"It's different, definitly, but also a bit exciting, cause I had heard and read som many good things about this reboot and like you I'm also a fan of sci-fi." I've actually written a review or two for a fandom I didn't know because someone had asked for feedback. It was a little tricky for me but it was definitely a neat experience. "I only have seen a few original episodes of the old Voltron series, when I was a child" I actually have not watched the original, lmao I really ought to. "but I liked these style of series, when I was a kid." So did I, but I was more of a Sailor Moon kinda gal. Granted I like a bit of everything these days."Still I will do the best I can to give you a sound feedback." It's all good, I don't mind getting reviews that are simply, 'good fic' or something like that lol. "And I'm sure you can help me out, if I would have questions." Oh yeah, if you have any questions feel free to ask! I'll try to give spoiler free answers (unless of course you want spoilers)!
"These are the thrills, I'm looking for, these nightmares, you are painting with words." Honestly the nightmares are always my favorite part. It gives me a chance to go beyond what is normally possible and create a unique sense of foreboding and doom. "And wow this was a tough one, in my opinion. Acxa is dealing with the terror, she was put through and she seems to be lost in herself, psychical and physical." My girl is a little confused, yes. But she's a strong alien lady. xP "The things, that happend to her is frightening her and weakening her mentally. Her body doesn't feel right for her anymore and she is more fragile than she used to be, which doubles her feeling of insecurity, fear, confusion and weakness." Exactly, that among trying to adjust to a new life in a sense. Keith is very much someone who is going to help get her through things.
Acxa is still asleep when he wakes, usually she is up before him—much before him, in fact. On a normal day the woman will wake up at around 5:30 or so. She has always been an early riser and he doesn't know how she does it, especially since she goes to bed at the same time he does. He thinks that it is…was her Galra blood, that maybe they require less sleep. He peers again at her slumbering form. This is the first time he has seen her sleep in and hopes that the nightmare had simply taken a lot out of her. She mummers something in her sleep; this is not unusual of her. He recalls having full—albeit nonsensical—conversations with her during the night, only for her to awaken and not remember a thing.
He is torn between fetching her some breakfast in bed and being there for her when she wakes. He supposes that she won't want to wake and find herself alone so he sticks around, putting his CD's back in their places. When he finishes that, he finds himself a book and sits back on the bed. In her sleep, Acxa hugs the blankets tighter to herself and rolls onto her side with another sleepy mumble. Keith gives a soft smile. For what it is worth, she looks comfortable. He goes back to his CD collection and pops Fleetwood Mac into the stereo. He found that, that album was the best to read books to. The CD is nearly half done when Acxa finally sits up. He pauses the music, "how did you sleep." And then adds, "other than the nightmare."
She thinks for a moment. "Well."
"Good to hear."
"What was that song you were just playing?"
"It's called, 'Like Crying', it's one of my favorites by them."
"What are your other favorites?" She asks.
He can see genuine curiosity in her eyes but at the same time he gets a sense that she is trying to stall. He is beginning to think that getting her to talk about the UV room is going to be like pulling a splinter from the heel of a beast. So he answers vaguely, "I like a lot of them. When we get some free time, I can show you."
He can see it in her eyes that she isn't satisfied with the answer. But if he is being honest with himself, he isn't thinking about that. He is trying to figure out of he should ask her if she knows Haggar's end goal or if he should keep pushing about the UV room.
Either which way, he leads her back down the hall for breakfast and socialization.
"Morning Keith!" Hunk greets.
"Good morning." He returns. "How's breakfast?"
"Breakfast is always good. Best meal of the day." Hunk grins.
"Try telling Acxa that, will you?" Keith laughs. So far he has tried waffles, pancakes, eggs, and bacon, the woman would have none of them. "Today we're trying cereal."
"Ah!" Hunk exclaims. "A breakfast classic. I recommend Fruit Loops."
"Fruit Loops?" Lance mutters. "Everyone knows that Captain Crunch is the best."
"Um…Lucky Charms?" Pidge points out.
Keith spares Acxa a glance, the poor woman looks terribly confused.
"You're all wrong." Veronica saunters up to the table. "Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the best starter cereal."
"Frosted Flakes." Shiro puts in.
"Are you all really fighting about which cereal is the best?" Keith asks with an eye roll. It takes all of his will power to not remind them of Honeycombs. "I don't even know which cereals we brought with us. Anyways, I'll just let Acxa choose." He turns to her, only to find that the woman has wandered off. He spies her in the food line with Veronica. It looks like Cinnamon Toast Crunch will win out. "I don't know how to get her to talk." He confesses.
"About what?" Lance asks.
"She keeps mentioning this UV room. I asked her about it last night but she wouldn't say anything. She said that she'd tell me today, but…"
"The day just started, give her time." Shiro smiled warmly.
"But she has already dodged the question three times today." Keith points out, it might have only been two though. Thinking about it like that, it isn't so bad, but still the subject evasion is a bit of a peeve. "Allura really needs that information." He spares another look at Acxa, she sticks pretty closely to Veronica.
"You're right, I do." Allura agrees, "the more information we can get on Haggar and her plans, the better our odds."
"But…" Keith prompts.
"Haggar's experiments are terrifying." Allura replies. "Lotor told me all about her quintessence research, about the things she was willing to do to herself. Don't force Acxa to relive something unpleasant."
He doesn't tell Allura that Acxa already did.
"I'm just saying, the sooner I can get her to talk, the sooner we can try to fix—turn her back."
"What if we can't?" Lance vocalizes the possibility he didn't like to think about.
He opens his mouth to answer, but Acxa is back at his side so he closes it again and instead thinks of small talk to make. He asks her what cereal she ended up picking.
.oOo.
She rests her hands in her lap. Keith isn't here this time. Apparently, they have run into trouble for she had watched the Paladins scramble from away from their lunches and into their uniforms. There is a frantic energy to the Atlas and she knows that she will probably be one of the last to know what caused it.
So she is alone with the MFE crew and Veronica. She sits at the table staring at her lunch. The group is enveloped in a conversation about an Earth movie franchise she has never heard of. She doesn't think that they mean to alienate her, but they have picked another topic she can't easily navigate.
Her hands are folded in her lap and she looks down at them. As she does her mind drifts. It drifts to that cold metal room and that stiff mattress. It drifts to the merciless chill on her skin and the perpetual feeling of dread. The constant anticipation of suffering. She recalls boredom mixed with that anxiety. She recalls feeling helpless and useless.
She feels useless right now as the paladins fight, as the Atlas bustles, as she only inspects hands that she is still trying to grow accustomed to.
She doesn't want to be useless.
She doesn't want to contribute nothing, so she will muster up the strength to share at least what little she knew of Haggar's motivations.
"Acxa kind of reminds me of Legolas!" Nadia declares.
Her attention is pulled, "what is a Legolas?"
"The hottest elf in Middle Earth."
Acxa tilts her head. "Can I got to the Middle of Earth one day?"
Nadia bursts out laughing and Kinkade explains, "Middle Earth is a place in this book series called Lord of The Rings. Legolas is Nadia's favorite character."
"Only because she thinks that he has a beautiful face." Ina rolls her eyes.
"How am I like a…Legolas."
"It's the ears." James replies without thinking and then more quietly he adds, "it was the ears."
The table is silent, uncomfortably so. And she knows it is her fault, it always is. It would seem that she just can't win. Her Galra appearance, only had the potential to help her fit in, after she had lost it. She thinks it rather cruel. "I am going to go to my room now." She declares.
Veronica tries to coax her back, but her mood has already soured. She just wants to be alone, but at the same time, she knows that it is the last thing she needs. Still she makes her way down the hall, trying to recall which room she had emerged from on her first night back aboard the Atlas. She hasn't been back there since but she believes that it is the one down the hall from Keith's. She pulls the door open to find a slew of scattered socks, worn bras, a few pairs of haphazardly kicked off heels, and a packet of spilled glitter. A string of lights drip down from the ceiling, hanging above a few textbooks and gizmos. She knows that she has the wrong room so she shuts the door, thankful that no one is present.
"I think that you've got the wrong room." Veronica appears behind her. "Your's is that one. Here, I'll walk you there."
Acxa wants to protest but Veronica is already leading the way so she follows with a very intended silence.
"I'm sorry about the whole lunch thing, James didn't mean anything by it. He just sometimes doesn't think before he talks."
Acxa sighs, perhaps she is being a little cold. They are all trying to get used to each other and she can't imagine that her sudden switch has made this any easier. "It's fine." They were, after all giving her a second chance for much bigger crimes.
"If you need someone to talk to while Keith is gone…well you already found my room." She smiles.
Acxa nods. She apricates the offer, but she doesn't feel like taking it up just yet. "Thank you."
.oOo.
When Keith gets back he doesn't see Acxa at dinner. He begins to fret, he doesn't like the idea of her skipping it. He hopes that he hasn't offended her by leaving in such haste. He thinks that he ought to invite her to give them a hand next time, even if Allura says that it is a bad idea. He sees where she is coming from in stating that Acxa could still probably use some rest. But he doesn't think that the former Galra likes sitting still for too long. He checks his room to find it empty and his concern grows. And he remembers that she has her own room and relief floods him, he hopes that it isn't pre-mature. He knocks at her door.
He hears movement and lets the relief wash over him in full. Acxa beckons him inside.
"I ought to get you some stuff to decorate with."
She tilts her head.
"Make this place a little more…you."
"We can do that later." Acxa says dryly. "I want to tell you about Haggar now."
"Okay." He pauses. "Let me just get the others." He turns to leave but her hand closes around the bend of his arm and pulls him back.
"No. I only want to tell you."
"But…" He protests.
"You can fill the others in."
He follows her to her bed as it clicks that she simply isn't comfortable enough to talk about things around the others yet. "Alright, what do you know."
"You're going to be disappointed." She warns. "I don't know much. I do know that she wants to make an army of human turned Galra."
He knew that much already.
"She also wants to make humans of Galra who disagree with her cause. Humans are easier to hunt down, especially ones that don't know how to be human." She frowns. "I don't know my own weaknesses and limitations anymore, Keith. I don't know how much damage this body can take before it stops working. That's dangerous." He thinks that he can see her shudder. "And that's very effective for taking down Galra who oppose she and what she's trying to do."
"Which is?" Keith asks.
"She is trying to find Lotor." Acxa states. "But she is also trying to take the Galra empire for her own so that she can give it to Lotor. I think that this is where turning Galra human will matter the most."
"So why turn humans Galra? They won't listen to her."
"That is why she is picking out humans who deeply hate other humans and weak-willed humans who are easy to control." Acxa explains. "That is how I interpreted what she has mentioned to me and what I have overheard."
"Thank you, Acxa." He hugs her. "That's actually a lot of help."
Now all he has to do is present this newfound information to the others. Hopefully from there they can form a more solid plan of action. Hopefully, from here, he can help work Acxa into the team as a more trusted alley. For the first time in a while he is optimistic, perhaps their trip to the laboratory hadn't been a complete failure after all.
Perhaps he hadn't made the wrong call.
.oOo.
Acxa smiles to herself. It had been a good thing to hear, that she is still of help. Keith pats her hand and tells her that he will be back soon and that they could continue their conversation about Fleetwood Mac, and, if she desired, he would tell her how the meeting went.
Frankly she wants that very much. She wants to know if she truly has done them some good. Perhaps, good enough to join them on their missions instead of lazing around the Atlas. Some fight returns to her spirit and finally, she feels that much more like herself.