Work Text:
“Doesn’t look like the storm’s letting up any time soon,” Boil calls as he settles himself against the wall of the shallow alcove that was doing very little to protect them from the weather. He huddled closer to the small heating pack he had brought with him, words still falling from his lips with unfamiliar ease. “Have I mentioned how much I really, really hate this planet?” Boil comments, aiming for a joking tone but missing by a parsec.
A sharp gust of what feels like more ice than wind hits them and Boil shutters, instinctively curling into Waxer’s heat at his side.
With the current weather, it doesn’t feel like it’s helping all that much.
Boil’s hatred for the planet and its weather continues to grow.
“Makes you think of Ryloth, doesn’t it?” Boil presses, thinks for a moment he can hear Waxer’s soft laugh through the static of his internal comms, and keeps going. “All the dirt and the heat seem like a much better deal than this right now. Not to mention-.” He cuts himself off as what feels like a sob tries to claw its way out of his throat.
And Numa. He thinks, knowing Waxer is thinking it too.
Boil can’t help but wonder about the little Twi’lek girl. He had seen the fight of a cadet humming through her soul like a soldier, and Boil wouldn’t be surprised if that side of her continued to grow. She was so young, but the galaxy didn’t care. The galaxy had been cruel enough to take her parents and her home away from her. Numa hadn’t deserved that and didn’t deserve to have anything else taken away from her, but Boil knew better than to hope she wouldn’t. He already knew that she had.
He misses that little girl more than his heart can bare.
Tears stinging at his eyes, Boil thinks for a moment that he could feel Waxer wrapping an arm around him, pulling him close. But he’s so cold even with his armor on that huddling together, heating pack radiating between them, barely does anything.
Boil still doesn’t move.
He missed this.
“I know we have our duty,” He whispers, unsure if Waxer can hear him as the howling winds around them grow. “I know we have our brothers. But, but we could just go.” The words burn at his throat, and they feel so wrong to even joke about, but he can’t bring himself to stop. “We could go back to Ryloth, o-or anywhere you want. We could do anything. We don’t have to stay here.”
He lifts his hands to slide his helmet off, rubbing at his cheeks forcefully as the cold bites at his skin. This isn’t the first time he’s thought about leaving, but it is the first time he’s voiced it. It feels so wrong, and he wants to claw the words back into his throat, but he can’t. It’s okay. If there was anyone that wouldn’t hold his traitorous thoughts against him, it was Waxer.
Boil breathes in, feeling the cold air burn at his lungs, and holds it as they fall into silence.
After a long moment, Boil shifts, slowly realizing that the cold wasn’t nearly as unbearable as it was before. He sighs, watches as his breath turns visible in the still cold air, and settles against Waxer. His eyes dip, but he doesn’t try to force them back open.
He was fine.
Waxer had watch.
.
.
.
“Kriff, Boil,” a brother’s voice creeps through the darkness. “I got you, vod. Don’t worry; I got you.”
Cody drops to his knees, quickly sliding his arms underneath Boil, and heaves the scout up into his arms. He pauses long enough to ensure Boil’s head was supported on his shoulder before heading back out into the long-since settled snow. Halo follows close behind them, Boil’s bag slung over his shoulder and helmet in hand as they head back towards the transport.
There’s a soft groan, Boil’s expression twisting in undoubtedly pain and discomfort, and Cody can see Halo twitch forward, wanting to help despite knowing there was nothing he could do until they got back to the Negotiator.
“That’s it. Stay awake for me, Boil.” Cody prompts, tightening his arms around Boil, keeping him firmly against his chest. He could feel the tremors tearing through Boil’s body, and Cody winced. Boil hadn’t been gone for long when the weather took a turn for the worse, so everyone had expected him to return. Cody had remained silent on the matter, having been unable to quiet the more distressful possibilities that lingered in his mind, the longer Boil went without contacting them. Finding Boil, albeit unconscious in the snow, had helped soothe the worse of his thoughts, if only slightly.
“Wax…?” Boil mutters, eyes barely open, and Cody’s breath catches, his chest clenching painfully. He’s quiet for a long moment as they step onto the transport, laying Boil on the hover stretcher Halo had insisted on taking from the Negotiator.
“Just stay awake, trooper,” Cody doesn’t beg, but it’s a near thing as he strokes his fingers through Boil’s curls, trying to brush away the bits of snow lingering there. He stays at Boil’s side as they make their way back to the Negotiator, hands wrapped firmly around Boil’s. “We got everything else taken care of. Just stay awake.”
Boil’s response is little more than a hum of acknowledgment, but it’s enough to keep Cody’s heart beating.