The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[57] Stay Safe!

Lance's eyes caught on a spot peeking out from under Kelaan's scarf, wincing at the size of the tumour. It was darker than the usual ones, and he averted his gaze, blinking back the itching behind his eyes.

Instead, he watched as Lotty ran Rolo through his exercises in the corner while he waited for his leg checkup.

"Sorry this is taking so long." Roy said, leaning back on the bench and resting on her hands as Kelaan brought up a holographic screen of Roy's leg.

"Nonsense, Rosaline," Kelaan replied, zooming in on the knee, moving it to sit next to the real one in comparison. She frowned slightly, brow furrowing. "You have been putting too much strain on the knee joint. See here?" She indicated to the panel's bottom edge. "The alloy has thinned out, and if you're not careful, a hairline crack will start to form."

Roy pursed her lips. "I don't have time to get Olly to replace it." She said. Kelaan didn't respond, tapping a note down on her datapad.

"Don't have time?" Lance spoke up, tilting his head to the side. "What's that mean?"

"It means I'm being sent out on a long-term mission, Lance."

"What?"

Roy hummed an affirmative. "The Captain thinks something's building, and wants as many of us out in the field as possible," she explained, shivering when Kelaan poked around the scarred tissue attached to her leg port.

"Makes sense." Lance nodded, turning to watch Lotty again. She was currently doing something with Rolo's hand which was distinctly not part of his exercises, but he was letting her play anyway. His soft spot for her was becoming more and more obvious. "So where's Olly?"

Roy was silent for a moment. "She's... staying on Base."

Lance whirled around, eyes wide. "What?"

Roy ran her tongue over the scar on her lip. "Well, with everyone being sent out..." she started, shoulders drawing in. "The Captain can't afford to send all her engineers into the field. Not when the base is a bucket of bolts held together by prayers and a literal ton of scrap."

The logic was sound, unfortunately. But splitting the pair for an extended period would have negative effects. That was obvious just by what Lance had seen since joining the Resistance.

But he couldn't argue with the Captain's decisions. Not when he had been space-grounded not too long ago for doing that.

"Right. So when are you leaving?"

Roy have a wry smile, shoulders still tense. "As soon as I'm cleared by Medical."

So immediately.

"...oh." Was the only thing Lance could say.

It felt like everyone he cared about was leaving, ripped out from underneath him.

The price of war, he supposed.

But it still felt unfair.

Kelaan flicked a panel shut on Roy's leg, holoscreens flicking off. "All done," she said. "You won't have routine checkups while in the field, so take care of your prosthetic."

Roy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I will."

She slid off the bench to the floor, flicking out her foot before setting it on the ground.