I kind of feel like Obi-Wan could use a good old sobfest for the whump you’ve hit him with in SmallSteps. Like if it was me, I’d just be bawling all over the place. My troopers would definitely find me hiding inside my commander’s armor. Just – stick a fork in me, I’m done. So… How’s Obi holding up?
Shaking
as he woke up, Obi-Wan felt his entire body ache with pain even as
his mind told him exactly what had happened and the Force told him
what was going on with his body.
As
he laid there, Cody and Helix came into his line of vision, the medic
and commander’s equally relieved faces telling him just how bad of
he had been and how happy they were to see him awake as Helix put
gentle, glove covered hand’s on the Jedi in a child body.
Slowly
Helix removed the oxygen mask on his face and took in his vitals,
talking soothingly as Cody took a tiny hand in his own ungloved one.
Cody’s
hand was warm Obi-Wan noticed.
Both
Helix and Cody’s hands were warm.
They
were gentle.
And
Obi-Wan was hurting, both internally and externally.
He
had been sick for days with a cough and then he had been hurt because
they were ambushed and now he was being touched so gently, as if he
was made of fragile glass. Before he could even start to comprehend
it, Obi-Wan let out a loud sob and held his arms up at Cody.
Amber
eyes turned wide in shock before narrowing in sharp sympathy and
compassion. Cody chucked
his
chest plate and
picked
up his general before Helix could okay it.
Thankfully
the medic didn’t try to interfere, only watched in worry as Cody
bundled the small child sized Jedi against his chest to rock him
while sitting on the medbay. “It’s alright General, I’m here,
we’re here. We won’t leave you alone. Ner Jetii, ner vod’ika,
Obi’ika it’s alright, we are here and
we won’t leave you, never willingly little general.”
Cody whispered into his ear as Obi-Wan sobbed into his chest, sore
and pained and humiliated by his situation and the pain of his body.
He
knew he would feel mortified later once he was calm but right now
Obi-Wan needed
the comfort he
was being offered so gently by the troopers.
Because while he was mentally an adult of well thirty six years old,
his body was three and so was his body chemistry, his hormones and
his emotions were following that line, especially now that he wasn’t
in full control of
his faculties
as he so desperately tried to
hold on until this day.
He
didn’t even care that Cody was treating him like the small child
his body resembled nor that Obi-Wa nwas actually behaving as the
small child in question.
Large
hands cupped his small, hurting body, held him to a warm, comforting
and protective person with a second person gently stroking his hair
as Obi-Wan continued to sob until he was empty of
tears and feeling more settled,
his
eyes sore and his cheeks pink with
a sore and snotty nose.
Carefully
Obi-Wan
was gently pulled away from the comforting warmth but only long
enough that Helix could tenderly wipe his cheeks and
nose dry
before he was right back to Cody’s shoulder, held comfortingly
against the man’s chest as the commander stood from
the bed.
The
man rocked and bounced gently as he walked with his General, treating
him more like a vod’ika than the
adult he really was but
it was helping even if it was a bit humiliating, comforting
in a way Obi-Wan couldn’t really explain.
‘But
kark it,’ Obi-Wan thought tiredly as he sniffled softly with his
sore nose. ‘I am
little and Cody is warm and comforting and willing to hold me.’ He
thought as he held onto the blacks of the other man.
He
only lifted his head when there was a gentle touch to his back that
wasn’t Cody since both his hands were used to support and
cradle Obi-Wan’s
small body
against
his chest,
finding Helix with one of the small juice bottles that had been
packed for Obi-Wan’s snack times as it was called playfully
by the troopers.
“Think
you can drink some? I bet that would help after all that crying you
did sir.”
Helix said softly, shaking the juice box a bit as
Cody stopped moving.
Sniffling
a bit, Obi-Wan hesitated even
though he was parched.
“I
also mixed in some painkiller with a syringe General,” Helix
explained after
a moment.
“I don’t want to give you too much and having you drink it laced
in the juice would prevent me from injecting you when
you’re already suffering.”
He offered
up quietly.
Licking
his crusted lips, Obi-Wan opened his mouth silently, letting Helix
place the straw at his lips.
He
felt pathetic, like the child he had been turned into but maybe it
was time to just accept what he had become and the support and
comfort he was offered by
those around him who only wanted his best.
Maybe
owed some
comfort in
some instances.
But
certainly he
could accept the offered
comfort
by the troopers to their tiny and vulnerable General.