At Sho'ta's words, Z'shi felt something calm within himself. This was familiar territory, taking care of others, he could handle this. He commanded firmly, "Figure out how to get the nestling comfortable so she doesn't fall asleep while eating."

Trusting his mate to handle the kit for the moment, he had already started building a tentative bond of trust with the little one, he went and fetched the Terran's food tray. Checking it over carefully, he couldn't detect any signs of tampering and it wasn't like he could request something different, so this food it was.

Making his way back over, he let out a snort of amusement at the sight that met his eyes. Sho'ta, in typically Sho fashion, had solved the problem by sitting and pulling the kit onto his lap. He would've expected the kit to be fighting him, but instead, they seemed almost to be embarrassed or pouting. It was hard to tell with the chick where they didn't have any body language baseline for her. But they were smart, they could figure it out.

Sho'ta ignored the kit's embarrassment, carefully carding his claws through the nestling's dark, curly hair while purring quietly. Z'shi wished he had his comm so he could capture the sweet moment but that had been left back at headquarters so that it wouldn't be lost. Although his mate was a complete badass, he was also such a softie for little ones, it was adorable. He knew that Sho'ta would grumble and protest that he wasn't a softie or cute, but they all knew better. He would then immediately follow up with the fact that there was something wrong with sentients who didn't take care of their young.

Moving to join them, Z'shi couldn't agree more. He knew that there was darkness in the universe, that was one of the reasons that he had become a Peacekeeper. If he could help bring at least a little bit of light and hope into the galaxy, then he would be content. But it was awful that a nestling had ended up in a jail cell so far from their home sector, no matter the species. He would make sure to make these traffickers pay as soon as they found their home base.

Not pausing in his self-appointed task of grooming the kit, Sho'ta asked, "So, what's the plan?"

Z'shi eyes them both, eyeing how the nestling was drooping with exhaustion. Were they a nocturnal species and forced themselves to stay awake to deal with the threat? That could be why they had hidden their face earlier, their eyes adapted to see in the dark would undoubtedly be painful in the harshly lit cell. However, that was a problem for another day.

Picking up the water bowl, he moved slowly closer, making sure to telegraph every move so as to not spook the nestling who was watching him with suspicious eyes. "First, I'm going to assess how bad the damage is. Then I'm going to figure out how to get some food into the nestling before they pass out from exhaustion."

Sho'ta frowned, "The kit isn't going to let you take a look at their throat. It's apparently very painful and you saw how they fought against me getting a look a few clicks ago."

Z'shi offered a small smile, a habit he had picked up from the Pantera. "It's okay, I'm not going to try to touch or look at it. You've done what you can for it, I don't have anything to help it."

He noted absently that his smile seemed to soothe the kit, causing them to relax a little bit against Sho'ta. Interesting. There were only a few species out there besides Panteras who took barring teeth or smiling as positives rather than a threat display. It argued, although there hadn't been much doubt from the space gossip, that Terrans were the apex predator on their planet.

Letting out a soothing trill, he brought up the water and held it gently to her lips, trying to coax her to drink. She looked like she would stubbornly refuse before parting her lips and slowly sipping at the water, relief and pain mingling on her face. She didn't seem to have any issue with her face, although it had to be sore, judging from the size of the bruise on her cheek. And he didn't dare get close to the closed wound on her lip, not wanting to reopen it and for the nestling to suffer when they've already been through so much.

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Her brow scrunched slightly when she swallowed, a small pain response, but she didn't seem to be struggling to swallow and nothing appeared to be blocking it. After several sips, she turned her head away, indicating that she was done with the water. However, at that moment, her stomach chose to give a clear hunger rumble. Looks like they'd been right and the chick hadn't been able to eat. Even the thick gruel was probably too much to swallow with how sore her poor throat currently was.

He understood that it had been a matter of survival for the Cresica. But had they even tried to negotiate with the chick or had they just rushed in and attacked, hoping to gain the upper hand with the Terran?

Shaking the thought away, he turned his attention back to the tray, scooping up the bowl of gruel and carefully spooning some into the water. He needed to get the ratio right, thin enough that she wouldn't struggle to swallow it but thick enough that she would be able to get some food into her before she starved. While not the tastiest thing he'd ever eaten, this sort of thing was laced with all the vitamins and minerals to ensure sentients' health.

Sho'ta seemed to understand what he was doing, frowning slightly even as he kept picking apart tangles. "Are you certain she can swallow that?"

Z'shi shrugged, adding another half spoonful and carefully stirring it. He had extensive medical training and while he wasn't familiar with Terran biology, he was cautiously optimistic. "I think so. I think the damage is to the exterior of the throat and possibly the vocal cords. Other than a few hisses and whimpers, she hasn't made a sound. However, there doesn't seem to be any issues with breathing. And that's why I gave her water to start with, to see how she could swallow and if she could use her facial muscles."

Sho'ta tensed, although he kept purring to keep the kit calm. "Do you think she had nerve damage?"

Z'shi tugged his wings tighter against his back, a small sting of distress zinging through his nerves at the thought of the chick being permanently damaged. He answered slowly, "I don't think so? I'm not seeing any signs of drooping or paralysis, but it will be hard to tell until the bruising and swelling go down. Right now, I think her face is very, very sore and that it's hard for her to open her mouth more than a small bit. She also seems to be able to swallow with a little bit of pain, but there doesn't seem to be any difficulty other than pain and soreness to keep her from eating."

Her stomach chose that moment to rumble again and Sho'ta sighed. "Hopefully she'll accept the food, even if it hurts a little. She smells so hungry now that her pain has eased a little."

Satisfied with the consistency, Z'shi shuffled closer. "Well, let's get the chick fed then."

She had been watching every move he made closely, like she was worried that he would add something to the food. He'd made sure to keep everything visible, his heart cracking a little at the implications of her vigilance. He hoped that her species was just naturally vigilant, but if that wasn't the case, they would make sure that she got plenty of care until they could return her home.

Praying that she wouldn't fight him, he filled the crude spoon halfway and held it up to her mouth, cooing encouragingly.

She looked at the spoon, her lovely eyes darker with a myriad of emotions, her lips pressed in a thin line as if she was considering refusing the food. He cooed again, keeping his expression open and hopeful. After a long, tense moment, she exhaled through her nose and slowly opened her mouth, wincing when she had a small gap available.

Not wanting her to strain or hurt herself further, he immediately chirped approvingly, moving the spoon over and tilting it up so that the thin mixture trickled into her mouth. As soon as the spoon was empty, she closed her mouth, face twisting into a grimace over the taste. And yeah, this stuff didn't taste appealing at the best of times and he doubted that watering it down had improved the flavor any.

Sho'ta redoubled his purring, clearly trying to soothe her. After a long moment, she finally swallowed, her expression seeming surprised when there didn't appear to be any pain. She looked over at him and he chirped encouraging, filling up the spoon again.

Her hands twitched and for a moment, he wondered if she would insist on feeding herself. But then the corner of one side of her mouth curved up for a brief moment before her expression smoothed back out. Had this amused her? He hoped so, the nestling deserved to be happy, not scared.

His heart melted when she leaned forward slightly, opening her mouth again for another spoonful.

Goodness, they were already attached, weren't they?