Private All Under Control

[Liin "Tera" Terallo]

The blackness was pleasant. It was endless, yet enveloping all at the same time. And it was all that I was aware of for who know's how long.

A faint sound echoed. It was distant, yet clear. My name followed shortly thereafter and it sounded hollow. I felt both disconnected and confined at the same time. There is no definitive way to describe it. Both are opposites, yet both are correct.

Then came a pinprick of light as another knock was heard. The pinprick of light grew and grew. Soon within that light I could see the leg of a chair. Am I on the floor?

The feeling of being in my body started to return in a slow wave. I felt the soft carpet against my cheek, followed by the weird position that my arm was curled up underneath me. And then there was my legs; all curled up in an almost fetal position. I could hear the door opening, yet I made no effort to move just yet, for I do not yet feel that I can.

"Here........I am here...."

An emotional outburst. I must be careful of those. At least now I know to keep my anger bottled up inside.

Tag: Nos Voros

 

[Nos Voros]

The door opened into aftermath.

Vases shattered. Bottles and brushes scattered like they’d been tossed by a gale of wind.

Some sort of Force... burst? Nos's knowledge of the sorcerous energies was limited at best.

His eyes swept low and found her, crumpled near the vanity, legs curled, skin pale against the rug.

She spoke. Weak. Audible.

“Stay still.”

He dropped to a knee beside her, quick and efficient. One hand went to her neck for a pulse. The other was already reaching for the injector at his belt.

Too slow and shallow. Not life-threatening – if it returned to normal soon

He clicked the stimm into place against her shoulder, a short dose, calculated by size. A bit under standard military issue for her weight.

“This should be enough to get the blood moving. You’ll feel it soon. Try to breathe steady.”

She was still barely conscious. That helped. But skin tone, body temperature, confusion – looked like shock from any number of factors or side effects.

He peeled back a stray lock of hair from her cheek, checking for injury. No scalp bleeding. No visible bruising. No obvious trauma beyond collapse.

“You with me? Look at me.”

He lightly tapped the side of her face with his fingers. Annoying, intrusive, but more importantly, difficult to drift off into the inky abyss of unconsciousness when someone was almost slapping you.
When and if her eyes found his he had to keep her conscious, keep her talking. Not about the Force. Not about what happened. Something Mundane, familiar.

“I’m going to ask you a few things. Answer however you like. Don’t worry about being coherent.”

A short pause.

“What was the last thing you ate today?”

He checked her pulse again, pulled a cushion from nearby furnature to place under her feet, let gravity assist in maintaining blood pressure back to the core. It needed them more than her limbs at the moment.

“Do you keep food in the lab? Snacks, anything?”

Somehow, Nos doubted this was a blood sugar issue, but every angle was worth trying.

He gripped her shoulder once, gently, as he watched her pupils adjust and her color shift by degrees.

“Favorite dish. Doesn’t matter if you can make it. Just say it out loud.”

Keep her talking. Keep her conscious. Keep her here.

He shifted his knees into a brace position near her back—not crowding, but enough to keep her stable if she tried to sit up and leaned or slumped again.

“One breath at a time. Just keep talking, stay with me here.”

He didn’t look away from her once.

Liin "Tera" Terallo​

 

[Liin "Tera" Terallo]

Stay still? Well that is easy enough for me. I cannot yet fully grasp onto moving anything other than breathing. Is my nose bleeding again? No, it does not feel as though it is. As embarrassing as being on the floor is; a bleeding nose would make it all the worse.

I can feel his touch on my neck. It was soft yet determined. I remain still, yet follow him as well as I can with my eyes. A sharp pain, however brief, is felt. He has just injected me with something. I close my eyes as I feel a warm energy pulsing through like a wave.

A tapping on my cheek caused me to snap open my eyes. I turn my head a little to look at him more properly as he told me to, followed by notifying me about a series of questions. What is this? An interrogation? Surely I was going to be okay soon.

"I do not remember...." I cannot even recall when I had last eaten today. I just know that I did. Slowly I bring myself up, half expecting him to stop me, yet he did not. I lean back against him while I bring a hand up against my forehead to guage it's temperature. "No food in the laboratory. I cannot contaminate the area." Not too hot and not too cold. Good. I must remember to log all of this when I get the chance. "I love a good roast with all of the fixings. Seasoned well and slow roasted.....I used to have it every week." But not anymore. Being away from home has taken me away from such luxuries. However now that could change. I am sure that if I was to ask the Diarch brothers for a personal chef; that they would fulfill that request rather quickly. But I am not quite ready for that quite yet. A small part of me still feels as though I might have to run again. Yet that could be more or less from recent habit than anything.

"And what about you?"

Tag: Nos Voros

 

[Nos Voros]

Nos steadied her weight as she leaned back, slow and measured, careful not to let her overexert. His palm pressed flat behind her shoulder blades in case her balance faltered again.

Vitals were improving. Pulse closer to normal. Breathing steadier. The stimm was working. He didn’t let his guard down, just repositioned to accompdate.

“You’re stabilizing. Keep your feet up another few minutes.”

He adjusted the pillow again beneath her legs, tucking it in with clinical efficiency.

“Next time you feel one of those coming on—lie down first. Breathe through it. Don’t try to change or, uh, channel anything. Something those Jedi are supposed to do if they get overwhelmed.”

His tone was instructional, like field med training on a live target.

Kriff. Wait. Should have said force user or something, Jedi's a dead giveaway-

Then she asked him something. A simple question.

Another Nos was unprepared for. Seemingly mundane but still significant to him. Hit harder than it should’ve.
He hesitated. A faint stutter of thought behind otherwise methodical actions.

Favorite food?

He didn’t really have one. Not anymore. Most things just tasted like texture, fuel. He ate because it was functional. Not because he enjoyed it.

He wanted to deflect, but his mind betrayed him with a memory. One sharp enough to hold onto. One with a taste.

His voice softened slightly. Not much. But just enough.

“…Double Maclunkee. Bantha cheese.”
Fast food. Real classy.

A pause. He adjusted his grip on her shoulder, as if it steadied something else.
That was all he said. But the way his voice lingered near the end betrayed that the memory held weight. More than just a sandwich.

He checked her pupils again, just to give his hands something to do. Anything to fill the silence.

“You’re lucid. That’s good. You scared the hells out of me.”

It wasn’t scolding, just said like someone who didn’t like surprises; even less so when they involved someone passing out on marble tile ten minutes after he signed off on her being stable.

He shifted his weight again and sat, not fully relaxed, but present.

“Don’t rush to stand yet. Just let yourself get steady. Talk if you want to.”

But he didn’t move, he wasn’t going to leave her alone until he could be sure another outburst wasn't going to shatter the windows... Or the walls.

Liin "Tera" Terallo​

 

[Liin "Tera" Terallo]

I let out a small sigh of disappointment. It was moreso at myself than anything else. Afterall fainting like that is not very becoming of me. Yet perhaps this could all work in my favor. He could report it about how I am more of a threat to myself than anyone else and be sent back to whatever super secret government that he was working for. And then I could be left alone. That would be a good thing.

I keep still as he instructs me to do, feeling as though I was in the presence of a medic rather than a spy. My eyes find the mess that I had created; broken perfume bottles, vases and more. How embarrassing.

He remarks on what Jedi do in similar circumstances and I hold my breath for a moment. I am no Jedi. Or Force Wizard. I am something else. But just what that is is yet to be determined. If anything I am similar to them, but very very different.

Finally he answers my question, and I can tell in the tone of his voice that it had kindled a memory. Good or bad, I cannot be certain; but it was one that surely lingered. It came at no surprise to me when he changed topic, reverting it back to the situation at hand.

My only movements were to shift my weight against him a little, before leaning forward a bit to test my own strength. "It was an accident and not intentional. I was just......frustrated. But I did not expect it to do this. I will endevor to better guard my emotions." That was a promise made to the both of us. But moreso to me.

"A double Macklunkee? What is that like?" All of this talk of food, plus the sudden energy use caused my stomach to grumble softly, yet I ignore it as has become habit. I can only hope that he did not notice for I have a mess to clean up before I do anything else.

Tag: Nos Voros

 

[Nos Voros]

Nos caught the shift in her weight and adjusted without a word. His arms framed her movement like rails around the edge of a balcony, a stabilizer, professional courtesy.

"Don't apologize."
Nos replied, clearing his throat and standing, making space between them.
"It's not like you intend for that to happen."

His voice didn’t soften. But, uncharacteristically, it didn’t harden either.
"Frustration’s a risk factor. Now we know."

He didn’t intend to sound judgmental, just observational. Just facts, not flaws.
Her eyes moved, took in the room. The wreckage. He didn’t comment on it.

Then came the follow-up.

"A double Macklunkee? What is that like?"

He was more prepared this time.

“Spiced nerf patty. Sharp Bantha cheese. Onion-salt fries pressed into the bun.”
“Sauce so greasy it stains the wrapper.”

A pause.

“Comes with a pickled pepper. I never eat the pepper.”

His tone was flat, but not unfeeling. He shifted slightly, adjusting his stance.

Her stomach grumbled.
“You need food. I’ll check the kitchen.”
He turned toward the door, then hesitated. Glanced back at the shattered perfume, the wrecked vanity.

“Dont try to clean up unless you’re steady. No heroics. I'll get it when I return.”

With that, he slipped out the door. Footsteps quiet. Intent not to leave her but to come back with something that helped.

Liin "Tera" Terallo​

 

[Liin "Tera" Terallo]

His arms along the outside of mine felt oddly.... comforting. It seemed to ground me safely and securely like a weighted blanket even though he was not pressing against me at all.

And as quickly as that feeling came it left the moment that he stood up and cleared his throat, almost as though he was escaping something. Or wary of it. And here I thought that I was the only one that hekd my emotions within. But I suppose that if he is a Chiss like I expect; then it is within his nature.

His comment on my frustration being a risk factor made me wonder if that was all going into his report. It will be going into my own notes. However I cannot help starting to feel as though the roles within my lab are reversed and that I am much like the specimens that I have studied. My how the tables have turned. I did not like that. It somehow felt worse than being under public scrutiny during my old life. I chose to walk this path to avoid the harsh judgements; yet now it has only gotten worse.

Will that ever cease?

The description of the Maclunkee sounded good, until he mentioned the grease and staining. It sounded really messy. It was probably one of those types of food that one would eat with merely their hands instead of using any utencils. I am not sure if I would want to try it.

I shift the pillow away from under my feet as he noticed my stomach growling. Not only that but he expected me to allow him to clean up my mess? He was not under my employ. Yes I told him that he could make himself useful since he was spying on me; but he had already done enough for one day. "There are some prepared meals in the freezebox. They only need to be heated up. Help yourself if you need to." I pause briefly before adding, "Thank you."

Once he had left the room I took in a breath and let it out slowly. Once my confidence returned, I proceeded to rise to my feet. When Mister Usher's specimen used up a lot of energy, it needed to consume plenty of food. Was I now similar to the specimen? It is surely something for me to inform Mister Usher about later.

I stood there for a moment and stepped gingerly towards my bed so that I may sit onto it's edge. And once more I surveyed the mess that the burst of energy had created. The damage was circular, yet not narrowly focused. Instead it was as though a bubble had burst. In some ways that was exactly how it felt. I reached over to my nightstand and brought out my journal and pen; carefully crafting notes of my experience. I added in some diagrams as well, representing both me and the debris field. Not only that but I also created notes on what had happened in the restaurant as well; when time seemed to slow down. I needed to jot everything down so that I will not forget.

Tag: Nos Voros