HE  SHOULDN’T  HAVE  VOLUNTEERED  TO  HELP  with this mission. his head had been killing him , aching with a pain so intense that it was LITERALLY mind-numbing. and it persisted , pounding against the walls of his skull with each step that he took through long , pink-lit corridors. the low mechanical HUM of energy flowing through overhead pipes was GRATING , and unnecessarily loud to his ears. less a HUM as it was a ROARING , and a small , sane part of shiro grieved for lance’s sake. he had less a PARTNER , and more of a bulky, two-legged TOTE BAG. 

               luckily , their target had been reached , and lance was GRACIOUS enough to allow shiro to rest. immediately , he’d slumped against the nearest wall , gingerly placed , a man of  porcelain about to crack. in the moment , he couldn’t imagine any other form of pain . . .

              ticks passed , and somewhere along the line , shiro’s eyes had closed against the glaring , bright florescent lights above the paladins’ heads. then - FINALLY - lance beckoned for him , having found a scrap of the information they were looking for. begrudgingly , shiro was by his side in an instant , peering over his shoulder , watching closely as lance thumbed through the translated galran script.

               ( honerva. haggar. one and the same. a written confirmation of the day she had given birth to a boy. a prince , an heir to the throne named l o t o r. more words clumped into paragraphs , paragraphs clumped into pages , more information about the witch’s experiments , the barest mention of test subjects , her pet project , project k--- )

               he’d reached over lance’s shoulder and turned off the small cube that had projected the text. heavy breathing. head pounding. pain reverberated in his skull and knocked his thoughts senseless. numb. shiro’s skin was skin suddenly hot and clammy. coated in a thin layer of cold sweat , shiro’s hand shook and the man stepped back. away from the box. ( information like this could not be allowed to exist. ) he grimaced against the agony , his disjointed thoughts , and the sudden compulsion to knock the cube from lance’s hands , or to crush it in between his fingers himself. he didn’t understand it. ( it could not be allowed to fall into lotor’s hands. )  a part of him gave in.

    ‘       what     are   you    doing   here   ?            it’s       midnight .       ’  

❝ Blue paladin! Or-... RED PALADIN? ❞ The former prince paused with a long-suffering sigh. A paladin in blue that pilots the red lion? It was confusing and Lotor only wished he could see the looks on the original paladin’s faces at this COMPLETE MESS of their positions and swapping of armor and lions. This team up close seemed like such a disaster Lotor had to wonder just how they managed to nearly defeat his father.

[ headcanons | @flngergcns | accept. ]

⛔️ - How does your muse react to others breaking the law? If they would do it themselves, what is their reasoning? 

             as  someone  who  has  broken  the  law  himself  (  becoming  a  fugitive  of  the  galra  empire ,  helping  allura  lead  the  rebellion  against  zarkon  ,  etc.  )  shiro  has  become  more  and  more  lax  with  laws  ,  and  which  ones  need to  be  ,  or  can  be  allowed  to  be  broken.  at  least  within  reason.  if  a  law  is  fair  and  just  ,  set  in  place  to  protect  and  serve  the  masses  ,  he  is  supportive  of  it  however  ,  he  is  also  aware  that  sometimes  following  a  law  or  set  of  laws  isn’t  the  BEST  course  of  action.  so  long  as  the  reasons  behind  it  are  genuinely  just  ,  he  can’t  bring  himself  to  find  fault  in  another  for  doing  what  he  himself  has  done.  if  anything  ,  he  may  even  help  them.

⌛️ - How often does your muse think about death? Do they think about it at all?

                it  isn’t  his  favourite  pastime  ,  but  there  have  been  (  and  still  are  )  plenty  of  occasions  where  he’s  thought  of  his  own  death.  in  the  prisons  ,  he  would  think  back  on  his  fights  and  imagine  every  misstep  ,  and  every  moment  where  something  could  have  gone  wrong.  he  could  have  lost  his  footing  ,  he  could  have  been  distracted  ,  if  he  had  swung  at  just  the  WRONG  second  ,  he  would  have  been  finished.            he  still thinks  about  it.  he’ll  think  about  the  differences  in  the  lives  of  his  team  if  he  was  suddenly  gone.  he  thinks  about  the  struggle  they  would  face  if  he  wasn’t  there  to  support  them  ,  guide  them  ,  make  sure  that  they’re  okay  ,  and  that  they  all return  home  safely.  he  thinks  about  keith  ,  his  brother  ,  and  how  ALONE  he  would  be  ;  how  he  CANNOT  leave  him  alone  again.  not  when  he  had  already  let  him  down  on  kerberos.

                he  isn’t  frightened  of  death.  he’s  learned  how  to  cheat  it.  he’s  learned  to  spit  in  its  face  and  GLOAT.  but  he  thinks  about  it  often  ,  and  he  makes  it  a  POINT  to  remind  himself  of  his  every  close  call.  the  last  thing  he  wants  to  do  is  become  RECKLESS.  the  last  thing  he  wants  to  do  is  abandon  his  team.

🔗 - What are your muse’s standards for meaningful relationships? How quickly do they form relationships like these?

            shiro  is  the  kind  of  person  who  finds  it  in  his  nature  to  connect  with  others.  he  makes  friends easily  ,  and  ( generally )  with  everyone  ,  but  within  that  huge  circle  of  friends  ,  only  a  select  few  truly  KNOW  him.  a  meaningful  relationship  ,  be  it  platonic  or  romantic  ,  must  be  built  on  LOYALTY  and  TRUST.  he  wants  to  be  able  to  know  that  he  can  lean  on  you  ,  that  if  he  can’t  hold  the  world  up  on  his  own  shoulders  ,  there  is  at  least  ONE  other  person  who  will  help  him  take  up  that  burden.  he  wants  to  be  able  to  know  that  he  can  open  up  to  others  without  judgement  or  bias  ,  because  he  will  GLADLY  do  the  same  for  you  whether  or  not  the  gesture  is  reciprocated.

          The Olkari had been kind enough to give the paladins a place to stay before their journey back home, the planet being the main hub for rebels and saved prisoners, it only made sense. The sacrifice still hurt, she needed to take her mind off of everything. Just for a moment, that would be enough. They all needed a break, they needed to relax. Eventually the idea came to her, something simple, but could ease the stress for a bit. As well as the name of a person who may be interested.

Send 🎼 to witness my muse singing to themselves

“And I’ll use you as a warning signThat if you talk enough sense then you’ll lose your mind...”

Singing is not something that happens often. Korso preferred the silence than to just break out into song but sometimes it helped keep those kinds of thoughts away. Of course, he wasn’t outrunning them completely. It was a memory, a person that prompted this particular song. His hands, scarred and faintly throbbing with pain, continue tho work on the small pieces of machinery he had pulled from one of the ship’s guns.

“And I’ll use you as a focal point.So I don’t lose sight of what I want...”

What he wants. Yeah, that hadn’t worked out too well did it? What did he have to show for doggedly pursuing only what he wanted? Nothing. Nothing but painful scars and an empty ship. Still... maybe he deserved it anyway. The thought settles, thick and persistent, in the back of his mind as he keeps working.

“And I’ve moved further than I thought I couldBut I miss you more than I thought I would....”

Heh, if that wasn’t the truth. Missed him a lot more than he ever thought he would. Stupid that he’d never brought it up before everything, now he never would. Couldn’t do anything about it now. Fingers twitch with the thought, sending a small piece rolling away a few inches. Korso barely hitches, slowly reaching over and plucking it up, rolling it in his palm.

“And I’ll use you as a warning signThat if you talk enough sense then you’ll lose your mind...”

No, better to leave those thoughts behind. Everything about that life was dead, the good and bad. All of it. Eyes closing a few moments, Korso steels himself again before going back to his work. His tone became sadder, despondent but accepting of the grief.

            STARS  DUSTED  THE  HORIZON  AND  BRIGHTENED  the dark , nebulous sea of space. lights ghosted across the astral plane like an aurora borealis , telling tales of countless lives , universes , galaxies. the quiet was serene and all-consuming. here , at least , the world was at peace.

            for the moment , shiro hated it. 

            of course , normally he embraced the peace that lay everything to rest here with arms wide open , but he had become RESTLESS , plagued with an urgency that no amount of meditation would cure. his eyes were closed , shut tight to block out the stars that glowed brightly around him , and the paladin sat cross-legged in the starry abyss. the quintessence that saturated this dreamscape pushed and pulled , rising and falling like the ocean’s tide , but it all flowed in ONE direction. towards the lions. towards the altean ship. towards HOME. ( ‘ h o m e. ‘ ) he focused on that thought , brow knitting , lips curling down into a small frown as shiro searched for his home. his teammates. his family. and then - THERE. the smallest speck of light , blue and bright and shining. ( the tiniest gasp for air / light-headed europhia / a wave of RELIEF that nearly knocked shiro from his perch. ) shiro opened his eyes.

            already , shiro could feel the weight of the young man’s name on his tongue , seconds away from teetering off the edge of his lips and bursting forth in one rushed , desperate shout. shiro withheld. focused instead on his friend’s face , and the eyes that hadn’t noticed him. haven’t quite been able to see.           ( more energy. / a deep breath. / patience yields focus. )