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Trapped

Relationships: Cal Kestis & Prauf

Content Warnings: Blood and Injury, Child Abuse

Summary:

The job of scavenger falls to those small enough to crawl into small spaces and under machines. When Prauf meets a surprisingly young looking one, he can't help but worry about the human. A version of how Prauf and Cal might have met.

Written for Cal Kestis Week 2025 day 1: Bracca

Word count: 2,927

Read on Ao3

"Prauf!" a voice comes, just as the Abednedo wanted to sit down for a moment. With a groan, he rights himself, cracking his back in the process. Nearly ten hours he'd been working already, with only a short lunch break to allow him some rest. But that's just what life's become since the empire. Just a few months ago, Prauf's life had been completely different, nothing like this. "Here," he replies, walking towards the source of the voice. The pantoran seems vaguely familiar to Prauf, though he hasn't work with her often.

Prauf had been assigned to a different area of the ship breaking yard than his usual scrapping crew and he'd yet to memorize any names or faces, mostly working alone. He'll be glad once he's back with his team, finding himself missing the familiarity. "Foreman said to get you. Says you're the best engineer that's close by." She's a little out of breath as she comes to a halt, hands pressed in her side. "Speed smelter's stuck." Prauf swears, quickly following the pantoran. He'd been aware of the last scrap work being done on a Venator's wing, everything of value having been removed.

These smelters, large metal monstrosities that can be moved where they're needed, have been a newer addition to Bracca as well. The hulls of ships are fed into them, spat out as hastily melted and compressed cubes to be transported. Whilst Prauf appreciates their speed, they're volatile things with a tendency to cause trouble. Pieces of scrap often get stuck in their exposed gears, especially underneath them. There's a group of scrappers crowded around the smelter in various stages of annoyance and frustration, a foreman droid yelling orders as it spots Prauf approaching. "Fix this, or everyone's pay is being cut!" Prauf assures it that he'll get the job done, making the foreman clear off. That's another part of the new job Prauf greatly dislikes. These droids add little to the actual work, only coming in to dish out orders and threaten you. There are at least seven scrappers around the smelter, some having abandoned their posts in the cranes used to feed metal to the smoking machine in front if them.

The speed smelter groans and grinds, but its metal jaws are motionless. Prauf walks around it, trying to asses the issue. He comes to a halt when he finds one scrapper kneeling beside the machine, tilting her head as she peers under it. "You find the problem?" Prauf asks her. The twi'lek, looking worn and tired, looks back at him, before turning back to the machine. "Helps here," she says, leaving Prauf to wonder what she's talking to. Before he can ask, another pantoran interrupts him, male by the looks of it. He huffs. "Some useless scavenger got stuck under there, and now we're all gonna get our pay docked cause of his incompetence." He raises his voice as he speaks, enunciating his insults clearly. Like he wants someone to hear them, someone stuck under multiple tons of heavy machinery. "Shut up, Vin, you weren't helpin' either," the twi'lek hisses. Others murmur in agreement with her, but some voices join Vin's. Prauf ignores them all, focused only on his job. His heart drops at the knowledge that someone's life likely rests on his shoulders now. Moving to the other side of the smelter, Prauf kneels on the ground. The job of scavenger is reserved for those small enough to crawl in tight spaces or under machinery, a horribly dangerous occupation, often costing workers limb or life. But this scavenger doesn't just look small, he looks young as well. A human with red hair is trapped between the gears on the machine's underbelly and the wet ground, arm stuck somewhere above him. It's hard to make out just how badly he's stuck in the dim light. Prauf gets out his torch. "Hey there, what's your name?" Prauf asks, shining the light about the underside of the smelter as he tries to keep the scavenger distracted. The human's arm is stuck between a twisted piece of the hull and a couple gears, threatening to drag the limb into the machine and tearing it apart.

The damage doesn't seem too bad as of now, but Prauf is well aware that that could change any moment. When he's called, the scavenger tries to turn and look at Prauf, barely able to do so in the cramped space. Tear tracks across his cheeks glint in the light of Prauf's torch. "Cal," he mumbles, green eyes wide with fear and pain. "Nice to meet you, I'm Prauf." Taking time to study how the mechanics of the smelters lower engine works, Prauf keeps talking to the boy.

They're not allowed to turn the smelter off, that would mean interrupting work further to have to reheat it once more. Prauf doesn't know why he's surprised by that. Of course the Guild would value efficiency over the lives of their workers. Cal's got to be removed first. Worker safety isn't the guild's priority, but it matters to Prauf. Especially with how young this human looks. He can't possibly be an adult yet. After conversations with other scrappers and further inspection of the machine, Prauf devises a plan. The issue with this type of smelter is they overheat. That means Prauf can't unscrew the side of it and reach through there to dislodge the scrap pinning Cal's hand.

The other issue is that once the scrap is removed, Cal's arm might be sucked into the gears, even if just freeing that section up won't get the smelter running again. The best course of action is sill removing that scrap first, but the twi'lek will have to drag Cal out immediately after. She introduces herself as Milena to Prauf in the brief time they talk.

Vin complains about this plan of course, telling Prauf to forget about Cal and just fix the machine. The Abednedo isn't one to judge others harshly without knowing them, but he's confident he will never like this pantoran. "Ready Cal?" Prauf asks, getting a hesitant nod from the boy in response. "It'll be over in a moment." Just for Cal to have to do similarly dangerous things the next day, Prauf thinks darkly, keeping the thought to himself. Prauf counts down for them before yanking at the scrap metal firmly. Cal gasps in pain, but is being dragged out from under the machine by Milena already. Only, he doesn't go all the way. With another sharp intake of breath, Cal remains halfway under the smelter. His hair, Prauf notices, has gotten caught in some of the machinery too. Swearing, Prauf reaches under the speed smelter, knife in hand. With an apology, he cuts the boy's hair as far away from his head as possible. Sighing in relief at seeing the boy free, Prauf momentarily ignores his duties to check on him, only to notice that Cal is already gone. That should be the end of it for Prauf. If he worried about every one of his co-workers, he'd be doing so all day. But Cal refuses to leave the Abednedos mind. Not as he reluctantly returns to the smelter, managing to free the other obstructions that trapped its gears with Milena's help. Not as he finally gets his short break to sit down for a moment. Not even as he continues to work himself. The thought of Cal, clearly a child, working for the guild eats away at Prauf. Before the Empire, you wouldn't have seen anything like it. Are his parents on the yard as well? Did they know he could have died under a smelter today? It seems the universe wasn't going to let Prauf forget about Cal either, as just at the end of his shift, the boy crosses his path. Cal freezes when Prauf calls his name, drawing his hood over his head, covering his now unevenly cut hair. He doesn't run away though. "You alright? How's the hand?" It's the first time Prauf's seen Cal fully. Even if the boy were standing upright, as opposed to his current hunched posture, he'd only reach to about the middle of Prauf's chest. Cal shrugs. "It's good. That's for saving me, sir." His voice shakes slightly in a way that doesn't ease any of Prauf's fears. He crouches down in front of the human, who's eyes are still glued to the floor. "No need for all that," Prauf laughs, "I'm just glad you're okay." That makes Cal look up, eyes wide. "Really? You're not mad?" "Why would I be?" Now that Cal's looking at him, Prauf can see under his hood. There's a scar on his right cheek, barely healed. What's more pressing than that is the dark bruise forming on Cal's left cheek. That certainly hadn't been there earlier. Prauf's got a suspicion that Vin might be behind the bruise. "Almost made you lose credits," he mumbles, fidgeting with the hem of his too large poncho. There's blood caked on his hands. Did he get his injury looked at at all? "You were doing your job." Cal nods along to Praufs words, but the engineer gets the feeling the words don't get through. "Say, you had someone treat that hand yet?" Cal stiffens, fear crossing his expression. "It's fine, really!" "Can I see?" Prauf doesn't expect Cal to comply. He looks jumpy, like he might bolt any moment, and Prauf barely knows him. But after shifting on his feet for a few moment, Cal lifts his right hand up. Even in the low light, Prauf can't help but hiss in sympathy. An ugly gash is slashed across his palm, similar scrapes mirroring it on the back of his hand. It hasn't even been wrapped, dirt caught in the wound. The only mercy is that Cal hasn't lost any fingers, nor do the bones seem broken. "Hell Cal, that'll go septic. You need to have that treated." Bracca was never the cleanest of places, dust always blowing through the streets, but now, that's only gotten worse. An open injury like that is just asking for an infection. Cal starts shaking his head, pulling away from Prauf. "No, no." He shakes his head. "No medic."

"No medic, promise!" Prauf doesn't like the idea, but if he pushes now, Cal will likely refuse any help Prauf offers. "But if you'd let me take a look, I have a first aid kit on me." Prauf hopes Cal has parents or someone that cares for him, but he can't leave him like this. Getting involved is a bad idea, but even if Cal has family, he's in a bad situation. The least the Abednedo could do is not let him go home with a contaminated wound from being forced to crawl under heavy machinery. Cal hesitates for a moment, but then nods. It'd not sanitary, but Prauf decides to look at Cal's hand on the side of the road. He knows little of the human, so taking him anywhere unfamiliar would likely set alarm bells off in Cal's head. So the crate at the side of the road will have to do. Prauf places the first aid kit down next to Cal, letting him look into it. It's a sorry little thing, barely anything but the bare minimum of disinfectant and bandages. Anything fancier than that'll cost you an arm and a leg, or at the very least, more than half your pay check. At least Prauf knows the disinfectant is safe to use on humans. He wouldn't know about most other things. Soaking a gauze pad in the sharp smelling liquid, Prauf waits for Cal to offer him his hand. Prauf's glad for his years as an engineer training him to have steady hands as he wipes the cut on Cal'd palm. The boy flinches and whimpers, but holds still. It almost breaks Praufs heart. He really, really hopes Cal has someone looking after him, even if that's starting to seem more and more unlikely. Cal's sleeve slides up at some point, showing off another bruise, a worryingly hand-shaped one. It's so dark, it nearly blends with the guild tattoo. Prauf pretends not to see it for the moment, but Cal still hastily rights his sleeve. "That alright?" Prauf asks as he wraps Cal's hand, not wanting to restrict the blood flow to the limb. Cal nods, eyes focused on Prauf's face cautiously. Prauf can't help but draw a comparison between Cal and a frightened animal, the way he sits there, observing quietly whilst making himself look even smaller than he is.

Whilst the Abednedo is hardly an expert on humans, he can tell Cal is a child, yet his eyes seem to hold far more knowledge of hardship and pain than anyone his age should. "How old are you, Cal?" Prauf says as he ties off the end of the bandage around Cal's writs, cautious not to put too much pressure on the concealed bruise. "Just turned sixteen," Cal says, looking away from Prauf as he speaks. Prauf almost has to laugh. Either he's got a very wrong idea of how humans age, or Cal is lying through his teeth. Calling him out on the fact won't help either of them though, so Prauf just nods. "Right. Where are you staying?" Cal glares at him, pulling his hand away from Prauf. "Why do you want to know?" "Sorry, sorry, I can be too chatty for my own good." Prauf raises his hands, shuffling backwards a little to give the kid space. It's a lie, the Abednedo generally being on the quiet side, but he doesn't want to spook Cal.

The boy has good instincts at least, not sharing too much about himself with a stranger. Makes Prauf wonder what forced him to learn that instinct so young though. He hopes it's just cautious caretakers that taught him that lesson. The fight in Cal dies down, leaving him staring downwards once again. "I'm done here," Prauf says, Cal immediately standing up. "There's just one thing I'd like to ask you, then I'll leave you alone." Cal tenses again, expression almost panicked as he looks up at Prauf. The Abednedo almost curses at how he'd managed to set the boy on edge again. "What do you want?" Cal's voice holds no accusation in it this time, closer to resignation in tone. A uneasy feeling settles in Prauf's stomach when he realizes Cal's expecting him to demand something in return for the small amount of help Prauf offered. "Just wanted to ask who hit you," Prauf quickly continues, gesturing to Cal's face. He still hopes that Cal has family on Bracca, but the more time he spends with the kid, the more Prauf worries what kind of people they would be when Cal acts the way he does. Cal shrugs. "Doesn't matter." "Does to me. Scrappers have to stick together. The guild doesn't care about us, so the least we can do is have each others backs." If Cal was a regular co-worker of his, Prauf would offer reassurance through a hand on his shoulder. Prauf reckons Cal's had enough of people putting their hands on him without warning today though, so he leaves well enough alone. Shaking his head, Cal ends up dislodging his hood somewhat, showing off half of his red hair as well as his bruised face. Prauf estimates the swelling isn't done setting in yet by the looks of it. He wouldn't be surprised if Cal could barely see out of his left eye by tomorrow. "I made a mistake and Vin had to..." Cal trails off, pulling his hood over his head fully again. "He didn't have to do anything. I don't know him well, but I know people like him. Doesn't matter to him if you did something wrong or not, he just likes feeling stronger than others." Prauf watches Cal carefully, but it's hard to read his reaction without being able to see his face.

There are likely thousands of people better suited to try and help a kid in a bad situation, but Prauf ended up being the one trying to do so, so he will just have to try his best. "I'd say best to avoid people like him when ever you can. Maybe start carrying a knife too, just in case someone like him ever threatens your life." It's terrible advice, but it's the best Prauf's got to offer. Cal nods. Before Bracca changed, Prauf would have told Cal to tell someone he trusted about the abuse. Back then, things like that still mattered. Not any more though. No foreman or high ranking guild member would care if Cal came to them. "Thank you," Cal almost whispers. Prauf can't even think to respond before the boy's darted off, back onto the main path, disappearing in the crowd. Prauf doesn't sleep well that night, thoughts of the small human he met plaguing him. Should he have done more? Perhaps a better man would have. It feels like a small miracle when Prauf spots Cal again the next morning, waiting for an assignment near a foreman droid. Prauf makes sure to take jobs that require the help of a scavenger the next few days, even if they're some of the worse ones. And when Prauf is transferred back to his usual crew, he informs a foreman that they lack a scavenger, listing off why Cal specifically possesses the traits to be a good addition to their team as he does so.

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