Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Refuge in the Stars (1x1)

Xil hobbled along behind her, stopping once they reached the strange building. He did not like the look of the man who opened the door. He narrowed his eyes right back at the man and stood his antenna straight up.
Xil wasn't even surprised that Marinelli didn't flinch or cry out when the door smashed into her foot. He thought she could probably get shot in the heart and still get right back up again, using the last of her life to kill the unfortunate soul who dared to shoot her.
Xil slipped inside, shutting the door behind him and dropping the piece of wood he'd been using just inside the door. He was uncertain what to do next, but he held his ground and took up as rigid a military stance as he could. It wasn't really his place to do much more.

As the dpor shut the man turned and looked at them running a hand through his shaggy dark hair.

"Jesus Bill, i thought it couldnt get much worse last time i was here" she muttered kicking an empty soda bottle on the floor

"Would you shut up about my place Mari and tell me why your here putting my ass at risk" the man growled his voice low and husky

"Is it really that difficult to figure out?" She scoffed arching a brow looking from Xils injured leg to the man "he needs to get patched up"

The man set his jaw and sighed looking over at the alien "grab a seat on that couch over there, prop your leg up" he muttrted pointing to a dusty broken couch that sagged in the middle

Xil pulled himself onto the couch. It was plusher than he thought it'd be, but still pretty torn up. He had to use his hands to get his leg onto a low table in front of the couch and nervously began to wonder what he might be told about it. It was strange, sitting on the other side of the medic. He tried not to look at his leg, the man, or Marinelli, instead turning his attention to the interior of the building. As a field medic, he'd had to patch up many legs and had to amputate some. He felt that he should know what might have to be done to the limb, but he distracted himself from the thoughts by turning his thoughts to what he might have to do to find the planet that Mari was looking for, rather than thinking about the condition of his leg. All he let himself know about his leg was that it was very, very bad.

"You do this yourself Rosewind?" The man asked as he pulled up a chair and slowly undid the tourniquet inspecting her sewing

"Don't ask stupid questions Bill" she said with a roll of her eyes. Pulling a cigarette out of her pocket and slipped it between her lips lighting it

"Could you not smoke in here?!" He snapped looking over his shoulder at her his eyes narrowing in annoyance

"Could you shut the hell up and worry about fixing his damn leg?" She said with a roll of her eyes taking a long slow drag. All the while her tone remained that same sarcastic, dry sound.

The man opened his mouth to retort but shut it again with a sigh thinking better of bickering with her and as the blood came back into Xils leg he turned to insepct it "i thought you were gonna quit those cancer sticks" he muttered

"And i thought you were gonna quit those carbs" she replied leaning against the wall smoke billowing past her lips as she spoke "but tell you what sweetheart how about i worry about me and you worry about the busted leg in front of you"

With a sigh Bill turned his eyes up to meet the Aliens "you feel that?" He asked putting some preassure on his leg

Xil listened to their bickering in silence. He had already decided that it probably wouldn't take very long for him to find the place that Marinelli was looking for. He just hoped that the light system wouldn't be back the way he came. After coming to that conclusion, the only other thing that he could focus on was his leg, which didn't look much better with the tourniquet off. He twitched his antenna at the sight of it.
"No, I can't feel a thing." He said. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to move it again, now that the tourniquet was off.

(do you want him to lose his leg?)

Bill sighed gritting his teeth looking down at her injury inspecting it "Hell man, this is some nasty wound" he said looking it over trying to figure out what he could do to maybe salvage his leg

(Sure. He crashed the ship, it'd make more sense for him to lose it than somehow keep it.)

"Do what you have to do to get me moving again." Xil said while grinding his teeth. It was now that he was acknowledging the fact that he'd probably have to lose the leg; it was just too wrecked and he doubted it would work properly if by some miracle of medicine he was able to keep it. He was no stranger to major injury, but the thought of losing a limb scared him. He glanced over at Marinelli's arm and thought of how easily she had been able to lift up a part of his ship.

(Okay I just didn't want to make any decisions for him lol )

Bill sighed and sat back running a ahnd through his thick messy hair "Afraid there isn't much I can do for it" he said after a moment looking up at Xil "but I can build you a prosthetic, nothing like that Mari has over here but enough to be a decent temporary fit. I'm sure Marinelli can help you find a more advanced option" Bill said with a shrug looking over his shoulder at the red haired cyborg "Isnt that right Nellie?"

She grimaced at the nickname but didn't comment instead taking a long drag of her cigarette. Though for someone like Marinelli her not immediately saying no, it could be assumed it was a yes.

Xil gulped and briefly closed his eyes, hearing exactly what he'd feared. He looked down and at the leg and knew it was just as well. He wondered what it would feel like to have a robotic leg. Xil knew not to mention Marinelli's prosthetic and hoped it wouldn't bother her too much when he had to go looking for one for himself. He wondered once more how much something like her's might have cost and if he'd ever be able to buy one with half the sophistication as hers.
"Where do ya need me?" He asked, thinking that the man wouldn't want the alien's silvery blood staining his couch.

"In the back" he said and stood "Marinelli knows what room I'm talking about, she'll show you. I need to get the room ready" he stood at that and with a sigh ran his hand through his hair smoothing it back and making his way down the hall.

For a moment Marinelli didn't speak. She finished off the last of her cigarette and let it drop onto the floor crushing it with her boot onto the wood floor. "Bad luck about your leg" she said with a grimace approaching him and offered him her hand to help him up looking impassive as always but there was a slight stiffness to her movements, her casual veneer of perfect ease had a crack in it

"Don't worry abot it, wolda happened if I hadn't ron away." Xil said, not meeting her eyes. He took her hand and pulled himself up, hoping she couldn't feel the anxiety shivering through his body. His antenna were laid flat against the back of his head and the sounds of Bill preparing the room were suddenly muffled. The room where Xil would get his leg chopped off. He tried to tell himself it was necessary and had to be done, but he couldn't help but think of all the poor souls he'd cut the legs and arms off of and replaced it with high tech prosthetics. Even the military grade prosthetics could't shake a finger at Marinelli's arm. He wondered what those soldiers had felt like as he injected them with anesthesia and displayed all the tools he would use on their torn-apart bodies. They had never shook nor laid their antenna back; they were highly trained soldiers who had seen the thick of war, downed enemy soldiers like cups of booze, and although Xil had been a soldier, he'd stayed behind the safety of his sniper rifle, pumping bullets into one or two soldiers five hundred feet away. He was a coward compared to those men as they faced his blade.

Marinelli nodded and said nothing more as she helped him to the back room where Bill had put down a large table for him to lay back on getting his materials ready. Whatever Bill was one look at the room hinted he was more then just some hick living in the middle of the woods. He had spent his youth as a doctor for the mafia, patching guys up in the back of speeding cars outmaneuvering the police or in the kitchens of local restaurants and butcher shops using kitchen knives and aprons to fix people. Now he worked for people like Marinelli. It was a similar line to work really. He was used to the stress of it.

The room was full of monitors and computers and clearly stolen medical equipment. "I don't have enough anesthesia to knock him out, maybe enough to numb him" he said as they entered the room

"Jesus Bill what was the point of even taking him to you then?" Marinelli said with a roll of her eyes

"Nellie can you just shut up and get him on the fking table!" Bill snapped

Marinelli for a brief moment looked surprised at being called Nellie but she set her jaw instead of speaking and helped Xil over to the table to lay down. "What do you need me to do?" she said with a sigh her voice still tight with annoyance

"Sterilize everything" Bill replied putting gloves on his hands.

Marinelli just nodded the tip of her metal finger opening and a small torch coming out the end of it a fire sparking she picked up all of the silvery medical materials and ran them through the flame

Xil sat on the table, almost relaxing at the sight of the machinery. He hadn't used any of it, but most medical equipment looked similar to what he had used. He tensed again at the mention of not having enough anesthesia and remembered having to operate on soldiers without the full amount of anesthesia; they had always been in some form of higher distress, but he'd never attached a robotic leg on someone who was conscious. He lay down on the cold table and swallowed his anxiety, hoping the two couldn't pick up on it. He said nothing and waited for Bill to administer the anesthesia.

Bill moved quickly injecting him with what he hoped would be enough anesthesia while Marinelli finished sterilizing everything and walked over to Xil grabbing the tourniquet she wrapped it around his leg "this is going to be uncomfortable" she said her voice monotone as she began tightening it more so then one normally would. Once it was safely in place Bill started poking around at the leg

"Can you feel anything?" he asked looking up at Xil as Marinelli moved grabbing a towel she twisted it and offered it to Xil silently in case he needed something to bite down on. She seemed more robotic then ever

"I can't feel anything." Xil truly couldn't with the anesthesia, but he probably wouldn't have felt much anyways. He took the towel from Marinelli, hoping that he wouldn't need it but knowing that he probably would. He braced himself for what he suspected would be the most excruciating thing in his life.

Bill nodded. He didn't give him a countdown, he didn't give him any warning. He knew that it only made things worse so aiming the large blade right in the spot he had marked and looked over at Marinelli "You know what to do?" he asked arching a brow

"Worry about what your doing" she said and placed one hand on Xil's shoulder. Her other leaned down and cool metal fingers hooked under his chin and tilted his head up so he was looking at the ceiling "Find a point on the ceiling and don't take your eyes off it" she said the smallest, almost undetectable hint of sympathy in her flat voice before she placed her other hand on his other shoulder. it wasn't an act of comfort, it was to hold him down.

Once he had looked away Bill moved quick, going in with the blade he severed his leg in one clean, very well practiced strike

Xil blinked and nodded at her. He placed the towel in his mouth and placed his hands flat on the table. He fixed his eyes on a strange stain in the ceiling and braced his body for what was about to come.
I'm about to lose my effing leg.
he thought just before the blade came down on the limb. He screamed into the towel and his body lurched as well it could against Marinelli. He dared not look down at what was left of his leg.

Marinelli grimaced and pressed him down against the table holding him in place her hair falling into her face with the struggle of it.

Bill moved quick knocking his leg off the table and onto the floor grabbing a torch and moved quickly cauterizing the wound the moment the leg was gone

"Breath" Marinelli said her voice the only calm thing in the chaos around them "in through your nose out your mouth" she added "it helps"

(Lol he doesn't have a nose)
Xil glared at Marinelli and grasped at the edges of the table, the metal digging into his hands. He tried to keep his body still, but, really, who could when their leg had just been cut off and was now being torched? He spat the towel out when Bill was done but continued to clutch at the sides of the table.
"That socked."

(lol oops xD, alright i'll make it where she was being snarky lol)

"Hey, sometimes humor helps distract" she said with a shrug a small smirk on her face keeping his focus off of Bill in time for the man to burn the wound closed.

Once it was closed Bill took a breath and cleaned up the silvery blood around the wound "we'll give you some time to heal before I stick a prosthetic on there...and besides I'll need to measure your leg anyway.Bill said with a heavy sigh stepping away from him and running his hand through his hair