thisavrou_log | potato salad for the soldiers

[And Luke... Luke hadn't thought of it like that. Ideally, he thinks, he'd always wanted someone who would have absolute faith in him, complete confidence in his strengths, and not worry at all. But that, like many of his ideals long cherished from childhood, isn't realistic. He has to let it go.]

[It's easy, compared to his father. It's easy to let something go, if he has something else bright and shining to replace it with.]

Alright. But- the same goes for you, okay? I trust you... and I trust you to always come back.

[She wonders if he thinks she doesn't have any faith in him, that she doesn't trust him. Wondering it makes her frown.]

I trust you too.

[Her voice is soft as she says it, and she turns her head so she can look him in the eye.]

But I can't promise that I'll always come back. I died back home.

You- what? [Luke had known, distantly, that was something that could happen, but it somehow feels wrong. Cassandra is so vibrant, so awake and alive, he can't imagine her having come back from something like that. He takes a moment to let it sink in, and the realization only deepens his respect for her.]

[He holds her hand. He never really let go.] I'm so sorry, Cassandra.

[But that does explain the scar on her cheek.] You don't have to promise me anything... but I have faith in you, no matter what. You already came back from death once. I've known others who did the same thing. [He touches his forehead to hers.] Who knows what could happen. I've given up trying to predict it.

[He's so optimistic, it's almost painful. She feels her heart twist in a way she doesn't understand. There's so much good in him, she doesn't think she can ever compare. Of course, it's not about comparing to him. It's about fitting with him and balancing him out, she's starting to realize.]

I guess anything can happen. There isn't any use worrying about it.

[Her eyes slide closed and she swallows the lump that had started to form in her throat. Luke has a good way of making what she's paranoid about melt away into nothing important at all.]

Thank you. For having faith in me. I don't think anyone ever really has before, outside of fighting situations.

That's- [Terrible? But he can't say that.] I'll always have faith in you, Cassandra.

[As far as Luke's concerned, that's the very least you can ask from a friend, much less something... more. Much less, family- something familiar wakens at the back of Luke's mind, but he can't catch it before the thought is lost.]

[It's not important right now. He touches his temple to hers, just briefly.] Thank you for having patience with me.

You don't have to thank me. You haven't exactly tested my patience yet.

[He'll know when he has, though she doesn't inform him of that. He's a fast learner, he'll figure it out for himself.]

I haven't ever been this close to someone before. I'm still learning. I think we both are.

[She feels uncomfortable having revealed that, so she slips away and off the bed to go over and retrieve his prosthetic to give back to him.]

I haven't? [He sounds genuinely surprised. But he'll take that free lunch, thank you. Trying to be supportive, he says,] I know I am. I've never... done this sort of thing before.

[He mutters it in an undertone while fiddling with his arm, attempting to fix some of the less broken pieces.]

[She's nice enough not to say that she's noticed he's never done this sort of thing before, and instead focuses on him working with the prosthetic.]

Is it broken? I can go get some of your tools from the cargo bay so you can fix it.

A lot of it's loose and parts are missing. As much as I'd like to have it fixed, I should probably wait until I'm more recovered. I feel a lot better, but... [He shrugs, and then winces. Strained:] that.

[He needs to stop doing that.]

[Her eyes narrow and she reaches out to guide him to lay back. Maybe a little forcefully, but she figures he needs her to be firm with him right now, or else he'll just keep tinkering with the arm.]

Don't make it worse. You'll end up having to stay here longer.

[Luke lets himself be pushed back, not that he could hold his own right now. He huffs.]

How much longer can they keep me, do you think?

When my leg was infected and I didn't get it treated, we needed to stop for about a week before I could keep going again. It didn't get any better, because we didn't have any medicine.

[If pushing him back makes him huff, she's sure that he'll really appreciate her pulling up a blanket so she can make sure he's comfortable and warm.]

Here, you have medicine and nothing but time. I bet you'll be out of here in a few days, unless more complications pop up.

I know, I know. I should be grateful. But back home, all of this is... primitive.

[He's not sure how to say that so it doesn't sound either haughty or condescending. But it does, at least, make him endure the cossetting with a minimal of fussing.]

Once, I was doing scouting around our base on Hoth, and I was attacked by a wompa. [There, he figures, that's an idea. He can share a story about when he was injured, and they can compare.]

[Her eyes narrow a little as he calls the things here primitive, and she's just about to tell him that he's being stupid. But he keeps talking, so she clamps her jaw shut and listens to what he has to say. By the time he's done, she's looking a little confused.]

What's a wompa?

[That's the most important part here, obviously.]

Oh, they're large carnivores native to Hoth-- which was the ice planet our base was on. It attacked me and dragged me back to its cave, I guess to eat me for later. [It already had the tauntaun for a snack, but Luke doesn't want to explain what those are.]

[Her eyes grow wider and wider until she's left looking mildly horrified.]

You're really calm and casual about something dragging you back to its cave to eat you.

It turned out okay! [Luke gestures to himself and their surroundings. He's here, isn't he?]

I managed to escape, but Hoth's an ice planet and it was the middle of a snowstorm. I'd have died if Han hadn't found me; I just about fainted. He cut open his tauntaun-- they're the animals we rode-- and stuffed me inside it, but I don't remember any of it, really.

He stuffed you inside a gutted animal?

[She's almost speechless. On one hand, she's pleased he knows someone who can help him. On the other, that sounds disgusting.]

It's probably a good thing you don't remember most of it. Something like that probably smelled awful.

Yeah, that's what he said, too. [Luke grins.] When they got me back to base, I had cuts all over my face, hypothermia, I was delirious. But they put me in a bacta tank for half a day, and I was fine.

[Which brings him back to his original point.]

Bacta.

[An eyebrow raises, and she gives him a look. There's nothing out there that could make you feel better in half a day, is there? Maybe he just thinks it was only that long.]

What is it, exactly? Is it really powerful enough to fix things that quickly?

Well, I'm not a doctor, I don't know all the details. [Luke continues on unfazed.] But it's some kind of chemical that speeds natural tissue growth, I think.

It can be used for other things-- if they had any here, they could make synthskin, so this would look like a real hand. [He points to the prosthetic.] You wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

[If they had that here, she could fix the scar on her cheek. She's not as self-conscious about it now as she was when she first arrived, but she imagines that it's not great for anyone here to look at.

She doesn't think about herself for too long though, because his words make her look to his prosthetic. She moves to sit on the edge of his bed, frowning.]

Do you care if there's a difference?

A little, I guess. I like having something I can easily modify, [Always the optimist, he starts with that.] But it... I think it stands out.

[It's more complicated than that, but he doesn't want to get into how the exposed metal is a constant reminder of his failures. He'd rather focus on... just about anything else, really.]

So what if it does?

[She scoffs at the idea that it's an issue, and reaches over to put her hand atop the prosthetic.]

It's a part of you, and I like it.

[Not that her opinion really matters when he's the one that has to come to terms with it and the reason he has it in the first place.]

But if you want something you can modify or change, I'll make sure it happens.

[But that does brighten his expression significantly.] Well, your opinion is the one that matters.

You'll make sure? Do you have something planned-?

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deal - 2016-05-25 22:37 (UTC) - Expand

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