Ezra woke up, blinking at the chrono for a long sleepy moment before feeling a sudden stab of panic. His alarm should have gone off hours ago and he was halfway scrambling down the ladder before memory caught up with him. Even if he wasn't sick they had time off anyway and he silently called himself an idiot, resting his forehead on the cool metal of the ladder rung. Even if there wasn't anything stopping him from crawling right back into bed, he was awake now. He vaguely remembered being woken up and told to take the medicine again during the night and he looked around, finally finding it on the table with a note under the bottles. The dosage amount was written out in neat basic along with when he could take it. He rubbed at his throat, glad to see it was close enough to time. It wasn't the horrible stabbing pain that made it feel like he'd swallowed metal shards and they'd gotten stuck halfway down, but it was still painful. Even knowing how badly it would sting and the horrific sickly sweet aftertaste was worth the numbing he knew the first medicine would bring for a while.

He took them both, gritting his teeth after the second and waiting out the sting before he could breathe easily again. Putting both bottles back and scrubbing a hand over his face to make sure his eyes weren't watering he stepped out into the hall to see where everyone was. He nearly ran into Zeb, barely stopping at the last minute.

"Good, you're awake. And you look like warmed over bantha dung, kid." Zeb reached to pat his shoulder.

Ezra swatted at his hand, making a rude gesture.

"What? Didn't quite catch that. No smart come backs?" The Lasat chuckled. "Was just coming in to check on you. You're on your own for a bit, the winds picked up last night and brought some branches down and Hera wants them all cleared off and the outside of the ship checked for damage since the rustbucket's not around to scan for it."

Ezra nodded, a little surprised he'd slept through it.

"You stay in here, got it?" Zeb reached like he was going to ruffle his hair, making Ezra duck. "Don't need you out getting in our way."

Ezra made a face then nodded with a quiet whisper."Got it." He didn't really want to be out in the weather trying to work, but… he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted.

Zeb nodded approvingly, turning to start back out. "I'd say if you needed anything we're on coms, but…" He chuckled gruffly and Ezra made a face at his back. It still felt a little better to be treated normally.

Ezra made his way to the galley, starting to make himself just a cup of juice and then changing his mind when he saw the tea container. It tasted a little astringent, but it was a nice change from the medicine and he cupped the mug in his hands, trying to decide what to do. He wasn't ready to crawl back into bed, and everything he could think of took more energy than he thought he had. Finally he remembered the comment about the coms and made his way to the cockpit. Even if he couldn't go out, he could still listen in. He settled down in Kanan's chair, feet dangling as he sipped the hot tea and turned on the com system.

"Zeb, where are you? I need your help with this one." Kanan sounded annoyed, and even over the com Ezra could hear the sound of rain falling through the leaves.

"Hold on, I've almost got my gear on."

"What did the console lights say? Is the cockpit seeing the sensor array now or not?" Hera's voice sounded much like it always did.

"…."

"Zeb…" Kanan again.

"Karabast, I checked on the kid and forgot."

"Then go back and check it, I need to know if the sensors are properly connected."

Ezra frowned, scanning over the control panel until he could see the lights Hera was talking about. He leaned forward. "They're lit."

"What was that? I heard static."

Ezra frowned, getting close enough to the com just turned his whisper into a hiss, and he didn't want to try and keep whispering anyway. After a moment he had an idea, tapping his fingertip twice on the com.

"It wasn't me. Wait, Ezra?" Kanan sounded surprised, figuring it out first.

Tap tap.

"You're in the cockpit? Don't touch anything, but are the sensor array lights on? Two taps for yes, one for no." Hera sounded pleased at that.

Ezra grinned to himself, tapping twice again.

"Perfect. Hold on… are they still on?" Hera waited for the single tap. "Good, it means it's not a false reading because I just disconnected them, they should be back on now."

"So we're going to play at this the whole time? I'm up for it, means I don't have to jog back and forth to check on that." Zeb's voice was amused, and the rain sounds were back. He must have made it back outside.

"Ezra, you don't have to do this if you're not up for it." Kanan sounded hesitant and Ezra stared at the com, not sure how to put something more complex into taps. "But if you want to, it is a huge help." He grinned at that, tapping out yes and then settling back with his tea.

It wasn't terribly busy work, mostly just listening to the com chatter and waiting to hear his name. Had he been at his full strength he would have balked at being the one to stay inside while everyone else did the heavy lifting. He wasn't at full strength though, and the medicine faded the ache in his throat to just a feeling of wrongness when he swallowed, but it also left him feeling sleepy. He fought it as long as he could, intending to close his eyes for just a moment, slumped down in the chair with his empty mug held close.

"He probably went back to bed, not like com duty is exactly exciting. S'what I'd be doing, given half a chance." Zeb rubbed at his arms, trying to shake the rain out of his short fur.

"I still want to be sure. He's usually reliable." Hera wasn't entirely convinced.

"Found him" Kanan spoke just loud enough for the others to hear, looking down with a smile.

"Well that's a familiar sight." Hera smiled, peering into the cockpit with them both,

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not, it's not like you've ever fallen asleep there." Hera sounded amused. She'd relaxed considerably once it became apparent the storm had made a mess but done no real damage to the outside of the ship.

"It was once, once. And I think someone mixed up the sedatives and stimulants so it wasn't even my fault." Kanan reached down to gently touch Ezra's shoulder. As often as he complained about Zeb's snoring once he was asleep, Ezra was very good at sleeping through noise.

"You'd been running on naps for a week at that point, you probably mixed them up yourself." There was something soothing about bringing up old arguments long after any negative emotion attached to them had faded and only amusement was left. Hera enjoyed having safe topics to gently tease about.

"And who's fault was that, Captain 'It'll be an easy job, in and out, a few hours tops?'" Kanan patted the shoulder under his hand a few times.

"I honestly don't recall." Hera smiled, as Ezra started to stir, blinking slowly.

"Hey, we're done outside. Have you eaten anything today?" Kanan waited for the head shake. "Didn't think so, come on." He gave Ezra a hand up, waiting until he found his balance.

"Sorry I fell asleep." Ezra whispered, while Kanan was still close.

"Don't be. You're sick, and the medicine said it might make you sleepy." Kanan patted his back.

"Same as the other might sting a little?" Ezra managed a grin up at him.

"Exactly." Kanan grinned back, giving him a nudge out towards the galley.

"Grub's on." Zeb passed out plates, Kanan took his, taking a seat on the edge of the wrap around booth. They didn't usually have fancy meals, and half the time people just ate whenever they wanted to fix something. Now and then though it was nice to eat as a team, and would be nicer once Sabine could get time off without it being too much of a coincidence.

Kanan made sure Ezra took his plate as well, trying not to seem overly concerned. He wasn't sure exactly when his padawan had last eaten anything. He could have gotten something before, but between the sore throat and the fever he doubted food had been a high priority for him.

"Should we be thinking about trying to find a landing spot with fewer trees to drop branches on us? Those weren't too bad, but if something bigger were to come down…" Zeb started, waving a hand at the ceiling.

"I don't think we're supposed to be getting winds like that again anytime soon, not according to normal weather patterns for around here. And anything that was ready to come down probably shook loose this time." Kanan took a bite of his sandwich, thinking a moment. "And it's already a long ride in the wet as it is, we're not going to find anywhere closer that's any better."

Zeb made an annoyed sound "Hate spending any more time out in the muck than I have to, I've thought about if we should stay in the city, like Sabine is. More people around, but.."

"Not if you want to ever get dry." Hera said. " Communications employees get nice climate controlled apartments, but what we'd be able to afford on a worker's salary is going to be damp and possibly leaky. I checked them out when we first arrived here. I think staying put makes sense, even if I don't like the lack of line of sight, it means we're better hidden, and there's not really any better options."

"Right, guess it wasn't that great an idea then. Unless… you got any input, kid?" Zeb glanced to Ezra like he was waiting for possible backup.

Ezra just shrugged, taking a tentative bite of the fruit on his plate.

Kanan shared a glance with Zeb and Hera. He knew it was only temporary, but Ezra not being able to really speak just felt strange and wrong. He hadn't realized how much he was used to his backtalk and just general joining in the conversation until it was suddenly missing. It wasn't until he glanced back that he noticed Ezra had gone very still, hand against his throat.

"Ezra?" Hera had noticed it too, leaning forward and then her eyes widening, lekku twitching in alarm. "Kanan, I think he's choking."

Zeb moved first, reaching over to whack his hand solidly against Ezra's back.

"Wait! Don't…" Kanan tried to grab at Zeb's hand as he smacked him again, making Ezra cough and then sputter, coughing out the chunk of fruit. "You don't hit someone who's choking! You could have made him inhale it instead."

"It's up now." Zeb said defensively, as Kanan put his hand to Ezra's back as he coughed again and then wheezed, clutching at the edge of the table tight enough his knuckles were white.

"Did you knock the wind out of him? Ezra, you need to calm down." Kanan tugged him closer, and this close he could feel the terror that had taken hold, the body's very instinctive and very counterproductive response to being unable to breathe, drowning on solid land.

Kanan kept his arm wrapped around Ezra's shoulder, feeling how his whole body heaved every time he tried to pull in a breath past the swelling in his throat and into a chest held tight with panic.

"I'm right here. Concentrate on your breathing, match it to mine, in and out, just like we've practiced." It was hard to keep his voice calm, and his breathing steady, deliberately invoking the same phrases he used when they were meditating. Not that meditating was one of Ezra's strong skills. In the Temple he would have been raised with it, younglings learning the basics at naptimes and before bed. It would have been almost subconscious, like catching yourself humming bits of a teaching song trying to think of the right letter. Even after so many years avoiding it, he'd slipped back into the patterns with more ease than anything else he'd tried. Ezra on the other hand stubbornly resisted most of the attempts to teach him unless there was an alternative purpose beyond just relaxing.

I can't! It hurts!

The words weren't spoken out loud, but they still rocked Kanan back a little before he pressed his hand to Ezra's chest.

"You can, I know you can. Do it for me." Kanan rubbed slow circles on his chest, feeling the tension. "Breathe in slowly, two, three, then out just as slow." Their bond wasn't a strong one. His bond with his own Master had been a tentative, new thing. Only a few short months together and so many things that had seemed more important at the time. It had still hurt like an open wound when it severed. He was reluctant to risk the same with Ezra, so what was between them was mostly due to his reluctance to discourage Ezra's untrained and unaware attempts to build it. This close though it didn't matter, and Ezra's mind grabbed at any sort of help it could find.

Kanan, I can't, I…

"You're doing it right now." He kept his own breathing slow and steady, and finally he felt it starting to get through to him. Once the panic at being unable to breathe started to ebb, so did the tightness in his chest that was only making it harder to draw the air in. Once the cycle was broken it only took a few steady breaths before Ezra was slumping back against him, trembling in exhausted reaction.

It had felt like it had taken hours, but glancing up from the still surprised and worried expressions it couldn't have been very long. "He's fine now." Kanan said it with more confidence than he felt, as much for Ezra's benefit as everyone else's. "Just, we'll skip the solid food until his throat's a little less swollen."

Hera was the first to move, getting up "I'll go get the medicine." She looked shaken by all of it, but still in control as she walked back to the bedroom.

"Kid, if I find any grey hairs in my beard after this, I'm blaming you, eh?" Zeb managed a strained chuckle.

Hera didn't take long, getting just the painkiller and measuring a half dose to pass to Kanan.

"Take it slow, small sips, don't try to take it all at once." Kanan held the plastic cup up, helping steady it when Ezra's hands shook. He nodded slightly, and Kanan could feel the way he tensed at the first small swallow, and the way the tension quickly faded away as soon as the numbing went into effect. Between the choking and coughing he had to have been in a lot of pain.

Zeb waited until the last of the medicine had been swallowed down before extending a hand to Ezra. "Something like that's rough, want to go back to bed?" He waited for the nod before hauling him up, supporting him.

Kanan watched to make sure he wasn't needed, not that Zeb would need any help carrying someone like Ezra, but after a moment of wobbling Ezra seemed determined to make the walk under his own power. He kept a hand on Zeb's arm to steady himself for the walk back.

Kanan shared a glance with Hera. As soon as Ezra was out of sight she'd seemed to deflate, settling back at the table hunched over, her hands laced together.

"He's going to be fine, just give him time." Kanan tried to reassure her.

"How much time? Shouldn't we be seeing some sign of improvement by now? Kanan, he can't even eat."

"He can drink tea, so we'll find something until his throat heals up, broth, soup, something like that. And sometimes these things just need to run their course. " Kanan settled back down, poking at his own food. It always seemed a little wrong to just go back to eating and acting normal, like nothing had happened. But there had been too many times in the past he'd been without to stop eating just because of one incident.

"If he's not obviously improving by tomorrow he's going to a medical center. I've seen things like this go bad before."

"I know, and I'm not going to try and tell you not to worry, just give him a little more time."