[Kallile]

Madeline looked at him, her eyes drifting over to the slowly growing crimson spot on his white bandaging. Then down to the few spots on his arms were the piping had been ripped out. These soldiers really were nuts, it seemed. Slowly she moved into him, nudging him back towards his bed. She didn’t need him passing out—she doubted that she could keep him from hitting the floor full force.

“Look, I know you’re not a child.” She said, still very close to him, her eyes scanning his face. “It’s just hard to swallow, alright. All of this is hard to deal with. And this is how I’m dealing. That doesn’t mean you’ve changed or what I think is…really altered.” Well, how would someone take that kind of information, she reasoned. Most people would have run out of here screaming.

She placed her hand down on his chest, furrowing her eyebrows together as if she were about to say something she knew she was going to regret. Lingering still close to his face, she smiled coyly. “You’ll always be the crazy soldier that for some reason deems me a likable person and at least tries to save my backside from getting blasted full of bullet holes. No, I’m not going to take this well at first. No, I’m not going to be fine with it instantly. But I’ll get there…eventually.”

Her eyes darkened a little as he began to change on her; where had that headstrong man disappeared to? Now here he was seeming lost to her. She tilted her head before shaking it slightly.

“I’ll stay on the condition you stop saying you can change. If I had wanted someone different, I never would have followed you in the first place.” She said, looking up at him as honestly as she could. She had never had to do this before, she had never been the one who actually had to deal with people. Now here she was, faced with Prudii and his sudden insecurity. “I like you best when you’re locked in a battle of insults with me anyway.”

She said with a smirk, eyes locked with his golden ones. “I do care about you, I do like the person you are. Heck, I'll never understand why you like me and decided you wanted to keep me hanging around. Have a little faith in me, I took revenge on a sniper for you, after all.” Leaning the rest of the way into him, she closed the fraction of a gap between their lips.

[48]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii allowed himself to be pushed back towards the bed, unwilling to fight her, and feeling very tired very suddenly. He settled his legs back on the bed, leaning against the cushion propped against the back of it, and closed his eyes briefly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. “I can imagine,” he whispered hoarsely. “If someone told me the same thing, I’d probably freak out like you did, punch them in the face, and then run away as fast as I could.” He opened his eyes and smirked at her. “Thanks for not punching me in the face, I guess.”

He looked down at her hand on his chest, and found himself going cross-eyed trying to see it. His skin burned where she touched him, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It made him feel slightly light-headed, and he frowned as he leaned back further into the pillows, allowing himself to finally relax now that they’d gotten all the explanations over with. “I deem you a likeable person for ‘some reason’ because I like you. Your worth it, I think. It’s why I saved your backside form getting blasted full of holes. It’s too nice a backside to waste.” He smirked, eyeing her with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Yep, Prudii was definitely back, though still slightly woozy.

“Fine. No changing. Except for you. I think there’s an extra set of fatigues in the closet in the back for the patients. You. Change. Now. Your clothes are practically falling off your body. Not that I mind terribly because it's a rather nice view…But I’d prefer the other men at the base didn’t get to see any of that, really.” He paused thoughtfully. “Although I think you made Kicks’ day just by showing up…Anyway…” His eyes softened slightly, and he reached out to ret his hand on her cheek, his thumb gently tracing a line beneath her eye. “I have faith in you. I wouldn’t have kept you around if I didn’t. Besides…I don’t think I could find someone as perfect for me as you if I looked for a hundred years.”

[58]

[Kallile]

Smirking, Madeline shrugged. “I figured you beat up bad enough. Can’t add insult to injury.” She teased, glad he was finally back someplace stable. She watched his eyes slide down to his own chest and could almost see the woozy haze in them as he did so. Carefully she pulled back her hand to use it as another support as she leaned against the side of his bed. Seemed he’d live to speak sarcasm another day after all.

“What, afraid your boys will get jealous and riot? Here I thought you lived for that sort of thing.” She chided. Rolling her eyes at his comment about why exactly he had saved her from getting shot full of holes, Madeline looked towards the back where he had indicated. Somehow the word ‘fatigues’ and ‘smothering’ became one in the same in her mind. Army guys, she ventured to guess, rarely ran around in things she found comfortable. Just as she began dreading what might be waiting back there and felt a hand on her face and tried hard not to jump. Keeping her eyes the same green color as best she could, she turned back to face Prudii. She smirked a little, pulling back to where she was just out of his reach. “You’re a pretty crooked character if you think I’m your perfect match.” She chided before walking off to the ‘back’ he had indicated to.

The fatigues were easy enough to find. One: because it wasn’t any type of surgical gown and two: because they looked large, smothering and uncomfortable. With a sigh Maddi removed what fabric had remained intact through the trip and let it fall uselessly to the floor. They were a dark red, which made her frown more darkly. Red was definitely not her color. She threw on both pieces and looked down at herself. She looked, she decided, like a brick wall. No curves, no shape, no anything. Just a walking closet. With a growl she began to fix it.

When she reappeared, the fatigues seemed to have lost to Madeline’s willpower. The sleeves were shoved up as far as she could force them, the bottom of the shirt was tied off to one side of her hip and the pants were rolled up to her knees. But still, she didn’t look terribly happy about it. “How do you people wear this stuff? I feel like an Eskimo…” she grumbled, coming over to sit on the side of Prudii’s bed. All the excitement having died down, Madeline could feel her skin just crawling with wounds and sores. Her muscles ached and not only could she probably devour an entire meal made for a family of three, but she also felt like she could use a short hibernation of a week or two.

“First thing that you’re better, we’re going to get some of my kind of clothing. I can’t deal with this…” She grumbled again, shifting to wedge herself between the raised tray-holder of the bed and Prudii with a determined grunt before letting her head come to rest beside his shoulder blade. “And I suppose I can pick out some slightly more covering things…if you must insist.”

[60]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii resisted the urge to look in Madeline's direction when she changed. No, he shouldn't do that kind of thing. It was rude...And perverted. But it was also tempting. with a heavy sigh, Prudii decided to let his conscious win out. Her closed his eyes and lowered his head, staving off the wooziness that threatened to overwhelm him. His stomach gurgled loudly, and reminded him that he was just as ravenous as Madeline. "I don't need any riots in my base," he snorted, keeping his eyes closed tight. "Especially not over you. I'd hate to have to knock a few heads around to get some sort of message across." He folded his arms over his bare chest, suddenly wishing for his own pair of fatigues. He was slightly chilly, and having half of his bodysuit off wasn't making the predicament any better.

He waited until he heard Madeline stomp back into the room. Her growl indicated she wasn't happy with something, and Prudii imagined it was the fatigues. They weren't made for someone as small as her, and she must've felt dwarfed and smothered. He opened his eyes and was amused to find a big blob of red where his girlfriend used to be. "We can wear them because, unlike you, they actually fit us. Anyway, we could probably figure out how to alter those for now...I'm sure someone can help..." He scooted over slightly to make room for her, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment before a shiver ran down his spine. he was still cold. He scooted himself of the side of the bed and away from Madeline, momentarily missing her warmth, before he too went back to change into fatigues of his own. He pulled the shirt over his head and the red pants on, before padding back towards the bed in his bare feet.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Why don't we go get some food?" he called over his shoulder as he searched for his boots. He found them in a pile of his armor near the corner, and slipped them on. They looked a bit odd with his fatigues, but he didn't seem to mind. he walked over to the door and palmed the panel at the side. The doors hissed open, and Prudii had to jump back in shock to avoid being smothered by a pile of nosey commandos. Seems Kicks, and Trinket had wanted to listen in on the conversation, and had their ears pressed to the door, leaning in to hear better. When Prudii opened it, they fell into the room in a heap at his feet. The lieutenant, although still slightly woozy and tired, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at half his squad.

Recoil and Solus sat on two empty beds outside, looking silently amused at the situation. “Can I help you?” Prudii asked, raising an eyebrow. Trinket and Kicks quickly untangled themselves and leaped to their feet. “Er, no sir,” Kicks mumbled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Trinket nodded, looking down at his boots. “Anyway sir,” Solus called from the bed he sat on, more to save the squad from embarrassment than to actually gather information. “Are you feeling better? And the girl? Is she all right as well?” Prudii glanced behind him at Madeline. “I’m...Feeling a bit better, yes. We’re going to get something to eat...By the way, her name is Madeline.”

[59]

[Kallile]

Letting him slide away and her head hit the bed with a slightly annoyed grumble, Madeline was not so keen on returning the favor of not peeking. To her defense, the man was already half exposed. Which she found surprising sadden her when he pulled on a different shirt. The view had been a nice one, after all. She smirked, and did turn her head while he changed the rest of his clothing….although she may have allowed her eyes to roam slightly, even if her head was turned away from Prudii.

Just as she was nearing surrender to her fatigue, the offer of food was presented. She raised both arms in a lazy stretch and curled them behind her head to pull at the short, choppy portion of her hair to will the discomfort of the act to wake her up. It worked, if only temporarily. A wicked look crossed her face as he neared the door. “Careful, everyone might think something went on in here with us leaving in the same outfit.” She chided. Even she was distracted to see two familiar faces and vaguely familiar hairstyles fall to the floor in front of Prudii. Madeline sighed, pushing herself off the bed. She guessed she could find one later…a little further away from this lot of idiots.

“Glass cups work better for that.” She growled teasingly at them, watching as they leapt back to their feet at Prudii’s annoyed look. She came to stand beside him, holding her hands on her hips. Which only lead her to more fidgeting with the fatigues. She growled softly at failed attempt one after another to try and make them more comfortable.

“’The girl’ is right here, and I’m just having a peachy day, thanks for the renewed concern.” She grumbled, more at her outfit than truly at Solus. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with anymore of these squad guys, though it seemed they were increasingly in the mood to find things out about her. Well, if that’s what they wanted, that’s what she’d give them. “And if no one points me in the direction of some way to fix these things, I’m taking them off. I can’t stand this.”

She tried to conceal her smirk, wondering how many would notice that she never said she was putting anything else back on. Not like the entire group of them hadn’t seen her mostly prone already. She decided not to look at Prudii—she already knew what the look on his face would be. But, if that didn’t get him barking orders for someone to make this attire more livable, then she didn’t know what would.

[61]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii had not been aware of Madeline’s roaming eyes; even if he was, he most likely wouldn’t have cared. He glanced back at Madeline as she came to stand at his side, hands on her hips, and managed a smirk almost identical to her own. Kicks and Trinket looked rather sheepish, nodding in agreement to what Madeline said. Kicks seemed to brighten up when Madeline focused her annoyance on Solus, inconspicuously backing up to put some distance between him and the growling woman. Trinket turned his head to the side curiously, wondering where his brother was going. Solus put his head in his hands, letting out a sigh of absolute frustration; why was he the one who was always saddled with the crazy people?

Seems lieutenant Prudii could really pick them. But if he had an opinion, he’d have to say she definitely complimented him; they were both crazy, sadistic, perverts. Well, he didn’t know about the pervert part, but he figured his guess was pretty good when she made the comment about taking off her clothes. Solus exchanged a glance with Recoil, before he glanced at his lieutenant. “Sir…I’m going to leave you two in the capable hands of Kicks and Trinket.” To this, both aforementioned Clones exchanged horrified looks. “Don’t look so shocked; Trinket is the squad medic after all. I’ll take Kicks’ place on the scouting assignment.” He waved one hand, before he reached up and placed his helmet back on his head. Recoil shot his brothers a look that clearly conveyed his amusement, before mimicking his sergeant and following him out the door.

Kicks and Trinket turned to observe their lieutenant and his new girlfriend, both with equally hesitant looks on their face. Prudii, meanwhile, had pretty much ignored the exchange to tug on a lock of Maddi’s hair. He was glowering down at her, golden eyes narrowed slightly. “Don’t you dare,” he growled. “You will not run around my base naked; especially not if I have anything to say about it.” He was stopped from saying anymore when Trinket stepped forward and reached out to briefly touch Madeline’s hand to get her attention. Trinket was very quiet; he hardly ever spoke at all, preferring to allow Kicks to speak for him. Trinket tugged on Madeline’s rolled up sleeve slightly, a small smile on his face. He then pointed to himself.

Kicks seemed to figure out what he wanted before any of the others, and grinned at Madeline. “He’s saying he can fix those for you, if you want. He sews people up for a living; can’t be too hard to sew up some clothes for you. It’d probably be easier for him to just fix up a whole different set. Can you survive in those for a little while longer?” Trinket smiled lightly, nodding at Kicks’ very correct interpretation of what he was trying to get across.

[60]

Kicks
8
Recoil
8
Trinket
6
Solus
6

[Kallile]

She was trying to focus on what was going on around her and the exchange of ‘hands’ so to speak. At least the two stiffs were heading out…but then again that left the two twits who had fallen on the floor in front of them. She watched Recoil and Solus go with a conflicted gaze before settling her eyes on Kicks and Trinket. She was about to say something sadistic towards them, when suddenly her head was jerked to the side.

Eyes flashing to purple instantly, she glared up at narrow golden eyes. She narrowed her own right back, suddenly seeming not to care how much of her hair he happened to be holding and giving a sharp twist of her head to free herself. “I said nothing about being naked, I do have on things under all this red you know.” She growled back, giving a small smirk to mask the area that was beginning to sting on her head. Man, he’d had a better hold than she first thought. “Besides, if I ran around here naked half your guys would probably fall over and pass out and the others might give chase…if they’re like you.”

The last part was said as something of a challenge, but it didn’t have a chance to be followed up. Maddi jumped a little as her hand was touched, whirling around to see the shyly smiling face of Trinket. She narrowed her eyes and found it difficult. Somehow she just couldn’t bring herself to unleash a full wrath towards the little guy. Not that he was any smaller than his brothers, but merely for the fact he seemed much more timid.

She watched him in something between uncertainty and anger. What….the heck was he doing? She resisted the urge to move away from him. He was like one of those street performer mimes and he had the creepiness level to go with it. Her attention snapped to Kicks, then back to trinket. Fantastic—he needed a translator! She knew he could talk—he had asked who she was—the question was why he was no longer talking now. She frowned, looking at her shapeless red form.

“I suppose if you hurry it up.” She grumbled, wanting badly to reach out and do…something to Trinket to see if it made him make a noise. She supposed she probably shouldn’t—and the prospect of new clothes that actually fit outweighed the satisfaction of being sadistic just this once. “Nothing missing…that means here and here.” She growled, motioning over her chest and behind her in mocking to what Trinket had been doing. She figured it would go without saying…but she was in an all male base. She wouldn’t put it past any of them to try and trick some sort of peep show out of her. Especially Prudii.

[62]

[MillietheWarrior]

“Knowing you,” Prudii scoffed. “You’d probably enjoy it.” He folded his arms across his broad chest, looking like he was about to sulk off into a corner. Prudii was surprised at how well Madeline already fit in here. She acted like she’d just been appointed queen of the base. Prudii snorted; not inaccurate, given how she was behaving. He turned back to Trinket to watch the interaction between his squad member and his new girlfriend. He was ready to step in if Madeline got out of hand with Trinket; the poor guy was already nervous and timid enough. He didn’t need some random crazy lady growling in his face and demanding his fix her shirt. Prudii was surprised he’d offered, considering it was easy to see how much Madeline frightened Trinket.

But he was tougher than expected, and he did his best to ignore the way her voice growled at him or her eyes narrowed in his direction. When Madeline focused her glare on him, Trinket scooted back a few paces, his face contorting in confusion and slight hurt at being growled at. Hadn’t he offered to do something nice? But when she spoke again, he seemed to regain a bit of confidence, and nodded his head, his smile returning full force. He hurried past Madeline and back into the room they’d just vacated. When he returned, he carried the last spare set of fatigues. Kicks chuckled; “We’re gonna need to replace those now. You guys hogged them all.” Trinket shot him a look, then pointed to Madeline and to the fatigues. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to talk, he just really had nothing much to say.

It took a lot of effort, confusion, or some overwhelming emotion to get Trinket to open up and say anything, really. Trinket folded the fatigues in his hands, then lightly touched the back of Madeline’s hand again in a ‘follow me’ gesture. Prudii grabbed Maddi’s hand, following Kicks and Trinket as they lead them through a maze of halls to the mess hall and opened the door to the giant, empty room. Prudii glanced at Madeline. “Trinket can sew up those clothes for you while we eat. He might try to get some kind of measurement, so don’t slug him or anything; especially if you want those done.” Trinket had a horrified look on his face at the prospect of being punched for trying to do something nice.

Kicks placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to hide his laughter, before Prudii nodded to Madeline. “What do you want to eat?” he asked, as Trinket and Kicks settled down at a table to wait for their lieutenant and his girlfriend.

[61,9,7]

[Kallile]

By all rights, Madeline felt like she was queen of the base. She was the only woman there and had already managed to strike fear into a heart or two…wasn’t that all it took to be a queen? Be feared yet somehow admired at the same time? Not as if there was anyone who might contend with her for the title, anyway. In situations Maddi felt lost in, she did try to take control, to warp things to a more familiar state where she did feel comfortable.

Trinket’s softly shifting face gave Maddi the creeps—first he had a wounded look then he was all for everything again. She let him pass by without offering any trouble, giving Prudii a look that said ‘some squad you’ve got here’. She turned her head quickly to look at Trinket as he touched her again (what was with him?!) and looked to Kicks. She had no time to comment, however, as Prudii snatched up her hand and began making her follow Trinket. “Yes, let’s follow the mime through the maze. We’ll hear him coming from a mile away if we get lost.” She grumbled darkly under her breathe, just loud enough from Prudii to hear her. “He’s going to have to say something eventually…”

The empty room was something Madeline hadn’t expected—if they were at a base either they were very active or they were at a lack of soldiers. Either way, the two rooms she had been in were mostly empty, which made Maddi feel the latter was the right answer. “I’ll try to contain myself…” she glowered in return, smirking a little at Trinket’s current expression. If nothing else, he would be fun to toy with.

Attention returned to the prospect of food, Madeline eyed Prudii for a moment as she thought about it. Well, there were no menus to speak of on the walls, so she named the first thing that could be deemed her ‘hearts desire’. “Medium rare steak, I really don’t care what else is with it.” Fries, baked potato, gravy, whatever else one could think to pair with a steak—Madeline was hungry enough she’d eat it. And since most of those options consisted of potatoes in one form or another, she decided it really wouldn’t matter just what form they were in. She gave a subtle glance over her shoulder to Kicks and Trinket. Call her crazy, but she didn’t want to be snuck up on again to have her arm or waist measured.

[63]

[MillietheWarrior]

Trinket ignored Madeline’s jibe, even if he hadn‘t been meant to hear it. He’d learned to tune out the negative things that people said to him. It didn’t matter who he was, what squad he was part of, or who his brothers were, it didn’t save him from being whispered about behind his back or being ridiculed. Trinket learned to shrug off the negativity. His weird habits, like not speaking or collecting odd trinkets were accepted by his brothers, and that was all that mattered to him.

He settled himself comfortably at the table, the fatigues spread out in front of him, and pulled the med kit from his belt pouch. He opened the container and pulled out a needle, scissors and some heavy duty thread (Used to sew people up). Looking back over his shoulder, Trinket managed to squint and try to gain an accurate reading of some of Madeline’s measurements. Tongue sticking out o the corner of his mouth, Trinket set to work on altering the fatigues. Kicks sat with his head on his hand, watching Trinket with a bored look.

Prudii, on the other hand, had quickly shuffled away from Madeline’s side before she could stop him, and ordered two plates of the same thing from what looked like a server droid. It whirred, beeped and clicked, before setting out to make the food. He leaned on the counter, arms propped up behind him. His wooziness was beginning to fade, his vision clearing.

His shoulder still throbbed painfully, the bandages still stained red beneath his fatigues, but it was beginning to feel a bit better. He rotated his shoulder slightly, feeling his skin stretch, pull and sting. He winced slightly, before he reached up and pressed a palm to the wound, holding it down to try and stave off the pain. Closing his eyes briefly, he leaned back against the counter to take some of the strain off his tired legs.

Trinket, meanwhile, had already made quite a bit of progress with the shirt. He quickly stood up, grabbing the top and hurrying over to Madeline. He held it up to her, as if measuring how small he needed to make it. Already it was a few inches shorter, with no sleeves and he’d begun to tighten it around the middle. He pointed to the shirt, then to her, and smiled, nodding in a ‘do you think it’s okay?’ kind of way. Kicks smiled form the table. “He wants to know if you like it so far,” he called.

[62,10,8]

[Kallile]

When Madeline was left standing on her own, she sent a haughty glare in Prudii’s direction. It was probably a good idea on his part, because as soon as she caught a glimpse of the droid he was ordering from she jumped back a little and glowered at it. These people really were insane. They killed these things all day, were shot by them, and then they came home to order food from them? Her appetite decreased suddenly, feeling that she’d rather be shot full of holes than die gurgling from food poisoning.

She took another step back, nearly turning right into Trinket and the currently demolished garment he held up for her. She looked at it, and then to his eager face. Stupid puppy-dog eyes…she unfolded her arms and held them more aloof at her sides to better see where the top might hit her. She tried not to look at him, knowing there was a darkness in her eyes about the fact there was a droid nearby. She was trying harder than she had with Prudii to be ‘civil’ around this timid little mime with puppy-dog eyes.

Nodding, she heaved a sigh towards Prudii and looked cautiously towards Trinket. “They’ll work fine…er…thanks.” The last word sounded strained. She didn’t want to thank anyone for keeping her in these uncomfortable clothes, but she couldn’t very well leave the poor guy hanging.

She moved past him as gently as she could, coming to a table adjacent from the two squad members. Plopping herself down in a pile of red fabric, she watched Prudii from over her shoulder. If that thing pulled a knife on him from over the counter, it was on. “You guys take ‘keep friends close but enemies closer’ literally around here.” She growled towards the odd pair nearest her, eyes unwavering from Prudii and the metal beast she could see motoring around the kitchen.

[64]

((100 replies! Second time in my RPing life! XD *throws around confetti*))

[MillietheWarrior]

Trinket’s face lit up with a pleased light, and he nodded, almost bouncing back to the table to finish altering Madeline’s new clothes. Kicks found it funny how Trinket had warmed up to someone so cold. He seemed to enjoy making Madeline happy. Or at least, as happy as she could muster. That ‘thanks’ sounded a little forced. He grinned as Trinket began altering the top even more, making it slightly shorter to fit Madeline’s smaller build, and then began to tackle the pants. Prudii, meanwhile, had crossed his arms lightly over his chest to refrain from tearing his shoulder any more. He snorted, shaking his head at Madeline’s sudden ‘freaked out-ness’ about the droid behind him.

“Stop being such a baby,” he said, scoffing. “It just makes food; it’s not like it’s gonna take out a blaster and shoot you full of holes.” He rolled his eyes, when a ‘clink’ behind him caught his attention. The droid set two trays of steaming hot food in front of him, placing a cup of what looked like fruit punch on top of each. Prudii grabbed the plates and headed back over to Madeline, balancing both perfectly in his hands (Even if his sore arm sagged a bit). He made it to her table and sat down opposite of Madeline, placing her tray in front of her.

“Sheesh, paranoid. Not all droids are bad, you know.” He grabbed his fork and cut a chunk of meat off his steak, shoving it into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Besides,” he said through chews. “If your gonna stay here, might as well get used to them. They’re everywhere.” He took another bite of his steak, before he was distracted by Trinket coming over to plop himself down in the seat beside Madeline, carrying the fatigues and all his stuff. Kicks followed shortly after, sitting next to Prudii with a curious expression on his face.

Trinket had gotten the pants cut shorter and adjusted, although he was still working on them. He glanced at Madeline, then at the pants, then back to her.  He lifted his hands and made a curving motion, then pointed to the waistband of the pants. Kicks grinned. “He wants to know if he should adjust them anymore. Do you need them smaller?” His curious expression didn’t diminish though, and he continued. “What were you guys talking about, anyway?” Prudii took another bite of his food, studiously ignoring his squad.

[63,11,9]

[Kallile]

Madeline watched his approach, seeming unfazed by the fact he was determined to carry both trays with two lame arms. He was a big boy and she wasn’t going to go running to aid him. He picked his poison (probably literally, she reminded herself) and he was going to get to finish what he started. She watched her tray slide slightly towards her, her red drink sloshing dangerously close to the edges. A single drop began running down the side of the glass and she whisked it away with her finger, sampling it carefully. Fruity, she chided to no one but herself.

“I find that hard to believe after every one I’ve ever seen has spent the last 24 hours trying to kill us.” She grumbled, watching him take a bite of his steak. It did smell good, but she was going to wait and see if he instantly keeled over first. After he had swallowed and wasn’t foaming at the mouth and straining for air, Madeline set about carving her own steak. She was ravenous, after all.

She had just about taken her first successful bite when Trinket plopped down beside her. Holding the fork in the air she regarded him and his gestures out of the corner of her eye, all the while wondering why he decided there was a need to sit so close. It wasn’t like he was going to whisper anything to her—she had Kicks the megaphone for that job.

In hindsight, at least someone here remembered she actually had a very feminine and flattering figure. She eyed the waistband and pulled the hunk of meat from her fork as she pondered the size. “Little smaller.” She said finally, stabbing another bite. For a metallic killer, the droid didn’t cook half bad.

“We’re talking about the ticking time bomb killers you apparently have littered all over the place.” She growled at Kicks, not looking up from her food. Between the clothing, the close presence of Trinket, and Prudii and Kicks both staring at her from across the table, she was feeling a little smothered with attention. For only about the fourth time today. She would have to find a remedy for that and soon.

[65]

[MillietheWarrior]

Kicks drew his head back a little, leaning on one arm as he tried not to look too confused. What was this crazy girl talking about? Ticking time bomb killers? Kicks wondered if she was talking about the Clones. He felt slightly offended for a moment, his face taking on a disgruntled, somewhat annoyed look. Prudii seemed to catch wind of his train of thought, and elbowed him lightly, pointing to the cafeteria droid that still buzzed and whirred obliviously in it’s kitchen domain. Kicks’ face lightened up as understanding dawned on him. Well, it made sense. Madeline had just shot up a droid who’d shot up Prudii, and probably wasn’t feeling too friendly towards those of the metal and tin persuasion.

Kicks waved his hand with an amused grin, eyes sparkling with mirth. “Aw, come on. They aren’t that bad. And they’re only programmed to do what you want them to do. That sniper droid--I’m assuming it was a droid--was programmed to shoot and kill it’s targets. That one over there-” He jerked his thumb towards the food droid. “-Is programmed to cook semi-delicious food that is both bland and packed with nutrients to keep us boys strong, but devoid of any form of taste. Give it some time; you’ll probably end up liking them. Especially the ones that clean the rooms for you and pick up messes.” Trinket had stilled completely, avidly listening to what Kicks was saying as if his life depended on it. It seemed as though he always paid close attention to everything Kicks --and to that effect, almost any of his squad mates-- said.

His hand clutched the red fabric, frozen in mid-air with a needle in his free hand as he altered the pants to make the waist smaller. As Kicks fell silent, Trinket unfroze, his necklace clacking against his armor as he bent over the fatigues to alter them. Prudii watched him with an amused smile, a fond glow in his eyes. Trinket, though the same age as his brothers, always seemed like the youngest of them all. He was very impressionable, choosing to imitate whatever brother he happened to be with at the time. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own personality; he just chose to be more like his brothers, because he felt that was what everyone wanted. Prudii knew Trinket was slightly ashamed of himself for his mild case of kleptomania, and his apparent ‘weirdness’ as he called it.

No one seemed to pay him any mind, and it was all too easy for him to fade into the background or be forgotten. Trinket was scared to death of being left behind or forgotten; he showed this overwhelming fear both on and off the battlefield. When he was on the battlefield, he stuck close to his brothers, fighting like a crazy man to make sure he stayed near them, and taking down anything in his way. Even if he was the squad medic, he was still a soldier, and a dangerous and deadly one at that. Off the battlefield, he shadowed his brothers like a lost puppy, always trying to win affection and recognition for the things he did, and willing to do just about anything to be noticed and appreciated. Prudii knew he didn’t need to work so hard; his brothers, him included, loved Trinket for who he was, and accepted him as part of their odd, miss-matched family. But Trinket’s fear was overwhelming, and no matter how many assurances he’d received, he always worked hard not to fade away into the background and be forgotten.

Speaking of Trinket…Prudii looked up, eyeing his squad medic as Trinket held the fatigues up to inspect them with a critical eye.  Prudii dipped his head, smile on his face as he took another bite of his food. He knew what was coming next, and he lifted his eyes slightly to watch. Trinket reached down and tugged on Madeline’s sleeves, nearly bouncing in his seat in his excitement. He pushed the fatigues towards her, quite happy with his work, and silently waiting for praise or recognition. His eyes seemed to spark with happiness at having done something good for once. Kicks leaned forward, head resting on his hands as he smiled softly. “Well, looks like he’s finished. They look good, Trink. Nice job.” He offered his brother a thumbs up; even if Madeline wouldn’t compliment him, Kicks would. Trinket nudged Madeline again, still looking excited to hear her verdict on the clothing.

[64,12,10]

[Kallile]

Madeline either ignored or was truly oblivious to Kicks growing annoyance before he spoke; either would have been equally believable. She didn't seem the type to care who she made enemies with and was, currently, watching her food carefully as if it might start wilting away from some poison the droid had cooked into it. No matter how many times they could stand to tell her that the droids were something she would come to appreciate, Madeline was currently having none of it. She was, however, wishing deeply for either the blaster back or a baseball bat: just incase.

Her bright green eyes floated up to Kicks and she listened to him with an unimpressed expression as she chewed her current bite of food. She shrugged when he was finished talking, flickering her gaze over to see what trinket was doing. Being a statue was the answer she found, and she shook her head a little. "We'll see. I still think they're just one switch-flip away from mechanical murderers. They'd better stay out of where ever you're sticking me to stay."

Her gaze went to Prudii, realizing that while he had told her she'd be stuck here for a while, he'd neglected to tell her where she'd be staying. However, her intentions of staring him down until he gave her an answer were foiled by Trinket's tug on her sleeve. She suppressed a growl from becoming audible before she turned to him and looked down to the fatigues he'd shoved her way.

She pulled the material closer to her and held them up one by one for a closer inspection. Well, all seemed about right. save for the weight of the heavier material, it looked almost like she was holding something out of her own closet. She heaped them back onto the table only to receive another nudge. Oh, right, she still needed to give the 'puppy' his treat...

"Better than most of my big name clothing." She said, pausing thoughtfully. "So good, in fact, I think I'll go change into them right now."

Her appetite was all but lost watching the droid whir around the kitchen and the food itself, while decent, was just a little too heavy for her empty stomach. She was tired, above all else, and would kill for something as simple as chicken noodle soup rather than the heavy meat she had been eating. She glanced to Prudii as she took the altered fatigue set into her arms; either he needed to show her to somewhere to change, or she was going to try and retrace her steps back to the medical ward. Either way, Maddi needed to get out of here for a while to find some sort of peace. Fatigue was written all over her face.

[66]