He awoke in the early hours of the morning to someone trying to get his attention from outside his tent.

Kaldalis didn’t know exactly what time it was, but he had the feeling like he’d gotten a pretty decent full night’s sleep. One of the benefits of going to bed in a fit of rage right after dinner was that 3 AM was your eight hour mark.

The slapping sound of a hand against the flap of his tent came again, interrupting his body’s attempt to fall back asleep immediately. He tried to ignore it, but it came again before he could even shift and get comfortable.

“Whaaaat?” he groaned as he rolled over. He had to sit up or else he was absolutely going to fall asleep again. “What’s going on?”

“Kaldalis!” the voice came again. He had woken up to them saying his name, but before his mind was fully processing it. “I need your help!”

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and struggled out of bed. He was tangled up in the thin sheet, but he eventually just stood up and shook himself until it fell to the tent’s floor. He’d deal with it later.

“Who is it?” he asked, crossing to the front of the tent and pulling the flap back. “Something had better be on fire if you’re-”

He almost physically recoiled from who he saw there.

Garyung was stooped down to match his height to Kaldalis’, and he looked distraught.

If it weren’t for the pleading look in his eyes, Kaldalis would have turned right around and gone back to sleep. But he couldn’t be that callous, even towards his newfound rival. Who didn’t even know they were rivals.

“What do you want?” Kaldalis said, trying not to let the aggravation slip into his voice. He didn’t try hard, but it was the wee hours of the morning. A little irritation might pass for having been awakened rather than a specific grudge against Garyung personally.

As if triggered by the question, Garyung started to break down. He wasn’t sobbing, but he was stammering, grasping at fragments of words. He started trying to string the sounds together into words, but completely failed, just making a confused blubbering sound.

Kaldalis suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the large man. He didn’t understand what was going on, but all his aggravation was replaced by pity. Despite his reluctance, he urged Garyung inside.

“Come in,” he hissed. “And calm down. Take a breath.”

Garyung followed Kaldalis into the tent and took a big hitching sigh before he started stuttering again. It sounded like he was trying to express gratitude, but in three different ways at once while also trying to make his way back to the matter at hand, which was, also, entirely gibberish.

“Just stop,” Kaldalis said. “Be quiet. You’re trying to talk, I get it, but you’re not. You’re just making noise. Stop trying. Be quiet, okay?”

Garyung nodded and fell silent. After a moment, the giant Bhogad’s breathing started to slow and normalize.

“Okay, thank you,” Kaldalis said. “Now I’m going to get dressed. When I’m done, we’ll talk.” Garyung started to open his mouth and Kaldalis held his hands up quickly. “Hold on. Just stay quiet. I want you to think about what you’re going to say. Choose your words now so that you don’t have to try and say them all at once.”

Kaldalis donned his armor. He’d slept in his pants, and so there wasn’t any awkward moments in front of Garyung, and it didn’t take long to get all dressed. But he had to maneuver around the giant man in the room.

He tried not to make it weird.

It was still a little weird.

“Alright,” Kaldalis said, once he was fully dressed. “Now, very slowly, one word at a time,” Kaldalis put a hand on Garyung’s shoulder, patting the armor plates there. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not cut out for this,” Garyung said slowly, though clearly for his own benefit, not as a mockery of Kaldalis’s instructions. “I shouldn’t be in charge. I’m not qualified I’m- I’m- I’m-”

“Okay, I got it, I hear you,” Kaldalis interrupted him before he could start stammering again. “Let me put it together for you, just to make sure I have it straight. You’re ‘only an elected official here, you can’t make decisions by yourself’?”

“Yes,” Garyung said, his chest heaving a sigh of relief. “Yes, exactly. I’m sorry. Accepting the nomination was a huge mistake. When I heard people saying my name at the vote, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.” Tears were forming in his eyes as he looked down at Kaldalis. “I need your help.”

“How?” Kaldalis said, reaching up and rubbing his temple. “You’re- everyone loves you. Everyone, man. All day yesterday everyone was talking you up. They all think you’re cool and competent and helpful.” He shook his head. “Why are you not all calm and in control? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I have-” Garyung started to stammer, but stopped when Kaldalis turned to look at him. The Bhogad took a breath, and started again. “I have executive dysfunction. Like, bad. I spend so much time helping people because it’s easy. People tell me what they need and I help them.” He started gesturing wildly with his hands. “I spent all my time listening to people and following directions from them because I can’t make decisions! Every question people present to me is total mental paralysis!”

“I had no idea,” Kaldalis said in a soft tone.

“That’s because of how I manage it,” Garyung explained. “Which is by not managing it. I never looked for a dungeon because I didn’t want to be the one to find one and have to figure out who to bring into the dungeon with me for the first run. I never investigated any suspicious activity because I didn’t want to be the one to uncover wrongdoing and have to figure out what to do about it.

“And now the questions - the decisions - are coming right to me. I can’t escape. I can’t avoid.” He reached out and put both his hands on Kaldalis’s shoulders, looking him in the eye. “Nobody wants to help me. The council? They all think I should know what’s going on. That I don’t need any orientation. But I’m just barely keeping my overwhelming panic from taking over as they keep bringing me more and more questions.”

“And you want me to help you?” Kaldalis asked. A little bitterness crept up the back of his throat. A vindictive thrill that everyone who didn’t choose him was going to be proven wrong. “Just abdicate. Give up the position. Let someone else take it.”

“I can’t do that!” Garyung snapped quickly. “Don’t you realize what would happen? I won the vote. Overwhelmingly. If I back down? If Ikzoz takes the mantle or we have another vote? The whole system falls apart! No one will have any faith in the system! The whole camp will fracture and fall apart!” He started shaking Kaldalis. “Don’t you get it? I’m trapped! I’m totally fucking fucked, dude!”

“Alright, so, why me?” Kaldalis snapped, reaching up and slapping Garyung’s hands away. “Why are you here?”

“Because you should be here,” Garyung said, his giant chest hitching in a sob. “You should have this job, not me. I voted for you! I voted for you and I would have told everyone else to as well.”

“You voted for me?” Kaldalis asked, stunned.

“Of course I did!” Garyung said. “You’re a bold instigator, but I’d trust you with my life. You’d take us places without plunging us heedlessly into hell to do it. I’m just-” He started to stammer, but took a deep breath and started again. “I’m just going to sit and agonize over every choice. One wrong move and I’ll be paralyzed by my own inevitable failures.”

“You, uh,” Kaldalis paused before shaking his head. “You hide this really well. I really thought you were more put together than this. I mean, obviously there are different severities of executive dysfunction, but even if you’ve got some problems, I thought it would be minor. Not enough to drag you down to this.”

“I told you, that’s because I avoid situations like this,” Garyung said, slumping down in defeat. “Nobody’s ever seen me like this. I was pacing back and forth for three hours before I came here to talk to you. And I was agonizing for three hours before that, trying to figure out what I should do at all. And an hour in between deciding who to go to. I didn’t want anyone to see my weakness. I tried so hard.” He paused, and then let out a little mad cackle. “I tried so hard and got so far-”

“No, no,” Kaldalis grabbed the sides of Garyung’s breastplate, giving him a gentle shake. “In the end, it will matter. This is your chance to rise above your limitations. Get gud, buddy.”

“I know,” Garyung said, “I know that, but I can’t. Not this fast. Not this soon.” He shook his head. “I’ll get better, I promise, but I need help. You- you’re a hero. You can’t let the whole camp fall into chaos because I’m floundering.”

“I won’t be your crutch,” Kaldalis said quickly.

“Not a crutch,” Garyung said, “a cane. Just a little support until I learn how to handle leadership myself.” He knelt down, bowing his head. “Help me, Obi-Wan Kaldalis. You’re my only hope.”