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“-So then Fives leaps over the table to tackle Switch, which causes all the drinks to knock over and soak into Jesse’s pants, which gets him mad and he tries to punch Fives but ends up hitting Wooley-“
“Mm.”
“-Now the 212th ‘s all up in arms, and then Kix was trying to peel Stitch off Velvet which got them falling back onto a Wolfpack table which broke so many cups-“
“Mhm.”
“-And soon Ram was clotheslining Patches while they were trying to steamroll over Pinto and then Patches got trampled by Deadwood and Qiji while they were grappling each other and then Freeze got suplexed into the bar by Hardcase-“
“Hm.”
“-Echo comes flying in over the second floor railing and smashes into one of the holo displays which was when the Guard stormed in to break up the fight.”
Marshal beamed even as the sticky bacta made his brow tingle, sitting patiently on his hands to keep them from flapping around as he talked. The large Guard medic didn’t seem to mind, his bright amber eyes focused on making sure he’d picked all the glass out of his cuts before gently slathering on the bacta paste.
He never had so much fun in 79’s before! Neyo liked to place him at the bar or at a table where he could watch the room and told him he’d be back just sit and behave himself. Marshal didn’t mind- he knew Neyo wanted to talk to the other Commanders without him hovering, and he never complained when Marshal told him all about what he heard and saw during his observations.
Neyo, however, had to go a meeting last minute and so dropped Marshal off at 79’s so he wouldn’t go wandering around Coruscant and get lost again. It seemed almost everyone was there, the room busting with color and bodies and music blaring. It was loud and crowded, and Miss Haero wasn’t working that evening, so Marshal had tried secluding himself into a little corner to watch as a full-on brawl broke out.
He didn’t know how he’d gotten glass in his face, didn’t notice until one of the Guard coaxed him out from hiding underneath the booth so he wouldn’t get squashed, but it hadn’t hurt until it was pointed out. His face throbbed a little even now, skin tingling a little as the bacta was smoothed over the scratches and nicks.
This medbay was plenty quieter than the one closer to the holding cells. The other medics were off tending to the troublemakers. Marshal didn’t know how they figured he hadn’t been involved and had been an unfortunate bystander, but the kind Guard had taken him up to a different medbay instead, which now led him here recounting all the excitement to this very tall, very broad medic with thick scarring peeking over the collar of his blacks around his throat.
He looked as if he’d been off shift, Marshal couldn’t help but notice, his eyes catching not for the first time at the muss of slow-growing curls on the top of his head and tickling his forehead or the way he was tending to Marshal entirely in his black and with no boots. But he didn’t seem mad at all for having his rest disturbed, patiently listening to Marshal as he tended to his wounds and got his temple to stop bleeding.
Still-
“I’m sorry for waking you up,” Marshal apologized, drawing those bright eyes back down to gaze at him. It was a very intense stare, but he felt almost comforted by it than pinned down in disappointment or anger.
In fact, the medic merely lifted a large hand, ruffling his very short hair before stepping away, allowing the younger clone to hop off the cot.
But then came a dilemma. Marshal wasn’t supposed to leave 79’s until Neyo came back, but he wasn’t at 79’s anymore, but here at the Guards’ HQ. He didn’t have his comm on him either, somewhere lost in the chaos back at the bar, and while he knew Neyo’s number by heart, he didn’t want to disturb his Commander if he was still in his meeting. But Marshal wasn’t allowed to wander Coruscant either, because there had been one or two times where he went to walk back to the planetside GAR barracks, only to end up within the bowels of the Lower Levels or had fallen asleep at a booth at Dex’s and forgot to turn on his comm, but he also didn’t want to disturb the Guards’ routines by asking for an escort back, and everyone else was still down in holding or in the other medbay-
A warm hand settled onto the small of his back, startling him out of his spiraling thoughts. The medic was looking down at him again, and he was huge up close like this, but his eyes seemed kind despite the emotionless set of his face. The hand gently pushed against him, and Marshal found himself being ushered into a quaint little office with a cot in the corner behind the desk.
“Oh, that’s okay,” Marshal tried to excuse away as he was guided around the desk. “I’m not tired.”
The medic’s blank stare was now feeling a touch pointed. Marshal attempted to pretend he was telling the truth, but then a jaw-popping yawn decided right then to make itself down. The yawn turned into a squeak as the medic’s hand disappeared, only for both hands to scoop him up under the armpits like a wayward cadet.
The next thing Marshal knew, he was carefully tucked in around a strong arm, bundled up close to the medic’s chest.
“Oh,” he mumbled dumbly, unable to help himself as he splayed his fingers out. “You’re really warm.”
And he was. The medic was practically a campfire on a cool night, warm and cozy. He’d shared a bunk and a bedroll with Neyo once or twice on bad days, and yet somehow he felt just as warm and safe in this medic’s arm as he did tucked in protectively with Neyo chasing away his nightmares. But he didn’t know this medic, not like he did with Neyo. Marshal knew Neyo wouldn’t harm him, trusted him unconditionally. Yet this medic, whom he’s only known for maybe fifteen minutes, he felt just as safe and secure as he did with his Commander.
It was nice. The medic was nice. Just like Neyo.
He needed to ask the medic’s name, Marshal told himself as his eyes drifted shut, burying his face into the cozy embrace. It was rude not to, because the medic had helped him a lot. And he was really nice! A little serious, like Neyo, but that’s okay. Marshal was really good at judging people, and so far both the medic and the Guard who brought him here were very nice.
Maybe they would be nice to Neyo too, he mused as his thoughts became cottony. He loved his Commander, he was such a good friend, but he was always alone without Marshal there. He needed more friends, and maybe this medic would also pull him in for naps.
Marshal wasn’t able to finish that thread of thought before he dozed off entirely.