Chapter Text
“Alright, Sabine! That’s seven to six, Sabine’s favor,” Zeb chortled. Kanan laughed from his corner perch on the couch. “You know you have to beat that, now.” He told Ezra, grinning.
Sabine’s hair bobbed with a nod. “You up for it before we turn in? Make it even, at least?” She gave a smile that meant that she didn’t intend on making it even.
Ezra rubbed the side of his head, slouched against the dejarik board. “I don’t know. Maybe not tonight,” He mumbled.
Hera looked up from a book spread out in front of her. “You feeling alright?”
“Headache,” he said, his voice quiet. He stopped rubbing his head when she spoke up.
Kanan stood up, stretching his back. “No problem. I’ll get you some water.” He walked out, and Zeb crossed his arms.
“Okay, then,” he said. “Want me to play you, Sabine, or shall we save the score for later?” He nudged Ezra, smiling again.
Sabine shut down the board. “I’m kinda tired. We can play another round later.” She yawned, but Zeb shook his head at her. “You’re just scared I’ll beatcha.”
She stood and lifted an eyebrow. “Yup, that’s it. That’s definitely why.”
Ezra stood too, but he wanted to sit back down as soon as he did. His brain must’ve been wobbling around in his head. “Oh, man. Woah. Stop spinning around, will you, Zeb?” He said. He knew Zeb wasn’t really spinning, but it looked like it, alright.
“Er.” Zeb tilted his head at him. “What’s the Lothrat on about, now?” he whispered to Sabine.
“I’m not on about anything,” Ezra went. He sat back down, trying to shake off the dizzy spell. “Ugh,” he complained. He rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust his vision. It didn’t work; he was dizzy on the inside of his eyelids, too.
Hera sat up, again looking up from her book and watching him. “Okay, weird…” She muttered to herself. She stood and walked over to his side of the table.
Leaning down, she slid her hand onto his forehead.
She couldn’t really tell, and comparing it to how warm her own forehead was didn’t help. She wasn’t great in medicine or anything, but she did know that her species naturally had a much higher body temperature than most members of genus homo.
“Sabine, how warm is he?” She asked, motioning Sabine over. She put a hand on his forehead when Hera stepped aside. Her violet eyebrows shot up some when she registered how warm Ezra felt.
“Oh. Woah. Okay, you might have caught something,” she told Ezra. Stepping a little closer, she put her other hand on his shoulder. “You have been tired this evening, and now you’re all dizzy.” She furrowed an eyebrow, but smiled at him anyway.
“Yeah…I don’t feel…good…” He mumbled. He rubbed his head some more, trying to ease the headache that had spiked after he’d stood up.
Hera grimaced in sympathy. She held out a hand and began burrowing it through his hair, caressing and massaging his scalp while Ezra sat there. He closed his eyes, leaning against the table.
Sabine and Zeb rested against a wall, exchanging a look and then turning back to watch them.
A moment later, Kanan came back to give him a cup filled to the brim with water. It sloshed onto the table when he set it down. “There. Drink it all—the headache will be gone pretty soon.”
“Thanks,” Ezra said, glancing up at him. He took it and swallowed a shallow sip. It felt good, but his throat didn’t want to open to let it flow down. He cleared his throat and tried again. Still wouldn’t go.
“Kanan, Sabine says Ezra may have caught something,” Hera mentioned. Sabine nodded on cue. Hera continued. “You think we should skip tomorrow’s mission? It’s just errands, but Ezra doesn’t look up for it.”
Kanan looked surprised. “Um. Hold on. Let me think about it, but I guess he can just sit it out. The rest of us should probably go.” He crossed his arms, watching Ezra try to drink his water.
“Lucky you.” Zeb grumbled. “It’s another stealth mission.”
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Ezra said. He muffled a cough, and a sound of discomfort left his throat. He felt worse by the minute. And when he went back for another drink of water, it still wouldn’t go down very well.
Kanan shook his head and sighed. “Okay. That’s okay. How about you get to bed, and we’ll see if you’re good enough by the next rotation?” He held a hand out to help Ezra up.
Sabine, Hera, and Zeb began splitting off to their separate rooms, bringing whatever they left in the common room with them.
“That’s a good idea. Everyone should get to bed anyway,” Hera said, picking up her book and heading for the door. “Get rested up, you guys.”