#more romantic date ideas from sendak: watch the bae kill someone and then dick him down real good

[devilsofficialfanfic]

The Name of the Game

Chapter 23: Terms and Conditions May Apply

Sendak had never really hated anyone before. Oh, he disliked people, sure, and at the time, he thought that was hatred.

Now, though… Standing before Zarkon, half a step behind Lotor, he realized that was nothing compared to this raw, burning emotion. This acrimonious revulsion. This caustic fire in his veins.

Before, he would have killed Zarkon if Lotor had asked. Now, he would do it on his own, for his own reasons, the moment he was sure he could emerge from the challenge victorious.

With the witch at his side… Something would have to be done, and Lotor would come up with a plan. He just needed more time and information.

“What are your intentions with my son?” Zarkon asked.

“I will know if you lie,” the witch said in her grating voice.

Sendak didn’t like lying. He understood the necessity, sometimes, but he didn’t like it, and he didn’t have to like it.

Now, for instance. He didn’t want Zarkon to know anything about what he had with Lotor, as if him even knowing would corrupt it somehow.

What had Lotor said? Every good thing that comes my way is ultimately destroyed? Sendak may have been determined to prove that wasn’t true, but he was facing off against Zarkon in this disturbing game he didn’t understand and hadn’t been trained to play.

On the other hand, if the witch really could tell he was lying… Then surely lying would incur an extra penalty.

“I intend to marry him, Sire,” Sendak said finally, “after the proper traditions are observed, and if he accepts.”

It felt wrong to say it like that, in front of all these people who didn’t see Lotor the way he saw him -strong, tenacious, sharp, talented, beautiful -and never would.

He schooled his features as the hall erupted in noise -he could pick out individual comments, but he chose not to - and faced forward. He couldn’t look at Lotor; maybe he should have lied, and saved him this humiliation. Maybe he should have done as Lotor had asked, and retracted his earlier statement, say he didn’t care for Lotor, pretend that none of this was real, and then-

And then what? Spend the rest of his life hiding the thing he cared about the most? That was...cowardice. No, if he had to fight for this, he would.

“Is that so?” Zarkon said coolly. And then he...laughed? Like the idea that someone might actually want to marry Lotor was absurd.

Lotor stood stock-still next to him, jaw and shoulders set. Sendak remembered, suddenly, that Lotor was almost used to this; after all, how many times had Zarkon called him here with the sole intention of humiliating him in front of everyone? And yet all he could do was take it and pretend it didn’t hurt.

Sendak knew it did, but he couldn’t do anything, either. Not yet.

“It is,” Sendak said firmly. “I have yet to meet another suitable partner.” The implication being that no one else here was good enough for him, and they weren’t, not if he had Lotor. None of them compared.

He knew, of course, that others had hoped to court, or be courted by, him, and he knew that they must now be envious of Lotor, an untenable position for those who had looked down upon Lotor his entire life.

“Then, in the interest of tradition…” Zarkon began, and Sendak felt a spike of anxiety at that. Zarkon was cruel, even (especially) towards his own son; what might he ask now? “In more recent times, it is customary for a father to ask that any potential partners prove themselves, usually in combat. However, traditionally… I may demand whatever I wish from you.”

That was true. An old tradition, dead long before Daibazaal, but still a tradition.

“You will be informed of my conditions later,” Zarkon said, dismissing him with a wave of one hand.

Sendak kept pace with Lotor on the way out; there was no reason to pretend that Lotor was only his prince anymore, no reason to hide their relationship, not when everyone knew. Had known, maybe, for weeks.

Lotor slowed to a stop in the corridor outside the throne room, scanning the crowd of corporals and cadets.

Sendak had an inkling of what Lotor’s plan might be, but before he could stop him, Lotor had already singled Prov out.

“Corporal Prov,” Lotor drawled. “There is a matter I wish to settle with you. I will meet you in the arena in half an hour, should your honor permit you to attend.”

Prov, who towered over Lotor, like almost everyone present, scoffed. “As if you are a worthy opponent.”

“Then perhaps you would prefer to fight me,” Sendak growled. Lotor’s description of his encounter with Prov left out all of the details, but Sendak imagined Prov hadn’t simply asked. As such, Sendak wouldn’t mind tearing him limb-from-limb. Preferably in front of a large audience, so that they knew not to touch Lotor without his permission.

Prov may have been able to get out of Lotor’s challenge by implying it wouldn’t be worth his time, but there was no way he could get out of Sendak’s without everyone knowing that he was a coward.

Of course, what he didn’t know was that either way, Lotor was going to get his vengeance, either in the arena, or by arranging a tragic accident of some kind.

Prov’s mouth was a thin line when he turned back to Lotor. “I’ll be there.”

Lotor’s answering smile was cold. “Of course you will be. You aren’t completely craven, after all.”

Lotor didn’t say anything else until they were safely back in Lotor’s rooms.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sendak asked.

”If you have a better one, I’d love to hear it,” Lotor said, beginning to carefully don his armor. “This is the last thing my father will expect, and it…” He sighed. “It shows him that I am not stuck with you. No matter how distasteful the idea of fucking Prov is, he still wanted me. I have options. He cannot comprehend that, I think. He never wanted me; why should anyone else?

“I suspect that part of him thinks this was a...youthful indiscretion on my part, and that he’s forcing us together, if you succeed in whatever task he’s going to give you. Which I know you will,” Lotor said, before Sendak could protest. “He thinks that, eventually, it will make me miserable, but we’ll be married, so I’ll just have to suffer through it.

“And even beyond that… I’ve fought a few duels here and there, but never in the arena. Never on this scale. Prov was convenient; defeating him will earn me respect. Defeating him easily will prove that I am worthy of you, and it will prove that I am not an easy target.”

A well-reasoned argument. Sendak didn’t know where to start. “I… I hope that our marriage would never make you miserable.”

Lotor smiled fondly. “The idea of it alone makes me incredibly happy,” he said, fastening his gauntlets. “I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am that you decided to court me. That you want to marry me.”

“I have yet to find someone I’d rather marry,” Sendak told him.

Lotor reached up to kiss him. “I love you.”

“When you win,” Sendak said, “I would really like to show you exactly how much you mean to me.”

Lotor grinned, the first time he’d been genuinely happy in several days. “Then I’d better win, hadn’t I?”