He woke to sharp throbs in his temple, and a scream at his lips as the necklace was torn off his neck, jump starting him into reality. A voice hushed him, drawing soothing hands over the scars on his face and neck tenderly. Hawthorn. He knew before he opened his eyes to see. Knew from the way the hands didn’t shy away from the rough texture of his scars. Knew from the heavy weight crushing his chest.

His eyesight returned in splotches, but it hurt to keep them open for more than a millisecond at a time. He groaned and drew up a hand to his head.

Several things came to him all at once. First, Hawthorn. Second, the Pain. Third, Cassio. It was the last thing that forced him to open his eyes wide, looking for the man who attacked him.

Cassio stood over him, a syringe in his hands. Next to him Hawthorn hovered over him, eyes glossy with moisture. "Hemlock... you feeling alright?" The rims around Hawthorn's eyes glistened with rawness, but Hemlock averted his attention. Don't think to deeply into it. Hawthorn's had a long day. Probably remnant from when he was tending to Blackthorn. 

Hemlock attempted sitting up straight, but the pain in his temple worsened at the shift in position. From a throb it became a sharp stabbing pain. Hawthorn gave him a gentle push on the shoulder. 

Cassio placed the syringed on the bedside table and explained. "The treatment is doing its work. The sodium channels in your brain have reopened, but it's also hit your somatic nerves. Stop whining."

He groaned again, sinking into the plush pillows. They must be in Hawthorn's quarters. The bed felt familiar.

"So will you help me?" Cassio asked. Hawthorn didn't bother looking at Cassio and kept stroking Hemlock's face, which should have made him feel better, but all it did was irritate his nerves. This fake care and sympathy turned his stomach. 

Cassio's face twisted in mild disgust, but mostly irritation. "You're worse with him, than with Blackthorn." 

The remark didn't phase Hawthorn, but he did say, "You're even worse with Yngvir."

Cassio didn't respond, only stepped back, folding up his arms again. "If we don't find Yngvir soon, who knows what'll happen."

"Likely some sort of catastrophe, but I'm not exactly sure why I should care." Hawthorn said.

"It won't even take you that much effort to find him. You're more powerful than he is."

Hawthorn shrugged. "Yes, but it'll take time. I haven't tried to read his signature for 18 years now."

"So you'll do it?"

Hawthorn shrugged again, "Haven't decided."

Cassio snarled, "After what I did to make sure Blackthorn survives? Despite what we both know about his history?"

Hawthorn turned to Cassio, "Funny, considering we wouldn't be in this position if you had more control and didn't sync with Yngvir."

Cassio threw up his arms, "How the fuck was I supposed to know? I didn't even remember."

Hemlock groaned again, not because of the pain in his head but because their bantering reminded him how he shouldn't be involved with these people. Their positions were way beyond his and he had no idea what they were talking about at least 9 out of 10 times, and the 1 time he did know, he was wrong.

Cassio stepped forward and Hawthorn blocked him with an arm, hovering over Hemlock's body. "Don't touch him." Cassio's eyes flashed, locking with Hawthorn. They battled against each other in silence, their eyes and minds doing the work as the air between them crackled. 

Hemlock raised his head a bit, propping himself onto an elbow. It probably wasn't a great idea to get between two apex predators, but he never did have much will power against bad decisions. With a wince from the exertion, he said, "I'd like to know where he is as well. I'm worried about him." The static in the air cracked and a glass goblet shattered on the table. Hemlock flinched. 

Hawthorn drooped, and enveloped his hands around Hemlock's, pressing the fingertips to his lips. "I don't want to leave you unguarded again."

The absurdity of the situation perplexed him, enough to pull his hand away. "It's fine. I'll be okay."

Darkness passed across Hawthorn's face, but he said nothing, just closed his eyes then sighed after a long pause. "Fine. I'll look for him."

Hemlock sagged back into the bed, and met Cassio's blank look. He couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he hoped it was something like gratitude. Between the last few hours, he felt they'd bonded a bit over their common goal. Maybe, just a little. Hawthorn stood from his spot from the edge of the bed. "I need to focus. I'll be in the meditation room. Don't under any circumstances try to leave, or enter the room or I will lose focus."

Cassio nodded. Hemlock nodded as well. 

They shared a look that reminded Hemlock of the sort that friends shared at the deepest point of the argument, when they admitted to themselves and each other that they forgave each other. The sort he'd really only shared with Yngvir. Rarely. But it'd happened. It was why he wanted to do anything in his capacity to find him. To make sure he was okay. Because they were friends.

Even if Yngvir was more than he seemed.

Cassio walked towards the panels, uncannily at the same spot he'd spent the sync… making his mark on the glass. He stared out at the stars, into some unknown spot in the cosmos.

He supposed now was a time good as any to ask those questions he'd been saving up. Now that they were both trapped in here together. "Why do they call you princess?"

Cassio didn't turn around, but his fist did clench. "Because at one point, I was."

"But wouldn't it be more accurate for you to be a prince?"

Cassio did turn around, this time with a refined eyebrow arched high on his forehead. "Can you seriously not tell that I'm female? I just thought you were being rude before. I didn't think you would be this dull."

His face flushed and he stammered, "Uh, well." He didn't know why he'd thought Cassio was a man, but now that Cassio mentioned it, he definitely should have known Cassio wasn't a man.

"A-apologies. You just look ambiguous so I assumed. I have a tough time guessing genders." He'd botched Hawthorn's gender as well, now that he thought about it.

"How about you ask what someone might prefer." Cassio turned back to the panel with irritation.

"Do you prefer female pronouns then?"

"No, I prefer the male ones."

"Oh." Psion's name this was complicated, but if that's how it was, there was no harm in complying. Just took a little time to get used to. Like how he'd have to get used to Yngvir being a Force user.

Hemlock urged his body out of the bed. To get some movement back and remind himself he's not paralyzed anymore. He sat up, twisting to get his legs off the bed. As he stood, he promptly collapsed back onto the ground, yelping as he grabbed the bedside table for support. The syringe rolled off the table and shattered as it hit the ground.

Cassio said, "You're the most useless person I've ever met."

Hemlock rolled his eyes, though most people wouldn't be able to notice the difference considering the darkness that filled his enlarged irises and pupils. "Thanks. I know." He pulled himself up back onto the bed. This would all have been easily avoided if someone hadn't shot him with paralyzing toxins.

"Why did you shoot me?" He asked.

Cassio said, "To attract Hawthorn."

"But how did you know he'd come? Didn't you say he was with Blackthorn?" From what Yngvir had said, he would have assumed Hawthorn wouldn't have just left Blackthorn's side while he was healing.

Cassio shrugged. "It was a guess, but Goldhorn had been confident in Hawthorn's attachment to you."

How had Goldhorn known, if he barely knew Hemlock? Cassio seemed to read his mind, "Goldhorn's uncannily good at reading people's intentions. He knows Hawthorn well. They attend brunch on occasion."

Brunch. What even was that? The word felt wrong in his head. Brunch? Was it a meeting of sorts? Perhaps something where they discuss strategies.

Cassio giggled behind a hand. Hemlock definitely should have known Cassio was at least somewhat feminine. It was impossible not to see now. "You're not that far off."

Cassio was definitely reading his mind. Yngvir had mentioned something about Cassio being able to use the force. Used it to choke him. "Are you from Psion as well?"

That elicited a real response. Cassio turned towards him and clasped his hands behind his back. The soft glow of Hawthorn's room lights gave him an ethereal look. Halfway between this world and another. "Perceptive."

"At one point, I was."

"Like how you were princess?"

"Again, perceptive… maybe you aren't as dull as you seem."

Hemlock thought he should feel a little bit insulted by the continued disrespect, but he knew what Cassio saw from their perspective. A janitor who didn't deserve to be here, in the bed of one of the most powerful Force users, who was ignorant and slow intellecutally.

Sighing, Cassio slumped into the couch, another piece of furniture they'd marked… on several occasions. The cleaning droids would have done a good job of scouring every surface, right? Cassio didn't seem to notice that particular thought.

He was far away in some memory.

When Cassio spoke, it was in a voice he didn't recognize. It didn't have the sharp edges, or the roughness that he would have expected.

"He stole me away." Cassio pressed fingers to his mouth, like he was pushing something back down his throat. "He dazzled me with his adventures, the grand heists, the thrill of the chase."

"Yngvir?"

Cassio nodded. His eyes closed, head tipping forward. "Not that I was particularly happy being an exalted figurehead, but I suppose in retrospect, it was a stupid idea."

"Wait… how old are you?" Cassio didn't look any older than thirty years. Younger than him, definitely. But the stuff that happened in Psion had to have been at least a thousand years ago. Well, he had no idea how long ago, but definitely longer than a few generations.

Cassio slid him a sneer. "Didn't they teach you not to ask about someone's age?"

"No, I was raised ignorant and dull apparently." He said, earning him a look of pity. Which he hated even more.

"This is my 5th body."

"5th… body?" Hemlock reeled.

"We don't have the same body compositions as humans, so we require hosts to assimilate with humans. We also tend to live longer than the human body does. So this is my 5th body."

Hemlock laid back on the bed, processing the information. In the span of a few hours, he'd learned too many things. This had to be unsafe for his very mortal life. Coppertail was probably tracking how many secrets Cassio was unveiling to him. All of these things didn't seem beneficial to his safety somehow.

Something underlying it all stank of rot, but he couldn't figure out what. He didn't have enough information.

"Are all force users from Psion?"

Cassio shook his head, "No, as far as I know. It's just me and Yngvir."

He thought the answer would give him some peace, but he still felt as unsettled as before. None of this was what he signed up for when he went to look for Cassio. His hand still stung with the frost burns. He wished he'd never ever tried that stupid plan.

If he hadn't burned himself he wouldn't have made it back to Hawthorn's quarters. He probably would have been forgotten. He rolled over onto his side, curling up as his chest clenched tightly around his lungs. Just think of it as a dream.

Don't read into it too much.

It's just a dream.