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Dogma looked up at Hardcase as the other man stepped back and rolled his shoulders.
“That was a good round, wasn’t it? Admit it, you’re almost as good at sparring as I am and you have better aim than I do with a gun,” Hardcase said, extending Dogma his hand.
Dogma looked at the beaming man above him, and though Hardcase annoyed him sometimes, and damn could he be annoying, he couldn’t help but grin a little bit as he accepted his help standing up.
“Alright, I’m okay at sparring. And I’m definitely better with a gun than you, vod.”
A hint of smugness flashed over Hardcase’s face as he patted Dogma on the shoulder.
“See, you’re not worthless, dunno why you’d say that about yourself. You’re one of us, you fight like us, you care about us.”
Dogma began to feel warm inside but an icy stream of doubt quickly quelled the sensation. He wasn’t good enough, he knew his and his squad’s scores well enough to know that he barely made it off Kamino, he was average, and he had to prove himself to the Captain, the General, everyone in order to stay where he was.
“I hear the others in the legion talking about me, they say that I’m annoying and uptight. They don’t think I’m one of them,” Dogma said, casting his eyes down to the ground as they began to well.
He felt two warm hands force his face upward again and Hardcase’s eyes locked onto his own with the fervor they always carried.
“I care about you. I’m not saying you’re perfect; sometimes you do annoy me and the others, but look at me Dogma, I’m annoying too! Sometimes I talk too much and over exaggerate, but I still have friends, brothers, because they care! They care about you too, but you have to stop being afraid. You have to promise me that you’ll make an effort to talk to them, and to let go of whatever’s holding you back in your head, even just a little bit, and things will go better. Promise me, Dogma.”
Dogma felt the phrase catch in his throat; a promise wasn’t to be given lightly. However, he looked into Hardcase’s eyes, saw nothing but sincerity, and felt the icy feeling inside him melt.
“I-I promise. I’ll do better.”
Dogma knew he would, or at least he would try his damndest to do so.
Hardcase’s face lightened and he let Dogma go.
“Good. Now come on, let’s get some rest for the last leg of the journey tomorrow. We’ll be setting up camp and I don’t want us tired before the fun starts.”
“We’re taking a shower first, Hardcase, you stink to high heaven,” Dogma replied, starting toward the locker room adjoining the gym.
“You worry too much,” Hardcase called as he followed Dogma.
“You do too sometimes,” Dogma muttered.