The rain hadn't let up since early that morning. Its brutal weight pounded the sidewalks and streets mercilessly, and the sky darkened to hide the sun from the violence. Most of Arcadia had taken shelter in nearby shops or barricaded themselves in their homes to avoid the depressing pitter-patter of God's tears. 

In particular, the coffeehouse is a salvation for few people; a haven only a select handful of individuals know about, but that's what makes the shop special. Besides, booming business isn't exactly expected during the town's rainy season. 

Everyone in the group decided to hang out, aside from Matt and Shiro who were busy with... other things. Hunk and Lance were already at the shop waiting with Allura, since they all had shifts and needed to train a new worker. Hunk somehow helped Shay get a trial run for a barista position at the shop. Having said that, Allura decided this would be a good opportunity for her first day of solo training; taking orders, making cups, getting customers their baked sweets, etc. 

There's barely anyone else in the shop anyways, so might as well get her started during one of their lowest pressure situations. There's a man in a booth skimming a newspaper, a girl by the front window reading with a whipped mocha, and father with his daughter drying off their umbrellas before continuing their journey through the dreaded storm. 

It was about fifteen minutes past four p.m. before Pidge and Keith emerged from the doors, both appearing and acting as though they just survived the apocalypse. Pidge stomped over to the counter and pulled out a barstool roughly, hair dripping. The condensation of cold watery air reacting to the heat within the shop made the plastic bag covering Pidge's laptop stick to its rectangular body. Their clothes were soaked, the slosh in their sneakers echoing through the practically empty room. 

Keith was clinging to the walls like he'd just witnessed murder. His eyes were wide, and Lance was almost concerned enough to jump over the counter like a fucking boss and run to the rescue of his damsel in distress. He wore a water-washed beanie, Panic! sweatshirt, and dark jeans. His shoes were in the same state as Pidge's, mimicking a similar sound as he sulked to the counter. 

"You look like you walked in on some sort of weird ghost orgy." Lance states, somewhat amused by the state of the two shortest in the room. Pidge flipped him off while logging onto their computer, NASA files loading onto the screen within moments, to no-one's surprise. 

"Lance, in what world is a ghost orgy normal?" Pidge questions, giving half their attention to Lance and his antics.

"The afterlife." 

Everyone is silent. 

"Well shit." Mumbles Allura, astounded that Lance could outsmart the smartest person in the room. "Allura!" Hunk shouts, not used to hearing such an unholy word from Allura's mouth. 

Pidge adjust their glasses with their middle finger in Lance's direction, clearly not appreciative of being outsmarted in front of everyone. 

Keith walks over warily. "What kind of saying is that?" He asked rhetorically, bitterly, his voice raspy for whatever reason. It was kind of a snippy question, but weather as cold and unforgiving as this could put anyone in a bad mood, and it just so happened to mess with the two emo-est emos to ever emo. 

Big mistake. 

"I'm just getting in the spirit of things." Lance slyly remarks. 

At this point it was no secret that Halloween was coming up in a few weeks, but Pidge and Hunk were the only ones aware of the plan for Keith's surprise birthday party. Despite that, it didn't make the 'joke' any better.

"Suck a spiritual dick, Lance." Keith snaps before plopping into the stool beside Pidge. Lance's initial surprise wore off within seconds, and his face sported the biggest grin and those patented wiggling 'player boy' eyebrows. 

"Well, some say I'm a God, Mullet." Lance gets closer, nearing his face as close to Keith's as he dared with everyone around, just mussing his lips as he went to whisper in Keith's ear. "And god's get rewarded for their hard work." The pale boy's face flushed, picking up the suggestive tone in Lance's statement. Why the hell is this boy so confusing! First he doesn't want to have sex with Keith, and now he's being all suggestive? What the actual hell. 

"What kind of work deserves any reward from me?" Keith grunts in response, not in the mood for Lance's weird comments, despite the rise in temperature shooting through his bloodstream. If Lance wants to mess with Keith's head, he's gonna have to try harder than that.

"Well... some say I'm great with my hands," Lance starts, bringing his head back so he can look Keith in the eyes. "And that I have a magic tongue," He licks his lips slowly while Keith tries his hardest to stay a little mad at Lance. God, why does he have to be so fucking hot all the time! It's not fair! 

"My words get to people, Keith. I provoke beautiful words..." He leans in the smallest bit, his lips ghosting over Keith's, dry and desperate for the other boy's taste. "And beautiful sounds." Lance's gaze flickers to Keith's lips briefly and Keith has to practically fling himself off the chair before any of their friends notice how intimate they look.

It's kind of annoying that Keith is doing more to protect their relationship at Lance's request but fuck it. I guess in a way they both want to just keep it to themselves for a little bit, bask in the secrecy and love-lust, or like-lust? Ugh... he doesn't know! Their relationship is... complicated... but in a good way. 

Lance starts cackling at Keith's state, the boy's face redder than a baby in the heat of July. He'll admit, he felt a little bad that Keith had to throw himself onto the ground for him, just now realizing he was being a little too friendly towards Keith in public. For one, they weren't official to anyone yet, not to mention Lance hasn't even come out to the group. Then there's the little matter of trying to stay abstinent. Obviously no teenage boy dreams of being a virgin till he's thirty, but in his state what was Lance really supposed to do?

Keith would have replied with something leaving Lance red for days, but his eyes scanned the room and all their friends had gathered around the counter. "Fuck off, McClain." Keith stood with a hint of false annoyance. He motioned to everyone with his eyes, hoping Lance had already caught on, which thankfully he did.  

"Suit yourself Mullet, but you're missing out." Lance leans on the counter, his face getting closer to Keith's, in an attempt to feign rivalry, before Shay rushed past them to put together an order. Hunk puts a hand on her shoulder to grab her attention. "Woah, what are you doing?" Hunk questions upon seeing Shay pour a perfectly good frappe down the sink. "Wrong order." She mumbles, embarrassed. "You don't have to rush, Shay. It's better to get the order right the first time, than do it wrong a thousand times over while rushing." He smiles at her and she returns it. 

"Get some Hunk!" Lance shouts, causing Hunk and Shay to immediately turn fifty shades of crimson. Allura lightly smacks Lance upside the head. "Lance, no flirting on the clock." 

Lance rubs the back of his head, trying to soothe the newly formed cartoon bump on his skull. She might not have hit him for real but even her playful slaps are deadly. "I'm not flirting! I'm supporting my bro! There's a code Allura, look it up." 

"Well no 'supporting your bro' while you're on the clock." Her voice mimicked Lance's. He just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, feigning defeat. 

"Fine." Lance turns around back towards Keith who's already started working on the coffeeshop logo again. He's determined to get it done, get it perfect, and subtly show Allura that he's actually been working on this a lot. 

"Come here often?" Lance winks. He didn't even realize that he was openly flirting with Keith again, someone who is very clearly male...

Lance's eyes glance over to Keith's... well everything. Yep... clearly male. It's just so easy to flirt with Keith, to get a reaction out of him. It fuels Lance in certain ways, unexplainable ways. What is he supposed to do? Not flirt with Keith? Besides, something about getting his... kissing buddy? all hot and bothered around everyone makes him feel kind of proud.

"I don't know, you tell me. I have sources that say you were watching me all summer like a lovesick idiot." Lance whips to Allura, simulating offense like an 'I told you that in confidence' reaction.

"Pfff... y... yeah right! I'm not into that... I like girls. No offense man." Keith knew it was just for show, that Lance wasn't out to anyone aside from himself, but it still hurt a bit to hear that come out of Lance's mouth, especially after all the 'fun' they had yesterday.

Yep, clearly straight. 

Pidge snorted from their seat. "Yeah, ok Lancey-in-Keith's-panties." Pidge teases. Lance gasps, as well as Keith. Both almost deeper shades of vermillion than Hunk and Shay had been. "I... I don't wear panties!" Keith shouts, embarrassed. The girl at the front window glances in his direction, surprised by the random outburst, before waving it off and continuing with her book. Despite the attention only lasting for few seconds, it sent shockwaves of anxiety through Keith's body. 

"That's what you chose to address in that sentence?" Allura deadpans, facepalming. Keith just shrugs awkwardly and continues drawing, his face nearly touching the paper. Just focus on the drawing, don't think of Lance's stupid perfect everything. 

"Yeah Keith, how are we supposed to know you're telling the truth?" Lance adds. Allura rolls her eyes and walks over to the register to take an order, clearly done trying to keep Lance in line. Said boy watches Allura walk away then leans in close to Keith. 

"Guess it's just you and me." He winks. Keith is practically on the edge of losing it. He keeps his eyes on the paper, the blush bright and opaque on his pale skin. "And me." Pidge waves a hand, attention mostly on the computer screen.

"And me." Hunk chimes in from the coffee machine with Shay.

"Me too." Obviously it's Allura, after finishing up with her customer who's just sitting around waiting for his order to be up. 

"I'm also here but I'm not an important character so feel free to ignore my existence." The customer pipes up, leaning against the small ordering station the shop has for people with orders to-go. The group just all kind of stared at him before returning to their normal business, or whatever it was they were doing before making fun of Lance.

"Ok so it's you, me, Pidge, Hunk, Shay, Allura, and that random guy over there who doesn't have or need a name apparently." Lance states, trying to think of a way to salvage his pickup line. Keith finally snaps though, or well his pencil tip does. The paper has a small indent from how hard he was pushing and there are minuscule lead crumbs surrounding the severed head.

Keith sighs, clearly frustrated and looks up at Lance. His face is burning for more reasons than explainable as he grips Lance's shirt collar, tight.

If Lance wants to play games, than Keith wants to play them better. 

"I want a coffee with salted caramel. Sweet and Hot. Help me make it in the backroom?" If they were alone and didn't have a counter separating them, Keith would've pressed his body against Lance's and pulled the unsuspecting boy into a kiss but life gets in the way of those dreamlike moments. They were close enough that no one could hear when Keith pleaded with, "Please baby?" His voice a horny whine. You know the kind.

He started making his way to the backroom, not even checking to see if Lance was behind him until he got to the door and propped his hip on the dark stained frame. He looked back and saw Lance's mouth wide open. "Hurry up lover boy. And close your mouth or you'll catch flies, we wouldn't want that now would we?" Again, without confirming if Lance was following, Keith walked into the backroom, the door swaying shut in his wake. It took Lance a few seconds before he practically tripped over himself trying to get to the backroom. 

Once the two boys were separated from the group by the thick, soundproof door, Pidge immediately spoke up. 

"They're totally fucking."

Hunk, being the purest in the group, for lack of better words, voices his disapproval of Pidge's language but more so the insinuation of what they're saying. He's fine if they're dating, actually he thinks it'd be pretty good for both boys and he's practically told Keith for years to try and become friends with Lance. The thing he doesn't want to be a part of it his two friends sex life. 

"Pidge! You can't just say that kind of stuff!" He pours in a shot of vanilla and reaches up onto the shelf for cinnamon, still attempting to help Shay with her order. Pidge throws their arms up in an exaggerated manner like they're the bad guy. I mean, anyone with eyes can see that they're being a little more intimate with each other. 

"But it's true!" This conversation is the first thing that was able to pull Pidge away from their laptop, which surprised most everyone in the room, but it's not like anyone's going to point it out. This is the most Pidge has communicated with humans via mouth to ear, so it'd be wise to keep Pidge oblivious. 

"It is true..." Allura comments, mostly a mumble under her breath as she hands the nameless customer his drink and bagel. "Not you too!" Hunk groans. How did he end up with such dirty minded friends? Ok, so Hunk's been known to throw a dirty comment out there once in a while to throw people off, but it's just weird to think about Keith and Lance doing that. Besides, he's pretty sure they're only friends. I mean, Keith hasn't said anything and Lance is straight so they couldn't be...

Allura crosses her arms to think before pulling a rag from her apron and proceeding to wipe the counter, finding any way to busy her mind. Pidge is practically a child at Christmas, getting all giddy in their seat, excited that they finally have an ally in this Battle of the Gays. 

"I mean... I don't know for sure but Keith confides in me a lot. He never said that they're 'fuck buddies' but they had a heated argument in the backroom about a week ago, and I think it went well?" Allura explains, using air quotes around the 'fuck buddies' part. 

Hunk sighs in both relief that the conversation can end and that he was right about them in some ways, "Well that settles it. They aren't doing the deed." He thought that would be the end of the conversation, which he was a fool to think, because every hope of that was crushed when he heard a snort erupt from the short teen. 

Pidge starts cackling like Hunk just said the funniest thing in the world, it was practically an Undertaker moment from Black Butler, but you didn't hear that from Pidge. They're not an Otaku... well not when it comes to anime. "Hunk, my buddy, my main man." They paused for dramatic effect, "I have proof."

Everyone looks at Pidge like they just evolved into a unicorn and farted a rainbow, surprised and kind of nervous to know what this proof is and how they got it. "P... proof?" Hunk stutters. "Ummm... what kind of proof?" Allura asks skeptically, not really sure if she wants to know. 

He puts his fingers on the bridge of his nose, just now making a connection he hopes is completely false. "Pidge I swear if you recorded them doing it I'm taking away your taste testing privileges." Pidge gasps and puts a hand to their heart, feigning betrayal but also trying not to taunt Hunk with the fact that he just agreed with Pidge about them being a thing. 

"Ouch, you wound me my good sir. But I mean, I technically didn't do either of those things." Allura squints her eyes, like Pidge is a puzzle she needs to solve. "What do you mean technically?" Pidge laughs nervously and rubs the back of their neck.

"So there I was, barbecue sauce on my titties..." they trail off. "Oh for fuck's sake. Tell us! I need to know!" Allura complains, Hunk's eyes in her direction flashing with surprise and the realization that he needs new friends.

"Well I got a picture, but they were just making out-" They gradually pull out their phone and begin unlocking it, scrolling through for the picture. You'd think it'd be easy to find but Pidge screenshots memes like the world is ending. 

"When did you do that?!" Hunk's partially scared Pidge saw too much, like if they really were going at it, taking a picture might have been a little too far. I mean, it's crossing the line even taking a picture of them without their consent in the first place. 

"At the party a while back. I was in the closet in one of the rooms when they-" but Pidge doesn't have time to finish their explanation before Hunk interjected with, "What were you doing in the closet?!" At this point Pidge was getting annoyed. This is almost as obnoxious as having to yell at Hunk for touching their equipment when they make something new.

"FISHING KEITH OUT, NOW LET ME FINISH MY DAMN SENTENCES!"Pidge's voice echoed through the shop, finally aggravating the lady with her book enough to slam it shut and stomp through the front doors into the storm. The room fell silent, only filled with the background noise of an occasional passing car and the patter of heavy rain. They both hush down and let Pidge continue, Allura laughing internally. 

"I was hiding from humanoids in an EMPTY room when Lance stumbled in all drunk, then Keith eventually came in. I ignored it for a while, since they were just talking, but then Lance started kissing Keith!" Pidge nonchalantly closed their laptop, assuming that this conversation wouldn't be ending anytime soon. 

"Wait what?!?" Hunk loves Pidge like a sibling, he really does, but sometimes he can believe them. There's no way Lance would kiss Keith, and it's not like Keith isn't handsome or anything, because he is (in a friend way), but he's not Lance's type; look wise and gender wise, last time Hunk checked. 

Then again it's been a while. They're just starting to talk to one another again, and they've both change immensely in the time they've spent apart. Lance could've gone to the moon in that time and Hunk never would have known. Maybe... he doesn't know his ex, un-ex, best friend as much as he wish he did. 

"But isn't Lance straight?" He questions. Pidge's laughter fills the room again, like the gross kind of cackle you'd expect to come from the mouth of a witch. 

"Yeah and Keith is Mothman." Pidge sarcastically quips. This response just leaves Hunk more confused. 

"So... he's not straight..." He slowly lets that sink in. It's not that he wouldn't support Lance if he was into guys, it's just not something Hunk's ever imagined for the boy. It's so unexpected. Lance was the ladies man, he's always been the ladies man. Since Kindergarten and, just from observation, he's been upholding that image of himself all the way up to High School. 

Pidge stood up in disgruntlement, barely believing it's taking this much time for Hunk to understand. It's practically written on both boys foreheads in sharpie. 

"Hunk! I'm practically blind and I can see it, utilize your 20/20 vision dude!" Pidge takes a hand and uses the palm to knock themselves one the side of the head, making a 'duh' gesture.

"Yep. Keith said something like that." Allura comments. She's grows fairly giddy learning that Keith confides in her more than everyone else. Not that she's going to brag about it in front of everyone, but it's nice to know they have a strong bond. 

"How did I not know about this?!" Hunk whines, pouting with a quivering lip. Shay rubs his back soothingly to boost his dramatics. 

"You know how Keith is with his feelings." She points out, not that she knows a lot about him, it's all really speculation. She just assumes because she doesn't know anything about him. 

"Do I even want to know what happened next?" Hunk mumbles into his hands, not exactly excited to hear Pidge continue the story. It's already too much to handle. 

Allura cuts in matter of factly, "I already know." 

Hunk escapes Shay gentle touch and quickly grabs Pidge's arms, beginning to shake them like a snow globe. "What did you witness in there?!?!" Pidge rolls their eyes at first then racks their brain for an answer. 

"Nothing! I jumped out and scared them and then Lance flipped out and Keith ran out and-" Pidge stops quickly, not sure if they should mention the rest. I mean, it would probably be better to keep the other parts hidden away from everyone, especially considering what happened. 

They all know, as well as Pidge, how bad Lotor being around Keith was for him, and how it made their friendship with one another well over rocky. Besides, what are they really going to say? Lance pushed Keith into a pile of glass and yelled at him then Keith ran into the hall and bumped into his ex asshole? No? They didn't think so. 

"And?" The two ask, sensing more to the story. Allura already knows but wants to know if Pidge knows, or if Pidge is going to mention it. Allura can sense that Pidge knows something so it's a matter of if they're willing to share with the rest of the class. 

Pidge decides against it. It's really not their story to tell. They're taking a big gamble with their friendship by telling all of them this much, it's obvious Keith isn't going to be too happy if he finds out, or Lance for that matter. '-and that's it.' 

Hunk sighs in relief, "Oh thank god."  However, Allura's brows furrow. Is there more to the story than Keith already disclosed to her? Why would he keep some of the information from her? Or, maybe he did tell her everything and Pidge is just trying to protect him. 

"So... where is this blackmail?" She'd be lying if she said she weren't curious to see what Pidge dug up. 

Pidge lifts up their phone and shakes it in the air. "All on here. You guys gotta see. You can almost smell the sexual tension." At that moment a chain of opposite reactions went off, Allura being excited and ready to witness the possible nsfw photos (but not really that would be weird), and Hunk preparing himself not to throw up if Pidge really did take a porn-esqe photo of his two friends. He wouldn't even want to see the picture if they were complete strangers.

Pidge turns in their seat, an elbow leaning against the countertop as they click on the file to make it bigger. Allura and Shay crowd around like seagulls to a french fry but, to no ones surprise, Hunk turns away. "I don't want to see our two friends getting intimate with each other. That's just weird." He shudders just thinking about it.

"Wow, you really can smell the tension, and the alcohol. Damn, Lance looks wasted." She observes, astonished. She might have already known all this, but the she never really imagined it'd look like that. 

"He was getting there. The motherfucker can hold his alcohol surprisingly well. He downed like three bottles of tequila." Pidge puts their phone away realizing it's too quiet in the room and lacking protests from their blushing boys. "Klance has been gone for a while." 

"Klance?" 

"Keith and Lance smashed together. Oh, and it's their ship name." Pidge explains, a grin overtaking their features.

"Really? You had to go there?" Hunk sighs, disappointed. Pidge just shrugs their shoulders before Allura can jump in with a jab of her own. 

"Yeah, get with the times Hunk." Hunk puts up his hands in defense like he's about to fend them off with the karate skills he doesn't have. 

"Ok one, ew. Two, chill! Don't bite my head off." Pidge sticks their tongue out at Hunk, claiming with their expression that he's no fun. His response, just like everything else, is peaceful as he takes a few steps back in surrender. His legs carry him backwards on the path of helping Shay finish her order, turning on his heel towards her like it takes the most effort in the world. 

"But for real, they better come out soon, because I don't want to have to clean their 'love juice' off the wall when the shop closes." Pidge practically spits out their non existent tea. 

"Yes!" Pidge shrieks.

"No!" Is Allura's very serious response. She's actually fearful that cleaning sadly known fluid stains off the walls might be her fate.

"Ew!" Hunk grimaces, from his spot by the espresso machine.

"Again, why did you have to go there?" He groans. Again, this might be his everyday but that doesn't mean he's gotten used to it. 

"Let's be real Allura, we'd be able to hear them if they were actually doing something. And something tells me Keith isn't a quiet bottom." Pidge analyzes, not that they've thought about it or anything. That would be ridiculous and wildly inappropriate.

"What makes you think Keith's the bottom?" Allura questions. Lance could always be the bottom-

"Have you met Keith?" Ok then... so maybe Lance isn't the bottom. 

"Ok... point taken." And just like lamb to the slaughter, the wooden door swings open to reveal the two disheveled boys. 

Both teens emerge from the darkness of the backroom. Keith's first, acting as though nothing happened, which clearly wasn't the case. Aside from messy hair and flushed faces, which Lance and Keith tried and failed miserably to smooth out, Keith comes out pretty normal. 

Lance is a whole different story, trailing behind Keith like he's the bees god-damn knees. He looks like he's worshipping the ground Keith walks on, which instantly makes Pidge think, 'power bottom' or bratty sub, something along those lines. 

He looks dizzy, lips swollen, despite trying to cover it up; then again both boys are pretty similar appearance wise. Lance stays in that lovesick slouch for a moment too long, enough for speculating friends to take notice, before straightening his spine and starting to play off what happened. 

Which is always a bad sign.

Keith sits next to Pidge, coffee-less. He takes a deep breath and grabs his pencil to continue drawing, realizing only a few moments later that it's still broken as he throws it in frustration. Pidge pipes up from their seat beside the pale boy; hoping for the reaction of a lifetime. "Must of been some pretty good coffee if you chocked it all down in the backroom.' Pidge jabs. 

"Yep, I'm definitely making another cup of that soon." Keith replies with no sign of a lie, which is obviously a lie. Pidge'll admit, they overestimate Keith's ability to be taken off guard, Lance has way better reactions hands down but finding what makes Keith tick is ten times more rewarding.

Keith subtly looks in Lance's direction after answering, making brief eye contact with the tan boy across the counter, and if Pidge wasn't looking they wouldn't have noticed the exchange. 

"For real though, you look like you just sucked dick." Pidge mumbles for only Keith's ears. Keith sputters, praising Jesus for making Pidge whisper that instead of announcing it to the room. Now that's the reaction they were looking for.

Keith's face was red. R. E. D. but not because he gave Lance head in the backroom, which he didn't, but because Pidge would insinuate something like that in the first place. It sounds like a dream come true honestly, what Keith wouldn't give to suck-

-and we're not going there!

"Like you said, it was good coffee... a... and... it spilt... and burnt my mouth." Pidge hums skeptically before dropping it, knowing fully well it wasn't just coffee but being satisfied with the probability of it being what they've speculated. "Ok, whatever you say."

"That should do it Shay." Hunk announces, handing her the cup and food. He's proud of her, he'll admit. It's not that he thought she couldn't do it, but he's happy he could help her achieve her goal and make her smile like that. 

She thanks him shyly, roses underlining her green tourmaline eyes and decorating her cheeks, before walking off to give the customer his order, apologizing profusely for the mixup and wait. 

He nods in acknowledgement, sliding the cup behind his newspaper as she saunters away. He's careful not to let the paper drop, knowing full well the cooks gaze is directed at the waitress and vice versa. She steals away the attention from him soon enough as he takes a sip of the coffee. 

Black and Bitter. 

A preference order, not bad by any means. Symbolic perhaps of the mayhem to come. They look so happy, so carefree. How utterly distasteful.

He's faking. He's gotta be faking. Keith wouldn't love anyone else but him. Keith is his, and he always takes back what he wants if it's been stolen away from him. 

Local School Burned Down: Other School's in the area are taking precautionary measures by organizing fire drills and having their smoke detectors inspected

An opening, a perfect opportunity.

He takes a sip of his coffee, the heat burning the skin on his tongue and scratching at his throat. Bitter...

Hot yet so... cold. That's how revenge goes doesn't it? That insignificant boy will wish he never laid eyes on his property. His love. 

The phone buzzes in his coat pocket, indicating a new message. He flips it over and taps on the screen awaiting the reaction of the text lighting up.

><><><><><><

2 Missed Messages from XX:

XX: We're getting prepared on our end.

XX: You sure about all this?

L: Absolutely. Have them ready tonight.

XX: What about the rain?

L: What about it.

XX: Could ruin the plan.

L: Trust me... it won't. I have a lead.

XX: What kind of lead?

L: All you need to know is that it'll make our operation all the more easier, and painful. 

><><><><><><

A huge, vice-like smirk stitches itself over his mouth, his canines glimpsing through ferociously. He stands and adjusts his trench coat, collar up, as he throws a few bills onto the table beside a half drunken coffee and slowly walks into the rainy atmosphere. 

The few stray hairs framing his face get whisked away by the ferocity of the wind, like a ravenous spirit roaming the streets and wreaking havoc on the town. 

The plan is about to begin... and things are about to get fun. 

His gaze lingers on his beloved through the foggy glass panes of the coffeeshop. He stares through the window from the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. A passing car intersects his perspective, shielding the view for a millisecond before giving him access to the shop once again.

Lance has his arms around his property. It takes most of Lotor's energy to not let his rage engulf him. He has an operation to run, he can't ruin it now, not when he's so close. 

He's finally done it. He's made a plan. He has the resources, the blackmail, and his pawns in all the right squares. 

His plan is flawless, or it will be if it's executed correctly but it will. He'll make sure of it. He's going to make all their lives a living hell, even if it kills him... even if it kills them. 

He's practically bursting from the seams with excitement. 

The plan is slowly falling into place. 

It's brewing, burning, and it's gonna hurt.

><><><><><

HEY GUYS! I know it's been a whole month and I apologize profusely. School and clubs started up and I haven't had all the time in the world. I don't want to keep making excuses but I hope you all enjoyed this little update. More are soon to follow I promise you all. 

Until next time loves! <3