Chapter 20: Medbay

Well, she really ought to stop doing this. Yet again she woke up in a medical cot. Though, waking up to Wolffe was always welcome. He was the only one with her and he was asleep, so she got to have a few minutes of peace just watching him. His head was all the way back as he sat with his back against the wall. Doryn was certain that it wasn't a comfortable position for him and that it must've just been from how tired he'd been. His throat was completely exposed and on display, which seemed so human. Even if the environment was aggressively sterile, his scent still prevailed. She'd already found it nice before but she'd come to associate it with safety. Because Wolffe meant safety to her.

He had a little facial hair starting to make itself known above the surface of his skin. She wasn't sure if it was because a beard was a common secondary sex characteristic or if it was a Cathar thing, but the image of him with facial hair of any length would definitely be a thought she'd keep for when she had some time alone. She watched Wolffe as she laid on the bed until she realised how hard she was fighting her eyes in their quest to close. She realised she wouldn't be able to stay awake if she stayed laying down, so she started to sit and reposition herself. Quietly, of course. She didn't want to wake Wolffe. Outside of the fact doing so would simply be rude, she made sure not to wake him because she found watching him rest strangely comforting.

The Force, as it'd had a way of being for the past couple of years, was against her decision. Whether it was the decision to sit or the decision to not wake Wolffe, she was not privy to. All she knew was as she bent at the hips, to sit up, a burning ripped through her left hip and seeped into the surrounding area. She couldn't help the pained whine she yelped out. It, of course, caused Wolffe to suddenly wake up. She silently watched him as he gained some awareness of the situation. She was still to find a comfy position to sit in , as if stillness would fix awaking Wolffe.

Wolffe knew that the time she was passed out for wouldn't be long but he still hadn't been able to resist sleep. Though, he was still there when she'd woken up which would have to be enough. He'd let Ventress escape, unable to think of anything but getting Ryn to a medic. There'd been a chance to end it all. He could've killed the Sith that had scarred him but he didn't. He'd been so scared of the power he held that he'd needed her reassurance and hadn't acted quick enough. He'd hesitated on the battlefield and it'd resulted in her getting hurt. She was in that bed because of him.

What was worse was when the medic had found healing puncture wounds on her hip where the lightsaber had hit her. The conclusion had been that it'd probably been from her own claws. The thought of it was unreal. She was a Jedi. She was strong and a path of broken clankers always led to her. So, she wouldn't.

"Hi." It was the only thing Doryn could think to say. She wasn't thinking about Ventress and the failed mission, or the safety of Comet and Wildfire and Sprint. Her thoughts were about Wolffe and she couldn't exactly tell him about that. She knew he'd never accept her apology for waking him up. She could probably get him to cuddle her, but it wasn't like the long stay she'd had before. Someone would probably come soon.

"Ryn, don't." Wolffe shook his head a little. He somehow sounded more disappointed than normal. Doryn wasn't sure what she'd done to make him say her name in that tone, but she never wanted to do it again. "Don't what?" She asked. Her head tilted a little as she searched his face for clues to the issue. She wanted to know what she did. She wanted to make it better. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door slid open to Master Plo.

"Ah, you're awake." The low humming tone of the Kel Dor's anti-ox mask's vocoder sounded. Both Wolffe and Doryn turned to him, as if the conversation from before his entry was completely forgotten. Though it wasn't. Both felt the almost tense encounter vibrating just under their skin. Plo could feel it. Just as he'd been able to feel Wolffe's tension and worry since his gunship picked up the clone and his Padawan. Or how his emotional state became even less stable when healing injuries were discovered. For as well as Wolffe managed to come across as an unshakable leader, he could never hide the truth from Plo. He knew that his Padawan felt it too. Confusion was flickering inside her, ready to aggressively seek out and consume any and all answers.

"Sir."

"Master."

Wolffe and Ryn acknowledged the General's entrance. Ryn's voice seemed just as soft and vulnerable to Wolffe as it had when she'd played dumb. Almost as if it was genuine and she actually didn't know what he was upset about. "How are you feeling, young one?" The General asked Ryn, after the door had closed behind him. Despite spending the past year with the Kel Dor, Wolffe wasn't sure if the strange way he said 'feeling' was from emphasis or the mask he wore. "My side hurts a bit, but I'm okay." She bent her right knee and held her arms around it. Her ears also folded down. It was like she was collapsing in on herself to protect herself. Whether she knew she was doing it wasn't clear to Wolffe, but she didn't seem to know.

"We will need to talk about that." Master Plo said carefully as he came to sit near Wolffe. "But I am glad you are okay." Doryn was sure she knew what he meant, really. The little accidental injury that was for the most part healed would've been noticed. It was in the same place Ventress had struck her. She was thankful that she'd be given a chance to explain that it was an accident. Though, she did wonder what the order would even do with a Jedi that intentionally injured themselves.

"This is not okay." Wolffe growled out as he stood. His fists almost shook at his sides before he thrusted one out with an extended finger toward Doryn. "She is not okay." The burning vitriol in Wolffe's glare at Master Plo was surely stronger than a star going supernova. The resulting black hole's event horizon being limited to where his gaze laid. Currently, set on drawing in and obliterating Master Plo. Doryn had to help her Master. Even if he weren't her Master, Master Plo was a good person and so was Wolffe. Wolffe would certainly come to regret anything he did against Master Plo and Doryn would be helping them both. She had to placate him. "Wolffe, I'm okay. Really, I'm okay." She tried to remember how Master Yoda had taught her clan about soothing animals. It seemed to work a little as the harshness left his eyes for a moment as he focused his gaze on her. That was until the tension returned to Wolffe's face. His features once again becoming separated by punctuating creases. Unnecessary stress for the brave man, which was all her fault.

Wolffe couldn't help the way that it burst out of him. He wasn't angry with her. It was more a manifestation of his self-hatred that made it all boil over with some words that were meant to soothe him and how she looked at him with those eyes. the eyes that let him know that he'd failed in his mission to protect her. "Skewering yourself isn't okay. Or would you be happy if Comet stabbed himself?" He kicked himself over how obvious he'd made his jealousy, though it seemed to go unnoticed. He'd've rathered if she'd noticed and hadn't looked at him like that. the flinch. the slight fear. the shit feeling sinking in his chest. "It was an accident." She argued back. She sounded even more like she was trying to calm him down and keep him away from anger. Though it only made it worse. It made his already bubbling self-hatred overflow. Every shortcoming he'd ever had was a personal failure against her. "You expect me to believe that?" He snapped at Ryn and unintentionally somewhat bore his teeth at her. She mirrored this by baring her own teeth which were markedly sharper than his human ones. He noticed how her head dipped as she looked up at him like she was ready to pounce. As her tongue darted across her teeth, a low warning whine came from her. It was quiet but certainly there. Wolffe thought nothing of how she could back up the obvious threat she was making. "Wolffe." The General's voice caused him to turn away from the tooka kitten that thought she could challenge him. "I think it would be best for you to leave." General Plo's words and their meaning were absolutely ridiculous to Wolffe. How could he leave without her telling him the truth? How could the General ever expect that?

"No." Wolffe told the General and turned back to Ryn. He couldn't help raising his voice a little as he asked, "Why did you do that to yourself? Huh? Are you stupid?" He saw her head raise as a furious frown came to her face. She essentially snarled her response at him. "I masturbated and my claws came out when I came. Now piss off." Her eyes narrowed at him and he realised what he'd just made her, a Jedi, admit to , in front of her Master of all people. He'd fucked up.