A/N:
PRESENTS:ﾠSo much fluff it'll rot your teeth, your future children's teeth, and your future grandkid's teeth.
Also, this is gonna be a long one...ﾠBecause as you all know by now, when I get going I end up writing whole arcs that make the plot much more intricate than it needs to be - AND I LOVE IT (mostly lol)
Chapter 28: First Period Around the Boys - Pt. 3
By the time he returned to the ship, Hunter still had no idea yet what Crosshairs field trip consisted of. Mind still reeling with what happened at the convenience store, it took him the entire walk of solitude back to the Marauder to recover from the store incident.
It goes without saying that the Sarge would have worried about the unknown whereabouts of one of his soldiers, but not because he had doubts in his skills to defend himself if the microscopic chance for that arises.
It's just, it had been so difficult to get used to Wrecker taking off with his girlfriend every chance he got - none of the Bad Batch boys had spent a moment apart since their cadet years, the only occasional times they were separated being for vile purposes.
But when it came to Talla, currently suffering a great deal, nothing else occupied Hunter's mind but to do good by her. That was their promise to each other, and more specifically to himself. And he definitely wanted to focus on this more than the store incident. Talla had done so much for him since 99 died, forgiven him when in her opinion, his lashing out was something he couldn't really control with his spiraling emotions from the grief, and he wanted to try returning the favor - Talla couldn't help her state of mind right now, with her lashing out due to her excruciating condition, so Hunter wanted to show her he wasn't freaking out anymore, and was here to help with no judgement whatsoever.
The Sarge reassured to himself as he awkwardly lugged the heavy crate and stuffie bag up the Marauders entry ramp: Nik is trustworthy!
He paused midway up the ramp, a cold feeling briefly gripping his heart as Nik's eccentric-ness was contemplated.
... mostly. He admitted, also to himself, severe over-protectiveness kicking in.
Then shook his head once to dismiss the momentary dread. Eh, Cross will be fine.
Entering the common area with a couple grunts of strained effort, profusely cursing out the fact the kriffing heavy crate didn't have anti-grav repulsors, Hunter had to admit he may have gone overboard with the buying two of everything...
Two heating pads, just in case one broke because you never know.
An extra bottle of painkillers and stimpack, in case Talla ended up going through an exorbitant amount of medication while finding her system to deal with these symptoms as effectively as possible.
Two pairs of the warm, cozy, fuzzy socks the store randomly sold, which Skylar thought her friend might find soothing.
Two packs each of the available soothing, sleep-aiding tea flavors that might or might not help, that was yet to be determined, plus hot chocolate pods for the multi-purpose caf machine, just in case Talla suddenly had the unquenchable thirst of a massive happabore from the desert planet of Jakku.
Two boxes of each type of the blood soaking products available because Skylar wasn't sure what the Kaminoans provided Talla with before she left Kamino, either way figuring Talla should test out the various options out there to learn what she'd be 'comfortable' with - and Hunter wanted to make sure she'd be 'comfortable' for as long as this 'Code Red' dilemma lasted for.
None of this would ever be 'comfortable' though, he frustratingly learned.
Due to of all this, he started thinking the gifts may have also been embarrassingly redundant - the Fathier squishy stuffie and half a crate worth of cookies and half a crates worth of soda. It's just, he saw the reaction when Crosshair gorged on her precious snacks, and before they parted ways Skylar had cooled off enough to tell Hunter the stuffie would be a great comfort, and pointedly had to add that Wrecker had went out and bought her something similar when he found out about this whole miserable time of month, not quite ready to share his precious Lula yet - a lil bantha.
Astutely keeping her suspicions hidden, Skylar emphasized this particular point when Hunter failed to hide his flash of fear: "Cute stuffed animals are great gifts at any age!"
When Hunter arrived back on the ship, his begruntled expression turned to sadness as self-consciousness was replaced with even more concern, if that was humanly possible.
And he mentally face-palmed. Maker above, when did I become such a worrywart?
That aside, the dim lighting of ship told him that everyone was gone now, to give Talla some peace and quiet while they ran personal errands of their own to see if they could help her in their own unique ways. The near-total darkness and shut down of most systems except the heat/cooling systems and such was most likely because she had a headache, possibly a full-blown migraine which the lights and noise would only aggravate. Talla wasn't even out here in the empty, dark and quiet common area though, wrapped in a warm blanket burrito and trying to distract herself with holovids at a light and volume setting that also suited her sensitivities.
So as quietly as he could Hunter put aside the extra emergency snack supplies in one of his bunk drawers, where it'd be safely and more effectively hidden from snack stealers later on.
An emergency stash for a later date if needed, if you will.
Except he kept one package of each comfort food and beverage out, retrieved several choices of the Skylar approved soft clothing he'd mentioned owning earlier, and stuffed them all the best he could into the already overflowing crate of the menstrual hygiene supplies.
In opposition to their earlier and rather forward approach to the situation, Skylar thought Talla would find it easier to interact with her (usually) calmest friend while she was in this much pain and misery, to be given the supplies by someone she was close and (mostly) comfortable with.
Blair said that she got the vibe Talla was appreciative about receiving all this information Nala Se didn't bother to tell her about... or would be appreciative anyways, when her uterus wasn't throwing a stabby hissy fit because she didn't get pregnant like it'd apparently been spending many months preparing for. But Blair also thought that perhaps the whole intervention had been a tad overwhelming, having three people Talla had only known for two months info dump all this squeamish health crap on her.
Yes, Talla felt squeamish about this. And even after her shower she felt disgusting, Blair had discovered when braiding her hair up. And it was no wonder why. From what little they could gather about her time on Kamino, Nala Se was the number one and only suspect.
So Hunter was volunteered to be the middleman, as it had been established he and Talla had a close friendship, and could snap each other out of any weird mood, when everything else failed, got it?
Also, Hunter has had a few mishaps himself with knives and blasters and explosions here and there. They were more excruciating for him then his brothers because of his enhanced senses despite the freakishly high pain tolerance you needed to have on this dare-devil team.
Talla had the same side effect, so they had a mutual understanding: What some might say is 'just a little scratch' could be nothing short of a nightmare for them. Thus, he was the best person around to help out, even if he didn't experience the same exact scenario as her. He could still support her, just like his instructor assured him.
Approaching her quarters, Hunter let out a breath to calm his frantically beating heart and general pre-intervention jitters. Readjusting the crate against his right hip to stall for a few more microseconds, the lightest knocks in the history of light knocks were tapped onto the shut door with his other arm the light stuffie bag was hanging off of.
Hunter's enhanced hearing could barely make out a hoarse, exhausted, miserable, "What?" on the other side of the door.
His stomach twisted in a nervous knot. "It's me." He told her quietly, bit his lip, then asked even more quietly, hoping she'd not hear, "Can I come in?" Even though it'd be stupid because she already knocked and knew he was here.
Force, he was PATHETIC.
Hunter held his breath and tensed, half expecting her to somehow throw a pillow hard enough it'd go straight through the metal door and it'd slice his head off. Then there was a grunt on the other side of the door that was neither promising nor threatening.
Half terrified for his life, half filled with hope he was actually safe, with another silent exhale to prepare himself, and a quick silent prayer for added protection if anyone or anything was listening, Hunter's entrance into Talla's room could be described as literally tiptoeing into the deadly nexu's den.
At first glance, it appeared that there was an unidentifiable lump underneath Talla's comforter.
The lump turned out to be Talla herself, curled up in a fetal position with her head and everything hidden underneath the stifling comforter.
On her end, underneath the thick blanket Talla felt like she was scorching and was starting to perspire, but the blanket made her feel safe, secure and most of all shielded her disgusting self from the outside world and any extra light or noise coming from her viewports. So, the blanket stayed where it was, suffocating the heck out of her.
Hunter was already light-footed without any effort, but this time he painstakingly exerted himself with not making any more noise than necessary, thankful for his ability to see well in the pitch black. Another half second of exerted observation on Hunter's part revealed someone had beat him to the cookie-giving scheme, one freshly opened, half-eaten metallic package lying next to what he assumed was by Talla's head underneath the blanket.
And it appeared she was still in the process of eating it, for as he approached her bedside a hand peeked out from under the blanket, blindly felt around for the package, plucked another cookie out when it was found, then retracted back under the stifling cocoon. His ears picked up a faint crunching sound from the lump as the woman nibbled on her favorite snack. This turned out to be another sign she was really out of it - Talla, the neat freak, having a layer of crumbs and wrappers littering her bed.
This pitiful scene actually would have been inappropriately comical to Hunter if the circumstances weren't so atrocious for her, and as such he wisely did not let a chuckle sound from his lips, lest he lose an eye from a weaponized cookie projectile.
Crosshair had taught the Special Agent Clone to weaponize toothpicks - if pushed, the Sergeant was certain she could do the same with her favorite treat if unintentionally provoked enough.
As Hunter slowly, slooowlyyy lowered the crate down by her bed, he silently winced when the crate still made a gentle thud when placed onto the floor by her bed.
There was no retaliation, so Hunter assumed he was in the clear and straightened from his rather awkward crouch while silently plopping the bag on top.
And with no instruction on what to do next, Hunter had no choice but to just stand nearby after, mouth pressed into a firm frown as he waited to be acknowledged or possibly wanted, unconsciously reaching up to massage the back of his neck while waiting for one or both of those reactions and resisting the urge to give an awkward cough. Hunter felt if he spoke without being spoken to first or prompted her in any way to make the first move, he risked irritating her both in a physical sense (her headache) and also emotional sense (her unpredictable, murderous mood swings).
It was to be understandable though that Talla took her not-so-sweet time peeling the blanket off her upper body and sluggishly turning over to face him. Several failed attempts to find then flip the light switch by her headboard took place before success, but illuminated the room with the dimmest glow setting that still caused her to loudly wince in discomfort, piercing her sensitive skull as if she'd gotten a hold of Tech's datapad that was always on the brightest, blinding light setting.
In sympathy, Hunter's frown twisted further downwards as she brushed a feather light touch on her excruciatingly irritated head. With a clear view now, it was obvious how awful she looked and more importantly felt. And Hunter seeing her like this, it made Talla feel all the more terrible inside, another symptom to add to the mountainous pile.
Her bizarrely crinkled bangs stuck up in the craziest of waves from her attempted nap that'd failed one hundred percent. Her eyelids were fiercely squinted shut as she flumped back down against the mattress, using an arm to block out the rest of the minimal light. No hint of a smile on her flushed face signaled her usual overflowing positivity in dire circumstances.
There was no positivity either when Talla hoarsely, shockingly asked of him, "Can you just shoot me?"
"Uh..." He told himself this had to be wild talk, that it was just the pain talking and not her, but the feeling like he got the wind knocked out of him couldn't be helped - several seconds of gaping took place before he could stutter a coherent rejection. "Uh, no, I won't."
Several shuddering breaths needed to be taken on her part to form a reply through the fried circuits for brains. "But I don't think I can do this every two months, Hunter."
The walls around his heart did nothing to protect him from the painful tugs at his heartstrings when hearing her sound so close to breaking down - he was shocked she hadn't broken down yet. It would have been completely understandable. "You can and you will." He firmly believed.
Talla made pitiful sound and sadly, that reassurance did sound weak to his ears too.
Hunter's field trip instructor told him that period symptoms for a 'normal' person in general were undeniably savage, likening the cramps to have the claws of a gundark slicing down your uterus -
And any further graphic descriptions, well, he chose to suppress them from his memory. Hunter wasn't squeamish out of disgust but squeamish because while yes, he did see his own brother have half his face blown off, that was a sight he actually didn't and still couldn't stomach well, something he fiercely wished to forget and was not yet granted mercy from.
To veer the conversation away from the jarring question she asked, Hunter truly wondered, "How'd you deal with this before? Without help or even pain medications?"
Talla lay completely still to avoid unnecessary symptom flairs, and her answer sounded weak and lame. "I just did, I had no choice but to grin and bear it, and I don't know why for kriff's sake I can't do it now."
Okay, wrong question to ask, definitely not helping things. Clearing his throat lightly, Hunter cautiously strayed closer to her bedside. "Look uh, you said this doesn't happen that often, right? Because of stress and, possibly all the enhancements?"
Talla only hummed in confirmation, tensing as he came closer because the last thing in the galaxy she wanted was him in here inside her dungeon of misery, least of all trying to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder or hand.
Skylar's reasoning turned out to be way off - Talla didn't want anyone to have to put up with this, nor put up with anyone's uneasiness but her own burden alone.
Sensing her uneasiness, Hunter didn't sit down next to her, choosing to wisely give her a big personal space bubble. "So maybe it won't happen six times a year, which wouldn't be so bad, right?"
A scornful scoff did wound him a little. "That's easy for you to say since you're not experiencing what I am."
So this time, Hunter did brave taking a seat at the edge of her bed, to emphasize his promise. "We'll make it work." Her arm shield didn't move even then. "We will, I promise you that, Talla."
"Why?" While he furrowed his eyebrows Talla did shift her arm enough to peek her dull eyes out from underneath their protective shadow, sending him a pointed look of self-loathing yet developing curiosity. "It's a disgusting inconvenience for me and anyone who has to deal with me, and if an actual doctor didn't think it worth the aggravation to treat my symptoms ranging from murderous mood swings to blood spilling out of my -" Eyes bugging out at her forwardness, Talla covered up again despite the fact her face couldn't get any redder than it already was, "Well, you probably already know where by now," She muttered self-consciously, "So - so why should you care?"
Much to his credit, Hunter didn't shrink back this time and took his turn being straightforward, a trait he was itching to reclaim. "Nala Se wasn't your family." Her breath hitched, and she peeked at him blankly, and found he was dead serious about this, "This is what family's do, Talla - we band together when things are rough."
That was such a strange word: 'Family.'
Talla had used the term a handful of times when discussing her team's antics and dynamics, describing the whole brotherly relationship thing to those they worked with, Jedi or other non-clone soldiers specifically. How Crosshair didn't actually mean it when he said he was going to use Tech's precious datapad for target practice, or how Wrecker was going to slip a bomb under Crosshair's pillow when he wasn't looking.
Before joining the Bad Batch, Talla had never heard the term 'brother' or 'family.' Months later, the term 'family' had never been directed at her, to her knowledge at least. She just assumed they were all good friends who lived together as compatible roommates, and was perfectly content with that.
Part of that content nature and assumption on her part, which made her never bring up the question of her position in this group outside the squadron aspect of things, was so that her heart would be spared the heartache of being worse than friend-zoned by a certain Sergeant - SISTER-ZONED, which is what Talla figured she'd be referred to as.
Don't worry, Hunter felt a tad weird about that pattern of thoughts too. But found family, something he'd seen portrayed in holovids frequently, it could mean whatever the group of individuals wanted it to mean.
Out of habit now, Hunter tried to reach out for her hand to hold, but it was snatched out of his reach, and before he could process the pang of unusual rejection Talla forced herself into an upright position against her headboard, finding enough strength to stop the doubling over as, again, it felt like the entirety of her inner organs had literally just spilled from her... yeah. ?￢ﾀﾍ?
Firmly swiping the heel of a palm over her aching eyelids then threaded her fingers through her mussed bangs, Talla abruptly changed the subject by explaining why her bedhead was so feral, which coupled as a downplay of her symptoms. "I took a nice, long, warm shower cause Blair said it would help ease discomfort and make me feel less disgusting and you know what it did actually help -"
"Why do you feel disgusting?" Interrupted newly reclaimed straightforward Hunter.
And she froze.
That was a bad move - Hunter latched onto that degrading word she'd labeled herself as.
She tucked her chin, headache increasing tenfold as thoughts began to dizzingly race. "I dunno, I just do." Was her dumb response, the hand in her hair beginning to pick at the end of her braid just touching her shoulder now, no longer safe.
Hunter resisted at first, stopping her like he usually did. "You're not 'disgusting,' okay?"
The grimace remained.
So he improvised. "Hey, think about it this way, Talla - you bleed for days on end AND LIVE." To lighten the statement, he also gave a rare yet short and breathy laugh, "Yeah, I understand it's not that much blood you lose in the end but the concept itself is phenomenal, you have to admit - I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it."
Astonishment and flattery were a good tactic, but alas her head did not rise nor did her hair-picking stop, "I don't feel amazing." She did admit hoarsely, a shred of ruined hair falling from her fingers and littering her comforter alongside the others now mixed with crumbs.
It took everything in Hunter to not take her hand. "I know -"
That caused a reaction but a negative one - a deadly warning glare.
"Well, I actually don't -" He quickly backtracked, "But I don't need to have first-hand experience to support you."
Hunter was expecting the lid to flip-
Instead, it appeared Talla was too spent for a heated debate and she meekly bowed her head again. "I'll be fine Hunter -"
Hunter wasn't but he kept it short and sweet for her sake. "Talla look at me." It took a few more verbal beckons for her to comply and when she did, Hunter gave her the gentlest stern look he'd ever given - yet another great paradox since meeting Talla. "You don't ever have to apologize for not feeling well, it's not like Wrecker who purposely binge drinks way more than he can handle and the bad hangovers he gets as a punishment, so I don't want to hear any more of that 'I'll be fine' bantha-shit lies. You didn't ask for this, it's not in your power to stop this, so we're gonna find a way to deal with this as a family, alright?"
Awe mixed with raw emotion welled up within her, but all she said was, "Fine." Just to stop the butterflies that did not mix well with the sensations of her uterus shedding its inner lining.
Pushing in the access code to unlock the front door of his shared apartment, Nik announced with a flourishing wave of his hand, "Here we are - Home Sweet Home!"
If Crosshair was in a better frame of mind, he would've made a snide remark that this place was exactly how he would've pictured it - if he was ever so dreadfully bored as to picture it, that is.
Nik and Skylar's apartment was a mish-mosh of various cultures in furniture, decorations, color schemes - the very definition of eclectic, if you will. Crazy colors brightened crazy shaped pieces furniture, and crazy shaped decor covered these pieces of furniture and almost every inch of the plain white walls of this very basic but chic apartment... and yet the place was spic and span - you would not find a spec of dirt or grime or signs of wear in sight.
It may have been vibrantly colored, yet cozy with many heavenly soft throw blankets, knitted or faux fur, draped over every cushy chair, cushion and the small loveseat. And for added coziness, an even cushier and exotically patterned throw pillow selection adorned the living room furniture to snuggle up with.
Though why they had so many blankets and pillows to snuggle with in here, Crosshair soon wondered - the temperature of the place made it feel like it was a sauna in here!
Tapestries, posters, and pictures both holo and non-holo were scattered all over the plain white walls in a way that actually didn't make you feel too claustrophobic.
There were rugs EVERYWHERE, some made from faux furs that admittedly felt like walking on a cloud, or more mimicked carpeting that the simply built apartment lacked, yet even these were so well taken care of they felt just as heavenly brushing against bare feet.
And no table surface or counter or shelving unit was so boringly bare - a nick-nack or art piece adorned any and ALL tops, some examples being a tall and rectangular glass vase filled to the brim with beautiful stones and dazzling crystals collected from their homeworld, or a desert succulent in a decorative ceramic pot, which would clearly never die what with the desert-like conditions of the apartment.
Oh Maker, it was TOO KRIFFING HOT in that apartment. Crosshair could have mistaken the place for Saleucami had it not been for all the modern touches of technology the apartment was blessed with. Usually sporting long-sleeved garments, Crosshair already felt that this was gonna be a long banishment.
And then, things got even WORSE.
After being forced to kick off his apparently dirty boots in the tiny mudroom, ditzy Crosshair slugged his bag over his shoulder and turning left, found himself in the one and only hallway the apartment boasted of.
"Where's my room?" He immediately and rather gruffly asked.
Stopping in front of the second door, Nik let the attitude slide just this once, knowing first-hand what that simulation did to a person.
Facing Crosshair, he informed the sniper while reaching backwards to give the door of his bedroom a hearty rap of the knuckles, "Uh, your gonna have to bunk with me, on the sofa bed in my room."
The suggestion visibly repulsed Crosshair.
"Woah hey!" He let them both into the room with an air of irritation beginning to show. "We don't all get to live in a fancy starship completely paid for by the Republic," Cue exaggeratedly low bow as Crosshair shuffled past him, "Which provides your high and mightiness with such luxuries as private quarters and refreshers -" With suspicious chipperness he added, "I can offer you room service though!
The shouldered duffle bag was none-too-happily thrown to the ground by the couch. "Yeah, right." Like Crosshair was going to believe that.
"But of course!" And he was right to be suspicious as Nik - way too perkily, I must say again - led Crosshair on only to hang him out to dry. "You have my full permission to eat whatever tasty meal, snack, or beverage YOU prepare in the privacy of our shared quarters, roomie!"
An annoying tendency of Crosshair's was about to be displayed as he slowly turned to pin the male twi'lek with a deadpanned expression, his words just as devoid of all life. "You own a business."
Nik waited for more words, and confusedly asked, "Yeah?" When he didn't get any more which would explain why that obvious fact, Crosshair felt the need to say out loud.
"Located on the busiest sector this side of the market district, so you're never hurting for customers." Crosshair supplied.
Still not enough words, "Uh-huh."
"You're clearly not hurting for money, otherwise you wouldn't be able to afford the discounts you offer clones or all the freebies you give Talla."
Nik was starting to fear that nurse had turned the simulator up to a hundred and somehow fried Crosshairs brain beyond repair, but sarcasm was used to deflect that concern, knowing it'd earn him snark instead of a necessary heart-to-heart talk. "Wow, three for three."
"Wrecker even says you're going to buy a brand-new protocol droid to better interact with out-of-town customers." Those costed thousands of credits, which is why Crosshair mentioned it.
Question was: WHY?!
Kinda done with this drawn-out explanation, Nik feigned shock by looking this way and that with wide eyes, even dramatically peeking his head out his opened door as if the craziest thing in galaxy history just happened and no one was here to witness before settling his focus back on the dead serious sniper.
The male twi'lek placing a hand partly on the purrgil tattoo that decorated his chest, right over his poor heart about to give out. "I - I'm stunned, I don't think I've ever heard you speak so much at one time, Crosshair," Said man rolled his eyes while Nik gratingly continued, "I'm forced to ask you so you'll shut up - what's your point?!"
Crosshair was too spent from the hospital ordeal for scathing comebacks, "Why not rent a bigger place?" He finally asked bluntly. "This place should have a warning on the front for claustrophobic people." Heh, he did have some strength left for a weak one.
Lucky me. Nik wryly commented to himself, though he also secretly loved seeing Crosshair's gob-smacked expression when his crap was dished right back out to him.
Brushing by Crosshair to gather a few pieces of random items off his sofa, sassy Nik explained, "Well one: we never thought we'd have such an ungrateful spoiled brat for a guest." While Crosshair rolled his eyes the clutter was tossed onto Nik's mini corner desk across the way and the seat cushions were removed next, "Two: Sky and I actually did try out living in one of the penthouse suits in this building, and the exact opposite happened for us - all that space freaked us out." Cushions in hand he shrugged, "Guess because we lived in small places all our life, big places give us a weird anxiety." He pointed at bored Crosshair with one of the cushions, "Haven't really looked into it though, so don't take my word for it."
Crosshair was sure Doctor Tech would have an explanation for it, guaranteed.
The sofa bed itself didn't look too uncomfortable, and frankly Crosshair had slept on rocky cave floors, even in one instance atop a monstrous bough of a great wroshyr tree, slouched against its even grander trunk - the battle-worn soldier had learned to sleep under some crazy circumstances.
Which is why Nik didn't apologize for having nothing better to offer, tossing a clean set of sheets at the new soldier roommate's unsuspecting head while stating grandly, "Now, if I have your permission to withdraw-" *bows* "'Your majesty,' I am going to slave away in the kitchen to whip up Sky's favorite: nerf casserole."
Ripping the sheets away, Crosshair snarled with the aim to insult, "Tch, suck up."
"Damn straight." Nik fired back halfway out the door, "And if you would've done the same you wouldn't have been banished to a tiny apartment, forced to share a tiny room, with a not-so-tiny roommate." Mockingly, he tapped his larger cranium. "It's called being smart, Crosshair."
"If you were smart, you would've told your momma about my brother." Crosshair shot back defensively, that part grating on him and largely contributing to his sour mood.
And found out he was dead wrong about reading a person's true intentions with getting close with his family, for a total of two times in less than two months.
Uncharacteristically narrowing his eyes and a frown twisting his face, a spark foreign to Nik's usual warm glow of friendship menacingly glinted in his now piercing blue orbs, and Crosshair fought to keep his feet planted on the floor and not shrink back when Nik stalked back into the room. "Hey, Skylar had her reasons for keeping her and Wrecker a secret."
"Reasons such as: She's embarrassed to be in a relationship with a clone?" The sniper coolly and stupidly retorted out of a defensive habit more than common sense.
Because he'd never seen Nik get so serious. "Crosshair, I let you off the hook for spilling the spotcka to my mom because you have absolutely no clue about how much my sister cares for Wrecker." Unexpectedly, Nik's eyes briefly shut as he turned away, taking a moment to keep his wits about him, and faced the Sniper again with solemn composure this time, "Look I know you must think we're so airheaded that we believe everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time, that we're so clueless about the real galaxy beyond our little bubble - but we're not."
...Yeah. Crosshair was starting to believe that now.
"Do you think we're like this all the time? Do you think we've avoided the messy bits of life?" Nik rhetorically asked.
... guess not? Crosshair admitted to himself.
"We grew up in the Coruscant Underworld, and that in itself was a hard situation to be positive about, but let me tell you even after we moved up in life, life didn't spare us." Nik revealed, "Skylar and me and Blair had a very good reason for not saying anything yet to the parents, and it definitely wasn't because she was embarrassed, and if you can't see how much my sister cares about your brother, then maybe you're the one in a little bubble you can't see past. We worked hard to be this happy and content with our life -" With a final shrug Nik ended with a flat, "Maybe you should too."
If Crosshair was a 'normal' individual, this whole revelation would've been very moving, ✨inspiring✨ even.
He was not a 'normal' individual, nor did he believe he had the circumstances or personality type to become so disgustingly cheerful, and until his self-inflicted banishment he'd actually felt rather content about his life, so this speech only made him feel uncomfortable.
Thus, a conversation topic changer was in order and he chose to base it on the first thing that popped into his mind. "Why do you have a sofa bed in your tiny room?"
"Because I love having sleepovers with my grumpy sniper buddies, obviously." Nik retorted dryly, but accepted this and that liveliness gradually returned, "I used to have a buddy who roomed with us a few years back."
Crosshair didn't really care - he just wanted to go to sleep and concluded the conversation with a final and pitiful snark because he was just so tired, "And let me guess - you thought it'd be a big waste to get rid of it even though it takes up half the room?"
As Crosshair clumsily started fitting the sheet around the thin mattress Nik also finished with a flourishing, "See? After that simulation, you're already showin' signs of being smarter!" And a hearty pat on the Sniper's back in parting.
Hunter soon found out why Talla was lying down to rest in the first place.
Completely ignoring Hunter's insistence that he'd get the supplies himself so she wouldn't have to move a muscle, Talla shoved her comforter aside so she could perch herself at the bed's edge, and was rudely told by her body that it had not recovered in the slightest.
The waves of cruel symptoms came crashing back full force the second she was fully upright. And sucking in a sharp wince through her gritted teeth here came the keeling over, arms wrapping tightly around her quivering middle in the process.
"Tal!" Alarmed Hunter who'd rushed to the crate now startled back towards her, closing the distance by skidding to a stop down in front of her knees. "Hey... hey! What's going on?"
As she struggled to catch her breath, not in any danger of dying of course but sure felt like it, Hunter suffered a brief mental crisis, widened eyes darting between her, the crate five feet away and the door even further and let's not even mention the kitchen's far distance where he'd have to get a glass of water-
In the end he judged that it'd would be okay leaving her 'alone' for just a tiny moment to rush back to the crate, snatch the capsulated painkillers and a bottle of soda as a substitute for water. With his free hand he coaxed her to sit up as straight as she could with a gentle nudge, and after pouring out the allotted dose and popping the cap off the soda did the same gentleness was used with the offered relief supplies.
At the sight of the two large pills and scent of the sugary drink, Talla was faced with bile rising in her throat.
Hunter now did an alarmed double take between her hands reaching out to push away his and her pale, yet sickly green tinted face. "Tal -?"
"I can't swallow those." She could barely say, returning to the previous fetal position.
Heart sinking as he could only gaze upon the top of her head now, Hunter had zero choice but to set aside the supplies on the nearby nightstand.
Like before Talla's breathing was broken up by shudders, a sound that was already in itself enough to cause Hunter a different kind of agony.
There was a hesitation at first, because Hunter didn't want to cause her more distress as his presence had appeared to do not five minutes before, but when amongst the increased breathing pace there was a sniffle followed by another shudder/choked sob followed by weak plea and explanation Talla felt he deserved despite her suffering: "Please don't make me take 'em, I feel too sick." The man was moved to risk her wrath.
His touch could in no way stop her pain. But shuffling as close he could to her form that was starting to rock back and forth, a signal of an oncoming bout of overstimulation and possibly an anxiety or panic attack - he'd ask Tech later for a crash course on the difference - Hunter didn't think twice about reaching up to grasp her trembling shoulders, and to his stupid luck he wasn't away. She jumped, and her sniveling turned to full blown weeping, but when he said "C'mere," Talla fell into his embrace, a tried-and-true comfort that had not failed her so far.
On Hunter's end it was a bit uncomfortable holding a woman in his lap with his legs having no cushion from the hard durasteel of her bedroom floor. His focus though was kept on alternating between whispering reassurances he wasn't so sure he believed, cradling the back of her head to the crook of his neck where she'd pressed her face to, while drawing soothing circles on her back with the other or hanging onto her just as tightly as she had claimed his strong and steady shoulders.
There was also focus on his slow and steady breathing. Instead of getting whipped up over the cruelty of the Kaminoan Doctors, when the worst of the crying had died down Hunter used their closeness to his advantage by keeping his calm for Talla to mimic. Deep breathing exercises were used all the time patching up one another from various injuries on the battlefield and such, and could be given props to figuring it'd help in this moment perhaps, which would get her back into a stable frame of mind and they could try figuring out how to proceed - Hunter couldn't know how to help if Talla couldn't give her very valuable two creds and tell him what she needed.
The painful overstimulation came and went as they always did, and at its end Talla at least didn't sound like she was suffocating anymore. There was no rush to break away from the warm embrace though, and she hung on for a bit longer than she probably should have, but was not met with opposition. No, it was evident Hunter didn't mind at all, the caresses to her back stopping sadly - it was not as effective as the tiny massage she received from Sky earlier but nice anyways. Feeling Hunter pull her as close he could against him in a tight squeeze nowhere near as bad as Wrecker but would be a good competition, it made up for most of the doubt.
Most of it.
When Talla deemed it high time to pull away, to Hunter's bafflement she muttered an apology while in vain wiping away the moisture that had accumulated on his neck from her tears with her hands, only receiving dampness on her part now and spreading the product of her exasperation on him even more.
No amount of pain or suffering could take away Talla's tendency to downplay, it was revealed.
Stopping her movements then to prevent Talla from doing more fruitless fidgeting he kept their hands interconnected between them, and Hunter had to ask now that she was calmer, "Seriously, cy-"
And oh Force, he stopped himself just in time, only getting beyond the 'sh' sound in 'cyare' - Wrecker with his girlfriend had become a terrible influence, it appeared.
He mentally smacked himself over the head with something heavy. "How'd did you get through this three times before?" He wondered without risking saying a name of any kind, "I need to know so we can do ten times better than the long-necks."
Luck was on his side again as she didn't pick up on his breath hitch or the shift in his serious eyes at his near disaster.
Talla herself couldn't recall how she managed to get through those three documented haphazard weeks. The only thing she knew for sure was that she did, otherwise she wouldn't be here. But the memories were just... blocked.
In the end, a tiny shrug was all Talla could offer for an answer.
Having nothing else to do in the moment while her insides settled down, he surveyed Talla's features glum features as they relaxed the tiniest bit by the tiniest bit.
There were some crumbs on the side of her mouth Hunter hadn't bothered to notice before, not the most important thing to worry about right now. But, in a moment of weakness he used these crumbs as an excuse to release one hand in good faith and softly caress the corner of her mouth, brush them away, then used the other hand to place on her red and blotchy cheek when there was no protest by words or fists.
Talla was warm enough as it was, but found herself sighing not in relief, but comfort at this tender gesture, which was what he was aiming for.
"First and second days are the worst." She mumbled partly into his palm, heavy eyelids closing.
"Yup, Sky told me." This sort of physical comfort he was growing frustratingly comfortably with - after the crumbs were gone he just kept his hands where they were, for it doubled as support for her heavy head swaying in weariness, strength meager in supply. "And... I know the meds won't take away all the pain..." Her frown deepened at the awful prospects. "But it might numb things enough to take the edge off, hm?"
Her heart rate had picked up a few notches like his, and for her sake Hunter chose to believe it was by what he was suggesting rather than his affection, and he was partly right.
It was all she admitted to, though Talla did keep the comforting support of his hands by placing hers over them. "I know... but if I take them, I'll throw up and you've already had to deal with that too many -"
"No." Hunter did interrupt a little too firmly then he would have liked, so that foreign soft yet stern look made a reappearance. "Don't go there."
To his sadness, for Talla this sweet moment was over. She held onto his comfort just for a smitch longer before pushing his hands away, not too keen on being touched anymore. "Okay, but I still don't wanna puke again, Hunter." Talla implored of him.
He drew in a slow, conflicted breath that made her lips curl downwards in chagrin and regret, and since she couldn't fidget with her hair without being reprimanded, well, the hands of his she was grasping became her new fixation for fidgeting.
But Hunter wasn't mad at her, he was just stalling the inevitable. "Okay, no pills." He sighed, and her hands were squeezed with a soft look given her way when she looked up questionably. He knew what he'd be asking of Talla, and faced being mere inches apart it killed him all over again to clearly seeing fear flash through her dulled silver orbs when he said, "Then can I use a stimpak on you?"
It was the only other pain relief like this available, which is what made Talla press her lips together so hard they almost disappeared-
Then gave a weak nod that told him to get the stupid, pointy, jabby torture device. Under the current dreary circumstances, a tiny shot didn't seem nearly as bad as what she was undergoing by her own body.
To face this like a brave soldier, Talla managed get herself into an upright position all on her own, though did use Hunter's steady shoulders at shove off, of course apologizing just in case she hurt him by her brief, vice-like grip to heave her dead-weight off his lap.
When Hunter fetched the meds from the crate and a tiny bacta bandage from her refresher cabinet...
...
Alright, Talla did think a shot couldn't be as bad as this torture, but waiting for him to take it out of the protective store packaging and choosing a dose based on his observations and her input, the woman's hands and feet began feeling numb and tingly and sweaty all at the same time.
Bile rose and stung her throat as she waited for the sting to pierce her skin when Hunter made sure there were no air bubbles in the automatic syringe he checked by giving the canister cover a few dainty flicks to the glass.
Then the exact opposite happened, Talla's throat became bone dry when Hunter faced her, and her eyes beheld that jabby torture device which seemed triple the size than it was supposed to be.
The shaking returned. And all the other sicky feelings. And the hyperventilating would not be far off, if the pattern stuck.
When Talla thumped her head against his chest, a silent permission for him to get this over with, Hunter impulsively pulled her closer with his free arm.
By now, everyone knew there was no distraction in this galaxy that could work for Talla. Ever since her hospital stay after Silva, it had been impressive watching Talla do everything humanly possible to avoid using needles for any reason, be it tattoos or medical treatment - the woman proved to have an unnatural high pain tolerance, if her ability to walk on her freshly implanted with cybernetics leg and not give a single complaint until called out on it had anything to say about that. It was why, despite her no doubt feeling like one, Hunter didn't think she was a crybaby when breaking down two minutes ago.
It was actually a rare occurrence, Talla breaking down and crying. For the most part, Talla played the 'No Big Deal' card when going through stuff.
Of course, this high impressive high pain tolerance didn't stop Crosshair from teasing about her inability to get a tattoo, and of course there had been a couple of instances where it hadn't been avoidable to use a stimpak with an injury, but at those times Talla was so out of it to even notice the pinch of the needle. And when she got a piercing, a process the Agent had decided to try to overcome her phobia, let's just say she ended up getting a little tipsy beforehand every time in order to endure the half-second of irritation.
It was a work most likely taking longer than necessary in progress, but Skylar was right - it was amazing what someone would do suck up and do when faced with this level of pain.
Hunter was able to keep himself from tensing too much when the stimpak injection was activated, to not set her off any more with his own anxiety at getting another broken rib.
Talla didn't have such strength to withhold her jerking at the pinch of the needle, there was the tiniest of whimper that sounded against Hunter's chest, but just like he and the rest of his brothers chose to focus on (most the time) was that an injection was over before they knew it, and by the time Talla had fully registered the pinch and the freak out was commencing the process was over.
A cold draft signaled that Hunter had retreated a hasty step backwards, and eyes snapping open Talla saw he was already placing the cap back on the freshly self-sterilizing syringe. Feeling incredibly dizzy, Talla's hazy eyes next took in the small bacta patch already covering the injection sight and watching Hunter give a breath in relief which couldn't be stopped - his arm hadn't been ripped off or his insides had been turned to mush by an attack of fists.
The tingling sensation of the foreign substance injected into her bicep was another uncomfortable experience in itself. But Hunter giving her a small proud smile and nod before tossing the medical tool on her bed as she found her place leaning against her nightstand, that and the pain meds which promised swifter results started to increasingly take the edge off.
There was an instance where the solace was threatened by another potential freakout - at one point Hunter, who was unloading the crate, had moved her comforter aside for more room on the bedside he was displaying all the products on... and discovered a blood stain where she'd been laying before, in no way able to be concealed against the stark contrast of the white sheets. "Oh."
So it was brought to Talla's attention, and though it was not his intention Talla became embarrassed, and after a mumbled curse Talla made sure to position herself so he couldn't see the back of her pants with a face contorted in shame she almost succeeded in practically launching Hunter out of the room.
"Hey, wait - WAIT!" Talla having meager strength Hunter actually was able to stop her by prying himself in the doorway, and rambled, "I know I freaked out earlier and I'm sorry, but I'm fine now," The shoving at least stopped, "I - I know what's going on, I was told this can happen, and I wanna help, which is why I got you all this stuff."
Hands still on his back and itching to finish throwing him out, Talla did spare a look over her shoulder to peek at the hoard on her soiled bed, where a whole display of remedies laid that she had not really known existed. The sight admittedly gave her feelings of both shock that all this stuff could be used to ease her discomfort, anger because she didn't know this was all available, and made her a tad overwhelmed to be honest.
Much to his relief, Hunter felt her hands drop.
Passing by Talla who with her tilted head shielded her reddened face with her unruly bangs, desperately wanting to disappear, he decided to show rather than say she didn't have to be embarrassed.
The sweats were retrieved from the crate by the Sarge and gently pressed into her arms along with a package of the basic pads, and he instructed her baffled self to go change. "I'll take care of this." Referring to the bedding he'd replace with fresh ones. They'd already done a laundry day at the base, but the Sarge was fairly certain the Glam Squad wouldn't mind letting him wash the bedding at one of their apartments... and his pants, as he pointedly didn't look down when Talla was in the room just in case she'd accidentally stained them when he held her, which she did. But Hunter spared her any unwarranted embarrassment on that score by using the little white lie he said after she returned.
Talla couldn't obey that order at first, too stunned to move as one tid bit of memory could be faintly recalled now:
(Flashback)
Nala Se menacingly stood above her in the underwater lab's small refresher. A younger version of Talla, not much older than the physical and fragile age of twelve, was forced to scrub an accidental blood stain out of her white sheets with soap and cold water from the sink. With the title 'Doctor' you'd think Nala Se would be more understanding of a condition Talla couldn't control nor it's mishaps, but little Talla was forced to profusely repeat 'I'm sorry' as Nala Se did not let up in her annoyance, not even having to say anything, just her menacing presence and air of irritation and disapproval was enough. There was wisely no tears or blubbering, by now the child knowing it'd be met with more punishment.
(end of flashback)
- very different from the onslaught of care compassion she was getting now.
Inside the refresher, Talla discovered the bundle was a pair of soft sweatpants and an even more cozy sweater. The pants weren't much of an issue, in fact they fit pretty well around the waist, just had to be rolled up a few times at the ankles. It was the sweater that definitely raised her brows because it was not sized to even a fraction of perfection. The sleeve edges ended many inches past her fingertips and folded over when she held her arms up, and was practically a dress with its hem stopping mid-thigh if she didn't bunch it up a smidge at the waist. And the neckline, well, the conventional sweater was now an off the shoulder one that would constantly have to readjusted if it was to be worn for its actual style purpose.
It wasn't a very flattering outfit.
And yet its comfort couldn't be denied as she hugged herself and took in all the good soft feels of the material that gave the feeling of being clothed in a warm and snug blanket without the frustration of having to juggle wrapping and unwrapping to get stuff.
And once it occurred to her that these were in fact Hunter's clothes, the selfish thought of never returning them did cross her mind.
Sweats were so much better than complex yet stylish outfits on days like this, innocent Talla did learn that morning.
Hunter couldn't deny the funny feelings it gave him seeing Talla wear his clothes when the vision of baggy sweats and messy bangs shuffled out of the refresher, but that was quickly and thoroughly squashed.
Talla also felt strange of course, but still hugging herself and thoroughly enjoying the soft clothes wrapping her up in a warm hug, she was able to muster up a smile tiny enough to almost be missed but for the first time in days her eyes shone, with the die-hard appreciation felt.
"Heh." Talla happily breathed upon approaching Hunter. "These are really comfy, and I don't think I can ever go back to regular civvies."
Thankfully, she didn't notice Hunter failing at not staring like a blithering fool.
And both knew she would go back to fancy threads, as Talla had grown to love expressing herself with the colorful garb for the colorful personality she was growing into, but had learned that sweats expressed something too - complete freedom to relax in absolute, unparalleled comfort.
Blair said to take these scheduled lazy days with no resistance. Oh, Talla could see herself doing that now, since it meant having no other obligation than to rest and recuperate. Granted, there was the uterus throwing a stabby hissy fit and all... but you gotta see the bright side in awful situations, right?
Snapping out of it, Hunter thought there was no time like the present to give Talla her present, knowing he'd chicken out if the gift-giving ceremony was pushed back anymore.
The stuffed Fathier was plucked from the non-decorative bag and after a relapse of self-consciousness it was shyly held out for her to take.
Maker, just picture it - Stoic Sergeant Hunter getting all flustered because of a woman. Maker, I'm pathetic! He repeated to himself.
"I got you this," Hunter sheepishly offered, "It's like a pillow but it's soft and squishy and... huggable?" Emotionlessly she took the gift in her hands, he immediately fell back into his nervous habit of massaging the back of his neck as she pondered.
As the milliseconds of silence passed with no indication of her positive or negative reaction, next came the overexplaining himself - a trait not usually associated with this particular type of man. "Your little wolf isn't like Wrecker's Lula so I just thought this would be better and it was... cute?"
The word 'cute' was not one Hunter thought he'd ever use, not like this anyway. Perhaps when teasing his brothers, but not when offering a gift - yet another foreign action that was just experienced. Never having the means to get anyone a gift, nor had anyone special in his life who he felt deserved a gift other than say, a bomb hidden under their pillow... that he would detonate from a safe distance so he could see he and his tormentors be gloriously blown to bits.
Obviously a gift he couldn't ever be so kind to give because it'd just be too much, right?
The kind of gifts he and his brothers did was a bit more practically carried out.
Crosshair was too spent after a mission? Hunter cleaned his armor.
Tech was running out of technology to fiddle with? You best bet Wrecker would try stealing something cool off the battlefield, even if that was technically 'illegal' or would 'KILL ANYTHING WITHIN A TEN-MILE RADIUS IF DETONATED!' (Tech actually didn't care about that, it was more Hunter who fussed over nothing because Tech knew he was 'Completely capable enough to safely handle a chemical load grenade.'?)
Wrecker, who tired out faster having to do all the heavy lifting on a mission? Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair always had extra rations and a water canteen handy, to replenish his energy supply in the midst of a battle.
This whole thing was uncharted waters for him.
"I guess I just thought you'd like it," Clueless Hunter rushed out, "And, you do like this kind of stuff, right?" Please tell me I haven't just made a complete fool out of myself...
There was still no direct answer, Talla impassively focused on the pillow with a tilted head.
Thus, making him escalate into insanity. "Well, uh, Skylar told me this wasn't weird, that stuff like this is perfect for comfort at any age, so -" There was nothing more to say, therefore he weakly shrugged and finally shut up and fight the urge to cringe, waiting for hopefully bubbly appreciation as opposed to violent backlash. That hopefully his luck hadn't run out.
The reason Talla was so silent was because it took a bit to process this milestone - could you call it a milestone? - in their friendship through her sluggish mind: He bought me a gift!
:D
Wrecker and Tech had given her stuff over the last few months, like that poster in her room and the modification lessons for her sword, but her and Hunter had never exchanged gifts. A strange giddiness momentarily overpowered her period symptoms.
At that, the cute plush pillow received an experimental squeeze. "Oh wow, that is soft." The plush was brought in for a full-on hug, and another smile was barely visible yet nonetheless sweet and conveyed her tiny bit of returning enthusiasm he adored as she turned to press her feverish cheek against its cooler and fluffy head. "Ooo, I really like this." She mumbled halfway into the pillowed toy.
Wow, that was a major mood swing. Was of course not missed by the weirded-out Sarge... and wisely not voiced too. Amazing what that small bit of painkillers did for her already.
The painkillers did take the edge off, making Talla go from wanting to throw herself off the edge of their landing dock, to still definitely feeling like something was violently tearing up her insides, but the waves of agony didn't knock the wind out of her at the very least.
Both parties took this small victory with infinite appreciation.
Next, while Talla went to skim over all the supplies displayed on her bed, picking out the tooka cat socks to wear first, reinvigorated Hunter filled her in on everyone else's actions while she'd been indisposed. "Alright, so Crosshair is still out with Nik doing -"
He blanked while Talla almost toppled over slipping on her right sock, the droid leg she was balancing on unsteady at the moment, but her trusty bed caught her.
"- Force knows what." The Sarge admitted, too mentally distracted to notice Talla's small struggle.
...I should really check in on that. Hunter thought.
Drugged up Talla managed a weak tease. "Sergeant Hunter doesn't know the exact location of one of his charges?" There was no grin, but a glimmer of mischievousness lit her dulled orbs as the Fathier stuffie was taken back in her arms. "I'm stunned."
...
Now was not the time for heart flutterings - GET IT TOGETHER HUNTER!
With forced calmness Hunter listed off the things currently in motion on his fingers. "I told Skylar what your favorite take-out is and she's on a mission to 'get the goods' - her words, not mine," Hunter quickly said upon Talla's raise of the brow at gangster lingo frequently displayed in action holos uncharacteristically coming out of Hunter's mouth, "Last I checked, Wrecker is out restocking our sugar supply, with Blair picking out an assortment of healthy supplements with every carton of ice cream or candy he buys, and Tech is no doubt helping on that score with the list he had compiled for your condition." He waved a hand in the direction of the hygiene supply selection, "And I brought all this and came to see how you're doing, see if you're even up for a holovid-night or something?"
She was slow to catch up, and addressed each update on the situation individually and as scattered as her mind. "Sooo, that's why you changed?" She asked, regarding to the baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt he now wore, "For a comfy holovid-night?"
"Yeah." He lied smoothly, because it was also a partial truth.
For her sake, he was glad she believed it. "And... I'm getting a nerfburger from Dex's Diner with all the toppings and a side of fritzle fries?"
(A/N: yes, this is actually a thing, not from Dex's Diner but from a different place - look 'em up XD)
Oh good, I did get that right. With a tad of smugness as he crossed his arms, Hunter nodded.
Fiddling with the large fuzzy ears of the stuffie in her lap, Talla shyly requested of the last question, "And can we watch the holo's at a volume I control?... Can we even watch a holo that isn't so loud?"
Wrecker wouldn't like that, but Hunter wouldn't mind that for a change of pace. "What'd you have in mind?"
Another glimpse of the normal Talla came back as a small info dump ensued, as always presented with excitedness mixed with a touch of unsureness, ever present no matter what. "Okay, don't call me weird," Was her bang-up opener for this sales pitch, "But I've started fancying this show about an aristocratic family on Kuat, set during the late High Republic era - the others found it boring within the first two minutes of episode one, so I got stuck watching the series on my datapad but it's just not the same, you know?" He didn't, but either way she'd imagined him seeming hesitant when he wasn't, "Okay, it doesn't have gory violence and it can be hard to decipher what their saying with these posh accents, but it has romance and scandal, some violence, drama galore -"
"Tal, it's fine." Hunter quickly shut her down, but in a good way, "We can watch whatever, as long as you don't scream at the projection." He chuckled, remembering her first holovid watching experience, and all the experiences afterwards.
Never should've introduced her to sports.
There was enough dulling to her pain that Talla procured a ghost of a smirk to match Hunter's hint of playful energy. "I make no promises."
"Anything else you need?" He made sure of.
"Can we turn down the temperature in the ship a little?" Talla lastly requested, then gathered up her stuffie and cookies while standing, "So I can wear all these comfy clothes in peace?"
"Of course we can." And if Wrecker or Tech complain, they'll be reminded why blankets and warm clothes were invented.
Under regular circumstances, Talla would've pulled someone into a hug to show appreciation. Right now, she didn't feel so touchy feely anymore. And not wanting to create yet another awkward situation her and Hunter flourished in, Talla wordlessly held out her open package of cookies to him.
He did a double take from the package to her inviting expression he was admittedly suspicious of. "Is this a trap?" Hunter had flashbacks to the fear he had after what he put her through with 99's death and more recently what his brother almost suffered just this morning. "You almost tore Crosshair's hand off earlier." He reminded her.
So, she played on his vanity a little. "Well, between you and me... you're my favorite."
And it was a great challenge on his part, not to smugly smirk. "Really?" Or go lock himself in his room and bang his head against the wall a couple... hundred times.
Talla would've joined him but sadly didn't need to - she already had a splitting headache. "Yeah, and you're the only one who hasn't annoyed me this week at least," The package was pulled towards her body in a tiny threat, "But I'm only offering one and the offer is only on the table for about two more seconds so -"
With zero more resistance he accepted her generous offer.
Now, blue macarons weren't his favorite snack, not even his preferred cookie. But the fact Talla shared it with him during this difficult time for her made it all the more sweeter and all the more enjoyable.
Forget about the teeny tiny medal bestowed upon last year after that smash and grab on Kuat - in this moment Hunter felt this was the greatest honor he'd received in his entire short life.
Tech and Wrecker returned just as the duo emerged from Talla's room, the brothers' arms full of the spoils they'd gotten on their little field trip.
Per Blair's blunt commentary earlier, Tech did not give a ramble about his particular errand, Wrecker's errands, ANYONE'S errands, nor all what they'd gotten.
It was a shock to his brothers and himself even that no words were uttered when he approached her, shaking out the freshly laundered plush blanket (that he did indeed find in the abyss of his room) and snugly wrapped the bundle around Talla, engulfing her in blissful warmth that was felt deep within her soul.
It was a bit awkward, trying to clutch the folds together with her occupied hands, but she murmured a grateful, "Thank you." Up at the second tallest brother nonetheless, and was granted a rare genuine smile of Tech's that wasn't because he discovered some fascinating piece of information.
Aaaand the sweet moment was ruined when impatient Wrecker bounded over and shoved Tech aside to excitedly reveal his gifts. "Here ya go!" He announced, holding out a takeout container with one hand and unbeknownst to her hiding a shopping bag behind him with the other, "I rushed all the way home so it'd still be nice and warm too!"
At first, Talla made a face, "Oh no Wrecker I don't think I can stomach it -" Then caught a delicious whiff and the tune changed while her stomach gave a low growl. "Oh, that actually smells good, gimme it -"
He didn't, instead telling her to make herself comfortable on the lounge, where Talla was overwhelmed with various kinds of attentive care - Hunter made sure she got comfortably situated in her favorite corner seat of one of the lounges with her blanket and pillow, and helped her figure out the heating pad.
Words could not describe how the warmth of the comfort device lived up to its expectations! As the device heated up to Tech's recommended setting by his calculations with her pain levels and enhanced senses, she thought it was witchcraft, how scarily soothing it was that the heat applied to her abdomen miraculously relaxed those contracting muscles!
With that, after a huge sigh of some blissful relief, a lapse of righteous rage scorched down to the very depths of her previously glowing soul, and she growled darkly up to an alarmed Hunter as her features darkened, "I don't think it'll be a good idea to go back to Kamino for a while."
Hunter applauded at his ability to stop anger from touching his features as well, "Done and done." He instead agreed with that statement right on the spot. No telling if he'd leave that gift for Nala Se or worse, if given the opportunity.
When Talla was settled Wrecker bestowed upon her the gift of delicious comfort food, and she had scarfed down half her burger by the time Tech returned with her requested beverage of hot chocolate... served in a gonk droid mug never seen before?
It was kriffing adorable and it's kriffing adorableness wanted to make Talla burst into tears for the fiftieth time that day, especially when she learned where it came from.
"Blair wanted to contribute to the gift giving, and thought this would uplift your spirits even for just a moment." Tech explained, setting it on the ledge that ringed around their holoprojector that they been using a caf table.
Damn the hormones that did force her to blubber a little over her good friends.
Talla didn't end up screaming at the holos, being stuffed to brim with comfort foods plus drinks, and the general lethargy that came with menstruating absolutely depleting her of any energy to do anything futile when a character did something stupid. And while Wrecker did end up getting into the show which gave him the unshakeable urge to give loud commentary when he felt it was justified, and Tech (though more composedly) pointed out a few flaws at the show's apparent historical accuracy:
*raises signature pointer finger* "Technically, that is not wholly accurate -"
"Not now, Tech." Hunter would reluctantly but firmly interrupt from across the way, and Tech understood why and did his best to contain his enthusiasm... didn't mean he could prevent more occurrences like this though.
But he'd never tried harder to contain his habit.
- Talla was still blessed with moments where she felt the positive effects of this forced relaxation.
At some point during their lazy day, she had switched from being lonely in the corner to crawling up to Wrecker at the end of the couch he was lounging on, and leaning her back against his side he happily draped a big ol' arm over her shoulder, and she found this particular claim to be true - Wrecker was indeed 'the King of Cuddling.'
And dear Tech had compassionately helped take off her irritating prosthetic and gave the affected area a gentle massage when she finally complained at one point that her leg ached:
"WOAH!" Wrecker cried out into her ear when Tech had literally PULLED OFF THE LOWER HALF OF HER LEFT LEG, then immediately apologized in a more hushed tone after both him and Talla sent him mild glares, "Sorry, I jus' forget you have a droid leg sometimes."
- then the brainiac allowed her to keep her foot and stump elevated on his lap with the fathier pillow underneath for the remainder of the evening, to which then Wrecker's draped arm around her was held in replacement to the occupied stuffie.
And Hunter, he was always poised and ready to go fetch whatever Talla needed , be it the second heating pad because she wanted one pressed against her lower back too, or another dose of medicine that she could swallow the capsules this time - Thank the force!
There were a few sessions of her dozing off under her snug circumstances, to which the men all shared looks of relief.
And then there were a few funny instances, like when Wrecker used Talla as an excuse to eat an ice cream sundae straight out of the container:
Crosshair forbade it, on account of he didn't want to ingest anyone else's slobber when scooping himself and then eating a bowl of the freezy treat.
At one point, Tallas shyly requested of Wrecker to get her some ice cream, also figuring the poor guy could use this opportunity to stretch his legs.
But in the short time span of leaving her side and going into the kitchen, Wrecker had forgotten what flavor she had been craving due to the happiness of Talla being able to eat, thus had to walk back out with the scoop and two different flavors he swore either or was the winner. "Tal, did you want mint chocolate chip or double fudge brownie -"
"Double fudge."
He promptly turned on his heel to go make up her sundae, "OK-"
"No, wait!"
Being focused on the ice cream, Wrecker had missed Talla twisting in her seat and making grabby hands in his direction.
It took him a second before he realized it was the ice cream carton itself, she wanted. And the ice cream scoop wedged between the carton and his hand which was swiped too when he handed the latter to her.
It was truly amusing, seeing Talla chuck the lid over the back of the couch and warn, "Don't judge me," Around a heaping mouthful she'd scooped straight from the container, then asked Wrecker while Tech and Hunter threw their hands up innocently, "Do we have syrup or candy or whipped cream or sprinkles?"
"DUH!" Wrecker loudly teased, acting to be mildly offended. "What kinda question is that?!"
Soon, Talla and Wrecker where swapping containers of various toppings from tiny chocolates to sprinkles, turning it into soup basically with the amount of syrups they added, and finishing the whole thing off with the unnecessary whipped cream and sprinkles.
"Okay, it really sucks you get so sick," Wrecker started off saying at one point, sprayed a shot of whipped cream straight from the can, then continued around the mouthful, "But the fact we get to do this for a whole week every two months is gonna be GREAT!" To which Talla had to giggle along with him because that was one light way to put it.
The laugh was a good sign that their efforts were proving fruitful, yet Tech made a face when gazing at the sundae soup concoction they were practically inhaling. "Yes, nothing compares to watching two grown adults making themselves ill over an ungodly amount of sugar that gives the rest of us secondhand queasiness." He shot Talla a concerned look when she beckoned for Wrecker to 'Keep it comin' with the whipped cream that was already piled way higher the edge of the carton she was holding out to him, "And you are already ill."
To which, Hunter shot him his own warning look and muttered a wise, "Stow it Tech." Because it did not seem safe to reprimand a menstruating woman for her questionable sugar intake.
And both sugar addicts did end up getting sick, barely making it to their respective refreshers before the sundaes made a gross reappearance. Sharing an exasperated look, Hunter went to make sure Talla was alright while Tech merely went to stand over Wrecker, offering a half-hearted pat on the back or the top of the big lugs head every once in a while, the brainiacs gaze never leaving the menstrual cycle data he was scrolling through on his retrieved datapad.
- But did this stop Talla from eating more sugar later on? No.
The only thing missing was Crosshair, and Talla would've preferred working out a way for him to be here instead of him being banished to one of the Glam Squad's apartments.
Either way, having retired to her room around 10pm, Talla eventually thought to herself before drifting off to sleep:
With my family and friends help, maybe I can handle this after all.
Miles away, Crosshair was wishing the same thing as Talla - HE WANTED TO GO HOME AND IT WAS ONLY DAY ONE.
First, he found out soon after settling in that the twins were mainly vegetarians due to their humble upbringing, and that nerf casserole was an occasional treat for them. If he'd known as much, he would've smuggled an extra helping into the confining quarters of him and Nik's shared room somehow, hidden away to nibble on for the foreseeable future to aid in keeping his sanity. Instead, Crosshair lamented that Nik had taken the meaty leftovers to his girlfriend's apartment several floors up every time the Sniper braved rummaging through the cabinets and cooler for a snack.
And boy, did the Sniper ever consider breaking into Blair's apartment when they'd all gone to work, to pilfer those tasty morsels of meat he had no idea there'd be withdrawals from.
And then, there was the battle for thermostat rights.
"Crosshair, I know you're not housebroken, so you should know it's considered RUDE to carbon freeze your gracious hosts!" Nik shivered upon returning home later that night after work, and with icicles for fingers he clumsily poked the settings back down to their original settings after his sister beat him to the opportunity to a warm shower first.
"So it's acceptable to melt their skin off?" Crosshair retorted as the cooling system whirred to life and the vents started pumping out heaps of suffocating warm air, and already felt the back of his tunic start to dampen from perspiration due to standing right near one vent.
After a shiver of happiness, Nik sent Crosshair a lofty look. "Here's an idea - wear a lighter shirt!"
"Here's a better one - go hug a blanket!" Or even better - a landmine!
Choice words were exchanged frequently throughout the evening when the twins were home, also throughout the night when Crosshair would tiptoe as silently as a tooka cat to the hallway thermostat and lower the temperature to that of a normal person.
Then, a half hour later Nik would wake up thinking he'd been magiacally transported to the frigid forests of Ilum.
Chattering his teeth Nik would punch the original sequence back into thermostat while Crosshair caught up with him and hissed, "Don't twi'leks have a higher body temp then humans, so why the kriff do you need it so hot in here - ?!"
Nik smacked Crosshair's hand away from reaching up to belay the order for the heater to kick on. "It's not my fault the human penetrating my inner sanctum has ice running through his veins and no meat on his bones to keep him warm - !" He shot back.
It went back and forth like this: Crosshair would receive a chewing out by Nik, the Sniper would retaliate with cruel commentary, then a verbal smackdown would be cut short by Sky threatening to intervene from the depths of her room:
"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!"
So the boys would give each other one last cold, hard glare before stomping back to their shared room, where a childish shove may or may not have been given by one or the other, which would result in the victims retaliation, which would end in fisticuffs that Crosshair would have definitely won with his soldier training had not Skylar's door whooshed opened and the two men scrambled off and over each other to flee back to the safe confines of their room, door securely locked behind them.
Skylar was already upset that her relationship had been prematurely broken to her parents - they didn't want to risk further retaliation, for she'd been mostly understanding at dinner. But that didn't stop the woman from using that guilt to request a nice, complicated dessert after the meal was finished, then for the two boys to be forced to wash all those dirty dishes by hand afterwards.
Anyways, at the very least Crosshairs roommate didn't snore. But having not brought anything except warm sweats, heavy cargo pants, and long-sleeved tops and tunics, Crosshair tossed turned all throughout that first night in his warm and unfamiliar sofa bed, stifling blanket shoved halfway onto the floor, socks also long gone, and his sleeves plus sweatpants rolled up as high as they could go. He could not find a cool spot to lay on which would temporarily relieve his feverish skin, thus he not able to be comfortable enough to get any sleep.
It would come as an unpleasant surprise for the twins that Crosshair, who did in fact listen to Tech's rambles most times, was smart enough to figure out a way to lock the thermostat settings at a temperature he could live with. And so could they.
Why did he make such a rude presumption of his gracious hosts? When they came home after work on Day Two, they were met with a cold front and cranky Crosshair waiting for them on their couch with a tall stack of their blanket supply in his arms.
"One of your nosey neighbors came by to complain about the noise last night." He shortly updated the twi'leki twins, and they grunted when the blankets were chucked hard into their goose-bumped arms. "But no worries -" A concerning smirk shown as Crosshair passed them by, "I got him to not take it any further."
Their hearts skipped beats. "How?" They both asked with a cold sweat of fear.
Vibros?
A blaster to his head?
Over his shoulder, Crosshair smirked. "I apologized in your behalf for you immaturity and kindly gave him a piece of that delicious casserole in compensation."
Nik: "What?!"
Sky: "Huh?!"
Back to Nik, seeing red now: "Wait, how'd you -"
"You're smart - figure it out." Crosshair complimented yet insulted as he made himself comfy on the loveseat and cranked up the holovids to drown out their frantic verbal thought process.
In the end it was simple: If Crosshair was smart enough to lock the thermostat and agile enough to dodge every single one of Nik's punches, he would easily be able to slink past the security droid unnoticed and smart enough to bypass a basic security system that locked the mirialan girls front door.
And by the looks of him chomping down on some pilfered casserole, Crosshair had easily found the fridge in these cookie cutter, identical looking apartments.
It was gonna be an... interesting couple of days.
Skylar's reaction to the secret relationship now in the limelight will be featured in my new book called The Tale of Wrecker and Skylar.
By the way, I'm creating a Wrecker/Skylar centric book called The Tale of Wrecker and Skylar.
It'll just be filled with the one-shots of their relationship, because I didn't want their story to be like an afterthought. But this story is mainly about Hunter and Talla, so that book will be mainly about Wrecker and Skylar They will be getting the attention they deserve, as well their fair share of heartbreak, just as Hunter and Talla will be in this series :3
Also, there's gonna be one more chapter of this arc because I just love pulling a Clone Wars and making long, 4 'episode' arcs that add to the complicated plot :D
- Ella :3