Settling
on the bedside, Caleb shot Ezra a small smile as the boy peered at
him curiously. So far Ezra had shown signs of not being too paranoid
but if that was due to his bond to Caleb or an understanding that he
was safe thanks to the Force was anyone’s guess as Ezra hadn’t
actually said a word since he woke up.

Instead
he communicated in head shakes and at this point Caleb was getting
worried that between the war and living on the street that Ezra might
be mute.

Maybe
from being alone or from trauma.

So
he was trying his best with talking around the boy in a way to
encourage him to pick up on language or encourage his safety to talk.
The young Jedi lifted the two small bowls in his hands. “Tabs
suggested we go easy on the kind of food we gave you since your
stomach is kind of fragile, so I got some white rice here for you and
some nice warm broth,” He said softly, smiling when Ezra’s eyes
lit up at the mention of food, settling the bowl of rice down on the
bedside table before holding the small bowl. “Do you think you can
feed yourself or do you want me to do it?” Caleb questioned
carefully.

Ezra
stared at the spoon before lifting a skinny hand, picking it up and
staring as the spoon shook in his grasp before dropping it back in
the bowl with a little splash, wincing and peering up at Caleb before
pointing at the knight.

Nodding,
Caleb picked up the spoon. “That’s fine kiddo. Tabs said you
weren’t doing so hot still
and I wasn’t about to expect great feats just yet.
Though your fever has gone down which is good.” He grinned
reassuringly as he feed the boy a spoonful of lukewarm broth.

Ezra
happily swallowed it and opened his mouth for more, eyes wide and
hopeful.

Smiling
softly, Caleb continued feeding Ezra the broth slowly and steadily as
he knew that overeating could prove to be a real problem for Ezra and
the last thing he wanted on top of the fever was for Ezra to also get
a stomach ache.

Spoon
after spoon of broth disappeared until eventually the bowl was empty
which was when Caleb switched to the rice after checking that Ezra
was indeed still hungry and not showing sign of an ache.

They
got halfway down into the rice bowl when Ezra started to hesitate.
“Seems you’re full now, that’s good but if you get more
hungry…” Caleb set the half eaten bowl of rice on the table.
“Well, I’ll set this here right now and we can always get more
food for you though Tabs is most likely going to feed you some
pudding after two hours or so.” He hummed.

Ezra
blinked at him, looking at the bowl then wrinkling his nose and
pointing at the medical office Tabs
disappeared into sometimes to write down medical reports.

Blinking
back, Caleb had to think. “Tabs?”

The
boy nodded.

“…Oh
you’re curious about Tabs feeding you in two hours?”

Once
more Ezra nodded.

“Well
we want you to gain weight,” Caleb poked Ezra gently in the
stomach, knowing it must be full and
therefor not wanting to make Ezra ache with too harsh a poke.
Happily all Ezra did was squeak and cover up his stomach with a
little grin. “You’re much too little but eating a lot of food
isn’t the way to gain weight healthily, you have to eat small meals
several times a day full of nutrients.” Caleb explained with a
wink.

Scrunching
up his nose, clearly trying to absorb and understand, Ezra nodded
slowly in confusion before just shrugging and sticking out his
tongue.

Chuckling
faintly, Caleb reached up and gently ruffled his fingers through
Ezra’s greasy hair, promising himself he’d get the boy into the
sonic very soon, Ezra giggling squeakily under his hand.