Hunter's head was swimming and he felt disconnected from reality. Bruises from training felt more like burns, searing in pain if he so much as brushed them, and his shirt was clinging to his body due to sweat, which of course made it worse.
The bright lights of the hallways were ringing and buzzing incessantly in his ears. He wanted to cover his ears, but even touching his own skin hurt; everything felt very hot.
When Hunter reached the room he shared with the other Bad Batch members, he was relieved to see it was empty when he opened the door. Empty and dark.
Closing the door, he gave a sigh of relief as the ringing of the lights in the hallways was cut off and muffled. Hunter proceeded to take off his shirt, gently and slowly, avoiding as much as he could any brushing against the most sensitive bruises.
He made his way to his bunk and laid down. It was cool and quiet. The only noise he could hear now was the pattering of rain, but that was soft and soothing.
Rain…
Rain…
Rain…
His thoughts trailed off and he began to doze. But the rain sounded good; it sounded cooling; sounded like it would ease the pain he was feeling. Ease the pain of bruises that felt like burns. Ease the pain of brutal training day after day, with his batch mates or individually.
It had been an individual training day. Or perhaps an individual testing day would be more appropriate to say. But, whatever they chose to call it, they were always worse.
They'd be taken away from each other and not see each other until the end of the day. Some days it was all of them, others it was only some or one of them. Regardless, Hunter made sure they kept each other up to date on what was happening. A task that wasn't always easy.
Tech didn't usually have an issue sharing the experiences of his day. Though, it would always be a very objective account, not filled with extensive details of how he felt about what had happened. There were a couple times he'd come back from tests and simply stated, "It was bad." Hunter only pressed a little more before letting the topic be.
Wrecker was a little more excited with his description, and rarely held back on stating exactly what he thought of what had happened. However, his very narrative retellings of testing could be hard to follow at times. Hunter didn't mind too much (unless he'd had a bad day and was experiencing sensory overload). Tech found it frustrating though at times as he enjoyed trying to guess what the Kaminoans were testing exactly. Wrecker's accounts didn't always provide the right information for that.
Then, Crosshair would try to make it as short as possible. He didn't require much questioning as he would give an account of his testing willingly. But, he'd keep it discreet without much detail. However, he wouldn't hesitate to say how he felt, especially if he felt strongly about it.
It was likely Hunter who was the least willing to share. He didn't want to add to the stress they all experienced. Usually, he'd go last, sometimes hoping they would forget.
But Tech would never forget.
The only time Hunter would get off the hook would be the days when he could barely move, due to overload. Those were the days when his whole body ached, and everything was too bright, and too loud, and too hot or too cold. The days when he wasn't even able to tend to his own wounds because moving any part of his body would hurt. The days that his head was buzzing, his brain felt like it had pins and needles in it; it was so full it felt empty.
Today was one of those days.
Hunter didn't know when his batch mates would be back, but he was too tired to care. For now, he could only be relieved that the room was dark and quiet.
Lying on his stomach, facing the wall, his head rested on his pillow. The fabric against his face was a comfort. He doubted it was soft by most accounts, but it was the softest thing he had, so putting his face in it was soothing.
Hunter stretched out his arm and his hand ran into the wall. But today the cool metal felt nice. He pressed his palm flat against it and relaxed more.
With his other hand, Hunter rubbed the blanket beneath him. It felt softer today, softer than it had other days. But, that was good.
Eyes closed, moving ever so slowly, Hunter propped himself up on his hands and knees. He found the edge of the blanket, and pulled it down. Then, practically reversing how he got in the position, he laid back down, face on the pillow, palm pressed against the wall. The soft pillow, and the cool wall, and the light blanket draped over him.
The tension was leaving his shoulders, and the rest of his body would slowly follow.
Hunter let a smile form on his lips. This was the most comfortable he'd felt in weeks. He felt himself dozing again and didn't have energy to resist. He simply hoped he'd fall asleep before the others showed up…
Wrecker came into the room and turned on the light. It had been a long day. Not necessarily a bad one, but definitely a long one.
He was certainly eager for dinner, but he'd willingly admit as well that he couldn't wait to sleep.
Wrecker made his way over to his bunk and sat down. He picked up his doll, Lula.
"It was a long day," he said quietly to her. "Sleeping sounds good, but I should really wait to eat first…That's what Tech would say."
Naturally, Lula didn't respond, but it made him feel better all the same.
The door opened and Wrecker looked up to see Tech standing in the doorway.
"Hey, Tech!" he waved.
Tech gave a short nod and then turned off the lights.
"What's that for?" Wrecker asked indignantly getting up to turn it back on.
Tech stopped him. "I turned the light off for a reason, Wrecker. Look." He pointed in the direction of Hunter's bunk and Wrecker turned to see.
His eyes adjusted, and he could just make out the figure of the sleeping cadet.
"Oh!" Wrecker whispered. "I didn't see 'im! But, Hunter's never asleep when we get back."
"Actually, he is sometimes," Tech corrected. "Usually, it is on days when he has experienced a degree of sensory stimulation that is unnatural for the human body to take in, thus causing him extreme fatigue and pain."
"He had a bad day," explained a voice from behind.
"Oh," Wrecker said, as they turned to see Crosshair standing there. "Can we help?"
"Not extensively," Crosshair said moving past them.
"At least not while he sleeps," Tech added on. "Hunter has said in the past that there are certain sensory experiences that make him feel "peaceful", such as the dark, softer textures, and often cooler temperatures. Though sometimes he prefers heat. But, that is why I'll put salve on him: it is usually cool to the touch and relaxes him."
Wrecker stared at him. "So, we can't really help right now?"
"Most likely not," Tech said. "But, I should get the salve ready for when he wakes up."
"What if I gave him Lula to cuddle with?" Wrecker asked, still wondering. "She's soft."
"I suppose there's no harm in that," Tech responded.
Wrecker smiled and excitedly -and quietly- made his way over to Hunter's bunk with Lula in hand. Gently, he lifted up the blanket, slid Lula under Hunter's arm, then put the blanket down again. Then, he went back to his own bunk and sat back down, feeling very pleased with himself.
"You did good, Wrecker," Crosshair said.
"Thanks," Wrecker whispered back.
Hunter felt something new against his skin, but it didn't feel bad. It was soft. He didn't have the energy to open his eyes and see what it was, but it was nice.
He curled his legs up, wrapping himself around the object. It wasn't cold like what he would have liked, but it didn't really hurt, so that was nice.
In the distance -or what seemed like distance- he could hear quiet talking, but he couldn't understand it. Which was really just as well, because if he could, he knew he'd wake up. It became background noise, like the rain.
Hunter sighed. He wanted something cold, a cool sensation. Or maybe he just wanted sleep. Maybe both.
Both would be nice…a cool sensation, then more sleep. That would be relaxing.
