Chapter Text
For as much as Lance believed himself ready, once they actually reached the meeting room, he found himself hesitating.
Hunk hovered protectively over his shoulder. He knew that his friend was eager to just get this all over with, but Lance had just been frozen at the realization he’d be seeing Shiro again. Like, he had realized it before… but now that he was outside the door, it was just a whole different story.
Through the door, he heard the muffled sound of Pidge snorting, followed by her saying, “I still can’t believe you named the clone Kuro.”
“We couldn’t keep calling him ‘the clone’ or ‘Shiro’.” Shiro replied in a near perfect mirror of what Hunk had said. “Especially if we’re going to be keeping him around.”
… Lance felt like his breath was caught in his throat, like he couldn’t breathe. He knew they were thinking about keeping the clone around and Hunk had basically said as much earlier but… Lance shook his head and stepped back, accidently colliding with Hunk’s body. “I can’t.” He whispered.
“You can.” Hunk reassured him. He gently pushed Lance a step closer to the door.
Lance shook his head again. “I can’t, Hunk. I can’t.”
“I’m right here with you. So is Keith and Pidge. Lotor’s in there too. Nothing will happen. You aren’t alone.” Hunk continued to assure Lance. “Just trust us, please.”
Lance still didn’t move.
Hunk sighed, and shook his head before reaching around Lance to trigger the door to slide open. Whatever conversation that had been going on promptly fell silent as everyone stared at the door – no, at Lance.
“Lance.” Shiro stood up, his eyes were wide, but his lips were curved into a gentle smile. “I’m glad you could join us. I’m sorry we couldn’t give you more time; but we need to know, from your view, what happened.”
“You all already know what happened.” Lance dug his heels into the carpet and pushed back against Hunk, trying to see if there was any give at all. There was none. “Is that all?”
“No.” Allura replied in a clipped short tone. “Pidge and Hunk both indicated that you suspected Kuro of being an imposture since your return to the team. I would like to know the grounds on the suspicions as well as why you did not bring them to my attention.”
It was easier being under Allura’s stare than Shiro’s. He swallowed thickly and turned his attention to her, even as every alarm in his heard went off at the idea of not giving Shiro his full attention.
“The mission I was sent on was a set up. When I realized the data chip the Shiro clone had sent me to retrieve was blank, I suspected it was Shiro who had set me up. It wouldn’t have been the first time a Black Paladin betrayed the team.”
Shiro winced.
“So you suspected Kuro of being the traitor and returned anyways?” Keith asked.
The instinctual response was that he didn’t have a choice in returning, but Lance bit that back. “Yes.” He said instead. “I wasn’t completely sure, and I figured if I came back, I would be a more likely target than anyone else.”
“What the fuck, Lance?” Pidge asked.
“It made sense!” Lance replied. “I was the one who had been backstabbed, so naturally that made me more a threat. I figured regardless of who the traitor was, they’d reveal themselves when they went after me.”
He was very careful to avoid looking at the area of the table where Lotor’s team sat. The last thing he wanted was to see their reactions to this, to his ideas and thoughts. Granted, he’d been right. The traitor had been who he assumed it to be, and had gone after him.
“And your choice not to inform anyone?” Allura asked.
“Loose lips sink ships. The more people I informed, the more likely the traitor would find out. ‘Sides, just because I suspected Shiro didn’t mean that Shiro was the traitor.” It wasn’t like Lance could just say ‘think about your definition of justice and the whole ‘guilty till proven innocent’ thing you got going on and ask me again why I didn’t come to you’.
“So you chose to tell only the Green and Yellow Paladins of your suspicions. What if they were the traitors?” Lotor asked.
“It wasn’t likely to be one of them based on the set up.” Lance replied.
“Okay, so once you painted a target on your back, then what?” Keith crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat as he looked at Lance. “You just waited to be attacked?”
“No wonder he was so jumpy.” He heard Zethrid ‘stage’ whisper to Acxa, bringing Lance’s attention over to them. Acxa responded by smacking her on the arm and giving her a very stern look that said, ‘shut up’.
“Was there any other reason you came back?” Keith asked, his tone more than a little rough and offended.
Lance shifted, the thought of the other reason he had come back to Voltron flashing in his mind. He eyed Allura and then Lotor before finally looking to Ezor. As if recognizing what he was thinking, Ezor suddenly seemed very interested in her lap.
“Yeah there was, actually.”
“Because we’re your friends?” Pidge suggest, shrugging and arching an eyebrow. “That would fit Hunk more than you.”
“Well, yeah.” Lance fidgeted again.
“That’s not the only other reason.” Keith said, furrowing his eyebrows. “What now?”
Lance could have lied, could have said that there was nothing more to it. But Ezor had told Lotor already. Lotor knew that Lance knew about the whole ‘Lance must return if you want the alliance’ thing. There was no point in hiding it anymore.
“Allura wouldn’t agree to an alliance unless I returned.” Lance admitted.
A person would be able to hear a staple drop, it was so quiet in the room. However, it seemed that the silence Lance’s words brought was just the calm before the storm as few seconds later the room exploded into a cacophony of noise.
“The hell are you talking about?” Keith demanded.
“We wouldn’t make that a term!” Hunk argued. “That’s like… black mail or extortion or something.”
“You allowed that to be a term?” Acxa asked Lotor, her eyebrows furrowing like she couldn’t believe this.
Ezor turned a little opaque as she stared up at Lance. She quickly signed, “Lotor didn’t know,” and Lance knew he messed up.
Shiro stood and opened his mouth, presumably to silence the room, but Allura took care of that with two quiet words; “You knew?”
“What the fuck, Allura?” Pidge demanded, and that started a flurry of reactions from everyone else. Lance was a bit touched to see that they were all along the same line as Pidge’s reaction.
“Enough!” Shiro slammed his hands down on the table. He gave Allura a look that basically echoed Pidge before looking back to Lance and sighing. “Lance, what do you mean?”
Instead of answering Shiro directly, Lance leveled his gaze at Allura. He could have looked at Lotor instead, but with Ezor’s message of Lotor not knowing bouncing in his brain, he wasn’t sure he could. He didn’t want to see the prince’s expression.
“I overheard you sparing with Lotor, and you threatened to withhold the alliance unless I rejoined Voltron. Lotor argued that he wouldn’t force me to come back, even if it cost him the alliance.”
“You… were not supposed to know about this.” Lotor said. Lance still refused to look at him. “I didn’t want it to influence your choice.”
Lance curled his fist and told himself not to respond. He took a deep breath and turned to face Lotor. “You were being an idiot.” He informed him. “You’re still being an idiot. You need this alliance for your people, and I’m not worth losing this alliance.”
“I repeat: what the fuck, Allura?” Pidge growled. “Like, what the fuck?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”
“The Universe needs Voltron.” Allura announced. “Lance was chosen to be the Blue Paladin. He can’t ignore that calling.”
“Right.” Shiro said. He looked at Lotor. “I think this is a good time to bring up our earlier discussion.”
Both Lotor and Allura replied at the same time. Lotor’s reply was a slightly breathy “Agreed,” which sounded far too much like he was trying to not sound excited.
Allura’s, “Absolutely not,” was sharp and harsh and immediately followed by, “Lance is vital to Voltron as a Blue Paladin. We cannot put the wants of one before the needs of the Universe.”
… This was literally the same argument as from their alliance talks. Did she have no other excuse for Lance to remain? Could she think of nothing else? She could have brought up his friendships and ties to the team, or about how she was his best bet of getting back home to Earth, or… literally anything else.
“Lance affected millions of lives across the Galaxy with his work in the Civil War. After all, it was due to his work with me that allowed your Green Paladin to be reunited with her brother, was it not?”
“It was.” Pidge admitted. “I wouldn’t have found him otherwise.”
Shiro nodded, and looked to Allura. “You piloted the Blue Lion in Lance’s absence before; couldn’t you do that again?”
Allura blinked at him, her mouth slightly agape before she regained her composure. “You cannot be serious, Shiro. Yes, I was able to, but I’m not meant to be the Blue Paladin. The connection isn’t the same.”
Oh yeah, Allura and Trust? Lance didn’t see it.
“Can’t another be chosen?” Shiro asked.
Lance wondered where exactly he was going with this. Was he really… was he really thinking about Lance going with Lotor? If so, what about the alliance? What about Voltron? Lance didn’t think he would be siding with Allura during any part of this conversation, but he found himself agreeing with the statement, ‘You cannot be serious, Shiro’.
“It’s not unheard of, but it is extremely unlikely.” Allura announced. “Additionally, locating a new Blue Paladin will ruin the team’s progression—”
“I think we can all agree that it would better benefit the team, Lance included, if Lance were to take a break with Lotor’s team.” Shiro interrupted her. “We can give finding a new Paladin a chance. If it doesn’t work out, then we can discuss Lance’s return.”
“His return?!” Allura repeated. “He shouldn’t be leaving at all.”
“As much as I favor the direction of this conversation,” Lotor cut in smoothly, “I still stand by my original position that the choice should be Lance’s, and Lance’s alone.”
Lance wanted to say yes, more than anything. This was like a dream come true – the possibility of him returning to Lotor. But it also seemed all too good to be true. Things didn’t happen like this for him. He wanted to say yes, but “What about the alliance?” escaped his mouth instead.
“Obviously, it will be disso—”
“Unaffected.” Shiro corrected Allura with a stern look. “Your return should never have been one of the terms to begin with. So, what do you say?”
Lance looked at Allura, who was puffed up in indignant anger but apparently conceding the loss if her silence was anything to go by. He looked at Keith and Pidge and Hunk. He looked at Ezor, Acxa, Narti, and Zethrid. He looked at Shiro, who was waiting patiently, and then finally, he looked at Lotor.
Lotor was looking at him, his mouth just barely open like he couldn’t believe the turn of events any more than Lance did. His eyes were just slightly wide, his ears perked up in alert attention. Both of his hands were on the table, but one was curled, and he was turned to face Lance like Lance held all of his attention.
Of all the things Lance expected… being asked this was… it was unbelievable. He had told Hunk only a miracle would allow him and Lotor to be together. He hadn’t expected…
He could feel pressure building behind his eyes, but this time he thought the tears might have been ones of joy. “Yes.” He breathed out. Had the room not been silent waiting on his response, it might not have been heard.
Lotor let out a breath, his shoulders slumping like he had actually been afraid that Lance would refuse. That Lance would deny and reject him again. And had this been any other time, he might have – no matter how much it hurt.
But this wasn’t like any other time. There were no obstacles in Lance’s way now. If anything, he seemed to be given a blessing instead.
“Then that’s settled.” Shiro announced. “Although, I would like to add in a few conditions such as weekly check-ins. Additionally, if anything were to happen to Lance, I would expect to be informed immediately.”
“Of course.” Lotor said, perhaps too quickly. He seemed to realize that as he cleared his throat and continued with, “Reasonable amendments. I suppose there is an additional provision that should you require Lance’s assistance, it will be given?”
“Naturally.” Shiro agreed. “If it comes down to it, I refuse to see why we can’t hold shared custody, similar to the agreement we have with the Blade over Keith.”
“As long as he keeps in touch with us.” Keith said, which Lance supposed was as good as he was going to get from him.
“It’s not like he’s switching sides.” Pidge agreed.
“I’m gonna miss you, buddy.” Hunk said. “Send me food recipes from all the crazy planets you’ll visit.” He squeezed Lance’s shoulder before pushing him in the direction of Lotor’s side of the table. “Take good care of him.” Hunk advised Lotor.
“I wouldn’t dream otherwise.” Lotor replied.
“We’ll take excellent care of him. Who knows, maybe he’ll stop being so scrawny.” Zethrid tagged on.
Thunderstruck at his team’s support and the fact he was actually returning to Lotor’s team, Lance sank down into the seat beside Lotor in a daze. Lotor’s hand disappeared under the table to hold one of Lance’s and squeezed.
Lance squeezed back, his mind still reeling over what just happened.
Ezor poked him under the table and when he looked at her, she flashed him a stunning smile. “Don’t think you’re in the clear though, mister.” She mouthed before returning her attention to the meeting.
Lance blinked. He knew that he wasn’t in the clear. Lotor was bound to want to talk to him after they were back on the base, but until then… everything was beautifully perfect. Too perfect.
With his free hand, he pinched his thigh. The pain said this wasn’t a dream, and once again, it hit him. This was real. This was really real. That had just happened. He was going back with Lotor. He was part of Lotor’s team again. It was tentative until Blue selected another Paladin, but still.
He couldn’t pay attention to the rest of the meeting. He knew Lotor and Shiro and Allura had gotten into a few more arguments, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care enough to pay attention when he was holding hands with Lotor and going to be going back with him.
The meeting finished in a blink of an eye – for Lance at least. He knew from the other’s faces that it had been long and annoying, but Lance hadn’t felt it at all. Lotor squeezed his hand again, and Lance felt those butterflies prepare themselves to burst from his chest.
“Don’t worry, he’s so out of it he won’t care; watch.” Zethrid said to Acxa as they stood up to exit the meeting room. “Hey Lance, Acxa touched your rifle.”
Well, that was enough to snap Lance out of his daze. He blinked twice as the words slowly registered. “You touched my rifle?” He asked. Of the Voltron team, Hunk and Pidge both hesitated at the door, looking back at the Lotor’s group.
Zethrid froze with her eyes wide and mouth dropped open. “Oh.” She whispered. “He was listening.”
“Oh no.” Lance heard Hunk say.
“I did not!” Acxa replied with no hesitation. Lance narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a good long moment.
“I’ll fix it.” He sighed. “And then you will never touch my rifle without me again.”
“I didn’t touch it.”
“Oh, she totally touched it.” Ezor said. “She was wondering about the settings you had it on.”
“She messed with his sights.” Pidge whispered, in a tone akin to gleeful horror. “Lance is going to murder her.”
Lance continued to stare at Acxa for a good full moment before taking a deep breath. “You know what, I just got the best news ever, so I’m gonna let this go because I don’t want this moment ruined. Don’t touch my rifle again.”
“No murdering teammates.” Lotor reminded the group. He paused and then leveled a look at Acxa. “And no messing with other’s weapons.”
“He’s letting it go now, but we’ll be hearing about a funeral later.” Pidge commented. “Make sure to keep us updated.” She called out to Lance before giving him a grin and following the rest of Voltron out the door.
When it slid open, Lance could hear Allura arguing with Shiro. He didn’t envy him at all.
Hunk glanced at the still open door and sighed. “I meant it about keeping in touch. Don’t think I won’t follow you.” He warned Lance before following after Pidge.
“Lovely teammates.” Ezor commented. “Also, Acxa totally did touch your rifle. Don’t listen to her lies.”
“Do you need to grab anything before we go?” Lotor immediately asked, squeezing Lance’s hand to bring his attention back to him. “I don’t believe our presence will be welcome for much longer so long as the princess’ mood remains unreasonable.”
Well, Lance couldn’t say he disagreed with that. And he really didn’t want to push his luck with his miracle. But… “I should say goodbye to Blue.”
“The Lion?” Zethrid asked.
“She’s more than just a ship, you know.” Lance replied sharply.
“I just thought it was your princess being all melodramatic.” Zethrid shrugged. “But whatever. I suppose you want us to make sure the ship is ready to go?” She addressed the last part to Lotor.
“Why are you asking me if you already know the answer?” Lotor asked, arching an eyebrow. He nodded his head towards the door. “We shouldn’t be long.”
The walk back to Blue’s hangar was a silent one at first. Lotor had yet to release their hands, and honestly, Lance didn’t mind. He even squeezed it a few times if only to remind himself that it was there. That Lotor was there and was going to stay.
Or well, that he was going to stay with him.
“I can’t believe that happened.” Lance muttered. “Like, I know it just happened but…”
“It seems so hard to believe.” Lotor finished. “To be honest, I had begun to think…” Uncharacteristically for Lotor, he trailed off for a second before shaking his head. “It matters not. You’re with me now.” He brought up their joined hands, and kissed the back of Lance’s hand gently.
Lance’s cheeks flushed and he averted his gaze. Stupid giggles bubbled up in his throat, but he forced them down. But for as giddy as Lotor’s action had made him, his words had made guilt churn in his gut.
“I’m sorry.” He said. “I should have told you.”
“We can talk about it back at the base.” Lotor replied, swiftly. “I’d prefer to have the conversation where no prying ears other than that of the team may hear.”
“They are a bunch of nosey Nancys, aren’t they?”
“They had bets on us getting together.”
“Did they really?” Lance asked. “Huh. How much?”
“Unfortunately, I lack the specifics. I imagine you’ll find them out by the movement’s end?”
“I am a bit of a gossip girl.” Lance admitted with a small shrug. “Now that I got a juicy little tidbit, you can bet I won’t let it go.”
“I thought as much.”
They came to a stop outside the Blue Hangar. Lance sighed as he pressed his hand to the door. “I’ll miss her.” He admitted quietly.
“As long as you keep her in your heart, she’ll never be far.”
“That’s incredibly sappy, even for you.” Lance teased with a grin. He triggered the door to open and took a deep breath as he looked up at Blue.
Her eyes were dark, but he knew she was there, watching and listening. Reluctantly, he let go of Lotor’s hand as he approached her, and put both hands onto the cool metal of her paw.
“You’ll never believe the sappy nonsense that just came out of Lotor’s mouth, beautiful.” Lance said.
“I see now where your love truly lies.” Lotor commented dryly from somewhere behind Lance. Lance thought he might have been lingering by the entrance to give Lance some measure of privacy. “I was only trying to make you feel better.”
“He said, get this, he said that so long as I keep you in my heart, you’ll never be far.” Lance chuckled and ducked his head. “Funny thing is, I think he’s right. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we girl?”
It was faint, but he could feel a rumble of agreement from the Blue Lion. He swallowed thickly and nodded. “I’ll miss you.” He whispered as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against her.
She descended upon him like a cool breeze, brushing his consciousness with her own. Tears pooled in his eyes as he knew she felt the same.
He pulled away and wiped away his tears just as he heard one of the hangar doors open. Lotor’s responding footsteps were quick – too quick – and before Lance knew it, Lotor was at his side, his hand hovering over where he kept his sword.
Only one thing could make Lotor respond like that in this castle, and the implication of it drew Lance’s blood to ice.
He turned to see the clone standing at the far side of the hangar, his wide eyes trained on Lance. Lance shook his head and took a step back, so his back was against the Blue Lion. He knew the clone wasn’t a danger anymore, just as he knew the clone had been controlled.
But that knowledge didn’t make facing his tormentor any easier.
“What are you doing here?” Lance demanded with a shaky voice he wished was steady.
“I overheard you were leaving.” Kuro explained.
“Yeah.” Lance replied. “I came to say goodbye to Blue.” Kuro seemed to catch the ‘not you’ that was implied if his responding flinch was anything to go by.
“Right.” The clone nodded. “I understand that, and I understand that I am probably the last person you want to see right now… But I wanted to apologize. I know you don’t want to hear or believe it, but I really didn’t want to hurt you.”
Lance stared at the clone, and the clone stared at him. “You wanted to apologize.” Lance repeated. “It wasn’t even your fault. You were being controlled.” Lance parroted the words Hunk and Pidge had told him over the past week, but they sounded weak even to his own ears.
“I… I need time. I don’t know that… I just need time.” He didn’t understand why the clone was apologizing for something he couldn’t control. Why he was seeking forgiveness from Lance.
Lance could maybe forgive him. It wasn’t his fault after all, but all the forgiveness in the world wasn’t going to help Lance stand to be in the same room as him. All the understanding wasn’t going to magically make Lance’s nightmares vanish.
Lance sighed and tapped on the Blue Lion. “Keep an eye on this one, Blue.” He advised. “After what we’ve gone through, I’m not the only one with trust issues.”
Unlike last time, the loss of his connection with Blue was gentle, like a wave washing over a message on the beach. He shivered as he felt her leave him, and then gasped when he noticed Kuro’s startled wide-eyed expression had switched from Lance to the Lion.
“When I said keep an eye on him, this isn’t what I meant.” Lance grumbled.
He got the distinct feeling that had he been still connected to her; he would have sensed her laughter.
“You better take good care of her.” Lance informed Kuro.
“Uh.” Kuro’s gaze switched back to Lance for a second before returning to the Lion. “You can count on it.” He said after a moment.
Lance nodded. That was going to be the best he was going to get. “We should go. Don’t want to keep the ladies waiting.” Lance said to Lotor.
“Shouldn’t we inform someone of the Blue Lion’s choice?” Lotor asked. He tossed a look over his shoulder at the clone, who was approaching the Lion at the same pace they were leaving.
“Nah, they’ll figure it out.” Lance shrugged. “I actually feel kinda better knowing she’ll be keeping an eye on him.” He sighed and took Lotor’s hand once more. “I just want to get back.”
Lotor looked once more over his shoulder before nodding. “As you wish.”
~
Despite having left the castle ship for the past few nights, leaving it now was like taking a breath of fresh air after being confined in a house for a month. Tension melted out of him as he finally felt moderately at ease for the first time in what seemed like forever.
He was returning to Lotor and his team. His relationship with Lotor was still intact. The traitor in Voltron was ferreted out. Most, if not all, secrets were aired out. Everything was good.
He didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until he was awoken sometime later by Lotor carefully shaking his shoulder awake. “You can rest once inside.” He promised.
“No.” Lance yawned as he shook his head. “I’d rather get our talk over and done with.”
Lotor frowned and looked over his shoulder. “Acxa,” he said.
“Sir?”
“Ensure the coffee is ready.”
“Of course, sir.”
Lotor looked back to Lance and sighed. “If you insist. Come along then, let’s get this over with.”
“Mm.” Lance hummed. He rubbed at his eyes before yawning into his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah.” He waved his hand in the air like he could bat Lotor’s words away.
Lotor sighed again, but looked upon Lance fondly. “Why do I have the suspicion that you’re going to continue to be a headache for as long as I know you?”
“Because I probably am.” Lance half shrugged. “But you love it.”
His brain, of course, realized what he said a fraction of a second after he had already said it. Well, shit. He hadn’t meant to say that, not so soon after everything. Like he knew he and Lotor were still a thing, but were they still at that point in their relationship? Like what if that was too forward. What if Lotor—
“I do.”
–did love it? What? Lance blinked up at Lotor.
“Am I dreaming?” He wondered out loud. One corner of Lotor’s lips twitched upwards as the price half laughed, half snorted.
“I forgot how much of a delight you could be half awake.” Lotor shook his head fondly. He helped Lance to stand and then placed his hand on the small of Lance’s back as he guided him through the base. “I’ve missed you.”
“Fuck.” Lance replied, and then a second later, “I missed you too. Every day, every hour.”
Lotor was silent for a moment and then, “Why did you do it, then?” Ah, so they weren’t waiting for the coffee for this discussion. “You could have informed me about your suspicions.” He sighed. “In hindsight, all of this better explains your Waking Dreams.” He paused verbally for a second. “I suppose it would be a safe assumption you may have new ones?”
“Probably, most likely, yeah.” Lance paused and half considered the question fully, thinking very briefly to the ordeal and shivered. “Most definitely.”
“I will endure to keep that in mind. I would suggest speaking with Narti on the matter.”
“Mmm, will do.” The scent of coffee was growing stronger as they walked, and after a few more steps, Lance was willing to bet that the source was wherever they were going for the talk. “I do have a question that wasn’t answered with Voltron.” Lance said. “About my rescue.”
“Oh?”
“How did they find me? In the Asteroid field? Don’t suppose you know, do you?”
“I do actually.” Lotor replied as he opened a door with a push of a button and gestured for Lance to enter. “I thought you would know, considering you must have broken the device I gave you in order for it to give off the emergency signal.”
“You gave me a tracker.” Lance repeated. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that, but then again, it had been apparently the thing that saved his life.
“It only became a tracker when broken or activated.” Lotor replied. “So you didn’t break it?”
“No, Kuro did.” Lance frowned. “He stole it and broke it in front of me. I thought… I didn’t think I was going to be leaving that base.” He wrapped his arms around himself and was more than a little dismayed to find his hands shaking. He had hoped that the closure with Blue and Kuro would have helped. And it did, but…
Time. He just needed time.
Lotor exhaled sharply and moved behind Lance to wrap his arms around him. “We don’t have to do this now.” Lotor said into the crown of Lance’s head. “The meeting with Voltron was enough.”
“It wasn’t and you know it.” Lance wrapped a hand around Lotor’s arm and leaned back into the prince’s embrace. “I should have told you, should have come to you earlier.”
“What’s done is done.” Lotor replied. “I shouldn’t have tried to keep Allura’s ultimatum from you. You should have told me you knew.”
“Lesson learned: communication is good.” Lance joked. Lotor let out a bark of laughter before pressing a kiss to Lance’s head.
“A wise lesson to learn.” His Hands dropped to Lance’s waist as he spun him around. “I’m glad you’re back.” He whispered before pressing a kiss to Lance’s lips.
As Lance returned the gesture, he couldn’t help but to think that he was glad to be back.