Boundless

Echoes

[6 weeks ago]

"You look gloomy today".

Lance and Lar'jar already had a decent rapport before his departure alongside Kivar - the Medic had been tasked with the care of Jen'til,

They had been talking every other day for a while, and Lance had been sending him data daily.

First, their convos mainly revolved around her health and any changes in her condition (since Lance had received quite the experimental treatment for the injuries that almost claimed her life), but soon those two were chatting about anything and everything.

"Last couple of days were taxing", Lar'jar sighed. Of course she would notice.

"Wanna talk about it?", Lance offered, seated in a chamber adjacent to the new room she had been sharing with Ah'kaedh.

"Ah'kaedh shared the news about the baby?"

Lance nodded.

ThenYautjas were able to identify the mother. It was a female of Lar'jar and Ah'kaedh's clan. Another runaway. But the father? All clans denied having any registry of the father in their DNA database. Someone was lying, or the father had been born outside their society. Both options equally disturbing, for entirely different reasons.

"There you have it", Lar'jar, like the vast majority of his people, preferred to keep any feelings to himself.

"Are you ok?"

Objectively? Yes.

Lar'jar was healthy, well-fed, in great shape. A shitty night of sleep was no big issue.

However... Lar'jar's past had been haunting him for some months now. As soon as he set foot inside that damn Bad Blood's vessel and saw the fetus's corpse, the memory of his sister Ah'thla had not left the forefront of his mind. And regret was like poison, especially when you had centuries to revisit and overanalyze any perceived mistake.

The Medic took a minute to answer.

"Yes. May I ask you something personal?"

"Ask away", Lance knew if she wanted to get him to share anything; sharing first was probably the way to go.

"Why do you care?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"You will need to be specific", Lance answered, straightening her back.

"About this issue", hundreds of years old, and suddenly he felt uncomfortable directing the question to himself.

"I can't turn off my inner agent. So there is a small voice in the back of my head saying this is an issue that needs a solution before it blows out of proportion".

Too late for that, the Yautja crossed his arms, instinctively bracing himself.

"Now, personally, I don't like cruelty, and when I can do something about it, I do. I'm also very partial to people I like, and I happen to have a lot of free time on my hands", she allowed him to digest her answer for a minute before adding, "however, I was asking if you are ok".

That question again.

"It's bothering me", Lar'jar was economical with his words today.

"Which part?", Lance insisted.

The Yautja stared at the holographic projection of that tiny piece of chaos his brother was obsessed with.

"All of it", he mumbled.

'All of it' was, strangely, pretty accurate in this case.

"Not talkative today, I see", Lance's hologram showed a relaxed Girl, sitting in the med-bay at Ah'kaedh's vessel.