When the Cavalry Comes.

XXIII

Cav swore as she stuck herself with a needle, dropping the blacks she was working on and sucking on her thumb.

"What are you working on, Cav?" Kix asked from the desk on the other side of the room. He and Jesse had moved it in there together after deciding that Kix needed to get out of his office and Cav needed company when Fives was working.

"Girly oisk." She rasped.

"Of what sort?" He glanced up from his paperwork. She cleared her throat a bit.

"Sewing." She said with disgust, shaking the blacks out that she was working on resizing to fit her. She really didn't mind the work, finding it relaxing and good to do when she ran out of other small projects. She also enjoyed being dramatic though. "You guys are massive and blacks don't exactly come in my size." Her voice was shot at the end of the sentence and she started coughing into her elbow again.

"Don't strain your vocal cords, write if you need to." Kix scolded. "Do you really have to resize all your clothes?"

She shrugged, taking a drink of the hot water in a cup by her bedside to sooth her scratchy voice.

"Most." She picked up the needle again and rethreaded it, working on the cuff of the sleeve. She was grateful for the white thread she had managed to obtain from a storeroom, thread used often to mark machinery by the mechanics. It helped her see her stitches better.

"We should get you working with sutures then. It would be a great help planetside." Kix commented, sighing and swapping the datachips in his pad. Cav scribbled a short message on the paper pad nearby, crumpling the paper and chucking it at Kix.

"Ow! I'm beginning to think you just like using me as target practice." He grumbled as he smoothed the paper out.

'Yeah, not my forte. Would rather be fighting than medic-ing. Also, learn to sign and I won't have to use the paper ball method, di'kut.' It read.

"You're not even supposed to know how. That's for officers and ARCs." Kix scoffed.

Cav gave a hoarse chuckle and chucked another wadded up paper at him.

'What? Chief medic isn't an officer?'

"Oh laugh it up. I will revoke your paper privileges." Kix threatened. Cav gulped at the hot water again.

"Guess I'll just have to talk some more." She rasped.

"Absolutely not."

Another wad of paper was chucked at him.

"It doesn't even have thing on it!" He protested. Another blank paper smacking him in the face. He swept the mess of papers into the waste bin. "I thought you had 'Girly oisk' to do." He growled.

"Funsucker." She croaked, going back to her sewing. Finishing the one sleeve she moved to the other one.

"I'm plenty fun!" Kix protested. Cav sneered and scribbled something on another paper that got thrown at his face. Kix glanced at the snide remark and rolled his eyes, tossing it into the trash bin. "Wow. Real mature, Cav." He caught the next ball of paper, this one full of nothing but strong mando'a words. "Wow. We got a real sailor on board. A sailor with the maturity of a cadet."

"'M older than you, Kix." She coughed. Cav stuck the the needle she was working with in the mattress next to her. "Bored."

"The jedi did something stupid." Kix said. "Mission's gone wrong and they've been captured. Kenobi and Rex are confirmed to have been sent to a slave facility while Anakin was sold to the queen. No word on Ahsoka." Kix sighed and scrubbed at his scalp wearily. "They're all going to need therapy after this and heaven knows there isn't a registered one on board."

"Ouch." She commented dryly.

"Yeah 'ouch.' Especially since getting any of them to be touchy feely is going to be like pulling teeth." He slammed his head onto the desk and groaned. "Why can't I have a normal jedi with healthy coping mechanisms, good injury awareness, and clear boundaries on their limits so they don't regularly put themselves in comas?"

Another paper was chucked at him. Cav's aim was getting good.

"What do you mean those don't exist? There must be one sane and normal jedi in the order!" Kix ranted. Another paper. "Ok. Now you're just annoying me."

"I like doing that." She rasped, giggling a bit.

"So it would seem. I'm going to go ahead now and make sure we have four bacta tanks set aside for them. No clue on how bad of a condition they will be in." He stood from his chair and stretched, joints popping. "Would you like to come be useful and help?"

Cav snickered and shook her head. "'M good."

Kix rolled his eyes. "Really? The one time you have the option of getting out of bed and you don't take it? How many times have I had to carry you back because you snuck out and got tired somewhere and bothered either me or Fives to come get you?"

Two more papers pelted him.

"Will you stop with the blank papers already?"

Another paper.

"Oh my anemic kriffing stars you're being annoying." He pinched his brow. Cav just smiled sweetly, catching Kix's own slight smile and knowing she really wasn't bothering him too much. The door opened and Fives walked in, typing rapidly on his datapad. Kix gave an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Oh thank manda you're here. Cav really is your Vod'ika." He patted Fives on the shoulder as he walked by. "Your problem now. Got medic stuff to to." He turned to leave but didn't make it out the door before another paper hit him in the back of the head, making Cav laugh.

Fives flopped in Kix's chair at the desk and propped his feet up.

"Right. Let's review." He said. "Did you annoy Kix to the best of your ability without actually irritating or hurting him?"

Cav signed a quick yes.

"Did you do everything in your power to be a horrible patient while not actually being dangerous to yourself?"

Another quick yes. Fives's grin widened.

"Last question. Did you remember where the firecrackers are hidden?"

Cav grinned. "Of course!" She rasped. Fives helped her to her feet.

"Want to cause mayhem?"

"Abso-kriffing-lutely."