MD #186: Making Friends
Making Friends
Summary: Atticus fails to make firends with either Adeliza or Yari, gets closer with Lleu
Date: 11/10/2017
Related Logs: Anything Picon PoW related
Atticus Yari Adeliza Lleufer 
Recovery Ward - Deck 3 - Battlestar Orion
About half the size of the Medical Centre, the Recovery Ward has fewer beds to allow space for those who are going through recovery. Rather than the drab gray of most of the centre, the walls in here have been done in a neutral creme colour. The beds are a little thicker and the blankets are actually present. There are a few clocks and the only other decoration are a couple of flatscreens that show muted movies from the ship's library, though tablets are common. Behind each bed is a small touchscreen for tracking vitals and is linked to Medical personnel tablets. A couple stacks of recent magazines are available near the door for nurses to pass around, too.
28/04/2049

Since Adeliza last saw him, Atticus hasn't moved. There's less wires and tubes attached to him, but he's still there, held in place, same as before. A quick word with the nursing staff will be rewarded with the news that he had been quiet and docile since she last saw him, but that that had changed to fretfulness and agitation when he woke this morning to find Emily also residing in medical.

Is it awake? Yari treads softly, more so than her usual mouse steps, as she ferries another armful of clean sheets to the cabinetry. She politely ignores the shadowing MPs, seemingly ignores /that/ patient lying in bed, but a cautious side eye does shoot his way when she has to perform a balancing act to open the storage doors and maintain the neat stack of meticulous folding. It'd be a bitch to drop it.

The Lieutenant enters the ward, and gives a nod to the MP standing at the end of Atticus's bed. Today, she's in her off-duty sweats, but has obviously been working out. Her bangs are pulled back from her face, so the scars on her left cheek and neck stand out against the red flush that hasn't faded, yet. The sweatshirt thrown on over her double tanks to keep her from chilling too fast sticks along her lower ribcage as she moves. Standing to the side of the foot of the bed, assessing his current state of agitation, or if he has calmed down again.

Atticus is awake, and at the moment it's easy to tell as he just can't seem to settle. Has barely been able to all day in fact. His eyes flick around, watching the different members of staff as they move around, but once she's spotted his gaze comes to rest on Adeliza. He knows the face, but doesn't have a name for her, so instead just waits for her to kick things off, trying to use her as a focal point to concentrate on so he's less fidgety.

Yessss, the sheets make it safely inside their shelf. After smoothing both hands over and along the edges a final time, Yari latches the door back into place and turns her face her next task. Fortunately, there's a friendly face of authority there to greet first. "Lieutenant," she murmurs in passing with a fleeting smile 'round the foot of his bed and to the head, to take a peek at this hour's biometric data. Her lips mumble out silent instructions to self as a wary finger goes through all the motions of swiping this, touching that, and scrolling through. It's still a little like magic, to her. "How are you feeling,s.." She almost called him sir. Almost. A forcibly direct stare down at the side of Atticus' face directs the question accordingly.

"Atticus," Adeliza greets. "Do you use your father's last name? Or have you adopted a new one? I'm Lieutenant Adeliza Wynn." If there is any knowledge left among the Colonies now occupied by skath of accents, hers is clearly from Aerlion. She gives a small smile to the medic, her eyes flicking quickly over the uniform. "Corpsman Sawyer." Her focus closes a little, then her eyelids raise fractionally over normal, before settling again, but there's a bit of interest in her gaze that she now turns to the patient and waits for him to reply to Yari's question.

With Yari being neither a cleric, nor a flesh-eating elf deamon, Atticus isn't really bothered by her presence. He's used to them making their notes now, and so her question is largely just a minor distraction as he waits to see what Adeliza wants. "Fine," he replies without any real consideration, "do you know when they'll be releasing me from here?" Medical that is, not custody in general. He seems keen to go though. His eyes flick back to the officer once she speaks though and he shakes his head slightly, "I don't use it, no one does unless they want to make a point that anyone can be saved. My father was a tyrant," those exact words again, "and the name is too closely associated with him to be comfortable."

Contrary to Adeliza's accent, Yari's tells tale of Picon heritage. "No," she answers bluntly and retracts her hand from the screen. Her hands pick lightly at one another before deciding on a place to park it on hip. Then folded behind her back. "But I'm sure someone does," as if that might bring any relief. The Corpsman takes a half step back, away from the heavy talk of parentage.

"That decision lies in the hand of the Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Samtara Stone," Adeliza replies, filling for Yari's suggestion of someone else knowing. If she's at all phased or perturbed by the assertion of Old Man Ommanney being a tyrant, it doesn't show. She stands, one hand lightly clasping the wrist of the other behind her back with her feet at a comfortable distance.
"You know, I never really expected to be in this position. At war, questioning agents of the other side, training to actually take over command of a battlestar." She rattles off the list lightly. "Like most people in my generation, the war was something my parents fought, and was over before I was old enough to go to school and even learn what a war was. You, of course, were born, long after that war, during the peace time that followed."
She doesn't expect a response from Atticus about the peace time, but continues on. "When I was assigned to this ship, I was excited to be given such a prestige posting. I didn't care that I was the most junior of junior tactical officers. I was going to be flying around the galaxy in the most famous battlestar from the war, I'd fly around for a few years, then retire back to Aerilon, find a husband, raise my children and teach them how to run the rapids on the Loyalhanna, and then tell my grandchildren stories around a campfire as I grow old. At the time that I walked into the hangar for a ship's farewell to Major General Ommanney, my most pressing worry was whether or not I was going to have shore leave to go to my grandparents's fiftieth wedding anniversary."
She turns her head a little and points to her face. "That all changed when one of your people literally blew up the Major General and himself in my face. I haven't known a single day of true peace since that time. I have no idea if my family is still alive, a family that were simple farmers and loved the land and the river that ran around it." She pauses to look at him square in the face. "So, maybe you can understand, whether you agree or not, why we have a different view of who the tyrants are in this war."

Having something to focus on seems to be helping Atticus. He's still unsettled, but not perhaps quite so much. The answer from Yari is met with a faintly disappointed look but as she steps back he dismisses her from his mind again. She is after all, clearly a minor functionary, and a woman to boot. Sam's name is stored for later as he listens to the rest that Adeliza has to say. Emily's proximity seems largely forgotten for now, although he's till a little twitchy in general still. "The war never stopped," he replies as if explaining something to someone, "not until seventeen years ago. If there was peace my father would have been home, but he wasn't, he was always off somewhere quashing another group who dared defy the oppression your battlestars enforced. We never knew peace until we were liberated from you, from the death and destruction you wrought. You know what we don't have to worry about any more? War, chaos, destruction. All gone. We have peace, order now. If you family were truly peaceful farmers then they will be still." Something else then seems to click about what she's said and he tilts his head slightly at her, "this -is- Orion then? Then I guess that at least explains how everyone knew him." His father that is, "he would tell us tales when we was younger, of the atrocities he committed when stationed here, he was so proud of them. If you're after some sort of familial link Lieutenant then I'm afraid you won't find it here. He was a tyrant, and his death helped pave the way for the peace and security we now know."

Yari is speechless. She's looking at her son, she fears, couple decades older perhaps than little Vasilis, but it's him between the ears. Cept Vasilis couldn't be more proud of his dad, being too young to understand the real atrocities wrought, upon a once thriving settlement, children and families, his own mother…

She stares at the man in the bed with poorly masked horror, sorrow….daresay, pity? "The security that puts women 'neath livestock, in their worth?" It comes out, whether she meant it to, or not. "That banishes little girls from school? Turns them into broodmares? Spawns ignorance? This is what has poisoned Poseidon's great bounty? It is not peace, you poor soul. It is strangulation of life." She looks down to the little pad she'd pulled from pocket and tucks it away again. She doesn't care what meat he prefers in his soup. What juice he favours. In fact, perhaps it'd be more efficient to just blend it all together into the same, cold bowl she'll forget to pick up from Mess on time. Such are the thoughts brewing behind her look of disgust.

"People in the military don't just stop having a job when peace is declared between warring factions," Adeliza counters. "As I said, I wasn't sure if I would have leave to go home for a family function, even though we had peace and order. Battlestars and other ships still operate, troops are always kept out exercising, but the only things that any of us fired a round at were simulated targets, rather than live targets. There was no destruction among our Colonies until the day your father died." She also maintains an easy voice. She lifts a hand to Yari, and gives a gentle "corpsman" to acknowledge and also calm her down a bit.

"You talk of the oppression of battlestars." She pauses. "When our medic approached your man Merrick after I shot him in the shoulder to disarm him, he practically went down on his knees begging her to not touch him, promising he would do better. Mind you, this is a man that was brave enough to draw his knife in his off hand after being shot and continue to defend Emily. Yet, a man /that/ brave was reduced to begging at the sight of one. Single. Person. Seems to me if we used our Lines the way you use yours, we wouldn't have needed battlestars to quash all the non-existent rebellion."
At last, she gives a snort. "As for your familial contact? I had never met your father personally, and therefore I have no sentimental ties to him as some others do. Nor to you."

It's fair to say that that little tirade brings Yari back into Atticus' sphere of attention. Rolling his head to look at her for a few moments he almost replies before something Adeliza says distracts him and he looks to the Lieutenant again. "If you really believe that no one was dying at the hands of the CMC during the years of peace then you are a fool," he says bluntly, "fighters for the truth were hunted across the colonies, murdered when found. Communities wiped out. I'm sure if you go look at even your histories they'll be there, only they'll be celebrated as great victories no doubt." He can't sit up, not properly, but he does his closest approximation as he looks square to Adeliza, "come back when you know a history. Your version, or mine, I don't care which, but I see no point in wasting energy on someone whose mind is devoid of even the most basic of details." Settling back once more he turns back to Yari. She's said something, what was it? Oh yes, "I suspect it would not go well were you to tell the Queen she is nothing but a broodmare. You should not speak of what you do not know. Women are allowed the responsibilities they can handle. It is no more complex than that."

Oooooooh for the first time since she was ripped from her babies and made to leave them in strangers' care when the fleet left the LZ for this Op, there is COLOR in Yari's cheeks. And fire in her eyes, even if it's the burning of tears on their way up from that place she tries to reserve for pool time. "Make no mistake, it is not a name I would have chosen for myself, or any woman. Girls, really. Perhaps the Skath run things more civilly on Picon than Piraeus. Sure, we had fancy ladies, but ne'er saw much alive, in their faces. Like dolls, trussed up for the amusement of their paters and fed a script to read…recite. Weren't good thing to be caught readin'." As her ear will attest.

She knows she's spoken out of line, and that's half the colour flushing her red, but there's a lot in there needing to come out. Yari presses her lips together into a grim line before it does and turns her back on the prisoner. "S'time you had a meal, Atticus. I'll tend to my responsibilities and fetch it, post haste."

Quietly, the hatch opens and in steps another MP. This one is the Master-at-Arms. Lleufer looks around the Recovery Ward and sees Emily sleeping so he proceeds in the direction of those who are gathered around Atticus's bed. Privacy screens are a thing in here but Emily is not physically restrained to her bed, so she could come around and speak with Atticus if she so desired. Lleufer approaches but says nothing until he absorbs what the others are doing and whether or not he would be an interruption. Ut oh. Yari looks distinctly upset. Ynyr hangs back, silent.

The smallish woman the foot of the bed doesn't move when urged to go find some real history, merely seems a bit amused at his outburst. She lets the Corpsman blow off a little steam this time, then gives a nod as Yari discussed getting his meal. "Just so. Right now this woman's responsibility is to feed you, and you only have whatever she brings to eat. Here, you can't take a woman to a Six and have him turn her into a dutiful woman that will do things exactly as you wish them done." She turns her glance to the foot of the bed. "I've seen several MPs here that are women, and it is their responsibility to make sure that no one on board this vessel who's heard there's a Skath loving bastard on board comes in here and knifes you to death while you are restrained and unable to defend yourself." She takes one step forward towards Atticus, her voice becoming truly more serious for the first time. "It is so much more complex than that. As long as your overlords can continue to convince men that women are weaker, unable to handle responsibility, and therefore less than men… as long as men can take a woman to a cleric to be changed, while they 'can't wait to see the look on the bitch's face when she realizes what's happening to her,' they can keep their population divided. They have no worries that men and women will band together and say, 'wait a minute, we don't like having our minds rearranged by a cleric every time we mess up. We don't like seeing our friends having their minds wiped clean because they dared to think they were important enough to be able to read'. A population kept ignorant is more oppressed than any other population alive. Yes, I've been there. On worlds dominated by Skath, and went among them, dressed as a woman, and as such, if a man wanted to touch me, even I didn't wish to be touched, I had to let him. History or no history, I know what it's like now, and it is distinctly unpleasant if you are a woman." She shifts a little more to attention, the back of her head lifting a bit while he chin tilts a little lower towards him, almost like a cobra preparing to strike. "As for where you choose to waste your energy, Atticus Ommanney, what happens to you will be determined by the reports brought to our Commanding Officer by myself and Gunnery Sergeant Ynyr. As I said before, I have no sentimental ties to your father, and therefore nothing to urge me to seek a reason to give a favourable report of your behaviour."

She turns and gives Ynyr a nod. "I am due in Command in 20 minutes. Time for a shower and a bite before I get there." With that, and without so much as a 'by your leave' to Atticus, Adeliza goes to clean, change, and eat.

Lleufer has a tablet of all things tucked under one of his arms, affixed with some kind of bracket. He continues to stay back, otherwise standing at parade rest while the Lieutenant and Yari deal with their POW. Ynyr gives Adeliza a respectful nod when the JTACCO rises and moves to depart. His strange Arpay eyes then settle upon Yari, "Corpsman. Everything all right here?"

Doesn't notice Lleu arrival for now, he's watching Yari say her peace. He doesn't interrupt, just lets her go on. As she finishes though, and states her intention he just smiles slightly. See, tending to the linen, and fetching food for the menfolk? Both responsibilities a woman can handle. Good Yari, well done. A point he would make to Adeliza were she not turning to leave already, so instead he just settles for being pleased she noticed it was women feeding him too, as is proper. It's a faint smugness that is only broken by her use of his surname. If the rest had washed over him then that gets a reaction, a deep scowl that isn't entirely pleasant. With her gone, and Yari having stated her intent to leave he tries to get comfortable again, but just can't seem to, not with Emily quite so close, and so ends up silently watching the Master at Arms instead.

Ah, geez. Yari halts up straight and has to watch Adeliza escape on by when the Gunny catches her with a question that she's /damn/ sure he already knows the answer to. With a spine too rigid to be 'fine' she nods her head once and looks past him to the hatch. "Everything /was/ and will be again, I'm sure of it. Just on my way to bring Mister Ommanney some much needed nourishment. S'good thing fish is on the menu, no? Good for the brain." Her lips form a poorly concealing smile that's already belied by the blotchy red 'round her neck and what's crept into her eyes.

"I see. Carry on." There is humour in his eyes as Lleufer tries not to smile too much. He luvs ye, Yari! The Gunnery Sergeant looks to Atticus, "I've brought you a gift, Mister Ommanney." Yep, stick that name to him just because Ynyr knows it'll piss him off. Pointy eared Marines are human after all, or demons. Lleufer steps over and begins to affix the tablet to Atticus's medical bed railing. It's a one way tightener that will have to be /cut/ off to be removed later. It is positioned carefully so Atticus can reach it with his cuffed dominant hand with it's limited movement but secured so that it may not be dropped, knocked off, or thrown. Lleu says, "This is called a tablet. You turn it on here, like so." It begins to boot up. "I have preloaded it with a selection of reading and video materials." All screened and cleared, "Mostly classic old fictional stories from our ancient past with themes you may be able to relate to. About kingdoms, knights and so forth. Also, basic history about the Colonies." No instructional items for him, like Emily has been given that relate to topics like ship safety in space, as explained to school children. Atticus being hostile, his information is being more restricted.

Atticus grumbles as Yari takes up the baton of referring to him by his family name. Maybe if he just stops talking to women his life will be easier. Oh, and the flesh-eating elf deamon too. Fantastic. Best. Day. Ever. It does annoy him, and he's agitated enough already that he can't really hide it, but his attention is soon transfixed by the tablet. His expression is one of slight confusion, as if he doesn't really know what it is, but once it's booted up he clearly has some form of dormant memory of using one before. There's no shock or surprise when the screen pops to life, and there's only a few false starts with working the GUI before it's like he was a regular user. He's listening to Lleu, but looking at the screen as he scrolls through options, not seemingly looking for anything in particular, but familiarising himself with things. When the marine finishes though he looks back up, the annoyance of before apparently long gone, and he asks simply, "books?"

Okay. Think, Yari, think. You'll have just seconds to dress the premade selections for the recovery ward, before it looks like TOO much effort is being put into it. There's no desire to induce a volcanic eruption, because then it becomes her problem - unless she's suddenly called to PT, but then it becomes another nurse's problem which LATER becomes her problem. The thrill of just /feeling/ this rush of vindictive side is enough to make the Corpsman sweat out her guilt as she approaches the Mess. Scheming. She'd never done this before, this intentional hurt, even in this most petty form. There were many nights - before the children - when she'd hover over sleeping Titos with penknife or hairpin or some shard of stone she'd plucked from the garden in hand. Thinking about it. Watching the calm, easy pulse of his carotid and just trying to muster up the courage to plunge whatever thing she'd snuck in the folds of her dressing gown STRAIGHT through it. Or maybe through those soft, golden lashes of his.
But she never did. Once Vasilis was born, her life was no longer her own to gamble with, so the thoughts left her mind. But now there is a new Titos. Almost looks like him, in fact, and she can't stand the sound of his deranged ideology.
Suddenly, it's her turn to pick up her patient's tray. The Mess staff almost have to prompt her a second time, but she snatches it wordlessly and scurries on over to fetch extra napkins and seasonings.

Lleufer gestures to the tablet, "Books. We also have some physical books or can print them, but they take up space, materials, and weight. On a ship in space, we have limited space. Extra mass uses more fuel. So we use digital media." Ynyr is careful what he says and how much to Atticus, but it is evident that he, like Emily, has some pre-Skath memories of having used such things before long ago. "In our culture, we prefer to use machines, rather than them using and discarding us." Yari, bad Yari! But, this might be hilarious. Shame is the Master-at-Arms knows very well he should be trying to win this man over and reducing the security risks of having him on board. "There's also some card games and a chess program on there." Chess. Yes, Lleufer just said chess. The game of knights and kings.

With Yari gone from the recovery ward Atticus doesn't really think anything more of her, probably wouldn't have even if someone hadn't just dumped who knows how many books on him. Brightness and contrast settings are adjusted, the holographic feature tested quickly, and the aforementioned games found, but it's the books that he ends up back at. He scrolls slowly through them, taking the time to read each title, each author, only looking up again when he gets to the end of the list. "You have these, as physical copies?" he asks, faint traces of awe slipping into his tone, although he stops as soon as he catches himself doing it, and tries to be less obviously interested. Too little too late by a long way, but hey-ho.

It's a masterpiece. Yari stares down at the now-colourful plate balanced lovingly between her hands. It actually smells delightful, in a way, the kind of way that's spicy enough to curl nose hairs. The pool of vinegar that the soggy fish filet is swimming in sort of overpowers the sharp smell of salt, pepper, but can't mask the tickle radiating off the red powder dumped somewhat liberally on top. It looks a little too obvious, though, so she takes the spoon and scraaaaapes it over the top, removing excessive excess and leaving behind a nice, even layer of spiced coverage. The excess gets slopped into the garbage. The steamed veggies are, by now, cold and congealing in the fake butter. She's shaped them into a friendly smiley face. The beverage of her choice? Tepid lemon water. It's delicious. Sucking in a steadying breath, the young woman marches her way back through the halls, toward sickbay…

"No, but any of these /can/ be produced as physical copies by demand. We have machines that print them out and bind them however we like. I can easily bring you any one of those as a physical book if you prefer. Some people do not care for the eye strain of reading for long hours from a dataslate. If you later decide that you do not want it, or we have no where to store the physical versions, they can be recycled or given away to others." Say, refugee colonists but Lleufer doesn't mention them. A moment later here comes Yari returning with her tray. Ynyr can /smell/ that vinegar when she comes up with it and he can't help but raise a brow at her as he stares at the fish. Oh boy.

The food is very definitely a secondary concern once it appears, and Atticus doesn't really look at it initially, the book list on the tablet has almost his entire attention. As Lleu mentions the option for getting physically copies he looks back to the list, then up to the marine again. "All of them?" he asks, in a way that suggests he expects he won't be allowed, but that equally he couldn't not ask. With his right hand busy with the tablet it's his left that's released so he can eat, but even then, he doesn't really look at what's in front of him, just peeling his eyes away from the screen for a peripheral look to make sure he isn't putting his fork in his drink say. Eyes back on the scene he yabs the fork in the vague direction of the fish, and takes a mouthful as he selects the top book in the list to start with. It takes a surprising amount of time for the pain in his mouth to register, well over a second, he's just so engrossed in reading, but it's very clear to all watching when it does. The fork is dropped and forgotten about, he heels forward almost knowing the tray flying, his free hand reaches to try and scrabble for the drink, and the one still restrained jerks instinctively against them. With the comparative freedom of one free arm but a still bandaged knee, he ends up rolling to his right and coughing violently over the side of the bed.

He can't beat her, if he's bound to the bed - this is the logic that's enabled Yari to follow through with her culinary works. She's almost /happy/ to feed him, serve as a good woman should. Yari pointedly avoids making eye contact with Lleu as she glides back into the recovery ward, tray held front and centre. In fact, she doesn't make eye contact with Atticus, either, keeps her chin down, eyes respectfully on the floor as she comes to kneel alongside the bed. She's positioned on the left, where they'd freed up that hand, and silently holds the tray of offering "As promised, sir," while he forks a nice ole hunk of goodness into his mouth.
She flinches, yes, when he flails and rolls, but manages to set the tray down (with trembling hands) before it gets thwacked too violently. The glass of crisply acidic lemon water is offered forth while she touches a hand /gently/ to his shoulder and says in a /much/ too practiced, sickly croon of adoration "Nothing brings me pleasure more than to serve. Please, let's remedy that cough? If you're to escape the confines of recovery, you must recuperate your strength." Her free hand is already bringing a napkin to his face for the wiping/catching of whatever might fly out.

Lleufer smirks at Atticus's request about all of the books, "Let's keep it to one to start, with a soft cover. See how well behaved you are before we commit to anything else." ACK! Ynyr steps back from Atticus' medical bed at once and looks quickly to see that Yari is safe and not being attacked, "What did you do!?" Hilarious as Yari's little prank may be, and Ynyr probably thinking it is funnier than hell once he realizes what happened, he nonetheless draws a slow breath and makes himself NOT look amused. "Sawyer, clean this up. See that /another/ meal is prepared and brought in. We will -not- abuse our POW's. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Both of the other MP's in the room have tensed and the one closest to Atticus's bed laid hand briefly to her weapon.

Atticus doesn't catch on quite as quickly as Lleu on what just happened, and, once the immediate need to couch is over he takes the offered drink without question. Instinctively even. Round two is just about as unpleasant as round one, only this time it's acid burns rather than heat ones. Hurrah for variety. He'd started to sit up again, but that quickly gets nixed as an idea as he keels over again and wretches. Not that there's much to come up mind, but it's still a deeply unpleasant experience. Once things calm he neither sits up, nor rolls back, just lifts his left hand to wipe what he can from his mouth, and coughs a little more.

Aw, she's gone and done it. That little spark of self-satisfaction keeps flickering in her heart of hearts though, as Yari scrambles to finish mopping whatever said POW has spewed. She's caught a little backsplash of the second round to her face, but doesn't seem to notice. "Of course we don't. S'what separates us from the Skath. Empathy." There's clanging of dishes, rearrangement of tray, mop, mop, mop with all those conveniently pocketed napkins from Mess hall. She saves a clean one to offer Atticus for his face. CLEAN one. No salt hiding in its folds, waiting to leap into eyes, none of that funny business. Strictly professional. Strictly /nurturing/. "Please, beg your pardon, I—I must've read the labels wrong. Some fancy a lil more flavour, is all. I'll be sure it's made right, this time. No slipups." Her meekly bowed head is shaking imploringly for his forgiveness, but there's a /very/ steady gaze in her eyes, locked upward to seek out his. It's not forgiveness those eyes really seek to acknowledge. It's a different sort of understanding.

Lleufer gives a curt nod, "An honest mistake then." As if. Ynyr suspects, but it's better for everyone if it wasn't real harassment, right? The Marine scowls and motions for the other MP, "Go grab Atticus a bottle of water, please." That will still leave Ynyr and Emily's MP to keep an eye on things in here.

As unpleasant as that was, it at least doesn’t take long for Atticus to get himself back together again and start to push himself upright. There’s a brief, instinctive, flick of his eyes over to where Emily resides, hoping that she didn't witness that, but then Yari catches his eye and realisation dawns slowly. "You" he says hoarsely, accusation in his eyes. Her expression seals it for him though, and without thinking he just lashes out at her cheek with the back of his left hand.

There's that familiar monster.
SLAP
The crack of flesh against flesh, knuckle against bone rings out, over the gentler beeps and whirrs of medical machines. Did she even see it coming? Try to ward it off? Yari herself isn't sure. She's only just now starting to feel it through the numbness while her ears ring with the sound of it and something else. Did she yelp? A very tired, somewhat dazed little smile of weirdness reforms the startled 'o' of her lips, and she nods. Cards are on the table, now they understand one another. Stiffly, the Corpsman starts to rise, dishes quaking noisily together atop the tray in her hands. Her cheek burns like a brand and she's pretty sure she'll have reason to hide from her mother, tonight. "That was fair," she whispers. "But don't you think for one minute your fists'll do to me what hasn't been done before." And back she steps, baby steps, until she's got a wall to steady herself from behind.

Atticus's automatic reaction when Yari's in close to clean up, sets off Ynyr. No sooner than she is backhanded and there is the crack of flesh on flesh than Lleu is on the other man! He should probably tazer Atticus's ass but his own Marine reflexes instead launch him in close with a fist to pound Atticus right in the face! Lleufer does manage to restrict himself to /only/ pounding on the knight once, long enough for Yari to jerk herself out of reach. Then the Gunny backs off too, "Sawyer, out. Best if you keep your distance from our POW here." It is very possible he could have just now broken Atticus's nose or given him a shiner, or busted up his own knuckles - but maybe not. Ynyr's nostrils flare, "I'm going to cuff your free hand and you better not give me any more trouble, Atticus." Lleu makes eye contact and with the other MP hurried back and near to hand, the Master-at-Arms steps in to resecure the second cuff. "Feed you later, once things quiet down."

Atticus doesn't see Lleufer coming, he's focused on Yari's whisper instead. The arrival of the MaA does rather take over his attention afterwards though. The shiner is a given, and while he can still breathe through his nose he does feel that tell-take trickle of blood starting. Momentarily dazed he blinks, trying to process the man's words, but even once he does catch up he doesn't resist. Instead he closes his eyes for a moment, rolling properly onto his back again so his left shoulder isn't being pulled at a weird angle, then opens again and says quietly, "she tried to poison me."

Yari swallows, wincing on /Atticus'/ behalf when Lluefer 'subdues' the prisoner. It's her fault. It really is. She should've just left the damn fish bland as bones and served it up cold. But who's to say that would've have elicited a similar response? She obediently makes herself scarce, sparing a glance back to the other, sleeping Picon before fleeing the scene. Once outside in the hall, she makes a beeline for Mess to ditch the tray, but not without sneaking a pinch of the concoction into her own mouth first, just to see. WOW. Wow, that's hot. YUP. Her eyes water, but doesn't dare seek reprieve until she's finished the cleanup. Penance.

"I don't think so, Atticus. But it is fair that you aren't used to our food and she may have doctored it up with too many hot spices, judging by the colour. I /will/ look into it. You go around antagonizing our women though, you'll be lucky if we can keep them from cutting off your male parts, bucko. They can be wicked with knives, so I suggest you watch your tongue." Literally. Lleu draws a slow breath, then nods to his MP's, "Keep things quiet in here. I'll check back later." Probably should go write up a brief report for the CMO on this little incident. Sam will want to know why Atticus got his face improved.

Atticus looks unconvinced at Lleu's explanation, but he's not apparently going to push it right now. He says nothing in fact, figuring it's safer that way at the moment. His eyes flick briefly to the MP, then back to Lleu as he makes to depart. The one place he doesn't look though is the tablet, just in case it draws the marine's attention to it and he takes it away again. Well, until Lleu's gone that is, then he's back starting the first book on the list again, and devouring as many of them as he can.

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