The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[24] That's not the way I would've started this conversation, but sure

"Kelaan said it's probably genetic, but without any blood relations to talk to, we can't really confirm that theory."

"Wait, no blood relations?" Lance exclaimed, rising from his chair. "are you saying you don't have family?" 

"Lance, calm down." Muxis said, grabbing his arm. Lance shrieked, not knowing the Galra had woken back up.

"I said calm, son." Muxis repeated, gently pulling him back into his seat.

"Wha- but- I- Olly!"

"It's not actually that uncommon out in space." Olly supplied, shrugging her shoulders a little. 

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, who like Lance felt that not having a family was something to be a little more upset about.

"There's a lot of different cultures out there," Roy said, Pilot sounding her agreement. "Not all kids are brought up by their parents."

"Especially in the dodgier parts of space." Olly said.

"And even in the good parts," Pilot chimed in. "Sometimes people are just unlucky."

"So... your family. Are they dead?" Matt asked, voicing the question Lance was too afraid to say.

"To be completely honest, I don't know."

She must have caught Matt and Lance's looks, because she gave a quiet snort and forged on.

"My species are shape shifters, an ability we have from what I assume is birth. It's easy to lose a kid when they're normal, so when that kid can change their appearance at will..." she trailed off, not bothering to complete the sentence. They all got the connotations. 

"You didn't look for them?" Matt asked quietly.

"I guess in our species its probably the kid's job to keep track of the parents, right?" Olly gave a dry laugh, crossing her ankles. "I - obviously - wasn't very good at that, and being that young I just... didn't care?"

Pilot snorted. "Again, not the way I would've put it. But sure."

"I know it all from here, I'll just..." Muxis tipped back in his seat, letting his head fall back.

"Yeah, sleep it off Mux." Roy said, lifting her head and resting her chin on Pilot's stomach. Pilot made a noise and she mumbled an apology, dropping down again.

Matt rolled his eyes. "You snore when you sleep like that." he said, but Lance wondered if Muxis had even heard. He looked knocked right out again.

"Guess we know what kind of drunk he is." Lance commented, only to receive a flat look from Matt.

"What? It's better than him being loud or angry."

Matt tried to maintain his stare, but Lance could easily see the agreement in his expression. He eventually shrugged, reaching for his cup of water.

"So anyway, that's how I ended up in a slave ring." Olly said.

Matt choked on his water, and Lance reached over to thump him on the back.

"Olly, please." Roy groaned as Pilot tried her best to quiet her giggles.

"But how did you survive being a slave with all this empathy stuff?" Matt asked. He set his cup back on the table and pushed it away, hacking a couple more times.

"Actually, that's a good question" Roy mused, turning her head flat on the side to look at Olly. "All those negative emotions should have been overwhelming, to say the least."

"It was actually really easy, It's kind of hard to be effected by emotion if everybody just kind of feels..." Olly winced before she said the final word. "empty."