moved to @coalitionheroes

“I guess that’s one way to put it.” Probably one of the better ways to put it, her words sounding enough like a compliment for a tinge of embarrassment to settle over him.”A lot has happened since the last time we saw each other.”

Nyma belongs to the Seréa, an almost extinct alien species that closely resemble mermaids. It is said that after a period of great draught in their home planet, the Seréa adapted and developed stronger limbs that allowed them to walk on solid ground.

    “ Your hair... ” she tilts her head up to get a better look. “ ...it looks like starlight now. ”

    “ You look good, Captain. Much better than the last time we talked. ” She smiles wryly, eyes drifting behind Shiro to where Keith stands a few feet away. “ ...and if I dare say, happier? ”

i’m just a good girl —with some bad habits

『       “My parents used to say the same thing about him,” she mused with a chuckle. It was odd having Nyma be so close to Matt now. Not that she minded. If anything it meant she got to see Beezer more often. “What has he done this time?”       』

          - - - THE PIDGEON!!

“He got way too close to a qrouzulk,” she sighed, hands on hips. “Always has to play the hero...” Qrouzulk were large and nasty raptor-like creatures with spiked tails — their spikes and claws were coated in a venom lethal to Galra and highly dangerous to humans. 

May she look? 

That’s a new one. Most were fine enough with a distance glance but he didn’t have much reason to distrust her either. After a moment or two of thought, Korso lets out a soft hum.

“I suppose…” with that he holds out his arms quietly. The man wasn’t wearing his coat at the moment which left the injuries open and easy to see. The palms of his hands an undersides of his fingers were covered in burn scars. From the backs of his hands, lichtenberg figure shaped scars came into existence and violently arced their way up his arms, covering all sides of the limbs and only fading to a stop at the elbows. 

They’re not new injuries but they ran deep, hence the trouble they gave him.

The scars streaking across the man’s skin are beautiful yet sinister — if she hadn’t known any better, she’d have mistaken them for tattoos. But these... surely they were made by lightning.

She catches herself before she stares for too long and dribbles a few coin-sized drops from the bottle onto his scarred arms. “This’ll feel cool at first, but it’ll eventually warm up to match your corporal temperature,” she explains as she carefully massages the balm onto his hands, one at a time. “It’s a salve made from a rare seaweed exclusive to my home planet. Just a few drops are enough to last several varga.”

“Yeah, sure thing! My gear is over here,” Matt complied, leading Nyma over to where he stationed his equipment. “I really did plan on double-checking it closer to send-off time, but you never know when something might go bad. So checking now isn’t a bad idea, anyway. Double assurance.”

Nyma gazed at him with an unreadable expression that dissolved with a shrug a few moments later. Without another word, she turned around and walked over to the equipment. She had a feeling she’d have to be more careful around Matt...

Around him, the emotions gave her whiplash, and it was a little overwhelming.

Carefully, she examined the gear, making sure all straps were intact and that the release mechanisms were in proper working order. They didn’t really need another scare like the last time.

“Your brother’s gonna give me a heart attack one of these days...”

Oh. “Uh yeah, that’s right,” Lance began after taking a quick glance down at his armor. “We didn’t really have time to change them too after swapping Lions because we kept getting tossed into fight after fight. Learning Zarkon wasn’t dead and apparently had a son sure didn’t help any. And at this point, there’s really no point in switching them.” 

Honestly, he didn’t know if they even planned on switching those too. Especially if they ever were to return to their original Lions, which as much as he liked Red, Lance still really missed Blue and if given the opportunity, he would love to go back to piloting her. As long as it didn’t mean taking her away from Allura, that is.

“There’s also some sentimental value behind them too, to be honest. For Alteans, pink is the color they wear to honor the fallen and Keith… Well…he really wasn’t big on the whole changing Lions thing and taking over for Shiro. So I’d imagine wearing his armor was completely out of the question.”

“I see...” So it was more about sentimental significance than practicality. It was unusual for a group of warriors, but it was a concept she could understand better nonetheless. That alone explained so much about the dynamics in the ragtag group of universe defenders.

Shiro grimaced slightly at the jab, averting his eyes sheepishly. Guess he wasn’t all that subtle about his annoyance towards Rolo and his antics, at times. Though, in hindsight… he really probably wasn’t all that subtle. Before he could stop it, Shiro stiffened the next minute at learning Nyma was an empath, his heart dropping as a feeling of dread coursed through him.  She was an empath. That…explained things then. The more Nyma spoke the more uneasy he became. Shiro didn’t like having his emotions on display, especially when he worked so hard to keep them under wraps, along with Keith and his relationship after what happened. It wasn’t her fault, but the likelihood of nervousness around her and possible avoidance until he overcame it or developed a method of blocking her out was high. Furthermore, Shiro hated the inevitable pick-up of his reaction now and how he wasn’t able to contain it.

Shiro swallowed, his heart twinging a little at the thought. Feelings of melancholy and longing weren’t wrong and there was no point in denying it when she already knew. “It isn’t always easy but we make do,” Shiro finally spoke, voice matching Nyma’s in quietness, gaze on anything but making eye contact.

Uneasiness... the dizzying feeling rolled over her. Shiro wasn’t exactly happy about her powers, though that came as no surprise. He was just as guarded as she’d come to expect from those who have experienced unspeakable hardship. Another oyster... another beautiful pearl hiding from the world. Much like someone else that she cared about.

a soft sigh escaped the black paladin, “of course, i miss someone.” while he wasn’t open about his family ties back on earth, just a select few knew about them. he’s an adult and the leader of the group, he wanted to have a strong front for the rest of the team. he mumbled quietly, “i miss my family.”

“I’m sorry... it must be rough, being so far away.”

There’s so much repressed longing and melancholy in him, it’s almost heartbreaking. She truly feels for him — it’s not like Shiro can open a comlink to his loved ones from deep space. 

“Fine. They’re… semi-old wounds…” the nerves would take the longest to heal and the damage done to them often caused twinges or flare ups of pain. It was simply a fact he was going to deal with. One that’s handled by slow, firm rubs to the location.

“Always worse with static in the air,” granted this planet wasn’t the worst he’d been on but it certainly wasn’t helping him any.

“A deep-reaching wound if it still feels like this...” she mutters, idly massaging at her temples. There’s more to it, but she doubts her prodding will bring it to light. She’s quickly learning that most humans are like oysters — rough shells on the outside and even more tightly closed off on the inside. Some of them still contain pearls but keep that part of themselves hidden from the world... not that she can blame them.

She wanted to agree with Nyma so badly, but it was as if something or someone was telling her to believe in the prince; or perhaps it was that she finally had someone other than Coran whom she could relate to and it felt…right?

“Why don’t you try speaking to him?”

“I don’t know that I’d have much to say that he’d care to listen to, Princess,” she gave a shake of the head. Talking wouldn’t get her anywhere she truly wanted to be... perhaps she could observe, instead. Maybe then she’d be able to paint a clearer picture of his intentions.