He huffed a bit and offered a quick, mumbled apology for his terse answer. Qix likely was worse off than he looked; from outward appearance, it wasn’t that bad seeming. He had a few bruises, some blood on his face around the edges of the synth-skin, and the cybernetic eye, now stuck in a fully ‘open’ dilated position, lent a vaguely creepy look when taken in with the large amount of bruising around the eye itself.
Force lightning, however, had a tendency to do a lot of less than visible damage.
“No need for a medcentre, really, I’ve had worse and haven’t required one and it’s not like they can fix the eye tonight anyway. The synth-skin will reattach properly in a few days—maybe if you’ve got some kolto packs that’d help with that; get it to heal up a bit faster.”
Qix shifted a bit or, rather, tried to, and the movement caused one of his arms to twitch. He swore under his breath and shook the offending arm briefly in some attempt to work that out, “That’s—gonna happen for awhile, I think. That twitching. Goes along with everything feeling like it’s still on fire, I guess,” he laughed stiffly. “If you’ve never been hit by the stuff, trust me, you don’t want to find out what it feels like.”
"I haven't ever, no. I tended to stay away from Sith," Ath said with a small smirk as he navigated the traffic. The spaceport was just coming into view, so they’d be there in just a few more minutes. "I've got got some kolto packs and some other medical things on the ship; there oughta be somethin' that'll help. And remember to take it easy a few days, yeah? You don't got nothin' to be rushin' off to."
“Pretty sure I’d have to take it easy whether I want to or not,” he rested his chin on Ath’s shoulder for the last couple minutes of the ride.
When they landed at the spaceport, Qix’s intention was to hop off of the speeder as he might normally. While he did manage to ‘hop off’ in a sense, it ended in more of a stumble and a wince. He pressed his hand to his side briefly, “Remind me, when we get up onto the ship, to check that side; I didn’t check the synth-skin there, just the stuff on my face.”
Qix reverted, almost effortlessly, back to the training that had kept him alive for so many years in the Republic’s military, and one of the things he always recalled was to never quite let on how injured you might actually be; the last thing he wanted was for Ath to worry more than he was already probably worrying, and the last thing he wanted to do was to contribute to that.
“It’s probably not as bad as it’ll look, the synth-skin, I mean. Might be a little bloody if any of it got torn off of its anchors, but I can re-anchor it myself unless it’s really messed up, yeah?” He smiled or, at least, tried to smile at Ath, though it likely looked more of a grimace than a genuine smile, “Hey, at least the eye quit smoking, that’s a positive. I can still smell it though.”
"Not to be annoyin', but maybe I can help you out with that?" Ath asked. He hopped off the speeder and stepped back over to Qix to give him a look-over. "I've got a bit of basic medical knowledge. I kind of had to figure that out with all the fightin' in the ring, y'know? And I've got a protocol droid on the ship that could help, too."
Ath tried not to look too startled by Qix's injuries now that he could see more clearly in the brighter light of the spaceport. He wasn't too unaccustomed to bruises, blood, broken bones, and the like, but it was different when it was a friend and not—say—some opponent. Ath gently put an arm around Qix's less injured side and lead him into the port. The hangar wasn't far now.
Qix nodded, trying not to obviously limp as they walked, “You can help, yeah; I mean, some of it’s just going to take time and all, but with the visible stuff it’d be nice. Uh—“ he absently scratched the good side of his face, “So, just to, nah, you probably don’t need much of a warning but I’ll give one anyway. If the synth-skin’s all torn up on my one side, it’s going to be kind of a meaty, bloody, awful looking mess.”
He sighed, though it came out as more of an annoyed huff again, “It’ll look worse than it is, and it all presses back down and reattaches pretty easily, it just looks…bad. It probably won’t be burned, the stuff on my face didn’t burn, but the skin around it might be.” Qix frowned and leaned on Ath slightly, “I’m surprised I didn’t get any teeth knocked out; the Rattataki one could punch. It was the Cathar that got me with the lightning, though. Probably lucky she didn’t take her claws to me after.”
"Yeah, that is pretty lucky, man!" Ath said. "I'll brace myself for if you look a lot worse than you say you do, too." He helped Qix in through the hangar and then to his freighter ship, up the ramp and in through the door. There was a small medical unit in the ship and Ath's protocol droid was ready and waiting.
"I'll take your lead if that's cool," Ath continued, "since you know your cybernetics and synth-skin things better than I do." He went ahead and brought out the medical kit to assist Qix.
“It’s probably not too bad, considering I haven’t bled through my shirt and jacket—uh—as far as I can tell,” he frowned and removed one of his gloves to touch the shirt, “…right so maybe it’s a little damp. Still, step up from soaked, yeah?” Qix managed a small, slightly sheepish smile as he removed the other glove, the jacket, and eventually the shirt. He sunk down onto the edge of the medical unit’s bed, finally starting to look tired as opposed to inappropriately energetic and alert.
Looking at him, it was clear where the Sith had hit him. Forks and branches of ‘lightning’ ran across and up his abdomen and chest; the skin itself was intact, albeit slightly burned, and the synth-skin was mostly intact. Qix grumbled at the loose pieces and started pressing them down and stretching them back up to match to the edges of his actual skin, “It’s still kind of surreal to be able to just press skin back into place, even though I know it’s synth-skin and that’s how it works.”
He started to reach for a kolto pack, then stopped and looked up at Ath, “So, yeah, around the edges, where I just pushed the synth-skin back into place, that could probably use some kolto on it. Don’t think it’ll help for the rest of the burns as they’re not…surface burns, for the most part. Could you check and see that I got it all first? I can’t turn my head far enough to compensate for an eye being out.”
Ath frowned a bit and nodded, stepping over to see if Qix had missed any areas, and then takes a couple of packs of kolto patches to apply to him. "There's a little bit here but I think I can get it for you," he said and went in to push the synth-skin back into place. After he had finished that, Ath took the patches and applied them along the edges where the synth-skin met his real skin, and anywhere else that looked damaged.
"How's your head doin'?" He asked, looking up at Qix.
“Honestly?” Qix’s shoulders slumped just a tiny bit, “I can barely see straight and certainly can’t think very straight—or at least, at the level as to what I consider thinking straight. I might’ve preferred they just shot me and left or something, it’d be less painful.”
“But, I’m all right, really,” he amended quickly, “head’s probably going to be throbbing for awhile, though. The smell of burnt electronics can fade any time, but I bet that’ll take a few days as well.” Qix smiled at Ath, then immediately winced as a full smile tugged just a bit too much at recently repaired facial synth-skin.
“Okay, not doing that again,” he shook his head slowly, “Guess I can only do a one-sided smile.”
“Hey, look, after you’re sure I’ve got everything as patched up as it can be, do you want to just go lie down and maybe put on a holo or something? Sitting isn’t really working out all that well.”
"Yeah, that's fine with me, man," Ath smiled, and finished applying the rest of the bandages, and then put the kit away. "I'll grab you some painkillers— Oh, would a cold pack help you out?"
“Painkillers probably. Cold pack would just warm up anyway,” Qix shrugged and slowly pushed himself up off of the little med area’s bed, “Sorry about all this, by the way, I didn’t exactly agree to a ‘brawl’.”
He moved past Ath, heading for the proper ship’s bedroom to curl up, somehow managing to just barely limp, “I thought they’d left, actually. When I came outside the two of them jumped me as soon as I got away from the Cartel guard patrols. Bet if they’d fought fair I’d have won; the Cathar only got nasty after I bloodied up her Rattataki friend.”
Ath grabbed some water and painkillers from the little med-unit and then followed Qix out to the bedroom. "It wasn't your fault, man; you don't gotta apologise for it. Anyway, they didn't kill you or maim you even worse. Not everyone walks away from a fight with a pair of Sith in as good a shape as you."
“Still kind of puts a damper on the night,” Qix laughed as he carefully lowered himself onto the bed, “and I think she didn’t kill me because she was just way too drunk to still think of it as anything but a ‘brawl’…or she was pissed about her friend but not, like, homicidally pissed,” he drew a sharp breath while adjusting his position a little.
“I know I got the Rattataki pretty good at least!” He gave Ath a lopsided smile, taking care, this time, to not make the movements with the injured side of his face. Qix scooted over toward the center of the bed to make room for Ath to sit or lie down if he wanted to, “Maybe for holos we could skip things that have a lot of—uh—bloody fights? Can’t say I’m really in the mood for that sort of thing right now.” It was a lame attempt at a joke, but still an attempt.
“Guessing she never fought a Twi’lek though. Most people go right for the lekku if they have, and she went for the face instead. I went for the jewellery,” he gingerly fished around in one of the pockets of his trousers and, when he removed his hand and opened it, there were several pieces of bloody silver rings and studs.
“I think that’s about the point the Cathar got pissed off,” Qix managed a sharp-toothed, one-sided grin.
"We can find some comedy without fightin', I got those," Ath said. He took a seat on the bed and then held the glass of water and painkillers out to Qix. "Rattataki are tough, man; but I'm real glad they didn't grab you by the lekku. Wish I could've got there sooner so I could've helped out, though."
"Oh, yeah, if she'd got my lekku I'd have gone down pretty fast—though might've got off a little easier if I just fell over," he took the offered items and wasted no time getting the painkillers down.
"Rattataki are pretty tough, at least, when they're sober..." Qix trailed off and stayed quiet for a minute, "Okay so, I was thinking, maybe you should lie down next to me?"
"Heh, I will, man; I was just waitin' for you to be finished with the glass," Ath smiled, took the empty glass from Qix, and put it aside before lying down on the bed beside him. He took the remote for the holo-viewer, too, so they could find something not too annoying to watch.
Qix, after a few minutes of staying still and where he was, scoots over toward Ath. He then worms his way under one of Ath's arms, settling with the good side of his face laying on Ath's chest.
Not exactly the best position for watching holos, considering it left his blind eye up, but it beat laying on the torn up side of his face. Eventually, Qix managed to get somewhat comfortable and relaxed.
"If I get too heavy, let me know, yeah?"
"I'll let you know, yeah," Ath smiled and gave Qix a gentle squeeze. He turned the holo-viewer on, looking around for something for them to watch. "You'll let me know if somethin's too noisy or loud for you, too, yeah?
“I’m surprised I can hear over the ringing in that side,” he sounded a tiny bit sulky as he said that, “Heh, you could try to turn the ringing down in my head, but I’m guessing that’s probably just something that’ll have to go away on its own.”
Qix shifted again, trying to find a more comfortable position; after a few tries, it became clear that there wasn’t going to be anything approaching a ‘pain-free’ way to lay, so he settled on what seemed to be the least painful of the options. If nothing else, it gave him a good, clear view of Ath’s arm and part of his chest. He kept the bad eye facing up, mostly on account of that side of his face having synth-skin that had been recently tacked back down, and made a point to keep that lid closed as much as he could so Ath didn’t have to stare into a dead, mechanical eye should he look down.
“It’s a good thing you’re wearing a shirt that I like since it’s the main thing I get to look at right now.”
It was an attempt at a joke, even if it was a pretty awful one.
“I could take it off, but you only just got comfortable,” Ath chuckled lightly.
“Nah. I’d be—“ he paused for a minute, “probably a lot less relaxed if it was just me here anyway. Hey, you doing okay?”
“I’m all right! I was just worried about you there. Really glad you’re okay—well, mostly.”
“Mostly glad I’m okay, or glad I’m mostly okay?” Qix managed a quiet, very subdued laugh, so as to keep movement to a minimum; it didn’t seem to work very well as he winced anyway.
“So—“ he began after another length of silence, “I doubt I’m going to get all that much sleep tonight, maybe just on and off sleep, but I don’t want you letting that keep you from sleeping. I swear I won’t be offended or anything if you drift off.”
“Glad that you’re mostly okay,” Ath smirked. “If I do doze off and you need somethin’, though, don’t worry about wakin’ me up, all right? I hope you get some sleep, though, Qix.”
For awhile, Qix stays quiet, more listening to the holo than watching it. Eventually, he turns his head and rests his chin on Ath's chest and looking up at him.
"You're a great guy, you know that, right?" Even now Qix somehow manages to flush slightly after saying that; whether he realises it or not isn't clear, however.
“Heh, thanks,” Ath smiles. “You’re great, too, man.”
Qix shakes his head just a little, "No, I mean—I mean, yeah, I'm not bad either, but, I don't know what I mean I guess." He stays where he is with his chin resting on Ath's chest, "I'm just happy, y'know? Almost makes me forget that literally every physical part of me hurts right now."
“I’m glad I can make you happy, Qix. You make me happy too even though you got me all worried back there,” Ath chuckles a little.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I mean, I knew you'd find out whether I told you or your just saw me; thought it might be easier on you to tell you rather than just show up and have it be a really awful looking surprise."
Qix settled back with the good side of his face laying on Ath's chest again, "If this were Balmorra, they'd have slapped some kolto and a few stitches on me and probably sent me right back out. Feels kind of weird to just be able to—rest, I guess." He started to yawn but managed to catch himself in time before the motion hurt his face too badly.
