I care

"She's at the infirmary" DO-3840 said as TD-363 was walking up to him with fast footsteps, he gave a quick nod as a thank you and he passed the stormtrooper, immediately making his way to the base's infirmary.

The metal door opened up and the warm air and bright lights from inside the infirmary hit and surprised him compared to the cold, dark hallway. He stepped inside and took a look around the main room, it was large and had two rows of examination beds, instrument trolleys and some other equipment. His eyes made its way to the right wall and he spotted KP-947 sitting on the floor against some white panels. She wasn't wearing her helmet or the armor on her arms or torso, only the armor on her legs were still on and the left sleeve on her black turtleneck shirt was rolled up and a bandage was wrapped around her upper arm. 

"You good?" TD-363 asked and pointed towards her arm in a quick, short movement. 

"I'm fine Ted" she muttered in a gloomy tone and wrapped her arms around her legs. 

Ted took a quick glance around the room once again but to make sure no one else was there before removing his own helmet, his brown hair standing in all directions. He placed the helmet under his arm and leaned against the wall, removed the rubber band that was around his wrist and put up his hair in a high ponytail. "What happened?" He asked as he slowly slide down the wall until he sat on the floor next to her. 

"Training" She said under her breath and lifted slightly on her injured arm. 

"Well obviously" he said in a more annoyed tone than he intended to. Seeing his sister hurt was upsetting but he couldn't help be a little bit irritated at her lack of response. She was always like this when she got angry or sad, not responsive and always blaming herself even if it wasn't her fault. He put his helmet down on the floor next to him. "Maybe you sho-" Ted hesitated for a moment. "Shouldn't train to be a scout trooper? Because you-" 

"Because I'm not good enough?" 

"No, because you keep getting injured" 

She rolled her eyes and rest her chin on her knees. "I want to be better" she mumbled. 

"Kceep if you want to be better isn't the best option to simply practice your aim?" Ted turned his head to look at her. 

"Because my aim sucks?" She asked, looking straight forward. 

Ted sighed angrily. "No, because it would be for the better, you know how terrible the training here is. Last week someone in the flame trooper department got severe burn injured and almost died, just from the training"

"I'm aware"

"Can you stop?" 

"Stop what?" 

"Being so uncooperative? Talk to me" He turned his gaze away from her. "I know you, something else is on your mind" He could hear it in her voice and by reading her body movements something else was up that she wouldn't tell him which made him grow really impatient. 

It was quiet for about a minute, Kceep was picking and fidgeting with her fingers and was visibly distressed. At last she opened her mouth. "Do you... remember that rumor about you that was spreading around a couple of years ago?" She swallowed hard, not knowing how Ted would react. Kceep gave a quick glance at him, she could read him easily, he was worried. It took a while before he answered. 

"Yes, what about it?" He attempted to say in a calm tone but she could clearly hear how uncomfortable he was. 

"Was it true?" She lifted her chin and instead placed her hands on her knees, immediately regret asking him the question. Before he could answer she quickly added "You know I don't care about who you like and-" 

"Shut up, just shut... up" His head was fixated forwards. "Why do you want to know? Why now?" He asked. 

"It came across my mind and I really need to know" Kceep stated and looked at him. 

"Why do you need to know?"

"I'll tell you if you answer"

--
Around 5 years ago there was a rumor that someone saw Ted and another male stormtrooper kiss each other in a storage room. It was confirmed it was R-1216 but still unclear if it was really Ted since the storage room was dark and he put his helmet back on immediately and both of them quickly ran off as the door opened. R-1216 never confirmed or denied the other guy was Ted though. But people started to talk shit behind both their back and tease them. The rumour and teasing quickly died off as R-1216 passed away in a mission and Ted didn't seem to care or mourn the guy's death. 
--

Ted pulled his head back and let it slam against the wall panels which startled Kceep. He closed his eyes hard and swallowed. "Yes" he exhaled "It was true"

"R-1216 died..." Kceep said in a low voice. 

Ted stayed silent. 

"You didn't seem to care when he passed" she paused and swallowed hard. "And I have been thinking how you'd react if I... died" her voice started to break. "If you didn't care when he died, would you even care if I..." she stopped, her throat was starting to burn.

Ted's face blushed in anger. "That's bullshit and you know it!" He snapped, making Kceep jump in surprise. "You're my sister, he was just some guy I found attractive" he lowered his voice to not scare her again and stood up, 

Kceep could hear how furious he was and stared down at her feet. "So you admit you didn't care at all?" she gulped. 

"I-" he stuttered "Of course I cared, but I quickly moved on because I knew making any type of relationships in this place can only end in one way... with death" he took a deep breath. "But don't you think I'm worried sick when you go out on missions? Don't you think I think to myself 'what if she didn't make it?' Every time your patrol comes back?" 

Kceep could tell he was hurt by her assumption, she looked up at him with her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry" she whimpered.

 "Why do think I keep bugging you about focusing in taking cover and positioning all the time? I only want you to be safe" Ted crouched down in front of her and laid his hand on her knee. "I see where your worry came from but please don't ever assume anything like that again..."

Kceep nodded and dried off a tear that rolled down her cheek with her fingers. They sat like this for about a minute, then Kceep looked up at her brother. "At least I learned something new about you I never knew" she said and smiled, but her smile quickly faded as she saw the worry and distressed look in Ted's eyes as she said that. 

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." her face turned red in shame. 

The door to the infirmary opened and a nursedroid together with two stormtroopers entered the room. Ted quickly grabbed his helmet on the floor and put it on. 

"I'll see you later" he muttered, not looking at her and walked out. 

"Oh shit" she mumbled under her breath and placed her hands on her face. "I messed up"