**Author's note: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!
Mari frowned at the reddish-purple splotch on the skin over her left ribcage. It was about the size of her fist, and when she brushed her fingers over it lightly she winced as it throbbed dully. Yep, her ribs were definitely bruised, but thank goodness they weren't broken.
Sighing miserably to herself, Mari peeled back the medical patch Coran had given her and pressed it to her injury. It stuck to the skin and began to glow faintly, gradually growing colder and easing the swelling. She stared at the strange Altean icepack in awe for a moment before pulling her t-shirt back on, hiding the patch from sight.
Showered and fully dressed now, Mari took her time heading to dinner. After her humiliating display with the Gladiator, she wasn't all too eager to face the rest of the team so soon, and she moved at a less than moderate pace as she tried to find the main dining hall. It felt like she was walking through a labyrinth as she ventured down the castle halls, taking multiple wrong turns and reaching dead ends. The constant backpedalling was seriously starting to get old, and just as she began cursing Coran's grandfather for not installing maps throughout the massive building, the dining hall finally came into view.
"You're late," Allura frowned in dismay as Mari entered the room and shuffled to her seat at the table. "What took you so long?"
"This castle is a freaking maze and I was all alone navigating it. What do you think took me so long?" she snapped bitterly and the princess looked taken aback. Immediately feeling guilty, Mari sighed and added gentler this time, "I'm sorry, Allura. I didn't mean to lash out at you. I just got lost and I'm…tired, okay?"
"Pssh! Why?" Lance scoffed. "You got to sleep longer than the rest of us and you barely did any training today—OW!"
The Blue Paladin was cut off as Mari swiftly kicked him in the knee from underneath the table. Allura cracked a smile and Pidge snorted, resulting in Lance shooting them incredulous looks.
"It's not funny!" he whined. "Getting hurt isn't funny!"
"Oh please. You're wearing armor," Pidge rolled his eyes.
"She's aiming for the knees," Lance grumbled. "Where there's less protection."
"It still shouldn't hurt that badly," the Green Paladin shrugged.
"Whatever. It still stings," Lance pouted and he tried to cross his arms indignantly but failed terribly as Hunk and Keith's arms got in the way.
"Why're you guys handcuffed together?" Mari glanced at the paladins' linked wrists before raising a skeptical eyebrow at Coran and Allura. "Is this, uh, how Alteans normally eat together?"
"Oh no, no, no, no," Coran chuckled with a shake of his head. "This is just another training exercise for them."
"We have to feed each other," Shiro explained grimly.
"Like a pack of yalmors!" Coran added with a grin.
"Yeah, I don't know what those are, but…this certainly should be interesting," Mari smirked.
As dinner commenced, she watched with mild amusement as the paladins struggled with their new teamwork-centered task. Globs of green food goo was strewn all across the table as they struggled to eat and it wasn't long until they began arguing with one another.
"Ugh," Allura muttered after a while of the commotion. "Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?"
"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro sighed, trying to remain patient. "Everyone's been working really hard today."
"Yeah!" Keith piped up. "Were not some prisoners for you to toy with, like…like…"
"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance provided.
"Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith exclaimed.
"Wow. Must've taken forever to come up with that one," Mari grumbled before eating another spoonful of the alien goo.
"Hey, nobody asked for your input!" Keith snapped at her.
"Yeah, zip it, Mari!" Lance added, earning him another kick. "Ow! Stop doing that!"
"If you want me to stop, then keep your mouth shut and don't say anything stupid."
"But you've been telling me to shut up all day!"—she kicked him again—"OW! Grrrr! Why you…!"
Without even thinking, Lance scooped up two hefty handfuls of his dinner and hurled them at her. Mari inhaled sharply as the slimy goo hit her smack dab in the face, and she bristled as the green glop slowly slid down her face. Everyone was stunned into silence, their gazes shifting anxiously between Mari and Lance as they waited for her reaction.
Stiffly wiping most of the food out of her eyes, Mari's gaze locked onto the Blue Paladin. "What. The. QUIZNAK, Lance!" she growled, her hands clenching into fists at her side as she abruptly stood from the table.
"I-I'm sorry!" he squeaked fearfully, a look of pure terror plastered across his face as he registered his horrible blunder. He held his hands up defensively in front of him, waiting for her to lean over the table and strangle him. "I-I didn't mean to! Please, don't hurt me!"
"Oh, ho," Mari began to laugh darkly, and a shiver was sent down Lance's spine as she reached for the nearest bowl of food goo. "Oh, no…you're a freaking DEAD MAN, Lance!"
In one swift movement, she completely emptied the bowl of its contents, flinging the green slop all over him. Unfortunately for the other boys, she hadn't taken her aim into account and she had accidentally covered them in the goo as well.
"Mari…" Shiro began scoldingly.
"Heh…sorry?" she shrugged, and a smile played on her lips as she took in the sludge-covered paladins.
A mischievous grin spread across Hunk's face and his eyes gleamed as he exclaimed, "Oh, it's on now!" He dove face first into his plate of food and gathered as much goo as he possibly could into his mouth before spewing it all over Mari and the two unfortunate Alteans that were right next to her.
Coran and Allura shared disgusted looks before grabbing their plates and beginning to fling bits of their meals at Hunk. The other boys immediately began to join in on the fun and a full-force food fight raged on between the group of rambunctious humans and the Alteans. Green goop was thrown everywhere and no one could escape getting drenched in it. But despite the disgustingness of it all, they were having fun.
When everyone had tired out and ceased fire, Allura sat back in a chair and Mari collapsed on the floor. Her injured side throbbed dully from the sudden movements and from laughing too hard, but she was still grinning from ear to ear nonetheless.
"You're finally working together as one," the princess beamed proudly at the five chuckling paladins.
"Hey…She's right," Keith grinned at Lance.
"I actually don't hate you right now," Lance admitted, returning the smile."
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk said.
"Let's form Voltron!" Shiro spoke for the group and the other paladins cheered in agreement.
After un-handcuffing the boys, Allura, Coran, and Mari quickly wiped the goo off of themselves and hurried outside while the paladins headed to their lions.
"You think they'll be able to do it?" Mari wondered aloud as they waited.
"With how in sync they were just moments ago? Yes," the princess nodded confidently.
The fives lions flew out of the castle and the trio watched in awe as they began to glow. Breaking down one by one, the lions connected to one another and transformed the giant and mighty robot that was Voltron.
"Seems like they just needed a common enemy," Allura smiled at Mari knowingly. "Thank you."
Mari felt her cheeks grow warm and she shrugged half-heartedly. "If anyone, you should thank Lance for pissing me off," she said. "I still can't believe he stooped to throwing food at me…How childish can he get?"
"Well, like the old proverb says: a man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him," Coran piped up, twirling his mustache proudly, and as Mari scowled in disagreement, Allura couldn't help but laugh.
"Man, that was cool!" Lance gushed once everyone had returned to the castle. "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight!"
"Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm gonna be lights out," Keith said.
"Guys, I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man!" Hunk beamed, bringing both Lance and Keith into a tight—if not awkward—hug. "You know? We're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. We're brothers all the way. I love you guys!"
"G-Forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked, a wry grin on his face.
"Yeah, maybe a little. I don't know," Hunk admitted. "It's been a tough few days."
Leaning against the door frame of the lounge, Mari tiredly watched their mini celebration. Today had been a long day for everyone and she was feeling worn out; she could only imagine what the guys were going through after a full day of training. Stifling a yawn, she turned and headed down the corridor towards her room when she heard footsteps approach from behind.
"Hey," Shiro greeted, falling into step with her. "Mind if I walk you to your room?"
"We're not kids anymore, you don't have to escort me everywhere," Mari said half-jokingly. "I think I can handle getting to my bedroom by myself."
"Just for old times sake then," he smiled.
"All right. Whatever," she relented and she let him walk with her.
"So, congrats on gaining four more brothers," she said after a while. "Oh, and for forming Voltron, of course."
"Hey, if they're my 'brothers' now, then they're yours too," Shiro nudged her gently, playfully.
"Not sure if I'm ready to have four more of those," Mari chuckled. "No, I'm content with one sibling, thank you very much."
Shiro laughed quietly at that and the two were cast into an uncomfortable silence once more. Finally he asked hesitantly, "How are your wounds?"
"Wound," she corrected. "I only had one. And the patch Coran gave me is really helping it."
"That's a relief."
"See? I told you I was fine. You were worrying for nothing."
Shiro faltered in his steps, causing Mari to slow down too. "What?" she asked, tilting her head curiously and raising a quizzical eyebrow at him.
"Are you…sure you're all right?" he asked.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
Her brother frowned uncertainly before saying, "I knew you could've beaten that thing, even without armor. But you hesitated and started tearing up right before it took you down. That's not like you at all, Mari."
"What, am I not allowed to cry now?" she scoffed, crossing her arms defensively. "Well, sorry! I'm only human, you know!"
"And what's with this new attitude of yours?" Shiro continued, his tone incredulous. "You're lashing out at teammates and acting so defensive—"
"I've always been this way!"
"No, no you haven't," he insisted. Sighing tiredly, he gently added, "Look, I'm not trying to lecture you or argue with you. All I'm saying is you don't seem like your usual self, and I want to know what's up."
"There's nothing wrong with me."
"Mari, please," Shiro begged as they came to a halt in front of her room. "I'm worried, about you."
She was silent for a moment, her eyes refusing to meet his. Pressing her lips tightly together to form a firm and angry line, she turned away from him and opened the door to her room. "Well, that's your own problem then," she muttered coldly. "I'm fine. Stop making a big deal out of nothing."
"Mari…"
"I said I'm all right, okay?" she finally snapped. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."
And before he could stop her, she slipped into her room, the door sliding shut behind her and locking Shiro out. He knocked a few times, demanding that she let him in so he could talk to her. But she refused to answer his pleas and waited with her back pressed to the door for him to leave. As soon as she heard his unhappy sigh followed by his retreating footsteps down the hall, Mari crawled into her bed and burrowed beneath the soft covers.
Tired but unable to go to sleep, she stared up at the ceiling, bitterly reviewing the day's events. Her own personal failures seemed to be stuck on repeat as they replayed over and over and over again, and the same haunting words continuously echoed within her mind.
She's such a temperamental and hostile girl.
She causes quite a lot of trouble.
She's so incredibly useless.
Her poor brother.
Grimacing, Mari screwed her eyes shut and shook her head slightly to get the voices out of her head. It was going to be a long night wasn't it? She could only hope that she at least had pleasanter dreams this time.