Charisma~ Poe Dameron

Shared Trauma

Aria stood in the cramped, broken down, dusty bathroom within Hochi's ship. The mirror above the sink had such a thick layer of grime and dust she could only make out colors reflecting back, not shapes. But she didn't need the mirror, she didn't have to look herself over to know what she'd see- a mess. 

Instead she focused on the sink, which was the real reason she sought the bathroom out. 

Her palm and forearm gave a hot throb with every pulse of her heart. She feared if she left the dirt and sand in the wound it was become infected, so despite the pain and sorrow, she had to clean it. 

She turned the nozzle to release the water, but for a full minute nothing happened. Old ship, she thought. Takes time. There was a gurgling sound before brown sludge poured out from the faucet. The pipes behind it shuddered under the sudden release of pressure and threatened to break from fatigue. 

Aria cursed and slammed her fist into the wall right next to the mirror. The entire bathroom shook before the pipes straightened out. A second later the brown sludge ran clear. 

Aria waited another few seconds before she stuck her trembling hand under the water. It was hot from laying in the pipes under the sun and smelled of sulfar, but it washed the blood and sand from her cut. 

She hissed as pieces of sand dug along the exposed skin. She had to hold her wrist just to keep her hand steady enough for the water to pour over it consistently. When her hand was clear of sand, she bent over and stuck her forearm under the water to clean it next. 

"Shit-" She seethed as she squeezed her eyes shut. The hot water did little to soothe the wound, if anything it was hotter than her already hot skin but she couldn't be picky right now. She just had to clean it enough to hold her over until she had better supplies. 

When the water ran pink instead of maroon she pulled her hand from the faucet and turned the water off. She shook her arm to remove any excess water and looked around for something to dry and wrap around her arm. With nothing around her, she grabbed the bottom of her white wrap and unwove it around her hips. When it came up to her navel she ripped the fabric and used the clip to secure the frayed end against the rest of the fabric. 

She held her hand out palm-up and slowly started to wrap the fabric around her forearm. She sucked in short, quick breaths as the material dug into the skin. The material was flexible which was great for movement, but the grooves needed to make it flexible were not pleasant on her torn flesh. 

"Aria?" 

"Just a second." Aria called to the door as she wrapped the material around her palm. She twined it around her thumb and tucked it into two bands of fabric to keep it in place, then she took a ratted towel from a small hangar and ripped the seam off to tie around her palm to make sure even if the wrap untucked that it wouldn't unravel. 

"Aria, please-" Aria opened the door to the bathroom to look at Rey's pained, pale face on the other side. "I didn't mean to do it, I lost control." Rey's eyes pleaded with Aria to understand. Her grief reflected in her soft, green irises. 

Aria gave her a soft nod. "I know." 

Rey's shoulders sagged at those words. She had expected them, but not the pain that came with them. 

"You told me you had anger and I promised to help you find a way to control it." Aria dropped her head to look at the material around her palm. The burn still throbbed underneath, more so after she cleaned and touched it. But she would rather focus on the pain in her hand than the agony in her chest. "We both failed, Rey. I failed my promise to you and you..." Aria didn't want to say the words. She was upset, sure, but she wasn't entirely sure she was upset at Rey.