ANH. Rebel Medical Frigate Main Medbay. Swampy Squishes

[astrotechmech]

"Wait, don't hurt it!" Smokescreen steps forward and scoops up a small frog from the ground before the nearest bot can act on their 'squish it!' impulses.

"D'aww,' Smokescreen says, taking a closer look at the animal. "It's a green-eyed tree frog."

"A Hutt Chomper? Smokescreen, you're not keeping the frog. Do you WANT Liftor angry at you?" Arcee scowls up at the husky mech. "Keeping dangerous animals for gambling is stupid!"

[What dangerous animal?!] Liftor goes from being by the door of the medbay after walking in to being on Smokescreen's shoulder faster than a person could sneeze. He looks down at it briefly for a moment before turning to Smokescreen and flatly beeping, [We are NOT keeping that thing.]

Smokescreen frowns. "They're only dangerous if they're trained up to be. I've always liked these little guys but I don't have the spark to make 'em into the killers the gambling rings make them. And this guy's too old to get the full training. He's too far past his egg stage."

Random meanwhile is sitting up on the medical table with an open panel, trying to recover from the shock of having a live organic in him. "How? When? I--" had thought he had been thoroughly cleaned out after the Bespin adventure. . . . Did he pick it up at Jabba's? But then why would he imagine he felt something in him before that? Sigh. He just came here to make sure the abuse he received in Jabba's Palace hadn't permanently damaged him. "Where did it come from?"

"These little guys make their home in hollow trees in swamps mostly," Smokescreen says, absently, as he feels the frog.

That has Random's attention. "Swamps?!"

"Oh, hang on. Not as old as I thought. 32 standard days, I'd say."

Random stops as he realizes that the mech just said that the frog was as about as old as the days it's been since he was on Dagobah.

Liftor looks at Random and then pokes his big friend. [Smokescreen.]

"This guy's had good eatin'," says Smokescreen, unheeding.

"Eating?" Random looks a little pale.

[Smokescreen.]

"Yeah." Smokescreen proceeds to name all sorts of things you can find in the water of a swamp and Random slowly realizes that all of the squishy movement he thought he felt inside him before he got cleaned out was this pesky little frog eating everything that was living inside him. Random feels nauseous and then he feels faint and then he feels nauseous again.

[Smokescreen!]

Smokescreen finally turns to Liftor impatiently. "What?"

Liftor points at Random emphatically and Smokescreen instantly realizes his mistake. "Oops."

Well, it's a good thing that Random's not standing because he just fainted.

Comments

[random_xtras]

Arcee growls and braces both hands against Smokescreen to chivy him out of the medbay, her expression promising comeuppance.

[astrotechmech]

Arcee comes at Smokescreen before he can make any amends and he quickly places the frog into one of his pockets before she puts her hands on him and tries to force him out the door. "Arcee, wait--"

[random_xtras]

"Out! NOW!" She shoves again.

[astrotechmech]

"All right, all right. Leaving." Smokescreen has to correct his course after accidentally backing into the door frame, but he and Arcee eventually make it out of the medbay, leaving Random to the care of the medics.

[random_xtras]

"THIS!" She hops up and socks him on the helmet. "Contains a brain, doesn't it?"

[astrotechmech]

[Your Highness, I've been trying for years to cure his brainlessness.] Liftor beeps with some amusement. [You should have seen what it was like before I got him to settle down in Cloud City.]

//Uh, I don't think telling her that's a good idea right now, Liftor.// Smokescreen silently comms his friend with a nervous look on his face.

//[I'm not afraid of her.]//

//You should be.//

[random_xtras]

Kia smiles and clicks at the frog as he paws at her, but then her big eyes flash with dismay as she looks up. "This is why Random's insides were crawling?"

[astrotechmech]

Smokescreen has a vaguely confused look before Liftor says, flatly. [He thought so, anyway.]

[random_xtras]

"Oh, I better go to him. He's going to need me!" She turns, and stumbles just a little from forgetting she was on her toes. Arcee reaches out to stabilize her, but the mynock in Kia's hand just came into the frog's range of vision as she flailed.

The frog responds instantly and irefully as he rushes to protect the new tree from the intruder, grabbing the mynock by the head and shaking it hard before banging it on Smokescreen's hand a few times til it stops moving.

Arcee is staring with shock as she absently lifts Kia with her arms around the younger femme's chest, and Kia's expression has gone from alarm to thoughtfulness as she watches the attack. "I think we just found what Makeshift was wishing for."

[astrotechmech]

"Easy, Liftor," Smokescreen reassures absently to his partner Minicon's undignified squeak at the frog's behavior. "It's just protecting its tree--and catching its dinner."

[Tree?!]

//I'll explain later.// Smokescreen looks back down at Kia after making sure the frog's got a hold of the mynock okay. "What was Makeshifting wishing for?"

[random_xtras]

"We had a hard time finding that mynock." Kia nods toward the creature in the frog's mouth. "Makeshift wished we had a turbo ferret or something like that. Can you train green-eyed tree frogs?"

"Train what now?" calls Makeshift from where he's approaching in a hover chair. "What just made a Minicon squeal like that?"

Arcee looks at Liftor. "Oh. That was you?"

[astrotechmech]

"Yeah," Smokescreen nods. "They're good for pest control. Can get scraplets and glitchmice as well. This is a male, so you can just scratch him under the chin to tell him he's done good and he'll keep doing it." Smokescreen turns to Makeshift and carefully lowers his hand so the other mech can have a better look at what's in it. "Green-eyed tree frogs. We found this one in Random." He nods down at the frog currently eating the mynock.

Liftor hides his face in his hands--despite having a facemask that's already hiding his blush of embarrassment.

[random_xtras]

Fixer's scowl changes to a quizzical frown as she watches the little silver lady with the black Minicon glomped onto one leg fearlessly walk over and take Random's hand in both of hers. "So who the scrap are you?"

"I'm the youngling. And Random doesn't like it when people use those words around me," says Kia, not looking up from pat patting Random's hand.

[astrotechmech]

Random might not be able to get up and hug you Kia, but he'll hold onto you with his trembling hand.

"My daughter." It is what he's felt for a while, but it is a term he hasn't let himself really use until finding out that Primus made her for him.

And it might be the easier thing for him to say right now.

[random_xtras]

Fixer actually gasps, her optics flashing with concern as she looks down at Random.

"YOU'RE the poor fool that Primus..." She breaks off, then shifts her hold on Random so that she can sit him up in her grasp and pull Kia up beside him, not twitching as the Minicon drops off and winds up attached to her own leg. This done, she rocks them both gently, her expression settling into a wondering scowl.

"He's not a fool," says Kia, once she's up and has snuggled against her mentor.

[astrotechmech]

That . . . was not quite the reaction he expected, but at least he's got Kia by him again. He sighs in relief and moves an arm around her.

"Fool?" Random asks in confusion, looking up at Fixer and not understanding what she means by the term. Yeah, he's gone on a lot of adventures that he hadn't thought he'd go on, but how does being a fool relate to getting a kid from Primus?

[random_xtras]

"Shhh." Fixer continues the gentle rocking, the scowl on her beautiful face failing to hide the pity and concern in her eyes. "Rest and get hold of yourself, Random."

"Boss? Are ya hungry?" asks the Minicon, looking up from his perch on Fixer's leg.

"And who the ... Who are you?" Fixer growls at him.

"I'm Murphy," says the little bot. "I'm their Minicon."

"...Their Minicon. Since when do astrotechs get Minicons?"

"I like them." Murphy puts his hands on his hips and scowls upward.

"Do you need something to eat?" Kia twists slightly so that she can see her mentor's face, ignoring the scowling match for now.

[random_xtras]

"Archelon had them," says Kia, reaching over her mentor to take the package of nearly extinct fuel and then sitting back to open it. "I didn't know if you ever had this kind, but you like waxies, so Murphy and I traded for the socks that Archelon wanted for them. But then he found out that the fuel is for you, and he wouldn't take his socks." She exchanges a frown with her little black minion. "We're going to have to bully him into taking them. His boots and feet are having disagreements."

"Who the ... who's Archelon," asks Fixer, scowling her doctor's scowl of concern.

"He's the big organic pilot with built in armour." Kia looks up at her. "Makeshift says he's even older than Random, and that he's older than any of his people ever got before."

"What do people call his race?" Fixer shifts her grip on the smaller bots so that Kia can offer the opened package to Random.

"Extinct," says Murphy soberly, then looks down over the edge of the table as he contemplates returning to the floor.

[astrotechmech]

Random reaches out to the pack of waxies with a trembling hand and then slowly picks one up and puts it to his mouth to eat it.

Yeah, that was good. But not as good as Sunrises!

He reaches for another waxie while they talk about Archelon. He thinks he remembers the organic guy. He's seen him a few times between ship crews but has never talked to him.

He eats the second waxie.

[random_xtras]

Fixer sends an absent scowl toward Murphy before watching Random for a moment, then gently catches the astrotech's hand before he can get another candy. "Do you want to rest with Kia in a recovery room? You can finish eating in there, and you won't have to look at Ambulon's caboose as he stands in the corner."

Kia frowns up at Fixer, then glances toward Ambulon as the youngish medic scrunches up his shoulders with embarrassment from where he's been parked in a place of shame for missing the existence of the frog for so long.

[astrotechmech]

Said hand is still trembling a bit but having any fuel in him has helped lessen the trembling already. Random looks up at Fixer with a confused expression. Weren't they already in a recovery room? A second glance around the room reminds him that, no, this isn't an ideal room for recovery.

He starts slightly when he sees Ambulon in the corner. Has he always been there? But the mech is familiar.

Random frowns and then looks up at Fixer again with a bit of concern. "It's not back in me again, is it?"

[random_xtras]

"No," says Fixer firmly but soothingly. "It's been taken to where frogs belong."

"And it's not squished," adds Kia, knowing this to be an important point.

"Ewww," says Murphy absently, then scoots his bum over the edge and starts climbing down. Sure, he can jump. But he's not scaring an already upset boss.

[random_xtras]

Fixer lifts smoothly to her feet, then turns and strides down the inner hall before passing through the door of the room at the very end of it. "Here. This is quiet except for ship sounds. Some idiots complain about those."

"We like ship sounds," comes the quiet comment from her back.

The medic chuckles, then walks over to the comfortably padded bed and settles Random onto it before unloading Kia and stooping to pull something from the cupboard beneath the bed. "Here. Hide under this. The extra warmth'll feel good."

Kia's big eyes watch her from where the youngling is already snuggled beside Random as she puts the heavy, soft blanket over both of them and then tucks it around them to maximize the warmth and comfort.

[astrotechmech]

Random automatically puts his arm around Kia once she's near him. Yes, this room is already much better. Quieter, less like an medical exam room, and has a comfy bed.

Said bed somehow manages to be comfier than the one they slept on when they first arrived on this ship. Especially with the addition of the blanket. Sooo good.

"Thanks, Fixer." The blue astrotech is already feeling himself falling back into recharge.

[random_xtras]

Fixer's only reply is a gentle rub on his back through the blanket, and then they'll hear her footsteps walking away and the soft swish of the door.