[ april ii log: here's unbroken bone ]

[barrayarmods]

Who: Everyone
What: The sun finally comes out in proper spring, the labs are full of excitement, and Piotr prepares for real war. Your princess is in another castle.
When: April 18th - 30th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD

Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Base / Missions

TIMELINE
4/18 Fast-penta interrogation: Sonia
4/19 Eavesdropping Alpha (Barrayar)
4/21 Eavesdropping Bravo (Barrayar)
4/22 - 4/23 Vorkosigan Vashnoi trips
4/24 Eavesdropping (Cetaganda)
4/25-4/26 Satellite launch
4/27 Flower-viewing party


barrayar
Morale is still recovering after Princess Sonia's capture and the deaths that resulted from the ensuing battle in Riverfall, but at least they were able to make contact with Colonel Vorvolk, the leading officer of the other half of Piotr's army, and reunite the guerrilla army for the first time since their last camp was discovered several months ago. Their discovery is not only timely, but critical -- Piotr intends to launch an attack on the Cetagandan base next month, before any reinforcements can arrive, in order to force Zahal to recall at least part, if not most, of the occupying force in the capital city, so that Piotr's army and the civilian underground resistance can work together to retake Vorkosigan Vashnoi. If they can take back the city and continue to defend it, they might even stand a chance at pushing Zahal's forces out of the district entirely, and considering that Vorkosigan's District is one of the hot spots of the invasion, this might even turn the tide of the whole war in their favor. They'll also be attempting to rescue Sonia during the attack, making the most out of the chaos, but that is their secondary objective.

Zahal, of course, means to make the most out of his new hostage. Knowing for certain now that Piotr's army has contact with the Riverfall villagers -- a fact that puts the camp at risk for discovery once again -- Zahal sends a missive to Riverfall with instructions to pass it along to Piotr. His demands are simple: they'll guarantee the safety and return of the Princess on Piotr's complete surrender. Piotr responds by scrawling a particularly rude and short-worded rebuttal over the original message and has it returned promptly -- stuffed inside the mouth of some poor beheaded ghem soldier, left at one of the base entry gates to be discovered by patrols.

Hopes for a successful attack are bolstered still when word comes that Emperor Dorca and Crown Prince Yuri are on their way to the Dendarii mountains. On the 18th, a courier from Dorca's battalion arrives, only to discover that the first courier sent by Dorca some weeks ago never made it to Piotr's camp to deliver the news. Dorca and Yuri bring with them another 200 soldiers when they arrive on the 20th, which nearly doubles their forces, and, like Colonel Vorvolk's half of the army, they set up camp in another part of the mountains nearby, connected by the cave netwrok that runs through the Dendarii mountains. Unfortunately, the occasion isn't entirely joyous, as Crown Prince Yuri recently lost his only remaining son and heir in battle shortly before departing for Vorkosigan's District. This is not only a sad occasion, but a politically uneasy one: Yuri's wife died some years ago, and while he is next in line to succeed his father as Emperor, the lack of an heir to his own makes for a politically shaky situation. Should he die before producing another heir, the title of Crown Prince will fall to his half-brother Xav instead, and that…brings a whole host of other political issues to the table. Needless to say, while Yuri's succession isn't an immediate issue, the politically savvy are feeling a little nervous about it.

But the war marches on, and preparations must be made. Their odds are better, but they're still vastly outnumbered by the Cetagandans. They'll need the help of the underground civilian resistance to prepare to retake Vorkosigan Vashnoi, as well as some supplies. After all, they'll have an easier time infiltrating the Cetagandan base with a larger force if some of them look enough like Cetagandans.

camp
Although the army is stronger than it has been in months, not all is at peace. Colonel Vorvolk has always been a trusted member of Piotr's general staff and a loyal officer, as well as a long-time acquaintance. However, his views on the outsiders don't exactly align with Piotr's: he thinks Piotr has been much too quick to trust them, especially given that several of them came over from the Cetagandan side, and Duv Galeni hails from Komarr, the planet that sold Barrayar out to the Cetagandans. Vorvolk doesn't believe that the outsiders should be given such freedom or privilege, let alone allow them to participate in critical military operations. Most of his own soldiers seem to share the sentiment, as do the Vorbarra soldiers -- in fact, Yuri vocally agrees with Vorvolk, and those outsiders who have been in Piotr's camp from the very beginning will feel an uncomfortably familiar air of suspicion and mistrust settles over the camp. While nothing has effectively changed -- the outsiders are not segregated away from the camp again as they once were, nor put back under guard -- the Barrayaran soldiers who are comfortable with and even like the outsiders are suddenly in the minority.

While few are foolish enough to disrespect the outsiders where Piotr can see them, some of the soldiers from Vorvolk's and Dorca's camps are borderline hostile toward the outsiders, jeering, taunting, even making hex signs or spitting in the most extreme cases. There are still plenty of soldiers who remain friendly towards the outsiders, but it's leading to friction between them and their other Barrayaran comrades as well. After several days of tension, a major fight breaks out in Piotr's camp over the outsiders' presence, and a few outsiders might even be dragged (or throw themselves) into it. Everyone involved in the fight gets a firm reprimand and then some, and worse still is that the fight does little to ease the tensions -- if anything, it only makes them worse.

Dorca and Yuri's mourning casts a somber air over the camps, and both Emperor and Crown Prince are in grave moods, Yuri's especially prickly. As his son was a public figure, they hold a public burning of death offerings on the 22nd, so that Imperial subjects may pay their respects to the recently deceased Prince. A large pyre is set up within one of the larger caves, so that the smoke will be less conspicuous, and any offerings submitted in earnest will be accepted. Typical Barrayaran death offerings consist of a small lock of one's hair, or, if none is to hand, any other personal object they might have on their person that would burn, such as a piece of clothing.

missions
With contributions of…mixed success from the outsiders, as well as help from the soldiers, the villagers are able to repair some of the homes damaged in the recent skirmish. Some of them are too far gone for repair, and so are broken down to salvage whatever materials they can for other repairs. Considering the village now houses fewer than fifty people, housing space is not a concern at the moment.

Preparations for the coming attack on the Cetagandan base go well overall. The raiding parties manage to steal uniforms and face paint for about 50 soldiers to disguise themselves, and parties sent to Vorkosigan Vashnoi successfully make contact with civilian resistance cells to pass their plans along.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

cetaganda
Zahal sends his terms to Piotr for Sonia's release, and the gruesome rebuttal -- a crude message scrawled over Zahal's own hand-penned calligraphy, the delicate paper shoved into the gaping mouth of a dead ghem soldier, his head left to be discovered just outside the best -- infuriates him. He's known Piotr for too long to expect him to give in right away, but this is just sheer insult. He's well aware of just how vulnerable the base is right now -- the epidemic has mostly run its course, but their total forces are down to about 6,000 soldiers, and there are only about 100 ghem scientists left. His requests for reinforcements have been delayed by Cetagandan central command -- they have no extra troops they can spare on planet, and it will be another month before more ships arrive. Zahal is struggling to balance out his forces, split between the base and Vorkosigan Vashnoi -- right now binternal base security is badly undermanned in favor of increasing the occupying force in the capital city. Piotr Vorkosigan is too smart a man not to take advantage of an opportunity like this -- Zahal just doesn't know exactly what he's planning to do. The Cetagandan base is in a vulnerable state.

However, there is one edge they have: Cetagandan intelligence knows that Emperor Dorca and Crown Prince Yuri are in Vorkosigan's District. The courier who never made it to Piotr's camp was intercepted by Cetagandan intelligence before he even made it to Vorkosigan's District, and the information was sent accordingly to Zahal's outpost. Piotr might have rejected his first demand -- but would the Emperor, the Princess's grandfather, respond the same?

But as the trials of war marches on, so do the advancements of science. Micah is still hard at work in the labs working on the Star Gate Project, but the data they've been able to gather is incomplete and insufficient. They have convinced the Cetagandan science officers to send a scientific party, Micah included, off-planet to take a closer look at the collapsed wormhole and launch a satellite to record more data. They've made a fair bit of progress in discovering the new type of field generated by the collapsed wormhole, tentatively named the Niadem field after its primary discoverer, but they still know too little about just how and why the exotics have been brought here to complete their designs.

base
Despite the military tensions, the Cetagandans work hard at maintaining a lighter atmosphere around the base. Since the weather this month has finally given them some real relief -- and the epidemic raging the base has been quelled -- the Cetagandans decide to host a flower-viewing party on the 27th in the gardens adjacent to the Grow Labs. It is explained to the exotics that such events are regularly held to herald the coming of spring, although emphasis is placed on the fact that the viewings are usually much more sophisticated and lavish than the 'meager' offerings of the lush gardens on the base.

Typical of Cetagandan functions, it is elegant, overwrought and full of a lot of needlessly artfully crafted food and drinks -- many of them intoxicating, so take care what you drink. Sonia and Micah are both in attendance, although Sonia doesn't look particularly happy to be there. The party is celebrating in particular some of the genetic-botanical achievements of some of the ghem lady artists on the base, as well as some recently genetically engineered koi, to update the atmosphere of the garden to proper spring. However, the real show-stealer is the debut of Amai's personal project: an elaborate zoo-biological sculpture designed as tribute to the Star Crèche itself. It takes up a considerable portion of the back wall of the garden, vinelike branches woven into the trellis, curling and spreading in elaborate patterns, and flowers bloom along the lengths in clusters, each a different color. On a closer look, they can be identified as asters -- but some in colors no one's ever seen an aster before. The vines themselves are ridged with what looks like some kind of delicate fin that sways softly with the slightest breeze, a shimmering dark blue. They look more like koi fins than anything botanical, and with the groups of flowers set over them, it looks something like a night sky. In the center is an elaborately crafted flower sculpture of the Star Crèche's screaming bird insignia in minute detail. And though it is rooted to the rest of the sculpture, it seems to move at times -- the slightest flutter of its wings. The placard placed with it explains that each colored cluster of asters is an artistic representation of one of the Constellations that make up the haut caste. The Navarr constellation, from which both Diya and Sei hail, is flowered in asters of a striking violet color.

As time passes, Haut Sei's presence becomes more palpable on the base, and her force bubble is seen more frequently outside of the science/medical complex. Though she and Diya are working closely together, it's clear to anyone who spends enough time around them that there is some tension between them. Ba Talim is almost always present when they are together, although it can at times be found on its own around the base.

missions
The gene therapy trials take a turn for the worse despite glimmers of promise earlier on, and all three subjects suffer from complications with no progress made.

The investigation into the weapons smuggling operation is ultimately a failure -- while they are able to track down one of the resistance cells, the civilians involved manage to get away before any useful information is extracted from them. The next time Cetagandan soldiers return to the place where they'd been discovered, the establishment has since been boarded up and closed down.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

Note: Gavalas, Ezar and Gail are both available for threading on request. Hit Madi (Gavalas) or Ammay (Ezar & Gail) up if you are interested!

Comments

[dendarii]

[ Miles doesn't want to be in a fight, god damn it all. He hasn't had much of a choice in his previous ones - and he doesn't have a choice here either, does he? He catches just enough of the exchange to get furious, get closer. Lakshmi can take care of herself, he knows it, but goddammit these fucking assholes ...

He shoves his tiny body up close enough to see her go after the soldier who'd grabbed her. Enough that the one nearest to him jeers about coming to save his lover with that puny frame.

So Miles punches them. For the jeer, for insulting Lakshmi, for - everything else, really. And thus he's in the thick of it too. ]

You all - ought to have more - goddamn discipline than this --!

[ The next hit knocks the wind out of him, sending him reeling before he can finish his statement. ]

sometime... later or smth ig!!

[protocol]

[ However an all-out brawl broke out, Wash isn't even entirely sure anymore. It was Lakshmi, he was sure, something some damned soldier said and you'd think they would know by now not to pick a fight with her -- but it'd happened, and of course he'd inevitably gotten dragged into it. Breathe in, breathe out, focus, that voice at the back of his head, you know you want to, David -- and he's had enough, he's had enough, he needs to stop before he gets out of hand. He's genuinely injured a few soldiers by now, split his knuckles on someone's jaw, taken a few sharp blows himself, and just as he's trying to find a way out of the crowd, he catches sight of Miles. He can't tell if he's already hurt, can't tell if he's been in the fight for long, but these soldiers apparently don't see an issue with ganging up on the mutie.

Wash is fast. He's always been about speed and finesse, more than raw power, and one moment someone's aiming a blow at Miles and and suddenly Wash is there between them, catching the blow and not even hesitating to twist the man's arm with a sickening crack that's somehow still audible despite the ruckus around them. No time to linger on that, Wash is already shoving him back, turning around just in time to see Miles go reeling from some blow. He's there quickly, too, catches him from falling to the dirt by roughly grabbing him by the back of his uniform and dragging him back, maybe a little bit too suddenly, almost enough to throw him off balance in the other direction. ]

-- Hey. [ Raincheck on the soliloquy, Miles, sorry, he'll give you one later. Some soldier jeers at him, outsider spy from the Cetagandan base, right, that's who you fucking are, coming to your little mutie's rescue, and Miles might end up dragged with him a little as he moves forward towards that soldier, easily side-stepping some blow and twisting just enough to drive his elbow hard against the side of the man's neck, sharp enough to have him half-collapsing, staggering against the ground. Wash glances back at Miles. ] I was just leaving.

[ Some other soldier, likely drunk, barrels clumsily in their direction, and this time when Wash moves Miles bodily out of the way he ends up lifting him clean off the ground. Wash is deliberate and intentional in the way he doesn't quite set him back down fully, lifting him enough even with just the one arm to force him up onto his toes, mostly to prove a point. He'll just carry you out of here if he has to, buddy, and he absolutely can. A slight tip of his head, and for the sweat beading on his brow from all of this, Wash's breathing and voice are surprisingly steady. Calm. He's far from unscathed though, and while the bruises will take some time to show there's blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. ]

You're coming with me. [ That isn't a question, but he's still going to wait for you to affirm it. Be good for once, maybe. Though he might honestly end up picking you up either way. ]

[dendarii]

[ He's a reluctant fighter, but there's not much he can do when there's a crowd all ganging up on him at once. By some miracle, he's not badly hurt; his face is bruised (again) and his lip has been split rather badly, but no one's gotten in a bad kick to his poor, maligned ribs. And no broken bones, which is its own blessing. His synthetics are strong but not impervious.

At least, that's how he was doing until the latest hit. He'd crashed into the ground with dizzying force, enough to make him loll groggily for a moment. Blurry enough from the hard hit to his head that he doesn't even object to Wash manhandling him at first. (Concussed? He might be; his vision swims uncannily in front of his eyes.) ]

Where're we going? [ The words come out slurred, vague. He watches his own dangling feet with confusion, unsure of how he's managing to do that. ] Somewhere fun?

[protocol]

[ Wash takes one look at Miles' eyes, glazed over, dulled and unfocused compared to the bright sharpness he's used to, and that's enough for him to hazard a guess even before hearing his voice. Slurred and confused. He curses a little under his breath, he should've been faster, he didn't see what hit him, doesn't have a real gauge of how bad it could be. Carrying him it is, then.

Easy to focus on this, at least, on taking care of someone else rather than the still-festering anger and frustration inside him, rather than how badly he wants to take the next person who gives him an excuse and break a lot more than just an arm. Two other people fighting nearly bowl into them, and Wash drags Miles a little closer and still not putting him down as he turns to shield him from it, shoving them off with his shoulder. One of them turns to jeer at him, protecting your little mutant, are you, and Wash just moves into him, still with Miles in tow, ends up striking him sharply under the chin and sweeping a leg under him to throw him off balance. Before the soldier even collapses fully to ground, Wash is bracing a foot against his thigh, bears his full weight onto him, grinds it down, another, awful sound.

No time for this. He grits his teeth, and fully hauls Miles into his arms. ]

Loads of fun. [ He starts to actually move, then, and shifts Miles enough that he can support him against him with one arm, long as Miles holds onto him some -- you're tiny, he's carried so much heavier, and he'd rather have the free hand to punch someone in the face if he needs to. Let's not end up using you as a bludgeoning weapon. ] Where'd you want to go?

[ Right now Wash mostly has anywhere but here on mind. ]

[dendarii]

[ He didn't lose consciousness, at least, and he seems alert if not focused. The world continues to whirl around him in a haze of noise and pain. Not just his own; he winces as Wash breaks one of the soldiers thighs with seemingly little effort at all. And more, blurring together into a haze of human agony.

He's dimly aware that Wash is protecting him. That the sound of blows on Wash's back were originally meant for him, that he'd be worse off in the middle of this chaos if not for Wash. He yelps a bit as Wash picks him up bodily, before clinging hard to make sure Wash doesn't have to hold onto him. ]

Out. I think. No diplomacy here.

[ And that's all he's good for in this situation. Goddammit. Carefully, he leans his head against Wash's chest in an effort to keep it from jostling further. ]

You're hell on two feet, you know that?

[protocol]

[ For a while when the brawl broke out he'd been patient enough to focus mostly on disabling people who came after him, had been restrained enough to keep from doing any real injury, but ah, that patience wore thin quickly, and he has to get out of here before he ends up actually fucking killing someone. On the move, at least, most of the people around seem busy with their own chaos, and any people jostling up against them Wash is careful to make sure hit him instead of Miles.

He belatedly notices the taste of blood, laps involuntarily at the corner of his mouth. Damn, when had that happened? He's getting fucking careless, Carolina would have his head for that. ]

Out. Got it. [ A bit of amusement, despite everything. Someone catches Wash's arm, drags him to a stop, a sneer on his expression, and Wash doesn't bother to listen to whatever smartass comment he might have ready to say, just jerks his arm from his grip and twists to use that momentum to drive his arm against his side, hard enough to force him to the ground. He keeps moving, this time, doesn't stop to prove a point. ] You should see any of the others.

[ Always was the worst. Still is the worst, as far as he's concerned, though that's probably just Wash being unfair to his own ability, he has come a long way. He has to shove someone else aside, but they're clear of most of the mess, now, and Wash relaxes noticeably. What a damned clusterfuck this is. ]

[dendarii]

[ Miles, too, starts to relax as they finally get clear of the mess tent. Slumping against Wash until he's only loosely holding on. Despite that, however, his dizziness has eased; the concussion was mild enough that he's already beginning to feel a bit better. He'll just need a bit of time to reorient. ]

I've seen the others too. [ He murmurs the words appreciatively. ] Just because they're hell in a hurricane doesn't mean you're not impressive.

[protocol]

Yeah, well. [ As if searching for a counterpoint, finding none, and just kind of reluctantly moving on. He appreciates the compliment, really. ] Thanks. I'm trying not to do too much.

[ Still not setting Miles down, though he shifts his arm slightly to make sure he's more secure. Still getting more distance between them and the mess tent, turning around to look at the, well, mess of things. He shakes his head slightly, an obvious distaste in his expression. There's always some dissent in the ranks, that's unavoidable, but letting it get to this point kind of goes against everything he thinks an army should be. ]

[dendarii]

[ The problem is that Piotr is the only one who can really step in here. And to do that, he risks his whole operation for, what, a handful of people? No, they will have to endure this in some form or another. Better off to get it out of their system. ]

Mm. For the best. It will pass soon enough, regardless.

[ A beat. He passes a hand over his eyes, rubbing at them gently. ]

I didn't get a soliloquy.

[protocol]

[ He really doesn't hold it against Piotr. His own opinions of the man are complicated, with all he knows he'll go on to do, but Piotr's been steadfast in defending them as far as he knows, and that much he can respect. It's the soldiers he doesn't care for. This lack of discipline, this disregard for people they're meant to fight beside. The line is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain, and if you can't trust who's fighting at your shoulder, then there's no line at all. ]

It'd better. [ Still sounding so incredibly unimpressed. ] Soldiers should know better than this.

[ More lightly; ] I didn't forget.

[ You'll get one, okay. He just keeps moving, for now, steering out of the camp without even really thinking about it. There's so much of this mess going on, these days, he'd just like to get away from it. ]

[dendarii]

They should know better. But Barrayar has more range than most, especially now.

[ In other words: They're desperate, so they can't afford to be picky based on minor criteria like not a psychopath. That's still the case in modern times, kind of. No psych eval to speak of. ]

Good. I still want one. A good one.

[ He's more focused now, less confused. No permanent damage. ]

[protocol]

Desperate times, huh. [ A little grimly. The UNSC certainly were pressed for soldiers, after a time, and the among the Insurrectionists, not to mention on Chorus . . . ] I can understand that.

[ But still. He expects better. ]

It's a little hard to deliver a speech in the middle of a fight. [ He doesn't sound like he's defending himself in earnest, just playing along, of course, relaxing more, now, and maybe only distantly realizing that someone or the other probably saw him carrying Miles out of camp, and eh. Oops? ] People do it anyway, but I kind of find that breaking a man's arm usually says a lot more and saves a lot more time.

Don't know how well I did on being dramatic, though. Might've had other concerns.

[dendarii]

[ Eh. Negri probably saw, but who cares? Anyone else might easily carried Miles out too, and it's not as though he'd been having a seizure just now. ]

Efficient, yes. I should have remembered the language of broken bones.

[protocol]

I honestly didn't even want to get that far.

[ Sounding frustrated at himself, more than anything else. At least he's stopped short of killing anyone, but that's at least a couple of soldiers' he's likely put out of commission for a while. Not what any army needs ever, let alone an army as desperate as this one.

Shifting Miles slightly in his arms. ] Comfy?

[ 'Cause he's going to have to put you down to try and get a gauge of how hurt you might be. ]

[dendarii]

[ Miles just shrugs lightly. ]

Better if if you hadn't, but ... They will live.

[ And this kind of shit happens all the time. The soldiers might not even complain if they're lucky. But he sighs lightly, wriggling in Wash's arms. ]

I'm ready to be put down, please.

[protocol]

The only reason I was trying to get out of there was that I knew if I went much longer, I'd probably end up killing a soldier. Or three.

[ He's not trying to sound like a horrible braggart, here, but he is prone to being dramatic -- but mostly he knows himself, and knows just how frustrated he's been, how desperate for an excuse he's been for months now to just really take someone and break them apart in every sense of the word. He's fine, though. He'll be fine.

And he is quite pointedly not putting Miles down. ]

What about my second rescue? [ Mostly playing around, of course -- but hey, he'll use what leverage he has. Literal leverage, even! ]

[dendarii]

You probably would have.

[ He's quite certain of that too. That thing with the mirror was convincing, okay. ]

This wasn't life or death, though. I'd have been fine.

[ Nevermind his concussion would have been much, much worse if he'd been hit again. Perhaps fatal. ]

[protocol]

Maybe you would've been fine, but I think I prefer not having to find out.

Still. If it wasn't life and death, then it wasn't a real rescue. Means I get another.

[dendarii]

[ He shakes his head - and winces. Ow, that hurts. ]

No, just the opposite. You only got another chance if it the first attempt was suitably necessary.

[protocol]

Not suitably dramatic?

I did hurt quite a few people on the way out. While carrying you, even.

[dendarii]

Yes, but I'm fine. A little concussed, maybe.

[protocol]

If you weren't fine it'd be a very bad rescue.

[ Shifting Miles slightly in his arms before he very, very gently finally relents and puts him down. Not bothering to ask, he just steps forward and uses a finger pressed against his cheek to lightly tug down an eyelid, leaning down to get a careful look before he moves onto his other eye. ]

You sure you're alright? [ Don't lie to him, okay. ]

[dendarii]

[ He tracks Wash's motions easily enough, though his pulis aren't quite the same size yet. He blinks uncomfortably after; the bright light hurts his eyes. ]

My head hurts. I'm sore and bruised and probably pulled a muscle somewhere.

[protocol]

[ Mm. A slight frown, his fingers briefly pressing against Miles' jaw and guiding his head to one side as he checks over him for any bruises, for a sign of the location of the blow to the head that must've caused the pain, his slightly confused and slurred speech when he'd found him earlier. ]

Doesn't look like anything too bad. Mild concussion, maybe, you should probably sit for a while.

[ A bit more time to check over him before he's satisfied enough that Miles had gotten out of that scrap largely unhurt, and only then does he vaguely turn attention to himself. Glancing down at one hand, at his split knuckles, his expression slightly irritated as he runs a thumb lightly over them and then lifts a hand to his own chin, pressing at the hinge of his jaw and soothing down, feeling along his jawbone as he wipes that slight trail of dried blood from the corner of his mouth. ]

[dendarii]

[ Miles tilts his head back and forth obediently enough. When Wash's fingers touch a spot on the back of Miles' head they come back bloody. And Miles hisses a bit in pain. ]

Y-yes. I think so. I don't know what he hit me with, but it hurt.

[ But there's not much there, and it's mostly scabbed over by now. Miles will be just fine. He turns his own gaze to Wash, watching him take inventory. ]

Did you break anything?