#and uh yea im trash for liking lotor byeeeee

[grassy-atlanta]

Lotura Oneshot - Museum AU

Part One It had started simply enough, when Coran had decided to take his promotion to the other side of the museum, leaving a spot empty for a new, maybe younger curator-to-be to fill the spot. Allura had been curious as to who would take the job - never expecting a young man or woman to be competent enough to Corans’ standards… How she had been surprised when a tall, young, lean man with hair that cascaded down his back had been up to par and earned such a nice position. Now here she was, trying to get to know the young man, slightly older than her, but still so enticing in that she might be able to exchange ideas and theories on art and history and so many other subjects covered in their degrees and their workplace. How hard he had made it, too. He had politely introduced himself as Lotor Galrea, a graduate of Harvard with plans to secure a permanent, comfortable position in a museum one day, with daydreams of owning a personal museum floating just out of reach. For now. He was ambitious and active, courteous to every visitor and great with children, too! He was an amazing addition to the staff, if only he wasn’t so cool towards Allura every chance he had. It became such a thorn in her side, that he would give her a smile that altogether seemed sly and untrustworthy when no one was looking or ignore her emails until just the last minute. He would stride through the museum as if he was the one in charge, and not the other way around - well, not in charge of the museum, but he should have been differing to her as his senior regarding the museum. Months had gone by and his behavior, though not worsening, hadn’t improved whatsoever. He continued to leave her on a back burner, even in situations that required him to go to her for approval or advice. She sat in her office to eat lunch or left the building entirely to grab a bite with her friend Hunk at his restaurant where she would meet up with several of their mutual friends. “Allura, it sounds like you’re starting to hate your job.” Pidge, the tech graduate offered solemnly when no one else would speak up to her 20 minute tirad of Lotors’ recent bout of disrespect. “What? Impossible, you’re not hearing me correctly, then. I could never hate my work, I love it...I just…” “He’s ruining it for you. You’re dreading going to work because you know he’ll be there and he’s never had a sick day in the entire time he’s been there. You said it yourself you were glad you caught the flu last week because it would get you away from him.” Shiro was blunt, though he meant well. He was probably less blunt than Hunk would be about it, but he did have a point. She went to work hoping she wouldn’t see his absurdly expensive looking overcoat on the employees break room, that served more as a mudroom than a break room. Allura looked to her friends with a slightly hopeless look, “What can I do? I avoid him when I can but I run the department we both work in. Coran is so busy these days, how do I...I don’t want to leave, I love this museum, I can’t just leave it.” “Woah, we aren’t asking you to leave it, we’re just pointing out the obvious. He’s making your work life miserable.” Lance sounded defensive, but his concern was just as genuine as the others, if not more so. He and Allura had tried to  see how things could go romantically between them and, though things hadn’t turned the way he’d hoped, she had been overjoyed when he still wished to remain friends. All throughout her last couple of years in college, she had needed all of her friends, sometimes apart from the others, but all of them had helped her see things in ways she couldn’t have seen them on her own. “Maybe,” Keith piped up, all eyes going to the dark haired, often brooding, one of the group, “Maybe he’s just competing with you. You’re both young, it isn’t very common in your line of work. Most people you work with are Corans’ age or older, right? So maybe he’s just got the mindset that you’re both competing for job security.” “Huh, true enough. Good thinking, Keith.” Shiro grinned, clapping a hand on Keiths’ shoulder and looking at Allura with an encouraging smile. She held a special respect for Keith and regarded his advice highly - they’d both been through some tough times and sometimes, when she was feeling at her worst, Keith was the one who silently reached out and reassured her just by being around to listen or occupy space. Sometimes he came to the museum with lunch when she was quiet. She knew he was checking on her for the sake of all of them, but he did it in such a subtle, non-invasive way, she hadn’t asked him to stop. “Have you talked to him? Like, have you set aside any time to specifically talk to him about your dynamic with him?” Pidge asked, taking a sip of her cherry-cola italian soda. Hunk was always finding ways of making healthier versions of all the junky drinks and foods they all liked. “Well, no,” the dark skinned woman stammered, nervously tucking a strange of hair behind a delicately pointed ear. They all knew what it meant - that she was anxious in not wanting to do the very thing she probably already knew she needed to do. “Well, then! You know what you should do. Try and get him alone, just talk to him, see how things are. He may not even realize he’s being a total ass-hat!” Lance crowed, earning an elbow to his side from Keith who was busy apologizing to an older couple for the language. Allura gave a short, unexpected giggle before they were all laughing with each other at the so typical behavior of Lance. When they finally sobered up from their sudden and much needed joy, Allura glanced at her watch and decided to head back, nervously thinking of how to get Lotor alone to ask him and maybe discuss with him their strange relationship. All she had wanted was a friend, but now she felt as if he was almost an enemy. She wasn’t excited for such a confrontation but like her friends had said, maybe it’s what she needed. Maybe she had perceived his behavior as something different from what he had intended the whole time! With that in mind, Allura tucked her lunch in her arms and headed for a waiting taxi to take her back to work.