The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[51] Worm isn't a fucking bad word

It all started when Rolo had complained about being stuck in the infirmary for so long, glaring at his legs in a way that would have been funny if Lance didn't empathise with him so much.

After several weeks of physical therapy (courtesy of Lotty), Rolo was beginning to move again. But one leg was still fairly useless and the other...

The other was a hunk of metal.

It was easy to forget how many members of the Resistance had prosthetic legs. Lance swore the number was rising, even with the amount of low-risk missions that were happening - namely returning the children and other slaves to their homes, if they still had one to return to.

Off the top of his head, Lance could list Matt, Shiro, Roy, Rolo, and there was a new guy who had come in for a checkup a few days ago - Dallas? Either way, within the people he knew personally in their faction, that was a lot.

He would have to ask Olly about the proper way to perform maintenance and reattach them when needed. There hadn't been a Leggy Squad checkup since before Kelaan handed most of her duties to Lance.

"I hate being holed up in here." Rolo muttered for what seemed to be the hundredth time in the last hour. It was really starting to grind on Lance's nerves.

"Yeah, well it's not like these cots are portable." Lance replied distractedly, flicking some data from the screen in front of him to the next one over.

"At least you get visitors." Shiro said. Matt fell into a harsh coughing fit.

"Excuse me? What am I?"

"You don't leave," Lance responded, kicking Matt in the back of his (good) knee to get him to move. "So you don't count as a visitor."

"By that logic, neither does Lotor," Rolo pointed out. Said child popped out from behind Rolo's head, smiling brightly.

"Nyma counts." Lance shrugged.

"She only comes in when you aren't here."

"She still visits though."

Rolo pursed his lips. "Just once I'd like to be the visitor."

It was quiet for a moment, before Matt ruined it by sniggering. "Dude, that was the weirdest thing I've heard you say."

"Yeah, well I'm running low on social interactions at the moment. In case you haven't noticed, I've been stuck here."

Lance swatted the screen away in a poor approximation of slamming a laptop shut. "Right." He said, "I need to go get more bandages." And with that, he marched out the door.

"But the bandages are in—" Lotty started as he left.

And that was how Lance found himself tripping over the hover chair he had used when he first arrived on Base. He face-palmed, switching the chair on and letting it rise off the ground.

"Oh wow," Matt said, peering over Lance's shoulder. Lance jumped at his appearance. "I'd forgotten about that thing."

"How?" Lance grinned. "I nearly ran you over at every given opportunity."