Medical Bay

Xolani’s golden eyes had been trained on the line of people waiting to the vaccinated for a little while, because he tended to have a particularly statuesque lack of movement.

It came largely from being raised by a member of a species that saw needless motion as equivalent to shouting, but it also meant his gaze stayed focused on a rather limited area for long periods of time when his guard was lowered. In this particular instance, the target of his focus was the handful of sad children awaiting their vaccines and the less miserable but somehow even more dubious older Jedi. The fact was that he couldn’t help but realize how much he stood out beside his master; with such a distinctly defined age group he couldn’t imagine that it was necessary to receive the immunization outside of either group.

His arms slowly moved up and crossed over his chest, claws dragging ever so slightly against the fabric as the doctor began to clean off his equipment. He hated the smell of the disinfectant; it was too strong and too chemical to his senses...the sort of scent that lingered with him when he’d left a place like a bad taste in the back of his throat. He let his thoughts slowly push towards Fara’s so that he wouldn’t have to speak to her. It was a practiced motion to force his own thoughts past the ones in the front of her mind and make them take precedence.

It gave him an odd feeling to shove through her sight and her thoughts and dominant her mind entirely for a moment.

Fara’s thoughts seemed to close off from him like a series of doors being slammed shut on his fingers, ceasing his ability to pry past the quick gaze at what she saw surrounding them (a colorless world, surrounded by dead matter, and glowing sparks of the force.) He savored the sensation of her sight more than he ought to have; the cleanness and organization of her vision and the refinement of her thoughts. She was calm and unworried while he was unhappy with something as petty as this. He closed his doors to her prying as quickly as he had opened hers to share them. He wouldn’t have her realize how childish he was being.

Fara could see the ripple of Kith’s fur through the movement of his shape in her vision; he was expressing something to her but her knowledge of the Bothans was too limit to pick up the actual meaning behind it. It was not unlike watching plants blow in the wind and trying to assign a meaning to that motion past ‘the wind blows this way.’ There was simply no point, no matter how beautiful a meaning one might have created for it.

“I’m well, Doctor Zikri'Pek.” Fara greeted him. “The fracture has set without issue as you assured me.”

To Kith, the Zabrak beside her might have offered a surprisingly different odor than might have been expected from the large group of individuals so desperate to become anything but individual. He smelled not unlike Fara’s lightly scented soap; a mingling of the perceived “indulgent” delicate floral scent combined with the plain clean cloth of his attire. There was another scent to him as well, something that lingered and was likely familiar like oil for cracked skin. The location was immediately evident when one noticed how carefully sanded and polished his horns appeared to be.

Xolani inhaled at the doctor’s words but didn’t speak to offer any response to the statement; he was practiced in not speaking out of turn with his master. He wasn’t such a basic and uncultured thing that he believed every insult merited a response. He was not meant to be offended for his own sake because his decisions were not meant to serve his own wants and needs. She would act for him if it was necessary but his limitless pride had no place being wounded by a lesser creature’s words. The Bothan’s opinion of him did not matter and it was beneath him to allow it any further thought.

“You must be aware that Zabrak do not have a larval stage. They begin their cycle as rather large infants.” Fara noted with a touch of fondness, hand coming to rest ever so carefully on the sleeve of her disciple. Still and silent like the grave. She could see into his thoughts as easily as if she hadn’t forced their bond unnaturally; she could have created no tighter bond in the womb than this one . She could feel that momentary shove of his temper before he found the familiar deference to her, and she rewarded it with what he desired most. “But you’re quite correct; I have found Xolani to be quite adept in matters of the force.”

Perhaps not so much in matters of their order’s politics.

Rage coursed off of Xolani in such evident waves that it struck Fara straight to her core as hot as fire; she could feel the anger boiling over from him and being released outwards as readily as he could force it from himself. He cast it as far from himself as he could and she picked up the various workings of his thoughts quickly. He was no ‘smaller lifeform’ than a Bothan and it infuriated him to hear such a phrase as if he were a lesser creature than the one that stood before him. He was not smaller in any way, not lesser, no...he was. He was less because he was not meant to exist in singularity. He was meant to tear each piece of himself apart till all that was left of him was unity.

Not a bit of the struggle touched his features and he remained silent, golden eyes fixed calmly on the medic in front of him.

“At your convenience.” Fara insisted to Kith, fingers running down Xolani’s arm a single time before she let her hand fall away entirely. She could feel the struggle to find peace through their tie. It had been simple to him when he was younger and there was no one in his world that mattered but her; when unity had been as simple as their force bond and he had been unbothered by the knowledge and existence of the rest. It was a greater struggle now. She prodded at his mind to open himself more fully to her presence once more, satisfaction washing over her as he did so without hesitation. She cherished his obedience.

“It was notably uneventful.” Fara replied to Kith’s questions about her last mission; she was notably tight lipped about everything that she was ordered to do. She didn’t think that it would have been particularly practical of her to go about telling everyone things about her work. It was especially unsuitable for a Jedi to babble when there were often controversies behind the actions of the order and the Bothan had such a reputation for pocketing little details that might be useful for blackmail. As it stood now, there was only a small number of people who knew what she was doing and that made things so much neater than they might have been otherwise.

Xolani remained quiet and largely unreadable until his master unfastened the front of her robes and slipped them down her arms for the doctor. Her free hand held the front to keep it closed over her breasts effectively, so that only her shoulders and upper arms were bared to the room. Nevertheless, Xolani took a step to move behind her and shield her from any gaze other than Kith’s when she did. It was a pointless motion to make in a room filled with Jedi, but he valued her modesty greatly enough to dismiss the notion that all of them had conquered their lust.

Fara could feel the slight frustration in Xolani’s breathing; he didn’t like to be spoken of as if he were unable to understand them. It wounded his dignity to be referred to as if he were this unintelligent creature that was no different than some sort of pet, even when he often did come across as some sort of guard dog. “A good relationship is built on mutual respect.” She informed Kith. “Those who lack this trait will not have a functional dynamic that fosters the teachings of our order.”

She fixed her garments the moment that Kith had finished, taking a moment to feel her top to ensure that it was in proper order. She rose then and motioned for Xolani to come and take her place instead. “Everything is in order.” She assured the doctor, hand coming out to run over the zabrak’s hair like a parent might with a very small child. It looked rather odd, however, when it was applied in their situation. “I would never allow my own negligence to risk the good health of my charge.”

Xolani reached up to his own top with clawed fingers and unfastened it enough to push downwards on one shoulder. He was still silent and evidently displeased. He’d have rather broken a horn off than been here any longer.