[TW drug use]
Someone said, “Hey, kid, you wanna buy some death sticks?”
He flinched and looked down at the metal ground, folding tight to be small, bowing low. There were so many people out here, he didn’t ever know when they were addressing this one or another, and he to speak out of turn would offend a master or mistress.
But then the voice repeated, “Hey, you, yeah you. Hellllooo? Hear me, kid?”
Golden eyes risked darting up, checking; he could be expected to respond, or not bowing low enough. A figure was looking at him, gesturing. He stooped harder.
“Y-yessir, M-Master? What does it wish of this one?”
“I said, whatchu lookin’ for, hey? Look like you need to relax, my man. Bit stressed. I got stuff for that. Make all your troubles float away, no kickback, real sweet drop.”
What did those words mean.
Where was Hunyi?
“Yes, Master.”
“Uh– sure, Master tonight, man, if that works for you. Would you like this, this, this, or that? All of them are preem, Choom.” The figure opened a coat and began pulling small bags and vials out, showing them. He flinched. “Tsk, man, are you wiiiiired. C'mon I got just the thing. Everybody buys these.”
Oh. Oh, buying? This was commerce?
Rue uncoiled from the alley wall ever so slightly, looking up a bit. Or, down ish at the person. This was a merchant. Hunyi had done this. She bought them things. Clothes. Food. Buying was what money was for. She’d told him.
He could do the commerce!
Gold eyes darted to the mouth of the alley. Would Hunyi be pleased with him? His tail, cinched tight around his leg, flicked at the tip with the thought.
“U-u-um, yes. Yes, Master, sir m-merchant, okay. I wi-will b-buuuy. The. Items?”
It took him a moment to struggle to reach into the pocket for the credits Hunyi had given him. It was hard. But he managed, fishing out one handful, then another.
- “What is it?” he dared to ask, and the nice merchant smiled widely at him.
“Medicine. Keep you set for awhile, friend, hey, thanks.”
Thanks? For him?
He felt his eyes well, and lowered his eyes, hugging the pile of things making a pouch in his cloak to his chest.
He had done a good thing.
Hunyi would be pleased.
When he looked up again, the man was gone. Confused, he looked around, but didn’t seem him. Rue went further down the alley, looking, taking a turn or two, but still nothing.
Where had the master gone? The masters always watched when they took medicine. Either in the room or with the red eyes above.
He didn’t see those here either.
Still. Medicine. He had to take it. Then he could find Hunyi and tell her about buying.
Rue folded down and used teeth and fingers to open the various vials and pouches. One after another. He drank the liquid or choked down the powders and pills. So much medicine. They usually never gave them this much at once.
It burned.
That was fine.
But quickly the sensation got worse, and he couldn’t see anymore, and he didn’t know if his hand was moving. Or even there. He couldn’t feel it. He could feel everything. The ceiling was high above. Everything was freezing. He was clear. He was empty. His legs weren’t working.
It is a point. In his chest. Somewhere.
Everything is on fire. He can feel it. He’s burning alive.
It’s finally his time to burn too.
He can hear them all crying. So many of them. It’s a bad time. Another sick time? No…? He doesn’t…he can’t remember…
“I’m sorry, baby,” he cooed, slurred. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know, I know.”
He tried to sing but the noises weren’t coming out of his mouth. His chin was wet with drool. It didn’t burn.
It all burned.
His eyes rolled back.
– x –
One person.
One person knew Shyriiwook on this rock, at least of the ones she managed to get near enough to ask. Hunyi managed to get an answer upon the ports in the system, narrowing their search to Port Ol'val itself, Selen, and Eldar. Selen sounded much more populated of a hub than the other two. She was not surprised that the trandoshan did not recall a purple horned individual pass through - at least not without a little something to lubricate his memory. She did not have the funds to spare.
She was perturbed mainly from the luck she had even though it was her expected outcome, and a little bit at just being in the scum hub – feeling mostly at home just a slight unease raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Deciding to return back to wear she had left Rue tucked away, Hunyi called to Alk and made their way. Rounding upon the alleyway, the young Mott shuffled ahead and up to the sitting cloaked form they were both familiar with. The near black wookiee gave a small roar to announce their presence, moving to drop her pack by a crate opposite of Rue with a sigh of relief.
They had been traveling so long, it would be nice for a moment of rest. She straightened up with a one armed stretch and yawned, barring large incisors surprisingly more for roots and hard fruits than meat. When her jaws closed once more, she froze.
There were no sounds of joy and exclamations of loving thanks doted upon her beast companion. It was eerily quiet save from the hub of the port itself meters away.
Maybe he was asleep, resting. .
The way her gut tightened before she turned around had her drifting towards more dire circumstances. Alk was snuffling his snout against an exposed and purple hand, that did not curl up to pet behind those small ears. Rue was slumped against the wall, head lolling onto his chest. Hunyi was at his side before she even realized she moved, her hand grabbing his shoulder and shaking.
Nothing.
She shifted to gripping his neck lightly, two fingers pressing against his throat. A pulse, breathing shallow. Hunyi pulled back and exhaled, her concern no lessened. The sound of crinkling plastic caught her ears and she shifted to catch a bag in Alk’s mouth. Wrestling it from the mott, she then noticed a couple others strewn about. A distraught dreadful look passed over her features. One sniff of the powder inside confirmed her suspicion.
“Wraaagh, rwag!”
Hunyi pulled the hybrid forward and over her furry knee. She pried his jaws open and jabbed a finger into his mouth, hoping to trigger his gag reflexes…
Nothing.
A roar of worried frustation predated her rising and throwing the man like a sack of produce over her shoulder before hurrying down the street looking for a clinic, anything…
[Over Hunyi’s shoulder, the man doth twitched, the air in his lungs wheezing out, spittle dripping down his inverted face from slack features. He was completely limp.]
Pale hands organized a tray of medical tools, deliberately changing the standard layout to one more familiar to the operator. Lips twitched into a frown, fingertips lingering in the occasional gap left for a tool that was simply not present. Due to supply, or pricing, the Arkanian was not as prepared as he wished. Perhaps, if they had all they needed, they wouldn’t have already lost two people today.
The thought passed through his mind before vanishing down a deep, well worn pit. This was volunteer work, not the Hell he knew. Two in a day would have been a blessing.
Still, Mikhail did not anticipate loosing anymore today. As dangerous as this place could be, it was not as if people were throwing themselves into the clinic on purpose.
He sighed, standing from his small private room and moving towards the front of the clinic, indicating he was ready for another emergency patient. He sat nearby the entrance, wearing dark grey fatigues, and medical insignia. In one ear was a bud, playing a melancholic melody. Something that could take his mind from the events of the day so far.
Moments later, the front door burst open, kicked open roughly enough it dented the wall. Coming in from the street and the light outside the clinic, ducked a dark furred wookiee with white stripes peppering her face and a mane of equally ashy fur. She straightened up within the threshold, amber eyes adjusting to the lighting within the building before they darted to land upon the black haired man nearby. The mercenary shifted the brown sack strewn over her shoulder with her lone arm before crossing the room to halt before the medic.
“Wrrraaaagh! Ragh wrahgrawh. Wrag!
Hunyi demanded, furiously and frustratingly knowing she wouldn’t be understood. So, she fisted the brown cloak of her companion’s and hoisted him onto the front desk, pushing desk supplies off with his body until he could safely rest there. His purple tail dangled off the edge and his hood fell away from his face to reveal horns and radiant sunset hair.
She splayed a hand on Rue’s chest and locked eyes with the stranger intensely with a growl, a ‘fix him now or else’ sort of look.
[the man doth twitched]
Mikhail shot to his feet as desk supplies were scattered across the ground, causing a clattering ruckus and various pens to start rolling about, some surely lost under cabinets and desks. But none of that registered to Mikhail, who was snapped back into his body by the shock of colored hair revealed before him. It was like someone left a pack of wax crayons too close to a forge.
He swallowed and met the gaze of the wookie, the growl certainly a motivator. But this was not the place to handle the man, not yet.
“Come, we need to -“ he grabbed the man under his shoulders and lifted, then almost stumbled backwards due to how surprisingly light he was. “The room, back here on the left - my left.”
The Wookie nearly lifted the man out of Mikhail’s arms, if only not taking him entirely to let the Arkanian guide them into a room. Once the man was laid out on his table, Mikhail quickly went to work. First thing was to gauge a heart rate. His fingers met the patient’s neck, pressing for a pulse. What he found felt more like a twitching muscle than a heartbeat. Red flags immediately started raising in the back of his mind, various potential causes being filed. His other hand worked to station the man of his top, joined by the other when he founded the racing pulse. In a few moments, the man was topless. Another note was filed. extremely underweight - amputee - brand?
His hands worked down the man’s torso quickly, feeling for abnormalities. It did or rewire touch for Mikhail to make note of something else. High core temperature - no sweat to the touch - extremities cooling despite blood pressure.
Mikhail took the man’s face in his hands, checking his eyes and pulling how mouth open, searching for obvious blockages.
Fangs - purple tongue, almost blue? Natural? - eyes are unresponsive - pupils abnormal - saliva stained with powder, tongue streaked with it
Mikhail quickly spun, digging through the cabinet behind him for solutions.
Overdose, must be. An alley rat in all likelihood. Took too much? Why?
“Your friend, does he often use drugs? Any specific ones? Did you watch him take them?” He spoke to the Wookie, hoping for.. something to be gained as he grasped for an emergency IV
Hunyi stood there tense as she watched the medic quickly set to work. It took her everything to not snap and growl at the man, to drive his hands away from the fragile body in need of protecting. A breathe escaped her when Mikhail finally turned away to the cupboards, and she needed a moment to realize he had asked her questions.
A strong firm adamant slash before her chest, the wookiee shaking her head to each question. Hunyi realized after she didn’t actually know if Rue had ever taken drugs before meeting her, her facial features twisting briefly. Shaking her head again, her one hand went to her belt to pull out the plastic she had saved. She held it out towards the man, tumbling with a ‘take it’ nod.