayed, disappointed, deceived,” his voice chipped just at the end and Sendak watched himself push himself over the word, “And disgusted.”

“Lotor…”

Lotor’s eyes nearly staring through him, each word measured and crisp. “I just want you to be prepared.”

Swallowing, he looked back down at his plate, lifted his glass, took a sip of water, and Sendak was filled with a horrible revelation. Nausea and dread rose inside him, hot and sticky.

His voice shook slightly. “Lotor…”

“I just thought you ought to know,” Lotor said, voice laced up and proper. 

All of him proper, unoffending, correct. Palatable . How long had he worried about this? How often had he been looked at like he was a deceptive, disgusting thing for wanting affection? For wanting…

Sendak’s mouth was dry as if Lotor’s words were metal grating miles above an impossibly wide expanse and he had just looked down. He felt breathless. Scared. Terrified at the lack of hope in Lotor’s words and tone and expectations. Horrified at the raw and bleeding thing he’d glimpsed between those words, beating down below: always beating, needing, wanting…

“Lotor,” he started, voice as careful as Lotor’s had been doboshes before, “If it wasn’t all hormones— If it didn’t all end with the birth and weaning, and if you felt that you could trust me, would you let yourself be loved?”

The smallest tremor shook the tips of Lotor’s ears. He swallowed thickly and painted on a painful mockery of a smile, his eyes not rising from the table. “You mean, if everything was different?”

Sendak nodded. Waited.

“Please don’t ask that of me,” Lotor said, voice losing volume, not quite a plea but close. “Let’s talk about something else.”

Exhaling through his nose, Sendak felt an old stubbornness raise its head. Reaching across the table easily, he gently took Lotor’s hand, thumb rubbing over his fingers slowly. He watched Lotor stare at their hands, eyes far, far away, full of muted panic. Sendak gave them several doboshes of silence, letting it stretch out until it was comfortable. Until it was just their breathing, the ship humming dully around them, the back-and-forth sweep of his thumb over Lotor’s skin. He didn’t speak until he felt Lotor’s fingers tighten around his slightly. 

“Will you allow yourself to enjoy it as long as it lasts?”

Lotor’s eyes lifted to his: wide. He searched Sendak’s face for something. Ears flicking, Sendak could tell he was chewing the inside of his lip.

“Will you?” He asked, almost inaudible above the empty space of the room.

Sendak nodded, hoping his face conveyed the heavy sincerity that was weighing in his chest. “Yes.”

He watched a trembling, but sad sort of relief come over Lotor’s features and got the impression that Lotor wanted to hide or make himself invisible from the way he closed his eyes and tilted his head away slightly. Still holding Lotor’s hand, Sendak brushed the knuckles of his mechanical hand as lightly as possible up and down Lotor’s forearm.

They sat there like that for a long time, Sendak focused on the shape of Lotor’s arm beneath his touch, the warmth of his hand, the resignation in his shuttered face. Finally, Sendak spoke into the silence.

“May I hold you?”

Lotor’s expression tightened for one painful moment, but then he nodded as if it was the only thing he truly wanted. 

Rising, Sendak walked around to Lotor’s side of the table and picked him up in his arms as if he weighed nothing at all. Lotor opened his eyes in surprise, splaying a hand against Sendak’s chest for balance, blushing as his fingers pressed against the firm muscle. Sendak grinned.

“Did I ever tell you about when I was young and foolish and decided I was going to be a famous star-racing?”

Lotor’s eyes slowly widened.

“I was really bad at it,” Sendak said, giving Lotor a private little smile. 

His heart leapt when Lotor’s mouth opened in awed delight.

“How bad?”

Smirking, Sendak picked up the platter with the remaining dumplings on it and pushed it into Lotor’s hands. 

“I’ll let you tell me,” he laughed, as he turned them towards the living area and headed for the couch at a leisurely pace.

They spent the rest of the night curled up against one another, talking about anything other than their hearts, making one another laugh, first on the couch then back in the bed. By the time Lotor fell asleep with his head pillowed on his chest, Sendak could almost pretend their situation was permanent, uncomplicated, and real.

Almost.