Redhawk Caldera some day they will all be dead

If not for the pained noise, he might've felt a bit deflated by her refusal. Instead, he only furrowed his brown in concern. The question was at the tip of his tongue—"Are you sure you're okay?"—but he pressed it against his teeth. Caracal guessed she was doing what his mom always did: downplaying the pain or outright fibbing, for whatever reason.

"I'm working on it..." he replied distractedly to her question. In the end, he just couldn't help himself. "Let me help you help me," he blurted dumbly, then began to crack up at his own idiocy. "I mean," he tried again between breathy blurts of laughter, "I need practice and it seems like you could use some aids," or first aid. Whatever it was called. He wasn't an expert, yet.

Since she reminded him of his mother and sisters in various ways, Caracal tried to head off any protests Vesper might make by promptly suggesting, "Have you tried getting in the water? It's pretty cool, it could help numb the pain."