Pride
The initiates were in the midst of weapon drills. They were lined up in rows as they swung their wooden swords, striking, parrying, and blocking an invisible opponent as their bodies memorized the positions. After a few minutes of moving in synch everyone suddenly heard the sound of wood clattering against the ground. All eyes turned to land on Nemo.
The Mon Cala teen straightened and chuckled in embarrassment.
"Something wrong Nemo?" Thrush asked curiously.
"No. Just slipped is all," Nemo said dismissively. He bent down to pick up his sword. He extended his hand out to close it around the hilt. And to his annoyance the robotic prosthetic would do what he wanted it to do. It gave a whir as the metal fingers resisted movement. He grunted and frowned as the simple task of picking something up was becoming a hassle.
"Something wrong with your hand Nemo?" Thrush asked in concern.
With a sigh Nemo stood up and held it to his chest. "Yes ma'am. I guess it needs a little maintenance. May I be excused?" Thrush nodded before dismissing him. With that the Mon Cala teen went to his room. He unwrapped his prosthetic and before finding his tools. Then he undid the little covering to get to the wiring inside. He began to do some maintenance on it. Clearing out the dust and dirt that would sometimes get inside and tamper with the mechanisms.
It was a bit slow going since Nemo's dominant hand was his right hand. Nemo had had his prosthetic for as long as he could remember. And though he knew how to do the maintenance on it his father had usually done it for him. To be honest his father had usually done everything for him.
After the loss of his wife Nemo had become all his father had. As such his father was very overprotective of him to the point where it became suffocating. His father always insisted that Nemo needed help, that there were many things he couldn't do alone due to his fake appendage. While Nemo tried to be understanding his father's lack of faith in always disheartened him. Nemo knew he could do things if given the chance.
"Nemo?" Nemo looked up to see Lan Wu enter. "Yousa ok?" she asked in concern.
Nemo gave the Gungan girl a smile and nodded. Lan Wu entered, sitting down on a cushion as she watched Nemo fiddle with his hand. She watched as his eyes narrowed in concentration and his fingers twitched, curled, and uncurled as he readjusted it.
After a few moments he stopped and attempted to curl his fingers. They did, but he noticed the delayed reaction time. With a frown he set it down and got back to fiddling with it.
"Yousa want some help?" Lan Wu asked.
Nemo froze, her offer of help niggling something unpleasant in the pit of his stomach. He took a breathe through the nose to calm himself down. "No. I got it," Nemo muttered.
"Yousa sure?"
"Yes Lan Wu!" Nemo snapped. Lan Wu flinched and stared at him with wide eyes. "I said I got it ok?" Nemo spat as he turned away.
Lan Wu couldn't help but feel a little offended. And hurt. She stood up. "Mesa sorry," she whispered as she turned on her heel and exited.
Nemo was silent for a few moments before he let out a sigh. He knew he was wrong for snapping at Lan Wu like that. But he said he was fine the first time didn't he?
"Nemo?" Nemo glanced back again to be met with Hiccup.
"Master Hiccup," Nemo greeted with a nod. Hiccup entered before kneeling down to to get a closer look at Nemo's prosthetic. Having a prosthetic limb of his own he knew how they worked and how they needed maintenance.
"Everything ok?" he asked in concern.
"Yeah. Just some readjusting. You know how it goes," Nemo said with a shrug. Hiccup hummed.
"May I?" Nemo offered him his hand to inspect. Hiccup's keen eyes inspected the metal limb, going over the wiring and the neural interface. "I think you may need a new prosthetic Nemo," Hiccup said.
"What? Why?"
"It's well made. But it's made mostly for the Dac's environment. I don't think they ever expected you to go offworld so soon. You need one able to handle multiple environments. That and I think you've grown a little," Hiccup explained.
"Oh."
"I'll get our designers to make you a custom one," Hiccup offered. Nemo nodded in acceptance. "Want some help?"
Nemo couldn't stop the frown forming on his face. But he let Hiccup take and repair his limb. Hiccup was silent as he worked, eyes glued to his task.
"You know Nemo. Just because someone offers you assistance, it doesn't mean they don't believe you can't do something on your own," Hiccup said out of the blue. Nemo looked up at him curiously. "Sometimes it's just because they care about you," Hiccup finished.
Nemo looked down as shame rose up within him. Deep down he knew that. Lan Wu had only wanted to help and he snapped at her.
"Jedi help each other. We are both individuals and a whole. Don't be too proud and push them away," Hiccup advised wisely. Nemo nodded. After a few minutes Nemo's limb responded as it should. He thanked Hiccup before rewrapping and going to rejoin his classmates.
As he joined up with them he came to sit beside Lan Wu. The Gungan girl stared straight ahead as Elsa gave another Jedi history lesson. He casually leaned into her space.
"Sorry," he whispered softly.
Lan Wu's eyes stalks turned to look at him. She smiled good naturedly. "Isa ok," she said dismissively.
Nemo returned her smile before returning his attention to Elsa's lesson. The Mon Cala took Hiccup's words to heart and learned to accept help when he needed it.
After all, helping each other is just what friends did.
new chap. Nemo
