Private Sick as a Baby

[Rayne Lo'to]

Sick as a Baby
Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

Rayne was struggling to keep herself propped up as she sat behind the counter of her walker, which was crouched down for passer-bys to interact. She'd usually set up to sell scrap, but instead she was sitting there in her pajamas, wrapped up in a blanket made to look like a tortilla. Her yellow face had grown pale, and her skin was clammy, goose pimples dancing along her arms and legs.

She was sick, and it wasn't clear what from. It had been developing ever since her encounter with a refugee family from Ryloth and had worsened from there. The twi'lek couldn't help but wonder if she had picked something up from them.

Needless to say, Rayne was in a bad state. High fever, scratchy throat, and a splitting headache that sent waves of pain down her Lekku, which she gently nursed with a sniffle. In such a state of illness she was getting no customers, and she probably needed to close up shop and try her best to recover, but Rayne was determined to at least make one sale. She needed the credits for food after all, and medication at that. It was probably the only path to recovery for her. So the young scrapper sat there in her blanket, wrapped up like a burrito as she waited for anyone to come by.

Just one sale. That's all she needed.

 

[Iris Arani]

Sickness in the Underworld wasn't anything new. On Coruscant it was better. People weren't as afraid to go to the doctors, afraid they didn't have the money. They still needed some money, on that she knew. But it wasn't like Denon where they could very much end up being sold for parts if they didn't have the money they needed. That was how the contracts often worked. But still, there were few doctors that went down to the underworld even here on Coruscant.

Mostly because of fear. Iris didn't have that kind of fear, though.

She paused as she walked about the streets. The colors here were never the brightest, but she could still pick them apart here and there as she needed. Especially when there was someone obviously sick. Without a word she stopped before what looked like a scrap shop and crouched down to look at the bundle that was there. Not a bundle, a person, just as she expected.

"You're sick. What are you doing?"

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

"You're sick. What are you doing?"

Rayne flinched, nearly jumping straight out of her blanket. This other woman had come completely out of nowhere, and seemed to be fully aware that she was ill. It was rather obvious, of course, but the young woman wasn't quite sure where this stranger had come from in her delirious state.

"Trying to make money," Rayne answered through her vocoder, holding back a sniffle. "Sick people still gotta eat."

She frowned, crossing her arms and tilting her head. There was something so blunt and matter-of-fact about this woman. It was jarring. Perhaps that's what made Rayne go on the defensive. Of course, she hadn't told the full story. Money would also equal medical treatment, at least to some extent. Nothing down here came for free after all. The Twi'lek really only needed to make one good sale and she'd be set for the next few days.

"So... you gonna buy anything?" she asked, giving a mute sigh.

 

[Iris Arani]

"No."

Iris shrugged off her pack, starting to rummage through it without a seeming care that she was, in fact, in the way of Rayne's business. There were far more important things than a couple of credits. She pulled out her Medi Pad, already clicking it on to scan the Twi'lek regardless of permission or protest. She was a doctor, after all.

"When did the symptoms start?"

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

"No."

Rayne flinched a little. She wasn't a very confrontational person at all, so the sudden snap was a bit startling. But then the stranger started pulling out medical equipment, asking about symptoms and such forth. She was rather suddenly being scanned, a nervous frown coming to her face.

"It started a few days ago," the Twi'lek relayed. "I don't mean to rain on your... whatever this is, but I can't really pay you."

She was flat broke. There was no way she'd be able to cover whatever goofy medical fees this was coming with. Rayne didn't exactly wanna wind up in debt for the rest of her pitiful life.

 

[Iris Arani]

"You paying me is pointless."

Ah, Iris couldn't get over how quick the scanner actually worked. Briana Sal-Soren would never know just how truly helpful the pad was, especially in situations like this. Grant it, it still had some limitations. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned over the screen. Fever, rushed heartbeat. "Jedi don't take payment. Did you eat something? Come in contact with someone else that seemed sick? Where do you sleep, what sort of scrap do you sell, are they cleaned by you or do they come in clean, where do you scavenge, are you taking any drugs; spice and the like?" She rattled off the questions one by one, but only because she wasn't looking for an actual answer.

The colors would tell her enough on something that might stand out for Rayne. She paused after a moment, lowered the pad to look Rayne directly in the eye. Which might be startling since Iris never once made eye contact prior.

"Where did that family come from?"

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

"Can you slow down please," Rayne asked, her face a little more panicked now, "My head really hurts, I'm sorry."

She tilted her head, clutching her forehead as she tried to process everything the woman said.

"I live in my walker, I have a bed in there I wash the sheets of every week. I didn't really eat anything odd recently, just a jam sandwich, and I get scrap from all over the place. I clean it off at least to de-rust it."

"Where did that family come from?"

"How... did you do that?" the Twi'lek asked, her face growing red.

Could she see all of her thoughts? Did this random Jedi doctor who came out of nowhere know her fears? She just needed to avoid thinking about embarrassing things.

When she was younger, Rayne made a headband out of something she later discovered were boxers. The kids at the orphanage made fun of her.

She panicked even more, quickly aborting that line of thought.

"Ryloth," she explained. "They were refugees from that recent battle. I directed them to a place they could pick up some cheap hot meals..."

Rayne squinted at the shorter woman, sniffling.

"You think they got me sick?"

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris blinked slowly before looking back around Rayne. Frowned after a second before again turning her gaze to the medipad in her hand. "Don't be sorry." Ryloth, huh? That's what seemed to stick out the most to her. A different datapad came out, one she could search through for all manner of sicknesses and disease. There weren't too many that matched the current symptoms, though there was one that stood out.

"Are you from Ryloth yourself?"

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

"No," she replied. "Never once been in my life either."

She had, for better or worse, been born on Nar Shaddaa. Though given her brief understanding of the culture of her people and the horrific living conditions that plagued their existence on a tidally locked planet, perhaps growing up in a sweat shop was not the worst childhood. She had been able to escape that after all.

"So... does that mean anything?"

 

[Iris Arani]

"Yeah, it does." Iris nodded once as she shut down the Medipad. Smiled as warm as she could, which, given it was Iris, wasn't as warm as a normal one. Still kind at least. "On Ryloth there's a disease that only affects Twi'leks, usually when they're young. It doesn't last long, and it's not dangerous. It's.. Well. Because you've never been there, I guess you picked it up for the first time. It'll fade in a couple days. You should stay inside and get rest, though, for those days."

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

"On Ryloth there's a disease that only affects Twi'leks, usually when they're young. It doesn't last long, and it's not dangerous. It's.. Well. Because you've never been there, I guess you picked it up for the first time.

Rayne's face flushed red with embarrassment. A kid's disease? As an adult? That was definately on her list of things that would live rent free in the back of her head for the rest of time, like the accidental headband boxers. There was something that made her feel so childish about the whole ordeal, sitting here being lectured about her health made her feel like she was a child again.

She hadn't much liked being a child.

"Alright," Rayne finally responded, letting out a muted sigh. "Thanks, I guess..."

She'd pull the edges of her tortilla blanket closer, frowning as she pondered her next course of action. Her fridge would probably dry up soon, which made it hard to simply do nothing and rest. If she wasn't selling scrap, she wasn't eating. She sucked up her pride, turning back to the woman with a rather shameful expression.

"Would you at least be willing to buy something before I rest?" she asked. "I sort of still need credits..."

The Twi'lek would turn, lowering her head a little.

"Not to be greedy," the scrapper insisted. "Just to get essentials."

She couldn't really bring herself to say it completely, but she didn't really want to bring herself back to rummaging for food. Not again. Maybe she could hold onto some of her dignity by keeping it vague.

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris listened to her. But didn't actually listen to her. Instead, she was more looking at the colors around her. Frowned, briefly, before standing up. "No, I'm not going to buy anything. There's nothing here I want or need." Then she turned to step away, but paused after a moment. Right.

"I'm going to go buy some food you'll need most. No complaining about what they are. Doctors orders."

She gave a half smile over her shoulder before stepping into the crowd to do just as she said she would and leave Rayne alone for a couple minutes.

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

Rayne really couldn't protest to anything that was being said. She was exhausted, and the Jedi woman gave her no opportunity to do so. As she vanished into the busy streets of Coruscant, Rayne couldn't help but feel helpless. She liked being able to support herself, but here she was allowing herself to be pampered. Well, she really wasn't allowing anything. The scrapper was far too sick to really go against what was happening to her. It still felt bad to be in such a pitiful spot, like all the turmoil of her youth had been for nothing.

Her mood deflated, and the Twi'lek laid down on the floor of her walker, bundled up in her tortilla blanket with her Lekku sprawled out behind her head. And that's sort of all she did. Lay there, unmoving in a daze. It was like all control of her surroundings had been torn from her grasp, all because she had spent a few days ill.

Iris would return to a greater mess than the one she found.

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris returned a little later, carrying bags of food. If it could be called food, anyway. It was all nutrition paste. No flavor, just exactly what Rayne would need to recover. If it wasn't full of spices to the point it'd burn her tongue, Iris tasted nothing anyway. Food was just what she needed to get by. She did pause as she stood in front of where the Twi'lek laid bundled up on the floor with a confused expression.

"Why are you on the floor. That's only going to make you worse. Can you not stand? Did you fall?"

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

outfit​

"Why are you on the floor. That's only going to make you worse. Can you not stand? Did you fall?"

"I didn't fall."

Rayne simply sighed, averting her gaze as her lower lip formed into a pout. This was rather unbefitting of her. She had grown up on the streets of Nar Shaddaa, learned to stand on her own two feet. Now some random person was very much walking over her flow, and she hardly had the composure to fight back.

"Floor isn't that bad." she noted. "I mop it regularly. It isn't covered in glass or anything. Alleyways are rough on the back..."

The Twi'lek sat up, her eyes shifting to fix on the shorter Jedi woman. What was her deal? She still couldn't get a read on the woman at all. Did she just do this for fun?

"You're not gonna monitor me or something, are you?" Rayne finally asked. "I... I don't like when people do that."

Bad memories. She usually only ever had criminals breathing down her neck.

 

[Iris Arani]

"You should be laying in your bed regardless."

Iris moved further into the home to put the food away, idly lining the shelves with the nutrition packs. She didn't so much as slow down as the question was asked, immediately giving her answer. Or she would've. The moment she opened her mouth the colors had shifted. She turned her head, looking directly at Rayne for a moment, then turned back to the shelves.

"Your home is clean and I see nothing that will make your sickness worse. I'll return tomorrow to check in, but I won't monitor you."

She knew she was trash at bedside manner. It's just how she was, all her life. But she knew those colors well enough.

"I'm not good with people. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable, but I do just want you to get better."

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

outfit​

"I'm not good with people. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable, but I do just want you to get better."

"No, I know you mean well..." Rayne noted. "It's just a lot."

She let out a silent exhale, turning her head. It wasn't really the doctor's fault at all that she was like this. It was just how she grew up, needing to fend for herself. Weakness wasn't something she like to display, but ultimately Rayne wasn't really a strong person at all. The Twi'lek was softer than she portrayed outwardly.

"I don't like being weak."

 

[Iris Arani]

"Well, you are. And you will be again statistically. So make sure you find people you can trust for when that does happen." The blunt truth was often the best, after all. Or at least that was the only way Iris knew how to tell people what she thought. Speaking of, she motioned to the machine the Twi'lek had been speaking through.

"Stop using that, too. It will exhaust you further. I can understand you without it."

Rayne Lo'to

 

[Rayne Lo'to]

Coruscant, Underbelly
Tags: Iris Arani

outfit​

"You make it sound like trustworthy people are everywhere..."

They weren't. That was simply a fact. There was a gangster around every corner, a twisted crime lord or heartless slaver hiding in the underbelly of every city. There wasn't really anywhere to roll up to to simply make friends or allies. Rayne relied on her good will to make connections, but they usually left her. It was always like that. She always wound up alone one way or another.

A frown came to her face at the mention of not using her vocoder.

"I don't want to," she stated bluntly. "I don't like people in my head."

She had sensitive stuff in there. But then again...

"You're already in my head, aren't you?"

 

[Iris Arani]

"There's not. And that's why it's important to find someone who is."

Iris blinked though, tilting her head in surprise at the outburst. It made some sense. Was it a misunderstanding though?

"I'm not in your head. I can see your emotions, that's all. I'm just.. Good at putting words to them." Which was for one specific reason. Who had finally shown up. Domxite in their droid body hopped up on her shoulder, letting out an influx of emotion. Concern, worry, interest.

"Yes, she's sick. I've already gotten her the meds she needs, though, so she should be feeling better in a couple days." Iris smiled, which was an odd expression given her normally robotic like expressions.

"Sorry I worried you for wandering off."

Rayne Lo'to