roguesquadron | hurt/comfort meme

hurt/comfort meme

the hurt/comfort meme

It is in times of distress that hope is truly found. How you handle those periods of duress is a mark of character. Whether you're the one in pain, providing sanctuary, or even if that ache is mutual, hurt/comfort is all about empathy. Connecting with the people around you.

Instructions:

→ Post with your character (note name, canon [if relevant], and preferences in the subject line).
→ Others reply by either generating a number between 1-21 for a prompt, ~~or go off script, I'm not the boss of you~~.
→ Go forth and connect.

Options:

o1. injury: somehow, you've been injured. the severity, whether a mortal wound or "just a scrape" is up to you.
o2. sickness: thinking of calling out of work today? chances are you've got a common bug...or worse.
o3. fear & anxiety: careful where you throw that "scared to death" nonsense...it might just be an omen.
o4. loss of senses: you're missing one of those fundamental six senses, whether it's your sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, or the Force.
o5. despair: the idea of hope looks more and more like a pipe dream right now.
o6. breakup: and we are never ever ever ever getting back together. ever.
o7. makeup: but you called me up again tonight...
o8. rescued: it's time for one of you to get your damsel in distress on.
o9. bad romance: i knew you were trouble when you walked in.
1o. loss: one of you has just experienced a loss of some kind; can you cope?
11. insanity: for whatever reason, "reason" is lost to you. you're seeing and hearing things. sometimes dead people.
12. tired/insomnia: is it the caffeine or the fact that you never leave your damned senatorial office? whether it's just lack of sleep or lack of energy, this exhaustion is bone-deep.
13. addiction: something's got you hooked, and you might just need a helping hand to give it some distance.
14. nightmares: okay, now you're definitely seeing dead people. do you dare go back to sleep?
15. blackmail: you've been caught and the evidence is compromising. do you seek help or vengeance?
16. separation/homesickness: whatever it is, the nostalgia's got you missing something (or someone) awfully.
17. betrayal: your trust has been violated, but is it a real or imagined slight?
18. stranded: you're stuck. maybe someone crashed your only ship for the 50th damn time. are you sure this isn't reality tv?
19. sins & guilt: the weight of your past deeds is like holding a world on your shoulders. maybe it's time to seek some help, atlas.
2o. secret: loose lips sink spaceships.
21. wildcard: "take your script and shove it, meme."

[adapted and remixed from here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

::Oh good. Someone who's willing to take a moment and think, not just blindly do what he's told.::

Yes. Your forms need work. A lot of work. How often have you been able to practice?

::Besides the obvious 'not often enough'. Garth'zel thinks they may as well focus on Soresu for the day. One of the more aggressive ones that's more use against someone with a lightsaber can wait.::

[If he hadn't just finished telling himself off for losing his emotional control, Ezra might have rankled at that criticism of his forms. Come on, he's only been training for little more than a year! But he's trying not to snap again. At least, not so soon. So maybe he looks a little sullen for a moment as he shrugs, but at least he answers the question Garth'zel asked.]

It depends. Some weeks we have more time than other weeks. A good week I might get to practice... maybe every day? But those don't happen much. A couple times a week is more regular. Less, when things get crazy.

[Yes, it's erratic, but what can he do? It's not like the Empire's going to just ignore him and let him train in peace, or like they can afford to just stop fighting and train.]

::Garth'zel nods slowly as he mentally maps out how to spend the trip to Nar Shaddaa. Then his focus lasers back in on Ezra.::

Sounds like its just as well there's nothing else to keep you busy for the next couple of days. Let's see how much better you'll be at some of them by the time you're able to get back to your friends, shall we?

::If Ezra has a feeling the majority of his days is going to be spent training, well, he's right. With it broken up with considerably less physically intense things, of course. No point over-doing it, it would just lead to Ezra hurting himself.::

[Ezra is starting to get that feeling, yes, and considering the session he just had with the remote, maybe there's even a sinking suspicion to go with it.]

Why do you care? I mean, not that I'm against it, but... You'll drop me off in a few days or a week, and then probably never see me again, so why do you care about my training?

[There's genuine curiosity with a touch of bewilderment. Most people don't bother to care that much about him, with a few significant exceptions, and he and Garth'zel only just met. In fact, all Ezra's done so far for the man is take his money and get him in trouble with the Empire. Nothing to really earn any kind of gratitude from him.]

::Garth'zel gives him a serious look.::

Because I'd rather not hear that you've managed to end up dead when training from me could have kept you alive.

::Does Ezra really want to leave Garth'zel with that guilt? No, Ezra isn't technically his responsibility--yet--but that's no reason not to do what he could.::

Remember what I said about the reactor? That was to save people I never met and never would. Even though one would think I had no reason to, especially given their leaders decided to--entirely unprovoked--attack the Republic and the Empire from out of nowhere. Among other things that I frankly don't feel like getting into right now. Suffice to say, I really had no reason to give a damn; but I did it anyway, because it was the right thing to do.

[The right thing to do.

Those words stir something in Ezra's heart - the same thing that stirred that day on Lothal when he realized what the Ghost crew was really up to. Helping people who needed help just because they needed it, not because they had anything to gain. At the time, the idea had been so foreign to Ezra's daily life. He could barely manage to take care of himself, let alone anyone else, and since when did anyone on the streets ever do anything like that for him?

But it had echoed things his parents had taught him, and in the past year, it's grown to mean something to him when people who'd had no hope before could smile because of something he did. But he's not naive enough to believe that there are that many people in the galaxy with similar ideals, so it's still catches him off guard a little to find anyone willing to help "just because it's right."

More so if the person being helped is him.]

Oh.

[His earlier irritation melts away in the face of surprise and... something he can't quite name. Something that can't help but see a parallel between Garth'zel and the crew of the Ghost.]

Well... I have no objections to staying alive?

[He says it like a joke, but the acceptance is real, and it's accompanied by a small, genuine smile.]

I want to do the right thing, too.

Edited 2017-02-18 14:09 (UTC)

People very rarely object to staying alive.

::It's said with a trace of amusement. If there's one thing he's noticed in his time traveling the galaxy, is that people generally do the best they can to survive.

His mood darkens as he remembers what led up to him even being on Zakuul to need to find a way to shut down that reactor and he dismisses the memory with a shake of his head. Now wasn't the time.::

I've noticed that Soresu is where you do best, so we'll start there.

::Enough talk, time to drill Ezra to make him better at it. And eventually dismiss him to get supper and meditate for a bit to help him wind down before bed.::

[The next few days uphold that hinted promise of being worked hard, sometimes almost right into the ground. Ezra comes to appreciate every break he's given.

Yes, even the ones where he has to read and study.

By the time they arrive at Nar Shaddaa, though, improvement can be seen in Ezra's form. Not a lot, since a few days is hardly enough time to learn what it takes years to master. Not even enough for Ezra himself to see that much of a difference, except to feel pleased that his last session with the remote gave him fewer of those small blaster burns.

Pleased or not, though, he's ready to be off this ship as soon as it lands on the moon. Ezra waits with barely disguised impatience for the ship's landing platform to lower.]

I'm going to see if my friends have tried to contact me yet. They're probably wondering where I am. We've got a relay set up where we can leave messages without anyone being able to trace them back, but it means actually going to a communications terminal. I'll be back in an hour!

::While Ezra hasn't noticed, Garth'zel has. And is aware its going to take time. The kid'll get there.::

While you're doing that, I'll get the ship refueled. Maybe run an errand or two, depending on how long handling that takes. When you're back, we can get you those new clothes and some food for when we want something that didn't come out of the synthesizer. Stay out of trouble.

::Said errands may include getting new things for Ezra to work on during study hours. Garth'zel's noticed that he's lacking in more areas than just history. It's time to correct those deficiencies.::

[Ezra laughs, in a good mood right now.]

Don't worry, I'll be fine!

[Then the platform is down and he immediately starts forward - only to stop at the bottom glancing up suddenly. Something just... Something feels off. He glances back at Garth'zel, stomach knotting for no reason at all. He hesitates for a moment.]

Hey. Do you...?

[The feeling fades, leaving him grasping at nothing. Ezra frowns, unsettled, but shakes his head.]

Never mind. I'll see you in a bit.

::Garth'zel pauses and studies Ezra for a moment with a small frown. Whatever that was is concerning.::

You all right?

::He mentally stretches out to see if he can sense anything and detects no threats, only the normal occurrences that happen in a spaceport this size.::

[Ezra shakes his head again, though he hardly looks like he's sure.]

It's nothing. Just... I thought I felt something, but it's gone.

[Briefly, his eyes are drawn up to the sky, but... there's nothing there. Nothing to give him any kind of a clue where that sense of foreboding had come from.]

Probably just my imagination.

One's instincts like to be annoying vague sometimes.

::This isn't the place to say 'the Force', so he changed his wording. He knows Ezra will get what he means.::

Pay attention while you're gone. I'll keep an eye out as well.

::Along with being mindful of the fact his lightsaber is in his jacket within easy reach if needed.::

[The significance of what Garth'zel is hinting at isn't lost on Ezra. He hesitates again, then nods, showing he understands. Maybe it was the Force warning him.

Would be nice if I knew what the warning was for.

But since he doesn't, there's no real reason to delay going out.]

I'll be careful.

[He doesn't mind making that promise before starting off again. His instincts are something he's learned to listen to ever since he was little. If something is wrong, then he wants to know what it is, so he can know what to do about it.

But nothing happens on the way to the communications terminal. No Empire waiting, no one he's managed to tick off, not even a line to use the terminal itself. Yet when he comes back, it's with anxiety twisting his gut again.

He can't tell if it's that feeling of wrongness returned, or if it's because of what he found in his mail box.]

Garth'zel? How long were you planning to stay?

::By this point, Garth'zel's finished his solo errands and was just waiting for Ezra to come back.::

Maybe a couple of days so we aren't just spending a few hours here and then turning right back around to leave. Why?

::Nar Shaddaa had actually been one of his earliest stops after he'd gotten out of carbonite. Unfortunately, what he had been looking for was no longer there. Not surprising after three thousand years, but still disappointing.::

[Ezra bites his lip, trying not to let his worry show so much. There's probably a good explanation, after all.]

It's been more than a week now since I saw my friends, but there weren't any messages waiting. I sent a message to them, but I want to wait a bit to give them a chance to find it before I decide what I'm going to do next.

[He could go back to Lothal, but he'd really like to know where the others are right now, and what the situation is. If they haven't even made it to Taris to realize that he's gone, then something's wrong. Something's really wrong. And if the Empire turned Taris into a trap, Lothal might not be safe to go to, either.]

::Garth'zel sends soothing feelings Ezra's way to help him calm down and not pass on his anxiety to him as well. For he's also starting to have a bad feeling.::

Of course. How long do you think is long enough to wait for a response?

::He's starting to think he made a very good choice of destinations. The Empire's presence on Nar Shaddaa is basically just a token effort. Given the population here, it probably wasn't the best idea to try for more than that.::

[A little of the tension in Ezra's shoulders leeches out when that soothing wave reaches him, but even those efforts can't dispel the knot of worry in his heart complete. Doesn't help, either, that that feeling of wrongness is back, like a distant echo of pain that reaches all the way to his heart. Unconsciously, he presses a hand to his chest.]

Three days? Four at the most. I think if they could check, they would have by then.

[And he's just going to try not to dwell on what might make it so they couldn't check that communications link at all.]

A little longer than planned, but we can do that. It might give us time to think of something we want or need that we'd otherwise need to wait for.

::Then he starts shooing Ezra onto the ship.::

Take some time to find something to do so you don't worry, then we can head back out.

::Easier said than done, he knows.::

[Definitely easier said than done, and over the course of the next three days, Ezra finds himself more and more pulling out the remote to train as he waits and waits. As frustrating as training with it can be, it's good for keeping his mind from wandering.

A wandering mind means he's likely to get stung.

Unfortunately, even that isn't a cure for the worry that sinks in deeper with every day that passes with no word. Exhaustion helps him fall asleep, but it doesn't stop him from bolting awake in the night with the certainty that something's wrong, something's happening, he just can't picture what it is.

It doesn't occur to him that maybe there's a reason for that.

Not until the fourth day, when Kanan's muffling hold on their bond finally cracks, and the pain crashes into him unhindered. In that moment, the training remote gets completely forgotten, and the sting of its blaster doesn't register. Ezra screams, buckling to the ground.]

Remote, cancel!

::It's snapped out as Garth'zel springs forwards to Ezra, aware that something extremely bad just occurred, the remote already forgotten as it obediently floats in place.

He's soon kneeling in front of Ezra, trying to help him pull himself up.::

What happened?

[A flash of Kanan, a flash of pain, a flash of a face filled with sadistic delight, and then the pain rips into him again. Ezra thrashes, still screaming, but with a growing hysterical edge.]

KANAN!

[Almost without thought, he clutches at Garth'zel, eyes wild and panicked, barely seeing. Agony shreds his awareness, claws raking his mind and soul.]

Garth'zel, he's-! They have him! They're hurting- They're killing him!

[He can't say how he knows that, just that he knows!]

Edited 2017-02-20 02:48 (UTC)

::It doesn't take a genius to realize that 'Kanan' must be Ezra's Master. Not with the way he's reacting.

Garth'zel would be tempted to swear, but he can't think of anything strong enough, so he just holds on tight to Ezra in an attempt to keep him grounded.::

I'm here.

::Not particularly helpful, he knows, but it's the only thing he could think to say.::

[Ezra opens his mouth to say something, to lash out or tell him how useful that is when Kanan's dying and Ezra isn't there. But instead, all that comes out is another tortured scream as whatever Kanan's captors are doing gets worse, piercing through the man's defenses, piercing through their bond, like a knife driving into him over and over. Curling up in self defense does nothing to help. The attack isn't in his body, it's in his head. So all he can do is sob between breaths for the next scream, and then the next.

Until suddenly, the knife drives home and tears his heart out when the connection with Kanan breaks.]

KANAAAAN!!!

::Give him a break, it's not like his own Master covered 'what to do when a potential apprentice is in hysterics over feeling his Master dying'.

Garth'zel just hugs him tightly to him, awkwardly shifting to a sitting position so he could rock Ezra like he was a third of his age. He has no idea what he's doing, but he's going to at least try.::

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