Cammy scrambled to her feet as soon as they were dismissed, bolting past a waiting Hunk and making it out the door before anyone else. And by the time anyone stepped out into the hall, she was gone, nothing but her footsteps fading left behind. Swimming, and running away from her problems, were what she was best at.
She needed a smoke. A smoke, or a drink, or to find a quiet spot in the middle of nowhere and scream, and cry. Stars, she wanted to cry. It had taken so long to be rid of the emotions that came with remembering her mother. And now, watching all these previously faint memories rise, she was forced to relive more than she had bargained for. So outside she went, needing to be as far as she possibly could from everyone else.
Back inside, Hunk turned to Pidge.
"How the heck are we supposed to find her when she runs like that. I don't-"
"She doesn't want to be found, Hunk." Pidge said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Usually, she'd be off into the desert. You know that. Let her be. I'm kinda glad she refused to keep doing this. I wouldn't've had the balls to, but…some of us really do want things to stay where they are. Whether we end up talking about them, or not." He glanced over in Alex's direction, simply nodding once in thanks, possibly, before returning to comforting his friend. "She'll be fine. Whatever trouble she comes across should be watching out for her, really."
Alex stood slowly. He brushed off Shiro, nodded to Pidge in return and then was out the door. He didn't really know what to think, to feel. He was mad, yes, extremely so, but he didn't know how to deal with it. Usually he'd punch a wall, maybe break something but he couldn't exactly do that here.
So in turn he wandered. Letting his mind drift to whatever it desired without fear of what emotions might rise up in return. The bonding task had been so messed up. He didn't know why Allura had decided to make them participate but a part of him wanted to punch her pretty face in response.
It made him more angry then he would have liked, so much so he didn't realise his hand had gone.. purple? Alex blinked when he noticed, thinking it was some part of a dream maybe but… no, it was definitely real. He glanced at the glass in the window next to him. His eyes hadn't always been yellow, had they? No. Nope no they hadn't. The fear that coursed through him was stronger then that anger and as he tried to think of a way to make it all stop, suddenly he looked like himself again.
((should we have cammy run into him and witness something, have her run into im afterwards, or..?))
(hm.. I think she should find out, that way later on when Allura is like… 'wtf get out' it creates a better bonding moment?)
((alright! i'll have her be wandering around as she's dealing, only to run into him))
"Uh…that doesn't seem to normal. Right?"
Cammy hadn't paused to think that maybe, speaking out of nowhere while someone was wandering the hallways of a foreign castle might spook someone. She also hadn't stopped to consider her appearance. Red eyes and tearstained cheeks, looking kind of…a mess. Her voice matched, as well, just a bit hoarse from the onslaught she hadn't been able to stop.
Either way, she was unconcerned with that right now, taking a step towards Alex and eyeing his hands. Not with fear, no. With curiosity. The main thought in her mind was somewhere along the lines of 'not the only one', a hand lifting to poke the markings on her cheeks that glowed softly. "Have you always done that? Judging by your reaction, I'd say the answer is no but…what the fuck?"
The momentary laps of looking like himself again had vanished when Alex had started to stress about what had happened. He was turning full Galra when Cammy spoke. Eyes suddenly yellow and wide, ears cat like, skin purple with darker markings across his body and his hair was surprisingly soft, cat like with canine teeth.
He blinked, panic clear across his features as he turned to face her fully as he shook his head, "I- I don't know how it-" He looked down at himself, breathing quickening, "It just happened." The anger and the stress had caused the change, he presumed, but how could he calm down to try and go back to normal when he didn't know what the fuck was happening to him? It wasn't just like the two markings Cammy had on his cheeks that Allura had explained meant she was Altean, no. He had turned completely into a different species.
"Okay, okay, fair." Cammy said, lifting her hands in front of her in both a placating gesture and a question. She wanted to move closer, and honestly, one of the most sure-fire ways she knew to calm someone down was to include touch in your reassurances. But she could deal without, anyway. "Can you do me a favor? I need you to just take a breath. You know the whole four, seven, eight thing? In, hold, out."
Though the change wasn't a huge concern, she was still worried. Mainly, worried that if Alex didn't calm down, he'd somehow end up hurting himself. She knew what the panic felt like, was all too aware of the lack of control that came with it. And that wasn't something she wished on anyone.
Alex nodded a little. As much as he didn’t want to listen to Cammy, he knew he had no other choice because right now he wasn’t going to listen to himself. He swallowed, turning his gaze from the other paladin to the floor. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. It seemed easy enough in premise.
He breathed in, albeit shaky, held and then breathed out just as wobbly. But he repeated the process, breathing in and out, in and out until his heart rate and calmed down and he wasn’t as stressed about what happened. He was galra, however, but wasn’t at risk of hurting himself or Cammy anymore.
"There you go." Cammy said softly, when his breathing had finally evened out. She shot him a crooked grin, letting her hands drop back to her sides. "You don't look like the Alex I know, but I'm sure he's in there somewhere." Her tone was joking, though her voice was still soft and just a tad bit hoarse. The ship, in general, seemed too quiet for her to be very loud right now. It was almost creepy. But at the very least, she wasn't alone.
"You do look kinda like a cat though. A big, bipedal purple cat." She mused, moving to circle him as she eyed the change in the color of his skin, and the fur that had shown up. "D'you think you'd purr if someone pet you? Knowing you, you'd probably bite them instead."
Alex frowned, though for a moment it looked like he was pouting at the statement. He crossed his arms over his chest, examining his arms for a split second before turning his bead towards Cammy, “For one, I’d prefer if no one pet me,” He started, scratching behind his ear, “And two I wouldn’t bite them, I’m not that uncivilised.” Unless it was someone he truly hated then maybe he could, just out of spite. His well fangs? seemed pretty sharp, they could probably do some damage if he used them.
A part of him wondered if he would purr. When he looked like this there was a chance the was more cat then human and it would be a natural reaction, however embarrassing that might be, “Do… do you think that..” That maybe he was galra? That maybe he was apart of the race that had killed so many of Allura's? His ears twitched and flattened at the thought. He'd known his mum was human.. but his dad?
"Uh huh, if you say so." Cammy said, moving closer to nudge him with her shoulder before continuing to walk in circles, mostly for something to do. "What if someone asked, then." She teased, waggling her eyebrows at him once she was in front of him again.
"That you're evil? Nah." She shrugged, leaning up against the hallway wall. "That you're Galra? I mean, maybe. We'd have to look into their reproduction, it might not even be possible for them to fraternize with humans in that way, let alone get pregnant or get a human pregnant. I don't even really know much about what they look like at this point."
If he had been in his human state, Alex would have blushed slightly. However his attention was turned back to what Cammy was saying, "Yeah, yeah I suppose you're right." Maybe he wasn't Galra. Maybe he was just another type of alien. Clearly he was something other then human and he knew that was because of his dad, "But even so, clearly I'm not- not human. Even if I'm not Galra and clearly not Altean, I'm alien of some kind the question is just of what?"
He didn't want to go to Allura, he knew that much. If he did happen to be Galra then the consequences from that would be worse then not telling her. How would she react if she knew one of her own was the same as the enemy. Alex couldn't shake those thoughts no matter how strongly he wanted to.
Cammy tapped her foot, humming as she thought for a few moments. "I have literally no clue, but before you get upset-" She said, raising a finger. "-I think I can find out. All we have to do is ask Allura, right? Well, I mean-" Stopping for a second to mutter to herself, she began again. "What I mean is, I can ask Allura about the Galra. If we rule it out, then perfect, you can be your little alien self without issue. If it turns out that's what you are…we can work from there. I won't tell her I'm asking for you, don't worry. I have like, three different lies in mind already." She shot him a wink, before turning to watch down the hall, in case she saw or heard anyone coming.
"No need to thank me, I know I'm incredible. Now, the question is…how do we get you to go back to looking human?"
Alex rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest and tapping his foot against the ground, "Yeah, sure, thanks," He mumbled. The question was how did he go back to being human. For a moment he had been himself again, and then the full transformation had happened and poof, alien, "I dunno how to change back. I panicked, changed and now I'm stuck like this." There was probably some rational and easy way to change back. Like concentrating for a moment, wishing himself back to human form and being done with it. The whole situation was strange.
"Okay, what do people in movies do to undo the transformation stuff?" Cammy said, squinting off into nowhere as she pressed her hands and fingers together, holding them in front of her face. "Uh, do a dance? Sometimes they have like a little mantra but I don't think you have some magic fix-it spell so like…oof." Whenever she paused to thing for a moment, her tongue poked out from her lips just a bit, trapped between her teeth. "What about like…meditation? You sit there and you chill and you think 'this isn't what I want to be take me back please' and then poof, you're the human looking Alex again."
It wasn't an awful idea. Actually it was probably the best idea that Cammy had had while listing things off to try and transform him back. They were running out of time. Someone could come round that corner at any moment and see him like this which ultimately, would be very bad, "Okay, okay maybe meditation will work. It's the best idea you've had and I've got nothing better so…" He sighed through his nose. This had to work, all he had to do was focus and concentrate and not get stressed. Easier said then done. He sat down on the ground, crossing his legs under him and closing his eyes.
"You look like a dork." Cammy stated simply, as she plopped down next to him on the ground and mimicked his pose, trying to hide her smile. "Okay. Your first step is breathing. It's supposed to help you into the next step, which is clearing your head of everything but the thing you really want to think about. My guidance counselor at the Garrison made me do this all the time." She counted out loud before letting all the air out of her lungs, then took in a look breath through her nose to match the count, before letting out an equal breath from her mouth. "It's super easy. I'm gonna stop talking now, so remember the count."
"Hey, this dork is trying to turn human again, lemme live." He mumbled. This had to work, surely. Alex closed his eyes, taking Cammy's advice and guidance for once in his life and breathing. In and out. In and out. Over and over until it was all he was focused on, letting his mind clear of all the stress from the situation. It wasn't until his mind was wholly clear did he focus on changing back. Picturing himself human again and not like some strange alien. The more clear the picture came, the more he actually became human.
Cammy, still cross-legged next to Alex, watched quietly as he followed the instructions. It took effort not to verbalize her excitement as he began to change back, effort that involved her quite literally shoving her hand in her mouth as she watched intently. It was sort of cool. All she'd gotten, it seemed, were the little glowy marks on her face. But he could change his actual appearance. Sure, there was the possibility of him being Galran. But that didn't mean it was any less interesting, or cool to her. It's probably easier for you, because they didn't kill your family like they did Allura's. A fair point from her brain.
But even if Alex was a dick, and one of the most annoying people she knew, he wasn't a genocidal maniac. He was just that. Annoying. With his stupid smirks every time she messed up, the way his hair was always tussled from the wind when he got off that stupid hoverbike of his, how he never had a quip when it was obvious she needed him to back off-
What the fuck?
Shaking her head, she clapped her hands together as he finished, grinning. "Ta-da! I'm a genius. You throw enough ideas out something has to stick. Here, look-" Ignoring the confusion at her earlier train of thought, she pulled a compact mirror from somewhere, flipping it open towards him. "-it's human Alex!"
Alex very nearly jumped at the sudden sound of Cammy's voice. Apparently the meditation had worked better then he thought. And was maybe something he needed to do more often. Surprisingly it was quite relaxing, soothing, calming, something he wasn't very often. At least he knew that it now worked to get rid of his other side. Not that he wanted to think about that, the possibilities of what he could be, what he could do or might do if he got mad enough. Alex just prayed he could keep it from Allura until they figured out what exactly he was.
Blinking his eyes open, he looked at himself in the mirror. Yep. Two green eyes, brown hair, no cat ears or fang or purple fur. He really was human again. For once Cammy's stupid plan worked. Well, maybe it wasn't so stupid at all.
"I'm not even gonna ask where you got that from," He mumbled, through there was still a smile on his face, "Thanks for the help, though."
"Therapy." Cammy said simply, unfolding her legs and jumping to her feet. She offered Alex a hand once up. "And television. They teach you different bits of it and now I'm a master of it. Can't you tell?" Placing a hand on her hip, she struck a power pose, before letting it go as she snorted at her own joke. "Anyway, I'm lost again? That's kinda how I found you, actually. Got lost. Though, I don't think it's the biggest deal 'cause I have no clue what we're supposed to be doing next."
Alex for once accepted the hand up, continuing with the theme of taking the blue paladins help, just for today, "The bridge is back that way. And our rooms," He replied, nodding in the direction he meant, "I take it you might want to um, fix your hair before you would want to see the others, correct?" He didn't want to ask how much crying she had done, knowing that it wasn't his place to ask.
"My hair?" Cammy tilted her head in confusion. She flipped back open the small compact, eyes widening at the sight of the state of her face. "Uh, yeah, just-a sec." Spinning around so that he couldn't see her–like that would change what he had been looking at for the past twenty minutes–she frantically attempted to fix her appearance, dragging her bag toward herself to riffle through it. It took her maybe two minutes. Two minutes passed, and when she spun back around, she looked good as new. Like she hadn't been crying, like she was simply existing on a decent level of being.
"Perfect. Never speak of what you saw." She said, her voice coated with a joking, but almost pleadingly so, threat. "Now we each have a secret in the other's hand. It's perfect. Read to head back into thr fray?"
Alex raised his hands in surrender, and then made a cross over his height, "On my mothers grave I won't speak a word." And he was serious, even though there was a small smile on his face, it was clear he wouldn't say anything if she didn't want him to. Sure, he didn't like her, but it was the least he could do after Cammy had helped him change back with hr meditation, "Kinda wish we could stay here a lil' longer, away from the mess and the fact that Allura will probably shout at us."
After they had both refused to continue the training and rushed out of there, Alex new that she would be mad at them. And that was not what he needed right now. Or what Cammy needed. But they had to go back at some point, they were just delaying the inevitable.
