Coran had to drag Nayni to the bridge because she kept slipping on the floor. He would slip and barely maintain his footing in the trail of mucus that she left in her wake. Coran pushed Nayni through the archway to the bridge. She nearly fell on her face but managed to latch onto a railing before she smacked into the ground. The Paladins were already gathered around, fully clad in their armor. Lotor and Tomyko were staring out the massive dome looking out over the spacescape before them. A small fleet of Galra vessels were approaching from the distance. Nayni's hands were already starting to slick up again and she felt herself losing her grip on the railing.
Hunk and Pidge looked Nayni up and down. Both of them immediately grimaced in disgust.
"Aww man, not this again," Hunk groaned.
Everyone was looking at Nayni with a mixture of shock and abhorrence. Shiro just shook his head. He definitely seemed irritated by Nayni's Slipperies but there wasn't really time to discuss that now.
"Guys, we need to decide right now if we make a run for it or take 'em out," Shiro pressed.
Allura powered up the particle barrier preemptively while Nayni tried to inch her way over to her station. Tomyko was looking at Nayni with a great deal of concern but she didn't dare make a move. Lotor pushed past the Paladins and tried to get a better look at the fleet before them.
"That's more than just a scouting patrol," Lotor explained. "Father must've noticed your new friends, I'm not very surprised."
That's just what they needed, Zarkon to become involved. Coran helped Nayni get to her station. Her clothes were completely soaked through with sweaty mucus. The feeling of it running down her flesh was absolutely revolting. She could practically feel everyone staring at her. Lance kept staring at her with that stupid clueless look on his face.
"Is she gonna be okay? Or-" Lance asked.
Nayni whirled around and was about to snap at him but she slipped. Her rear end slammed into the hard floor of the bridge and she growled. Nayni let out a string of curse words under her breath as she tried to brace herself on her control panel so she could get back to her feet. Lotor just smiled to himself.
"She'll have to be, we can't let these ships go," Lotor said.
The Galra vessels already launched their fighters. Their violet laser rounds were bouncing off of the particle barrier. Coran was already manning the main control panel and furiously typing in the targeting parameters for the Castle's defenses. A large blast from one of the Galra vessels slammed into the particle barrier and the Castle jerked. Lotor clenched his teeth in frustration.
"We need to get out there," Lotor pressed. "The only way to know for sure why they're here is to take them out and retrieve whatever data we can from their systems."
Nayni tried to fire off the Castle's defensive lasers but her hands were too slippery to man the controls. Shiro slid his helmet over his head and nodded.
"He's got a point, they can't just be here by coincidence, let's get out there," Shiro said.
The Paladins made a break for the elaborate zip line system that delivered them to each of their Lions. Lotor headed towards the hangar to get to his fighter. Tomyko's red hair whipped around her as she looked frantically around the bridge. Her eyes locked on Nayni who was beating her fist against the control panel in frustration.
"What am I supposed to do?" Tomyko asked.
She didn't even look at Coran. She seemed to be doing everything in her power to avoid it. The Castle took another hit and jerked. Nayni lost her grip on the edge of her control panel and slipped again. She went careening across the floor and slammed into the main control panel. She felt a jolt of pain run through her skull as her head bounced off of the metal rim. Tomyko and Coran both ran to her. Tomyko stopped in her tracks and shot Coran a cold glare. As if this situation wasn't already obnoxious enough, she was going to have to deal with this nonsense.
Nayni grabbed Tomyko by the arm. Her forearm was so slender and delicate she could've snapped it in half.
"I can't help with the quiznacking defenses," Nayni growled. "Just do everything he says—"
Tomyko wrinkled her nose and pulled away.
"I'm not taking orders from him!" Tomyko seethed.
Coran was struggling to keep up with firing off the Castle's defenses. Nayni knew he'd done this on his own before but this job was much easier to handle with more people to help him.
"It doesn't matter, I can handle this myself!" Coran pressed.
Nayni thought she was going to explode. Tomyko was just standing there like a rugglehead, while her Paladins were out there risking their lives. The Lions were already soaring through the battlefield, firing off shots at the swarm of Galra fighters. Nayni watched the Blue Lion narrowly dodge a shot from one of the Galra cannons. She glared at Tomyko and her eyes narrowed with anger.
"Get over to that quiznacking control panel and help him!" Nayni snapped.
Tomyko folded her arms across her chest and pouted like a child.
"No, I'm not working with him, I don't care if he's not the real Advisor, I don't trust him," Tomyko said.
Nayni was tiks away from punching the woman in the face. Coran's hands were moving in a blur over the controls.
"It's fine, I can do this," Coran insisted.
He could but it was about the principle of the thing now. Nayni grabbed onto the edge of the main control panel and pulled herself up. Her feet slipped a little on the floor and her knees wobbled. She wiped a thick glob of mucus from her face and arms and held the dripping mass in her hand. Coran's eyes widened as he watched Nayni fling the glob at Tomyko. The undulating blob of Nayni's fluids soared through the air and smacked Tomyko square in the face.
The slender-faced Altean just stared at Nayni in shock. Her red hair was now drenched with Nayni's sweat and it was dripping off of her chin. Nayni gestured to her station which flung another wave of droplets across the floor.
"Man that quiznacking station or I swear on King Groggery's corpse that I will throw your pretty little butt out of the airlock," Nayni seethed.
Tomyko grit her teeth and stormed over to Nayni's station. Coran was biting down on his bottom lip as he struggled to hold in his laughter. Tomyko wiped away the layer of Nayni's slime that had accumulated on the control panel's surface. Her face was flushed with anger. Nayni tried to walk over to help Tomyko but she ended up just sliding off in a completely different direction.
Lotor's ship sliced through the battlefield like a sword, he left a path of smoldering destruction in his wake. The Lions hadn't even attempted to form Voltron and they were already decimating the Galra fleet. The Blue Lion swung through a cluster of fighters and froze them in place. The jagged chunks of ice spun aimlessly through the field of battle. They were working together as if in a perfectly timed dance. The Green Lion would engage it's stealth mode and then sneak up behind unsuspecting vessels and obliterate them with the help of their comrades.
Coran waved his hand in front of his control panel. His targets lit up in red. He looked up at Tomyko and hesitated before he spoke.
"Tomyko, if you could deploy the defense drones by hitting that button in the middle, it would be helpful," Coran said.
He was being so polite. Nayni wasn't willing to be as patient with her. Tomyko just threw her hands in the air and shook her head.
"There's a lot of buttons in the middle of this thing! Which one?!" Tomyko seethed.
The particle barrier took another hit and the Castle bucked. Nayni slid across the floor, she caught herself on Tomyko's control panel. Her legs flailed as she tried to pull herself up. She flung globs of her goo everywhere as she gestured to the button in the center of the panel.
"This one! This little quiznacker!" Nayni growled.
Tomyko slammed her fist on the button and managed to hit a few others in the process. The sleek, white defense drones deployed onto the field while a few secondary lasers fired off unexpectedly. Nayni slipped again but managed to maintain her grip on the control panel. She slid her hand across the panel and fired off the rest of the lasers.
Lotor and the Lions were ripping through the Galra fleet as if it were nothing. The Red and Black Lions sliced through the main ship and the massive violet vessel was engulfed in flames. The rest of the fleet immediately started to pull back. The fighters swarmed frantically trying to get back to any ship that would take them. The few remaining scouting vessels were racing for the edge of the sector so they could make a jump out. The transmission module on the bridge belted out Lotor's desperate plea.
"We can't let them get away!" Lotor pressed.
The Lions raced to keep up with the fleet. The Red and Green Lions had no issue keeping pace. They were closing in on the ships when another set of fighters exploded onto the field. The radio chatter was filled with cheers as the Blade of Marmora ships cut off the Galra fleet from the other side. The Blades had survived their encounter with the Queen and the Advisor after all.
Nayni got a bit too giddy upon their arrival and lost her grip on the control panel. She fell on her back and slid across the floor until she bumped into Hunk's battle station. She banged her head yet again and groaned. Her head throbbed with pain as she watched the Blades and the Lions take down the remaining scouts. The Galra ships split in twain and smoldered. Their violet-red lights flickered as the last signs of life dwindled from the enemy ships.
Tomyko was about to jump to Nayni's side but she hesitated. She watched Coran sprint over from the main control panel. Nayni took note of the look in Tomyko's eye as Coran helped Nayni get back to her feet. Coran held Nayni in his arms and flooded her with reassurances and inquiries about her well being. Tomyko just stood there, frozen, as she watched them. The battlefield that was visible behind her was littered with spaceship parts and the fading light of explosions.
Nayni expected her to be angry, to show some semblance of jealousy or frustration but Tomyko just looked sad. This alternate version of her dead wife looked as if a sad truth had finally come to her. Her gaze fell away from Coran and Nayni but the Guard Captain recognized that expression. She'd had that same feeling years ago when she'd looked upon her wife's ashes in that little pink urn. It was the look of acceptance. It was the realization that no force in the universe would able to undo what had come to be.
King Alfor seemed to have aged a thousand years since this war with the Galra began. He always seemed exhausted but the King never lost that burning determination that Coran respected so deeply. They'd been on the Castle for so long now that the hustle and bustle of the Royal Palace seemed like a long distant memory. The Black Lion was safely tucked in its hangar. It had been engulfed in its purple barrier since the day Zarkon had supposedly died. Many had tried to become its pilot but none had succeeded in forging a bond.
The longer that the Black Lion stayed in its state of stagnation, the more the hope for a peaceful resolution slowly faded away. Coran tried not to focus on that. He avoided the Lion's hangar at all costs. Alfor had started assigning him tasks that Coran found rather alarming though. Coran had spent many a sleepless night helping Alfor design an Ark vessel. The King insisted it was just an excessive precaution and that it was nothing for Coran to worry about but the Royal Advisor still found it a troubling project. At this very moment, Coran knew there were crews of Altean engineers and mechanics working on the massive vessel.
It was his latest task that had really shaken him. Alfor wanted him to develop a memory bank that would essentially be a digital clone of the King. Neither of them had openly spoken about why that order had been issued. Coran knew that Alfor was just preparing for a worst-case scenario. The idea of Alfor dying terrified him. Allura was a strong young woman but she would be ascending to power during the worst war that the universe had ever seen. Coran typed into the control panel before him.
His workspace on the engineering deck was dimly lit. His face was only illuminated by the blue light of the display screen. This project was proving to be most challenging. He kept adding personality traits to the artificial intelligence that weren't necessarily accurate. Coran put Alfor on a pedestal and the King had insisted that it be the most accurate representation as possible. So Coran had to set aside his immense admiration and focus solely on the man that the King really was. He kept his message inbox permanently open now. It just sat there on his second monitor. The empty display was always there taunting him.
Coran could recall every detail of the last time he saw Allura and Nayni. The Princess looked so sad and angry. The Captain of the Guard had been so stoic. Nayni had been struggling to mask the emotions within her but Coran could read her so easily. There had been a great deal of hugging but he'd expected Nayni to refuse the gesture. Instead, Nayni had wrapped her arms around him and whispered a promise in his ear that she'd do everything she could to keep the Princess safe.
Coran's violet eyes kept darting to the other monitor. Nayni and Allura were heading to Puig. He was impatiently awaiting a message to announce that they'd arrived safely. Still, there was nothing. Coran tried to put his focus back on the upload of Alfor's knowledge and personality. It was proving most difficult. The last time he'd been waiting this long, he'd accidentally upped the aggression levels on the Alfor AI and it started berating him for not sleeping enough. It reminded him so much of Nayni that he'd gone into a fit of laughter that devolved into him sniffling and wiping tears away from his eyes.
His eyes felt heavy from exhaustion. It would be best if he retired for the evening. He couldn't focus and his state of fatigue wasn't exactly helping that. Coran wanted to push himself to keep working. In times like these, there was little time for personal needs. If Nayni knew just how much he was taking on she'd be furious. Their exchange of letters had made him question the nature of their friendship. He'd always questioned it though.
There were times that he was absolutely certain that she wanted him and then she'd pull away. Coran would start to believe that maybe they were just close colleagues but then she'd say something or do something that was an action only a concerned lover would take. It didn't matter what was going on with the two of them, he still ached for her desperately. These letters they had been exchanging were as vital to him as the air he breathed. He'd read her words and he could hear the sound of her voice in his head, he could almost smell her and feel her presence with him.
Coran was startled when his second monitor started to flash, the sound of a soft chime spilled forth from his speakers. He was receiving a video transmission from an unknown location. He already knew who it was. This had never happened before. He and Nayni had always strictly stuck to text. Coran scrambled to straighten himself out. He ran his fingers through his red hair and tried to smooth out the stray hairs of his mustache. He reached for a button on the control panel and the video image appeared on the display.
Static interference broke up the already pixelated visage of Nayni on the screen. She was still donning her Puig disguise. Alteans could only change their skin to one color at a time so the multicolored markings of the Puig race were impossible for them to imitate. So she'd applied some kind of prosthetic to achieve this look. Whereever she was, it was dark and it sounded like she was outside. He could hear the loud chirping of insects in the background. When Nayni smiled, he found himself actually laughing joyously.
"Since we're off that quiznacking freighter I thought I'd seize this opportunity," Nayni said. "This is a slightly more civilized method of communicating."
He both wanted and knew there was more of a reason behind the video transmission. He propped his head up with his hand on the desk. He wasn't even going to attempt to hide the jubilation he was feeling. That smile was just permanently residing on his face. Nayni quickly glanced over her shoulder and then returned her gaze to the tiny screen on her datapad.
"I'm sorry I've gotten back to you so late," Nayni said. "We've been here for several vargas now."
And she must've been waiting for the cloak of night to contact him in private. It was like something from her romantic teledramas. He doubted she'd done this consciously though. Her expression fell.
"Allura's tired of running, Mister Smythe," Nayni said.
Coran nodded. This didn't surprise him.
"I know," Coran said.
There wasn't much else to be said about that. His hands were tied for now. There was no doubt about the Princess's abilities anymore but Alfor still wanted to keep her out of reach as an insurance policy. An awkward silence hung between them for a moment. It had been quite a while since they'd actually spoken to each other. It was a bittersweet moment. The only sound in the room was the soft hum of the static coming over the speakers.
"How have you been?" Coran asked.
Nayni sighed.
"I don't know half of the time," Nayni admitted. "There's never much good news anymore but it's hard to lose hope when I watch Allura punch scoundrels in the face and haggle like an expert with traders. She can do anything just like her father."
She spoke with such admiration and adoration for the Princess but there seemed to be something buried deeper within Nayni.
"I didn't expect you to still be awake," Nayni said. "You should be asleep, Mister Smythe."
He should be but Coran was even less likely to do that now that Nayni's face was right in front of him. It had been so very long since he'd seen her. He hadn't realized how deep the ache of her absence ran.
"Maybe I was and you woke me up?" Coran teased.
There was no way she was going to fall for that lie because she could probably see his workstation in the background.
"Then it would be overdue revenge for the nights that I endured your insufferable snoring," Nayni said.
She issued her retort with an icy cold expression and he found himself laughing. Nayni was hiding on an alien planet and probably hadn't slept in days but she still felt compelled to sass him. He missed the days he'd been camped out on her couch. Coran wished he'd had the courage to slip into her bed during that time.
"I could hear you through the walls, Mister Smythe, you're like a braying bovidae!" Nayni said.
Coran was laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes. She finally let her guard down and giggled a bit too. Their laughter faded. Nayni looked off to someplace off-screen.
"I miss home so desperately," Nayni confessed.
He did too but this was the nature of war. They both had duties to attend to. They both had to shove their confusing relationship to the side. It was easier to just say it was a friendship and leave it at that. It was still such a tortuous and agonizing connection they shared.
"I miss Altea too," Coran said.
He missed her the most. He missed walking the halls of the Palace and holding Allura's chubby little hands and knowing that Nayni was watching their back. There was no going back to that though. If they were going back to anything now it would be so different. Nayni took a deep breath. She didn't seem to want the conversation to stay on this course.
Coran had already figured out that she had a much easier time expressing herself through letters than by actually talking. She would always apologize for her poor grammar or complain that she wasn't articulate but it was the opposite. She didn't bury her thoughts and feelings in flowery words. She just laid them out rather curtly and that was that.
"You look dreadful," Nayni said.
She was trying to tease him but there wasn't very much intent behind her words.
"You really need to get some rest, Mister Smythe," Nayni pressed.
She was right. As much as he wanted this video transmission to last forever he knew it couldn't. He didn't want to go crawling back to his quarters on the Castle. She'd indulged his childish needs in the past and he needed that tonight. Seeing her again, it stirred up all of his those wants that he'd been trying to smother. He hesitated to ask because she must've been exhausted too.
"Would you mind terribly if—if you stayed on the line until I fall asleep?" Coran asked.
Nayni's expression softened. She didn't even contemplate his request for a tik.
"I rather you rest your head on a pillow instead of your desk-" Nayni said. "-but I suppose I'll have to settle for this."
Coran smiled.
"I will be eternally grateful for it, Madame Nordontu," Coran said.
Her gaze seemed to be fixed away from the screen. He rested his head in his arms. The cold surface of the workstation gave him goosebumps. His violet eyes still rested on Nayni's flickering image. He toyed with the end of his mustache and pleaded with her to just talk to him. She told a story that he'd heard a thousand times. It was about how Allura had terrorized her old night guard. He laughed at all the same old jokes, though his responses slowly grew less frequent and quieter. Coran slipped out of consciousness before Nayni had even gotten past the part where the young Princess had dumped water on the guard's face to wake him up.
Coran stirred a few vargas later. He felt a sharp pain in his neck and shoulder from the awkward position he'd slept in. He moaned as he shifted in his seat. The room was silent and dark. He leaned back in his chair and wiped the drool from the edge of his mouth. Coran already felt a sinking sensation in his heart before he even looked up at the secondary monitor. The display was gone and he was met with nothing but the blank space where Nayni's image had been. She'd kept her promise but his heart still ached. He'd find a way to get back to her when all of this was over and he'd tell her in person how much she meant to him. She deserved nothing less.
Nayni had slipped and slid her way back to their quarters. Coran had been left alone on the bridge with Tomyko. The atmosphere had been just brimming with tension. Every time he'd try breaking the ice with casual conversation, Tomyko just stared at him coldly. She was very talented at glaring and folding her arms across her chest. He understood why she felt the way she did but Coran had been hoping she'd be able to move past all of that. This dire situation had thrown them all together and they would need to cooperate to get through it. The return of the rest of the Castle's crew had only made their interactions slightly more tolerable.
Kolivan and Keith's images were splayed across the main display. The Blades ships were orbiting idly around the Castle. It was good to see that they'd remained unscathed after their encounter with the Queen and the Advisor. Lotor had pulled the main data log from the cockpit of one of the Galra scouting vessels and Pidge had hooked it up to the Castle's systems. The Green Paladin's computer display was filled with a jumble of violet Galra text. It would take a few dobashes before the Castle could fully translate the logs they were pulling from the drive.
The floors of the bridge were still thoroughly coated with mucus from Nayni's Slipperies. Everyone was standing in rather awkward positions due to this. Coran hadn't had time to deploy the robotic sanitation unit before the Paladins had returned from their mission. Hunk was just standing in the corner with his nose wrinkled up. The Yellow Paladin looked as if it was taking all of his strength not to vomit.
Pidge's program finished processing the Galra data. She waved her hand over the green display and the information popped up on the main monitor. Purple text and graphs filled up the screen along with maps of the past few systems that the Paladins had visited. Pidge was about to step away from her station but she looked at the glistening streaks of goo on the floor and kept her bum firmly planted in her seat.
"From the looks of things, that scouting party wasn't actually looking for us," Pidge said.
The rest of the group gathered around the main monitor. Coran noted that Tomyko was trying to stay as far away as she could from all of them. Lotor stroked his chin as he looked over the data on the display.
Shiro's brow furrowed. He seemed rather concerned with what he was looking at.
"Zarkon's following the same quintessence readings that we were," Shiro said.
Coran leaned over the main control panel. He started sorting through the cache on his own. Every logged transmission was discussing the quintessence levels. Surprisingly, Voltron's travels were barely a footnote in the messages.
"There's nothing in here indicating that they've found the Queen's forces yet," Coran said.
Lotor smirked. There was a twinkle in his golden eyes. It looked devious. Coran found it a tad bit unsettling.
"It won't take my father very long to find them," Lotor said. "This might play to our advantage."
The Galra Prince turned to face the rest of the Paladins. Allura's eyes were narrowed and her expression was stern. Coran could tell she wasn't very receptive to whatever idea Lotor was about to propose.
"Zarkon's involvement in any situation just provides another dangerous complication," Allura said. "There's no way that could benefit us."
Lotor found her comment very amusing. He chuckled softly and shook his head.
"If we lie low long enough, father will find this Queen," Lotor explained. "Then we can let them fight each other. They might just weaken each other's forces but if we're lucky one of them will wipe out the other completely."
Tomyko gasped in disgust. She started for the Galra Prince, her face was already red with anger.
"And how many innocents will die while we wait? We can't just sit idle while the Queen slaughters millions and turns entire systems to ash," Tomyko seethed.
The rest of the Paladins seemed to be on her side. Coran could see where Lotor was coming from, but the potential casualties that plan entailed were too much of a cost. He'd watched his homeworld burn, he didn't want any other being to endure that experience. Hunk cautiously stepped over a puddle of Nayni's mucus so he could get closer to the main monitor.
"Yeah, I'm not really cool with letting two crazy alien empires run wild and cause a bloodbath," Hunk said.
Lotor seemed rather frustrated with their hesitation.
"If you intend to take on the full force of the Queen's fleet and my father's then you are all much more idiotic than I previously thought," Lotor said. "Sacrificing a few systems is a small cost to protect the universe as a whole."
Tomyko took a step back. She seemed completely shocked and horrified by the words spilling forth from the Galra Prince's mouth.
"You—You're a monster," Tomyko stammered. "Lotor—he would never suggest something so awful."
Coran knew that Tomyko was referring to the Lotor from her reality. She staggered backward. Her feet slipped a bit. Her eyes were wide and she just kept shaking her head. Lotor sighed with aggravation.
"Perhaps that's why he's dead," Lotor said coldly.
Tomyko looked like she was about to leap at him. Coran seized her and tried to pull her away.
"It's all right. Just be calm," Coran pressed.
Tomyko yanked her arm out of his grasp and spat at his feet.
"If you ever lay a hand on me again, I will not hesitate to kill you," Tomyko said.
Shiro stepped between the three of them. He held out his arms and his gaze darted between them.
"Lets all just take a deep breath and relax," Shiro said. "We're all in this together, we can't be fighting amongst ourselves."
Tomyko kept her violet eyes locked on Coran. She slowly slinked back. Coran had no idea what to do about her. He'd tried to be kind. He'd tried to do his best to give her space and a reason to trust him. It just seemed no matter what he tried, Tomyko could not shake this hatred she harbored for him. He wasn't the Advisor but Tomyko didn't seem to care. Lance was keeping an eye on Tomyko. The Blue Paladin was a bit protective of Coran. His relaxed posture shifted and he looked like he was ready to jump on Tomyko at any moment.
"It looks like no one is really a fan of your plan, Lotor," Lance said.
Kolivan cleared his throat over the video feed. The Galra's grim expression only made him look that much more intimidating.
"It's not entirely a bad plan," Kolivan said. "If we find a way to lure them to each other, we could minimize the casualties and strike a blow to both of their fighting forces."
This sounded incredibly risky. Coran wasn't even sure how that could be pulled off. Keith was nodding in agreement but the others still seemed rather hesitant. Only Lotor seemed pleased with the addition to his schemes.
"Well, we did lure the Queen once before," Lotor said.
His gaze flickered over to Coran. The Castle Helmsman didn't like the look in the Prince's eye. Allura stepped forward. Her brown face was gnarled with revulsion.
"Do you honestly expect them to fall for the same trick twice?" Allura pressed. "And are we just supposed to sit there completely exposed to Zarkon's forces while we wait for them to show up?"
The Paladins started to argue over the faults of the plan. Kolivan and Keith tried to prove how it would work. Lotor remained silent. His gaze was fixed on Coran and there was the tiniest smirk on his face. Coran knew why. He could feel it in his core. He remembered the way the Advisor tried to toy with Nayni. His fixation with her ran deep. The Queen had seemed to find it annoying. Annoying enough that she was tired of his antics. This was a sign that he'd had this obsession for quite a long time. But if their relationship was anything similar to the one that Coran shared with Allura, she might be willing to try again. But Coran didn't know if he was willing to take that risk a second time.
The bickering continued until Allura couldn't stand it any longer. She stomped her foot in quite a huff.
"We're done discussing this," Allura snapped. "We'll just find another option."
They'd be tracking too massive fleets now. They'd be dodging two enemies and fighting this war on two fronts. It would take the entire Coalition to maintain the freedom of the systems that they'd liberated. They wouldn't be able to sustain that for long. Lotor wasn't pleased with Allura's comment. His level of frustration was through the roof now.
"Well when whatever plan you concoct fails, then don't come whimpering to me like a child," Lotor hissed.
He pushed his way past Shiro. The Galra Prince looked to Tomyko. He seemed to be expecting her to follow him but she stood rigid as a stone. The trust they'd shared seemed to have evaporated after this conversation. Kolivan's voice crackled over the video feed.
"We'll try to keep an eye on the Queen's fleet," Kolivan said. "In the meantime, I suggest you reach out to our allies in the Coalition."
This was possibly the most unproductive debriefing that had ever occurred on the Castle. It had left Coran with more concerns than reassurances. He felt rather conflicted too. He didn't like the idea of using anyone as bait, especially Nayni or Allura. Right now he needed to tend to her. He'd dealt with the Slipperies on his own for the most part. Pidge had been there for him during the heat of battle but he hadn't had anyone there to keep him company while he was laying in his own fluids for a few days.
In the past, he'd imagined Nayni and himself growing old together on Altea but the reality now was it would probably be happening on the Castle. They had more years behind them than they had ahead of them. It didn't trouble him as much as it used to. Dwelling on the time wasted was pointless now. He knew that guilt was still weighing Nayni down though. For now, he'd bring her a hot cup of tea and hold her hand while she wallowed in puddles of her sweat and mucus. He'd be there for her as she had been there for him so many times before.