The Aftermath of Overconfidence

[Darlyn Excron]

He'd have fought tooth and nail not to be sitting in a hospital bed right now, if he'd had any fight left in him. Darlyn hated being stuck in place like this, especially with any kind of device attached to him even to make sure he didn't spontaneously die in the middle of the night. It was just, annoying to be unable to freely act of his own accord. Worse yet was the knowledge that the medical tubes feeding him pain numbing drugs had become necessary after he lost the ability to block out the pain from sustaining more injuries than he'd expected. Hell, he'd taken a shot to the side without realizing it at one point, adrenaline and the Force man. Makes things easy.

But now, here he was, sitting down on a hospital cot trying to at least get paperwork done. Freeing Commenor had done much but he'd be damned if he slowed down the slightest. Even if he had to stop to cough violently every so often, much to the annoyance of the nurses who continued insisting he was pushing himself too hard. This was Commenor, nothing was too hard for him.

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

The hover chair moved at the behest of several nurses, followed by a doctor. Silfe tried not to feel self conscious as they all examined her chart and early examinations. Finally she was being moved from emergency care and triage to an actual room and honestly, she could not be more glad. The emergency area of the hospital had been overwhelming with sounds, lights, people and pungent smells of blood and chemicals, dust and debris. Getting out of there finally would help the poor tired woman. What little dozing she had gotten between examinations, poking and prodding and tending to her wounds was certainly not enough to heal her battered and broken body. What she wouldn't give for a shower.

She was still covered in some debris and dust, though they had washed her hair to examine and clean her head wound properly. It was a tangled mess, but she was too sore to lift her arms to brush it. The hover chair turned into a room, semi private with one person sitting up in bed and doing paperwork. Silfe found herself both amused and surprised to find [member="Darlyn Excron"] there. "Well," she said as they stopped and began helping her move from the chair to the bed. "They really must have done a number on you to have you actually sitting in a hospital bed. Hello Darlyn."

Silfe smiled warmly, though it was quickly shifted to a grimace as she adjusted herself on the bed. She sucked in a breath and groaned. The doctor quickly checked like an overenthusiastic humming bird. She waved them away with reassurances and then laid back as they thankfully left her in peace.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Believe me if I could walk right now I'd be heading out the door. Hello Silfe. I'd ask how life's been treating you but you look like you had a building dropped on you. No offense." He finished another piece of paperwork and put it aside, before working on the next. On and on, repetitive motions to ignore the here and now. And with the press of a button, obviously another little dosage of his pain medication directly to his bloodstream. "I'm guessing you got caught up in the whole rebellion then. Did my lessons ages ago help you at all or do we need to get to planning a second course for you?" Quite frankly there was something to be said about Darlyn here, namely that he was concerned with [member="Silfe Sosuri"] and future help even as he was still very obviously recovering from whatever had been bad enough to put him there. Dedicated to his work and people.

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Finally settled, she arranged blankets so that her feet would not be cold. The bed conformed to a comfortable relaxed posture, supporting her in every way. She laid back her head with a sigh of relief and turned it to face [member="Darlyn Excron"]. Her dark eyes took in his dedication to his work and she couldn't help but smile. There were many things she could have said about Darlyn upon first meeting him. He had been constantly drunk and belligerent and for what... she couldn't completely say. There were rumors of course and some might even be right, but Silfe had never personally asked him about the demons that so often haunted him.

"No offense taken since that is exactly what happened to me. Or at least, the worst of the injuries are from the Palace falling on me quite literally." Silfe still had bruising around her neck from an obvious hand. "I was inside it when the ship crashed into it. I had to be rescued."

"I would be up for a second lesson but I think it shall have to wait. I would really rather not exacerbate the injuries I have. Walking is sort of a good ability to have. What happened to you?"

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Truthfully? I'll be sure to keep that in mind whenever we get around to rebuilding it. Maybe put up a plaque for your resilience. Provided it's located appropriately." Another paper signed, the pile to his left grew larger. "Can't say I had a building dropped on me. I did shoot myself onto Commenor, at least effectively. Lets see... I also threatened some republic troopers for manhandling civis, yelled at First Order a bit, i think. I shot a bunch of sith troopers, they weren't too happy about that. Crashed a police cruiser, shot more sithies, got shot to hell, and at least one got a real good shot in before i probably shot him in the face." He lifted his own hospital wear a bit to show her an obvious wound on his left side.

"Think I passed out from bloodloss or shock at some point. After I got them of course. What else was there... Some clubbed me with their weapons. Honestly it's a bit of a blur, I just remember being a friendly neighborhood badass for a while then waking up feeling all those blaster bolts at once. Was blocking out the pain with the Force you see, concentration wavered." Hopefully [member="Silfe Sosuri"] understood his implications. At some point he'd lost the ability to stay awake, and awoke feeling every wound he'd been effectively blotting out with the Force. Which was maybe not as bad as having a building dropped on you, but couldn't be a walk in the park. "So basically I'm waiting for the pain to be gone enough that I don't need a steady feed of drugs or the Force to keep mobile."

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She listened, her brow shooting up in surprise more and more as he listed the many things that had happened to him in the course of the Commenor defense. Really Darlyn was lucky to be alive. She sucked in a breath when she saw his wounds and shook her head. It was not that she got sick st the sight of blood, but she wasn't a big fan of it either.

Silfe shook her head. "I didn't do much in the way of fighting. As soon as I realized that Commenor was going to name a fight of it, I helped the staff of the palace to safety and then went to find [member="Lady Kay"]. When I got there, a Sith surprised us. I ended up being caught by him and used as a lure to draw out the queen. What he didn't expect and... well neither did I, was my defense mechanism. He was slowly choking the life from me and I just hit him with the Force. Blasted him away. Honestly if Kay had not tempted him to follow her, I'm sure he would have tried to finish the job. He was angry."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"If he was Sith, trust me he wanted Kay more. Still, you probably are lucky... though I didn't know you were force sensitive. Suppose we haven't spent much time lately, probably didn't have the chance to detect such. Still, don't feel bad. You saved plenty of lives by getting those civi's to leave, Force knows how many would've died if you didn't get them to leave. Frankly I think I got saved more so than I saved others, maybe a few civis some idiot spurred up to fight, Caedyn and his new girlfriend, don't quote me on that last one by the way, then I passed out on a drop ship. You probably saved what, twenty, thirty people? Even just getting a few civis to go means more are going to, once they get told by others or see them leaving. You did good Silfe. You did real good." Darlyn coughed, rather violently, for a moment, before he filed another paper as finished.

And then, he sat back a bit, and took a few moments to just breathe. "May need to test your sensitivity some time when you're well too. Make sure you won't blast a building apart or something by accident. I remember when I first used lightning, I ended up frying my weapons for a week. And that was barely a success, you hit a Sith with something full force on instinct. Can only imagine what you might be capable of."

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

"Oh yes. I know I was nothing next to Lady Kay. I didn't even know I was Force Sensitive. That man wanted her way more, but I could tell he was surprised at my defense and it made him very angry to be taken by surprise and knocked down like that. I gather Sith don't like anything that ruins their "more superior than thou, perfect arrogance" exterior. I mean... what a come down had that been for him. One minute, being all big and bad... thinking that he has the situation under control and Lady Kay would be stepping forward any minute to come to the rescue of the small woman he found in her office... then BOOM, ass over tea kettle. Floor meet face." Thinking about the scene now, she did smile a bit. It may not have been intentional, but it certainly had been an interesting moment.

Thinking back to when she directed others to leave, she made a quick mental count. "There were easily over 30 staff in the prep area that I directed to leave. The Palace is generally one giant target. Who knows what could go on? Oh, and Kaine tends to bring down sections of it in his rescues too according to Olivia. Needless to say, I did not want them to remain where they could be in serious danger. I am glad I got to help so many."

She looked over at Darlyn with concern as she heard his cough. He did not seem well, but he filed another paper and she knew it wasn't all bad. Still, she couldn't help the fact that she reached out automatically as if her touch could have somehow helped the situation. Granted, she was still a foot too far away and was not able to actually touch him. Blushing, she retracted her hand hoping he had not noticed.

"I don't know what I am capable of and that does frighten me. I always thought Force Users were both blessed and cursed and I never really wanted that for myself. Sure every once in a while, a girl gets a fancy that she can save the world by using her mind, but it was just fantasy. It was never real.... not for me. I don't know if I like it." Silfe wrinkled her nose and shook her head a bit. Realizing it made her a bit dizzy, she closed her eyes and sighed wearily.


[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Don't have to like it. Doesn't change reality either way, and I'd rather not have you vaporize yourself. Would probably ruin your pretty face faster than having the palace drop on you." He didn't notice the hand reaching for him earlier, though his somewhat joking words were oddly appropriate as a retort to it. Oh if only he knew, he could probably smile bigger then. Instead, he would have to amuse himself with his choice of words bereft of that knowledge.

He remained sat back, almost as though he could sleep with the piles of paperwork in front of him, or as if he was comfortable. When Silfe sighed a bit, Darlyn felt it sounded a bit too defeated. She was by no means the toughest woman he'd ever met, if only because Lady Kay existed, but he didn't much appreciate her state of being. So, he'd try to do the one thing he was great at. "You know I've never had the chance to wipe the smirk off of a Sith's face the way you did. Everyone kinda expects me to be capable of defending myself in the Force. Bet the sith crapped his pants when you blasted him... I'd pay to see that. Maybe when we get around to rubble removal we can see if there's security footage and put it up online." A bit of a playful wink as he suppressed another cough.

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Her dark eyes went wide and in a surprised voice, she exclaimed, "You can VAPORIZE yourself with this?" Shaking her head once more in awe and then remembering that that made her dizzy, it took a moment for his compliment about her face to register. Darlyn was not the kind of man to compliment Silfe. He had tended to her wounds after her father had visited with cold precision. She thought he must be trying to cheer her up. The unusual tactic worked.

As the dizziness finally faded, she turned to look at Darlyn and grinned at his description of the scene involving the Sith. The way he put it, the situation seemed far more comical than it had when she had been in the middle of it. "Now that is definitely a plan I can get with. In the moment, I didn't really have time to let it all sink in. I was terrified, but he would think twice before pulling that stunt again I think. Not too bad for your self defense protege with only one real lesson under her belt and two years of mysterious absence."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Considering people claim you can live forever with it, honestly is vaporization that odd? Frankly I think it's rather mundane compared to immortality." He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair a bit. That was better, she seemed to have improved in her mood. Mission accomplished, time for the follow up. Never leave a job half done. "One real lesson, two years of absence, and apparently an unknown practice session of some kind so you can give Sith an 'oh kark' moment. Really do wish I could see him panicking inside as he tries to stay in charge. Nothing like a Sith desperately reaching for straws."

A pause, and suddenly he couldn't help but give a very loud laugh. "If it had been my old master I'd give you a medal too! Old man's been long in need of a reality check, you know?" He kept laughing at the thought, oh how he wished that were the case. Naturally he held no delusion that it was, the old kook rarely did anything himself. He ought to be dead by now anyways. But the thought that Silfe could've put him in his place for a moment made him amused to no end.

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

"Oh gods do they ever! Sith can't help themselves. IT's like they must all stand around parading their arrogance and turn it up a thousand percent if they are challenged in any way. They always must save face. Always. I have never heard of a situation where a Sith took some big defeat in stride and acknowledged that they messed up. I don't think they could look at their life choices and think... 'oh yeah, I did a right nasty there. Should have listened. Now look at what I have to deal with, a right sod of a life with half my face missin and a respirator to breathe for me.' Nope. Not. Going. To happen." She said laughing,

Silfe gave him a curious look. "Was he so bad? I have heard that some Jedi are as bad as Sith in the ways they handle things." There was no shortage of rumors concerning the Jedi and Sith. She didn't believe most of it, such as living forever or vaporization. She was too skeptical about those powers to just accept that they could do such things. There was always a price for that kind of power.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Well, considering he was an old sith who took me in as a kid to be used as a weapon? Yeah he was pretty bad. Jedi might not be that bad but ehhh... they didn't exactly come to my rescue at any point. Frankly a lot of them would be very happy seeing me imprisoned or killed because of me using the darkside as I do. Granted they don't usually try to kill me but they're pretty universally wary, cold, or distant." He shrugged a bit and thumbed over his chin in thought, letting a few chuckles free when he thought over Silfe's choice examples. "Think after they die they might go 'oh right so that's what i did wrong. And by that I mean everything.' But that's pretty wishful thinking if we're going to be honest. Granted it can be fun to mess with them. For example I was dealing with this one sith ages ago, real pesky piece of work. Had to plant way more explosives than I wanted to. What was fun though was when I started insulting his mother and his courage he walked right over them without hesitation. Fortunately he didn't end up with half a face and a respirator, unfortunately it was because he lacked a face. Or, you know. Most of him."

He laid back a bit and laughed at his memory. "Good days. Dangerous and not suitable for child raising but good ones."

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Silfe shook her head giggling to herself. "No I expect they were not suitable for child raising." She had head that Darlyn had taken in a child as his own but she had not met the girl. According to many in the staff, he was not expected to ever settle down. The fact he had adopted a child was a shock to them all. It had been the topic of gossip quite a lot within the palace staff and for some reason, they never kept their thoughts to themselves when Silfe was around so she had heard a great many things.

"Where is your daughter now, while you are here recovering? She wasn't on Commenor when it was taken was she?"

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"I convinced her to be offworld long before the battle came to Commenor. She's grown up well, but she wasn't prepared for war then. Now though she's probably off doing some job for Kay, maybe trying to break someone out of sith custody again. Honestly who knows, the little mischief maker loves to make me worry." He paused for a moment, why had he put it that way? It was true enough but, made him sound off. At least to his own ears, oh if the palace staff could hear him now. He sounded old, it actually sort of hurt. He wasn't... old. ".. You should meet her sometime. When she's not getting paid so she can stop using my credits for sugary treats that is."

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She had heard that is the prerogative of every little girl with daddy's money. She hadn't been like that, but then she hadn't been much of a little girl so much as an obedient trophy. Silfe couldn't imagine Darlyn as a father. She really had not seen him in that capacity and knowing him as she had... having been a drunk with a death wish, she couldn't make the two pictures really come together in her mind. Yet when he spoke of his daughter, it was with clear affection. "I would love to meet her. She sounds adventurous which means that she is very much your kid. I hope she won't find me to be too boring."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Boring? I doubt it. She likes spending time with anyone who'll give her candy, provided they're not in white vans. She'll probably find you pretty and fun, I mean if I find you like that she's certain to think so. Especially since you're tough enough to take a building falling on you." He chuckled and realized he could get another dose of painkillers, which prompted him to press the button again. Another drop, and he clearly, visibly relaxed, before settling back a bit. His thoughts drifted off, and he couldn't stiffle laughter. "I mean she's probably just going to get up to mischief. Like when she tried to get me to bet on a blind date for charity. She'd probably just try to get you set up with me."

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Candy? Silfe grinned. Well that would be easy enough to obtain even in post occupation Commenor. Did he say "pretty and fun"? Or had he meant "pretty fun"? She watched him give himself another dose of pain meds, glad he was at least taking care of himself in that way. Darlyn was hyped up on drugs, so it could have been a slip of the tongue. It also could have been something he hadn't intended to say. He settled back, obviously in less pain as the drugs did their job.

She realized she was feeling her pain a bit more than she was comfortable with and did the same. Within moments, both patients were much more relaxed. His laughter caught her attention. "She tried to get you to go on a blind date for charity? What could possibly go wrong?"

Silfe considered his words with some deliberation. Darlyn was a very good looking man and she was attracted to him... had been since their bounty outing... maybe even before then. Granted, she had been with Bradshaw then and hadn't fully entertained her attraction. Now, laying in his own medical bed next to her, she realized she still felt that tug towards him. Finally she grinned and asked slyly, "You find me pretty and fun?"



[member="Darlyn Excron"]

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"I'm underselling it. She tried to get me a blind date for charity with a Jedi of all things. Me, mr. happy shooty zappy stabby. Or all of the above at once. That would've been quite the outing, though thankfully she was far outbid." He chuckled and somehow seemed to sink back into the bed further. There was like, so much going through him to keep him relaxed, the bed honestly felt several magnitudes more comfortable than it had any right to be. And his head couldn't really focus too harshly on what was being asked, partly the drugs and partly just finally letting his focus go.

He was so tired you know. It was hard to ignore being shot, even though he was a master of it. With all the effort it took to ignore for as long as he had, it drained him, exhausted him. Brought him to the point where he was so tired he didn't really even register the words Silfe asked him before he responded to her. "Yeah. I do, maybe not as fun as bounty hunting but sooo much more fun than anything or anyone else around here. That a problem?" His head sort of flopped as it turned onto its side, so he could flash her a surprisingly genuine smile.

Even if he was probably way drugged outta his usual state of mind.

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She turned on her side and curled up her feet underneath her so that her body was facing him as well as her face and laid against the raised back of her bed watching him. He was tired. She could tell. The latest round of meds probably were going to knock him out soon. That was probably the reason he was so honest with her in this moment. He might not remember it when he woke, but she would.

She responded to his smile with a genuine one of her own. Her heart fluttered a bit, something it hadn't done in a long time. "Well, a woman can't expect to be as fun as bounty hunting straight out of the gate. But who knows, I might improve in time." She said with a bit of sarcasm though her tone was softer and quieter in response to his exhaustion.

Silfe gave him a delicate shrug. "Problem? No." She blushed, a soft pretty pink coming to her cheeks. "I don't think it is."

[member="Darlyn Excron"]