Ours Are The Furies: There's No Crying On Jovan

[Q. Samus Dage]

A grunt, and Dage lifted the blaster up so that the butt fit into the crook of his good shoulder. He hissed out a pained breath from between clenched teeth, rose to a half-crouch, and pulled the trigger to loose a volley of blaster bolts from over the bartop at the battle droid. Two shots went wild, but the rest found their target with deadly efficiency and the thing staggered back a few steps before falling to the deck in a blinding explosion of sparks. It groaned out some sort of sad string of Cizeri words, then fell silent.

Seconds later, Dage sank back to sit, leaning against the back wall as his firearm fell into his lap. His head rocked back, then to the side as he looked to the wound on his shoulder. His free hand came up to carefully pull the burned edges of fabric away from blackened skin.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Sshoot jit sshoot jit sshoot..."

Rai blinked.

"...jit?"

She didn't hear any more shots. There wasn't any more glass spraying everywhere. Still holding her ears against the side of her face, Rai'faani carefully looked around. Samus was leaned up against the far wall, looking like he was taking a break.

"Djid jyou get jit?" she whispered, just in case he didn't.

[Q. Samus Dage]

"I got it," he grunted in answer.

Still focused on his shoulder, Samus winced as he peeled a particularly stubborn bit of cloth from where it'd stuck itself to his flesh.

"Just be quiet for a moment, ok?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

And then she saw it.

"Oh no! Oh! Ew!"

Rai'faani grimaced even as she put two hands over her mouth. Ears hanging low, she tried to avert her eyes, but looked anyway.

"Doess jit hurrt?" Rai closed her eyes as her brain caught up with exactly how stupid that question was.

[Q. Samus Dage]

He let out a long, low sigh.

"Well, it doesn't feel great," came his eventual answer.

Another grumble, and he drew his hand away, letting it fall to rest over the top of the blaster rifle as he leaned his head back, eyes closing.

They would have to be moving soon; it wouldn't be long before the lack of communication from the droids he'd destroyed was noticed by the others.

One eye cracked open, and he looked sideways at her. He blinked at the look on her features, and shifted so that he was sitting up a little bit straighter.

"You're not going to throw up, are you... ?"

Please don't throw up...

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai'faani held up a finger at his comment, opening the nearest bottle of vodka as she took a few absolutely necessary glugs from it. Only then did her pausing finger drop. She cautioned a look at his wound, averting her eyes again as she poured a good helping of vodka on the wound site.

[Q. Samus Dage]

The sting was like fire, sudden and burning. Dage bared his teeth as he grabbed the bottle, pulling it from her grasp.

"Hells girl, I already poured the whiskey on it," but in the back of his brain he had to acknowledge the apparent thoughtfulness of her action, and after another moment, gave her a casual salute with the bottle before taking a plug from it himself.

At least she had the good taste to pick a top shelf brand.

The bottle was soon enough handed back, and with a groan, Dage carefully rose to stand.

"I'll live," he reassured her.

"I've had worse."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai couldn't fully look away. She'd manage a moment, get false courage, look again, and then grimace-turn, fanning herself with a hand to banish away a sudden upswing of nausea.

"Worrsse than that? Uggghh."

The Meorrrei girl rose to her feet, retaining the bottle of comfort booze while being very mindful to avoid broken glass on her bare feet. With a feline's balance, she toe-bounced through the gaps.

"We need to get bacta. jYou look ljike jyou got a hjickejy frrom Planet Musstafarr."

And another instant nausea hit from the metaphor as Rai slapped a hand over her queasy mouth.

[Q. Samus Dage]

He followed after her, not quite as graceful, but there was still sureness to his step. A concerned look to her as she once more lifted a hand to her mouth, but in the next breath he turned away to scan the concourse around them. There was no sound; no clanking footsteps, not rolling droidekas.

Stepping past her, Dage gave her a pat to the shoulder on his way back up the stairway.

"Almost lost my leg in a scrape on Contruum during the Siege of Contris."

In an effort to ease her spirits, he gave a wink before turning back to the destroyed droid. Wrenching the carbine it still held free, he stood back up.

"You better?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"jI thjink sso, but jI djid jusst drrjink a lot of vodka, sso that mjight be whjy."

Rai'faani gave a small burp, politely behind a hand brought up to her mouth. She closed her eyes and gave a looong sigh.

"Anjy otherr grrjievouss jinjurrjiess? jI'm jimagjinjing jyou naked now and all jI ssee jiss a topogrraphjical map of Geonossjiss."

[Q. Samus Dage]

"Only map I've got on me is compliments of your sister," came the rueful chuckle.

And then his features became serious as he pushed the extra blaster rifle into her hands. He didn't fully let go though, keeping a hold on it as he locked eyes with her.

"Don't shoot unless I tell you to. Got it?"

It was more than likely a bad idea to give the girl a firearm, but the situation they were in wasn't exactly ideal, and he had to make due with his unlikely companion.

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

She rolled her eyes at the little remark of her older sister's bedroom habits.

"T'yeellaa? Pleasse, sshe'ss asss gentle asss a..."

What was this he was giving her - a gun he was giving her a gun why was he giving her a gun?!

"...Nuffjin."

She blinked, then looked up sharply at Samus, realizing what he was doing.

"Me? A gun?"

[Q. Samus Dage]

"Yes you. Yes a gun."

His grip still firmly on the barrel, he gave it a slight shake as her own hands held on shakily.

"I don't have many other options, so you're the lucky pick. Winner winner nuna dinner, girl."

His brow furrowed as his eyes bored into her.

"You do just as I say, ok?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Grimacing, Rai'faani put her hands about where she thought they should go. Where's the safety, what if it explodes, what if I shoot your eye out, what if I shoot MY eye out.

As Dage let go of the weapon, Rai frowned, as if she'd been tricked.

"jIt'ss heavjy."

Still trying to figure out how here hands were supposed to go, she held it a distance away from herself.

[Q. Samus Dage]

It's heavy??!

Dage looked at her as though she'd suddenly sprouted a second head on her shoulders.

"Well, yeah?"

He made a face, then shook his head.

"Don't worry. It's easy."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Rai cast a look Samus' way that questioned the veracity of his story, his manhood, everything.

"Eassjy forr jyou! jYou'rre ssome kjind of arrmjy...herro...man."

She squeezed her eyes shut at the stupidity of her winning retort, and flicked her ears as they opened again.

"jI don't know what to do wjith thjiss? The clossesst jI've been to a gun beforre todajy wass watchjing actjion holoss, jI..."

Her hand strayed on the grip, bumping into something that clicked, and suddenly the power supply of the rifle ejected, clattering on the floor. Rai's ears hung low in despair.

"...and jI brroke jit!"

[Q. Samus Dage]

His free hand came up despite the pain and resulting wince his action caused.

"Ssshhh, you didn't break it," he tried to show a measure of encouragement while quickly kneeling down to pick up the power supply.

"You just ejected the power cell is all. Nothing broken."

As if she was a green recruit (and in some ways she was), he made a show of pushing the unit back up into the rifle.

"See? All better."

His hand moved away then, fingers splayed as he tried to wave away her moment of panic. If he was worried over her losing her lunch before, now he was more concerned with her breaking down into tears over an ejected cell.

"Just don't push that button again, ok?"

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

Now Rai'faani held the rifle a bit closer. A bit more reassured. With a bit of relief, she nodded.

"Okajy."

Then she smiled, holding the rifle up for emphasis. I've got this.

But why was it so heavy? the Meorrrei heiress shifted her grip again. They look so light in the movies!

[Q. Samus Dage]

"Good. Good."

His hand stayed in the air, and his encouraging smile became just a little bit strained. She had a look to her that he wasn't so sure he liked. Features frozen in a half-smile, he spoke through clenched teeth.

"What's wrong."

[Rai'faani Meorrrei]

"Nothjing."

Still putting up a good face about things, Rai nodded to emphasize her suddenly can-do smile. She held the blaster a little closer now, almost cradling it.

"Jusst ljike holdjing a cub...jif that cub could kjill people."